V O I C E
O F
I N D I A N S
W O R L D W I D E
India Post www.indiapost.com
NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA
VOL 21, No. 1119
March 4, 2016
50¢
Periodical Postage
Top Stories
V O I C E
O F
I N D I A N S
W O R L D W I D E
India Post www.indiapost.com
NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA
Ambassador Richard Verma
Verma proud of family roots in India Details on page 7
Sikh solider sues over testing 'discrimination' Details on page 5
India Program for Diaspora entrepreneurs Details on page 6
Kerry: Terror groups stealing Pak sovereignty Details on page 6
INDIA POST SURVEY survey@indiapost.com This week’s question
Bollywood actors will face discrimination in US? Last week’s result
Do you support arrest of students? YES 32%
NO 68%
VOL 21, No. 1119
March 4, 2016
50¢
Periodical Postage
$400,000 RAISED FOR SIKHISM AWARENESS
SHAWN SINGH GHUMAN & DEEPAK CHHABRA India Post News Service
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Over 500 Sikh men, women and children from all across the San Francisco Bay area came together to support National Sikh Campaign's (NSC)'s plan to raise awareness of Sikhism and the Sikh identity in America. Over $400,000 were raised at a sold-out event in order to help launch and sustain a PR and ad campaign set to begin later this year in national mainstream media channels and online. For the first time ever, the television advertisements - created by AKPD, President Obama's campaign media team - were unveiled to an enthusiastic audience. Last year, NSC had hired the services of AKPD and Hart Research Associates, Hillary Clinton's polling research team that is headed by Geoff Garin, to develop the messaging and framework of these advertisements. Details on page 20
Raja Krishnamoorthi and Moon Khan
Early voting push for 2 Indians in Illinois Details on page 16
Modi going to Saudi Arabia, U.S. March 30 Details on page 5
Bay Area STEM girls breaking coding barriers Details on page 24
American investors bullish on Budget Details on page 8
CONTENTS Bollywood ---------------------- 28-29 Classifieds ------------------------- 48 Community Post -------------- 16-25 Date Book -------------------------- 47 Edit Page --------------------------- 39 HealthScience Post --------- 32-35 Horoscope ------------------------- 39 Immigration Post ------------- 44-46 Life Style ----------------------- 50-52 Philosophy ------------------------- 53
BOLLY TO HOLLY: Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra, who is making waves in the US, presenting the award for Best Film Editing for "Mad Max: Fury Road" to Margaret Sixel at the 88th Academy Awards function in Hollywood, California February 28. (Details on page 51)
Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765”
Publisher’s Diary ------------------ 4 Real Estate -------------------- 36-37 TechBiz Post ------------------- 12-15 Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 40-43
2
India Post
www.indiapost.com
March 4, 2016
March 4, 2016
India Post www.indiapost.com
NEWS on your desktop www.indiapost.com
3
4
India Post
March 4, 2016
India Post
IndiaNewsweekly Post
www.indiapost.com The Weekly Newspaper Serving Indians Worldwide
Romesh & Sunita Japra Publishers Rajesh Verma Co-Publisher Vikram Paul President Krishan Sharma Mg Director & Joint Editor Vinod Dhawan Senior Editor Naresh Sodhi General Manager Amit Saini IT Director Ghanshyam Bisht Supervisor Graphics SAN FRANCISCO & SILICON VALLEY Vijay Thapar CPRO & Advertising Deepak Chhabra Promotions Priya Nayar Bureau Chief Sonia Sidhu Marketing Analyst Ritu Maheshwari Director Promotions Rakesh Kapoor Correspondent Ratika J. Paul Photo Journalist Neeloo Kapoor Photo Journalist Sudesh Kumari Correspondent Rama Mehra Advertising Vidya Sethuraman Correspondent Archana Asthana Correspondent Sujata Singh Correspondent Manasi Maheshwari Youth Correspondent Raaj D. Photo Journalist LOS ANGELES Mrs Shashi Trivedi Bureau Chief Mrs Prem Kishore Sr Correspondent Greg Heffernan Correspondent Ms Bobby Sharma Correspondent Babeeta Kaur Dhillon Correspondent Pavan Kaur Bhatia Correspondent CHICAGO Ramesh Soparawala Resident Editor A Q Siddiqui Correspondent ST. LOUIS Ashwin Patel Correspondent NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY Pinky Kaur Bureau Chief Srirekha N. Chakravarty Correspondent Nikita Japra Correspondent Sukhvinder Saini Circulation ATLANTA Sanjay Saggere Bureau Chief FLORIDA B K Madnani CANADA Firdaus Ali Correspondent BOSTON Gope Gidwani Bureau Chief
Mission Statement To empower the Indian Diaspora and make their voice strong and effective in countries of their adoption. RJ Media conglomerate offers a credible, professional and complete package of news, opinion, entertainment, networking and information.
Publisher’s Diary
B
y the time you read this, the Oscar fever would have died down except maybe for the odd morning show host who could still be either raving or ranting about an actress's look on the red carpet. But as you may have heard - even if you are not cinematically inclined (ah, but who said Hollywood was only about cinema?) - this year's Academies were panned not because of their poor choice of winners, but for their lack of diversity in nominating potential winners. By diversity in Hollywood, let's simply take it as the infusion of more of the color Black than any other, in what is still considered to be an 'old, white and male' dominated industry - just as any other American industry. So let's see how this criticism pans out by considering the fact that the first ever black American to win an Oscar for best actor was Sydney Poitier in 1963; the second Black male to win that award was Denzel Washington in 2002 and none in between or since; and the first Black woman to win an Oscar was Halley Berry in 2002 and none since. While I wouldn't hazard the assumption that there were no more deserving Black actors than those three in close to 25 years, I would certainly doubt the deservedness of many among the White actors who did win the big ticket awards at the Oscars in so many years. Still, for all the impassioned 'Black Lives Matter' speeches and the boycott of the event by some influential Black actors, I wonder if someone on those haloed panels would be consciously taking blanket decisions like: 'No Black nominations this year'. It's ironic though that the only movies that the Black actors do seem to celebrate are ones like 12 Years A Slave, Help, Precious… you see what I mean… clichéd, stereotypical and all about 'them'. While it is really sad that African Americans still feel the need to protest their lack of representation, I would like to think diversity in Hollywood is a Priyanka Chopra up on the coveted stage presenting an Oscar. Browns are coming rule? Yeah, sure.
Romesh K Japra rkjapra@indiapost.com
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 VADODARA, GUJARAT Vaidehi Patel Correspondent India Post (ISSN-1064-3868) is published weekly for $30 for 52 issues yearly by India Post, 1860 Mowry Ave # 200 Fremont, CA 94538. Periodicals postage paid at Norwalk, CA and additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the corporate headquarters: 1860 Mowry Ave # 200 Fremont, CA 94538 Copyright © 1994 Indamec, Inc. DISCLAIMER India Post assumes all advertisers to be reliable and responsible for all liability for their claimers
INFO-CENTER CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS 1860 Mowry Ave # 200 Fremont, CA 94538 Tel: 510-565-9993, Fax: 510-790-2806; E-mail: priya@indiapost.com E-SUBSCRIPTION: Priya Nayar Tel: 510-565-9993; E-mail: priya@indiapost.com Classifieds: Tel: 510-938-8668; E-mail:classifieds@indiapost.com or Tel: 510-565-9993, E-mail: priya@indiapost.com Graphics Inquiry: Tel: 510-936-9490; E-mail: ghanshyam@indiapost.com For Editorial: Priya Nayar Tel: 510-565-9993; E-mail: priya@indiapost.com
For advertisement rates call the office nearest to you: SAN FRANCISCO & SILICON VALLEY 1860 Mowry Ave # 200 Fremont, CA 94538 Tel: 510-938-8667 e-mail: nareshsodhi@gmail.com Priya Nayar: 510-579-2760 e-mail: priya@indiapost.com
LOS ANGELES 16224 Alpine Pl. La Mirada, CA 90638 Tel: 562-441-5511, shashi19@yahoo.com
CHICAGO
2543 W Devon Ave Chicago IL 60659 Tel: 773-973-7394; Fax: 773-973-7396; Email: sramesh@aol.com
NEW YORK Tel: 908-338-3752 (Marketing) Tel: 732-283-4939 (Editorial) E-mail: indiapost2000@yahoo.com
NEW JERSEY 21 Longfellow st., Carteret, NJ 07008 Tel: 732-969-1114; Fax: 732-969-3735 E-mail: indiapost2000@yahoo.com
BOSTON Tel: 617-298-9200; Fax: 617-298-1104 GOPE; E-mail: ggidwani@aol.com
HIGHLIGHTS Bollywood: Living separately? Arbaaz Khan and Malaika have slammed reports of their alleged divorce but they still seemed to be living separately
Cover Story: Modi’s trip PM Narendra Modi will travel to Saudi Arabia as part of his three-nation trip during which he will also visit US
Community: Early voting Raja Krishnamoorthi and Moon Khan are vying for two major elective positions of Illinois for which early voting has started
Passions raging With elected officials in Nevada feuding over immigration and GOP presidential contest in town, passions are raging
Life style: Urdu world All the Urdu poets are available on www.rekhta.org, the world's largest online compendium of Urdu literature.
TORONTO, CANADA Tel/Fax: 416-744-8610 DELHI 230-A, 3 rd Floor, Jin Kushal Suri Complex, Masjid Moth, (NDSE Part-II) New Delhi - 110049 Tel: 11-26257769 E-mail:delhi@indiapost.com MUMBAI • Fernandes Mansion Tam Taloa, Bassien (W) Mumbai Tel: 09619 330159
Techbiz:
VADODARA
Travel:
E-mail: v_patel83@yahoo.com Tel: 011 91 98797 79976
For editorial, contact: editor@indiapost.com or call 510-797-7799
5 16
Immigration:
ATLANTA 67 Peach Tree Dr., Ste. 102, Buckhead Atlanta, GA 30309, Tel: 404-425-3021 E-mail: sanjay@eBolo.com FLORIDA 8401 West Sample Road 30, Coral Springs, Florida - 33065
• Vaidehi Patel 31/32 J\Jaysantosi Nagar Society, behind Utkarsh Petrol Pump, Karelibaug, Vadodara-390018. Gujarat (India)
28
Green project The first loan to India from The New Development Bank set up by BRICS could be for a green solar energy project
Sanjay Gandhi National Park In the Lion Safari Park of Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai visitors can view lions as close as six feet away
44 50 12 40
Cover/Top Stories
March 4, 2016
India Post
5
www.indiapost.com
Modi going to Saudi Arabia, U.S. March 30 NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Saudi Arabia as part of his three-nation trip from March 30 during which he will also visit Washington to attend Nuclear Security Summit, where his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif is also scheduled to be present. Starting his visit with Belgium on March 30 for India-EU Sum-
rial visit to Riyadh, assumes significance given the current regional situation and strained ties between SA and Iran, another strategically important country for India. Apart from being India's largest supplier of crude oil, accounting for almost one fifth of its need, it is also India's fourth largest trading partner. Saudi Arabia has the
While officials are tight-lipped about a possible interaction between Modi and Sharif on the sidelines of the event, experts feel that given both the leaders have held impromptu meetings in the recent past -- be it in Paris or Lahore - it will be difficult for them to avoid each other completely mit, Modi will travel to Washington for NSS from March 31 before his two-day bilateral visit from April 2 to Saudi Arabia, one of the most powerful Arab countries, where he will hold talks with the Saudi leadership on key regional and bilateral issues, including trade and energy. His visit, which comes nearly six years after last Prime Ministe-
largest Indian Diaspora. The Prime Minister's visit to SA will be preceded by a trip to Washington for NSS, which will be attended by leaders from nearly 50 countries, including Pakistan's Sharif. While officials are tight-lipped about a possible interaction between Modi and Sharif on the sidelines of the event, experts feel that given both the leaders have held
impromptu meetings in the recent past -- be it in Paris or Lahore - it will be difficult for them to avoid each other completely. This would be the first time after Modi's unannounced and brief visit to Lahore on December 25 that the two leaders will be at the same place. Since then, the Pathankot terror attack has happened which has delayed the Indo-Pak Foreign Secretary-level talks, scheduled to take place in early January after the two countries announced resumption of comprehensive talks during External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to Islamabad in December last. In Belgium, the Prime Minister will be attending the India-EU Summit after a gap of four years. The last Summit had taken place in 2012. India-EU ties witnessed some strain after the 28-member bloc had not responded to India's proposal for a brief visit by Modi to Brussels, the EU headquarters, during his trip to France, Germany and Canada in April last year. This had prompted New Delhi to give a cold shoulder to the EU's efforts to finalize Modi's visit last Novem-
ber when he travelled to the UK. Efforts were also on to work out issues and announce resumption of stalled India-EU free trade talks during Modi's visit.
ward with the proposed pact, officially dubbed as Bilateral Trade and Investment agreement. The last round of trade talks happened in May 2013.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Top officials of India and the EU met in Brussels to review the stalled negotiations with an aim to assessing where both sides stand and how they could go for-
In August 2015, India deferred the talks on the FTA after the EU imposed ban on 700 products, clinically tested by GVK Biosciences. -PTI
Sikh solider sues over 'discriminatory' testing NEW YORK: In a first of its kind lawsuit, a decorated SikhAmerican soldier has sued the US military, alleging that because of his religious beliefs he is being subjected to "discriminatory" testing that no other soldier in the US Army goes through. C a p t a i n Simratpal Singh, 28 was in December last year granted a temporary religious accommodation to serve in the US Army while maintaining his Sikh turban, unshorn hair and beard. The accommodation, a rare exception, was scheduled to remain in effect until March 31 but in an unprecedented step backward, the US Army recently ordered Singh to report for "extraordinary, nonstandard additional testing as a precondition for remaining in the Army", international law firm McDermott Will & Emery, representing Singh, said in a statement. The firm, along with the Sikh Coalition and the Becket Fund for
Religious Liberty, filed the federal lawsuit against the Department of Defense on behalf of Singh, who has earned a Bronze Star for clearing explosives from roads in Afghanistan, and received numer-
Captain Simratpal Singh
ous other military accolades in various positions. Singh is scheduled to be sequestered for three days to undergo testing that no other soldier in the US Army has ever been subjected to, including the sol-
diers permitted to maintain beards for medical reasons and previously-accommodated Sikh soldiers, the law firms said. The New York Times said the tests seek to determine if his helmet would fit over his long hair and if his gas mask could seal to his face. The lawsuit, which is the first of its kind on behalf of a Sikh officer, demands that the US military continue to accommodate Singh's Sikh turban, unshorn hair, and unshorn beard and "abandon its unfair and discriminatory" testing. "For years we have worked to avoid litigation under the guiding belief that the US military would finally do the right thing," said Amandeep Sidhu, Partner at McDermott Will and Emery. "The US Constitution and the Religious Freedom Restoration Act make it clear that Captain Singh has the right to practice his faith in the military and we are confident that the court will agree," said Sidhu. Once the testing is enjoined, Singh seeks a further ruling directing the Army to make his religious accommodation permanent. "I have so much pride in my Sikh identity and service to my nation," Singh had said in December after receiving his temporary accommodation.
"To feel spiritually whole, while continuing my military career, has always been the dream," he had said. Singh had enrolled in West Point in 2006 and after failed attempts to obtain an accommodation, he had to cut his hair and shave his beard in order to be able to serve in the Army. Singh, who graduated from West Point with honors in 2010,
servant Sikh in the Army," said the Sikh Coalition's Legal Director, Harsimran Kaur. Senior Counsel at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty Eric Baxter said the US Army should be trying to get more soldiers like Singh instead of banning them from serving or punishing them for their beliefs. "It's time for the Pentagon to stop playing games and start do-
Captain Simratpal Singh, 28 was in December last year granted a temporary religious accommodation to serve in the US Army while maintaining his Sikh turban, unshorn hair and beard filed an accommodation request in October last year and was granted a temporary 30-day accommodation to serve while maintaining his Sikh articles of faith. "Captain Singh is being subject to discriminatory testing that isn't required of any other soldiers, even those with medical or religious accommodations. The Army cannot delay in providing him his statutory and constitutionally mandated right to an accommodation to serve as an ob-
ing the right thing for Captain Singh, for Sikh Americans, and for all Americans," Baxter added. Last year, 27 retired US Generals called on the US department of Defense to eliminate the ban on observant Sikhs. These generals join 105 Members of Congress, 15 US Senators and 21 national interfaith and civil rights organizations, who have previously signed letters in support of American Sikhs' right to serve. -PTI
6
Top Stories
India Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
India Fellows Program for Diaspora launched India Post News Service
NEW DELHI: Overseas Indian Facilitation Centre (OIFC), a PPP between the Government of India and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), has partnered with the Indian School of Business (ISB), a top ranked global B School, to launch the 'OIFC-ISB India Fellows Program', designed
critical to gaining market entry into India; practical insights about doing business in India, understanding the legal and regulatory environment, engagement and networking opportunities with Indian businessmen and an insight into the innovative and disruptive business models emerging in the world's fastest growing economy.
Scheduled to begin in June 2016, the program is being offered at a special introductory fee of US $5,000 per participant plus service tax. Fee includes boarding and lodging, program-related learning material, field visits and webinars for the young Indian Diaspora business owners and professionals in decision making capacity, to familiarize them with doing business in India. Offered under the OIFC's India Connect Initiatives, the OIFC-ISB India Fellows Program aims to familiarize and encourage the young Indian Diaspora to view India as an economically attractive destination. The program offers a tailor made opportunity to gain an understanding of aspects
The year-long program led by ISB is offered as a blended model comprising technology aided learning and a specially designed 12-days residential program in India. The residency will be provided an experiential mix including exposure to the touch and feel of the Indian market, connect with senior government officials dealing with investment policies, domain experts, captains of the Indian industry and a curated networking opportunity with poten-
tial business partners. The Fellows will spend their residential learning stint at ISB's campuses in Hyderabad and Mohali, and at Delhi. Program details and benefits: The OIFC-ISB India Fellows Program is open to young Indian Diaspora entrepreneurs/professionals in decision-making capacity/potential investors and international partners of Indian companies (21-39 years of age); with minimum of three years of entrepreneurial/business experience. The program will be taught by globally renowned faculty from ISB along with experienced industry and government practitioners. Scheduled to begin in June 2016, the program is being offered at a special introductory fee of US $5,000 per participant plus service tax. Fee includes boarding and lodging, program-related learning material, field visits and webinars. Participants will have to bear the cost of travel and local conveyance. Selected candidates who complete the program will become members of the OIFC India Entrepreneurship Fellows (OIEF) Club, which will receive support and facilitation from OIFC in doing business in India.
Pak SIT on Pathankot to visit India soon WASHINGTON: A Pakistani team probing the Pathankot terror attack may visit India in the next few days, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz said here and expressed hope that the Foreign Secretary-level talks will be scheduled very soon after that. "It is unfortunate that the agreement on resuming the dialogue process was disrupted by the attack on Pathankot Airbase on January 2. Pakistan has taken some important steps in the aftermath of the Pathankot incident," Aziz said in his opening remarks to the US-Pak Strategic Dialogue. "Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called the Indian Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) immediately after the attack and assured of Pakistan's support in the investigation. National Security Advisers are maintaining frequent contacts," he said. "Case has been registered and the Special Investigation Team
(SIT) is likely to visit India in the next few days. We therefore hope that the Foreign Secretary leveltalks will be scheduled very soon," Aziz said during the USPakistan Strategic Dialogue which he co-chaired with US Secretary of State John Kerry. As an important part of Sharif Government's policy of peaceful
spective concerns on terrorism," Aziz said. A six-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) was set up by Pakistan government for the initial probe into the January 2 attack based on the leads given by India. Three men arrested for their alleged role in the attack were sent
The attack led to the postponement of a scheduled meeting between Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan and India in January in Islamabad. Since then, no date has been fixed for the talks neighborhood, Islamabad has reached out to India, he noted. "We believe that the resolution of all outstanding issues - including the Kashmir dispute - is possible through resumption of fullscale and uninterrupted dialogue with India. We had also proposed a mechanism to address our re-
to a six-day police remand by an anti-terrorism court in Gujranwala city of Punjab. The FIR by the Counter-Terrorism Department of Punjab police has been lodged on the basis of information provided by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval that four attackers crossed from Paki-
Terror groups stealing Pak sovereignty: Kerry WASHINGTON: Terrorist groups like LeT and the Haqqani network are "stealing sovereignty" of Pakistan, US Secretary of State John Kerry has warned as he reminded the country of its commitment that it would take action against all terror outfits without discrimination. "Groups like the Haqqani network or Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammad, all of these groups are literally stealing sovereignty of the nation. And they are stealing the future of the nation. It is important for us to stand
violence," said the top American diplomat, as he referred to the recent terrorist attack on the Bachha Khan University. Aziz, in his opening remarks, reiterated Pakistan's resolve to "finish and win" the fight against terrorism. "Our strategy to eliminate the terrorist networks and defeat their extremist ideology is all-encompassing," he said. Through military operation Zarb-e-Azb, Pakistan is determined to deny space to any terrorist groups to plan and launch
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Pakistan Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz participate in the US-Pakistan strategic dialogue meeting at the State Department in Washington,February 29
up to them," Kerry said in his opening remarks at the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue, which he co-chaired with Pakistani Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz. "We welcome Pakistan's commitment not to differentiate between terrorist groups...Groups like the Haqqani network, Lashkar-e-Taiba seek to undermine Pakistan's efforts to foster strong, positive relationship with its neighbors," Kerry said. "We recognize that every country can do more to intensify, to destroy and defeat violent radical extremists. We commend Pakistan for its...approach to implement the national action plan to eliminate the ability of the militant groups to recruit, to finance and to incite
violent activities from the Pakistani soil, he said. "After almost year and a half since its launch, Zarb-e-Azb is probably the most successful story in the history of counter-terrorism operations," he claimed. Pakistan is taking all necessary measures to launch intelligencebased operations and choke the funding sources of terrorist organizations. So far, more than one billion rupees worth of accounts have been frozen by the State Bank of Pakistan belonging to the terrorist and extremist organizations, he said. Aziz said multiple actions are underway to defeat the extremist agenda or propaganda of the terrorist organizations through a counter-narrative strategy. -PTI
stan into India and attacked the airbase. The attack led to the postponement of a scheduled meeting between Foreign Secretaries of Pakistan and India in January in Islamabad. Since then, no date has been fixed for the talks. Aziz said the Indian participation in the Heart of Asia Conference in Islamabad last December and announcement to start the Comprehensive Dialogue were positive developments that augur well for peace and stability in
South Asia. "Prime Minister Modi's visit to Islamabad was welcomed by most in Pakistan. Here, I would like to express our gratitude to you and President (Barack) Obama for your consistent support to the revival of Pakistan-India Dialogue," Aziz said in his opening remarks, which was open to the press. Aziz said instead of being viewed through lenses borrowed from East or West, Pakistan must be afforded its own strategic space.-PTI
Top Stories
March 4, 2016
India Post
7
www.indiapost.com
Verma proud of family roots in India KRISHAN SHARMA India Post News Service
JAIPUR: US Ambassador Richard Verma was invited at Rajasthan Chamber to meet and address the captains of Industries from Rajasthan. Speaking at the felicitation function organized in his honor by Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (RCCI), he reminisced about his deep family roots with India and said he is
proud of this. He touched the emotional chord by sharing his roots in India, especially Jalandhar, Punjab, where his parents came from. He was very surprised that how everybody in India knows everybody. This was always stated by his father. His father insisted that he mention his roots when he met former PM Manmohan Singh during his visit to US when he was Asst Secre-
tary of State in Clinton Administration. He told his father that this is not accepted in his protocol. To his surprise when the US President introduced him, Manmohan Singh asked him about his Indian roots. Mr Verma said that during the past decade, the total trade between India and US has increased from around USD 30 bn to USD 105 bn and the expectation is that in a few years from now, the trade US Ambassador Richard Verma speaking at the felicitation function organized in his honor by Rajasthan Chamber of Commerce & Industry (RCCI) in Rajasthan, Jaipur. On the dais are Mr R.S.Gemini, Dr.K.L.Jain & Maharaj Jai Singh
could touch USD 500 bn. But it would not be easy and all people involved would have to work really hard to achieve this. He said the US did not want simply to sell its products to India but to provide technology and financial support for making products in India not only for Indian market but for export to other countries as well. US Ambassador Richard Verma being welcomed by Dr. K.L. Jain, Honorary Secretary General of RCCI
L-R: Dr. K.L. Jain, Capt Krishan Sharma of FOG and Amb Richard Verma
Cont’d on page 11
8
Top Stories
India Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
Govt gives Rs 36Kcr to farm sector NEW DELHI: Aiming to double farmers income by 2022, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has announced an allocation of nearly Rs 36,000 crore for the farm sector while raising the agri-credit target to Rs 9 lakh crore for the next fiscal. He also allocated Rs 15,000 crore for interest subvention on the farm credit, Rs 5,500 crore for the new crop insurance scheme and Rs 500 crore to boost pulses output. Jaitley also said that a unified agricultural market will be launched on April 14 and soil health cards will be provided to all 14 crore farmers by March 2017. "We are grateful to our farmers for being the backbone of the country's food security. We need to think beyond food security and give back to our farmers a sense of income security," Jaitley said while unveiling Budget 2016-17 in Lok Sabha. The government would reorient its intervention in the farm and non-farm sector to double the in-
Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and Information & Broadcasting, Arun Jaitley addressing a Post Budget Press Conference, in New Delhi on February 29. Minister of State for Finance, Jayant Sinha and Director General (M&C), Press Information Bureau, A.P. Frank Noronha are also seen
come of farmers by 2022, he added. "Our total allocation on agriculture and farmers welfare is Rs 35,984 crore," Jaitley said. Asserting that a special focus has been given to ensure adequate and timely flow of credit
to farmers, the minister said:"Against the target of Rs 8.5 lakh crore in 2015-16, the target of agricultural credit in 2016-17 will be all-time high of Rs 9 lakh crore." To reduce the burden of loan repayment on farmers, he said a
American investors bullish on budget WASHINGTON: American companies, either having a foothold or planning to set foot in India, are bullish on the latest budget presented by the Modi government, business advocacy group USIBC has said. "We talked to some of our members on the feedback and they have been bullish about the budget itself. I feel that its investment in infrastructure, in trying to provide ease of doing business and providing certain tax certainties is good for the US investors,"
'Make in India' summit in Mumbai, said the move sent positive signal to the global market. "The sentiment (on India among US companies) is on the positive side," Aghi said in response to a question hoping that this would bring much greater American investment to India. US companies have made FDI worth USD 15 billion in India in the last 18 months and are expected to invest another USD 27 billion this fiscal, he said, adding that with the latest budget, this
‘Tax reforms presented in this budget are unprecedented, and lay the road map to create an attractive environment for foreign investors. The US companies are still eager for the implementation of GST that has the potential to be a game changer’ Mukesh Aghi, president US India Business Council (USIBC), told PTI in an interview. Aghi said the annual budget presented by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley maintains the fiscal deficit to 3.5 per cent from 3.9 per cent and gives international investors an assurance that India can provide discipline among the emerging markets. Referring to the fact that foreign direct investment (FDI) in India is up by 40 per cent, Aghi, who was recently in India for the
figure is expected to go up. Infrastructure sector and food retail provide a lot of opportunities for investment, he said. Allowing 100 per cent FDI in the marketing of food produced in India will likely bring in new investors who will provide needed manufacturing and retailing jobs, he said. "This will help farmers increase sales, spur investment in cold chain and storage infrastructure to make sure food is better preserved, and bring new and diverse
food products to a larger percentage of the Indian population than ever before," Aghi said. The USIBC president also lauded the Union Finance Minister for creating an investmentfriendly climate even as he said the US firms are expecting roll out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) which can be a "gamechanger" for the country's economy. "Tax reforms presented in this budget are unprecedented, and lay the road map to create an attractive environment for foreign investors. The US companies are still eager for the implementation of GST that has the potential to be a game changer for the economy. This is also an inclusive budget - one that creates opportunities for increasing domestic demand," Aghi said. "The message is that the US companies are very bullish on India," Aghi said, adding that the large section of US FDI in India is going into IT sector, manufacturing environment. Responding to a question, he said USIBC members feel India could move a bit faster on the corporate tax reduction. American corporate sector, he noted, is looking forward to the Intellectual Property (IP) policy to come out. "I would say, a big chunk of the issues were addressed (in the budget)," he said.-PTI
provision of Rs 15,000 crore has been made in the budgetary estimate of 2016-17 towards interest subvention. Jaitley said the government has provided a path breaking crop insurance scheme 'Prime Minister
Fasal Bima Yojana', for which Rs 5,500 crore has been allocated for effective implementation in 201617. Stating that irrigation is critical for increasing the agricultural production and productivity, he said, "the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojana has been strengthened and implemented in mission mode." He said 28.5 lakh hectare will be brought under irrigation under this scheme. A dedicated long-term irrigation fund will be created in NABARD with an initial corpus of Rs 20,000 crore to build irrigation facilities, Jaitley said. "Implementation of 89 irrigation projects under Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Program (AIBP), which have been languishing, will be fast-tracked," he said, adding that this would help to irrigate 80.6 lakh hectare. These 89 projects required Rs 17,000 crore next year and Rs 86,500 crore next five years. The government will complete at least 23 of these projects before March 31, 2017. -PTI
Budget lacks incentive for NRIs: Hinduja LONDON: G P Hinduja, cochairman of the Hinduja Group, has hailed the Indian Budget as "pragmatic and prudent" but lamented the lack of incentive for NRIs who he termed as the "natural resource base" of the country. "Every budget has two sides. It is impossible to satisfy everyone but one has to look to the basics, whether the budget is going to help the economy," Hinduja said. "Looking to the demand for fiscal reforms on one side and the challenge of global headwinds on the other, the government's decision to adhere to fiscal consolidation makes the budget pragmatic and prudent," he said. The Budget for 2016-17 offered sops for small and marginal income tax payers, hiked the surcharge by 3 per cent on earnings above Rs 1 crore and envisaged a huge spending of Rs 1.77 lakh crore in rural areas to address the agrarian distress among other steps. On the positive facets of the budget, Hinduja said, "Coupled with agriculture, rural and infrastructure spending, plus roads and highways, the economy will
have a resultant effect of bottomup demand and generation of job creation." "The auto sector will stand to benefit by the proposed amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act to allow private sector participation in passenger vehicles segment," he said. On government's move to
G P Hinduja
come out with one time four-month compliance window for domestic black money holders to come clean by paying tax and penalty of 45 per cent, Hinduja said, "The amnesty window for unaccounted money is a good initiative. It could have been more effective if the percentage of penalty was lower." Jaitley, however, has made clear that the compliance window is neither Voluntary Disclosure of Income Scheme nor amnesty.-PTI
Top Stories
March 4, 2016
India Post
9
www.indiapost.com
Indian businessmen in Gulf welcome budget DUBAI: Indian businessmen in the Gulf largely welcomed the Budget saying the thrust on rural and agriculture sectors will boost several industries but rued that there was "nothing great" in it for NRIs. They said the Budget focused on the rural and agriculture sectors but the allocation to social campaigns like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, India's biggest drive to improve sanitation and cleanliness, was unsatisfactory. Yusuffali MA, Chairman of Middle East's largest retail chain Lulu Group, called it a prudent budget. "(It) has clearly highlighted the growth pillars of the Indian economy in agriculture, rural, social sector, skills, ease of doing business and tax and compliance reforms," he said.
"In my point of view, the 'threeyear tax holiday' for start-ups is one of the most exciting announcements of this budget. The next generation of skilled entrepreneurs are our future," he said. Kamal Vachani, Regional Direc-
Yusuffali MA
tor of Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, and Group Director of Al Maya Group, said it was a growth-oriented budget. "Allocation of Rs 35,984 crore will give big boost for agriculture sector and focusing on the rural
growth will push the business across various industries," Vachani said. "100 per cent FDI allowed in food processing industry, where the products are manufactured and then exported out of India will attract more foreign investors." He welcomed the proposal to register a startup in one day and 100 pc tax deduction for companies building houses of up to 30 sq meters besides no service tax for up to 60 sq meters. Rizwan Sajan, Founder-Chairman of Danube Group, said the revival of infrastructure projects, improved connectivity, corporate tax overhaul and FDI norms, point towards achieving the Skill India and Make in India goals. "The new budget proposes an ecosystem which is investorfriendly through simplified tax structure and special schemes that offer debt, equity and receivable financing. So all in all it's a mixed budget and has something for everyone," Sajan said. He said everyone looked forward to three major areas - taxation, ease of doing business and markets. -PTI
'Hollow promises' in Budget: Opposition NEW DELHI: Dismissing the Union Budget as a "wasted opportunity", the Opposition has called it as "just housekeeping" with "hollow promises" which will fool neither farmers nor weaker sections. In a sharp attack on the government, Congress said it has "failed to create an immediate stimulus" to address economic challenges including employment
"Modiji spent the first 2 years mocking the Congress Party's focus on farmers, MNREGA, Rural dev & social spending. "Now mere rhetoric, without vision or action, will fool neither farmers nor the poor of this country," Gandhi said as the government declared to give a push to rural sector in the budget. He said that the budget "lacks both vision & conviction" and
Leading the offensive, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi reminded the Modi government that it had "mocked" Congress earlier on MGNREGA as the government increased the allocation of rural job flagship scheme launched by UPA government generation with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh holding that the budget lacked any "big idea". Leading the offensive, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi reminded the Modi government that it had "mocked" Congress earlier on MGNREGA as the government increased the allocation of rural job flagship scheme launched by UPA government 10 years back by over Rs 3,800 crore in 2016-17.
that the exercise was a list of "new promises without any account of the failure of tall promises made in last 2 budgets". Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram described the budget as a "wasted opportunity" and alleged that in the last two years, the government had turned its back on rural India, the agriculture sector, and the social sector programs. Accusing the Modi government of pursuing "regressive"
policies, Left parties said the budget was "full of hollow promises and that it would further deepen agrarian distress in the country "As with the previous two budgets, this budget of the Modi government is again full of hollow promises and slogans. The numbers just don't add up. "FM says Budget is about fulfilling 'desires & dreams' but it has no vision. The dead certainty from it is of a shrinking economy," CPIM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said. CPI national secretary D Raja echoed similar views and said the financial plan is "in tune with" the NDA Government's alleged economic philosophy of supporting corporate sector and foreign investors. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the budget did not address the concerns of the farmers and the middle class and accused the Modi government of "cheating" them while questioning the black money amnesty scheme. Kejriwal, who is campaigning for the upcoming Punjab Assembly polls, claimed that loans of industrialists have been "waived" in the Budget and wondered why a similar relief has "not been" extended to the farmers.-PTI
Air travel to become expensive NEW DELHI: Airfares are set to get costlier with higher excise duty of 14 per cent proposed on jet fuel in the Union Budget, even as it offers relief to the aviation sector with rationalization of taxes for MRO works. The Budget for 2016-17 has brought both cheers as well as tears to the aviation sector as airlines have been seeking lower levy on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF), which accounts for over 40 per cent of a carrier's operating expenses. The government also announced reduced funding to Air
India, which would receive Rs 1,713 crore as part of its Rs 30,0231 crore equity infusion plan while the Civil Aviation Ministry saw a lower outlay at Rs 4,417 crore for the 2016-17 fiscal. The excise duty on Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) is to be hiked to 14 per cent from 8 per cent, according to a proposal in Union Budget 2016-17. "Excise duty on ATF, other than for supply to Scheduled Commuter Airlines (SCA) from the Regional Connectivity Scheme Airports, (is) being increased. -PTI
Passed the Budget 'exams': Swraj Paul LONDON: Praising the Indian Budget, NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul said that it had got its priorities right by focusing on the rural sector and those less welloff. "Only yesterday Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said that the budget was like an exam for him. I must say that he and his Finance Minister Arun Jaitley have passed the examination very well. I compliment both of them," Paul, Chair-
Lord Swraj Paul
man and Founder of Caparo Group, said in a statement here. PTI
Top Stories
10 India Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
US lawmakers focused on few Gurudwara builds ashes immersion center incidents: India NEW DELHI: India has termed as "unfortunate" the letter written by some US Congressmen to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on religious freedom in the country, saying they have chosen to "focus on just a few incidents". External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup also asserted that aberrations, if any, were dealt with by the internal processes that include independent judiciary. "It is unfortunate that these Members of Congress while applauding India as a pluralistic society with a longstanding commitment to inclusion and tolerance have chosen to focus on just a few incidents. "India is proud of its status as the world's largest democracy. The Indian Constitution guaran-
tees fundamental rights to all its citizens, including minority communities. Aberrations, if any, are dealt with by our internal processes which include our independent
India is proud of its status as the world's largest democracy. The Indian Constitution guarantees fundamental rights to all judiciary, autonomous National Human Rights Commission, vigilant media, and vibrant civil society," he said. Expressing serious concern
over violence against religious minorities in India, 34 top American lawmakers have asked Modi to take immediate steps to protect their fundamental rights and bring the perpetrators to justice. "We urge your government to take immediate steps to ensure that the fundamental rights of religious minorities are protected and that the perpetrators of violence are held to account," the lawmakers, including eight Senators, said in a letter to the Prime Minister. "Of particular concern is the treatment of India's Christian, Muslim and Sikh communities," said the letter dated February 25, which was released to the press by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.-PTI
CHICAGO: A Gurudwara in the US state of Illinois has built what is said to be America's first ashes immersion centre on the banks of Rock River, allowing the Sikh and Hindu community members to perform their rituals legally. Built on the banks of Rock River by Nanaksar Sikh Temple in Rockford city, the centre was made after getting permission from the local authorities, the chief of the temple Daljit Singh said. Singh said earlier people were facing a lot of hurdles in immersing the ashes of their relatives after their death as the law in the country does not allow anyone to immerse the ashes in rivers, making it illegal. "Several people were arrested,
fined and given warnings after being caught immersing ashes by the US police in the past. If someone wished to send the ashes back to India, they had to go through a lot of paper work and other security- related formalities which were like a nightmare," Singh told PTI over phone. "With the establishment of this particular centre meant to facilitate those wanting to immerse the ashes of their dead relatives, the Sikh and Hindu community will be highly beneficial," he said. Nanaksar Sikh Temple, having secured all relevant permissions from the local authorities, will also provide certificate to the people who come to the centre to perform the ritual. -PTI
Top Stories
March 4, 2016
India Post
11
www.indiapost.com
Sikh group opposes use of New York City students demonstrate over JNU 'Asian' for criminals LONDON: A British Sikh group has asked the police to refrain from the use of the term "Asian" when referring to criminals with South Asia origins, especially in the aftermath of Rotherham sextrials that largely involve Pakistani Muslim men, who preyed on
scribed and not called Asian," Bhai Amrik Singh of the group told 'The Independent'. "One of the demands in the Sikh Manifesto that we published a year ago before the General Election was that the government should encourage public bodies
"We have learnt the perpetrators of these crimes regarded themselves as above the law as the authorities were supposedly worried about race relations and turned a blind eye despite repeated warnings," Singh said teenage girls. The Sikh Federation UK made the plea following the conviction of four Pakistani-origin men, belonging to a single family, for raping and sexually abusing as many as 15 teenage girls for over 16 years in Rotherham, northern England, last week. "If the four men that have been found guilty and carried out the abuse were Pakistani Muslims, this is how they should be de-
and the media to abandon the use of the term 'Asian' when describing perpetrators for reasons of political correctness," he added. The ringleader, Arshid Hussain, was imprisoned for 35 years, while his brothers Basharat Hussain, 39, and Bannaras Hussain, 36, were handed 25 years and 19 years respectively. Their uncle Qurban Ali, 53, was jailed for 10 years. The case has been prominently
Modi an 'eyesore' for those affected by graft BELAGAVI, Karnataka: For the second time in a week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he has become an "eyesore" for those affected by his crusade to end black-marketing and corruption, asserting this campaign has turned them against him. With his government coming under attack on diverse subjects, Modi also said the Opposition spoke of many issues but there was not an allegation of corruption against his government ever since he has been serving as "pradhan sevak". Stating that the government has stopped black-marketing and corruption in the fertilizer sector, he asked farmers to use only neem coated urea and also take the new crop insurance income to boost their income. He also announced that all farmers would get soil health cards by 2017. Addressing a farmers rally here as part of BJP's nationwide outreach to farmers, Modi said ear-
lier there used to be black-marketing of urea and farmers had to face lathi-charge to get urea but now the situation has improved as the government has focused on raising the output and checking the diversion of urea. Modi said he has not received any letters from the States this
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
year demanding the fertilizer. "We have taken a big step to put an end to corruption and black-marketing of urea. This is the reason why some of these people keep shouting against me. They will obviously be angry with Modi as black-marketing has been checked," he said.-PTI
discussed in the media as an example of "Asian grooming gangs", which the group believes divides communities. "We have learnt the perpetrators of these crimes regarded themselves as above the law as the authorities were supposedly worried about race relations and turned a blind eye despite repeated warnings," Singh said. The issue was also previously criticized in December 2013, when Sikh and Hindu groups started a petition. In a joint statement then, the Hindu Council UK, the Network of Sikh Organizations, Sikh Media Monitoring Group and the Sikh Awareness Society, said: "Communities who themselves fall victim of this emerging pattern of criminality, should not be besmirched by the vague terminology 'Asian'. In order to help find a solution to the problem, we need to be clear on the identity of those involved." The petition closed with 1,859 signatures calling for the word "Asian" not to be used in grooming and sex abuse cases. -PTI
Priyanka begins shooting for 'Baywatch' LOS ANGELES: Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra has begun shooting for her debut Hollywood film "Baywatch" in Miami. The 33-year-old actress, who made her international debut last year with thriller TV series "Quantico," took to Twitter to share a picture of a beach bucket filled with Baywatch goodies. "Everything you need on a beach... And day 1 on set! Amazing! Everyone is so great! Yay team #Baywatch," she captioned the picture. Priyanka made a stunning Oscar debut where she also presented the best editing award to "Mad Max: Fury Road". She attended the awards after party wearing a silver gown and immediately left for the airport to catch a flight to Miami. "Baywatch" revolves around the leader of an elite group of lifeguards (Dwayne Johnson), who is forced to team up with a young, hotshot former Olympian (Zac Efron) to save their beloved bay.-PTI
NEW YORK: Students from two eminent universities here demonstrated in support of students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, following the arrest of its student leader on charges of sedition, asserting that voicing dissent is a right and not a crime in a thriving democracy. The students of New York University and Cooper Union conducted a sitin on February 27 in solidarity with JNU students. "In a thriving democracy, voicing dissent is a right and not a crime," the universities said in a message on their Facebook page of the event 'Stand with JNU'. A report in Washington Square News, NYU's independent student newspapers, quoted student Anjana Sreedhar as saying that one of the primary purposes of the event was to raise awareness
about Kumar's arrest, especially among local students of South Asian descent. "We re protesting against the fact that he was arrested under the sedition law which is very very antiquated and very outdated," Sreedhar said.
Anthropology professor Tejaswini Ganti said in the report that even if one disagrees with certain views of the government, the "reaction" is not to clampdown and arrest or resort to violence, which is what has been happening in India, but to actually be able to have an open exchange of ideas.-PTI
US delegation meets Raje JAIPUR: A delegation led by the US Ambassador to India Richard R Verma met Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje here to discuss issues related to achieving an increase in the flow of investment from American companies to Rajasthan. The discussions were held for
investment in sectors like infrastructure development, transportation and water management, a release said. Development of tourism facilities in the State and ways to increase the number of US tourists visiting Rajasthan was also discussed, the release added. -PTI
Verma proud of family roots in India Cont’d from page 7
He said India and US can cooperate not only in higher education but also in primary and skill development, agriculture and healthcare. He emphasized that civil nuclear cooperation and energy infrastructure will be given top priority in months to come. He also recalled that through sheer determination and hard work, he has been able to reach the high position he is occupying. During the question and answer session, Jaipur Jewelers asked him to look into GSP related issues again. He promised them
that he will review and get back to them. When asked by India Post about the "Urban Sustainability'' Summit arranged by Festival of Globe (FOG) in San Jose, California, he wanted to know when this Summit will be held and noted the dates. He listened with interest as the FOG events like global film festival and India Day Parade were explained to him. He promised that his staff would get back on this. Earlier, Mr. Verma was accorded traditional warm welcome by erstwhile Maharaj Jai Singh, Sr. Vice President and Dr. K.L. Jain, Honorary Secretary General of RCCI.
Tech News Ice cream shop plans sundae record LUDINGTON, Mich.: Yearning for summer? Circle June 11 on your calendar for a free taste of a half-mile-long ice cream sundae. House of Flavors in Ludington is looking for thousands of eat-
TechBiz 12 India Post
www.indiapost.com
March 4, 2016
Niira Radia enters healthcare biz MATHURA: Making a comeback, PR veteran Niira Radia has ventured into healthcare business through a new entity Nayati Healthcare, whose first hospital was inaugurated here by Ratan Tata. Nayati Healthcare plans to open a hospital in Amritsar next while the Mathura facility would be a hub for cancer treatment in the region, Radia told PTI. After inaugurating the 351-bed multi super specialty hospital, Tata said: "It is heartening to see a full-fledged specialty hospital being established in Mathura with considerable personal sacrifice, driven by passion and a genuine desire to serve the community." The hospital would provide "much needed medical help and healthcare facilities for the people of the region", the Tata Group Chairman Emeritus said. Cont’d on page 15
BRICS bank loan likely for India solar project: Kamath ers, hundreds of scoopers and a cleanup crew. General manager Barry Neal says he's aiming for a world record. The sundae will require more than 12,000 scoops of ice cream along eight blocks in Ludington, a Lake Michigan town 100 miles northwest of Grand Rapids. People who are interested should go to http:// www.downtownludington.org . -AP
Nothing has changed at Force India: Mallya NEW DELHI: Troubled business tycoon Vijay Mallya has asserted that his stepping down as chairman of the United Spirits Ltd. will not affect his control in Formula One team, Sahara Force India. It is widely believed that his USD 75 million (Rs 515 crore) deal with UK-based liquor major Diageo meant that his control is over not only in IPL team Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) but also in Force India. RCB is controlled by USL (in which Diageo holds controlling interest) and the control over Watson Ltd, the UK based company that owns the F1 team, has also shifted to Diageo. However Mallya, known for his flamboyance, says he still is the boss at Force India. "Nothing has changed at Force India. I remain Team Principal and Managing Director," Mallya told PTI in an exclusive interaction. "If you take loan, you give some shares as security. That does not mean security has changed. Diageo may have security over my shares but ownership has not changed. I don't know why is everybody making a deal about it? "Formula One has nothing to do with my stepping down from United Spirits. They are not connected at all. In F1, nothing has changed. The ownership pattern remains exactly the same," he asserted.-PTI
SHANGHAI: The New Development Bank set up by BRICS countries aims to lend up to USD 2 billion this year starting in about two months and the multilateral lender's first loan to India could be for a green solar energy project, its president K V Kamath said. "For this year, if we can approve one-and-a-half to two billion dollars I will be happy. We are six months into setting up the bank. We do not want to take steps which are too fast," Kamath told PTI. While the bank is in the process of finalizing its set of loans to green projects from each of the BRICS countries - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa India's first loan could be for a solar project, the eminent banker hinted. "The projects we are looking at are all green projects. They are primarily in solar. A variety of initiatives were placed before us by the government," he said. Kamath, 68, said the bank is also looking for water projects and thereafter road projects to fund. The bank will release the first set of loans by April this year. "These are primary steps for us. We will understand what is the larger context that is playing out in India and follow that strategy. We have no pre-set mind," he said. About how NDB can back the 'Make in India' campaign, he said "our key role is of a catalyst. Multilateral bank cannot meet the entire development effort. It is how you innovate and add value and bring together markets and other
and what they think is priority," he said, adding that the signals suggest that the member states are articulating green projects. "We are happy to work along on green (projects)," he said.
players in the baking in system make a difference," Kamath said. "We will work with the country
us see how it develops. Lots of hopes embedded in it for greater cooperation among BRICS coun-
tries," he said. Rajan was in Shanghai to attend the meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors. India, expected to grow at 7 or 7.5 per cent this year, is the only
K V Kamath
The NDB became fully-operational after it signed an agreement with China to place its headquarters in Shanghai, according the bank a legal status under Chinese regulations. Established with an initial subscribed capital of USD 50 billion, the NDB has a total paid-in capital of USD 10 billion. Its founding members have already brought-in a capital of USD 1 billion as initial contribution. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan, who witnessed the signing of the headquarters agreement, termed the bank a "worthwhile venture" by the five-member bloc. "It is a co-operative effort between all the BRICS countries. Let
BRICS member that posted a better economic growth than other members, including China. Asked how the NDB has planned its funding, Kamath said 1 billion paid-in capital has come in. "We are starting at debt lever-
market for the local needs. Russia interestingly is also welcome the local issue. Brazil we are yet to look at. All the member countries want to play this card of local currency financing and not relying on hard currency like dollar which later create problem," he said. Kamath also dismissed concerns over overlapping of interests of China-backed Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the NDB - both of which are based in China. "The developmental needs are many. More authoritative report talks of USD 1 trillion of investment needs every year or for the next 10 years. All the developmental banks put together they are raising one-tenth of that. So the answer is to collaborate and cooperate and there is no competition really," he said. About the NDB emerging as a rival to IMF and World Bank, he said the "key difference NDB would like to do without compar-
Asked how the NDB has planned its funding, Kamath said 1 billion paid-in capital has come in. "We are starting at debt leverage. We could safely leverage this capital to two to two and half times, which is another two and half billion dollars." age. We could safely leverage this capital to two to two and half times, which is another two and half billion dollars." "We said we would like to raise local currencies predominantly. The first issue only will be in Chinese market because the rate of interest is very attractive. India is right up there in terms of wanting to access," he said. "The first borrowing is happening in China. There could certainly be borrowing in India as we go along and other member countries. In the course of time there will be a dollar borrowing," he said. The bank is also sounding out other potential markets. "We find South Africa is a deep
ing others is speed. We want to emphasize on speed. Whereas it is time consuming affair for variety of reasons. "The leverage that we can bring to market place is speed, that is what we will do. It can be done by simplification of process, avoid publicity in steps, we find so many process changes that can be done," he said. He said all the current existing multilateral banks want to bring about change. "For a variety of reasons they may not have been able to effect that change. I would think there will be a definitive demonstration effect (from NDB) that could lead to change," he said. -PTI
TechBiz Post
March 4, 2016
India Post
13
www.indiapost.com
Vinod Rai appointed Chairman G20 pledges to strengthen global recovery of Banks Board NEW DELHI: Former CAG Vinod Rai has been appointed first Chairman of the Banks Board Bureau, which will advise the government on top-level appointments at public sector lenders and ways to address the bad loans problem among other issues. Besides, ICICI Bank's former Joint Managing Director H N Sinor, Bank of Baroda's former CMD Anil K Khandelwal and rating agency CRISIL's former chief Rupa Kudwa have been appointed members. In a statement, the government said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved the proposal of the Department of Financial Services for the constitution of Banks Board Bureau (BBB) with the named persons as "part-time Chairman/Members, besides the ex-officio official members, for a period of two years". There was no immediate comments from Rai, who is currently in Singapore. The bureau has been set up at a time when public sector banks are grappling with a huge problem of bad loans with their collective gross NPAs (Non Performing Assets) approaching Rs 4 lakh crore level. Rai was the Comptroller and Auditor General between January 2008 and May 2013, during which a number of CAG reports led to various scams including in the telecom and coal sectors coming to light.
The bureau will give recommendations on appointment of directors in public sector banks and advise on ways to raise funds and mergers and acquisitions to the lenders.
for their growth and development. The bureau will search and select heads of public sector banks and help them develop differentiated strategies of capital raising plans to innovative financial meth-
Vinod Rai
There are 22 state-owned banks in India including SBI, IDBI Bank and Bhartiya Mahila Bank. The BBB was earlier proposed by the government as a body of eminent professionals and officials, which will replace the Appointments Board for appointment of Whole-time Directors as well as non-Executive Chairman of PSBs. They will also constantly engage with the Board of Directors of all the public sector banks to formulate appropriate strategies
ods and instruments. It would also be responsible for selection of non-executive chairman and non-official directors on the boards. Besides, the body will also steer strategy discussion on consolidation based on the requirement. The government wants to encourage bank boards to restructure their business strategy and also suggest way forward for their consolidation and merger with other banks. -PTI
Brexit would 'shock' global economy: G 20 SHANGHAI/LONDON: The global economy will suffer a "shock" if Britain leaves the EU, finance ministers and central bankers from the world's biggest economies including India have warned, boosting Prime Minister David Cameron's strong stand against leaving the bloc. A so-called Brexit would be a "shock" that ranks among rising downside risks and vulnerabilities for the world economy, the G20 finance ministers and central bank chiefs said after a meeting here in Shanghai, China's gleaming financial metropolis. "Downside risks and vulnerabilities have risen, against the backdrop of volatile capital flows, a large drop of commodity prices, escalated geopolitical tensions, the shock of a potential UK exit from the European Union and a large and increasing number of refugees in some regions," they said in a joint communique at the end of a two-day G20 meeting in
Shanghai. RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan along with Additional Finance Secretary Dinesh Sharma attended the meeting. Britain will hold a referendum on membership in the EU on June
Opinion polls show voters in Europe's second biggest economy are deeply divided over the issue, and many remain undecided.
23, and markets are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact on trade, jobs and investment if voters choose to leave the bloc of 500 million people.
UK Chancellor George Osborne described the prospect of a UK exit from the 27-member European Union as "deadly serious." "The financial leaders of the world's biggest countries have given their unanimous verdict. They say that a British exit from the EU would be a shock to the world economy," Osborne told the BBC in Shanghai. "If it's a shock to the world economy, imagine what it would do to Britain." Some prominent politicians, including London mayor Boris Johnson, have backed the Brexit campaign. Opinion polls show voters in Europe's second biggest economy are deeply divided over the issue, and many remain undecided. British Prime Minister David Cameron argues that being part of the EU is good for the British economy. But his opponents say EU membership is costly, creates regulatory red tape and allows unlimited immigration.-PTI
SHANGHAI: Financial in the US, plunging oil prices and policymakers of the world's 20 concerns over the financial major economies have pledged to strength of leading banks in Euuse "all tools", including mon- rope have combined to add unceretary, fiscal and structural ones, tainties to the global financial landto strengthen global recovery scape. amid growing concerns of further Despite the challenges, the downward risks. group judges that the magnitude "The global recovery contin- of recent market volatility has not ues, but it remains uneven and falls reflected the underlying fundashort of our ambition for strong, mentals of the global economy, sustainable and balance growth," state-run Xinhua news agency renoted a communique issued after ported. the two-day G20 Finance Minis"We expect activity to continue ters and Central Bank Governors to expand at a moderate pace in meeting here. most advanced economies, and RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan growth in key emerging market along with Additional Finance Secretary Dinesh Sharma at- The gathering came amid tended the meeting. The policymakers weak economic growth cited volatile capital worldwide and increasing flows, slumping commodity prices, escalated financial volatility that saw geopolitical tensions, a potential UK exit from frequent and drastic falls the European Union and increasing refugees as major vulnerabilities of the glo- economies remains strong," the bal economy. group said. The gathering came amid weak To foster confidence, monetary economic growth worldwide and policies will continue to support increasing financial volatility that economic activity and ensure price saw frequent and drastic falls in stability, but monetary tools alone the stock markets across the cannot lead to balanced growth, world. said the communique. Japan's surprising adoption of "We will use fiscal policy flexnegative interest rates, uncertain- ibly to strengthen growth, job creties over the prospect of rate hikes ation and confidence," it added.-PTI
14
TechBiz Post
India Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
Trump again blames India for taking away jobs COLUMBIA: Donald Trump, the controversial Republican presidential frontrunner, has again blamed India for taking away jobs from Americans, pledging to bring them back if elected president. Addressing a crowd of roughly 5,000 people, a big by US primary election standard - inside the
ground. Trump had earlier added India to the list of countries that he believes is taking away jobs from the US. "What I did on June 16, we came out and we started talking about trade, how we're being ripped off with China, ripped off
Donald Trump
hanger of a local airport here, Trump sold the dream of "making America great again" by promising to bring back jobs from countries like India, China, Japan and Mexico, building the wall on USMexico border, "knocking the hell out ISIS", and repealing and replacing Obama care. Every promise of his drew a thunderous applause with people cheering "USA, USA" and "Trump, Trump". People lapped on to every word he said from the makeshift stage with his Trump plane in the back-
with Japan, ripped off with Mexico at the border and then trade, ripped off by Vietnam, and by India, and by every country," Trump had said. Trump has been regularly singling out China, Japan and Mexico and occasionally Vietnam for taking away American jobs. "They are taking our jobs. China is taking our jobs. Japan is taking our jobs. India is taking our jobs. It is not going to happen anymore, folks!" Trump told to thunderous applause from the audience.
Rishu Patel, a Grade 7 student here said, "(Trump) will make us safe". Rishu and his father Jitu Patel were probably the only Indian-Americans at the rally. Tennessee has around 25,000 Indian-Americans, majority of them living around Nashville and Memphis, which has one of the oldest Hindu temples built some 20 years ago. One of his die-hard supporters, Mark, who works in the IT sector was of the view that Indian-Americans are not taking away the jobs in his sector. "They bring in quality and diversity," he said, displaying a banner which read Trump supporters are silent majority. In his 40-minutes speech, Trump reiterated his promise of building a wall along the USMexico border. New Jersey governor Chris Christie who endorsed Trump also spoke at the rally. Trump is a strong leader and is the best among others in the fray, Christie said. Hundreds of people came to the Trump rally hours in advance. The venue was full hours before he arrived. Latest polls indicate that Trump is leading in 10 of the 11 states, except for Texas where he is giving a tough fight to his main rival and Texas Senator Ted Cruz. "We might even win Texas," Trump said, as he continued to lash out on Cruz and described him as a liar. "We can be better than ever before," Trump said. -PTI
Telenor looking to start payments bank BARCELONA: Norwegian telecom operator Telenor is looking to commence operations of its payments bank JV in India this year and will roll out some basic services like bill payments a bit earlier. "What we are looking at, we might go out bit sooner with some activities but the full bank...we need to have the systems platform reviewed by RBI, so I would say that we would be very happy if we launch this in 2016," Telenor Group SVP and Head of Financial Services, Tine Wollebekk, told PTI during the Mobile World Congress held here from February 22-25. Telenor, along with Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharmaceuticals and IDFC, had earlier received Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) approval to set up the payments bank. Telenor holds 39 per cent stake
in the partnership, with Shanghvi holding 41 per cent and IDFC the rest 20 per cent. She said Telenor wants to make sure that it launches something that is resilient and compliant with all norms. Asked about the services that
it will launch before the full fledged operations, Wollebekk said, "I think there are some basic services like bill payments, but I don t want to comment on the details." Wollebekk said getting the RBI approval was a great start for its foray into financial services in India. "To be honest, India was a mar-
ket that I was waiting to see how we should approach because India is not one market, it is one big continent and obviously, it s very attractive. We want to be in India but we are also very scared about how to be successful in India," she said. Wollebekk further said, "I knew that when we were going to approach India with financial services, it would have to be based on partnerships, it should not be something we do alone." Payment banks allow mobile firms, supermarket chains and others to cater to individuals and small businesses. The payments bank will be set up as a differentiated bank and shall confine its activities to acceptance of demand deposits, remittance services, internet banking and other specified services.-PTI
India raises holding of US govt securities by $34 bn WASHINGTON: India hiked its ment securities to the tune of USD exposure to US government secu- 92.1 billion in December last year. rities by nearly USD 34 billion to India's increased exposure to touch USD 116.8 billion last year, American government securities even as the world's largest also comes against the backdrop economy witnessed mixed growth of the global economy witnessing trends. uneven growth trends in 2015. At the end of 2014, the Indicating slower expansion, country's holdings of these secu- the US economy grew 1 per cent rities was worth USD 83 billion. in the three months ended DecemLatest data from the US Trea- ber 2015. sury Department showed that In"Real gross domestic product dia owned securities valued at USD 116.8 billion at the end of Decem- China remained the largest ber, slightly higher than USD 115.4 billion in No- holder of US government vember. securities worth USD 1.246 In the first six months of 2015, India trillion, followed by Japan gradually raised exposure to USD 117 billion, with holdings valued at before slightly trimming USD 1.123 trillion. the holding to USD 116.4 billion in July. Then, it inched up to USD 116.8 the value of the goods and serbillion at December end. vices produced by the nation's China remained the largest economy less the value of the holder of US government securi- goods and services used up in ties worth USD 1.246 trillion, fol- production, adjusted for price lowed by Japan with holdings val- changes - increased at an annual ued at USD 1.123 trillion. rate of 1 per cent in the fourth quarAmong the BRIC grouping, In- ter of 2015," as per the second esdia has the third largest holding timate released by the Bureau of after China and Brazil (USD 254.8 Economic Analysis. billion). In the 2015 third quarter, real Russia held American govern- GDP rose 2 per cent. -PTI
China's sharing economy worth $ 298 billion BEIJING: From ride-hailing grow at an annual rate of 40 per business to online auctioneers, cent in the next five years, and sharing economy platforms in would take up more than 10 per China have created a market worth cent of China's GDP by 2020. USD 298 billion in 2015, according Taxi-hailing app Didi, the result to an official report. of a merger between two separate There are 50 million sharing startups in early 2015, raised tens business providers in China and of billions of US dollars last year they have more than 500 million from domestic and overseas invesconsumers, according to a report tors. by National Information Centre. The sharing The sharing economy geneconomy generating erating revenue of 1.95 revenue of 1.95 trillion yuan satisfies a variety trillion yuan satisfies a variof needs in daily life and ety of needs in daily life business. and business. In addition to taxihailing apps such as Didi, product, knowledge and serLi Jianhua, chief development vice-based providers have mush- officer of Didi, said the hailing serroomed on the Internet, said Yang vice received 1.4 billion calls in Yixin, deputy secretary-general of 2015, a figure Li expects to double the China Internet Association by 2016. told the media. The report forecast that in the Zhang Xinhong, with the Na- next decade, five to 10 firms with tional Information Center's Infor- similar value and influence as Didi mation Research Department, said will establish themselves in the China's sharing economy would sharing economy. -PTI
TechBiz Post
March 4, 2016
India Post
15
www.indiapost.com
HC upholds TRAI order to compensate consumers for call drops NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court upheld TRAI's decision making it mandatory for cellular operators to compensate subscribers for call drops from January 1. A bench of Chief Justice G
(TRAI's) regulation," it said. The court said that it has not stayed the notification of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) since filing of the writ petition, therefore the telecom regulator is at liberty to implement its
Rohini and Justice Jayant Nath dismissed a batch of petitions filed by Cellular Operators Association of India, a body of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India and 21 telecom operators, including Vodafone, Bharti Airtel and Reliance. "We uphold the validity of
decision January 1, 2016 onwards. "There is no dispute about the power of TRAI to make regulation under section 36 of the Act. The impugned regulation has been made in exercise of the power conferred under the Act, keeping in mind the paramount interest of the consumer," the
bench observed. "It is also relevant to note that the regulations do not penalize every call drop but is limited only to three call drops a day per consumer," it said. The telecom operators had moved the high court seeking quashing of TRAI's regulation contending that it was a "knee-jerk reaction" which penalized them without proving any wrong-doing. The telcos had termed the regulation as "arbitrary and whimsical" and contended that providing compensation to the consumers amounted to interfering with the companies' tariff structure and this could be done only by an order and not a regulation. The bench, while brushing aside the telcos' contention, concurred with the submissions made by Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha that the regulation is in interest of the consumer. The court also observed in its 39-page verdict that the compensation for call drops was capped at Rs 3 only and the regulation also mandated only compensating the calling consumer, not the receiver. -PTI
Niira Radia enters healthcare biz Cont’d from page 12
Radia said the hospital is poised to serve not only the population of Western Uttar Pradesh but will be the centre of excellence for the whole of North India. The hospital would aim to reduce the physical, emotional and economic burden of illness that blights the life of ordinary people in tier II and tier III towns by taking treatment to the patients, she added. Nayati Healthcare and Research Pvt Ltd, a multi super specialty healthcare chain, has decided to start operations in Tier II and Tier III cities. Radia, once known as an influential corporate lobbyist, had landed in controversy few years back following leak of her alleged taped conversations with prominent politicians, businessmen and media persons. Subsequently, she wound up her PR business comprising among other entities of Vaishnavi Corporate Communications, which handled various clients in-
cluding Tata Group and Unitech, and of Neucom Consulting which managed the account of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries. When asked about her past experiences, Radia asserted that she had no regrets. "I was never a corporate communications person, never a corporate lobbyist as they keep on calling me... Success has a price but I don't have any regrets," Radia said. "Do I regret (that I was) in the corporate space? I think it was a huge learning," she noted. About her foray into the healthcare space, Radia said, "I have found my calling". Talking about her business model, Radia said it would have to be "economies of scale... It is all about people". "We have to be sensitive to affordability," she said, adding that the entity has not slashed the prices but is only being sensible when it comes to pricing. On financial aspect of the venture, she said they are very cautious as there is support of bank loans.-PTI
Desi News Chicago FBI chief visits Palatine gurudwara SURENDRA ULLAL
CHICAGO: The Sikh Religious Society Palatine hosted FBI Chicago Region's Special Agent in Charge Michael Anderson for a friendly visit to its Gurdwara in Palatine, a northwest suburb of Chicago, on February 26. The visiting guests included Mr. Christopher Veatch, Assistant U.S. Attorney Northern Illinois Division and Amrith Kaur Aakre, Assistant State's Attorney Cook County, Illinois. The purpose of the visit was community outreach, to meet and get to know each other, and to have an informal discussion of Sikh community issues. Anderson was welcomed by the society president Mrs Jasbir Kaur Saluja, board members and community leaders. He was given a tour of the facilities. Details on page 18
P&G achieves renewable energy record India Post News Service
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), one of the cleanest utilities in the nation, has announced that the renewable energy it delivers to its customers has reached nearly 30 percent. California and PG&E continue to set the pace as national leaders in clean energy and greenhouse gas reductions. State goals called for an average of 23.3 percent Renewables Portfolio Standard between 2014 and 2016. PG&E far surpassed that target, serving 29.5 percent of its retail electricity sales with renewable power in 2015. Details on page 23
STEM girls breaking coding barriers MANASI MAHESHWARI
FREMONT, CA: A dozen twelve-year olds crowd into a room and pull out a laptop from a cart the school provides, sitting down on their seats, ready to learn. I look over the room and feel an inescapable sense of accomplishment and hope, as these young girls have the opportunity to develop into wonderful young women-who also happen to be computer scientists. It all began this past summer when I had the incredible opportunity to attend the selective Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program at Intel with 19 other young women. Details on page 24
COMMUNITY ACROSS AMERICA March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
16 India Post
Travel & Adventure Show returns to Santa Clara Details on page 25
Early voting push for 2 Indians stirring the political pot JITENDRA DIGVENKAR
CHICAGO: The saga of Indian Americans' ascendency to prominence has never spiked up as much as it is playing out in Illinois primary election scheduled for March 15. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Moon Khan are vying for two major elective positions of Illinois where Swami Vivekananda and Rabindranath Tagore left their giant prints scores of decades ago.Raja is vying for a spot in the US Congress from the 8th District and Moon is trying to clinch a high ranking position of Recorder at DuPage County. Many Indian community activists have a long pedigree of advocating for the Indian Americans in public services. Raja, who has been endorsed by all major newspapers including Chicago Tribune, Daily Herald, and Sun-Times, is smoothly sailing toward victory as various polls are showing him ahead in the surveys. "I am cautiously optimistic," said Raja, who is a second generation Indian American and who has held several high ranking governmental positions that include Deputy Attorney General and Deputy Treasurer. Raja Krishnamoorthi, 42, grew up in Illinois and has dedicated his life to serving our community and
fighting for our most vulnerable citizens. The son of Indian immigrants to the U.S., he is running for Congress on a progressive platform that includes protecting Social Security and Medicare,
and he is advocating policies to help working families, including equal pay for equal work, paid sick and maternity leave, and raising the federal minimum wage. Raja is also a staunch defender of
Raja Krishnamoorthi and Moon Khan
passing common-sense gun laws and addressing the threat of climate change. Raja believes that growing economic inequality among Americans is shrinking the middle-class on which our democracy depends,
women's reproductive freedom. Moon khan is a first generation Indian American. Before migrating to the United States, he was selected for a Deputy Collector position in India. He has volunteered for more than two dozen service
organizations. From 2005 2012, he served as an elected Trustee of York Township. These two campaigns have turned into a movement to unite and motivate the South Asian community to jump on the policy making tables.Winning may not be everything but the fact is that the united community always wins and it is up to the members of Indian community to prove their mettle in the coming elections, said Sohan Joshi, President of National Federation of Indian Associations. A large swath of sleeping voting block exists in Illinois that consists of people of Indian origin, who share very rich cultural legacy, ethnic inheritance, linguistic lineage, faith traditions, and culinary palates. By working together, they can ask for their own slices of the pies. History has proved that sitting on the bus, Rosa Parks paved the way so Martin Luther King could march. Organizing civil rights movement over the years an African American in Barack Obama finally won the US presidency. Similarly, this election of Raja Krishnamoorthi will prove to be a catalyst for other Indians and South Asians to imagine for advanced political positions, many believe.
Raja gets more endorsements & early voting SURENDRA ULLAL
CHICAGO: With the March primary just a week away, Raja Kirishnamoorthi, a Congressional candidate from 8th District in Illinois, is inching closer to get Democratic nomination hands down on wider support from the community and mainstream media. It was Daily Herald which had endorsed its support to Raja a few weeks ago and this week two leading newspapers with very large readership and following - Chicago Tribune and Sun Times - also announced their choice in favor of Raja. Raja's rival in the Democratic field is Michael Noland. Cont’d on page 19
J. Digvenkar with Raja
Raja supporters vote early
Community Across America
March 4, 2016
India Post 17
www.indiapost.com
Indians host fundraiser for Sen Harris MADHU PATEL
CHICAGO: A group of Indian community activists led by Kishore Mehta, Executive Director for "Volunteers for Napoleon Harris 2016", Dr Vijay Prabhakar, Vandana Jhingan, among others, hosted a fundraiser for State Senator Napoleon Harris who is seek-
of Indian community members and Media representatives. The chairperson Kishore Mehta in his opening remarks welcomed all attendees and introduced State Senator Napoleon Harris as a young, distinguished and proven leader who delivers. He added that Harris is
L-R: James Jones, Campaign Manager, Kishore Mehta, Executive Director for "Volunteers For Napoleon Harris 2016", State Senator Napoleon Harris, Dr Vijay Prabhakar, Vice Chairman for "Volunteers For Napoleon Harris 2016"
Kishore Mehta, State Senator Napoleon Harris (US Senate candidate), Sohan Joshi (NFIA-USA) Mohammad Ashfaq & Dr Vijay Prabhakar
ing a fresh Democratic nomination for the State Senate in the March15 elections. The event held at Hema's Kitchen on Devon Avenue was well attended by a cross section
currently Vice-Chair of State Insurance Committee and serves on State Public Health, Economic and development committees. " State Senator Napoleon Harris said that his business knowledge,
entrepreneurship and religious background will be very useful in good discharge of his duties. He appealed the media and community leaders who attended the event to contact their associates and members to vote for him and advised them to go for early voting. He requested everyone to make few phone calls and suggest
CG Sayeed & wife Farha host media meet RAMESH SOPARAWALA India Post News Service
CHICAGO: Indian Consul General Dr Ausaf Sayeed is a proven career diplomat endearing himself well with the community at large, but he has also emerged as a very hospitable and amiable host while entertaining guests at meetings and the media group invited at his Chicago downtown residence last week had a first hand feel of this trait. Not to be outdone in this respect is his wife Farha Sayeed. A talented artist, not basking in his glory, she has carved out a name and fame for herself in a relatively uncharted field - carving and painting on egg shells of birds.
She acquitted herself very gracefully while making media guests feel at home at their residence and gave them a glimpse of her art work. CG Sayeed was in a reminiscent mood sharing his experiences as an Ambassador to Yemen as also his handling of passport work in Hyderabad at the start of his career. It was revealing to know that Aden, a free port during British yoke, had a large number of In-
Dr Sayeed with group of Media invitees
Dr Ausaf Sayeed
dian population who felt at home with keeping up their links with India and Indian culture by celebrating religious festivals and social-cultural programs. There were two scores of religious places - Hindu-Jain temples, churches and Parsee fire places. "The Jain temple had a huge collection of old manuscripts which with the help of the Indian government were well taken care of," he said. Dhirubhai Ambani, an industry Moghul, had his business start at Aden, Dr Ausaf mentioned. Cont’d on page 19
punching # 23. At the end of his speech, he opened up the floor for any questions for him and his candidacy for the US senate. Kishore Mehta expressed his satisfaction about the way Senator Harris conducted the press conference answering all the questions asked by media people and introduced Sohan Joshi, National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIAUSA). Joshi urged everybody to make few phone calls or knocking on friends' doors to request them to vote for Senator Harris.
Dr Vijay Prabhakar, Co-chair, requested everyone to support Sen Harris and go to vote and Punch number # 23 for Democratic primary election on March 15. He talked about Senator's achievement as a state senator and his passion for Education which is well known. Senator Harris is a former NFL football pro drafted by Oakland Raiders and played for Minnesota Vikings & Kansas City Chiefs and expressed his confidence that Harris will do the same for people of Illinois and our community. Dr Vijay Prabhakar thanked the gathering for their support and for attending the event. He acknowledged the presence of other prominent leaders of the society - Mohammad Ashfaq, President and CEO at ?American Scientific Clinical Lab, Vijay Doma UTCC coordinator, Clarence Beals CEO, Jordan's Dream, Jerome Altman, Hema Potla (CEO Hema's Kitchen) and Media representatives present at the event. James Jones, a campaign manager and a high-ranking supporter of Senator Harris, was astounded and please to see the response and welcome given to Senator Harris and he expressed his gratitude to our Media.
18 India Post
Community Across America
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
Chicago FBI chief visits Palatine gurudwara SURENDRA ULLAL
CHICAGO: The Sikh Religious Society Palatine hosted FBI Chicago Region's Special Agent in Charge Michael Anderson for a friendly visit to its Gurdwara in Palatine, a northwest suburb of Chicago, on February 26. The visiting guests included Mr. Christopher Veatch, Assistant U.S. Attorney Northern Illinois Division and Amrith Kaur Aakre, Assistant State's Attorney Cook
County, Illinois. The purpose of the visit was community outreach, to meet and get to know each other, and to have an informal discussion of Sikh community issues. Anderson was welcomed by the society president Mrs Jasbir Kaur Saluja, board members and community leaders. He was given a tour of the facilities. Anderson and the group attended an informational slide presentation by Amrith Kaur Aakre about Sikhs and their issues while living in this country.He was also presented with a poster, depicting Sikh soldiers in World Wars who gallantly fought and died for the allies, by Sarwan Singh Raju. "This meeting with FBI leadership, U.S. Attorney and Cook County State Attorney's officers was to build and maintain cooperative relationships with law enforceFBI Chief Michael Michael Anderson addressing the ment. The presentation to them was gathering at Sikh Religious Society to create an awareness of Sikh ap-
FBI Chief Anderson with group of Sikh society members and devotees
pearance, turban, beard, Kirpaan, Five K's - the articles of faith, the external tangible symbols which are constant reminders of the core Sikh values," explained Rajinder Singh Mago, the coordinator of the event. Anderson explained his past experience with civil rights, current job responsibilities in Chicago and his plans to increase resources for community outreach. A free flowing cordial dialogue during Q&A session ensued where curbing the prevalent hate crimes against Sikhs, TSA issues at the airports, and mitigation of safety and security concerns were discussed. Anderson sat on the carpeted floor to observe the Sikh worship congregation, listened to the Keertan (singing of hymns) and was invited to address the Gurdwara congregation. He introduced himself to the
community and assured his personal attention in case of need. He encouraged community members to seek employment opportunities with FBI. "I like to see my staff to look like the community they are serving," he said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Veatch, who is National Security and Cyber Crimes Section Chief and prosecutes domestic terrorism cases, also assured his cooperation and support to the community during his remarks to the Sikh leadership group meeting. He was also invited to address the Sikh congregation. Anderson was appointed as the Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of investigations Chicago Field Office in September 2015. Now in Chicago, he has made efforts to take time out to outreach various communities in his jurisdiction.
Jamnik joins First Bank as Sr Vice President STEPHANIE KULKE
CHICAGO: First Bank & Trust has picked Jamnik has an MBA in Finance from up Steven P. Jamnik as Senior Vice Presi- Lewis University-Romeoville, and a dent, Commercial Banking. Bachelor's degree from Eastern Illinois UniJamnik, with over 31 versity. years experience in "I look forward to Chicagoland, has joined working with my First the staff of the Naperville Bank & Trust colleagues branch in February, to help our clients make where he will serve the the most of their business needs of commercial opportunities through banking clients locally access to capital and and throughout Chisound financial advice," cago. he said Prior to joining First The bank, founded in Bank & Trust Jamnik was 1995, is a locally owned Vice president - middle and managed community market at Fifth Third bank with a mission to be Bank. He is a volunteer the most responsive and Steven P. Jamnik, First Bank & Trust VP Commercial Banking and past board member the most responsible of the Joliet Boys & Girls bank in the communities Club and Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Will it serves. Its goal is to spur economic growth County. He resides in Shorewood with his and development in Chicagoland, including wife and two children. the North Shore and the western suburbs.
March 4, 2016
Community Across America
India Post 19
www.indiapost.com
CG Sayeed & wife Farha host media meet Cont’d from page 17
It was also revealing to know that many Yemen lawmakers and government officials had their education at Pune and they yearned for cementing educational and cultural ties with India. This relatively small, tension-free place got embroiled in fierce proxy fights among contending nations and locals. Much of Saudi oil shipped to India passes thru the Aden port. The peace in the region is important for India. Dr Sayeed also said how he overhauled passport issuance facility in Hyderabad by eliminating "touts" who had entrenched themselves near the government facility. He has taken energetic steps to streamline the functioning of the Indian consulate in Chicago. Besides, he has initiated moves that ing pearls, beads, crystals, brocade, velvet, would help cementsatin, golden laces, ing academic, busietc., and finally are ness and cultural ties mounted on beautibetween Midwest ful silver and golden and India. stands, making each Farha Sayeed, the end-product a cusartist wife of Dr tomized masterSayeed, has a twopiece. day exhibition of egg She transforms shell carving slated relatively no-use at Chicago Symeggshells into phony facility in Chibreathtakingly beaucago Downtown on tiful and precious Sunday March 20 pieces of art, which and Monday March can adorn even a 21. palace because of She has a pastheir elegance and sion for creating beauty. An interestFaberge-styled exing aspect of Farha's otic Objets d'Art egg sculpting is her from egg shells of successful experiostrich, emu, goose, mentation with the duck, turkey, guinea, fusion of Indian and rhea, and hen. These Islamic elements in eggshells are intrithis unique art form, An exhibit of Farha egg cately cut, carved, shell sculpting which is otherwise and ornamented, usWestern.
Raja gets more endorsements and early voting at Trickster Art Gallery on Roselle Road in Raja had earlier reSchaumburg on Monceived support from a day February 29 startnumber of service oring morning 9 am. J. ganizations, top brass Digvenkar, one of the politicians including organizers, said that the Senator Dick Durbin, drive is not a one-day Congresswoman Tami affair and will continue Duckworth and U.S. till the election day. House Democratic "Fortunately same Whip Rep. Steny day Raja is having fiHoyer. Members of Innal debate and lots of dian and Pakistani Media will be attending community at large this debate and hence, have extended their the importance of the wholehearted support first day. We already to Raja. had 200 plus people Raja supporters vote early Indian community going for early voting activists and supporters of Raja had orga- till 11 am and hope more will follow by the nized a voters drive pitching for early vot- time the day ends. One can register vote ing, The early voting drive was organized and vote at the same time," he said. Cont’d from page 16
Ms Farha with ladies guests
Farha's collection of decorated eggs was first displayed by the Art Lovers' Group of a renowned Danish Pharmaceutical Company. This was followed by a series of fullfledged solo exhibitions titled "Eggsperience" in Copenhagen,"Eggcellence" in Jeddah, "Eggxotica" in New Delhi, and "Eggspressions" in Sana'a, to great appreciation. Farha also participated in the Annual Dallas Egg Show along with other international egg artists.
A member of International Egg Art Guild, Farha is considered as a pioneer in promoting Egg Art in India. "I had a passion for arts and crafts since my childhood; when I came across a new medium of eggshells it attracted me instantly. Eggs reflect the origin of life. To me egg sculpting is a reflection of my self-expression and a way of looking at objects in a different perspective", she added. (Suresh Bodiwala has contributed his piece on Ms Farha)
Community Across America
20 India Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
$400,000 raised for Sikhism awareness campaign SHAWN SINGH GHUMAN & DEEPAK CHHABRA India Post News Service
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Over 500 Sikh men, women and children from all across the San Francisco Bay area came together to support National Sikh Campaign's (NSC)'s plan to raise awareness of Sikhism and the Sikh identity in America. Over $400,000 were raised at a soldout event in order to help launch and sustain a PR and ad campaign set to begin later this year in national mainstream media channels
sociates, Hillary Clinton's polling research team that is headed by Geoff Garin, to develop the messaging and framework of these advertisements. "This is a historic moment in the history of the Sikh community in America. Never before have we had the opportunity to tell our story to our fellow Americans around the country and that time has come now," said Kaval Kaur, National Charter member of NSC and host of the event. "It is one of the best initiatives to help not only us but our kids and our future gen-
fame opened the event with an enthralling song which he had the audience join in singing. The hosts of this gathering were prominent couple and Sikh business leaders, Kaval Kaur and Jasvir Gill, CEO of Alert Enterprise, and this program was held at the company's headquarters in the business district in Fremont, CA. "We, Sikhs, need to change the narrative and present the correct image of who we are, showcasing how we are totally integrated in the American society and not only as victims," said Dr. Rajwant wonderfully presented at a national level. More importantly, this is the first time Sikhs have raised this amount of money to spread the awareness about their faith in America. Previous record is of $90,000 in NSC's Los Angeles Gala
last year." Shawn Singh Ghuman, NSC's Communications Director, laid out the media strategy while Gurwin Singh Ahuja, NSC's Executive Director, presented the ads to the Cont’d on page 21 audience.
Benedictine University holds weekly Aarti and online. For the first time ever, the television advertisements - created by AKPD, President Obama's campaign media team - were unveiled to an enthusiastic audience. Last year, NSC had hired the services of AKPD and Hart Research As-
erations." Among the attendees were prominent Sikh entrepreneurs, leading Silicon Valley IT professionals, medical doctors, owners of trucking companies and officials of all gurdwaras in the area. Devenderpal Singh of Indian Idol
Singh, Co-Founder of the National Sikh Campaign, who presented the overview of the campaign and appealed to the audience to donate for the cause. "Sikhism has salient points which resonate with American values and that good news has to be
HARISH RAO
CHICAGO: Benedictine University, a Roman Catholic research university in Lisle, a south west suburb of Chicago, holds Hindu aarti prayer on Thursdays in its Kindlon Hall at 12:30 pm; in the Benedictine tradition,
positive direction. He urged Benedictine for a permanent and dedicated "Hindu Prayer Room" on the campus. Madhu Patel, the founder president of NRI Press Club, said that the interfaith harmony is a must for
NW University promotes Priya Harjani SURENDRA ULLAL
CHICAGO: Priya J. Harjani, currently senior associate general counsel at Northwestern University, has been promoted to deputy general counsel for the University, effective March 1, Philip Harris, Northwestern's vice president and general counsel, announced. "Priya Harjani has developed and demonstrated exceptional team leadership and collaborative skills," Harris said, adding that these qualities "complement her mastering of specialty areas that present growing challenges for our clients, including a variety of employment and litigation matters." In her new position, Harjani is expected to help manage areas of the Office of the General Counsel and facilitate the performance of more strategic and proactive work by the office. Harjani is a graduate of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law. She obtained her bachelor's degree summa cum laude from the University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign. She is a member of the bar in Illinois and the District of Columbia and is admitted to prac-
tice before the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, and the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. After working in private practice at a large law firm in Chicago,
Priya J. Harjani
Harjani joined Northwestern in 2004 as an assistant general counsel. She was promoted to associate general counsel in 2007 and to senior associate general counsel in 2014. She counsels on labor and employment law matters, including terminations, performance issues, reductions in force, discrimination and harassment is-
sues, disability accommodations, leaves of absences, separation agreements, labor grievances and arbitrations, union negotiations and wage and hour issues. Harjani also represents the University in federal and state court as well as at administrative agencies, including the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Illinois Department of Human Rights and the Cook County Commission on Human Rights. She serves on various University committees, including the policy review committee, the accessibility committee and many others. She also teaches a graduate-level course titled "Legal and Ethical Issues in Higher Education" in Northwestern University's School of Education and Social Policy. She serves on various community and civic organizations, as well, including Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago, the Indian American Bar Association of Chicago Foundation and the Midwest Minority In-House Counsel Group
Benedictine University in Lisle
Founded by the monks of St. Procopius Abbey in 1887, it claims to be "guided by our Roman Catholic tradition" and its Values include "a search for God by oneself and with others". It "is grounded in the spirit of the founders who based their lives and work on St. Benedict's Rule for Monks, written in the early sixth century". Commending Benedictine for holding weekly Hindu aarti prayer in the campus, Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, described it as a step in the
peace in the society and the world, and in this context the Aarti at the University is a welcome move. Forbes magazine named Benedictine among "America's Top Colleges" for the fifth consecutive year in 2015. Besides 108acre wooded main campus in Lisle, it has branches/centers in Springfield, Naperville, Bellwood-all in Illinois; Mesa (Arizona); and programs in China and Vietnam. It offers 56 undergraduate degrees, 15 graduate degrees and four doctoral programs. Dr. Michael S. Brophy is the President.
March 4, 2016
Community Across America
India Post 21
www.indiapost.com
$400,000 raised for Sikhism awareness campaign Cont’d from page 20
"These ads have been tested and we have received positive feedback from a sample of the American audience through a polling conducted by Hart Research Associates," said Ahuja. "We are very confident that these ads will have the needed impact to change the way our community is perceived - San Francisco Sikhs have given a major boost to our game-changing plan for Sikhs in America." Harbir Singh Bhatia, a Sikh activist in the Bay Area and one of the major local organizers, said, "There is a huge opportunity and need for the National Sikh Campaign initiative. We all hear about hate crimes and violent incidents against Sikhs, but never the values, resilience, and love that define Sikhism. Sikh Values are American Values, and yet it is largely unknown. Our fellow Americans should be more aware of this fact and realize how similar we are through this." "The turnout of our community members at the Gala speaks volumes about the need and support for NSC," Bhatia added. "Building awareness and understanding of Sikhism is a multi-prong effort, and this campaign will play a major part in this end. It will be a different future for Sikh Americans when people see Sikhs in the mainstream media - which has a power unheard of in the United States!" Fred Roth, a cancer survivor, narrated his story of how the Sikh concept of Chardhi Kala - staying positive in all situations - had helped him recover from this dreadful dis-
ease and his wife Kathy, shared her ordeal while staying positive. They were introduced to the concept of Chardhi Kala by their longtime friends, Kaval Kaur and Jasvir Gill. In addition, Radio Punjab played a key role and allowed lot of air time to engage people all across the Bay Area with the Sikh campaign and the event. All the local Gurdwaras played a supportive role and asked their members to join the occasion. The Fremont Gurdwara, San Jose Gurdwara, Hayward gurdwara, Milpitas Gurdwara, San Francisco Gurdwara and El Sobrante Gurdwaras all made efforts to provide support to the initiative. The number of volunteers who worked day and night to make this event a huge success were crucial to its success. NSC's Bay Area team included Narinder Pal Singh, Upinder Ghai Gupta, Renu Bhatia, Jespal Singh Brar, Paramjeet Kaur Sekhon, Kashmir Singh Shahi, Satinder Singh Malhi, Savinder Singh, Preena Soni, Surinder Kaur, Kartika Aranda, Simon Fu, Minna Kaushik, Suman Gill, Deepak Chhabra, Paul Sabharwal,
Amrit Kaur Sethi, Jyotica Bhatia, Gurparkash Singh, Nirban Singh and Nihaal Gill. About National Sikh Campaign
The National Sikh Campaign is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit organization that is helping to build the image of Sikhism in America and highlight the impact Sikh Americans have made in the United States. The aim of this campaign is to create an environment of mutual acceptance in which Sikhs don't have to hide their articles of faith and lay the foundation for more Sikh Americans to
become leaders in the United States. NSC will use this research to raise understanding of Sikhism, change the perceptions of Sikhs in America and organize the Sikh community. It will also lay the backbone for future initiatives that include a data-driven, grassroots awareness effort that will employ web and digital advertisements, TV advertising, and broadcast and national media. NSC is reaching to various Gurdwaras, Sikh organizations, and stakeholders within America and internationally to create the largest network of Sikhs and the most influential PR effort ever for Sikhism.
Community Across America
22 India Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
Rollicking laugh fest on Valentine's Day ARCHANA ASTHANA
CUPERTINO, CA: Enacte Arts is emerging as an unstoppable force in the Bay Area, bringing diverse acts to its platform of encouraging and showcasing new as well as established artists. Continuing with its theme of focusing on South Asian artists, the audience was treated to a laugh fest on Valentine's Day weekend at the De Anza Center for Performing Arts in Cupertino. Sammy Obeid in his opening act for the headliner, Hari Kondabolu, bowled the audience with his smart, relevant, and highly "punny" routine. His act was a
a ready, disarming smile, Sammy proceeded to unravel the mystery of Spice rack, which must be a code for sidekicks for men's entertainment...going by the names of ladies he discovered in a "Spice Rack" club in Georgia, Paprika, Ginger, Rosemary, "Sage in a cage", "Fennel in a kennel", Coriander, also known as Cilantro, were some that stayed with me after all this "thyme". In a final flourish, he made jokes about death in saying that we grow taller after the last breath, giving an opportunity for even the short ones to smile in death.
Another hilarious owcased the very best of what stand-up comedy has to offer. Both comedians were refreshing in their approach, their delivery down to earth, and content relevant, and humor above par in its wit, intelligence and sheer mirth. constant laughter stream, rather than jokes with punch lines. He never took a break from entertaining the audience. Laughter threatened to drown out his next pithy spoken word, and the wealth of mirth contained within. Every word he uttered, as well as those said under his breath, was redolent with wit and humor, a rare commodity in today's stand-up routines. As a Math graduate from University of California, Berkeley, he is now dealing with the "aftermath", and makes jokes about the use of the word, "problems" to address Math ideas, when, in reality the Math guys just want to know when two trains moving at certain average speeds from opposite directions will cross each other! Sammy introduced himself as part Arab, and part Texan, therefore being "pure oil", while claiming his Lebanese heritage to have a lot of culture as the root word, "Lebon" means yogurt. Lamenting the lack of an ethnic Lebanese accent in his parents, he reached into his ethnic background for several hilarious statements. His family's Arab guilt was mentioned as his uncle is named "Jihad", which essentially means, "struggle", and the consequences thereof for air travel! As he is constantly mistaken for an Indian, owing to his brown skin, he shook his head ruefully, saying "not everyone can be Columbus", and went on to make jokes about the ethnic Indian community...as in a family with two "Priuses" should be called "Priya". In his cute, engaging style and
This set the stage suitably for Hari Kondabolu's appearance, who remarked on playing a hand in messing up the microphone, so Sammy would look bad, making Hari look better. It is true that the mike wasn't working during Sammy's performance, and he gamely made a joke about it, and continued with just projecting his voice. Hari is a national celebrity, hav-
ing appeared on some of the most prestigious stages, like Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman and Conan. He was educated at Bowdoin College in Maine, and is an expert on the minority head nod! His comedy is laden with political and racist content and he spins it in the most meaningful way, without resorting to cuss words, and, in general, avoiding bad language. He acknowledges a nod towards his family's support and belief in the same agenda of gay and civil rights that he is a big proponent of. He has been told many times to go back to his country, Afghanistan, or Iraq...or, whichever country America is bombing at that time. Hari describes himself as a liberal, and found himself dining with Vice President Biden, who claimed to love Hari's mop of unruly, wild hair. In his self deprecating style he told the VP that he would look crazy with his hair, ending with, "heck, I look crazy with my hair"! Election years, the election process and candidates are great fodder for stand-up comedy, and Hari milked it to the hilt, starting with Donald Trump's liberal actions towards immigrants, by divorcing them. Hari also started the blog, "Bobby Jindal is so white..." and a couple of one liners from there that stood out were "that he refers to Indian food as ethnic
food"; or, "he is looking for a minority running mate to diversify the ticket".
He cites his obsession with race as a drowning man being obsessed with swimming. He joked about the concept of tanning for brown skinned people like himself, likening it to birds talking about hu-
mans concept of flying. When directed to an "ethnic needs section" in the grocery store when he asked for the location of cocoa butter, he thought he would finally find "police brutalities", "minorities bashing" etc. there. Another hilarious observation was the concept of "white chocolate"! His debut album, "Waiting for 2042" is about a time when whites will be a minority in America and the ensuing uproar. The evening showcased the very best of what standup comedy has to offer. Both comedians were refreshing in their approach, their delivery down to earth, and content relevant, and humor above par in its wit, intelligence and sheer mirth. Bay Area needs more such shows in a sequestered location for utmost audience engagement and absorption of the experience, without distractions usually associated with a bar or club venue.
Willow TV to broadcast & live stream cricket events India Post News Service
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA: Willow TV International is planning the most comprehensive multiplatform coverage ever in the United States of the International Cricket Council (ICC) events, starting with the ICC World Twenty20 when the 2016 tournament kicks off in India on March 8. All 35 matches from the men's tournament and 11 matches from the women's tournament will be televised live on the Willow cricket channel in high definition between March 8 and April 3. This is the first time a US television network will broadcast the entire tournament live, highlighting cricket's growing popularity in the country. With marquee matchups throughout the tournament, Willow's broadcast of the tournament is expected to attract unprecedented television audiences for cricket in the United States. The ICC World Twenty20 is the world's premier Twenty20 cricket tournament. This is the sixth edition of the tournament, and the
first to be hosted by India. This nation-versus-nation tournament is designed with a view to globalizing cricket by attracting new audiences and features an innovative format that integrates the men's and women's competitions. Sixteen men's teams and ten women's teams will compete across 8 venues in India, making this the biggest cricket tournament ever. With Willow's TV Everywhere service, authenticated subscribers can also access all the exciting
in the US, it is our mission to bring the best international cricket live to American audiences. Previous tournaments of the stature of the ICC events have only been available as pay-per-view, so to have the entire tournaments live on our network is a significant milestone for cricket in the US." Campbell Jamieson, ICC General Manager - Commercial, added: "The extensive coverage promised from Willow for the ICC World Twenty20 demonstrates the spirit and commitment of the partner-
action from the tournament on their computers, tablets and smartphones. "We are excited to provide unparalleled coverage of the ICC World Twenty20 live to sports fans in the United States," said Vijay Srinivasan, CEO of Willow TV International. "As one of the fastest growing sports networks
ship. ICC is looking forward to capitalizing on the growing popularity of cricket in the United States, supported by broadcast initiatives from Willow, to make cricket the World's Favorite Sport." The ICC awarded its global audio-visual rights for ICC events from 2015-2023 to Star Middle East.
"We are particularly excited to bring cricket home to American audiences in a supreme broadcasting format. This is a first for viewers in America and the partnership with Willow TV International is a significant long-term commitment towards the sport and engaging public interest in a targeted and sustainable manner. We are hoping cricket grips America by storm and fulfills the dream of a growing number of cricket fans who enjoy watching the game as much as they enjoy playing it," said a Star Middle East spokesperson. Future ICC events scheduled for coverage by Willow include the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy, the 2017 ICC Women's World Cup, the 2018 ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup, the 2018 ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, the 2018 ICC Women's World Twenty20 and the 2019 ICC Cricket World Cup. The Willow cricket channel is available on the leading satellite, cable, IPTV and over-the-top internet video platforms across the United States.
March 4, 2016
Community Across America
India Post 23
www.indiapost.com
P&G achieves renewable energy record India Post News Service
SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), one of the cleanest utilities in the nation, has announced that the renewable energy it delivers to its customers has reached nearly 30 percent. California and PG&E continue to set the pace as national leaders in clean energy and greenhouse gas reductions. State goals called for an average of 23.3 percent Renewables Portfolio Standard between 2014 and 2016. PG&E far surpassed that target, serving 29.5 percent of its retail electricity sales with renewable power in 2015. Additionally, PG&E is well ahead of schedule in meeting the state's 33 percent target by 2020. When looking at the company's entire energy portfolio, more than 58 percent of the electricity that
PG&E delivers to its customers comes from greenhouse gas-free resources when including large hydroelectric and nuclear energy. Geisha Williams, president, PG&E Electric, said she is proud of the company's track record as a
SANTA BARBARA, CA: The Santa Barbara Museum of Art (SBMA) in California is showcasing images of Hindu deities in an upcoming exhibition "Puja and Piety", which will run from April 17 to August 28. It includes 12th century volca-
nic stone sculpture of Shiva, 11th century sandstone sculpture of Balarama, 19th century paintings of Kali and Devi, cart of Vishnu, etc. It presents over 160 objects of diverse media created over the past two millennia and is one of the major presentations of the SBMA's 75th-anniversary year in 2016. Commending SBMA for exhibiting Hindu artifacts, Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Ne-
PG&E delivers a renewable power mix of solar, wind, geothermal, bio-power and small, eligiblerenewable hydroelectric energy. That diverse portfolio has helped PG&E achieve a carbon emissions rate that is two-thirds cleaner
"The clean energy transformation that began with energy efficiency programs in the 1970s has made quantum leaps through new technologies like solar and wind energy, which are part of the green power we deliver to our customers every day. We've made great progress on renewable energy and we aren't done yet,� said Williams clean energy leader and this latest achievement. "The clean energy transformation that began with energy efficiency programs in the 1970s has
Santa Barbara Museum showcasing Hindu gods India Post News Service
made quantum leaps through new technologies like solar and wind energy, which are part of the green power we deliver to our customers every day. We've made great progress on renewable energy and we aren't done yet. We stand
vada said that art had a long and rich tradition in Hinduism and ancient Sanskrit literature talked about religious paintings of deities on wood or cloth. Rajan Zed urged major art museums of the world, including Musee du Louvre and Musee d'Orsay of Paris, Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Los Angeles Getty Center, Uffizi Gallery of Flor e n c e (Italy), Art Institute of Chicago, Tate Modern of London, Prado Museum of Madrid, National Gallery of Art in Wa s h i n g ton DC, etc., to frequently organize Hindu art focused exhibitions, thus sharing the rich Hindu art heritage with the rest of the world. SBMA, whose Guiding Principles include "stimulate thought"; comprises of 27,000 works of art spanning over 5,000 years of human creativity, including classical antiquities and Monet paintings; serves about 150,000 visitors annually. Larry J. Feinberg is the Director, while John C. Bishop Junior is the Trustees Chair.
ready to help Governor Brown deliver on the new goal of 50 percent renewables by 2030 because we want to demonstrate to other states that a clean energy future is achievable, and essential for future generations," said Williams.
than the national utility average. The company also leads the nation in having connected more than 215,000 customers with rooftop solar to the grid. PG&E is expanding its clean energy portfolio as large renew-
able energy projects come on line after years of development, and PG&E customers are enjoying a surge of greener electricity. The company's new Solar Choice offering gives customers the option to lower their carbon footprint and purchase 50 percent or 100 percent of their electricity from solar power, without the need to install panels. Also, PG&E has been named one of the nation's greenest utilities in the annual Global Top 100 ranking by Energy Intelligence's New Energy. The rankings are based on carbon emissions and renewable energy. Late last year, the company signed on to a White House initiative aimed at rallying U.S. businesses around the need to take action on climate change, and joined Gov. Jerry Brown and the California delegation at the United Nations' climate talks (COP21) in Paris.
Community Across America
24 India Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
STEM girls breaking coding barriers MANASI MAHESHWARI
FREMONT, CA: A dozen twelve-year olds crowd into a room and pull out a laptop from a cart the school provides, sitting down on their seats, ready to learn. I look over the room and feel an inescapable sense of accomplishment and hope, as these young girls have the opportunity to develop into wonderful young women-who also happen to be computer scientists. It all began this past summer when I had the incredible opportunity to attend the selective Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program at Intel with 19 other young women. There, I spent 7 weeks learning how to code in various languages like Python, JavaScript, HTML/CSS, and more while making amazing friends and learning about the importance of bringing new voices - female voices - into the technology sector. The teachers presented shocking statistics about the dearth of women in computer science fields, with only 0.4% of High School Computer Science students and 17% of AP Computer Science test takers being girls. Rather than be-
Manasi Maheshwari launching STEM girls coding program
ing discouraged by these disappointing numbers, I became inspired to make a change and do my part in rectifying this prevailing disparity between the sexes. As one of two Alumni Ambassadors for my Girls Who Code class, I was encouraged to spread what I learned to my community and I followed that advice. As head and instructor of my high school's Girls Who Code program, I teach almost 20 students various kinds of computer programming, depending on their level of experi-
ence. Some use drag-and-drop syntax to complete assignments in Python, while other more experienced members create projects from scratch using JavaScript. Even more than teaching coding, my overarching motive in leading this club is to show girls that a career in computers is something achievable (not to mention, extremely interesting!) for anyone, regardless of their gender. Soon after the program at my high school began, I realized that there was still so much I could do
to help my community, and a new idea was incepted. After contacting my sixth-grade teacher Ms. Schlobohm, elementary school principal, and Girls Who Code administration, my next initiative was set-in partnership with Girls Who Code and the school, I created a new program called STEM Girls. At the launch of this program on February 22, over a dozen sixthgrade girls joined us for the first meeting alone, and the numbers just keep growing. In collaboration with a volunteer instructor, I strive
to inspire these young girls to dream big and never be discouraged from pursuing their interests due to external factors. My experience, first as a student and then applying my newfound knowledge as a teacher, has taught me a lot about leadership and the importance of taking risks. I no longer have qualms with speaking in front of crowds, whether they consist of peers or parents, and I really enjoy sharing everything I've learned with so many new people. I'm grateful for the chance to make a difference and am excited for the future expansion of these initiatives to reach even more students across Fremont. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Girls is a coding program that imparts programming skills to young middle school girls and encourages them to explore computer science as a career choice. Manasi Maheshwari is an American High School, Fremont, California student and is the program founder at Ardenwood School and aims to start many more such chapters in 2016.
March 4, 2016
Community Across America
India Post 25
www.indiapost.com
Travel & Adventure Show returns to Santa Clara India Post News Service
SANTA CLARA, CA: The 2016 SF/Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show, part of the No. 1 travel show series in the U.S., returns to the Santa Clara Convention Center, March 5-6, with an impressive lineup of keynote speakers, travel industry experts, global performers and renowned chefs. Confirmed participants include Rick Steves, America's leading authority on European travel; Travel Channel host Samantha Brown; Jerry Stone, the popular food blogger; and Ben Simon, chief executive officer of Imperfect Produce, among others. "We are thrilled to welcome the world's leading travel, food and cultural experts to the SF/Bay Area Travel and Adventure Show," said John Golicz, chief executive officer and founder. "Our team has curated an entertaining, interactive show that will provide unparalleled travel education to help travelers enhance their next domestic or international adventure. " The 2016 SF/Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show will feature the following keynote speakers: • Rick Steves, chief executive officer of "Rick Steves' Europe,"
guidebook author, PBS travel host and America's leading authority on European travel • Samantha Brown, Travel Channel host • Pauline Frommer, editorial director of the Frommer Guides and publisher of Frommers.com
Travel enthusiasts can also look forward to the opportunity to meet with more than 200 of the world's top travel providers and access to exclusive once-in-a-lifetime travel deals • Doug McConnell, host of "OpenRoad" on NBC Bay Area and former host of the legendary, "Bay Area Backroads," the longest-running television series in Bay Area broadcast history Wanderlust travelers can attend the Destination Theater for the following locale-specific workshops to draw inspiration and gain insider knowledge: • The Islands of Tahiti are Closer Than You Think • Beyond the Cruise: The Inside Scoop on Alaska Adventures • Adventure, Discovery and Tranquility in Costa Rica • Adventures in Australia & New Zealand
Redevelopment only course for Vallco Mall India Post News Service
CUPERTINO, CA: Retail trends are changing, and the effects can be seen on malls across the country - and right here in Cupertino at Vallco Mall. Anchor stores are shuttering their doors, and indoor, retail-only malls are dying. At Vallco, Macy's terminated its lease last year and closed for good. Sears left in October 2015, and JCPenney is leaving Vallco in April this year. Vallco will soon be at 30 percent occupancy with many smaller stores gone or leaving as well. Valley Fair's dominance has cut away at Vallco's chance of success, and outdoor oriented retail experiences are increasing in popularity. Online shopping is soaring, and the result is malls are closing their doors or barely hanging on, becoming tired, lifeless and unsustainable. Sound familiar? Vallco Mall in its current form is not, has not, and cannot be successful. The shifts in the retail landscape are too great, and the deficiencies in the fundamentals of the mall are too substantial to change. But with every challenge
Additionally, there will be a special presentation by Paul Wiseman, president of Trafalgar USA, as well as seminars hosted by the Nevada Commission, Philippine Office of Tourism, Fiji and the Yosemite/ Mariposa County Tourism Bureau.
comes an opportunity. Cupertino's opportunity is a new, promising future for Vallco with The Hills at Vallco. The Hills at Vallco will breathe new life into this dilapidated shopping center before it becomes a vast wasteland and even more of a ghost mall than it is today. As a complete revitalization of this dying mall, The Hills at Vallco will transform the property in the heart of Cupertino's emerging downtown. With family-friendly entertainment options like the AMC Theatres, bowling alley and ice skating rink, a wide range of shops and restaurants, a 30-acre park and nature preserve featuring miles of trails, housing - including units designated specifically for seniors and as affordable - to help alleviate the housing shortage in our region, office space designed specifically for the life cycle of Silicon Valley businesses, traffic improvements and unique educational resources, This Hills at Vallco was designed in response to community feedback and reflects the needs and wants of Cupertino residents.
At the Savvy Traveler Theater, guests can also gain valuable tips and tricks at the following seminars for traveling smarter, more safely and with fewer hassles: • Travel Smart with Technology with Angel Castellanos • A Guide to Better Travel Photography with Ralph Velasco • Explore What's Unique About Cruises & Land Vacations • Packing Light with Jon Holloway • Maximize Your National Parks
Experience • TravelSquire & The Travel Therapist The 2016 SF/Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show boasts a variety of global culture and entertainment. The Global Beats Stage offers culturally diverse music and dance performances while the Taste of Travel Stage, hosted by Chef Garth Blackburn and Amy Kushnir, provides visitors with insights from professional foodies and a taste of local, regional and global cuisine prepared by local chefs. Specials guests will include: • Jerry Stone, food and wine blogger (Cooking Stoned and Green Wine Guide) • Ben Simon - chief executive officer, Imperfect Produce • Allan Karl, motorcycle adventure traveler, photographer and bestselling author of "FORKS-A Quest for Culture, Cuisine, and Connection" • Chef Garth Blackburn, SubZero Wolf in Dallas and Houston, Texas
• Amy Kushnir, host of "Taste Texas" and author of "Red Dirt Recipes" • Sergio Monleón and Emily Sarlatte, chefs/owners, La Marcha, Berkeley, Calif. Travel enthusiasts can also look forward to the opportunity to meet with more than 200 of the world's top travel providers and access to exclusive once-in-a-lifetime travel deals, prizes and trip giveaways. Back for the sixth year in a row, the SF/Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show will be the largest to date and is a smart, costeffective way for savvy travelers to find, plan and book their dream vacation. The 2016 SF/Bay Area Travel & Adventure Show takes place at the Santa Clara Convention Center (5001 Great America Highway, Santa Clara, Calif.) March 5-6. On Saturday, March 5, the show opens at 9:30 a.m. for travel professionals, with general public hours set from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Sunday, March 6, the show floor is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
26
India Post
Perspective
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
Changing demographics can impact Presidential Elections
R
esults from the past two presidential elections provide evidence that the changing demography of the electorate-with its increased racial diversity-can affect election outcomes in ways that could not have been anticipated even a decade ago. A solid case can be made that the nation's racial minority populations put President Barack Obama over the top in both 2008 and 2012. But racial diversity is not the only demographic change that may have an effect on future presidential elections. In addition to greater diversity-which is primarily affecting the younger part of the electorate-the older part of the voting population is growing more rapidly as the huge Baby Boom generation ages. These demographic shifts-toward both a more racially diverse younger electorate and a larger older electoratecertainly should change the playing field in terms of how the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as their candidates, appeal to these shifting voting blocs, which often have different interests. And the pace of demographic change varies across geography, with some fastgrowing states such as Arizona, Texas, and Florida seeing the effects of the nation's rising diversity much more sharply than others. Yet even slow growing states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan will experience significant rising diversity in the coming years and, importantly, an aging of their electorates driven by large contingents of Baby Boom residents. These state-level demographic changes will leave strong imprints on the voting populations captured by the allimportant Electoral College, forcing parties and candidates to recalibrate their strategies for success. This report explores how these demographic changes could shape the electorate, as well as potential outcomes in the next five presidential elections using national and state demographic projections produced by the States of Change project. In a 2015 report and interactive, this project presented a time series of long-term projections of race and age profiles for the populations and eligible electorates of all 50 states to 2060. This report focuses on what those projections imply for the presidential elections of 2016, 2020, 2024, 2028, and 2032. The States of Change: Demographics
WILLIAM H. FREY, RUY TEIXEIRA, ROB GRIFFIN
and Democracy project is a collaboration supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation that brings together the Center for American Progress, the American Enterprise Institute, and demographer William H. Frey of the Brookings
thusiasm that can be measured in voter turnout and candidate preference. The analyses presented here build alternative scenarios for the election years mentioned above. Each scenario assumes the same pro-
A crowd of people walk during the morning rush hour in New York, 2010
Institution. The views expressed in this and other States of Change reports are those of the authors and not the institutions sponsoring the project. The project's goals are: • To document and analyze the challenges to democracy posed by the rapid demographic evolution from the 1970s to 2060 • To project the race-ethnic composition of every state to 2060, which has not been done for 20 years • To promote a wide-ranging and bipar-
jected demography of eligible voters, or EVs, for that year but makes different assumptions about voter turnout and candidate preference. This report considers six main scenarios. Scenario A, here called the 2012 Forward scenario, assumes that for each age, race, and state group, voter turnout rates and Democratic/Republican candidate preferences in 2012 will continue for EV populations that are projected into the future. Scenario B, the 2008 Forward scenario, assumes that the even more Democrat-favorable turnout and candidate preference
These demographic shifts-toward both a more racially diverse younger electorate and a larger older electorate-certainly should change the playing field in terms of how the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as their candidates, appeal to these shifting voting blocs, which often have different interests. And the pace of demographic change varies across geography, with some fast-growing states tisan discussion of America's demographic future and what it portends for the nation's political parties and public policy Of course, shaping these outcomes is not the same as determining them. While the force of demography is important, election results also depend on economic conditions, candidates, and the extent to which those candidates are able to generate en-
rates by age, race, and state group of the 2008 election will apply to future EV populations. Scenario C, the 2004 Forward scenario, assumes that the relatively Republican-favorable 2004 turnout rates and candidate preferences by age, race, and state will obtain among future EVs. Scenario D is the Maximum Minority
Turnout scenario. Like scenario A, it assumes that the candidate preferences of voters will follow those of 2012. But unlike A, it assumes that the turnout of Hispanics, Asians, and other races by age rises to the turnout level of whites by age in every state. African American turnout is not adjusted since it was slightly higher than white turnout in 2012. This simulation shows the likely outcomes that would result if efforts to encourage the turnout of newer minorities-Hispanics, Asians, and other nonblack minorities-are extremely successful. Scenarios E and F adjust scenario A to assume greater Republican voter preferences for different groups. Scenario E, the High GOP Hispanic/Asian Support scenario, assumes that Republican support from voters of each nonblack or new minority group-Hispanics, Asians, and those of other raceswill increase by 7.5 percentage points for all age categories of those groups in every state. Note that raising the support rate for Republicans by 7.5 points among new minorities reduces the Democrats' support rate among these groups by the same amount, thereby improving the margin for Republicans by 15 points in total. Scenario F, the More GOP White Support scenario, changes the voting preferences of the white electorate, adjusting scenario A in order to increase the level of Republican support from white voters of all age categories in every state by 5 points-thereby raising the GOP margin among all categories of white voters by 10 points. Notably, these are simulations-not predictions. For example, when running the 2016 election simulation as if voter turnout and preferences were the same as in 2012scenario A-the authors are not expressing the belief that this is a likely event. The goal of this report is to display the potential political effects of demographic change. As such, the results this report presents offer a range of outcomes that can be expected under different assumptions as the nation's demography changes, but they are not predictions about actual future events. William H. Frey is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Ruy Teixeira is a Senior Fellow at The Century Foundation and the Center for American Progress. Robert Griffin is a Senior Policy Analyst at the Center for American Progress. Courtesy Center for American Progress.
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
India Post 27
TOP TEN HINDI FILM SONGS
28 India Post
www.indiapost.com
March 4, 2016
Kalki was in a live-in relationship with filmmaker Anurag Kashyap before tying the knot in April 2011 but last year in May the duo officially divorced
A
ccording to the latest buzz, actor cum filmmaker Farhan Akhtar is dating actress Kalki Koechlin. The duo is often spotted together and rumor buzzed that something special is brewing. It seems two broken hearts have found love in one another. Kalki was in a live-in relationship with filmmaker Anurag Kashyap before tying the knot in April 2011 but last year in May the duo officially divorced. Kalki once told a section of the media: "Marriage is just a commitment to each other and nothing else." Alas! Destiny had other plans". Post break-up with his wife Adhuna of 15 years, Farhan Akhtar was linked with actresses like Aditi Rao Hydari and Shraddha Kapoor. It is also rumored that Farhan's proximity with Aditi had created a rift in Farhan and Adhuna's paradise.
A
rbaaz Khan and Malaika have slammed reports of their alleged divorce circulating on social media. However, reports have been persistently talking about an impending divorce. Currently, Malaika and Arbaaz are living separately and maintaining a no talking terms. It is also heard that Arbaaz Bhai has sought out Malaika's close friend and actress Karisma Kapoor to save his marriage. Malaika's spokesperson denied any such tiff between the couple and said that all is well between them. The rift in their relationship was marked when the couple did not appear for the show 'Power Couple' together. Arbaaz and Malaika were committed to host the reality show 'Power Couple' together
but after few episodes, Malaika did not co-host with Arbaaz. A source from the sets of the show tells us, "Right from the beginning of the shoot in December, the couple had asked for separate rooms and did not talk to each other on the sets. Even during breaks, they went to their respective rooms and had no interaction at all."
1 Soch na Sake: Airlift 2 Gerua: Dilwale 3 Sanam Re: Sanam Re 4 Deewani Mastani: Bajirao Mastani 5 Yeh Fitoor Mera : Fitoor 6 Agar Tum Saath Ho : Tamasha 7 Janam Janam : Dilwale 8 Hua Hai Aaj Pehli Baar : Sanam Re 9 Aayat : Bajirao Mastani 10 Rom Rom Romantic : Mastizaade
Bollywood
March 4, 2016
India Post 29
www.indiapost.com
A
BCD' dancing diva Lauren Gottlieb says she has several homosexual friends and feels that everyone has the right to their sexual preferences. She was present at a screening of the film, 'Aligarh' where numerous B-town celebrities were also present. The protagonist of 'Aligarh', played by Manoj Bajpayee, is a homosexual who gets suspended from his job of a professor after his video getting intimate with another man is circulated. About the film, Lauren said, "The film was great! It's kind of a heavy subject, so you leave with heavy heart, but with a lot of hope and inspiration for the future," she added. While Manoj has been walking away with all the praise for his role at numerous screenings before, Lauren is impressed by Manoj's co-star in the film, "Rajkummar Rao is definitely one of my favorite actors. Everyone is going to Hollywood right now, he should be the next one actually."
V
idya Balan believes that unlike earlier, audiences are willing to accept older actresses as films now are depicting different stages of life instead of just focusing on the allure of youth. The National Award-winning actress said "things are no longer same for 30-plus actresses now as all kinds of films are being made depicting different stages of life." "I think audiences are very ready," Vidya said when asked about the changes that she has noticed regarding 30-plus actresses in Bollywood. "There were times when there were only love stories and however old the male actor is, the actresses were becoming younger and younger but that's no longer the case now. People are accepting women in every stage." "So I feel acceptability has really increased for actresses," added the 37-year-old.
R
icha Chadda has found love again after breaking-up with her French boyfriend Franck Gastambide. Richa's growing proximity with Huma Qureshi's brother Saqib Saleem suggests that something special is brewing. The two first bonded at 'Katti Batti' and have since been together. Recently the new lovebirds were spotted spending quality time at Bandra's Pali Village Restaurant. Richa Chadda broke-up with French actor-director Franck Gastambide recently whom she met at the Cannes Film Festival last May and fell in love. It is heard that long distance relationship has taken a toll in their love life. Richa and Franck met last year in December. She had also started to learn French a few months ago for better communication with her beau.
30
SATYAGRAH SOULS Indian Americans Making A Difference
India Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
S
atyagrah Souls is a monthly political series presented by Bay Area's community leader Rishi KUmar in highlighting the community involvement and success of role-model Indian Americans. This series seeks to inspire each of us in giving back to our local community. Indian Americans are going through a transitional evolution while getting entrenched in a new world, exerting zealous work ethics, supporting the American economy as entrepreneurs, high tech geeks, doctors, lawyers and more. We are definitely imposing the posi-
tive intentions and good citizen values upon this fantastic country. But can our involvement run a bit deeper with issues near and dear to our hearts, within our local city with the local public school that our children attend? Do we sometimes hear your conscience imploring us, "Am I doing enough?". Yes we can get involved just a bit more, push our comfort zone and enhance the learning and involvement. Our involvement can simply start with developing a healthy curiosity in our local community, instead of being 'busy' bystanders. Once we get involved, we will
Inspiring next generation to give back to community
L
axmi, Congratulations on the recent announcement to run for of fice. Tell us the reasons you decided to embark upon this public service initiative - running for an election is not very easy, kudos to you. Thank you so much. I have spent the last 8 years involved in community service as one of the trustees and volunteers of the Karya Siddhi Hanuman Temple in Frisco, Texas. Through that process, I have had the opportunity to work with the mayor, city
council, planning & zoning, engineering, police, fire, and many other city departments during the land acquisition process as well as the construction process. Frisco has given us an incredible opportunity to have a beautiful place of worship in an excellent city with great schools. It's now my turn to give back and serve the city of Frisco and the people of Frisco. I will be in Frisco for the rest of my life, and I want to make sure that Frisco will always be a wonderful, safe place for families. Many cities have their
quickly discover, how easy it is for us to make change happen and how receptive everyone around is to leverage our skills for the betterment. There are leaders waiting to be discovered, why not take that first step? More importantly, how freeing and energizing the experience is; personally rewarding and transformative at the same time. There are many who have made their mark in doing just that. With this monthly series, we want to highlight these SatyAgrah souls who are showing us the path. Here is a SatyaGrah soul, who has found the calling‌
- BY RISHI KUMAR
L
axmi Tummala is running for Frisco, TX city council. Elections are in May. Born in Memphis, Tennessee and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, Laxmi's parents immigrated to America in the 1960s with very little money. They stud- Frisco home. The temple, consecrated ied hard, earned their PhD's and in 2015, attracted media outlets throughworked at Jackson State University as out the nation and helped bring national professors for their entire career. They attraction to the City of Frisco, along with taught by example to Laxmi the mean- an influx of tourism with over 10,000 ing of honesty, people attending trustworthiness, the program. kindness, comThe consecrapassion, determition and inauguranation and courtion of the 33,000 age. She met and square foot temmarried her husplate occurred on band in 1996, July 23, 2015. The when they de$ 11 , 0 0 0 , 0 0 0 cided to make project has come DFW their home. to fruition with asIn 2009, they sistance from the moved to Frisco city of Frisco who and now are fully approved the involved with the plans back in community. They 2008. have been marLaxmi has also ried for 19 years served to better and have 2 chilthe community by Councilmember Laxmi Tummala dren ages 15 and helping coordi13. She earned a bachelor's in Account- nate a free annual health fair for the resiing from Mississippi State University. dents of Frisco, in conjunction with CenThen she received a Masters in Taxa- tennial Medical Center. She has also tion from the University of Illinois and helped coordinate food drives, senior then went on to earn her CPA. center visits, Frisco Family Services volA 19-year resident of DFW and a 6- unteering and has demonstrated a comyear resident of Frisco, Laxmi and a mitment to community. Since moving to small support group of 200 residents Frisco, Laxmi has worked closely with spearheaded the campaign to help the the city from a development perspecKarya Siddhi Hanuman Temple gain tive and has been an active part of the necessary city council approvals to call growth of Frisco.
prime time and then fade away. We can plan now and take steps now to assure that Frisco has long term sustainability.
Laxmi with Texas Governor Greg Abbott
A MONTHLY POLITICAL SERIES
How has your volunteer / community work prepared you for a role on the city council? How has the citizens of Frisco handled your announcement jumping into the fray. Working in the community has taught me a great deal about life, people and the importance of working together. In my years of serving the community as well as in real estate, I've learned how to work with many dif-
ferent types of people and personalities. In addition, I've learned and seen how important it is to work together with the others. My experience as a CPA and at real estate will bring valuable insight into both the financial aspects of the cities as well as the zoning and development issues. My goal is to serve the city with honesty and integrity. Many people of Frisco have been pleasantly surprised and extremely supportive. There has never been an Indian candidate for Frisco City Council. Cont’ d on page 31
March 4, 2016
SATYAGRAH SOULS Indian Americans Making A Difference
India Post
31
www.indiapost.com Cont’ d from page 30
The Indian community as well as many from the non-Indian community have been very happy and many have volunteered their time to help. I feel truly blessed to have such great support. What is your roadmap looking like to get to the finish line as a winner? My roadmap to the finish line is all about meeting people. I will be out in the community, sharing my vision, meeting local leaders, and meeting the people of Frisco. People have been so incredibly supportive, and I will make every effort to keep the momentum going. We see many Indian American political leaders shy away from their religious or other roots. You did not shy away from your involvement with the Karya Siddhi Hanuman temple. How important is it for us Indian Americans to embrace our roots as we seek to create a mark for ourselves in mainstream American society? Being honest and true to yourself is a must in life and politics should be no different. Be proud of who you are. That is what we must teach our children, and we must teach by example.
Inspiring next generation to give back to community Dear Readers
Laxmi at local meet and greet
anything. Most people my age in this area were born in India and came to United States in their 20s or 30s. However, I was born in this country, and many assume that Indians born in this country do not hold on to the Indian culture or religion very firmly. However, I do and am proud of our heritage and religion. I hope to inspire the next generation to be proud of who they are. I also hope to inspire them to give back, serve the community and get involved.
Do you have a story to share? We invite you to introduce us to folks in your community who are making a difference - we would love to profile them. Are there similar stories you are familiar with locally. The ones who helped address a simple issue in the community to make life a bit better. Perhaps someone you know decided to make a run for school board, was appointed to the planning commission. Provide us your insights on Indian Americans locally and nationally who are making things happen. These perspectives will help construct roadmaps for our community to empower ourselves, to hopefully ignite a desire in all of us to represent our local communities as doers, leaders, establish and entrench ourselves in this glo-
We must believe that anything is possible. Indian Americans have already branched out into so many careers and have done a great As a working mom, now running for ofdeal of social service. fice, how was it like growing up in conserPolitical success is just one of many areas where Indian Americans have been successful and will continue to be even more successful. If anyone is interested in running for an office, I encourage them to get involved and run. I also encourage everyone to underLaxmi learning from the Frisco Fire Department stand that voting is a right that we have. It's our responsibility as U.S. citizens to vote in rious country of America and help make it all levels of elections from local to national a better place Campaign Kick Off for Laxmi Tummala for City Council ******* What advice and elect people into office who share our would you beliefs. ABOUT RISHI: Rishi is Silicon Valley's vative Jackson Mississippi? Was there a offer to steer Indian Americans to politi- Laxmi thank you! We wish you the best for community worker seeking to make a difcal success in America? Is it even impor- all future endeavors. dearth of role models for you? ference in his local community. As an elected Mississippi is beautiful state. When I tant for us to aspire for political success? city councilmember in Saratoga, CA he conlived there, I don't think I really appreciated tinues to follow his passion for community its beauty, but I do now. People are very service, seeking to provide services to his friendly. In fact, you cannot make it through citizens cheaper, faster and better; comthe check out at the grocery store without munity outreach and engagement is a fohaving a full conversation with the cashier, cus for him on the council. As Saratoga's and I actually miss that. Many people woncommunity organizer, Rishi is host of many der if I experienced prejudice, but I really community events in Saratoga, many of did not. People were very kind. which are free and always inclusive usuMy parents and many others in the comally addressing a need or a cause. munity were great role models for me. I don't Rishi's day job is as a Silicon Valley hithink the place you grow up is as important tech executive but his zeal for community as who your surround yourself with. I was service effervescent. Rishi is also the Presilucky to have known many great leaders. dent of the Bay Area Indian American Democratic Club (www.baiadc.org) whose How are you seeking to help the Indian charter is to further the interests and valAmerican communities by creating new ues of Indian Americans, work towards role models, leaders at the grass roots? political empowerment and advance ethiFirst and foremost, my goal is to serve cal standards in the political system. You the city of Frisco. However, at the same can reach him via his website time, I hope to help the younger generation Laxmi talks with college students about the importance of getting involved at University of Texas Dallas www.RishiKumar.com. understand and believe that they can do
„ Health
Line
6 States file new lawsuit over Obamacare MADISON, Wis.: Six states have filed a new lawsuit against the Obama administration over the Affordable Care Act. The complaint that Texas, Wisconsin, Kansas, Louisiana, Indiana and Nebraska filed in the Northern District of Texas takes issue with the Health Insurance Providers Fee assessed to health insurers to cover federal subsidies. The lawsuit says nothing in the Affordable Care Act's language provided clear notice that states would have to pay the fee. The suit seeks an injunction against the federal rules that say states are responsible for the fee. It also asks for states to be refunded for what they've already paid. The suit says the fee is projected to allow the federal government to collect between $13 billion and $15 billion from states over the next decade. -AP
„
Stressed fathers may put kids at diabetes risk BEIJING: Fathers under psychological stress are more likely to have kids with high blood sugar compared to their unstressed counterparts, a new study in mice has found. The study suggests that a male's life experience can be passed down through more than his genetic code alone. Researchers link this difference to an epigenetic change in the stressed dad's sperm - a change that they could prevent by blocking the father's stress hormones. Researchers confined male mice in plastic tubes for two hours a day, for two weeks straight, to induce stress. Afterwards, the animals' glucose levels were increased, but the mice gained weight more slowly and had increased levels of stress hormones called glucocorticoids in their blood. These mice were then mated with females that had not been confined, and their resulting offspring had higher blood glucose than normal. "Paternal psychological stress can result in hyperglycemia in offspring in mice," said Xiaoying Li from Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine in China. The root of the increased blood sugar was in a gene called Sfmbt2. When a male mouse is immobilized daily in a plastic tube, the spike of glucocorticoids causes extra methyl groups to be added to the Sfmbt2 gene in his sperm.
Cont'd on Page 33
Health Science
Tattoo artist helps cancer patients gain confidence
32 India Post
www.indiapost.com
March 4, 2016
Details on Page 35
Best way to understand Zika might be to inject it into volunteers
T
hat idea may sound a little crazy, but it's not unprec edented. And some researchers are hoping the approach could help speed up the search for an effective Zika vaccine. Right now, a bunch of labs are pursuing different ways of making a vaccine against Zika, mostly because of the concern that the virus might be linked to the birth defect called microcephaly. At the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Maryland, scientists are creating different versions of a DNAbased vaccine. "Which one is the best one? We are testing it in animals, using that to select our top candidate," says Wing-Pui Kong, a virologist at the center. If any vaccine candidate looks good in animal tests, it could then go for initial safety testing in people. After that, scientists somehow have to show that the immune response elicited by the vaccine will actually protect people from getting infected with
NELL GREENFIELD BOYCE
Zika. That's no easy task, and no one can say for sure how long it will take. "Most vaccine development efforts are measured in decades," says Dr. Barney Graham, deputy director of the NIAID vaccine research center. "Almost every vac-
vaccine concept and test it in animals, he notes, "but you can't really have it for public use and distribution until you're able to prove efficacy. Proving that a vaccine works often takes very large organized field trials." Those kinds of field trials are difficult, time-consuming, and
cine we have for a viral disease has come several decades after the discovery of the virus." New technology does make it much easier to quickly develop a
sometimes just impossible. By the time an Ebola vaccine was ready to go into a large study, for example, the outbreak in West Africa was winding down. Not
'Bacteria could be answer to malaria, dengue' WASHINGTON: A bacteria called Wolbachia could be the answer to dreaded mosquitoborne diseases like malaria and dengue, Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has said. "There are a couple of ideas for changing the mosquito that we've been funding in order to work on dengue and malaria," Mr Gates said. "One idea is that you actually put a bacteria called, 'Wolbachia' into the mosquito, and then it doesn't carry the parasite hardly at all. So, we've done field trials on that. And it appears that also does work for dengue. It appears it also works for Zika," he said.
"So, that may get rolled out more quickly and even more powerful tool that spreads faster but
"One idea is that you actually put a bacteria called, 'Wolbachia' into the mosquito, and then it doesn't carry the parasite" more controversial is to take our new gene-editing technology that people call crisper, and have
male and female mosquitoes pass along either something that prevents them from carrying the virus or something that kills the progeny," he said. "Those are both approaches, but use geniality and then create a thing called gene drive which means that all of your children, both male and female inherit something even if only one of your parents have it. That it's dominant into that generation, either to not survive or not carry the bad virus," he added. Mr Gates said every year more than 60,000 kids die of malaria which are mosquito-caused death, that is the animal that generates the most mortality. -PTI
enough people were being exposed to Ebola to prove that a vaccine would protect them. What's more, when researchers do manage to do a big clinical trial, it frequently reveals that their vaccine is a dud. So, to see if a potential Zika vaccine really can protect people, scientists would like to do this: Give volunteers a candidate vaccine, and then later inject Zika virus into them, to see what happens. That could produce real answers fast. "The limitations would be you'd have to do this in young people who were volunteering to do this and who were not going to get pregnant," says Graham. In some ways, this is a blast from the past. In the 1950s, soon after Zika was discovered, one intrepid scientist injected it into his arm, to see if it could make people sick. He just got a slight Cont'd on Page 35 fever.
3 pregnant women test positive for Zika MIAMI: Health officials say three pregnant women have tested positive for the Zika virus in Florida. Secretary of Health Dr. John Armstrong announced the cases in his daily Zika update. A news release says all three cases are believed to be travel-related. Officials weren't identifying the counties where the pregnant women were diagnosed. Zika is rapidly spreading through Latin America, and scientists are studying the virus' possible connection to babies born with unusually small heads. The birth defect called microcephaly can signal underlying brain damage. A total of 32 cases have now been reported in Florida. MiamiDade County leads the state with 11 reported cases. All the cases so far have been travel-related, but the virus can be spread by bites from mosquitoes that are common in Florida.-AP
March 4, 2016
Health Science Post
India Post 33
www.indiapost.com
HIV drug may affect Binge drinking may increase hypertension fetal development WASHINGTON: An anti-retroviral drug used to prevent the transmission of HIV from mother to child may have small but significant effects on infant development, a new study has claimed. One-year-olds whose mothers took atazanavir during pregnancy had slightly reduced scores for language and socialemotional development, compared to antiretroviral (ARV) regimens not containing atazanavir, researchers said. The research by Dr Ellen C Caniglia, from Harvard TJ Chan School of Public Health, and colleagues analyzed data on 917 infants who were born to HIV-positive mothers but did not acquire HIV infection. All mothers took ARV therapy during
Atazanavir is a type of drug called a protease inhibitor, which is included in some of the combination ARV regimens used for HIV treatment. pregnancy to reduce the risk of transmitting HIV. At around one year old, the infants were assessed on a standard test of infant development - the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development - Third Edition, or "Bayley III." Scores on the five Bayley III sub-scales were compared for 167 infants whose mothers took atazanavir-containing ARV regi-
mens versus 750 infants whose mothers received ARV, but not atazanavir. The results showed language development scores were lower for infants whose mothers received atazanavir. That was so for infants whose mothers initiated atazanavir during the first trimester of pregnancy as well as during the second or third trimester. Scores for social-emotional development were also lower for infants whose mothers took atazanavir. However, the difference was significant only for infants whose mothers initiated ARV during the second or third trimester - but not the first trimester. This may have reflected the fact that many women who started taking atazanavir during the first trimester switched to a different ARV regimen later in pregnancy. Other Bayley III subscales - cognitive, motor (movement), and adaptive behavior - were similar for atazanavir-exposed versus unexposed infants. On all subscales, the average scores in this group of infants born to HIV-infected mothers were within the normal range. Atazanavir is a type of drug called a protease inhibitor, which is included in some of the combination ARV regimens used for HIV treatment. The findings suggest small reductions in scores for language and social-emotional development among infants exposed to atazanavir. Language score was about three points lower in the atazanavir group, compared to an average subscale score of 93; while social-emotional score was five points lower, compared to an average of 100. -PTI
Stressed fathers may put kids at diabetes risk Cont'd from Page 32
These epigenetic marks do not affect the underlying DNA, but they do control how Sfmbt2 and an associated microRNA (the intronic microRNA-466b-3p) are expressed. The epigenetic reprogramming from stress, through glucocorticoids, was surprising, researchers said. This epigenetic change in stressed fathers showed up in their offspring's livers. The intronic microRNA-466b-3p in Sfmbt2 is supposed to help regulate an enzyme called PEPCK, which controls sugar production in the liver. But when mammals reproduce, Sfmbt2 is turned off in the egg from the mother meaning that offspring inherit their only working copy from the father's sperm. And when the only functional Sfmbt2 gene carries these epigenetic tags, the intronic microRNA-466b-3p is silenced and can not keep watch over PEPCK as it normally would. The father's offspring then
develop livers with too much PEPCK, causing their blood glucose to increase. "It is potentially possible for our study to be translated into the treatment of hy-
perglycemia in human beings in the future," said Li. The findings were published in the journal Cell Metabolism. -PTI
TORONTO: Young adults in their twenties who regularly binge drink may have higher blood pressure and increased risk of developing hypertension, a new study has warned. Previous studies in Canada and the US have shown that about four in ten young adults aged 18 to 24 are frequent binge drinkers. Researchers from University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre (CRCHUM) in Canada have demonstrated that binge drinking - consuming five or more alcoholic beverages in less than two hours -may have an effect on blood pressure, which can increase the risk of developing hypertension and chronic diseases related to hypertension. Data on alcohol consumption at age 20 were collected from 756 participants. Data were collected again at age 24, at which time participants' systolic blood pressure was also taken. Systolic blood pressure measures the pressure in the arteries when the heart beats (when the heart muscle contracts), and it should be below 140 millimeters of mercury. A blood pressure reading of more than 140 over 90 indicates high blood pressure.
The latter number, diastolic blood pressure, measures the pressure in the arteries between heartbeats (when the heart muscle is resting between beats and refilling with blood). "We found that the blood pressure of young adults aged 20 to 24 who binge drink was 2 to 4 millimeters of mercury higher than non-binge drinkers," said Jennifer O'Loughlin from CRCHUM.
"Our findings show that more than one in four young adults who binge drink meet the criterion for pre-hypertension (a systolic blood pressure between 120 and 139 millimeters of mercury). -PTI
34 India Post
Health Science Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
Air pollution may increase obesity, diabetes WASHINGTON: Exposure to polluted air may increase the risk of obesity and lead to high cholesterol and more insulin resistance, a precursor of Type 2 diabetes, a new study has warned. Researchers from Duke University in US found that laboratory rats who breathed Beijing's highly polluted air gained weight and experienced cardio-respiratory and metabolic dysfunctions.
particles. After only 19 days, the lungs and livers of pregnant rats exposed to the polluted air were heavier and showed increased tissue inflammation. These rats had 50 per cent higher Low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol; 46 per cent higher triglycerides; and 97 per cent higher total cholesterol. Their insulin resistance level,
The pollution-breathing pregnant rats had heavier lungs and livers and increased tissue inflammation, researchers said. For the study, they placed pregnant rats and their offspring in two chambers, one exposed to outdoor Beijing air and the other containing an air filter that removed most of the air pollution
a precursor of Type 2 diabetes, was higher than their clean airbreathing counterparts. The results show that air pollution exposure results in metabolic dysfunction, a precursor to obesity. Pollution-exposed rats were significantly heavier at the end of their pregnancy even though the
rats in both groups were fed the same diet. Similar results were shown in the rat offspring, which were kept in the same chambers as their mothers. The negative effects of air pollution were less pronounced after three weeks than they were at eight weeks, suggesting that long-term exposure may be needed to generate the continuous inflammatory and metabolic changes that ultimately increase body weight. At eight weeks old, female and male rats exposed to the pollution were 10 per cent and 18 per cent heavier, respectively, than those exposed to clean air. "Since chronic inflammation is recognized as a factor contributing to obesity and since metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity are closely related, our findings provide clear evidence that chronic exposure to air pollution increases the risk for developing obesity," said Junfeng Zhang from Duke University. "If translated and verified in humans, these findings will support the urgent need to reduce air pollution, given the growing burden of obesity in today's highly polluted world," said Zhang. The findings were published in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. -PTI
Sugar test can be used to detect cancer LONDON: Ordinary sugar may be used in imaging techniques to detect cancer, suggests a new study that found malignant tumors show higher sugar consumption than surrounding tissue. "If sugar replaces metal as a contrast agent in the body, it can also have a positive psychological effect and make patients calmer," said Linda Knutsson, senior lecturer at Lund University in Sweden. A tumor's properties can be examined by injecting a small amount of sugar into it, and then measuring how much sugar the tumor consumes. The more sugar the tumor consumes, the more malignant it is. Ms Knutsson is working with
a team from Johns Hopkins University in the US, which has developed a new imaging technique for magnetic resonance tomography.
The collaboration has resulted in the new imaging technique being combined with the testing of natural sugar as a replacement for
metal in contrast agents. It is the first time a non-synthetic contrast agent has been used in human magnetic resonance tomography examinations, and the results are promising, researchers said. The uptake of sugar is higher in the tumor than in healthy tissue according to the results of tests carried out by researchers. The tests were carried out on three persons with a brain tumor and four healthy persons. "Metal-based contrast agents cost more than sugar-based agents. Accordingly, this could
Blood test may diagnose active tuberculosis LOS ANGELES: Scientists, including one of Indian origin, have identified a gene expression 'signature' that could help accurately diagnose active tuberculosis (TB) using a simple blood test. Globally, tuberculosis infects 9.6 million new patients each year and kills 1.5 million. Yet the disease remains difficult to diagnose. "One-third of the world's population is currently infected with TB. Even if only 10 per cent of them get active TB, that's still 3 per cent of the world's population - 240 million people," said senior
author Purvesh Khatri, assistant professor at Stanford University in the US. Traditional diagnostic methods, such as the skin prick test and interferon assays, can not separate patients with active TB from those who are no longer sick or have merely been vaccinated against TB. These older diagnostics can miss a case of TB in patients with HIV. A common way to test for TB is to find disease-causing bacterium in sputum samples coughed up by patients. However, sometimes it is hard for people to produce sputum on demand, said first author Tim Sweeney, research associate from Stanford. The new test developed works on an ordinary blood sample and
removes the need to collect sputum. It can signal a TB infection even if the individual also has HIV and won't give a positive response if someone only has latent TB or has had a TB vaccine, researchers said. It also does not matter which strain of TB has infected a person, or even if it has evolved resistance to antibiotic drugs. The test works in both adults and children. The test is 86 per cent sensitive in children, and if the test comes up negative, it is right 99 per cent of the time. The requirements of the test are simple enough that it can potentially be done under relatively basic field conditions in rural and undeveloped areas of the world. Any hospital should be able to perform the test. Villages without electricity could likely use ordinary blood samples and a solar-powered PCR machine, which multiplies strands of DNA, to accurately test people for active TB. Researchers identified three human genes whose expression changes in a consistent pattern, indicating the presence of an active tuberculosis infection. The team validated the new three-gene test in a separate set of 1,400 human samples from 11 different data sets, confirming the diagnostic power of the test. The new test not only accurately distinguishes patients who have active tuberculosis, it could also be used to monitor patients to see if they are getting better and how well they are responding to different treatments. -PTI
'Mental hospital confinement is cover-up' JACKSON, Miss.: A Greenwood oncologist is suing Attorney General Jim Hood and officials of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health, claiming they're illegally confining him to conceal how an alleged hit man died in April 2012. Dr. Arnold Smith sued in U.S. District Court in Jackson. The oncologist has been confined at the Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield since 2014, after a judge ruled him mentally incompetent
for trial on capital murder and conspiracy charges. Hood spokeswoman Rachael Ring calls the suit ``baseless'' and predicts its dismissal. Authorities say Smith hired Keira Byrd to kill attorney Lee Abraham, with whom Smith had disputes. Byrd died in a shootout at Abraham's office in April 2012, and the suit claims an investigator for Hood killed him ``execution-style'' and not in self-defense. -AP
March 4, 2016
Health Science Post
India Post 35
www.indiapost.com
Tattoo artist helps cancer patients gain confidence NEW BERN, N.C.: Beth Fairchild lives a precarious life. A woman virtually living in the shadow of death - she was diagnosed with breast cancer that has spread throughout her body - she spends her time between her family, her job as a tattoo artist with her husband Marc, and advocating for research and the self-confidence and quality of life of fellow stage IV metastatic cancer patients. In the latter role, she serves on the board of Metavivor, an organization founded to raise research funds for, and awareness of stage IV breast cancer. But even her tattooing is a form of advocacy - a form that has raised its detractors, especially when she has used Facebook to promote her outreach. In a nutshell, Fairchild uses her needles and dyes to help rebuild women's bodies. Unless the cancer is already advanced into other parts of the body, a diagnosis of breast cancer will often mean removal of the breast through a mastectomy. In most cases, surgeons remove the nipple and areola as a safeguard as well. The result is a scarred body that can be emotionally debilitating. Women who have undergone the surgery must then, while healing, determine whether they will use prosthesis to replace their breast or undergo expander and implant surgery. Dr. John Zannis of the Zannis Center for Plastic Surgery described this as two surgeries, the first in which a medical balloon is implanted to stretch the skin in prepara-
tion for a second surgery, in which the permanent implant is inserted. The result is the shape of a breast. If a woman (or a man who has had a mastectomy) wishes to have a nipple as well, further surgery and tattooing are necessary. The nipple is made from skin harvested from another part on the body. The areola the colored part surrounding it - is tattooed. This is where Fairchild comes in. As an accomplished tattoo artist, she can
Beth Fairchild
do a more realistic job than the plastic surgeon could do. ``We send people to her because they get a better job,'' Zannis admitted. ``She's more creative.'' But while insurance generally covers the work if done in a surgeon's office, sitting under a tattoo artist's needle can cost $300 or more.
Best way to understand Zika might be to inject it into volunteers Cont'd from Page 32
After all, if you're not pregnant, "Zika itself is a pretty mild illness," says Dr. Anna Durbin, an expert on vaccine clinical trials at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. This fall, we'll likely see safety tests of a potential Zika vaccine in about 20 to 50 people here in the United States. "And then the big question is, what is our next step?" says Durbin. Ideally, she says, you could ask for volunteers to be exposed to Zika in a controlled setting. Researchers could compare two groups: people who get the virus alone compared to people who get a candidate vaccine and then the virus later on. "We would admit them to our inpatient unit, where they have 24-hour care," says Durbin. And they'd use a low dose of the virus. Her group has already done this kind of study to evaluate a potential vaccine for dengue, a closely related virus. Dengue can cause serious illness, but one particular dengue virus just causes a rash. And people did agree to be injected with it. That let Durbin and her colleagues show that the dengue vaccine really seemed to protect people from infection, making them feel more confident about moving forward with larger trials. "We would like to develop a similar
model for Zika," Durbin says. But the situation with Zika is a little more complicated. That's because, in addition to the possible connection with microcephaly in fetuses, Zika infection in adults may be linked to Guillain-Barre syndrome - a disorder in which the immune system attacks the nervous system. "We do not want to put people at risk for that," says Durbin, "because these are
The dengue vaccine really seemed to protect people from infection, making them feel more confident about moving forward with larger trials. normal, healthy people." Still, people already face a small risk of getting Guillain-Barre from more mundane infections, like diarrheal diseases or the flu. And it's still unclear how often this actually happens with Zika. That's something scientists are trying to understand now, to help them figure out whether it would be ethical to ask people to take a shot of Zika virus to help search for a vaccine.-Courtesy National Public Radio (NPR)
Fairchild, however, refuses to charge cancer patients. ``I just can't do it,'' she said. ``I used to charge $300, but now that I'm in this situation and I know what they go through, I just do it pro bono for everybody.'' She does the tattoos for women whether they have had specific reconstruction surgery or not. She said her mother going through a lumpectomy - the partial removal of a breast - because of cancer inspired her to ``create areolas through tattooing and help women feel whole again.'' Because it costs Fairchild $50 to $75 to do each of these tattoos, and because her outreach is growing, she has set up a Go Fund Me account (gofundme.com/runc46g) to help offset her costs. Otherwise, she notes on the site, ``I fear I may have to turn some away. With few women having the ability to travel to me, I would like to be able to travel to distant cities, where I could work for several days at a time.'' But money isn't her only woe. Fairchild often runs pictures of her areola work on Facebook. ``I put my work out not as a conversation starter, but just to let people know that option's out there,'' she
said. ``Facebook community standards say that mastectomy and reconstruction photos are allowed to be shown,'' she said, ``that they are not sexual in nature, but an educational tool.'' Some Facebook users do not agree, however, and Fairchild has found her photos being reported as inappropriate many times. Usually the photos are left up, but since the reports are checked out by computers rather than by people they are sometimes fooled ("I guess I should feel honored,'' she muses), not only removing the photos but locking her out of her site. ``(Facebook) says it's not a big deal,'' she said, ``But it is a big deal.'' The lockout lasts 48 hours the first time a report succeeds; and each perceived violation lengthens the time: three days the second time and, eventually, your account can be permanently closed. ``It's been taken down four times over a month,'' she said, but ``It's probably been reported a hundred times.'' She is notified of every report against her and ``it happens at least once a day; it's turned almost into harassment.'' She said people have criticized her through Facebook posts, though none have contacted her directly. Some people, she said, ``are seeking me out. They've reported pictures of me in my bathing suit, pictures of my kids in bathing suits. That's crossing the line.'' -AP
Realty Tidbits
Pennsylvania state park evicts tiny houses NEWPORT, Pa.: Nearly 40 gnome homes have been evicted from a Pennsylvania state park after a decision change sent them packing. Pennlive.com reports that park management at Little Buffalo State Park gave permission for Steve Hoke to create the mini, magical houses in December. Since then, he has made 38 tiny houses in tree roots, hollow logs and on stumps around the forest near Newport, about 25 miles northwest of Harrisburg. He says the houses were a major attraction for children. Park Manager Jason Baker tells the news site he gave the OK originally, but it was later decided the homes could affect wildlife habitat. Hoke removed the little abodes after being told he had until Feb. 29. Duncannon and Millerstown have both offered to house them in local parks. -AP
Real Estate 36 India Post
www.indiapost.com
CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government has approved a housing policy to provide affordable housing facility to lower middle income group. Under the 'Affordable Housing Policy 2015', incentives in the form of reduced Change of Land Use (CLU), External Development Charges (EDC) and License Fee would be given to promoters undertaking construction of houses for economically backward strata of society. -PTI
Indian-American locked in $30 million real estate battle NEW YORK: A prominent Indian-American billionaire is locked in a real estate battle with the State of California after he sought USD 30 million for reallowing public access to a stretch of beach he owns, a media report said. Vinod Khosla, founder of Sun
Microsystems, had bought a prime 53-acre parcel of Martins Beach, a haven for the beach going public, for USD 37.5 million eight years ago. At first, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist let people use the beach, but in 2010 locked the gate
Martin Beach California
'Freight corridors will boost realty'
NEW DELHI: Dedicated freight corridors and redevelopment of 400 railway stations would foster the transit oriented development and boost the real estate market, property consultants have said. However, they said successful funding mechanism and timely implementation of these projects would be the key. "Railway minister Suresh Prabhu's announcement on redevelopment of 400 stations through the private-public partnership (PPP) model is a very progressive and welcome move. This project will foster a plethora of large transit-oriented developments across the country," said Anuj Puri, Chairman & Country Head, JLL India. Indian Railways could efficiently monetize their land parcels, particularly in cities with higher densities, by commercially exploiting existing railway stations through sale of space rights over them, he added. Commenting on the Rail budget, CBRE South Asia CMD Anshuman Magazine said: "From a real estate and infrastructure perspective the budget had some key announcements focusing on infrastructure such as dedicated freight corridors including three new freight corridors and transit development." These initiatives if implemented successfully would benefit the Industrial and logistics real estate segment, he added. -PTI
March 4, 2016
Punjab to provide 'affordable houses'
HUDCO loans Rs 90 crore to Andhra NEW DELHI: The stateowned Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO) has sanctioned a loan of Rs 90 crore for the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA), Lok Sabha was told. The loan was sanctioned last month and the legal paperwork for the same is in progress, Minister of State for Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation Babul Supriyo said in a written reply. To another query, the minister said 64,942 houses were built for urban poor in Andhra Pradesh under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewable Mission and Rajiv Awas Yojana. Of these, 40,331 houses have been occupied by the beneficiaries, he said.
A total of 80,999 houses were sanctioned for Andhra Pradesh under these schemes, which have now been merged under the Prime Minister Awas Yojana
(Urban) launched in June last year. Supriyo said the state government has been asked to finish construction of these houses by March 31 next year. PTI
on Martins Beach Road and posted guards. A report in the New York Times said the case has touched "a nerve in California" as resentment grows over issues of wealth, privilege and public land use. "The case has generated years of protests as it wound its way through state courts, where two lawsuits aim to force Khosla, who does not live on the property, to let the public back in," it said. Lawyers for Khosla have proposed in negotiations with the state to restore public ac-
Vinod Khosla
cess to the beach for USD 30 million, almost the amount he had paid for the land. California's State Lands Commission's executive officer Jennifer Lucchesi said in the report that the commission does not agree with that value. "We have not seen any backup documentation to support the USD 30 million value. Cont’d on page 37
Real estate Bill may pass this session NEW DELHI: The Government has expressed hope that Real Estate Regulatory Bill could be discussed and approved in the ongoing budget session of Parliament. The real estate Bill is pending before Parliament and the government is hopeful that after discussion, it could be passed in the ongoing session, Urban Development Minister Venkiah Naidu said in reply to supplementary questions during the Question Hour. On the concerns raised by some members whether the Centre had a right to legislate on real estate which fell in the domain of the states, he said the government had sought the opinion of the Attorney General who said it is in the concurrent list and could be legislated upon. "Concerning the views of the
Law Ministry, this is possible," Naidu said. In reply to a query, Naidu said the legislation would not encroach upon the rights of the states. Passage of the Real Estate Regulation and Development Bill is essential to protect the interests of the buyers and sellers, the minister said. The Union Cabinet had in December 2015 cleared 20 amendments to the bill which seeks to regulate transactions between buyers and promoters of residential real estate projects by establishing state-level regulatory authorities. Observing that there would be no licensing of the real estates, he said the real estate Bill was referred to the Standing Committee and then the Rajya Sabha had sent it to the Select Committee and was now pending before Parliament. -PTI
Real Estate Post
March 4, 2016
India Post 37
www.indiapost.com
Rubio pushed for land deal as he backed law limiting critics WASHINGTON: Marco Rubio stood before Miami-Dade County officials in May 2002 and pushed them to permit a multimillion-dollar industrial development to be built on restricted land near the Florida Everglades. Two months earlier, Rubio - a rising Republican star in the state Legislature - backed a law that made it harder for people to challenge the kinds of developments he advocated for as a private attorney. Around the same period, Rubio also requested state money to be earmarked to benefit a floodprone area around the development project. Those efforts by Rubio, now a U.S. senator and the leading establishment alternative to GOP presidential rivals Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, provide a glimpse into how he handled the intersection of his public role as a young lawmaker and his private representation of a company that stood to benefit from his political connections. There's no evidence Rubio violated Florida ethics rules. But his seat in Tallahassee, the state capital, put him in the position of advocating before a county commission that relied on lawmakers like him to fight for state money. ``I always had a problem when legislators would lobby at the county commission, because you always felt like if you didn't vote
their way, does this mean we'll lose funds in Tallahassee?'' said Katy Sorenson, a former county commissioner and Democrat. The commission approved the application for the plan near the Everglades, though Sorenson
tional sense because that was illegal under state law. But Harris said the part-time nature of Florida's Legislature meant that ``virtually every legislator makes their living from outside employment.'' ``Marco did not gain person-
allies and running for Rubio's seat in the U.S. Senate. Rubio's campaign told the AP the younger Lopez-Cantera worked for his father's company and recommended hiring Rubio to do the legal work ``because of his experience in land use and zoning.''-AP
US new-home sales tumble in January
Marco Rubio
voted against it because it would have required moving the so-called urban development boundary, an important safeguard that protected agriculture and the local water supply. That boundary was established in the 1970s, and the county considers periodic requests to move it. Todd Harris, a senior adviser for Rubio's presidential campaign, told The Associated Press that Rubio never lobbied in the tradi-
ally from this, or any other, vote because his compensation was not tied to any other specific project,'' Harris wrote in response to detailed questions from the AP, noting the law firm Rubio worked for was paid a standard retainer for its work. Rubio's 2002 request to the county involved Pan American, a Miami company owned by wellknown real estate developer Carlos C. Lopez-Cantera. He wanted to
Unitech defaults on Rs38.52 crore payments NEW DELHI: Realty firm Unitech Ltd has defaulted on payment of a loan installment of Rs.38.52 crore to the Central Bank of India, prompting the stateowned banker to issue public notice of default. Unitech said that it has repaid Rs.264 crore out of the Rs.300 crore loan and the remaining would be paid shortly. In a public notice, the bank said: "...Unitech Ltd through its directors has availed credit facilities to the tune of Rs 300 crore from Central Bank of India. The account was declared NPA (non-performing asset) on October 30, 2015". "As on November 18, 2015, the borrower is liable to pay a sum of Rs 38,52,73,391 with further interest with effect from November 19, 2015 and other expenses/costs to the bank," the notice said. "Despite repeated demands the borrower has failed to make any payment after October 1, 2015," it said and cautioned the people while dealing with the company and its
build a project - then known as Shoppyland - west of the city, but environmental critics said it was too close to an important water source. Lopez-Cantera's son, Carlos, is Florida's lieutenant governor, among Rubio's closest political
directors. When contacted, Unitech spokesperson said: "Unitech has already repaid Rs 264 crore out of the Rs 300 crore taken as loan. The company expects to repay the outstanding amount within a short span of time". Stating that the
Unitech's debt position remains comfortable, the spokesperson said the company is committed towards meeting its obligations towards its lenders. Unitech is facing a liquidity crunch due to slowdown in the real
estate market, particularly housing segment. The company has been facing consumer complaints and protest due to delay in completion of some of its projects. Earlier this month, Unitech reported a consolidated net loss of Rs.16.10 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2015, on sharp rise in finance cost. Its income from operations also fell by 42% to Rs.408.74 crore in the third quarter of this fiscal. Finance cost increased to Rs.84.56 crore in the October-December quarter of this fiscal from Rs.7.33 crore in the year-ago period. Unitech's consolidated net debt as of 31 December 2015 stood at Rs.6,802.05 crore. Net debt to equity ratio was 0.64. However, Unitech's sales bookings increased by 25% to Rs.832 crore during the April-December period of the current fiscal, driven by higher sales realization. -PTI
WASHINGTON: Americans stepped back from buying new homes in January, as purchases plunged sharply in western states where prices are typically higher. The Commerce Department has said that new-home sales fell 9.2 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 494,000. Most of the decline stemmed for a 32.1 drop in sales in the West. Sales also slipped in the Midwest, while edging up in the Northeast and South. The pace of buying new homes last month slipped below last year's sales total of 501,000, a possible sign of mounting price pressures despite low mortgage rates and job gains that have pushed the unemployment rate down to 4.9 percent. But newhome sales also tend to be a volatile government report with revisions and large swings on a monthly basis. ``With inventory still very tight, prices will continue to firm, though the short-term numbers are so volatile that the trend is hard to
spot,'' said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. Last month's decrease potentially complicates the outlook for residential real estate. Rising demand for existing homes had sparked hopes that builders will
ramp up construction and sales of new homes will further accelerate. The 14.5 percent increase in newhome sales last year fed into those expectations. But builders have increasingly focused on the more affluent slivers of the market, while the decline in sales listings of existing homes indicate that many Americans may have lost interest in upgrading to a new property. A curious price gap appears to have opened up because of these trends. -AP
Indian-American locked in $30 million real estate battle Cont’d from page 36
The commission planned to offer its own assessment," she said. The talks were initiated under legislation that took effect in January 2015, she said. If the two sides cannot agree, the commission could resort to eminent domain, which allows the state to expropriate private property for public use. Khosla's lawyer Dori Yob said in her letter to the commission this month that Khosla's limited liability companies, the legal entity that owns the property, closed the beach because demand was low, asserting that more than 10 cars
showed up to use it only about 15 days a year. Yob said that while the current real estate market value of the land was USD 30 million, the Martins Beach owners previously offered less expensive solutions to meet the "limited demand" for access as a way to avoid lengthy litigation and further expenses. "The cost to acquire the property is significant and should be weighed against the benefits," she wrote. "There is no vital link to navigable waters at issue. There is not a significant demand for access to the property," the report cited her as saying. -PTI
March 4, 2016
38 India Post www.indiapost.com
FOR ALL YOUR
TRAVEL NEEDS INTERNATIONAL DOMESTIC
AIR INDIA AND ALL OTHER MAJOR AIRLINES.
PACKAGE DEAL TAJ TOUR-SOTC
SEEMA WORLD TRAVEL, INC. One of the Oldest Travel Agencies in St. Louis
Competitive Rates & Confirmed Seats for All Major Airlines 10635 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132
Tel: (314) 423-9990 or (800) 55 SEEMA CALL:
Sita Ram Patel @ 847-568-0535 New York (Hicksville)
AIRWING TRAVELS INC.
Tel: (516) 931 4600
Est. 1991 Toll Free: (866) 532 3413
New Jersey (Iselin)
Tel: (732) 658 5450
Lowest Fares / Confirmed Seats to INDIA & Other Destinations Worldwide Save upto 40% on First and Business Class OPEN 7 DAYS - Call or Email : AIRWINGTRAVELS@GMAIL.COM
Fax: (314) 423-0391
Horoscope
March 4, 2016
India Post
www.indiapost.com
March 4th - March 10th 2016
f you don't control being impulsive, you will end up spending lots of money on unnecessary things. Replacing an old car with an economical version will be a wise choice. Stay away from a shady person at the social gathering who will try to flirt with you. You will also recover from minor illness with simple home remedy.
I
ontract will get signed after slight delay and minor changes but only to your advantage. You will be successful in resolving an important issue almost on the verge of loosing with a government agency with the help of some lost or forgotten documents. Extra time spent at work will not go unnoticed in eyes of boss.
C
A
Y
ou will gather your self and with complete divine help you will find solution to a very difficult situation that popped up very recently. Extra running around will be financial beneficial. You may try to join hands with some successful and professional person. Expenses towards a child will continue to escalate rapidly.
T
his week looks promising from financial point of view. Deal will be nothing less than some kind of jackpot. Stay away from unnecessary arguments at the party. You will be taking several important decisions in life and about a new venture offered with cool and rational mind. Health will improve with change in diet plan.
S
ome of your actions will make spouse very nervous. Risk taken can turn into a great deal within next few weeks. Pay attention to legal document sitting on the table and send it out immediately to take advantage of the system. You may be working on a long distance trip. You may also try to cut down on hot and spicy food and red meat.
N
egotiations with the best will continue to move in right directions and soon the contract will be in your lap. People in business will make few very important clients and will see sales shooting up suddenly. Take help you want to fill up those legal papers correctly. Any trip taken this week will bring instant rewards.
n overseas or long distance journey is in the air. You will feel more energetic and jovial and people will notice and admire the changes. Spouse may go out of way and buy some unnecessary items. You will take family out for dinner at a nice place. Money may go on adding some more luxury items. Check will come in mail.
E
oss will turn into profit. Sudden change in scenario will cause lots of excitement and bring the energy back. You may meet an interesting person during the course of a trip or when you attend a business meeting. Have patience and choose your words correctly when on phone. There will be some more delay in your plans to relocate.
L
emember health is wealth. Planets continue to test your patience and self confidence. Just stick to your guns and don't budge from the right path, if you want victory to be yours. Expenses will again exceed your revenues this week. Some of you may find a temporary consulting assignment. You may order some high tech item.
R
ou will attend an entraining event with family this week. A big check will finally show up in mail and give you another reason to spend money on self and family. You will spend couple of days to write an important letter. You may also ignore a not so good looking job offer. Property deal will take place soon.
Y
oss or a government agency will be the cause of temporary stress. Progress anticipated will be further delayed. Spouse may give the news you had been waiting for. Business trip you take will bring instant rewards. You will continue to work on some important paper work. You may seek some advise from an older and matured person.
xpect instant success when you go on a business trip this week. Time spent on phone will be well worth it and gains will be for long time. You may finally dispose off some asset and pocket the large gains. You may also successfully work out deal with a government agency. Unexpected Expenses will not leave you alone.
B
39
40 India Post
T
he Sanjay Gandhi or Borivali National Park has the distinction of being the only National Park in Mumbai. Notified in 1974, it is set in hill ranges around the suburb of Borivali in Mumbai. It plays host to various wildlife species like the panther, antelope, mouse deer and wild bear. Children particularly enjoy riding the colorful toy train here, as it winds its way through the vast park. In the Lion Safari Park, visitors can view lions as close as six feet away, from the special park vehicles. The park is a paradise for the lovers of
www.indiapost.com
avifauna and it is difficult for them not to be attracted by their charm here in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The Park is located in Borivali, east of the Thane district, at distance of 40 km north from Mumbai. The climate of the park is pleasant during winter (November-March) and hot during summer. The temperature is on the rise from the month of March until the monsoons break here in mid-June, and go on till September. October offers relief from the humidity and heat. Best time to visit is September to March
March 4, 2016
Tourist attractions Flora - The forest cover in the park can be divided into two main categories i.e. South Indian moist deciduous and Semi Evergreen. These two types can be further classified into four subcategories and they are moist teak-bearing forest, mangrove scrub, southern moist mixed deciduous forest, and western subtropical hill forest. The region
has good biodiversity and major trees and plants include kadamba, teak, karanj, shisam, and species of acacia, ziziphus, euphorbia, flame of the forest, red silk cotton and many more varieties of flowers. During the monsoon, almost the entire park is awash with the rainbow hues of the flowers that bloom here and all over the Western Ghats. Cont’d on page 42
March 4, 2016
Travel & Hospitality Post
India Post 41
www.indiapost.com
e-Tourist Visa extended to 37 more countries NEW DELHI: The hugely successful e-Tourist Visa (e-TV) facility is being extended to citizens of 37 more countries, including Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark and South Africa, from tomorrow, taking the total count of countries under the scheme to 150. The new 37 countries included in e-Tourist Visa scheme are Albania, Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Botswana, Brunei,
Bulgaria, Cape Verde, Comoros, Cote d'lvoire, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana and Greece. Others are Guinea, Iceland, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Moldova, Namibia, Romania, San Marino, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, South Africa, Swaziland, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Trinidad & Tobago, Zambia and Zimbabwe, an official statement said.
TVoA (tourist visa on arrival), enabled by Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA), popularly known as e-Tourist Visa scheme, was launched on November 27, 2014. Under the e-Tourist Visa scheme, an applicant receives an email authorizing him or her to travel to India after it is approved and he or she can travel with a print-out of this authorization.
On arrival, the visitor has to present the authorization to the immigration authorities who would then stamp the entry into the country. Till now the scheme has been extended to 113 countries at 16 Indian airports designated for providing e-Tourist visa service. Since the launch of the scheme more than 7.50 lakh visas have been issued under the scheme. At
present on an average, 3,500 eTourist Visas are being granted daily to foreign nationals. According to an official estimate, during January-November of 2015, a total of 3,41,683 tourists arrived on e-Tourist Visa as compared to 24,963 during the corresponding period of previous year, registering a growth of 1268.8 per cent. The UK accounted for 23.93 per
The seminar is an ongoing series launched by Indiatourism across South East Asian capital cities. Meanwhile, Singapore's Changi Airport has reported 3.44 million Indian passenger movements at the airport, making India as its seventh largest country market last year. Mumbai was Changi's fourth fastest growing route, plus 8.2 per cent on-year, among destinations with at least half a million passengers handled in 2015. Bangkok, Colombo and Guangzhou took the top three
MUMBAI: The Kerala government is aiming for a 10-12 per cent growth in domestic and foreign tourist arrivals and is exploring new source markets like East Asia and Russia for tourism opportunities. "Last year has been a difficult year for the tourism industry and we achieved a flat or marginal growth compared to 2014. This year and in 2017, we are expecting double digit growth (about 10-12 per cent) in tourist arrivals," Kerala Tourism Deputy Director Nandakumar K P told PTI here. In 2015, as many as 7,75,390 foreign tourists visited Kerala from January-October, a growth of 6.60 per cent. Last year, 76,71,277 do-
the home of Ayurveda'. "We are exploring new markets like Russia, East Asia, China and Japan, besides focusing on strengthening the traditional markets like the European Union and the US. For wooing tourists, we have branded the state as 'Kerala: the home of Ayurveda'. "We decided for branding because we are facing a lot of competition from Sri Lanka and South Asian markets. Moreover, we are combining wellness with sightseeing," he said. Meanwhile, Kerala is signing an agreement with Saint Petersburg in Russia for joint promotion. "To increase our visibility and help increase foot print, we de-
mestic tourists visited the southern state from January August, a growth of 7.40 per cent, according to government data. The state, which is facing competition from Sri Lanka and South Asian countries, is planning to attract tourists by branding 'Kerala:
cided to do joint promotions with other states in the country as well as foreign destinations. We are planning to sign a MoU with Saint Petersburg. We are looking at similar opportunities and may sign many such MoUs in future," he said. -PTI
cent share of availing e-Tourist Visa facility during November 2015, followed by the US (16.33 per cent), Russian Federation (8.17 per cent), France (7.64 per cent), Germany (5.60 per cent) and Australia (4.82 per cent). Canada had a share of 4.71 per cent, while that of China stood at 3.26 per cent, Ukraine at 2.03 per cent and the Netherlands at 1.75 per cent. -PTI
'India should be top destination for Singaporeans' SINGAPORE: India should become number one destination for Singapore tourists, given the number of airlines flying between the two countries, the Indian envoy has said. "We want India to be the number one destination for Singapore tourists, just as the city state has become a favorite destination for Indian tourists," High Commissioner, Vijay Thakur Singh said here. Addressing Indiatourism seminar, Singh stressed on the ever strengthening ties between India and Singapore, including people to people contacts. With airlines launching flights to tourist attractions in India, there are more opportunities for Singaporeans to visit different parts of the country, she said at the seminar. Singh also spoke of Indian government efforts to make it easier for travelers and the advantage of the online e-tourist visa.
Kerala eyes 12 pc growth in tourist arrivals
spots. The addition of a new service to Lucknow increased the total number of Changi's city links to India to 13, strengthening the airport's position as the most connected airport in Southeast Asia to India. In the coming months, Singapore's Tiger Air and Scoot will be increasing the number of flights to India, adding more destinations. In terms of traffic, the top five Indian cities for Changi Airport are Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Tiruchirappalli. -PTI
Mega tourism summit around July-August NEW DELHI: With a view to giving a boost to domestic tourism industry, the government plans to organize a mega tourism summit around July-August to attract private investment in the sector. "We cannot take tourism to new height unless we make various stakeholders as our partners. We have proposed to hold a tourism summit, seeking participation of various stakeholders to give boost to tourism industry," Union Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma said on the sidelines of an event here. Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi said the summit will be held in JulyAugust and probably in the national capital.
"It will be held in July-August. We are thinking of holding it in Delhi," he said. Zutshi said India's tourism industry holds a "huge investment potential" and sought investment from domestic as well as foreign players. "We are creating the infrastructure. It is for the private sector to come and make use of it. With 100 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in tourism sector, we even invite foreign investment," he said. Tourism in one of the main focus areas of the government to use it as an engine of economic growth, employment generation and for foreign exchange earnings. -PTI
42 India Post
Travel & Hospitality Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
Cont’d from page 40
Avifauna - The Park is a paradise for the bird watchers of Mumbai. Despite receiving the highest number of visitors, the park has a large number of bird species like jungle owlets, golden orioles, racket-tailed drongos, minivets, magpies, robins, hornbills, bulbuls, sunbirds, peacock, and woodpeckers. At many times, migratory and resident birds like paradise flycatcher, kingfisher, mynas, drongos, swifts, gulls, egrets, and herons have also been seen here. In total 251 species of birds have been seen here according to the wildlife experts that include water and land birds. Wildlife - The park is known to shelter wildlife right from the time urbanization began in Mumbai. One can have encounters
with several of the species including spotted deer, black naped hare, barking deer, porcupine, palm civet, mouse deer, rhesus macaque, bounet macaque, Hanuman langur, Indian flying fox, and sambhar. One is surprised by the density of leopards in this park despite its nearness to an urban settlement. One can also encounter here a hyena or four horned antelope. Reptiles have also made this park their habitat and one can see crocodiles in the Tulsi Lake, and pythons, cobras, monitor lizards, Russell's viper, bamboo pit viper and Ceylonese cat snake here. Kanheri Caves - Kanheri or Kanhasela, as the two inscriptions from the place have named it, is the biggest Buddhist monastic establishment on the Konkan coast. It is situated in the heart of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park and is one of the better-known sites in Mumbai. The architectural activity at Kanheri began three centuries before Christ-almost immediately after the introduction of Buddhism in this region. The first simple caves
were excavated during the reign of the Satvahana kings who came to the fore after the disintegration of the Mauryan Empire in India. In the earliest period the caves were meant to shelter wandering monks during the rainy season. At this time, vaultroofed chaitya griha were in vogue. From the 1st century AD, the caves appear to have been in occupation throughout the year. The monks were provided with cells with stone benches to sleep, along with accessories like a large number of cisterns, refectories and even bathing facilities. Food, medicine and clothing appear to have been stored here. The huge chaitya griha is believed to have been added during the reign of Gautamiputra Satakarni (AD 106130). Unprecedented in dimension and beauty and the first of its kind on the Konkan coast, it began to attract numerous monks and laymen alike. A large number of donations appear to have been made by citizens, traders, royal women, even foreigners (yavanas) from nearby cities like Kalyan, Sopara and Thane. However, the later part of the 3rd century AD was the most active period for the Kanheri establishment with numerous cells being added. There are suggestions of it being a school, with 60 to 70 monks in residence and had dining rooms with a capacity of catering to 120 diners. An unusual feature at Kanheri is the
number of open benches cut into rocks and benches in the verandahs or frontcourts of almost all the caves. Places around The Sanjay Gandhi National Park is a part
of Greater Mumbai and Mumbai is one of the largest metropolises in the world and definitely the largest in India. The main highlights of the city are the Gateway of India, Prince of Wales Museum, Elephanta Island, Flora Fountain, Haji Ali's Tomb, Kamla Nehru Park, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Nehru Planetarium, Nehru Science Centre, and Marine Drive. Best time to visit September-
March is the best time to visit the park, as during these months climate remains pleasant. Visit to the park during monsoon is not recommended. How to reach
Air - The nearest airport is Santa Cruz at a distance of 16 km for domestic air travel. This airport is connected to almost all the major Indian cities with regular flights. The nearest international airport is Sahar at a distance of around 20 km from the park. Rail - Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) at a distance of 40 km is the nearest railway hub connected to almost all the parts of India by regular trains. Borivali Station is the nearest connected to Mumbai CST and Mumbai Central Railway terminuses. Road - The Park is connected to all parts of Mumbai and other places in Maharashtra with very good road connections. Buses ply on Sunday's and holiday's from Mumbai to the Park. Chartered vehicles are available to the park on all days from Mumbai.
March 4, 2016
Travel & Hospitality Post
India Post
43
www.indiapost.com
Pvt carriers, Tata Sons clash over flying norms NEW DELHI: The war of words between a grouping of four private Indian carriers and two new Tata Sons-invested airlines over a norm for starting international operations has escalated with the latter being accused of not acting in national interest by opposing the rule. The Tata Group called for abolishing the controversial 5/20 norm
"national interest" of the two carriers. "FIA is deeply disturbed by the statements issued by Tata claiming to be in national interest but effectively in self-interest," FIA said in a statement. "They (Vistara and AirAsia) claim to be 'Indian' Airlines and so it is puzzling that they now do not wish to serve the Indian civil avia-
for local carriers, saying it has only "benefited foreign airlines" and its removal would help "improve" India's air connectivity with the world. The norm bars airlines from starting overseas operations till they have a fleet of 20 aircraft and five years of domestic flying experience which will effectively keep out Tata's startup airlines Vistara and AirAsia India. The four private carriers want the norm to continue. The Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which comprises IndiGo, SpiceJet, Jet Airways and GoAir, criticised the alleged lobbying by the two new carriers for removal of 5/20 norm, saying it was in the "self-interest" and not in
tion growth story and be a part of India's future growth. They only wish to, it appears, serve their selfinterest and establish themselves in India in order to fly International," it said. Scrapping of 5/20 rule is one of the proposals made by the Ministry in the draft civil aviation policy, which is in the advanced stage of finalization. Significantly, the proposal to do away with the 5/20 norm was mooted around the time Tata Group announced its re-entry in the domestic airlines industry in 2013. Tata Sons, the major holding companies of diversified Tata Group which holds stakes in Vistara
and AirAsia India - said claims that airfares would go up if 5/20 norm is removed is "specious and unfounded". "The claim that air fares in India will go up as a result of removing the 5/20 rule is specious and unfounded. Not protectionism, but increased competition within the country will further contribute to lower prices and greater accessibility of air travel to common people," Tata Sons said in a statement. Coming out strongly against Ratan Tata's pitch to scrap the norm, the Federation said the removal of the rule would lead to higher airfares and result in "reverse discrimination". The statement by Tata Sons comes days after Tata Group Chairman Emeritus Ratan Tata accused older carriers of lobbying and us-
ing "monopolistic pressures" to retain preferential treatment under the 5/20 rule. -PTI
Malaysia may extend e-visa to Indian tourists CHANDIGARH: Malaysia plans to extend e-tourist visa facility to travelers from India as it hopes to attract 10 lakh tourists from the country this year as against 7,22,141, who visited last year. "We are eyeing 10 lakh Indian tourists this year," Dato Daljit Singh, Indian Community Relations Advisor to the Minister of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia, said here. He said tourism sector contributes 12 per cent to Malaysia's GDP and India has always been an important market. Singh, also a member of the Tourism Malaysia Board of Directors, said the country is working on e-tourist visa for China and the facility may be offered to the India
as well. "After we complete working with the Chinese government, as we are in the middle of the process, then we are also going to
work with the Indian government on e-visa," he said. Asked if visa-on-arrival can also be on the cards for Indians, he said, "We can look at all these subjects. We get a lot of suggestions from local (travel) agents. Slowly,
we will take up these issues". Bulk of Indian tourists to Malaysia come from Delhi and Mumbai, he said, adding there has been a significant increase in the number of young couples visiting the country. As part of its efforts to raise awareness on 'Malaysia as a destination of choice', Tourism Malaysia has embarked on a 'Sales Mission' to India and Sri Lanka between February 25 and March 3. Singh and Musa Yusuf, another senior functionary from Tourism Malaysia, are leading a delegation of officials of Malaysia Tourism Board as part of the Mission, which will cover several Indian cities including Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bengaluru, Kochi, besides Colombo. -PTI
Railways to introduce 'Smart' coaches NEW DELHI: Railways will introduce aesthetically-designed coaches equipped with latest amenities for improving travel experiences of its passengers. "These new SMART (Specially Modified Aesthetic Refreshing Travel) coaches would cater to emerging needs of our customers and also ensure lower unit cost of operations due to higher carrying capacity," Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said while introducing the Rail Budget. Railways is planning to reimagine the design and layout
for advertising and passenger address system. The minister said the railways have received funds under MPLADS and corporate social responsibility (CSR). He said, 124 MPs have committed to contributing towards better passenger amenities. Railways has added over 65,000 additional berths by augmenting 884 coaches, installed 2,500 water-vending machines at stations, provided mobile charging points in general class coaches, placed dustbins in all
of coaches to ensure higher carrying capacity and provision of new amenities including automatic doors, barcode readers, biovacuum toilets, water-level indicators, dustbins, ergonomic seating, improved aesthetics, entertainment screens, LED-lit boards
new non-AC coaches, enabled online booking of retiring rooms, and set up mechanized laundries to provide clean and hygienic bed rolls. He said disposable bed rolls are now available at select stations to all classes of passengers. -PTI
Travel insurance for rail passengers soon NEW DELHI: In order to minimize financial loss to passengers from untoward incidents, Railways will launch a travel insurance scheme. "Currently there are railways claims tribunals which provide compensation in case of mishaps. One can claim compensation in case of accidents. Now we are offering additional service of insurance," Railway Board Chairman A K Mital said. However, he said the insurance scheme is optional and passengers will be given the option at the time of booking tickets. Modalities
are being worked out and very soon we will come out with a travel insurance scheme, he said. Railways will introduce 'Clean my Coach' service on Pan-India basis, where a passenger can request cleaning of his or her coach or toilets on demand through SMS. It will also install additional 30,000 bio-toilets in the next financial year. -PTI
In Brief Residents can sue State on immigration PHOENIX: The House has passed a bill reinforcing SB 1070 provisions that allow residents to sue state and local governments for not properly enforcing federal immigration law. The bill by Rep. Mark Finchem of Oro Valley would strip a requirement that residents pay attorney fees if they lose a lawsuit against a state or local government for failing to properly enforce federal immigration law. In effect it would allow residents to sue state and local governments for not enforcing immigration laws without having to pay attorney fees for losing. SB 1070 launched protests, lawsuits and national controversy with its provision requiring police to try and determine the immigration status of people during routine stops. The House passed House Bill 2024 on a 35-23 vote. It now moves to the Senate. -AP
„ Poor care in detention leads to deaths TUCSON: US Immigration and Customs Enforcement has for years provided inadequate medical care at its detention facilities, leading to in-custody deaths, according to a report by a coalition of advocacy groups. The ACLU, Detention Watch Network and National Immigrant Justice Center examined reports filed by an ICE review board in charge of investigating detention deaths. The coalition examined reports from 2010 to 2012, but advocates say the problem is getting worse. Separately, ICE data from its website shows that there have been 155 in-custody deaths between October 2003 and Jan. 25. ICE spokeswoman Yasmeen Pitts O'Keefe said in a statement that several of the detention centers described in the report have implemented more rigorous standards. "US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) remains committed to providing a safe and humane environment for all those in its custody, including affording access to necessary and appropriate health care," Pitts O'Keefe wrote. She added, "Under ICE's protocols, a detainee death triggers an immediate internal inquiry into the circumstances." Between 300,000 and 500,000 people are processed into ICE custody each year, and the agency says it spent over USD195 million last fiscal year on medical, mental and dental health care for detainees. -AP
Immigration 44 India Post
www.indiapost.com
March 4, 2016
Arizona bill allows refusal of refugees Details on page 46
Republican race rips bandage off Nevada immigration detente PAHRUMP, Nev.: Nevada Republicans thought they had put their immigration problems behind them. After Sen. Harry Reid held onto his seat in 2010 by defending immigrants' rights and in 2012 President Barack Obama handily won a state that is only 52 percent white, the state's Republicans backed off their hardline stance on illegal immigration. The state party called for citizenship for people living in the country illegally, Republicans fell in line behind their popular Hispanic governor, Brian Sandoval, and the GOP swept the 2014 elections while hardly discussing the issue. But now that detente is over. With elected officials in the state feuding over immigration and the party's presidential contest in town, passions are raging once again and raising the specter that the party will never resolve the issue even where it is essential for its political survival. ``There is a backlash in general
against people who break the law and get away with it,'' said Assemblyman Ira Hansen, a supporter of Sen. Ted Cruz. ``Nevada is very much a microcosm of what's happened nationally,'' he added. Elite Republicans turned dovish on im-
Nevada's economy depends on a steady flow of overseas tourists. It is 28 percent Latino, 9 percent Asian-American and leads the nation with the highest rate of people living in the country illegally, according to the Pew His-
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, smiles as he speaks at a rally in Reno
migration, ``and that conflicts with the rank and file....That's why Trump has taken off so well.''
panic Center. Its immigrant communities - 19 percent of its population was born outside the United
India third in world in issuing passports PUDUCHERRY: India now ranks third in the world after China and the US in issuing passports with the number having doubled since 2010, a senior official of the External Affairs Ministry said here. The number of passports issued went up from around 60 lakh five years ago to 1.2 crore last year, Joint Secretary and Chief Passport Officer of Ministry Muktesh K Pardeshi said. "In 2010 we embarked on a journey for passport seva program to set up new centers. Now there are 37 passport offices and 90 seva kendras. India has become a major passport issuing country in the world and is today ranked third in the world after China and USA in issuing passports," Pradeshi said.
No state or union territory was now without passport related facilities, he said after Chief Minister N Rangasamy inaugurated the passport seva kendra here,
the 90th in the country. The chief minister thanked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj for expediting its estab-
lishment and said the government felt the need for a centre locally to cater to needs of students, tourists and others from Puducherry and Karaikal regions. Passport applicants earlier had to go to the Regional Passport Office in Chennai, he said. Rangasamy said there had been a rise in enrolment of students in professional colleges and youth going abroad for jobs and for higher studies. Demand for passports had thus shot up, he said. -PTI
States - have helped turn a once reliably Republican state in presidential elections into one that backed Obama twice. Many analysts attribute that to hardline Republican positions on immigration. ``We seem overwhelmed by the other side because the other side is a lot more vocal,'' Fernando Romero, of the nonpartisan Las Vegas group Hispanics in Politics, said. Romero singled out Trump and Cruz as the most vocal of the GOP presidential contenders. ``Unfortunately, those two individuals are doing so much to create that tension and that skepticism that those who maybe have never voted before or that are now becoming U.S. citizens, are leaning toward whoever the Democratic candidate would be.'' Trump was introduced recently at a heavily attended rally by Joe Arpaio, the Arizona Sheriff who is synonymous with heated anti-immigration rhetoric. Shortly after Trump took to the stage in an arena in a Las Vegas hotel, his supporters burst into a throaty chant. ``Build that wall! Build that wall!'' they shouted - a reference to Trump's plan to build a wall along the length of the Southern border to stop illegal immigration. ``We're going to build the wall. And who's going to pay for that wall?'' asked Trump. ``Mexico!'' shouted the crowd in response. ``They think we're kidding, too, don't they folks, huh? We're not kidding,'' added Trump. ``We're not going to be the dummies, anymore folks. We're going to be the smart ones,'' the GOP front-runner said. Cruz only treads lightly on immigration in his campaign speeches, but speaking to Fox News recently, he took his toughest stance yet, noting that anyone in the U.S. illegally should be sought out and deported. Asked whether he would send federal law enforcement officers to the home of an immigrant known to be living in the country illegally, Cruz replied: ``You'd better believe it.'' Cont'd on Page 46
Immigration Post
March 4, 2016
India Post 45
www.indiapost.com
Democratic Senate rivals differ on immigration, little else RALEIGH, N.C.: The four North Carolina Democrats running for U.S. Senate differed on immigration policy but generally agreed on other issues and largely avoided pointing at each other in their only scheduled televised debate. Although former state Rep. Deborah Ross and Spring Lake Mayor Chris Rey told their TV audience they supported a pathway to citizenship for immigrants who are in the country unlawfully, Kevin Griffin of Durham and Ernest Reeves of Greenville wouldn't go that far. Griffin offered instead a comprehensive work permit program so these immigrants could take advantage of social services and other government benefits as they pay into the system through taxes. Added Reeves: "I do favor a pathway to stay." Ross, the likely front-runner for the March 15 primary based on fundraising and weighty endorsements, tried to keep the focus on Republican U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, whom all of them would like to replace. She said she would back a bipartisan 2013 Senate bill that would have provided the citizenship pathway but also boosted security along the U.S.-Mexican border. "Richard Burr voted against it,"
Ross said at the WRAL-TV studio in Raleigh. "I would have voted for it." Others chimed in later with their unhappiness about Burr, who is seeking his third Senate term. He's
Paris. "We have to lead the world in honoring every individual," Griffin said. "We are the light of the world." Otherwise, the Democrats
North Carolina Democratic U.S. Senate candidates from left, Kevin Griffin, Ernest Reeves, Chris Rey and Deborah Ross wait prior to a live televised debate at WRAL-TV studios in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, Feb. 25
got his own primary with three GOP rivals. All four Democrats said they would bring Syrian refugees into the country provided that there is a comprehensive background screening process. Elected leaders, especially Republicans, have been anxious to delay or prevent those refugees from entering after November's terrorist attacks in
largely called for tweaks to President Barack Obama's health care law and blamed many health care issues on North Carolina state legislators refusing to expand Medicaid through the law to hundreds of thousands of people now uninsured. They said they would push for mental health funding and work keep guns out of the hands of the most criminally dangerous.
Lawmakers push for immigrant driver's licenses PROVIDENCE, R.I.: Lawmakers in Rhode Island are making another attempt to grant driving privileges to immigrants who are in the country illegally. Similar legislation stalled last year but state Sen. Frank Ciccone, a Providence Democrat, said he hopes to build on the success of a law that took effect in neighboring Connecticut. He and Democratic state Rep. Anastasia Williams, also of Providence, recently introduced companion bills in the Senate and House that adopt language from the Connecticut law but include ``a few more safeguards,'' Ciccone said. Immigrants who apply for the special licenses would have to have lived in Rhode Island for at least two years. The licenses would also be color-coded in a way that distinguishes them from regular driver's licenses and prevents them from being used as a form of identification. Ciccone, Williams and co-sponsoring lawmakers were joined at a State House rally by dozens of im-
migrants and advocates. Gaspar Espinoza of the Providence-based Olneyville Neighborhood Association said the licenses would help those in the country illegally get to their jobs
and improve road safety by getting them registered and insured. Immigrants who don't have lawful U.S. residency can now drive in about a dozen states. A handful of opponents also mingled in the rally, silently carrying signs that said, ``No driver's licenses for illegal aliens.''
Terry Gorman of the Central Falls-based Rhode Islanders for Immigration Law Enforcement said the licenses will be a magnet drawing more illegal immigration. Democratic Gov. Gina Raimondo has voiced support for allowing everyone to get driver's licenses regardless of immigration status. But after initially supporting the idea of signing an executive order allowing the licenses, she has since said that the General Assembly should take it up first. In a statement, Raimondo said she plans to look into the bills. ``The good news is that because many other states and cities have already done this successfully, there are models we can look at to get something passed,'' she said. -AP
On the economy, Reeves said he would work if elected to raise the minimum wage to $10.25 per hour. Griffin talked about internship programs to help veterans transitioning to civilian life find jobs. Griffin, who runs an employment staffing company in Durham, has been most critical of Ross on the campaign trial but didn't throw a verbal jab until the end of the half-hour debate. He said unanswered posts on her Facebook page shows she's not paying attention to people. "You have to be there, you have to be available, and that's the difference in my approach," Griffin said. Given a chance to respond, Ross replied only that she had been crisscrossing the state talking to voters in their hometowns and on the phone. "I dedicated my legal and my legislative career to doing things
that make people's lives better," Ross said in her closing statement. Rey, a health care nonprofit director and Army National Guard officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, talked about his experience with all levels of government and the knowledge of how to work with other countries. "It is critical that we have an individual who's going to win and be able to make sure that the Democratic ticket wins in November," Rey said. Reeves finished third in a three-candidate 2014 primary to then-Sen. Kay Hagan. The rules of the primary changed when the General Assembly eliminated all 2016 primary runoffs while delaying the state's congressional primary until June because of redistricting litigation. That means the leading candidate won't have to get more than 40 percent of the vote to advance to the general election. -AP
Immigrants center to operate amid license battle LEESPORT, Pa.: A facility used by the federal government to house asylum-seeking immigrant families will remain open amid a battle over its operating license. The Pennsylvania Department of Human Services refused to renew the Berks County Residential Center's license, which has expired. State authorities said the center's operation as a federal immigration facility is inconsistent with its licensing as a child residential center. Berks County has appealed the ruling. Immigrant detainees will continue to be housed in the facility while the appeal is pending, said Khaalid Walls, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The center in Leesport, about 65 miles northwest of Philadelphia, has been under contract with im-
migration authorities since 2001. It's one of three such facilities nationwide. The other two are in Texas. Immigrant rights groups have been demanding an end to family detention, alleging medical neglect and other abuses. They called on state authorities to shut down the Berks center immediately, before a ruling on the appeal. Department of Human Services spokeswoman Kait Gillis said the center can continue to operate pending the appeal. ``We will cite regulatory violations, require submission and implementation of corrective action plans, take all other necessary steps to enforce compliance with regulatory requirements, and protect the health and safety of the residents,'' she said in a statement. -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
http://www.proy-singh.com
2335 W. Devon Ave., Suite 204, Tel: 773-381-1820 Chicago, IL 60659
Immigration Post
46 India Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
Feds will get priority on release from prison WASHINGTON: Inmates wanted for deportation when they are released from federal prison will be turned over to U.S. immigration authorities rather than local law enforcement agencies with outstanding warrants, Attorney General Loretta Lynch has announced. The policy change comes less than a year after the fatal shooting of Kate Steinle, 32, in San Francisco by an immigrant who was on the streets after local police ignored a request from federal authorities to hold him for deportation proceedings. The change announced by Lynch in testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee calls for the Bureau of Prisons to first give Immigration and Customs Enforcement the option to take inmates facing deportation into custody. She said local law enforcement agencies could still get the immigrant for prosecution on other crimes, ``but we would have to have assurances that ICE would also then be able to get the individual back.''
Steinle was shot by Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez as she walked on a pier with her father. Lopez-Sanchez, who had been deported five times, was sent to San Francisco after being released from federal prison because local
San Francisco's newly elected sheriff, Vicki Hennessy, said she needs details on how the policy will be enforced. Specifically, Hennessy wants to know which type of inmates federal immigration officials plan on picking up.
Steinle was shot by Juan Francisco LopezSanchez as she walked on a pier with her father. Lopez-Sanchez, who had been deported five times, was sent to San Francisco after being released from federal prison authorities had a warrant. They decided not to prosecute him and released him. Lopez-Sanchez has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and other charges. He said the shooting was accidental. The case focused attention on immigrant-friendly communities with policies calling for local authorities to not cooperate with federal immigration officials.
Hennessy was elected in November and sworn in last month. Rep. John Culberson, a Texas Republican, said the change announced by Lynch along with increased pressure on cities and counties to cooperate with ICE to access federal grant funding is critical. ``Had that policy been in effect last summer Kate Steinle would still be alive,'' said Culberson, who
Few immigrant kids deported in last 4 years WASHINGTON: The Obama administration has deported about 4 percent of the tens of thousands of unaccompanied child immigrants who have been caught crossing the border illegally in the last several years, a Homeland Security Department official told lawmakers. The head of Immigration and
crossing the border illegally spiked in 2014 and the Obama administration promised that those who were not eligible for protections in the United States would be swiftly sent home. Federal law requires that children from countries that don't border the United States be transferred to the care of the Health
The disclosure of the deportation figures comes amid political tensions over how the administration is enforcing immigration laws and worries that there could be another flood of immigrant children and families caught at the border in the coming months. Customs Enforcement's removal operations, Thomas Homan, told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee that 7,643 immigrants who arrived as children were sent home between the 2012 and 2015 budget years. More than 171,000 children, mostly from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, were arrested at the border during that same time. The number of children caught
and Human Services Department before being placed with a sponsor, usually a relative, while they wait for their immigration case to be heard by a judge. And with an immigration court backlog of more than 474,000 pending cases some cases can take years to move through the court system. Juan Osuna, the Justice Department official who oversees the immigration court system, told lawmakers that about 40 per-
cent of immigrants are no shows at court. Those who don't show up can be and routinely are given deportation orders in their absence, Osuna said. Finding immigrant children with outstanding deportation orders is also complicated by the fact that they often are no longer at the addresses provided to the government. ``We are out looking,'' Homan said. ``But they are hard to find. A lot of these folks who don't show up in court, we don't know where they're at.'' The disclosure of the deportation figures comes amid political tensions over how the administration is enforcing immigration laws and worries that there could be another flood of immigrant children and families caught at the border in the coming months. Over two days in early January ICE agents arrested 121 immigrants who crossed the border illegally as families. Like the children, all had been ordered out of the country by a judge. But some Democratic law makers and immigration advocates argued that the immigrants should not be sent back their home countries, where extreme violence and poverty are persistent problems. -AP
chairs the subcommittee. Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, which wants tougher enforcement of immigration laws, welcomed the change but said the challenge is ensuring that suspects don't evade prosecution for serious crimes because they're being deported. Local prosecutors will need to be forceful when they want someone
turned over, Vaughan said. Jessica Bansal, litigation director for the National Day Laborer Organizing Network, said she didn't think the shift would affect too many cases, but it would require better communication between those working in the immigration and criminal justice systems. ICE had no immediate comment on the change. -AP
Republican race rips bandage off Nevada immigration detente Cont'd from Page 44
Immigration was also the reason many Cruz supporters were opposed to Sen. Marco Rubio, who helped write a bill that would have eventually granted citizenship to many of the 11 million people in the U.S. illegally. ``Anytime you do anything with Chuck Schumer and Harry Reid, that goes against my philosophy,'' said Ed Horn, 67, a retired air-traffic controller who has switched his allegiance from Trump to Cruz. ``I believe he's going to shut the borders down and be more for legalized immigration, maybe slow it down until our economy comes back.'' Immigration critics contend they can win Nevada's diverse voters. They point to people like Mario Sevilla, a legal immigrant from Mexico who lives in Las Vegas and ardently backs Cruz. ``Rubio was in that Gang of Eight - that's like an anchor,'' Sevilla said. ``You lock your doors at night. I can't get angry at white people'' for opposing illegal immigration, he added. ``We've got laws.'' But Andres Ramirez, a Democratic strategist here, says Republicans are getting boxed in by Trump and, to a lesser extent, Cruz. ``We have tea party folks here and we have anti-immigrant folks here
in Nevada, but they're not the dominant voice,'' Ramirez said. ``But the fact that the (state Republicans) are having to take sides with or condone the stances of their national standard bearers creates a problem.'' The division in the state predates the presidential contest. Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who was elected in the GOP wave of 2014, clashed with Sandoval over the attorney general joining a lawsuit to overturn Obama's executive action limiting deportations, which is very popular in the state's Latino community. Laxalt has endorsed Cruz while most of the rest of the state's GOP elite is backing Rubio. Laxalt's top political strategist, Robert Uithoven, is running Cruz's Nevada campaign. Uithoven said Republican base discontent is less about immigration and more about GOP politicians not staying true to their conservative principles. He tied the immigration dispute to another divide with Sandoval, who pushed through and signed the largest tax increase in state history last year after Republicans won control of the state legislature. ``This divide between the ruling class and the grass roots doesn't just exist in Ted Cruz's mind,'' Uithoven said. -AP
Datebook
March 4, 2016
NEW JERSEY Upcoming
NEW YORK
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
Upcoming
Upcoming
Sat, Mar 19
Sat, Mar 19
• Rang Barsay Bollywood Night
• The Biggest HOLI Party in New York City
Venue: Empire Meadowlands Secacus, 2 Harmon Plaza, Secaucus, NJ 07094 Time: 09:00 pm Contact: 732-900-4200
Venue: Stage48, 605 W 48th St, New York, NY 10036 Time : 12:00 pm Contact: 908-4251603
Sat, Mar 19 • Namam Excellence Award Night 2016
Sat, Mar 26
Venue: Royal Alberts Palace, 1050 King Georges Post Road, Edison, NJ 08837 Time: 5:00 pm Contact: 848-667-3313
Sat, Mar 26
• Umar Chee Antique Pan dil chee Romantic Gujarati Drama Venue: Plainfield High School - NJ, 950, Park Avenue, Plainfield, NJ 07060 Time : 7:30 pm
• Holi Bollywood Dance Party-Play with Real Colors Venue: Maple / Aspen Club, 157 W 47th St, New York, NY 10036 Time : 9:30 pm Contact: 646-543-8127
Mon, Feb 29 • Sulekha Seating Venue: Tester Venue, 123 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036 Time : 1:00 pm
India Post 47
CHICAGO
Upcoming
Venue: Smith Center at Ohlone College
Sun, Mar 14 • Strings n Beats -Shakir Khan (Sitar), Harshad Kanetkat (Tabla), Shambhavi Dandekar (Kathak Dance)
43600 Mission Boulevard
Venue: Mexican Heritage Plaza, 1700 Alum
Fremont, CA 94539
Rock Avenue, San Jose, CA 95116
Time: 8:00 pm
Time: 4:30 pm
Fri, Mar 4 • Smith Center Presents! Tim Roberts, Jazz/Rock Guitarist and Friends
Tickets: www.smithcenter.com Contact: 510-659-6031
Fri, Mar 4 • Pankaj Udhas Live In Concert - Bay Area Venue: India Community Center, 525 Los Coches Street, Milpitas, CA 95035 Time: 08:30 pm
Sat, Mar 19 • KKNC Presents - Rock on Raaga Venue: Carrington Hall, 1201 Brewster Avenue, Redwood City, CA 94062 Time: 04:00 pm
ATLANTA Upcoming
Sat, Mar 5 • Open Mic Karaoke Event - The Golden 90s
Fri, Mar 11 • Purani Yaadein Bollywood Musical Journey
Venue: Vara Indian Cuisine, 250 E Java Dr,
Venue: Atlanta Event Hall, 3750 Venture
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
Dr, Duluth, GA 30096
Time: 7:30 pm
Time: 08:30 pm
Sat, Mar 12 • Bally Sagoo Live In Bay area Venue: The Glass House, 2 S Market St, San Jose, CA 95113 Time: 9:00 pm
Sun, Mar 20 • Holi on the Beach
Sat, Mar 19 • Bollywood Beats 2016 (FundRaiser Supporting Kids Battling Cancer) Venue: Norcross High School, 5300 Spalding Dr, Norcross, GA 30092 Time: 4:30 pm
Venue: Seaside Lagoon, 200 Portofino Way,
Sat, Apr 9 • Hope Night At The Hawks
Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Venue: Philips Arena, 1 Philips Drive,
Time: 11:00 am
Atlanta, GA 30303
Contact: 843-503-2133
Time: 7:30 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
India Post
Classifieds www.indiapost.com
For Classifieds Ads Call NORTHERN CA (Sonia) Tel: 510-938-8668 sonia@indiapost.com (Priya) Tel. 510-275-4467 priya@indiapost.com SOUTHERN CA (Shashi Trivedi) Tel: 562-441-5511/ Fax: 562-947-0632 shashi19@yahoo.com CHICAGO (Ramesh Soparawala) Tel: 773-973-7394 / Fax: 773-973-7396 sramesh@aol.com NEW YORK (Pinky) Tel: 908 338 3752 pinky@indiapost.com
www.indiapost.com
48
March 4, 2016
Philosophy
March 4, 2016
India Post 49
www.indiapost.com
Page Sponsored by Sahanis THE MOTHER (MIRRA ALFASSA)
I
have received the Grande Revue (A literary monthly pub lished in France until 1939). The Mukerjee quoted there must have lived for many years outside India (in America, I believe) and has become completely westernized; otherwise he would not give Gandhi and Tagore as the two most popular figures in India. On the contrary it is outside India that they are most popular; and for foreigners these two men seem to be the only ones who represent Indian genius. This is very far from the truth, and if they are so well known in Western countries, it is probably because their stature does not go beyond the understanding of the Western mind. India has far greater geniuses than these and in the most varied fields, scientific, literary, philosophic, spiritual. It is true that the young people from Shantiniketan come out refined, but without any force or energy for realization. As for Gandhi's young people, they may have more energy and power of action, but they are imprisoned within the four walls of a few narrow ideas and a limited mind. I repeat, there is better, far better in India, but this India does not care for international glory. Just a word about your remark that having children is the only RAJIV MALHOTRA
W
hile yoga is not a "religion" in the sense that the Abrahamic religions are, it is a well-established spiritual path. Its physical postures are only the tip of an iceberg, beneath which is a distinct metaphysics with profound depth and breadth. Its spiritual benefits are undoubtedly available to anyone regardless of religion. However, the assumptions and consequences of yoga do run counter to much of Christianity as understood today. This is why, as a Hindu yoga practitioner and scholar, I agree with the Southern Baptist Seminary President, Albert Mohler, when he speaks of the incompatibility between Christianity and yoga, arguing that "the idea that the body is a vehicle for reaching consciousness with the divine" is fundamentally at odds with Christian teaching. This incompatibility runs much deeper. Yoga's metaphysics center around the quest to attain liberation from one's conditioning caused by past karma. Karma includes the baggage from prior lives, underscoring the importance of reincarnation. While it is fashionable for many Westerners to say they believe in karma and reincarnation, they have seldom worked out the contradictions with
way to perpetuate the human race. I have never denied this, but I wish to add that there is nothing to fear in this respect; if it is Nature's plan to perpetuate the human race, she will always find as many people as she needs to carry out her plan. The earth will surely never suffer from a dearth of men. Replies in the 1930s & 1940s Sin belongs to the world and not to yoga.
It is not quite fair. If you try to hide something from the Divine, you are sure to fall flat on your nose, plop! like that... Joy lies in having absolute trust in the Divine. Why, when you get into trouble, do you no longer ask for the help of the Divine Grace? Yet you know from experience that the result is unfailing and marvelous! The things that are awaited... they alone can remedy the sorry state of affairs you mention in your
tion seem to have reached their climax, something happens and a new balance is established which extends, for a few centuries more, the life of declining civilizations and human societies in delirium. Do not start thinking I am a pessimist. I certainly do not like things as they are. I do not believe, however, that they are worse than they have been many times before. But I want them to be different, I want them to be more harmonious and more true.
India has far greater geniuses than Gandhi & Tagore As for Gandhi's young people, they may have more energy and power of action, but they are imprisoned within the four walls of The Mother (Mirra Alfassa)
a few narrow ideas and a limited mind.
By his way of thinking, feeling, acting, each one emanates vibrations which constitute his own atmosphere and quite naturally attract vibrations of similar nature and quality. So long as you are capable of beating somebody, you open the door to the possibility of being beaten yourself. You are expecting those who are working with you to be geniuses.
letter. It is certainly not confined to the small states of central Europe. It is pretty much the state of the whole world: disorder, confusion, wastage and misery. It is no use lamenting, however, saying: Where are you headed! The final collapse, the general bankruptcy seems obvious enough... unless... There is always an "unless" in the history of the earth; and always, when confusion and destruc-
Oh, the horror of falsehood spread everywhere on earth, ruling the world with its law of darkness! I believe that its reign has lasted long enough; this is the master we must now refuse to serve. This is the great, the only remedy. Excerpted from 'Some Answers from The Mother', Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry. The 138th birth anniversary of The Mother was celebrated on February 21
core Biblical doctrines. For instance, according to karma theory, Adam and Eve's deeds would produce effects only on their individual future lives, but not on all their progeny ad infinitum. Karma is not a sexually transmitted problem flowing from ancestors. This view obviates the doctrine of original sin and eternal damnation. An individual's karmic debts accrue by personal action
espouse reincarnation also long to have family reunions in heaven. Yogic liberation is therefore not contingent upon any unique historical event or intervention. Every individual's ultimate essence is sat-chit-ananda, originally divine and not originally sinful. All humans come equipped to recover their own innate divinity without recourse to any historical person's suffering on their behalf. Karma
God is everything and permeates everything, and is at the same time also transcendent. The yogic path of embodiedknowing seeks to dissolve the historical ego, both individual and collective, as false. It sees the Christian fixations on history and the associated guilt, as bondage and illusions to be erased through spiritual practice. Yoga is a do-it-yourself path that eliminates the need for intermediar-
Christianity and Yoga are incompatible While it is fashionable for many Westerners to say they believe in karma and reincarnation, they have seldom worked out the contradictions with core Biblical doctrines. alone, in a separate and self-contained account. The view of an individual having multiple births also contradicts Christian ideas of eternal heaven and hell seen as a system of rewards and punishments in an afterlife. Yogic liberation is here and now, in the bodily state referred to and celebrated as jivanmukti, a concept unavailable in Christianity and in an afterlife somewhere else. Ironically, the very same Christians who
dynamics and the spiritual practices to deal with them, are strictly an individual enterprise, and there is no special "deal" given to any chosen group. The Abrahamic religions posit an infinite gap between God and the cosmos, bridged only in the distant past through unique prophetic revelations, making the exclusive lineage of prophets indispensable. Yoga, by contrast, has a non-dual cosmology, in which
Rajiv Malhotra
ies such as a priesthood or other institutional authority. Most of the 20 million American yoga practitioners encounter these issues and find them troubling. Some have responded by distorting yogic principles in order to domesticate it into a Christian framework, i.e. the oxymoron, 'Christian Yoga.' Rajiv Malhotra is an IndianAmerican author and Hindu activist
I don't know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. -Albert Schweitzer It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves. -William Shakespeare Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves alone - we find it with another. -Thomas Merton A person often meets his destiny on the road he took to avoid it. -Jean de La Fontaine Destiny has two ways of crushing us - by refusing our wishes and by fulfilling them. -Henri Frederic Amiel I can control my destiny, but not my fate. Destiny means there are opportunities to turn right or left, but fate is a one-way street. I believe we all have the choice as to whether we fulfil our destiny, but our fate is sealed. Paulo Coelho There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul. -Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Insure yourself FIRST. Call Sahanis, (Arish, Priya or Shiv) for your Insurance needs 718- 271- 0453. Serving for last 35 yrs
Pics Preeti Verma Lal. All photographs are from Jashn-e-Rekhta Urdu festival, 2016
50 India Post
www.indiapost.com
March 4, 2016
Pics- Preeti Verma Lal
PREETI VERMA LAL
I
can sleepwalk into a library to read poetry. Pick a book and forget about the entire existence. Perhaps my heart throbs in iambic pentameters with elegies, sonnets and odes doubling up as eternal companions. I could live in a library, but they'd never let me sleep there. Call it absent-minded coincidence or life's largesse; I no longer need to trudge to the library. My library is a click away. The poets I love, the poems I could take an oath on are available on www.rekhta.org, the world's largest online compendium of Urdu literature. Available in Hindi, English and Arabic, www.rekhta.org features 1,731 shayar (poets), 17,651 ghazals, 11,897 sher, 4,334 audios, 4,127 videos and 15,482 e-books. In a grainy video, one can watch Faiz Ahmed Faiz reciting Tum nahak tukde chun chun kar Daman mein chupaye baithe ho..Sheeshon ka maseeha koi nahin, Kya aas lagaye baithe ho‌, listen to Munni Begum sing poet Habib Jalib's
Sanjiv Saraf
Dil ki baat lab on par la kaar‌ Shamsur Rahman Farooqi recites Ghalib and stories come alive in Dastangoi, an old tradition of story-telling. On the website, one can pick an out-of-print Jahan Numa which was first printed in 1857. Or, the 355 e-books on Ghalib. On the website no one has to
Javed Akhtar
Precursor of Urdu
R
ekhta means 'scattered. 'mixed'. Rekhta was the Hindustani language containing Persian and Hindvi/Hindi; the term was in use from late 17th century until late 18th century and used sporadically until 19th century before being supplanted by Urdu.
ever struggle with the word meaning - each and every word is explained. Click the word and you'll know mukaddam is 'above all', taufiq is 'god's grace', fasaana is 'tale'. Rekhta was born out of one man's love for Urdu literature. His name: Sanjiv Saraf. An IIT-alumnus and Chairman of Polyplex,
Gulzar
one of the world's largest manufacturers of PET films, Saraf should have been crunching numbers and decoding the chemistry of pet resins. Instead, he talks animatedly about Urdu poetry. At 53, he learnt the Persian script and then put together www.rekhta.org In the Noida office of Rekhta Foundation, I sat rapt as Saraf unfolded the story of his love for Urdu, the beginning of Rekhta and its growing popularity. Cont'd on Page 53
March 4, 2016
India Post 51 www.indiapost.com
Priyanka Chopra presents Oscar for Best Editing B ollywood actress Priyanka Chopra made her Oscars debut looking elegant in a white Zuhair Murad strapless gown. Priyanka was congratulated
evening! #Oscars @Pharrell @anjulaacharia." Her decision to wear a gown instead of a sari at the Oscars is a smart professional move. It has
ment. She was sending a loud and clear message to Hollywood: She is no exotic creature in a sari or embellished lehenga-choli or salwar
Actor Mark Rylance, winner of Best Supporting Actor for 'Bridge of Spies,' actress Brie Larson, winner of Best Actress for 'Room,' actor Leonardo DiCaprio, winner of Best Actor for 'The Revenant,' and actress Alicia Vikander, winner of Best Supporting Actress for 'The Danish Girl,' pose in the press room during the 88th Annual Academy Awards at Loews Hollywood Hotel on February 28, in Hollywood, California.
Priyanka and Liev presented the Oscar for ‘Best Film Editing’, that was won by Margaret Sixel for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’.
by her Bollywood friends and fans on Twitter for her smashing Oscars debut. Priyanka Chopra opted for a white embellished gown by Lebanese designer Zuhair Murad at her maiden Oscars where she presented the award for Best Film Editing. The former Miss World, who rose to fame last year when her ABC thriller 'Quantico', premiered, pulled her hair back into a subtle pony with a center part. The 33-year-old actress also rocked a very light, golden brown smokey eye. Diamond accessories were an integral part of her wardrobe as Chopra sported big, chunky drop earrings and rings Priyanka Chopra may have nailed it on the red carpet but she admitted that she was a little nervous about messing up at the Oscars stage while presenting the award. Post the awards, Priyanka tweeted, "And the gold confetti comes down on us! What an
little to do with catching the eye of the paparazzi or getting into the Best Dressed List. The strapless gown by Zuhair Murad was rather insignificant from a fashion point of view. It did not make a grand style statement. She dumped her red pout too. No curls and blow dry. Natural makeup and a low ponytail made up her Oscar look. Priyanka was not making a style state-
kameez making an appearance for the brands she endorses. No, she did not wear her nationality on her sleeve. Priyanka Chopra wanted the world to see her as any other Hollywood actor who walked into the Dolby Theatre. Second most searched With her fans going gaga over her the world over, but they cannot beat her fans in India who made her the second most searched celebrity according to
Completing the whirlwind night, Priyanka headed to the Vanity Fair Oscar after-party, where she continued her best dressed run.
the Google Search Trends. Google trends also reveal that India is among the top 10 countries to be gripped by the Oscar fever this year. Google announced that 2016 began with a never-seen-before search trends interest for the 88th Academy Awards. Compared to 2015, this year has seen an unprecedented 70% Year On Year (Y-O-Y growth in queries for the Oscars. January 2016 saw a 2X spike in searches in comparison to December 2015.
52 India Post
March 4, 2016 www.indiapost.com
Sanjay Dutt, the poet, wrote 500 couplets in jail
B
efore he was sentenced to five years in prison, Sanjay Dutt used to command crores in fees for starring in films that went on to become blockbusters. In prison, however, he used to keep Rs 20 aside from the Rs 2,000 he used to get every month for personal expenses."For emergencies," he told this newspaper after his release. "I learnt the true value of money in jail." The prison term changed Dutt in many ways. "I am now a bonafide shayar," he said, adding that two inmates, Sameer and Zeeshan, inspired him. "They were shayars (poets) and I liked their work. With them, I also started writing shayaris (couplets). I have written 500 shayaris in jail which I will get published in a book," he said. Dutt said that apart from Sameer and Zeeshan, he made good friends with Sajar and Gotia Mama. On his newly acquired hairstyle, Dutt said that a convict, Mishra ji, from Dharavi who was lodged in the Yerwada Central Prison was given the task of a barber and he had insisted on him giving Dutt a haircut once."He had
told me that he will give me the best hairstyle and I am indeed impressed," Dutt said. Allotted prisoner number 16656, Dutt had had
turned insomniac and hardly ate in the four days preceding his release. "I have got my freedom today
Sanjay Dutt
after 23 years; I am happy to be back with my family and friends," Dutt told Mirror. "I would have been really happy had my father been alive to see this day. All his life, he wanted to see his son free; he would have been the happiest person to see my freedom," Dutt said, tears rolling down his cheek. Dutt, imprisoned in an arms case related to the 1993 Mumbai blasts, was released from Pune's Yerwada Jail this morning. Dutt, who walked out of jail at 8.35 am, first did a shot for Rajkumar Hirani for a biopic that the director is making on Dutt. The actor kissed the ground, saluted the prison and the tricolor and then slung a heavy bag on his shoulder. These images will be the opening shot of Hirani's biopic. At the Pune airport, Dutt told waiting media personnel, "There is no easy walk to freedom, my friends." He arrived in Mumbai along with his family members in a chartered plane and went straight to the famed Siddhivinayak temple. From there, he went to pray at his mother's grave first and later folded his
hands in front of his father's portrait at his residence. Manyata, his third wife, their twin children Iqra and Shahran, sister and ex-MP Priya Dutt and close friends were by his side. While interacting with the media at his apartment at Imperial Heights in Bandra, an emotional Dutt requested the media not to tag him as a terrorist. "I'm proud to be an Indian," he said. "As a good husband, I have handed over Rs 440 which I had earned making paper bags in prison to my better half. Manyata is my strength," he said. When asked about Salman Khan, Dutt said Salman was like his younger brother and will remain one forever. "I have got my freedom today after 23 years; I am happy to be back with my family and friends," Dutt told Mirror. "I would have been really happy had my father been alive to see this day. All his life, he wanted to see his son free; he would have been the happiest person to see my freedom," Dutt said, tears rolling down his cheek. Dutt, imprisoned in an arms case related to the 1993 Mumbai blasts, was released
Priyanka will be 'interruption' Deepika to romance Brad Pitt? on the beach
A
fter creating waves with her American drama series 'Quantico', Priyanka Chopra is all set to present award at the Oscars this year. After that, she will begin shooting for her Hollywood movie 'Baywatch' with Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. Back home, her action drama 'Jai Gangaajal' in which she plays the role of a tough cop is set to hit theatres soon. The 'Bajirao Mastani' actress has been balancing her parallel careers in home and abroad very well. Priyanka opened up about her plans for the Oscars, Hollywood and Bollywood movies in an interview with a leading publication. Her Hollywood venture 'Baywatch' is a big screen adaptation of the 1990s popular drama series about a team of lifeguards. The series had gorgeous ladies clad in bikini running slow-mo across the beach. However, Priyanka said that one has to wait and watch if she dons a swimsuit at all. "So you'll have to wait and watch to know if I need to wear a swimsuit at all. I am the interrup-
tion in the slow motion run on the beach," the actress said, but she didn't deny the chances of sporting a bikini. When asked if she was working hard to get a beach body, she Priyanka Chopra
said that she already has one. "What do you mean? I always have a bikini body! I am not doing anything extra for the film," Priyanka added with a laugh. Priyanka has appeared in a bikini in her 2008 film 'Dostana' and also in the music video of her song 'Exotic'. She also said that it is too soon
to speculate whether she will romance Dwayne or be his antagonist in the film. About her upcoming Bollywood release 'Jai Gangaajal', Priyanka said that it is a special film and that people will talk about its director Prakash Jha, who makes his acting debut with the film. "I think they will be talking a lot about Prakashji's character. It's not out-and out negative, more like tinged with grey. I used to pull his leg on the sets as this is his first film as a full-fledged actor. He was a real sport," she explained. Regarding her dress code for the Oscars, Priyanka said that she hasn't decided yet. "Well, I have no idea because I fall in love with every next outfit that I wear. I decide things at the last minute. I'm just happy that in my span of six months (in Hollywood) I've already got an opportunity to present at the Oscars," she revealed.
H
ere is great news for Deepika Padukone's fans. The actress who is currently shooting for her Hollywood debut with Vin Diesel in 'XXX The Return of Xander Cage' has bagged another promising project. The 'Bajirao Mastani' actress has signed her second Hollywood venture with none other than the Hollywood heartthrob and noted actor Brad Pitt. After dominating Bollywood, it seems Deepika Padukone is all set to conquer the West. Before her first Hollywood venture hit the screens, the long legged actress
has already signed her next big Hollywood project. The 'PK' star is currently in Toronto, Canada shooting for 'XXX The Return Of The Xander Cage' with Vin Diesel, Nina Dobrev and the whole XXX team. Deepika plays the role of Serena while Vin Diesel will reprise his role of Xander Cage in this third installment. Some images from the set surfaced on net which show Deepika having a blast shooting with the XXX team. Directed by DJ Caruso, 'XXX The Return Of The Xander Cage' will hit the screens in 2017.
March 4, 2016
India Post 53 www.indiapost.com
Salma Agha to make television debut Yesteryear actor-singer Salma Agha, best known for her role in films like 'Nikaah', 'Pati Patni Aur Tawaif' and 'Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki' is all set to make her debut on the small screen. Salma will feature in an upcoming television series titled 'Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai'. She will be seen essaying the role of a famous singer Nayantara Devi. "After years of people approaching me, I feel content and confident about this show. The character of Nayantara Devi appealed to me the most because of the dignity and grace with which it has been written," Salma said in a statement. "I was completely smitten by the character and it is the closest to my heart. Nayantara Devi is a highly accomplished singer and plays an important role in shaping the life of the protagonist Kalyani," she added. "I had been extremely busy with music till now, travelling the world for my shows but it will be great resuming back to the world of act-
ing with an inspiring character to Gowariker's TV show 'Everest'. play," said Salma known for sing'Meri Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai' ing songs like 'Dil ke armaan will be aired on &TV from March aansuon mein', 'Ae mere mehboob' 7. and 'Jeena bhi kya hai jeena'. ' M e r i Awaaz Hi Pehchaan Hai' draws inspiration from the famous rivalry of legendary singers Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. The series has been penned by Bhavani Iyer who has also written the scripts of films such as 'Black', 'Guzaarish', 'Lootera' and Salma Agha Ashutosh
When a lady slapped Shah Rukh in train S
hah Rukh Khan's first ever ar rival in Mumbai from Delhi was an eventful one. The actor, who shifted to Mumbai in the late 90s to try his luck in films, had a notso-happy encounter with a woman passenger in the train that he was travelling in. Recollecting how he was slapped by a lady, Shah Rukh Khan told reporters at the Fan trailer launch: "I first came to Mumbai from Delhi in train. And I had no idea that the moment it entered Mumbai it would become a local train. We didn't have local trains in Delhi. So, I had no idea that an interstate train would become a local one here. As soon as we entered Mumbai, people started coming in to sit. We shooed them away saying this is our berth. Then a lady came along with another person. I told the lady that she could sit but not the person along with her. She gave me a tight slap and said she will sit and every else will also sit on the berth."
SRK narrated the episode while answering a fan's question on when he travelled to Mumbai for
“Then a lady came along with another person. I told the lady that she could sit but not the person along with her. She gave me a tight slap and said she will sit and every else will also sit on the berth."
the first time. "I came in a train because I wanted to come in one," said SRK.
Raveena Tandon highest paid actress on TV
R
aveena Tandon becomes highest paid actor on TV. She will be paid a whopping Rs 1.25 crore per episode for judging a new dance reality show, 'Shine of India'. Raveena will co-judge the dance show with her onscreen partner and veteran actor Govinda and ace choreographer Saroj Khan. Raveena, previously starred in TV shows like Sahib Biwi Ghulam, Chhote Miyan, Comedy Ka Maha Muqabala and Simply Baatein With Raveena. A source told the New Indian Express, "Bollywood actors starring in TV series has now become an old saga. No doubt that these actors are paid a hefty amount as their presence not only doubles the entertainment quotient, but also it adds the much needed star value to the show. And maybe that's the reason why Raveena has been paid a whopping amount of Rs.1.25 crore per episode for the reality show". "This will make her the highest paid Bollywood actress on television," added the source. Raveena Tandon is ahead of
Madhuri Dixit and Shipa Shetty in terms of the amount paid to her.
Shilpa Shetty and Madhuri Dixit, who previously appeared as judges on other different reality shows, were reportedly paid Rs 1 crore per episode.
Raveena will co-judge the dance show with her on-screen partner and veteran actor Govinda and ace choreographer Saroj Khan. Raveena, previously starred in TV shows like Sahib Biwi Ghulam, Chhote Miyan, Comedy Ka Maha Muqabala and Simply Baatein With Raveena.
Urdu world at a click Cont'd from Page 50
In the dimly-lit office, Saraf with a beard and a wanton curl on his forehead, talked of the making of rekhta.org and Jashn-e-Rekhta, an annual festival dedicated to celebrating all things Urdu. With readers in nearly 200 countries, the reach of rekhta.org is massive. Such is its credibility that the content is now being used as reference point for scholars, researchers around the world. Intending to help preserve Urdu and making it accessible to all, Saraf is now working on adding Urdu curriculum of various universities online.
I could sleepwalk into a library to read poetry. Now every night just before sleeping, I read poems on rekhta.org. Like a devout saying a prayer at the end of the day. Now, even the conversations in my dream speak in iambic pentameters. I owe that to rekhta.org.
54
Edit Page
India Post
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
Politics of caste in India: Challenges & opportunities India Post
ASHOK BHARTI
R
ohith Vemula was not the first victim of systematic exclusion, hu miliation and expulsion that the students of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Notified/de-Notified Tribes and ethnic, religious and sexual minorities face in educational institutions from the day they first enter a school till the day they complete even their highest levels of education. This phenomenon is also widespread in professional institutions of excellence such as the Indian Institutes of Management, the Indian Institutes of Technology, and medical colleges. It is prevalent in colleges and universities that dot the country. The Hyderabad Central University (HCU) was no exception to this deep-rooted systematic exclusion that forced Vemula into unbearable haplessness, living in humiliation, and finally, pushed him to end his life. Though not adequately represented, there are over 50 Dalit/Adivasi teachers at the HCU; but none stood up against the ordeal Vemula and his four peers suffered, compelling the latter to put up their struggle at Velivada by themselves. Although not in a correct proportion, there are enough numbers of non-teaching SC/ST employees
we witness is not because Rohith was the first victim of institutional exclusion, humiliations and apathy but because it has never been so straightforward between Ambedkarites believing in 'Prabuddha Bharat' or 'Enlightened India' and those believing in 'Hindu Rashtra'. Therefore, Vemula's tragic death is symptomatic, and poses challenges. India needs to confront these challenges and convert them to bigger opportunities. What are the challenges? India
Rohith Vemula
faces the challenge of coming to the terms with the reality of caste. For long, most elites in all religions, Muslims and Christians included, have neglected/rejected caste and its associated behaviors such as endogamy, hierarchical exclusion, indignities, untouchability, and rampant discrimina-
The Hyderabad Central University (HCU) was no exception to this deep-rooted systematic exclusion that forced Vemula into unbearable haplessness, living in humiliation, and finally, pushed him to end his life too at the HCU, but the plight of these students did not move them. Other teachers and students are in thousands, but their conscience and higher callings did not evoke any response on the indignities heaped upon Vemula and his peers who stood up for freedom of 'food, faith and ideas.' These five students, active members of the Ambedkar Student Association, have not been the 'stereotypical' Dalit students. They were doing better than many non-Dalit students. They opposed draconian capital punishment, broke religious barriers among Hindus, Muslims and Christians, and forged an identity around Dr. Ambedkar actions anathema for several Caste Hindus. This nation-wide uproar that
tion. Dr. BR Ambedkar said, "caste has killed conscience." Caste is violent institution. Data compiled by the NACDAOR reveals that since 1991, over a staggering 6.74 lakh atrocities have been committed against people belonging to Scheduled Castes, with less than 3 per cent conviction rate. Can an aspiring world power like India neglect and overlook such a sorry state of impunity? This poses serious challenges not only to the right to live with dignity, but is also a potent threat to the growth story that India is writing. Modern India cannot be built while its archaic values, especially such as the monster of caste, continue to haunt its people.
Therefore, everyone must come forward to 'annihilate caste' in public and private life. And this problem cannot be effectively combated unless the idea of a 'Hindu Rashtra' based on superiority complex and dominance of few Caste Hindus over the rest is fought by all the wellmeaning people of this country. Moreover, caste is not the only challenge. Most public institutions be it academic, administrative, law and order, judicial and even media, have their roots in colonial interests. Several were built to suppress ingenious talent, constrict creativity and limit competition, in order to perpetually keep the masses in a wretched state and maintain a 'loot system'. India cannot be that 'Chinese Tailor' - that Dr. Ambedkar had compared colonial Britain with, in 1931 - who stitched a new coat with all patches and holes, like the worn out old coat given to him for measurement. As an independent country with limited resources and that is home to 17 per cent of the total world population, India needs to build institutions that promote, encourage and nurture talent, amplify creativity, and make its large population capable of surviving competition with values of social, economic and political justice, equal dignity, and righteous sharing. Academia, administration, law and order systems, judiciary and executive, all need to be sensitive and respond quickly in discharging justice in order to prevent prolonging the suffering that a significant number of the country's citizens currently experience. India requires to keep its exclusionary system in perspective, and create institutional mechanisms that are inclusive in concept, design, and practice. In 2016, when the nation will celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of Dr. BR Ambedkar, the principal architect of the Indian constitution, we must stop harping on the archaic 'Dronacharyan' values that punish and exclude people on the basis of their birth, origin, sexual and ideological orientations. Speeding up the inclusion of excluded Dalits, Adivasis and other minorities is the key to building a humane, dignified and developed India. The writer is Chairman, National Confederation of Dalit Adivasi Organizations (NACDAOR), & Kabir Chair on Social Conflict, IPCS
Opinions on Budget
S
ifting through a flood of comments on the Indian Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, one finds one reaction widely shared. It is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been sorely affected by the Rahul Gandhi barb that his was a "suit-boot-ki sarkar" meaning it was a government for the rich or well off people. To counter that impression he has gone all out to prove this assessment wrong by giving a big push to the rural and farm sectors and turning the Budget into a pro-poor exercise. It is felt that he also had in mind the series of Assembly elections coming up. After the debacle in Bihar, where the BJP lost campaigning for development, the government has turned left to appease a large section of the population. The Union Budget seeks to pave the path for making good Modi's promise to double farm incomes by 2022. The merits of the Budget will come to the fore only in the long run, but comments have been strictly on party lines. When the likes of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar say there is nothing in the budget for farmers or any other section of society, one wonders what he means when the whole of media has declared it a profarmer budget. Ex-chief minister Lalu Prasad Yadav also panned the budget because it interfered with his constituency of the poor farmers. Doing good to them means an alternative to the Lalu philosophy is possible. The Opposition's comments are also quite predictable. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi reminded the Modi government that it had spent the first two years mocking the Congress Party's focus on farmers, MNREGA, Rural dev & social spending. He felt the budget was "mere rhetoric, without vision or action, will fool neither farmers nor the poor of this country." Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram also alleged that in the last two years, the government had turned its back on rural India, the agriculture sector, and the social sector programs. Reality is the Congress should be happy that Modi is doing so much for the poor for which the heart of the Congress bleeds. It is interesting to note that the parties usually do the opposite of what they proclaim in public. The Congress should be proud that it passed so many legislations guaranteeing rights to the poor on so many fronts like the Right to Information Act, 2005; Right to Education Act, 2009; The Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2012; Indian Companies Act, 2013; strengthening the Law for Women Safety; Lokpal and Lokayukta Act; Food Security Act; Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2012. But in actual fact these laws remained on paper and there was little push for implementation. Known as a socialist government which did not care for the rich industrialists and private entrepreneurs, it was secretly in nexus with them to loot and scoot. There was so much corruption that no law implementation ever happened. The NDA government, on the other hand, which is known for being pro-corporate, has gone to town with a Budget which doesn't reward the corporate sector. It has given them no leeway. In fact, PM Modi claims that he has become an "eyesore" for those affected by his crusade to end black-marketing and corruption. Interestingly, it is claimed that a Leftist leader was heard bemoaning that he has not done anything for the corporate sector! The Congress under the faรงade of being pro-poor, did nothing for them. The NDA, berated for being anti-poor, has gone out of its way to pull up the rural and farm sector. Definitely there can be said that on implementation the NDA is far ahead of the UPA. The Corporates usually praise every Budget but reserve their cribbing for later. They won't say anything upfront.
March 4, 2016
www.indiapost.com
India Post 55
56 India Post
www.indiapost.com
March 4, 2016