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Sumeet Gill in PAC-12 all-star team Details on page 16

Indian-American physician jailed for fraud

VOL 21, No. 1125

April 22, 2016

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INDIA WILL RULE 21ST CENTURY: MODI

KATRA, J-K: India will rule the 21st century which is the era of knowledge and with 800 million youths below the age of 35 years, the dream of every young person can become a progress story of this country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said. Addressing the fifth convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University here, he said this is a century of knowledge and whenever there has been an era of knowledge, India has shown the way. "India will lead the 21st century because the energy required for the 21st century, which is knowledge and that

is with India. India has 800 million youth power which is below 35 years. Dream of every youth can become a progress story for the country," Modi said. The Prime Minister told the students that the question of "what next" will play on their minds but the person who knows what lies ahead won't need to depend on others. "Recall what your parents did for you. They sacrificed their own happiness for yours. You may have thought of so much in your childhood but it may not have worked out. Forget that and instead, think of what you have achieved," he said. Details on page 5

Details on page 9

Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley

‘Economy leads India-China relationship’ Details on page 8

US jury slaps $940mn fine on Tata firms Details on page 12

Indian-American amongst 6 dead in Houston floods Details on page 9

Sikh priest hurt in Germany gurdwara blast

Manu Vora talk reaches 500,000 students

Details on page 9

Details on page 10

US sex abuse survivor to sue Indian priest

CONTENTS Bollywood ---------------------- 28-29 Classifieds ------------------------- 48

Details on page 8

Community Post -------------- 16-25 Date Book -------------------------- 47

INDIA POST SURVEY

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HealthScience Post --------- 36-39

This week’s question

Horoscope ------------------------- 46

Can Mehbooba control Kashmir valley separatists?

Immigration Post ------------- 34-35 Life Style ----------------------- 50-53

Last week’s result

Philosophy ------------------------- 49

India should not hesitate in accepting defense help from US? YES 76%

NO 24%

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

BREACHING THE WALL: Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar being received by his Chinese counterpart Gen. Chang Wanquan at the PLA headquarters in Beijing on April 18. (Details on page 6)

Real Estate -------------------- 30-32 TechBiz Post ------------------- 12-14 Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 42-45

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Publisher’s Diary

here was a time when "socialism" was nothing short of a swear word in America. Indeed it is still so for those Americans who pride their position on the extreme right of the political value spectrum, the ones that call themselves the Libertarians. I'll come back to the Libertarians in a bit, but first here's a shockingly revealing statistic from a poll conducted last month by one USA Today columnist: 58% of young Americans today consider "socialism" to be the most compassionate political system where as only 33% favored "capitalism"; and here's the shocking part, 9% apparently even voted for "communism". In sum, two-thirds in that poll say socialism or communism is more compassionate than capitalism. While I would advise those brave 9% of American youth to hold their political views close to their chest and stay as far away from the extreme right wingers as possible, I think such a major shift in political leanings of America's future generation is rather telling of the ills of the conservative and libertarian funded capitalism that have saturated the economic system of this country. Well, I am reading this book called 'Dark Money' by staff writer for the New Yorker Jane Mayer (Doubleday, 2016), an in depth investigation into the hidden money of the American billionaires behind the rise of the radical right in the country. It's actually scary to think of how much big money can influence and affect a people's very way of thinking and living. Personally, I do love the liberties that a capitalistic society affords a free spirited entrepreneur, but at heart, I let myself consider the benefits of a bridgeable chasm between the rich and the poor. Now if only these billionaires who have been pumping billions of dollars into buying their way into a conducive conservative society to keep their billions intact while the middle and working class is condemned to a life of perpetual economic struggle, were to spend that money to do the right thing like keeping the environment clean, respecting the tax laws and paying due wages, wouldn't it be a happier nation? Ah but who am I kidding? Romesh K Japra

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HIGHLIGHTS Bollywood: Rebuffed Keen to patch-up with Ranbir, Katrina approached him recently but was "very, very upset" when he turned her down.

Cover Story: 21st century India's With 800 million youths, India will rule the 21st century which is the era of knowledge, says PM Modi

Community: Recount sought In a lawsuit filed against the DuPage County Board of Election Commissioners, Moon Khan is seeking a recount

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Immigration: Obama plans The Supreme Court is weighing the fate of Obama plans that could shield roughly 4 million people from deportation.

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Joint ventures India and oil-rich Iran have decided to significantly expand engagement in joint ventures in oil and gas sectors

Manali The awe inspiring hill resort of Manali in Himachal is sandwiched between the imposing peaks of Pir Panjal and Dhauladhar

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April 22, 2016

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India will rule 21st century: Modi KATRA, J-K: India will rule the 21st century which is the era of knowledge and with 800 million youths below the age of 35 years, the dream of every young person can become a progress story of this country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said. Addressing the fifth convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University here, he said this is a century of knowledge and whenever there has been an era of knowledge, India has shown the way. "India will lead the 21st century because the energy required for the 21st century, which is knowledge and that is with India. India has 800 million youth power which is below 35 years. Dream of every youth can become a progress story for the country," Modi said. The Prime Minister told the students that the question of "what next" will play on their minds but the person who knows what lies ahead won't need to depend on others. "Recall what your parents did for you. They sacrificed their own happiness for yours. You may have thought of so much in your childhood but it may not have

worked out. Forget that and instead, think of what you have achieved," he said. Modi said this university has been built with the contribution

Mehbooba Mufti

contribute to the growth of the nation. In her first public rally after taking over as the first woman chief minister of J&K earlier this month, she spoke about unrest in Muslim countries, including Pakistan, Syria and Libya. "In Pakistan, the government is fighting against its own people... Sunni kills Shia and vice versa," she told the rally after in-

to pay obeisance to Vaishno Devi shrine. Invoking former President A P J Abdul Kalam, the Prime Minister said, "You don't only need fa-

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses at the 5th Convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University in Katra on April 19

of millions of pilgrims, many of whom came from far away places. "Let's pledge that we will do something for the poor, because it was the poor pilgrim who contributed to build this university," he said.

Mehbooba 'proud of living in India' KATRA, Jammu: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has spoken about "pain in the heart of Kashmir" which needs to be addressed immediately by all so that the youth of the state can also flourish and

"Our nation is scaling new heights of progress and with such a youthful population we can achieve so much. Dream to do something and not to become

auguration of Shri Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspeciality Hospital, 32 kms from Jammu. "I am proud to live in a nation where people from different religions live in peace and harmony but there is a pain... There is a pain in heart of Kashmir and we all have to heal it together. "We need to heal it so that the youth of Kashmir flourish like that in rest of the country," she said at the function which was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra and Union and state ministers among others. Referring to the recent killings in Handwara town of north Kashmir, she expressed the hope that under the leadership of the Prime Minister, her government will be able to restore peace in the state. She recalled her conversation with her late father Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and said when talks for alliance between PDP and BJP were going on he had told her, "I have held the hand of a person who has been made the Prime Minister of the country by crores of people."-PTI

he had a dream and he constructed a road all by himself." Modi said that if facilities were everything then the people who have all such facilities should have achieved everything in life but that was not the case. The convocation was attended by Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and Union and state ministers, among others. The Prime Minister told the students that 'Deekshant Samaroh' (convocation ceremony) has a history of thousands of years as it has continued since the days of 'Treta Yug' (mythological period of King Rama). "You must realize your dreams. Our scientists worked to ensure that a probe vehicle reached Mars in less than Rs seven per kilometer," he said. He asked the students to not get demoralized if their dreams were not always fulfilled. "Problems come in life but you must strive to move ahead. This university is a mini-India and when you move out of here be the ambassadors of the 'Crown of India' (Jammu and Kashmir)," he said. PTI

someone," he said. Modi said a unique feature of this university is that while other varsities in the country are run by taxpayers' money given by parents; this one is being funded by millions of poor people who come

cilities but dedication too. "Kalam, who laid the foundation stone of this university and was known as the Missile Man, at one time used to sell newspapers. Darshan Manjhi of Bihar had no education or facilities but

Modi lauds Dipa, salutes her determination

PM invokes Vajpayee, pitches for growth of J-K

KATRA, Jammu: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has hailed Dipa Karmakar, who became the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics Games, saying she brought laurels for the country by her sheer determination. "Dipa has made India proud and brought glory to its name. First time, a daughter from the country has been selected in gymnastics stream for the Rio

Dipa Karmakar

Olympics. She has achieved the feat through her determination. Lack of resources never came in her way," he said, addressing the convocation of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University here. He said it is essential to have firm determination to excel in life and the amount of facilities available should not become an obstacle in this pursuit. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 6

KATRA, J-K: Prime Minister lauding Chief Minister Mehbooba Narendra Modi here invoked the Mufti. famous quote of former Prime "Mehbooba ji always talks Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, about the development of Jammu 'Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat and and Kashmir when we meet. Jamhooriat', as he pitched for tak- When such a thought is there, ing ahead the growth story of development is bound to hapJammu and Kashmir. pen," he said. "People of Jammu and KashThe Prime Minister said the mir had enormous faith in Atal Bihari Vajpayee... Very few 'Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat and leaders commanded Jamhooriyat are key to such respect... He used to say progress of Jammu and 'Insaniyat, Kashmiriyat Kashmir'. We have to take and Jamhooriyat are key to progress of the state to new heights Jammu and Kashmir'. We have to take the state to new state is attracting students from heights through these pillars," he all over the nation and this gives said. strength to India. At the inauguration of Shri He said the country's focus Vaishno Devi Narayana should be a holistic approach on Superspeciality Hospital here, the preventive health care and Prime Minister said former Chief wellness. Minister Mufti Mohammad "We are hosting FIFA U-17 Sayeed always thought about re- World Cup and this has to be an ducing the gap between Jammu opportunity for us to celebrate and Srinagar. sports. The world should see our "I was hearing Mehbooba ji. 'yuva shakti' (youth power)," he The enthusiasm with which she said. spoke of the future of Jammu and Modi said sanitation is the key Kashmir and her energetic leader- to keep away from hospitals and ship... I congratulate her," he said illness.-PTI

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China, India move to set up military hotline BEIJING: India and China have moved a step closer in setting up a hotline between the two military headquarters as part of their efforts to improve border security. China reacted positively toward setting up a military hotline with India on border security, Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan said after meeting his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar. Parrikar later said that "the Chinese have returned the draft of the memorandum on establishing a hotline between the two military headquarters. The issue should be closed within one or two months," he said. The two sides were discussing the move to address tensions arising out of aggressive patrolling by both sides. Chang spoke highly of the healthy and stable development of China-India relations in recent years, state-run Xinhua news agency reported. He called on the two sides to do a good job in implementing the consensus reached by leaders of the two countries, enhance strategic communication, so as to safeguard common interests. He also suggested the two sides strengthen defense exchanges and jointly safeguard

strengthen military-to-military cooperation to contribute more to peace, stability and prosperity of two countries.

negotiations and consultations, Lu said. In fact, China and India have always maintained close high-level contacts, he told the media here. Tilt towards US The development of China-India relations is not only in line with their interests but also conducive to regional and global peace and stability, Lu stressed, noting China and India are the two biggest developing countries, important emerging economies and major powers in a multi-polar world. "We are ready to work with India to constantly make new progress on building the ChinaIndia Strategic and Cooperative Partnership for Peace and Prosperity," he Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar with his Chinese counterpart Gen. Chang Wanquan inspecting guard of honor at the PLA said. -PTI headquarters in Beijing on April 18 Parrikar told his counterpart Chang Wanquand that "India attaches highest priority to relations with China and was committed to further developing friendly

Allaying China's concerns over India's decision to sign Logistics Support Agreement with the US, Parrikar told the Chinese leader that India pursued autonomous policy to further its national interests and there is no change in it peace and tranquility of the border area. Vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission Fan Changlong, who also met Parrikar, said China regards bilateral ties from a strategic and longterm perspective and is willing to

there is no change in it. "India is committed to further developing friendly and corporative relations with China," he told Chang. Parrikar later met China's high-

and cooperative relations with China". Allaying China's concerns over India's decision to sign Logistics Support Agreement with the US, Parrikar told the Chinese leader that India pursued autonomous policy to further its national interests and

est military official Gen Fan Changlong, the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, which is the overall commanding body of the 2.3 million strong military. It is headed by President Xi Jinping. He said the Chinese officials also raised the issue of South China Sea where China is in maritime dispute with a number of South East Asian countries. He reiterated India's policy that restraint should be exercised in dealing with it. Mutual political trust Commenting on External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Moscow and the forthcoming visit of Doval, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the meetings show that mutual political trust between China and India have increased,

Parrikar raises Azhar issue with China BEIJING: Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar has firmly conveyed India's reservations to Chinese leaders over Beijing blocking its efforts to get Pakistan-based JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN. In a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Chang Wanquan, Parrikar said that "India attaches highest priority to relations with China and was committed to further developing friendly and cooperative relations with China".

While expressing India's wish to engage China closely, he firmly conveyed New Delhi's reservations over Beijing's move in the UN to block bid to get Jaish-eMuhammad chief banned. "We expressed what happened in the UN is not in the right direction and they have to take a common line on terrorism which is in the interests of India and China," Parrikar later told the Indian media here. He said the Chinese officials in

response noted India's concerns. "We have made our stand very clear on India's reservation in regard to China's activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK)" where Pakistan and China are building a USD 46 billion Economic Corridor linking the two countries, Parrikar said. The Chinese officials in turn explained that it is an economic project and not aimed against India.-PTI

and bilateral exchanges and cooperation are advancing. Although China and India have some differences, both sides are willing to effectively control and solve the issues through friendly

Army removes 3 bunkers after Handwara clashes SRINAGAR: Municipal authorities in violence-hit Handwara town in north Kashmir have removed three security force bunkers from the main market, fulfilling one of the long pending demands of local residents. "Three bunkers, which were constructed on top of shops in Handwara main market, have been removed by municipal authorities," a police official said. He said the main bunker, located in the round-about of the main market, has also been vacated and taken over by municipal authorities. "This bunker is also being demolished," the official said.

The municipal authorities also erected a board on the premises of the bunker, marking the place for conversion into a public park. The locals had been demanding removal of the bunkers for quite some time but the Army had put its foot down, saying it was strategically important for the troops. However, the demand for removal of these bunkers intensified after last week's violence triggered by alleged molestation of a girl by an army soldier. Three persons were killed in security forces firing while dealing with the protestors.-Agencies

Modi lauds Dipa, salutes her determination Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 5

Dipa had created history by becoming the first Indian woman gymnast to qualify for the Olympics with a strong performance at the final qualifying and test event in Rio. The 22-year-old Tripura girl garnered 52.698 points in the Olympics qualifying event to book a berth for artistic gymnas-

tics in the Rio Games. Besides being the first Indian woman, she will also be an Indian gymnast qualifying for the Olympics after 52 years. Congratulating girl students of the university, Modi quipped he desires that they should participate in every field in huge numbers so that there comes a time when a "movement" has to be launched for "men's reservation".-PTI

April 22, 2016

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'Our hands full in implementing key reforms' NEW YORK: India has its "hands full" in bringing about structural changes and implementing key reforms to boost economic growth, Finance Minister of India Arun Jaitley has said and hoped that the country will be able to improve its growth this year from the 7.6 per cent achieved last

business environment easier and bring in greater transparency into the system. Jaitley expressed hope that the bankruptcy law would be approved over the next few weeks and said the government "is in the final stages" of passing a law that deals with commercial indebtedness.

‘I think we have all our hands full, the next couple of years bringing about each one of these structural changes. In addition to this, two significant directions which I have followed are increased expenditure in infrastructure and in rural India’ fiscal. Outlining the direction forward for the Indian economy in his address at the Asia Society here, Jaitley said the country still requires a lot of structural changes and the government has taken steps to ease processes, make the

The government has also changed arbitration laws, amended some of the "onerous provisions" of the Companies Act and will bring down corporate tax to 25 per cent over the next couple of years. On indirect taxes, he said India

is in the "last stages" before the Goods and Services Tax (GST) is approved by the Parliament and then with supporting legislations, it actually gets into implementation. "I think we have all our hands full, the next couple of years bringing about each one of these structural changes. In addition to this, two significant directions which I have followed are increased expenditure in infrastructure and in rural India. "These are the two areas which were lacking and these appear to be the focus area. That probably will be the direction of the economy in the next few years," Jaitley said. He said the world at the moment still faces serious challenges and India cannot be "immune" from most of the challenges. He however expressed hope that the country will be able to register improved economic growth this year as compared to the previous fiscals.

US sex abuse survivor to sue Indian priest WASHINGTON: A 26-year-old American woman will file a lawsuit against a Catholic Indian priest and his church in India for allegedly sexually abusing her during his posting in the US between 2004 and 2005. The move comes in protest against the recent Vatican decision which announced Diocese of Ootacamund located in Mylapore is reinstating Joseph Jeyapaul to ministry. Minnesota attorney Jeff Anderson will file suit on behalf of the victim in federal court that

tence of one year and one day. In a statement, advocacy group SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) announced that one of the sexual abuse survivors would sue the priest and the diocese. "It may be the most irresponsible Vatican move we've ever seen: Catholic officials in Rome have lifted the suspension of a recently convicted predator priest. We are stunned and saddened by such blatant recklessness and callousness," Barbara Dorris of St Louis, Outreach Di-

Over the weekend, Barbara and the victim were seen distributing leaflets outside the church in Crookston to find another sex abuse survivor. ‘Our goal is to find just one more victim who might be able to file criminal charges and get this proven predator behind bars,’ claims the Diocese of Ootacamund endangered children by reinstating Jeyapaul. Jeyapaul who served as a priest in Crookston township of Minnesota in 2004 and 2005 was arrested in India in 2012 and extradited to the US on charges of sexually abusing two girls in a congregation. He was later deported to India last year, after serving his sen-

rector of SNAP, said in a statement. A letter sent to Anderson and Roseau County Attorney Lisa Hanson and signed by over 500 Jeyapaul supporters in India will also be released as evidence of the public danger (nuisance) permitted by Indian Bishop and Vatican, it said. "On January 16, 2016, with the

permission of Pope Francis, Bishop Amalraj lifted the suspension of Father Joseph Jeyapaul," the firm said, adding that in 2015, after his extradition from India, Jeyapaul plead guilty to criminal sexual conduct involving the sexual abuse of a minor girl while he worked in the Diocese of Crookston in 2005. "Catholic officials refuse to keep this admitted sex offender away from kids, so our only hope of stopping him is to get him charged and convicted again," Dorris said. Over the weekend, Barbara and the victim were seen distributing leaflets outside the church in Crookston to find another sex abuse survivor. "Our goal is to find just one more victim who might be able to file criminal charges and get this proven predator behind bars," the victim told local 'Grand Forks Herald'. The lawsuit would charge Catholic officials with creating "public nuisances" by hiding and helping predator priests. "It was the first victim's courage that brought forward a second victim of Fr Jeyapaul. It was the second victim's courage that prodded Fr Jeyapaul to plead guilty. And we hope the courage of a third victim will get Fr Jeyapaul extradited, convicted and jailed again, so that no more innocent lives are shattered," SNAP said.-PTI

"Notwithstanding that we have consistently even in the slowdown environment grown by about 7 per cent, 7.2 per last year,

environment of global economic challenges, it has the potential to grow even faster. "I have always believed that

India’s Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley speaks at the Asia Society, Monday, April 18, in New York

7.6 this fiscal which ended a few days ago and hopefully this year we could improve on that data," he said in his address on 'Make in India- the New Deal' hosted by CII and the Asia Society Policy Institute. Jaitley underscored that while India has done fairly well in an

going by global standards in a slowdown environment, India is doing significantly well. But given by our own standards and our expectations of being able to grow faster, eradicate poverty and transform into a developed country, we probably can do a little better," he said. -PTI

Economy leading IndiaChina relationship: Jaitley NEW YORK: Economy is lead- India in "a big way". ing the way in the relationship be"Economy is leading the way tween India and China, Finance as far as the relationship between Minister Arun Jaitley said as he the two countries is concerned," stressed that the two largest he said. economies in the region are seeOn the need for improving air ing an uptick in investment and connectivity between New Delhi trade issues are being sorted out. and Beijing, Jaitley said there are "As far as the economic rela- several private and state airlines tionship (between India and China) is concerned, that is signifi- Jaitley emphasized that cantly improving al- Indian industry has set up most by the day," Jaitley said in response to a establishments in China and question on the India- Chinese investments have China economic rela- also come into India in "a tionship following his address at the Asia So- big way" ciety here. "You have two very large operating in India and China and economies in the region where anyone of these airlines "will now trade is picking up, trade issues have to take the initiative" to exare sorted out, investments are pand services between the two taking places," he said after his nations. talk on 'Make in India - The New He cited the example of India's Deal' presented by CII in partner- direct connectivity with Australia, ship with the Asia Society Policy Japan and the US west coast, addInstitute. ing that "it is only a matter of time Jaitley emphasized that Indian before" more direct flights between industry has set up establish- India and China come up instead ments in China and Chinese in- of just one or two operating servestments have also come into vices between the two. -PTI

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Sikh priest injured in US-Indian amongst 6 dead Germany gurdwara blast in Houston floods HOUSTON: An Indian-American woman engineer was among six persons killed in "historic" flash flooding here that submerged scores of subdivisions and several major interstate highways and forced the closure of schools. Sunita Singh, 47, senior electrical engineer at Bechtel Oil & Gas

but immediately thought help was on her way. But that did not happen and she was found later dead in her car. One of the victims was found in a submerged 18-wheeler cab on the N Beltway 8 frontage road near the Hardy Toll Road. Two others were found in separate vehicles.

"Houston is in the midst of an unbelievable deluge, with already more rainfall in a single day than any hurricane to ever hit the hurricaneprone city. The flooding is historic," NWS said in a statement. The City of Houston closed city offices, including municipal courts was found dead in her car, while rushing to her work in Houston, the most populous city in the US state of Texas. It looked like she and others were trying to get to work when she was trapped in flood waters, an official said. Sunita' is survived by her husband and 15-year-old son. Her husband Rajiv Singh said that she called around 6:50 am and told him that she was in trouble,

In Waller County, a 56-year-old Royal ISD teacher was found inside a submerged vehicle off Adams Flat Road. More than 470 flights were cancelled at Bush Intercontinental and Hobby Airport. An overnight storm dumped between 8 and 16 inches of water on the area. The heavy rainfall also closed local schools, knocked out power for more than 121,000 residents, cancelled flights and

made many roadways impassable. More than 1,200 high water rescues have been reported by Houston and Harris County officials. Officials in Harris County have declared a disaster area and estimate at least 1,000 homes have already been flooded. More than half the watersheds in Harris County are experiencing significant flooding, with least one cresting above its estimated 500-year flood mark, a new all-time record. The local National Weather Service (NWS) has warned residents not to travel "unless you are fleeing an area subject to flooding or under an evacuation order." About 120,000 homes are without power, and school and transit systems are shut down across the region. "Houston is in the midst of an unbelievable deluge, with already more rainfall in a single day than any hurricane to ever hit the hurricane-prone city. The flooding is historic," NWS said in a statement. The City of Houston closed city offices, including municipal courts, and has told non-essential employees to stay home for the day. -PTI

Did not need Priyanka to enhance my life: Vadra NEW DELHI: Robert Vadra, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law, has said he did not need his wife Priyanka Gandhi to "enhance" his life. "I did not need Priyanka to enhance my life. I had enough. I always had enough. My parents gave me enough. I think I was educated enough to understand that I can sustain no matter what comes my way. That is my strength really," he said. Vadra has often faced attacks over his links with the Gandhi family and his businesses. To a question, he ruled out joining politics just because he belongs to the Gandhi family but said he may go that way if he can make a difference that people will like. He also took a dig at the central government, saying people are "upset" and will "revolt". "I wish the government best.

But I think people will revolt and understand what is right and wrong. In business people are upset, in real estate people are upset. They will start voicing their opinion soon enough," Vadra told ANI.

Robert Vadra and Priyanka Gandhi

While the BJP reacted sharply saying "a people's revolt" had already happened in 2014 when the "corrupt" UPA government was voted out of power, Congress de-

clined to comment. The controversial businessman, whose land deals are being probed by BJP governments in Haryana and Rajasthan, said people will soon realize when their day-to-day life was better and they were happy. "As far as communal issues are concerned, we (country) take all religions along." He said he can "absorb" a lot and people will get to know the truth about him. "The nation should know the truth about me and I think in time people will know," he said. To a question, he said he would never leave the country no matter "how much I am humiliated or whatever the government wants to keep on writing or saying." At the AICC briefing, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma chose to ignore questions over the interview.-PTI

BERLIN: The condition of a 60year-old Sikh priest, who was seriously injured in an explosion at a gurdwara in the German city of Essen has improved and he is now out of danger, police said. The priest was among three persons who were hurt when an explosive device went off in the entrance hall of the Gurdwara Nanaksar at the end of a wedding ceremony here.

spokesman told PTI. He said the explosion was "certainly an attack", but it is too early to say what kind of explosive device was used or how it was detonated as the forensic analysis and other investigations are still continuing. So far there are no indications of any terrorist link, but the investigations are being conducted "in all directions," police said.

Police officers stand in front of a Sikh temple after three people have been injured in an apparently deliberate explosion on April 16

Most of the wedding guests had left the gurdwara to attend a reception in a nearby hall, but several persons were still inside the temple when the device exploded. He has been undergoing treatment at a hospital in Essen where he was admitted soon after the explosion. The injuries of two other men were not so serious and they could attend the wedding reception after receiving treatment from emergency medical teams arrived at the gurdwara, a police

Meanwhile, police have received new information that a hooded man dressed in black, who is suspected of throwing the explosive device into the gurdwara, was seen by some people as he ran away from the temple without his head dress. According to eyewitnesses, he has the appearance of a person from the Mediterranean region or North Africa and the investigators are now searching for him, the spokesman said.-PTI

Indian-American physician jailed for fraud HOUSTON: A 60-year-old Indian-American physician and a prominent supporter of Khalistan movement has been sentenced to 9 years in prison for a USD 3 million healthcare fraud scheme in the US in which he filed claims for procedures that were never performed. Paramjit Singh Ajrawat, was ordered to forfeit and pay restitution of USD 3 million in federal court in Greenbelt. The US Attorney's Office said in a news release that Paramjit and his wife, Sukhveen Kaur Ajrawat, owned and operated Washington Pain Management Center in Greenbelt. In September 2015, a federal jury convicted Paramjit and his 57-yearold wife. His wife died on February 1, and the charges against her

were dismissed. During trial, evidence was presented that showed how the couple defrauded federal health benefit programs, including Medicare and Medicaid. The defrauding efforts happened from January 2011 to May 2014. They were convicted in September of numerous offences, including health care and wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and aggravated identity theft. At the peak of the Khalistan movement, Paramjit was blacklisted by the Indian Government. In May 2011, he along with 138 others including Gurmit Singh Aulakh, president of the Council of Khalistan, were removed from the black list, which prevents their entry into India. -PTI

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Manu Vora talk reaches 500,000 students RUCHIT SHAH India Post News Service

GANDHINAGAR, Gujarat, India: Dr. Manu Vora, an internationally acclaimed management Guru was invited last month for a management talk and a video presentation on "Effective Time Management" at the BISAG Studio in Gandhinagar, via Sandhan (All Gujarat Integrated Classroom) last month. Using modern technology involving satellite link, the talk and presentation was broadcast to 450 colleges reaching out to 500,000 students. The talk was at the behest of A. J. Shah, Commissioner of Higher Education, Department of Education-Government of Gujarat. Swami Nikhileswarananda from Ramakrishna Mission

Vivekananda Memorial, Vadodara, Gujarat gave a brief introduction. Thepresentation was well received. The recorded session will be rebroadcast twice a week for total 20 times until end of May 2016. The session recording on YouTube is at: https:// www.youtube.com/ watch?v=z_fvgG8uwus Since December 2013, Dr. Vora has delivered a "Leadership Excellence Series (LES)" on life-long transferable knowledge on soft skills and quality management (MOOCs on soft skills and quality management) via GoogleHangouts (Free Google Video Calls) in India and the USA with an audience from over 50 universities/colleges from 14 States of India and reached out to over 675,00 students/ faculty/ staff/ professionals via YouTube.

The LES consists of 12 topics delivered monthly including leadership, teamwork, time manage-

risk management, talent management, voice of the customer management, operational excellence,

Dr Manu Vora (extreme left) with AJ Shah and Swami Nikhileswarananda from Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Memorial, Vadodara

ment, meeting management, decision making, project management,

supply chain management, and change management. This is a Free GianDaan project in collaboration with the American Society for Quality (ASQ) India Office. For over 23 years, as an Adjunct Professor, Dr. Vora has taught Operations Management

courses at various business schools globally. He is affiliated with over 80 educational institutes around the world. He has taught to over 10,000 people globally. For his lifelong community service, he has received "2015 BHU Distinguished Alumnus Award. Dr. Manu Vora is Chairman and President of Business Excellence, Inc., a global quality management consulting firm. In 1968, he received a J. N. Tata Scholarship for his graduate studies in the USA. Sandhan (All Gujarat Integrated Classroom) is an initiative by OCHE (Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education) and KCG (Knowledge Consortium of Gujarat), Department of Education-Government of Gujarat. It creates a platform which provides an opportunity for the use of audiovisual medium for telecast of lectures in a very innovative and interesting manner. Sandhan aims at providing a very creative base for Faculty and Students to fulfill the need for having the audio-visual aids for imparting higher education.

'Kohinoor given to British by Punjab rulers' NEW DELHI: The 108-carat unique Kohinoor diamond estimated to cost over USD 200 million was neither stolen nor "forcibly" taken by British rulers but given to East India Company by erstwhile rulers of Punjab 167 years back, Government told the Supreme Court which wanted legal remedies to be kept open to get it back. "Kohinoor cannot said to have been forcibly taken or stolen as it was given by the successors of Maharaja Ranjit Singh to East India Company in 1849 as compensation for helping them in the Sikh wars," Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar told a bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur. On his part, Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma ruled out any action by his ministry to bring back the Kohinoor. He told reporters that if any call on the matter needs to be taken, it will be at the diplomatic level. The apex court then asked whether the government was willing to stake a claim to the Kohinoor, one of the most valuable diamonds in the world.

The Solicitor General told the apex court that the demand to get back Kohinoor have been raised time and again in Parliament. "If we claim our treasures like Kohinoor from other countries, every other nation will start claiming their items from us. There will be nothing left in our museums," Solicitor General said.

He said this was the stand of Ministry of Culture while the response from Ministry of External Affairs, which is also a party, is awaited. Hearing a PIL seeking return of Kohinoor diamond to India from Britain, the bench, also comprising Justice U U Lalit, then asked the Solicitor General to file a detailed reply within six weeks.-PTI

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April 22, 2016

Hawking backs project to blast tiny ships into space LONDON: Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking in collaboration with Facebook is backing a new USD 100 million interstellar project to explore a star system which is 25 trillion miles away from Earth. If we are to survive as a species we must ultimately spread out to the stars," Hawking told BBC. "Astronomers believe that there is a reasonable chance of an Earth-like planet orbiting one of the stars (in) the Alpha Centauri system. But we will know more in the next two decades from ground based and space based telescopes. "Technological developments in the last two decades and the future make it possible in principle within a generation," he said. The spaceships will be blasted

by laser beams from Earth to explore our nearest star system which is 25 trillion miles away un-

Stephen Hawking

der the most ambitious space mission in history announced. The 100 million dollar research program to develop the computer chip-sized "starships" was launched by the billionaire Yuri Milner, supported by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. "For the first time in human history man can do more than just gaze at the stars. We can actually

Mahindra to drive electric car into Europe LONDON: Having launched its electric car 'e2o' in the UK, Indian auto major Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) is now keen to drive into other advanced European markets including Sweden and Norway as part of its business expansion plans for this new vehicle segment. The company is bullish on ad-

more advanced because the affordability is the key issue given battery costs are high at this stage. So by definition, electric cars will be more affordable in affluent economies," Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra told PTI. "Secondly, concerns over climate change and the regulation concerning climate change is also

vanced countries in terms of electric vehicle markets on account of affordability and other issues. To cash in on opportunities available, e2o was launched just two months after rolling out GenZe electric scooter in California (USA). "When you look at countries which are going to be early adopters, those are countries which are

much more stringent in the Western countries. So by that logic, the markets in the West and affluent countries will move faster towards electric vehicle than the Indian market," he said. Thus, M&M is looking at northern European markets including the Netherlands for launching its electric vehicle offering.-PTI

reach them," Milner said. Weighing only a few grams, the spacecraft would contain a camera, communications devices and navigation equipment. These craft would be attached to "light sails" a few hundred atoms thick, which would be pushed by the lasers. Over the course of a few minutes, the craft could be accelerated to 130 million miles per hour, a fifth of the speed of light, and reach Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system, in 20 years. By using lasers it would not need to carry its own propellant. Philip Lubin, the University of California physics professor on whose ideas the plan is partly based, said that the approach may well be our best shot at interstellar travel. "We have smartphones, lasers in DVD players, lasers in medicine, in industry. Their improve-

ments allow us to speak of something which a decade ago was not feasible," he said. Prof. Hawking, the author of A Brief History of Time, is backing the project by Milners Breakthrough Foundation, a private or-

The expert group concluded that with a little more research and development it might be possible to develop spacecraft that could cut that journey time to just 30 years. "I'd have said that even a few

Over the course of a few minutes, the craft could be accelerated to 130 million miles per hour, a fifth of the speed of light, and reach Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system, in 20 years ganization funding scientific research initiatives that government funders think to be too ambitious. The nearest star system is 40 trillion km (25 trillion miles) away and using current technology it would take about 30,000 years to get there.

years ago travel to another star at that kind of speed would not be possible. But the expert group figured out that because of developments in technology there appears to be a concept that appears to work," said Dr Pete Worden, who is leading the project. -PTI

Tech News 'Mallya's business model could be at fault' WASHINGTON: Questioning the "business model" of longgrounded Kingfisher Airlines for Vijay Mallya's mounting woes, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the airline sector as such is doing well in India with many carriers making good profits. Mallya, the owner of Kingfisher Airlines and many other companies that owe over Rs 9,000 crore of dues to lenders, is currently in London, defying Enforcement Directorate (ED) summons. "I am not giving a final opinion on it. It could be attributed to the business model of a particular company," Jaitley said here in response to a question on Mallya, on which he refused to be directly dragged into. "As far as the recoveries are concerned, in this (Mallya) case, banks are taking all possible steps. And whether there have been violations of some penal provisions, the investigating agencies are looking at it," he said. A non-bailable warrant has been issued against Mallya after he refused to return to India to appear before the ED on three different occasions on investigations related to a money laundering case against him.-PTI

Banker's threat to Mallya's European venture LONDON/WASHINGTON: Beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya's troubles with lenders do not seem to be limited to India, with the global banking major Royal Bank of Scotland Commercial Services Limited(RBS) planning to terminate next month a credit line and all other banking services provided to his European beer venture. This has forced Kingfisher Beer Europe Limited, owned by Mallya through a complex web of entities, to look for alternative avenues to replace the credit line and other banking facilities provided by RBS. Mallya-led UB Group runs its overseas brewery business through California-based Mendocino Brewing Company, which sells a number of beer brands including Kingfisher in the US, while operations in other countries are conducted through wholly-owned subsidiary United Breweries International (UK) Ltd and a step-down unit Kingfisher Beer Europe Ltd (KBEL). Mendocino has got Mallya as its Chairman and is owned by his UB Group through a complex shareholding structure.-PTI

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April 22, 2016

G20 nations to crack down on tax havens WASHINGTON: As a multi-agency probe continues into suspected offshore entities of nearly 500 Indians, India and other G20 nations has vowed to crack down on use of anonymous shell companies to launder black money and evade taxes and also create a black-list of uncooperative tax havens. At the G20 meeting here, which was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and leaders of other major economies, the grouping supported a proposal to create a black-list of global tax havens that are not cooperating on the international information sharing framework. As per a draft G20 communique, they also backed a proposal to check tax evaders and entities indulging in money laundering through shell companies for their illicit activities. -PTI

India to boost investment in Iranian oil and gas sectors TEHRAN: India and oil-rich Iran have decided to significantly expand engagement in their overall ties, particularly in boosting Indian investment in joint ventures in oil and gas sectors in the Persian Gulf nation where foreign investors from major economic powers are rushing in to get early footholds after lifting of nuclear sanctions. In talks between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, the two sides agreed that pending agreements such as Preferential Trade Agreement, Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and Bilateral Investment Treaty should be concluded on a priority basis to spur trade and investment. Enhancing energy cooperation and development of the Chabahar port were the centerpiece of talks which was mostly dominated by economic issues. "The talks were very successful and would give new energy to our centuries old ties with Iran. In particular, the economic partnership will get considerable fillip as a result of today's forward looking talks," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup told PTI. Sources said the issue of Kulbhushan Jadhav was not at all raised by the Iranian side. Jadhav was reportedly arrested in Balochistan after he entered from Iran and was accused by Pakistan of planning "subversive activities" in the country. Both sides discussed the progress on the Chabahar project and agreed that the commercial contract on Chabahar as well as the modalities for extending USD 150 million credit for Chabahar Port should be signed in the "very near future". Decisions on this line of credit, as well as USD 400 million credit line for supply of steel rails from India have already been taken by India. Swarup said both sides discussed the energy partnership and Iran invited greater Indian participation in its oil and gas sector. "Iran said it would be happy to participate in the refinery sector

in India." On Farzad B oil field project, both sides took note of the constructive discussions held during the recent visit to Iran of Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. "The Indian side welcomed the Iranian decision to keep the Farzad

earlier communicated their gas pricing formula and expressed their desire for Indian investment in the Chabahar SEZ," he said. "In terms of connectivity, Iran said it supported India's desire to join the Ashgabat Agreement. The two ministers reviewed the

said the spokesperson. On Trade and Investment, the two sides agreed that with the lifting of sanctions, the potential for expanding these ties was immense. "They agreed that pending agreements such as Preferential Trade Agreement, Double Taxa-

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj with her Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif during delegation level talks in Tehran on April 17

B field outside the auction basket. The concerned companies have been directed to complete their contractual negotiations in a time bound manner. Iranian side had

progress made in the International North South Transport Corridor. IRCON from India would be visiting Iran for discussions on the Chabahar Zahedan Railway link,"

tion Avoidance Agreement and Bilateral Investment Treaty should be concluded on a priority basis," said Swarup. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 14

US jury slaps $940mn fine on Tata firms WA S H I N G T O N / N E W DELHI: A US grand jury has slapped two companies of India's Tata group - Tata Consultancy Services(TCS) and Tata America International Corp - with a USD 940 million fine in a trade secret lawsuit filed against them. After days of hearing, the federal grand jury in the US State of Wisconsin ruled that Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. and Tata America International Corp. must pay USD 240 million to Epic Systems for allegedly ripping off its software. Tatas have also been asked to pay another USD 700 million in punitive damages. TCS, which is India's largest software services firm, has stated there was no IP infringement in the Epic Systems case and said it plans to "defend its position vigorously in appeals

to higher courts". The Mumbai-based firm said it remains committed to protecting IP as well as its reputation and financial interests fully. "While TCS respects the legal

TCS employees have been "fraudulently accessing" Epic's software beyond what the consulting contract required process, the jury's verdict on liability and damages was unexpected as the company believes they are unsupported by the evidence presented during the trial," the TCS said in a statement.

Epic Systems had accused TCS and Tata America International Corp, in a lawsuit filed in October, 2014 in US District Court in Madison which was amended in January and December 2015, of "brazenly stealing the trade secrets, confidential information, documents and data" belonging to Epic. In its lawsuit, Epic had said that TCS took that data while consulting for its customer. Epic said that it "recently learned from an informant" that TCS employees have been "fraudulently accessing" Epic's software beyond what the consulting contract required - and using Epic's software to improve their own competing product. One TCS employee's account, which was used in India and several US locations, downloaded 6,477 documents, according to Epic.-PTI

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April 22, 2016

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IMF urged to future-proof global economy WASHINGTON: As global headwinds continue to hit Indian and other markets, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has asked advanced economies to be "mindful" of the spillover effect of their policies on the rest of the world. He also asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to beef up its resources to ensure 'future-

more credible given that it has been achieved despite contraction in our exports due to slowdown in global economy and two consecutive years of monsoon shortfall," he said. "However, there are concerns about export growth which is declining consecutively for more than a year due to slowdown in

"Moreover, there are the risks of exogenous shocks from asynchronous normalization of Unconventional Monetary Polices (UMPs) that can produce disorderly adjustments in exchange and volatile capital flows - increasing the cost of managing external exposures and balance of payments. "In this milieu, risks faced, es-

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley speaks at Carnegie Endowment on the sidelines of 2016 Spring Summit of World Bank/ International Monetary Fund in Washington DC on April 13

proofing' of the global economy against recurrence of financial crisis. Speaking here at the meeting of the International Monetary and Financial Committee (IMFC), Jaitley said India's balanced macroeconomic environment and strong growth prospects make it a 'bright' spot in the global scenario. Jaitley said the Indian economy has managed to put across a "credible" performance with an estimated growth rate of 7.6 per cent in the just concluded fiscal 2015-16, as against 7.2 per cent in the previous year. "The growth performance is

global demand," Jaitley said. The Finance Minister said subdued growth and low productivity in Advanced Economies (AEs) and elevated risks faced by Emerging Market Economies (EMEs), as also risks of instability of financial system, are hurting global recovery. "Flagging trade volumes, softening commodity prices, idle capacities and anemic economic fundamentals, particularly in a number of large EMEs are increasingly impairing their ability to sustain economic and financial resilience against rising risk premiums and credit risks.

pecially by crisis- affected countries and low-income countries, require the support of a credible multilateral safety net to provide financing necessary to prevent contagion. "The IMF is in unique position to take this responsibility but needs to be strengthened further through reforms in its governance. At the same time, the IMF should also examine adequacy of its own resources and whether they are sufficient for 'future proofing' the global economy against recurrence of financial crisis," he added. Stating that UMPs have added huge uncertainty to financial mar-

'Next IMF chief should be from emerging economy' WASHINGTON: India has told the IMF that the next managing director of the top global financial body should be from an emerging economy and not from Europe, which traditionally has been the case. Last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed Christine Lagarde of France for her second five-year term beginning July 5. There was no other candidate in the race and India had supported her candidacy. "This time, there was no candidate from any other country. It was proposed by all European coun-

tries. India supported her candidature. But while doing so we have indicated, we have informed the Fund that in the next round the managing director (MD) position should go to an individual from an emerging economy," said Union Finance Secretary Shaktikant Das. "Considering today's global economic reality, it is time that it (IMF's MD post) goes to a nonEuropean, from an emerging economy. We have communicated our view (to the IMF). This round there was no other candidate as such," Das said in

response to a question on the election of the IMF Managing Director during a round table with Indian mediapersons. When asked on the response from major IMF stakeholders, Das said it is too early to comment as the next election is five years away. "There has been no serious pitching by non-European (countries) so far," he said. When Lagarde was selected for this position five years ago, there was no unanimity among developing countries on this issue, he pointed out. -PTI

kets and are harming the prospect of maintaining financial stability, Jaitley said, "Advanced economies should be mindful of the consequences of spillovers on other countries that are negatively affected".

The Finance Minister said it is "a tall order" to expect a sustainable economic rebound, given the lack of policy space in major AEs and the existing vulnerabilities, especially, of commodity exporting emerging markets.-PTI

Developing nations' share should be 50 pc: Jaitley WASHINGTON: Seeking reforms in International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to reflect a larger say for economies like India, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the share of developing and transition countries (DTCs) in the multi-lateral lending agencies International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and International Finance Corporation (IFC) must be raised to 50 per cent. "I wish to reiterate that we must adhere to the Istanbul principles. We must accept that the time has come for raising partnership of DTCs in the IBRD and IFC to 50 per cent," he said at World Bank Development Committee meeting here. This, he said, would require that economic weight captured by GDP must remain the primary factor in the formula, with larger share of PPP based GDP of not less than 60 per cent.

The World Bank through its arm IBRD and IDA provides loans to middle income and poorest countries. Also through its arm the International Finance Corporation (IFC), it provides loans, equity as well as advisory services to private sector and governments of developing countries. "IDA has enormously useful role in financing development in low income countries, but recognizing IDA contributions in IBRD/ IFC share capital has adverse impact on voting share of developing countries. Therefore, it would only be fair if a weight of not more than 10 per cent is given to IDA contributions in the dynamic formula," he said. Such a weight should also recognize only recent contributions to act as a rightful incentive for the emerging countries to contribute in IDA and should also recognize multiplier based on burden share and generosity.-PTI

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Definition for non-performing assets on the cards LONDON: At a time when Indian banks are battling the bad loan menace, global banking regulators' body Bank for International Settlements' (BIS) has proposed a uniform definition for non-performing assets and forbearance to ensure consistency in disclosures. The BIS proposal also assumes significance amid efforts from Indian banks and other authorities to recover loans from willful de-

in a variety of ways. Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan is the ViceChairman of BIS, which has 60 central banks as members. He was elected to the post in 2015 for three years. Set up way back in May 1930, BIS is the world's oldest international financial organization, as per its website. Coming out with the detailed

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan is the Vice-Chairman of BIS, which has 60 central banks as members. He was elected to the post in 2015 for three years faulters, including the beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision's guidelines for definition of 'non-performing exposures' and 'forbearance' seek to harmonies quantitative and qualitative criteria used for credit categorization. Noting that there are no "consistent international standards for categorizing problem loans", BIS said banks categories bad loans

consultative paper, BIS said the definitions are aimed at promoting "harmonization in the measurement and application of two important measures of asset quality and thereby, foster consistency in supervisory reporting and disclosures by banks". The document is titled 'Prudential treatment of problem assets definitions of non-performing exposures and forbearance'. The Switzerland-based BIS said

definition of non-performing exposures introduces criteria for categorizing loans and debt securities that are centered around delinquency status (90 days past due) or the unlikelihood of repayment. Besides, it seeks to clarify the consideration of collateral in categorizing assets as non-performing, apart from mooting clear rules with respect to upgrading of an exposure from 'non-performing' to 'performing' asset. Meanwhile, forbearance refers to concessions like modification or refinancing of loans and debt securities that are granted as a result of a borrower's financial difficulty. The proposed definition sets out the criteria on when an exposure would cease to be identified as forborne and also takes into account the soundness of the borrower concerned. In India, the bad loan woes have been mounting in recent years. The country's scheduled commercial banks, including public sector ones, have stressed assets, a combination of gross NonPerforming Assets (NPA) and restructured loans, of about INR 8 lakh crore.-PTI

Adani mine gets traditional owner approval MELBOURNE: Adani has said its 21.7 billion dollar coal mine project in Australia has finally received authorization by traditional land owners, which the Indian mining giant termed was a "clear man-

Chinese business team calls on Raje JAIPUR: A Chinese business delegation led by Nicholas Hou, President of Huapion Sourcing Ltd, Hong Kong has met Rajasthan Chief Minister here. Raje during the meeting informed the delegation about the steps taken by the state government to create investor friendly atmosphere in the state. During the meeting, the company showed interest in investment in Jaipur Metro and other infrastructure projects in the state, a release said. CMD of Jaipur Metro Ashwini Bhagat, Secretary to CM Tanmay Kumar, Managing Director of Huapion Sourcing (Shanghai) Vincent Mei and other members of the delegation were present during the meeting. -PTI

date" that the community supports the venture, which is the world's largest. The Indian energy giant said that "W&J (Wangan and Jagalingou) community voted overwhelmingly at a properly convened, independently-chaired meeting in accordance with established statutory process to deliver intergenerational opportunities to their communities and their children, and grandchildren". The company said that this decision was indication that the traditional owners the Birriah, Juru and Jangga traditional owners were determined to work with Adani in building sustainable and ongoing partnerships that see the benefits of these projects are shared by all in the broader community. However, the anti-Adani group of W&J representatives slammed the "sham meeting" and said it was funded by Adani. They added that they will challenge Adani's "phoney" land use

deal in the Federal Court. Confident that the project in Queensland was on the right track, Adani Mining Australia CEO Jeyakumar Janakaraj said that the company finally received authorization for Indigenous land use agreement (ILUA) by the traditional owners of Queensland. "This is an extremely positive development as it has reconfirmed

that Adani has been working very closely with W&J (Wangan and Jagalingou) and the entire community supports the project. The level of support which has been shown in the voting by the community owners has given us lot of confidence," Janakraj said, adding that this proved that there was a lot of support for energy security in India.-PTI

World worried over China's economic slowdown WASHINGTON: In a rare development," the French Finance move, finance ministers and cen- Minister Michel Sapin said in his tral bank governors of leading address to the IMF. economies have voiced concern Wolfgang Schauble, the Gerover the slowdown of China's man Finance Minister attributed economy, the world's second larg- global economic slowdown to the est, which could pose serious chal- Chinese slowdown. lenges to the growth of the global "This slowdown is related to economy. the necessary ongoing transition China after witnessing nearly of the Chinese economy, to lower three decades of double- digit commodity prices, to earlier exaggrowth has been showing signs of slowness and India has now reThe Chinese economic placed China as the fastest growing major model, traditionally based economy of the world. As a result of the on manufacturing, investeconomic slowdown, ments and exports, is the Chinese economic model, traditionally currently transitioning based on manufacturing, investments and exports, is currently transitioning gerations and domestic shortcomtowards a model focused on do- ings in some countries, like insufmestic consumption, services and ficient structural reforms," he said. innovation. British Chancellor of Exche"This rebalancing, which is be- quer George Osborne undering implemented in a resolute man- scored the shared interest of the ner, inevitably affects China's eco- international community in supnomic partners, even if it is still porting China as it grapples to too early to determine its precise enhance the resilience of banks impact. and corporates and ensure the Yet, in any event, we will have sustainability of local government to be ready to accompany these finances and credit.-PTI

India to boost investment in Iranian oil and gas sectors Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 12

Both sides decided to enhance cooperation in counter-terrorism and maritime security as they agreed that concerted global effort was required to combat the menace. They reviewed bilateral relations, in particular the progress in implementing the decisions taken at the last Joint Commission Meeting held in New Delhi in December 2015. "Both sides took note of the good cooperation between the National Security Council structures of the two countries and agreed to intensify this engagement," said Swarup. In terms of cultural cooperation, both sides agreed to promote and strengthen the existing cultural exchanges, inter-alia, by observing "Weeks of Iran and India" in each other's country, publication of manuscripts, organizing conferences and events related to language, literature and religion. They also agreed on the establishment of a Hindi Chair in Tehran University sponsored by ICCR and to renew the Cultural Ex-

change Program. Both leaders expressed satisfaction at the recent exchange of visits and called for more high level exchanges to give fresh impetus to India-Iran relations. The two ministers also reviewed global and regional issues, in particular the situation in Afghanistan. Earlier in the day, the External Affairs Minister visited an Indian Gurudwara and the Kendriya Vidyalaya. She met the members of the small but vibrant Indian community in Tehran and assured them that she would take up issues of concern to them with the Iranian leadership. Her visit is seen as a balancing act by India as it came nearly two weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to Saudi Arabia, another West Asian power which considers Iran its rival. Iran is an important country for India for its energy security as well as to get access to oil and gasrich Central Asian nations. India imports close to 12 million tonnes of crude from Iran and it is looking at increasing the oil import from the country.-PTI

April 22, 2016

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Desi News Dr Sonty's book on Sanskrit Music released Asian Media USA

Vishal-Shekhar duo create magic on stage India Post News Service

COMMUNITY ACROSS AMERICA

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SF Consulate celebrates Ambedkar birthday

April 22, 2016

Details on page 19

Moon Khan seeks recount of write-in votes in DuPage County SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: DuPage recorder candidate Moon Khan is suing county election officials to find out once and for all if his write-in campaign generated enough votes to secure the Democratic Party's nomination. In a lawsuit filed against the DuPage County Board of Election Commissioners, Khan is asking a judge to order a recount of the write-in votes cast in the March 15 Democratic primary. "We have an indication that the certified election results don't match the votes that were cast in certain precincts," said Keri-Lyn J. Krafthefer, Khan's attorney. Khan pursued a write-in campaign seeking to become the

Democratic nominee to face Re- up with just 699 votes, according publican Recorder Fred Bucholz in to the results, even though more the November than 4,000 general elecDemocrats tion. voted for the While no recorder's poother Demosition. crat sought Since the the nominaelection, tion, official Khan and his results from attorney say the election they've found commission numerous indicate Khan precincts failed to get where people the 844 writeinsist they Moon Khan in votes voted for needed to beKhan even come the nominee. though the results don't reflect it. The Lombard resident ended In fact, Khan got credit for only one vote in his own precinct, even though his wife, son and neighbor voted for him. Khan also voted for himself. Krafthefer said the situation is similar to what happened in Wayne Township, where three Republican precinct committeeman candidates picked up dozens of additional write-in votes during a courtordered recount. As a result, two of those candidates were elected.

"We just think there's kind of an odd situation that happens with election judges not counting the write-in ballots on Election Night," Krafthefer said. Commission attorney Pat Bond said the agency has a "high level of confidence" in its process that has bipartisan election judges count write-in votes. Still, Bond said the commission is willing to cooperate with Khan and his attorney to see if a partial or full recount is necessary. "Our whole objective is to make sure the votes cast are counted so that no voter is disenfranchised and no candidate is affected," Bond said. Khan is trying to get the 145 additional votes needed to secure the nomination. So officials might need to recount only paper ballots and not review votes made on the county's electronic voting machines. "We're trying to make it as easy and inexpensive as possible for everyone involved," Krafthefer said. "If we can get the same results without a full-scale recount, then we're happy to do that."

Sumeet Gill in PAC-12 all-star team India Post News Service

SAN FRANCISCO: Oregon middle blocker Sumeet Gill was named to the PAC-12 volleyball allstar team that will travel to China this summer from June 18-July 1, the conference has announced. Gill is a sophomore for the Ducks after playing in 21 matches and making 18 starts during her freshman campaign. The Elk Grove, Calif., native averaged 1.12 kills/set and 0.77 blocks/set, earning a season high nine kills at Colorado. Sumeet Gill Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 19

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CG briefs on celebrating 2nd Yoga Day

CG Dr Ausaf Sayeed, Consul OP Meena and Consul Rajeshwari with representatives of organizations and invited guests

RAMESH SOPARAWALA India Post News Service

CHICAGO: Indian Consul General Dr. Ausaf Sayeed hosted a meeting for celebration of 2nd International Yoga Day in US Mid-West last week at the Consulate office in Chicago. It was attended by representatives of scores of socio and socio-religious organizations besides other invited guests. The 2nd IYD will be celebrated under the umbrella of the Consulate on June 25 at Timber Creek Inn, 3300 Drew Ave, Sandwich, a Chicago suburb. The City of Sandwich has assured its support to the celebrations and would be issuing a special proclamation declaring the Day as International Yoga Day for the city of Sandwich.

Civil coalition inducts HAF as member NEELA PANDYA

WASHINGTON DC: The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the nation's largest and most prominent civil and human rights coalition, has announced inducting the Hindu American Foundation (HAF) as its member. The Conference's board voted to include HAF for its work on social justice issues, including its ongoing Hinduism 101 training for the Department of Justice, as well as its overall work in promoting equality and dignity amongst all peoples. HAF joins a prestigious group of civil and human rights organizations, including the NAACP, the American Civil Liberties Union, Anti-Defamation League, National Organization for Women, National Urban League, Human Rights Campaign, and the Japanese American Citizens League. HAF's ExecuThe leadership conference building in tive Director Suhag Washington DC Shukla said that the Conference's recognition was a watershed moment for the organization, which was founded in 2003 with the goal of advocating the rights of Hindu Americans and promoting pluralism. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 22

The participating organizations attending this curtain raiser event were: Art of Living Foundation, Brahma Kumaris Meditation Centre, Isha Foundation, Sahajayoga, Yog Sadhan Ashram, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, SEWA International, Science of Spirituality, Eye on India, Islamic Center Naperville and Arya Samaj. During the meeting, International Yoga Day homage was also paid to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Constitution of India, on the occasion of his 125th Birth Anniversary, which was on the 14 April.

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April 22, 2016

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Dr Sonty's book on Sanskrit Music released Asian Media USA

Padmasri Dr. SV Rama Rao, an accomplished world renowned artist, and to Mrs. Farha Sayeed, an acclaimed artist. Dr. Sayeed also inaugurated "Sunaada Sudha"- an exhibition of 20 oil portraits of legendary music makers of India through

CHICAGO: Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, Consul General of India in Chicago, released Dr. Sarada Purna Susarla Sonty's book titled 'Nadanandam: Genesis and Evolution of Sanskrit Music Treatises and Significance of a Few Basic Music Concepts' here last week. She presented the first three copies of the book to Raja Krishnamoorthi, F o r m e r Deputy Treasurer of Illinois and Democratic nominee for the 8th ConSita Sonty, Farha Sayeed, Dr. Ausaf Sayeed, Dr. Sarada Purna Sonty, gressional Dr. Sriram Sonty District, to

the ages, and released the book compiled by Dr. Sonty and published by Sonty Publications. The high-profile event hosted by the Consulate General of India on April 15 in collaboration with Sri Annamacharya Project of North America, was attended by a large number of art lovers from different walks of life. "Music, which is an expression of the highest order, is an offering of the soul, from the soul, and by the soul. Music knows no boundaries; musicians know no barriers. Music takes life and flourishes in the hands of inspired and visionary masters belonging to different regions and religions. They shape it into a form which is so

Dr Sarda Sonty addressing the meet

powerfully mesmerizing and enthralling that their creations are remembered and celebrated for centuries", said Dr. Ausaf Sayeed. "Indian music has a long, unbroken, and accumulated heritage spanning over hundreds of centuries and its origin is traced to the Vedic times. It is a great legacy and all Indians are proud of it", he added. "Dr. Sonty's book, therefore, is a spirited attempt aimed at paying homage to the creative genius of illustrious music composers of India", stated Dr. Sayeed and added that this event represents an opportunity to share the rich Indian cultural heritage with the diverse polity of the US.

Saraswathi Ranganathan, a Chicago-based Veena exponent, playing a few compositions

Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 20

April 22, 2016

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SF Consulate celebrates Ambedkar birthday India Post News Service

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: The Consulate

General of India, San Francisco, in association with the Indo-American Community in Bay Area, celebrated the 125th birth anniversary of Bharat Ratna Dr. B R Ambedkar on 14 April 2016 at India Community Centre, Milpitas from 5 pm onwards. Over 500 people representing several Indian-American Community Associations participated in the event. In addition, many academics, social activists, local officials and media persons also attended the event.

Consul General Ambassador Venkatesan Ashok inaugurated the event by lightning the lamp. He paid floral trib-

utes to the photograph of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. Later, a Souvenir was also released on the occasion. In his inaugural address, the Consul General underlined Dr. Ambedkar' s contributions towards bringing social change in India through constitutional means. He highlighted Dr. Ambedkar's efforts in bringing about social justice by doing away with various divisions in society. He praised Dr. Ambedkar's work towards making India

modern, and described his contribution towards the nation-building as precious and special. He mentioned Dr. Ambedkar's invaluable role in making the Constitution of India and his emphasis on the need for the use of constitutional means in the process of addressing challenges before the nation. In his address, Prof. Ronki Ram, Head of the Department of Political Science, Punjab University, Chandigarh, highlighted various aspects of Dr. Ambedkar's multifaceted personality, his social movement and his contribution towards building India a Nation. The event was also addressed by O.P. Balley, Member of Supreme Committee of Shri Guru Ravi Das Temples, Harmesh Kumar, Community leader, Concord and also Ram Kumar of Ambedkar International Centre. Several Cultural programs including classical dances and songs were performed by participants from different cultural schools in the Bay Area and by well known singers.

A short film on the life of Dr. Ambedkar was also screened. Later, the Consul General presented certificates of appreciation to all participants/organizers of the event. The program ended with a vote of thanks, which was followed by a dinner reception.

Sumeet Gill in PAC12 all-star team Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 16

The 12-member all-star volleyball team, led by UCLA head coach Michael Sealy, includes a player from 11 of the Pac-12 institutions and will play six matches while in China from June 19-July 1 against Chinese club and national teams. In addition to the matches, the student-athletes will enjoy cultural and sightseeing visits to Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing. Previous all-star teams have made visits to the Great Wall, Forbidden City and other attractions. The team will meet in Los Angeles for practice on June 18 before leaving for Shanghai on June 19. The first matches will be played in Nanjing before moving to Beijing for another series of matches. Gulinder Gill, father of Sumeet, said "Sumeet is pride of our community . Her hard work and love of the game is propelling her to new heights."

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Shanti, a journey of peace & labor of love ARCHANA ASTHANA India Post News Service

FREMONT, CA: Coming to the Bay Area on April 30 at the Flint Center in Cupertino, and on May 21 at the Interstake Center Auditorium in Oakland is Shanti, a musical theater extravaganza denoting peace, tranquility, serenity and a state of interconnectedness with the universe. It is considered a choral symphony centering around Indian ragas that narrate and show-

organically rooted to the innate spirit, Kanniks felt it an important mission to spread the message and has been doing so for over a decade. Kanniks stated that each show is unique, as the variability in the personalities of the dancers, singers, and musicians lends a local, discernible flavor, which makes it sufficiently different from any other productions. However, the feeling of bliss continues while the players change. Kanniks also shared that the preparation

Dr Sonty's book on Sanskrit Music released it is an original contribution in understanding the contribution of India to the world of He advised Indian-Americans in general music. and the younger generation in particular to "Considering the fact that ancient literago through the book, without fail, in order ture on Indian music is available in Sanskrit, to understand and appreciate the rich heri- Dr. Sonty's book, written in simple English, tage and culture of India. will be greatly instrumental in enabling the Dr. Sonty, who has been a resident of present-day readers, especially their Chicago for over 40 years, said that Indian younger counterparts, to understand the music has its roots in Vedic literature and is nuances of Indian classical music", he the precious treasure of Indian culture. She added. said that her book throws light on the hisSita Sonty, US Diplomat from State Detory, genesis, and evolution of music tradi- partment, Washington DC was the event's tions of India. emcee Dr. Sonty stated that she extensively Saraswathi Ranganathan, a Chicagoused a number of Sanskrit Treatises, includ- based Veena Exponent, played a few coming those written by Sage positions of the Indian Bharata in the 2nd century Music Composers, EnBC, Saint Matanga from â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Relevance of the semble of Ragas, during the 9th century AD, Saint ancient musical the exhibition inauguraSaaranga Deva of the tion. 12th century AD, and fi- treatises to the Tim Bradford, Comnally Saint Venkata present-day world missioner, Metropolitan Makhin of the 16th cenReclamation Disand their applications Water tury for the systematic trict, Lauren Gash Illinois and scientific study of for bringing in peace Human Rights Commisthe four concepts of mu- and harmony have sioner, Former State Repsic, namely, Raga, Tala, resentative Gregg Vadya, Prabandha, which also been discussed, Garmisa, Principal, Studio are regarded as constitut- in detail, in the bookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Gang Corky, Siegel Chaming the foundation of Inber Blues, David Barr, she observed dian musicology. President, Matteson Ro"Relevance of the antary Club, and represencient musical treatises to the present-day tatives from the Consulate of Lithuania also world and their applications for bringing in graced the event. peace and harmony have also been disDr. Sarada Purna Sonty is the co-founder cussed, in detail, in the book", she observed of two major non-profit organizations - SRI and called for the need for enhanced cul- Foundation and SAPNA Foundation to pretural exchanges, across the globe, in order serve, promote, and propagate Indian Clasto understand the dynamics of music in their sical art, language, and literature. Dr Sonty true and total frame of reference. is also the Director for Center for Telugu Dr. Sonty called upon Indian-Americans Studies. She is a poet, a scholar, a pubto preserve their cultural, linguistics, per- lished author of 10 books, the editor of the sonal, and national identities and added that literary journal 'Brahmi', and has received for doing so understanding and learning scores of titles from various academic and Indian classical music and its different art non-profit institutions in India and the U.S. forms is a sine qua non. Most recently, she was honored as one of Dr. Shelly Kumar, Professor of Organic the Top Ten Telugu Living Legends in USA. Chemistry and Biological Sciences, GoverDr. Sriram Sonty, Founder Chairman, nor State University and President, India SAPNA proposed a vote of thanks. Classical Music Society presented a scholDelicious refreshments were served toarly review of Dr. Sonty's book and said that wards the end of the event

Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 18

case the five thousand years of Indian cultural history. This production is the brainchild of Dr. Kanniks Kannikeswaran, a music composer, singer, violinist, and keyboard player who conceived and wrote this piece in 2004; a unifying theme of peace and a oneness with cosmic energy, and presented it via a grand multi component experience. Kanniks is based in Cincinnati, Ohio, and debuted it

with local talent. Thence, he travelled to different cities, and sourced the regional talent, and built a community of artists around this project. He shared, in a phone conversation, how the different players come together and experience great bonding and joy through their common experience. In every production, he felt the palpable energy exuded by the performing cast, who brought it to life time and again, and themselves felt the sentiments of drowning in peace and harmony. As this production is

for this piece proceeds in a modular fashion: the Indian choir first learns the music by rote, and then is joined by the Western orchestra, who read and play the score. The dancers rehearse with recorded music independently, and closer to the performance date, all components of the musical come together in a synergistic whole. The Bay Area show is put together with the help of Kalyan, of Dharma Civilization Foundation (DCF), who is hosting it, and with Usha Srinivasan of Sangam Arts who has curated the dancers and dance forms for the ensemble. The mega scope of the show is evidenced by its 150 member choir, of which about a hundred are from the East (mostly Indian), and the rest from the West. The music is based on Indian ragas, Sanskrit lyrics, and Hindustani taranas. The Indian orchestra is built from scratch in each location, and grows by word of mouth of musicians who share the goal, and recruit others to carry it forward. The Western choir is from Santa Clara Chorale, and directed by Dr. Scot HannaWeir. The Indian and Western voices and symphony blend seamlessly and bring to life the difference between Shanti (peace), and Ashanti (absence of peace), with dances uniting the theme throughout, coupled with an array of on screen visuals. Bay Area audiences are eager to watch this unique production, and revel in the message.

April 22, 2016

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Vishal-Shekhar duo create magic on stage India Post News Service

SAN JOSE, CA: National Promoters Prria Haider, Shalini and Puroo Kaul, presented a high-voltage musical concert with Bollywood's music composer duo, Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani, and singing sensation Neeti Mohan, as the star attraction on Sunday April 17 at City National Civic, San Jose. Vishal and Shekhar set the stage on fire for over three hours with their non-stop performance dazzling nearly 2200 music lovers. The duo interacted with the audience throughout the show which was opened by Neeti Mohan's soulful numbers. She was one of the winners of the Channel V show Popstars and as such, became a member of the Indian pop group Aasma with the other winners of the show. The Bollywood dynamic duo, VishalShekhar, with several big hits under their belt, captured the hearts of the young generation by singing the most contemporary and popular songs, which included "Bachna ai haseeno", Ek mai aur ek tu", "Aa milja haste haste salaam namaste". Vishal & Shekhar are accomplished music directors in Bollywood with several films

Vishal Dadlani and Shekhar Ravjiani

including Jhankaar beats, Dus, Bluffmaster, Om Shanti Om, Chennai Express, Bang Bang, Happy New Year to their credit. With a huge fan following, they are known to enthrall the audience wherever they perform. Neeti Mohan is a popular Indian singer and is briskly climbing up charts with her Bollywood numbers. With such performers the show was expected to be a super successful one. Together they created magic on stage and had the audience dancing to their tunes. Vishal-Shekhar Live US Tour 2016 started on March 25 from Austin and the duo has been traveling to Dallas, Chicago, St Martin, Orlando, New Jersey, Charlotte, Houston for their concert.

The Bollywood dynamic duo, VishalShekhar, with several big hits under their belt, captured the hearts of the young generation by singing the most contemporary and popular songs

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First Bank helps teach money management STEPHANIE KULKE

EVANSTON: First Bank & Trust is proud to partner with McGaw YMCA, Youth Job Cen-

saving. Establishing good savings habits while young is a great advan-

or other unexpected expense could create financial havoc. "We hope to teach students how to create a budget and the importance of setting aside money for future goals," said First Bank & Trust Senior VP Paul Kogol. "Financial literacy is a lifelong process, but by collaborating with our local schools and nonprofits, we can help provide stuFirst Bank & Trust Commercial Banking Officer Ryan Bird works with dents with a local Junior Achievement students solid foundater, Evanston Township High tage. A study published in Febru- tion in money management skills School, Junior Achievement and ary of 2016 by Bankrate.com sug- before they graduate from high other local organizations to gests 37 percent of Americans school. We can also provide valupresent workshops for area com- have credit card debt greater than able continuing education to fimunity members and students on or equal to their emergency sav- nancially established adults." the importance of budgeting and ings, meaning a steep medical bill, Workshop topics include how to open a bank account, how to save for college and plan for the Financial literacy is a life-long process, but future, basic budgeting and more. by collaborating with our local schools and First Bank & Trust invites comnonprofits, we can help provide students with munity organizations interested in partnering on a financial literacy a solid foundation in money management program to contact the bank at skills before they graduate from high school info@firstbt.com.

Seniors enjoy warm outing

Bhagvad Gita research scholarship launched SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: The Coalition of study of Bhagvad Gita is very esHindu Youth (CHY) has an- sential to give a rational justificanounced launching of Bhagvad tion of studying this highly inspiGita Sanatan Dharma Scholarship rational Hindu treatise not only by program. It aims to promote independent research focusing on rational foundation and the teachings of this age old Hindu book revered not only by Indians but many across the globe. This launch was possible because of the founding patronage of Late Laljibhai Patel, Pittsburgh PA late Vallabhdas Mehta, Bhopal, India and efforts of the scholarship guiding team over NRI Press Club President Madhu Patel the past six months.CHY is a project of World Hindu Council of America (VHPA). Indian Americans but also by nonHarsh Dave, a spokesman, said Indians and non Hindus across that CHY plans to award scholar- the world. On behalf of NRI Press ships to high school and middle Club, "we welcome the scholarschool students this year and ex- ship program of CHY and would like to assure them all possible help in making it a huge success." Harsh Dave has urged everyone to pass this message on to potential appliCHY and its logo cants who might be eligible to appectations are that the number of ply for the scholarship. "We would students seeking the scholarship like to appeal to everyone to conwill go up in the coming years. tribute to the scholarship fund to Madhu Patel, President of NRI ensure the continuity of this worPress club, said that a scientific thy project," he said.

Civil coalition inducts HAF as member Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 17

ikh Outreach Society of Chicago took Senior Citizens of Sikh Community on a Trolley Tour arranged by Mrs.Gurpreet Kaur Singh. Thakar S Basati narrated the tour in Punjabi with help

from trolley driver. Ms. Jasvir Kaur Singh made arrangements for food, coffee and transportation. It was announced that the next event by SOS (Sikh Outreach Society) will touch upon an impor-

tant subject of Anger Management (Krodh) which is 2nd biggest enemy of all of us. SOS can be reached at Soschicago2014@gmail.com.Harish Rao

"This is one of the highest honors for HAF," Shukla said. "To be part of a coalition that has been critical in promoting equality and justice for all is a testament to the work we've done over the years. We're deeply grateful to the Conference for welcoming us to the fold." The Leadership Conference founded in 1950 is a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward the goal of a more open and just society - an America as good as its ideals. Founded as the Leadership

Conference on Civil Rights by A. Philip Randolph, head of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters; Roy Wilkins of the NAACP; and Arnold Aronson, a leader of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council, their visionary leadership is grounded in their commitment to social justice and the firm conviction that the struggle for civil rights would be won, not by one group alone, but through coalition. "To be a part of this venerable coalition, which has been a force in advocating for the rights of all, is truly humbling," said HAF's Director of Education, Murali Balaji. "To be a part of this coalition is a reminder of the late Whitney Young's quote: 'We didn't all come over on the same ship, but we're all in the same boat.'"

April 22, 2016

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Vaishnav Samaj Health Fair a big success SURI SWAMY

A group of volunteers who helped in the success of the Health Fair

CHICAGO: The 38th Health Fair at Vaishnav Samaj of Midwest Temple (Haveli) in Addison (a Chicago suburb) on Sunday, April 10, 2016 met with good success. The goal was to provide medical check up to all those who may not be able to afford medical services due to insurance and medi-

years in other temples also. More than 10,500 patients have benefited so far. In all 21 doctors and 90 Health care professionals provided their volunteer services on this day. Registration and front desk services were provided by Manubhai Shah, Bhupendrabhai Thakkar,

The goal was to provide medical check up to all those who may not be able to afford medical services due to insurance and medical coverage problems. It was sponsored by the VSM Temple, and Indian American Medical Association of Illinois (IAMA-IL) cal coverage problems. It was sponsored by the VSM Temple, and Indian American Medical Association of Illinois (IAMA-IL) Jayantibhai Thakkar was the prime coordinator. He said that the first Health Fair was started way back in 1989. He has continued this service for the last 27

Bhartiben Desai, Nareshbhai Dekhtawala, Amit Desai, Bharatbhai Thakkar and Rajanikant Modi. Vital data such as height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, were checked for each participant. The Blood Sugar testing and diabetic consultation was provided

Registration in progress

by Kishore Chugh, Vivek Patel, Paragi Patel, Tushar Mehta, and Tejas Patel. Blood samples from 140 patients were collected and sent to the UIC laboratory for testing. The report will be reviewed by doctors and will be mailed to each patient within three weeks. Urine Analysis was performed by a number of volunteers. Heart diseases are among the l e a d i n g causes of death among the Indian population and Indians are four times more likely to suffer from cardiovascu-

lar disease. Dr. Saktivel Sadyappan's Laboratory at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, IL, researches genetic heart diseases and is collecting blood samples from Indians to

Bone Density Test was performed for women over age of 45. Eye screening and consultation were provided by Dr. Motilal Raichand. Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) consultation was provided

Health Fair patient being examined

study a genetic defect found specifically among South Asians. The genetic defect they are studying has been linked to a disorder known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which can cause heart failure and sudden cardiac death. This year the Health Fair provided support for this genetic study and the volunteers collected 115 tubes of extra blood from voluntary participants for the study. There were 4 EKG machines to provide EKG for males and females over age 55 and continually operated by many volunteers. Physical examination and physical consultation were provided by primary care physicians. Dental examination and consultation was provided by Dr. Neha Sheth and Dr Jagruti Gupta.

by Dr. Ramesh Patel and Dr. Nirav Thakkar. Physical therapy was presented by Shailaja Kanal. Diabetic education and consultation was provided by Diptiben Shah and diet and nutrient advice provided by Dietitian Darshana Vyas. Many people received information and consultation in Gujarati. The Temple provided tea, coffee, Batata Paua and light food to all patients and lunch for volunteers. Dr. Umang Patel thanked all volunteers on behalf of VSM Temple. Dr. Samir Shah thanked all volunteers on behalf of Indian American Medical Association of Midwest and Jayantibhai Thakkar thanked all volunteers for their continued support and selfless services to community.

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Chithirai Fest brings South Indian experience India Post News Service

FREMONT, CA: Chithirai Food Fest - a food and art festival - was held at Centerville Jr. High school, Fremont on April 15 with the focus on bringing a South Indian experience to the Bay Area. It was attended by over 1000 Bay area residents. Chithirai is derived from the

first month in the Tamil (lunar) calendar. This month marks the beginning of summer, its festivities, and the holiday season in Tamil Nadu. The event was organized by Bay Area Tamil Manram. Bay Area Tamil Manram is a secular, non-profit, non-political, and non-partisan organization. It has been serving the San Francisco Bay area since 1980. It was

started as a group for like-minded community is enthralled to celTamils to socialize and has grown ebrate this spring festival in a colinto a strong organization of what orful way in an enchanting atmoit is now. sphere of traditional food and culTamil Manram continues its tural events," said Jayaprakash, service to Tamil. It is committed to President BATM. This signature the growth of Tamil cultural activities in the The Chithirai Food Fest Bay area. Tamil Manram regularly conducts provided a gateway to children's events and experience the unique food, encourages children to learn Tamil language drinks, arts and culture of and Tamil culture. Tamil Tamil Nadu Manram also raises funds for social cause for non- event featured a market place, profit charity organizations. food tasting pavilion, live musical The Chithirai Food Fest pro- entertainment (on stage, open air). vided a gateway to experience the 11 Bay Area restaurants particiunique food, drinks, arts and cul- pated at the event and catered 26 ture of Tamil Nadu, a South Indian + traditional, authentic delicacies state. "This event is to mark the of the Tamil palate to experience dawn of spring and our vibrant Incredible India.

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Community Across America

India Post 25

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Fun-filled Holi by Bal Vihar of St. Louis RAJ IYER

ST LOUIS: For the third year in a row, Bal Vihar of St. Louis teamed up with the Hindu Temple of St. Louis to bring a fun-filled Holi celebration to the local community - the most anticipated events for Bal Vihar families. Bal Vihar families gathered at the Mahatma Gandhi Center on Sunday April 3 for the celebration. Children were eager to finish their lunch and rush outside to have fun. Bal Vihar families used this opportunity to mingle with others to socialize and share the joy and spirit that the occasion offers. Being so far away from the origins of their culture and having grown up in a very different

set up, Bal Vihar students form part of the next generation that is keeping the culture and spirit alive while improvising it in their own way. As with every year, children are the first ones to rush through their food and line up to get their hands on the colors. A safety session along with the instruction on enjoying festival of colors was held prior to the festival of color celebration. As soon as the first set of packets opened, the colored dust started filling the atmosphere. One could see the enthusiasm in the environment as children were running around throwing color at their parents, friends and anyone they knew. Adults could be seen applying colors to the faces and greeting each other. Within half an hour, most of them were covered in multiple colors from head to toe. As Bal Vihar nears completing 23 successful years, its popularity has grown with over 425 students now attending classes every other Sunday. Classes are focused on their overall cultural development that includes Bhajan, Yoga and regular curriculum that includes teachings on India, its states, history, culture, neighbors etc.

Center for Indian Cultural Education - Bal Vihar of St. Louis, a non-profit organization, since its inception in 1992 has been serving the Metro St. Louis Indian community. The primary focus of this organization is to provide Indian cultural education to students age 5-18, its application and integration with the global multicultural and multifaceted society. They are also taught discipline, tolerance and devotion in their daily routine. The ultimate goal is "to throw the light of cultural knowledge on every child, to make every child an outstanding citizen and to spread the song of peace and harmony around the world."

April 22, 2016

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April 22, 2016

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TOP TEN HINDI FILM SONGS

1 Kar Gayi Chull : Kapoor & Sons 2 Jabra Fan: Fan 3 Sanam Re: Sanam Re 4 Soch na Sake: Airlift April 22, 2016

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28 India Post

Ki & Ka

atrina Kaif is keen to patch-up with Ranbir Kapoor but it seems the Kapoor lad is in no mood to reconcile. According to the latest grapevine, Ranbir Kapoor refuses to patch-up with Katrina. At a recent party, when Ranbir and Katrina came face to face, the duo maintained a safe distance. They neither acknowledged each other nor looked at each other and spoke. A source at the party revealed, "Katrina actually went up to Ranbir and asked him if they could give their relationship another try. Ranbir refused to entertain the thought. He firmly told her it's over." The source said that Kaif was "very, very upset" when Ranbir turned her down. Another source said, "She gave all of herself into this relationship. He finally let her down very bad." Katrina wanted to give a second chance to their relationship but Ranbir is dead against the decision.

5 High Heels Te Nachche: 6 Yeh Fitoor Mera : Fitoor 7 Gerua: Dilwale 8 Agar Tum Saath Ho : Tamasha 9 Janam Janam : Dilwale 10 Hua Hai Aaj Pehli Baar : Sanam Re

Katrina and Ranbir met on the sets of 'Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahini' and love blossomed. They dated for five years before calling it quits

iger Shroff, who is rumored to be dating Disha Patani, tried to dispel his link-up with the actress. The duo was recently spotted on a late-night movie date at a Mumbai suburban theatre. Speaking at a promotional event of his upcoming film 'Baaghi,', the actor squashed the rumors and said that his alleged lady-love was "too cool" for him. "…she's too cool for me, she's way out of my league," Tiger said and added, "Kaash! (I wish) She is a very beautiful girl, she's too good for me. I'm the most 'uncool' person, I wish if somebody likes me." Tiger and Disha have been reportedly dating each other for quite some time. Though the couple has never opened up about their relationship, it is said that they are going steady. The 'Heropanti' actor is said to be helping her with her dance moves. Disha will make her Bollywood debut with Sushant Singh Rajput starrer biopic on Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni titled 'MS Dhoni: The Untold Story'.

hraddha Kapoor, who awaits the release of 'Baaghi', says she is keen to work with Ranbir Kapoor and Ranveer Singh. The actress, who is busy shooting for her next 'OK Jaanu', treated her fans to a question and answer session on Twitter, where one user asked which actor the 'Aashiqui 2' actress would like to work with in her future projects. To which Shraddha replied: 'Ranveer and Ranbir'. The actress will soon be seen sharing screen space with actor Tiger Shroff for the first time in the film 'Baaghi'. Asked how was it working with the 'Heropanti' star, Shraddha replied: 'He is amazing to work with and very very inspiring!' The actress also labeled Tiger as a 'superb co-star' and Sabbir Khan as a 'happy director'. "Really amazing. Got to work with an awesome team. Sabbir sir is a happy director and Tiger is a superb costar," she added.

Bollywood

April 22, 2016

India Post 29

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iara Advani, who made her debut in 2014 with the film Fugly, has been conspicuously absent from the big screen. She is currently working on her next venture that will see her opposite Sushant Singh Rajput in the currently underproduction biopic of cricketer MS Dhoni. Now we hear that the actress has signed on Abbas-Mustan's next titled Machine. However, the interesting part is that the film will feature Abbas Burmawala's son Mustafa making his big screen debut. Said to be an action drama, the film titled Machine will also feature loads of romance.

t's been a while since we saw Ram Gopal Varma, took us once again into the dark, gritty thriller genre that the filmmaker is famous for. His next Hindi film is titled Veerappan, which is based on the life of the famous dacoit. And now the news is that actress Lisa Ray will be seen playing a prominent role in the film. Veerappan will see Lisa Ray play the role of Priya who helps the cops in capturing India's most feared dacoit. Lisa, who reminisces about the 90s when the newspapers couldn't stop covering news on Veerappan, stated that she was so fascinated by the story that she immediately agreed on it. Her role as Priya is that of a middle class girl who likes to be a daredevil.

Veerappan will see Lisa Ray play the role of Priya who helps the cops in capturing India's most feared dacoit

A A

my Jackson is all geared to prove that physical appearances can be deceptive with her next flick that stars Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar. The pretty and petite lady has some serious heavy-duty action scenes in the movie, for which she had to undergo tough training. "When you have Khiladi Kumar on one side and Thalaiva on the other, you have to know your stuff well. I have done heavy-duty stunts even in my last film. But this time around, it is more demanding. The director included more action scenes after seeing my kicks and punches in my last one. It could be draining but am all prepped up," adds the actress. Punch it like Amy!

myra Dastur's first two films Issaq (2013) and Mr.X (2015) didn't do well at the box office. And this has made her cautious while taking up projects, as the 22year-old has understood that no matter how confident one may be about a film, its future depends on viewers' feedback. "It is hard to get a hit film here (in Bollywood). You are relying on the audience. Now, I think twice before signing a film as I want it to do well. It (a film's failure) really hurts. You put in hard work and hope that the film is appreciated," says Dastur. Though she has been advised to do masala, commercial films to sustain herself, the actor is in no mood to do that. "I have done two commercial films as everyone told me. But a good film is a good film. I think I will go for an artsy film," says Dastur, who is busy with her Hollywood action-adventure Kung Fu Yoga, which also stars Jackie Chan.

Realty Tidbits

Ajmera Realty to develop 10k homes MUMBAI: Ajmera Realty plans to develop 10,000 affordable homes in the next 10 years in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). This is part of the commitment made under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the developers association MHCICREDAI with the Maharashtra government for developing one lakh affordable houses, the company said in a statement. "Following the MoU, we have pledged to contribute to this initiative by developing 10,000 affordable homes by 2026," said Dhaval Ajmera, Director, Ajmera Realty. The company will focus on areas like Kalyan, Ulhasnagar and Khardi and have projects starting at just Rs 10 lakh. The project will have 1 RK, 1-2 BHK homes, it added. -PTI

Real Estate 30 India Post

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April 22, 2016

FLINT, Mich.: A roughly $1.7 million project to demolish a former Flint apartment complex seeks to stabilize the surrounding area and spur neighborhood redevelopment. The Genesee County Land Bank says work started this month to tear down the former Glen Acres Apartments, located along one of the city's main thoroughfares. -AP

Discussing reverse mortgage with your adult children MARCIE GEFFNER

You're thinking about getting a reverse mortgage. Should you discuss your plan with your adult children? Maybe. Every senior homeowner's situation is unique. "I wish I could give you one best practice that's optimal for every family, but it's more complex

As a general rule, Goetz says, more communication is better, but family dynamics and the family's financial culture are important, too. "In some families," he says, "the kids would be really upset if Mom and Dad gave up the house without talking to them. In other

Town with cricket pavilion, lake up for sale MELBOURNE: A picturesque town in Australia complete with a fishing lake, golf-course and cricket pavilion is up for sale and may fetch up to 13 million dollars, according to media reports. The 358.3-acre Tarraleah town located in the heart of Tasmania state was built in the 1930s to house mostly European migrant workers of the then Hydro Electric Commission. The town, which once housed thousands of workers, was largely abandoned by the 1990s. The buildings including a church, a theatre, a school and homes still remained but they fell into disrepair, ABC News reported. Current owner Julian Homer has spent 13 years restoring the town's 33 art deco - influential visual arts design - buildings. There are no residents in the town except for those who work at the five-star lodge situated in the town. The entire towns is now largely devoted to tourism; hosting weddings, conferences and functions. The town comes with a church, a fully renovated lodge and cafe, art deco cottages, a caravan park and a cricket pavilion. The deal also includes the town's highland cattle and a dam brimming with trout and salmon, media reports said. "We have issued 30 to 40 property reports. Some of those have been overseas, a lot from interstate. I think a lot of people are more curious than anything, wondering what is this all about," Real estate agent John Blacklow said. -PTI

Demolition in Flint to spur redevelopment

than that," says Joseph Goetz, an associate professor for the department of financial planning, housing and consumer economics at the University of Georgia and an editorial board member of the Financial Therapy Association.

families, they would not." A reverse mortgage doesn't necessarily involve giving up your house -- at least, not as long as you live there. But Goetz's point is well-made: Many adult children have an emotional attachment to

their childhood home or expect to receive their parent's home free of any encumbrance upon the parent's death. A reverse mortgage discovered after the fact can come as a surprise, shock or disappointment, suggests Buz Livingston, a financial planner for Livingston Financial Planning in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida. He recalls 1 client whose father and stepmother took out a reverse mortgage without their daughter's knowledge. Another client's parents took out a reverse mortgage and informed 1 sibling but not the other. "The children need to be involved just to make sure everybody is on the same page and there is not a big surprise," Livingston says. "Just keep it simple. Say, 'This is what we are going to do and if this (house) is something you want to hold on to, speak up.'"

Private investment in retail properties may double NEW DELHI: Private equity (PE) investment in retail properties is likely to double to $80 million this calendar year mainly on account of liberalization of FDI policy, according to property consultant JLL India. "The retail sector can look forward to a more cheerful 2016, given some good initiatives taken by the government," JLL India Chairman and Country Head Anuj Puri said in a report.

JLL India Chairman and Country Head Anuj Puri

In 2015, single-brand retail saw relaxation in sourcing norms, which is expected to rack up FDI inflows in the times to come. Moreover, 100% FDI has been allowed in processed food retailing in this year's budget. "PE investment has been largely confined to a few retail players in India. In 2015, PE investment into retail properties alone was $39 million, and in 2016, it is expected to be in the range of $75-80 million," Puri said. Cont’d on page 32

You can inform without seeking advice Whoever will be responsible for your estate should be aware of your reverse mortgage and the options to repay it, says Cara Pierce, a financial specialist at ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions in Fresno, California. Many times, that executor or administrator will be one of your adult children.

What is reverse mortgage? A type of home equity loan that is available to homeowners age 62 or older. No repayment is required until the borrower dies or moves out. At that time, the principal and accumulated interests are repaid, usually by selling the house. Most reverse mortgages are insured by the Federal Housing Administration, which calls the loan a home equity conversion mortgage, or HECM.

"It doesn't mean you have to get them involved or take their advice," Pierce says. "But if I am setting up my son to be trustee, it would be nice if I told him that if I stay (in my house) until I die, he needs to make sure to pay off the loan on my behalf." What triggers the loan repayment? Heirs aren't personally responsible for the debt, but the house will have to be sold to repay the reverse mortgage unless there are other ready funds, retirement savings or life insurance, or the adult child can qualify for a new mortgage. Disclosure also matters because if you move out of your home for an extended period, the reverse mortgage likely will have to be repaid, which could trigger the sale of the house if there aren't other assets to pay it.

Real Estate Post

April 22, 2016

India Post 31

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As 'monster' homes rise, Boulder gets unaffordable BOULDER, Colo.: Ellie Sciarra and her husband Wolf Reitz have lived in a 900-square-foot ranch house on Boulder's Orchard Avenue for years. Reitz owns Coyote Motors, an auto repair shop on North Broadway. Sciarra is a dancer and massage therapist with a studio in a small cottage next to her home. Her neighbors all used to live in similar homes on large lots. Over the years, many people built additions, or even new homes. But in

and Councilman Andrew Shoemaker said the ability to build much larger homes was driving up sales prices. Mayor Suzanne Jones wondered whether limiting ``monster'' homes was on the table. A consultant had just told the City Council that Boulder's best chance to retain some middle-income housing (a middle-income family of three earns between $68,000 and $134,000 a year) was to build more attached housing -

Last year, a 1,200-square-foot ranch house at 1695 Orchard Ave. in north Boulder sold for $650,000. The home was scrapped, and in its place a 6,800-square-foot "modern farmhouse" is rising, as seen here. It's listed at $2.695 million.

the last few years, the pace and scale of construction have rapidly increased, the Daily Camera reported. Last year, a 1,200-square-foot ranch house at 1695 Orchard Ave., next door to Sciarra, sold for $650,000. The home was scraped, and in its place a 6,800-square-foot ``modern farmhouse'' is rising. It's listed at $2.695 million. ``Who is now going to afford that?'' Sciarra asked. ``Who is going to live there? And why does it have to be so big? I don't get it.'' Down the block, three more large houses are under construction, and one block further east, two more small ranch houses are under contract, almost certain to meet a similar fate. ``It's kind of intense,'' said Anka Galkin, a kindergarten teacher who lives on Orchard. ``It's changing so quickly. It's really changing the feel of the neighborhood.'' Six years after Boulder imposed new rules on house size to promote ``compatible development'' following a bruising political battle, some City Council members want to revisit the issue in a desperate bid to preserve some relative affordability in single-family homes. During a recent discussion of the city's middle-income housing strategy, Councilwoman Lisa Morzel pointed to the older, smaller ranch homes falling to the bulldozer throughout north Boulder,

duplexes and townhomes that are discouraged by the city's code. In surveys of people who work but don't live in Boulder, very few said they would trade in a singlefamily home for an apartment, but about half said they would live in a townhome in order to stop driving into Boulder. Townhomes, duplexes and triplexes retain their relative affordability more than single-family homes, and a major reason for that is that it's hard to make them much larger, the consultant said. City Council members pivoted to wonder whether limiting the size of additions and new homes on already developed lots could rein in the increase in home prices. In exchange for the presumed loss in property value, Morzel suggested the city make it easier to build accessory units or a duplex on larger lots. This would create more housing, allow seniors to stay in their homes and provide an income stream for the main property owner, she said. In a message to Hotline, the City Council's public email list, Morzel highlighted the house at 1695 Orchard and another for sale in unincorporated Githens Acres where, if the property were annexed, a new owner could build a 9,862-squarefoot house on a little less than an acre. If the property remains in the county, the new owner could still build up to 4,386 square feet. The 1,900-square-foot, three-

bedroom, two-bath house in Githens Acres was listed at $1.34 million with the assumption the new owner would destroy it and build `à family home to pass through the generations.'' The ad appealed to people who had been ``priced out'' of Carolyn Heights just to the south, where homes go for closer to $2 million. `They chose to be less restrictive' Concern about very large new homes taking over historically modest, middle-class neighborhoods is not new in Boulder. Deputy Director of Planning Susan Richstone recalled that the city was hearing complaints and surveyed residents leading up to the 2000 update to the Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan and found a deeply divided community Home size at that time was largely controlled by setbacks and height limits. `Àlthough the issue of affordability came up, it was much more about neighborhood character,'' Richstone said. `Àffordability was there in the background, but that was not the driving issue.'' ``Pops and scrapes'' became an election issue in 2007, and the City Council in 2008 made it a top priority at the council retreat. The City Council ultimately settled on a set of regulations that limited the floor-area ratio of a home to a portion of the lot: • On lots less than 5,000 square feet (0.11 acres), the floor area ratio is 0.62:1. • On lots between 5,000 and 10,000 square feet (up to 0.23 acres), the floor-area ratio is determined by multiplying the lot size by 0.2 and adding 2,100. A 6,000-square-foot lot could support a 3,300-square-foot house. • Between 10,001 and 22,500 square feet, the lot size is multiplied by 0.122, then 2,880 is added. A house on a third of an acre could be as large as 4,633 square feet. Homes on half-acre and larger lots have a floor-area ratio of 0.25:1, or 5,625 square feet and up. ``Floor area'' includes every story of a home. There are additional regulations on the maximum lot coverage and the overall bulk of a house and of long side walls to reduce impact on neighbors. (Boulder County, meanwhile, limits house size to 125 percent of the median home size in a property's subdivision, or within a radius of the property if it is not in a subdivision.) Richstone said the political process led to a compromise on compatible development. ``The City Council had many

opportunities to be more restrictive, but they chose to be less restrictive,'' she said. Though many new homes do not use the maximum floor-area ratio, Boulder has not conducted an analysis of home sizes before and after the regulations were adopted in 2009, and Richstone said the primary goal wasn't so much to reduce house size as to limit the impact on neighbors. A Daily Camera analysis of almost 400 building permits for new residential construction issued since 2010 found that the median size of new single-family detached homes built in the last five years was 4,400 square feet. By comparison, Boulder's overall median home size was 1,861 square feet in 2012, according to BBC Research and Consulting. And the median size nationwide of new homes built in 2014 was 2,453 square feet, according the

the city also issued thousands of permits for additions and remodels, including 113 additions that were 1,500 square feet or more in their own right.

Too much demand Roger Grow, president of AGR Builders, the developer of 1695 Orchard and many other new homes in north Boulder, said in an email that Boulder needs some larger homes. ``The homes I build are designed for larger families, which is a group that likely has the hardest time finding a suitable home in Boulder, and if you look at the statistics, Boulder's family households are on the decline,'' he said. `Ì think preserving that segment of our community is as important as preserving middle-income housing.'' He said the house-size regulations implemented in 2009 resulted in better designed and more efficient homes, but restricting house size further could have unintended consequences. Tony Smith, president of Smith Construction, a custom homebuilder, echoed Grow's assessment of the city's regulations. ``The general population is not after these very large homes,'' he said. ``People are starting to appreciate smaller houses. They're easier to maintain and more environmentally sensitive.'' At the same time, large homes built before the new regulations are more valuable because they couldn't be built today, he Todd Ryon, foreground, and Nick Carbone, of said. Cavazos Design and Build, work on a large The spate of building house being constructed on Orchard Avenue in in the last two years renorth Boulder earlier this month. As Boulder flects pent up demand, grapples with affordable housing, some city leaders have questioned whether new limits Smith said, after years of should be placed on the size of new homes. recession and tight credit. Smith used to U.S. Census. build spec houses, where he would Of 53 new homes built in Boul- buy a property and redevelop it der since 2010 that were under on the speculation that he could 1,500 square feet, 39 of them were sell it for a profit. But now he limbuilt as deed-restricted perma- its himself to custom building for nently affordable homes. Two- a known buyer. thirds of new homes built in the `Ìt's too rich,'' he said. `Ìt's just last five years were 3,500 square too much money.'' feet or larger. Asked what would happen to Of at least 107 new homes for home prices if the city were to more which a demolition permit was also seriously restrict new home sizes, issued at that address to tear down Smith paused. You would see more an older home since 2010, 90 were luxury finishes and amenities to 3,500 square feet or larger and 48 make the smaller house worth the were 5,500 square feet or larger. The same high price, he said. median size of homes built to re``The value is in the land,'' he place teardowns was 5,151 square said. ``There is just too much defeet over the last five years. mand.'' During that same time period, Cont’d on page 32

Real Estate Post

32 India Post

April 22, 2016

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As 'monster' homes rise, Boulder gets unaffordable Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 31

Jay Kalinski, co-owner of ReMax of Boulder, largely agreed. Boulder is full of homegrown tech money and well-off people moving in from other states. There has been an influx of cash buyers in recent years, including ``Google folks'' buying property in anticipation of the company's larger presence here. ``In theory, it might limit the people who are selling their houses as scrapers, but I don't think it would slow down price appreciation because the demand is so far outstripping the supply,'' he said. ``The only way they are going to get affordable middle-income housing is to develop out east and out north and get rid of some of the occupancy limits.'' Kalinski said there would be a lot of interest from homebuyers and developers if the city made it easier to build a duplex on a property that currently has one small house, but that housing won't be affordable. ``They will probably be nicer duplexes, more high-end, as nice as they can get them to maximize the profits,'' he said. ``It's not like you would build these duplexes, and they would sell for $400,000. More likely, each one would go for $900,000.'' `Things will change' For ml Robles, an architect who lives in Newlands, the epicenter of teardowns and major additions in Boulder, the loss of modest, middle-class homes and families

speaks to something the city's study missed. ``They're not talking to the people who got pushed out,'' she said. ``They're talking to the people who never got in. Nobody is paying attention to the core neighborhoods.'' For Robles, the loss of neighborhood character isn't just about the look and feel of the houses. The people who buy very large homes have different values, she said. They consume more. The

house with a 480-square-foot garage and an 80-square-foot shed on a lot with a yard and mature trees. Today, when the house goes up for sale, most likely a developer would buy it for $600,000 and replace it with a 6,000-square-foot house worth more than $2 million. In her proposal, the original home and the garage might get a second story and double in size. The shed could become the site of a tiny home. The seller gets the same value,

While most of the concern about teardowns nationwide has focused on the aesthetics of ``McMansions,'' Charles said they can be considered a form of gentrification houses themselves have more environmental impact, and they change how groundwater recharges. But she doesn't want to revisit the house size fights of 2008 and 2009. ``We don't do so well with people telling us what to do in Boulder,'' she said. ``It's a political nightmare.'' Instead, she wants to see a small, voluntary pilot in which people could subdivide their property up to three ways as long as the structures don't take up a larger footprint than existing structures, like the front house, the garage and a shed or chicken coop. In an email to the City Council, she laid out two scenarios for the same property, a 1,000-square-foot

the footprint taken up by structures doesn't increase and more housing in a larger range of sizes has been brought into the market. Opponents of such neighborhood density often worry about traffic and other impacts of so many people living close together, but Robles said large homes often house large families and bring with them plenty of traffic from housekeepers, nannies and landscapers. ``People say they don't want that,'' she said of the increased density. ``Well, then you're going to get a giant house next to you. Things will change. The question is how.'' Robles is a member of Goose Creek Neighborhoods, a group of residents who organized to en-

Emaar Properties, MGF to part ways NEW DELHI: Dubai-based realty firm Emaar Properties and India's MGF Development have decided to end their 11-year-old joint venture through demerger of Emaar MGF Land Ltd into two separate entities. Emaar Properties, which entered India in 2005 with largest FDI in the realty sector, has invested about Rs 8,500 crore in Indian real estate market through its JV firm Emaar MGF. The two partners held about 49 per cent stake each in the joint venture firm and the rest by financial institutions. The JV has currently a land bank of around 8,000 acres and 53 ongoing residential and commercial projects. In a filing to Dubai Financial Market, Emaar Properties said it has "agreed to take steps for the reorganization of Emaar MGF Land

by way of scheme of arrangement (demerger)". The reorganization is being done to give greater focus on its Indian operations and for the pur-

Separately, Emaar MGF said the board in its meeting held on April 11 decided to take steps for reorganization of the company pose of developing the potential for further growth and expansion of the business, said the Dubaibased company, which built the world's tallest tower Burj Khalifa.

"This reorganization will enable Emaar to implement the focused strategy for its real estate business in India and will allow the business to undertake future expansion strategies. It will also enable Emaar to drive the development of ongoing projects in India," Emaar Properties said Separately, Emaar MGF said the board in its meeting held on April 11 decided to take steps for reorganization of the company through a scheme of demerger to be filed in the Court citing similar reasons. The board authorized the company to execute necessary agreements and documents in respect thereof. Although both Emaar Properties and the JV firm Emaar MGF did not clearly stated in their regulatory filings, sources said the two main partners have agreed to part ways. -PTI

courage the city's purchase and redevelopment of Boulder Community Health's Broadway campus. The group is still developing its goals but supports denser neighborhoods. However, Robles said she was speaking as a longtime resident of Newlands, not for the organization. Up in north Boulder, many longtime residents love the larger lots that give the neighborhood a semirural feel. But Maeve Phelan, who lives on Orchard near Sciarra, said she really likes the idea of trading the potential for a large house for the ability to have an accessory unit or another small house. Phelan, who used to work for Thistle Communities, a group that develops and manages affordable housing, and still volunteers as a counselor for first-time home buyers, described herself as ``left of left,'' but still gets her back up at policy changes that would reduce her property value. ``For most middle-class people, their home is their biggest asset,'' she said. Allowing for an additional smaller home ``sounds wonderful as a way to preserve value and increase the stock of affordable housing,'' she said. À luxury good' Suzanne Lanyi Charles, a professor of city and regional planning at Cornell University, has studied the teardown phenomenon and used to live in Boulder. She called the idea of limiting house size in conjunction with allowing accessory units `èxciting.'' `À lot of places don't allow accessory units because they're afraid of density, but they are a

great way to make post-war housing adaptable,'' she said. ``It allows the property owner to get the return on investment at the same time it creates workforce housing. It kills two birds with one stone. It still might change the character of neighborhoods in ways not everyone will like.'' Teardowns don't cause home prices to go up, Charles said. Rather, they're an effect of high land values. Boulder is a desirable place to live without a lot of space for new housing, and that puts pressure on home prices. And while most of the concern about teardowns nationwide has focused on the aesthetics of ``McMansions,'' Charles said they can be considered a form of gentrification. ``That's a loaded term, but through teardowns, you have enormous socioeconomic changes,'' she said. Whether limiting house size would reduce land values and shield older homes from purchase by speculators would depend on whether developers think they can make a profit. Developers generally use the ``rule of three,'' Charles said. That is, can they sell the new home for three times what they paid for the old one? Limiting the size of homes might give some developers pause, particularly if they think high-end buyers won't be interested in smaller houses. Or they might build nicer homes with more amenities and better design if they think there is a market. ``It depends on what people are willing to pay to live in Boulder,'' she said. ``Boulder is a luxury good.'' -AP

Private investment in retail properties may double Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 30

Already, the FDI inflow in retail trading increased between October 2014 and September 2015 to $70.75 million, it added. Economic stability, liberalization of the FDI policy and improvement in the consumer sentiment will help global brands witness a very conducive environment for investment into Indian retail as well as in retail real estate sectors, JLL said. "Add to this, the steady rise in shoppers' desire to consume foreign brands due to increased brand awareness, and the scenario looks even more inviting," the consultant said. As more global brands are ex-

pected to enter India, the development of world-class malls, having superlative designs and ambience, would become the need of the hour, it said. "Retail real estate has been constantly evolving in response to changing consumer, brands and retailers' preferences but the evolution is bound to become faster in the days ahead. This will lead to emergence of stronger retail real estate players, who may manage to get private equity investment in the coming years," JLL India said. In 2016, PE may also go into select mall investments, especially in under-represented markets or for buyout of mature assets. -PTI

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In Brief Chinese immigration focus of exhibit ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.: Chinese Americans in New Mexico and Chinese immigration in the 1800s are the focus of a new exhibit in Albuquerque. The Maxwell Museum of Anthropology at the University of New Mexico is hosting the special exhibit until September on Chinese-American roots in the American Southwest. The ``Earth, Fire and Life: Six Thousand Years of Chinese Ceramics and Chinese American New Mexicans'' will feature a number of items from communities that sought to build a permanent presence in the state. The exhibition recounts the story of Chinese immigrants and Chinese American communities in New Mexico through photographs, documents and family heirlooms. -AP

Â&#x201E; A more welcoming place for refugees BATTLE CREEK, Mich.: Leaders in Battle Creek have decided that they want the city to be a more welcoming place for refugees and immigrants. The Battle Creek Enquirer reports commissioners voted 6-3 to join the Welcoming City program. The decision came about three months after the commission first heard a presentation on Welcom-

Immigration 34 India Post

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April 22, 2016

Migrants force way into Costa Rica Details on page 35

Obama's power over immigration drives Supreme Court dispute WASHINGTON: The raging political fight over immigration has come to the Supreme Court in a dispute that could affect millions of people who are in the United States illegally. The court is weighing the fate of Obama administration programs that could shield roughly 4 million people from deportation and grant them the legal right to hold a job. Among them is Teresa Garcia of suburban Seattle, who has spent 14 years in the United States illegally after staying beyond the expiration of her tourist visa in 2002. She's already gotten much of what she wanted when she chose not to return to her native Mexico. Her two sons are benefiting from an earlier effort that applies to people who were brought here illegally as children. Garcia's 11year-old daughter is an American citizen. "That's why I come, for the opportunity for the children and because it is much safer here," the 45-year-old Garcia said in an interview with The Associated Press. Now, she would like the same

for herself and her husband, a trained accountant who works construction jobs. Neither can work legally. "To have a Social Security number, that means for me to have a

band is getting for the whole family. It makes for stress every day. We struggle to pay for everything," Garcia said. The programs announced by President Barack Obama in No-

Immigrants and community leaders rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court to mark the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s executive orders on immigration. The Obama administration has asked the Supreme Court to revive Obamaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s executive action to protect millions of illegal immigrants from deportation.

better future. When I say better future, we are struggling with the little amount of money my hus-

vember 2014 would apply to parents whose children are citizens or are living in the country legally.

Eligibility also would be expanded for the president's 2012 effort that helped Garcia's sons. More than 700,000 people have taken advantage of that earlier program, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. The new program for parents and the expanded program for children could reach as many as 4 million people, according to the nonpartisan Migration Policy Institute. Texas and 25 other states sued to block the new initiatives soon after they were announced, and lower courts have ruled in their favor. The programs have never taken effect. The states, joined by congressional Republicans, argue that Obama doesn't have the power to effectively change immigration law. When he announced the measures 17 months ago, Obama said he was acting under his own authority because Congress had failed to overhaul the immigration system. The Senate had passed legislation on a bipartisan vote, but House Republicans refused to put the matter to a vote. -AP

Nebraska passes immigrant licenses bill Mayor Dave Walters

ing Michigan. Mayor Dave Walters and two commissioners cast dissenting votes. Walters says he would support a proclamation instead of a resolution. Commissioner Kate Flores, who requested that the city consider joining the initiative, says the program is about learning to be inclusive of all the community's residents, including refugees and immigrants who already live there. Welcoming Michigan is part of the Welcoming America network, which was launched in 2009. Several other Michigan communities are participants. -AP

LINCOLN, Neb.: Nebraska lawmakers have approved a bill that would allow immigrants with temporary legal status to work in more than 170 professions, including jobs as teachers, nurses and doctors. Senators passed the measure with a 33-11 vote, enough support to override a likely veto by Gov. Pete Ricketts. Supporters say that the youths should have access to professional and commercial licenses. The bill would apply to those who came or were brought to the country illegally, but received lawful status under President Barack Obama's executive action allowing them to stay in the country. Nebraska had nearly 5,200 youths who could be affected by the legislation as of December, according to U.S. Citi-

zenship and Immigration Services. The bill has won support from an array of business and religious groups, the Nebraska Cattlemen Association and Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert. It would apply to more than 170 professions, from electricians and pharmacists to tat-

dents in Nebraska,'' said Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha, the measure's sponsor. Mello said he introduced the bill after learning that some youth in the Omaha area who are in the country illegally were getting trained in the medical field and then taking their

Supporters say that the youths should have access to professional and commercial licenses. The bill would apply to those who came or were brought to the country illegally, but received lawful status under President Barack Obama's executive action allowing them to stay in the country too artists and mixed martial artists. ``It's a common sense workforce development proposal to keep educated and skilled resi-

skills to Iowa because they couldn't get licensed in Nebraska. Many states don't specifically prevent the youth from getting

professional licenses, he said, but a 2009 state law prohibits Nebraska from granting ``benefits'' to anyone who has entered the country illegally. Under Nebraska law, benefits include state-issued commercial and professional licenses. The issue has already surfaced in other legislatures and is expected to spread. ``There are a lot of states that haven't looked closely at it,'' said Tanya Broder, a senior staff attorney with the National Immigration Law Center. ``Nebraska is part of a growing trend.'' Florida enacted a law in 2014 that allows law licenses for youths who were brought to the U.S. as a minor, have work authorization and have lived in the country for more than 10 years. Cont'd on Page 45

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US receives 2,36,000 H-1B Migrants force way into Costa Rica applications WASHINGTON: The US received over 2,36,000 H-1B petitions in just five days of opening up the process early this month for the most sought-after work visa for IT professionals, including from India, and has completed the computerized draw of lots. This is more than thrice the Congressionally-mandated cap of

by those foreign students who completed their higher studies from a US academic institute in subjects if science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). USCIS received over 2,36,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period, which began April 1, including petitions filed for the ad-

USCIS received over 2,36,000 H-1B petitions during the filing period, which began April 1, including petitions filed for the advanced degree exemption 65,000 in the general category for the work visas for highly-skilled workers in the general category for Financial Year 2017. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced it also received more than the limit of 20,000 H-1B petitions

vanced degree exemption, a media statement said. It said it has completed the computerized draw of lots that would determine the successful applicants. On April 9, USCIS used a computer-generated random selection

process, or lottery, to select enough petitions to meet the 65,000 general-category cap and the 20,000 cap under the advanced degree exemption, also known as the master's cap. The agency conducted the selection process for the advanced degree exemption first. All unselected advanced degree petitions then became part of the random selection process for the 65,000 limit, it added. USCIS will reject and return all unselected petitions with their filing fees, unless the petition is found to be a duplicate filing, it said. As announced on March 16 this year, USCIS will begin premium processing for H-1B cap cases no later than May 16. It would continue to accept and process petitions that are otherwise exempt from the cap. H-1B visa, popular among Indian techies, is used by American companies to employ foreign workers in occupations that require highly specialized knowledge in fields such as science, engineering and computer programming. -PTI

Nebraska passes immigrant licenses bill Cont'd from Page 34

Illinois passed a similar measure last year, and Nevada approved a law to allow teaching licenses for deferred-action youths. A new California law allows professional and commercial licenses for anyone with a taxpayer identification number, regardless of their immigration status The policy announced by President Barack Obama in 2012 gives certain youths a Social Security number, a two-year work permit and protection from deportation. It applies to people who are at least 15 years old, arrived in the U.S. before their 16th birthday, were under 31 in 2012, have lived continuously in the U.S. since 2007 and are in school or working toward a degree. Ricketts said the bill is too broad and is unfair to immigrants who followed the legal process to establish residency. In a statement, the governor said it would also grant licenses to asylum seekers and people with temporary protected status, including

those from countries such as Somalia, Syria, and Yemen where terrorists are known to congregate. Mello said both types of immigrants are forced to undergo a rigorous federal screening before they are granted the status. Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion, a conservative Republican, said the

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We all have much to gain from the skills, talent and hard work of the young people who could obtain professional licenses state shouldn't reward the children of people who came to the country illegally, even though the federal government granted them legal status. ``I just don't think it's our job,'' Kintner said. ``We didn't cause the problem. We shouldn't have to fix the problem. We should put

the pressure on the federal government to fix the problem that they created, perpetuated and have failed to do anything about.'' Florida and Illinois have already passed laws allowing deferred-action youths to receive law licenses. California allows professional and vocational licenses for anyone with an individual taxpayer identification number, regardless of immigration status. Advocates for the youth cheered the vote. Passing the bill ``is a great step forward for Nebraska because we all have much to gain from the skills, talent and hard work of the young people who could obtain professional licenses,'' said Darcy Tromanhauser, who works on immigration issues for the group Nebraska Appleseed. Last year, Nebraska became the nation's last state to extend driving privileges to those who were allowed to stay in the U.S. under Obama's program. Ricketts opposed that measure as well, but senators overrode his veto. -AP

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica: Costa Rican officials say some 1,200 migrants have crossed into the country illegally from Panama after some attacked a government immigration office at the border. Security minister Gustavo Mata said that migrants from Cuba and unspecified African nations forced their way into Costa Rica at Paso Canoas. He says they damaged a vehicle and clashed with police, before some were sent back to

Panama. Costa Rica shut the border in December while it handled 7,802 Cubans stranded on their journey north to the U.S. when Nicaragua closed its border. Last month, the last of the Cubans were flown to Mexico and El Salvador to continue their trip to the U.S., where they will be admitted. Panama says 2,329 more Cubans are in shelters near its border with Costa Rica. -AP

Cubans were held up in Costa Rica while trying to reach the United States

Release full immigration documents, says court MADISON, Wis.: A state appeals court says Milwaukee Sheriff David Clarke must release unredacted federal immigration detainer forms for jail prisoners. Immigrant group Voces de La Frontera filed a record request with Clarke in February 2015 seeking copies of all federal immigration detainer forms he had received over the past four months. Clarke released 12 redacted forms. Voces de La Frontera sued, demanding un-redacted forms. Clarke argued federal law prohib-

its full disclosure and the records contained sensitive law enforcement information. Milwaukee County Judge David Borowski ordered Clarke to release the full records. The 1st District Court of Appeals affirmed Borowski's decision, finding the prisoners weren't in federal custody and Clarke didn't prove the public privacy interest outweighed full disclosure. Milwaukee County Corporation Counsel Paul Bargren didn't immediately return a voicemail. -AP

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India, Bangla to cooperate in health sector NEW DELHI: India and Bangladesh have agreed to deepen cooperation in health sector as the two countries discussed a range of issues in this regard. Union Health Minister J P Nadda, who met his Bangladeshi counterpart H E Mohammed Nasim here, said India strongly values the historic relationship with Bangladesh and both the nations are set to "usher in" an era of much closer cooperation in the health sector. "Had a very fruitful meeting with H E Mohammed Nasim Honble Health Minister of Bangladesh. Both the countries are set to usher in an era of much closer cooperation in Health sector," Nadda said in a series of tweets. He said that India accords the highest importance to Bangladesh to deepen the engagement between both the nations. "India strongly values the historic relationship with Bangladesh and accords highest importance to deepen our engagement," Nadda tweeted. -PTI

Â&#x201E; No proof raw milk spurred illness CHARLESTON, W.Va.: Due to limitations of their investigation, West Virginia health officials say they cannot conclude that drinking raw milk got anyone sick at the state Capitol. The Bureau for Public Health's investigation found that Del. Scott Cadle clearly violated state law by handing out raw milk at the Capitol on March 3. The bureau didn't impose pen-

Health Science

Nadda assures support for AIIMS expansion

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April 22, 2016

Details on Page 38

Six newly found proteins may help fight Alzheimer's, Cancer WASHINGTON: Scientists have discovered a group of six new proteins that may help divulge secrets of how we age, potentially unlocking new insights into diabetes, Alzheimer's, cancer and other ageing-related diseases. The tiny proteins appear to play several big roles in our bodies' cells, from decreasing the amount of damaging free radicals and controlling the rate at which cells die to boosting metabolism and helping tissues throughout the body respond better to insulin, researchers said. The naturally occurring amounts of each protein decrease with age, leading researchers to believe that they play an important role in the ageing process and the onset of diseases linked to older age, they said. The research team led by Pinchas Cohen, professor at the University of Southern California Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, identified the tiny proteins for the first time and observed their surprising origin from organelles in the cell called mitochondria and their gamechanging roles in metabolism and

cell survival. The latest finding builds upon prior research by Cohen and his team that uncovered two significant proteins, humanin and MOTS-c, hormones that appear to have significant roles in me-

the cell's nucleus where most genes are contained. Mitochondria have their own small collection of genes, which were once thought to play only minor roles within cells but now appear to have important func-

Pinchas Cohen led a team that identified tiny proteins that appear to play a role in controlling how the body ages.

tabolism and diseases of ageing. Unlike most other proteins, humanin and MOTS-c are encoded in mitochondria, the structure within cells that produces energy from food, instead of in

tions throughout the body. Cohen's team used computer analysis to see if the part of the mitochondrial genome that provides the code for humanin was coding for other proteins as well.

The analysis uncovered the genes for six new proteins, which were dubbed small humanin-like peptides, or SHLPs, 1 through 6. After identifying the six SHLPs and successfully developing antibodies to test for several of them, the team examined both mouse tissues and human cells to determine their abundance in different organs as well as their functions. The proteins were distributed quite differently among organs, which suggests that the proteins have varying functions based on where they are in the body. Of particular interest is SHLP 2, Cohen said. The protein appears to have profound insulinsensitizing, anti-diabetic effects as well as potent neuro-protective activity that may emerge as a strategy to combat Alzheimer's disease. He added that SHLP 6 is also intriguing, with a unique ability to promote cancer cell death and thus potentially target malignant diseases. "The findings are an important advance that will be ripe for rapid translation into drug development for diseases of ageing," said Cohen. -PTI

Babies born to older moms may be smarter alties, which range from $50 to $500 in fines. The investigation found three people went to urgent care or emergency room facilities after drinking the milk. No milk was available for testing. Cadle said the rest was flushed down a toilet. Others reported stomach sicknesses without drinking milk. Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin had recently signed a bill letting people share milk-producing animals and drink raw milk. Selling and distributing raw milk will remain prohibited. -AP

BERLIN: Children born to older mothers may be healthier, taller and obtain more education than kids of younger mothers, a new study has claimed. The benefits associated with being born in a later year outweigh the biological risks associated with being born to an older mother, researchers said. The reason is that in industrialized countries educational opportunities are increasing, and people are getting healthier by the year. In other words, it pays off to be born later, they said. Previous research suggests that the older women are when they give birth, the greater the health risks are for their children.

However, despite the risks associated with delaying childbearing, children may also benefit from

mothers delaying childbearing to older ages, researchers from Max Planck Institute for Demographic

The benefits associated with being born in a later year outweigh the biological risks associated with being born to an older mother, researchers said.

Research (MPIDR) in Germany said. Both public health and social conditions have been improving over time in many countries. From the perspective of any individual parent, delaying childbearing means having a child with a later birth year, they said. For example, a ten-year difference in maternal age is accompanied by a decade of changes to social and environmental conditions. Taking this perspective, the new study shows that when women delay childbearing to older ages their children are healthier, taller and more highly educated. Cont'd on Page 39

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Harwell's health care initiative called a 'charade' NASHVILLE, Tenn.: Republican House Speaker Beth Harwell has touted a new initiative to improve health care access in the state, but Democrats quickly derided it as an election-year ``charade'' to deflect criticism of lawmakers who rejected the governor's Insure Tennessee proposal. Harwell said she began talking with health policy experts at Vanderbilt University's medical school to come up with alternatives last year after lawmakers rejected Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's proposal to extend health coverage to 280,000 low-income Tennesseans. Harwell, R-Nashville, has dubbed her initiative the ``3-Star Healthy Project,'' and said it will tap conservative ideas like encouraging greater responsibility for enrollees; create health savings accounts funded by co-payments; and provide more support for people trying to rejoin the workforce. She is a creating task force to propose ways to improve access to health care in Tennessee. Harwell said the four Republi-

can House members she has appointed to the task force will work to come up with a specific proposal to make to the federal government as early as June, though the plan could require lawmaker approval next year.

Democrats called the announcement an attempt to give Republicans political cover for rejecting Insure Tennessee. ``This is simply designed to give the false impression that the House Republican leadership is willing to do anything about health care,'' said House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Stewart of Nashville. ``It's clearly not. This is a charade, it's an effort to delay, and to not simply pass Gov. Haslam's Insure Tennessee plan. ``It's pathetic,'' Stewart said. State hospitals House Speaker Beth Harwell, announces she is creating a task force to had pledged to propose ways to improve access to health care in Tennessee, in Nashville, Tenn. cover the entire $74 million state share of Haslam's Insure Tennessee proposal, which would have drawn down $2.8 billion in federal Medicaid funds over two years. But Republicans were unconvinced by Haslam administration assurances that the state would have been able to end the program if costs exceeded expectations and

'Germs, make humans monogamous' PARIS: Why did humans become monogamous, apparently rejecting the promiscuity that is natural to most animals? Was it morality? Religion? Maybe love? The answer is germs, researchers have said, arguing that the havoc caused by sexually transmitted diseases (STIs) convinced our ancestors it would be better to mate for life. A research duo from Canada and Germany observed that STIs flourished among large groups of people living in the villages, towns and cities that arose after prehistoric hunter-gatherers settled down to farm. Left unchecked, spreading diseases can affect individual fertility and a group's overall reproduction rate. Falling population numbers would force a rethink of sexual behavior - which in turn gives rise to social mores. The researchers developed a mathematical model of hunter-gatherer demographics and likely STI spread among them. They used it "to show how growing STI disease burden in larger residential group sizes can foster the emergence of socially imposed monogamy in human mating." In small groups of no more than 30 individuals, with no chance for epidemic spread, STI outbreaks are generally short-lived, the team said. The reduced risk may explain why small groups, both among early humans and today, are often polygynous (when men have more than one partner). 'Evolutionary Puzzle' Socially-imposed human monogamy has long been considered an "evolutionary puzzle", according to the research duo.

It requires societies to put in place checks and structures - a police and court system, for example - to uphold societal mores. "Yet, many larger human societies transitioned from polygyny to socially imposed monogamy beginning with the advent of agriculture and larger residential groups," said the paper. That riddle may now be solved. The research showed that our natural environment, with factors such as disease spread, "can strongly influence the development of social norms, and in particular our group-oriented judgments," study author Chris Bauch of the University of Waterloo in Canada told AFP. But this did not necessarily mean that humans would become wildly promiscuous if drugs were to make STIs a thing of the past, he added.

The research showed that our natural environment, with factors such as disease spread, "can strongly influence the development of social norms "Modern societies are more complicated... and there is probably more than one reason that explains socially imposed monogamy," Bauch said by email. "I think it is premature to speculate that marriage will disappear, or that polygyny will return, if we solve the problem of STIs." The research was published in the journal Nature Communications. -AFP

many worried about supporting the plan linked to President Barack Obama's signature health care law. Harwell's panel includes Republican representatives Cameron Sexton of Crossville; Matthew Hill of Jonesborough; Steve McManus of Memphis and Roger Kane of Knoxville. Kane said Harwell's initiative would seek to put tight controls on enrollment so the state can hold tight reins over costs. `Ì was probably one of the most vocal opponents to Insure Tennessee, because there were just no controls implemented, and so it was not fiscally conservative,'' he said. `Ìt's kind-hearted, but not fiscally conservative.'' As Harwell's press conference drew to a close, protesters who support Insure Tennessee were removed from the room by security officers. The governor, who attended the event, took to the microphone to defend the lawmakers for taking a ``political risk'' in moving the health care debate forward. `Ì don't agree with everything that's been said here - nobody does,'' Haslam said. ``What you have is some folks who are trying to find a solution, and we should encourage that and applaud that. `Ìf you want to immediately start turning this into a political argument, then we will be back where we were before,'' he said. -AP

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Painkiller critics assail hospital procedures WASHINGTON: Critics of how prescription painkillers are administered in the U.S. are calling on health officials to phase out hospital procedures and questionnaires used to manage pain. They say the current system inadvertently encourages the overprescribing of addictive drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin, fueling an epidemic of overdoses tied to the opioid medications. Deaths linked to misuse and abuse of prescription opioids increased to nearly 19,000 in 2014, the highest figure on record, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than five dozen nonprofit groups and medical experts have sent a letter to the Joint Commission, a non-profit agency that accredits U.S. hospitals, asking it to revisit its standards for pain management. Only hospitals that have been accredited can

receive payments from government plans like Medicare and Medicaid, making the group's standards highly influential.

``The Pain Management Standards foster dangerous pain control practices, the endpoint of which is often the inappropriate

OxyContin pills arranged for a photo at a pharmacy in Montpelier, Vt. Critics of how prescription painkillers are administered in the U.S. are calling on health officials to phase out hospital procedures and questionnaires used to manage pain.

The letter specifically takes issue with guidelines instructing doctors to routinely ask patients to assess their pain.

provision of opioids with disastrous adverse consequences for individuals, families and communities,'' states the letter, which is

Nadda assures support for AIIMS expansion NEW DELHI: Union Health Minister J P Nadda has assured support to the expansion plans of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and asked the institute to find out ways to fast-track admission of patients requiring emergency treatment. Nadda who is also the president of AIIMS chaired the 149th meeting of the reconstituted Institute Body (IB) of AIIMS, which is the highest administrative decisionmaking body in the hospital. Assuring all support to AIIMS expansion plans, the Union Health Minister asked officials to make all out efforts to ensure the institute maintains its pre-eminent status as the apex medical sciences university of the country. "The Institute is in a sustained phase of expansion and all efforts should be made to ensure the preeminent status of the institute as the apex medical sciences university of India. "Nadda also asked Director AIIMS to examine ways to fasttrack admission of those patients requiring emergency treatment or interventions," an official statement said. Welcoming the members of the newly constituted IB, Nadda said that their rich experience will make a valuable contribution in further

development of AIIMS - a premier specialist institute in tertiary health care in the country. Health officials said that the IB of AIIMS was reconstituted on February 12 this year. While the chairman of the body is Nadda, MPs Ramesh Bidhuri,

Jagdish Prasad, D S Rana chairman of board of management, Sir Ganga Ram hospital, Vijaya Laxmi, non-medical scientist Indian Sciences Congress Association, Mahesh B Patel, dean Gujarat University, DG Mhaisekar VC, Maharashtra University of Health

co-signed by health commissioners from Vermont, Pennsylvania, Alaska and Rhode Island. Behind the guidelines is the notion of pain as a ``vital sign,'' one of the body's basic biological metrics that must be carefully monitored. Beginning in the 1990s, doctors were encouraged to measure pain alongside body temperature, hear rate and blood pressure. ``All pain was viewed as being bad and so it pushed providers too often to over-prescribe opioids,'' said Dr. Michael Carome of the consumer advocacy group Public Citizen, one of the groups signing the letter. The new effort was spearheaded by Physicians for Responsible Opioid Prescribing, which advocates for alternative treatments to opioids, including non-opioid pain relievers, physical therapy and psychotherapy. The group is funded by Phoenix

House, a non-profit chain of addiction treatment centers. The same coalition filed a petition with the federal agency that administers Medicare and Medicaid, the government health programs for the elderly, disabled and poor. The letter asks that officials eliminate certain pain-related questions from patient-satisfaction questionnaires, such as: ``During this hospital stay, how often was your pain well controlled?'' The groups argue that such questions inadvertently encourage aggressive use of painkillers to maintain high patient-satisfaction metrics. ``Aggressive management of pain should not be equated with quality health care as it can result in unhelpful and unsafe treatment,'' states the petition, which calls on the government to release a proposal for a new questionnaire within 90 days. -AP

Collaboration to speed up cancer drug creation TRENTON: A project to speed development of cancer-fighting drugs that harness the immune system has academic and drug industry researchers collaborating and sharing their findings like never before. The newly created Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy is being funded by a $250 million grant from Sean Parker, the cofounder of the file-sharing site Napster and Facebook's first president. It brings together part-

For decades, fiercely competitive and secretive drugmakers protected their money-making discoveries with patents and lawsuits. Academic researchers likewise often guarded their work closely until it was published because their promotions, awards and sometimes revenue from licensing patents depended on individual achievement. That often slowed progress. With the increasing cost and complexity of research,

The Parker Institute shows from left, Sean Parker and Jeffery Bluestone at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy Scientific Retreat in St. Helena, Calif. Union Health Minister J P Nadda

Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma and Ram Gopal Yadav are members. The other members include AIIMS chief MC Mishram, Vinay Sheel Oberoi, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, M K Bhan, Health secretary B P Sharma, Yogesh Tyagi, VC, DU, Director General Health Services

Sciences, N Gopal Krishnan, professor Nephrology, Madras Medical College. The IB is reconstituted after every five years. During the meeting, Misra introduced the Institute Body members and presented a brief outline of the AIIMS. -PTI

ners at six top academic cancer centers, dozens of drugmakers and other groups. "Everybody knows that we need to move forward and change the model" for cancer research, Jeffrey Bluestone, an immunology researcher and the institute's CEO, told The Associated Press. "The goal here is to rapidly move our discoveries to patients."

drugmakers began licensing or buying patents and research programs from university researchers. Then big drugmakers began collaborating with each other and buying smaller companies, to share research costs, speed up the drug development process and get an edge on rivals. Cont'd on Page 39

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Rio's Zika outbreak matches Asian virus MIAMI, UNITED STATES: The mosquito-borne Zika virus behind last year's outbreak in Rio de Janeiro closely resembles another strain from Asia and may have been introduced by Pacific Island athletes, researchers say. Their report in the journal PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases offers the first detailed analysis of the outbreak in a Latin American city, and gives further weight to the hypothesis that Zika may have been brought to Brazil by foreign visitors who came to compete in a canoe championship in late 2014. The researchers also raised new concerns about the potential for an even worse Zika outbreak during this summer's Olympic Games in Rio, saying many of those studied did not remember being bitten by mosquitoes and that transmission of Zika infection in clusters of people appeared to be commonplace. "At this point, health services must be alerted to the potential for an even larger epidemic during the summer of 2015-2016 spreading to additional locations and affecting the susceptible proportion of the

population that was not exposed during the last transmission season," the study warned. Zika virus is strongly suspected to be behind a surge in microcephaly, a birth de-

Brazil has seen thousands of cases. While still "speculative," 10 randomly selected samples were "clustered within the Asian genotype," suggesting the virus "was possibly introduced to Rio de Janeiro during the VI World Sprint Championship canoe race in August 2014, which included teams from four Pacific countries (French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Cook Islands, and Easter Island) where the virus circulated during 2014," the study said. Researchers have yet to confirm the exact route and timeline for Zika's entry into Latin America. A separate study pubAn Aedes Aegypti mosquito photographed on human skin in a lished last month in the laboratory of the International Training and Medical Research journal Science seTraining Center in Cali, Colombia. quenced the genomes of fect in which babies are born with unusu- seven Brazilian Zika samples, taken from ally small heads, although a definitive link March to November 2015, and suggested between microcephaly and Zika has not yet that Zika may have arrived even earlier, been proven. perhaps between May and December 2013, on an inbound flight from French Polynesia or Southeast Asia. Challenge to 'northeast' theory Another key finding from the study in

Babies born to older moms may be smarter Cont'd from Page 36

It shows that despite the risks associated with childbearing at older ages, which are attributable to ageing of the reproductive system, these risks are either counterbalanced, or outweighed, by the positive changes to the environment in the period during which the mother delayed her childbearing. For example, a woman born in 1950 who had a child at the age of 20 would have given birth in 1970. If that same woman had a child at 40, she would have given birth in 1990. "Those twenty years make a huge difference," said Mikko Myrskyla from MPIDR. A child born in 1990, for example, had a much higher probability of going to a college or university than somebody born 20 years earlier. Researchers used data from over 1.5 million Swedish men and women born between 1960 and 1991 to examine the relationship

between maternal age at the time of birth, and height, physical fitness, grades in high school and educational attainment of the children. They found that when mothers delayed childbearing to older ages, even as old as 40 or older, they had children who were taller, had better grades in high school, and were more likely to go to university. For example, comparing two siblings born to the same mother decades apart, on average the child born when the mother was in her early 40s spends more than a year longer in the educational system than their sibling born when the mother was in her early 20s. "The benefits associated with being born in a later year outweigh the individual risk factors arising from being born to an older mother," said Myrskyla. The findings were published in the journal Population and Development Review. -PTI

Collaboration to up speed cancer drug creation Cont'd from Page 38

The Parker Institute, founded nine months ago, pushes those trends to a new level, by creating a virtual "sandbox" in which scientists at different institutions can work collaboratively, Bluestone said. About 300 scientists at leading cancer institutions - Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Stanford Medicine; University of California, Los Angeles; University of California, San Francisco; University of Pennsylvania; and The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center - will share

their findings. They'll focus on early research. After initial patient testing, the institute's technology-transfer committee will strike licensing deals with drugmakers best able to develop those drugs, providing funding for other early research. Those drugmakers, from industry giants Amgen Inc. and Pfizer Inc., to small drug and diagnostic test developers, will fund the much-larger tests needed for drug approval, which can include hundreds or thousands of patients and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. PTI

PLOS was evidence of cases in Rio de Janeiro - the first city with a high proportion of cases confirmed by molecular diagnosis - as early as January 2015. Brazilian officials first notified the public of the Zika virus in May 2015. "Our findings have demonstrated that Zika virus was circulating in Rio de Janeiro at least five months before its detection was announced by the health authorities," said the study, led by Patricia Brasil of the Oswald Cruz Foundation in Rio de Janeiro. The study is based on a total of 364 patients who suffered an acute skin rash from January through July 2015. Since Zika is related to viruses that cause dengue fever and chikungunya, and some symptoms can be similar, researchers relied on blood samples available from 262 of the patients to test for the virus. They confirmed Zika in 119 of the samples. None of those tested had traveled recently, confirming that the infections had been locally acquired. Eleven percent of the cases were diagnosed prior to May 2015, when the virus was first reported in northeast Brazil. That challenges the theory that the virus entered Brazil from the northeast before spreading to the rest of the country, researchers said. -PTI

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picturesque hill station encircled by snowy mountains and dense pinewoods with the meandering Beas River, Manali in the state of Himachal Pradesh is famed for its aesthetic beauty. Lying at an altitude of 6260 feet, Manali is the premier hill station in the Kullu valley, whose splendor lies in the ever flowing Beas river with conifer gradients and crop orchards hiking up to the snow clad knolls of

Himalayas. This awe inspiring hill resort is sandwiched between the imposing peaks of Pir Panjal and Dhauladhar. A land, which is the holy abode of numerous goddesses and gods, this gorgeous hill resort is puffed up with colorful festivals, fairs and pretty shrines. Renowned as the queen of valleys, this beautiful hill station in the lower Himalayas is close knit with the legendary law giver of ancient India, Manu. It is believed that, Manali is the place where the ark of Manu found its resting after a great flood. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 44

April 22, 2016

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Tourism Policy to focus on MICE tourism NEW DELHI: The new tourism policy will emphasize promoting MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events) tourism in India, a top Union Tourism ministry official has said. "The new tourism policy, which is just a matter of time, is going to highlight and emphasize a lot on the possibility of increasing Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Events (MICE) into India," said Union Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi while inaugurating a Thought Leadership Meet on MICE Tourism in India, organized by ASSOCHAM. He also said that government had sanctioned 20 projects with an investment worth Rs 2,000 crore for infrastructure under Swadesh and Prasad schemes in terms of coastal, eco, wildlife and Buddhist tourism circuits. Zutshi said that there is a need to identify coastal areas that can be developed as MICE tourist destinations in India, more so as there had been an investment worth Rs 500 crore made in promoting tourism in coastal states. He also informed that the Cen-

tre is working with state governments to develop Khajuraho and Sanchi (Madhya Pradesh), Bodhgaya (Bihar), Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) and Tirupati (Andha Pradesh) as MICE tourism desti-

ist destination had gained lot of mileage from the foreign visits of the Prime Minister. "The kind of visibility India has achieved in the form of visits of

Union Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi

nations in India. Emphasizing the need for aggressive promotion, marketing and branding, he called for synergy between private tour operators and the government to promote tourism sector in India. Zutshi said that India as a tour-

the Prime Minister all over the world, this is something from which we are drawing lot of mileage. The visit is followed by memorandum of understanding, bilateral agreements, media coverage and the international conferences being held," he said. -PTI

Goa to study carrying capacity of beaches PANAJI: Goa Tourism Department will study the carrying capacity of various beaches in the state in its master plan which will help determine the number of popular beach shacks that could be allowed on the shoreline. "Department of Tourism is in process of preparing a tourism Master Plan and has agreed to include the component of carrying capacity of beaches Goa in the said plan/Policy through an expert

agency," the department informed Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA). The National Green Tribunal in December, 2014, had directed GCZMA to carry out a study to assess the carrying capacity of beaches in Goa. The study was required to know the number of beach shacks that could be allowed to be constructed on the shoreline. "As the Tourism Policy 2013-

16 is valid only up to end of this tourist season and now the department is required to prepare a fresh policy for the next season, the component of temporary seasonal structure and its regularization needs to be included in the new policy," it said. The coastal state has more than 300-odd shacks that are constructed on beaches during the tourist season. -PTI

Taj Group to run Nepal tourist resort KATHMANDU: Tata-owned Taj Group has entered the Nepalese market, taking up management of a high-end luxury tourist resort in the well-known Chitwan National Park. Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces has tied up with Chaudhary Groups CG Hotels and Resorts owned by Nepalese billionaire Binod Chaudhary to start the Meghauli Safari resort. The international standard jungle resort has been opened in the vicinity of the famous Chitwan National Park wildlife sanctuary with CG Hotels investing USD 7 million in the project which started operations on April 1. "We have brought Meghauli Safari into operation with the hope that Nepal can attract high class international visitors," said Rahul Chaudhary, CEO, CG Hotels and Resorts. Chitwan, situated 150 kms southwest of Kathmandu, is Nepal's leading tiger reserve where rare and endangered wildlife including one-horned rhinos, croco-

diles and dolphins are found. The Chitwan National Park is the last surviving example of the natural ecosystems of the Terai region and covers subtropical lowland, wedged between two east-

west river valleys at the base of the Shivalik range of the outer Himalayas. The core area lies between the Narayani and Rapti rivers to the north and the Reu River and Churia hills in the southern border. -PTI

Historic black church sold to hotelier INDIANAPOLIS: A historic black church in downtown Indianapolis has been sold to a developer who plans to build two hotels on the property and its parking lot. The Indianapolis Star reports that the city's oldest AfricanAmerican church has been sold for an undisclosed price after efforts to raise the $2 million needed for building repairs fell short. The Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church was built

in 1869. The chairman of Indianapolisbased SUN Development and Management Corporation says his company has not yet decided which hotel company will take over the space. The developer plans to build a replica of the church on what is now its parking lot for the second hotel near the Downtown Canal. Bharat Patel says SUN will keep the church's tower and its front facade intact. -AP

Indianapolis Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Vermont Street needed $2 million in repairs â&#x20AC;&#x201D; including a new roof, a fix to the foundation, the adjustment of floor joists and a new electrical system

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Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 42

Manali, which literally means the abode of Manu, has got remarkable significance in the ethnic culture and tradition of India. With skyscraping mountains bounded by blizzards and deep rock spread ravines, Manali presents a distinguished holiday spot

for all. The chunky forests with cool gentle winds, vast expansion of meadows, small quaint settlements and lovely orchards, give a majestic look to the serene ambiance of Manali. Besides the splendor of its natural vista, a lot of other interesting activities are in store in Manali. A trendy holiday spot, Manali offers outstanding opportunities in mountaineering, and skiing. The unexplored hilly route to the adjacent valleys is an awe inspiring experience. With scores of artifacts, the malls and other shops of Manali offer a delightful shopping experience. Gifted with breathtaking scenery, Manali serves as a perfect place for those who want to be in the midst of blossoming greens and valley views. Tourist Attractions The Castle, Naggar: A unique medieval structure, Naggar Castle is a very popular tourist spot located close to Manali in Naggar. Built around 1460 AD by Raja Sidh Singh of Kullu, the castle has a unique architectural blend of western and Himalayan styles. The castle is scenically located near the Beas River and offers panoramic views of the surroundings. The castle houses the Roerich

gallery that displays the paintings of the famous Russian painter, Nicholas Roerich. A beautiful

blend of stone and wood, the mansion was once the home of the Raja but was converted to a rest house (run by HPTDC) in the year 1978. Nicholas Roerich Art Gallery,

Naggar (part of Manali region): Nicholas Roerich Art Gallery is a very popular attraction in Naggar and is located within the Naggar Castle. The museum displays a private collection of paintings of the Russian painter Nikolas Roerich, who lived here and died in the year 1947. The ground floor of the gallery is dedicated to the paintings of Kullu, Spiti and Lahaul by the painter. The upper floor preserves the artist's private rooms. Beas Kund (Chandratal Lake): A historic place, where it is be-

lieved that Sage Vyas had performed his daily bath, Beas Kund is regarded as sacred by the Hindus. The originating point of the Majestic River Beas, Beas Kund is sheltered by an igloo like stone formation. Chandrakhani Pass, Kullu: Chandrakhani Pass is located in the Parbati valley that joins Malana Valley to Kullu Valley. An ideal base for trekking, the pass is known for its scenic beauty. Chandrakhani is 3600m above sea level and offers scenic trekking trails. Pandoh Dam, Kullu: Around 10 kms from Manali lies this vast expanse of man-made beauty. Pandoh dam is a power generator hydro-electric dam, built on river Beas. The lake is the reservoir of the dam and has five bays that regulate the water. Rohtang Pass: A lofty moun-

tain pathway that connects Kullu with Spiti and Lahaul. This pass is a popular picnic spot in summer.

All tourists going to Manali long to visit this imposing site since one

Manali, which literally means the abode of Manu, has got remarkable significance in the ethnic culture and tradition of India.

can sense and tap the snow even in the hottest season of the year. At a height of 4111 meter, Rohtang Pass, which is 51 km away from Manali, presents a striking sight of glaciers, mountains and the landscape. A gateway to the adjoining tourist destinations, this scenic spot provides excellent opportunities for trekking.

Solang Valley (Snow Point): Situated 13 km northwest of Manali, between Beas Kund and Solang village is the gorgeous Solang valley, particularly a pictorial spot presenting awesome scenery of snow clad mountains and glaciers. Solang valley, also known as Snow Point is famous for its 300 m ski lift. Van Vihar: Situated in front of the Tibet market on Mall road, Van Vihar is a famous place to hang out where tourists can enjoy boating in the small pond. The place is a bit messy but the tall deodar trees make the whole place very pretty. Best time to visit The climate of Manali remains pleasant mostly through the year but the month from September to June is the best time to visit Manali. How to reach By Train: Joginder Nagar is the nearest railway station to Manali, which is nearly 50 km away. Joginder Nagar is a narrow gauge railway station, hence connectivity is not so good. By Air: Bhuntar, which is 50 km away from Manali, is the nearest airport. By Bus: Manali is well connected to other tourist destinations in Himachal by private deluxe bus services. State owned services are also available connecting Manali to other cities.

April 22, 2016

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J&K resorts to get underground power cabling JAMMU: Four important health resorts and tourist destinations of the state, including Gulmarg and Pahalgam, will now get underground cables for better power supply. The underground cabling will be undertaken in four healthcum-tourist resorts in Jammu and Kashmir to further beautify them and ensure improved power supply, a senior Power Development department (PDD) officer said. "Tenders worth Rs 129.20 crore have been floated for underground cabling at four tourist destinations including Pahalgam, Gulmarg, Sonamarg and Patnitop," Principal Secretary

Power, Dheeraj Gupta said. Gupta said he had informed Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti about the measures taken for removal of bottlenecks in procurement of essential items as per

ment approving a list of vendors, the Power Department will now be able to maintain an inventory of key material supplies. "As the Centre has also effected changes in specification

The Power Secretary informed the meeting that power supply to Jama Masjid Srinagar will be augmented with installation of 250 KV DG sets and the work will be completed within the next two months at a cost of Rs 1 crore standardized procurement procedure. He said with Central Govern-

of transformers, the new transformers will prove much cheaper and energy efficient in the long

run," he said, while assuring the Chief Minister of switching over to new specifications within the next six months. The Power Secretary informed the meeting that power supply to Jama Masjid Srinagar will be augmented with installation of 250 KV DG sets and the work will be completed within the next two months at a cost of Rs 1 crore. To ensure uninterrupted power supply to the picturesque Pahalgam resort, 11 KV and 33 KV lines are being laid which will be completed by the end of July at a cost of Rs 3 crore. The department has also started the process for creation

of transformer bank in Rajouri and Poonch districts for which Rs 1 crore has been released. The other works which are currently under execution include establishment of receiving station at Sultanpora, Shranz in Baramulla, dedicated power supply to IT Park at Rangreth, BGSBU in Rajouri, Ghani Stadium in Srinagar and Civil Hospital at Pahalgam, he said. On the issue of uninterrupted power supply to Uri border town, Gupta said that once the 50 MVA Transformer is installed at the grid station by October this year, the power supply to the border town will considerably improve. -PTI

Dubai zip line offers new way to fly JON GAMBRELL

DUBAI, UAE: In the air travel hub of Dubai, there's a new way to fly: A zip line run by extreme sports company XDubai. XDubai, which began its operations in 2015, is associated with the crown prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, known by millions for his Instagram exploits. The zip line fits into the extremesports aesthetic of this city-state,

dancing Dubai Fountain, whose nightly music-and-light shows see water sprayed 140 meters (460 feet) into the air. The Address Downtown Dubai hotel, draped in tarps since catching fire on New Year's Eve, is on your right. To reach the zip line, I entered one of the many residential towers surrounding the Burj Khalifa, taking an elevator up to the 25th floor and walking up a utility stair-

A man enjoys an urban zip line attraction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In the air travel hub of Dubai, there's a new way to fly: A zip line run by extreme sports company XDubai. XDubai, which began its operations in 2015, and is associated with Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai.

already a popular skydiving destination where parachutes deploy daily among its skyscrapers. The view from the start of the zip line is just as breathtaking. The Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building at 828 meters (2,716 feet), looms to your left, along with the under-construction, ship-shaped Dubai Opera. Directly ahead lies the massive Dubai Mall and the

case to the roof. There, XDubai workers helped me into a zip-line harness that has a small satchel attached to hold riders' personal belongings. I waited on a metal staircase, watching those before me screech, squeal and shout as they went over the edge. When my turn came, XDubai staff strapped me in and told me to keep my feet up going

over the edge. Other than that, it was a quick one-two-three count before I too got pushed out into the open air. The air whipped around my face on the 45-second ride 90 meters (300 feet) in the air, the blue waters of the Dubai fountain beneath me

as I hollered as well despite myself. Just as my feet reach the mall, the line caught, throwing my feet up in front of me. Halted, hanging in the air, an XDubai worker asked me if I had a good time. I definitely had. If You Go...

XDUBAI'S XLINE: Transiting fliers or visitors to Dubai can find XDubai's zip line by taking a taxi or the city's metro to the Dubai Mall. Tickets are 600 dirhams ($160) a person and can be purchased at a stand in the mall's basement for trips until April 30. -AP

Salt Lake bans N. Carolina & Mississippi travel SALT LAKE CITY: Salt Lake City's mayor has banned cityfunded travel to Mississippi and North Carolina after they passed what she calls anti-LGBT laws. The city's first openly gay mayor Jackie Biskupski said in a statement that she feels the laws passed in those states are desperate and designed to stifle op-

portunity for the LGBT community. The announcement means Salt Lake City is joining a growing list of states and cities that have barred similar travel in response to recently implemented laws in Mississippi and North Carolina that limit protections for lesbians, gays and transgender

people. Biskupski and the city council also invited businesses in those states to relocate to Salt Lake City. She cites Salt Lake City and Utah laws that make it illegal to discriminate in housing and employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity. -AP

Horoscope

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April 22nd - April 28th2016 Please send your birthday, place of birth and time, so I can give you your zodiac sign, according to Vedic astrology. Send to Jaysastrology@gmail.com

eel Energized. Those looking for jobs may get some good news. Disputes, Problems of abdomen, financial ligitation is seen, Exercise patientance, avoid arguments with older siblings and friends. Spend time with your partner. Mercury and Moon weak don't make any major business or real estate decisions. Rahu/Ketu and Mars are not favorable so avoid risk taking and be careful driving.

hings look positive for love and work in foreign land. Have more drive to do things. Relations improve with sidblings and friends. Avoid major decisions for business or purchase of real estate. Look after parents, keep in touch. Avoid disputes and don't make haste. May incline to visit religious places. Students will do well in exams.

e careful with speech to others as it make lead to disputes. Positive outlook at work feel motivated. Students may get news on higher education acceptance. May purchase a home or car. Emotions with loved one may face obstruction, so take it easy. Avoid rushing thing when driving. Prospects for those looking for jobs may arise. Children are happy.

nxiety and stress due to dosmetic problems at home. Avoid buying real estate. Avoid dispute with your partner. Opportunites in foreign land for love or business. Kidney and Abdominal area if problem seek medical attention. Exercise patientance is the key. Due to Raju/ketu stress at work, and obstructions will slow things down. Enjoy time with family.

elation with father is revived. Men looking for love may find mate. Rahu/Ketu may cause mishaps and obstructions, avoid risky behavior and careful driving. To gain status one may have to go to foreign land. Things at home are better, can even purchase real estate or car, or gold for asset. Kidney problem or with younger sibling may arise.

roblems with health, expenses and losses trouble with law. Be patient avoid rushing things and take care of health. Obstructions in business dealing and siblings. Digestion and circulation problems and conflict at work may arise. Disputes in relationships, avoid by exercising patientance. Might feel moody and lack of confidence and anxiety relating to losses and expenses making week difficult. Be safe.

s Moon and Mars are strong, expect a good week for professional matters, siblings, mental well being. Take care of women in your life and kidneys. Business wise things look good for income and older sibling and friends can help. Sun strong giving energy and vitality to get things done Mercury weak causing anxiety and loss of sleep. Stay healthy and be safe.

eople with diabetes and liver problems take extra care. Mental and dosmetic peace at home is seen. Get gains from friends and higher influentical people. Business and professional matters looking up. Look after male child. Rahu/Ketu transit is bad avoid risky place and avoid haste. Take care of health, urinary system and manage anxiety with patientance.

ental peace at home is disturbed by disputes, avoid conflict. Professional matters are looking better along with happiness from children. Avoid gambling and speculation as losses are there. Transit Rahu/Ketu is bad avoid risky places and be safe of surroundings. Avoid conflicts at work and with make child. Stress and anxiety for income is seen.

ood time to invest in a business or real estate. Professional matters are looking good. Extra income from business or partner is there. Promotion in workplace can be considered. Avoid being at wrong place at wrong time as transit is not good, especially risky places. Relations and help from younger sibling. Health is looking better especially those with arthritis.

tudents get rewarded for hard work. Anxiety at work and lack of confidence in project. Take care of health mental peace and immune system. Studies and love make take you to foreign land. Avoid starting business or conflict with sibling lead to expenses and losses. May visit religious places, unexpected income may be seen. Avoid gambling and speculation heavy losses are there.

rinary problems. Conflicts at work, and transit is bad avoid haste and risky places. One can have undiagnosed problem of health. Income from real estate and accumulation of wealth from gold, cars. Mental peace is there from chidren. Males avoid conflict with your partner can create stress and obstructions. One can get involved with addiction, creating conflicts, disputes and financial litigations.

This weekly horoscope is more focused and accurate as it is based on ascending signs. The ascending sign is worked out on the basis of your date, time and place of birth. The predictions elsewhere are based on your Sun sign or Moon sign. The Sun remains in one sign of zodiac for one month whereas the Moon remains in one sign for about 60 hours. What is important is the ascending sign, which changes every couple of hours. That is how this site offers you more focused predictions.

JATIN P - ACHARYA MIHIR â&#x20AC;˘ JAYSASTROLOGY@GMAIL.COM â&#x20AC;˘ 630-675-7148

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NEW JERSEY

NEW YORK

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

CHICAGO

Upcoming

ILLINOIS

Upcoming

Upcoming 1st and 3rd Sunday of Month • Chicago Children's

talent show

Sat, May 7 • Marathi Movie - Sairat (With English Subtitles)

Venue: Golden Peacock, 24989 Santa Clara

Venue: Serra Theaters, 200 Serra Way,

Fri, Apr 22 • Hollwood/Bollywood Blowout Venue: JP Stevens High School, 855 Grove Ave, Edison, NJ 08820 Time : 6:00 pm

Sat, Apr 30 • Bollywood Dance Festival 11th NAACH Revolution Venue: Union County Performing Arts Center, 1601 Irving St, Rahway, NJ 07065 Time: 04:00 pm

Sat, Apr 30 • Spandana Ugadi Sambaralu Venue: Ridge High School Performing Arts Center, 268 South Finley Avenue, Bernards, NJ 07920 Time: 02:00 pm

Sun, Apr 24 • A Hilarious and Hysterical Comedy Play with Comedy King Nimesh Shah Venue: Hindu Temple Auditorium, 143-09 Holly Avenue, NY 11355 Time : 06:00 pm

Sat, Apr 23 • Dance dhamaka reality

St, Hayward, CA 94544 Time: 07:00 pm Contact: 650-219-7995

Venue: Hindu Community Centre, 143-09 Holly Ave, NY 11355 Time : 6:00 pm

Sat, Apr 30 • BIGGEST Bollywood Party with DJ Notorious Venue: PRANNA, NYC, 79 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Time : 10:00 pm

Time: 02:00 pm Contact: 650-670-6665

Sun, Apr 24 • Mummy Mari Yamuna, Ame Ena Namuna

Milpitas, CA 95035

Sun, Apr 24 • Vasanthothsavam 2016 Venu Vina Duet Smt. Shantala Subramanyam.

Fri, May 13 • Geet Ramayan By Sridhar Phadke

Venue: Smithwick Theater, 12345 El Monte

Venue: Jain Temple Auditorium, 722 S. Main

Rd, Los Altos Hills, CA 94022 Time: 1:00 pm

Sun, Apr 30 • Voice of Bay Area Junior Singing Competition Grand Finale Venue: Santa Clara Convention Center, 5001 Great America Parkway, Santa Clara, CA 95054 Time: 6:00 pm Contact: 510-648-0596

Street, Milpitas, CA 95035 Time: 07:30 pm

ATLANTA Upcoming Sun, Apr 24 • Umar Chhe Antique, Pan Dil Chhe Romantic Venue: Sardar Patel Bhavan, 5331 Royal Woods Parkway, Tucker, GA 30084 Time: 6:30 pm

Sun, Apr 30

Venue: Sai Temple Auditorium, 1221 Cali-

Sun, Apr 24 • Gujarati Comedy Natak GOLMAAL

fornia Circle, Milpitas, CA 95035

Venue: Atlanta Event Hall, 3750 Venture

Time: 10:30 am

Drive, Duluth, GA 30096

• A Morning Sitar Concert By Nayan Ghosh

Time: 5:00 pm

Sat, May 7

Venue: Windemere Ranch Middle School

Sat, Apr 30 • Colors Of Rainbow With Dhoop Chaoon

Soccer Field, 11611 East Branch Parkway,

Venue: Berkmar High School, 405

San Ramon, CA 94582

Pleasant Hill Road, Lilburn, GA 30047

Time: 10:00 am

Time: 07:00 pm

• Spandana Volleyball Event 2016

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

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Philosophy

April 22, 2016

India Post 49

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s body, you are in space. As mind, you are in time. But are you a mere body with a mind in it? Have you ever investigated? Why not investigate the very idea of body? Does the mind appear in the body or the body in the mind? Surely there must be a mind to conceive the "I-am-the-body" idea. A body without a mind cannot be 'my body'. 'My body' is invariably absent when the mind is in abeyance. It is also absent when the mind is deeply engaged in thoughts and feelings. You observe the heart feeling, the mind thinking, the body acting; the very act of perceiving shows that you are not what you perceive. The perceived cannot be the perceiver. Whatever you see, hear or think of, remember - you are not what happens, you are he to whom it happens. Desire, fear, trouble, joy, they cannot appear unless you are there to appear to. Yet, whatever happens points to your existence as a perceiving centre. Disregard the pointers and be aware of what they are pointing to. Realize that every mode of perception is subjective, that what is seen or heard, touched or smelt, felt or thought, expected or imagined, is in the mind and not in reality, and you will experience peace and freedom from VIMALA THAKAR

ui Neng, the 6th patriarch of Zen in China, offers a hint: "As far as Buddha Nature is concerned, there is no difference between a sinner and a sage….One enlightened thought and one is a Buddha, one foolish thought and one is again an ordinary person." The fact is that our life is lived on a very slippery, constantly shifting slope and there is nothing, no experience of awakening no matter how deep, that will place us outside the Law of Impermanence and the inevitable pain and suffering that we experience when what we so naively refer to as "my" life inevitably and inexorably changes. The most significant of these changes are often sudden, unpredictable and can leave us frightened, confused and disoriented. Our life swings between gain and loss, whether we like it or not. We may feel that if we practice enough, gain stream entry, pass koans, master the jhanas and have deep insight that somehow we will be immune from or vaccinated against the fundamental truths of life. Here's the real news: There is no security… NONE…and while there is free-

fear. When you realize that the distinction between inner and outer is in the mind only, you are no longer afraid. You are neither the body nor in the body. There is no such thing as body. You have grievously misunderstood yourself. To understand rightly, investigate. You are not in the body, the body is in you! The mind is in

self with everything so easily; I find it impossible. The feeling "I am not this or that, nor is anything mine" is so strong in me that as soon as a thing or a thought appears, there comes at once the sense "this I am not". Whatever you may hear, see or think of, I am not that. I am free from being a percept or a concept. As you cannot see your face, but only its reflection in the mir-

can turn the mirror round and see in it a reflection of yourself - true as far as the mirror can reflect. But the reflection is not yourself - you are the seer of the reflection. Do understand it clearly - whatever you may perceive, you are not what you perceive. You can see both the image and the mirror. You are neither. You are nothing that you are conscious of. As there must be something unchanging to register discontinuity,

Beyond Body, Mind & Intellect, I am that I am Surely there must be a mind to conceive the "I-am-the-body" idea. A body without a mind cannot be 'my body'. 'My body' is invariably absent when the mind is in abeyance Nisargadatta Maharaj

you. They happen to you. They are there because you find them interesting. You only know that you react. Who reacts and to what, you do not know. You know on contact that you exist: "I am". The "I am this", "I am that" are imaginary. To myself, I am neither perceivable nor conceivable; there is nothing I can point out to and say: "this I am". You identify your-

ror, so you can know only your image reflected in the stainless mirror of pure awareness. See the stains and remove them. The nature of the perfect mirror is such that you cannot see it. Whatever you can see is bound to be a stain. Turn away from it, give it up, know it as unwanted. All perceivables are stains. Having perfected the mirror so that it reflects correctly, truly, you

I am not this body-mind, which is neither continuous nor permanent. You cannot be conscious of what does not change. All consciousness is consciousness of change. But the very perception of change - does it not necessitate a changeless background? Excerpted from 'I am That'. The 119th birth anniversary of Nisargadatta Maharaj was observed on April 17

dom from suffering, there is no escape from it. No matter how continuous our mindfulness or how dedicated our practice in daily life, sooner or later because of conditioning or simply because of the unpredictability of the human condition, the ground beneath shifts or we will look away and suddenly Aiiiiieeeeeeeeee!!! Down we go!

pass judgment on the tumbler when you're not taking the tumble yourself. There are at least two, not mutually exclusive ways that we may be led, pushed or stumble over the well's edge. The first, as my youngest daughter is fond of saying simply is, "It happens." It just happens. No warning, just BOOM! Some tectonic plate at the bottom

The second way this falling can occur is a bit more complicated. It concerns those moments when we know or at least have some inkling that we are balanced precariously on the edge but refuse to step back. There is a small but clear voice of wisdom that says, "Better not say or do that." And we choose not to listen. Because of the strength of the wanting, we go

One moment we are a clearly enlightened person; the next moment we are falling uncontrollably, or simply flattened by some unforeseen something that stunningly blind-sides us. This is not some aberration or failure in you or your practice. others may see us as failures as they watch us take the tumble. It's always easier to

of the ocean moves and suddenly there are 150,000 less people on the planet. It just happened. We become ill and then get better; or not. We survive our cancer diagnosis or our heart attack, or we don't. We put our child on the bus for a school trip to Canada and get an early morning call about a crash and our kid's not coming home-ever.

Those who are ignorant of the supreme purpose of life will never be able to attain nirvana (liberation) in spite of their observance of the vratas (vows) and niymas (rules) of religious conduct and practice of shila (celibacy) and tapas (penance). My soul characterised by knowledge and faith is alone eternal. All other phases of my existence to which I am attached are external occurrences that are transitory. The unenlightened takes millions of lives to extirpate the effects of karma whereas a man possessing spiritual knowledge and discipline obliterates them in a single moment. Just as a threaded (sasutra) needle is secure from being lost, in the same way a person given to self-study (sasutra) cannot be lost.

Here's the real news: There is no security ‘There is no difference between a sinner and a sage….One enlightened thought and one is a Buddha, one foolish thought and one is again an ordinary person’

Mahavira Quotes

Vimala Thakar

against what we know to be right and true. We act counter to the call of natural wisdom and wonder as we are falling head over heels down the well, "How did this happen?!" Excerpted from the talk, 'A Clearly Enlightened Person Falls Into a Well.' The 95th birth anniversary of Vimala Thakar was observed on April 15

Only that science is a great and the best of all sciences, the study of which frees man from all kinds of miseries. That which subdues passions, leads to beatitude and fosters friendliness is called knowledge.

Insure yourself FIRST. Call Sahanis, (Arish, Priya or Shiv) for your Insurance needs 718- 271- 0453. Serving for last 35 yrs

50 India Post

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April 22, 2016

an' is a big triumph of Shah Rukh Khan. He has played to all his strengths, and he plays it just right, gliding in and out of the star and the fan, creating distinct identities and outlines in one scene, and blurring the lines just so in the next. It is a wonderful, grasping, knowing performance, the actor and the star all rolled in one, all at our service, even as they service Shah Rukh Khan's stratospheric stardom. Fan is an elaborately crafted hall of mirrors. Shah Rukh Khan plays a superstar named Aryan Khanna. He also plays a pathologically obsessed fan named Gaurav Chandna. Aryan, of course, resembles the real Shah Rukh - the exteriors of Shah Rukh's own home, Mannat, double here as Aryan's house. Like Shah Rukh, Aryan also fills up stadiums, dances at weddings, and is a lethal mix of

and in places flat-out fabulous. Gaurav is a riveting character - he's na誰ve, beguiling and sweetly delusional, at least in the beginning. But even then, underneath that wide-eyed, starstruck innocence, there is a tinge of creepy about him. Aided by prosthetics, make-up and skillfully rendered special effects, Shah Rukh gives his finest performance in years. Shah Rukh makes Gaurav a living, breathing character who is defined by his desperate desire to be recognized by Aryan. Gaurav is clearly pathetic, repellent and dangerous. Writer and director Maneesh Sharma has constructed Gaurav with affection and care. His milieu and his manners are absolutely authentic. So when he embarks on his doomed mission to meet Aryan in Mumbai and his mother gives him

high-beam charm and cockiness. Most importantly, Aryan has also come from a middleclass, 'mamooli' family in Delhi. And without godfathers or connections, he has conquered the world. Gaurav comes from a middle-class, 'mamooli' home too. His entire life is centered on his love for Aryan. The highlight of his life is winning the Super Sitara competition in his housing colony where he does pitch-perfect imitations of Aryan. There is a real star, a fictional star and a fictional fan who poses as a star. It's exciting and intriguing

some sohan halwa for the star and this warm, smiling family takes a selfie together, you really want this to end happily. But, and this is the thing, the film does not simper or slobber. It is not in thrall to its star, even when it recognizes his stardom. It goes at itself with a raised devil's eyebrow (just like SRK's) and a nod and a wink, and brings us in on the joke. And Shah Rukh Khan keeps pace with us, all the way. Gaurav's journey to Mumbai to meet Aryan-who grants a 'darshan' to hysterical swarms waiting outside his bun-

Fan is an elaborately crafted hall of mirrors. Shah Rukh Khan plays a superstar named Aryan Khanna. He also plays a pathologically obsessed fan named Gaurav Chandna

galow, just the way the real-life superstar does, in just one of the many meta references littering the film- is both familiar and not-familiar. The in-between spaces are filled with the unexpected, and that's where the film scores. Stars are also human and fallible, and a victim of both hubris and frailty, and Aryan channels all t h o s e emotions.

April 22, 2016

India Post 51 www.indiapost.com

Most Indians access internet for shopping MUMBAI: Indians voted online shopping as the top reason to access internet, spending an

survey. The survey by American Express and Nielsen, titled 'Under-

The survey estimates the average online monthly spend of Indians at about Rs 9,400, which is poised to swell to Rs 16,000 average of about Rs 9,400 a month on e-purchases, followed by social networking, according to a

standing Online Consumers', found 98 per cent respondents voting for online shopping as the

top reason to access internet, closely followed by social networking (96 per cent) and banking (95 per cent). The survey estimates the average online monthly spend of Indians at about Rs 9,400, which is poised to swell to Rs 16,000. In metros, the average spend is Rs 10,900, while in tier I cities, it is Rs 8,000. "This is going to increase across cities to an overall ticket size of Rs 16,000. Consumers currently spend 60 per cent of their home budget online which is dedicated to online shopping, making travel purchases and utility bill payments," the survey said. The survey was conducted across six cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. "Shopping has always been the favorite pastime for Indians and now it has become the virtual pastime," said Manoj Adlakha, CEO, American Express Banking

Corp, India. It also said that the youth prefer cards over cash-on-delivery with quick and safe refunds being the key reason, and almost 70 per cent consumers preferred shopping with cards. The survey also revealed a growing affinity towards online

payment of utility bills. "Tech-savvy youth in the age group 18-30, aptly targeted by online recharge and utility bill payment platforms, show higher adoption rates (81 per cent) for online utility bill payments," the report said.

LA museum in search for bugs, plants LOS ANGELES: Long before Southern California was paved over with freeways and covered with cars and millions of people, it was teeming with snakes, slugs, spiders, snails and uncounted other slimy, creepy, crawly creatures. And it still is, say scientists at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum who are intent on building a better world by enlisting thousands of people to find and catalog those creatures. The museum's Urban Nature Research Center is a facility that director Lori Bettison-Varga says will serve as headquarters for the nation's first urban biodiversity study that uses a sprawling city and its environs as a research lab. ``Everybody thinks that Los Angeles is just this big, pavedover place, but it's not. It's a hotbed of biodiversity,'' says Lila Higgins, head of the center's citizen-science program. The scientists recently trained about 400 volunteers and armed

some with backyard traps. Now, they will beat the bushes and other spots in their neighborhoods in search of unusual flora and fauna.

emailed to the facility's 12 staffers for a closer look. The volunteers are helping with such playfully named projects as

politan environments). Meanwhile, the museum is encouraging anyone with a smartphone to snap a photo of interesting bugs, reptiles or plants and send it along. The environmental group Conservation International has placed Southern California on its list of 35 biodiversity hotspots - places with a hugely diverse ecosystem that includes numerous plants, insects, lizards and the like along with large numbers of threatened flora and fauna. Cont'd on Page 53

Dr Brian Brown, Los Angeles' Natural History Museum's entomology curator, captures insects on a butterfly net outside the Urban Nature Research Center in Los Angeles on April 13

Some bugs will be taken to the center and examined while many more will have their photos taken and

RASCAL (reptiles and amphibians in Southern California) and SLIME (snails and slugs living in metro-

"Delhi and Bengaluru lead the country with 81 per cent respondents paying bills online, Jaipur and Ahmedabad close behind with 75 per cent and 72 per cent, respectively. Surprisingly, Mumbai bucked

the trend with only 69 per cent respondents," it added. Further, 60 per cent of respondents cited that they get enticed to shop online during discount days. Almost every consumer in the age group 18-35 admitted to shopping online frequently. Only 61 per cent of consumers falling in the age bracket 46-50 have shopped online in the past year, while only 37 per cent have intentions of doing so in the next 12 months, showing a stark conservative approach towards online purchasing as we move up the age ladder, it said. The survey also states that Indian women score over men while using credit and debit cards. -PTI

52 India Post

April 22, 2016 www.indiapost.com

Museum to showcase India's culinary traditions NEW DELHI: A futuristic building shaped like a giant ladle is how Michelinstarred chef Vikas Khanna's culinary museum is set to look like in a few years from now. For at least 15 years, the Amritsar-born chef has been collecting pots and pans besides other utensils from India for the upcoming "one-of-its-kind" museum in Manipal, Karnataka. "It is a very big project I want to preserve all of our country's rich culinary history. There is no other place in the world, believe me, which has such diversity. And what better way to do it than with food," says Khanna on his visit here recently. The MasterChef India judge and celebrity face of Junoon, a modern Indian flagship restaurant in New York with a branch in Dubai, has been with anthropological zeal scouring for old kitchen utensils during his visits to India and emerging with finds that he says will "make one cry with joy." "You can find in my treasure trove vessels from Kashmir, Jammu, Pune, Hyderabad, Kochi, the list goes on. For the past 15 years whenever I visited India I have been carrying a piece of it back in the form of kitchen utensils. Be it ladles, colorful rolling pins for making chapattis, measuring cups or a huge variety of tea strainers from different regions of the country," says Khanna. A graduate from the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration,

Manipal University, the chef wanted to repay his alma mater and tied up with it for the USD 4 million 'Culinary Arts and Culinary Museum'. For the groundbreaking ceremony held recently, Khanna invited the now over 80-

was demolished in a road widening exercise. It is only recently that we managed to get in touch," Khanna says. The idea for a museum came to Khanna after he started living in the US, which he says has over 5,000 museums.

Vikas Khanna

year-old Ganghadhar Rao, under whom Khanna used to learn art and sculpting. "This is my guru dakshina to him. Long time ago when I was a student in Manipal, I used to visit him at his shop on the roadside and learn from him. His family was my real family then. After leaving the campus I lost touch with him. Some time ago I came down from the US to Udipi but got to know that he had moved from there after his home

"There is a museum in the US to showcase how the computer was invented, somebody has put together one on the origin and developments of making glass. It is fascinating to know how the glass in your hand has been made. They have spent billions of dollars to showcase their culture and I thought our children too need to understand their heritage and culture," says the chef.

Mickey Mouse-shaped solar facility unveiled LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.: It's only fitting that solar panels that will help with the power needs of Walt Disney World are shaped like the famous ears of the mouse that started the Disney enterprise. Officials with Disney World, Duke Energy and Disney's private government flipped on the switch to a Mickey Mouse-shaped solar facility located on 22 acres near the Epcot theme park. The facility is made up of 48,000 solar panels and is operated by Duke Energy. The solar farm dubbed Walt Disney World Solar Facility has a 5 megawatt capacity and is the brainchild of Duke Energy, in tandem with Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) and Walt Disney World Resort. The solar facility is near Epcot and can be espied from the air as a massive Mickey Mouse shape. Designed in the shape of a "not-so-hiddenMickey" the solar facility is the latest endeavor by Duke Energy to increase access to renewable energy in Florida. "We're committed to providing our customers with greater access to renewable energy, and the Walt Disney World Solar Facility is one example of how we're doing that. We appreciate this unique opportunity to collaborate with Reedy Creek Im-

provement District and Walt Disney World Resort to expand the use of solar energy generation in Florida," said Alex Glenn, Duke Energy state president - Florida. The 22-acre Walt Disney World Solar Facility is located west of Disney's Yacht

and Beach Club Resort and is composed of 48,000 solar panels. The solar facility is equal to nearly 1,000 solar rooftop systems for residences. Duke Energy will be able build, operate and own the farm on Disney's land as part

of the 15-year agreement. Duke Energy will be selling the alternative energy to RCID. This will aid in meeting the power requirements of not only Walt Disney World Resort, but also its other clients such as the Four Seasons Resort.

The Mickey Mouse-shaped solar farm at Walt Disney World is one of the many solar projects which Duke Energy is developing. The company intends to add nearly 500 megawatts of additional solar energy in Florida in the next 8 years.-Agencies

The 44-year-old boyish looking chef is upset over society turning to mass produced goods. "We have become a fabricated society where everyone's 'bartans' are similar, everyone has the same spice boxes. Where is the character in them, we are one of the oldest society and in terms of design and ideas we have so much to offer to the world," says Khanna. For now the treasures collected by Khanna, which include plates from Goa made by the Portuguese while they were here, an over 100 year old ladle with an iconic design used to serve devotees in a temple, a yesteryear seed sprinkler, an ancient samovar (tea pot) and others have been stored in a godown and will go into the museum, which is expected to open by 2020. "The idea is to have a living museum, to be continuously updating its collection. For some time we displayed utensils in my New York restaurant and we had patrons who donated their generations-old vessels to add to the collection. It has become unstoppable now this obsession and I want the world to see our rich heritage," says Khanna. For someone who has made a living out of his passion for cooking, food knows no boundaries. "Food is more powerful than politics it knows no borders everybody loves food," says the chef who is now looking forward to releasing his documentary 'Kitchens of Gratitude' featuring different religions of the world at the Cannes International Film Festival in May. -PTI

Aishwarya, Sania honored at NRI Awards MUMBAI: Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and tennis star Sania Mirza were among those honored at the third edition of the NRI of the Year Awards held in Mumbai on April 11. While Aishwarya won the Global Indian, Sania was named the Global Icon of the Year at the event hosted by actors Kabir Bedi and Mandira Bedi. The 'Jazbaa' actress dedicated her award to her daughter Aaradhya. In a statement, the former Miss World said, "I was very passionate about making it more than a perceived beauty pageant. For me, all along I believed that it was the opportunity to represent an Indian woman on the international platform. I believe that from then until today, in 2016, it continues." The 42-year-old actress added, "I am glad to have been chosen to be a feature film artist and a career woman. I have had so many opportunities, personally, professionally and socially." The awards function was attended by renowned personalities from Bollywood and other fields. Union minister Piyush Goyal also attended the event.

April 22, 2016

India Post 53 www.indiapost.com

Senior fitness programs thwart Father Time GRAND CANE, La.: Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame member Lin Gamble was reluctant to join the Hoopaholics, a senior women's basketball team, in 2002 when the group first contacted her about becoming a participant. Even though she had remained active working on her farm in Grand Cane and coaching in Joaquin, Texas, 66-year-old Gamble had been removed from basketball participation for several years. She also had elderly family

ing from health related issues, such as diabetes, due to a lack of exercise. For Gamble, the chance to return to a game she succeeded in her high school and college days was too much to pass up. The DeSoto Parish native averaged 48.2 points per game her senior year at Grand Cane and was a three-time All-American at Ouachita Baptist. ``I've been with the Hoopaholics for 12 years now and

The Hoopaholics basketball team is made up of women in their 50's and 60's

members to care for. But a year or two later, she retired and accepted an invitation to join the Hoopaholics, a group of women now in their mid-60s. They practice once a week in the LSUS gym and compete in five to six tournaments a year, as well as in the National Senior Games Association every other year. The women are emblematic of what appears to be an ever growing number of adults over 50 reviving an athletic endeavor they enjoyed as a youngster or taking up a sport for the first time. The number of participants and the available sports are expected to increase as more Baby Boomers seek ways to remain healthy as they age, according to experts like Del Moon, communications director for the NSGA. ``We have more than 10,000 participants in a wide variety of sports at our national games, held every other year, and about half of them picked up a sport in midlife,'' Moon said. ``The number of participants in senior athletics, especially at the state level, has definitely increased over the last 10 years and we want to see more.'' According to an NSGA website, the U.S. population of citizens over 65 years old will nearly triple by the year 2020. And many of them will be obese and suffer-

it served a couple of things for me,'' Gamble said. ``I get to share something I love in playing basketball with some people who have similar interests. And it gives me an opportunity to share a physical activity with others instead of having to do something like running alone.'' Locally, senior activities are booming as well, according to Shreveport Parks and Recreation supervisor of senior programs Camille Webb.

of the following centers: David Raines, Bill Cockrell, A.B. Palmer, Hattie Perry, Valencia or Lakeside. One of the newest participation sports on the SPAR agenda is bean bag baseball. `Ìt's sort of a cross between baseball and bowling where you toss the bag through a hole. They love it,'' Webb said. Also fairly new is chair volleyball, which allows wheelchair bound attendees to participate. `Ìt exercises your upper body and it's a lot of fun,'' Webb said. ``They cannot get out of their chairs to get the ball over the net.'' One of the newest games added into the NSG repertoire is pickleball, which incorporates some of the tenets of tennis, badminton and ping pong while being played on a badminton-sized court. `Ìt's a show stopper at the national tournament, and it's game that has grown approximately 50 percent in the last two years,'' said Tom Burkhart, pickleball director for the NSG. ``Plus it's easier on the joints and it's a lifetime sport. I've seen 9-year-olds playing it and I've played against a 92-year-old.'' Every year, an estimated 35,000 seniors qualify for the NSG through the 51 state organizations. Moon said about 10,000-12,000 show up to compete at nationals, but the organization isn't just about the competitions. ``We are tasked by the United States Olympic Committee to present health and fitness programs to individuals over 50 years old,'' Moon said. ``We take that very seriously and have made a huge effort in the last three years to honor our mission.''

‘We are tasked by the United States Olympic Committee to present health and fitness programs to individuals over 50 years old,’Moon said. ‘We take that very seriously’ and have made a huge effort in the last three years’ ``There have been increases. We average about 300 to 400 people per week in our programs run Monday through Friday,'' Webb said. ``We tell the people that they don't have to do something strenuous _ they just need to be doing something.'' SPAR offers everything from line dancing to dance aerobics to piano lessons, which exercise your mind, your arms and your fingers, according to Webb. Chair aerobics is run almost daily at one

LSUS professor Cay Evans said staying active is critical no matter a person's age. ``A part of the aging process is loss of muscle strength, flexibility and cardiovascular conditioning. Some of these changes are due to physiological changes in the body as it ages,'' Evans said. ``Some, though, are a result of a more sedentary lifestyle that can occur as one ages. Staying active is the best way to combat these changes.''-AP

LA museum in search for bugs, plants Cont'd from Page 51

Having finished talking about flies, he ventured outside to the center's 3.5-acre garden, a stone's throw from University of Southern California residence halls across a street divided by a busy commuter rail line. Armed with a butterfly net, Higgins quickly rounded up a ladybug while Brown flipped over a small bench and uncovered an army of obscure bugs, each of which he could name. Such curiosity helped lead to the founding of the center after the museum asked people in 2002 to show them any interesting spiders they came across for a study being done by Brown and col-

In Southern California, for example, museum scientists have discovered 43 species of phorid flies in recent years that they never knew existed in the region. ``There's nothing super-special about phorid flies, except to us of course, because we're experts on them,'' Brian Brown, the museum's entomology curator, said with a smile as a bunch of the flies were being meticulously examined in a ground-floor exhibit hall while a group of schoolchildren looked on google-eyed. ``But they are indicators of what might also be here, and it just points out how little known this city is,'' Brown said. `Èven Brown says keeping track though there are scienof such transplanted insects tific institutions that have been here over a and reptiles helps keep the hundred years, we still don't know what spe- ecology in balance cies live here.'' And of those that are known, it leagues. They quickly got 5,000 isn't clear how many of them got specimens. here. ``We thought, `What else can One of the most common spe- we do with the public?''' the entocies of fruit fly - those teeny tiny mologist recalled. bugs with a taste for rotten baAlthough the information colnanas and an annoying dive- lected by the Urban Nature Rebombing maneuverability - in search Center is largely for scienSouthern California was recently tists, Bettison-Varga said it can discovered to have come from a also benefit urban planners as they species native to El Salvador. Its propose future projects for this ancestors likely arrived here the dense area. same way as an Australian gecko With a bit of passion in his eyes, discovered by the museum - hitch- Brown said a better world for bugs ing a ride on a plane or ship filled and plants makes a better place for with plants or food. people, explaining that decompoBrown says keeping track of sition of bugs, plants and other such transplanted insects and rep- life improves the soil, which grows tiles helps keep the ecology in the plants that clean the air. Pavbalance. ing over certain habitat disturbs `Ìf there are 5,000 species and all that. a nasty invasive species gets in, `Ùltimately the goal is to make it's much harder for it to get estab- L.A. a better place for biodiversity lished,'' he said. and for humans,'' he said. -AP

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Great significance of Modi's visit to Saudi Arabia

India Post

RANJIT GUPTA

ome contextual background is essential to properly appreciate the significance of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2-3 April Saudi Arabia visit. Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have had a particularly special one-ofa-kind relationship since the beginning of the 1970s, the nature of which has no similarity with any other bilateral relationship in the world. Given this reality, there was little or no scope for India to develop any meaningful relationship with Saudi Arabia at its initiative. Something had to happen to impel Riyadh to look beyond Islamabad to New Delhi towards developing bilateral relations grounded in mutual benefit and advantage, consciously skirting the Pakistani factor. Over the past decade, Pakistan has increasingly degenerated into terrorism-infused instability. 2015 in particular witnessed deep strains in the special RiyadhIslamabad bilateral. This was due to a very public and emphatic rejection of Saudi requests for Pakistani troops towards the former's military involvement in Yemen, as well as the latter's ambivalence towards the Saudi-created Sunni Islamic alliance. On the other hand, over the same period, India's economy has been growing strongly and it was being courted by countries around the world. In terms of purchasing power parity, India is now the world's third-largest economy, and credible international entities and analysts are predicting that India could become the third-largest economy in absolute terms by 2030 and even the largest, by 2050. Energy is key for this to happen and sooner rather than later, India will need to import up to 90 per cent for its growing oil and gas requirements. Most of this will come from the Gulf region. Since 2005, Saudi Arabia has been India's largest oil supplier. Oil producers are facing enormous competition to maintain market share. India offers Saudi Arabia an assured, large and growing market in closer geographical proximity, and logistically the most hassle free destination than any other customer. Saudi Arabia has been India's fourth largest trading partner for some years now with bilateral trade having increased by an incredible nine times in the past decade. India's trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries

has witnessed the fastest growth rate in comparison to its trade any other region. Indian workers 8 million Indians live and work in the GCC countries, the largest expatriate group by far in each of the six GCC countries. There are over three million Indians in Saudi Arabia, making the Indian community there the largest Indian passport-holding population in any country in the world. Anticipating such developments, the visionary King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had chosen India as the second country to visit after ascending the throne. Saudi kings do not personally sign joint statements with foreign leaders. In 2006, however, in a very special gesture, he signed the 'New Delhi Declaration' with former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi, and later, the 'Riyadh Declaration' in 2010, when Singh paid a return visit to Riyadh. It is worth noting that the King spent almost four days in India compared to a little less than two days in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia's particularly special friend. There was nothing remotely comparable to the 'Delhi Declaration' in the mundane agreements that were signed with Pakistan. An MoU on defense cooperation was signed in 2014 when King Salman as the Crown Prince had visited India. A particularly welcome feature has been the excellent and expanding anti-terrorism cooperation extended by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the best that India receives world-wide. The US and Saudi Arabia jointly imposed sanctions on individuals linked to Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Taiba on the very eve of Modi's visit. It may be recalled that in 2012, Riyadh repatriated Abu Jundal and Fasih Mohamed to India. The issue of terrorism features particularly prominently in the April 2016 Joint Statement. Additionally, there exist no bilaterally contentious issues. The 2006 Delhi Declaration, the 2010 Riyadh Declaration, the 2014 MoU on Defense Cooperation, and the 2016 Joint Statement issued at the end of Prime Minister Modi's visit are documents that deserve to be read very carefully. They lay out in great detail the multi-dimensional nature of the evolving bilateral relationship between Saudi Arabia and India. The

Joint Statement commends "the successful transformation of bilateral relationship in political, economic, security, defense, manpower and people to people exchanges, in recent years, which have enriched bilateral ties," placing particularly heavy emphasis on defense, security and counter terrorism cooperation in all its multifarious dimensions. Deeper partnership Significantly, "the two leaders agreed to transform the buyerseller relationship in the energysector to one of deeper partnership focusing on investment and joint ventures in petrochemical complexes, and cooperation in joint exploration in India, Saudi Arabia and in third countriesâ&#x20AC;Ś(and underlined) .. the importance of energy security as a key pillar of the strategic partnership." After meeting, Prime Minister Khalid Al Falih, Chairman, ARAMCO Board, said it looks at India as "its most preferred investment destination." All this becomes even more noteworthy because India and Saudi Arabia/UAE have sharply different perceptions regarding current conflicts in West Asia; both sides have very consciously prevented these differences coming in the way of continuing to upgrade the already excellent bilateral relations. The New DelhiRiyadh bilateral is no longer hostage to any other relationship that either may have with any third country. In the context of current circumstances, that India has 180 million Muslims - the third largest in the world and the least radicalized - is an extremely positive factor that cannot be ignored by any West Asian country. Hopefully, Prime Minister Modi will pay early visits to Iran and Israel too. In fact, with the possible exception of China, no country in the world has simultaneously excellent bilateral relations with Iran, Israel, Palestine, Saudi Arabia and the UAE as India has. All these countries are in West Asia and are India's best bilateral relationships (excepting Bhutan) in the world despite the fact that, overall, West Asia is going through its worst ever period in its long blood soaked history. The writer is Distinguished Fellow, IPCS, former Indian Ambassador to Yemen and Oman, and former Member, National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), India. Courtesy IPCS

Third model

he deadly "revenge" model of Gujarat is well known when in February 2002 nearly a thousand Muslims were killed in retaliation for the burning of a railway coach carrying Hindu pilgrims. Since it happened under the chief ministership of Narendra Modi he is still not able to shake of that blot in spite of efforts like Lady Macbeth crying "Out Damned Spot." The second model of Gujarat is the economic one in which industry and infrastructure is promoted and which is now being replicated at the Center. There is a third Gujarat model also which is the most significant one and which most people have forgotten and therefore it needs a little retelling. A highly inflammable provocation was provided in September of the same year, 2002, when two terrorists armed with AK 47 rifles and grenades gunned down 31 devotees and injured over 70 at the renowned Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, the capital of Gujarat. Sadhu Brahmaviharidas, a survivor of the massacre, has detailed the incident and its impact in his book, 'Swaminarayan Hinduism,' an excerpt from which has been reproduced in the online magazine, Scroll. He writes, "The massacre, the attempt to blow up the main shrine, and the holy halls strewn with dead bodies and blood created nationwide panic. Some people sought "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth" response. Many right-wing groups declared protests and marches. Certain leaders vehemently pressured Pramukh Swami Maharaj to voice strong protest and harsh anger. I heard them urge retaliation. "However, Swamiji stayed calm and composed amid this turmoil. He walked the path of prayer and forgiveness. While debates, allegations, and anger mounted, Pramukh Swami Maharaj guided the crisis towards a peaceful outcome. "I vividly recall Swamiji constantly encouraging me over the phone to remain calm, to contain my hurt throughout the night: "Place a block of ice on your head. Anger is not the answer; peace is. Be careful with your words. So many have died, do not provoke more damage by irresponsible sentiments and statements." "Sadhu Parmeshwardas came out to call me back inside as I was near the podium with police officers. Amidst random gunfire he was shot dead, right before my eyes. I was too shattered to react. "Even then Swamiji telephoned to comfort me, saying, "I know it hurts you, but contain your pain. Do not make a hue and cry. Be responsible. We cannot allow religious strife to inflame and take more innocent lives." Swamiji silently swallowed this terribly unbearable event and prevented the news and images of the death of a Swaminarayan sadhu from spreading, lest they fan rage and riots. "Pramukh Swami Maharaj's emotional stability and a larger sense of responsibility to society kept BAPS together. He sanctified the entire Akshardham complex and organized a public prayer and condolence assembly. All throughout, his actions did not seek sympathy, but ensured stability and spiritual maturity. "Two things really struck me. Until today, Swamiji has never asked me or anyone the name, origin, or religion of the terrorists. Moreover, while blessing all the places of death and destruction in Akshardham, he asked me where the terrorists had died. I painfully pointed out the spot where they had been shot and saw him sprinkle sanctified flowers there, praying: "May no one think of attacking anyone, any place, or any religion. May the world be freed from thoughts of terror." "When I informed Swamiji that reporters were inquiring whether BAPS would preserve its memory by constructing a memorial of the attack, Pramukh Swami Maharaj simply instructed us: 'We should forgive and forget. Keep no traces or memories of the scars and hurts'." Once a disciple disturbed over some incident approached his Master seeking justice. "Sorry", said the Master, "There is no such commodity available here. There is only grace and mercy." This third model of Gujarat also needs to be remembered.

April 22, 2016

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