IndiaPost_05-20-2016_e-paper

Top Stories

V O I C E

O F

I N D I A N S

W O R L D W I D E

India Post www.indiapost.com

NEW YORK • WASHINGTON D.C. • CHICAGO • ATLANTA • CALIFORNIA

Aishwarya, Sonam dazzle at Cannes Details on page 50

India, US hold talks on maritime security Details on page 5

VOL 21, No. 1129

May 20, 2016

50¢

Periodical Postage

INDIA REJECTS U.S. IPR REPORT AS 'UNILATERAL' NEW DELHI: Doing some tough-speaking, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the US Special 301 report on IPR is a "unilateral" move and no country has any right to interfere in the sovereign position of other nation.

These remarks assume significance as the US continues to put India on its 'priority watch list' for intellectual property rights (IPR) through its Special 301 report that was released last month.

It was alleged that India's IPR regime is not in compliance with global norms, a charge India strongly contests at all forums.

"Let me be very clear that the Special 301 report is a

unilateral report which the US produces. Actually speaking, no country has any right to interfere in the sovereign position of another nation or to inspect, oversee or put it under watch," Sitharaman told PTI. Asked about her views on whether the US would consider the new National IPR policy, announced by India, in preparing the next report, she said the decision which the US may take "does not worry me at all".

She said: "We do not give them a space because that (the report) is not done with mutual consent. I am not worried about that."

Details on page 5

Manjit Singh

Obama appoints Indian-American to key post Details on page 5

'Go home' graffiti near Canada gurdwara Details on page 6

London Mayor Sadiq Khan visits UK temple Details on page 6

Another Bobby contesting from Nevada

US mission in India wins greening award

Details on page 6

Details on page 7

US trying to sow India, China discord: Beijing

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

Details on page 8

Community Post -------------- 16-23 Date Book -------------------------- 47

INDIA POST SURVEY

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

survey@indiapost.com

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

This week’s question

Horoscope ------------------------- 31 Immigration Post ------------- 12-14

Can India’s aircraft Tejas match international standards?

Life Style ----------------------- 50-53 Philosophy ------------------------- 49

Last week’s result

Can Kal Penn work in a Hindi movie?

YES 43%

NO 57%

THUMBS UP FOR TEJAS: Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Arup

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

Raha during his maiden flight in India's home grown Light Combat Aircraft Tejas on May 17. He gave it his approval for induction.

(Details on page 7)

Real Estate -------------------- 32-35

Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765”

TechBiz Post ------------------- 24-26 Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 36-39

2

India Post

www.indiapost.com

May 20, 2016

May 20, 2016

India Post www.indiapost.com

NEWS on your desktop www.indiapost.com

3

4 India Post

May 20, 2016

India Post

IndiaNewsweekly Post

www.indiapost.com The Weekly Newspaper Serving Indians Worldwide

Romesh & Sunita Japra Publishers Rajesh Verma Co-Publisher Vikram Paul President Krishan Sharma Mg Director & Joint Editor Vinod Dhawan Senior Editor Naresh Sodhi General Manager Amit Saini IT Director Ghanshyam Bisht Supervisor Graphics SAN FRANCISCO & SILICON VALLEY Vidya Sethuraman Bureau Chief Vijay Thapar CPRO & Advertising Deepak Chhabra Promotions Ritu Maheshwari Director Promotions Sonia Sidhu Marketing Analyst Rakesh Kapoor Correspondent Ratika J. Paul Photo Journalist Sudesh Kumari Correspondent Priya Nayar Marketing Rakesh Kapoor Photo Journalist Archana Asthana Correspondent Sujata Singh Correspondent Manasi Maheshwari Youth Correspondent LOS ANGELES Mrs Shashi Trivedi Bureau Chief Mrs Prem Kishore Sr Correspondent Greg Heffernan Correspondent Ms Bobby Sharma Correspondent Babeeta Kaur Dhillon Correspondent Pavan Kaur Bhatia Correspondent CHICAGO Ramesh Soparawala Resident Editor A Q Siddiqui Correspondent ST. LOUIS Ashwin Patel Correspondent NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY Pinky Kaur Bureau Chief Srirekha N. Chakravarty Correspondent Nikita Japra Correspondent Sukhvinder Saini Circulation ATLANTA Sanjay Saggere Bureau Chief FLORIDA B K Madnani CANADA Firdaus Ali Correspondent BOSTON Gope Gidwani Bureau Chief

Mission Statement To empower the Indian Diaspora and make their voice strong and effective in countries of their adoption. RJ Media conglomerate offers a credible, professional and complete package of news, opinion, entertainment, networking and information.

Publisher’s Diary

I

am reminded of what Ronald Reagan had once said to someone: "It's not that you are ignorant, it's just that what you know is wrong." But even that would be putting it mildly for Donald Trump's unfiltered proclamations, especially those made against Muslims and immigrants.

No, Donald Trump is definitely not stupid. The presumptive Republican nominee for President, who had to make that assertion about stupidity in response to British Prime Minister David Cameron's views on Trump's idea of a Muslim ban, is more than just that. I'd say he is dangerously stupid.

Well, I am as concerned as any other sane body is about Trump's cannonball mouth that has a mind of its own as it spews statement after incendiary statement which seem to have little or no connection to a brain and its filtration process. In statements made to the National Border Patrol Council recently, Trump made rather ominous predictions like: "Bad things will happen - a lot of bad things will happen. There will be attacks that you wouldn't believe… there'll be attacks by people (Syrian refugees) that are right now coming into our country because I have no doubt in my mind." And then says "they have cell phones, they don't have money but they have cell phones… who pays their monthly charges, right?… they have cell phones with ISIS flags on them."

What is the basis of Donald Trump's proclamations, I wonder. Did he actually see such a cell phone or did he get some kind of intelligence report from an authorized agency or is it simply a large figment of his infertile imagination? No prizes for guessing that one. Whether or not Trump and the new Muslim Mayor of London have an IQ showdown (there's a real chance that Trump could win that one), the former ain't buckling down from showing off his intelligence, which to most normal people appears irrational. So, since stupid is what stupid does, people of America still have a good smacking opportunity to exercise their freedom of choice.

Meanwhile, I'll take tried and tested political rhetoric any day over, if I may coin a word, Trumpidity.

Romesh K Japra

rkjapra@indiapost.com

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

INFO-CENTER CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS 1860 Mowry Ave # 200 Fremont, CA 94538 Tel: 510-565-9993, Fax: 510-790-2806; E-mail: vidya@indiapost.com

HIGHLIGHTS Bollywood: Millennial Leader US News has named Priyanka Chopra, who has successfully transitioned to Hollywood, in the list of 10 Millennial Leaders

Cover Story: IPR report 'unilateral' Doing some tough-speaking, India has rejected the US Special 301 report on IPR as a "unilateral" move

Community: Rally for Bangla minorities Dozens the DC-metro area attended a rally to express solidarity with religious and social minorities of Bangladesh

28 5 16

Immigration: Vote put off The Board of San Francisco Supervisors have put off a vote on when immigrants can be turned over to the U.S. govt.

E-SUBSCRIPTION: Vidya Sethuraman Tel: 510-491-4867; E-mail: vidya@indiapost.com

12

Classifieds: Tel: 510-491-4867; E-mail: vidya@indiapost.com Graphics Inquiry: Tel: 510-936-9490; E-mail: ghanshyam@indiapost.com For Editorial: Vidya Sethuraman Tel: 510-491-4867; E-mail: vidya@indiapost.com

For advertisement rates call the office nearest to you: SAN FRANCISCO & SILICON VALLEY 1860 Mowry Ave # 200 Fremont, CA 94538 Tel: 510-938-8667 e-mail: nareshsodhi@gmail.com Vidya Sethuraman: 510-491-4867 e-mail: vidya@indiapost.com

LOS ANGELES

16224 Alpine Pl. La Mirada, CA 90638 Tel: 562-441-5511, shashi19@yahoo.com

CHICAGO 2543 W Devon Ave Chicago IL 60659 Tel: 773-973-7394; Fax: 773-973-7396; Email: sramesh@aol.com

NEW YORK

VADODARA, GUJARAT Vaidehi Patel Correspondent

Tel: 908-338-3752 (Marketing) Tel: 732-283-4939 (Editorial) E-mail: indiapost2000@yahoo.com

India Post (ISSN-1064-3868) is published weekly for $30 for 52 issues yearly by India Post, 1860 Mowry Ave # 200 Fremont, CA 94538. Periodicals postage paid at Norwalk, CA and additional mailing office.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the corporate headquarters: 1860 Mowry Ave # 200 Fremont, CA 94538 Copyright © 1994 Indamec, Inc. DISCLAIMER India Post assumes all advertisers to be reliable and responsible for all liability for their claimers

NEW JERSEY 21 Longfellow st., Carteret, NJ 07008 Tel: 732-969-1114; Fax: 732-969-3735 E-mail: indiapost2000@yahoo.com

BOSTON

Tel: 617-298-9200; Fax: 617-298-1104 GOPE; E-mail: ggidwani@aol.com

Life style: Bold looks at Cannes

ATLANTA 67 Peach Tree Dr., Ste. 102, Buckhead Atlanta, GA 30309, Tel: 404-425-3021 E-mail: sanjay@eBolo.com FLORIDA 8401 West Sample Road 30, Coral Springs, Florida - 33065

Both Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Sonam Kapoor chose sassy, bold and experimental looks at the Cannes Film Festival

TORONTO, CANADA Tel/Fax: 416-744-8610 DELHI 230-A, 3 rd Floor, Jin Kushal Suri Complex, Masjid Moth, (NDSE Part-II) New Delhi - 110049 Tel: 11-26257769 E-mail:delhi@indiapost.com MUMBAI • Fernandes Mansion Tam Taloa, Bassien (W) Mumbai Tel: 09619 330159

Techbiz:

VADODARA

Travel:

• Vaidehi Patel 31/32 J\Jaysantosi Nagar Society, behind Utkarsh Petrol Pump, Karelibaug, Vadodara-390018. Gujarat (India) E-mail: v_patel83@yahoo.com Tel: 011 91 98797 79976

For editorial, contact: editor@indiapost.com or call 510-797-7799

Investors must pay taxes Arun Jaitley has said investors must pay taxes on money earned in India and ruled out any depletion of FDI

Mussoorie From the Mall, main artery of Mussoorie, there is a feast of views of the surrounding hills and Doon Valley below

50 24 36

Cover/Top Stories

May 20, 2016

India Post

5

www.indiapost.com

India rejects US IPR report as 'unilateral' NEW DELHI: Doing some tough-speaking, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said the US Special 301 report on IPR is a "unilateral" move and no country has any right to interfere in the sovereign position of other nation.

These remarks assume signifi-

global norms, a charge India strongly contests at all forums.

"Let me be very clear that the Special 301 report is a unilateral report which the US produces.

Actually speaking, no country has any right to interfere in the sovereign position of another nation or to inspect, oversee or put it under

"Let me be very clear that the Special 301 report is a unilateral report which the US produces. Actually speaking, no country has any right to interfere in the sovereign position of another nation or to inspect, oversee or put it under watch," Sitharaman told PTI cance as the US continues to put India on its 'priority watch list' for intellectual property rights (IPR) through its Special 301 report that was released last month.

It was alleged that India's IPR regime is not in compliance with

watch," Sitharaman told PTI. Asked about her views on whether the US would consider the new National IPR policy, announced by India, in preparing the next report, she said the decision which the US may take "does not

worry me at all".

She said: "We do not give them a space because that (the report) is not done with mutual consent. I am not worried about that."

The developed countries have raised questions about section 3 (d) of the Indian Patent Act 1970 and compulsory licensing (CL), saying the norms restrict innovation.

The section does not allow patent to be granted to inventions involving new forms of a known substance unless it differs significantly in properties with regard to efficacy.

In a way, it stops ever-greening of patents.

The minister said India is the country which provides affordable medicines to the whole world.

"Even many developed countries see India as the biggest source of bulk drugs and therefore, (it is) for us to see that our

interests are safeguarded. Our intention on this are recorded and articulated well," she added.

report to create pressure on countries to enhance IPR protection beyond the TRIPS (Trade-Related

Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

The minister had recently said the US releases the Special 301

Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) agreement. -PTI

India, US hold Maritime Security Dialogue NEW DELHI: India and the US held their first Maritime Security Dialogue here which focused on boosting cooperation in the challenging sector, with Washington rebalancing its military assets to Asia Pacific.

Officials from both countries

cas (AMS) Munu Mahawar.

Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs David Shear, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Manpreet Anand, and Vice Admiral Aucoin, Commander, US Sev-

agreed to during Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter's recent visit to India and is a further sign of the growing relations between our two countries," a statement by the American Embassy here said.

Even though US wants it, In-

The US wants its regional allies to adopt a more united stance against China over the South China Sea, where tension has spiked since China's construction of seven islands in the Spratly archipelago

spiked since China's construction of seven islands in the Spratly archipelago.

China claims almost the whole of the South China Sea, resulting in overlapping claims with several other Asian nations like Vietnam and the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei.

However, they accuse China of illegally reclaiming land in contested areas to create artificial islands with facilities that could potentially be for military use. PTI

Obama appoints IndianAmerican to key post

US and Indian officials at the first US-India Maritime Security Dialogue in New Delhi

met at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan for the US-India Maritime Security Dialogue.

The Indian side was represented by Joint Secretary in charge of Planning and International Cooperation (PIC) in the Defense Ministry, Shambhu Kumaran and Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary, Ameri-

enth Fleet, were the officials from the American side.

The discussion focused on strategic maritime security issues like Asia-Pacific maritime challenges, naval cooperation, and multilateral engagement.

US Ambassador to India Richard Verma participated and said, "The creation of this dialogue was

dia has flatly refused to conduct joint naval patrols in areas including the South China Sea where Beijing has maritime and territorial disputes with several neighbors.

The US wants its regional allies to adopt a more united stance against China over the South China Sea, where tension has

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama has appointed an Indian-American engineer to a key administration post, the White House said.

Manjit Singh, co-founder of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund has been appointed as the member of President's Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.

The announcement came along with several other appointments made by the US President.

"These fine public servants bring a depth of experience and tremendous dedication to their important roles. I look forward to working with them," Obama said in a statement.

President of Agilious, a software technology consulting firm he founded in 2013, Singh is also the co-founder and chairman of the Board of Directors of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, a national Sikh American media, policy and education organization.

He served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Guru Gobind Singh Foundation and also as a Member-at-Large of The Board of the Interfaith Conference of Metropolitan in Washington.

Singh received a Master of Science degree from the State University of New York at Albany and a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Bombay in India. PTI

6

Top Stories

India Post

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

Bobby Mahindra contesting for Nevada Senate WASHINGTON: An IndianAmerican public accountant is running for a Senate seat in the US state of Nevada by employing

get "dirty money" out of politics.

Bobby Mahindra is pinning his hope on the grass-roots campaign he built to replace Senate Major-

"I always wanted to be able to give back to the Community through service to country, and I knew that I would run for office one day; however, I never expected it to be right now! I looked at the candidates that were offered on the political landscape, and I didn't feel that any candidate offered what I wanted," Mahindra said a non-conventional anti-corruption campaign which promises to

ity Leader Harry Reid, 76, who has held the position uninterrupted

since 1987.

Mahindra, 42, claimed he had "achieved the real front runner status" by building a grass-roots campaign on the Facebook and, unlike other candidates, has not taken a single penny from corrupt sources.

"I am the most liked politician (on Facebook) in the State of Nevada. One of my main goals is to help get dirty money out of politics," Mahindra told PTI. "I always wanted to be able to give back to the Community through service to country, and I knew that I would run for office one day; however, I never expected it to be right now! I looked at the candidates that were offered on the political landscape, and I didn't feel

London Mayor Sadiq Khan visits UK temple LONDON: Pictures of London's first Muslim mayor Sadiq Khan's visit to one of the city's most famous temples where he performed rituals ahead of his election have gone viral on social media.

Pictures from the temple visit emerged on social media this week as Khan described the Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in north London's Neasden as one of his favorites.

"Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden is one of my favorite

said.

In one of the pictures, Khan, who is son of a Pakistani migrant bus driver, is seen performing "Jalabhishek" or water ritual on a golden idol of Shri Swaminarayan.

The visit was a clear attempt on his part to stress his message of wanting to be a mayor for "all Londoners".

"Let me be very clear, I'm not a Muslim leader or Muslims' spokesperson, I'm the mayor of London. I speak for all Londoners," the Labour party politician

smith chose to set out to divide London's communities in an attempt to win votes in some areas and suppress voters in other parts of the city," Khan had written in The Observer, in his first article a day after being sworn in as the new mayor on May 9.

"They used fear and innuendo to try to turn different ethnic and religious groups against each other something straight out of the Donald Trump playbook. Londoners deserved better and I hope it's something the Conservative party will never try to repeat," he said.

Goldsmith's camp has been criticized for using unpleasant tactics in the campaign, including trying to cash in on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity among Indian-origin Londoners by issuing leaflets with the message "Standing up for the British-Indian community".

Khan is reportedly planning a visit to India soon, in an attempt to counter this negative messaging Mayor Sadiq Khan participating in a ritual at Swami Narayan temple in London and present his secular credentials. places in London," the 45-year- had told reporters soon after his Khan beat Goldsmith with 57 old had said on his Facebook post victory. per cent votes - the largest mandated May 3, days before his runThe British capital's first Mus- date of any British politician in away victory in the mayoral elec- lim mayor, elected by an over- history - marking the return of tions. whelming mandate, has criticized Labor rule to the UK capital after "As Mayor, I will stand up for British Prime Minister David eight years.

London's Indian community, and Cameron's government and his He was officially sworn-in as strengthen London's friendship Conservative party mayoral cam- the new mayor of London at a with India. I look forward to lead- paign rival Zac Goldsmith for their multi-faith ceremony in ing a trade delegation to India at divisive election campaign.

Southwark Cathedral here on May the earliest opportunity," Khan "David Cameron and Zac Gold- 7. -PTI

that any candidate offered what I wanted," Mahindra said.

Mahindra, whose father Narendra Lal Mahindra is from Gwalior and mother Sunita Mahindra from Punjab, is pitted against three other candidates including the frontrunner Catnerine Cortez Masto, the former Attorney General of Nevada, in the Democratic primary seat vacated Reid.

Reid, who is not seeking a re-election, has endorsed Masto to replace him.

The State primary is scheduled on June 14 and the general elections on November 8.

"I wanted a politician that would stand for the anticorruption movement (ie No Money in Politics), that was socially liberal, but fiscally conservative! Eventually I realized that it's better to be part of the solution than to be part of the problem by complaining all the time," he said.

Mahindra now has 21,000 supporters on his Facebook page as against less than 15,000 of Masto. Republican Senate race front runner Congressman Joe Heck has less than 17,000.

Mahindra, who has lived in Las Vegas since 2011, said he is running a non-conventional campaign and hopes this would yield results in the June primaries.

He is using his Facebook page as a discussion board, wherein he says he addresses Nevadans directly by posting personal responses to complex political topics that politicians deflect with the established "non-answers".

Bobby Mahindra

"Immediately after the release of the Panama Papers corruption scandal, which includes politicians, celebrities, and extremely rich people from all across the world our campaign literally took off as frustration with the political process is now at a breaking point," Mahindra said.

He alleged Masto and Heck were only front runners in raising money from corrupt special Interests, super PACs, and Corporate America with each raising over USD 5 million.

"Without corruption we can easily Grow America with new leadership from Nevada! Socially Liberal, but Fiscally Conservative!" he said. -PTI

'Go home' graffiti near Canada Sikh temple TORONTO: A graffiti that read "Go Home" along with what appear to be swastikas has been scrawled on the fence near a Sikh temple in the Canadian city of Martindale.

A lawyer came across graffiti scrawled on the fence near the Dashmesh Culture Centre, Sikh temple, a day after Nagar Kirtan procession was organized by the centre during which they handed out food as they walk through the community.

"For a few seconds, I was in a state of shock, I just couldn't believe what I was seeing," Usman Mahmood was quoted as saying

by CBC News.

Someone had written "Go Home" along with what appear

to be swastikas, close to centre.

"I have seen pictures, I have heard about things, I have read about things but seeing this for the first time, it is a little disturbing," he said.

Mahmood said diversity is one of the things he loves about the Martindale community.

"Within a few kilometer-range you have a lot of religions, a lot of faith, a lot of communities that live with a lot of peace and harmony. It is a great community to live in, but it is very sad to see this."

"People from all sorts of faiths.

Whoever lives around this area should stand up to it and say, 'this is not going to happen in my neighborhood.'" -PTI

May 20, 2016

Top Stories

India Post

7

www.indiapost.com

Tejas good for induction: Air Chief BENGALURU: IAF chief Air Chief Mar- qualities of the aircraft and congratulated integration of avionics, simulated weapon LCA was expected to be formed by July shal Arup Raha on May 17 took his maiden the entire team of HAL and others involved integration and to get a feel of operational 2016, HAL said. flight in India's home grown Light Combat in getting the LCA program to this stage. capability during the flight, it said.

The Air Chief also inaugurated LCA Aircraft Tejas, callPainting hangar at ing it "good" for inHAL's LCA Tejas duction.

Division, and took An ace pilot himstock of HTT-40 self, Raha is the first (Basic Trainer) Chief of Air Staff to which was parked fly the indigenously on the tarmac bedesigned and prosides visiting LCA duced Tejas in about production line and a 30-minute sortie other facilities. over Bengaluru skies IAF currently around the HAL airplans to acquire 120 port here. Group Tejas aircraft, with Captain M 100 of these having Rangachari was with major modifications. him in the twinThe force wants seater trainer airActive Electrically craft.

Scanned Array "It is my first sor(AESA) Radar, Unitie in Tejas, it is a fied Electronic Wargood aircraft for infare (EW) Suite, duction into IAF opmid-air refueling caerations," Raha was pacity and beyond quoted as saying by the vision range Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha lands the Light Combat Aircraft (Tejas) after a sortie at HAL Bengaluru on May 17 the aircraft maker missiles.

Hindustan AeronauAs per the proThe series production of the Tejas air- duction plan, six aircraft will be made this tics Limited (HAL).

"It is a morale boosting gesture from the The Air Chief Marshal carried out man IAF Chief that reposes great confidence of craft has already commenced at HAL year and HAL will subsequently scale it up oeuvres in the entire flying envelope of the our valuable customer in our abilities," HAL Bengaluru and the first squadron of the to eight and 16 aircraft per year. -PTI aircraft, an HAL statement said, adding he CMD T Suvarna Raju said. carried out simulated air to air and air to During the sortie, the Air chief checked ground attacks. for himself the take off, climb performances He also assessed the advanced modes and agility of the aircraft by carrying out of the radar and Helmet Mounted Display aerobatic man oeuvres, a Defense release Sight (HMDs). said.

HAL said Raha appreciated the flying This was also an opportunity to see the

US mission in India wins greening diplomacy award WASHINGTON: The American diplo- Department's effort to support environmenmatic mission in India has won the presti- tal policy priorities and catalyze climate gious greening diplomacy initiative award action in host countries through leveragof the State Department for its innovative ing the United States embassies and conwhole-of-country approach to greening. sulates.

In a statement, the State Department said Consulate General Ciudad Juarez was the one particular category of the GDI named the 2016 GDI Award winner, while Award chosen by employee vote, went for the US Embassy Lusaka was named the include Mission India for an innovative runner-up. whole-of-country approach to greening.

Employees also chose US Embassy "One of its consulates, Consulate Gen- Amman to win an accolade for working to eral Kolkata, even reduced water use by 45 In a statement, the State Department said the per cent one particular category of the GDI Award through waste water recy- chosen by employee vote, went for include cling," the State D e p a r t m e n t Mission India for an innovative whole-ofsaid. country approach to greening IndianAmerican Richard Verma is the current US Ambassador to save energy and water in a dry climate, India. avoiding substantial costs.

Each Earth Day, GDI Awards recognize Tri-Mission Rome was an honorable innovative leadership within the Depart- mention for obtaining the Department s first ment of State in energy and environmental LEED Certification for Existing Buildings diplomacy. for a facility that is nearly 100 years old. Since 2009, GDI has been the PTI

8

Top Stories

India Post

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

'US trying to sow discord between China, India' BEIJING: Accusing the US of "sowing discord" between China and India, Beijing has said the two neighbors are wise enough to resolve their boundary dispute peacefully through talks and asked America to respect their efforts.

Dismissing as groundless a Pentagon report that claimed the Communist giant was deploying more troops along the Sino-India borders, China said that it was a misrepresentation of its military development.

response to PTI here about the US report.

"Currently, the border forces of China and India are actively carrying out exchanges, working towards establishing hotline between the two militaries, and are in close communication through the mechanism of border personnel meetings," it said.

"The situation in the China-India border is overall peaceful and stable. The relevant statements by US defense officials are clearly unsubstantiated and intended to

"The Chinese side is committed to safeguarding peace and tranquility of the border areas between China and India, and resolving the boundary question through negotiation with India," the Foreign Ministry said in written response to PTI "Maintaining peace and tranquility along the China-India border areas is an important consensus reached between the leaders of the two countries," the Chinese Defense Ministry said in written

sow discord," between India and China, the ministry said.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry in a written response said the US must respect India-China efforts to resolve the boundary dis-

pute peacefully through negotiations.

India and China last month held the 19th round of talks to resolve the border dispute stretching along the 3488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC).

While China says that the boundary dispute is confined to 2,000 kms, mainly in Arunachal Pradesh in eastern sector which it claims as part of southern Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covered the whole of the LAC including the Aksai Chin.

"The Chinese side is committed to safeguarding peace and tranquility of the border areas between China and India, and resolving the boundary question through negotiation with India," the Foreign Ministry said in written response to PTI. "China and India are wise and capable enough to deal with this issue. It is hoped that other country would respect efforts made by China and India for the peaceful settlement of dispute, rather than the opposite," the Foreign Ministry said, without directly referring to United States.

US backs, China blocks India's NSG bid BEIJING: Notwithstanding the US' strong backing for India to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group, China has harped on the need for consensus in the elite body where it is reportedly pushing for Pakistan's entry.

"The NSG has made serious political and technical standards with regard to accepting members.

One compulsory standard is that the NSG members must be signatory states to the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT)," Chinese For-

"This year's consensus which has long upheld by the international community and was also reaffirmed in last year's NPT review session," he said skirting any references to Pakistan which has received a number of China-made nuclear reactors including the two of 1,100 MW being installed in Karachi plant.

India, Pakistan, Israel and South Sudan are among four UN member states which have not signed the NPT, the international

“China together with the other NSG members believes that with regard to accepting the membership of non-NPT countries, the NSG members should discuss this based on the NSG rules and standards and make decisions on consensus� eign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said here.

Asked what are the criteria that China wants non-NPT members to follow to get admitted to the 48member NSG and on what basis it carried on with civil nuclear cooperation with Pakistan, Hong said like other non-proliferation regimes NSG is also based on the NPT.

pact aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. The NSG has already granted an exclusive waiver for India in 2008 to access civil nuclear technology after China reluctantly backed India's case based on the IndoUS nuclear deal.

According to reports from the US, China is equating Pakistan's case with India now and also

wants its close ally to be admitted into the NSG despite Islamabad's questionable record on non-proliferation.

"All multilateral non-proliferation regimes, including the NSG, take NPT membership as the requirement to accept new members. China together with the other NSG members believes that with regard to accepting the membership of non-NPT countries, the NSG members should discuss this based on the NSG rules and standards and make decisions on consensus," Hong said.

Asked about State Department spokesman John Kirby's comments that India meets missile technology control regime requirements and is ready for NSG membership, Hong said "We have noted such reports," but did not comment on India's case.

"China supports and played a constructive role in the discussion recently held in NSG. China also states that such position targets no particular country and this position applies to all nonNPT countries. China sticks to this position in order to maintain international nuclear non-proliferation regime based on the NPT," he said. -PTI

The US report also warned of increasing Chinese military presence in various parts of the world, particularly Pakistan.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia Abraham M Denmark told media in Washington on May 14 that

"It is difficult to conclude on the real intention behind this," Denmark said after submitting Pentagon's annual 2016 report to the US Congress.

"It is difficult to say how much of this is driven by internal considerations to maintain internal

While China says that the boundary dispute is confined to 2,000 kms, mainly in Arunachal Pradesh in eastern sector which it claims as part of southern Tibet, India asserts that the dispute covered the whole of the LAC including the Aksai Chin "we have noticed an increase in capability and force posture by the Chinese military in areas close to the border with India."

stability and how much of it is an external consideration," he said when asked about China's military command in Tibet. -PTI

Revise Sikh immigrants blacklist: Amarinder CHANDIGARH: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh has said the blacklist containing names of Sikhs who migrated to various countries during militancy must be revisited, arguing that all those who went abroad were not "anti-national" but most of them "actually job seekers".

Amarinder said he will take up the matter with Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj.

He was speaking to media persons two days after his return from the United States.

He said those who used "political asylum" to seek jobs should be allowed to visit India, though he advocated excluding "antinationals".

The PCC chief said he had a "very successful" tour of the US and dismissed suggestions that there were protests or people opposed his visit.

He said the self-styled rights group 'Sikhs for Justice' never talked about justice to anyone.

"There is a widespread perception among people there that the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) kingpin Gurpatwant Pannu is doing all this at the behest of the ISI and is being funded and financed by

anti-India forces," he said.

On cancelling his Canada visit, Amarinder said he had already hired services of a lawyer there and will go to that country soon after the matter has been sorted out.

He dismissed allegations leveled by the SFJ that he "prompted or patronized" the police officers allegedly involved in torture of people during the days of militancy.

On the list of PCC vice presidents, general secretaries, and

Amarinder Singh

district presidents, Amarinder said he had tried to accommodate as many people as possible.

He also made it clear he had not removed any of the earlier office-bearers but had only made some additions.

He said some people left out in the original list and were also being accommodated. -PTI

Top Stories

May 20, 2016

India Post

9

www.indiapost.com

Chef Kapoor menu for Navodaya schools AHMEDABAD: Delicacies conceived by celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor may soon be on the platter of students studying in Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas.

Union HRD Minister Smriti

the cooks of these residential schools.

According to Irani, the decision has been taken with an aim to provide best facilities to the students of Navodaya schools,

Sanjeev Kapoor

Irani said her ministry has decided to rope in Kapoor to prepare menu of food to be served at all Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas and to train

which are run by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

"Bright students from humble family background take admission

in these boarding schools. To provide facilities parallel to private boarding schools, we have decided to rope in celebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoor to prepare the menu of the food served in these schools," she said at the foundation stone laying ceremony of a JNV at Hathijan village near here.

"Apart from preparing the menu of these schools, Kapoor will also provide training to all the cooks of these boarding schools.

Our aim is to make students feel that they are studying in a school which is no less than a private boarding school," the Minister said.

Navodaya Vidyalayas, affiliated to the CBSE, offer free education to meritorious students, mainly from rural areas, from Class-VI to XII. "This school here will also have smart classrooms, which will reflect Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Digital India' vision. It is my promise that this school will be made operational by 2019. Two such schools will also come up in Valsad and Dahod districts in near future," she added. -PTI

HSBC to move 840 IT jobs from UK LONDON: Global banking major HSBC will move 840 IT jobs from the UK to other countries as part of its cost-cutting plan that will eliminate 8,000 British jobs by the end of 2017, drawing flak from labor unions for the "ruthless" move to shift jobs to countries like India and China.

The UK-headquartered banking group will shift the 840 IT jobs by March next year as part of a wider cost-cutting plan to boost profits.

John Hackett, chief operating officer of HSBC UK, said: "In our investor update in June 2015, and many times since, we have stated that we are targeting significant cost reductions by the end of 2017.

"As part of a global relocation exercise, around 840 noncustomer-facing IT roles will transfer from the UK to other sites around the world by the end of March 2017. The UK will continue to play an important role in HSBC's global IT infrastructure, employing several thousand IT professionals."

The majority of the roles affected by the latest announcement are based in Sheffield, Tankersley in South Yorkshire and London.

Unite, the union for bank workers, said it was a "reckless" drive to move jobs offshore to low cost countries like India, China, and Poland.

Dominic Hook, Unite's national officer for finance, said: "HSBC's decision to axe so many IT jobs is

"Offshoring IT jobs to socalled 'low-cost economies' is extremely short-sighted. As IT glitches across the banks continue to prove, it is ultimately the customers who will suffer the consequences," he said.

The bank had announced a

as ruthless as it is reckless. For almost a year staff have been left in the dark about their futures, only to be told that before being shown the door they're expected to train someone in India or China who will do their job for less money. It's a deeply cynical move by a bank which wants to be an 'employer of choice'."

three-year restructuring plan last year to improve earnings hurt by high compliance costs, fines and low interest rates.

The restructuring is expected to eventually eliminate one job in five aro und the world and around one-sixth of jobs in Britain, amounting to nearly 8,000 job losses in the UK by the end of next year. -PTI

Disney seeks dismissal of lawsuit over H-1B staff WASHINGTON: Walt Disney ance.

World has sought dismissal of a HCL too filed its response on lawsuit filed against it by a former Perrero's lawsuit. Both HCL and employee who alleged that the Disney have sought dismissal of firm colluded with HCL to displace the lawsuit.

American workers with cheap for"In sum, when the Complaint's eign labor brought to the US on many unsupported conclusory alH-1B visas, mostly from India. legations and mistakes of law are "The Complaint (by a former stripped away, the ordinary busiDisney employee) contains not a single plausible allegation to “This Court should dismiss bridge the gap between a common place com- the Complaint because mercial outsourcing arPlaintiff's claims are based rangement and the knowing conspiracy to on a fundamental violate federal immigration law that Plaintiff misunderstanding of immiasserts," Disney said in gration law," HCL its latest filing before a court in Florida in response to a class action lawsuit ness arrangement on which Plainfiled against it. tiff relies is fully explained by lawIn his lawsuit, Leo Perrero al- ful motivations and Plaintiff's conleged that Disney, his former em- spiracy claims fail. The Complaint ployer, and HCL colluded with should be dismissed with prejueach other when telling the De- dice," Disney said in its filing bepartment of Labor that the hiring fore the US court. of foreigners on visas would not "This Court should dismiss the adversely affect the working con- Complaint because Plaintiff's ditions of US workers. claims are based on a fundamenPerrero alleged that Disney tal misunderstanding of immigraemployees were asked to train tion law," HCL said in its filing their replacements or lose sever- before the court. -PTI

Sanjeev Gupta to restart Caparo steelworks LONDON: Indian-origin businessman Sanjeev Gupta's Liberty House has announced that it would be restarting from next month steelworks in south Wales which it had acquired from NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul's Caparo Group last year.

The firm, also at the forefront of a bid to acquire Tata Steel's UK assets, said it will commence steel pipe and tube manufacturing from June at Tredegar in the South Wales Valleys, which had been closed when it went into administration in 2015.

"Tredegar will once again supply steel tube domestically.

This is great news for the UK steel industry and for skilled workers in South Wales. It is also another step in turning the tide for the UK's steel industry. Steel tube is a vital link in the supply chain and adds to the integration which is essential for the sector," Gupta said.

"The steel ecosystem is at the heart of manufacturing, and the global oversupply of steel increases the need for the UK to

refocus our industrial strategy around both reducing costs and adding value to steel. Without significant change we will lose the remaining cornerstone of manufacturing," he said.

"Our plan is to restructure the sector around production effi-

Sanjeev Gupta

ciency, engineering integration, and innovation. Britain's outstanding skills, engineering and production knowledge and resources can re-invigorate the supply chain and bring about a new industrial renaissance," he explained.-PTI

Top Stories

10 India Post

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

ATA Convention drive gathers momentum KEERTHI KUMAR RAVOORI

CHICAGO: American Telugu Association's (ATA) Convention Registration campaign has gone into overdrive eliciting huge response from families in Illinois with a recent registration drive conducted at various locations in Libertyville, Waukegan, and Morris, all Chicago suburbs The response across the country is equally great according to reports received by the ATA Convention organizers. The silver jubilee ATA Convention will be held in July 1-3 at Rosemont Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. Chandrasekhar Reddy Palvai, Convention Convener said ATA is truly excited at the huge response demonstrated by Telugu families not only here in the U.S.,

ATA team conducted another reception with Actress Pranitha Subhash in Waukegan, IL that brought a large number of Telugu families to participate

ATA officials and members with movie actress sitting in the middle

but in other parts of the world particularly in the state of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Tollywood Actress Pranitha Subhash joined the ATA leaders in pushing the registration drive.

ATA team conducted another reception with Actress Pranitha Subhash in Waukegan, IL that brought a large number of Telugu families to participate in the preconvention festivities.

For more information call Malla Reddy:(609)851-6559// ParthaPantham:(224)6250154// Srinivas:(661)549-9438.

UK minister congratulates Modi on anniversary LONDON: Britain's seniormost Indian-origin minister Priti Patel has congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the second anniversary of his election victory and praised him for setting a "new level of ambition" for India-UK ties.

Patel, who sits on the UK Cabinet as Employment Minister and is also British Prime Minister David Cameron's Indian Diaspora Champion, in a statement said, "I

would like to congratulate Prime Minister Modi on the second anniversary of his election victory.

He set out an ambitious vision for India - one of inclusive, sustainable development."

She said, "We remain committed to supporting the Prime Minister's vision for India's transformation and to taking the UKIndia relationship to new heights."

The 44-year-old senior Conser-

vative party MP said as the world's oldest democracy and largest democracy, the UK and India share a long-standing friendship anchored in democratic values, shared history and common interests.

"Prime Minister Modi has set a new level of ambition for our growing partnership," she said.

Patel, herself of Gujarati-origin, has been a vocal supporter of Modi in the UK since he was the chief minister of Gujarat. -PTI

Top Stories

May 20, 2016

India Post

11

www.indiapost.com

Kashmir problem will be solved by 2019: Swamy NEW DELHI: Given the grit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Kashmir problem will be solved by 2019, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy claimed even as he pitched for undertaking major economic reforms once the NDA Government "puts house in order" to become leading economy of the world.

"Sardar Patel, the man who welded 600 kingdoms into one India...Sardar Patel sat with each of them... and saw not 600, but 500 of those merge with India.

"Only one (kingdom) he could not carry through, he although got the king to sign, but Mr Jawaharlal Nehru took over, it was Kashmir. And that headache is still there. But am positive given the grit of Mr Narendra Modi, by 2019, we will have solved the Kashmir problem," Swamy said.

Swamy made the remarks while delivering a talk on 'India in Global Economy' during an event, organized here by Delhi Study Group to felicitate the leader on his becoming a Rajya Sabha member.

The former Union Minister noted India is currently in a state where "it will lag behind if it doesn't act upon its potential" and said the time has come for it to think about major economic reforms "as soon as the NDA Government puts its house in order which it has been doing for years".

He also pressed for following democracy along with market economy in which regulation of

government will be minimal and will act more like an "umpire and ambulance occasionally".

"And in that the consumers and the producers have to be empowered...that is the model we will have to move (in the direction of). We moved very rapidly in the 90s, but then we stopped... I think time has come for us to think in

think by the time we finish the five years, we will have world class infrastructure thanks to his dynamism and then they come," he said.

Stating Walmart, an American multinational operating chain of hypermarkets, is "trying hard to come to India", Swamy said there "will not be a level-playing field"

terest rates and in the informal market 25 per cent interest rate.

How can you compete?" he questioned.

Swamy further said India will need to look at its "natural advantages" like that of agriculture sector as he suggested crops produced here are the "cheapest", the country has largest area irrigated and is home to largest young populace.

He said India needs to increase its production of crops and milk and focus on exporting it to Western countries and also underscored need for developing infrastructure to be able to do so by setting up packaging industry, creating airports for the purpose and deploying ships.

Swamy though said American

and European nations have "heavy trade restrictions" on agricultural products and urged for fighting those "barriers" for a level-playing field.

He also the economic model of socialism saying it did not produce results for the India and added the country is "fortunate" to have not been following it now.

Swamy insisted the country, "Like the Prime Minister says", need to be innovative to tap its advantages and suggested it to produce electricity tapping its vast source of Thorium and desalinate sea water to provide water for coastal states.

The leader though insisted country's development should be both material and spiritual.-PTI

Work on Ram Temple before end of year: Swamy

No rift with PM Narendra Modi: Ramdev

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha MP and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy has claimed that work on the Ram Temple at Ayodhya would start before the end of the year and Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, giving special status to the state, would be revoked by the end of year 2017.

"By the end of this year, we will start the construction of Ram Temple. We and other stakeholders are in favor of day-to-day hearing in the case by Supreme Court from July onwards," Swamy said at the India TV conclave "Samvaad" on Modi government's two years comple-

He said, "Ram Mandir part of manifesto. Court will decide.

The question is if mosque was built where temple was.

Confident of winning the case."

On Article 370, Swamy said, "By the end of 2017, we (our government) will revoke Article 370."

Owaisi also challenged the BJP leader's claim on Article 370, saying, "Article 370 is a binding factor to keep Jammu and Kashmir united. Kashmir is an integral part of India."

He took a dig at Swamy saying BJP stood "exposed" as its leaders forgot Article 370 while final-

NEW DELHI: Yoga guru Ramdev has said the government's inability to bring back black money stashed abroad is leading to "frustration" among people but claimed there was no rift between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Wherever I go people say ask me, 'Baba has the black money ... been brought back'. So I have devised a new strategy. I say yes...that black money has still not been brought back. So, there are some issues like the black money which leads to frustration among people (against the Narendra Modi government)," Ramdev said.

He said 80 per cent of the black money is within the country itself and only 10-20 per cent of it is abroad.

"The biggest black money is

tion.

He added that if this happens the court judgment would come within months, making it possible for work on Ram Temple to begin forthwith.

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi, who was also present at the event, however, countered Swamy's contentions saying, "It is just not possible as even the translation of the court documents will take six months."

izing the common minimum program with PDP before sharing power with it in Jammu and Kashmir.

Participating in a debate on "Do Muslims feel safe in India", the Hyderabad MP also said a uniform civil code is not possible in India as "it is necessary to save the diversity of our country and hence it cannot become a reality".

"To save the diversity of this vast country, I am against the uniform civil code," he said.-PTI

Subramanian Swamy

terms of major economic reforms as soon as we put the house in order which we have been trying to do over the last two years," he added.

India has both "skilled and cheap" labor, but "nobody" wants to come to the country as it has got "lousy" infrastructure, he said.

"And therefore, Mr Nitin Gadkari is working on that and I

in mining, followed, by gold, land, politics and drugs. If we can get hold of the black money in these five sectors it will hugely benefit the economy," Ramdev said.

Responding to a suggestion

Ramdev

that he should also foray into the banking sector, Ramdev said he was "seriously" thinking about it.

He claimed there was no rift

when the same happens and blamed RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan for that.

"But the problem is when Walmart comes it will not be a level-playing field. Why? Because Walmart gets capital in their own country at two percent interest rate. And then they come to India... and in India, the competitor trader he gets, thanks to Raghuram Rajan, 12 per cent in-

between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Since last 15 years there has not even been once, where I have had an argument with Modi Ji. I speak to Modi Ji once in two-three months. If I have to give any opinion over any issue related to the nation then I talk to (Arun) Jaitley Ji. I have spoken to him (Jaitley) over the black money issue.

"I speak to Amit Shah Ji, senior ministers like Suresh Prabhu Ji. So, there was no rift between me and Modi Ji, nor will it happen in future. I want nothing from Modi. I just want him to see him as a successful Prime Minister," Ramdev said.

The yoga guru said ministers like Nitin Gadkari and Suresh Prabhu are doing exceptional work.-PTI

In Brief Mallya cannot be deported, UK says NEW DELHI: In a setback to India's efforts to expeditiously get back Vijay Mallya, facing arrest for money laundering, the UK has made it clear that the liquor baron cannot be deported and asked India to seek his extradition.

However, the British government said it acknowledges "the seriousness of allegations" against Mallya and was "keen to assist" the Indian government.

The UK government's response came nearly a fortnight after India made a request for the deportation of Mallya, whose Indian passport was revoked in a bid to secure his presence for investigations against him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act 2002. There is also a non-bailable warrant issued against Mallya.

"The UK government has informed us that under the 1971 Immigration Act, the UK does not require an individual to hold a valid passport in order to remain in the UK if they have extant leave to remain as long as their passport was valid when leave to remain or enter the UK was conferred.

"At the same time the UK acknowledges the seriousness of the allegations and is keen to assist the Government of India.

They have asked GoI to consider requesting mutual legal assistance or extradition," MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. -PTI

„

Govt deplores US visa fee hike

NEW DELHI: Against the backdrop of hike in visa fee by the US, the government said it is against discrimination towards Indian professionals seeking to work in the rising IT industry in that country.

Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in the Lok Sabha during Question Hour that there should be no discrimination in permitting Indian IT professionals from working in the rising industry in the United States.

Responding to supplementaries, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken up the issue of H-1B and L1 visa fee hike at the highest level with the US government and it will also be taken up at trade negotiations.

In his written response, the minister said as per National Association of Software and Services Company (NASSCOM), the impact of the US visa fee hike on Indian IT units is estimated to be around USD 400 million per year.

This assessment includes both new applications and extensions.-PTI

Immigration

Delaware scholarships for immigrant students

12 India Post

www.indiapost.com

May 20, 2016

Details on page 14

San Francisco puts off vote on immigrant sanctuary policy SAN FRANCISCO: Officials in famously progressive San Francisco have long sanctioned protections for people in the country illegally, going so far as to prohibit city workers from asking about a person's immigration status.

But the deadly shooting of a woman along a popular pier last year and the arrest of a Mexican national sparked a national debate over how the city handles such criminal suspects.

The sheriff at the time cited the law in defending the release of the man, a repeat drug offender and habitual border crosser. He lost his re-election bid to a candidate who said she would have considered greater communication between the city and federal governments.

The Board of Supervisors had planned to address the division with a vote on whether to reaffirm its strict protections and spell out when immigrants can be turned over to the U.S. government.

But supervisors postponed voting on a proposed ordinance directing law officers to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement only if a defendant is charged with a violent crime and has been

convicted of a violent crime within the last seven years. That would be the only time city workers, including police officers, could dis-

Hennessy, who is opposed.

Avalos said he expects her to compromise.

The sheriff, as a constitution-

Teresa Molina holds up a sign at a rally outside of City Hall in San Francisco, Officials in famously progressive San Francisco have long sanctioned protections for people in the country illegally, going so far as to prohibit city workers from asking about a person's immigration status.

close immigration status.

Supervisor John Avalos, the proposal's sponsor, said he didn't want to vote without support from San Francisco Sheriff Vicki

ally elected official, does not have to follow board orders. But her stance puts her at odds with the supervisors and other officials who have largely supported the

sanctuary law for decades. ``I don't think she can withstand sitting as an outlier in San Francisco government that doesn't uphold the values of a sanctuary city,'' he said.

Eileen Hirst, the sheriff's chief of staff, said that the sheriff ``is happy to continue the conversation.''

The vote will be postponed at least two weeks.

The killing of 32-year-old Kate Steinle in July and the arrest of Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez put San Francisco's leaders on the defensive as critics and outside politicians called for a change in the so-called sanctuary law.

It's not clear, however, whether Lopez-Sanchez would have been held for federal pickup under the criteria of Hennessy. ``I'm not going to say with certainty, but what I can say with certainty is that he would have been looked at,'' Hennessy said before the meeting.

Sanctuary advocates say a clear division between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities is needed to foster trust. -AP

Indian lesbian couple lose fight to stay in UK LONDON: A married lesbian couple from India has lost their legal battle to stay in the UK on the grounds that their relationship would not be legally recognized in India.

The couple, who cannot be named for legal reasons, arrived from India as friends in 2007 and went on to enter into a civil partnership in Scotland in 2008, which they converted into marriage last year.

Judges at the UK's Court of Appeal rejected their application to remain in the UK on the grounds that their relationship would not be legally recognized in their home country of India.

According to the 'Guardian', they both completed Master's degrees in Scotland and then found work and have always

lived on legal visas in the UK and now want to acquire an "Indefinite Leave to Remain" in the country.

The Court of Appeal, how-

India would not be a violation of their right to a family life as there was no evidence the couple would suffer violence on return.

"My family do not know that

"My family do not know that I am a lesbian or that I am married. If I return home they will treat me as a single woman and start looking for a suitable husband for me," one of the women who cannot be identified was quoted as saying by the report. "I won't have any legal protection for who I am because my marriage will not be recognized in India.� ever, analyzed background material on India and accepted that India provided no legal protection or recognition of same-sex couples but felt their return to

I am a lesbian or that I am married. If I return home they will treat me as a single woman and start looking for a suitable husband for me," one of the women who can-

not be identified was quoted as saying by the report.

"I won't have any legal protection for who I am because my marriage will not be recognized in India. In India we will both have to hide who we are. In the UK we enjoy our family life together," she said.

The couple's barrister, S Chelvan, said: "This is a landmark judgment, as it is the first case from the Court of Appeal to address the balancing of the rights of migrant same-sex couples to legal recognition and protection, with immigration control and economic interests of the UK." The couple are now planning to appeal against the decision to the UK's Supreme Court. -PTI

Immigration Post

May 20, 2016

India Post 13

www.indiapost.com

DHS released 20,000 criminal immigrants WASHINGTON: The U.S. tried repeatedly to deport Jean Jacques, an immigrant living in the U.S. illegally, but his native Haiti wouldn't take him back after he served more than a decade in a state prison for attempted murder and committed multiple parole violations.

Each time Jacques was arrested on a parole violation, he would serve a sentence in state prison and then be released to immigration custody. At least three times, Haiti refused to take him back, so Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials in early 2015 did the same thing they do thousands of times a year - they released a violent criminal immigrant from jail.

Six months later, Jacques killed Casey Chadwick, a young Norwich, Connecticut, woman. He was convicted of murder last April and faces sentencing this summer.

Jacques is a textbook example of the kind of immigrant living in the U.S. illegally that the Obama administration says should be returned to his home country.

But that's easier said than done.

Jacques' release and that of more than 19,700 convicted criminal immigrants during the 2015 budget year reveal yet another complication in the country's complicated immigration system. ICE has released tens of thousands of convicted criminals. Combined, those people have been convicted of hundreds of thousands of

crimes, including murder and sexual assault.

Jacques' case and those of others like him show how difficult it would be to carry out proposals by some politicians, including presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, that im-

Saldana said the agency is bound by a complex set of immigration laws and rules that govern which immigrants have to be detained and which ones can be set free while they wait for an immigration judge to rule on their case. Add to the mix a years long immigration court backlog of nearly half a million cases and some criminal immigrants could be free in the United States for years before being ordered out of the country.

"What is unacJean Jacques listens to an interpreter through his headsets ceptable is as Norwich Police Detective Anthony Gomes testifies during even one Jacques' murder trial at New London Superior Court in New London, Conn. Jacques is on trial for the murder of Casey (release).

Chadwick in Norwich Why did you remigration officials simply find and lease even one person?" Rep. Jadeport the estimated 11 million son Chaffetz, R-Utah, asked immigrants living in the country Saldana. illegally.

Saldana also told lawmakers ICE Director Sarah Saldana told that an effort to develop a system Congress recently that agents rou- to alert local authorities about a tinely have little choice but to re- newly released criminal immigrant lease immigrants. is underway.

2,100 Indians granted asylum in the US NEW DELHI: Over 2,100 Indians have been granted asylum by the Obama administration between 2012 and 2014, as per a report by Homeland Security of the US. Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh gave details of the Indians provided asylum by the US while quoting from the report in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

He said according to latest edition of Annual Flow Report, 425 Indians were given asylum in 2012, 1,042 in the year 2013 and a total of 716 Indian nationals were granted it in 2014. The total comes to 2,183.

"The US government does not share any information with our mission or our Consulates on the number of Indians who have sought or have been granted asy-

lum or the grounds on which the US government has granted them asylum," Singh said.

To a separate question, he said government has made fitment of navigational and communication

to prevent Indian fishermen crossing international maritime borders.

Replying to another query, Singh said Indian High Commission in Islamabad issued an advisory to all visa applicants mention-

But lawmakers and others say which countries may be targeted. it's not enough.

The government has briefly "They got caught committing stopped issuing some temporary a crime. They were convicted of work visas for immigrants from the crime and instead of following certain countries that have refused the law and deporting them, you the return of their citizens, includreleased them ... and they commit ing Guyana in 2001. Such efforts more crimes," Chaffetz said. "That can be a sort of signal to other is so wholly unacceptable." nations considering blocking the Chester Fairlie, the Chadwick return of some criminal immifamily's lawyer, said criminal immi- grants. grants like Jacques need to stay "You can do it in a targeted way in jail. And the government could and stop issuing certain categopressure other governments to ries of visas," said Igor Timofeyev, take back their citizens, he said, a former director of immigration by cutting aid packages or reduc- policy and a special adviser for ing the number of visas available refugee and asylum affairs at DHS for their citizens to come to the during President George W. United States.

Bush's administration.

"It seems to me that our State But the effort can be fraught Department should have enough with political and diplomatic comleverage to say to them, you can- plications, Timofeyev said. In the not arbitrarily refuse to take these case of China, for instance, a compeople back," Fairlie said. plicated political and economic The House Judiciary Commit- relationship means that being able tee approved a bill in March 2015 that would allow the U.S. to continue The government has briefly to detain some criminal immigrants even if their stopped issuing some home country won't take them back. It hasn't pro- temporary work visas for gressed beyond the com- immigrants from certain mittee.

But Chaffetz said the countries that have refused administration already the return of their citizens can pressure foreign governments to take their citizens back by curbing visas. He said Homeland Security to send home criminal immigrants officials need to ask the State De- is not the only consideration for partment to impose those visa an administration. sanctions.

Nevertheless, Chaffetz and "By U.S. law, these countries other Republican lawmakers have must accept deportations or we repeatedly pressed DHS officials won't give any more visas," to kick-start efforts to penalize Chaffetz said. "All I'm asking is countries whose governments that the administration enforces have refused to cooperate with current law." deportation efforts.

The State Department said it "They shouldn't be getting fedhas been asked to curb visas in eral aid," Chaffetz said during the the past, and a meeting is planned hearing on the issue. "And we between State and DHS officials. shouldn't be giving them visas so It is expected that DHS officials that more people from those counwill make a new request for some tries can come to the United visa sanctions, but it's unclear States." -AP

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

GenVK Singh

Former Assistant StateÂ’s Attorney

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

1 Property Tax for Commercial Properties 1 1

http://www.proy-singh.com equipment mandatory in respect of all fishing vessels of 20 meters and above so that they can be tracked. He was asked about steps

ing that it was illegal to carry Indian currency while entering India besides other laid down rules.

-PTI

2335 W. Devon Ave., Suite 204, Tel: 773-381-1820 Chicago, IL 60659

Immigration Post

14 India Post

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

Delaware scholarships for immigrant students DOVER, Del.: Delaware State University is joining with a national scholarship program to increase college opportunities for immigrant students living in the United States without permanent legal status.

Gov. Jack Markell joined school officials and former Washington Post chairman and CEO Donald Graham to announce the historically black school's partnership with TheDream.US, a privately funded scholarship program cofounded by Graham.

TheDream.US is also partnering with Eastern Connecticut University to offer Opportunity Scholarships for students who face barriers to higher education in 16 states. ``In four states, they are banned from some or all state colleges,'' Graham said. ``Even if they pay, the doors are shut. In others, they are barred in practice because the states deny them in-state tuition.''

The new scholarship program is aimed at helping students in

states where TheDream.US says they are being ``locked-out'' of college opportunities. Those states are Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Louisi-

University President Harry Williams said the scholarship program aligns with the school's mission. ``We have never said `no' to anyone who wanted to come and

Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, left, shakes hands with Donald Graham, cofounder of TheDream.US, during a news conference in Dover, Del.

ana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia and Wisconsin.

get an education,'' he said.

Under the program, TheDream.US will offer 500 scholarships of up to $20,000 per year,

or $80,000 total, for eligible ``locked-out'' students who have graduated from high school and are covered under a 2012 federal policy known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. That policy allows certain individuals who entered the U.S. before 2007 and before their 16th birthday to receive a renewable, two-year work permit and a Social Security number, which allows them to get a job.

The Dream.US also will make scholarships totaling up to $25,000 over four years available to students of similar immigration status living in Delaware and Connecticut.

Graham indicated that the program could expand to one or two other states in the near future.

Officials noted that no state money is involved, and that both schools have the capacity to accept students under the program without denying enrollment to others.

Sadhana Singh, a rising junior

at Trinity Washington University, a private women's college in Washington, D.C., said the Dream.US program is helping her achieve her goal of getting a college education and becoming ``part of America.'' ``I knew that my parents brought me to America for a reason,'' said Singh, who was born in Guyana and moved with her parents to Georgia when she was 13.

Singh said she graduated from high school in 2005, near the top of her class, but was barred from attending any of the bigger colleges in Georgia and could not afford out-of-state tuition at a community college. She worked for several years, helping her parents with finances, until she heard about the program in 2014. ``I've gotten a chance at life, and I've gotten the chance to actually be part of America,'' said Singh, who is studying communications and international affairs and hopes to become an investigative journalist. -AP

Detention center 'harmful' to immigrant kids AUSTIN, Texas: Texas detention centers for families caught illegally crossing the southern U.S. border are more like jails that have sickened kids, affected their mental health and put them in danger, a group of immigrant mothers testified.

The women described living at the two centers during a court hearing in which a judge was being asked by an activist group to stop the state from granting residential child-care licenses to the facilities.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, through the private prison firms that run the two Texas detention centers, has been working to get the facilities licensed after a California federal judge last year ruled immigrant children couldn't be held at centers not licensed as child care facilities.

After the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services last month issued a temporary license to the 500-bed facility in Karnes City, the Austin-based advocacy group Grassroots Leadership sued, saying the agency didn't have the authority to license such centers as child care facilities.

Grassroots Leadership has asked for a temporary injunction to stop the implementation of the rule allowing the licensing of the two detention centers. The other facility is the 2,400-bed South Texas Family Residential Center in Dilley. Both are located south of San Antonio and opened in 2014 in response to the arrival of tens

of thousands of mothers and children from Central America.

Three Central American women who live at the facility at Dilley testified in Spanish that the water there tasted bad and made children sick with stomach aches or vomiting.

The Associated Press is not publishing the mothers' names after Crump ordered they not be

``very scared'' after the girl was sexually harassed and touched in her private parts by a female roommate.

Todd Disher, a lawyer with the Texas Attorney General's Office, argued state licensing improves safety because it requires the facilities to submit to unannounced inspections and state background check requirements. Disher said

``She keeps asking me, `Why am I here?'

She asks, `If we are running away from evil in our country, why is it that (when) we get here we are in this jail? Is (it) that people here are bad like they are down in Guatemala?''' identified, saying doing so could put them at risk as they fled their home countries because of gang threats.

One of the women said her 7year-old daughter is depressed and cannot sleep after 25 days at the Dilley facility. ``She doesn't want to be there anymore,'' said the woman, from Guatemala. ``She keeps asking me, `Why am I here?' She asks, `If we are running away from evil in our country, why is it that (when) we get here we are in this jail? Is (it) that people here are bad like they are down in Guatemala?'''

A fourth woman, being held in Karnes City, testified by telephone her 12-year-old daughter is now

the state's review of the Karnes facility resulted in the firing of five workers for problems in their backgrounds. ``Who better to regulate these facilities, the facility itself or the state?'' Disher said.

Advocates say the Texas lawsuit is part of their broader legal efforts to have federal officials again adhere to a longtime agreement that called for children and their families to be held only for a short time before being released to family, friends or others while their cases are decided.

Federal officials say these ongoing courtroom battles - in Texas and California - make it more difficult for them to respond to this

summer's expected influx of immigrant families. They believe the centers help deter illegal immigration.

A decision on the temporary injunction - which could further complicate the federal government's ability to keep children at the facilities - was delayed

until at least next month. State District Judge Karin Crump said the hearing would resume on June 1 with more testimony.

Crump extended until the next hearing a temporary restraining order blocking Texas from granting a license to the facility in Dilley. AP

Papua New Guinea migrants leave camp CANBERRA, Australia: Australia's conservative government says that tough immigration policies could soften if the opposition wins elections, after candidates from center-left Labor Party called for Australian-run migrant camps on two Pacific islands to be closed.

Australia Broadcasting Corp. reported that asylum seekers were being allowed conditional freedom to leave Manus Island on Papua New Guinea, where the Australian government has a policy of sending migrants who try to reach Australian shores by boat.

Last month, however, Papua New Guinea's Supreme Court ruled that Australia's detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island was unconstitutional.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that Nauru had given asylum seekers freedom of move-

ment since October and Papua New Guinea ``are heading down that track as well.''

Dutton singled out comments by opposition Labor candidates, including Sophie Ismail, that the camps should be closed, and said Australia's policies would soften if the Labor wins July 2 polls.

The aim of sending asylum seekers to Nauru and Papua New Guinea is to deter boat arrivals by refusing to allow them to ever settle in Australia.

Another Labor candidate, Michael Freelander, has likened the Papua New Guinea facility to a Nazi concentration camp.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten condemned the comparison, but Dutton said he could not be trusted to maintain Australia's tough policies because at least 18 Labor candidates opposed them.-AP

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

India Post 15

Desi News Dorothy Brown honors AsianAmericans SURENDRA ULLAL

Chicago: The Clerk of the City Court Cook County Dorothy Brown has been among the foremost leaders in Illinois to recognize the contribution made by Asian American Community and this time celebrating Asian Pacific Heritage month she recognized a group of prominent Asian Americans, including many an Indians.

The event held on May 11 in Chicago Downtown was co hosted by Asian Employees Social club and it recognized among others, leading businessman Mafat Matl, Schaumburg Township Trustee Nimesh Jani, two leading medical professionals Dr Firdaus Jaffrey and Dr Sonal Patel, Radio host Shweta Singh and community worker Parimatl Patel.

Details on page 18

IAFC welcomes new CGI Dr Anupam Ray India Post News Service

DALLAS, TX: The Indian American Friendship Council (IAFC) in Dallas leaders met with the newly appointed Consul General of India Dr Anupam Ray in Houston on May 13 to welcome him as new CGI and assure him of support from Indian Americans in the area.

Dr. Prasad Thotakura, IAFC President, briefed CGI Dr. Ray about the vibrant Indian American community and their contribution towards the growth of the local economy, commitment to invest and donate their resources for the development of motherland, India.

Details on page 19

Hindu temple health fair a big success ASHWIN PATEL

ST LOUIS: The Health Fair at Mahatma Gandhi Center, St. Louis, on Saturday May 7 met with a huge success.

The event was sponsored by Hindu temple of St. Louis, Mahatma Gandhi Center, physicians, health care professionals and volunteers.

People of diverse nationalities and cultures from all over St. Louis availed themselves of the free consultancy and tests provided by over 25 dedicated physicians & specialties, supported technicians and over 30 service-oriented & youth volunteers.

Details on page 20

COMMUNITY ACROSS AMERICA

16 India Post

www.indiapost.com

Whole Foods Market to open Santa Clara store

May 20, 2016

Details on page 22

Washington rally for Bangla minorities' protection, ban on Jamaat India Post News Service

WASHINGTON, DC: Sonnets of famed Bengali Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore charged the atmosphere at the historic Dupont Circle in Washington, D.C. The chorus held candles and sang solemnly mourning the recent murders of Bangladeshi minorities at the hands of Islamist extremists, "Jodi tor dak shune keu na ashe tobe ekla cholo re (If no one responds to your call, then chart your own path alone)."

Last month's assassinations by machete wielding assailants of Xulhaz Mannan, a prominent LGBT activist and USAID employee in Dhaka, and artist Tonmoi Mahbub, particularly struck an emotional chord with US State Department personnel who attended to honor their former colleague.

Dozens from across the DC-metro area attended to express solidarity with religious and social minorities o f Bangladesh, who have suffered thirty deadly attacks, and counting, since February 2015.

Organizations represented included the US chapter of the Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC), the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), the World Hindu Council of America, along with the Center for Inquiry (CFI) and LGBT leaders.

Toufique Hassan, Senior Counselor at the Embassy of Bangladesh, delivered remarks on behalf of his government. Hassan said, "Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina adheres firmly to a 'zero tolerance' policy against terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations, and violent extremism."

In addition, Hassan thanked the United States for its continued support for ongoing efforts to dis-

mantle Islamist networks in Bangladesh.

Tapan Dutta of BHBCUC-USA expressed dismay at the continuing atrocities against Hindus. He urged the Prime Minister to take stronger measures to secure the homes, temples, and the lives of Bangladesh's indigenous Hindu community. Lamenting the increasing violence, Dutta said, "In 1971, Bangladesh was born as a nation for all Bengalis, irrespective of their religion and social status. That dream dies a little more with each passing day."

Nicholas Little, Vice President of the humanist advocacy organization Center For Inquiry, spoke

as a friend of Avijit Roy. Last year's public killing of Roy, the founder of the famous Bangladesh-atheist forum Mukto Mona and a US citizen, sparked a surge of similar public murders by machete wielding assailants with ISIS and Al-Qaeda competing to claim credit.

Local LGBT and Baloch-freedom activist Ahmar Mustikhan pleaded to the global community to stand against Islamist violence against Hindus, Christians, Sufis, Shias along with atheists, LGBTs, and all social minorities of Bangladesh.

Cont’d on page 19

May 20, 2016

Community Across America

India Post 17

www.indiapost.com

TiEcon 2016 focuses on hot areas of innovation India Post News Service

SANTA CLARA, CA: This year, TiECon2016, a flagship event of TiE Silicon Valley was held at Santa Clara Convention Center on May 6 and 7. The theme for this year was "Entrepreneurship Inspiring the World...Dream.

Change. Inspire."

Great speakers, thought leaders and TiE50 Awards Program which recognizes the top technology Startups were highlights of TiECon2016. More than 4500 people attended the event. Huge effort of more than 350 volunteers was visible.

Over a two-day period, TiEcon 2016 once again focused on the hottest areas of innovation, the Future of Cloud & IT, Data Economy, and Internet of Things followed by Trending Tech, Social Entrepreneurship, Youth Entrepreneurship, and a Best Practices track for Entrepreneurs.

Grand keynotes were delivered

by Shantanu Narayen, President

Kailash Satyarthi, 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, addressing TiEcon2016

and Chief Executive Officer, Adobe Systems- Moderated by Shereen Bhan visiting from CNBC

India; Vishal Sikka, Chief Executive Officer, Infosys, and Bonny Simi President, JetBlue Technol-

ogy Ventures and Brian Michael Jenkins, Senior Adviser to the RAND President, RAND Corpo-

Jesse White honors Kalpesh Joshi SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: Kalpesh Joshi, a prominent Indian hotelier and entrepreneur, was recognized with a

plaque by the Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White during the 16th annual Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month reception at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago Joshi received Humanitarian Service award along with other members of Asian American community. The event featured among others Linda Yu, anchor for ABC 7Chicago. Linda was presented with Lifetime Achievement award. Katie Kim, reporter at NBC Linda Yu with Secretary of State Jesse White 5 Chicago, emceed the event.

White also honored a host of local humanitarians at the event held at the James R. Thompson Center in Chicago. Humanitarian Service award recipients include Kalpesh Joshi of Indian American community, Shah Musaddek of the Bangladeshi community, Jane Mien of the Cambodian community, Dr. Jerry Yeo of the Chinese community, Dr. Alma Jaromahum of the Filipino community, Srie H. Ramli Kalpesh Joshi of Indian American community of the Indonesian commugets recognition from Jesse White nity, Wanja Yook of the

Korean community, Yin Kean of the Malaysian community, Beni Madhave Kandel of the Napalese community, Anjia Ali of the Pakistani community, Al-Mirah Kabani of the Pan Asian community, Chamni Sripraram of the Thai community and Jimmy Nguyen of the Vietnamese community.

Kalpesh Joshi, a community activist, is an entrepreneur with experience in sectors like Hospi-

tality, Restaurant, Finance, Travel and Electronics. He has served on G6 Hospitality Owners Advisory council, Franchise and industry relation committee AAHOA, as Care and Share President, Federation of Indian Assn. Chicago, Midwest Asian American Center. He is now an upper Midwest regional director representing 7 states.

Cont’d on page 19

ration.

Sanjay Mehrotra, Co-Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, SanDisk Corporation, shared his own journey of humble beginning to building an empire which is being sold for more than $ 19 billion dollars to a hard drive maker Western Digital.

The audience of more than 4000 was mesmerized by closing keynote delivered by Kailash Satyarthi, 2014 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Other presenter included Anjula Acharia Bath, Partner, Trinity Ventures, Hayagreeva Rao Professor, Stanford University and Nirvikar Singh Professor of Economics, UCSC. Past TiE Presidents unveiled new logo for TiE as they enter into twenty five years of existence.

For Upendra Giri, PfMPÂŽ CEO of RunKarma and Chairman FOG Summit 2016, who has been a Charter Member of TiE for more than a decade, attending TiECon2016 was a perfect treat after a decade long stay in India. Meeting Kanwal Rekhi, Suhas Patil, Sridhar Iyengar, Saurabh Srivastava, Raj Jaswa, Vish Mishra, Venktesh Shukla, and Kailash Joshi was an honor. He also shared his experiences of being part of TiE delegation to Pakistan in year 2005 along with management guru CK Prahalad.

"What a wonderful platform to witness future happening in front of your eyes and TiECon is the perfect platform," he said.

"To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science, "said Albert Einstein.

Community Across America

18 India Post

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

Dorothy Brown honors Asian-Americans SURENDRA ULLAL

Chicago: The Clerk of the City Court Cook County Dorothy Brown has been among the foremost leaders in Illinois to recognize the contribution made by Asian American Community and this time celebrating Asian Pacific Heritage month she recognized a group of prominent Asian Americans, including many an Indians.

The event held on May 11 in Chicago Downtown was co hosted by Asian Employees Social club and it recognized among others, leading businessman Mafat Matl, Schaumburg Township Trustee Nimesh Jani, two leading medical professionals Dr Firdaus Jaffrey and Dr Sonal Patel, Radio host Shweta Singh and community worker

Awardees with Dorothy Brown at the celebration of Asian American Heritage Month in Chicago Downtown

Schaumburg Township Trustee Nimesh Jani seen addressing the meet

Parimatl Patel.

Mafat Patel is often described as uncrowned king of India Town on Devon Avenue while Nimesh Jani and Dr Jaffrey have been actively associated with community affairs. Dr Sonal Patel has been associated with BAPS and Indian American Medical Association Charitable Org. Besides, recognitions were given to Hemant Chaudhary and Jasmine Hernandez. Special Tribute

was offered to Judge Luaura Lui who passed away a month ago.

Special Guest was Raja Krishnamoorthy, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Congress in Illinois' 8th District. He is the President of Sivananthan Laboratories, a small business that develops and sell products in national security and renewable energy.

He is also co-founder of InSPIRE, a nonprofit organization that trains Illinois stu-

dents and veterans in solar technology.

The Indonesian Consulate General had 'Sobrak' dance presented with artists Realiska Hayati and Tri Kumara Siddhi The event started with greetings from Pinal Patel and welcome address by Beena Patel. Dorothy Brown had graced the event with her opening remarks and presented Awards to all the recipients. She ended her remarks with thanks to all participants.

May 20, 2016

Community Across America

India Post 19

www.indiapost.com

IAFC welcomes new CGI Dr Anupam Ray India Post News Service

DALLAS, TX: The Indian American Friendship Council (IAFC) in Dallas leaders met with the newly appointed Consul General of India Dr Anupam Ray in Houston on May 13 to welcome him as new CGI and assure him of support from Indian Americans in the area.

Dr. Prasad Thotakura, IAFC President, briefed CGI Dr. Ray about the vibrant Indian American community and their contribution towards the growth of the local economy, commitment to invest and donate their resources for the development of motherland, India.

IAFC, a non-partisan, non-political, non-profit organization, formed in 1990, promotes and provides a common platform to ex-

change views with local, national and international level policy makers. Its mission is to improve USIndia relations, support developing countries, promote global democracy, protect the interests of the Indian American community and educate members of US Congress and Senate.

Dr. Prasad also gave a presentation on Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Plaza that was built with the support and contributions of the Dallas / Fort Worth community.

Now, it stands as the largest Gandhi Memorial in the USA. Dr. Prasad Thotakura, along with Executive Vice President, Taiyab Kundawala, Vice President, Rao Kalvala, Board of Directors Murali Vennam, Ramki Chebrolu and Mrs. Ranna Jani - welcomed CGI Dr. Ray and invited him to visit

IAFC Board: Ramki Chebrolu, Murali Vennam, Chairman Dr. Prasad Thotakura, CGI Houston Dr. Anupam Ray, Rao Kalvala, Taiyab Kundawala and Ranna Jani

Dallas and Mahatma Gandhi Memorial at his earliest convenience.

Dr. Anupam Ray appreciated the effort of the MGMNT leadership in building such a memorable Gandhi memorial and accepted the invitation.

Dr. Anupam Ray is a physician by education and was a neuro-surgeon before he joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1994. He has Dallas IAFC Board: Ramki Chebrolu, Rao Kalvala, Chairman Dr. Prasad Thotakura, CGI Houston Dr. Anupam Ray, Taiyab Kundawala, Murali Vennam and Ranna Jani

Sri Sri to launch 'Get Happy Program' India Post News Service

SANTA CLARA, CA: Over 100 enthusiastic volunteer faculty members of the non-profit Art of Living Foundation (AoLF) were trained to teach the new Get Happy program at the foundation's Santa Clara center location. The well-

layout is to create opportunities with respect to flexibility in cost and time commitment, and enable more people from the community to experience and learn the powerful Sudarshan Kriya breathing technique that is unique to AoLF," said Kinjal Desai, Director of Training and Development with AoLF.

Get Happy is taught over two 3-hour sessions, while Get Happier will be taught over two 6-hour sessions. The best part is that those who take the Get Happy program from now until end of June will be able to do the Get Happier in Sri Sri's presence in July. known Art of Living 'Happiness Program' is being offered in two parts -Get Happy and Get Happier.

Local Get Happy programs will be rolled out across the Bay Area this month, and Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the founder, who is a world renowned humanitarian, will launch Get Happier on July 3-4 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, as a Bay-Area wide offering.

"The goal of our new program

"We want to further expand the reach of our programs and make available the tools for personal health and happiness to a broader audience, and this new model allows us to do that," he added.

The Get Happy program participants get the experience of effective breathing techniques and a taste of Sudarshan Kriya to help deal with stresses and discover the power of breath as a lasting

tool for happiness. The Get Happier program offers a deeper understanding with a full experience of Sudarshan Kriya, practical wisdom and interactive sessions. Participants will learn the take home practice of the breathing techniques and will be equipped to incorporate it in their daily life. Prerequisite for Get Happier is Get Happy.

"Art of Living's Bay Area faculty members are inspired to take forward our core message of individual peace through holistic tools of breathing and meditation, in order to create sustainable peace and happiness in the communities and societies around us," said Nandan Udiavar, Director, Northern California Regional Board of AoLF. The Get Happy fee is $95 and graduates take Get Happier at $295. Get Happy is taught over two 3-hour sessions, while Get Happier will be taught over two 6-hour sessions. The best part is that those who take the Get Happy program from now until end of June will be able to do the Get Happier in Sri Sri's presence in July.

held key diplomatic assignments as Political Officer in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka Desk Officer, as manager of India's successful campaign for the position of Commonwealth Secretary-General out of London, and as a senior member of the Indian team in the UN Security Council in New York. He was the first employee of India's outgoing aid agency (Development Partnership Administration) created in 2012. In addition to a medical degree, he has a M.A. in Public Administration and speaks English, German and Hindi.

Jesse White honors Kalpesh Joshi Cont’d from page 17

"From journalists to local business owners, doctors, lawyers and students are leading our next generation," said White. "We salute our honorees for their hard work, leadership and standard of excellence they have set forth for oth-

ers," said White.

The event featured cultural performances by the Robert Healy Elementary School students, who performed the Chinese Lion Dance, and the Yelin Korean Traditional Drumming Troupe, as well as the presentation of colors by the Marine Leadership Academy.

Washington rally for Bangla minorities' protection Cont’d from page 16

Jay Kansara, HAF Director of Government Relations, encouraged attendees to call their U.S. Representative to support H.Res. 396 Introduced by Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI). The resolution, introduced in July 2015, is intended to bring attention to growing Islamist extremism, especially the ongoing nefarious activities of the Jamaat-e-Islami and its

affiliated groups.

Hindu and other minority leaders hope that the legislation would be amended to reflect incidences and developing trends that have occurred since its inception.

Kansara declared, "We won't let the people of Bangladesh stand alone as they confront Islamist extremism."

Most attending the event expressed hope that Jamaat will be banned soon.

20 India Post

Community Across America

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

Hindu temple health fair a big success ASHWIN PATEL

ST LOUIS: The Health Fair at Mahatma Gandhi Center, St. Louis, on Saturday May 7 met with a huge success.

The event was sponsored by Hindu temple of St. Louis, Mahatma Gandhi Center, physicians, health care professionals and volunteers.

People of diverse nationalities and cultures from all over St. Louis availed themselves of the free consultancy and tests provided by over 25 dedicated physicians & specialties, supported technicians and over 30 service-oriented & youth volunteers. 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. The physicians and volunteers treated all with cheerfulness, courtesy and dignity and in a relaxed manner.

'We had 254 participants and

Health fair registration in progress

170 people had Laboratory tests done. It gives us immense satisfaction when we work hard and achieve desired results. The extraordinary service provided by SSM Health services contributed greatly to the successful completion of the event," Dr. G.V. Naidu, Chairman of the Temple Humani-

tarian committee, said.

Vital data such as height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, were checked for each participant.

The blood sugar testing and diabetic consultation was provided EKG machines were operated by volunteers to provide separate EKG for males and females. Physi-

Doctors rendering services

cal examination and physical consultation were provided by primary care physicians. Dental examination and consultation, bone density test, vision and hearing tests were also performed.

Snacks, lunch and drinks were

provided to doctors, technicians and volunteers by Hindu temple

by Mayuri and Haveli restaurants.

Dr Naidu thanked all adult and youth group volunteers for their continued support and selfless services to community.

A group of medical personnel with volunteers

A section of participants

Rally against budget impasse hurting women SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: Local mothers, providers, and advocates held a rally outside Illinois - 53rd. District Republican Representative David Harris' office, the day after Mother's Day, May 9, regarding the budget impasse's negative impact on mothers and women.

They unveiled a new report demonstrating how the failure of leaders in Springfield to put aside non-budget agendas and pass a budget that chooses revenue is creating barriers for mothers and women. Representative Harris attended the press conference and afterwards invited the group into his office to discuss the impasse in more detail.

They asked Representative Harris to stand up for mothers by asking his leadership to put aside non-budget agendas and pass a responsible budget.

Group of community activists seeking to end Budget impasse

Randi M. Gurian, the CEO of "The Harbor", Yesenia Maldonado, ?Executive Director of "Between Friend", JiHye Kim, the

Associate Director of "KAN WIN," and Sheila Schultz, an advisor for the North/Northwest Suburban Task Force on Support-

ive Housing spoke at the conference.

Rajinder Singh Mago of Sikh Religious Society Palatine Illinois

accompanied the group who met State of Illinois Representative David Harris to discuss the severity of the impact of Illinois State budget impasse on the Asian American community.

"Governor Bruce Rauner and Illinois State Legislators must put mothers on the agenda first.

The budget stalemate is hurting our community. Many community service providing agencies like Indo-American Center, are forced to cut their services and lay off staff due to this budget impasse. Students get hurt due to cuts in MAPS educational grants," Mago said.

The individual organizations that belong to the Responsible Budget Coalition (RBC) represent a diverse range of interests but are united by common goal to help mothers and students.

Community Across America

May 20, 2016

India Post 21

www.indiapost.com

St Louis Kannada Association celebrates Ugadi ASHWIN PATEL

Senator Scott Sifton, with Sangama Committee members and Asha Prem

ST LOUIS: Sangama Kannada Association of St.Louis celebrated the New Year, Ugadi, and its 31st year of existence, on a grand scale at the Mahatma Gandhi Center, St. Louis, on April 30 with 300 plus people attending the event.

Both adults and children participated in the cultural evening with gusto and brought the culture and heritage of the South Indian state of Karnataka, to St. Louis.

The National Anthems, both Indian and American, were conducted by the youth instrumental ensemble. Mrs. Shubha Bhaskar, outgoing President, gave her welcome address in Kannada and English.

Young kids performed a play, with beautiful props, rendering dialogues in Kannada, the native language that they have learnt and practiced, displaying great emotion and action. Kids and youth sang invocatory songs in perfect pitch and harmony. Teenagers, youth and adults, dressed in color coordinated costumes, performed dances to catchy tunes.

A highlight of the evening was the felicitation of Mrs. Asha Prem, the founder, artistic director, dance teacher, and choreographer Youth got recognized for their volunteerism as Dr. Tejaswini Nayak, who guided the Youth Committee of Sangama, along with Mrs. Kumuda Prabhakar, recognized all the youth volunteers, with a certificate of appreciation.

A highlight of the evening was the felicitation of Mrs. Asha Prem, the founder, artistic director, dance teacher, and choreographer of Dances of India, bringing the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam to students in St. Louis and nearby. Guided and supported by her husband, Late Dr. Premachandra, Asha and Prem founded the pioneering organization, Dances of India, when there were hardly any schools in the Midwest to promote the ancient classical Indian dance. Mrs. Latha Vishwanath presented Mrs. Prem with a sandalwood garland and a fruit basket.

Senator Scott Sifton was invited to preside over this function. Mrs. Shubha Bhaskar introduced the Senator to the audience. Scott Sifton, a Democrat, representing the St. Louis County in the Missouri Senate, was elected to his first four-year term in November 2012.

Cont’d on page 23

Artists performing cultural items

Community Across America

22 India Post

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

Whole Foods Market to open Santa Clara store India Post News Service

EMERYVILLE, CA: Whole Foods Market's 50,000-squarefoot store in Santa Clara, California, will open July 26 at Scott Boulevard and Bowers Avenue. The store anchors the Santa Clara Square Marketplace development

has been hired as the store's team leader.

Through May 20, Ceballos is hiring cashiers and customer service team members, prepared foods cooks, bakers, fishmongers, butchers, produce specialists, administrative support, and supervisors. Prospective candidates can

Through May 20, Ceballos is hiring cashiers and customer service team members, prepared foods cooks, bakers, fishmongers, butchers, produce specialists, administrative support, and supervisors. Prospective candidates can apply online and is the first Whole Foods Market location in the city of Santa Clara.

Whole Foods Market Santa Clara brings approximately 220 jobs to the area. Eddie Ceballos, most recently an associate store team leader at Whole Foods Market Coddingtown (Santa Rosa),

apply online by selecting the Santa Clara location at wholefoodsmarket.com/careers <http://wfm.com/careers "This is going to be a flagship store for Whole Foods Market in Northern California, a fun store focused on satisfying, delighting, and nourishing all our customers,"

Ceballos said. "I look forward to welcoming families shopping for the freshest vegetables, coworkers toasting over local brews or smoothies, and commuters looking for quick, convenient dinners from our hot bar."

"Irvine Company is proud to bring the first Whole Foods Market store to Santa Clara," said Dave Moore, president of Irvine Company Retail Properties. "The addition of this organic grocer continues our vision of creating a dynamic retail center within the Santa Clara Square community where people can live, work, shop and play. This store will provide high quality products and everyday convenience for residents and employees of Santa Clara and Silicon Valley."

"Whole Foods Market Santa Clara will have a tap room with 16 taps, full pub food menu, and seating for about 50 people; outdoor cafĂŠ seating for 40; smoothie and coffee bar; sushi, ramen, and bao

by Genji; new, convenient digital

ordering for sandwiches, burritos, and whole pizzas; and new selfserve options in the bakery.

"In the aisles, customers will find a strong mix of local products to complement natural and organic favorites, including 365 Everyday Value items.

"Outside, the store has 200 dedicated parking spots."

"The store will participate in

Whole Foods Market's community support initiatives, including 5 Percent Days, Nickels for Nonprofits, and food and fund drives.

For more information on how to receive a donation from the Santa Clara store, visit wholefoodsmarket.com/ ncdonations <http://wfm.com/ ncdonations.

Sikh warriors exhibition at Schaumburg library HARISH RAO

Yoga reduces Alzheimer's: UCLA study HARISH RAO

CHICAGO: A University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) "study finds that yoga and meditation can help minimize cognitive impairment", according to UCLA sources.

To reduce risk for Alzheimer's, skip Lumosity (games claiming to

to improve your memory or offset the risk for developing memory loss or dementia, a regular practice of yoga and meditation could be a simple, safe and low-cost solution to improving your brain fitness".

According to US National In-

A group of participants in Alzheimer study

Yoga class students at UCLA

improve memory, etc.) and get onto the yoga mat, this study by UCLA-led team of neuroscientists and funded by the Alzheimer's Research and Prevention Foundation, suggests.

The study says categorically: "If you or your relatives are trying

stitutes of Health, yoga may help one to feel more relaxed, be more flexible, improve posture, breathe deeply, and get rid of stress. According to a recently released "2016 Yoga in America Study", about 37 million Americans (which included many celebrities) now

practice yoga; and yoga is strongly correlated with having a positive self image.

Yoga is the repository of something basic in the human soul and psyche, Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, says.

Madhu Patel, President of NRI Press Club described the UCLA study looking into the usage of multi-faceted yoga to combat Alzheimer's a step in the positive direction.

Yoga, referred as "a living fossil", was a mental and physical discipline, for everybody to share and benefit from, whose traces went back to around 2,000 BCE to Indus Valley civilization, Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, noted.

Rajan further said that yoga, although introduced and nourished by Hinduism, was a world heritage and liberation powerhouse to be utilized by all. According to Patanjali who codified it in Yoga Sutra, yoga was a methodical effort to attain perfection, through the control of the different elements of human nature, physical and psychical.

UCLA claims to be "known worldwide for the breadth and quality of its academic, research, health care, cultural, continuing education and athletics programs".

An exhibition of Sikh Warriors fighting in World War I and II

CHICAGO: A window display of pictures of Sikh soldiers from World Wars I & II is being displayed at Schaumburg Township District Library, Schaumburg, a north side suburb of Chicago.

The display has been on from 1st of May and it will stay until 30th of May. The public is invited to see, enjoy and learn about Sikh history from the display.

"We have been organizing this display in Schaumburg Library during the month of May since 2012, because Memorial Day is on the last Monday of the month of May. It falls on May 30th in 2016," said Sarwan Singh Raju the curator of the display.

Sikh Soldiers who gallantly fought and sacrificed their lives for the success of the Allies in World

Wars I & II were part of BritishIndia Army bravely fighting for the allies in France, Belgium, Italy, Israel and many other battle fronts.

In the two world wars, 83,005 Sikh soldiers died and 109,045 were wounded while fighting for the Allied forces.

"In an effort to create awareness about the Sikh identity, the Sikh American community members of Chicago land area also participate in the Memorial Day Parades in the area. This year the parades will be on Saturday May 28 in Itasca Illinois, and on May 30 in Chicago Downtown. Sikh identity is usually mistaken due to their appearance with beards and turbans, which are mandated requirements for an observant Sikhs," said Rajinder Singh Mago.

May 20, 2016

Community Across America

India Post 23

www.indiapost.com

Unhealthy air, unhealthy lungs, unhealthy communities MONYA DE

LOS ANGELES: Growing up in the Midwest, I observed the way that West Coast trends would work their way eastward, starting out quirky and curious, then changing the way we lived our lives for the better. There was kale; there was yoga; there was recycling. But when it comes to air quality, California, and particularly Los Angeles, is not leading the way toward better health.

In their State of the Air 2016 report released in April, the American Lung Association gives Los Angeles County an F in air quality and the city itself ranks high-

The research program's recent report, The Impacts of Climate Change on Human Health in the United States: A Scientific Assessment <https:// health2016.globalchange.gov/>, found that climate change can wreak havoc on not only the quality of the air we breathe, but on that of the water we drink and the quality of our food. These adverse effects threaten to harm those who are most vulnerable and in need.

Children, seniors, low-income communities, those with chronic disease, and some communities of color disproportionately bear the

Low-income individuals are also often less equipped to adapt to climate stressors. Urban communities of color often have reduced access to alternate housing, food, water, cooling, or transportation in the event of a weather emergency. est in the nation for worst ozone pollution. Why? Climate change, the rise in global temperatures due to the adverse impact human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, could be a major culprit.

Pollution-from gasoline-burning vehicles and coal power plants-fills our air and embeds itself in our lungs. According to the U.S. Global Change Research Program (GCRP), the rising temperature of our planet exacerbates this problem. Heat and a lack of rain traps particulates in our air, increasing the suffering of people with asthma and allergies and creating new cases.

health impacts of climate change.

The American Lung Association reports that 3.1 million people living in poverty across Los Angeles County are especially at risk for poor air quality. Other key climate impacts noted in the GCRP report include heat waves, extreme weather events, decreased food safety, infectious diseases, and psychological stressors.

Low-income individuals are also often less equipped to adapt to climate stressors. Urban communities of color often have reduced access to alternate housing, food, water, cooling, or transportation in the event of a weather

emergency. Add to that the black cloud of soot that descends over our city each time one of our increasingly frequent wildfires occurs (another consequence of climate change) and it's not hard to understand why local pharmacies do a brisk business in inhalers and Claritin.

Climate change represents an opportunity to stop an almost completely preventable epidemic of respiratory illness. According to the California Department of Public Health, 650,000 California adults miss work at some point during the year due to asthma, resulting in 11.8 million missed days of work. That is a needless waste of human capital that affects everyone.

Air quality strains precious health care dollars; the total charges for asthma hospitalizations in 2010 were over $1 billion (including $155.6 million for repeat hospitalizations). More than half of that money came from Medicare and Medi-Cal. And we need to head off a future filled with kids whose growth has been stunted by steroid inhaler use.

California has always been a leader in healthful trends to me.

This is why I support California moving forward with the Clean Power Plan. Not only will it reduce the carbon pollution that causes climate change, but it will also lead to less soot and smog-forming pollution, resulting in significant health benefits immediately.

We would expect to see dramatic improvements like the East Coast has impressively demonstrated with its cleaning up of

Hindu prisoners will not work on 6 festivals SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: Hindu prisoners in England and Wales will be excused from work on Maha Shivaratri, Raksha Bandhan, Krishna Janmashtami, Ganesh Pooja, Vijayadashami and Diwali; according to new guidelines which are effective June 1, 2016, according to reports National Offender Management Service (NOMS), an executive agency sponsored by the Ministry of Justice of United Kingdom Government, issued a 104-pages Prison Service Instruction (PSI) on April 12 titled "Faith and Pastoral Care for Prisoners" to meet the faith and religious needs of prisoners.

This PSI allows possession/ access of following religious artefacts to Hindu prisoners: mala (comprising 108 small beads), statue/image/photograph of god,

incense sticks and holder, small bell and Gita. It says that "incense must be available through the Prison Facilities List" for prisoners registered as Hindu.

It also states: "In the Hindu tra-

Zed also pitched the need of provision of more scriptures (besides Gita) to Hindu prisoners; including Ramayana, Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, Puranas, etc. dition, Prasad is an important part of communal worship. In the prison context, it has been agreed that the Prasad should be provided

in house and can consist of fruit, dried fruit or nuts".

Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, commending the NOMS efforts to meet the religious needs of Hindu prisoners, urged NOMS to include at least five more Hindu festivals Holi, Ram Navmi, Hanuman Jayanti, Makar Sankranti, Yugadi - on the list when Hindu prisoners should be excused from work, in addition to six already granted.

Zed also pitched the need of provision of more scriptures (besides Gita) to Hindu prisoners; including Ramayana, Vedas, Upanishads, Mahabharata, Puranas, etc.

NOMS is responsible for the running of prison and probation services within England and Wales. Michael Spurr is the NOMS Chief Executive.

power plants. But California has the opportunity to do even more, which is why I support Senator Lara's Super Pollutant Reduction Act (SB 1383), which would drastically cut the emissions of super pollutants - soot, fluorinated gases and methane like those that came spewing out of Aliso Canyon-pollutants that are tens to thousands of times stronger than carbon in their climate change impact.

Reducing these emissions provides immediate health benefits to our most at-risk communities. It is up to our leadership to ensure those most vulnerable among us are not forced to bear the brunt of climate change or air pollution. Like the canary in the coal mine, their suffering means that the rest of us are next.

Monya De IS MD MPH, Internal Medicine, Los Angeles

Free FLEX seminar on college admissions India Post News Service

FREMONT, CA: FLEX College Prep proudly presents a rare and unique seminar providing up-todate insider information about the college admissions process for high school students.

The Seminar aims to demystify the process, provide reliable information, and help students and parents develop a successful college admission or application strategy. This seminar draws from the expertise of former college admissions officers including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, U Chicago, UC Berkeley, UCLA, USC and many more The seminar will be held on Saturday, June 4, from10am-12pm at Room 3201 Bldg. 3; Ohlone College, 43600 Mission Blvd, Fremont. Free Parking is available.

The seminar will also be held on Saturday, June 4th, 2-4pm at Hillview Community Center (Multi Purpose Room), 97 Hillview Avenue, Los Altos, CA The Key Note Speaker will be Daniel Edeza: Former Senior Assistant Director of Yale Undergradu-

ate Admissions; Senior Manager, Research and Evaluation at Hispanic Scholarship Fund; English Teaching Assistant, Mexico City; Gates Millennium Scholar, Seton Elm Ivy Award from Yale, and Fulbright Scholar; B.A in History from Yale; Ed. M in International education Policy from Harvard.

The aim of the Seminar is to empower students, grades (8-12) and families, with information that can be used to plan for college admissions and to manage the stress associated with this process.

Topics: • Simulation of a Mock Admissions Committee- Demystifying the admissions process by going behind the Admissions Office's closed doors and addressing how schools select applicants for admission.

• Overview of UC Admissions and Current Trends • A Glimpse into Flex's own Applications/Essays Review Panel The admission is free You may register here to attend: https://www.flexcollegeprep.com/ infobanks

St Louis Kannada Association celebrates Ugadi Cont’d from page 21

Sathish Nanjappa, Sangama Secretary, presented Senator Sifton with a fruit basket and handed him the plaque to present to Mrs. Prem. Senator Sifton spoke highly of Mrs. Asha Prem and her service to the community and also thanked Sangama for having invited him to be a part of the special evening.

The finale of the cultural program was a suspense thriller play with a star cast of talented members of Sangama. The families of the outgoing committee members came up on stage to express their

thanks to the Sangama community for their support of all events through the year, took a bow, bid good bye and made way for the incoming committee.

Following a delicious and sumptuous dinner, with a menu of traditional Karnataka cuisine, cooked by the Sangama member families, the evening continued with a specially invited Kannada fusion orchestra, Svar Amrita, from Bengaluru, India. The evening ended well with people humming popular tunes from yesteryears and joining on the dance floor to the feet tapping music of the orchestra.

Tech News Hospitality major Barcelos logs into Kolkata KOLKATA: International casual dining restaurant Barcelos, now operating in 18 countries, has firmed up plans to set up over 30 outlets in India by 2021, with a projected turnover of Rs 200 crore, a top company official said.

"As part of our expansion plans, we intend to set up 6-8 more outlets this year in India in right locations in tier-1 cities, including Mumbai and Jaipur," Barcelos business head Rohit Malhotra told PTI at the launch of its third outlet here.

"With a steady growth in the hospitality sector and the food and beverages segment here and in India, in past 2-3 years, we see great opportunity for Barcelos, which started its journey in Pretoria in 1993 and visualize 30 outlets by 2021."

Malhotra said they were projecting a Rs 200 crore turnover for the world famous Portuguese cuisine chain in India by 2021.

Malhotra confirmed that the Kolkata outlet, the third after New Delhi and Gurgaon (NCR), will serve authentic Afro-Portuguese delicacy with variations of Peri Peri Sauce.

"And the basic sauces will be imported all the way from South Africa," he claimed.-PTI

No buyers for Mallya's luxury jet MUMBAI: Waiting to be auctioned off by tax authorities for recovery of their dues, the erstwhile 'King of Good Times' Vijay Mallya's private luxury jet is reminiscent of his high-flying days interspersed with plush sofas, a cushioned bed, bars, showers and even a bathrobe.

The 25-seater has also got portraits of gods inside while the exterior has got names of Mallya's three children - son and two daughters - imprinted on the nose of the plane.

His own initials 'VJM' form part

of the name of the jet.

As banks seek to recover dues worth over Rs 9,400 crore in loans and interest from Mallya's longgrounded Kingfisher Airlines, the Service Tax Department is trying hard to sell off his personal jet to recover its over Rs 500 crore dues.-PTI

TechBiz 24 India Post

www.indiapost.com

May 20, 2016

Ethiopian Airlines to expand operations in India ADDIS ABABA: Betting big on India's booming aviation market which has outperformed the US and China in terms of domestic passenger traffic growth, Africa's leading carrier Ethiopian Airlines plans to expand its operations in India with new flights and aircraft upgrade.

The pan-African flag carrier currently operates a daily double service to New Delhi and Mumbai from capital city Addis Ababa. It also operates freighter services to Chennai, Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai.

The airline is currently in talks with the Indian civil aviation authori ies including the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) in this regard, Ethiopian Airline's CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told PTI in Addis Ababa.-PTI

Investors making money in India must pay taxes: Jaitley NEW DELHI: With a revised Mauritius pact in place to check round-tripping, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said investors must pay taxes on money earned in India and ruled out any depletion of FDI due to imposition of capital gains tax on investments through the island nation.

He asserted that India no longer needs any "taxincentivized route" to attract foreign investments as India economy is now "strong enough" and said there was no "serious apprehension" of investors shifting base to other tax havens due

most a decade before India opened up its economy in 1991, has helped channelize more than a third of the USD 278 billion (nearly Rs 19 lakh crore) foreign direct investment India received in the past 15 years.

The imposition of taxes has been "done in a phased manner to avoid shock and I don't expect any depletion to FDI because of this.

Also eventually, markets have to operate on inherent strength of economy", he said.

Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said the treaty revision will bring in a lot of transparency about Mauritius-based enti-

The imposition of taxes has been "done in a phased manner to avoid shock and I don't expect any depletion to FDI because of this.

Also eventually, markets have to operate on inherent strength of economy", he said. to the re-drawing of the decadesold tax treaty with Mauritius - the biggest source of foreign investments into India.

By checking round-tripping of funds, the amendment would help boost domestic consumption, Jaitley added.

After toiling for almost a decade to redraw the tax treaty with Mauritius, India will begin imposing capital gains tax on investments in shares through Mauritius from April next onwards. This has been made possible with amendment to the 34-year-old tax treaty between the two countries.

As markets reacted cautiously to India expanding its crackdown on tax treaties to make it harder for investors to use tax havens as a shelter to avoid levies, Jaitley told PTI, "Eventually markets have to operate on inherent strength of the (Indian) economy."

Stating that the Mauritius tax treaty created a "tax-incentivized route" at a time when India was looking at foreign investments to boost economy, he said the economy has become strong enough and "now those who earn must pay taxes".

The original treaty, signed al-

ties investing in India.

"It will help us dramatically in curbing round-tripping because there are two very important aspects to it. One is the capital gains regime... that will be applicable at

the same rate as you would get if you were a domestic resident tax payer in India. So, there would be no advantage for anybody com-

The redrawn Mauritius treaty will trigger a similar amendment in India's tax treaty with Singapore.

Mauritius and Singapore ac-

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

ing in through the Mauritius route after 2019.

"There was round-tripping of money for certain that was happening. That, of course, will stop because the capital gains benefit will go away. And the information exchange will be far more thorough," Sinha said.

counted for USD 17 billion of the total USD 29.4 billion India received in FDI during April-December 2015.

India had in August 1982 signed the treaty with Mauritius to eliminate double taxation of income and capital gains to encourage mutual trade and investment. -PTI

India is ready for NSG membership: US WASHINGTON: Amid reports His remarks came in response that China and Pakistan are jointly to a question on reports that China opposing India's bid for the and Pakistan have joined hands Nuclear Suppliers Group member- to oppose India becoming a memship, the US has said India meets ber of the Nuclear Suppliers Group missile technology control regime requirements and is ready for entry into the exclusive club.

"I'd point you back to what the president said during his visit to India in 2015, where he reaffirmed that the US view was that India meets missile technology control regime requirements and is State Department Spokesman John Kirby ready for NSG membership," State Department Spokesman John Kirby (NSG). told reporters at his daily news "I'm going to refer you to the conference. governments of China and Paki-

stan with respect to their positions on India's membership," Kirby said.

"Deliberations about the prospects of new members joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group are an internal matter among current members," he said.

Defending its move to block India's entry into the NSG, China claimed that several members of the 48-nation bloc shared its view that signing of the NPT was an "important" standard for the NSG's expansion.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in Beijing that not only China but also a lot of other NSG members are of the view that Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty (NPT) is the cornerstone for safeguarding the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.-PTI

TechBiz Post

May 20, 2016

India Post

25

www.indiapost.com

Easier to file tax returns in India: Rajan LONDON: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan has said he finds it easier to file his tax returns in India, as compared to in the US. He also asserted that developed nations must do their part in tackling the problem of corruption as money taken out illegally from developing countries often find its way to places like London.

Replying to a question on whether corruption in India remained a big issue, the outspoken central banker said, "It is an important tax on the system which impedes good decision making and impedes economic growth".

Stating that it has come down significantly in India, Rajan gave examples of railway ticketing and the tax department.

"I think technology helps. As for example, we moved to automated railway ticketing, the corruption there has come down substantially and the touts no longer squeeze all the supply and sell

them separately. Income tax has been automated.

"You don't have to go to the income tax inspector to get your money back. I find it easier to file income tax in India than filing my

Raghuram Rajan

US income tax," he said to the amusement of many present during a discussion at the Chicago Booth School of Business here.

Rajan said there is a very strong upsurge against corruption in India.

"We have sort of a free press, which tries to unearth some of these instances. We have a public which is fed up with petty corruption. I think the government has

taken a number of steps to increase transparency in contracts, in allocations.

"This has been a process of the last few years and I think we are in a much better place than we used to be. So the grand-level corruption has diminished somewhat. Has the corruption been extinguished? Absolutely not. There is a lot of work that needs to be done," he added.

He was asked about the controversy over the UK Prime Minister David Cameron being caught on camera telling the Queen that the anticorruption summit here would see "leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain".

Rajan replied, "I don't think it is necessarily cultural, there are certain aspects of what one might call corruption in one culture which is not seen as corruption in another.

But this idea of 'I will do the wrong project if you pay me enough money', is not something any society will welcome as an appropriate behavior." PTI

India may export Light Combat Helicopter to African countries NEW DELHI: India is in talks with "certain" countries in Africa for possible export of the indigenous Light Combat Helicopter even as the Defense Ministry has set a target of USD 2 billion worth of exports over the next two years.

The weapons trial of the LCH is planned in July-August this year. While the Army has placed an order for 114 LCH with staterun Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, the IAF has ordered 65.

The successful demonstration of the LCH in firing 70 mm rockets was conducted during the Iron Fist exercise of the IAF held recently.

The certification trials with integration of mission sensors such as electro optical system, helmet pointing system and weapon system like air to air missiles, turret gun and rockets are planned between July and August this year.

"We are in talks with certain countries in Africa who have evinced interest in the LCH. With great value for money, the helicop-

ter is an attractive buy for many countries," a senior defense official said.

Asked why the countries would be interested in a chopper which is yet to get final certifica-

veloped by HAL. Its features include sleek and narrow fuselage, tri-cycle crash worthy landing gear, crash worthy and self-sealing fuel tanks, armor protection, nuclear and low visibil-

tion, the official said, "The certification is a formal process. The countries interested in the LCH in the current form do not need high features like air to air missiles. For them turret gun along with some other features work."

LCH is a 5.5-tonne class combat helicopter designed and de-

ity features which makes the LCH lethal, agile and survivable.

Designed for anti-tank and antiinfantry roles with a maximum speed of 275 kilometers per hour, the LCH is also capable of highaltitude warfare since its operational ceiling will be 16,000 to 18,000 feet.-PTI

EPFO may invest over Rs 6,000 cr in equity HYDERABAD: Union Labor cent and up to 15 per cent of its Minister Bandaru Dattatreya has funds in equity or equity-related said the Employees Provident schemes.

Fund Organization (EPFO) may However, the EPFO manageinvest more than Rs 6,000 crore in ment decided to invest 5 per cent equity market during the current of its incremental deposits in financial year.

ETFs only during the last year, The minister, however, said a the minister added. final decision will be taken by the "Our ministry has prepared a Central Board of Trustees at the report on the investment perfornext meeting. mance. We will study that report Last year, EPFO had invested also. Based on that report, we will about Rs 6,000 crore through SBI decide how much to invest in ETF Mutual Fund's two index-linked and shares of PSUs. We will take ETFs (exchange-traded funds) -one to BSE's "It (investments into ETFs) Sensex and the other may increase over last NSE's Nifty.

"It (investments year because it will yield into ETFs) may increase over last year because benefits in the long run it will yield benefits in even if there is no benefit the long run even if there is no benefit in the in the short term. Last year, short term. Last year, we had invested Rs 6,000 we had invested Rs 6,000 crore. This year, crore. This year, we may we may invest more invest more than that. than that. There was discussion with bankers and investment managers and a decision on whether to increase officials from BSE and NSE," the investments in stock markets, Dattatreya told PTI on the side- and if so, how much," he exlines of a program. plained.

The Finance Ministry had last According to Dattatreya, the year notified a new investment pension body has so far invested pattern for EPFO, allowing the Rs 5,800 crore in shares of statebody to invest a minimum of 5 per owned oil companies' shares. -PTI

26

TechBiz Post

India Post

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

Uday Kotak in Forbes most powerful list NEW YORK: Kotak Mahindra Bank Chief Uday Kotak, who has a net worth of about USD 7.1 billion, is the sole Indian in Forbes list of 40 of the most powerful people in the financial world who control the flow of trillions of dollars around the global economy.

57-year-old Kotak is ranked 33rd in the Forbes list of Money Masters: The Most Powerful People In The Financial World topped by Blackstone Groups CEO Stephen Schwarzman, who has a net worth of USD 10.2 billion and oversees assets worth USD 344 billion.

It said the 40 financiers on the list dominate the world of money, from banking to buyouts, trading to takeovers.

"The hedge fund managers, private equity moguls and lenders who control the flow of trillions of dollars around the global economy impact just about all of us one way or another," Forbes added.

With the Kotak bank overseeing USD 34.6 billion in assets, Forbes said the Indian billionaire, who has a net worth of about USD 7.1 billion, has made his fortune lending to the sprawling masses

between Mumbai and Delhi and has also taken a stand on behalf of savers.

"His bank is continuing to offer 6 per cent on savings accounts, even as falling rates make it harder to do so. Kotak is gung ho on his native country and believes investing in India is like a Bollywood movie -long, but with a happy

India, where Blackstone Group now owns 30 million square feet of office space in major cities," Forbes said.

The list also includes JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on the third spot, Berkshire Hathaway head Warren Buffet (4), Goldman Sachs Chairman Lloyd Blankfein (9) and Soros Fund Management chief

Kotak Mahindra Bank Chief Uday Kotak

ending," it said.

"Even after a run-up in asset prices, the chief of the world's biggest private equity firm is finding ways to put money to work, including recent real estate deals in

George Soros (10).

The candidates on the list were judged on net worth, assets under management or overseen, three-year track records and influence on markets. -PTI

Digital India offers passport, pension online NEW DELHI: Government is implementing the Digital India program to transform the country into a digitally empowered and knowledge economy so that various services like passport, pension and driving licenses could be delivered online, Lok Sabha was informed.

Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said one of the primary focus areas of Digital India is Pillar 5: eKranti - electronic delivery of services. "e-Kranti aims to ensure a government wide transformation by delivering all services electronically to the citizens through integrated and interoperable systems via multiple modes while ensuring efficiency, transparency and reliability of such services at affordable costs," he said during Question Hour.

In e-Kranti, 44 Mission Mode Projects (MMP) - 13 central, 17 state and 14 integrated MMPs are being implemented. Under the 25 operational MMPs 222 services

are being provided. More than 192 e-transactions have been reported since January 1, 2016.

"Under e-Kranti, the government of India has made concerted effort to make offline government services to be also delivered through online mode, ensuring

IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad

that all citizens would have access to them, thereby improving the quality of basic governance on an unprecedented scale," he said.

Prasad said services being provided online include income tax, passport, immigration, core bank-

ing, pension grievance redressal, courts, police, RTI, utility payments, licenses, social welfare schemes, agriculture, municipality, land record, vehicle registration, driving license, public distribution system etc.

The Minister said so far more than 100 crore Aadhaar enrollments have been processed and that resulted in extensive use of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme for subsidies and saving of Rs 21,000 crore.

Prasad said around 1.99 lakh common service centers have been made operational and 1,40,751 KMs OFC pipe laid and over 1,12 lakh KMs optical fiber laid for connectivity to 50,465 gram panchayats to deliver services to citizens in rural areas.

Rural tele-density has crossed 50.09 per cent.

Guidelines for spectrum sharing and trading and liberalization of spectrum have been issued.

More than 2 crore passport applications have been processed, he said. -PTI

Centre initiates second phase of PMUY DAHOD: The Centre has lakh PNG connections to increase launched the second phase of the use of clean fuel in Gujarat.

Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana Over 15.5 crore consumers have (PMUY) for three Indian states of benefited from direct transfer of -Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and subsidy on LPG to their bank acRajasthan. counts, which has also resulted in Earlier on May 1, Prime Minis- prevention of subsidy leakages to ter Narendra Modi had launched the unintended. the Rs 8,000-crore scheme at Balia "The voluntary surrendering of in Uttar Pradesh designed to pro- subsidy by over 1 crore customers vide 5 crore free LPG connections under the GiveItUp campaign has to Below Poverty Line (BPL) families in the next three financial years.

The scheme is being "The administrative cost of partly funded from the Rs 1,600 per connection, savings of the GiveItUp which includes a cylinder, initiative.

Fifteen women from pressure regulator, booklet, BPL families from the three states were safety hose, etc would be handed over LPG conborne by the government." nections, the Petroleum Ministry said in a statement.

Speaking at the event, Petro- helped the government provide leum Minister Dharmendra LPG to poor households," he said.

Pradhan said, "The administrative Pradhan spoke about the mincost of Rs 1,600 per connection, istry pushing the oil marketing which includes a cylinder, pres- companies (OMCs) in offering sure regulator, booklet, safety customer-centric offerings like hose, etc would be borne by the online booking and release of new government." connections and online booking He added that the scheme and payment for LPG refills, would change lives of women from among others.

BPL families in a major way by reGujarat Chief Minister ducing the drudgery of cooking Anandiben Patel, Madhya with polluting fuels and go a long Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj way in reducing indoor pollution Singh Chouhan and Rajasthan and other health-related problems Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, faced by them. along with BJP national President The government aims to pro- Amit Shah, were present at the vide 25 lakh of new LPG and 15 event. -PTI

Air India Express starts Delhi-Dubai flight NEW DELHI: Air India Express has started direct services from the national capital to the Gulf, with the first flight to Dubai taking off on Sunday May 15.

The entry of Air India's international budget arm into Delhi is likely to intensify competition in the lucrative Gulf routes from the national capital since other Indian carriers have recently increased their fre-

quencies. SpiceJet, IndiGo and Jet Airways have flights on Gulf routes.

Air India Express will operate the two direct flights to Dubai and Abu Dhabi daily. New Boeing 737800 aircraft with capacity to carry 189 passengers are being deployed.

"The inaugural flight to Dubai, IX 141, took off with 166 passengers from New Delhi at 9.05 am on Sunday." Air India Ex-

press said in a release.

Headquartered in Kochi, Air India Express flies from 13 places across the country to as many destinations in the MiddleEast and South-East Asia. -PTI

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

India Post 27

TOP TEN HINDI FILM SONGS

1 Kar Gayi Chull : Kapoor & Sons 2 Sab Tera: Baaghi 3 High Heels Te Nachche: Ki & Ka 28 India Post

www.indiapost.com

May 20, 2016

4 Jabra Fan: Fan 5 Bol Do Na Zara: Azhar 6 Ji Huzoori : Ki & Ka

The Bollywood actor who has successfully transitioned to Hollywood was named in the list of 10 Millennial Leaders Around the Globe

7 Bolna: Kapoor & Sons 8 Most Wanted Munda : Ki & Ka 9 Let's Talk About Love : Baaghi 10 Buddhu Sa Mann : Kapoor & Sons

I P

riyanka Chopra does it again. She has been named one of world's 10 Millennial Leaders Quantico, Baywatch, Time magazine's most Influential list and now making it to US News' 10 Millennial Leaders Around the World, actor Priyanka Chopra is indefatigable. The Bollywood actor who has successfully transitioned to Hollywood was named in the list of 10 Millennial Leaders Around the Globe by US News.

Others giving her company on the list include Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, activist Malala Yousufzai and Prince William.

Expressing her happiness over the same, the 33-year-old actress took to her Twitter handle.

F

ilmmaker Anu Menon has set her sights on her hometown, Delhi, for her new film.

The director shared that she is inspired by her own growing up years in Delhi. "I don't know if I am romanticizing my past, but while I grew up here, I never felt or heard of all this sexism that we talk about now. I had a very middle-class upbringing as a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, living in East of Kailash. I am a Tamilian, but I always say that I am a Punjabi-Madrasi . I started working here in advertising and I used to stay at Jhandewalan," she said.

She added, "I even used to drive late at night in my Maruti from work, and I don't remember ever feeling unsafe.

Delhi was never an aggressive place. I want to talk about that era. It was a positive era, there was a lot of progressive thinking. In the late '80s, the culture was so different. Everyone used to watch all kinds of films, and now, I feel some pockets of Delhi and perhaps Gurgaon, are more open to certain kinds of cinema," she said.

I had a very middle-class upbringing as a student of Kendriya Vidyalaya, living in East of Kailash.

I am a Tamilian, but I always say that I am a Punjabi-Madrasi

rrfan Khan seems to have become one of the hot favorite Indian actors for filmmakers in Hollywood.

The talented actor has starred in films like 'The Amazing Spiderman', 'Jurassic World' and will be seen with Tom Hanks in 'Inferno'.

Now, if reports are to be believed, American actress-writer Mindy Kaling has offered a comedy-drama to Irrfan. The 'Jazbaa' actor too has reportedly agreed "in principle" to be a part of the project.

A popular publication quoted a source as saying, "Mindy is writing the script keeping Irrfan in mind. They are constantly in touch and also follow each other on Twitter."

Born to Indian parents, Mindy is best known for her shows like 'The Mindy Project' and 'The Office' for which she also served as the executive producer and writer.

Meanwhile in Bollywood, Irrfan will be seen in Nishikanth Kamat's social thriller 'Madaari' which is slated to release on June 10.

Bollywood

May 20, 2016

India Post 29

www.indiapost.com

R

icha Chadha's sizzling avatar in Pooja Bhatt's upcoming film 'Cabaret' has already created a buzz about the film. But the actress doesn't want any unwanted revelations about her look. She, reportedly, banned the use of cell phones on the film's sets to avoid pictures getting leaked.

An IndianExpress.com report states that Chadha doesn't want the audience to get a detailed idea about what her role is going to be or twists and turns in the movie, for that matter.

Apparently, there are additional looks in the film that are meant to be kept under wraps for the time being and the 'Fukrey' actress' banned cell phones on the sets fearing that some pictures from the shoot might get leaked.

Cabaret features Richa as a small town girl who makes it big in the glamour industry. Directed by Kaustav Narayan Niyogi, it also stars Gulshan Devaiah and will hit the screens on May 27.

I

n 'Azhar', Prachi Desai is playing the first wife of former cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin. For getting into the skin of the character, she even met Naureen. "Naureen has been a mystery to all of us.

The audience will also discover her first time ever with this film.

She is so private and guarded all her life that nobody knows anything of her."

It was a challenge for Prachi to portray her because there was little information about the woman, who played an integral role in Azharuddin's life. "Giving her a face was difficult for me. The characterization part, which is the first stage of every film, that itself was the toughest job because how would you form an image about someone that you know nothing about? I was relying on our director (Tony D'Souza) for my role. The information, which we had, was very limited."

But Azharuddin helped her in knowing his ex-wife well and also arranged a meeting with Naureen.

S

wara Bhaskar is in a steady relationship with script writer Himanshu Sharma (of 'Tanu Weds Manu' and 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns' fame). The couple has been dating for the past two years. They met during the making of 'Raanjhanaa' and became close during the shoot of 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns'.

While Swara was unavailable for comment, Himanshu confirmed the news, saying, "Yes, we are dating. We're in a happy space and currently, both of us are concentrating solely on our careers. We haven't thought about marriage as yet, but when the time comes, we will surely take the leap."

Over the last couple of days, rumors of them tying the knot have been doing the rounds online but with Himanshu statement, things have been cleared. Swara's career is on a high these days. With her bold film 'Nil Battey Sannata' winning rave reviews from all circuits, the actress wants to explore better scripts and films.

Datebook

30 India Post

NEW JERSEY

NEW YORK

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

Upcoming

Upcoming Sun, May 29 • Hasya Kavi Sammelan (Humor, Laughter & Poetry) Venue: Kenilworth Inn, 60 South 31st Street, Kenilworth, NJ 07033 Time: 03:00 pm Contact: 551-697-8703

Fri, Jun 03

Sat, May 21

Sat, Jun 16

• Desi Saturdays New Yorks Weekly Saturday Night

• Sunidhi Chauhan and Ayushmann Khurrana Live

Venue: LEXICON, 226 E 54th St, New York,

Venue: Terrace Theater - Long Beach Con-

NY 10022

vention and Entertainment Center, 300 East

Time : 9:30 pm

Ocean Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90802

Sat, Jun 4

Venue: Wilshire Ebell Theatre, 4401 West 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90005

Sat, May 21

Sun, Jun 12 • Shri. R. Suryaprakash – Vocal South India Fine Arts

Venue: Akbar Restaurant, 21 Cortlandt Street, Edison, NJ 08837 Time : 7:00 pm

Venue: The Hindu Temple Auditorium, 143-

• Shri. Pattabhirama Pandit Vocal

09, Holly Avenue, Flushing, NY 11355

Venue: CET - Soto Theater, 701 Vine Street,

Time : 05:00 pm

San Jose, CA 95110

Sun, Jun 05 • Grand Super Singer Night

Sat, Jun 30

Time: 04:30 pm

• Sensational Heartthrobs

Wed, May 26

Venue: Colden Auditorium, 65-30 Kissena

• Macy's Union Square Celebrates Asian Flavors And Culture With Chef Katie Chin For Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Time : 08:00 pm

Sun, May 29 • Hindi Play - CHANAKYA Live In Los Angeles

Time: 6:30 pm

• Ponmalai pozuthu 2016 by Super Singers

Boulevard, NY 11367

CHICAGO

Upcoming

Time: 07:00 pm

• Bollywood Patola Ladies Night Out

Venue: West Windsor-Plainsboro High School South, 346 Clarksville Road, West Windsor Township, NJ 08550 Time: 07:00 pm

May 20, 2016

Venue: Macy's Union Square, Cellar 170 O'Farrell St., San Francisco, CA Time: 6:00 pm Contact: monica.gubrud@macys.com 415.954.6283

Fri, Jun 3 • The Ultimate Antakshari Challenge & Karaoke Night Venue: Golden Peacock Banquets, 24989 Santa Clara St, Hayward, CA 94544 Time: 07:00 pm

Sat, Jun 4 • Maitra Jivache Mega live concert of Pt. Hridhaynath and Salil Venue: Sunnyvale Hindu Temple, 450 Persian Drive, Sunnyvale, CA 94089 Time: 06:00 pm

Venue: CET - Soto Theater, 701 Vine St, San Jose, CA 95110 Time: 07:00 pm

ATLANTA Upcoming Fri, May 20 • Lalita Sahasranama Maha Maha Yajnam Venue: SRIM Meditation Center, 285 Julie Lane, Forsyth, GA 31029 Time: 8:00 pm Contact: 678-380-5477

Sun, May 22 • S. S. Thaman Live In Concert Venue: Lassiter Concert Hall, 2601 Shallowford Rd, Marietta, GA 30066 Time: 4:00 pm

Sat, May 28 • Bappi Lahri: The Legend Live In Atlanta Venue: Atlanta Event Hall, 3750 Venture Dr, Duluth, GA 30096 Time: 08:00 pm

ILLINOIS Upcoming 1st and 3rd Sunday of Month • Chicago Children's Bal Mukund Character Building Program and Hindi Literacy Classes Venue: Vogelei Center, 650 W. Higgins Road, Hoffmann Estates, IL 60192 (Next to Nissan Dealership) Contact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok @ 630-561-4807

Mondays and Fridays • Free ESL - English as Second Language Classes Metropolitan Asian Family Services Venue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL, Time: 10:30am to 12:30pm Contact: 773-465-3105

Mondays and Fridays • Free ESL - English as Second Language Classes Where: Metropolitan Asian Family Services Venue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL, Time: 10:30am to 12:30pm Contact: 773-465-3105

Swami Ishatmananda • Bhagavad Gita: Philosophy of life Venue: Public Library-95th Street 3015 Cedar Glade Rd Naperville IL 60564 Time: 1st friday of every month 7-8 pm Contact: 630-637-0662

• India Eternal: From the Vedic Age to the Present Venue: Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago 10915 N. Main Street Glendale Heights, IL 60139 Time: 10:00 pm Contact: 630-655-8822

Horoscope

May 20, 2016

India Post

31

www.indiapost.com

May 20th - May 26th2016 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

D

esire to learn, look good get hair cut, buy new clothes. Feel energized.

Spend time with family good quality fun with kids.

Can buy stocks or gold, or car. Week is good mental peace at home. Looking to buying real estate. Don't argue keep your cool and focus on family. Slight abdominal issue and anxiety may occur. Spirtual activity seen.

ocus on children, and studies as lack of drive is seen. Abdominal issues, trouble in foreign land, losses and expenses in ventures.

Obey law, as sun is weak feel lethargic in getting things done. Dispute with siblings and friends, obstruction in income. Pay attention to father or father like figure. Even thou rough week Moon helps keeping mental peace. Avoid Grey color.

T

ocus on Professional matters as those looking for job looks good and promotions. Good week at work and at home. Mental peace at home spend time with family, friends and people in high places. Take leadership and control, avoid dispute. People with Diabetes and liver problems pay attention to health. Don't be stubborn and moody about health issues visit doctor.

ake leadership, stay fo cused don't argue as venus and mars in transit play bad guys. This causes problems in business, partners and foreign land or business in foreign land. Problems with debts, disease, theft, fire, or litigations. Remedy don't wear blue or red, don't panic delay projects. Jupitor is weak, diabetes patients take care, setbacks and obstructions.

F

F

M

M

G

ain focus is health this week, private parts, kidneys, headaches, sinus, ear problems. Sudden setbacks and obstructions. Females might find this week rough.

Professional matters looks good. Ventures in business and partners will benefit. Relationships positive as emotions gets involved. There can be addition to family. Can purchase real estate, new car, clothes, gold, Immovable and movable assets.

ental peace at home, can involve in purchase of real estate, have lots of energy to gets things done. Will spend time with siblings friends and people in high places helps status, your family can increase income.

Can be market to purchase car, gold. Desire to study and involve in relationship. Be vigilant to avoid accidents, expenses, losses and manage setbacks and obstructions.

G

nexpected income or fortune. Visit spiritual places and spend time with father or father like person.

Travel maybe involved for work, and go with flow at work, nothing major happening. Avoid disputes, debts and pay attention to diseases visit doctor. Theft, fire litigation may arise. Be patience and mental peace at home and family will be good.

U

ood initiatives, drive for work and ventures. Professional matters very positive and mental peace at home is good. Make executive decisions at work. Real estate and in military good news. Invest in own home or purchase property. Due to mercury there is short lived setbacks and obstructions, so watch what you say to others. Marriage, partnerships, business ventures.

P

A

W

reat week, as planets are strong. Feel energized about work, home life, friends and family. Can venture in new businesses.

Spend time with family, take a trip. Professional matter is positive as work is focus and leads to satisfaction. Increase in unexpected income. Short or long journey for short duration. Students will do good on exams and applying for jobs.

rofessonal matters looks down, Avoid disputes at work as status can be affected. Separation from family and mental peace at home is disturbed. Moody behavior along with anxiety ups and down during week. Sudden setbacks and obstructions, don't buy real estate, as assets can be effected. Abdominal issues, knee and joint pain.

Remedy is avoid haste and be patience sit back and watch.

void conflicts with spiri tual leaders and governmental leaders and obey the law. Focus on health like heart, abdominal areas and kidneys.

Focus on children,emotions with loved ones, investments and studies as losses, expenses and separations can occur. Studies takes you to foreign place. Sudden setbacks, obstructions, accidents, trouble to parents.

eek focuses on heath, disputes, debts, diseases, theft, fire, litigations.

Abdominal issues, heart, kidneys and private parts.

Sudden setbacks and obstructions, trouble to parents. Be vigilant to avoid accidents, disputes practice patience and avoid risky activities. Short temper with family and communication can lead to loss of status and assets.

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

Realty Tidbits

Agent arrested for scam of elderly LOS ALTOS HILLS, Calif.: Authorities say they have arrested a real estate agent who allegedly defrauded three elderly clients by pocketing more than a million dollars they paid her to get them cheap homes in Santa Clara County.

The San Jose Mercury News reports Geana Or was arrested May 1 on suspicion of grand theft and elder abuse. She is free on bond.

Investigators with the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office say they were alerted to the fraud after a 73-year-old Los Altos Hills resident reported that he was approached by Or who convinced him to write cashier's checks in her name, totaling about $475,000, to go toward the purchase of two homes that she said were approaching foreclosure.

Authorities say they have identified two other Santa Clara County victims, one living in China, who reportedly lost the same amount of money.

They believe there could have additional victims -AP

Higher buildings along New York waterfront NYACK, N.Y.: New rules allow higher buildings along the waterfront in suburban Nyack, New York.

Mayor Jen Laird White says

Real Estate 32 India Post

www.indiapost.com

May 20, 2016

Chinese pour $110bn into US real estate

C

hinese nationals have become the largest foreign buyers of US property after pouring billions into the market in search of safe offshore assets, according to a study. A huge surge in Chinese buying of both residential and commercial real estate last year took their fiveyear investment total to more than $110bn, according to the study from the Asia Society and Rosen Consulting Group. The sheer size of that total has helped the real estate market recover from the crash that began in 2006 and precipitated the 2008 economic crisis, they said.

How to keep the home after death of spouse who got reverse mortgage MARCIE GEFFNER

Widows and widowers may be able to keep their homes, even if they weren't named as borrowers on their spouses' reverse mortgages.

The ability to remain in the home comes courtesy of an FHA program called the Mortgagee Optional Election, or MOE, assignment. The program permits the lender to allow a surviving spouse to continue to live in the home, even when the surviving spouse isn't listed on the loan document as a borrower, says Sarah Mancini, an attorney at the National Consumer Law Center, a nonprofit consumer advocacy organization in Washington, D.C. When your spouse got a reverse mortgage, without putting your name on the loan, you can be at risk of losing the home after your spouse dies. The FHA's Mortgagee Optional Election assignment program is designed to allow nonborrowing widows and widowers to keep their homes.

1. You must have been married when your spouse got the reverse mortgage, and you must have remained married.

2. The home has to be your principal residence.

3. Taxes and insurance must be paid up.

4. Contact the mortgage servicer to request an MOE assignment.

What is a reverse mortgage?

Reverse mortgages allow homeowners who are 62 or older

to borrow against home equity and receive a lump sum, line of credit or fixed amount every month without having to make monthly payments.

Almost all reverse mortgages are Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, or HECMs, insured by the Federal Housing Administration.

When a reverse-mortgage borrower dies, the loan becomes due and payable. That means when a reverse mortgage is taken out by only 1 spouse in a married couple, the other spouse can be at risk of losing the home after the

borrower's death. The FHA designed the MOE assignment program to prevent nonborrowing spouses from losing their homes.

Here's a summary of some of the MOE program's guidelines that allow nonborrowing widows and widowers to remain in their homes: Marriage requirements

New single family homes in Sunnyvale India Post News Service

Mayor Jen Laird White

changes to village zoning codes will permit projects anchored on the Hudson River to rise as high as 52 feet. That's up from 45 feet.

The Journal News says developers would have to make a lot of concessions in exchange for more height and density. White says the community would have to benefit substantially.

The changes to the village's waterfront zoning code were passed this week. -AP

Cont’d on page 35

SUNNYVALE, CA: The hottest place to live in the San Francisco Bay Area right now is Sunnyvale - specifically downtown Sunnyvale. Classic Communities recently opened Paloma Place, the only new single-family homes in downtown Sunnyvale.

This area, bordering S. Mathilda Avenue between Iowa Avenue and W. Evelyn Avenue, is being completely revitalized and already includes Macy's, Target, many luxury apartments, and numerous high-tech companies. There are lots of restaurants, cafes, and boutique

shops, plus a Caltrain station - and all of this is just across the street from Paloma Place. The homes at Paloma Place are luxurious 2-level

Most plans have a main-level bedroom and bath that is ideal for guests or extended family members. Prices for these homes have just been reduced

floor plans with up to 5 bedrooms and 3 baths and up to 2,421 square feet. Each home has a gourmet kitchen and plenty of room inside and out to entertain with friends, a wonderful master suite with fabulous en suite bath, plus dedicated computer areas.

Most plans have a main-level bedroom and bath that is ideal for guests or extended family members. Prices for these homes have just been reduced and start at $1,798,888. This is a very rare opportunity to live in a single-family home in an urban setting in Silicon Valley. The sales office is open every day except Wednesday. More information can be found at www.palomaplace.com.

The spouses must have: • Been married at the time the reverse mortgage was originated.

• Remained married until the borrower's death.

Same-sex spouses who couldn't legally marry in their state when the loan was made but married later can qualify.

State-recognized common-law marriages and civil unions also could be accepted, but spouses who came into the picture after the loan was made aren't covered by this program.

Residency requirements The surviving spouse: • Must have occupied the home as a principal residence at the time the reverse mortgage was originated.

• Must still live in the home and have marketable title to the home or a legal right to live there for the rest of his or her life.

Marketable title or a lifelong legal right of residency must be obtained within 90 days of the borrower's death, according to the

The program permits the lender to allow a surviving spouse to continue to live in the home Department of Housing and Urban Development guidelines.

A spouse who moves out, say, into a hospital or care facility, for an extended time might not be able to reoccupy the property. Shortterm absences are permitted.

Tax and insurance requirements The reverse mortgage cannot be in default, which means the property taxes and homeowners insurance must be paid up.

This requirement "could be a hurdle for a lot of people," Mancini says, adding that an existing repayment plan for a borrower who fell behind likely would be canceled when he or she died.-AP

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

India Post 33

Real Estate Post

34 India Post

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

19k residential units launched Govt plans housing for EPFO subscribers in top 6 cities MUMBAI: As many as 19,000 residential units were launched in top six cities during JanuaryMarch period, with the megapolis witnessing the highest number of launches, a study said.

According to a Colliers International study, amidst cautious

followed by Bengaluru (6,000) and Pune (2,200). While 1,100 units were launched in Chennai, there was a marginal improvement in the launches in Noida and Gurgaon.

"While developers across all major cities steered clear of inundating the primary residential

sentiment, nearly 19,000 units were launched in top six cities including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Pune, Gurgaon, Noida and Chennai.

Maximum launches were concentrated in Mumbai, nearly 6,500

segment with too many new products, recovering market confidence prompted them to lure buyers with cash discounts and freebies," its Senior Associate Director Research Surabhi Arora

said.

She further said the falling interest rates and introduction of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 has helped to recuperate the sentiment.

"What we need to resurrect in the residential market now is an affordable product with basic amenities at right price point. We are witnessing steady enquiries mainly in the affordable and midsegment which is a good sign," Arora said.

The report pointed out that capital and rental values are expected to be rationalized in the near term as residential markets across all major cities witness developers focus on clearing unsold inventory.

"Falling interest rates coupled with the introduction of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016 are expected to stimulate end user demand and lead to market recovery. However, it will take some time to bring back fence sitting investors into the market again. Thus in the short term we are expecting capital values to remain stable," Arora added. -PTI

Washington home prices up 8.1 % SPOKANE, Wash.: Housing prices across the state continued to rise in the first quarter of 2016, driven by a low supply of homes for sale.

That's according to the Runstad Center for Real Estate Studies at the University of Washington.

The statewide median sales price for a single family home rose to $289,400 in the first quarter, 8.1 percent higher than the same time in 2015.

Home prices rose in every county except for Adams and Chelan counties. Wahkiakum recorded the highest relative increase of 200 percent, followed by San Juan at 88.5 percent and Skamania at 78.6 percent.

Median housing prices vary widely, ranging from $85,000 in Ferry County to $958,300 in San

Juan County. King County has the second highest median values, at $674,500. -AP

Apartment fire was intentionally set ROSEDALE, Md.: Police and fire officials in Baltimore County say a fire in a Rosedale apartment building was intentionally set.

Firefighters said in a news release that the fire was reported shortly after noon at the Park East Apartments.

Officials say the fire was

brought under control in less than an hour. Police say all 10 residents were displaced and one person was taken to a hospital for smoke inhalation.

Investigators say a tenant who had ongoing dispute with management twice confronted staff in the apartment's office.

Police say the tenant returned, put flammable liquid on the door and floor and set it on fire.

Police have obtained a warrant charging the tenant with arson and attempted murder. Officers say the tenant is hospitalized and has not been served yet.

-AP

NEW DELHI: Government is working on a scheme to provide low-cost housing for retirement fund body EPFOs over five crore subscribers, Parliament was informed.

"Government is exploring the possibility for providing a suitable low-cost housing scheme for subscribers of Employees Pension Fund. It is in preliminary discussion stage," Labor Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said in a written reply to Lok Sabha.

The minister was replying to a

perusal.

The committee has unanimously recommended a scheme to facilitate subscribers to buy houses where they will get an advance from their PF accumulation and will be allowed to pledge their future PF contribution as EMI (Equated Monthly Installment) payment.

Under the proposed scheme, there will be tripartite agreement with member, bank/housing agency and EPFO for pledging future PF contributions as EMI

question whether the government or the EPFO has introduced/proposes to introduce a scheme to allow its subscribers to pledge their future PF contribution to buy low-cost houses.

Last year, the proposal was also listed on the agenda of the meeting of the Employees Provident Fund Organizations EPFO trustees meeting on September 16.

The proposal was to allow its subscribers to pledge their future PF contribution to buy low-cost houses. A report of the expert committee on housing facility for the subscribers was also presented to the trustees for their

payment.

The panel had suggested that the subscribers will purchase a dwelling unit with loans from bank or housing finance companies and hypothecation of property in favor of the latter.

It was suggested the benefits under the scheme of Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation can also be extended to the beneficiaries of the scheme.

However, the panel had suggested this scheme for low income formal workers who are EPFO subscribers and could not buy a house during their entire service period. -PTI

Real Estate Post

May 20, 2016

India Post 35

www.indiapost.com

Buyers line up for homes wrecked by Sandy BABYLON, N.Y.: Matt Price and his wife, Carla, are gambling that the devastation inflicted by Superstorm Sandy will be their key to the American dream of home ownership.

The couple was among the successful bidders at an auction that sold off the last of more than 400 flood-damaged houses that were purchased by New York State after the superstorm devastated shoreline communities in 2012.

Their prize was a modest, fourbedroom cape in Babylon that sits across from a boatyard and a canal that spilled over its bulkheads during the historic storm.

As part of a program to bail out distressed homeowners in the most flood-prone neighborhoods, the state paid $435,000 for the property, based on an estimate of what it was worth before the storm.

Matt Price, a 30-year-old real estate broker, got it at auction for $145,000.

While the building was salvageable and partly repaired after the flood, he plans to tear it down and spend as much as $200,000 to build higher and sturdier to protect his investment. ``Sandy was a very unique situation,'' he said, standing outside the Babylon home. ``Not to say that I don't think it would happen again. I think it's going to be a very rare occurrence if it ever did. The goal is to make it as resistant or storm proof as possible so that's not an issue.''

Last week, the state completed a series of auctions that began a year ago, selling 417 homes for $66 million. The state purchased the

homes for $140.5 million, using funding provided by federal disaster relief after Sandy and Hurricane Irene, which struck in 2011.

State officials say there is an advantage to selling the homes for

deep discounts to restore neighborhoods devastated by Sandy, which damaged thousands of homes, killed 182 people and caused about $65 billion in damage.

The houses ``are properties we want to see on the tax rolls,'' said Lisa Bova-Hiatt, executive director of the Governor's Office of Storm Recovery.

The state demands all redevelopment of the properties be consistent with local zoning regulations, many of which have been strengthened after Sandy to require fortification against storm damage, including requirements to raise the living areas of rebuilt houses above the flood plain.

Chinese pour $110bn into US real estate Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 32

Chinese investment in property has also helped to inflate prices in other developed countries, notably the UK and Australia in the wake of the dip in world stock markets in 2015.

And despite a slowdown due to Beijing's subsequent clampdown on capital outflows, the figure for the second half of this decade is likely to double to $218bn, the study said.

"What makes China different and noteworthy is the combination of the high volume of investment (and) the breadth of its participation across all real estate categories," including a "somewhat unique entry into residential purchases," the study said.

The authors of the study said

their numbers, based on public and real estate industry data, understate the total. They necessarily miss purchases made by front companies and trusts that do not identify the sources of the funds.

Big deals such as the Anbang insurance group's $2bn purchase of the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York last year and its failed $14bn offer for the Starwood group in March have made headlines. But the study said Chinese buying of US homes far outpaces its investment in commercial land and buildings.

Between 2010 and 2015, Chinese buyers put more than $17bn into US commercial real estate, with half of that spent last year alone. Unlike many countries, there are very few restrictions on what foreigners can buy in the US.-AFP

Many shoreline neighborhoods have been filled with construction workers lifting structures higher.

Besides the homes in the auction program, the state also bought out more than 550 property own-

ers in Staten Island and eastern Long Island for nearly $63 million.

Those houses were deemed too vulnerable to future storms and have been permanently abandoned.

At the auction, at a Long Island hotel, potential bidders were greeted in the parking lot by representatives from demolition companies, general contractors, architects, asbestos abatement and other home improvement businesses.

Inside, a standing-room-only crowd of more than 300 filled a ballroom, where bidders gobbled up about 50 properties located on Long Island's south shore. Bids went as high as $600,000 on the first property, but the prices soon plummeted into the mid-100-thousands.

James Normile bought a fourbedroom colonial on a canal in

Lindenhurst for $185,000. Before Sandy, it was valued at $470,000. ``We're flippers,'' he said as he waited to sign a contract sealing the sale. ``We're investors, and we think it's a good deal. If you don't mind working and put sweat equity into it, you can make some decent money.''

He acknowledged that he was buying in a waterfront neighborhood that still floods during modest storms. ``There are concerns, but people have been living there for 100 years. People will adapt for the pleasure of living on the water.''

Price, too, said he was willing to take the risk. ``You have to take a chance that you can get it done,'' he said. ``We had been looking in Babylon and there was very little quality in Babylon, so we decided to kind of make our own luck with this.'' -AP

36 India Post

M

ussoorie, like other hill resorts in India, came into existence in the 1820s or thereabouts, when the families of British colonials began making for the hills in order to escape the scorching heat of the plains. Small settlements grew into large stations and were soon vying with each other for the title of "queen of the hills."

Mussoorie's name derives from the Mansur shrub (Cororiana nepalensis), common in the Himalayan foothills; but many of the house names derive from the native places of those who first built and lived in them.

Today, the old houses and estates are owned by well-to-do Indians, many of whom follow the lifestyle of their former colonial rulers. In

www.indiapost.com

May 20, 2016

most cases, the old names have been retained.

Tourist attractions "The Mall would be lifeless without people and people would find Mussoorie lifeless without the Mall," a shopkeeper observes. The main artery of Mussoorie, the Mall certainly responds to the influx of visitors in the same manner as a person fighting for life-sustaining breath revives after receiving oxygen.

Shops closed for the winter spring to life when summer approaches. Soon, the trickle of visitors swells to a steady, heartening stream. Happy laughter and the gay chitter-chatter of a cosmopolitan band of people from the plains flows from one open end of the Mall to the other.

Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 38

May 20, 2016

Travel & Hospitality Post

India Post 37

www.indiapost.com

Jet offers more Mumbai- IRCTC train tickets on international card Singapore seats NEW DELHI: Jet Airways will offer 50 per cent more seats to the fliers on the Mumbai-Singapore route from next month by deploying a higher seating-capacity aircraft amid the rapidly growing demand on the sector, which has seen a 34 per cent spike in the last two years.

Earlier, the full service airline had upgraded its service on the Delhi Singapore-Delhi route by deploying the Airbus A330-200 aircraft in place of a narrow-body Boeing 737.

With the deployment of widebody 254-seater Airbus 330-200 in place of single-aisle 168-seater B737-800 aircraft, Jet Airways would operate 86 more seats daily from June 1, a release said here.

The A330-200 offers guests a customized two-cabin seating configuration of 18 seats in premiere (business) class and 236 in economy, it said.

The Naresh Goyal-promoted private airline, in which gulf carrier Etihad also holds 24 per cent stake, currently operates four services - two from Mumbai and one each from Delhi and Chennai - to Singapore's Changi Airport.

Mumbai was Changi Airport's fourth fastest growing route in 2015 with an 8.2 per cent year-onyear growth, among other destinations with at least half a million passengers handled from the city during this period.

"We are happy to deploy Jet

Airways spacious and modern wide body aircraft catering to additional capacity on the highly popular Mumbai-SingaporeMumbai route. This sector has seen a growth in traffic by over 34 per cent in last two years, particularly among business travelers," Jet Airways Whole Time Director Gaurang Shetty said.

expected to trigger competition further to the South-east Asian country from India.

Besides, Australia is one of two major markets, China being the other one, for Scoot which is looking at India to enhance its presence in the land of Kangaroos.

This upgrade will also offer

In addition, connecting traffic over Singapore to Australia and the ASEAN destinations booked through code share and interline partners is also growing rapidly, he said.

Significantly, Singapore Airlines' long-haul budget arm Scoot is also set to take wings in India with services to Chennai and Amritsar from Singapore from 24th of this month, which is

convenient connections from Mumbai to Australia and the ASEAN region over Singapore on codeshare and interline partner airlines, Jet Airways said.

Passengers on incoming flights from Singapore will be able to avail convenient onward connections to key destinations on Jet Airways domestic network and beyond to international destinations from Mumbai, it said.-PTI

WiFi in 400 Rly stations by next year NEW DELHI: Work on providing WiFi at 400 railway stations across the country would be completed by next year and it will have the fastest speed among public WiFis in the world, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu has said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are tying up with Google for providing WiFi at 400 railways stations across the country. We have started with Mumbai Central Station.

"As per Google, which is a world's top company, when this work will be completed by next year, this WiFi will have the fastest speed across the world among public WiFi's," Prabhu said, adding that this has been already proved at Visakhapatnam and Bhubaneswar stations.

He added that besides Google, the Railways were providing WiFi at railway stations through other operators also.

To a question on developing

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal in Mumbai, the Minister said many issues have been resolved at a meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister on April 21 and it has been decided to have seven buildings at the Terminal on the lines of Shivaji's Fort, with a central dome and six other buildings, besides a statue of Shivaji.

"The Central dome (of 30 X 30 meters) will be retained by Rail-

ways as it is a heritage building and the model is being developed

by J J School of Arts," he said.

On connectivity between Churchgate and Shivaji Terminal where trains of Western and Central Railways terminate, Prabhu said "Western Railways and Central Railways are the lifeline of Mumbai. We are taking steps to connect both with an underground tunnel."

He also disclosed that train passengers having etickets will be able to travel by Metro, BEST buses and taxis, a first of its kind initiative.PTI

NEW DELHI: IRCTC has joined hands with Atom, an online payment gateway, to facilitate foreign travelers to use international credit and debit cards for purchasing train tickets.

"The arrangement has enabled the international passengers to use their cards for payment transaction for booking e-tickets on IRCTC ticketing portal. The response is very encouraging since launch of the facility last week," said Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) Chairman and Managing Director AK Manocha.

He said Rs 15 lakh worth transaction has been made so far on international cards.

IRCTC, a railways PSU, provides end-to-end travel solutions for domestic as well as International travelers.

Manocha also said, "Atom has deployed a robust technology and world class Fraud Protection Mechanism and our technology team has made necessary changes along with them to enable such transactions."

Besides train tickets, IRCTC also provide bookings for airline, hotel as well as other ancillary services for the passengers.

It is expected that the service will propel India straight into the global tourism road map and allow easier access and flow of tourists into India.-PTI

Kerala wins 'Best Family Destination' award THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has once again been named as the best family destination in the country at the Lonely Planet Magazine India (LPMI) Travel Awards 2016.

Kerala Tourism Director U V Jose received the award at a function in Mumbai, a release said here.

The annual awards showcase the best travel experiences available to Indians and anoint the best service providers, the preferred places to stay and the destinations Indians most love to visit, it said.

Nominations for the awards are shortlisted by a panel of travel experts and professionals, following which readers vote both online and in the magazine.

Besides being judged the best place to take the family along for a holiday, Kerala was also nominated in the best destination for 'culture' and 'to relax' categories.

Kerala Tourism had earlier won the Ulysses Prize of the United Nations World Tourism Organization for its contribution as a global leader to sustainable tourism, the release added.-PTI

38 India Post

Travel & Hospitality Post

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

Jet Airways rolls out travel card in Bangla NEW DELHI: : Private carrier Jet Airways rolled out an all-new co-branded travel credit card for its customers in Bangladesh in association with the Dhaka-headquartered Eastern Bank Limited and global payments technology company Visa.

The 'Jet Airways Eastern Bank Limited (EBL) Visa Platinum Credit Card' is Bangladesh's first airline co-brand credit card and the card holder automatically gets enrolled into Jet Airways loyalty program JetPrivilege on issuance of the card.

This is for the first time that such a card has been launched outside India by Jet Airways, the company claimed.

The co-branded travel credit card is tailored to meet the travel-

ling and lifestyle needs of frequent flyers and allows them to accumulate JPMiles on their credit card spends, which can be later redeemed for free award tickets on

partners, a Jet Airways release said.

The card will be offered on the Visa network platform allowing card holders to access benefits

Jet Airways, Etihad Airways and JetPrivilege's 30+ airline program

and privileges across the world, it said.

Mussoorie

Favorite pastime gliding up and down the Mall Forming a fascinating fashion parade with a potpourri of fashions from different parts of the country, visitors glide up and down the Mall, gulping the fresh mountain air, gazing at the assortment of goods in the shops that line the Mall.

There is no noisy traffic here.

Only the occasional, measured clatter of hooves as a horse-riding tourist goes past. And every now and then, pedestrians move to the

ans over the prices of 'imported' goods and Tibetan metalware; browsing through a bookshop; searching for antiques in the curio-shops; choosing hand-carved walking sticks or handmade cane baskets and other wares. There are embroidered wall hangings, dry pinecones, hill jewelry, garments and a dozen knick-knacks besides.

If tired of shopping or windowshopping, there is the cable car that starts from the Mall and goes up to Gun Hill. There is a revolving restaurant and scores of fanci-

sides as two sturdy hillmen pulling hand rickshaws occupied by people reluctant to walk, signal their approach with the spirited ringing of a bicycle bell mounted on the handle of the quaint rickshaw.

Running through Kulri Bazaar, on towards Library Chowk, the Mall, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, offers an amazing variety of pastimes. Haggling, bargaining with rosy-cheeked Tibet-

fully named eating-places. Citybred children are torn between trying to run up and down every steep path they can spot, and video parlors, a tiny park with swings and see-saws, candy floss wallahs, balloon wallahs From the Mall, there is a feast of views of the surrounding hills and the Doon Valley below. As evening falls, there is the prospect of watching a glorious sunset, and in the deepening darkness, twin-

Cont’d from page 36

kling lights appear one by one in the valley below. Simultaneously, the Mall transforms itself into a long, glittering rows of shops. As the shopkeepers on the Mall bring down their shutters on yet another day, the mood changes again. Visitors spill onto the Mall. The shopkeepers have left, the hardworking rickshaw wallahs have earned a rest and the shaggy mountain horses too have gone. The soft mountain night, the coolness, the sudden, complete silence that descends on the Mall act like a salve.

Couples walk peacefully hand in hand, talking, perhaps, of the good times that were and will be…. The Mall is Mussoorie's main artery, certainly. It is also a catalyst of dreams.

The high ride: Most people ascend the 400 meters or so from the fashionable Mall to the historical Gun Hill with bated breath. For them, there is the thrill and excitement of reaching Gun Hill in a cable car, coupled with the promise of rare, mesmeric views of the great Himalayan peaks and a bird's eye view of Mussoorie and its environs. But not many people are aware that both Gun Hill and the ropeway and its two cable cars have a chequered history.

Places around The highest point that one can visit around Mussoorie is the famous Surkhanda Devi Temple at 10,000 feet - 35 km down the Mussoorie-Tehri road.

Cont’d on page 39

"This joint initiative with Eastern Bank is another unique travel option aimed at making air travel more economical, and cost-effective for family travel. The innovative card will reward customers (in Bangladesh) with benefits at home and when travelling abroad," Jet Airways Whole Time Director Gaurang Shetty said.

The benefits that the newlylaunched travel credit card offers include 2,500 JPMiles on the first swipe of the card within 40 days of its activation, potential of earning up to 5,000 JPMiles as Bonus in the first three months of card activation, earn rate of three JPMiles on every BDT 200 spent on domestic transactions and two JPMiles on every USD 1 spent on international transactions, among

others.

Besides, a complimentary Dhaka-Kolkata-Dhaka Jet Airways economy class ticket as an enrolment gift, a 5 per cent discount on air tickets, booked through Jet Airways Bangladesh bookings portal, on flights originating in Bangladesh as well as priority check-in at select airports for all Jet Airways flights are some other benefits the new card offers to its customers in Bangladesh, the release said.

"The Jet Airways EBL Visa Platinum credit card is another feather in our cap. This product will add significant value for both the cardholders and bank", Nazeem A Choudhury, head of consumer banking of EBL, said.PTI

J&K govt plans to boost tourism JAMMU: Jammu and Kashmir government has said it was working on several plans to boost the tourism potential of Jammu, including development of Tawi River on the lines of Sabarmati river front in Gujarat.

Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said the state government has taken several initiatives to develop Jammu on modern lines and launched several projects for this purpose.

Detailing various projects being executed in the city, Singh said

complex into a major tourist spot of the region.

"Tourism potential of the region has to be exploited to the maximum by way of promoting pilgrim tourism and upgrading facilities at major tourist spots of the area," Singh said.

"Besides, expansion of Jammu airport is in progress and the issue of expansion of railway station has already been taken up with the Railway Minister," he said.

The deputy Chief Minister said

that Tawi River will be developed on the lines of Sabarmati River front in Gujarat and Gondola rides will also be started there, to attract tourists to the state.

Mubarak Mandi Heritage project, an artificial lake on Tawi River and a cable car project are among the other major initiatives being taken up, he said while addressing a function here.

He said Mubarak Mandi Heritage project aims to develop the

that state government is committed to making Jammu an independent tourist destination.

It is also working on plans to streamline the power scenario in the state with a focus on unattended areas, he said.

Singh said after completion of Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Program (R-APDRP) works by 2017, power scenario will be completely changed in the city. -PTI

May 20, 2016

Travel & Hospitality Post

India Post

39

www.indiapost.com

Mussoorie

Favorite pastime gliding up and down the Mall

Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 38

Perched on a peak, the temple demands a stiff two-km climb form devotees. The temple, goes the legend, was built on the site where the head of Shiva's consort (Shiva is the destroyer in the Hindu trinity) fell after it was chopped off to stop Shiva's terrifying dance of death that was shaking the universe to its very core.

Nag Tibba, 41 km from Mussoorie, also soars to an altitude of 10,000 feet, and entails a fairly long, taxing but exhilarating trek, and therefore more time. Thick pine forests,

mountain brooks and slate-roofed villages keep one company for the greater part of the trek to Nag Tibba peak. The nearest accommodation is a forest rest house at Deolsari, about five hours of trekking below Nag Tibba.

Most people looking for a few quiet days prefer to sojourn amongst the picturesque pine-clad slopes of Dhanaulti, 24 km from Mussoorie, 11 km before the Surkhanda Devi temple. A comfortable tourist bungalow and a private hotel, the Dhanaulti Breeze, make Dhanaulti an ideal getaway from the milling season crowds at Mussoorie.

Thirty-one kilometers form Dhanaulti, along the Tehri road, is Chamba-the home of apples. A tourist bungalow has been built atop a mountain, and with the approach of the monsoon, fluffy clouds come in low, enter through the windows, move across the room, and float out through the door.

Closer to

Mussoorie, at an altitude of 4,500 feet, Kempty Fall is perhaps the biggest attraction. The highest (over 40 feet) and most beautiful (the fall splits into five distinct cascades) of the waterfalls around Mussoorie. Kempty Fall is 15 km from Mussoorie, on the road to Chakrata.

Past Kempty Fall, 12 km downhill, you cross the Aglar River and reach the legendary Yamuna River. Trout are in abundance here, and fishing permits can be obtained form the Divisional Forest Officer, Mussoorie.

The latest addition to man-made attrac-

tions around Mussoorie (six km away, on the road winding down to Dehradun) is a small, artificial lake, complete with pedal boats.

Walk-ways: Often described as the piece de resistance of walks in Mussoorie, Camel's Back Road rivals the Mall in popularity.

About three kilometers long, Camel's Back Road was so christened, it is said, because of a rock that resembles the back of a camel.

This distinctively shaped rock can be seen from a point near the gate of Mussoorie Public School. Curving round a mountainside, the road itself looks like the back of a camel. The Hawa Ghar is the most inviting of the resting places along Camel's

Back Road.

The two-kilometer walk from Library Chowk to the colorful Municipal Garden, still known by its old colonial name of Company Bagh, is yet another favored walk in Mussoorie. Beyond the garden with its artificial lake, the walk can be continued, if one is so inclined, towards Cloud End. In the vicinity can be seen the estate of the first Surveyor General of India, Colonel George Everest (later sir George Everest), after whom the world's highest mountain is named. A Bibi Khana - outhouses for the Indian consorts of Englishmen - is an interesting feature of the time-ravaged estate, which, according to land revenue records of 1839, "belonged to Colonel Everest." The Uttar Pradesh Tourism Department has now acquired the sprawling 192-acre estate and plans to convert it into a holiday resort.

For many cricket fans, the walk towards Cloud End offers a landmark of more recent times. On a road branching off before Cloud End, is a house that belongs to the fatherin-law of Sunil Gavaskar, the cricketing legend.

Camel's Back Road, the walk to the Municipal Garden or Company Bagh, and on towards Cloud End are gentle, leisurely

walks blessed with superb views. Quite obviously, scenic beauty is a feature shared by all walks in Mussoorie. Even the walk towards Charleville and the Tibetan settlement of Happy Valley is a rewarding experience.

However, for the more intrepid tourist there are challenging walks as well such as the ones to Benog Hill (7,000 feet high, seven kilometers from Library Bazaar, it boasted once of an observatory), and to Lal Tibba, the highest peak (8,000 feet) at Mussoorie.

About four kilometers from Picture Palace, Lal Tibba is an ideal location for a picnic.

Near Lal Tibba is Childer's Lodge, where a powerful 'coin-operated' binocular is available for surveying the mountains around. In the distance can be seen peak after peak of snow-capped mountains.

Best time to visit April-June; SeptemberOctober How to reach From the Jolly Grant airport of Dehradun, you may go up to Mussoorie (2Âź hours, 60 km). The overnight Mussoorie Express links Delhi to Dehradun, the railhead for Mussoorie. Delhi to Mussoorie is 290 km by road. Dehradun to Mussoorie is 35 km.

40 India Post

www.indiapost.com

May 20, 2016

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

India Post 41

42 India Post

www.indiapost.com

May 20, 2016

May 20, 2016

India Post 43 www.indiapost.com

FOR ALL YOUR

TRAVEL NEEDS INTERNATIONAL DOMESTIC

AIR INDIA AND ALL OTHER MAJOR AIRLINES.

PACKAGE DEAL TAJ TOUR-SOTC

SEEMA WORLD TRAVEL, INC. One of the Oldest Travel Agencies in St. Louis

Competitive Rates & Confirmed Seats for All Major Airlines 10635 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132

Tel: (314) 423-9990 or (800) 55 SEEMA CALL:

Sita Ram Patel @ 847-568-0535 New York (Hicksville)

AIRWING TRAVELS INC.

Tel: (516) 931 4600

Est. 1991 Toll Free: (866) 532 3413

New Jersey (Iselin)

Tel: (732) 658 5450

Lowest Fares / Confirmed Seats to INDIA & Other Destinations Worldwide Save upto 40% on First and Business Class OPEN 7 DAYS - Call or Email : AIRWINGTRAVELS@GMAIL.COM

Fax: (314) 423-0391

Â&#x201E; Health

Line

Eating seafood may reduce memory loss WASHINGTON: Eating a meal of seafood or other foods containing omega-3 fatty acids at least once a week may protect against age-related memory loss and thinking problems in older people, a new study has claimed.

Age-related memory loss and thinking problems of participants in the study who reported eating seafood less than once a week declined more rapidly compared to those who ate at least one seafood meal per week, researchers said.

"This study helps show that while cognitive abilities naturally decline as part of the normal ageing process, there is something that we can do to mitigate this process," said Martha Clare Morris from Rush University Medical Centre in the US. Researchers followed 915 people with a mean age of 81.4 years for an average of five years.

At study enrolment, none had signs of dementia.

During the course of the study, each person received annual, standardized testing for cognitive ability in five areas - episodic memory, working memory, semantic memory, visuospatial ability and perceptual speed.

Participants also completed annual food frequency questionnaires, allowing researchers to compare participants reported seafood intake with changes in their cognitive abilities as measured by the tests.

Â&#x201E;

Cont'd on Page 33

Planet Fitness tops Street 1Q forecasts NEWINGTON, N.H.: Planet Fitness Inc. (PLNT) has reported first-quarter net income of $3.4 million.

The Newington, New Hampshire-based company said it had profit of 9 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for non-recurring costs, came to 15 cents per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 13 cents per share.

The fitness center operator posted revenue of $83.3 million in the period, also beating Street forecasts. Six analysts surveyed

by Zacks expected $77.9 million.

Planet Fitness expects full-year earnings in the range of 62 cents to 65 cents per share, with revenue in the range of $360 million to $370 million.-AP

Health Science 44 India Post

www.indiapost.com

May 20, 2016

Heavier is now 'healthier' than in 1970s Details on Page 47

Turn cancer on with animal protein; and off with plant diet FORT MYERS, Fla: One grew up on a cattle farm. The other on a dairy farm.

They evolved into two of the country's strongest proponents of whole-food, plant-based nutrition. Their journeys range from changing childhood beliefs to criticizing those in the medical field, butting heads with colleagues and challenging politicians and businessmen.

The two men - Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, a physician, and T. Colin Campbell, who has studied nutrition for 60 years - are both 82. They are friends and have made regular visits to Southwest Florida to promote their views of healthy eating.

Their research has made it hard on foes who want to poke holes in their theories. ``The science is there,'' Esselstyn said. ``That's why nobody tries to tear me down. When they say, `You're not even a cardiologist,' I say, `Thank God I'm not.'''

Campbell and son Nelson are collaborating with Lee Memorial Health System. They've signed an

agreement to validate food-asmedicine models. Nelson Campbell, executive producer, director and co-writer of `PlantPure Nation' said Fort Myers will serve as the model program for other parts of the country. More than 1,000 people attended their presentation on April 14.

There is no financial obligation

terol, calcium, fibrous tissue, and other substances in the blood, had hardened, narrowing the arteries. That limits the flow of oxygen-rich blood to one's organs and other parts of the body.

In Esselstyn's patient's case, the calf muscle wasn't getting the oxygen it needed.

When the man asked him how

Campbell came out with his book, `China Study' in 1983, which looked at 130 villages in that country as it tried to figure out why some areas were high in cancer and others were less. Campbell said it's the first research project China and the United States collaborated on. between Lee Memorial Health System and PlantPure Nation. The only cost is for the meals, which is paid for by the individuals who choose to participate in the Jump Start program.

At a conference in Punta Gorda in January, Esselstyn told the story of a man who had a serious case of Peripheral Artery Disease.

Plaque, made up of fat, choles-

long it would take before he'd see positive effects of immersing himself in a plant-based lifestyle, Esselstyn told him 11 months. It took three. ``How can Brussel sprouts and broccoli be worse than taking drugs where your hair falls out?,'' Dr. Esselstyn said. ``They also cause nausea and renal problems.

There's also one you can't take by

mouth. It's an injection costing $14,000. Doing whole-food, plantbased nutrition doesn't cost anything because you have to eat.''

Science and history For Esselstyn and Campbell, their journeys have covered decades.

A big revelation for Esselstyn was reading what happened in Norway, Denmark, Holland and Belgium after Germans took their livestock to feed to their troops.

Cancer and heart disease went down. Esselstyn then looked at populations in Okinawa, Japan, New Guinea, Central Africa and northern Mexico. ``They thrived with wholefood, plant-based nutrition,'' he said.

Campbell came out with his book, `China Study' in 1983, which looked at 130 villages in that country as it tried to figure out why some areas were high in cancer and others were less. Campbell said it's the first research project China and the United States collaborated on.

Cont'd on Page 47

Climate change may up kidney disease WASHINGTON: Climate change may be accelerating rates of chronic kidney disease caused by dehydration and heat stress, according to a new study.

The findings suggest that a condition called heat stress nephropathy may represent a disease of neglected populations, but one that may emerge as a major cause of poor kidney health in the near future, researchers said.

Over the next century, climate change and resulting water shortages are likely to affect a wide variety of health issues related to dehydration and heat stress - with risks increasing for cognitive dysfunction, malnutrition, water-borne infectious diseases, chronic kidney disease and other conditions.

A team led by Richard Johnson, Jay Lemery from the

University of Colorado School of Medicine in the US and Jason Glaser from the La Isla Foundation in Nicaragua sought to describe reports of heat stress nephropathy - or chronic kidney disease consistent with heat stress that are already occurring

perature progressively rises.

They believe the risk for heat stress nephropathy has increased due to global warming and an increase in extreme heat waves, and it is having a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations, such as agricultural workers.

Over the next century, climate change and resulting water shortages are likely to affect a wide variety of health issues related to dehydration and heat stress - with risks increasing for cognitive dysfunction, malnutrition throughout the world.

They found that chronic kidney disease that is not associated with traditional risk factors appears to be increasing in rural hot communities as worldwide tem-

Decreasing precipitation exacerbates this epidemic by reducing the water supply and water quality as temperatures climbs, researchers said.

They recommend that govern-

ments and scientists work together to conduct epidemiological and clinical studies to document the presence of these epidemics and their magnitude.

Interventions are also needed to improve worksite conditions and ensure adequate hydration.

"We were able to connect increased rates of chronic kidney disease in different areas to an underlying mechanism - heat stress and dehydration - and to climate," said Johnson.

"A new type of kidney disease, occurring throughout the world in hot areas, is linked with temperature and climate and may be one of the first epidemics due to global warming," he said.

The research appears in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

-PTI

May 20, 2016

Health Science Post

India Post 45

www.indiapost.com

Excessive smartphone use Eating seafood may reduce makes you hyperactive memory loss WASHINGTON: Smartphone addicts, take note! People who use digital technology excessively may develop ADHD-like symptoms even if they are not diagnosed with the disorder, a new study has warned.

"With the internet in their pockets, people today are bombarded with notifications - whether from email, text messaging, social media or news apps - anywhere they go," said Kostadin Kushlev from University of Virginia in the US. "We are seeking to better understand how this constant inflow of notifications influences our minds," said Kushlev. Recent polls have shown that as many as 95 per cent of smartphone users have used their phones during social gatherings; that seven in 10 people used their phones while working, said Kushlev.

Smartphone owners spend nearly two

hours per day using their phones, he added.

Researchers designed a two-week experimental study and showed that when students kept their phones on ring or vibrate, they reported more symptoms of inattention and hyperactivity than when they kept their phones on silent.

"We found the first experimental evidence that smartphone interruptions can cause greater inattention and hyperactivity - symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) - even in people

drawn from a nonclinical population," said Kushlev.

During Kushlev's and his colleagues' study, 221 students at the University of British Columbia in Canada were assigned for one week to maximize phone interruptions by keeping notification alerts on, and their phones within easy reach.

During another week participants were assigned to minimize phone interruptions by keeping alerts off and their phones away.

At the end of each week, participants completed questionnaires assessing inattention and hyperactivity.

The results showed that the participants experienced significantly higher levels of inattention and hyperactivity when alerts were turned on, researchers said.

The results suggest that even people who have not been diagnosed with ADHD may experience some of the disorder's symptoms, including distraction, difficulty focusing and getting bored easily when trying to focus, fidgeting, having trouble sitting still, difficulty doing quiet tasks and activities, and restlessness, they said.

"Smartphones may contribute to these symptoms by serving as a quick and easy source of distraction," said Kushlev.

The findings suggest that our constant digital stimulation may be contributing to an increasingly problematic deficit of attention in modern society, Kushlev said.

"Importantly, we found that people can reduce the harmful effects of overstimulation by smartphones simply by keeping their phones on silent and out of easy reach whenever possible, thus keeping notifications at bay," he added. -PTI

UND gets grant to study Zika virus BISMARCK, N.D.: North Dakota's congressional delegation says the University of North Dakota is getting a $50,000 grant to study the effects parasites may have on transmission of the Zika virus.

The funds awarded by the National Science Foundation are aimed at helping researchers investigate the rate of transmission of the Zika virus in an effort to help control its spread.

North Dakota's Health Department announced last month that a state resident tested positive for the Zika virus.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the case in a woman who traveled to Puerto Rico while pregnant. She was not iden-

tified.

The Zika virus can cause microcephaly, a severe birth defect in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. It is spread by mosquitoes and sexual contact.

-AP

Cont'd from Page 32

The questionnaires included four types of seafood - tuna sandwiches; fish sticks, fish cakes and fish sandwiches; fresh fish as a main dish; and shrimp, lobster and crab.

The participants were divided into two groups - those who ate at least one of those seafood meals per week and those who ate less than one of those seafood meals per week.

Participants in the higher seafood consumption group ate an average of two seafood meals per week.

Those in the lower group ate an average of 0.5 meals per week, researchers said.

Seafood is the direct nutrient source of a type of omega-3 fatty acid (docosahexaenoic acid) that is the main structural component of the brain, they said.

Researchers found associations between seafood consumption and two of the areas of cognitive ability that they tested. People who ate more seafood had reduced rates of decline in the semantic memory, which is memory of verbal information, researchers said.

They also had slower rates of decline in a test of perceptual speed, or the ability to quickly compare letters, objects and patterns, they said.

The protective association of seafood was even stronger among individuals with a common genotype (APOE-e4) that increases the risk of developing Alzheimers

disease, researchers said.

The APOE is a gene involved in cholesterol transport to neurons. About 20 per cent of the population carries the APOE-e4 gene, although not everyone who has the gene will develop Alzheimers disease, they said.

The findings were published in the journal Neurology. -PTI

Health Science Post

46 India Post

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

Meditation may reduce Alzheimer's risk LOS ANGELES: Yoga and meditation practice may help minimize the cognitive and emotional problems that often precede Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study.

Researchers found that yoga and meditation are even more effective than memory enhancement exercises like crosswords.

They found that a three-month course of yoga and meditation practice helped minimize the cognitive and emotional problems that often precede Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia - and that it was even more effective than the memory enhancement exercises that have been considered the gold standard for managing mild cognitive impairment.

"Memory training was comparable to yoga with meditation in terms of improving memory, but yoga provided a broader benefit than memory training because it also helped with mood, anxiety

and coping skills," said Helen Lavretsky from University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the US.

tia, researchers said.

The study is the first to compare outcomes from yoga and meditation with those from

People with mild cognitive impairment are two-and-a-half times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease and other forms of demen-

memory training, which incorporates activities ranging from crossword puzzles to commercially available computer pro-

grams.

The research of 25 participants, all over the age of 55, measured changes not just in behavior but also in brain activity.

Researchers studied participants who had reported issues with their memory, such as tendencies to forget names, faces or appointments or to misplace things. Subjects underwent memory tests and brain scans at the beginning and end of the study.

Out of the participants, 11 received one hour a week of memory enhancement training and spent 20 minutes a day performing memory exercises - verbal and visual association and other practical strategies for improving memory, based on research-backed techniques.

The other 14 participants took a one-hour class once a week in yoga and practiced meditation at home for 20 minutes

each day.

After 12 weeks, there were similar improvements among participants in both groups in verbal memory skills - which come into play for remembering names and lists of words.

But those who had practiced yoga and meditation had better improvements than the other subjects in visual-spatial memory skills, which come into play for recalling locations and navigating while walking or driving.

The yoga-meditation group also had better results in terms of reducing depression and anxiety and improving coping skills and resilience to stress, which is important because coming to terms with cognitive impairment can be emotionally difficult, researchers said.

The findings were published in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. -PTI

Genes help determine education level PARIS, France: Scientists say they had identified 74 genes that partially determine how far someone gets in school, depending on which variant of those genes a person possesses.

Compared to environmental factors such as diet, family circumstances and opportunity, this hard-wiring has only a meager influence, accounting for less than half of one percent of the outcome.

Even when combined with all known genetic variants across the human genome, that share only rises to about three per cent.

of schooling," said Daniel Benjamin, a professor at University of Southern California and corresponding author for the consortium that completed the study.

The most common type of genetic variants - known as SNPs (or "snips") - can show up as deletions or duplications of DNA fragments.

Earlier research by the same team of 250 scientists worldwide canvassed the genomes of 100,000 people, and only turned up three relevant genes.

This time the Social Science

The genes singled out by the study were strongly active in the brain - especially prenatally - and probably play a role in neural development, the researchers found. Some of these genes also correlated with the risk for dementia But the findings, published in Nature, are robust enough to help researchers match geneticallylinked personality traits - such as grit and contentiousness - with education attainment, at least at the level of society, if not the individual.

Even a single gene, they found, could have a measurable impact.

"For the variant with the largest effect, the difference between people with zero copies and those who have two copies predicts, on average, about nine more weeks

Genetic Association Consortium tripled the number of genomes sequenced, resulting in a much richer haul.

All 300,000 people were of European descent, partly because most data available comes from the United States, Europe and Australia.

There's still a long way to go, explained Peter Visscher, a scientist at the Centre for Neurogenetics and Statistical Genomics at the Queensland Brain Institute in Australia.

Tip of the iceberg "We know from past studies on twins and other relatives that the total contribution from all genetic variants on individual differences on educational attainment is 20 to 40 percent," he told AFP. Ramping up sample sizes to millions, rather than thousands, could fill most of that gap, he said by email.

"We have only identified the 'tip of the iceberg' in our study," added Philipp Koellinger of Vrije

Universiteit Amsterdam, a cofounder of the consortium.

The genes singled out by the study were strongly active in the brain - especially prenatally - and probably play a role in neural development, the researchers found.

Some of these genes also correlated with the risk for dementia, opening up potential pathways for study or treatment, Visscher said.

Other genes predicted risk for bipolar disorder and certain forms of schizophrenia.

The scientists involved in the study anticipated concerns about the potential for discrimination on the basis of genetic profiles, and discouraged drawing straight lines between genes and educational achievement, much less intelligence.

But they said their research could help experts understand how changes in environment magnify - or reduce - genetic influences on behavior, with possible applications for medicine and the classroom. -AFP

NY AG offers help for health coverage ALBANY, N.Y.: New York's attorney general says people denied insurance coverage for addiction treatment and mental illness should contact his office for help.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says the state's 2006 mental health parity law requires insurers to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of mental health disorders at least equal to their coverage for other health conditions.

He says state insurance law also requires coverage consistent with the 2008 federal law that prohibits greater financial requirements and treatment limitations

for mental health than on medical or surgical benefits.

New Yorkers facing barriers to coverage are asked to call his office at 1-800-4289071.

Over the past two years, the office has signed agreements with Cigna, MVP, EmblemHealth, ValueOptions/Beacon, and Excellus intended to bring them into compliance with the laws. -AP

New York State Attorney Eric Schneiderman speaks during a Law Day event at the Court of Appeals in Albany, N.Y.

May 20, 2016

Health Science Post

India Post 47

www.indiapost.com

Heavier is now 'healthier' than in 1970s MIAMI, US: Being on the heavier side may not be as dangerous as it was in the 1970s, at least when it comes to the risk of dying, according to a study.

The optimum ratio of weight and height - known as body mass index or BMI - is now on the upper side of the healthy range, according to the report in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

"Compared to the 1970s, today's overweight individuals have lower mortality than so-called normal weight individuals," said Borge Nordestgaard, clinical professor at the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen University Hospital.

"The reason for this change is unknown."

The report was based on more than 100,000 people in Denmark. The study spanned three groups, or cohorts, whose risk of dying for any reason was examined in 1976-78, 1991-1994, and in 2003-2013.

Currently, doctors define the normal

range for BMI - calculated by weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared - as between 18.5 and 24.9.

A BMI of 25-29.9 is considered overweight, while 30 or higher is obese.

In the 1970s, the optimal BMI for the lowest risk of death was 23.7.

This would be the equivalent of a sixfoot (1.83 meter) tall man who weighs 170

Experts cautioned that the biological mechanism behind the new findings remains poorly understood, and the results should not be interpreted to mean that people can cease caring about what they eat. According to Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, the study is "of interest" but dos not merit changing advice on obesity and preventing extra pounds. pounds (77 kilograms), or a five-foot-five (1.65 meter) woman who weighs 143 pounds (65 kilograms).

By 1991-94, the optimal BMI had risen

Turn cancer on with animal protein; and off with plant diet Cont'd from Page 44

``We could turn cancer on and off by nutritional means,'' Campbell said. ``What turned it on was protein, animal protein.

What's worse is cow's milk. And I was raised on a dairy farm.''

Esselstyn and Campbell concluded to keep the cancer turned off, less than 10 percent of total calories should come from protein.

Despite being rejected by a number of publishing companies, Campbell said more than 1.5 million of copies of `China Study' have been sold.

Esselstyn followed with `Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease' in 2007. In 2011, they were featured with other doctors and scientists in the 2011 documentary, `Forks over Knives.' The film advocates a low-fat, whole-food, plant-based lifestyle as a way to avoid or reverse several chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.

Hard-core vegan?

Campbell, who hates the term vegan, said he doesn't use the word once in his book because he's seen research where 30 percent of vegan diets have fat and are high in carbohydrates.

While this plant-based nutrition research has been out for years, many people either haven't followed it or don't know about it.

However, more information is getting out because there is more of a sense of urgency.

News reports indicate that the biggest cause of Americans declaring bankruptcy is medical bills while other reports have stated health-care costs could bankrupt the nation.

However, as Campbell has pointed out, ``People worship protein.''

Esselstyn said Campbell's research showed if people get adequate calories, they won't be protein deficient.

The Campbells received a first-hand look

to 24.6.

And in 2003-2013, it reached 27.

Compared to four decades ago, that would mean adding 30 pounds (14 kg) to the frame of the a person who stands sixfeet tall, or 19 pounds (nine kg) to the frame of someone five-foot-five.

Researchers also found that obese people in the 1970s were more likely to die

of the challenges of social change when they worked with Kentucky State Representative Tom Riner to propose a pilot program documenting the health benefits of a plant-based diet. With one of the highest levels of childhood obesity in the nation, Kentucky also suffers from high rates of heart attacks, strokes, and diabetes.

Once the bill went into committee, industry lobbyists launched intense lobby efforts. As Riner put it, the bill was watered down to ``a shadow of its former self,'' and turned ``from steel to Reynolds Wrap.''

That's why the Campbells are hopeful their work with Lee Memorial will turn the tide and create momentum that will lead to a healthy revolution in the country.

Once the bill went into committee, industry lobbyists launched intense lobby efforts. As Riner put it, the bill was watered down ``I knew it would be long range,'' Esselstyn said of educating people on healthy eating. He has said most of the medical community should be embarrassed with how bad the healthcare system is. ``We started this in 1985, so 31 years later, we're still hammering away. But the atmosphere is so different now. You also have to remember I'm an enormous threat to the medical community with pharmaceuticals and stents and bypasses. ``But I think what makes those of us involved in this who are so passionate and excited. There's absolute, rock-solid science in the fact that you can take the leading killer of women and men in Western Civilization and you can halt it, reverse it, even prevent it.'' -AP

than normal weight people, but this association disappeared in the 2000s.

"The increased risk of all-cause mortality associated with obesity compared to normal weight decreased from 30 per cent 1976-78 to 0 percent in 2003-13," said principal investigator Shoaib Afzal, of Copenhagen University Hospital in Denmark.

Health authorities have long warned of the risks of being overweight, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Nordestgaard said the current findings

suggest "a need to revise the categories presently used to define overweight, which are based on data from before the 1990s."

However, experts cautioned that the biological mechanism behind the new findings remains poorly understood, and the results should not be interpreted to mean that people can cease caring about what they eat.

According to Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, the study is "of interest" but dos not merit changing advice on obesity and preventing extra pounds.

"In recent years, as populations become more obese and with wider availability of cheap preventative medications many more such individuals are likely to be better treated for abnormal blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol and, if also present, type 2 diabetes, leading in turn to lower death risks," said Sattar, who was not involved in the study.

"In other words, the current findings do not mean that being overweight is protecting you from death, far from it - rather, many confounding factors may give the current result and we know from many other studies that being overweight or obese does increase mortality risks, in the same way that it increases risk for many other conditions." -AFP

India Post

Classifieds

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

For Classifieds Ads Call NORTHERN CA (Sonia) Tel: 510-938-8668 sonia@indiapost.com (Priya) Tel. 510-275-4467 priya@indiapost.com SOUTHERN CA (Shashi Trivedi) Tel: 562-441-5511/ Fax: 562-947-0632 shashi19@yahoo.com CHICAGO (Ramesh Soparawala) Tel: 773-973-7394 / Fax: 773-973-7396 sramesh@aol.com NEW YORK (Pinky) Tel: 908 338 3752 pinky@indiapost.com

www.indiapost.com

48

SUBSCRIBE TO INDIA POST E-PAPER Mail to: subscribe@indiapost.com or login to http://www.indiapost.com/ subscribe/

Philosophy

May 20, 2016

India Post 49

www.indiapost.com

Page Sponsored by Sahanis GAUTAM BUDDHA

M

ind precedes all mental states. Mind is their chief; they are all mindwrought. If with an impure mind a person speaks or acts suffering follows him like the wheel that follows the foot of the ox.

If with a pure mind a person speaks or acts happiness follows him like his never-departing shadow.

Hatred is never appeased by hatred in this world. By non-hatred alone is hatred appeased. This is a law eternal.

There are those who do not realize that one day we all must die.

But those who do realize this settle their quarrels.

Just as a storm throws down a weak tree, so does Mara overpower the man who lives for the pursuit of pleasures, who is uncontrolled in his senses, immoderate in eating, indolent, and dissipated.

Just as a storm cannot prevail against a rocky mountain, so Mara can never overpower the man who lives meditating on the impurities, who is controlled in his senses, moderate in eating, and filled with faith and earnest effort.

Just as rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, so passion penetrates an undeveloped mind.

Just as rain does not break through a well-thatched house, so passion never penetrates a welldeveloped mind.

The evil-doer grieves here and hereafter; he grieves in both the

J. KRISHNAMURTI

T

he test of right action is in its spontaneity, but to act spontaneously is to be greatly intelligent. The majority of people have merely reactions which are perverted, twisted, and stifled because of the lack of intelligence.

Where intelligence is functioning, there is spontaneous action.

Now the questioner wants to know how he can act freely and without self-repression when he knows his action must hurt those he loves. You know, to love is to be free - both parties are free.

Where there is the possibility of pain, where there is the possibility of suffering in love, it is not love; it is merely a subtle form of possession, of acquisitiveness.

If you love, really love someone, there is no possibility of giving him pain when you do something that you think is right. It is only when you want that person to do what you desire or he wants you to do what he desires, that there is pain.

That is, you like to be possessed; you feel safe, secure, comfortable; though you know that comfort is but transient, you take shelter in that comfort, in that transience.

So each struggle for comfort, for encouragement, really but be-

worlds. He laments and is afflicted, recollecting his own impure deeds.

The doer of good rejoices here and hereafter; he rejoices in both the worlds.

The evil-doer suffers here and hereafter; he suffers in both the worlds. The thought, "Evil have I done," torments him, and he suffers even more when gone to realms of woe.

The doer of good delights here and hereafter; he delights in both the worlds.

ings of a holy life. Just as a fletcher straightens an arrow shaft, even so the discerning man straightens his mind - so fickle and unsteady, so difficult to guard.

As a fish when pulled out of water and cast on land throbs and quivers, even so is this mind agitated. Hence should one abandon the realm of Mara.

Wonderful, indeed, it is to subdue the mind, so difficult to subdue, ever swift, and seizing whatever it desires. A tamed mind

fast, who knows not the Good Teaching and whose faith wavers.

There is no fear for an awakened one, whose mind is not sodden (by lust) nor afflicted (by hate), and who has gone beyond both merit and demerit.

Realizing that this body is as fragile as a clay pot, and fortifying this mind like a well-fortified city, fight out Mara with the sword of wisdom. Then, guarding the conquest, remain unattached.

Ere long, alas! this body will lie

Those who subdue the mind are liberated Realizing that this body is as fragile as a clay pot, and fortifying this mind like a well-fortified city, fight out Mara with the sword of wisdom.

Gautam Buddha

Then, guarding the conquest, remain unattached

Much though he recites the sacred texts, but acts not accordingly, that heedless man is like a cowherd who only counts the cows of others - he does not partake of the blessings of the holy life.

Little though he recites the sacred texts, but puts the Teaching into practice, forsaking lust, hatred, and delusion, with true wisdom and emancipated mind, clinging to nothing of this or any other world - he indeed partakes of the bless-

brings happiness.

Let the discerning man guard the mind, so difficult to detect and extremely subtle, seizing whatever it desires. A guarded mind brings happiness.

Dwelling in the cave (of the heart), the mind, without form, wanders far and alone. Those who subdue this mind are liberated from the bonds of Mara.

Wisdom never becomes perfect in one whose mind is not stead-

upon the earth, unheeded and lifeless, like a useless log.

Whatever harm an enemy may do to an enemy, or a hater to a hater, an ill-directed mind inflicts on oneself a greater harm. Neither mother, father, nor any other relative can do one greater good than one's own well-directed mind.

Excerpted from The Dhammapada. The 2579th birth anniversary of Gautam Buddha will be celebrated on May 21

trays the lack of inward richness; and therefore an action separate, apart from the other individual naturally creates disturbance, pain and suffering; and one individual has to suppress what he really feels in order to adjust himself to the other.

In other words, this constant repression, brought about by socalled love, destroys the two indi-

its the mind is the lack of understanding of a particular condition.

Where there is intelligence, mind is not conditioned by any environment, because it is all the time conscious, aware and functioning, and therefore discerning, perceiving the full worth of the environment.

Mind can only become conditioned by the environment when

values imposed on it by tradition, one has to be free of these past experiences, past burdens in order to understand the present environment. So the battle is between the past and the present.

The struggle is between the background which we have cultivated through the centuries and the ever changing circumstances in the present. Now, a mind that is

Perception of true values awakens intelligence To an intelligent mind environment yields its significance; therefore that intelligent mind is the master of environment, that mind is free of environment, is not conditioned by environment viduals. In that love there is no freedom. To an intelligent mind environment yields its significance; therefore that intelligent mind is the master of environment, that mind is free of environment, is not conditioned by environment. What conditions the mind?

The lack of understanding. Isn't it?

Not environment, environment does not limit the mind; what lim-

it is lethargic and lazy, trying to escape from the condition itself.

Though mind may think in that condition, it is not functioning truly, it is only thinking within that limited circle of condition, which to me is not thinking at all.

So what creates intelligence, what awakens intelligence is this perception of true values, and as the mind is crippled with so many

J. Krishnamurti

clouded by the past cannot understand these swift changes of environment. In other words, to understand the present, mind must be supremely free of the past; that is, it must have a spontaneous appreciation of values in the present.

Excerpted from the 4th public talk 19th June, 1934, Ojai. The 112th birth anniversary of J. Krishnamurti was celebrated on May 11

Suppose we were able to share meanings freely without a compulsive urge to impose our view or conform to those of others and without distortion and selfdeception. Would this not constitute a real revolution in culture.

-David Bohm Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else.

-Margaret Mead Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.

-Albert Einstein People won't have time for you if you are always angry or complaining.

-Stephen Hawking Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

-George Bernard Shaw The atomic bomb made the prospect of future war unendurable. It has led us up those last few steps to the mountain pass; and beyond there is a different country.

-J. Robert Oppenheimer Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

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

www.indiapost.com

50 India Post

A

t the Cannes International Film Festival, both Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, and Sonam Kapoor chose sassy, bold and experimental looks and pretty much collectively won our hearts.

Aishwarya, who opted for bold colors like golden, red and purple, made statement after statement with her long flowing gowns, and high-definition make up. This look seems to be the flavor of the season, as Sonam Kapoor also steered clear from too many prints or layers, and stuck with a white flowing gown and a black/blue saree for her appearances.

Marking her 15th year at Cannes, Aishwarya's first look on the red carpet was a golden Ali Younes Couture gown, which

May 20, 2016

dazzled in golden, which is what you get when you mix golden, sheer and glitter. Aishwarya also chose to go bold with her eye make up with smokey blue eye-shadow and bold lashes.

Her next few looks through day two and day three, were muted, yet blingy and Aishwarya stuck to the theme of one color ruling the roost.

She flaunted a red ruffled gown from New Yorkbased designer Naeem Khan for press interac-

tions. She was also representing the brand L'OrĂŠal.

Later, for the Sarbjit press conference and screening, which is her upcoming film directed by Omung Kumar, she wore a Rohit Bal ensemble in golden and brown. Sheer gown, bold lips for the win! Owning this motto is Aishwarya's look on her finale day where she appeared on the red carpet with her Sarbjit team. For all those who complained about Aishwarya playing too safe all these years, this is her answer.

Stunning picture Already having won laurels for her pre-red carpet appearances at the French Riviera, Sonam Kapoor cut a stunning picture while walking on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival.

Cont'd on Page 53

May 20, 2016

India Post 51 www.indiapost.com

Hidden meanings in 101great Indian paintings GEETHA PATIL

B. N. Goswamy is recognized for describing Indian art history just as Raja Ravi Varma Koil Thampuran is known for creating Indian art - both geniuses who made their fields of interest a muchloved and irreplaceable treasure for the nation. He is the best known Indian art historian, profes-

The Spirit of Indian Painting - BN Goswamy

sor, critic and scholar on Pahari and miniature paintings. He also curated major exhibitions of Indian art at the world's leading museums.

The title of the book describes the inner-self and essence of ancient Indian paintings and celebrates different forgotten painters of the past eras of Indian art.

This work of Prof Goswamy is the digest of his life-long dedication to his subject of interest. It is his most matured, exquisite, devoted, and heartfelt creation. In this book, he combines an arduous frame of a scholar, an elegant setting of a connoisseur, a refined mind of an art lover, and a soul of a poet that represents the touch of a gifted writer. This is a book of highest quality ever written by a leading historian on Indian art from the perspective of painters but not from the perspective of historians who generally describe the patronage and dominant style of paintings.

Professor Goswamy explains the themes, emotions and meanings hidden in these 101great works of ancient painters and the

socio-cultural values and other cultural influences that shaped their work ranging from Jain manuscripts, Pahari and Mughal miniatures to Company School paintings. These paintings were carefully selected by him from the period spanning nearly a thousand years.

This book is both educational and enlightening about the hidden meanings that lie within these paintings and also teaches the reader the new ways of seeing and appreciating art. This book shows us how to read each painting and intellectualize the story depicted in the painting, and understand how the folklore, cultural, social, and political events that inspired the painter to create that art piece. Goswamy profusely illustrates each painting with scholarship in a great story-telling style. He exercised a great effort to translate the visual vocabulary and language of each painter.

In the first chapter, Prof.

Goswamy explains the great ancient paintings that are encompassed in a layered world, which according to him, one thought is gently placed upon another like a couplet with hidden meanings.

This can be seen in the paintings of tree of light, Bhagavata Purana, Gita Govinda series and others. He also says that each description in

tains much truth. Even though each object in the painting is saying a single thing in a layered world, it conveys an overall meaning of that painting to us.

Visual immersion in the work provides us the richness that resides within, intrinsic beauty, and

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

BOOK REVIEW ‘The Spirit of Indian Painting: Close Encounter with 101 Great Works, 1100-1900,’ B N Goswamy, London, Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2016, 570 pp. ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Their paintings show their endless magical awareness of imaginary things in visible form. We see such wondrous and mysterious visions in the paintings of Hiranyagarbha -the Cosmic Egg, Shiva and Paravati among the Clouds, the Devi Diagram as few examples.

The superb part of these paintings is that the power of seeing the themes of the paintings by the painters with the special sense by which the qualities of objects as color, brightness, shape, size and notion constituting their appearance are perceived.

The paintings in the Observation chapter display the action, idea or process of observing something or someone carefully in order to gain information. Painters

jects in their art. In these paintings, something is seen or experienced or an idea came to the objects in the paintings in a vision is very cleverly illustrated by the artists.

A Young Scholar, a Chameleon, Ibrahim Adil Shah Hawking, and Jahangir with a Portrait of Akbar stand as a few examples of this category. Paintings in the chapter entitled Passion, express a strong desire or feeling of enthusiasm or excitement for something or devotion about doing something, may be some activity, object, or thought and some paintings reveal a strong sexual or romantic feeling for someone. An Elopement, Raga Vasanta, a Glimpse of the Loved One, the Boat of Love,

the historical circumstances that shape them when one unravels object by object and layer by layer.

He states that this becomes possible only when the viewer knows how to read a painting. In the later chapters, the paintings are bludgeoned together under different topics such as visions, observation, passion, contemplation.

The paintings that are put together under the topic of Visions reveal something seen in a trance or abstract or imagination that may exist in mystical or non-mystical appearance and conveys a disclosure or revelation. The creators of these paintings exhibited an un-

The Great Goddess battles the Demons

of these paintings draw their excellent inferences from the observations that are made by the ob-

Mughal Bhagvata Purana

a painting is appealing and con-

usual discernment or foresight.

and Two Lovers are a few examples of paintings of passion.

Cont'd on Page 53

52 India Post

May 20, 2016 www.indiapost.com

Humayun Tomb crown restored with 3 kg gold NEW DELHI: In a first of its kind restoration, a dedicated team of experts brought traditional craftsmanship with industrial precision to return the gilded finial to 16th century Humayun Tomb here after the iconic mausoleum's crown was knocked down in a storm two years ago.

The 18-ft ornamental ensemble, consisting of Sal wood core and 11 copper vessels topped with a brass piece was given a coating of 22-carat gold to match its original crowning splendor, but it took more than a year to restore the World Heritage Site its pristine glory.

The celebrated monument which served as an architectural inspiration for Taj Mahal, was hit by a massive storm in May 2014 which had dislodged and damaged its old finial Archaeological Survey of India then commissioned Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) to begin work on the new finial on December 31, 2014.

"By March last year we had installed a makeshift finial, as we did not want the dome to be left bald.

The challenge before us was to restore the finial to its original splendor with original composition," CEO, AKTC India, Ratish Nanda, told PTI. According to ASI archives, the finial was last dismantled and repaired by the British in 1912, who

also did a documentation of the object, which helped the team in its reconstruction.

Nanda, a conservation architect, says "a motley team of artists, craftsmen, architects, engineers and scientists worked on this project to return the famed mausoleum its crown jewel."

"In the finial, the 11 copper vessels, covered with a gold finish, were in a friable state and had been

The AKTC CEO claimed that this gold restoration was "first of its kind" work in India, as far as monuments are concerned and over "3 kgs of pure gold was used" in the project.

"And, while scientists and engineers worked out the metrics and modalities of the project, carpenters, coppersmiths and goldsmiths labored on getting the old craft right as per our requirements. It

Before

repaired several times over the last five centuries. Each of the vessels was weighed and studied separately to allow comparisons with the original profile and carefully map the damage," he said.

"The biggest challenge was lending the gold finish to the finial as it was in the original. And, that is where Titan Industries came into play and they not only funded the restoration but also brought in their expertise in jewellery and watch making to execute this project to the finest scale," he said.

After

was a perfect marriage of traditional craftsmanship and industrial precision," he said.

Elaborating on the process of gilding, he said, "For the copper plates, six-eight layering of gold was used which was done manually, while the precious metal was deposited on the brass piece through electroplating," he said.

The tomb of the late Mughal emperor stands in the centre of a square garden, divided into four parts by causeways ('charbagh'), in the centre of which ran shallow

German SRK fan wants to be Bollywood actor MUMBAI: Rene Lazar was nine-year-old when something interesting happened in his life - his mother brought home a DVD of 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai'. They were instantly hooked, and afterwards, they procured as many movies of Shah Rukh Khan as they could find. The Lazars live in Stuttgart, famous for being the headquarters for Porsche and Mercedes, where it's easier to get a car than a Bollywood film.

When he was eleven-year-old, Rene starred in his first fan video produced by his parents. The grainy footage shows a plumpcheeked boy with curly hair wearing an oversized shirt, matching steps with Khan to Dard-e-Disco.

A year later, his mother passed away after a long battle with cancer. His father brought up Rene and his younger brother by himself. "Wasn't it Shah Rukh who said, 'We live once, we die once, we get married once, and love, that also happens once in a lifetime,'" Branko, his father, was quoted as saying in Indian.Express.com.

Rene is now 19, and works as

an industrial management assistant with Mercedes-Benz. That is his life from Monday to Friday.

Over the weekend, he immerses himself in Hindi movies and impersonating Shah Rukh Khan in fan videos. He has made three videos

Rene Lazar

since 2014, and is working on two more, and with each subsequent video, his fame has also grown.

He was featured in a publicity video for the release of Khan's latest movie, 'Fan'.

The story of Rene Lazar is the story of a family that filled up a loss by finding hope in the movies and specifically in one man.

water-channels.

The red sandstone double-storeyed structure sits majestically in a landscaped complex that has been dubbed as the 'Dormitory of the Mughals' owing to presence of several other graves there. It neighbours the famous shrine of Sufi Saint Nizamuddin Auliya in south Delhi.

The AKTC is currently working on the construction of the

"After my mother passed away, we grew closer watching Bollywood movies. Shah Rukh inspires me, makes me happy. I make these videos to show my love to him," says Rene. However, though he loved watching 'Fan', Khan's latest film, he could not identify with the character of Gaurav. "I could never be like that. Shah Rukh has his life, I have my own."

Meanwhile, father and son are quick to dispel the notion that they have taken their fandom too far. "We have real jobs in our real lives. But this makes us forget the real world. It makes us feel good," Rene was quoted as saying in the report.

Rene and Branko have planned a trip to India at the end of the year. Rene wants to be an actor in Bollywood. If he happens to meet Khan, what will he say to him?

"If I stand in front of him, I will be speechless. I will pinch myself and ask, is this real? But then I will say to him, thank you Mr Khan for all the good movies. Thank you for the inspiration," he says.

"country's first" sunken museum at the iconic Tomb site, which after its completion in 2017 will showcase the heritage of the Nizamuddin Area over the last seven centuries.

"The old finial will be the centerpiece of the new interpretation centre here and every detail of it has been documented," he said.

Nanda says that the British while repairing the finial had also installed a lightning conductor which was also knocked down during the 2014 storm. A makeshift

lightning conductor was then installed by the ASI soon after the storm had rendered the monument vulnerable.

On the composition of vessels he said "Titan commissioned manufacturing of copper sheets of required 99.4 per cent purity, as impurities in the copper would result in the deterioration or peeling away of the final gold layers.

On the availability of copper in required purity and thickness a traditional workshop in the Shahjahanabad area was employed for further work."

"Master craftsmen skilled in the traditional process of gilding gold onto copper were identified and several rounds of experimental gilding carried out and subsequently tested for various factors, including durability," he said.

The Sal wood core in fact goes another 4 ft deeper insider the dome to anchor the finial, and Nanda said, "We were able to get the wood, with the make and the age that we were looking for from merchants in Delhi only."

The celebrated monument was inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO in 1993, one of the three such sites in Delhi, the other two being - Red Fort and Qutub Minar.

Centrally-protected, the Humayun's Tomb annually receives a footfall of 2 million including over 5,00,000 children. -PTI

'Lost husband, found deeper gratitude' BERKELEY, Calif.: Facebook der, you can kick against the botChief Operating Officer Sheryl tom, break the surface and breathe Sandberg encouraged graduating again.''

Losing her husband helped her seniors at the University of California, Berkeley to persevere in find deeper gratitude for the kindlife's challenging times, speaking ness of her friends, the love of her publicly for the first time about her family and the laughter of her chilhusband's death during a com- dren. She realized that in the face of any challenge, one can choose mencement speech.

Sandberg, whose husband, joy and meaning, Sandberg told Dave Goldberg, died in a treadmill the crowd. ``It is the greatest irony of my accident while on vacalife that losing my husband tion last year in Mexico, said she helped me find deeper gratitude,'' she said. was ``swallowed up Sandberg encouraged in the deep fog of UC Berkeley's 2016 gradugrief.'' ating class to build resil``Dave's death ience in themselves, changed me in very profound ways,'' their places of work and their communishe told 4,700 ties. ``When the graduating seniors. challenges come, I ``I learned about the hope you remember depths of sadness that anchored deep and the brutality of loss. But I also within you is the ability to learn and grow,'' learned that when Sheryl Sandberg she said. -AP life sucks you un-

May 20, 2016

India Post 53 www.indiapost.com

Hidden meanings in 101 great Indian paintings Cont'd from Page 51

In the last chapter: Contemplation, the paintings demonstrate the act of thinking deeply about something, or showing concentra-

Jahangir with a Portrait of Akbar

tion on spiritual things as a form of private devotion or a mystical awareness of God. Paintings like Intimation of Mortality, Five Holy men, Meditating Dervish, and a Yogini depict the concept of contemplation very well. These chapters divulge his knowledge and insight about paintings in a lucidly and logically written text.

Prof. Goswamy has created a book that helps the common readers in general and the specialist in particular to understand that these paintings are not produced to fulfill a royal patron's fancy but to

A lady of Rank

relate the works of the artists to the world around them - religions, literature, historical events, and socio-cultural situations and give back the artists the honor that be-

The Spirit of Indian Painting is longed to them. He shares with readers his lifelong familiarity and definitely one of its kind and truly understanding of these marvel- a masterpiece and one of the greatous paintings. This is the best est books ever written on Indian possible summary of the various art from the point of view of painters. It is rightly said that this book traditions of paintings in India.

This book opened up and is the summation of Goswamy's laid guideline to many future whole career. It is possible only studies. There are many re- for a person with such a lifelong gional forms of paintings and experience with paintings to exfolk arts for the scholars to re- plain the hidden meaning of paintsearch and bring out their con- ings and reveal the feelings, emotributions to Indian art by throwing light on their origin, patrons, artists, and events that shaped them. In the recent times, a few scholars have attempted to look at Indian art from the point of view of the artists but not at such a variety of paintings spread over a thousand years. The reasons being that there are no descriptions or evidences about the names, styles, or works of these artists. Unlike the artists of Renaissance or the Western World these artists remain as unknown or Shiva and Parvati among the clouds sometimes their names are hidden in the details of the paintings as described by tions, and circumstances under Prof. Goswamy, 'the painter's which the artists created their paintname - Nanha - discreetly in- ings, what made them paint the way scribed in Persian characters on they did, and how they came to a small rock in the bottom of the choose their the visual images, colors, settings, and symbols. This painting (p. 299).'

As a reader of this book on understanding and apprebook, I found that al- ciating of painters of bygone age though the selection and definitely ranks among the greatorganization of these est works on paintings in India. captivating paintings is brilliantly done; the introductory connective note for each chapter is missing. An opening message clarifying the concept and goal of each chapter would have made it easier for the reader to understand the theme of the paintings or connection between paintings and title of the chapter as each chapter starts with a description of a painting.

In the role of Krishna

Bold looks at Cannes Aishwarya, Sonam bedazzle the Red Carpet Cont'd from Page 50

"I belong to showbiz forever so plain dress up has become a way of life depending upon the occasion," Aishwarya said in an interview here.

The former Miss World was not bothered by the fashion police as she walked the red carpet at the festival.

"I am an actor by my career choice. I enjoy fashion and I treat it like art and I have a life, a family.

So, I am not focusing on all of this.

So it (look) doesn't stress me out..

Considered Bollywood's biggest fashionista, the actress' appearances on the red carpet have always generated buzz. Walking on the red carpet of the prestigious film festival for the sixth year in a row, the actress bedazzled the red carpet.

The actress sported a custom gown in a pristine white hue by Ralph & Russo that came with peek-a-boo cutouts and a dramatic embroidered train.

And if you loved the way the gown looked from the "I am an actor by my front, then the way it looks career choice. I enjoy from the back will leave you fashion and I treat it spellbound!

The actress finished the like art and I have a look with jewels from life, a family.â&#x20AC;?

Chopard. Keeping her beauty look simple, Sonam chose to go chic with centre- It doesn't get me nervous... I am a parted hair and gold eyes. professional," she added.

For the first time in six years, "I did not have the time to look Sonam also attended the presti- at all the choices that the fashion gious amfAR gala, established to industry was wonderfully keen on raise funds for the fight against spoiling me with, because I was AIDS. very busy with 'Sarbjit' promoThe speculation around Sonam tions," she said.

Kapoor and Aishwarya Rai "But within the little collection Bachchan is unparalleled. Twitterati I had gone through I was prepared had a blast through the weekend for some pieces that had come dissecting both their looks. handy because when we come Aishwarya, who is busy pro- here it's just that we have to moting her film "Sarbjit", says she nosedive into the schedule that is was not under stress about her red pre-planned. But I am having fun carpet look. "I was not nervous with it," she added. (for the look at the Cannes) as it The 42-year-old actress jokhas been 15 years representing ingly said she keeps teasing evL'Oreal here. I have been a part of eryone that one day she will walk the jury here for two years or so in white shirt and jeans on the red and had come here for 'Devdas'. carpet.

Saif to learn culinary skills for Chef remake MUMBAI: Actor Saif Ali Khan will train under top chefs and learn culinary skills to get his act right in the remake version of "Chef".

"Chef", a 2014 American comedy drama, is written, produced and directed by Jon Favreau and is now set to be made in Hindi.

"Airlift" director Raja Krishna Menon will direct the film in Hindi with Saif Ali Khan in the lead.

"The film requires lot of preparations. Saif will undergo extensive training for two months or so to look and act like a chef. He will learn culinary skills, take cooking classes, also get trained under an experienced chef from India and abroad. We will also

put him in kitchen after his training," Raja told PTI. The director said Saif himself is keen on making things look convincing in the film.

"He (Saif) is excited about the film. He feels that the film requires prep (preparation for the role). We don't want anyone to question," Raja said.

The makers are yet to zero-in on the lead actress.

The film revolves around the life of a professional chef, who quits his job at a popular Los Angeles restaurant after refusing to compromise his creative integrity to its controlling owner and later launches a food truck with his friend and son. -PTI

54

Edit Page

India Post

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

WTO verdict: A roadblock to India's Solar Mission?

I

n February 2013, the US filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization's (WTO) challenging the Indian government's Domestic Content Requirements (DCR) for solar cells and modules under the latter's ongoing National Solar Mission (NSM). On 24 February 2016, the WTO ruled in the US' favor.

Why did the US challenge India's DCRs? Given that the verdict is not in its favor, does New Delhi have to worry?

India's NSM and DCRs: A Brief Overview India's NSM was launched on 11 January 2010 by the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. Its main target is to ramp up India's solar power capacity to 100GW by the year 2022 and to generate green energy at lower costs in order to meet the country's growing demand.

The DCRs, which the US ob-

jected to, were introduced to serve a two-pronged objective: a. To provide a boost to the domestic manufacturing sector b. To guarantee the rate of purchase of electricity manufactured for a long term To this end, New Delhi's DCRs authorized solar power developers to use certain types of solar cells and modules that were manufactured in India during different phases of the project.

As an incentive, in 2014, the Indian government offered a subsidy of USD 0.15 million (Rs 10,000,000) per megawatt installed, to those solar power developers who would use domestic components. In return those developers and the government would agree on a fixed rate at which the electricity thus generated would be sold to state agencies for a long term.

The Dispute and the Ruling In February 2013, the US argued at the WTO that the Indian NSM's DCRs denied global players a level playing field, and

India Post

ATEETMANI BRAR

sought consultations with India on relevant matters. It also claimed that such DCRs nullify or impair the benefits the US could have otherwise gained - directly or indirectly - under the Agreement on Trade-related Investment Measures (TRIMs) and the 1994 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). In February 2014, the US expressed its concern again when India decided to include thin film technologies in Phase II of the NSM. The same year, First Solar, a US-based thin-film manufacturer that had previously dominated the market in India, missed out on projects during the second phase of the NSM, after thin-film modules were included in India's DCR framework.

In its defense, India argued that the DCR measures were reasonable under Article XX (j) of the GATT. It stated that due to the low manufacturing capacity

that exists in the solar-related components sector in the country, India will nonetheless be unable to supplant concerned US businesses with its own supply.

New Delhi also argued that measures like the DCRs help secure India's compliance with "laws or regulations" requiring it to take steps to promote sustainable development.

At the 2015 Paris Climate Conference, India had promised massive increases in the carbon efficiency of its economy. A key portion of the commitment was the promise of large-scale investments in renewable technologies, including a considerable increase in solar power generation.

India negotiated with the US by agreeing to apply the DCRs only for solar panels purchased for government consumption.

New Delhi even assured Washington that power generated from such subsidized panels would not be sold for commercial use.

The WTO panel ruled that

India's DCRs "are inconsistent with both Article III:4 of the GATT 1994 and Article 2.1 of the TRIMs Agreement" and that they "do accord "less favorable treatment" within the meaning of that provision.

This was not the first instance of such a ruling. In 2013, the Canadian province of Ontario too lost a similar case against the EU and Japan.

The Way Forward While the key objectives of India's NSMs include cost-effective energy efficiency along with environment protection, measures such as our DCRs are not entirely consumer friendly either.

Harnessing solar energy is expensive. The cost of producing and installing locally manufactured solar cells and modules is higher than the total cost incurred in producing solar energy through imported solar cells and modules. The use of imported equipment may benefit consumers by lowering rates.

Alternative ways incentivizing the production of solar cells and modules by pushing for traditional tools including tax breaks, low-interest longterm loans etc. - to encourage domestic production could be explored.

These could help reducing manufacturing costs and thereby help make indigenous technology cheaper and provide for greater access to international markets.

New Delhi could also look at investing more in its research and development to improve domestic solar power technology and also collaborate on related efforts with international entities.

Given how India launched an International Solar Alliance with over 120 countries to boost solar energy in developing countries in 2015, opportunities to do so are likely to present themselves. These measures will help India in its efforts towards meeting its NSM targets by 2022 while also being consistent with WTO terms.

The US' key grievance at the WTO was regarding India's DCRs and not the NSM itself. New Delhi should not feel disheartened with the recent ruling and continue to make efforts towards generating green energy with or without the DCRs. The writer is Research Officer, IReS, IPCS.

Good Muslims A

Muslim resident of Canadian city of Martindale was shocked recently to see graffiti near a Sikh temple that read "Go Home" alongside scrawled swastikas. He said he loved the diversity in the Martindale community where people from all sorts of faiths lived and this kind of behavior must be deeply deplored. This is a heartening response contrary to the prevalent stereotype about Muslims.

The recently elected Muslim Mayor of London Sadiq Khan visited Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in north London's Neasden where he performed rituals ahead of his election. Khan described it as one of his favorite temples. Khan wants to strengthen London's friendship with India and is looking forward to leading a trade delegation to India soon.

These are a few examples that show Muslims not merely as good citizens but going out of their way to promote amity among all religions. These may be only a few examples which are brought into limelight but there must be more examples of people of different faiths living peacefully and happily together.

While the people in Pakistan are celebrating the election of one of their origin in an important political position, what will be their reaction to their favorite mayor visiting a Hindu temple and lauding it?

Young Bilawal Bhutto, leader of the opposition Pakistan People's Party and son of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto lauded him saying "British Pakistanis need +ve rolemodel." They certainly do and Bilawal is hardly made of that "positive" stuff. He recently fulminated, mother and grandfather style, against Premier Nawaz Sharif trying to befriend Indian premier Narendra Modi. He is old hat, negative like his ancestors.

If Sadiq Khan is a good role model, should the Bilawal types advise the youth in Pakistan to treat temples in Pakistan with respect and treat Hindus and other minorities as fellow human beings, in the name of, at least "insaniyat" as the good old Atal Behari put it.

How would the Pakistani Army react to the Sadiq Khan phenomenon? Most probably they haven't congratulated him. They must be having contempt for him.

In his new book, Hussain Haqqani, the former Pakistani Ambassador in US, has queried, why can't they stopped playing Hindus and Muslims and treat each other as two countries.

The problem, he himself has analyzed, is not Hindu-Muslim. It is the all-consuming passion of the Pakistani Army to retain power, at all costs. And playing the game of Indian threat it can ensure power for itself. So this will continue indefinitely until some civilian leader grows so powerful as to be able to put the Pakistani Army genie back in the barracks.

Haqqani urged the political leadership to give up the "ideological obsession" with Kashmir stating they no longer enjoy the support of the international community in this regard. "Pakistan needs to have the kind of approach China has over Taiwan. It doesn't need to give up its claim but it needs to move on other issues first," Haqqani said.

The experience of the Pakistani Army's continuing dominance in Pakistani politics, to the chagrin of India also, has also fashioned Indian government's response to its own Army. Right since the days of Nehru it has been sought to be subservient to civilian and bureaucratic control. In fact the previous UPA government was so paranoid about an Army take over that it panicked over a regiment's march from Gurgaon as a takeover threat when General V.K.Singh was the Army Chief. The good General continues to be pilloried over that although the story that the newspapers put out has been proved to be an alarmist version of an Army march.

Since there is no possibility of the Pakistani Army relinquishing control over power, it can be said that some positive developments like Sadiq Khan wining the confidence of a majority of London citizens is not going to shake up the obtuse Generals in Rawalpindi.

May 20, 2016

www.indiapost.com

India Post 55

56 India Post

www.indiapost.com

May 20, 2016