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Three brilliant authors charm Chicagoans Details on page 19

Milkha Singh honored at House of Lords

VOL 19, No. 982

July 12, 2013

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INDIA FORCED TO REVIEW MARKET ACCESS POLICY NEW DELHI: The government has put on hold the requirement for private telecom firms to source domestically manufactured electronic equipments, as it reviews and revisits the controversial 'preferential market access' policy.

Amidst pressure from international trade associations and domestic telecom industry, the government has decided to "revisit and review" the entire policy on Providing Preference to Domestically Manufactured Electronic Goods (PMA Policy).

The decision has been welcomed by top US IT advocacy organization the Informational Technology Industry Council (ITIC) and the US India Business Council.

The decision was taken at a meeting on July 5 which was attended by National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Pulok Chaterjee, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, Telecom Secretary MF Farooqui and Information Technology Secretary J Satyanarayana.

"No notifications on PMA in the private sector on security related products will be issued till the PMA Policy is reviewed and any notifications in the draft stage will be withheld," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.

Details on page 5

FIA Festival of India to have new features Details on page 16

India leads in education, says Cornell President Details on page 12

'It's miraculous we survived': Indian passenger

Details on page 8 Details on page 6

Pathak on Human relations panel again

Saudi Indian saves compatriot with Rs 36 lakh

Details on page 17 Details on page 7

Rajnath Singh to spell out BJP's views in US

CONTENTS Bollywood ---------------------- 28-29 Classifieds ------------------------- 47 Community Post -------------- 16-24

Details on page 7

Date Book -------------------------- 36 Edit Page --------------------------- 54

INDIA POST SURVEY

HealthScience Post --------- 32-35

survey@indiapost.com

Horoscope ------------------------- 52

This week’s question

Immigration Post ------------- 44-47

Does US play a role in India’s policies?

Life Style ----------------------- 48-50 Philosophy ------------------------- 53

Last week’s result

Will House immigration bill favor Indian companies?

YES 33%

NO 67%

SACRILEGE AT BUDDHA'S ABODE: Buddhist monks offer peace prayers inside Mahabodhi temple in Bodh Gaya, Bihar, a day after 10 blasts rocked the complex, while outside a security person with a sniffer dog inspects the premises.

(Details on page 6)

Publisher’s Diary ------------------ 4 Real Estate -------------------- 30-31 TechBiz Post ------------------- 12-14 Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 39-43

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he bomb blasts this week at the Mahabodhi Temple complex in Bodh Gaya in Bihar raised the specter of terrorism once again in India.

What is unnerving to me is how these self-serving, anti-humanity elements manage to pick target sites to carry out their sick operations - I mean, of all the places, Bodh Gaya, one of the holiest sites for Hindus and Buddhists from around the world.

Expressing shock over the blasts, the World Hindu Council of America (VHPA) reminds us that Bodh Gaya has a 3000 year old history as a place of meditation and peace and is considered a symbol of universal love. The Mahabodhi Temple, a UNESCO World heritage site, is a Hindu/Buddhist temple at the location where The Buddha, the founder of Bouddha Dharma, and considered one of the nine avatars of the Hindu deity Vishnu, is said to have attained enlightenment. Built during the Gupta period (300-600 CE), the temple has scenes such as Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess. The sanctum has a statue of Buddha.

For over four decades, the World Hindu Council (VHP) has been involved in the maintenance of the temple complex. Mercifully, the main temple itself did not suffer any damage in the blasts.

If Indian television news reports are to be believed, apparently the terror groups suspected of involvement in the blasts have been circulating fake images of violence against Muslims in Myanmar at the hands of Buddhist monks, to incite Muslims. Though "terrorist logic" always fails me, I'd still like to understand why Indian Hindus and Buddhists should have to pay for purported violence against Muslims in Myanmar…just because of the Buddhist connection? It is beyond ridiculous. Any right-minded Muslim would think twice before attributing mindless violence to peace-loving Buddhist monks.

The VHPA has demanded that the Indian government abandon its policy of appeasement towards pan-Islamic terror groups, and ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice.

I think what the Indian government needs to do is spare at least the security agencies from political machinations and let them do an honest job. There has to be some method to this madness.

Romesh K Japra rkjapra@indiapost.com

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HIGHLIGHTS Bollywood: Sooraj to be 'Hero' Salman Khan wants to cast Sooraj Pancholi, just out of jail, in the remake of Subhas Ghai's movie 'Hero’

Cover Story: Policy review India has put on hold the requirement for telecom firms to source domestically manufactured electronic equipments

Community: Festival of India FIA North California has announced celebration of 21st Festival of India and Parade on August 17 and 18

Immigration: Foreign workers It appears that people of Georgia and Alabama have gone on with life much as it was before the laws were enacted.

Life Style: IIFA awards Vidya Balan took home the Best Actress award at IIFA 2013 while Ranbir Kapoor was named Best Actor

Techbiz: FDI cap India’s Home Ministry has raised concern over hiking FDI cap in defense, space, telecom and a few other areas

Travel: Angkor Wat Angkor Wat ruins are located amid forests and farmland to the north of the Great Lake, near Siem Reap, Cambodia

28 1 16 44 48 12 39

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India forced to review market access policy NEW DELHI: The government has put on hold the requirement for private telecom firms to source domestically manufactured electronic equipments, as it reviews and revisits the controversial 'preferential market access' policy.

Amidst pressure from interna-

Though the statement did not specify steps to be taken by stateowned firms, industry felt the PMA mandating a phased increase in procurement from domestic industry will be implemented by them.

The Cabinet had in February

ing held in PMO, "a decision was taken to review the Policy for Providing Preference to Domestically Manufactured Electronic Goods (PMA Policy), particularly PMA in the private sector."

The PMA Policy has two aspects, one relating to government

ucts under this category.

But now all of these have been put on hold.

"The entire policy on Providing Preference to Domestically Manufactured Electronic Goods (PMA Policy) will be revisited and reviewed," it said. "The revised

tralized clearing house mechanism for all notifications under the PMA Policy," it said adding the Department of Electronics and Information Technology will bring a final note to the Cabinet on the revised policy within 4 weeks.

Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh chairing the meeting of the High Level Committee on Manufacturing in New Delhi on July 9

tional trade associations and domestic telecom industry, the government has decided to "revisit and review" the entire policy on Providing Preference to Domestically Manufactured Electronic Goods (PMA Policy).

The decision has been welcomed by top US IT advocacy

last year approved the PMA policy seeking preference to domestically manufactured electronic products, in procurement of those electronic products which have security implications for the country and in government procurement for its own use.

"The National Security Coun-

Concerns had been raised in many quarters on different aspects of the PMA Policy, particularly policy relating to procurement by the private sector for electronic products with security implications organization the Informational Technology Industry Council (ITIC) and the US India Business Council.

The decision was taken at a meeting on July 5 which was attended by National Security Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister Pulok Chaterjee, Cabinet Secretary Ajit Kumar Seth, Telecom Secretary MF Farooqui and Information Technology Secretary J Satyanarayana.

"No notifications on PMA in the private sector on security related products will be issued till the PMA Policy is reviewed and any notifications in the draft stage will be withheld," the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in a statement.

"The overall policy on PMA will be recalibrated and submitted to the Cabinet," it said.

cil Secretariat will provide a definition of 'security' for usage in the context of security related issues concerning products, projects or sectors," the statement said.

The statement said at the meet-

procurement and the other to private sector procurement. There are no international commitments affecting government procurement.

"However, private sector procurement policies are covered by India's obligations in the WTO. However, restrictions are permissible even in the private sector in essential security interests," it said.

Concerns had been raised in many quarters on different aspects of the PMA Policy, particularly policy relating to procurement by the private sector for electronic products with security implications.

"Notifications giving the guidelines regarding PMA procurement by the private sector of electronic products with security implications are yet to be issued," it said adding the Department of Telecommunications had proposed to notify 14 telecom prod-

proposal on PMA in the private sector for security related products will not have domestic manufacturing requirements, percentage based or otherwise."

The revised proposal for PMA would incorporate a detailed provision for project / product / sector specific security standards,

Industry body protests Meanwhile, industry body Telecom Systems Design and Manufacturers Association which represents Indian telecom gear makers has alleged that "certain vested interests at the behest of

The revised proposal for PMA would incorporate a detailed provision for project / product / sector specific security standards, alternative modes of security certification, and a roadmap for buildup of domestic testing alternative modes of security certification, and a roadmap for buildup of domestic testing capacity.

"The revised proposal will incorporate a mechanism for a cen-

foreign manufacturers are trying to challenge the policy and lobbying hard, perhaps with the aim to paralyze government's efforts to protect the national security interest".

Cont’d on page 7

US IT body welcomes move to review PMA policy WASHINGTON: Welcoming the Indian government's decision to revisit and review its Preferential Market Access (PMA) policy, a top US IT advocacy organization has said it is hopeful it would lead to the country adopting global approaches to its procurement policies.

"There's good news from New Delhi as the Government of India (GOI) has opted to take

a closer look at its controversial policy designed to compel foreign companies to manufacture electronic products in India if they want to sell there," John Neuffer, Senior vice president Global Policy, of the Informational Technology Industry Council (ITIC) said.

ITIC has IT giants like Google, AOL, Microsoft, IBM and Microsoft as its members.

For the past several months,

ITIC had been running a campaign against the Indian policy with its officials testifying before Congressional committees on New Delhi's PMA policy, which they allege is highly discriminatory.

"Isolation ignores innovation, freezes opportunity, and drives a stake through the heart of economic growth. That's why we welcome the GOI's decision to revisit and review the entire policy, including to hold in abeyance the

application of its PMA policy to private-sector procurements," Neuffer said.

"We believe the kind of market-based incentives that gave rise to India's global leaders in software and services should be the foundation of its effort to build an ICT manufacturing sector. This open approach would help to drive lasting economic strength," he said.

Cont’d on page 7

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Devotees throng Bodh Gaya temple as it reopens GAYA: A day after the Bodh Gaya temple was rocked by serial explosions, the Buddhists' holiest shrine reopened to the public with devotees in large number thronging there and monks from 50 countries holding a special prayer for return of peace.

Thousands of people thronged the temple immediately after the gate was opened at 6 pm on Monday July 8, Arvind Singh, a member of Bodh Gaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC), said.

"The visitors are allowed to enter the temple after thorough search by Bihar police and temple management committee security staff," he said.

Earlier, Buddhist monks from 50 countries held a special prayer inside Bodh Gaya temple for return of peace after 10 explosions that left two injured.

The monks from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar and other countries participated in the onehour prayer, Arvind Singh said.

Head of monasteries of different countries also attended the prayer.

Bodh Gaya has Buddhist monasteries of 50 countries.-PTI

GAYA: CRPF and Bihar Mili- he said. tary Police (BMP) have taken During the meeting, the officharge of the security at historic cials urged the monks and BTMC Bodh Gaya temple even as the to cooperate with them for strict person detained on the basis of implementation of security exerhis voter card continues to remain cise. under NIA custody.

Meanwhile, one Binod Kumar A meeting was called by Bodh Mistri, who has been detained by Gaya Temple Management Com- the NIA on the basis of his voter mittee (BTMC) in which top district police and civil officials and heads Binod Kumar Mistri, who has of various monasteries been detained by the NIA participated to discuss on the basis of his voter Ibetter implementation of security arrange- card found inside the ments after the serial temple during search after blasts that left two the explosions, continues to monks injured.

Head of monasteries remain with the NIA of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Tibet and other nations partici- I-card found inside the temple pated in the meeting, member during search after the exploBTMC Arvind Singh told PTI. sions, continues to remain with He said CRPF and BMP have the NIA. taken responsibility of the temple The man who is a resident of security in their hands. BTMC Barachatti, a hot bed of Maoists, private security guards are assist- is engaged in wooden work. His ing them inside the temple. parents Rambhajju Mistri and Visitors are allowed inside the Matia Devi have pleaded that he temple only after proper frisking, is innocent.-PTI

India, Myanmar discuss Bodh Gaya blasts

Tourists entering the Mahabodhi Temple to offer prayers in Bodhgaya on July 9

'It's miraculous we survived', says Indian passenger SAN FRANCISCO: Vedpal Singh, an Indian who was on board ill-fated flight of South Korea's Asiana Airlines and miraculously survived along with his family, has said there was no forewarning before the plane crashed here.

"It's miraculous we survived," he said, recalling his ordeal when the plane with 307 people on board hit the runway and was engulfed by flames while landing at San Francisco airport.

"We knew something was horribly wrong," he said. But there was no forewarning from the pilot or any crew members before the flight from Seoul to San Francisco

CRPF, BMP take charge of Bodh Gaya temple security

touched down hard, a visibly shaken Singh said.

He said the plane went silent before people tried to get out any-

way they could, recalling his escape from the burned-out wreckage of the Boeing 777.

Singh, who was sitting in the middle of the aircraft and survived the crash with his family, suffered a fractured collarbone and other

minor injuries.

His 15-year-old son said luggage fell on passengers overhead as the entire incident lasted about 10 seconds.

At least two people were killed and over 180 injured when Asiana Airlines flight OZ214 hit the runway and was engulfed by flames while landing at San Francisco International Airport.

While the sequence of events remains unclear, it appeared the plane landed and then crashed on San Francisco International Airport's Runway 28L, said Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown. -PTI

NEW DELHI: India has raised of. with Myanmar the incident of The Foreign Secretary also met bomb blasts in holy town of Bodh the Commander-in Chief of the Gaya in the backdrop of reports armed forces Senior General Min that the attack was a reaction of Aung Hlaing and exchanged alleged violence against Muslims views on bilateral cooperation. in that country.

Terror struck one of the holiest Foreign Secretary Ranjan Buddhist shrines, the Mahabodhi Mathai, who is currently in Temple, and other places in Bodh Myanmar for bilateral Foreign Of- Gaya with suspected Indian fice consultations, called on Op- Mujahideen operatives simultaposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi neously triggering nine low intenand Foreign Minister U Wunna sity bombs leaving two monks Maung Lwin and discussed the blasts which were condemned by the The temple's sanctum Myanmarese leaders, sanctorum and the Bodhi official sources said.

Tree, under which Lord Mathai told the leaders that India will share Buddha is believed to have the outcome of the in- attained enlightenment, did vestigation into the not suffer any damage blasts even as the two countries stressed on in the blasts the need for greater cooperation in the field of security, injured. they said.

The temple's sanctum Suu Kyi expressed unhappi- sanctorum and the Bodhi Tree, ness and shock over the attack under which Lord Buddha is bewith Mathai assuring that Indian lieved to have attained enlightenwill do every thing possible to ment, did not suffer any damage keep Bodh Gaya a place of peace in the blasts which shook the holy and pilgrimage. town frequented by lakhs BudMathai informed the leaders dhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka, that the injured pilgrim was not in China, Japan and the whole of danger and was being taken care southeast Asia each year. -PTI

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Saudi Indian pays Rs 36 lakh USIBC applauds to rescue compatriot India's stay on PMA DUBAI: A Saudi-based Indian businessman has secured the release of a compatriot serving a jail term in the Gulf Kingdom for killing a local resident in Jeddah by paying blood money to the family of the victim.

Indian businessman Mohammed Alungal paid a sum of Rs 36,13,000 on behalf of Vinish Pappachan, who had been ordered to pay the money as diyah (blood money), Arab News reported.

Pappachan, who hails from Kerala and worked as a driver, was held guilty of causing the accidental death of a Saudi national in February 2012 when the earth-moving tractor he was operating collided

Mohammed Alungal

with a car driven by the victim.

When the court directed that blood money be paid,

Pappachan's family from Idukki in Kerala approached the local government for help, who coordinated with social workers in Saudi Arabia to speak with the victim's family.

It was then that Alungal, chairman of Abeer Polyclinic Group, came forward to pay the full amount.

"I just want to fly back home as early as possible. Every single hour seems to be a year or more for me now," said Pappachan after his release from prison.

"I have a fresh lease of life thanks to Mohammed Alungal and Kerala Chief Minister Ommen Chandy. I feel like a free bird now," he added. -PTI

Rajnath Singh to spell out BJP's Afghanistan policy WASHINGTON: BJP president Rajnath Singh will directly convey to the US lawmakers, think tanks and policy makers his party's policy on Afghanistan at the Capitol Hill later this month.

Singh, who is slated to be in Washington from July 22-25, would be delivering keynote address on "India, Afghanistan and Regional Security" at a conference on Afghanistan on July 23 organized by the Foundation for India and Indian Diaspora Studies (FIIDS USA) and the United States India Political Action Committee.

The conference at the historic Rayburn House Building of the US Capitol, among others would also be addressed by the former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal; the former head of Afghan intelligence Hamrullah Saleh; and Ajit Doval, the former director of Intelligence Bureau.

Organizers of the conference have also roped in Mehran Baloch, a senior Baloch leader and Senge Serin, president of the Institute of Gilgit Baltistan Stud-

ies, to give their perspective on Afghanistan and the recent developments.

"The conference aims to en-

gage communities to discuss factors affecting security, stability and prosperity in Afghanistan and the surrounding region," FIIDS USA said in a statement.

"The sessions will focus on

Michael O'Hanlon, director of Research at the Brookings Institute and Lisa Curtis, research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, would also be addressing the conference. -PTI

WASHINGTON: The United States said it was "deeply concerned" by what it called a "new restrictive" law in Singapore for licensing online news websites.

"We urge Singapore to ensure that freedom of expression is protected in accordance with its international obligations and commitments," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

"We are concerned... to see Singapore applying press restrictions to the online world."

The surprise regulations came into force on June 1 requiring news websites - including one operated

by US-based Yahoo! - to obtain licenses from the city-state's official media regulator.

Last month, Singaporean bloggers blacked out their

homepages for 24 hours to protest the measure which they say will muzzle freedom of expression.

The new rules stipulate that websites which have at least 50,000 unique visitors from Singapore every month and publish at least one local news article per week over a period of two months must obtain an annual license.-AFP

critical dimensions of a balanced and unified strategy that can lead to Afghanistan's stable and secure development," it added.

WASHINGTON: The US India Business Council has applauded the India's decision to put on hold the Preferential Market Access policy, which of late has emerged as a major bone of contention for American lawmakers and businesses.

"India's rethink of its PMA policy sends a strong and welcome signal that India is listening to investors and that channels of communication through organizations such as the US-India Business Council are working," said the USIBC president Ron Somers, a day after the Prime Minister's Office announced that the entire PMA policy will be reviewed and India will not impose domestic manufacturing requirements on the private sector.

"There are many US companies manufacturing in India, and they want to expand, but they want to do so based on market-based principles, including adequate infrastructure, business-friendly poli-

India forced to review market access policy Cont’d from page 5

BJP president Rajnath Singh

cies, and access to a skilled workforce -all elements associated with a free-market economy.

A mandated approach will only drive job creators away," Somers said.

USIBC has consistently argued for market-based incentives, not mandates, to encourage manufacturing in India. Specifically, USIBC supports carving out the private sector from any preferential market access manufacturing policy being considered by the Indian Government, it said in a statement.

American firms and USIBC had argued that any reference to private sector mandates should be excised from any policy.

Regarding security, the apex body of corporate Americans doing businesses in India, has suggested that high-level dialogues be convened to share best practices and protocols about how India and the United States can bolster it. -PTI

TSDMA said that current telecom systems are highly sophisticated, using complex chips with millions of elements along with long software codes. The association said "it is very easy to implant spyware/malware in hardware and software, which is impossible to detect but can easily intercept sensitive information or cause catastrophic damage to critical equipment."

India's telecom industry relies heavily on imports to meet its requirements. According to telecom regulator Trai, only 12-13 per cent

of all local products made with the aid of foreign vendors were used in the sector during 2009-10. However, purely India-made products formed just 3 per cent of the market.

The policy is seen as a key step to push domestic production of electronics equipment. The country imports electronics items worth about USD 40 billion, according to electronics industry association ELCINA. The National Electronics Policy forecasts such imports to touch a humongous USD 300 billion by 2020 if efforts are not made to produce hi-tech products in India.-PTI

US IT body welcomes India's US concerned by Singapore Internet rules move to review PMA policy Cont’d from page 5

Noting that it supports India's desire to build robust ICT and ICT-enabled manufacturing sectors, Neuffer said India's commitment to advance its economy, build a stronger manufacturing base, and grow its middle class will create numerous opportunities for increased trade for US-

based industries, including the technology sector.

"We stand ready to constructively engage with the US and Indian governments on ways to expand those opportunities. And we are hopeful the four-week review of the PMA will lead the Indian government to adopt global approaches to its procurement policies," he said. -PTI

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Milkha Singh honored at House of Lords LONDON: Legendary Indian athlete Milkha Singh was honored for his services to sports at a special event at the House of Lords.

House of Lords member and NRI industrialist Lord Swraj Paul presented the honor to 'The Flying Sikh', who is in London on a promotional tour for an upcoming movie based on his life story.

"We wanted to honor him and let him know that we are very proud of what he has achieved. I am very glad that

Bollywood has decided to make a film on him. His story will inspire a new generation of young athletes who can see how a boy from an ordinary family went on to make global headlines," Lord Paul told PTI. 77-year-old Milkha Singh later visited the famous Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurudwara in Southall, the predominantly Sikh suburb of London. There he met Fauja Singh - the world's oldest marathon runner at 102 years of age.

The local Sikh community turned out in full force to meet the sporting icon who inspired UK-based Fauja Singh to start his own exciting marathon career.

'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag', which releases worldwide on July 12, traces the story of Milkha's life through the vagaries of partition of India in 1947, during which his family was brutally killed, to a life of petty crime and on to competitive sport. -PTI

Chinese troops enter Chumar again; vandalize Indian posts LEH: In another incursion, Chinese troops intruded into the Chumar sector in Ladakh - the same area which had sparked off tensions in April - and smashed some bunkers besides cutting wires of cameras installed at the border post.

Official sources said the intrusion took place on June 17 when the troops of China's People's Liberation Army(PLA) entered Indian territory in the Chumar sector and started vandalizing the observation bunkers besides cutting the wires which overlook the Chinese territory.

Chumar, located 300 km from here, has always been an area of discomfort for the Chinese troops as this is the only area along the Sino-Indian border where they do not have any direct access to the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

The 21-day face-off between the two sides in the remote Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) sector on April 15 was triggered by construction of an observation tower in Chumar division which had to be subsequently dismantled by the Army on May 5 before the crisis was defused.

The Chinese side, according to the minutes of the flag meetings in the last week of March this year, had been objecting to the construction of the watch tower along the LAC in Chumar.

After dismantling the observation post and defense bunkers, Army had installed cameras to monitor movement of Chinese troops along the LAC, a step which had irked the PLA. Chumar, a remote village on Ladakh-Himachal Pradesh border, is being claimed by China as its own territory. The Chinese side also reportedly resorted to helicopter incursions almost every year.

Last year, it dropped some of the soldiers of PLA in this region and dismantled the makeshift storage tents of the Army and ITBP.-PTI

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China's ex-minister sentenced to death for graft His suspended death sentence would come up for judicial review after two years. The stiff sentence against him comes in the wake of promise

by China's new leadership headed by President Xi Jinping to crackdown hard on corruption which they said threatened the over 60-yearold hold of the ruling Communist Party on China.

A number of middle rung leaders and officials got simiLiu Zhijun

BEIJING: China's former Railways Minister Liu Zhijun has been given a suspended death sentence by a court here for corruption and abuse of power.

The Beijing No. 2 Intermediate People's Court, which is conducting the trial, announced the stiff verdict handing down death sentence to 60-year-old Liu, staterun Xinhua news agency reported quoting verdict.

He was accused of accepting bribes to the tune of USD 10.53 million over 25 years.

"The combined punishment for Liu's crimes is death penalty with a two-year reprieve, deprival of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property," the court said.

Liu was also sentenced to 10 years in jail for abuse of power, according to the court verdict. He headed the railways from 2003 to 2011, during whose tenure China had embarked on the high speed network linking different parts of the country.

Have more access to Chinese funds, says Maldives COLOMBO/MALE: In a clear hint that Maldives was getting close to China, Maldivian President Mohamed Waheed has said his country has more access to Chinese funds for developmental projects in his country.

He also noted that the bilateral ties with India have been strained due to the termination of the contract that was given to Indian infrastructure giant GMR for operating and developing the Male international airport.

"In terms of bilateral assistance, we have more access to Chinese financing now for development projects," the President who ended a two-day visit to Sri Lanka told the Sunday Times.

He said while a Board of the airport company will decide if a partnership with a foreign investor is wanted, "Maldives will retain the majority interest adding that the country is capable of borrowing and investing in the new project".

He said his country, like all countries, is also trying to establish strong trade and commerce ties with China.-PTI

lar punishments for corruption as well as sexual misconduct.

The court found that from 1986 to 2011, he took advantage of his positions as official of local railway bureaus as well as the former Ministry of Railways, and helped 11 people, Shao Liping and Ding Yuxin included, win promotions, project contracts, and cargo transportation contracts.

During his tenure as railways minister, Liu helped Ding Yuxin and her relatives to win cargo transportation contracts and railway construction contracts.

He also helped them in the acquisition

of shares in a bullet train wheel set company, and with enterprise financing, by breaking regulations and applying favoritism, which allowed Ding and her family to reap huge profits and inflicted colossal losses in the public assets, violating rights and interests of the state and the people.

The court held that Liu's crime of bribery involves especially huge amount of money with especially serious circumstances, and his crime of abuse of power had caused colossal losses in the public assets, violating rights and interests of the state and the people. -PTI

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Delhi to be first to roll out food India, Lanka, Maldives sign maritime security pact security scheme NEW DELHI: Delhi is all set to become the first state in the country to roll out the food security scheme with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit saying that the ambitious program will be launched on August 20, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

Dikshit conveyed her government's decision to launch the scheme first to Union Food Minister K V Thomas in a meeting.

"The Chief Minister informed the Union Food Minister that Delhi will be the first state in the country to roll out the scheme," Delhi's Food and Civil Supplies Minister Harun Yusuf, who accompanied Dikshit in the meeting with Thomas, told PTI. He said the Delhi Government has started the ground work for implementation of the scheme and Dikshit has appointed a committee under his chairmanship for making all the preparations.

When asked about his meeting with Dikshit, Thomas said "Delhi has come forward first to implement the food security program."

He said Dikshit sought some clarifications on number of beneficiaries and prices of food grains and he clarified about

them.

President Pranab Mukherjee has signed the Ordinance that will give the nation's three-fourth population the right to get 5 kg of foodgrains every month at highly subsidized rates of Rs 1-3 per kg.

Per kg of rice will be supplied at Rs 3 while wheat and coarse cereals will be given at Rs 2 and

but with legal entitlement.

The Food Security program will be the biggest in the world with the government spending estimated at Rs 125,000 crore annually on supply of about 62 million tonnes of rice, wheat and coarse cereals to 67 per cent of the population.

Delhi Government had

"The agreement was reached by all on the importance of raising the maritime cooperation between the three countries in the current context of maritime security environment in the Indian Ocean region," the statement said.

It said the deal follows several senior official and technical level consultations held among the three nations.

Menon, who has served in Colombo as the Indian High Commissioner in the past, is visiting Sri Lanka with a six-member delegation to hold talks with Sri Lankan leaders on the controversial 13th amendment on devolution of power in the Tamil-dominated Northern Province. -PTI

SA Indians raising funds for flood-hit Uttarakhand Rs 1 per kg respectively under the program.

However, about 2.43 crore poorest of the poor families covered under the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) scheme under PDS would continue to get 35 kg of grains per family per month

launched Annashri Yojna, a major food security program, in December last year, under which monthly cash subsidy of Rs 600 is being transferred directly into Aadhaar-linked bank account of the senior-most female member of around one lakh poor families.-PTI

SC slams Centre for not framing policy to curb acid sale NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has slammed the Centre for not being "serious" about framing a policy to curb sale of acid in order to prevent acid attack cases.

A bench headed by Justice R M Lodha said that people are dying everyday due to acid attacks but the Centre has failed to frame a policy despite assurance given by it on the last hearing on April 16.

"Seriousness is not seen on the part of government in handling the issue," the bench said, while granting one week's time as a last opportunity to the Centre to frame policy in consultation with state governments.

"People are dying, but you are not worried about it.

Think of people who are losing their lives everyday. Girls are being attacked everyday in different parts of the country," the bench said. It also said, "With heavy heart this court had passed order in April, but the government failed to come out with any scheme to curb sale

COLOMBO: India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have entered into a tripartite agreement on maritime cooperation to secure sea routes in the Indian Ocean region.

National Security Advisor Shivshanker Menon, Lankan Defense Secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Maldives' Minister of Defense Mohamed Nazim signed the agreement at the end of Meeting on Trilateral Cooperation on Maritime Security.

"At the conclusion of the meeting an outcome document detailing specific areas of cooperation in the maritime security sphere was signed," said a statement from Sri Lankan Ministry of Defense.

of acid in the market.

The bench made it clear that if the Centre fails to come out with such a scheme on the next date of hearing, July 16, then it would pass orders.

On April 16, the apex court had said it will wait for the Centre and the state governments to explore ways to regulate sale of acids for domestic use before it imposes a ban on the chemical.

Earlier, on February 6, the court had directed the Centre to convene in six weeks a meeting of Chief Secretaries of all states and Union Territories to hold discussion for enacting a law to regulate the sale of acids and a policy for treatment, compensation and care and rehabilitation of such victims.

The bench had said that for evolving such a policy, the Secretary, Ministry of Chemical and Fertilizers, and secretaries concerned from the states would be involved.

The court was hearing a PIL

filed in 2006 by Delhi-based acid attack victim Laxmi, who was then a minor. Her arms, face and other body parts were disfigured in the acid attack.

In her plea, Laxmi had sought framing of a new law or amendment to the existing criminal laws like IPC, Indian Evidence Act and CrPC for dealing with the offence, besides asking for compensation.

Laxmi was subjected to acid attack by three youths near Tughlaq Road here as she had refused to marry one of them, according to the petition. The trial is going on for the offence of attempt to murder and two of the accused are out on bail.

In her petition, she had pleaded for a total ban on sale of acid as there were increasing number of incidents of such attacks on women in different states.

The petitioner had also submitted that even a small country like Bangladesh had taken measures to prevent such attacks.-PTI

JOHANNESBURG: Indian India is grateful for the contricommunity in South Africa has butions by South Africans, both launched a fund raising drive to with the empathy shown and the contribute to the relief efforts in material assistance, Gupta said at flood-hit Uttarakhand. an event at the Indian Cultural Local welfare organization Centre here.

'Atmadaan' and the 'Johannesburg "The exact extent of the loss Yuvak Mandal' have launched a will never be known. Many thoucollection drive already, while the sands have been simply lost withBAPS Charities organization is on the verge of launching a national re- Indian High Commissioner lief fund. to South Africa, Virendra "We are appealing to Gupta, has lauded the South Africans to open their hearts and wallets, efforts of local organizations as they have done in the in raising relief funds for past with relief efforts the victims for earthquake and tsunami victims in India," said Atmadaan spokesman out being able to account for Ishwarlal Govan. them. But the magnitude of the Indian High Commissioner to loss is not in numbers. It is in the South Africa, Virendra Gupta, has trail of tragedy which has been left lauded the efforts of local organiza- behind, with huge devastation tions in raising relief funds for the which will take several months if victims of the floods that devastat- not years for reconstruction," ing killed thousands of people.

Gupta said. -PTI

Taliban close Qatar office to protest flag fracas ISLAMABAD: A diplomat and Taliban official say the Afghan Taliban are closing their Qatar office at least temporarily to protest demands they remove a sign that identified the movement as the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

The office was opened less than a month ago to facilitate peace talks, and has also come under pressure for using the same white flag flown during the

Taliban's five-year rule of Afghanistan that ended with the US-led invasion in 2001.

Both officials, familiar with the peace talks in the Gulf State of Qatar, said the office has been temporarily abandoned. They requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has protested the name and flag.-AP

July 12, 2013

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Leaked report rips into Pak military and ISI for Osama stay ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's powerful military and its intelligence establishment have been hauled up by a panel that probed the presence of Osama bin Laden in the country saying the former al-Qaeda chief was able to stay on its soil since mid-2002 due to "collective failure, culpable negligence and gross incompetence".

According to the Abbottabad Commission's investigations, Pakistan's intelligence establishment had "closed the book" on bin Laden by 2005, and was no longer actively pursuing intelligence that could lead to his capture.

Moreover, it found that there had been a complete collapse of governance and law enforcement - a situation it termed "Government Implosion Syndrome", both in the lack of intelligence on bin Laden's nine-year stay in Pakistan, and in the response to the US raid that killed him.

The 337-page classified document finds that "culpable negligence and incompetence at almost all levels of government can more or less be conclusively established".

"Abbotabad Commission" report has been authored by former Supreme Court judge Javed Iqbal who was appointed by the government as chief of a five member team to trace down how bin Laden lived and was killed without official knowledge.

Dawn said that the report was particularly critical of premier spy agency ISI for being so causal in first tracking bin Laden and then investigating the US attack which killed him on May 2.

Osama moved to Pak in mid-2002, says report ISLAMABAD: Osama bin Laden's family had entered into Pakistan way back in October/November 2001, just around 9/11 while the then al-Qaeda chief joined them in Peshawar in mid-2002, a media report said quoting the findings of the Abbottabad Commission Report here.

The Report, which is yet to be made public, contains a treasure trove of information on the hunt for the world's most wanted man Osama Bin Laden, the Dawn daily reported.

Its findings reveal that the arrest of Khalid Bin Attash (an al-Qaeda member who was involved in the pre-9/11 attacks such as on USS Cole and the embassies in Africa) in '2002' from Karachi led to the first major breakthrough, it reported. Attash is said to be the one who identified Abu Ahmed Ali Kuwaiti, the Kuwaiti born Pakistani who was OBL's right hand man and courier and the man who led the Americans to bin Laden.

During the search for this man, CIA provided four phone numbers between "2009 to Nov 2010" to Pakistan but without any details as to who they were searching for, a source privy to the report's details was quoted as saying.

The daily reported that that these numbers "most of the time remained off" but while the ISI kept the CIA in the loop it did so "without knowing the context and to whom these numbers belonged".

Talking about Kuwaiti, the report said the commission has discovered, "he was with OBL's family in Karachi when it moved to the port city in Oct/Nov 2001".

"In 2002, when the family (including OBL's wives) moved to Peshawar, Kuwaiti was with them and this is where OBL joined them in mid-2002".

From here they moved to Swat where Osama was visited by Khalid Sheikh Mohammad. Kuwaiti and his brother Ibrar (who had joined the fugitives in Swat) were with OBL and they all stayed in Haripur till 2005.

And it is here that the move to Abbottabad was planned and executed by Kuwaiti.

Osama's right-hand man is the one who purchased a plot in Abbottabad by using a fake identity card and also supervised the construction of the house, which the report said was custom built.-PTI

Osama bin Laden

Bin Laden compound in Abbotabad, over 100 kilometers from capital Islamabad, was located close to Pakistan Military Academy (PMA), the nursery of all officers of military, where he lived for about five years since 2005.

Dawn says that the report was also critical of PMA com-

mandant, an army major general, for obstructing the working civilian law enforcement agencies in its area.

The Express Tribune said that civil and military leadership should "apologies" for their failure, but did not fix the responsibility on a single or group of persons.

"It is unnecessary to specify the names as its obvious who they are," the paper quoted the report. "It may be politically unrealistic to suggest punishments for them.

But as honorable men, they ought to do the Honorable thing, including submitting a formal apology to the nation for their dereliction".

It says that those individuals who wielded authority and influence in the decision making in the country bear responsibility for creating circumstances which resulted in the May 2 incident. The commission gives interesting details based on investigation of his wives.

It shows that at few times the chief fugitive had close brush with Pakistan law enforcing agencies, including once in Swat where his car was stopped by police for overspeeding but the driver quickly settled the issue.-PTI

Tech News PM to meet industry leaders to discuss growth NEW DELHI: With economic growth remaining sluggish and rupee depreciating, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will have an interaction with the captains of industry later this month to discuss ways to boost industrial output and contain current account deficit (CAD).

Singh will meet the leaders of the industry on July 29 to review the state of economy and work out steps to push growth.

The discussions will cover measures to correct CAD and revive industrial growth, a PMO statement said.

The issue of depreciation of the rupee and its impact on trade and industry will also be discussed.

Cont’d on page 13

UAE free zone operator plans India offices DUBAI: A Gulf-based company operating a free economic zone in United Arab Emirates' port city of Ajman is planning to expand its global reach by opening offices in key markets like India.

The Ajman Free Zone Authority (AFZA) said that opening these offices in the Indian subcontinent, Africa and the UK were in line with its plans to attract global investors to its premises, which now houses over 7,000 companies.

"India has been a key market for us for many years we believe that there is untapped potential to tap a growing class of young Indian entrepreneurs who would like to get a vantage point for expanding into the Middle East markets," said General Manager of AFZA, Mahmood Al Hashemi.-PTI

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Production in progress of Mercedes-Benz E Class Saloon in Pune

Home Ministry red flags hiking FDI cap in defense, space, I&B NEW DELHI: The Home Ministry has raised serious concern over hiking FDI cap in defense, space, telecom and a few other areas, contending that flow of funds from countries like China in these sectors may compromise country's security.

This was conveyed by the Home Ministry to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and it is all set to dash off another letter conveying its strong opposition to any such move which may jeopardize country's security.

The Home Ministry said FDI beyond certain limit from countries like China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia in defense, space, telecom, information

and broadcasting, civil aviation may allow people from these countries to dictate terms which could be contrary to India's interests.

"It is a serious issue. We have

MELBOURNE: Australia's national telecom company Telstra will outsource 170 jobs from one of its fastest-growing business units to India from October.

The move comes weeks after its announcement internally in May

that it would be reorganizing its operational activities into five groups, three of which - Networks, IT Solutions and Customer Service Delivery would be new.

The head of Telstra's Network Applications and Services division, which generated 636 million dollars in revenues, David Burns said the company's current busi-

FDI cap in these key sectors," a Home Ministry official said.

FDI in these sectors needs mandatory security clearance from the Home Ministry.

The recommendation of a com-

The recommendation of a committee to raise FDI limit to 49 per cent in almost all sectors through automatic route was also opposed by the Home Ministry saying safeguards must be put while allowing hike in FDI in key sectors. already conveyed our view to DIPP and will soon write another letter explaining the reasons behind our opposition in hiking the

Australia's Telstra to outsource 170 jobs to India

Honda aims to sell 36K Dream Neo bikes in Rajasthan JAIPUR: Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India (HMSI) aims to sell 36,000 units of its newly launched 100cc bike Dream Neo in Rajasthan this fiscal.

In first quarter of this financial year, the industrial growth of two wheeler (bike) was 6 per cent in Rajasthan, and Honda had recorded a growth of 36 per cent by selling 30,000 units of other bike models in urban and semi-urban cities of the state in the stipulated quarter, Vikram Singh, its Zonal Head-Rajasthan told reporters here.-PTI

July 12, 2013

ness model was inadequate and it needed to be able to shift some jobs to India, according to media reports here.

The Indian jobs would be back office functions.

Burns said the latest move would see up to 170 existing back-office roles shifted to a third-party Indian outsourcer.

He added that negotiations had not been completed, but a preferred tenderer had been selected.

The company also said that about half of its 30,000 strong domestic workforce would be affected by the changes.

But the number of job cuts had not been known until now. The staff were told of the potential job cuts earlier.

In February, Telstra's Sensis directories business had announced axing over 648 jobs by stating that its customers would get better service from Filipino or Indian call centre workers.-PTI

mittee to raise FDI limit to 49 per cent in almost all sectors through automatic route was also opposed by the Home Ministry saying safe-

guards must be put while allowing hike in FDI in key sectors.

The committee, headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram, had recommended that FDI limit be raised to 49 per cent in almost all sectors through automatic route.

The committee suggested that FDI in defense be raised to 49 per cent under the government approval route, from the current 26 per cent.

Last week, the DIPP held first round of consultations on the proposal to raise FDI ceilings in different segments.

All the concerned departments and ministries are expected to send their views on hiking the FDI ceiling to the DIPP. -PTI

India leads in education, says Cornell President NEW YORK: A top American academician has described the drop in number of Indian students

riculture, technology from places that we did not think of in the past.

"India has some of the finest and world class institutions such as IITs and Indian Institute of Science and there is no dearth of worldclass quality education there," President of Cornell University, David J Skorton, told PTI here on the sidelines of a meeting in Cornell Club in Manhattan.

Skorton said India is leading the world in cutting edge outsourcing technology and technological revolution of sorts is happening there.

President of Cornell University, David J Skorton "Look at some of joining US universities as brain the inventions in medicine and circulation rather than as reverse agriculture. Infosys has done brain drain. whole new concept of outsourcing "I call it as a brain circulation to make India feel proud. It had and in the past it was going in one mastered the technology," he said. direction. We see discoveries are coming in the field of medicine, agCont’d on page 14

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India ranks 66th in Global Innovation Index India Post News Service

NEW DELHI: India ranked 66th in the Global Innovation Index 2013, published by Cornell University, INSEAD, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) as a knowledge partner. The study ranked 142 economies across the world on their innovation capacity and efficiency.

This year's report casts additional light on the local dynamics of innovation, an area which has remained under-measured globally.

It shows the emergence of original innovation eco-systems, and signals a needed shift from a usual tendency to try and duplicate previously successful initiatives.

"The local dynamics of innovation varies considerably across the globe and influences innovation measurement at the unit level.

Learning from the local innovation systems adds newer dimensions

to existing measurement approaches and challenges. The focus of this year's GII makes it a valuable guide for the policy makers to develop specific strategies relevant to their local Innovation eco-system," said CII Director General Chandraji Banerjee, Director General, CII. India ranked 1 in the Central and South Asia region followed by Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka, and 11th overall in Innovation efficiency ratio. (Innovation efficiency reflects the Innovation out-

Central and Southern Asia 1 2 3

66 84 98

India Kazakhstan Sri Lanka

put per unit of Innovation input in the economy) The strength áreas for India

However, fostering local innovation requires strategies that should be deeply rooted in local comparative advantages, history and culture.

They should be combined with a global approach have been its Gross Capital formation (% of GDP) (Rank:9), Investment in new business (Rank: 20), Industrial Cluster Development (Rank: 29), Growth rate % of PPP GDP/Worker (Rank:14), Computer & Info. Services exports (Rank: 1), Creative goods exports (%) (Rank: 11).

India ranked poor in the áreas such as political stability (Rank: 123), Ease of starting business

Mauritius ready to walk extra mile to sort out tax issues PORT LOUIS: Committing to walk extra mile to sort out taxation issues, Mauritius has said it was ready with the Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA) and was awaiting response from India.

has been finalized to this effect.

TIEA is ready to be signed," Boolell told PTI in an interview.

He said Mauritius is going to "rest fears from all quarters" that black money is routed through the

Arvin Boolell

On black money routed into India, Mauritius Minister of Foreign Affairs (Regional Integration and International Trade) Arvin Boolell said the island nation would plug all loopholes and put in place all necessary checks and balances.

"When it comes to disclosure of information, we have made it almost mandatory. Our finance minister is looking forward to travel to India to strengthen exchange of information to sign TIEA. Text

nation.

"Whatever loopholes are to be plugged ... We are willing to plug them. We are (a) jurisdiction which has put in place all necessary precautions, all necessary checks and balances...," he said.

On amending the double taxation avoidance agreement between the two nations, Boolell said Mauritius is waiting for India to finalize the date for the next meeting of the Joint Working Group.

"We are willing partners and we

are willing to walk the extra mile... that extra mile is in respect of alleged contentious issues... We are going to address them.

"We all want certainty and this is the purpose of this meeting of the joint working group," he said.

The two countries had signed the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) in 1982 when Indira Gandhi was India's Prime Minister, and the treaty was a part of various steps initiated by the two countries for strengthening the flow of investments to and from Mauritius.

As far as the progress in the long-pending revision of the DTAA is concerned, Boolell said, Mauritius has submitted the proposal with regard to limitation of benefit (LOB) to the Indian authorities.

While the tax treaty with Mauritius has helped in driving a significant flow of foreign investments coming to India through Mauritius over the years, there have also been concerns in the recent years about suspected misuse of this pact for round-tripping of funds and laundering of illicit money by Indian entities through this Indian Ocean island nation.

Consequently, India sought to revise the treaty a few years ago, but the matter has been dragging on for one or other reason, although a joint working group has been working on revision of the pact for quite some time.-PTI

(Rank: 128), School life expectancy (Rank: 109), Pupil-teacher ratio (Rank: 108), Knowledge absorption (Ran: 122) and others.

Despite the economic crisis, innovation is alive and well. Research and development spending levels are surpassing 2008 levels in most countries and successful local hubs are thriving. A group of dynamic middle and low-income countries, including China, Costa Rica, India, and Senegal - are outpacing their peers, but haven't broken into the top of the GII 2013 leader board.

Through several of its analyti-

cal chapters, the 2013 edition of GII explores how innovation has benefited from 'local specifics' in different parts of the world. One key message is that too many innovation strategies have been focused on trying to replicate previous successes elsewhere, like Silicon Valley in California.

However, fostering local innovation requires strategies that should be deeply rooted in local comparative advantages, history and culture. They should be combined with a global approach to reach out to foreign markets, and attract overseas talent.

Top Ten 2013 ranking 1 2 3 4 5

Switzerland (Number 1 in 2012) Sweden (2) United Kingdom (5) Netherlands (6) United States of America (10)

6 Finland (4) 7 Hong Kong (China) (8) 8 Singapore (3) 9 Denmark (7) 10 Ireland (9)

PM to meet industry leaders to discuss growth Cont’d from page 12

The meeting assumes significance as the government has been concerned over the sluggish growth, high CAD and depreciating rupee.

CAD last fiscal was 4.8 per cent and government intends to bring it down to 4.2 per cent this financial year.

The slide in the value of rupee is another concern in the government. Singh will also discuss with the captains of the industry ways

to accelerate skill development, besides development of DelhiMumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC), Chennai-Bangalore Industrial Corridor (CBIC) and Amritsar-Delhi-Kolkata Industrial Corridor (ADKIC).

Singh will meet the leaders of the industry a month after setting an investment target of Rs 1.15 lakh crore in PPP (public private partnership) projects across infrastructure sectors in rail, port and power in the next six months to pep up the investor. -PTI

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ISRO gears up for Mars mission in Oct-Nov BANGALORE: Preparations are afoot for the upcoming "bigbang" Mars Orbiter Mission in October-November, an ambitious venture that would shed light on the possible existence of life on the planet besides boosting space agency ISRO's brand equity.

The satellite, which would be launched on board Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-XL), will

Hydrogen, Methane Sensor for MARS (MSM) would look to detect presence of Methane while Martian Exospheric Composition Explorer (MENCA) would study the neutral composition of the Martian upper atmosphere.

MARS Color Camera (MCC) would undertake optical imaging and TIR imaging spectrometer (TIS) is targeted to map surface

ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan

carry compact science experiments, totaling a mass of 15 kg, according to ISRO officials. There will be five instruments to study Martian surface, atmosphere and mineralogy.

Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) is aimed at studying the escape processes of Mars upper atmosphere through Deuterium/

composition and mineralogy.

"Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) spacecraft integration is under progress", an ISRO official told PTI here. "The spacecraft has to undergo qualification tests for proving space worthiness once the integration is completed".

The mission would help ISRO understand the technological chal-

lenges of such an exploration, the possible existence of life and future colonization of Mars, which is the nearest planet which has most resemblance to earth. This would be India's first mission to a distant planet.

ISRO will launch the mission in October-November. "If launched within the launch window (October 21-November 19, 2013), the spacecraft will travel for least distance to reach Mars", the official said.

This is the immediate next available opportunity for such a mission as Earth and Mars would be coming closer then.

The PSLV-XL (PSLV-C25) will inject the spacecraft from the spaceport of Sriharikota in the 250 X 23000 km orbit.

After leaving earth orbit in November, MOM spacecraft will cruise in deep space for 10 months using its own propulsion system and will reach Mars (Martian transfer trajectory) in September 2014.

The 1350 kg spacecraft subsequently is planned to enter into a 372 km by 80,000 km elliptical orbit around Mars.

"The primary objective of this challenging mission is to establish the Indian technological capabilities to reach the orbit of Mars", says ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan, also Secretary in the Department of Space. "A number of technological challenges need to be negotiated for a successful Mars mission". -PTI

Online PF settlement to be a reality by Aug end NEW DELHI: Retirement fund body EPFO will be able to operationally the facility of online settlement of provident fund (PF) transfer claims by August end, a move which would benefit over 13 lakh such applicants every year.

"Employees' Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) will make functional the online settlement of transfer claims on changing jobs

by August end," a source said.

EPFO is expecting 1.2 crore claims in 2013-14 including around 13 lakh PF transfer claims. The body has planned to settle online around 10 lakh transfer claims of tech-savvy applicants from industries like Information technology (IT) and other sectors this fiscal.

The reason for their optimism is that the employers in sectors like IT, generally have a registered digi-

tal signature, which is prerequisite for online claim settlement, the source said.

Taking the first step towards launch of online PF transfer claim

EPFO has set up a central clearance house to enable subscribers to apply online for PF withdrawal and transfer claim settlements. facilities, EPFO has unveiled the revised transfer claim form for the purpose.

The revised 'Transfer Claim Form' can be presented after verification, either through the present

employer or the previous employer. Earlier, the form could be submitted after verification only through the present employer.

EPFO has set up a central clearance house to enable subscribers to apply online for PF withdrawal and transfer claim settlements.

The body also has plans to launch a facility for online settlement of withdrawal of PF subsequently. It has already digitalized the records of 122 offices and processed all its present claims on computer.

At present, the body has geared up for speedy settlement of all types of claims. As such 40 of its offices are doing it in less than 5 days and 30-40 offices in 10 days.

EPFO has already computerized the processing of claims.-PTI

10 groups to enhance trade between India, Pakistan NEW DELHI: The India-Paki- June 29. stan Joint Business Forum (IPJBF) The other areas for increasing has constituted 10 task forces on cooperation include textiles, pharsectors, including agriculture, au- maceuticals, vocational training, tomobiles, engineering and IT, to banking infrastructure and teleincrease bilateral trade and invest- communication, he added. ment.

Besides Sahney, other members "The forum, which has 15 promi- from the Indian side include Sunil nent businessmen from each coun- Kant Munjal, Chairman of Hero try, has been tasked with identifying the problems faced in cross-bor- "The forum, which has 15 der trade and to come prominent businessmen up with recommendations," Vikramjit Sahney, from each country, has President, SAARC been tasked with identifying Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said in a the problems faced in statement. cross-border trade The task forces would deliberate on each sector and suggest ways to Corporate Services, Rakesh Bharti increase trade and investment, he Mittal, Managing Director of said.

Bharti Enterprises, and Deepak He said the forum has agreed Amitabh, Chairman of PTC India. to seek further softening of the Taking forward the process of visa regime. normalization of trade, Pakistan The decision to form these has shifted from a positive listgroups was taken at the first meet- based trade regime to a limited ing of the IPJBF in Islamabad on negative list. -PTI

India leads in education, says Cornell President Cont’d from page 12

graduates migrated to the US then and now the number has fallen to less than five per cent.

The number of Indian students studying in the US has dropped for the second consecutive year, according to the annual Open Doors Report released by the Institute of International Education in the US. In 2011-12, there were 1, 00,270

Cornell University is the most educationally diverse member of the Ivy League.

On the Ithaca campus in New York alone nearly 20,000 students representing every state of the US and 120 countries choose from among 4,000 courses in 11 undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools.

Many undergraduates participate in a wide Many undergraduates parrange of interdiscipliticipate in a wide range of nary programs, play meaningful roles in interdisciplinary programs, original research, and play meaningful roles in study in Cornell programs in Washington, original research, and study New York City, and the in Cornell programs world over.

Skorton became Cornell University's 12th president Indians at American universities, on July 1, 2006. He holds faculty down from 1, 03,895 in the previappointments as professor in the ous year and 1, 04,897 the year Departments of Medicine and Pe- before that. diatrics at Weill Cornell Medical In 2009-10, China overtook InCollege in New York City and in dia for the top spot in terms of stuBiomedical Engineering at the Col- dents at US universities. Though lege of Engineering on Cornell's India is still number two, the number of Indian students is down by Ithaca campus.

There are more than 100,000 about four per cent. Issues such Indian students studying in vari- as visa restrictions, slowdown of ous universities across the US US economy and tough job marand according to one survey in the ket have been cited as reasons. 1970s about 80 per cent of the IIT PTI

July 12, 2013

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India Post 15

Desi News Three brilliant authors captivate Chicagoans SUNTHAR VISUVALINGAM & ASIAN MEDIA USA

CHICAGO: Hosted by the downtown Dance Center of Columbia College, Chicago, the 2013 Eye on India Festival (EIF) featured a symposium entitled Words on Water on Sunday, June 29.

Flown in from India were chronicler of Maoist insurrection, Sudeep Chakravarti, and banker turned best-selling novelist, Amish Tripathi. They were joined

by Chicago-based psychiatrist Bulbul Bahuguna. Each speaker was interviewed by a knowledgeable local host and the audience responded to all three authors with wide ranging questions.

They read out select passages from their books and spoke their minds candidly.

COMMUNITY ACROSS AMERICA

Chicago & Atlanta Spellbee winners announced Details on page 22

16 India Post

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July 12, 2013

FIA announces 21st Festival of India with new features

Details on page 19

Sikh couple forced out of theater for wearing kirpan India Post News Service Scene of crowds thronging last year’s parade

SAN FRANCISCO: A Sikh couple who were singled out for questioning and asked to leave an Emeryville AMC movie theater on June 22 for wearing Kirpans, religious articles of faith worn by initiated Sikhs, have retained legal counsel. A demand has been made to the theater company to preserve and turn over the surveillance video from the incident, apologize to the couple and change its discriminatory policies targeting Sikhs.

Manjot Singh approached United Sikhs for legal help and the couple is being represented by Manmeet Singh, Staff Attorney of United Sikhs and Attorney Harmeet Kaur Dhillon of San Francisco-based Dhillon & Smith LLP. Details on page 18

Grand celebration of fifth Shreeji Patosav RAMESH SOPARAWALA India Post News Service

CHICAGO: Rebecca Michelle, a resident of Addison on Fullerton Ave and a friend from out of the State, wondered at the festive look that a Hindu temple bore and was all praise when informed about the Patosav ceremony going on at Shreeji Dwar for the past three days.

Details on page 21

India Post News Service

FREMONT: Federation of Indo Americans - North California has announced celebration of 21st Festival of India and Parade on August 17 and 18 at 39439 Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont, CA. The celebrations will start with a flag hoisting ceremony on August 15.

For the past 20 years, the FIA organized Festival of India has come to symbolize the unity, integrity, culture and the best of things that are hallmark of the Indian community in Bay Area. Celebrated over two days, this festi-

val coincides with Indian Independence Day celebration and has many popular and well sought-after segments such as health fair, grand parade, Bollywood celebrity as Grand Marshal, kids talent programs, cultural programs repre-

senting cross section of India and a Mela that features best of offers for Indian community.

Apart from above segments, this year three special segments are being introduced. The FIA would be celebrating Centenary of

This year three special segments are being introduced. The FIA would be celebrating Centenary of Gadar movement, 150th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda and 100 years of Bollywood cinema

Gadar movement, 150th anniversary of Swami Vivekananda and 100 years of Bollywood cinema.

Gadar movement was started in 1913 by a few young individuals in California brimming with passion for Indian freedom. It soon caught on and resulted in revolutionary efforts. Some of the well-known revolutionaries such as Subhash Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh were supporting the movement.

This occasion will be celebrated with many activities and events around Gadar. Some of the activities planned are kids' contests, exhibitions and showcase for Gadar movement.

Cont’d on page 20

Gadar Movement centenary celebration on July 13 quarters named Yugantar Ashram was established in San Francisco.

Its weekly paper, named Gadar in Urdu and Gurmukhi languages, became a powerful medium of political education. Distributed free among thousands of Indians settled in foreign lands it aroused a new spirit of patriotism and revolutionary change.

The Gadar Memorial Foundation of America, Sacramento is organizing a commemorative Conference at the same historic Gadar Memorial, 5, Wood Street, San Francisco on July 13.

India Post News Service

SAN FRANCISCO: A hundred years ago a historic struggle for the freedom of India, the Gadar Movement, was launched by Indians living in North America. It was born out of a rare combination of Indian students, Indian revolutionaries in exile and the Indian immigrant workers on the Pacific Coast of USA and Canada.

Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna, Lala Har Dayal, a prominent revolutionary intellectual, Pandit Kanshi Ram, Bhai Bhagwan Singh and Moulvi Mohammed Barkatullah were among its prominent leaders. The head-

Gadar Hall, 5 Wood Street, San Francisco

Cont’d on page 20

Community Across America

July 12, 2013

India Post 17

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Pathak re-appointed to Human Relations Commission sioner, Council on Equal Employment Opportunities and City of Sunnyvale as Board of Library Trustees, Library Commission and also Santa Clara County's Commissioner, Human Relation Commission. He is an active member of the California Library Association.

His community activities in-

Narendra Pathak being sworn in India Post News Service

SANTA CLARA, CA: Narendra Pathak of Sunnyvale has been reappointed to the Council on Human Relations Commission by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Board of Supervisors confirmed the appointment on June 4. Narendra Pathak was sworn into office on June 27 for a term that expires June 30, 2017.

A native of Karamsad, Gujarat, Pathak holds a B.A. in Economics and degrees in Labor Laws and Criminal Laws. He graduated from Santa Clara County Gov 101 Academy in May 2012.

Narendra Pathak will advise on exiting and potential programs and polices and will advise outside groups about community development, human rights and other

issues. The 15 Commissioner Human Relations Commission acts as an advisory body to the County Board of Supervisors on justice, social issues, peace building, immigration issues, human rights, criminal justice system, jail observer program, death penalty system, immigrant relations, integration services, hate crime, youth task force, civil rights issues and on ways to counter discrimination by age, disability, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, sex, sexual harassment. It also works on existing and potential state, federal programs, policies, community development programs, international human rights and coordinating with the United States Human Relations Commission.

Pathak has been active in the Santa Clara County's Commis-

clude as membership of Board of Trustees, Devotional Association of Sitaram, Co-Coordinator of California Gujarat Sister State Association, India Heritage Research Foundation, Bay Area Gujarati Samaj, India Cultural Association of Bay Area and Brahmin Samaj of USA. Pathak has also served as

Treasurer, Charitable Care Foundation.

Pathak has also served in the city of Sunnyvale as Commissioner, Housing and Human Services Commission.

Narendra Pathak is married to Gita Pathak and they have a son Sagar and daughter Shruti.

18 India Post

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Walk & Hike galvanizes Rajasthani community RITU MAHESHWARI India Post News Service

FREMONT, CA: Association of Rajasthanis in America (ARA), SFO Bay Area CA, organized a walk & hike event at Coyote Hills Park in Fremont California.

Mayor of Milpitas Jose Esteves joined the event on June 1. It was attended by over 100 people.

Participants enjoyed the event with five miles walk around the Coyote Hills Park.

This gave an opportunity for community members to come together and discuss cultural activities.

SFOARA espouses the cause of better-

ment of village life in Rajasthan and its key goals are to help with the water shortage in Rajasthan, health fairs to promote the health and welfare of Rajasthanis and new annual events to strengthen

the union of the community of Rajasthanis in SFO Bay Area of California. The organization organizes Holi, Walk & Hike event, annual picnic, art & craft classes and Diwali as their major events.

Sikh couple forced out of theater for wearing kirpan India Post News Service

the target of ignorance and discrimination in the United States due to their unique appearance.

But just like all other American citizens, Manjot Singh has the right to be treated with dignity and respect in all public accommodations," said Manmeet Singh.

"What happened to this couple at

SAN FRANCISCO: A Sikh couple who were singled out for questioning and asked to leave an Emeryville AMC movie theater on June 22 for wearing Kirpans, religious articles of faith worn by initiated Sikhs, have retained legal counsel. A demand has been made to the theater company to preserve A demand has been made and turn over the sur- to the theater company to veillance video from the preserve and turn over the incident, apologize to the couple and change surveillance video from its discriminatory poli- the incident and apologize cies targeting Sikhs. to the couple Manjot Singh approached United Sikhs for legal help and the couple is be- the AMC Theater in Emeryville ing represented by Manmeet Singh, singling them out because of Staff Attorney of United Sikhs and Manjot's appearance - was inexAttorney Harmeet Kaur Dhillon of cusable, and we want to make sure San Francisco-based Dhillon & that this never happens again to another Sikh patron of the AMC Smith LLP. Cont’d on page 20 "Sikhs are unfortunately often chain."

Community Across America

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India Post 19

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Three brilliant authors captivate Chicagoans SUNTHAR VISUVALINGAM & ASIAN MEDIA USA

CHICAGO: Hosted by the downtown Dance Center of Columbia College, Chicago, the 2013 Eye on India Festival (EIF) featured a symposium entitled Words on Water on Sunday, June 29.

Flown in from India were chronicler of Maoist insurrection, Sudeep Chakravarti, and banker turned best-selling novelist, Amish Tripathi. They were joined

by Chicago-based psychiatrist Bulbul Bahuguna. Each speaker was interviewed by a knowledge-

through Nargis' enigmatic mother who remains silent and unsupportive even after the father's death and despite the daughter's strenuous attempts to win mom's approval and understanding.

Though such victims are predisposed to repeating the cycle by becoming perpetrators themselves, Nargis makes some good choices. The key issue to address is guilt: the body gets naturally aroused through the abuse and the child feels responsible and unable to speak to others.

The psychiatrist advised talk-

Bulbul Bahuguna and Valerie Lewis

able local host and the audience responded to all three authors with wide ranging questions. They read out select passages from their books and spoke their minds candidly.

Bulbul Bahuguna Interviewed by Valerie Lewis, Bahuguna described how exposure to the secrets of her trauma patients have been fictionalized into her first novel The Ghosts That Come Between Us, which is about illness, parental abuse in early childhood, love, and coping with the past.

The protagonist Nargis is brutally honest in her inner dialogue that we eavesdrop upon through her psychiatrist-author, which is largely why her story is told in the first person. Bahuguna's own early experiences in India have been projected into the depravity of the recently independent third-world nation.

Characterizing Nargis' father as a larger than life showman with an outsized ego, she clarified his hold over victims by pointing out that a serial abuser can be outwardly very engaging and even a community leader viewed as a model family man, etc. Mechanisms of denial were explored also

ing to some elder in the family or community. Equating psychiatry to "narrative therapy," Bahuguna wished for the book to be read in high schools by 14-15 year olds, at the moment of budding sexuality and for parents to read it first.

Sudeep Chakravarti Sudeep Chakravarti was interviewed by Torey Malatia CEO and President of Board of Directors of Chicago Public Media on his best-selling non-fiction narratives, especially Red Sun: Travels in Naxalite Country. This travelogue in diary format restores face and place to individual stories in affected villages. Having published extensively with leading business journals, Chakravarti spoke with authority from perspectives of both capitalist exploiters and victims of development.

He described himself as a "practicing schizophrenic" who is "also an Indian, seeing his country at war with itself." In telling this story of how India needs to confront itself, he assimilated his role to the (classical) stage-manager (sutradhara) trying to break through the denial and consumerist "mall-stupor" plaguing the growing middleclass. He dumped

the usual clichĂŠs and was especially harsh on policy makers in the capital cut off from the living reality of the people they govern.

Except for a few ideologues at the top, few rebels are committed to Maoism, for the real problem is poor governance, failure of justice system, and lack of dignity for the poor. The Indian Army has categorically declined to participate in warfare against the Naxalites, whose agenda is not separatism but legitimate livelihood.

Commanding few parliamentary seats, they remain outside the Center's radar. He denounced the forces of "globalization" working through a corrupt comprador class (e.g. mining).

Democracy makes little sense without the informed consent of the governed, where the state becomes an extension of corporate will and plays into the hands of Maoists.

Chakravarti read out a passage expressing the dilemma of an aboriginal whose village was translocated into "concentration camps." The cooption of the acquiescent into vigilante squads (Salwa Judum) to be turned against their tribal fellows amounts to a cynical exercise in genocide. He concluded that we need an "Indian Spring."

Amish Tripathi "People's author," Amish Tripathi is an overnight publishing phenomenon. Released in March 2010, Amish's Shiva Trilogy, of which Immortals of Meluha and Secret of the Nagas have been published, has over 350,000 copies in print. Tripathi was gently prodded into reveal-

Sudeep Chakravarti and Torey Malatia

who commended the sound historical detail in depicting the backdrop of Indus Valley Civilization.

Though his grandfather and religious mentor was a pandit at Banaras Hindu University, Tripathi went through an atheist

Tripathi responded to Lariviere's praise of his "contemporary Siva-Purana and brilliant continuation of local temple mythology (sthala-purana)," stating "such innovation is intrinsic to Hindu tradition" as exemplified by the dominating role of Sita in the Adbhuta Ramayana and the [tribal] Gond-version where Laksmana, kidnapped for love, is rescued by the (otherwise submissive) heroine (of Tulsidas). phase before recovering his ancestral faith. He invoked the philosophical doubt of the Rigvedic "Hymn of Creation" that even questions the omniscience of the ultimate creator. "We are still living this Nasadiya Sukta though

Amish Tripathi and Richard Lariviere

ing himself by President and CEO of Chicago's Field Museum, Richard Lariviere, Sanskritist familiar with Indian classical traditions,

Lariviere's praise of his "contemporary Siva-Purana and brilliant continuation of local temple mythology (sthala-purana)," stating "such innovation is intrinsic to Hindu tradition" as exemplified by the dominating role of Sita in the

we don't know it. Skepticism remains at the heart of the Indian way of life," Tripathi declared Tripathi responded to

Adbhuta Ramayana and the [tribal] Gond-version where Laksmana, kidnapped for love, is rescued by the (otherwise submissive) heroine (of Tulsidas). "This innovative tradition has been lost over the last 2-3 centuries. Religious scriptures can be reinterpreted," he declared quoting Krishna "having heard me, do as you deem fit" (Bhagavad Gita).

Tripathi also recounted his unprecedented self-publishing and marketing, humbly attributing many of his brainwaves to others. He also minimized concerns about his movie deal with Karan Johar's Dharma Production, for he has heard little criticism of the liberties taken from "reactionary" forces. The ultimate "outsider" figure of Shiva, who appeals especially to rebellious youth like himself, is the ideal protagonist for deconstructing the caste-system, "a corruption of the Vedic way of life."

Community Across America

20 India Post

July 12, 2013

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Pappas redesigns Property Tax Bill for easy reading SURESH SHAH

CHICAGO: Owners of homes and other real property will receive their property tax bills with bigger print hereafter. They have been redesigned in such a way that they are easier to read on a bigger page giving owners more key information, according to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas .

Pappas' office mailed bills in the first week of July for the 2nd Installment of tax year 2012 on more than 1.7 million parcels of property across Cook County.

The due date is August 1.

Pappas' office increased the physical size of the bill from 8 ½ by 11 inches to 8 ½ by 14 inches to make it easier to review all the information on the bill. The larger type is used to better show the "Taxing District Breakdown" listing, the governmental bodies which tax a home,

Maria Pappas

business or land and their share of the bill.

The new bill also has a revised

Tax Calculator that shows how the bill was calculated and exemptions applied, and provides an "Important Messages" box giving information specific to that Property Index Number, such as: Tax payments to be made by mortgage company escrows; prior-year tax delinquencies; current-year refunds due; last payment received, tax abatements and tax increment financing districts.

"Making the numbers more legible on a larger page gives taxpayers a clearer and deeper look at what goes into their bill," Pappas said. Payments can be made from savings and banking accounts at cookcountytreasurer.com at more than 400 Chase Bank locations across Chicagoland and at more than 200 participating community banks.

Sikh couple forced out of theater for wearing kirpan Cont’d from page 18

On behalf of their clients, the attorneys have disputed claims made by the theater chain in recent news stories carried by Huffington Post, Daily Mail and local ABC News.

"AMC has made a statement claiming that Singh was asked to leave after brandishing his kirpan in the lobby, which is absurd," Dhillon said. "Manjot Singh and a vast majority of Sikhs wear their kirpan underneath their clothes, and the staff never saw Singh's kirpan. He was singled out by the staff merely because of his appearance as a turban-wearing, bearded Sikh who apparently made the theater manager uncomfortable."

The attorneys said that theater management admitted to the couple that they do not screen most patrons or make any attempt

to systematically enforce their supposed policy.

Discriminatory application of a policy is illegal under state and

"We were publicly humiliated and made to look like terrorists while going about our business like other Americans and trying to enjoy an evening out. We just want to make sure this doesn't happen to other Sikhs." federal law.

Manjot Singh said that he is not pursuing his rights for any financial benefit and that he is

simply looking for an apology and a changed AMC policy regarding equal treatment of all patrons consistent with their civil rights.

"My wife and I were publicly shamed by a racist and discriminatory act," Singh said.

"We were publicly humiliated and made to look like terrorists while going about our business like other Americans and trying to enjoy an evening out. We just want to make sure this doesn't happen to other Sikhs."

The couple was forced to leave the theater, after over ten humiliating minutes of being made to stand in the lobby and after the manager went out of his way to enter the theater, find Ms. Kaur and bring her out, saying "your husband is waiting for you." At no time did Manjot Singh ever display his kirpan, sheathed or unsheathed.

NEWS on your desktop www.indiapost.com

FIA announces 21st Festival of India with new features Cont’d from page 16

Swami Vivekananda's 150th anniversary celebrations started at the First Unitarian Church of Oakland, where Swamiji gave his famous Vedanta lecture. There are many activities planned around his life and teachings.

Bollywood, the giant Indian movie juggernaut was started 100 years ago, with stalwarts such as Prithvi Raj Kapoor starting their cinema journey. Many activities involving exhibitions, floats and kids contests are planned to commemorate the anniversary.

As per tradition, a Bollywood heartthrob will be the Grand Mar-

shal, leading this year's parade.

Sniti Mishra, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa sensation will be the Chief Guest and would also entertain the guests.

More details can be obtained at www.fiaonline.org. You can buy your tickets early at sulekha.com and save.

Given above events, this year's Festival of India is turning out to be a pan South Asian event. FIA has invited everyone to come together and make this a grand success. There are several opportunities to get involved, like booths, events, floats, showcases, cultural programs, sponsorships and, not the least, raising community awareness and participation.

You may reach out to any of the following for more details: Chairman & Convener: Dr. Romesh Japra President & Event Coordinator: Rajesh Verma For Booths and Sponsorship: Vijay Thapar - (408)561-1745 Priya Nayar - (510)565-9993 Mohinder Khanna - (510)552-3302 Vikram Paul - (510)789-7520 Sonia Sidhu - (510)938-8668 For Cultural Program: Vijaya Aasuri - (510)421-3535 For Parade: Deepak Chhabra - (510)299-9771 For Kids Activities: Dharminder Diwan- (408)621-6704 For Media and Gadar centennial celebrations: Ritu Maheshwari - (510)304-5619 For Vivekananda's 150th anniversary celebrations: Chandru Bhambhra - (510) 299-0906 Spokesperson:Yogi Chugh

Gadar Movement centenary celebration on July 13 Cont’d from page 16

A number of distinguished scholars from India, USA, Canada and UK will participate.

Prominent among them are Dr Jaspal Singh, Vice Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala, Sita Ram Yechury, Member Parliament, Dr Harish K. Puri, retired Professor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Dr Mohinder Singh, Director Bhai Vir Singh Sadan New Delhi, Dr Jaswinder Singh and Dr Dhanwant Kaur of Punjabi University Patiala; the world-renowned Scientist Dr Gurdev Singh Khush, Professor Bruce La Brack of the

University of Pacific, Stockton, a distinguished historian of Astoria, Oregon, Ms. Johanna Ogden, Dr Gurmel Singh Sidhu, University of California, FIA Chairman Dr Romesh Japra, Dr Kulwant Singh from UK and many others.

A specially prepared book: Gadar Movement: Background, Ideology, Action and Legacies edited by J. S. Grewal, Harish K. Puri and Indu Banga, published by Punjabi University, Patiala will be released by the University's Vice Chancellor.

For more information you contact Charan Singh Judge, President, Gadar Memorial Foundation, Sacramento.

Community Across America

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India Post 21

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Grand celebration of fifth Shreeji Patosav

A section of the audience Chhapan Bhog to Lord Shreenathji at Haveli Patosav. Pics Asian Media USA

RAMESH SOPARAWALA India Post News Service

CHICAGO: Rebecca Michelle, a resident of Addison on Fullerton Ave and a friend from out of the State, wondered at the festive look that a Hindu temple bore and was all praise when informed about the Patosav ceremony going on at Shreeji Dwar for the past three days. The praise was because the disciplined way that the entire program attended by thousands of Vaishnav devotees was conducted by the organizers.

Without any untoward incident and huge festivities.

Ranade and Amit Pachegaonkar from Mumbai.

Chhapanbhog - the ultimate celebration and Darshan was organized on Saturday July 6 and Vrajkamal Darshan on July 7 to conclude the celebration. Spiritual discourses were given by Pujya 108 Shri Dwarkeshlalji (Vadodara). He guided the celebration, explained the significance and its spiritual meaning.

More than 4,000 devotees from Chicagoland and Midwest participated in the event. Many youth became volunteers and shouldered the responsibilities of event planning, parking, food,

Shobha Yatra in progress

Established by Vaishnav Samaj of Midwest (VSM) Shreejidwar Haveli five years ago, it has turned out to be one of the holiest places for Vaishnavs across the country.

They flocked in huge numbers to participate in the three-day Patosav ceremony held at the Haveli site in Addison last week.

They felt truly blessed by unique Darshans of Lord Shrinathji under Pushti Pranali every single day.

Celebrations started on Thursday July 4 with Shobha Yatra followed by Kunvaro Darshan during the morning hours. There was Vivahkhel Darshan in the evening followed by Garba. There was Sagai Khel Darshan next day on July 5 followed by live music concert in the evening by Shweta

Darshan management, etc. Lunch and dinners were organized by VSM every day. The cultural presentations by the youth bore their devotion, talent and excellent upbringing. Devotees had nothing but huge praise for the excellent management of every activity.

Shreejidwar was built with a capital outlay of more than $3 million in May 2008. In just five years, the facility has grown from strength to strength. There were less than one thousand regular devotees in 2008 which now stands at 4,000+. VSM had a bank loan of $1.1 million in 2008 which has been almost repaid in just five years. The current loan balance is only $100,000.

Cont’d on page 22

22 India Post

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Chicago & Atlanta Spellbee winners announced India Post News Service

The 2013 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee continued its 12 city tour this past weekend with the first two events in the Chicago and Seattle areas.

With a huge turnout this year as well, the Bee attracted some top talent as well as young and new spellers that competed for the coveted prizes and titles.

"It is very heartening to see that each year we get fresh faces

and new talent which is a continuing testimony to our community's strength in this craft," said Rahul Walia, Founder, South Asian Spelling Bee. In Chicago, Gokul Venkatachalam from Chesterfield,

ATLANTA WINNERS: (L to R) Second Runner Up Tapabrata Ghosh of Portland, OR alongside Regional Champ Neha Seshadri of Imlay City, MI; First Runner Up Siddhanth Chari of Sammamish, WA with Rahul Walia, Founder of the South Asian Spelling Bee

MO was the regional champ and Sharmita Dixit from Appleton, WI was the first runner up while Yasir Hasnain from Forsyth, IL was second runner up.

In Seattle, Neha Seshadri from Imlay City, MI was the regional champ and Siddhanth Chari from Sammamish, WA was first runner up while Tapabrata Ghosh from Portland, OR was second runner up.

Financial Planning Division, an office of MetLife in Seattle was also at hand to talk to families and help with their financial needs and goals.

"MetLife congratulates all of

CHICAGO WINNERS: (L to R) Second Runner Up Yasir Hasnain of Forsyth, IL alongside Regional Champ Gokul Venkatachalam of Chesterfield, MO; First Runner Up Sharmita Dixit of Appleton, WI with Rahul Walia, Founder of the South Asian Spelling Bee

Grand celebration of fifth Shreeji Patosav Cont’d from page 21

VSM's devotees have acquired more land for expansion of the facility in the past three years. All the festivals are celebrated keeping up with the rich and unique tradition of Pushti Marg. VSM is committed to meeting the needs and expectations of its members and followers of Pushti Marg which was established by great reformer Mahaprabhu Vallabhacharyaji.

The current leadership of VSM has plans to take Haveli to a different level. Additional 30,000 square feet of construction is planned to accommodate the growing congregation. VSM has already received approvals for meeting point for senior citizens. Very soon, Prasadam Kitchen will be inaugurated. It already provides education and inculcation of Hindu values to kids growing up in America. There is a plan to start

Yoga classes shortly. Shreeji Dwar is supported well by Addison City Congressman Roskam and other community leaders.

VSM management is led by Dr Umang Patel (President), Rajesh Shah (Chairman), Kamlesh Shah (Secretary) and Hansaben Patel

(Vice President). VSM welcomes all to visit Haveli and seek the devotional and spiritual blessings from Lord Krishna. Everyone is invited to next big events of Nand Mahotsav on Saturday, August 31 and Annakut on Saturday, November 18.

Youth blessed by 108 Shri Dwarkeshlalji of Vadodara

the families who took part in this year's event. We were so pleased to see how many families took part in the LA & Bay Area competition.

All the families should be so proud of the skills these children demonstrated," said Laurel Daring, assistant vice president, Diverse Markets, MetLife.

Along with MetLife, airline major Air-India and education company C2Education have also come on board as sponsors for this event.

The winners received cash prizes of $500, $300 and $200 respectively.

Air India Stopover Package at Delhi ABDUL SIDDIQUI

CHICAGO: To facilitate Air In- initially. dia passengers transiting through A link on Air India website T3 (Terminal 3), and in order to www.airindia.in takes the browser offer them a value addition, Air to a dedicated Air India Stopover India has announced a new pack- page. The booking engine allows age - Air India Stopover Package - the passenger to complete the resaccording to the airline sources in ervation process in six easy steps.

Chicago.

It will provide information about A good number of passengers the hotels, including the availabilconnect Air India's domestic/inter- ity of rooms, applicable room rates national network on inbound/out- and reservation requests. bound flights. In some cases this connectivity may not be seamless, A link on Air India website requiring either over- www.airindia.in takes the night stay, or long hours browser to a dedicated Air at the Airport, or a passenger may like to avail India Stopover page. The of a stopover facility at booking engine allows the Delhi before proceeding passenger to complete the onwards to Indian towns, or countries like reservation process in Myanmar, Singapore, six easy steps Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Korea, JaThe hotel confirmation pan or Australia. voucher will be generated by the Air India seeks to facilitate AI Stopovers website indicating their journey with stopover pack- name of the hotel, contact person ages which are convenient to book and important telephone numbers. but the Stopover will only be Cont’d on page 23 available for transit over Delhi hub

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Huge turnout at Betalish Samaj picnic Asian Media USA

CHICAGO: Betalish Gam KPS Chicago celebrated its first picnic on Sunday, July 7 at Busse Wood in Elk Grove Village with over 1600 members and guests turning up to be part of this grand Mela.

The event that started around 11 am went full-fledged with lot of activities till 7 pm. Over 12 volunteers from the Youth 42 group the organization's youth arm -

the food items were prepared by members of the organization and they were aplenty ranging from grilled corn on the cob, ripe watermelon, kichu and gota as appetizers. The lunch/dinner began with made to order Dosas from Schaumburg's Sankalp restaurant.

Along side these came Pav Bhaji, Biryani and Gulab Jamun for dessert.

A raffle was organized to put a competitive edge to the day givA game in progress during picnic

Youth members of Betalish Samaj

should get full credit for event planning to a successful culmination complete with registration details to ushering the seniors The hot summer sun did not dampen the spirits of any one. All

ing away laptops, tablets and Flat TVs. Children of all ages had plenty to do. For the youngest, there were inflatable slides rented locally. Volleyball, the Indian game of Kho Kho, cricket

Members of Samaj

Air India Stopover Package at Delhi Cont’d from page 22

This voucher will be handed over by the customer to the hotel, in exchange for which services as detailed in the confirmation voucher will be provided by the hotels to the customer The Stopover offers: Hotels in the Airport Zone New Delhi, Hotels from different price brackets budget, 3, 4 and 5 star - and overnight stay rates inclusive of taxes.

Passengers will be required to provide Air India PNR as manda-

tory fields in the booking form to ensure that the facility can only be availed by Air India passengers.

Passenger need to pay upfront by credit or debit card for the hotel booking on the holiday link website. The technology, information and content of the website is provided by M/s Make My Trip Passengers will have to agree to the terms and conditions mentioned on the website before completing the booking Telephone No: 1-800-103-9692 E Mail ID: airindiastopover@makemytrip.com

and Garba were arranged for some of the adults.

The event was a huge suc-

cess and the Betalish Gham is already discussing plans for next year's picnic. The next event will be annual Garba in October 2013.

This event was a huge success last year with over 2000 people in attendance. A live band will be present to give the audience the true feel of this hot favorite Gujarati cultural extravaganza.

The Betalish (42) Gham Samaj of Chicago is a relatively new organization, established about two years ago. The founders of

this group wanted to provide a platform to those hailing from Mehsana area of Gujarat for social interactions and keep their traditions alive. All of these individuals can trace their roots to the Mehsana District of Gujarat.

The Executives Committee consists of Devendra Patel (President), Dr Paresh Patel (Vice-President), Kirit Patel (Secretary), Rasik Patel (Treasurer), and Ashvin Patel (Joint-Secretary).

24 India Post

Community Across America

July 12, 2013

www.indiapost.com

AIA to hold annual banquet on Aug 4 SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: The Association of Indians in America (AIA) has scheduled its annual Honor Awards Banquet at the Ashyana Banquets in Downers Grove on August 4 at 5 pm.

AIA, a grassroots organization of Indian Americans in the United States is the oldest national association of Asian Indians in America. It was founded on August 20, 1967, after the United States Congress passed the 1965-66 Immigration Act, repealing the Asian Exclusion Act of 1917.

AIA fostered the democratic principles of "one member one vote," with chapters and membership spread across the country. It represents the hopes and aspirations of immigrants who are united by their common bond of Indian heritage and American commitment.

Prof. Ghanshyam Pandey, AIA National President, said that Rep Danny Davis, the US Congressman from 7th District Illinois will be the Chief Guest.

Prof G. Pandey National President, Naren Patel National Vice President, Salil Mishra, President AIA Chicago

The AIA banquet will have live entertainment program this year too with songs

by Sniti Mishra, 2010 Zee TV Sa Re Ga Ma Pa singing superstar

He said that AIA proposes to recognize community leaders for their contributions to society and the names of the awardees will be announced as soon as the list is finalized.

As usual, the AIA banquet will have live entertainment program this year too with songs by Sniti Mishra, 2010 Zee TV Sa Re Ga Ma Pa singing superstar embellished with scintillating group dances.

Hindu Mandir in a prestigious women's college India Post News Service

"We aim to…provide support and guidance to students as they wrestle with questions of meaning, faith and purpose. Carol T. Christ is Smith College President.

Prominent graduates include Chef Julia Child, feminist Gloria Steinem and author Sylvia Plath.

Smith College website states: At Smith, the "old boys' network"

NORTHAMPTON, MA: Massachusetts Smith College (SC) in Northampton, one of the largest women's colleges in USA, houses a Hindu Mandir.

This Hindu Mandir is part of the Helen Hills Chapel of Smith College and is studded with images, incense, and religious texts. It is a place for Hindu worship and Smith College website prayer. states: At Smith, the "old Founded in 1871, boys' network" becomes an Smith College, which has students from every "ageless women's US state and 60 coun- network."…Of course, the tries, claims provision of "education of un- world is coeducational compromising quality".

It offers 1,000 courses in more becomes an "ageless women's than 50 areas of study. Annual ex- network."…Of course, the world penses to each student are is coeducational. But Smith women enter it more confidently than $57,524.

Dean of Religious Life of Smith women graduates of coed College, Jennifer L. Walters, says: schools.

Smith College

July 12, 2013

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India Post 25

Horoscope

26 India Post

July 12, 2013

www.indiapost.com

Your Weekly Future

by Pandit Parashar

JULY 12 TH - JULY 18 TH , 2013 (March 21 to April 20)

Do not allow heart rule over your head and do not let emotions rule when taking any decision about career. Opportunity could require relocation. Letter or mail you send out will get the things done. Very favorable time for those looking for an expansion in the family. You may get rid of some junk piling up dust in the garage.

(July 23 to August 22)

N

egotiations will continue to move in right direction but final contract could take little more time to take place. Money wise you will do well and may make some quick money through a stocks transaction. You will be successful in shedding of few pounds with the help of little exercises and change of diet. Just handle tools with care.

(April 21 to May 20)

Y

ou will reap rich rewards for all the efforts made recently. Business will pick up all of sudden. You will sign a new contract which will help you financially for a long time to come. There will be some changes at work and you may be moved to another unit. You may successfully resolve a pending issue with a government agency.

(May 21 to June 20)

C

hoice will be hard to make but you will end up taking the right decision. New venture will need little time to turn profitable. Transit of Mars in second for some more time will keep you on the edge as far as the finances are concerned. Bachelors may travel long distance to meet some one introduced to them recently.

(August 23 to September 22)

Y

ou will be making couple of wise decisions about career this week. Success will be instant. You may go out to the mall and buy some new cloths or perfume for personal use. Check your blood pressure and take medication on time. You may have some special prayers done at your place or visit a holy place with family this weekend.

(September 23 to October 22)

S

trong Venus in angle will help you resolve few tricky issues this week. A female will be very helpful. People seeking job will be successful in laying their hands on one. Financially you will continue to grow and even start putting some money aside for rainy days. You will study some very useful material to update knowledge.

(June 21 to July 22)

D

o not stretch your limits and avoid lending money to a friend or extending too much credit or will have hard time recovering it. If appearing for any highly competitive exam this week, chances are you will clear it in first shot. Things will keep improving at work and a small raise or promotion can become a reality this week.

(October 23 to November 22)

Y

ou may have to deal with some hurdles this week. An older family member may not keep well and need to have some tests done. A child may be getting ready to move away for educational purpose. You may travel to another town to attend a social event with family this weekend. Do not hesitate to buy few lottery tickets.

(November 23 to December 22)

P

roperty deal can finalize. People in business will be able to recover major part of past dues. New source of additional income will open up. some You may drop or change your earlier travel plans.

A reunion with a close family member will take place in near future.

You may buy some nice furniture items for the house.

(December 22 to January 19)

A

n overseas business trip will be finalized. Getting irritated with people is not going to help, you should stay calm and you will end up getting things done quickly. You may plan an evening with a colleague this weekend. A child not doing so well in the past will be on the right track from now and on and will stay focused.

(January 20 to February 18)

Y

ou will be making some very calculated move in career. Gamble will pay off in shape of better money and more relaxed terms.

Some money will go towards legal expenses also. You may receive good piece of advice from an experienced person. Customer count will grow and you will help many people with your expertise.

(February 19 to March 20)

T

here will be some interesting changes in career. You will be as signed an important task and may be promoted to next level with additional benefits and help. Spouse too will have better luck with everything this week. Some of you may start a new project in partnership with some highly intellectual people.

Pandit Parashar, CEO & COO Astro Scan USA is also available for individual consultations. He can be reached at: parashar@parashar.com

510-886-4370 website: www.parashar.com

July 12, 2013

www.indiapost.com

India Post 27

TOP TEN HINDI FILM SONGS

1 Tum Tak: Raanjhnaa 2 Sawaar Loon: Lootera 3 Ghanchakkar Babu: Ghanchakkar 4 Manmarziyan: Lootera 5 Illahi: Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani 28 India Post

www.indiapost.com

July 12, 2013

6 Tu Mun Shudi: Raanjhnaa 7 Mera Yaar: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag 8 Bhaag Milkha Bhaag : Bhaag Milkha Bhaag 9 Ay Saki: Raanjhnaa 10 Zinda: Bhaag Milkha Bhaag

T

here was lot of speculation regarding Sooraj Pancholi's entry into Bollywood post his coming out from jail. Salman Khan has put all doubts aside and has called Sooraj to have a discussion over a project. Salman Khan wants to cast Sooraj in the remake of Subhas Ghai's movie 'Hero'. The original movie 'Hero' was released in 1983 with Jackie Shroff playing the lead.

Salman Khan has called Sooraj to Hyderabad where he is shooting for his movie 'Mental'. Sooraj has been offered to play the lead role. Subhas Ghai is also scheduled to visit Hyderabad in connection with the same project.

Along with Sooraj, actor Suneil Shetty's 18 year old daughter Athiya will be making a debut in Bollywood with this remake of 'Hero'.

Aditya Pancholi, father of Sooraj Pancholi confirmed the news and said, "I think Salman has called him to Hyderabad and I will request the police to allow him to go and meet him. We will see what he (Sooraj) wants to do as of now." Aditya also figures for a major role in 'Mental'.

Subhas Ghai said, "It's just bad luck; I don't think Sooraj should be blamed for what happened. But Salman will take the final call."

B

eing a popular action hero and a fitness freak, John loves sports and boxing surely is one of his passions. The actor was in the news recently for starting up a new gym franchise to promote boxing. And now, taking a step further he has expressed his wish to make a movie on this subject.

According to him, Indian movies lack novel ideas and hence, he wants to explore this genre, especially when he has a partner like David Haye. He also believes that the movie will have an added advantage when a professional boxer plays the role rather than having someone who just pretends. John is so excited about the project that he apparently has started scripting and is planning to release it by next year.

Bollywood

July 12, 2013

India Post 29

www.indiapost.com

N

eetu Chandra is on a high ever since she joined the cast of Greek film "Home Sweet Home" and says the project helped her rediscover

herself.

Seen in Hindi films like "Traffic Signal" and "Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!", Neetu said: "I am excited about my Greek project. I have rediscovered myself with the film."

"When I signed the film, people said they were looking for this kind (her kind) of Indian beauty, which is a huge compliment for me. I have got to know now that I look the best in Indian attire."

Recently she finished shooting for the film, but refused to divulge more about her internat i o n a l project.

M

adhuri Dixit, who ruled 80's and 90's, feels that contrary to the perception that her contemporary actresses have faded in oblivion, they are in fact going strong even today.

The 'dhak dhak' girl, whose item song 'Ghagra' with Ranbir Kapoor is topping the charts of late, is one of the judges in the dance reality show 'Jhalak Dikhla Jaa' and has two films 'Gulab Gang', and 'Dedh Ishqiya' in her hand.

Even though actors Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn - all in their 40's are ruling Bollywood even today, heroines who starred opposite them in their heydays have either faded away from arc lights or are content with character roles but Madhuri believes it is not the case.

"It is great to see all actors up there. They all have worked hard. Juhi Chawla, Kajol, Sridevi all are doing wonderful work today. One should not generalize that actresses of our times are not around, it is not right. "All these ladies are doing good work. They are going strong. They are making their own space," the actress told PTI.

S

uperstar Shah Rukh Khan is happy that despite being an outsider, the film industry has always been generous to him and says it is his surrogate family.

"I don't have a struggling period to talk about. I just want to thank everyone... the whole film industry embraced me with open arms. If I may use the word, it gave me a surrogate family when I came here. I have been fortunate," Shah Rukh told reporters at the music launch of Rohit Shetty's 'Chennai Express'.

The 47-year-old actor seemed to be fine after his shoulder surgery, as he showed off some dance moves with leading lady Deepika Padukone along with background dancers.

"It is memorable moment to release the music, it is beautiful music. It is nice to have SP Balasubramaniam (noted singer) on board, we are huge fans of him. He is 67, but sounds like a 20year-old. We had one of the best experiences ever to work with a legend," music director Shekhar said.

Realty Tidbits

Coimbatore villa project to be ready in 2015 COIMBATORE: Real estate developer Casa Grande has announced launch of a residential project of 79 luxury villas and 32 apartments here.

Villas at 'Casa Grande Eternia' are priced between Rs 67 lakh to Rs 1.2 crore, while the apartments range from Rs 21 lakh onwards.

The project would be ready for occupancy by April 2015, M Arun Kumar, Managing Director, Casa Grande Pvt Ltd, told reporters here.

The project would be officially launched by this weekend and be ready by Apri 2015, he said.

Kumar said the company is targeting Rs 1,000 crore turnover by 2016, up from Rs 200 crore this year, of which Rs 100 crore was from Coimbatore, he said.

He claimed the company is the largest villa developer in Chennai with Rs 800 crore villas and Rs 550 worth apartments at various levels of completion.

The company also plans o build holiday homes in Kodaikanal as many people prefer to have homes in hill stations, Arun Kumar said. -PTI

Omaxe to invest Rs 200 cr to set up 5-star hotel MUMBAI: Real estate firm Omaxe has said it will invest Rs 200 crore to set up a five-star hotel in New Chandigarh, where it is developing an integrated township.

The company has joined hands with the Intercontinental Hotel Group (IHG) to manage and set up the 150-room hotel, named as Holiday Inn, a statement issued here said.

"Omaxe will invest close to Rs 200 crore in building this luxurious hotel that will cater to corporates and the local elite, including tourists," the statement said.

The office and retail spaces in the vicinity have been attracting reputed companies from sectors like IT, BFSI and retail in the national and international arena, it said.-PTI

Real Estate 30

India Post

www.indiapost.com

July 12 , 2013

Pashmina Dev eyes Rs 5,000 cr sales by FY16 MUMBAI: ASK Group chairman Asit Koticha-promoted real estate firm Pashmina Developers is eyeing Rs 5,000 crore revenues by FY'16 on the back of execution of most of its projects, a top executive said.

"We have several projects under various stages of implementation in Bangalore and Mumbai, which we expect to be completed by 2015-16. Execution of these projects can translate into revenues of around Rs 5,000 crore by FY16," Pashmina Developers Promoter Asit Koticha told PTI.-PTI

Global interest in US homes still growing WASHINGTON: International home sales in the US declined in the past year but are at their second highest level in recent years and are over six percent of total existing-home sales in value. According to the National Association of Realtors 2013 Profile of International Home Buying Activity, interest in US properties continues to grow, signaling that America continues to be regarded by international buyers as a great place to own property.

The survey, which asked Realtors to report their international business activity within the US for the 12 months ending March 2013, showed that total international sales were $68.2 billion, down approximately $14 billion from the previous year. The decline is attributed to a number of temporary factors, including economic slowdowns in a number of major foreign economies, tighter U.S. credit standards and unfavorable exchange rates.

Of total international transactions, $34.8 billion (51 percent) were attributed to foreign buyers with permanent residences outside

NAR President Gary Thomas, broker-owner of Evergreen Realty in Villa Park, Calif.

"Difficult economic conditions,

the U.S. and $33.4 billion (49 percent) were attributed to buyers who are recent immigrants or temporary visa holders residing for more than six months in the U.S. "Foreign buyers are experiencing hurdles not only abroad, but also here in the US when it comes to purchasing property," said

particularly in Europe, have impacted foreign buyers, but several factors in the US have also affected their purchasing power here. Tight credit standards have made financing challenging for immigrants, and low housing inventories have made finding a house difficult.

However, none of these factors

appear to be permanent."

Foreign buyers continue to have a substantial interest in US properties. Over a five year time frame more than 70 percent of Realtors reported a constant or increasing level in the number of international clients contacting them.

"Realtors provide international buyers with a significant advantage when purchasing property in the U.S. Realtors who have earned NAR's Certified International Property Specialist designation have received specialized training and are well prepared to service the international market," said Thomas.

Twenty-seven percent of Realtors reported having worked with international clients this year. The most important factors influencing international clients' purchases reported by Realtors were that the U.S. is viewed as a desirable location and that the real estate market is regarded as a profitable inCont’d on page 31 vestment.

How can I buy long-vacant house?

STEVE MCLINDEN

Dear Real Estate Adviser, For 10 years, I've driven by an abandoned house near my neighborhood. It is completely vacant, and there's no Realtor sign posted there. Apparently, the owners passed away quite some time ago. I would like to know if I can purchase the house, and if so, how I'd go about it. I live in New Jersey.

-Dania H. Dear Dania, Since you were already able to glean some information on the former residents, I suspect you could don your detective's hat again and pinpoint the present owner with some extra effort. Most cities and counties have tax records

online, so plug in the address in that case, and "voila," as the French say, there it is - usually. Not all counties and cities list owner contact information online, though, so you may have to visit in person. Sometimes, these data are available only in the recorder's office, or the deeds and records division. Someone at the office should be able to help you get this free information.

Then you have to find the decisionmaker It may be an heir/family member of the deceased owners who owns the place now, or it may be a lender.

If it's the latter, you may face a labyrinthine path in finding the person who actually controls the property.

It could be anyone from a bank REO agent to an asset manager to a special servicer to any number of others, few of whom are motivated to

time and chatting up a loan officer who might consent to digging around for the primary contact person for you.

A buyer's real estate agent, if you're hiring A buyer's real estate agent, one, might get some anif you're hiring one, might swers a bit quicker and even produce a market get some answers a bit analysis giving you a quicker and even produce rough idea of what the place is worth. I say a market analysis "rough" because even deal with you since they receive so if someone's maintaining its exmany inquiries from investors seek- terior, there's no guarantee of the ing fire-sale prices. interior condition. In fact, the If you persist, however, I'm bet- house may be persistently vating you'll get some answers. You cant due to major flaws and/or could start by going to the nearest safety issues, or absent owners.

Cont’d on page 31 branch of the bank at a nonpeak

Cont’d on page 31

Real Estate Post

July 12 , 2013

India Post 31

www.indiapost.com

Online real estate business likely to grow: Experts MUMBAI: With a rising number of property portals entering the market, the online real estate business is expected to improve gradually as these websites bring transparency by providing high quality information about projects, believe industry experts.

Property portals are increas-

ingly becoming a tool for research on buying, selling and leasing residential or commercial properties in many parts of the country, as the amount of information listed on these sites is increasing.

"By increasing the quality and quantity of information available to end-users, we attempt to bring in greater transparency to the entire gamut of buying/selling properties.

It is our constant endeavor to increase the amount of information listed about a particular property and to avoid spam or incorrect list-

ings," Magicbricks.com business head Sudhir Pai told PTI. According to experts tracking the realty sector, sites such as Magicbricks.com, 99acres.com, Makaan.com, IndiaProperty.com and CommonFloor.com are fast becoming the choice of consumers looking for renting a property, as well as for developers.

"The online real estate market is yet to reach an inflection point as seen in the travel or e-commerce sector.

H o w e v e r, with the penetration of internet more and more consumers in the urban areas have started using this medium as the first point of search for all their real estate needs," HomeShikari.com chief executive P Sunder said.

Currently, the size of the property portal market is around Rs 250 crore going by the topline of some of the listed portals in the country.

This market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 50-100 per cent in the coming years, mainly on the back of increased focus on this medium of communication by buyers as well as developers. This

model also helps decision-making faster for buyers.

"The internet and consequently the evolution of e-mail, the company website and the onset of property portals have transformed communication between the developer and potential customer radically and for the better.

"It has lead to the democratization of information in the real estate space and evolved as a significant communication tool with the customer. Besides, it is highly cost-effective," Poddar Developers managing director Rohit Poddar said.

Omkar Realtors and Developers director Devang Varma, however, said that though such portals bring transparency, they work best for small ticket transactions only.

"Marketing property through web platform helps in reaching out to a large number of consumers who are keen on instant product information.

"Internet has evolved as one of the crucial platforms in sharing information to clients. For engaging your audiences, it is an extremely transparent channel. But these work best in low size transactions between Rs 10 lakh an Rs 80 lakh," he said.

In the relatively high ticket size property, this channel becomes rather ineffective, Varma claimed.

-PTI

Center to grant Rs 200 cr to Uttarakhand for rebuilding DEHRADUN: The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation will grant Rs 200 crore to Uttarakhand to help reconstruction of residential buildings destroyed in the recent calamity.

The ministry will also help the state government get a soft loan worth Rs 2,000 crore to assist in rebuilding damaged infrastructure.

This was announced by D S Negi, Officer on Special Duty

(JNNURM & Rajiv Avas Yojana) in the Union Ministry who led a delegation of HUDCO, BMTPC and HPL officials to Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna to discuss ways to deal with the aftermath of the tragedy.

As the state government grapples with the after-effects of one of the worst natural disasters to have hit the country in recent times, the Centre has relaxed the

norms to give the maximum advantage of its flagship schemes like Indira Avas yojana, MNREGA, JNNURM and RAY. The state government will construct 24 model houses each at three places in the state using modern techniques for people who have been rendered homeless by the tragedy, the Chief Minister said adding the land will soon be identified for the purpose. -PTI

How can I buy long-vacant house?

Cont’d from page 30

The foreclosure angle It's worth noting that an inordinate number of habitable vacant homes are mired in foreclosure limbo in your state. In fact, in a study of one Newark, N.J., neighborhood released this spring, researchers found that 43 percent

of bank-owned properties there remained vacant years after they went into foreclosure. Financialindustry observers speculate that lenders are keeping many of these in stasis so they can report them as assets, not losses, and thus meet government liquidity requirements.

Making an offer

If it's apparent the home is still owned by a family member or other individual, you can try tracking down that owner and making a reasonable offer. If you can't locate that person from a tax assessor's data, which is not always up-to-date, try using any of a number of inexpensive "people search" -Courtesy Bankrate.com

DTZ restructures India operations with new firm NEW DELHI: Global property consultant DTZ has said it has restructured its real estate operations in India for better client service and business growth.

DTZ said it has formed a new company structure for its Indian operations to strengthen longterm competitiveness and deliver a stronger and more differentiated client servicing experience.

"The new company structure will have three client groups comprising occupiers, investors and developers at the nucleus of its structure and an overarching Strategic Client Service organization to augment customer experience," DTZ said in a statement.

The new organizational structure is designed to speed up service delivery and accelerate growth, DTZ-India Chief Executive Anshul Jain said.

DTZ has elevated Anuj

Nangpal and Aniruddh Wahal as Managing Directors to head Investor Services and Occupier Services, Transactions, respectively.

Karun Varma has been appointed as Managing Director, Strategic Client Services & New Businesses, while Shashi Bhushan has become Managing Director, Project Management Services (Fitouts).

DTZ would offer services that include transactions (corporate leasing), project management, base build development, facilities management, private and institutional investments, valuations, consulting, land advisory and research services.

DTZ operates across 217 offices in 52 countries and it offers services throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific and the Americas. -PTI

Global interest in US homes still growing Cont’d from page 30

Realtors reported purchases from 68 countries, but five have historically accounted for the bulk of purchases; Canada (23 percent), China (12 percent), Mexico (8 percent), India (5 percent) and the United Kingdom (5 percent).

These five countries accounted for approximately 53 percent of transactions, with Canada and China the fastest growing sources over the years.

Canadian buyers were reported to purchase properties with a median price of $183,000, with the majority purchased in Florida, Arizona and California. Chinese buyers tended to purchase property in the upper price ranges with a median price of $425,000 and typi-

cally in California. Sixty-two percent of Mexican buyers purchased property in California and Texas, with a median price of $156,250.

International buyers tend to cluster in specific locations based on countries of origin, as well as several other factors. "Many factors influence foreign buyers' decisions on where to purchase in the U.S., but the most important are proximity to home country, presence of relatives and friends, availability of job and education opportunities, and the climate," said Thomas. "International buyers also differ on the type of desired property. Some are looking for trophy properties while others are interested in modest vacation homes."-Courtesy Realtor.org

„ Health

Line

Nasal spray to get rid of painful dental jab

Health Science Single men, smokers at higher risk of oral cancer

G

ood news for those who dread a visit to the dentist!

Scientists have developed a nasal spray that could do away with painful anesthetic injections for dental procedures.

The spray, Kovacaine Mist, was as effective as standard anesthetics in four out of five patients, according to researchers at the University of Buffalo.

The product has passed phase two clinical trials in the US, 'The Independent' reported.

Safety trials with the US Food and Drugs Administration could be complete by the end of the summer and final product approval in the US could be achieved by next year, according to the manufacturer, St Renatus LLC. "Patients anxious of the dentist are, in theory, likely to have poorer oral health than those who get regular check-ups," said Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation said.

"This nasal spray could be a very promising addition to any dental practice," Carter said. -PTI

„ Happily married couples are healthier: study WASHINGTON: It's official!

Marital bliss can lead to better health.

Couples in happy marriages enjoy better health than their less happy peers, a new 20-year study has found.

In the long-term longitudinal study, tracking health and marriage quality, Brigham Young University family life researcher Rick Miller found that as the quality of marriage holds up over the years, physical health holds up too.

"There's evidence from previous research that marital conflict leads to poor health. But this study also shows happy marriages have a preventative component that keeps you in good health over the years," Miller said.

The current study, published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, shows positive marriage relationships sustain health over the long run.

The study used data from a nationally representative sample of 1,681 married individuals followed over the course of two decades the longest study on marital quality and health to date.

Miller and colleagues measured marital quality in two ways: First, in terms of happiness and satisfaction, and, second, in terms of marital problems (Do you argue about money? Do you fight about in-laws?).-PTI

32

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July 12, 2013

Details on Page 34

Obama's health law will be judged on three questions WASHINGTON: Three months before uninsured people can start shopping for coverage, some big unknowns loom over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

The surprise announcement this past week that the White House is delaying a requirement that many employers offer coverage raised questions about other major parts of the biggest expansion of society's safety net since Medicare nearly 50 years ago.

One delay may not matter much in the end. People will judge Obama's law on three main points: premiums, choice and the overall consumer experience.

Only partial answers can be gleaned now, and they don't necessarily fall along predictable lines.

Basic economics suggests premiums will be higher than what many people who buy their own coverage pay now, especially the young and healthy. The new policies provide better benefits, and

starting next year, insurers won't be able to turn away the sick. But the pocketbook impact will be eased by new tax credits and other features that people soon will discover.

choices may not be seen as a step backward because in most states the individual health insurance market is now dominated by a single insurer.

The consumer experience

President Barack Obama

As for choice, Obama's plan isn't likely to deliver the dozens of options available to seniors through Medicare. But limited

shopping online for insurance remains the biggest unknown - and a risk.

Squads of technology experts

- federal, state, insurer and contractor employees - are trying mesh government and private computer systems together in ways that haven't been tried before. It may not feel like Amazon.com. Many people could default to enrolling the low-tech way, through call centers or even through the mail.

Health care politics divided the nation even before the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, and the law's full implementation four years later is shaping up as a tale of two Americas.

The rollout might go well in mostly Democratic states that prepared, while it clatters and clunks in mainly Republican ones that resisted Obama's law. Millions of poor people will be denied coverage next year because they live in states that are refusing the law's Medicaid expansion. But most workers now covered on the job should not see major changes.

Cont'd on Page 35

Exercise can alter your DNA, says study LONDON: Exercise - even in small doses - can alter your DNA, slashing the risk of obesity and diabetes, according to a new study.

Swedish researchers have described for the first time what happens on an epigenetic level in fat cells when we undertake physical activity.

"Our study shows the positive effects of exercise, because the epigenetic pattern of genes that affect fat storage in the body changes," said Charlotte Ling, Associate Professor at Lund University Diabetes Centre.

The cells of the body contain DNA, which contains genes.

We inherit our genes and they cannot be changed. The genes, however, have 'methyl groups' attached which affect what is known as 'gene expression' - whether the genes are ac-

tivated or deactivated.

The methyl groups can be influenced in various ways, through exercise, diet and lifestyle, in a process known as 'DNA methylation'.

This is epigenetics, a relatively new research field that in recent

previously engaged in any physical activity, when they regularly attended spinning and aerobics classes over a six-month period.

"They were supposed to attend three sessions a week, but they went on average 1.8 times," said Tina Ronn, Associate Researcher

years has attracted more and more attention.

In the study, the researchers investigated what happened to the methyl groups in the fat cells of 23 slightly overweight, healthy men aged around 35 who had not

at Lund University.

Using technology that analyses 480 000 positions throughout the genome, they could see that epigenetic changes had taken place in 7,000 genes (an individual has 20-25 000 genes). They then

went on to look specifically at the methylation in genes linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity.

"We found changes in those genes too, which suggests that altered DNA methylation as a result of physical activity could be one of the mechanisms of how these genes affect the risk of disease," said Ronn, adding that this has never before been studied in fat cells and that they now have a map of the DNA methylome in fat.

In the laboratory, the researchers were able to confirm the findings in vitro (studying cell cultures in test tubes) by deactivating certain genes and thus reducing their expression.

This resulted in changes in fat storage in fat cells.

The study was published in the journal PLOS Genetics.

-PTI

July 12, 2013

Health Science Post

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Single men, smokers at higher risk of oral cancer WASHINGTON: Smokers and single men are more likely to acquire cancer-causing oral human papillomavirus (HPV), according to a new study.

Researchers from Moffitt Cancer Center, the National Cancer Institute, Mexico and Brazil report that newly acquired oral HPV infections in healthy men are rare and

when present, usually resolve within one year.

HPV infection is known to cause virtually all cervical cancers, most anal cancers and some genital cancers. It has recently been established as a cause of the majority of oropharyngeal cancers, a malignancy of the tonsils and base of tongue.

HPV-related oropharyngeal cancer is

rare, but rates have been increasing rapidly, especially among men. To determine the pattern of HPV acquisition and persistence in the oral region, researchers evaluated the HPV infection status in oral mouthwash samples collected as part of the HPV Infection in Men (HIM) Study.

"Some types of HPV, such as HPV16, are known to cause cancer at multiple places in the body, including the oral cavity," said study lead author Christine M Pierce Campbell.

"We know that HPV infection is associated with oropharyngeal cancer, but we don't know how the virus progresses from initial infection to cancer in the oral cavity," said Campbell.

During the first 12 months, nearly 4.5 per cent of men in the study acquired an oral HPV infection. Less than 1 per cent of men in the study had an HPV16 infection, the most commonly acquired type, and less than 2 per cent had a cancer-causing type of oral HPV. Their findings are consistent with previous studies showing a low prevalence of oral HPV cancers. However, this study shows the acquisition of cancer-causing oral HPV appeared greater among smokers and unmarried men.

The study results appeared in The Lancet journal. -PTI

Loving partner, money, social activity key to happiness

A

loving partner, a household income of up to USD 100,000 and finding a purpose in life is the new "golden triangle of happiness", a new Australian research has claimed.

Having a good intimate relationship was rated higher than money and being fat was no barrier to bliss, according to the research by Robert Cummins from the Deakin University.

In analysis of 29 Australian surveys over 12 years of research found that (apart from having a catastrophic medical condition) health is not part of the three elements that comprise the golden,

amazingly difficult medical circumstances," Cummins said.

"We have looked very carefully at the effect of body weight on mood/happiness and people who are overweight, and even mildly obese, they are OK. Their mood/ happiness is under control.

"We're talking about something which I think is more important - which is how people feel about themselves and their lives. The mild levels of being overweight don't affect happiness/mood very much at all," Cummins said.

The new research found that it doesn't matter where you live, whether your collar is white or blue or whether you've got kids or not "Health is one of the least impor- if you live within the golden triangle you're more than likely to tant domains of our measurehave a permanent smile on your ment and the reason is that beface.

"People who are then the hapcause people adapt to piest of the golden triangle group amazingly difficult medical are the elderly with no dreadful conditions like severe arthritis," circumstances,"Cummins said.

Cummins said.

"Happiness tends to rise be'The Australian' reported yond the age of 55 or 60. I'm not quite "Health is one of the least important sure whether it is because the kids have domains of our measurement and the rea- left home or they're thinking about leavson is that because people adapt to ing their dreadful job," he said. -PTI

Deficiencies in govt's maternalnatal health program NEW DELHI: A government program remained weak despite one and half years providing free maternal and natal health of the launch of JSSK. care has deficiencies in implementation, an One ambulance has been allocated for official report has revealed. one lakh people and in many places, the The review report by government's ambulance service is not that efficient. technical support institution, National The report also mentions that no grievHealth Systems Resource Centre, has pointed out several gaps in the implementation of 'Janani Shishu The awareness of free entitleSuraksha Karyakram'. ments under the program is still The program, launched on June 1, 2011 with the aim of improving low among its intended benefimaternal and infant mortality rates ciaries and prominent display of the country, provides free deliv- of the benefits of the scheme ery and treatment to pregnant mothers and medical care to newborn ba- is lacking. bies.

According to the report, the awareness of free entitlements under the ance redressal has been institutionalized program is still low among its intended till now because of which there is no monibeneficiaries and prominent display of the toring system to record if people were benefits of the scheme is lacking. availing the services.

The report says that drugs, diet and diJSSK entitles all pregnant women deagnostics are being provided free to preg- livering in public health institutions to abnant mothers and ill neonates, but the line solutely free and no expense delivery, inlisting of the beneficiaries has just started cluding Cesarean section. being conducted in many states.

It also provides medical care to ill newIt further points out that the free refer- borns up to one year. NHSRC reviewed ral transport facility for pregnant mothers the Janani Sishu Suraksha Karyakram proand ill newborns under the program has gram during the first quarter of 2013. -PTI

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Black lung rules delayed

by US regulators CHARLESTON, W.Va.: Action on key federal mine safety and health rules are is lagging, including a rule aimed at lowering exposure to coal dust that causes deadly black lung disease.

The federal Mine Safety and Health Administration was expected to issue the final rule in June, but now it won't be acted on until September.

The Charleston Gazette reports that officials did not state a reason for the delay.

Researchers are urging action on the rule's enactment because of resurgence in black lung disease. It is being seen among younger Appalachia miners who have worked under current dust limits that were intended to protect them from the disease.

Coal workers' pneumoconiosis, or black lung, is an irreversible and potentially deadly disease caused by exposure to coal dust. Between 1996 and 2005, nearly 10,000 coal miners nationwide died of black lung, according to the National In-

stitute for Occupational Safety and Health.

The second-most recorded black lung deaths occurred in West Virginia, with more than 1,800 during that period.

In October 2010, MSHA proposed new rules to reduce the occurrence of black lung. The MSHA proposal would reduce the legal limit for dust in underground mines from 2 milligrams of dust per cubic meter of air to 1 milligram of dust per cubic meter of air.

Industry officials argue that recent increases in black lung rates are a regional problem and don't require a new nationwide rule.

The latest MSHA regulatory agenda also indicates that the

agency is delaying a final rule to require underground mine operators to equip continuous-mining machines with devices meant to protect miners from being run over or crushed by those machines.

That rule was to be finalized by

day window after exposure.

She said her insurance deductible is $3,000 and her insurer is only paying about $830 of the bill. She said her friend had no insurance, but Medicaid covered

Nicholle Joyce said that she followed her doctor's advice and went to an emergency room to get the lifesaving vaccine after being exposed to a rabid bat. Her bill was $5,000 for the five shots that must be started within a 10-day window after exposure. in Coeur d'Alene charges patients on a sliding scale based on their ability to pay. Patients with no insurance or low incomes usually pay $25 or $50 a visit. ``We actually have the ability to purchase these vaccines at a significantly discounted rate,'' Dirne CEO Mike Baker told The Spokesman-Review.

Nicholle Joyce said that she followed her doctor's advice and went to an emergency room to get the lifesaving vaccine after being exposed to a rabid bat. Her bill was $5,000 for the five shots that must be started within a 10-

the shots for her friend's 15month-old son. ``It's absolutely impossible for everyone to get a due-on-receipt of $5,000 and just go with it,'' said Joyce, a veterinary technician from Athol.

Because the vaccine isn't often needed, it's not usually stocked at the offices of most doctors, boosting the cost. ``It's very unfortunate, but it's a rare occurrence,'' said Tom Shanahan, Idaho Department of Health and Welfare spokesman.

Nationally, rabies shots cost between $2,000 and $7,000.

SANTA FE, N.M.: A group of New Mexico behavioral health providers have filed a federal lawsuit seeking to force the state to continue paying the providers and to stop publicizing allegations of wrongdoing from an audit.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that eight of the 15 companies accused of fraud and abuse in a recent audit filed the lawsuit.

They said in court documents that

the suspension of payment and the bad publicity stemming from the Human Services Department's announcement have caused the providers irreparable harm.

A state audit last month said 15 New Mexico providers of mental health and substance abuse services failed to meet standards, overbilled the federal and state governments by tens of millions of dollars, and may have taken part in fraudulent activities. -AP

Night shifts may double breast cancer risk May but has been delayed until August, the regulatory agenda says. -AP

N. Idaho clinic eyes stocking rabies vaccine COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho: A nonprofit community health center in northern Idaho is considering offering the rabies vaccine to make it more affordable.

The Dirne Community Clinic

NM mental health providers file lawsuit

Baker said the Dirne Clinic would be able to get the vaccine in two days at a cost of about $1,000. He said patients who qualify for assistance programs from drug manufacturers could get the vaccine for free. ``Last year we got close to $2 million in donated medications from the pharmaceutical companies for our patients,'' Baker said.

Three bats in northern Idaho have tested positive for rabies this year.

One of them was in May in the house where Joyce stayed with her friend, Lanmana Parys, of Spirit Lake. Joyce, Parys and Parys' young son found a dying bat on the staircase inside the house the next morning.

Authorities say that when a rabid bat has been inside where people are sleeping, the people are assumed to have been exposed. Bites and scratches might not leave a mark or could go undetected.

Joyce waited until the ninth day of the 10-day window before seeking help. ``Unfortunately we were clueless - I mean, who deals with this? Nobody,'' she said. -AP

LONDON: Working night shifts for more than 30 years can double a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, scientists have warned.

In a study published in the British Medical Journal, Canadian researchers assessed whether night shifts were linked to an increased risk of breast cancer.

sure and the failure to capture the diversity of shift work patterns.

Several previous studies have also been confined to nurses rather than the general population.

The women, who had done various different jobs, were asked about their shift work patterns over their entire work history; hospital records were used to determine tumor Risk factors vary according type. to hormone sensitivity, and This may be important, said the authors, the sleep hormone melatobecause risk factors nin, disruption to which has vary according to horbeen implicated in higher mone sensitivity, and the sleep hormone mebreast cancer risk latonin, disruption to They studied 1,134 women with which has been implicated in breast cancer and 1,179 women higher breast cancer risk among without the disease, but of the night shift workers, may boost same age, in Vancouver, British oestrogen production.

Columbia, and Kingston, Ontario.

Around one in three women in Shift work has been suggested both groups had worked night as a risk factor for breast cancer, shifts. There was no evidence that but there has been some doubt those who had worked nights for about the strength of the find- up to 14 years or between 15 and ings, largely because of issues 29 years had any increased risk of around the assessment of expo- developing breast cancer.-PTI

Behavioral health program to help SC firefighters COLUMBIA, S.C.: South Carolina firefighters are now able to get behavioral health support while on the job, thanks to a pilot program started by a group of state and national organizations.

The program is being run by the S.C. Department of Mental Health in conjunction with the S.C. State Firefighters' Association, the S.C. Fire Academy and the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

The program's aim is to prevent

firefighter deaths and injuries in the line of duty by providing firefighters and their families with counseling and psychological support. The program was developed as a result of the national foundation's efforts to assist firefighters after 9/11 and Charleston's Sofa Super Store fire in 2007.

The program will start in five areas of South Carolina before rolling out statewide.-AP

July 12, 2013

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Obama's health law will be judged on three questions Cont'd from Page 32

With political strategists already honing health care attack lines for next year's congressional elections, a former U.S. health secretary has an admonition for both parties. Mike Leavitt put in place the Medicare prescription drug plan for President George W. Bush in 2006 and now heads a consulting firm that advises states on Obama's law. ``It's important for all of us to remember that it's not political parties who are affected in the long run, it's people,'' Leavitt said recently. ``It will be millions of people ... many of whom are the less fortunate, and those who have dramatic health problems.''

A closer look at the three big questions: PREMIUMS The Obama administration sees encouraging signs in states that have released premiums for next year, as well as from rates filed directly with the federal government but not yet publicly revealed. ``We are seeing increased choice and affordable premiums,'' said Mike Hash, head of the Department of Health and Human Services' health reform office.

But what will consumers see?

The data-crunching company Avalere Health found that in nine states that have released premiums, the rates appear to be

ver'' policy that costs $3,000, leaving him with $1,000 to pay.

But he can also take that $2,000 tax credit and use it to buy a cheaper policy called a ``bronze'' plan, leaving him with only about $500 to pay annually. The bronze plan meets the new requirement that virtually all people in the United States have health insurance.

But if you get seriously sick or injured you'll wind up paying more out of your own pocket.

Still, the premium would come to $42 a month for Gilchrist. ``The bronze plan would be lower than my car insurance,'' he said.

But wait.

If Gilchrist were a smoker, which he is not, the law would allow insurers to tack on a penalty of up to 50 percent of the premium.

With time, the decisions of millions of individual consumers will reveal a true bottom line.

CHOICE The typical Medicare recipient has about 30 private insurance plans from which to choose. There may not be nearly as much choice for families and individuals under the health care law. How much that will matter remains to be seen.

It's partly because in most states a single insurance company currently controls more Jeremy Gilchrist, a self-employed methan half the market for teorologist from Winooski, Vt., has been individual coverage. uninsured about four years. In his midThe administration 30s, he's in good health, and he says he says that's going to change for the better. In can't afford premiums on a skimpy three-quarters of the budget.``For most people, it's going to markets the federal be a financial decision,'' Gilchrist said. government will run, there will be at least one lower than the Congressional Budget Of- new insurer. fice estimated when the law was being But areas of concern are emerging. New drafted in 2009.

Hampshire could end up with just one inBut Avalere vice president Caroline surance company offering plans through Pearson acknowledges that doesn't repre- the new marketplace. In 36 of Mississippi's sent the cost comparison a consumer might 82 counties, no insurer has yet signed up make. Most people who now buy policies to offer coverage. Bigger states, however, individually could see an increase from what don't seem to be having problems attractthey're now paying. ing insurers. ``The benefit design is going to be richer ``The individual market for 2014 will look than what is typically purchased and avail- a lot like the individual market today - one able today ... and the rules require insurers or a handful of carriers dominant in most to sell a policy to whoever wants it, regard- states,'' said Larry Levitt, a leading expert less of health status,'' she said. with the nonpartisan Kaiser Family FounThat still doesn't get you to the bottom dation. line because most consumers will be eligible But people will be able to move more easfor income-based tax credits to help pay ily from insurer to insurer, he added, which premiums. The plan they pick also could should bring more competitive pressure. make a big difference.

Jeremy Gilchrist, a self-employed meteo- CONSUMER EXPERIENCE rologist from Winooski, Vt., has been uninFor people without job-based coverage, sured about four years. In his mid-30s, he's shopping for insurance under the new sysin good health, and he says he can't afford tem is supposed to be as smooth as using premiums on a skimpy budget. a major online site such as Travelocity or ``For most people, it's going to be a fi- Expedia. nancial decision,'' Gilchrist said.

But in a recent report, the Government According to the online Kaiser Family Accountability Office raised concerns Foundation's health reform subsidy calcu- about the sheer technological complexity lator, Gilchrist would be eligible for a tax of the task and the short time left to accredit of nearly $2000 on a standard ``sil- complish it. -AP

ND sees surge in demand for home health workers GRAND FORKS, N.D.: Grand Forksbased Altru Health System is seeing an increase in demand for home-health aides in North Dakota, matching a nationwide surge in demand for those health care workers who visit senior citizens and patients in their own homes.

Kari Jensen, Altru's home health and hospice manager, tells the Grand Forks Herald that the demand is growing the most in rural areas.

In addition to Grand Forks, Altu's home health program has branches in the northeast North Dakota towns of Cavalier, Devils Lake, Grafton, McVille and Park River, and also in Warren, Minn.

Jensen says people want the services to stay in their homes longer so they don't have to move to other living arrangements.

She says patients going home from the hospital also benefit from home health services. -AP

OSU-Tulsa, OSU-CHS receive record grants TULSA, Okla.: A state agency has awarded more than $750,000 in grants to four researchers at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa and the OSU Center for Health Sciences.

The grants by the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology are the largest ever presented to OSU in Tulsa. They are for engineering and health research at the OSU-Tulsa Helmerich Research Center and the Health Sciences Center.

The largest single grant, totaling $300,000, is for development of a lightweight, strong material for use in aircraft, automobiles and military equipment.

Since 2008, OSU-Tulsa and OSU-CHS have received more than $1.5 million from OCAST, which encourages innovation in existing and developing businesses in Oklahoma. OCAST provides funding to universities and businesses help with cutting-edge research in engineering and health sciences that benefit the state's economy. -AP

Datebook

36 India Post

NEW JERSEY Upcoming Sat, July 13

• Sham E Ghazal An Evening Of Ghazal Venue: Edison Hotel, 3050,Woodbridge Ave, Edison, NJ 08837 Time: 8:00 pm Contact: 732-857-0581

Sat July 13

• 14th Annual Indian American Festival Venue: Garden State Exhibit Center, 50 Atrium Time: 11:00 am Contact: 848-219-9118

Fri July 19

• Gujjubhai in Golmaal Live in New Jersey Venue: Woodbridge High School, 1, Samuel Lupo Place, Woodbridge, NJ 07095 Lupo Time: 8:00 pm Contact: 732-921-7350

NEW YORK Upcoming Sat, July 13

• Culture of the Spirit - India Lucia Concert Venue: The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center Plaza, NY 10023 Time: 6:30 pm Contact: 703-665-6591

Sun, July 14

• The Essence of The Gita: Chapters 13-18 Venue:Shri Shirdi Sai baba Temple, 46-16 Robins Time: 2:00 pm Contact: 718-321-9243

Sat, July 27

• Indian Speed Dating - Meet 15 Desi Dates In One Night Venue: K lounge, 30 W 52nd St, New York, NY 10019 Time: 6:00 pm Contact: 646-543-8127

July 12, 2013

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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

Upcoming

Fri, July 12 • MM Keeravani Live In

Fri, Age 2

Venue: SRedondo Beach Performing Arts Center, 1935 Manhattan Beach Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA 90278 Time: 7:30 pm Contact: 310-400-0370

Venue: Place of work or residence , 100 South Main Street, Carson, CA 90745 Time: 2:00 pm

Concert

Fri, July 12 • TriValley Musical Evening

- event for music lovers & singers Venue: Cafe Tandoor, 420 Market Pl, San Ramon, CA 94583 Time: 7:30 pm Contact: 510-823-3410

Sun, July 14 • Ganesha+The Woodcutter And The River Goddess

Venue: Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, 4800 Hollywood Blvd, , Hollywood, CA 90027 Time: 4:00 pm Contact: 818-599-1936

Thu, July 15 • Art of Living Course Venue: Woodside Performing Arts Center, 199 Churchill Ave, Woodside, CA 94062 Time: 6:00 pm Contact: 408-982-7266

Sat, July 27 • Shri Krishna Madhuram Venue: Jordan High School Auditorium, 6500 Atlantic Ave, Long Beach, CA 90805 Time: 7:30 pm Contact: 310-753-8990

Sat, Aug 3 • Jaane Kahan Gaye Won Din Venue: Royal Delhi Palace, 22323 Sherman Way, Canoga Park, CA 91303 Time: 6:30 to 8:00 pm Contact: 805-404-9836

• The Moment of Calm - Global Forgiveness Moment

Sun, June 24-August 8 • Ohlone for Kids (and Teens)

Summer Enrichment Program

Venue: Office of College Advancement Ohlone College Contact: 510-742-2304

ATLANTA Upcoming Sat, July 13

•Miss India - Georgia Venue: Robert Ferst center for the arts, 350 Ferst Dr NW, Atlanta, GA 30313 Time: 5:00pm Contact: 404-317-5474

Sat, July 13

• IACA Ms India Georgia/Ms Teen India Georgia Venue: Ferst Center for the Arts, 349 Ferst Dr, Atlanta, GA 30332 Time: 5:00 pm Contact: 404-317-5474

Wed, Aug 7

• DJ Shaan's Chand Raat Eid Mela Venue: Atlanta Event Hall, 3750 Venture Dr, Duluth, GA 30096 Time: 6:00pm Contact: 404-993-2060

Sat, Aug 10

• Pankaj Udhas Live In Atlanta Venue: Atlanta Event Hall, 3750 Venture Dr, Duluth, GA 30096 Time: 8:30pm Contact: 404-934-9991

ILLINOIS Upcoming • J K Yog Satsang and Bal Mukund Hindi Classes are held every 2nd and 4rth Sunday of Month Chicago Satsang Information: J K Yog, Chicago - Swami Mukundananda Venue: Clarion Inn/Waterford Banquets, Board Room, 933 South Riverside Drive, Elmhurst, IL 60126 Time: 3:30pm-5:30pm Contact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok @ 630-561-4807 Website: www.jkyog.org

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 Website: www.jkyog.org/bal-mukund

Sat, July 13 • VIBRATIONS: A Global Fusion Musical Experience Venue: Chicago Symphony Orchestra Hall, 220 S Michigan Ave, Chicago, Il 60604 Time: 6:30 pm Contact: 708-408-2488

Sat, July 20 • Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj Venue: DThe Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago, 10915 Lemont Rd, Lemont, IL 60439 Time: 1:30pm Contact: 630-955-1200

India Post 37

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KRISHAN SHARMA India Post News Service

SIEM REAP, Cambodia: (Day One) Our trip started with a brief stopover in Bangkok from Delhi and an hour-long flight on Angkor Air to Siem Reap, Cambodia. We could hardly believe that we would be witnessing the wonderful temple and architecture of Angkor Wat. Angkor was the site of a series of capitals belonging to the Khmer empire for much of the ninth through fifteenth centuries.

These ruins are located amid forests and farmland to the north of the Great Lake (Tonle Sap), near present day Siem Reap, Cambodia, covering more than 200 sq kms. The temples of Angkor, now par-

THE WORLD'S LARGEST RELIGIOUS STRUCTURE, ANGKOR WAT WAS BUILT AD 1113-1150 (37 YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION BY AN ESTIMATED 50,000 ARTISANS, WORKERS AND SLAVES)

BY SURYAVARMAN II AND DEDICATED TO THE HINDU GOD VISHNU.

tially restored, constitute the premier collection of Khmer art and architecture.

The day ended with dinner and a cultural show on Ramayana.

Day Two: Of course one cannot see the entire capital in just few days. So we picked a few important sections. The main Angkor Wat and the Bayon Temple. There are several tour guides available and it is advisable to take one who understands history and language. As there are so many temples and buildings one gets confused.

July 12, 2013

The resplendent monuments of the Khmer were constructed from AD 879-1191, although the site itself was inhabited by the Khmers from AD 802 through AD 1431. Yet it was during the twelfth century, when the last temples were built that the Khmers reached their peak during the reigns of Suryavarman II and Jayavarman VII. Jayavarman VII depleted the kingdom's resources with his extravagant lifestyle. This resulted in societal displeasure as well as the gradual decline of the ever-important irrigation system as resources were being diverted elsewhere for his temples of grandeur.

By the late thirteenth and early fourteenth century, the society of the Khmers underwent a major

change as the state religion shifted to Theravada Buddhism. With this, a new way to unify and administer the people needed to be established.

As all these effects took hold of the Khmer, their neighboring enemies grew stronger and began to attack Angkor. Finally, in AD 1431 the Thai kingdom of Ayutthaya was successful in a siege of Angkor after seven months of battle. The raiders destroyed many statues. During the reign of Khmer Rouge also, many idols were destroyed. In 1432 the Khmers moved their capital south, but the empire and the city of Angkor never regained their glory.

The world's largest religious structure, Angkor Wat was built AD 1113-1150 (37 years of construction by an estimated 50,000 artisans, workers and slaves) by Suryavarman II and dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu.

Cont’d on page 40

Pics Krishan Sharma

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Travel & Hospitality Post

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Angkor Wat

Wonder of the world & largest Hindu temple Cont’d from page 39

It is the largest and one of the most intact structures in Angkor and is considered an architectural masterpiece - and one of the finest monuments in the world - for its perfection in composition, balance, proportions, reliefs and sculptures.

It is an expression of Khmer art at the height of its development. Uniquely, the entrance is to the west instead of the east, as in all the other temples at Angkor. Overtime this Hindu temple became a Buddhist shrine.

We took a short break for lunch, close to

IT IS BY FAR THE MOST AMAZING PLACE ONE CAN VISIT AND SEE HOW THE INDIAN HERITAGE HAS TRAVELED AND MADE IMPRESSIONS ON MANY SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES LIKE CAMBODIA, BURMA, MALAYSIA, INDONESIA, VIETNAM AND THAILAND the site and continued our tour. The tour ended with a heavy downpour while returning to the hotel.

Day three: A full day trip to Phnom Kulen waterfall which is about 60 km from Siem Reap situated amongst low lying mountains.

We visited a reclining Buddha on top of the mountain and spend few hours at the water fall below. You will also find a thousand Shivlings carved out into the river bed. The locals believe that all your sins will be washed away once you take a dip in the

river.

While on this trip, you will come across several farming villages selling bamboo baskets etc.

The evening ended with a visit to the night bazaar in central Siem Reap. Wonder-

ful for shopping and excellent eatery joints with bargain prices, not to mention of foot massages for only two dollars.

It is by far the most amazing place one can visit and see how the Indian heritage has traveled and made impressions on many South Asian countries like Cambodia, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand.

Cont’d on page 41

July 12, 2013

Travel & Hospitality Post

India Post

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Angkor Wat

Wonder of the world & largest Hindu temple Cont’d from page 40

Next time you visit Angkor, please make sure you carry a pair of sun glasses, good walking shoes and caps or umbrellas especially during summer months.

US dollar is widely used and preferred currency over the local one.

There are good bargain hotels everywhere including five star hotels

with prices ranging from eighty to hundred dollars or so.

How to reach Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia is connected by direct flights from Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Ho Chi Minh City, Vientiane and Guangzhou. Direct flight to Siem Reap, where Angkor Wat is located, is available from Bangkok and Singapore. Visitors coming from Thailand and Vietnam can also reach by road. From Phnom Penh, Siem Reap can also be reached over river in six hours.

Angkor Wat lies 5.5 kms north of the modern city of Siem Reap. The Siem Reap area is not very large and you can easily cover it in a bicycle. Motorcycles are another option.

If you are in a group, Tuk tuk is the best option. It is a motorcycle with a hooded carriage and an efficient mode of transport.

Cars and vans can also be hired.

41

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Goa promoting gurudwaras for religious tourism PANAJI: In a bid to strengthen religious tourism, Goa Government is showcasing gurudwaras in the coastal state to attract Sikh pilgrims from northern states.

Goa Tourism Development Cor-

gurudwaras. Tourists from northern India too can visit them, which are second to none," GTDC chairman Nilesh Cabral said.

Goa, which attracted 26 lakh tourists last year, is struggling to

poration (GTDC) showcased gurudwaras as tourist attractions during the road shows in Jalandhar, Amritsar and Shimla recently, besides traditional attractions like the 16th Century churches and temples.

"There is a sizeable population of Sikhs in Goa who visit these

get the footfalls during rains, when it is off season for the tourism industry.

GTDC has been holding roadshows across the country to invite domestic tourists to the state and is offering special packages for the otherwise lean monsoon season, Cabral said.

He said the GTDC also took to social networking sites to spread awareness about the state.

Cabral said that hinterland tourism was promoted during nonpeak months from April to October when tourist swimmers cannot enter sea due to weather conditions.

Tourists are also offered nature trails and glimpse of festivities related to monsoon during their stay here, he added.

Cabral said that the state government was keen to tap huge base of domestic tourists by promoting the state during the non-peak months.

"Similar Road shows are lined up in south India in July and August. GTDC will also participate in travel fairs to vigorously market products on offer by GTDC," he said. -PTI

Chatapal to be developed as a tourist spot SRINAGAR: As part of efforts to bring hitherto unknown places on tourism map, Jammu and Kashmir government has prioritized a project report of Rs eight crore for central funding for development of Chatapal, known as miniPahalgam, in Anantnag district of south Kashmir.

"Once the approval is received from Union Ministry for Tourism, the necessary development and tourist related infrastructure work would be started at Chatapal on Martand-Achabal trek," Tourism Minister G A Mir said.

Mir, who visited several tourism spots of Shangus, Achabal, Wangam, Watersoo, Chirpora, Metvoo and Chatapal, said the pristine glory of pilgrim site Nagdani would be also restored.

"We plan to bring Nagdani on tourism map of the country and a detailed project has also been mooted to the Centre for approval of funds," he said.

"Tourism is the backbone of state's economy and its expansion was the priority of the government," Mir said, adding, "Tourism means the prosperity of the whole

state".

"We should cash tourism and its related activities for accelerating the development of the areas and also providing the much

tourism is also interlinked with promotion of other potential sectors like agriculture, horticulture, handicrafts and handlooms besides adventure, pilgrim and border tourism.

Remains of pre-Ashokan shrines found in Lumbini KATHMANDU: New excava- excavations that concluded retions have unearthed ruins of a cently. thriving village with a shrine in "These two discoveries are Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord great steps which helps us to betBuddha in Nepal, more than a ter understand the origin of Lord thousand years before Emperor Buddha's life and the spiritual imAshoka built monuments there to portance of Lumbini," said spread Buddhism.

Acharya Karma Sango Sherpa, "We have now very robust vice president for the Lumbini Deproof that Lumbini's history extends far before the visit of Emperor Ashoka.

The government of Nepal will stepup efforts to preserve the outstanding universal value of the site," said Sushil Ghimire, Secretary at the Ministry of Tourism and Culture here.

Until now the earliest temples have been attributed to Indian Lumbini, the Birthplace of Lord Buddha Emperor Ashoka, who in the 3rd century BC built a pillar and brick velopment Trust. temple in Lumbini in his efforts to A combined team of Nepalese spread Buddhism across the re- and international experts worked gion. Lumbini is a UNESCO world in the excavations under a heritage site since 1997.

UNESCO project funded by Japan.

With the remains of a village The town of Lumbini in Nepal dating back to as early as 1300 BC is where the Buddha was born as discovered a few hundred meters Prince Gautama Siddhartha, before south of Lord Buddha's birthplace, achieving enlightenment more the history of settlement in the re- than 2,500 years ago. Lumbini was gion has been pushed back by a where the Buddha lived until the thousand years. age of 29.

"For the first time in South Asia, China has recently undertaken excavations have revealed a pre- a project worth USD 3 billion to Ashokan temple of brick, which transform Lumbini into a premier itself was built over an earlier struc- place of pilgrimage for Buddhists ture made of timber," said Robin from around the world, raising conConingham of UK's Durham Uni- cerns in India as the small town is versity, who co-directed interna- situated close to the Indian bortional experts in the months-long der. -PTI

India, Nepal plan joint tourism promotion

needed job opportunities to the youth," he said and appealed all to contribute positively and not link tourism with politics and conflicts for the larger interests of the State.

The Minister said nowadays

"It is the responsibility of all of us to bring complete peace and normalcy in the State for providing congenial atmosphere for not only tourism boom but other trade and commerce activities in the State," he said. -PTI

NEW DELHI: India has accepted Nepal's proposal for joint promotion of tourist destinations, including Buddhist sites, in third countries.

A business delegation of tourism and travel trade from Nepal had a meeting with Tourism Secretary Parvez Dewan and other senior officials of Tourism Ministry here and the Ministry agreed to a proposal from the visiting delegation for joint publicity of India and Nepal as tourist destinations in other countries, said an official statement here.

While suggesting joint venture with Nepal in showcasing Himalayan and adventure tourism, the Ministry has agreed to joint offering of tour packages in third countries by tour operators of both the countries.

According to the statement, the Nepalese delegation sought India's cooperation in the development of Hotel infrastructure in Nepal.

They also suggested joint promotion and development of Buddhist sites in both the countries. PTI

July 12, 2013

Travel & Hospitality Post

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19th century jail to be made a museum UDHAGAMANDALAM, Tamil Nadu: To give impetus to tourism in the region, plans are afoot to convert a jail at Naduvattam, about 30 km from here, which was built to lodge Chinese war prisoners in 1864, into a museum.

The jail, having three structures, was located on a 150-acre tea estate run by the Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation Limited (TANTEA) and remained unnoticed for long as it was hidden behind bushes and trees.

One out of the three structures was recently cleaned and all bushes were removed, after financial aid of Rs six lakh was granted under Hill Area Development Project, official sources said.

The jail comprising two large rooms, nine cells and a big dining room, would accommodate prisoners, who were brought to work in the tea estate developed by Britishers in nearby Manjoor and also in the vicinity, they said.

The prisoners were brought as slaves and made to work in the estate, they said, adding that disobedient prisoners were taken to the gallows, situated in a corner of the structure.

The area was used to cultivate Cinchona tree, the bark of which was used to make medicine for curing Malaria.

TANTEA has tied up with the

tourism department to develop this as a tourist spot, as many things like plates, lanterns and other vessels, used at that time were also found at the estate.

The department has sought more funds for cleaning the area and maintenance of the structures, they said.

Travel to unexplored paths & discover: Kalam SIRSA: Sharing his experiences tinuously, thirdly hard work toof life and mantra of success, wards the aim and last, perseverformer President of India Dr A P J ance to defeat the problem and Abdul Kalam has asked students succeed. to inculcate courage to think difWhen students leave their ferent, to invent, to travel into an schools, a great friend is accompaunexplored path, to discover the nying them. That friend is knowlimpossible, to combat the prob- edge, he said, adding he gave the lems and succeed.

Interacting with students of CMK National When students leave their Girls College here, Kalam delivered a schools, a great friend is speech on the topic "I accompanying them. am born with wings".

Addressing the stuThat friend is knowledge dents and teachers, he said that the ignited mind of the youth is the most pow- knowledge equation, that is: erful resource on the earth, under Knowledge = Creativity + Righthe earth and above the earth. teousness + Courage Discussing the criteria for He said that learning gives creachievement for youth, he said that ativity, creativity leads to thinking, there are four proven steps for it, thinking provides knowledge and the first one is to have an aim in knowledge makes you great. The life before 20 years of age, second next component of knowledge is being, acquiring knowledge con- righteousness.-PTI

Though the structures appear to be dilapidated from the outside, the area could be developed as an international museum with necessary touch-up, the sources said. -PTI

Indians workout, do up hair to get beach-ready NEW DELHI: Indians love to take vacations on a beach according to a new survey, which pegs a majority of local travelers are likely to head for the beach this year.

Results of the 2013 Flip Flop Report, an analysis of behavior and preferences among beach goers in Asia, North America, South America, Europe and Australia by Expedia.com, an online travel agency reveals the preference for beaches among Indians.

"The highest likelihood for beach vacations over the next year comes from Indians at 95 per cent closely followed by South Koreans at 92 per cent," the survey reveals.

The study was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Expedia.com from April 19 to May 15 among 8,606 adults.

40 per cent of Indians start working out before heading for a beach vacation, with this trend being led by Brazil with 48% and Mexico and South Korea with 44 per cent each. Indians are most

conscious about their hairdo, with 37 per cent of Indians getting their hair done before their beach vacation, followed by Brazilians (32 per cent).

"Indian beach vacationers most conscious about their 'looks' at beach with 26 per cent travelers even postponing their vacations

to get in shape," the study says.

Another finding of the study is that 27 per cent of Indians go for tanning before vacations. Norway leads this trend, with 37 per cent of people doing so before vacations.

Indians are the top spa lovers, with 30 per cent of them going for treatments before heading to their beach vacation. -PTI

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Macau to tap Kolkata tourism market KOLKATA: China's special administrative region Macau, considers Indian city Kolkata as a "prospective and potential" tourism market and seeks to tap it.

"We consider Kolkata as a market with a huge number of potential visitors to Macau and we are leaving no stone unturned to tap this market," a spokesman of the Macau government tourism office, attending the ongoing Travel and Tourism Fair here, said.

Macau has posted about 1.51 lakh visitor arrivals from India in 2012. This year, Macau Tourism Board looks forward to capturing a bigger market share of outbound tourists from key tourist markets like Kolkata, he said.

"This year we are focusing on promoting our various incentive programs that are in offer in Macau.

In line with our strategy, we are adding cities like Ahmedabad and Hyderabad on our radar and we are looking at promoting customized offers to meet the needs of the travelers from these cities," the spokesman added. -PTI

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In Brief 93 foreign-born sex offenders arrested in NY NEW YORK: Immigration authorities say they have arrested 93 foreign-born sex offenders in New York through a targeted enforcement initiative.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say that of the 93 people arrested, 67 were child predators convicted of sex offenses involving minors. The remaining offenders were convicted of victimizing adults.

With the exception of one woman from Ecuador convicted of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl, all of those arrested were men.

They were from more than 20 countries including Afghanistan, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic.

They were picked up between June 17 and June 28. -AP

125 people become American citizens at NH event PORTSMOUTH, N.H.: There are 125 people who have become American citizens at a ceremony at Strawberry Banke Museum in Portsmouth, N.H. Officials from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Field Office administered the Oath of Allegiance to the group.

The participants originate from 57 countries. They live throughout the state.

The ceremony is part of the immigration agency's annual celebration of Independence Day, which involves more than 7,800 candidates becoming citizens at more than 100 special ceremonies across the country. ``You come from diverse cultures, and this will enrich our cultural lives with the music, foods, and crafts you bring to your new country,'' U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said, addressing the new citizens. ``America's greatness always has come from being a nation of immigrants. This is as true today as it was at the founding of this nation 237 years ago,'' she said. ``I thank you for all you and your children and grandchildren will contribute to making America an even greater country.''

Shaheen also discussed the bipartisan immigration reform package she voted for last week.

She said she thought it was important for the Senate to pass it before the Fourth of July, ``just as becoming citizens on the Fourth of July no doubt makes this great achievement even more meaningful for you.'' -AP

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House passage uncertain for Senate Bill Details on page 45

Two years after immigration laws, Georgia & Alabama stable VIDALIA, Ga.: Two years after Georgia and Alabama passed laws designed to drive away people living in the country illegally, the states' agricultural areas are still heavily populated with foreign workers, many of whom don't have legal authorization to be here.

There are still concerns over enforcement and lingering fears among immigrants, but in many ways it appears that people have gone on with life much as it was before the laws were enacted.

Farmers say many of the foreign workers have returned because the laws are not heavily enforced and it once again seems safe to be here.

But the story is more complicated than that: Some are still staying away or have gone underground, according to community activists, and some farmers say they are filling labor shortages not with returning immigrants but with workers hired through a program that grants temporary legal visas.

Meanwhile, employers and workers in both states are watch-

ing as Congress wrestles over plans that aim to simultaneously prevent future illegal immigration and offer a chance at citizenship for millions now living in the country illegally.

preme Court.

Immediately after the laws were passed, farmers in both states complained that foreign workers who lived there had left and that the itinerant migrants who gener-

Georgia and Alabama were two of five states to pass tough crackdowns on illegal immigration in 2011, a year after Arizona made headlines for a hard-line immigration enforcement law that ended up being challenged in the U.S. Su-

ally came through were staying away. American workers weren't stepping forward to perform the back-breaking work immigrants had done for years, and crops were rotting in the fields because of a lack of laborers, they said.

An informal survey conducted in Georgia showed that farmers of onions, watermelons and other hand-picked crops lacked more than 11,000 workers during their spring and summer harvests of 2011, Georgia Department of Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black told a U.S. Senate subcommittee hearing on immigration enforcement and farm labor.

But then as courts began blocking significant elements of the law and some loopholes became apparent, some of the workers who had fled for fear of arrest and deportation returned. Others were drawn back by their longstanding ties to the communities.

Victor Valentin, 25, and his wife, Maria Gonzales, 23, came to the Vidalia onion growing region in south Georgia five years ago and found work quickly. But when the state passed its law cracking down on illegal immigration, they feared they would be caught and deported, and left for neighboring North Carolina.

Cont'd on Page 46

London Mayor wants amnesty for illegal immigrants LONDON: London Mayor Boris Johnson has called for an amnesty for illegal immigrants who had stayed here for 10 to 12 years so that they can pay taxes.

Prime Minister David Cameron had rejected the idea last week, warning that it would send out a 'terrible signal of Britain as a soft touch'.

Johnson defied warnings from Cameron to back the idea of allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the UK. The ruling coalition has sought to take a tougher line on immigration, unveiling a raft of measures to curb benefit tourism and deport people in the UK illegally.

But Johnson said the failure of border agency staff and the police to find illegal immigrants and send them home meant there was already effectively an amnesty in place.

And he blamed 'ambulancechasing lawyers' who clogged up the legal system with repeated appeals against deportation.

Boris Johnson

Appearing on his new monthly radio phone-in on LBC 97.3, the London Mayor said: "This is a chronic problem and if you look at what has happened

in this country over the last 20 years, we have continuously failed to evict anybody."

"If you look at the number of people who are staying here illegally and you measure that against the number that are meant to be on planes, it is absolutely astonishingly small."

"The culture of human rights, the immense power of the ambulance-chasing lawyers who immediately come in and offer people protection against eviction, insert all sorts of delays into the procedure. It is blindingly difficult to get people on to planes.

"They melt away into the maquis, into the undergrowth, and

they are lost again. It is one of the reasons people lost confidence in the immigration system."

According to media reports there are more than 500,000 illegal immigrants in the UK. Johnson also said he could be tempted to run for mayor again - but only if hundreds of thousands of people line the streets demanding it.

The Mayor of London dodged questions about his ambitions to be Prime Minister when his term ends in 2016.

Instead he said he has been talking to friends about the possibility of breaking his promise to only serve eight years in City Hall.

Johnson joked that he could be persuaded to stand again if London saw a 'Reverse Morsi', referring to the mass protests taking place in Cairo against the Egyptian president. -PTI

Immigration Post

July 12, 2013

India Post 45

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House passage uncertain for Senate Bill

O

n June 27, 2013, the full Senate passed compre hensive immigration reform legislation, 68-32. All Democrats voted for the bill; 14 Republicans joined them. The bill includes a lengthy pathway to provisional legal status, permanent residence, and eventual U.S. citizenship for up to 11 million un-

CYRUS D. MEHTA

the vote, chants of "Yes we can" and "Si se puede" were heard from the public gallery after the bill passed. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) called it a "historic day."

Meanwhile, a bipartisan group in the House is working on its own version of comprehensive immigration reform, but observers expect that the House may pass immigra-

It also includes enforcement and border control measures like finishing a 700-mile fence along the border with Mexico, deploying an additional 20,000 Border Patrol agents, and mandating E-Verify. documented persons.

It also includes enforcement and border control measures like finishing a 700-mile fence along the border with Mexico, deploying an additional 20,000 Border Patrol agents, and mandating EVerify. Despite the potential costs, the Congressional Budget Office estimated that if the bill became law, it would reduce the United States' deficit by almost $900 billion over the next 10 years.

A celebratory atmosphere ensued after the vote. Despite admonishments from Vice President Joseph Biden, who presided over

tion-related legislation piece by piece instead of voting for a comprehensive bill. House Speaker John Boehner said, "The House is not going to take up and vote on whatever the Senate passes.

We're going to do our own bill."

He said representatives would go home for recess and "listen to our constituents. And when we get back, we're going to…have a discussion about the way forward."

Supreme Court's DOMA ruling opens door to immigration benefits for same-sex spouses About 30,000 same-sex binational couples may now be eligible

for immigration benefits, such as permanent residence based on marriage, thanks to the Supreme Court's decision on June 26 in United States v. Windsor, which struck down the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) as unconstitutional.

That law had prohibited the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages, regardless of whether they were legally valid in certain states or in other countries, and from conferring federal benefits on same-sex spouses that are enjoyed by heterosexual spouses.

Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, said she applauded the decision. "Working with our federal partners, including the Department of Justice, we will implement today's decision so that all married couples will be treated equally and fairly in the administration of our immigration laws," she said.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas said that USCIS has a list of marriage-based green card petitions that were filed since February 2011 by same-sex binational couples but were denied.

He hinted that the cases might

Analysis favors Senate bill for immigration curbs WASHINGTON: Comprehensive immigration legislation passed by the Senate would reduce illegal immigration into the US by one-third to one-half beyond what would happen under existing law, the Congressional Budget Office said.

That's a significantly greater reduction than the budget office said would have resulted from an earlier version of the bill approved by the Senate Judiciary Commit-

greatly boost border security in the bill and take steps against people who overstay their visas.

Those changes helped the legislation pass the Democratic-controlled Senate with a bipartisan 6832 majority last week. It's now pending in the Republican-led House, where it faces an uncertain future.

The CBO also said that despite spending 36 billion more on border security than would have hap-

Some 11 million immigrants already here illegally would be able to attain citizenship over 13 years, if they pay fines and taxes and meet certain requirements. New and expanded worker visa progras would allow tens of thousands of new workers into the country for high-skilled and low-skilled professions. tee, which would have cut illegal immigration only by 25 per cent.

Partly in response to that earlier finding, senators agreed to

pened under earlier versions of the bill, the legislation would still reduce the budget deficit by USD 158 billion over 10 years and 685

billion in the decade after that.

Taxes paid by newly legalized residents would outpace new spending for government benefits and other costs under the bill.

The legislation would double border patrol agents stationed along the US-Mexico border while calling for hundreds of miles of fencing and requiring all businesses to check their workers' legal status.

Some 11 million immigrants already here illegally would be able to attain citizenship over 13 years, if they pay fines and taxes and meet certain requirements. New and expanded worker visa progras would allow tens of thousands of new workers into the country for high-skilled and low-skilled professions.

Under the bill as passed, the reprt found, there would be around 2.4 million fewer immigrants coming illegally into the country or illegally overstaying their visas over the next 10 years than would happen under current law. -AP

be reopened once implementing instructions issue. Secretary Napolitano issued further guidance indicating that cases can be filed immediately and that they will be treated equally like any other marriage.

The Supreme Court's ruling doesn't apply to same-sex couples in states that don't recognize gay

iCERT Portal on June 18, 2013. The DOL made minor changes "to clarify information needed for more efficient application processing."

Requests submitted before June 18 using the iCERT Visa Portal System based on the previous ETA Form 9141 will be completed and returned using that version of the form, the DOL said. Any

There is disagreement among legal observers about whether a gay couple who gets married in one state and moves to another state that doesn't recognize the marriage will still be entitled to federal benefits. marriage, only to the 13 states that do. There is disagreement among legal observers about whether a gay couple who gets married in one state and moves to another state that doesn't recognize the marriage will still be entitled to federal benefits.

DOL releases new version of application for prevailing wage determination The Department of Labor (DOL) has released a new version of Form 9131, Application for Prevailing Wage Determination.

The revised version of Form 9141 was implemented on the

form initiated in a user's system but not yet submitted by that date, however, will not be accepted. In addition, requests on the previous version of Form 9141 can no longer be "reused" in iCERT to submit a new request for processing.

Users can complete a new form by logging into their iCERT Portal account, clicking on "Begin New ETA Form 9141," and completing all the mandatory fields. * Cyrus D Mehta, may be contacted at 212-425-0555 or info@cyrusmehta.com

India considering visa on arrival for Mauritiuns PORT LOUIS: Pitching for liberalized visa regime among Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) members, India has said it is considering visa on arrival facility for citizens from Mauritius and many other countries in the region to boost regional cooperation and trade.

Speaking at the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation (IOR-ARC) Economic and Business Conference here, Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma said the region has exhibited healthy prospects for both international and intra-regional trade.

He said that visa regimes in the countries of the region need to be further liberalized.

"India is considering visa on arrival for many countries, including Mauritius," he said.

Trade ministers from IOR-ARC 20 member states and the six dialogue partner states (China, Egypt, France, Japan, UK and USA) have gathered here participate in the two-day IOR-ARC Economic and Business Conference.

Sharma said IOR region as a

whole has managed to maintain a trade surplus in most years of the last decade even when the economies elsewhere were getting affected by global slowdown.

"We have identified the key areas and our business leaders are keen to take it forward," he said.

Sharma, however, voiced concern that despite setting up of a Working Group on Trade and Investment, not much progress has been made for achieving substantial outcomes.

"As a result, the need for this Conference is to initiate the process of deliberations and gather suggestions of the business leaders for chartering the future roadmap of engagement, focused on enhancing trade and investment as an engine of economic growth and prosperity with businesses driving the growth agenda as partners in progress," he said.

IOR-ARC members include Australia, Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, UAE. PTI

Immigration Post

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Immigration, student loan top congressional agenda WASHINGTON: Republicans and Democrats will put good will to the test when Congress returns to potentially incendiary fights over nominations, unresolved disputes over student loans and the farm bill, and the uncertainty of whether lawmakers have the political will to rewrite the nation's immigration laws.

The cooperation evident in the Senate last month with passage of a bipartisan immigration bill could be wiped out immediately if Majority Leader Harry Reid, DNev., frustrated with GOP delaying tactics on judges and nominations, tries to change the Senate rules by scrapping the current three-fifths majority for a simple majority.

Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky has indicated it's a decision Reid could regret if the GOP seizes Senate control in next year's elections. ``Once the Senate definitively breaks the rules to change the rules, the pressure to respond in kind will be irresistible to future majorities,'' McConnell said last month, looking ahead to 2014 when Democrats have to defend 21 seats to the GOP's 14.

McConnell envisioned a long list of reversals from the Democratic agenda, from repealing

President Barack Obama's health care law to shipping radioactive nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain in Reid's home state of Nevada.

Recently elected Democrats have clamored for changes in Sen-

The GOP also has challenged Obama's three judicial nominees to the powerful U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit as they've tried to eliminate the vacancies.

Majority Leader Harry Reid

ate rules as Obama has faced Republican resistance to his nominations.

Two Cabinet-rank choices _ Tom Perez as labor secretary and Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency _ could be approved by the Senate this month after a loud debate over administration policies.

Reid had served notice in April that the Democratic majority could change the Senate rules on ``any given day,'' and he was willing to do so if necessary.

In the Republican-controlled House, courteous behavior, even within the GOP ranks, has barely been perceptible with the ignominious failure of the farm bill.

Some collaboration will be necessary if the House is to move ahead on immigration legislation this month.

Conservatives from safe, gerrymandered House districts have rebuffed appeals from some national Republicans who argue that embracing immigration overhaul will boost the party's political standing with an increasingly diverse electorate, especially in the 2016 presidential election.

The conservatives strongly oppose any legislation offering legalization to immigrants living here illegally.

Reflecting the will of the rank and file, House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio and other Republicans have said the comprehensive Senate immigration bill that couples the promise of citizenship for those living here unlawfully with increased border security is a nonstarter in the House.

Republicans were assessing the views of their constituents during the weeklong July Fourth break and planned to discuss their next steps at a private meeting. ``I think what members need before we proceed on the actual immigration reform is an ironclad guarantee that the border is go-

ing to be secure,'' Rep. Matt Salmon, R-Ariz., said just before the recess. He didn't see any urgency to acting quickly. ``I find it very interesting the argument that we can't wait till the border is secure, we can't even do a six-month test to make sure ... we have to get them out of the shadows immediately,'' Salmon said. ``They've been in the shadows for 20 years, and another six months is going to break their backs? I mean come on, that's not even a valid argument.''

Rep. Michael McCaul, RTexas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Republicans would be hashing out ``two key hot spots'' in the meeting: the pathway to citizenship and health care. ``We need to be the party of solutions and not always obstructing. And, so, I think there's an effort here that we have a broken immigration system. We need to fix this immigration system,'' McCaul said on CBS' ``Face the Nation,'' predicting that the full House could take up immigration as early as this month and representatives from both chambers could be working to resolve differences in the House and Senate versions late this year or early next.-AP

Two years after immigration laws, Georgia & Alabama stable Cont'd from Page 44

They didn't last long. With two young children and no support network there, life was difficult. At the same time, the situation in Georgia seemed to have calmed down. ``We still talked to people here, and we heard there weren't really any problems, that things hadn't really changed,'' Valentin said, explaining that the family decided to return to the Vidalia area after about nine months. He's found work harvesting pine straw since his return.

This year, Black and a number of industry leaders in Georgia told The Associated Press they haven't heard of any labor shortages.

The situation in Alabama is similar. ``No one seems to be having any problems,'' said Alabama's agriculture commissioner, John McMillan, who added that he has spoken with farmers who saw migrants return once it became clear the law passed in Alabama was, in practice, mostly toothless. Courts blocked most of the law's toughest sections, including one that

required public schools to check students' citizenship status, and the massive arrests envisioned by some simply didn't happen.

Also, according to government statistics, thousands of employers in Alabama have been ignoring a provision in the state's immigration law that requires them to register with the federal E-Verify

ers in the Vidalia area for more than 20 years.

Other laborers who had worked their way up from the fields into more stable factory or construction work have turned to less stable jobs because businesses are starting to use E-Verify, a key provision of the Georgia law, Hinojosa said.

``We still talked to people here, and we heard there weren't really any problems, that things hadn't really changed,'' Valentin said, explaining that the family decided to return to the Vidalia area after about nine months.

He's found work harvesting pine straw since his return. system, a program to electronically verify workers' legal status.

And yet, at least in Georgia, the story is a bit more complicated than it may seem on the surface.

Some migrant families - both legally and illegally in the country - are indeed still avoiding Georgia because they fear discrimination and profiling, said Andrea Hinojosa, a community organizer who has worked with Latino work-

``I think it has probably put people back into hiding, put them back in the shadows,'' Hinojosa said. ``It doesn't mean they're not working. It could mean that they have just found a job where they can't be detected.''

Maria Barbosa, a legal permanent resident from Mexico, opened Los Olivos, a store that caters to the Vidalia area's Latino population, in July 2008. She estimates

that her profits at the store, which stocks international phone cards, traditional foods and party supplies, dropped by about 30 percent after Georgia's law passed. It has rebounded somewhat in the past two years, but it's still not as strong as it was, she said.

One reason labor shortages in the fields have subsided - in addition to the return of migrant workers who had fled - is that some of the biggest farms in the area have started using or increased their use of a federal guest-worker program to bring in foreign workers legally.

Farmer R.T. Stanley of Stanley Farms, which grows more than 1,000 acres of onions, as well as other crops and vegetables in the area, is one of them.

Stanley said he has started to use more legal guest workers, who are brought into the country on a visa for a defined period of time, because he is not able to find as many experienced migrant workers locally as he used to.

For Barbosa, that can hurt business, because guest workers aren't nearly as reliable as customers as those who settle in and develop attachments to a community.

``They'll come in and buy some beans and tortillas and then send $1,000 to Guatemala,'' she said of the guest workers.

Many farmers have long complained the federal guest-worker program is too rigid and difficult to use. ``We know we've got to deal with the rules, and we do,'' said Bob Stafford, director of the Vidalia Onion Business Council. ``We do the best we can with them.''

Now farmers and workers both are turning their attention to the debate over national immigration reform and are hoping for provisions that will help them. ``We need a real good guestworker program,'' Stafford said, ``something that will work ... for the growers and for the workers and for the community.''

Barbosa, whose husband works as a crew leader recruiting and overseeing field workers for farmers, is also watching Washington. ``People have hope,'' she said. ``But there's been a lot of talk about immigration reform before and nothing has happened, so there's still a lot of doubt.'' -AP

Immigration Post

July 12, 2013

India Post 47

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Farmers worry about fate of bills ATWOOD, Mich: The immigration debate is focused on border security and people in the country illegally, but the nation's farmers are hoping for legislation that makes it easier for them to hire workers.

Producers of cherries, apples and other fruits in Michigan say the immigration crackdown is leaving them short of laborers to harvest their crops.

The same complaint is heard from Christmas tree growers in the Appalachians, dairy farmers in Wisconsin and California's many fruit and vegetable operations.

A recently approved Senate bill would let experienced farm workers become eligible for yearround residency. Another new program would let farmers hire foreign ``guest workers'' under temporary visas. But conservative critics say those programs amount to ``amnesty.''

For northern Michigan fruit grower Pat McGuire, the most potent symbol of the immigration debate isn't grainy television footage showing people slipping furtively across the U.S.-Mexican border. Instead, it's plump red cherries and crisp apples rotting on the ground because there aren't enough workers to pick them - a scenario that could become reality over the next couple of months.

Across the state's orchard belt,

cherry trees already sag under the weight of bright-red clusters, yet many trailers and wood-frame cottages that should be bustling with migrant families stand empty.

McGuire is waiting to hear whether crews will show up to pick his crop in mid-July.

shortly. But with agriculture's once-mighty political influence in decline as its workforce has fallen to 2 percent of the population, it's uncertain how the industry will fare. Farmers' complaints about a shrinking labor pool are being overshadowed by the ideologi-

A recently approved Senate bill would let experienced farm workers become eligible for year-round residency. Another new program would let farmers hire foreign ``guest workers'' under temporary visas. But conservative critics say those programs amount to ``amnesty.'' ``We're running out of time,'' he said, pulling aside leafy branches to inspect his ripening fruit on gently sloping hillsides a mile inland from Lake Michigan.

From Christmas tree growers in the Appalachians to Wisconsin dairy farmers and producers of California's diverse abundance of fruits and vegetables, agricultural leaders are pleading with Congress for an immigration bill that includes more lenient and less complex rules for hiring farm workers.

A measure that recently cleared the Democratic-led Senate contained provisions that the farm lobby said were promising. The Republican-controlled House is expected to take up the issue

cally charged issues of border security and giving legal status to people in the country illegally.

McGuire, 42, a self-described conservative who usually votes Republican, was among representatives of the American Farm Bureau Federation who made their case on Capitol Hill last week. His Michigan group went to the offices of eight lawmakers and to the Senate floor, buttonholing members or their staffers. ``Each office had their party speech,'' McGuire said, recalling one member's argument about border security. But the border must already be pretty secure, McGuire said, ``because we don't have the labor in this country that we used to have.''

Nepal court stays India agreement on immigration KATHMANDU: Nepal's Supreme Court has stayed implementation of the recently concluded agreement with India to upgrade the immigration system at Tribhuvan International Airport here and to set up immigration check-posts at Lumbini and Pashupatinagar.

A single bench of Justice Tarka Raj Bhatta issued the stay order

following a hearing, court sources said. The writ was filed by advocate Prasad Pandit.

In the writ petition, the advocate has claimed that the agreement inked by the Home Secretaries of Nepal and India on June 1 for upgrading the immigration system at the country's only international airport and set up Indian immigration offices in the two bordering cities

has breached the Interim Constitution.

The election government has no authority to ink such an agreement, he added.

India has been keen since 1999 to ink the agreement for upgrading the immigration system at Tribhuvan International Airport.

The Indian concern rose after the 1999 Kandahar hijack incident.-PTI

Michigan farmers hire about 45,000 seasonal workers in the typical year, many of them immigrants. Some of the asparagus crop was left in the field this spring because too few pickers were available.

In neighboring Wisconsin, immigrant workers make up more than 40 percent of the hired labor force at increasingly large dairy operations, according to a 2008 University of Wisconsin study.

Kevin Krentz, who milks 500 cows near Berlin, said finding enough help locally is a constant struggle. ``It's not a job that's 9-to-5,'' Krentz said. ``It's a job that's done when the cows are fed, when the cows are milked, when the crops are harvested.''

The situation poses a test for the House GOP, said Tom Nassif,

president of Western Growers, a trade organization that represents the fresh produce industry in California and Arizona. A Republican who held several positions in the Reagan administration, Nassif said some in the party are so concerned about illegal immigration that they're trying to sabotage any chance for reform.

But if the House doesn't find something it can pass, he said, voters ``are going to lose complete faith in the party's ability to legislate. All the national statistics show the American people believe in immigration reform.''

The industry insists its chronic labor shortage isn't a matter of low pay, but too few Americans willing to deal with the long hours, hot weather and other hardships of farm labor.-AP

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48 India Post

MACAU: Vidya Balan took home the Best Actress award at IIFA 2013 for her portrayal of a pregnant woman in search of her husband in 'Kahaani' while Ranbir Kapoor was named Best Actor for 'Barfi!' here.

While receiving her award from Abhishek Bachchan, Vidya made a special mention of her director Shoojit Sircar.

"I want to dedicate this award to my director Shoojit. This award belongs to him.

No one has ever loved anyone else's wife as Shoojit loved Vidya Bagchi (name of her character) in the film. I am never short of awards and won my first award at IIFA Amsterdam after I played Abhishek's wife in 'Paa'," she said.

Ranbir, who played a deaf-mute boy in 'Barfi!', was not present at the ceremony and

July 12, 2013

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the gong was accepted on his behalf by the film's director Anurag Basu.

These trophies are the Ranbir and Vidya's second best actor awards after they bagged the same honors for 'Rockstar' and 'The Dirty Picture' respectively.

Basu's romantic-comedy 'Barfi!', which won many awards throughout the year, bagged the best film, director, story and music awards at the 14th edition of the Bollywood extravaganza leaving behind 'Agneepath', 'Vicky Donor' and 'Gangs of Wasseypur'.

Former couple Ranbir and Deepika Padukone won best Jodi award.

Deepika, on accepting the award, said, "I love Ranbir and (am) missing him."

'Vicky Donor' stars Yami Gautam and

Shah Rukh Khan receives the Digital Star of the Year award during the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards

Ayushmann Khurrana won the best debut awards in the female and male categories, respectively.

'English Vinglish' helmer Gauri Shinde bagged the best debut director award.

"It feels like I am living in a dream. This is going to be my last debut award. In future,

Deepika Padukone performs during the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) awards in Macau, Saturday, July 6

if I don't get any award I will be happy in every situation," Ayushmann said.

The glitzy ceremony kicked off with a dance

by Abhishek Bachchan while other celebrities like Sridevi, Prabhudeva, Sushant Singh Rajput, Madhuri Dixit and Deepika Padukone, too, gave scintillating performances. -PTI

Madhuri Dixit performs during the IIFA awards function

July 12, 2013

India Post 49 www.indiapost.com

Milkha meets Fauja in London India Post News Service

LONDON: It was a starry

enade sporting icon Milkha Singh who in fact inspired Fauja Singh to start his exciting Marathon ca-

Milkha Singh with Fauja Singh

evening in Southall when Flying Sikh Milkha Singh visited Sri Guru Singh Sabha Gurudwara to meet Fauja Singh, the 'World's oldest Marathon Man'. The community joined them in full force to ser-

reer.

The UK tour of 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag' was presented by Deepak Kuntawala, the multi-award winning entrepreneur who recently

charted into new territory when he established DVK Global Entertainment Investment. DVK is the official Global Partner for Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and the partnership with the film marks the fund's official launch in July 2013 and its entry into the Indian film industry, after its successful foray into Hollywood when it brought the cinematic icon Al Pacino to the London Palladium for a sold-out audience with an event in June 2013.

During the first ever meeting between the two sporting legends, Fauja Singh presented Milkha Singh with a special Sikhs in the City T-shirt as a memento.

Milkha Singh said he feels honoured that Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra is directing the biopic based on his life and struggle, and hence decided to accompany him during the global promotions for the film'. Bhaag Milkha Bhaag reveals the hardships and inspirational life story of the 78 year-old and features Farhan Akhtar as Milkha Singh.

VIP Gala Screening An array of Bollywood and international stars turned out on Friday, 5th July for the UK VIP Gala

Screening of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag ('Run Milkha Run') at the plush Mayfair Hotel in Central London.

Walking the star-studded red carpet were the film's stars Farhan Akhtar, Sonam Kapoor and Art

majestic red carpet. Sonam Kapoor cut a dashing figure in a stylish couture outfit.

After the gala screening, the stars of the film, VIPs, dignitaries and public figures attended an ex-

Sonam Kapoor, Prasoon, Deepak, Art Malik

Malik as well as its Bafta-nominated director Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, its writer Prasoon Joshi and the inspiration for the film, the Indian legend Milkha Singh himself. An excited crowd gathered to get a glimpse of their idols as they walked the

clusive after-party. The gathering featured an exquisite Mehfil (courtly entertainment) night of beautiful Ghazals (musical poetry recitations) by acclaimed singer Tauseef, a disciple of Ghazal maestro Jagjit Singh.

Sonam did the film for Rs 11 India Post News Service

S

onam Kapoor was asked for her views following the great response to her film 'Bhaag Milkha Bhaag.' She said, "I feel great actually, I'm really

proud to be a part of this film. I love working with Rakeysh Mehra,

so to be a part of Milkha is amazing because it's such an inspirational story, and the inspiration for Milkha is my character, so I think it's beautiful being a part of the story."

As for the reason why she did the film, Sonam said, "I did Bhaag

Milkha Bhaag because it was an outstanding script. I wanted to work with Farhan Akhtar and I

wanted to again work with Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. My role is a pivotal role, and it was an honor to play the part.

As for her not charging for the film, she said, "They had a budget and they told me they can't give

money and that's why I said give Rs 11 and I will do the film. I love Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. For

me he is somebody who gave me a lot of confidence and helped me open up. I went through a bad patch after Saawariya. When I went on the sets of Delhi 6 he made me feel beautiful and made me feel talented. I was a young kid and wasn't confident about who I am and he gave me the confidence and I will always be grateful for that. I did Bhaag Milkha Bhaag for

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Even if he asked me to walk backwards in the frame I would do it.

Sonam said she was teary eyed at the promo because it showed the blood, sweat and toil of everyone who has worked on the film.

"This is why I started crying. You guys have seen the trailer and you must have understood the kind of work we have done in the film."

50 India Post

July 12, 2013 www.indiapost.com

Shah Rukh meets his screen daughter

G

uess who was most ex cited about meeting Shah Rukh Khan on the sets of 'Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa'? It was his on-screen daughter Sana Saeed, who is one of the participants on the reality show. SRK and Sana had played fatherdaughter in 'Kuch Kuch Hota Hai', 15 years ago.

Shah Rukh, who was on the

In fact, he continued to be her protective dad on the show. Says a source, "When Siddharth Shukla chose Sana for a special performance, SRK allowed him to dance with her but told him not to touch her during the performance. For a better view, he even left his seat and stood behind them! It was fun and entertaining as SRK was in his true ele-

"When Siddharth Shukla chose Sana for a special performance, SRK allowed him to dance with her but told him not to touch her during the performance. For a better view, he even left his seat and stood behind them!

It was fun and entertaining as SRK was in his true element." dance show to promote his film Chennai Express, said he could not believe that Sana has grown up and turned into a beautiful young girl. But for him, she would always be his little Anjali.

ment."

Also, in a mini-reunion of sorts, SRK and judge Madhuri Dixit-Nene recreated the magic of their romantic hit Dil To Pagal Hai. Shah Rukh Khan and Sana Saeed

Soft & shy girl but fiery if need be

R

icha Chadda is the latest art-house pin-up girl. After the successful 'Fukrey' she will be seen next in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 'Ram Leela'.

Excerpts from an interview: What is the real Richa Chadda like?

I am fairly soft and shy and I take my time to open up to people.

I have very few friends, but I am quite close to the friends that I

have. I am private to a large extent and I think I am fiery only when there is an extreme need to be.

If you had to choose between a Dibakar Banerjee and a Karan Johar film, which one would you choose?

I'd ask them to get into a coproduction and thereby work with both, where one directs and the other produces.

What is your style mantra?

My style mantra is comfort with a hint of sensuality and quirkiness.

You don't have to be a label whore.

Do what looks good on you, your body type, your complexion and your culture as opposed to following some Milan trend blindly. Do what you can rock.

What is the craziest thing you have done so far?

The craziest and the naughtiest thing I've ever done was in high school, when one of my teachers got upset with me. I was a good mimic, so I called up other teachers and with teacher A, I pretended to be teacher B, with Teacher B, I pretended to be teacher C and called them all to attend the funeral of the teacher who was mad at me. It was insensitive but fun and we students attended the funeral too.

What is your idea of a romantic

date?

My idea of a romantic date is a

Richa Chadda

really cosy room with a fragrant candle, nice upholstery, DVD, some nice lounge music, maybe

some red wine and home-cooked meal, which is really intimate as opposed to going to a fancy restaurant, where everybody is minding their table manners. My idea of romance is very intimate and closed.

If not an actress, you'd be?

I would have been a photographer or a writer. I'd be a photojournalist... that would be ideal!

What do awards mean to you?

The best moment of my life was holding the Filmfare Award in my hand for my first movie.

Tell us about Ram Leela?

There's very little I can say about Raseela, my character in Ram Leela, except that she is someone with a lot of sensuality, feminity, and a lot of grace and elegance. She has all the qualities that I think are there ideally in a woman.

Classifieds

July 12, 2013

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CHICAGO COMPANY NEEDS

PERSONAL ASSISTANT A Chicago company is looking for

PERSONAL ASSISTANT. The position will not disturb your present job, Applicant Must be English speaking,computer literate with good typing skills.

Age: 18yrs & above can apply. salary is $350 per week.

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Notice is hereby given that sealed competitive bids will be accepted in the office of the GSA-Purchasing Department, County of Alameda, 1401 Lakeside Drive, Suite 907, Oakland, CA 94612 NETWORKING BIDDERS CONFERENCES RFP #901116 Forensic Toxicology Testing Services North CountyWednesday, July 17, 2013, 10:00 a.m. – General Services Agency, Room 228, 1401 Lakeside Dr., Oakland, CA South County-Thursday, July 18, 2013, 2:00 p.m. – Public Works Agency, Conference Room 405, 4825 Gleason Drive, Dublin, CA Response Due by 2:00 p.m. on August 22, 2013. County Contact: Evelyn Benzon (510) 208-9622 or via email: evelyn.benzon@acgov.org Attendance at Networking Conference is Non-mandatory. Information regarding the above may be obtained at the Alameda County Current Contracting Opportunities Internet website at www.acgov.org 7/12/13 CNS-2502830#

Notice is hereby given that sealed competitive bids will be accepted in the office of the GSA-Purchasing Department, County of Alameda, 1401 Lakeside Drive, Suite 907, Oakland, CA 94612 NETWORKING BIDDERS CONFERENCES for RFP #901136 Early Care and Education Needs Assessment North County – Monday, July 22, 2013 at 2:00 PM, General Services Agency, Room 1107, 11th Floor, 1401 Lakeside Drive, Oakland, CA and South County –Tuesday, July 23, 2013 at 10:00 AM, Public Works Agency, Room 405, 4825 Gleason Drive, Dublin, CA Response Due by 2:00 pm on August 16, 2013 County Contact: Lovell Laurente (510) 208-9621 or via email: lovell.laurente@acgov.org Attendance at Networking Conference is Non-mandatory. Specifications regarding the above may be obtained at the Alameda County GSA Current Contracting Opportunities Internet website at www.acgov.org.

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52 India Post

Perspective

July 12, 2013

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Bihar principal operational base for Islamist terrorists

B

ihar has not witnessed any major Islamist terrorist attack in the past, and Buddhist sites across India have also remained exempt from such strikes. Fairly specific intelligence regarding an imminent threat to the Bodh Gaya site in particular, and Buddhist targets in general, particularly in the wake of the organized attacks against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar, had been communicated to the Bihar Government. Despite these, rudimentary processes of access control and surveillance appear to have been ignored, even as the terrorists succeeded in planting at least four explosive devices within the core area of the shrine.

Rarely has precedent intelligence been as specific as it was in the case of the threat to Bodh Gaya. Most significantly, Indian Mujahiddeen (IM) operatives Syed Maqbool, Asad Khan, Langde Irfan Mustafa, Imran Khan and Syed Feroz aka Hamza - all arrested by the Delhi Police Special Cell in September-October 2012 - had revealed during interrogations in October 2012 that Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad and Buddhist Temples in Bodh Gaya had been reconnoitered by them on instructions from Pakistan-based IM founder Riyaz Bhatkal.

Crucially, twin blasts had been engineered in Hyderabad's Dilsukhnagar on February 21, 2013, resulting in 17 killed and 117 injured, confirming the reliability of the disclosures. Other targets where the four had carried out reconnaissance included Delhi's Chandni Chowk and Sadar Bazar; Mumbai' McDonald restaurant at Andheri Station, shops near the Santa Cruz Station, the Dadar Bus Stop, Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Panvel Station, as well as some areas in Bandra and Jogeshwari. All these are crowded public places which could be expected to yield significant mass casualties in the event of an attack.

AJAI SAHNI

ticular, and to wider Buddhist targets in general, has been some time in existence.

Lashkar-e-Taiba chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed had tweeted, on June 14, 2013, "Indian government is working in cahoots with Burmese Government to wipe out Muslim population of Burma"; and again, "It is also an obligation on the whole Muslim Ummah to defend the rights and honor of Rohingya Muslims in Burma."

Even earlier, Ustad Farooq, the head of Al-Qaeda's 'preaching and media department' for Pakistan, had warned, in September 2012, that the killings of Muslims in Myanmar and Assam "provide impetus for us to hasten our advance towards Delhi‌ I warn the Indian Government that after Kashmir, Gujarat‌ you may add Assam to the long list of your evil deeds."

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) has now issued an advisory to all States, asking them to beef up security at Buddhist shrines and Tibetan settlements, as these could be targeted by radical outfits "in the light of clashes between

operatives, and weapons sourced from Thailand. Crucially, the Institute for Conflict Management (ICM) has tracked linkages between Rohingya Radicals and Pakistan-backed Islamist terrorist formations in Bangladesh since 1999.

Bhatkal brothers Media reports indicate, Fasih Mahmood, one of the founding members of IM, belonged to Bihar. He was an active member of the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) and came in contact with the Bhatkal brothers while he was a student of an engineering college in Karnataka in 2000. By 2003, he had been recruited by Aamir Reza Khan, who was allegedly involved in the attack on the American Center at Kolkata and the kidnapping of the owner of a shoe company.

The ransom money from the kidnapping was allegedly used by Mohammad Atta in the US 9/11 (2001) bombings. While the actual operations in Pune and Mumbai were carried out by operatives from Pune and Beed in Maharashtra, and from Azamgarh in Uttar

Police-population ratio

Reconnaissance operations All the reconnaissance operations were approved by the Bhatkal brothers, and sources indicate that a meeting for the Bodh Gaya survey was held in Hyderabad in 2012 at the house of Obaid-ur-Rehman, a key accused in the Dilsukhnagar twin blasts. Delhi's Special Cell had sent an intelligence advisory in October 2012 to Bihar's Director General of Police and the Gaya Superintendent of Police, warning about a possible strike.

Significantly, again, during the a National Investigation Agency (NIA) team's interrogation of the 26/11 Mumbai attack accused David Headley in the US in June 2010, Headley had claimed that the Lashkar-eTaiba (LeT) had prepared a video on the Mahabodhi Temple and was planning to trigger blasts there.

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) had also warned Bihar twice over the past three months that Bodh Gaya was on the hit list of terrorist groups, with sketches of two suspects sent just a fortnight before the attack. These reports had even been published in the media, specifically mentioning the targeting of Buddhist Temples in reaction to alleged atrocities on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Indeed, the threat to Bodh Gaya in par-

the July 13, 2011 blasts in Mumbai. Before executing the 13/7 Mumbai blasts, Bhatkal and his associates, including Bihar's Asadullah Akhtar, reportedly stayed in a Darbhanga village for over a year and even tested their bombs in a mango orchard there.

Both Akhtar and Bhatkal are absconding.

Bihar has emerged as a principal operational base for Islamist terrorists, as general policing is weak, law and order have suffered abiding neglect, and the preparatory activities and transit of terrorists are unlikely to invite Police attention in an environment afflicted by high levels of crime, a vibrant Maoist insurgency, and grossly limited enforcement capacities.

In the wake of the Gaya blasts, there has been much talk of 'security breach', and strident denials by various authorities in Bihar of any negligence. Ongoing investigations may shed some doubtful light on the specific failures that contributed to the success of the terrorist strike at the Mahabodhi Complex. However, it is the general security environment - if at all the pervasive state of insecurity can be described as such - in Bihar, and the abysmal state of the Police there that lie at the heart of failure.

An NSG expert collecting samples at Mahabodhi Mahavihara in Bodhgaya a day after serial blasts in the temple

Rohingya Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar in the recent months".

Radicalized Rohingyas have also established linkages with Islamist organizations and with the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) in Pakistan. Intelligence sources indicate that, in recent months, both LeT and other groups have taken Rohingyas to Pakistan for training. Significantly, US, Bangladeshi and Singapore intelligence agencies have documented information on Rohingya Muslim radicals training at a LeT camp in Pakistan in May 2012. India's Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) had, in January 2013, indicated that LeT was trying to establish a toehold in Myanmar's Arakan area, had created a group, the Difa-e-Musalman Arakan (Defense of Muslims in the Arakan), and was mobilizing cadres to fight the Myanmar Government.

The R&AW claimed that Rohingya radicals were receiving funds principally from Saudi Arabia, training from Pakistan-based

Pradesh, the responsibility for nationwide attacks had been vested in the "Bihar module", drawing cadres principally from Darbhanga, Samastipur, Nalanda and Munger.

According to media reports, of 14 IM operatives arrested in the recent past by various agencies, 13 are drawn from Bihar's Darbhanga District alone. Investigations by Delhi Police, which neutralized the Darbhanga module with half-a-dozen arrests in December 2011, and by the NIA, have revealed that IM's operations chief Ahmed Zara Siddibappa aka Yasin Bhatkal had been working on the Bihar module ever since the neutralization of the outfit's Maharashtra and Azamgarh modules in 2008.

Reports also indicate that several of these suspects were alleged to be responsible for the February 2010 German Bakery blast in Pune; the Chinnaswamy Stadium blast in Bangalore (April 2010); the Jama Masjid firing in Delhi (September 2010); and

It is significant that Bihar has long had the lowest Police-population ratio in India, presently at 67 (as on December 31, 2012, according to National Crime Records Bureau, NCRB), as against a fairly dismal national average of 138. As regards other aspects of Police functioning, again, Bihar fares poorly on almost every index of competence and modernization - this is a poorly trained, poorly equipped, demoralized Police Force, operating in an enveloping environment of corruption.

For a decade and a half, commencing 1990, regimes led, first, by Laloo Prasad Yadav and then by his wife Rabri Devi, actively undermined and destroyed every institution of enforcement and justice in the State. Since his tenure commenced in November 2005, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has succeeded in improving some indices of law and order management, but his exclusive reliance on a dubious 'development model' as a solution to all manifestations of political violence has compounded the neglect of the Police and enforcement apparatus.

It is useful to note that Jharkhand, which was part of Bihar till November 2000, had a Police-population ratio of just 38 in 2002, when Bihar's ratio was 69. While Jharkhand's Police-population ratio had risen to 178 by end 2012, Bihar's had actually fallen to 67.

Interminable post-mortems of each terrorist excess - of motives and actors and strategies and devices, and intelligence or security 'failures' - will yield mountains of trivia, and a cacophony of opinions, but the most basic reality of a dysfunctional enforcement apparatus across India will ensure that such attacks will continue to occur. And next time around, the weather may not be as kind as it was at Bodh Gaya, and the explosive devices may actually secure their lethal potential.

The writer is Editor, SAIR; Executive Director, ICM & SATP

Philosophy

July 12, 2013

India Post 53

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Page Sponsored by Sahanis SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV

K

arma means action or the imprint of action which remains within us. The actions that your father performed are working and kicking up within you not just in your situation, but within every cell in your body.

It is not so easy to get rid of your parents! You may have noticed that when you were eighteen or twenty, you completely rebelled against your father or your mother, but by the time you are forty or forty-five, you begin to speak like them, act like them, and even look like them.

That is a hopeless way to live because if this generation is going to behave, act, live and experience life just the way the previous generation did, this is a wasted generation.

This generation should experience life in a way the previous generation never even imagined.

I don't mean you should do something crazy on the street, I mean the way you experience life can be completely altered. It can be taken to the next level of experience.

But karma is not just yours, your father's or your grandfather's. The first life form, that bacteria or virus, that singlecelled creature's karma is also acting up within you, even today.

Even the kind of bacteria you

SWAMI TEJOMAYANANDA

A

t a satsang in one place, someone asked me: "How to have fun in life?"

"Be serious", I said, and I said it rather seriously because really speaking the pursuit of happiness is a serious matter. A superficial approach to anything lands one in trouble. So, "Eat, drink and make merry" is a very shallow view of life. Deeper enquiry takes us to deeper truths.

Let us see how Vedanta views the issue of happiness. To put it in a simple way, life is constituted of perception and response.

Whether we like it or not, we cannot help responding to people, to situations, to events, in general to the world around. Now, response depends on individual perception.

Everybody sees the same object but how each sees it makes all the difference. Perception therefore can be called as a vision of life and response as an action or reaction that depends on this vision.

Superficially whatever we see or experience with our gross sense organs is alone considered as real.

No wonder, one finds the world very enchanting with its infinite variety and matchless beauty. But

have in your body carries a certain behavioral pattern depending upon what kind of bacteria your parents or grandparents had.

So, all the grand ideas you have about yourself, all the grand ideas you have about your person are very false. This is why we told you, it is all maya, because the way things are playing within you is such that almost everything you do is controlled by past information.

This must be understood, karma is not your enemy. Your unawareness of what is what, is your enemy. Karma is the memory of life. You are able to build this body the way it is built only because there is memory of life, right from that single-celled animal to every other form.

The basis of your existence right now in the physical body is your karma. If all your karma is

such a way that you cannot open it when you want to, this becomes your prison. When you get into the car, you close the door.

It is a good thing. But suppose you got into the car and you cannot open the door, it is terrible.

You just have to know where the handle is. Then, even if you have a mountain of karma, there is no problem.

The problem has come not be-

Karma is what has cemented you to the body We told you, it is all maya, because the way things are playing within you is such that almost everything you do is controlled by past information.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

If I tell you, "You don't need to do anything, we will take care of you. Just sit and meditate twelve hours a day," initially it may look like a great fortune, but after a month's time, you will be going nuts. If you cross that madness, you will cross everything, but most people give up when the madness arises within them.

Karma is not your enemy when we try to understand the same world a little deeply, it becomes very mind-boggling.

Normally what happens is we get enchanted by the world of names and forms. But again we feel horrified or dejected by what happens sometimes in this very world. All this proves that what is visible is immaterial, what is invisible is much more significant.

What is visible is only an appear-

taken away, this moment you will shed your body. It is like pulling the plug on you. Karma is the glue, karma is that which has cemented you to the body.

You don't have to change your body or your mind, what you need to do is find where the handle is.

Right now, if you sit in the car, you seat-belt yourself.

The seat-belt is a good thing, it could save your life. But suppose you seat-belt yourself in

cause of karma, the problem has come because you got entangled in it, you got enmeshed in it. If a little distance comes between you and your body, between you and your mind, then whatever the karma, it has no impact on you.

You can still make use of it to be embodied and live, you can still maintain a certain individual character but it does not become a binding, it becomes a stepping stone.

sion (dull approach). Lord Krishna in the Gita explains the pitfalls inherent in these approaches.

For example, a person with rajasika vision sees differences while perceiving the work and he considers those differences alone as real.

He forms mental division such as "I - my", "you - yours", "good bad" and so on. The actions performed by him therefore are born

ology or cause, with the result that even the happiness he experiences reflects his conflict. His happiness is got by unhealthy means as fights, addiction, sleep and indolence.

Therefore, it becomes clear that the sattvika kind of happiness alone deserves to be pursued.

The Upanishads praise a person with a sattvika vision as someone with a balanced view of life

The invisible is more significant than what is visible The one truth that is not visible is subtle and it is this Truth that will solve all the problems.

To see this Truth, we need a pure mind and subtle intellect.

Swami Tejomayananda

ance and we all know that appearances are deceptive. The one truth that is not visible is subtle and it is this Truth that will solve all the problems. To see this Truth, we need a pure mind and subtle intellect.

But sadly, many of us do not have this kind of a vision. We are stuck either with rajasika vision (extroverted outlook) or a tamasika vi-

of either attachment or aversion.

He is happy only as long as everything runs according to his tastes and preferences. The moment something goes awry, he becomes agitated and troubled.

A person with a tamasika vision is even worse. He is deeply, fanatically and exclusively attached to a particular object, ide-

as he has eliminated sorrow, delusion and hatred once and for all.

All of us are seeking this kind of happiness.

All other ways to attain happiness are illusory, both at individual and the collective level.

Swami Tejomayananda is the present Head of the Chinmaya Mission Worldwide.

The enlightened person sees everything in the world as his own Self, just as one views earthenware jars and pots as nothing but clay.

-Shankara

The bad news is you're falling through the air, nothing to hang on to, no parachute. The good news is there's no ground.

-Trungpa Rinpoche

When we talk about settling the world's problems, we're barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It's a mess. It has always been a mess. We are not going to change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives. ~Joseph Campbell

When you are actually happy, you don't think of saying "I am happy", because in that moment of happiness there is not a knower of the happiness.

-Jean Klein

To acquire knowledge should not be our first aim, but rather to rid ourselves of ignorance which is false knowledge.

-Wei Wu Wei

For enlightenment to happen the perceiver must turn right around and wake up to the fact that he is face to face with his own nature - that HE IS IT. -Ramesh Balsekar

You Insure all your Valuables, all are replaceable except YOU! So Insure yourself FIRST. Call Sahanis, (Arish, Priya or Shiv) for your Insurance needs 718- 271- 0453. Serving for last 35 yrs

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Abbottabad report against too pervasive a role for Army

India Post

RANA BANERJI

I

t is hardly surprising that the Abbottabad Commission of Enquiry report on the May 02, 2011 attack successfully eliminating Osama bin Laden (OBL) should finally have surfaced through an Al Jazeera leak, a good six months after it had been submitted to the Pakistani government but deemed a `classified' document in January,2013.

Constituted under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1956 in June, 2001 by a beleaguered PPP government `desperate to distance itself from the disaster', only after a joint Parliamentary resolution demanded it, the Commission had serious teething problems.

Justice (retd) Javed Iqbal, then senior most sitting judge of the Supreme Court expressed willingness to head it only if approved

by Chief Justice Iftekhar Chaudhry, who was apparently not consulted initially. Another eminent judge, Justice (retd) Fakhruddin Ebrahim backed out on flimsy grounds.

The Supreme Court Bar Association and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) criticized its composition. Ultimately, it was set up with four members including retired diplomat Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, Lt Gen (retd) Nadeem Ahmed and retired Punjab Police IG, Abbas Khan, who eventually declined to sign the report. Ms. Nargis Sethi, then Cabinet Secretary was made Member Secretary.

The 338 page report revealed

by Al Jazeera refers to 201 witnesses whereas earlier media reports in Pakistan suggested it was a 700 page report examining more than 300 witnesses. It traces the events leading up to the May 01 night attack by US seals on the two storey premises in Abbottabad, where Osama bin Laden stayed with his two wives and extended family from 2005 onwards.

It accepts OBL's presence in Pakistan since 2002, first in Federally Administered Tribal Areas, then in Swat and also that of his family members, in Karachi safe houses.

In a surprisingly scathing indictment, it concludes that Pakistan's Military and political leaders `collectively displayed a degree of incompetence and irresponsibility which was truly breathtaking' and the `worst failure since 1971'.

There was `extensive complacency, inefficiency and negligence' not only of local civil administrative, police or military officials `but comprehensive and

sustained failure of intelligence and security agencies' in not being able to detect OBL's presence.

It unerringly flags the historical course of civil-military relations in the country as a contributory factor, blaming the `military's exercise of authority in policy and administration, for which it neither had constitutional or legal authority, nor necessary expertise and competence'.

It holds it "unnecessary to specifically name them (those responsible) because it is obvious who they are", though adding that "it may be politically unrealistic to suggest punishments for them (!)". It suggests `grave complicity at an undetermined level' for this `collective failure of the military, political and civil administration'.

The Commission examined several senior officials during its 18 month existence including the then Interior and Defense Ministers, field commanders of the Pakistan Air Force and the Director

telligence Bureau or the local police just did not measure up. Pasha blames Musharraf for handing over High Value Targets like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Khalid bin Attash too quickly to the United States before the ISI could interrogate them thoroughly.

He laments the lack of trust which developed between the ISI and the CIA. According to him, `American arrogance knew no limits in its dealings with Pakistan'.

Though deposing against civilian control of ISI, Pasha grudgingly supports the need for political initiatives to invest legal cover for intelligence agencies.

Examining defense preparedness in the context of the US air raid, the Commission rues `the India focus' of Pakistan's security mandarins and `defense capabilities designed and developed for one front conflict, ignoring the `less important' western border.

Air Defense on the Western sector remained in ` peacetime mode'-

File photo of Osama Bin Laden's hideout in Abbottabad, Pakistan

General, Inter Services Intelligence. The Prime Minister, President or Army Chief did not depose before it. The Commission records the remarkably candid admission of helplessness by Defense Minister Ahmed Mukhtar in influencing any matters of Defense policy because of the pervasive superiority of the Military in such matters.

Rogue elements The Commission did not find conclusive evidence of any deliberate complicity on part of ISI officials but did not rule out possibility of support by rogue elements within or plausible denial of such support outside formal structures of the Intelligence establishment.

The deposition of Lt Gen Shuja Pasha, former DG, ISI brings out tellingly how it had to perforce take on Counter Terrorism responsibilities though this was not part of its charter of duties specified in 1975. Civilian agencies like the In-

the PAF radars were` neither jammed nor switched off' but were just not capable of detecting US aircraft having stealth capabilities.

Among recommendations for the future, the Abbottabad Commission cautions against a revival of the Army's Green Book ideology of too pervasive a role and suggests instead, `honest, competent and consultative' leadership to democratically enunciate `a national security policy, establish a National Security Council and bring in comprehensive intelligence and police reforms.

It also advocates `dismantling of terrorist infrastructure' which has had such deleterious `blow back effects' on the security establishment in recent years. Far from remaining a whitewash, the report has the potential to redefine civil military relations and help stabilize the democratic process in Pakistan.

The writer is Visiting Fellow, IPCS

U

Soft target

nlike Boston, people of India take terrorism in their stride.

If you include violence by Maoists also as terrorism, it is accepted as an everyday activity. One more attack? People absorb the news, shrug their shoulders and get back to their business. Since there is no faith in either the government or the police, they know the next attack could be coming anywhere. So in the meanwhile they would like to get some of their work done.

The only surprise in the new terrorist attack is that it occurred at the Buddhist holy site of Bodh Gaya in Bihar. So far it has been a Muslims vs. Hindus affair. How has a Buddhist site become an object of terrorist ire?

The Bodh Gaya blasts are believed to be the handiwork of Indian Mujahideen (IM) backed by Pakistan's Lashkar-e-Toiba. Reports suggest the Mahabodhi temple had been on the watch-list of India's Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) since October. Arrested IM operative Syed Maqbool had last year admitted to recceing the area as part of plans to target the shrine to avenge atrocities on Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar.

Bodhgaya draws lakhs of Buddhist pilgrims from Myanmar and elsewhere in Asia.

Intelligence agencies of the US, Bangladesh and Singapore had also informed about the training of Rohingya Muslim radicals in a Lashkar-e-Toiba camp in Pakistan last May. India now sees Rohingya-Buddhist violence in Myanmar as an emerging counterterrorism challenge.

Intelligence agencies discovered that Rohingya radicals were receiving funds mainly from Saudi Arabia and training from Pakistanbased operatives, and weapons were being sourced from Thailand.

If the Muslim terrorists are angered by the violence against Rohingyas in Myanmar, they should have targeted the Myanmar authorities who are believed to be suppressing and expelling them.

They should have shown their anger in Myanmar. Since they do not have the guts to target a nation ruled by the military, they opted for the soft target of India.

It is funny. Whoever has any problem anywhere in the world, they can come to India and plant a bomb. They know they can get away with it. While the intelligence agencies of India and its Central Bureau of Investigation are engaged in a war against each other, the terrorists are making use of the resulting lack of vigilance. Instead of sticking to what is their job to investigate and prosecute they are fighting over one case - the alleged Ishran Jahan fake encounter - which the UPA government of India has chosen to focus on.

There have been hundreds of fake encounters in India. The Ishran Jahan encounter took place in 2004. What is the reason to rake it up now? Obviously, because it took place in Gujarat and investigating agencies are being used to try to somehow implicate UPA's bĂŞte noir Narendra Modi in it.

There were scores of fake encounters in Punjab during the Khalistan militancy and when the Congress was in power at the Center. There have been fake encounters in Andhra Pradesh also under once again Congress rule. Should the Congress now prepare to have those cases also reopened? The sheer narrow politics the Congress is playing over terrorism has given the leeway to terrorists to carry out more attacks as the intelligence is busy playing the political game of maligning Modi at the behest of the Congress.

Fake encounters anywhere are to be condemned. Terrorists caught should undergo due process of the law. Just to please its Muslim constituency, if the Congress is crying wolf over selected encounters, it will have lot to pay for.

The BJP is supposed to be a communal party but it wants to play down its image and people like Narendra Modi are saying he is for providing facilities and infrastructure for all Indians, irrespective of religion. It is the Congress which keeps attempting to force the debate back to religion and communalism.

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