India Post_07-16-2010 by Ghanshyam Bisht

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Delhi gets new world-class airport Details on page 36

OSA Convention in US crafts Vision of Orissa Details on page 16

US Ambassador Roemer takes up Bhangoo case Details on page 9

VOL 16, No. 827

July 16, 2010

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INDIANS STILL GRAB MOST H-1B VISAS

WASHINGTON: Indian professionals grabbed onethird of the H-1B visas in 2009, even as there was a slump for the most coveted US work visas in the past two years. For the second year in running, there appears to be a low key response to the US HS-1B visas with only 24,200 applications being received until July 2. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received some 10,400 applications against the Congressional cap of 20,000 for individuals with advanced degrees. After the first five days of having started to accept

applications, UCSIC had received just 13,500 H-1B petitions in the general category and 5,600 in the advanced degree category. Until May 14, the USCIS had received 19,000 petitions in the general category and 8,100 in the advanced degree category. US businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise in fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers. Details on page 6

New Indian American firm to ring Nasdaq bell

Details on page 8

Ishrat Jahan was an LeT suicide bomber Details on page 9

INDIA POST SURVEY survey@indiapost.com This week’s question

New Indian entrepreneurs are the toast of US? Last week’s result

Is New Jersey safe for Indian Americans? YES 61%

NO 39%

Details on page 11

Nisha Biswal appointed to key USAID post Details on page 7

More arrests in Divyendu Sinha murder case Details on page 7

SRIREKHA CHAKRAVARTY

UK NRIs object to passport surrender fee

Community celebrates the 4th of July

India Post News Service

'Time' apology to IndianAmericans Details on page 6

Terror camps still running in Pakistan: US Details on page 8

CONTENTS Bollywood ---------------------- 34-35 Classifieds ------------------------- 47 Community Post -------------- 10-22 Date Book -------------------------- 46 Edit Page --------------------------- 50 HealthScience Post --------- 38-39 Horoscope ------------------------- 23 Immigration Post ------------- 40-42 India ------------------------------ 44-45 Life Style ----------------------- 24-27 Philosophy ------------------------- 48 Publisherís Diary ------------------ 4

RARE HONOR: Archana Patchirajan, Sonpreet Bhatia and Puneet Mehta, co-founders of MyCityWay, with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765”

Real Estate ------------------------ 28 TechBiz Post ------------------- 36-37 Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 29-31

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July 16, 2010

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ndian software engineer drowns in Chicago' goes the latest news - a frustratingly familiar headline for those of us who have been following the spate of needless deaths of young Indians in this country; untimely deaths that have occurred in totally preventable incidents such as drowning accidents, automobile accidents, muggings and even suicides. While it might be surprising at how many such cases have been recorded in the last couple of years, it is not surprising at all to note that almost all of them involved Indians who have recently come to this country whether as students or professionals and that they are typically under 25 years of age. There are also an increasing number of cases where fresh-off-the-boat Indians are falling into the clutches of law enforcement agencies. So what is worth noting here is the mindset of the young Indians coming to the US in recent years - they obviously come with a sense of freedom and entitlement; they are more uninhibited by their immigrant status and are emboldened by the sheer strength in the numbers of similar immigrants, very often, people from their own hometown. More importantly, they come from well-to-do families back in India and so, do not necessarily carry much responsibility on their shoulders leading to a cavalier attitude that disregards caution and fear of the law. I also think it has a lot to do with the skewed images that small town Indian youth have about American lifestyle. Blame it on the movies or even those going back from the US displaying stereotypical 'US-returned' behavior, but small town Indian youth who consider it a status symbol to come to America seem to forget the one simple rule - use of common sense. By no stretch are my comments meant to trivialize the deaths of these Indians; in fact, the sheer senselessness of these deaths saddens me. But I do have a word of advice to the desi-come-lately: If you do not know how to be a Roman when in Rome, don't stick out like a sore thumb - use your common sense.

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Cover Story: H-1B visas Indian professionals grabbed one-third of the H-1B visas in 2009, even as there was a slump in the past two years.

Community: Aligarh Convention

The Convention of Federation of Aligarh Alumni Association at North Shore Holiday Inn Chicago, Skokie had a fine start.

Vora birthday On the 70th birthday of community activist KD Vora, the Mumbai Vikas Manch donated 70 sewing machines.

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The joshing and joking between Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor only goes to show that they are the next hot couple.

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Travel: Jerusalem Jerusalem is the sacred land where Prophets of world's three great religions literally lived and walked.

July 16, 2010

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“Polluting vehicles harm the air. So here’s an idea. Help people retire them for good.” Actually, the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) already does that. Owners may receive $1000 to retire a vehicle that fails its Smog Check. To learn more and get an application, go to DriveHealthy.com.

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July 16, 2010

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Indians still grab most H-1B visas WASHINGTON: Indian professionals grabbed one-third of the H-1B visas in 2009, even as there was a slump for the most coveted US work visas in the past two years. For the second year in running, there appears to be a low key response to the US HS-1B visas with only 24,200 applications being received until July 2. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has received some 10,400 applications against the Congressional cap of

20,000 for individuals with advanced degrees. After the first five days of having started to accept applications, UCSIC had received just 13,500 H-1B petitions in the general category and 5,600 in the advanced degree category. Until May 14, the USCIS had received 19,000 petitions in the general category and 8,100 in the advanced degree category. US businesses use the H-1B program to employ foreign workers in specialty occupations that

require theoretical or technical expertise in fields, such as scientists, engineers, or computer programmers. In the fiscal 2009, the Department of Homeland Security said, as many as 123,002 Indians were issued H-1B visas out of a total of 339,243. Thus, India accounted for 36.3 per cent of the total H-1B visas issued in 2009. However, in actual terms, the number of Indians issued H-1B visas in 2009 dropped by more than one fifth

Nascent Indian American firm to ring Nasdaq closing bell SRIREKHA CHAKRAVARTY India Post News Service

NEW YORK: MyCityWay, an NYC based start-up company cofounded by three young Indian American entrepreneurs and supported, endorsed and funded by Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been invited to ring the closing bell at NASDAQ on July 12, 2010. "Considering it takes large corporations many years before they get invited for such an event, we feel honored to be there within less than 6 months of being in business," echo company founders Archana Patchirajan, Sonpreet Bhatia and Puneet Mehta. The three co-founders, who worked on Wall Street before they decided to leave their jobs, start this venture, create new jobs for the city, and ultimately help the economy, shot to prominence when their product, the NYC Way App won three awards at NYC Mayor Bloomberg's NYC Big Apps competition last year. Following this announcement, they were invited to the 'State of the City 2010' event by the Mayor and were honored to be on stage as contributors to the society and the economy. "We were also invited to dine with the Mayor as a part of winning the award," says Mehta. When MyCityWay started looking for funding, NYC's Economic Development Corporation decided to invest in MyCityWay alongside two Venture Capital firms - making the relationship with the city even stronger. Mayor Bloomberg announced the City's funding at the recent TechCrunch Disrupt event. The MyCityWay team is being looked at as agents of change by them, giving technology entrepreneurship a new direction on the east coast. Being just six months

The three co-founders, who worked on Wall Street before they decided to leave their jobs, start this venture, create new jobs for the city, and ultimately help the economy, shot to prominence when their product, the NYC Way App won three awards old as a company, MyCityWay considers it an honor to be invited for ringing the closing bell at Nasdaq. Since the initial launch, MyCityWay has gained presence in 10 cities and plans to be in over 40 cities in the next four months. As the business continues to grow, their team is working towards revolutionizing information access within all major cities. "We now have presence in 10 cities, and plan to be in 40 cities over the next 4-6 months. Our products are

MyCityWay apps on the mobile device provide a one stop discovery and actionability platform for over 50 resource categories in the city including restaurants, nightlife, hotels, traffic, public transport, safety, green efforts and so much more

used by a wide segment of people - locals, tourists, business travelers etc. These products not only help the users, but also help cities in various ways," Mehta said. "The ultimate goal is to make usable products for residents and visitors that result in smarter cities that are more accessible. As our business continues to grow, we are working towards revolutionizing information access within all major cities and in turn making them smarter, safer, greener and more accessible." MyCityWay apps on the mobile device provide a one stop discovery and action-ability platform for over 50 resource categories in the city including restaurants, nightlife, hotels, traffic, public transport, safety, green efforts and so much more. Archana moved to the US in 2004, and has held senior technology roles with Wall Street firms. Before co-founding MyCityWay, she was a senior consultant with Citigroup. With proven expertise in building great teams in her entrepreneurial ventures and on Wall St, she comes from a family of serial entrepreneurs and believes that innovation is the key factor in facilitating large transformations. Sonpreet moved to the US in 1999 to pursue her Masters Degree. Before co-founding MyCityWay, she worked as a Vice President with Merrill Lynch / Bank of America. Puneet moved to the US in 2000, and has held senior technology roles with Wall Street firms. Before co-founding MyCityWay, he worked as a Senior Vice President with Citigroup. With years of experience in running innovative technology initiatives, he truly believes in the ability of the entrepreneur to transform this world.

since 2007. Coinciding with the general economic recession in the US, there has been a sharp drop in the number of Indian professionals receiving the most coveted H1B work visas between the years 2007 and 2009, latest official figures have revealed. Despite the drop of over 34,000 H-1B visas in two years, India continues to be the leading country to get the maximum number of this category of work visas for professionals and is a way

ahead of other nations of the world, an analysis of the latest figures released by the Department of Homeland Security reveal. In the fiscal 2007, as many as 157,613 Indians were issued the H-1B visas, while in 2008, the number dropped to 154,725. This sharp drop has also resulted in decrease in short-term resident non-immigrants. In 2009, 364,757 Indians were in the US in this category, as against 425,826 the previous year in 2008. -PTI

Racial remark: 'Time' apologizes to Indian-Americans WASHINGTON: The presti- ments. Whenever I go back, I feel gious 'Time' magazine has apolo- what people in Arizona talk about: gized to Indian-Americans follow- a sense of loss and anomie and ing the publication of a column by disbelief that anyone can eat food journalist Joel Stein which of- that spicy," he wrote. fended and outraged the large The article outraged many Incommunity, especially those in dian-Americans. New Jersey. "...I always thought it was hi"We sincerely regret that any larious when I'd get the crap kicked of our readers were upset by Joel out of me by kids like Stein who Stein's recent humor column 'My would yell 'go back to India, Own Private India.' It was in no dothead!' I was always way intended to cause offence," ROTFLMAO when people would the Time magazine said after large assume that I wasn't American. He number of Indian-Americans de- really captured the brilliant humor manded an apology from the maga- in that one too!" wrote Kal Penn, zine and the columnist. the popular Indian-American actor. "I truly feel stomach-sick that I Indian-Americans also launched hurt so many people," responded an online petition demanding Time Stein, who in his column 'My Own and CNN to remove the article from Private India' gave his own impression of how his home town of Edison in â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We sincerely regret that any New Jersey has changed of our readers were upset by over the years with the Joel Stein's recent humor desi influx. column 'My Own Private Nearly one in every five resident of this New Jer- India.' It was in no way insey City are Indian Ameri- tended to cause offence,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; the cans; thus making it one Time magazine said of the few such cities in the United States. "For a while, we assumed all In- their online edition. dians were geniuses. Then, in the "Such prestigious magazine like 1980s, the doctors and engineers Time should not have allowed such brought over their merchant cous- an article to be published in the first ins, and we were no longer so sure place. We respectfully request Time about the genius thing. In the magazine to remove the article from 1990s, the not-as-brilliant merchants the web and have Mr. Joel Stein brought their even-less-bright cous- write an apology letter that shows ins, and we started to understand some remorse," the petition said. why India is so damn poor," Stein Regretting that his article hurt wrote in the issue dated July 5. the feelings of so many Indian "Eventually, there were enough Americans, Stein wrote: "I was tryIndians in Edison to change the ing to explain how, as someone culture. At which point my who believes that immigration has townsfolk started calling the new enriched American life and my Edisonians 'dot heads'. One kid I hometown in particular, I was knew in high school drove down shocked that I could feel a tiny bit an Indian-dense street yelling for uncomfortable with my changing its residents to 'go home to India'," town when I went to visit it. If we Stein wrote. could understand that reaction, "Sometime after I left, the town we'd be better equipped to debate became a maze of charmless Indian people on the other side of the imstrip malls and housing develop- migration issue.-PTI

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More arrests in Divyendu Sinha murder case SRIREKHA CHAKRAVARTY India Post News Service

NEW JERSEY: After initially charging only three teenagers in the brutal attack and murder of Dr. Divyendu Sinha, an Old Bridge, New Jersey resident on June 25, prosecutors have now charged two more teens in connection with the case. Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan and Acting Chief Robert Bonfante of the Old Bridge Police Department said that two additional males were arrested on murder and murder conspiracy charges in the death of Dr. Sinha. Accordingly, four 17-year-old males and one 16-year-old male have now been charged with Dr. Sinha's murder. In addition, charges of aggravated assault and conspiracy to commit an aggravated assault were also filed against the five juveniles after it was determined they were involved in a separate, unrelated altercation before they attacked and beat Dr. Sinha on June 25. Specifically, the on-going investigation by Detective Greg Morris of the Old Bridge Police Department and Investigator Paul Miller of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office has revealed that these same five juveniles engaged in a motor vehicle chase with another motorist less than five minutes before they attacked Dr. Sinha. In that incident, the motorist, a Caucasian male, was

able to flee from the attack, which occurred on Prests Mill Road in Old Bridge. Before the motorist escaped, the juveniles threw objects at the motorist's car, which was damaged. As a result, all five juveniles are also charged with criminal mischief. Prosecutor Kaplan stressed that while the attack of Dr. Sinha

Divyendu Sinha

appears to be random and unprovoked, particularly in light of the unrelated attack on the Caucasian motorist only a few minutes earlier, a decision will be made on whether to file bias charges once the investigation is completed. ''The initial focus of the probe has been to determine who was responsible for the murder of Dr. Sinha,'' Prosecutor Kaplan said. "Now that five individuals have been arrested and charged, we will be making every effort to assess whether racial bias played a role

in the attack and, if so, we will bring appropriate charges.'' Once the investigation is complete, Prosecutor Kaplan will also consider whether to seek court permission to have the five juveniles tried as adults in Superior Court. Under the law, the prosecutor's office has 30 days to file the motion in Family Court and must show probable cause. Ultimately, the decision rests with a Superior Court judge. Police began the investigation after receiving a call at 11:42 p.m. on June 25, and arrived to find Dr. Sinha had been beaten. He was walking with his wife and two sons on Fela Drive in Old Bridge when the juveniles got out of a car and attacked Dr. Sinha and his two sons. No weapons were used in the assault. The two sons sustained minor injuries. Additional charges will be filed in that assault. The wife was not harmed. Dr. Sinha was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he died on June 28. An autopsy showed he died from a head injury. The juveniles' names are, by law, being withheld because of their ages. Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Morris of the Old Bridge Police Department at (732) 721-5600, or Investigator Miller of the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office at (732) 7454466.

Nisha Biswal appointed to key USAID post India Post News Service

Policy and Advocacy at InterAction, the largest alliance of US based international humanitarian and development non-governmental organizations. She previously served on the professional staff of the House International Relations Committee where she was responsible for South and Central Asia policy as well as oversight of the State Department and USAID. She worked at the US Agency for International Devel-

NEW YORK: Nisha Desai Biswal has been nominated by President Obama as Assistant Administer for Asia at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Making the announcement, along with those of several other key administrative posts, President Obama said, "I am grateful that these impressive individuals have agreed to join my administration. I am confident they will Biswal is the Majority Clerk for serve ably in their new roles, and look forward the State Department and to working with them in Foreign Operations Subcomthe coming months and years." mittee on the Committee on Biswal is the Majority Clerk for the State Appropriations in the U.S. Department and For- House of Representatives eign Operations Subcommittee on the Committee on Appropriations in the opment where she served as SpeU.S. House of Representatives cial Assistant to the Administrawhich has jurisdiction over the tor. During her four years at State Department, United States USAID, Biswal also worked in the Agency for International Devel- Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster opment (USAID) and other as- Assistance, the Office of Transipects of the international affairs tion Initiatives, and served as chief of staff in the Management Bubudget. Biswal provides staff support reau. She has also worked with the to Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey and Sub- American Red Cross both in their committee Chairwoman Nita Washington headquarters and Lowey in managing the appropria- overseas as an international deltions and oversight of the U.S. egate in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan. Biswal holds a B.A. international affairs budget. Biswal was the Director of from the University of Virginia.

HM hopes Army's stay in Kashmir is not for too long NEW DELHI: As curfew was clamped in more areas of Kashmir, Home Minister P Chidambaram hoped Army would not be required there for too long and appealed to people of the valley to observe restrictions. He said major share of patrolling and law enforcement was being done by the state police and CRPF and Army was on standby in case there was need for its deployment. "Army was deployed at the request of government of Jammu and Kashmir. I am not at liberty to disclose where it has been deployed. But I can assure that most of the places affected are still being patrolled and curfew enforced by J and K Police and paramilitary forces," he told reporters here.

His comments while briefing on decisions of Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs came as more areas of Kashmir were brought under curfew.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Parents should ensure that their children remain indoors. It is the responsibility of parents,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; the Home Minister said Underlining that the purpose of moving in the Army was to "serve as a deterrent", he said, "Army has been kept ready in case it becomes

necessary to deploy them." Chidambaram said Army will be in Kashmir "as long as it is necessary" to deal with the situation there. "But I sincerely hope that it will not be necessary for too long." He emphasized that people should not come out of their homes during curfew and pelt stones. "I appeal to Jammu and Kashmir people to observe curfew and stay indoors. Curfew is in place for a couple of days. I am sure the J and K government will be able to relax curfew in a couple of days," he said. "Parents should ensure that their children remain indoors. It is the responsibility of parents," the Home Minister said, adding "It is important that curfew is enforced and observed by everybody. -PTI

JOAN IN DELHI: NASA Astronaut Joan Higginbotham addresses students at a function in New Delhi on July 6. Higginbotham was the third Afro-American woman in space and has actively participated in 53 space shuttle launches

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Terror camps still running in Pakistan: US WASHINGTON: A fresh charge sheet filed by the US Department of Justice in a terror case shows that al- Qaeda is still running terrorist training camps in Pakistan. The Justice Department pointed to this while stating that the plot to bomb New York's subway system, uncovered in September 2009, was directed by senior al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan. It also said the leadership plotted to use western operatives to attack targets in Britain. The eleven-page charge sheet, which was filed in a New York federal court, said that five of the accused had received training from al-Qaeda in Waziristan in 2008 and early 2009. US prosecutors have accused al-Qaeda leadership of directing the accused to attack the New York subway system last year. The Department of Justice unsealed charges against the five alleged members of al-Qaeda, including Adnan Shukrijumah whose name is on the FBI's list of most-wanted terrorists, for plotting attacks on the US and UK.

The charges reveal that the plot against New York's subway system uncovered in September 2009 involving Colorado resident Najibullah Zazi was directed by senior al-Qaeda leadership in Pakistan, and was also directly related to a scheme by al-Qaeda plotters in Pakistan to use Western

It also said the leadership plotted to use western operatives to attack targets in Britain.The eleven-page charge sheet, which was filed in a New York federal court, said that five of the accused had received training from al-Qaeda operatives to attack a target in the United Kingdom. State Department spokesman Mark Toner, however, said the US has received "significant counterterrorism co-operation" from Pakistan.

The superseding indictment, which was returned and unsealed in the Eastern District of New York, charges the five defendants each with several terrorism violations. David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, said these charges underscore the global nature of the terrorist threat. "They further reflect the effectiveness of mutual investigations and cooperation with our global partners in disrupting terrorism threats," he said. Sean Joyce, Executive Assistant Director of the FBI's National Security Branch, said: "The threat posed by terrorists around the world is a threat to security and a threat to the rule of law." The transnational nature of the conspiracy, and its connection to plots targeted outside the US underscores the importance of international coordination and collaboration to do everything to ensure public safety, the official said. Apart from Shukrijumah, who is also known as "Hamad", other defendants are Adis Medunjanin alias "Mohammad;" Abid Naseer;

Tariq Ur Rehman; and a fifth defendant known as "Ahmad," "Sohaib" or "Zahid." Each of the defendants faces a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. According to the indictment, court filings and plea proceedings in the case, the plot involving Zazi

In early September 2009, after Zazi constructed the detonator explosives for the attack, he emailed with "Ahmad" in Pakistan about the proper ingredients for the flour-based main charge explosive was organized by Saleh al-Somali, Rashid Rauf, and El Shukrijumah, who were then-leaders of alQaeda's "external operations" program dedicated to terrorist attacks in the United States and other Western countries.

Between September and December 2008, Saleh and El Shukrijumah recruited Zazi and Zazi's co-conspirators, Zarein Ahmedzay and Medunjanin, to conduct suicide bombings in New York City using improvised explosive devices made from supplies such as hydrogen peroxide, acetone, flour and oil. According to the indictment and court filings, Saleh communicated with Zazi through "Ahmad," an al-Qaeda facilitator in Peshawar, Pakistan. In early September 2009, after Zazi constructed the detonator explosives for the attack, he emailed with "Ahmad" in Pakistan about the proper ingredients for the flour-based main charge explosive. Zazi pleaded guilty to his role in the New York subway plot on February 22, 2010; Ahmedzay similarly pleaded guilty on April 23, 2010. The indictment adds formal charges against El Shukrijumah, a 34-year-old native of Saudi Arabia who served as one of the leaders of al-Qaeda's external operations program. -PTI

UK NRIs object to passport surrender fee LONDON: Several Indian professionals who have acquired British nationality have criticized the Ministry of External Affairs for levying an allegedly unfair fee structure while surrendering Indian passports at the Indian High Commission here. Under Indian law, Persons-ofIndian-Origin, who have acquired foreign citizenship, are required to

On the website on that date it stated that the fee was 90 pounds per certificate, but when I reached the High Commission, I found that the fee was 102 pounds per person and accordingly I paid 408 pounds for four persons for the applications." Upadhayay added: "When I read the news on June 9, 2010 that for those who attained British na-

Terming the levy of the fee as a 'fine' for surrendering Indian citizenship, Amit Kapadia, executive director of the HSMP Forum said: "We are deeply concerned over the Indian government's repeated attempts to penalize Indian nationals opting for foreign citizenship in this manner surrender their Indian passports to the nearest Indian mission immediately after acquisition of the foreign citizenship. Raghav Upadhyay, a software professional, who wrote to the Indian high commission here, said: "I had applied for the surrender of four Indian passports for me, my wife and two children on 1 June 2010.

tionality prior to May 31, 2010 the fee was reduced to 14 pounds per person it was a matter of great dismay for me as all four applications submitted by me have attained naturalization prior to this date and we have paid 88 pounds per person (a total of 352 pounds) in excess of the current fees. As this amount is sizeable, in terms of fairness, I requested a

refund of the excess amount." A fee of 102 pounds is levied on individuals surrendering their Indian passports, after which a 'surrender certificate' is issued. This certificate is mandatory for future consular services such as visa, Persons of Indian Origin or Overseas Citizen of India cards. Terming the levy of the fee as a 'fine' for surrendering Indian citizenship, Amit Kapadia, executive director of the HSMP Forum said: "We are deeply concerned over the Indian government's repeated attempts to penalize Indian nationals opting for foreign citizenship in this manner. We have received many complaints from British Indians who have expressed their resentment against the humiliation meted out to them and their families." Apart from the alleged unfairness of imposing a fee to surrender Indian passports, Kapadia said new rules levying different fees for the same consular service had worsened the situation. The HSMP Forum represents non-European Union professionals, including a large number of Indians. -PTI

ANOTHER TROPHY: Newly-weds Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Indian cricket team captain, and Sakshi greet fans from the balcony of family home in Ranchi. Dhoni and Sakshi married in a hush-hush ceremony on July 4 at a farmhouse near Dehradun

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July 16, 2010

India Post

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US Ambassador Roemer takes up Bhangoo case India Post News Service

NEW DELHI: Barry Bhangoo, the California CEO who was beaten up nearly to death in a New Delhi market last month, has received an email from the US Ambassador to India Timothy J. Roemer, "We have sent a formal inquiry, called a diplomatic note, to the Ministry of External Affairs," regarding this case. Meanwhile, Bhangoo told India Post that at the 2nd July court hearing, the police written account was heavily distorted and full of lies as can be verified by the video and other evidence. "In spite of all the press coverage the police continue to lie for the culprits completely ignoring the evidence, he said. "I am not allowed by the court to share the documents that the police have submitted to the lower court for the case against Henry Vega, Colombian national who assaulted me and to the high court for the writ against the police." While the case was State vs Henry, no State attorney was present to argue for the State. The judge said this hearing was for the purpose of taking in Henry's guilty plea. Bhangoo's attorney H.S. Bhullar asked the judge how this case had been given special favor and given a date within a day of the complaint being filed. The judge said the reason for that was the fact the Henry's visa was expiring on the 7th July and the court did not want to be responsible for extending his visa. To which Mr. Bhullar replied, if he can come from Columbia and beat up our citizens surely we can extend his visa by another few days. H.S. Bhullar argued at length how Henry cannot be allowed to plead when the police had not completed the investigation and added all the charges to the charge sheet. Also, why were all the other people in the group, involved in the case not in the charge sheet? He gave examples to the court how the police from day one had been helping the culprits. He also reminded the judge that if "we are not satisfied with the proceedings of this court we had the option to request a transfer to a different judge." Then Mr. Bhullar, showed the court that the report on Barry's CT Scan said "Hematoma in the scalp", he showed the court the meaning of the word (from

medterms.com) - "An abnormal localized collection of blood in which the blood is usually clotted or partially clotted and is usually situated within an organ or a soft tissue space, such as within a muscle. A hematoma is caused by a break in the wall of a blood vessel. The break may be sponta-

since Barry had not gone to AIIMS with the police on the night of the incident he had no right to make the complaint. He pointed out that in his written statement to the police he had said that he would be responsible for taking care of this own medical needs. The SHO also argued in favor of Henry by saying that hardly anything had happened that night, the whole incident lasted 11 seconds and then following that Barry went to his party and partied for another hour before finally coming to the police station over an hour later. After hearing arguments from both sides, under protest from Barry's attorney, the judge proceeded with taking Henry's plea. He started to dictate the order, when he reached the plea part he asked Henry, "Do you understand English?" Henry replied yes. He said there are some allegations against you in this case, how do you plead? Henry replied - "I did not do anything. Barry came out of the car and attacked me, when I moved out of the way he fell, you can see it in the video". Barry's attorney reminded the judge that he had just said that he was not guilty and again requested the judge to move the case to trial. There was another five minutes of arguments from both sides. The judge then ordered the case to trial with the next court date on 25th July. He also ordered the police to confiscate Henry's passport and keep it in the case file. He also ordered a copy of the order be sent to the F.R.R.O.

JUSTICE FOR BHANGOO neous, as in the case of an aneurysm, or caused by trauma. The treatment of a hematoma depends on its location and size. Treatment can involve draining the accumulated blood. A hematoma in or near the brain is particularly dangerous".

The judge then ordered the case to trial with the next court date on 25th July. He also ordered the police to confiscate Henry's passport and keep it in the case file. He also ordered a copy of the order be sent to the F.R.R.O Mr. Bhullar then requested the court that the application 200 under section 156 please be combined with this case and the case be moved to trial so that all the evidence and witnesses can be examined. Henry's attorney argued that

Beverage companies form lobby against criticism in India India Post News Service

SAN FRANCISCO: Beverage companies in India, led by CocaCola and Pepsico, have formed an alliance to counter the growing campaigns against the beverage industry. The Indian Beverage Association (IBA) has been formed to "create a single point of interaction with the Indian government" and will serve as a lobbying organization modeled after the American Beverage Association (ABA), according to media reports. "Whether it is health issue or the pollution issue, soft drink companies are the softest targets right The companies and their from activists to governproducts have also come ment regulators. So it's high time they that they under attack by activists in came together," Arvind India and globally for the Varma, secretary-general of the IBA told the adverse public health India Today group. impacts, particularly obesity The IBA is expected to lobby on a number of and related health problems critical issues facing the beverage industry currently in India, including the grow- allies to challenge the nutritional ing challenge from farmers object- double standards of the food and ing to water use by beverage beverage industries in India. â&#x20AC;&#x153;While Coca-Cola and Pepsico companies, particularly in water stressed areas, water pricing, pol- products are being regulated out lution, food safety, public health of the marketplace in the US and issues, marketing to children, la- Europe for health reasons, these beling, misleading claims in adver- companies are aggressively marketing the same products in India tisements and taxes. Campaigns across India have and China. Such a double stanforced regulators in India to take dard must be challenged. The positions on these issues, and regu- health of Indians and Chinese are lators are often ill prepared to regu- as valuable as the health of Amerilate the industry. As beverage com- cans and Europeans," said Amit panies expand their markets and Srivastava of the India Resource production, conflicts are rising and Center, an international campaigndemands for strict enforcement of ing organization. The formation of the India regulations continue to grow. Coca-Cola and Pepsico have Beverage Association does not been the target of campaigns ac- bode well for the Indian public, especially if it is modeled after the American Beverage Association. The New York Times reported on July 2 that the "American Beverage Association spent $9.4 million in the first four months of the year to oppose New York's soda tax." "All but $120,000 went to Jahan was killed along with Goddard Claussen," a public relaJaved Sheikh alias Pranesh Pillai tions firm which ran a slick media and two Pakistani nationals -- campaign "ignoring academic Amjad Ali and Jishan Johar Abdul studies showing that sugarGhani -- on June 15, 2004. sweetened beverages are a big As per police records, they source of excess calories in the were intercepted on the outskirts American diet." of Ahmedabad, traveling in a car. The state of New York had proWhen they were confronted, an posed a penny-an-ounce tax on encounter ensued in which all soft drinks to offset the public were shot dead. health care costs from obesity. Ishrat's mother Shamima "The Indian Beverage AssociaKausar in her petition to Gujarat tion is a lobbying group that will High Court had claimed that her influence the government to lower daughter was working as a sales- standards for protecting our comwoman for Sheikh's perfumes munities, our environment and business. -PTI our health.

Ishrat Jahan was an LeT suicide bomber, Headley tells NIA NEW DELHI: Bearing out the version of Gujarat Police, American-born Lashker-e-Taiba terrorist David Headley has claimed before NIA sleuths that Ishrat Jahan, a Mumbai girl killed in a police encounter in Ahmedabad, was a suicide bomber of the outfit. Official sources said that Headley shared this information with the four-member team comprising officials from National Investigation Agency and Law Department during their visit to Chicago in the US. The girl, whose death had sparked a major controversy, was

alleged to be a member of Lashker's suicide squad who had been inducted by top LeT operative Muzamil. Headley's information corroborates the stand of Gujarat Police and the Centre. The encounter had run into controversy after Jahan's family claimed that she was just a student and filed an appeal in the court. Gujarat Police had claimed that the terrorists were in the state to attack Chief Minister Narendra Modi. Sources said Headley's reconnaissance missions for Lashkar in India started in 2006.

cusing the companies of depleting water resources and pollution. One of Coca-Cola's largest bottling plants in India has been shut down by the government since March 2004. Pepsico was ordered in March this year to reduce its water usage at its plant in Kerala by 65% because of depleted water resources. The companies and their products have also come under attack by activists in India and globally for the adverse public health impacts, particularly obesity and related health problems. The India Resource Center is gearing up with

Desi News Call to recall inappropriate statues of Deities SURESH SHAH India Post News Service

CHICAGO: A group of Indian community activists led by Madhu Patel, Sohan Joshi, Nand Kapoor and others in Chicagoland have strongly pitched for immediate withdrawal of some statues showing images of Hindu deities sold by a Virginia (USA) based firm Sacred Source, calling it inappropriate depiction. The opposition is being voiced across the country. Bhavna Shinde of Forum for Hindu Awakening, in a communiquĂŠ to Sacred Source, listed some of the objectionable statues.

COMMUNITY ACROSS AMERICA

10 India Post

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OSA Convention in US crafts Vision of Orissa & Diaspora

July 16, 2010

Details on page 16

Bitterness mars otherwise well aimed meet of FAAA MOHAMMAD GHOUSE

Details on page 13

PCS blood donation drive in Palatine MOHAMMAD GHOUSE

CHICAGO: Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago (PCS) organized its annual blood drive from 9-30 am till late noon on Sunday June 20 at Sikh Religious Society (SRS) Palatine Gurudwara facilities. The drive was organized in conjunction with SRS. The special event of the day was "Shaheedi Gurupurab" to commemorate the martyrdom of the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev Ji. Details on page 14

Popular restaurant chain opens two new joints India Post News Service

Zeshan B presenting a musical performance

CHICAGO: The ninth Annual Convention of Federation of Aligarh Alumni Association (FAAA) held at North Shore Holiday Inn Chicago, Skokie, IL, July 2-4, had a fine start with the Inaugural Session attended by over hundred plus members and guests besides the Indian Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi and the Indian Consul General, Ashok Kumar Attri. The Friday evening dinner banquet at Holiday Inn was however, had a sour note with members and

Ms Santosh Kumar getting Award at the hands of Indian CG Ashok Attri. on left is Dr. Siddiqui (Pics: Asian Community News Services, USA)

office bearers of Indian umbrella organization, Federation of Indian Associations, being belittled and not allowed to meet the Minister as scheduled earlier. Dr. Shahid Siddiqui, President of the FAAA welcomed the distinguished guests and representatives of various Aligarh Alumni Associations in North America and from several social organizations, and presented the 'Humanitarian Award' to. Vayalar Ravi, observing that the minister was a deserving person for this award

Minister Vaylar Ravi getting Humanitarian Award from FAA President Dr. Siddiqui

the most. Ravi born in Allapuzha, Kerala, a unique State in the Indian Union that has 100% literacy, became the home Minister in Kerala in 1982. After being elected to the Upper House of the Indian Parliament (Rajya Sabha), he represented India at the United Nations General

The Friday evening dinner banquet at Holiday Inn was however, had a sour note with members and office bearers of Indian umbrella organization, Federation of Indian Associations, being belittled and not allowed to meet the Minister as scheduled earlier Assembly on several occasions. He has championed the cause of Indian Diasporas spread globally, and provided help personally in solving immigration problems outside India. FIA President Sunny Gabhawla said the sole objective of the FIA team attending the event was to

FIA team with FAAA President Dr Siddiqui

apprise the Minister about the hardships faced by Indian immigrants over issuance of visa and surrender of old passports, but then the elements surrounding the Minister would not let the FIA team to seek the Minister's attention. Dr. Saif Sheikh, President of the

local Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association of Greater Chicago, in co-hosting the FAAA convention welcomed the convention guests and described the activities of the AMUAA-GC in the framework of the FAAA charter. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 17

Community Across America

July 16, 2010

India Post

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Indian community celebrates the 4th of July Asian Community News Services, USA

SKOKIE, IL: The 234th Independence Day of United States was celebrated in a grand fashion in Skokie on Sunday, July 4 with a sizeable participation by Indian Americans. The parade, starting from the parking lot of Oakton Community College from noon onwards was sponsored by the Village of Skokie, the Skokie Park District and Niles Township Government. The event was reviewed by Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen and various other dignitaries at a specially erected grandstand before Oakton Park Community Center. The participants included honor guards, marching bands, acrobats, antique cars, representatives of various local state and federal governmental organizations, business and private community organizations including participants from Indian community of Niles Township. The Parade included camels, llamas and horses. Indian Community of Niles Township (ICNT) led by Ms Usha Kamaria, Satish Chander and others took active and impressive part in the parade. A leading red station wagon decorated with a colorful banner of Indian Community of Niles Township broadcasting Bollywood famous musical numbers including "Jai Ho!" (Victory) and "Happy Fourth" courtesy of popular D.J. Shiv Chavla led the group. This was followed by 7 to

Indian Americans at Skokie July 4th parade (Pic courtesy Asian Community News Services, USA)

12 year old girls from Kalapadma Dance academies dressed in white carrying the banner of Indian Community of Niles Township. All the volunteers were very enthusiastic and vocal with sound of Happy 4th. Even weather was perfect for the event, sunny and tem-

cheering and excited people of all ages lined up the parade route which made the entire environment very exciting. As the parade crossed the railroad and reached its destination, the Mayor of Skokie George Van Dusen and all other village officials acknowl-

Other parades Mohammad Ghouse adds: The July 4th Independence Day parade was also held at many

Many Indian Americans actively participated in these parades. One of the participants in most of these parades which spanned for two days

The participants included honor guards, marching bands, acrobats, antique cars, representatives of various local state and federal governmental organizations, business and private community organizations perature in 80s and with a pleasant cool breeze. Their enthusiastic appreciation of all the marchers and performances was proof of active participation of the organization, which is tremendously rewarding to Indian-American community. Approximately, 10,000 happy

edged them with welcoming arms. The volunteers responded and cheered with "Jai Ho!" and "Happy 4th!" Following the end of parade, participants were treated with hot Pizza and Ice Cream in the back yard of Usha's house in N. Kolmar Streets.

Thakkar Basati with others at Arlington Heights Parade on July 4

Chicago suburbs including Arlington Heights, Rolling Meadows, Wheeling and Hoffman estate.

on July 4 and July 5 was an Indian Sikh community activist Thakar Basati along with many others.

New York's India Day Parade turns 30 India Post News Service

NEW YORK: The Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) is all set to raise the curtains on its upcoming 30th annual Indian Independence Day Parade celebration to be held on August 15, 2010. The parade ceremonies were formally launched at a traditional kick off event at the Indian Consulate in New York on July 6. This year marks a very special milestone for the FIA's 40th anniversary coinciding with the 30th year of the annual parade, which has now grown into the world's largest Indian Independence Day parade. Held every year on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, the India Day Parade (IDP) is synonymous with the culture, traditions and enterprising spirit that Indian Americans are known for. Amid the color and fanfare, the parade serves as a great opportunity for the South Asian community to connect and network with each other. For the last 29 parades, FIA has seen the attendance of more than 2.5 million people and participation of over 750 colorful floats.

The 30th India Day Parade this year themed, 'Salute India - Celebrating the spirit of India', intends to showcase the spirit of true democracy; the spirit of achievement of Indians all over the world; the spirit of our sports; the spirit of Bollywood; the spirit of technological advancement; as well as the spirit of leadership in defense and various other fields. Event schedule for Sunday, August 15

have served as the parade's Grand Marshals. This year will see a larger participation by prominent political, business and entertainment dignitaries from around the world. One of the highlights of the 2010 IDP will be the floats depicting Indian culture and traditions that will join the procession. A special highlight will be the Empire State Building, which will be lit-up in Indian tricolors on Aug 14-15. Other technological

This year marks a very special milestone for the FIA's 40th anniversary coinciding with the 30th year of the annual parade, which has now grown into the world's largest Indian Independence Day parade 2010: Parade will start at 1pm at 30th street on Madison Ave., New York City. Cultural program and fair will be between 23rd & 27th street on Madison Ave. Fair timing 10am to 6:30pm. The cultural program will be held between 2:30pm to 6:00pm. Over the years, some of the biggest names from the world of politics and entertainment, including Bollywood celebrities

highlights include an iPhone quiz application, especially designed for the IDP, that will see participation levels surge beyond geographic location. Search for FIA on the iTunes Store for a free download of the quiz application. "We are very excited about how our culture will be exhibited through the themed float designs, children's costume parade

competition, and the parade's great pageantry of Indian arts, crafts, music and cuisine," said Nirav Mehta, the President of the FIA. For the first time in the IDP's history, this year, New York streets will have banners highlighting the FIA and its sponsors. Additionally, the FIA has worked to create special opportunities for its sponsors by creating zone sponsorships during the grand gala reception. This year, the FIA has been further strengthened by the increased participation of the youth. The young people of the community have brought a fresh lease on energy to the FIA's commitment to serve the Diaspora. The Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) of the tri-state area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut is one of the largest umbrella organizations in the Indian community. It represents and provides grassroots support to a 300,000-member strong, vibrant Asian-Indian community. Established in the year 1970, the FIA has blossomed into an esteemed organization that has become a formidable voice and platform for the community.

Community Across America

India Post

July 16, 2010

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100 children learn Hindi at Atlanta Summer Camp India Post News Service

NEW YORK: One hundred middle and high school children of Atlanta spent ten days at a summer camp to learn Hindi and Indian culture. Known as 'Startalk Yuva Summer Hindi Camp', it was held at Berkmar High School in Lilburn, Atlanta from June 19 to 28. "We worked hard to recruit 100 children for this camp," said Manju Tiwari, asst. director of the Startalk

to India's geography, diversity, history and culture. The program aimed at making the students aware about the diversity of India and importance of Hindi as a link language. After ten days of total immersion into language learning and cultural practices, they were able to read and write simple Hindi texts and communicate in Hindi using formulaic expressions. The camp incorporated indoor

The participants took a virtual trip to India. They were introduced to India's geography, diversity, history and culture. The program aimed at making the students aware about the diversity of India and importance of Hindi as a link language program. "We pooled resources from our local network of volunteers and business owners to prepare for the camp. All students were fully engaged in cultural and language learning through a variety of activities," she said. The camp was organized by Yuva Hindi Sansthan, a New Jersey based educational and cultural organization. The participants took a virtual trip to India. They were introduced

and outdoor activities designed to provide social and cultural contexts for learning. Every morning students practiced yoga under the guidance of Anamika Dwivedi, a professional yoga instructor. The participants enjoyed food that represented various regions of India. They sat on the floor to eat their food on the day they studied Indian village culture. The participants were taken on a field trip on the seventh day of

the camp. They visited places of religious, cultural, and commercial importance. They learned about Indian values at the Swami Narayan Temple and learned about parallels between Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. at the King Memorial. They had opportunities to interact with shopkeepers and buy things at a real Indian Bazaar that was organized as a part of the program. "We aimed at informing our students about India in a deep immersion of linguistic and cultural environment. A treasure of

authentic material was used to meet our objective. The participants quickly learned about India, its major cities and villages with the help of pictures, movie clips, music, dance, food and yoga practices. With the deployment of researchsupported principles of second language acquisition, we were able to generate their interest in language learning and knowing more about Bharat," informed Dr. Surendra Gambhir, a former professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who directed the program. Dr. Herman Van Olphen, former

professor of Hindi at University of Texas, Austin was very impressed by the education model followed at the program. He said, "I am very pleased to observe that young students are fully engaged in the curriculum. They have a lot of opportunities to express themselves in Hindi, through pictures, art work, singing and role playing." Yuva Hindi Sansthan (YHS), a non-profit educational and cultural organization incorporated in New Jersey is engaged in preservation, education and promotion of Hindi in USA. It comprises a group of teachers, researchers and community activists who have long experience in Hindi pedagogy through the use of technology and multi-intelligence techniques of language learning. YHS realizes the importance of heritage languages in the appreciation and understanding of the heritage culture and wants to do everything possible to promote its knowledge, retention and usage in diasporic contexts, especially at a time when the US federal government has publicly announced the intention of including Hindi in the public (government) school curriculum all over the country.

200 throng Kite Day defying heat

Kiting in the sky, St Louis (Pics courtesy Manhar Bhakta)

ASHWIN PATEL India Post News Service

ST. LOUIS: The second annual India Kite Day Festival was organized by Gujarati Samaj of St. Louis on June 26 at Sport Port Park, Maryland Heights suburb of St. Louis, attracting more than 200 participants It was a very hot day. Temperature was almost 100 degree F. But the turnout of the kite enthusiasts from the community was more than expected. Large

number of colorful kites of various sizes and designs with Shah Rukh Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Amir Khan, Hrithik Roshan and, above all, the Indian Flag, were seen flying in the sky. More than 500 kites and 100 thread rolls (Firkis) were sold during the daylong event. Everybody enjoyed the kites and food served by different groups. Kids to teenagers, youth and elderly were all engrossed in the fervor of flying kites. The sky

seemed pockmarked with colorful kites competing to go as high as they could. One of the members of the Samaj said "This was one of the best family events I have ever participated in recent years." It was not only members of Gujarati community that came to the Kite Day but there were participants from other communities as well, giving the event a true Indian color. Gujarat Samaj is planning to hold a picnic at McDonald Park this month.

Selling kites a big business on Kite Day

Community Across America

July 16, 2010

Shantilal Patel's death widely mourned SURESH SHAH India Post News Service

CHICAGO: Front ranking Indian community activist Naren Patel was bereaved with the sad demise of his father and mentor Shantilal Patel who died here mainly of old age complications. Shantilal Patel was 96.

Shantilal Patel

Bon in 1915, Shantilal Patel was an Electrical/Mechanical Engineer by profession and academic achievements. He had worked for the Powerhouse in Sabarmati and had modeled his life on Gandhian philosophy of frugal living but high thinking. His needs were minimum, practical and economical. He loved bicycling, walking and traveling by public transportation. If

His needs were minimum, practical and economical. He loved bicycling, walking and traveling by public transportation. If someone stopped by and offered him a ride, he would say "thank you, but no thank you." One thing he loved was to greet and meet people

Patel, Naren Patel, Praful Patel, and Vijay Patel and wife Shantaben Patel. Shantilal was a loving son, husband, father, grandfather of six, great grandfather of fifteen and friend to many. He will always be remembered for teaching people how to save money by not wasting it on unnecessary things. He will also be remembered for promoting friendship, goodwill, honesty and tolerance among close family and friends. Shantilal is survived by his sons Shahsin Patel and Naren Patel and their families. His passion for creating a better world can never be forgotten. One of his sons, Naren Patel is a front ranking Indian businessman in Chicagoland and heads social organizations like Association of Indian Americans and Vishwa Gujarati Samaj. Shantilal passed away on June 28 around 10.35 p.m. at Naren Patel's residence in Schaumburg. His funeral was held on Friday, July 2 at Countryside Funeral Home and Crematory, Bartlett, a northwest Chicago suburb at 1 pm in the presence of a large number of family members, friends, business associates, Chicagoland businessmen and professionals. May his soul rest in peace.

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Call to recall inappropriate statues of Deities SURESH SHAH India Post News Service

CHICAGO: A group of Indian community activists led by Madhu Patel, Sohan Joshi, Nand Kapoor and others in Chicagoland have strongly pitched for immediate withdrawal of some statues showing images of Hindu deities sold by a Virginia (USA) based firm Sacred Source, calling it inappropriate depiction. The opposition is being voiced across the country. Bhavna Shinde of Forum for Hindu Awakening, in a communiqué to Sacred Source, listed some of the objectionable statues. She said that this was

Rajan Zed

statues from your website and sale, to prevent further hurting of our religious sentiments," she said.

"Sacred Source", based in Crozet near Charlottesville (Virginia), whose tagline is "Ancient Images, Ancient Wisdom", claims to be a leading producer and distributor of ancient deity images in North America

usage of these deities or concepts for commercial or other agenda was not okay as it hurt the devotees. He added that Hinduism was the oldest and third largest religion of the world with about one billion adherents and a rich philosophical thought and it should not be taken lightly. "Sacred Source", based in Crozet near Charlottesville (Virginia), whose tagline is "Ancient Images, Ancient Wisdom", claims to be a leading producer and distributor of ancient deity images in North America, whose goals are to bring affordable museum reproduction and folk-handcraft deity images back into Western culture.

Sohan Joshi

denigrating to Hinduism and hurting the community worldwide who reverently worship the Deities. "We urge you to look into this immediately, and remove these

Rajan Zed, President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Nevada (USA) argued that these deities were highly revered in Hinduism and inappropriate

Madhu Patel

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July 16, 2010

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PCS blood donation drive in Palatine MOHAMMAD GHOUSE

Punjabi sports festival in Addison RAJINDER SINGH MAGO

"Celebrate the Sikh Spirit" was the theme for the blood drive. The all-day blood drive was a great success and met its objectives, even though many willing donors could not donate blood, because it had been less than a year since they (donors) had traveled to India. Some others did not have enough time to wait because there was a long waiting line, and the process takes about an hour. "Tragedies arrive without notice, and we are always there to lend our hand," said Mohina Ahluwalia, PCS Chairperson. "Our community is always at the forefront of service to Annual blood donation drive hosted by PCS humanity. One donation saves three lives," said Rajinder Singh Mago, PCS PresiThe special event of the day was dent. "Shaheedi Gurupurab" to commemorate the The Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago martyrdom of the fifth Sikh Guru Arjan Dev is a not-for-profit community service orgaJi, an illustrious composer of Gurbani and nization devoted to promoting Punjabi culthe compiler of the present day Guru Granth ture, language, performing arts, education, Sahib, who was martyred in 1606 AD by the good citizenship, healthy life style, and then Mughal rulers of India. sports in the metropolitan Chicago area.

Kabbadi match in progress

CHICAGO: Punjabi Cultural Society of Chicago (PCS) will hold its annual fun fair "Punjabi Sports Festival 2010" on Sunday, July 18, from 9 am to 5 pm, at Community Park, 129 E. Oak St. Addison, a north side Chicago suburb. The Basketball tournament matches will be played on Saturday July 17, 9 am to 5 pm, at Community Recreation Center. All other games will be held at the main event on Sunday, July 18. The ceremonial inauguration of the festival is at 12 noon on July 18 with PCS maintaining its tradition holding a parade on the grounds with Dhol drum beats and Bhangra music.Bhangra Aerobics is scheduled to be at 12:30 pm and the Yoga workshop will be at 2 pm. Both of these are for all learning levels and almost anyone can do it. All are welcome and there is no charge. Kabaddi, soccer, basketball, and volleyball teams from Wisconsin, Michigan, Indi-

ana, New York and Illinois are registering to compete for the championships. The Kabaddi finals are scheduled to be at 4 pm. Cash prizes and trophies will be awarded to the winning teams. Sponsors of awards are

The ceremonial inauguration of the festival is at 12 noon on July 18 with PCS maintaining its tradition holding a parade on the grounds with Dhol drum beats and Bhangra music welcome and will be appropriately recognized. This community event will include many team sports and fun games for men, women and children. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 15

US journalist honored at World Tamil meet India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Dr. Prakash M Swamy, senior journalist of New York and United Nations Correspondent was honored at the World Classical Tamil Conference held in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu for his contribution to Tamil language and culture. He was the only State guest of the Tamil Nadu Government invited from the United States besides Professor George Hart, professor of Classical languages at University of California at Berkley who was the keynote speaker at the inaugural celebrations of the conference. Swamy, a well-known Tamil writer and author was the former executive editor of Ananda Vikatan, a popular Tamil magazine in India. Dr. Swamy chaired a literary session at the Tamil meet and took part in the scholarly deliberations with guests from other nations. He was honored by the Chief Minister Dr M Karunanidhi at the conference with a decorated Tanjore plate with the im-

Dr. Prakash M Swamy

age of Thiruvalluvar for his contribution to the development of Tamil in the US. Dr. Swamy is secretary of New York Tamil Sangam.

July 16, 2010

Community Across America

India Post 15

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Swamiji to conduct discourses on cosmic sound healing India Post News Service

NEW JERSEY: Brahmarishi Shree Kumar Swami, a proponent of healing through cosmic sound, will address a series of congregations in various cities of the US and Canada through July. The most fascinating spiritual event scheduled to be attended by Swamiji will be held on a boat on

ing our mind and body with the cool breeze blowing over the river while receiving the blessings of one of the popular spiritual gurus of India," he added. The boat ride on Hudson will be followed by a two-day discourse called 'Cosmic Grace Convention' on July 24 and 25 at Holiday Inn, Raritan Center in Edison, NJ. Before arriving in New YorkNew Jersey, Swamiji will be addressing congregations in Los Angeles, Chicago and Ohio, and several cities across Canada.

‘When we practice cosmic sound secrets we bring our energy into harmony with cosmic energy and immediately it starts working on us’

Brahmarishi Shree Kumar Swami

the Hudson River in New York City on July 23. "We have organized this event for our fellow truth seekers to experience the unique teachings of Guruji in an exclusive setting while cruising on the waters of Hudson River," said Ashwani Kumar, President of Bhagwan Shree Lakshmi Narayan Dham of Edison, New Jersey. "This program aims at sooth-

Punjabi sports festival in Addison Cont’d from page 14

In addition to Kabaddi, Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, Bhangra aerobics and Yoga, athletic events including races for children in various age groups are also being planned. This is an all day community event starting at 9 am. Fun games for the seniors and ladies will include musical chairs, threelegged race and tug-of-war. The program is a not for profit community event which is free to public. Busy schedule calls for the volleyball games to start early. Soccer and Kabaddi matches will follow the inauguration parade at 12 noon. Prize distribution to the winners will highlight the fun-filled closing ceremonies. Trophies will be awarded to the first and second place athletes for individual sports and the team players. Kabaddi Cup, Soccer Cup, Volleyball Cup and Basketball Cup will be awarded to the winning teams along with cash prizes.

Says the Swamiji, "When we practice cosmic sound secrets we bring our energy into harmony with cosmic energy and immediately it starts working on us. The cosmos is the embodiment of the divine energy that plays in many forms." Emphasizing that the secret of positive energy that benefits all, he says, "The power of Cosmic Sound is capable of dissolving negative energies around us. We can achieve harmony and total peace by practicing cosmic sound."

Popular restaurant chain opens two new joints

India Post News Service

NEW JERSEY: On any given night, there is a waiting line outside of the newly opened Sankalp Green in Edison, NJ, and the restaurant has barely been open one month. That's because IndianAmericans familiar with the 50+ franchise chain spread throughout Gujarat and South India are already part of the cult-like following of this vegetarian restaurant. Guests of Sankalp can expect more than just dosas and idlis at the popular chain. In the US, Sankalp is divided into two distinct dining experiences: Sankalp Green which is pure vegetarian South Indian cuisine and Sankalp Red which offers North Indian including Tandoori, South Indian and Pan-Asian dishes which are both vegetarian, non-vegetarian and Halal. "We thought that customers here in America would want more variety in their dining experience," explains Suresh Patel, CEO of Prayosha Restaurant Group, Master Franchisee of Sankalp USA. "This way when we open another franchise, we can tailor the cuisine to fit the people of the surrounding areas." What Sankalp Green and Sankalp Red both maintain in com-

Ribbon cutting ceremony. (L-R) Vishnu Patel, Suresh Patel, Pat Diegnan, Upendra Chivukula, Mayor Charles Butrico, Peter Barnes, Peter Kothari and Chander Sarvagyam.

mon is a dedication to using only the freshest ingredients coupled with their fragrant homemade spices. Chander Sarvagyam, CEO of International Projects, Sankalp India, explains, "We have brought all of our recipes from Sankalp India so that the taste is as authentic as possible." Sankalp USA General Manager Vince George adds, "We are also committed to keeping our dishes healthy so we use only pure Canola oil and never any artificial colors." Sankalp Red, the first of which opened in South Plainfield, NJ was

also the site of the franchise's Grand Opening celebration on June 25. The kick off marked the official expansion of India's first chain restaurant in the US. The ribbon was cut by leading local dignitaries such as the Mayor of South Plainfield, Charles F. Butrico, Jr., Assemblyman Peter J. Barnes, III, Assemblyman Patrick J. Diegnan Jr., Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula, among others. In the US, Sankalp currently operates in New Jersey and will soon open branches in Ohio and New York.

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July 16, 2010

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Cal News Energetic show at FOGANA Competition AMI SHAH

OSA Convention in US crafts Vision of Orissa & Diaspora

India Post News Service

FULLERTON, CA: Federation of Gujarati Samaj of Southern California (FGSSC) hosted the 5th Annual Western Regional FOGANA Raas, Garba and Folk Dance Competition on Sunday, June 27 at Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton. This year the event was hosted in loving memory of Shree Pankajbhai Patel. Pankajbhai Patel is one of the founders of FGSSC and responsible for bringing FOGANA to the West Zone. He believed in providing a platform for the youth to learn and be proud of their culture.

L-R Mahesh Pakala, Dr Romesh Japra, Sushant Patnaik, Debi Prasad Mishra, Minister, Higher Education, Culture and Tourism Govt Odisha at a dinner hosted by Bay Area entrepreneur Sushant Patnaik.

Details on page 18 India Post News Service

Kannadigas' Navika 2010, a smash hit

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: The 41st Annual Convention of The

versity. It was attended by several well known and senior Odiya professors from different universities. The panel discussed how

Mrs Kuku Das, Convener; Mr. Akhileswar Patel, Treasurer, OSA; Dr Annapurna Pandey, Vice-president OSA; Mrs Sushmita Thomas, Consul General; Shri Debi Prasad Mishra, Minister; Shri Ashok C. Panda, MLA Bhubaneswar, Sri Surya N. Patro, Minister Revenue; Sri Ramesh C. Majhi, Minister IT and Science & Technology.

gathered from all across the North American states of USA and Canada, Sri Mishra spoke eloquently about the glorious history

India Post News Service

PASADENA: Navika 2010 ended at 2 am on July 5 to thunderous crescendo by stars Vijay Prakash (of Jai Ho fame), Shivaraj Kumar, MD Pallavi, Praveen Godkhindi to "Jai Ho" and brought down the house at the American Idol stage at the Pasadena Civic. The program marked the culmination of the 3-day event Navika's First World Kannada Summit. More than 1,500 Kanndigas from across the world shared their minds and hearts. From deep literary exchange to light-hearted comedy, world-class music and dance, and business/ education exchange, the audience remained enthralled throughout the program. Details on page 20

San Fernando Valley braces for 11th I-Day event India Post News Service

From Left: Purna Mohanty (Chair) , Sri Ashok Panda (MLA, Bhubaneswar), Sri Surya N Patro (Minister, Revenue), Sri Debi P. Mishra (Minister, Tourism, Higher Education, Culture), Sri Ramesh Majhi (Minister, IT, Science and Technology), Dr. Dhanada Mishra (Co-chair, Bhubaneswar)

Orissa Society of The Americas (OSA) concluded at the Hotel Sofitel in Redwood City, CA with emphasis on all round development of Orissa Diaspora in North America and with special emphasis to strengthen the ties with mother Orissa. Close to 1000 people of Orissaorigin assembled to celebrate the Orissa tradition and culture, and craft the vision for future during the July 2-4 meeting. People came from all over USA and Canada, and also a 40-member delegation of government and entrepreneurs all the way from Orissa. Earlier, Minister of Higher Education, Tourism and Culture Debi Prasad Mishra at the Inauguration exhorted Non Resident Odiyas to invest in Odisha at the inauguration of the 41st Annual Convention of Odisha Society of Americas in San Francisco, California, USA. Eminent non-resident educationists including Prof. Jogesh Pati, Prof. L.N.Bhuyan, Prof. Digambar Mishra, Prof. Chitta Barala, Prof. Abani Patra participated in the brain storming session on innovation and development of higher education in the state. The higher education panel was chaired by famed Odiya physicist Prof. Jogesh Pati - Professor Emeritus at Stanford Uni-

to bring research and innovation to Odisha University and also attract the National Innovation university project. The ministers and secretaries participated in the discussions actively and gave a lot

of the Odiya race which has its foot prints all over the world. He appreciated the efforts of the nonresident Indians and their success in various spheres and take advantage of the dynamic leadership of

Close to 1000 people of Orissa-origin assembled to celebrate the Orissa tradition and culture, and craft the vision for future during the July 2-4 meeting. People came from all over USA and Canada of relevant information. Debi Prasad Mishra appealed to non-resident Odiyas to contribute to Odisha by getting involved in different emerging opportuni-

the stable government of Sri Naveen Patnaik. Earlier the program christened "Aei Maati - Sei Dhwani' was started in the majestic San Mateo Performing Arts

Kuku Das and Mr. Prashant Behera - joint conveners of the event. Sri Mishra was introduced by Annapurna Pandey - Secretary of OSA and a professor of University of California at Santa Cruz. President of OSA - Ms. Bigyani Das welcomed all participants and recounted the vital role of OSA in fostering friendship among NROs and strengthening the community. Devdas Chhotray, vice-chancellor of Ravenshaw University was the keynote speaker on the occasion. Sri Chhotray spoke about the Diaspora and its experience recounting his own experience coming to America for higher education at Cornell University. The audience was spell-bound by his eloquence which touched many hearts and made for nostalgic environment. Consul General of Indian consulate at San Francisco Ms. Sushma Thomas spoke about the contribution of non-resident Indians to the American society. Ministers Surya Narayan Patro, Ramesh Majhi, Secretaries Madhusudan Padhi, Styabrat Sahu and Saurabh Garg were in attendance. A well choreographed colorful cultural program was presented by over 100 participants from all age groups that consisted of Odissi dance, music, plays, daskathia,

From Left: KG Ganapathi (Vice-president, Qualcomm and moderator), Mr Saurabh Garg, Secy Industry, Mr Madhusudan Padhi (Secy, Transport), Mrs. Mona Sharma (Secy Tourism), Mr Madhu Sudan Padhi (Secy, Higher Education), Mr Ashok Meena (Secy IT)

ties and be a partner in progress of the state. Addressing an audience of several hundred Odiyas

Center by chanting of mantras and invocation to God followed by inaugural welcome address by Ms.

ghumura, ghoda nacha and modern dance set to beautiful music. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 19

July 16, 2010

Community Across America

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Bitterness mars otherwise well aimed meet of FAAA Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 10

Gracefully accepting the 'Humanitarian Award' Vaylar Ravi praised the activities of the FAAA in promoting academic excellence, cultural exchange and understanding between the alma mater of the Aligrah Muslim University and the FAAA communities in USA. In his Keynote Address, he touched upon the contribution of Sir Syed Ahmad Khan in establishing the Mohammadan Anglo Oriental College in 1875 that was given the status of the Central University in 1920, as Aligarh Muslim University. The AMU has provided higher education to hundreds of thousands of students not only from India but from all over the world. Ravi pointed out the great strides Indian economy is making under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh. In spite of a significant slowdown in global economy, India's GDP grew close to double digits (9-10%). The remarkable initiative by India in providing 'universal education', universal access to the health programs and universal availability of food to a country of 1500 million people speaks volumes about the dedication of Indian government in developing India into a successful economic power. He pointed out that Muslims in the State of Kerala who constitute only 15% of the population are among the most successful communities in education, business and enjoy all the benefits of a secular state. He quoted an impressive range of figures in the Five Year Plans of the Indian Government that ensures generous support for the expansion of AMU in five new campuses in Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh, and many programs supporting technological and social progress of all sections of the Indian Society. He praised the work of FAAA for promoting academic excellence and cultural cooperation between Indian and American institutions and communities. Other recipient of the FAAA 'Community Service Award' was Mrs. Santosh Kumar from Chicago, whom Dr. Shahid Siddiqui called the local Mother Teresa. Santosh Kumar is a distinguished product of AMU, where she obtained her degrees of Bachelor of Law in 1972 and Master of Law in 1974. She is a remarkable lady who is an attorney, counselor, professor and business-woman who has founded the Metropolitan Asian Family Services [MAFS], and is the current Executive Director. This non-profit agency works for the welfare of the most disfranchised members of the community,

Attendees at FAAA meet

old, sick, poorly educated and with He complimented FAAA in furimmigration issues. For this work thering the cause of education and she was recognized by the Niles cultivation of harmonious commuTownship for her Leadership and nities in the USA and in promoting Excellence in serving seniors, needy partnerships between AMU and and disabled as truly doing God's other prestigious U.S. universities. work. Sunny Gabhawla, the FIA presiThe FAAA also conferred 'Pio- dent, was on the podium welcomneering Award' to Professor Asadur- ing the Minister but before he Rehman from New York who was could proceed further and talk among the early members of the about the Visa problem, he was AMU alumni in initiating the AMU Alumni Association in New York area with the help of his wife Late Mrs. Shaista Rehman that became the forerunner of the present FAAA as it was founded officially in Washington DC, in 2002 through the efforts of Dr. A. Abdullah. The award was presented to Professor Rehman by Muzaffar Habib, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, FAAA. Indian minister Vayalar Ravi with FAAA Indian CG Ashok K. officials (L-R) Dr Shahid Siddiqui, FAAA Past Attri, spoke praising the President Janab Rizvi and Minister Ravi FAAA for holding diverse activities in educational, social and cultural fields and hustled out with Dr. Shahid in coordinating the Aligarh Alumni Siddiqui announcing the dinner. Associations, which are also oper- Sohan Joshi approached the Minating under similar charter since ister and asked for one to one meet 1970s in several cities in North with the delegation, and the MinAmerica. ister indicated willingness to meet

at his hotel room. Joshi said before he could get details about the time or the hotel room number etc. the Minister was "whisked away" by Indian CG Attri. Dr. Siddiqui regretted that the minister would go without taking dinner. Many FIA office bearers too left in anguish and without taking dinner. And Dr Siddiqui regretted this too and felt their weeks long efforts in organizing this event in amiable and enjoyable manner should not end like this. In a subsequent communication to Dr Siddiqui, Sunny Gabhawala mentioned that there was a representation on your (Dr Siddiqui) part to allow us (FIA) to meet the Minister and a copy of the letter to be presented to the Minister was provided to you. Gabhawala further pointed out that "your repeated assurance to allow us to speak led us to buy two tables, FIA Chicago paid as you had asked. We selected a cream delegation to your event," he said Gabhawala further said that the treatment meted out to FIA and its cream delegation was "despicable " in the least since there was not mention about FIA presence nor was there a welcome to FIA in the entire deliberating or speech. "It was kind of cheap on your part to announce dinner first and then invite FIA to speak. FIA Chicago deserves an explanation." Dr Siddiqui in talk to this paper conceded that the FIA was invited to the event but in the same breath mentioned that the CG office was not very sanguine about the changes in the original program and agenda. FIA did not figure in the original timetable and its inclusion was a later development. Sohan Joshi, former FIA president, suspected "a conspiracy to see that the Minister would not meet the FIA mem-

bers and its delegation." He told this paper that "we would not let this matter die down that soon. We may stage a black flag demonstration before the Consulate to highlight the insidious way the Consulate sought to belittle FIA." Gabhawala also saw the Consulate hand in preventing FIA members from meeting the Minister and said that "we may forgive the culprit or culprits but we would never forget this type of behavior." Attempts by this paper to reach Indian Consulate to have its version over this unfortunate episode were fruitless. CG's social secretary Ms Hema said that CG was out of "station traveling and was difficult to reach." The evening Banquet Dinner was followed by a Musical Concert by Zeeshan Bagewadi, who sang Urdu ghazals and performed melodies on piano, an Italian Opera ballad, German and Irish compositions and received thunderous applause. After the Maghrib prayers, a Mushaira [poetry recitation in Urdu] was held under the Chief Guest Professor Munib-ur-Rehman from Ann Arbor Michigan. Noted Urdu poets from the FAAA community, including Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, from Washington DC, Syed Perwaiz Jafri from Houston, and Dr. Abidullah Ghazi from Chicago. Other distinguished poets were Hashmat Suhail, Latif Saif, Sajid Chaudhry, and Dr Sadiq Naqvi. A special poem by famous poet Itrat Husain Itra dedicated to the FAAA community was recited by Dr Shahid Siddiqui as Itrat could not attend due to his travel commitments. The nizamat (Master of the Ceremony) was elegantly done by Amin Haider and the session lasted until 1 am. The event was attended by hundreds of guests from FAAA and other community workers and the media.

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July 16, 2010

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Energetic performances at FOGANA Competition AMI SHAH

Hansa Chaurasia, Shashi Trivedi, Ventash Hegde and Praveen Patel

gions. FGSSC received a great response from the community with over 25 sponsors. The Grand Sponsor of the event was John Barbot of Barbot Insurance Services located in La Mesa, CA. Mr. Barbot has been a longstanding supporter of both FGSSC and FOGANA. Other major sponsors were Medical Plaza Pharmacy and Bhindi Jewelers. Along with the great financial support during these difficult times, FGSSC was fortunate to have more than 40 individuals volunteer their time and energy to make this event a success. The house was packed, but most importantly, there was a great response from the choreographers of the Western region as there were 17 teams from

Emcee Ami Shah

Seventeen teams comprising over 260 participants, ranging from ages six through sixty, presented impressive and energetic performances. For four hours the audience was taken down memory lane, back to their homeland. The audience rooted, cheered and applauded for the performers, especially for participants from their respective regions.

sixty, presented impressive and energetic performances. For four hours the audience was taken down memory lane, back to their

Varsha Parekh with her troupe

homeland. The audience rooted, cheered and applauded for the performers, especially for participants from their respective re-

seven different dance schools - Vandana Dance School, Sahiyar, Aerodance, Rangtaal, Sangeet, Urvi Hora Raas Garba Group, Noopur Dance Academy - representing from all over California. Vandana Dance School, Aerodance and Urvi Hora Raas Garba Group participated for the first time in FOGANA. The teams competed within four different age groups - Minor (6 to 10), Junior (11 to 15), Senior (16 to 29), and Adult (30 or older). Each age group had three categories - Raas, Garba and Folk Dance. The first place winner of each category advances to the National competition which is being held in Richardson, Texas on July 24. Final Result: MG 1st Vandana Dance School, Choreographer Vandana Ranjan

MF 2nd Aerodance, Choreographer Ranjani Manda MF 1st Sahiyar Choreographer Heena Desai / R MR 2nd Rangtaal Group Choreographer Dipa Patel MR 1st Sangeet Group Of No. Calif. Choreographer Hiral Kota JG 1st Sahiyar Choreographer Heena Desai / R JF 3rd Rangtaal Group Choreographer Dipa Patel JF 2nd Sangeet Group Of No. Calif. Choreographer Heeral Kota JF 1st Aerodance Choreographer Ranjani Manda JR 1st Sangeet Group Of No. Calif. Choreographer Bhavna Joshipur AG 2nd Sangeet Group Of No. Calif. Choreographer Bhavna Joshipur AG 1st Rangtaal Group Choreographer Dipa Patel AF 2nd Urvi Hora Raas Garba Group Choreographer Urvi Hora AF 1st Sahiyar Choreographer Heena Desai / R AR 1st Noopur Dance Academy Choreographer Varsha Parekh SG 1st Sahiyar Choreographer Heena Desai SR 1st Sangeet Group Of No. Calif. Choreographer Heeral Kota JF NEW Aerodance Choreographer Ranjani Manda Final Result: Best costume Minor MR Sangeet Group Of No. Calif. Choreographer HiraI Kota Best costume Junior JF Aerodance Choreographer Ranjani Ma Best costume Senior SG Sahiyar Choreographer Heena Desa Best costume Adult AG Rangtaal Group Choreographer Dipa Patel Choreography Minor MR Sangeet Group Of No. Calif. Choreographer HiraI Kota Choreography Junior JF Aerodance Choreographer Ranjani Ma Choreography Senior SG Sahiyar Choreographer Heena Desa Choreography Adult AG Rangtaal Group Choreographer Dipa Patel

Community/California

July 16, 2010

India Post 19

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OSA Convention in US crafts Vision of Orissa & Diaspora

Bay Area Entrepreneur Sushant Patnaik, Dr Romesh Japra and Sri Surya Narayan Patro, Minister Revenue, Govt of Odisha

Orissa Education Entrepreneur Binod Das, Bay Area Entrepreneur Prabhu Goel and Dr Romesh Japra

Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 16

The Bande Utkal Janani sung by a large well orchestrated group with a lot of passion and longing made people stand up spontaneously and continue on in to a standing ovation. In the afternoon there was a Odiya drama competition among the chapters attending. Several personalities were recognized on this occasion. The service leadership award went to Kuku Das and Prasanta Behera for their leadership in the past 2 decades in serving the community in Bay Area. Mrs. Kuku Das has been running Oriya language and culture school known as Interna-

Mrs. Kuku Das, Convener of 41st OSA Convention and the recipient of service leadership award for 2010.

tional Gurukul for the past 11 years. Prasanta Behera has been running a non-profit organization - IndoAmerican Sevak Foundation (IASF) since 1999 when super-cyclone had struck Orissa. Both Kuku and Prasanta did put together the best management team from the community and gracefully

ran this convention. Mrs. Atasi Gantayat Raina of Silicon Valley was recognized with the Youth Award. Atasi, a 2nd generation Oriya, was instrumental to connect and plan activities around 2nd generation Oriyas. Atasi has been very passionate about Orissa and India, and plays a key role in such activities in Bay Area. The Gopabandhu award went to Dr. Chitta Baral, professor, Arizona State University, for his contribution to the higher education sector of Odisha. Dr. Baral sits on the higher education task force of Government of Orissa, and helps shape policies in the state. Other awards included Meghna memorial award for creative writing going to Rutwik Das of San Jose, CA and Avesha Mishra of Aliso Viejo, CA. Later in the afternoon several seminars were held on higher education, industry and infrastructure for Odishas development. Earlier, following on from the highly successful 'Invest Bhubaneswar' meet at the Crown Plaza Cabana, which resulted in commitments of almost 1000 crores

of investment in to many projects in Odisha, a meeting was held between the key members of Silicon valley 'The Indus Entrepreneurs' and the delegation from Odisha. The chartered members of TiE, Silicon Valley such as Mr. Vish Mishra, President, Mr. Venk Shukla, Mr. Sandeep Agrawal, Mr. Sandeep Jain, Mr. Som Das (all TiE Chartered members) addressed the delegation enumerating the process of setting up the Bhubaneswar chapter, and the role TiE plays in connecting entrepreneurs around the world. They also briefed the team that Bhubaneswar seemed ready to have TiE chapter going by the enthusiasm for the same in the delegates.

Bay Area Entrepreneur Sushant Patnaik and Debi Prasad Mishra, Minister, Higher Education, Culture and Tourism Govt Orissa

Community/California

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Kannadigas' Navika 2010, a smash hit

Navika President Dr Sri Iyengar making inaugural address India Post News Service

PASADENA: Navika 2010 ended at 2 am on July 5 to thunderous crescendo by stars Vijay Prakash (of Jai Ho fame), Shivaraj

change ideas. Mr. Chandru carried a special note from Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yeddiyurappa, blessing Navika and the convention and encouraging the organization to contribute to their

More than 1,500 Kanndigas from across the world shared their minds and hearts. From deep literary exchange to light-hearted comedy, world-class music and dance, and business/education exchange, the audience remained enthralled throughout the program

Dignitaries on stage

Kumar, MD Pallavi, Praveen Godkhindi to "Jai Ho" and brought down the house at the American Idol stage at the Pasadena Civic. The program marked the culmination of the 3-day event Navika's First World Kannada Summit. More than 1,500 Kanndigas from across the world shared their minds and hearts. From deep literary exchange to light-hearted comedy, world-class music and dance, and business/ education exchange, the audience remained enthralled throughout the program. Mr. Mukyhamantri Chandru, Chairman of Kannada Pradhikara, Mr. Manu Ballegar, Director of Kannada & Culture, Mr. Girish Karnik (Chair, NRI Cell), Mr. Jayaramraje Urs, Secretary, Kannada & Culture, Mr. Nallur Prasad, Kannada Sahitya Parishat State president, and Dr. Prabudev (Vice Chancellor, Bangalore University), led a delegation of 40+ artists and business leaders from Karnataka to perform and ex-

table ventures and business/education exchange. Navika 2010 started out with a Business Forum that brought together business and government leaders and addressed topics such as Karnataka Infrastructure projects, Health Information Tech-

mother-land. Mr. Chandru and Mr. Ballegar added that they were very encouraged to see the Kannada language flourishing in the US and commended Navika for showcasing local talent as well providing a forum for artists from Karnataka to perform on a world stage. The government leaders offered to help individuals and organizations to promote Kannada culture, chari-

nology, CIO exchange, and Youth entrepreneurship. This was followed by a first-of-its-kind video conference between the top Kannada poets in India and accomplished literary personalities in the US. After an authentic Karnataka meal featuring Raagi Mudde and Jollada Roti, the 800+ guests were entertained with comedy and music. Mr. Janardhana Swamy, a current Member of Par-

Dignitaries declaring Summit Open

liament and an ex-resident of California addressed the delegates. Following the inaugural speeches, the delegates split into

Swara Navika competition featured the best singers in the community facing off in an "idol" type competition. Renowned musicians -

the main cultural sessions and the various other forums (Literary, Spiritual, Women's, and Kannada Kali, Education Exchange). The

MD Pallavi, Ajay Warriar, and Divya Raghavan judged the singers. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 22

Singing the Karnataka State National Anthem

July 16, 2010

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India Post 21

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San Fernando Valley braces for 11th I-Day event India Post News Service

SAN FERNANDO VALLEY: The Indo-American community of San Fernando Valley has been celebrating India's Independence Day on a grand scale since 2000. This year, the annual celebration of India's Independence Day is being organized as a daylong function at Canoga Park High School on Saturday, Aug 21. It is anticipated that over 15,000 people from the San Fernando Valley and neighboring areas will attend the event. Over 80,000 Indian Americans live in San Fernando Valley and neighboring areas. The community has been increasing steadily in the Valley and so have the businesses to serve the community at large. The Valley has seven temples, many Indian grocery stores, numerous restaurants, and other businesses serving the community. The annual event has become a major attraction for the Indian American community in the Valley. The event also affords an op-

portunity for our elected officials to meet our community in the Valley. A large number of attendees will gather in the evening for the cultural extravaganza, showcasing India's culture and heritage and hear the invited guests. Admission is free with ample free parking for the guests. The Association has been hosting the annual daylong function for past 10 years with this being their 11th year of hosting and celebration in San Fernando Valley. Over 80 booths will be offering variety of Indian foods, merchan-

Over 80,000 Indian Americans live in San Fernando Valley and neighboring areas. The community has been increasing steadily in the Valley and so have the businesses to serve the community at large

CG Susmita Thomas visits Salt Lake City India Post News Service

SAN FRANCISCO: Mrs. Susmita G. Thomas, Consul General, CGI San Francisco, visited Salt Lake City from 29 June to 1 July during which she called upon the Governor, Gary R. Herbert, according to a press release from the Indian Consulate. Welcoming her to the State of Utah, Governor Herbert talked about the strong ties that Utah had with India and the possibility of increasing them further due to the commonality of interests. Consul General Thomas thanked the Governor for the warm reception and

briefly talked about India's current focus on development of education, infrastructure and alternative energy, and how Utah could be a meaning-

ful partner in these spheres. Preceding this meeting, the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development had organized

a conference and business round table at the Salt Lake Area Chamber of Commerce which was attended by prominent business-

men and educationists from Utah. A delegation of teachers from different colleges of India which is currently visiting Utah, was also invited to attend. In her presentation, Consul General Thomas gave an overview of the economic development strategy that India has embraced and how that provided business opportunities for companies of Utah. Presentations were also made by a number of Utah companies representing small and large enterprises, University of Utah and non-profit organizations. During the visit, Consul General, who was accompanied by Mr. Ashok Sinha, Consul for Community Affairs, connected with leading members of the Indo-American community and talked about the accomplishments of the community there. She also discussed about the recent changes in the Consular rules introduced by the Government of India.

dise, and informational services. There will be entertainment in the form of classical and modern Indian dance and music. A free Health Fair will be conducted from 4 to 6 pm in the evening. The invited guest list includes many prominent elected officials, several of whom, such as Congressman Brad Sherman, and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa have attended the annual celebration more than once. 2010 IALA's Elected Committee Members: Chairman: Raman Chadha;

President: Bobby Kumar; Executive Vice President: Yogi Rajp; Secretary: Vineet Puri; Joint Secretary: Vinod Manchani; Treasurer: Manjeet Wahi; V.P. Finance: Gursharan Nat; VP Publicity: Rajesh Saini; VP Cultural Affairs: Payal Saxena; VP Social Events: Simar Gulati; VP Youth Affairs: Virender Jain; VP Health: Bama Sridhar; VP Health: Deepi Singh; Executive Members: Ashok Kapoor; Executive Members: Mobin Khan; Executive Members: Rajiv Walia; Executive Members: Maninder Paul Lobana.

IOC chief meets Minister Ravi

Vyalar Ravi meeting IOC President Vikram Bajwa and members in Las Vegas July 5 India Post News Service

LAS VEGAS, CA: Indian Overseas Congress, CA-USA President Vikram Bajwa met Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs Vyalar Ravi in Las Vegas, during the celebrations of US Independence Day, July 4-5. He thanked the Minister on behalf of NRIs for saving them

$251 million by reducing the Renunciation fees. Among other issues discussed were renaming of Howrah Express as Komagata Maru Howrah Express and instituting a Gadar Memorial Foundation. Malayalee Council was the host for the minister's visit to Las Vegas. The conference was attended by over 2,000 NRIs from US and Canada.

Community/California

India Post

July 16, 2010

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'God Almighty! Do good to all, but to me first' DR JASWANT SINGH SACHDEV

raveling on a major high way in India, I came across a truck with a sticker on its back, written in Punjabi that read something like this, 'Rabbaa! Kar Bhallaa Sarbat daa, Pur kar shuroo mairey taun.' The heading of this article, indeed, happens to be somewhat of a rough English translation of that sticker. Having lived in a Western country for the last thirty eight years, I carried the impression that the Westerners, on general terms, are more self serving and self-centered, but this sticker, on the back of the truck on the roads of India reminded me once again about one universal truth. And the truth is that no matter who we are or where we live, faiths and cultures notwithstanding, all human beings are the same when it comes to the elements of selfishness within us. We always demand and wish to be taken care of first, before anybody else. We, the citizens of India - a land repeatedly and frequently inhabited by many Saints, Sages, the Mahatmas and Gurus, more than any other place on earth - seem not to stay behind in fulfilling our personal greed first. This is totally contrary to the teaching of all those spiritual souls who tried their best in enlightening us against this menace. Furthermore, such desires within us are not merely limited to the material necessities. Rather, we tend to be self-serving even in the so-called higher order, as if doing otherwise, might somehow delay the fulfillment of our ultimate sought-after goal of salvation - whatever that salvation might imply for us. We think that if we don't try to stay ahead of others, the train might leave the station for heaven without us. I had spotted this sticker on the back of a truck during my customary visit to the Golden Temple, the Sanctum Sanctorum of the Sikhs. This sacred place attracts many visitors from all over the world and

with each passing day, the numbers of pilgrims keep on rising exponentially. As always, the queues of the devotees on the causeway to the entry of Harimandir Sahib for having Darshan were mind boggling this time, to say the least. The local host who was accompanying me to the Golden Temple mentioned that in almost all the important shrines of India, irrespective of the faiths, the queues of the devotees have increased so much that it is not possible to go inside for a Darshan easily. Therefore, some of the devotees try to may use political influence and may even try to use bribes to

Would a visit to the interior of Sanctum Sanctorum of a religious place bought on bribery or through a push or pressure from un-sacred and mortal politicians would ever serve its intended purpose of spiritual fulfillment? by-pass these lengthy lines. I was informed that in some of the important shrines in the country such practice may be quite rampant and the visitors may not hesitate to influence the shrine keepers. It was at that time, I started to wonder as to how come we have fallen so low as to try un-godly acts to seek God? How come an entry to the court of God, wherever it might happen to be, up, down or somewhere in between, will require a bribe? And would a visit to the interior of Sanctum Sanctorum of a religious place bought on bribery or through a push or pressure from un-sacred and mortal politicians would ever serve its intended purpose of spiritual fulfillment? The penchant of our politicians in first taking care of themselves

and their families to the last of their needs, before they could ever think of doing good to the public at-large, has indeed brought our country to the brink of destruction. It has created a kind of total moral hollowness. Look at their greed anywhere and all over! Despite being in eighties and nineties and with one foot already in the graves, they seem not to stop filling their personal coffers. And they do so not only for themselves rather their greed even extends into packing the pockets of their grown-up children. These children might not be children any more, rather; they might have turned into grandparents themselves supporting snow white hair and wrinkled faces. In fact, if one looks around, it is easy to find that the entire emphasis of the politicians of India throughout their life-spans happens to leave their legacy behind by making sure that their progeny gets the same deal what they had. They often start their political careers by expressing a desire to do good to their constituents but then as time passes, their emphasis shifts. I and mine become first! At one time, in the land of our Gurus and Mahatmas, Saints and Sages, it was an unwritten sacred law to sacrifice all for the comforts of fellow countrymen. But thanks to the so-called modern advanced society, such a philosophy has been turned upside down. Our bureaucracy has brought the dubious distinction to our country in elevating it among a few top nations of the world in the practice of corruption where nothing moves without passing a buck under the table. Every one wishes to be a politician, for they know, this is the only profession that flourishes in the country while most of the other enterprises would be at a standstill or even going downhill. It is the extension of the same mentality of 'me first' that leads to the loss of many lives on the road

side of India. Ignoring all the rules and regulations of traffic, every one wishes to be ahead of the others, including the politicians, of course. It is ok for the entire traffic to be put on hold for ever, in order to let a politician riding on a vehicle with red flickering lights pass through first. It doesn't matter if a sick child, being taken to the hospital by ordinary parents gets stuck in traffic as a consequence. The politician might have been using the road for a mere visit to his or her friend's home for a drink. But then it is not only the politicians, rather any person with a little authority over the other tries to make sure that he or she comes

The Western politicians like those of the East, do have greed but they attempt not to hijack the basic essentials of the remaining public to the extent what happens in countries of the East first while the others may have to wait in line for ever. And surprisingly, it is the same thought process where scorching summer heat will let a politician and other people with connections enjoy the cool comfort of air conditioned bungalow while an ordinary person rots in the simmering heat. India may have the best of doctors but a politician worth a name must get treated in U.S. or Europe (provided he or she is not Manmohan Singh). This is done because for one, the bills are paid from government coffers and second it is the continuation of old slave mentality that makes them think that by going abroad for the treatment would somehow enhance their standing and status. Here it wouldn't be fair if I fail to

make it clear that such behaviors are not only limited to India or Indians and perhaps may be prevalent over the world to a variable degree. The difference between the East and West, however, rests in the fact that the public at-large in the later, regardless of its economic status, is taken care of first, at least in as far as the basic amenities are concerned. The Western politicians like those of the East, do have greed but they attempt not to hijack the basic essentials of the remaining public to the extent what happens in countries of the East. And if they try it, the awareness of the ordinary people about exercising their rights is so intense and prevalent, that it becomes difficult for a politician to get away with. The politicians of the West have the insight about the limited span of their shelf-life and they know it well that to refresh it, they would have to face the fully informed public again. At the same time, the lawyers and attorneys sitting at every nook and corner are ever ready to use their pens instead of swords in hacking and annihilating anyone who may try to take undue advantage not because they happen to be sages but cause' their livelihood arises from such situations. Understandably, it is the human nature to find satisfaction to some extent for one's self first as that sticker on the back of the truck happened to announce. But in order to elevate all the human beings, the men in power and status must first become selfless and seek blessings for all. Once the ordinary and the helpless of the society are elevated to a position to have the basic amenities of life, they certainly wouldn't resist others, higher than them on the Totem pole to have more, be that a materialistic comfort or a matter of soul and spirituality. *From the author of a recently published book, 'Square Pegs, Round Holes.'

Kannadigas' Navika 2010, a smash hit Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 20

The evening primetime entertainment lineup featured music by Prakash Sontakke and MD Pallavi. Sunday started out with a colorful procession featuring the various wedding traditions in Karnataka. Hatrick Hero, Shivaraj Kumar led the procession. The day featured various cultural programs including a Yakshagana dance, Janapada (folk) songs, fashion shows. The evening culminated with the Vijay Prakash-Shivaraj Kumar cine-night. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the programs and only regretted that they could not attend all the programs and that the programs were too short. This mega-event was a grand success due to the united force of the Kannada community of Southern California.

More than 150 volunteers worked together on every aspect of the event - including facilities, hospitality, stage/program management, catering, registration, competitions, technical management, and youth activities. Sponsorships from individuals, businesses and the Karnataka government made Navika 2010 possible. At the end of the three-day convention, Navika President, Dr. Sri Iyengar handed over the gabble of Presidency to Dr. Keshava Babu. Navika, or the North American Vishwa Kannada Association also stands for "Navu Vishwa Kanndigaru" which, in Kannada, means - "We are the Kanndigas of the World". Navika a newly formed charitable organization, is focused on promoting Kannada heritage and in helping charitable causes such as education and health.

Horoscope

July 16, 2010

India Post

www.indiapost.com

ARIES Mar 21-Apr 20 Planets will put you in the hot seat but you will come out a winner. It may not be pleasing for everybody around at work. Financially things will be on the edge for few more weeks but money will keep trickling in. You will be looking for right team for your project and start negotiating with few. Big check can come next week.

LEO Jul 23-Aug 22 You will be full of energy. Planets in second will get you lots of extra money. Take chance and you can not loose. Business will start to pick up rapidly. Deal will go through and new associates will bring in lots of cash. You will miss some one badly who was too close in the past. You will take family out for dinner and movies.

SAGITTARIUS

July 16th to July 22nd

Nov 23-Dec 22 Extra money you make will bring big relief in mind. Refund may also show up in the bank account. You will be invited to an important event and get the chance to meet and make new friends. Planets will fill you with energy and as a result you will get all pending work out of your way and take family out to an interesting place on the weekend.

Under scanner Army Major cleared of any espionage NEW DELHI: An Andamanbased Army Major, who came under the scanner after his computer was remotely accessed from Pakistan, has been cleared by the security agencies of any involvement in espionage. The agencies are unlikely to proceed against the Major under the Official Secrets Act (OSA) but he may face a Departmental Action for allegedly procuring documents of sensitive nature. After questioning the Major concerned at length, the central security agencies including the National Investigating Agency (NIA) were of the opinion that he was not involved in any espionage, official sources said. The findings of investigations were also shared with the Army authorities which may initiate a disciplinary action against the officer for allegedly procuring documents pertaining to Army Commander's Conference. These documents are classified as "Top Secret" and should normally not be in his possession. They related to issues much be-

yond his area of work. The Major had said he was an inquisitive person but he was himself at a loss to know how some files had made its way to his computer, the sources said. The sources said the Army authorities may initiate a departmental action against the officer, they said. The investigators were in for a surprise when they found that his computer and e-mails had been remotely accessed from a server located in Pakistan. Central Security agencies had also submitted a report in which they claimed that NIA and Military Intelligence officials had neglected the case property--the computer of the Army Major--and certain files and mails were deleted when the machine was in their custody, official sources said. During the probe, it was also found that the computer of the army officer had been accessed many a time from a proxy server based in Pakistan and one more country, the location of which was being ascertained. -PTI

TAURUS Apr 21-May 20 It will not be a good idea to cash out and take a big loss right now, give it few months and you will be able to salvage a lot. Project launched at this point will prove to be the turning point in your career. You will also hear some good news from far off places. An old friend will call to invite you to a get together at his place.

VIRGO Aug 23-Sept 22 Some money will go towards a future trip also. You will have several reasons to celebrate. You will be prone to be drawn towards people who are not your well wishers, so be careful. You may need to deal with a government agency also to clear some confusion. You will receive valuable advice from a learned person as to how to deal with competitors.

CAPRICORN Dec 23-Jan 19 Some one in the family will be going on a short trip. Financial juggling will bring down the pressure and you will find quick and good solutions to all problems big or small. You will be calling people overseas more frequently this week. There will be stability and positive changes in career soon.

GEMINI May 21-Jun 20 Value of your assets and stocks will take a small dip, so don't panic. On the positive notes lots of uncertainty of the past will disappear in career and you will be somewhat relieved. Some of you will be traveling this week in connection with some official business. Efforts you make this week will bear fruits very soon.

LIBRA Sept 23-Oct 22 You may stretch limits and buy some big ticket item on hold for a while. Boss may move you to another place temporarily. You will be paying more attention to a child and try to settle an important issue. It will be better to stay in touch with an old and trusted friend. Financially you will stay comfortable and meet all commitments on time.

AQUARIUS Jan 20-Feb 18 You may not get results that fast for the efforts recently made. Do not loose hope and have patience as rewards will come in another few weeks. You will become more spiritual and may visit a holy place by yourself. Some very helpful in the past will not be available for some more time.

CANCER Jun 21-Jul 22 Expenses will not leave you alone and you will keep charging on cards. Planets in the third will bring an end to a major headache chewing away most of your precious time. You will be successful in negotiating a very good deal. Ongoing legal matters will take a dramatic and favorable turn. Take all the negative thoughts out of your mind.

SCORPIO Oct 23-Nov 22 There will be many exciting developments in life. Concentration of planets in house of gains will throw many good financial opportunities in your lap and you will have chance to make fast money. New contract will bring in rich rewards almost immediately. You will dispose off some asset for a large profit.

PISCES Feb 19-Mar 20 Planets will cause rapid changes in life and only for betterment this time. Have no regrets about things which did not occur and enjoy these positive changes. You will be helped by an influential lady. Hard work will pay off and the project will take off like a bullet with right partners. You will gain victory in all legal matters.

India Post

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India Post News Service

CHICAGO: In a highly innovative collaboration, musician and dance artist Anjal Chande joined hands with the Aakash Mittal Quartet in a special perfor-

July 16, 2010

mance displaying their unique artistic talents. The show was premiered on June 22 in an intimate setting of the Soham Dance Space studio in Chicago. Drawing from classical Indian, western Jazz, and contemporary influences, their work was authentic

Anjal Chande performing

Anjal Chande with Aakash Mittal Quartet

A portion of the evening's presentation was improvisation, wherein Anjal whimsically explored impromptu ideas through dance and the musicians followed her lead, creating spontaneous layers of music

to their personal experiences. The evening unfolded beautifully with the original repertoire of the collaborators Anjal Chande and Aakash Mittal Quartet. It was quite a moving experience and beyond words. A portion of the

evening's presentation was improvisation, wherein Anjal whimsically explored impromptu ideas through dance and the musicians followed her lead, creating spontaneous layers of music that demonstrated unique synergy across the two artistic disciplines. Such creativity and dynamism is rarely seen in Bharatanatyam performances set to live orchestra, but this was a testament to the artists' autonomy and ingenuity. This was the first time the Aakash Mittal Quartet performed live for dance, a task that demands great attention and sensitivity to the moving dancer. What helped here was Anjal's musicianship that linked it together. They were all immersed in every moment and enjoyed the challenge, delivering beautifully and feeding off Anjal's musical dancing. Watch out for the future collaborations between Anjal and Aakash's ensemble. Anjal Chande is the founder and Director of Soham Dance Space in Chicago. The Aakash Mittal Quartet comprises Aakash Mittal on saxophone and flute, Matthew Fuller on guitar, Jean-Luc Davis on double bass, and Josh Moore on drums.

July 16, 2010

India Post

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Miss Asia delegates join Arthritis Walk India Post News Service

LOS ANGELES: The Los Angeles Arthritis Walk was a huge success, which was held on Saturday, June 5, at the Santa Monica Pier. With opening ceremonies and cheerleading support to the participants from Virgelia Productions' Miss & Mrs. Asia USA Delegates. After that, between 2,5003,000 caring participants begin walking to show their support for the more than 46 million Americans who currently live with arthritis. It was beyond expectations! The recent workshop was held on Sunday, June 13 at the historic Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Each speaker identified to the attendees on topics relating to professional growth, social skills, posing, fashion, dining and per-

Chris Bryant taught the Delegates that they are a brand of one and the CEO of You Inc

sonal etiquette, personal valves and goals, finance, business, skin care, health and fitness.

Among the speakers were Paul Dreher, Chris Bryant, Michael Synn, Michael Elias, Joey Galon,

Louella Eischen, Smita Salgaonkar and Ayushka Gharib. It was a bright sunny and wonderful 12th Annual Second Start Celebration on Saturday, June 19 at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. With Mistress of Ceremony Lu Parker of KTLA-TV news, welcoming remarks by Grace Lubwama Executive Director of World Vision Southern California, greetings from Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa, City of Los

How to master American soft skills PREM KISHORE India Post News Service

ow the West was Won or Raj Gadasalli's sure shot guide to winning friends and colleagues. In his second book, ‘Let’s Master American Soft Skills’, Gadasalli focuses on communication and interpersonal skills in the American context. "Each language is unique." he says and "in this book Indian and Asian executives will get a feel for American English communication which is fast becoming the global norm." In his earlier book (reviewed in India Post) 'Let's Explore America,' Gadasalli affirmed that you can achieve your goals in a new country by following a few rules , being alert and honing your communications skills. In this book on Soft Skills, he reminds you that getting the visa from the American Embassy is just the first step. Those who leave their homeland are adventurous, ambitious, independent and optimistic. But it gets tougher from now on as you leave your family and friends. Gadasalli points to the Promised Land by suggesting that you learn the American ways without losing your identity. Nine chapters in this book cover four themes. All you do is master simple techniques. Gadasalli may have just the ticket for you. He begins with information about the United States of America. He even lists world famous immigrants. Did you know that Bob Hope was originally from

the UK? And Alfred Hitchcock too, as well as Alexander Graham Bell and Albert Einstein! Next he details American form of English. He defines it as "the happening language. India would lose its present advantage over China as the Chinese are on the fast track learning American English" In the next section he talks about Business and Career Skills and the final section covers Executive Survival Skills. "With the rapid pace of globalization the whole world will soon be an integrated market place with waning influence of local cultures" he warns.

and what distinguished American English was that every letter is pronounced. Interestingly there is no single accent that can be called American, the Southern drawl, Mid Western, the Boston accent and the singular African American accent are some of the prominent accents in America. Gadasalli gives many examples of wrong expressions encountered in day to day conversations. "I will phone you today night," "I

Did you know that Bob Hope was originally from the UK? And Alfred Hitchcock too, as well as Alexander Graham Bell and Albert Einstein! American English was fostered in by the Quaker settlers most of whom had migrated from Cornwall in southwest England to the north eastern seaboard of America. They were followed by waves of European immigrants who created a language with words and phrases from several European and neo European language. Think Guru, Pandit, mantra, Nirvana which are household words now in America. Meanwhile the rolling emphasis on R became common place

mean," "I told you yesterday only" is just the tip of the iceberg. A reminder .When Americans talk about Indians they talk about Indian Reservations not about Asians. So be sure who they are talking about. The author says we must know the correct pronunciation for airports, cities so as to avoid errors in communication. Americans prefer to be addressed

by their name and it is quite common to have your Indian name shortened for convenience. Popular American phrases, American English idioms for example "Hit the ceiling" "play it by ear" "knock your socks off," "a day late and a dollar short" are confusing phrases for a newcomer to America. And I wonder how many of us can fathom "Monday morning quarterback" which means 20/20 hindsight! I did not! I also enjoyed the guide to American and Indian pronunciation listings. Body language is important. Too many gestures for emphasis, tilting your head from side to side (common Indian trait) and acrobatic body language is distracting and annoying. Gadasalli suggests you practice a range of gestures in front of a mirror and get feedback from family and friends. Do not interrupt, take statements at face value and do not talk in your native language as just some of the tips listed. One whole chapter and a valuable one deals with telephone skills, hotel and airline reservations, renting a car, meeting a guest, do's and don'ts of dining and scheduling appointments. Business and legal vocabulary powerful verbs, facing an interview, survival skills and win-win negotiations complete this edition. The style is easy, fun to read, and the book teaches soft sills intelligently enhancing performance improvement, resulting in efficiency, confidence and a win win outcome.

Angeles, testimony from Jemeker Thompson-Hairston from Second Chance Evangelist Ministries and closing remarks from Romanita Hairston, Vice President of World Vision U.S. Programs followed by a fashion show featuring the women of World Vision, lunch and a raffle. Virgelia Productions, Inc. and their cultural pageants Miss & Mrs Asia USA has chosen World Vision as its charitable alliance.

Sitar maestro Ravi Shankar turns 90 NEW DELHI: Sitar legend Pandit Ravi Shankar was feted by diplomats, well wishers and admirers who gathered in the capital to celebrate the musician's birth year and share glimpses of his ninedecade-old life. "Music is the soul of India. It has always been my life as well," said the composer musician in a letter read out at the event "Ravi Shankar, 90 not out" organized by the IndoAmerican Friendship Association in association with the Indian Council of Cultural Relations here.

Pandit Ravi Shankar

"As a young Indian in the 1950s it was a matter of pride to see somebody like Panditji perform on the world stage and reach out across to those like Yehudi Menuhin and the Beatles," said Maharaj Gaj Singh II of Jodhpur. "We owe his contribution to the world of music," said Singh who studied at Oxford. Singh was joined by others like German ambassador Thomas Matussek, French ambassador Jerome Bonnafont, dancers Pandit Birju Maharaj and Sonal Mansingh at the event chaired by Abid Hussain, former envoy to the US. -PTI

26 India Post

July 16, 2010

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July 16, 2010

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Indian-American TV show goes national India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Darshan, the longest-running Indian-American television program in the United States, launched a new nationally-broadcast show on July 3 on MHz Worldview. The original Darshan has aired continuously in the Washington D.C. Metro Area since 1987. The new half-hour program, titled Darshan America, will be available throughout the United States on the national independent channel, MHz Worldview. MHz Worldview is available in nearly 27 million households through broadcast and cable affiliates in cities such as Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Miami, Denver, and Seattle. Darshan America will be broadcast nationally each Saturday at 3 PM ET. Like its hour-long Washington D.C. sister show, the new show features host and executive producer Ramesh Butani along with primary cohosts Aastha Verma and Shilpa Alimchandani. They engage in lively discussions of news-based topics of interest to the Indian-American community. Guests include business executives, government officials, writers, artists, activists and entertainers. "Darshan has a loyal

following because it provides the full and rich Indian-American perspective, a voice of the collective consciousness," according to host and executive producer Ramesh Butani. "Going national with Darshan America is a natural and obvious step and we're all excited and proud to appear on a national stage and build a nation-wide audience."

Like its hour-long Washington DC sister show, the new show features host and executive producer Ramesh Butani along with primary co-hosts Aastha Verma and Shilpa Alimchandani "Indian-Americans are making waves right now - look at Nikki Haley in South Carolina," says co-host Aastha Verma. "Darshan America provides a great new platform for us as Indian-Americans to share our achievements and inspiration with mainstream America." The original hour-long Darshan will continue airing weekly in the Washington D.C. Metro area Saturdays at 9 am and Tuesdays at 11 am on MHz Networks 1.

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Realty Tidbits

M&M Group plans SEZ near Bangalore

Real Estate

ahindra & Mahindra (M&M), the diversified business group, plans to set up a 250-acre special economic zone (SEZ) catering to the aerospace sector near the Bangalore International Airport. According to a state government official, the M&M group has shown interest in setting up the SEZ which is going to be built under a public private partnership (PPP) model. Anita Arjundas, CEO, real estate sector, Mahindra & Mahindra said: "Mahindra Lifespaces, the infrastructure and real estate arm of the $7.1-billion Mahindra Group, is in preliminary dialogue with the Karnataka government for developing the aerospace SEZ.

Service tax may hike property prices

eal estate prices may go up with a plea of Urban Development Ministry for withdrawal of 2.5 per cent service tax from the sector not being heeded by the Finance Ministry. The Budget for 2010-11 proposed a service tax of 2.5 per cent on all under-construction projects in the real estate sector. The Urban Development Ministry, however, wanted to get the tax revoked on the plea that the sector was still to recover from the economic slowdown which it witnessed two years ago. Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy had on April 15 met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and sought the removal of the service tax.

Realty prices unlikely to go up soon: HDFC

MUMBAI: The mortgage leader HDFC has ruled out any upward movement in commercial real estate prices in the near future. "A correction in commercial real estate prices is unlikely...prices are unlikely to show a sharp surge in the coming months. There could be a marginal correction in some areas, but it would be just around 5-10 percent," HDFC vice-chairman and chief executive officer Keki Mistry said on the sidelines of an event here. There is over-supply currently which has brought down the prices by 30 per cent besides driving down the rentals, Mistry pointed out. He also said there is a need to curb shady practices in the real estate industry.

28 India Post

www.indiapost.com

July 16, 2010

MMRD tries to push rental housing project

fficials at the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) are trying to push one of the worst recession-hit endeavors - the rental housing project in Mumbai. In a bid to give the project a much-needed push, MMRDA has now decided to commence work on five new sites where as many as 9,000 tenements will be constructed. One of the sites is at Chitalsar and Naupada at Thane, which will be developed by Ascent, Cheda & Cheda and Friends Development Corporation will have 3,815 units.

Hyderabad NRIs shying away from investment in real estate

he 'Non-Resident Hyderabadi' junta is giving city realtors a hard time. With most of these globe-trotters deciding against investing in real estate this year, city builders are already bracing themselves up for a 40-50 per cent drop in their 2010 earnings. Realtors say that the otherwise lucrative months of July and August, when vacationing NRIs visit Hyderabad, is likely to be drab and non-profitable this time around. With most countries in the US, Europe and Middle East breaking for summer in July, a large number of Telugus residing there visit their hometowns in the state during this month. Many among them also invest in properties, giving the real estate sector a huge boost, say industry observers. The other buying season is the December winter break. "We look forward to these two months as a bulk of our NRI deals get sealed during this time," said Khaja Asif Ahmed, a city realtor adding, "The inquiries for these properties start

from April-May. We get calls by the dozens." But this year, Ahmed has not received a single call so far. Interestingly, even the drastic slash in property rates has not helped realtors lure these NRIs. The Hi-tec City-KondapurMiyapur belt which witnesses maximum action, thanks to these cash-rich Telugus, has failed to

has seen too much unrest over the last few months. The reason why local buyers are abstaining from putting their money here is what is holding back NRIs as well. The money these people invest is usually two-three times more than what locals so. So they are overly cautious," he said. Industry observers say these

‘Hyderabad has seen too much unrest over the last few months. The reason why local buyers are abstaining from putting their money here is what is holding back NRIs as well. The money these people invest is usually two-three times more than what locals so. So they are overly cautious’ make any buzz this time. "The places beyond Hi-tec City attract most of the NRI investments. Areas like Kukatpally and Dilsukhnagar too get a lot of customers," said Venkateshwar Rao, a Kukatpally-based builder. According to his analysis, this lack of business is the result of the drop in confidence among NRIs about the future of the city. "Hyderabad

missing NRI investments would further hit the real estate sector, which is still struggling to revive post recession and 'T' agitations. Considering that this group brings realtors the largest share of annual business, observers fear, that their shying away from the sector can even drop the sales figures of builders to an all-time low this year. "NRIs play a very promi-

nent part. So compared to our 2007 sales, when there was large-scale buying by these people, this year definitely looks lackluster. But I am still hopeful," said Prem Kumar of Doyen Constructions. Agreeing with his colleagues Kumar, however, said that NRIs were instead looking at more stable investments, such as gold, this year. Apart from realtors, even bankers are likely to miss their NRI customers. For, the property deals sealed in the months of July and August translate into home loans in the following months, bringing them impressive revenues. Predictably, the business months of September-October that usually registers maximum profits for the banks will see little coming their way this year. "The three months after August is usually the peak time for us. At least one-third of the home loans sanctioned then are for NRI applicants. Their absence from the realty sector will prove to be a dampener for banks too," said a senior analyst of a leading bank.

Mumbai prices surpass pre-crisis level

shok Towers apartments in Mumbai's Parel area com mand a stratospheric Rs 28,000-29,000 per sq ft. This is higher than what developers were charging at the peak of the property market boom during 2007-08. The prices then were Rs 25,000-26,000 per sq ft. During the 2008-'09 slowdown, the rates had hit a low of Rs 16,000-Rs 17,000 sq ft. Ashok Towers isn't alone. The

real estate prices in Mumbai had gone beyond the pre-crisis levels. There are other instances. Flats in Lodha Bellissimo, an upscale project in Mahalaxmi area, are selling at Rs 23,000-24,000 a sq ft, nearly 10 per cent higher than at their peak. However, prices had gone down to Rs 15,000 per sq ft during the slowdown. Apartments at Raheja Vivaria in the same locality quotes at Rs 28,000 a sq ft, about the same as the peak levels.

Realty Price Index based on 13 cities

he yet to be finalized real estate price index should be based on property prices in 13 cities, a committee has recommended. The committee, which has submitted the report to Reserve Bank of Indian (RBI), has said the data can be collected from Greater Mumbai, Chennai, the National Capital Region of Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad,

Kolkata, Pune, Jaipur, Greater Chandigarh, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bhopal and Bhubaneswar. The expert committee, which was formed by the Reserve Bank in December 2008 for developing the information system on asset pricing, said it needed to track both sale/resale price index as well as the rent index of real estate prices on a regular basis.

That's a smart recovery from the slowdown days, when the same apartments were available at 40 per cent lower prices. Home prices across the country's commercial capital have crossed their peak levels as developers raised prices in the backdrop of improved demand. Home buyers had returned to the market since the second quarter of 2009, as developers cut prices by 20-30 per cent to woo buyers.

According to property consultants, Mumbai developers have increased prices by a huge 40 per cent in both new and existing projects, depending on the possession target and locality. The result, say some observers, is that residential sales have come down by 20-25 per cent since December 2009. What has surprised industrywalas is that developers are not ready to cut prices even after this.

AQ SIDDIQUI

hy is Jerusalem ascribed as Holy Land? You feel this concept moment you land in Jerusa lem, the hilly township, the sacred land where Prophets of world's three great divine religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam literally lived, walked and spread the word of God. As my Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul landed in Ben Gurion airport, Tel Aviv, I found three hawk-like intelligence officers waiting for me. My passport was taken and I was ushered in a close room. "Why am I visiting Jerusalem" was the question asked by more than six officers for over 20 times. "To visit holy places in Jerusalem" was my answer every time they asked me. The security check lasted four

29 India Post

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Omar Mosque

hours, one hour of metal detection of my carrying bag, laptop, camcorder, camera and cell phone, one hour of interrogation, two hours of waiting time and finally a visa was stamped in my "second-special" US passport and I was "cleared" to go to Jerusalem. US citizens do not need a visa to visit Jerusalem. But if you visit Jerusalem you are not permitted to enter any Middle East country, excluding Jordan. To overcome this problem, US State Department issues a

July 16, 2010

Holy Church

What a living wonder for thousands of years! The rock is intact. In Jewish belief the rock marks the spot where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac, while the Muslims believe that it was from here that Prophet Muhammed ascended to heaven

with Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. The rock of Ascension is just below the beautiful Golden Tomb of Al-Aqsa mosque. It is covered by bullet proof glass all around it. But visitors are permitted to see it closely. When you are near it you can see the original rock where all Prophets sat and spread the word of God. What a living wonder for thousands of years! The rock is intact. In Jewish belief the rock marks the spot where Abraham prepared to sacrifice Isaac, while the Muslims believe that it was from here that Prophet Muhammed ascended to heaven. Under the rock is a cave, known to Muslims as Bir el-Arwah ("Well of Souls"), where it is believed that the souls of the dead gather to pray. But Israeli soldiers allow only Muslims to visit the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque. When I was at the entrance to Aqsa gate I was asked to read Koran to prove that I am Muslim to enter it, I read the very first line of Surah, the Children of Israel, "Glorified be He Who carried His servant by night from the Inviolable Place of Worship (Makkah) to the Far Distant Place of Worship (Jerusalem), the neighborhood whereof We have blessed, (Koran Surah 17, L1)." Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 30

second passport to citizens for visiting Israel. It takes only 40 minutes from Ben Gurion airport and costs $40 to reach the Holy Land, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Bethlehem the birthplace of Jesus Christ, the Omar Mosque, the Wailing Wall which was built by Prophet Moses and demolished in part by Romans, and finally the Al-Aqsa mosque, the Dome of the Rock (Qubbet el-Sakhra). The Rock is known as the place of the ancient Temple of Solomon and Prophet Muhammad's journey to heaven for meeting the Supreme Lord. It was the rock where all the Prophets, Abraham, Jacob, Lut, Joseph, Moses and Jesus, literally walked or lived around. According to belief, When Prophet Muhammad was taken by Angel Gabriel from Makkah to Jerusalem for his onward journey to meeting with God, Gabriel showed him Bethlehem, the birth place of Jesus saying, "'Alight and pray two raq'as, for here is the birthplace of your brother Jesus, peace be upon him'. He was then taken to the Rock where he led a prayer

Makkah

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Travel & Hospitality Post

July 16, 2010

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Jerusalem: Holy land for divine religions Cont’d from page 29

The Israeli soldier who knew Arabic well was taken aback as I read the most appropriate verse from the Holy Koran. This was the verse that prompted me to take the Journey to Jerusalem. This is the announcement of God in Koran that, "the neighborhood whereof We have blessed". You are blessed if you visit the Holy land. It was the rock that Caliph Omar Ibn Al Khatab searched for immediately after he conquered Jerusalem. According to history, Sephronius, the Byzantine Bishop of Jerusalem waited for the conqueror Omar to hand over to him

The mosque just next to the steps of Holy Church is still having the written order of Omar, in its original Arabic language, rewritten on a marble tablet and planted on the wall of the mosque

the keys of Holy Church. He was surprised to meet a simply dressed man leading a camel mounted by Omar's manservant. Sephronius asked Omar to pray inside the Church but Omar refused, instead he prayed near the steps of Church where later his followers built a small mosque, "Omar Mosque". The mosque just next to the steps of Holy Church is still having the written order of Omar, in its original Arabic language, re-written on a marble tablet and planted on the wall of the mosque allowing Christians to pray in the Chruch of Holy Sepulcher. The Christians respect Omar for his secular views. Praying 2 Rakaas in Omar Mosque I wondered why there are so many fundamentalists symbolizing Islam and no Omar likes in Muslim leadership today? The Church of Holy Sepulcher and

Omar Order in Arabic

place where the original Cross and Crown of thorn was found by Helena, the mother of Constantine the Great. Taking the keys of this Church, Omar Ibn Khattab asked the Bishop to show him the site of

The Rock

birth place of Jesus, Bethlehem still have the empty tomb of Jesus. Many Christians throng the place and believe touching it will cure any deadly disease. Adam, the first man was also buried here. This was also the

the Holy Rock. The Holy rock was buried under the War debris. Omar with his own hand cleaned the debris and wiped the rock with his rob and made a prayer there. The Umayyad caliph, Mu·wiyah later built a beautiful

mosque there. The architect of the mosque was a Jew. The mosque was designed in a round shape as it was itself the first Kibla (the direction to which Muslim bow in prayer) of Islam. Jerusalem was conquered by Caliph Omar Ibn AlKhattab in the year 636 AD. The Dome of the Rock was completed in A.D. 691. And it still stands in its original glory. There are hundreds of tourists just few steps away on the entrance of the Holy Church but only few small Palestinian kids playing inside Aqsa mosque or two-three Arab women praying there. The Israeli Government has coveted the world's greatest place from world tourists under the pretence that only Muslims can enter it! There are many places to visit in Jerusalem, including Dead Sea, the land where Prophet Lut's people incurred the wrath of God, the Wailing Wall, and the Israel Museum etc. For details and guidance to visit Israel, contact sid@eviatravel.com. I continued my journey from Holy Land to Holy City of Makkah, the House of God.

Foreign tourist arrivals in India: Americans no 1 NEW DELHI: The US remained on top as the source country of foreign tourist arrivals in India in 2009. While the US was closely followed by the UK, the neighboring country Bangladesh occupied a distant third position among top 15 source countries from where the maximum number of tourists came to India last year. Nepal also entered the top 15 league as 87,487 visitors from the Himalyan nation visited India during the slowdown period in 2009, according to the data prepared by the Tourism Ministry. In 2009, out of total 51,08,579 foreigners who visited the country, 8,03,021 tourists were from the US. The number of Americans

(8,04,933) among foreign tourists was also the maximum in 2008. The US was followed by the UK with 7,48,765 visitors who came to India in 2009. India received

While the US was closely followed by the UK, the neighboring country Bangladesh occupied a distant third position 4,58,063 tourists from Bangladesh followed by Sri Lanka (2,40,836), Canada (2,21,448) and France (1,95,307). There were 96,997 visi-

tors from China. Others in the top 15 source countries are Germany (1,93,557), Australia (1,48,846), Malayasia (1,34,340) and Japan (1,24,219). The tourist sector witnessed a bad year all over the world in 2009 and the foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) in India during 2009 were 5.11 million as compared to 5.28 million in 2008, registering a fall of 3.3 per cent. The share of top 15 countries was almost same (72.9 per cent) in 2009 as compared to 72.6 per cent in 2008. However, there was growth in FTAs in some regions including Africa (17 per cent), Central and South America (9.6 per cent) and South East Asia (4.7 per cent). -PTI

July 16, 2010

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3.70 lakh foreigners visited India defying heat NEW DELHI: The scorching summer may have deterred citizens from venturing out much but it did not prove to be a damper for foreign tourists visiting the country as figures indicate an increase in their presence in June this year as compared to last year. India received 3.70 lakh foreign tourists in June this year as

against 3.42 lakh the previous year, which is a growth of 8 per cent in foreign tourist arrivals (FTA) in June 2010 over June 2009, said a senior Tourism Ministry official. More foreigners visited the country during June than May this year. In May, 3.44 lakh foreign tourists had come here while in June the number increased to 3.70 lakh.

India's foreign exchange earning from tourism have also gone up by 25 per cent during this time, with revenue from tourism touching Rs 4,751 crore in June as compared to Rs 3,801 crores last year. The total foreign exchange earnings during January-June period this year were Rs 31,373 crores with a growth rate of 27.1 per cent. -PTI

Domestic tourism registers impressive growth NEW DELHI: Despite economic recession, domestic tourism registered an impressive growth of more than 15 per cent but there was a decline in foreign tourist arrivals last year. In the domestic tourism sector, Andhra Pradesh drew maximum tourists in 2009 and in terms of foreign travelers; Tamil Nadu bagged the top spot. However, the number of foreign tourist visits registered a decline of 2.8 per cent over 2008 as only 13.7 million foreigners visited the

Eight HP temples declared to be protected SHIMLA: Himachal Pradesh government has declared eight temples as state protected monuments and notified these under Himachal Pradesh Ancient and Historical Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act of 1976. Principal Secretary (Language, Art and Culture and Tourism) Manisha Nanda said that prior to declaring these monuments as state protected, the stakeholders or interested persons had been asked to file their objections, if any, within two months. "On receiving objections, the government would look into these and a final notification would be issued by government after disposing of the objections," she said. Nanda said that at present there were about 40 monuments of the state which the central government has declared as national protected monuments. -PTI

country as compared to 14.1 million in the previous year. Data compiled by the Tourism Ministry suggested that the number of domestic tourist visits to the states and Union Territories (UTs) was 650 million as compared to 563 million in 2008 and 527 million in 2007. With 157.5 million travelers,

India Post

50 more copter seats for Amarnath Yatra pilgrims SRINAGAR: In a move to boost tourism in the Jammu and Kashmir, Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) has announced allocation of 50 more helicopter seats to the hospitality industry during the ongoing Amarnath yatra. "SASB has enhanced the allocation of helicopter seats to the Travel Trade, Hotel and Hospitality Industry in the state during the ongoing yatra, with a view to giving a fillip to tourism-related activities in the state with the increased participation of local stakeholders," an official spokesman said. The decision was taken on the directions of Governor N N Vohra,

who is also the Chairman of SASB, aimed at increased economic benefits for the state's hospitality industry. "Of the enhanced seats, 10 each have been allocated for the Hotel Associations of Kashmir and Jammu divisions, 10 for the Hotel Association, Pahalgam, 10 for the House Boat Owners Association and another 10 for Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Development Corporation. This is in addition to the quota of 140 helicopter seats earlier allocated to the four recognized Travel and Tour Operators, two each from Kashmir and Jammu divisions," the spokesman said. -PTI

Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Gujarat and the contribution of these states was about 88 per cent to the total domestic tourist visits last year. During 2009, the number of foreign tourist visits to the states and UTs was 13.7 million as compared to 14.1 million in 2008 and 13.3 million in 2007.

Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh also figured in the top ten list in terms of foreign tourist visits Andhra Pradesh topped the list of states followed by Uttar Pradesh (134.8 million) and Tamil Nadu (115.8). The number of domestic tourist visits registered an increase of 15.5 per cent over 2008 as compared to increase of 6.9 per cent in 2008 over 2007. Other states in the top ten list included Karnataka, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,

The top ten states in terms of number of foreign tourist visits during 2009 were Tamil Nadu with 2.37 million, closely followed by Maharashtra and Delhi with 2 and 1.96 million respectively. Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar and Himachal Pradesh also figured in the top ten list in terms of foreign tourist visits. -PTI

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6 Bin Tere: I Hate Luv Storys 7

Tum Chain Ho: Milenge Milenge

8 Sajde: Khatta Meetha (New) 9 Tum Jo Aaye (Reprise): Once Upon A Time in Mumbai 10 I Love Amreeka: Tere Bin Laden

KINNG

SEQUEL

IMRAN IS SE Y

he joshing and joking between Imran Khan and Sonam Kapoor only goes to show that they are the next hot couple of Bollywood. Moreover, the duo has got a thumbs-up from critics as well. Their chemistry is the USP of new release I Hate Luv Storys. No wonder they can't stop complimenting one another, when they are not pulling each other's leg, that is.

In a latest report, Sonam says that when she first saw Imran in Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, she found him "hot". She loved his ripe lips and Maybelline eyelashes. But Imran is quite dismissive about himself. He doesn't think he's sexy. "I think he is (sexy). In fact, Imran is gorgeous," Sonam is quoted as saying. However, Sonam was quick to add that she likes John Abraham's butt better. Well, now Imran has something to work on.

YASH's SHRADDHA H

er debut film Teen Patti may have bombed at the Box Office but that hasn't deterred Shraddha Kapoor one bit. The pretty looking daughter of veteran villain Shakti Kapoor has apparently been signed by none other than Yash Raj Films and that too for a three-film contract. While details of the projects are yet to be confirmed, this one is surely a big deal for Shraddha Kapoor who is all set to make her presence felt in the big, bad world of Bollywood.

efore the brand runs out of steam Akshay Kumar has decided to run into the next installment of Singh Is Kinng. Vipul Shah who was in two minds has decided to direct the sequel since Anees Bazmee seems too busy to do the needful. Says Vipul, "Yes, after much planning and plotting, and two years since the first film, we've finally cracked an idea that works. My writer Suresh Nair and I are happy with what we've come up with. And yes I'll be directing the sequel." Though Vipul is not willing to reveal much of the plot for the sequel at this juncture - at least not on record - it's reliably learnt that the sequel would begin where the first Singh Is Kinng trailed off, namely in Australia and then move to another country, apparently Canada which is Akshay's second home. Akshay's haste to start Singh Is Kinng 2 has a root cause. While playing a mona Sardar in Patiala House in London last month, he was repeatedly asked by Sikh fans in Great Britain when they'd get to see him as Singh again. Akshay immediately contacted Vipul from London and also urged him to direct the sequel. Says Akshay "Yes a lot of fans in the UK are eager to see us do a sequel to Singh Is Kinng again. And I've asked Vipul to get on with it." There is only one hitch. Singh's queen Katrina is completely booked till next year. And the sequel cannot be made without her. Laughs Vipul, "She won't let me or Akshay make it without her. We'll just have to see how her dates are worked out."

Bollywood

July 16, 2010

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DUTT DAUGHTER

anjay Dutt's only daughter Trishala Dutt has expressed her desire to act in films, and thinks it won't invite the daddy dear's wrath. But can women from the Dutt family ever enter films? Though Trishala was raised in New York after her mother's death and is kept away from the glam-sham of the tinsel town, she is not untouched by the lure of Bollywood. In one of her interviews with a magazine sometime back, she was quoted as saying, "My dad has never said 'no' to me for Bollywood. Yes, I know he would not approve. But he does have a soft spot for me, so I think it will be okay later on." Earlier too she didn't deny being tempted by Bollywood. Trishala is also believed to have had a small stint with modeling and she has also done short-term acting courses with the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute in New York during her studies. However, papa Sanjay is not aware that Trishala is eyeing Bollywood. As reported, he won't encourage her. "I am not supportive of her becoming an actress," Dutt said and later on gave the example of his sisters who never took up acting. "My mom (Nargis) gave up acting when she got married and was a devoted mother and housewife and so was Richa (Dutt's first wife)," says Sanju. In fact, Maanyata stopped doing films while she was dating Sanjay.

averick director Vishal Bharadwaj has longed to work with Aishwarya Rai for years. In fact, his planned first film Timbucktoo was supposed to star Ash, but the actress didn't have dates back then. Over the years, Vishal approached Ash for a number of projects, including his latest Saat Khoon Maaf, but the actress never had dates to spare, much to Vishal's dismay and chagrin. Now at last, the 36-year-old actress is in talks with Vishal for a project that will roll next year. So far, all that we know about the film is that it has a women-centric theme. Ash has confirmed that "things are working out" for Vishal's next film. She also admits that it's her fault that she's been turning down the talented director too often. But this time, she won't shut the door on him.

ASH SAYS â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;YES!â&#x20AC;&#x2122; SMASH HIT

fter chasing hens, bathing buffaloes and picking cow dung, TV actress Roshni Chopra, who was crowned India's first "Desi Girl", is riding high on success and says she may shine on international arena soon. "I think it's great time for me personally and professionally. As doors to bigger platforms have opened for me. I am rolling on a Hollywood project which makes me feel so content. However, it's too early to disclose details about it. And soon you will see me on the big screen in Vikram Bhatt's 'Phirr'," she said. "Phirr" is a romantic thriller and also stars "1920" fame pair Ada Sharma and Rajnish Duggal. "In the film, I am playing an NRI girl who is living in Newcastle in England. Rajnish is playing my husband. He is a doctor and I am a law professor," said Roshni who says her marriage has not created any obstacle in her career. "I know that the industry is opening up. But I want to be one of those actresses who makes it big so that other people do not feel that they cannot get married. My career has not been affected so far."

'Desi Girl' eyes

HOLLY

hen in Spain, do as Spaniards do. Well, that's the dictum Hrithik Roshan, Katrina Kaif and the cast of Zoya Akhtar's film Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara have been following while shooting the movie in Spain. Kat and Hrithik took part in the famous Tomato festival in the country. In the festival people smash over-ripe tomatoes on each other. The annual ritual is supposed to bring good luck. Hrithik's wife Sussanne Roshan who is also in Spain with the shooting unit was repulsed by the smell of tomatoes but the film's cast, primarily Hrithik and Katrina had a whale of a time throwing tomato missiles at each other. "I had a lot of fun," Katrina is quoted as saying. Hrithik and Kat are also set to watch bullfight for a scene.

Tech News Farmers Insurance launches Agent Recruitment Month India Post News Service

LOS ANGELES, CA: Farmers Insurance has announced the launch of a recruitment campaign to better serve the needs of the Asian Pacific American community. To meet and support the incredible growth of the APA community in Southern California, the insurance company is in search of highly-motivated, driven and ambitious entrepreneurs interested in joining one of the nation's largest insurance agent networks. On every Thursday in July, beginning July 8, from 4 pm to 7 pm, Farmers Insurance invites prospective agents to attend open houses at select Farmers offices across Southern California. At the open houses, prospective agents will be able to learn more about a lucrative and secure career as a Farmers agent. "We know there are many talented individuals that have the necessary skills to become a part of the Farmers Family of agents," said June Chern, District Manager of Farmers Insurance. "We are looking forward to meeting these entrepreneurs who are able to utilize their strengths in the insurance industry." At the open houses, candidates will be able to speak directly to district managers and successful agents about earning potential and personal growth at Farmers Insurance. They will also be able to learn more about small business opportunities, top-line support through Farmers first-class training using top insurance industry methods and support for continued education. Prospective Farmers agents are in the business for themselves but will also have the support and opportunity at a secure future in the company.

TechBiz 36 India Post

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July 16, 2010

'Fuel price hike to have marginal impact on inflation' CHANDIGARH: Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said fuel price hike will have a marginal inflationary impact and that he will meet the RBI chief before the upcoming monetary policy review to check price-line. Mukherjee, who had earlier ruled out rollback in the increase in fuel prices ahead of the Opposition-sponsored Bharat Bandh, said that he will meet Reserve Bank Governor D Subbarao on July 23 ahead of the monetary policy review scheduled for July 27. "What was done (fuel price increase) was on the basis of the recommendations of an expert (Kirit Parikh) committee...so far as the inflationary impact of this measure alone (is concerned) it would be a little less than 1 per cent," he told reporters after a meeting of the Northern chief ministers and PSU bank heads. -PTI

Delhi gets new world-class airport NEW DELHI: Delhi has got a spanking new world-class Rs 9,000 crore airport that will integrate domestic and international operations and is expected to handle 34 million passengers annually. The new terminal or Terminal 3 (T3), said to be the sixth largest in the world, was inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who said the Indian aviation sector has the potential to absorb up to USD 120 billion of investment by 2020. UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit were among the dignitaries present on the occasion to dedicate T3 built by GMR group backed developer Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL). Spread over four kms, 80 per cent of T3 is made of glass and supported by metal frames. The nine level terminal building would be used for 90 per cent of the entire passenger movement in the airport. Comfortable lounges, nap and shower rooms will add to passenger comfort in the airport which will have a mix of restaurants, bars, cafes and fast food outlets in around 20,000 sq mt of commercial space.

Visitors walk at the arrival lounge of the newly inaugurated Indira Gandhi International Airport Terminal 3 in New Delhi.

"An airport is often the first introduction to the country. A good airport would signal a new India, committed to join the ranks of modern industrialized nations," the Prime Minister said. He said Delhi's new airport proves the success of public-private partnership model in execution of large infrastructure projects. He said India should have airports that are receptive to the comfort of passengers even as they meet the highest standards of safety. They should employ the most modern of technologies but also exude cultural warmth. Noting that his government had launched a modernization and capacity expansion program for major airports some years ago, he said, "Today we see one of the successes of that initiative. "The commissioning of this terminal will be a significant step forward in developing Delhi as a vital hub. It will encourage feeder traffic from the non-metro airports being developed by the Airports Authority of India," he said. Besides three functional runways, the T3 would have, among

He said India should have airports that are receptive to the comfort of passengers even as they meet the highest standards of safety. They should employ the most modern of technologies but also exude cultural warmth. Noting that his government had launched a modernization and capacity expansion program for major airports some years ago, he said, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Today we see one of the successes of that initiative other things, 168 check-in counters, 78 aerobridges (more than 64 in Singapore), 97 travelators and a multi-level airconditioned car park to accommodate 4,300 cars, both first in India.

Praising the "impressive" new airport, UPA President Sonia Gandhi said quality is not something to be reserved for prestigious projects but should become "part and parcel of our design process for all our public projects including housing and other services". "Providing rural and urban infrastructure efficiently and at the same time achieving high standards must remain our goal," she said. Operations at the new integrated terminal would begin from the middle of this month with Air India and all international airlines shifting their operations from the existing terminal buildings. Officials of DIAL said all international carriers, operating from Delhi, would shift their operations from the existing international terminal or T2 to T3 on July 14. On July 30-31, the operations of all full service Indian carriers, including Air India, Jet Airways and Kingfisher, would shift along with their low-cost wings. The swanky T3 would also be "barrier free" to suit the requirements of passengers with "special needs or reduced mobility". -PTI

July 16, 2010

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Govt seeks debate on opening up retail trade to FDI NEW DELHI: The Indian Government has thrown open for debate the opening up of the politically-sensitive FDI in multibrand retail, saying it would not only help farmers earn more but also keep the priceline under check. "Keeping in view the large requirement of funds for back-end infrastructure, there is a case for opening up of the retail sector to foreign investment," Commerce and Industry Ministry said in a discussion paper but with the caveat there was a need for enough safeguards for domestic traders as also employment opportunities. While FDI in multi-brand retailing is pro-

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prices. Almost echoing the views, the paper pointed out that the farmer, in the present system, gets just a third of the consumer prices for their produce. "FDI in retail, may, therefore, be an efficient means of addressing the concerns of farmers and consumers." Besides, the paper also sought to make a strong case in favor of small retailers in the unorganized sector, saying their growth was constant at around 15 per cent annually compared to dip in profits recorded by the organized retailers. "It is therefore clear that organized retail cannot have a cake walk and will face a growing chalListing out a number of posers for lenge from the unorganized sector," the ministry said, in checks against any fall-out of openobvious bid to dispel ing the sector for foreign investment, it an fears of threat to livelihood said views and suggestion be given from corporate giants and to the government by end of July. The MNCs. Listing out a number of ministry, said that in the Indian context posers for checks against FDI in retailshould be done in a caliany fall-out of opening the sector for foreign investbrated manner ment, it said views and suggestion be given to the govhibited in India, foreign investment in single ernment by end of July. brand retail -- since being opened in April The ministry, however, said that in the 2006 -- is about Rs 900 crore, said the paper, Indian context FDI in retail, which employon which comments are invited by July 31. ees about 33 million people, should be done Pointing that India was losing agri prod- in a calibrated manner. ucts, fruits and vegetables to the tune of Rs "We must ensure that the FDI does make one lakh crore annually, the paper said that a real contribution to address the inadequaestablishment of cold chains and back-end cies of back-end infrastructure," it said. infrastructure could cut down the losses by It said FDI in retail was "imperative" to more than half. fund investment in agri-infra sector and reWhile there had been political resistance duce consumer prices. to the idea on the presumption that global As per the Planning Commission, infraplayers would swallow the small 'mom and structure for the farm sector such as cold pop' (kirana) stores, the industry has been chain would need an investment of Rs pitching for allowing FDI in retail sector. 64,312 crore. On concerns that large retailEven Prime Minister Manmohan Singh ers may weaken the public distribution syshad earlier this year sought a debate on tem and buffer stocks, the paper recomopening up the sector pointing to the vast mended the government reserve the right difference between farm gate and consumer of first procurement from farmers.-PTI

Amul is No 1 dairy brand ANAND: The brand Amul has not only maintained its unique position as the No 1 Indian brand for the second consecutive year, but has also become the numero uno dairy brand in the Asia-Pacific region ahead of many international names like Kraft, Walls, Everyday etc. Not just that. The brand Amul has also bettered its ranking considerably jumping ten notches from 83rd spot last year to 73rd this year. In the list of the Top 1,000 Brands in AsiaPacific, published by the Media Magazine, the brand Amul is the only brand from the country to find this coveted consumer recognition and is ranked as the 73rd most popular brand in the Asia-Pacific region, improving 10 notches from the last year's ranking at 83rd. Amul is also ranked as No 1 dairy brand, ahead of the leading food and dairy brands in the Asia-Pacific region like Kraft, Dutch Lady, Dumex, Walls, Anchor, Magnolia and Everyday, an Amul release said here. The survey conducted by the Media Magazine, which is being simultaneously published from Hong Kong and Singapore, ranks Amul as the 73rd best brand amongst the Top 1,000 Brands of Asia-Pacific. The list was arrived at after a consumer survey conducted in Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

Amul is also ranked as No 1 dairy brand, ahead of the leading food and dairy brands in the Asia-Pacific region like Kraft, Dutch Lady, Dumex, Walls, Anchor, Magnolia and Everyday, an Amul release said here Leading market research agency TNS interviewed people aged 15-64 across these 10 markets recently. Amul's ranking has jumped from 83rd in 2009 to 73rd this year, an official at Amul told PTI adding, "There is no other Indian brand in the list of top 1,000 brands ahead of Amul." "Asia Pacific's top 1,000 brand list is based on a proprietary survey conducted by Media Magazine which is sponsored by the Wall Street Journal," an Amul official said, adding this is the seventh year of the survey. The survey reaffirms the faith Indian customers have reposed in Amul and also the fact that a brand created by India is featuring amongst the top brands globally, Amul official said. -PTI

Health

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Arizona struggling to keep doctors in state

PHOENIX: A new batch of medical residents is training at hospitals across Arizona, but getting enough to stay to offset the state's physician shortage remains a challenge. Despite efforts to expand residency programs and increase retention rates around Arizona hospitals, more than a third to nearly half of the medical residents are expected to leave eventually to practice somewhere else. A 2005 study on the physician work force by Arizona State University's Center for Health Information found the ratio of physicians to population in Arizona is ``far below'' the national average. Researchers say the gap has closed a bit over the past five years, but it's still not enough. -AP

NM offers health insurance to high-risk uninsured SANTA FE, N.M.: The state of New Mexico has begun its first program under federal health care reform. As of July 1, the state is using federal funds to provide health insurance coverage for high-risk uninsured New Mexico residents. The state Human Services Department in cooperation with the New Mexico Medical Insurance Pool is contracting with the U.S. Health and Human Services Department to operate a temporary federal high-risk insurance pool program. It will help people with pre-existing medical conditions who have been uninsured for at least six months. -AP

Study shows teens benefit from later school day

Health Science 38

India Post

July 16, 2010

MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho: Police say an Idaho firefighter seriously injured while prepping a fireworks show has been released from the hospital and is expected to receive additional treatment at a Salt Lake City burn center. -AP

Health overhaul first provisions start to kick in WASHINGTON: The first stage of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul is expected to provide coverage to about 1 million uninsured Americans by next year, according to government estimates. That's a small share of the uninsured, but in a shaky economy, experts say it's notable. Many others - more than 100 million people - are getting new benefits that improve their existing coverage. Overall costs appear modest at this point, split among taxpayers, employers and individuals who directly benefit, although the biggest part of the health care expansion is still four years away. For weeks, the White House has been touting the new law's initial benefit changes, even as Obama dares Republicans to make good on their threat to repeal his signature social policy achievement. Now, a clearer picture is starting to emerge from the patchwork of press releases. In 2014, government tax credits will help uninsured workers and their families pay premiums, and Medicaid will take in many more low-income people. Eventually, more than 30 million will gain coverage, sharply reducing the num-

ber of uninsured and putting the nation on a path to coverage for all citizens and legal immigrants. Political salesmanship and an attempt to address some glaring health insurance problems are key elements of the strategy to explain the initial changes resulting from the law. After battling for a year to pass the legislation, Democrats desperately wanted to have tangible ac-

Fund, a New York-based health research clearinghouse. ``Providing this early relief will help people who are particularly affected by the downturn.'' Collins reviewed coverage estimates in federal regulations for The Associated Press. Among the beneficiaries will be many people locked out of insurance because of medical problems. The Raether family of suburban

In 2014, government tax credits will help uninsured workers and their families pay premiums, and Medicaid will take in many more low-income people. Eventually, more than 30 million will gain coverage, sharply reducing the number of uninsured and putting the nation on a path to coverage for all citizens and legal immigrants complishments to point to in highstakes congressional elections this fall. But they also have to deflect lingering questions, often stirred up by opposition candidates, and doubts about the effectiveness of the overhaul and its costs. ``We've seen increasing numbers of people losing their health insurance, particularly in this recession,'' said Sara Collins, vice president of the Commonwealth

Milwaukee will gain from two of the changes: Elimination of lifetime coverage limits and a ban on insurers turning away children in poor health. Four-year-old daughter Mira, who was born prematurely and has kidney problems, exhausted the lifetime limit on her parents' policy earlier this year. Mira now has temporary Medicare coverage because of a kidney transplant, but her parents

were worried about what would happen when they have to get her back on private insurance. ``A huge weight has been lifted,'' said Sheryl Raether, the mother. ``She has ongoing health care needs, and I was afraid she'd hit another lifetime limit.'' Medicare not only covers seniors, but people of any age with permanent kidney failure. The major early coverage benefits include: Allowing young adults to stay on their parents' coverage until they turn 26. In 2011, an estimated 650,000 young people who would otherwise have been uninsured will gain coverage. Another 600,000 will benefit by switching from individually purchased policies to less costly, more comprehensive employer plans. The number with coverage will grow in 2012 and 2013. - A health plan for uninsured people with pre-existing health conditions. From 200,000 to 400,000 could benefit in 2011, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The government may limit enrollment if $5 billion allocated through 2013 starts to run out, as projected. Beginning in 2014, insurers will be required to accept all applicants, regardless of medical history. -AP

New strategy for treating movement disorders India Post News Service

CHICAGO: An eye-opening study says delaying high school starting times by just 30 minutes can reap big rewards for tired teens. The research found that kids who started school at 8:30 in the morning instead of 8:00 were more alert in class, had better moods and fewer tardies. They even ate healthier breakfasts. The study was last year at a posh Rhode Island boarding school, St. George's School. Similar results have been found in some public schools that let teens start school late. Researchers say the reason may be biological; teens are in their deepest sleep around dawn, and have difficulty falling asleep before 11 p.m. -AP

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Firefighter hurt in fireworks explosion released

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) and Stanford University have shown how key circuits in the brain control movement. The research, published in the journal 'Nature' not only establishes the function of these circuits, but offers promise for treating movement related disorders, such as Parkinson's disease. The research team was led by GIND investigator Anatol Kreitzer, PhD, who collaborated with Stanford's Karl Deisseroth, MD PhD, creator of a light activation technology that enabled scientists to activate specific cir-

cuits in the motor regions of brain. "Scientists had identified and diagrammed these circuits in the late 80s and early 1990s, but there had been no way to test their function in animal models," explained Dr. Kreitzer. "This research used genetic methods to allow mice to produce a light-sensitive protein in very select group of cells in the brain." For decades, a leading theory predicted that our movements are controlled by "go" and "stop" circuits, or pathways, that exert a sort of push-pull control over motor function. Signals are sent to the motor control center in the brain cortex to say, "Yes, go ahead and do this," or "No, stop. Don't do this." In Parkinson's disease, these pathways were thought to go out

of balance, causing "stop" signals to dominate. But the function of these pathways had never been experimentally tested. The researchers used a molecular "switch" from green algae called channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2), which is turned on by blue light. Scientists genetically engineered ChR2 specifically into cells of either the stop or go pathways in a mouse. A fiber optic the width of a human hair was then inserted into the brain. When a laser connected to the fiber optics was illuminated, the light in the brain caused the ChR2 to turn on, and this action stimulated only the stop cells or only the go cells. When the light was off, the cells were quiet. As soon as the light was turned on, they became

active. When the light was turned off, the activity stopped. "The theory about Parkinson's is that the 'stop' pathway becomes more active," Kreitzer said. "We wanted to see if we could mimic a Parkinson-like state simply by activating the stop pathway in a mouse." Researchers found that the mouse with the fiber optics implanted in the brain moved normally with the laser turned off and froze when the laser was turned on. With the laser off, and the mouse's movement was restored. "It's not something we can do for just a second," Kreitzer said. "We can do this for as long as the laser is on." Cont’d on page 39

Health Science Post

July 16, 2010

India Post

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New strategy for treating movement disorders Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 38

The fundamental nature of movement makes diseases of the motor system, such as Parkinson's disease, particularly devastating. After Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's is the second most common neurodegenerative disease. It is caused by a loss of the brain chemical dopamine, and it affects 1-3% of those over 65, or about one million Americans. Its major symptoms are resting tremor, rigidity (an increase in muscle tone), slowed movements, problems with posture, and difficulty walking. "We found that by activating the 'stop' pathway we could mimic Parkinson's disease. But what we really wanted was a strategy to treat the disease symptoms." For this, Dr. Kreitzer and colleagues turned to the "go" pathway. "We thought that by activating the 'go' pathway, we could re-balance these brain pathways and directly restore movement, even in the absence of dopamine." The strategy worked even better than expected. "We generated mice that lacked dopamine, and these mice showed

many of the same symptoms found in humans with Parkinson's disease. But when we activated the 'go' pathway in these mice, they

'We found that by activating the 'stop' pathway we could mimic Parkinson's disease. But what we really wanted was a strategy to treat the disease symptoms.' For this, Dr. Kreitzer and colleagues turned to the 'go' pathway. 'We thought that by activating the 'go' pathway, we could rebalance these brain pathways and directly restore movement' began to move around normally again. We restored all of their motor deficits with this treatment, even though the mice still lacked dopamine."

He added that selective stimulation of the motor planning circuitry might be important for treating Parkinson's and also other disorders involving these circuits, such as Huntington's disease, Tourette's syndrome, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and addiction. Finally, by using these methods to identify the important circuits, new drugs can be developed to home in on these specific circuits now that their function is known. Other contributors to this work are Lex Kravitz, Benjamin Freeze, Philip Parker, Kenneth Kay, and Myo Thwin. The research was funded by the Gladstone Institutes, the W.M. Keck Foundation, the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences, the McKnight Foundation, and the NIH. Dr. Kreitzer's primary affiliation is with the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease where his laboratory is located and his research is conducted. Dr. Kreitzer is also Assistant Professor of Physiology and Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dengue outbreak claims 3rd fatality in PR SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico: Puerto Rico's top health official has warned that the U.S. island could face its worst-ever dengue fever outbreak if people don't act quickly to destroy breeding areas for disease-spreading mosquitoes. Health Secretary Lorenzo Gonzalez Feliciano issued the warning after a 37-year-old woman from the northern town of Hatillo died of the hemorrhagic form of the tropical virus. Her death was the third fatality from dengue fever so far this year on the island. Unless islanders take urgent measures to eradicate bug breeding areas by draining standing water near their houses, the Caribbean territory will experience a public health crisis in coming months, Gonzalez said. ``If we do not act now, we will see a catastrophe in the months of August and September that could reach record numbers and would make it much more difficult to control,'' said Gonzalez, who also urged people to sleep under mosquito nets and wear repellent. The government has dispatched trucks to neighborhoods and schools to spray a

mist that kills mosquitoes, but Gonzalez said too many Puerto Ricans have let down their guard against the virus. He urged islanders to report neighbor to authorities if they leave stagnant water on their property.

Dengue has no vaccine. It generally causes fever, headaches and extreme joint and muscle pain. Most sufferers recover within a week Damp, hot weather creates favorable mosquito breeding conditions, so the situation may be worsened by the unusually wet weather that soaked Puerto Rico in May and June. Puerto Rico's worst dengue outbreak was in 1998, when the virus sickened 17,000 and caused 19 deaths. Dengue has no vaccine. It generally causes fever, headaches and extreme joint and muscle pain. Most sufferers recover within a week. The more severe hemorrhagic form can be deadly. -AP

In Brief Judge limits briefing in challenge to law PHOENIX: A judge considering the five lawsuits challenging Arizona's immigration enforcement law is trying to avoid being buried by legal paperwork. US District Judge Susan Bolton has imposed limits on so-called ``friend of the court'' briefs filed by groups that aren't plaintiffs or defendants in the case. Bolton's order lifts a requirement for the state to respond to all briefs and imposes size limits on new briefs being filed. She says the many briefs being filed in the case (in her words) ``may well jeopardize the court's ability to rule'' by July 29 on a request to prohibit the law from taking effect that date. -AP

Bloomberg seeks to ease policies on immigration WASHINGTON: New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says the country is ``giving short shrift to immigration'' and that economic problems will worsen until America sends out a more welcoming message. Bloomberg says the US is ``pushing people that other countries want away from our shores.'' He said on ABC's ``Good Morning America'' that an overly restrictive immigration policy discourages people who can create work with an entrepreneurial spirit. Speaking a day after President Barack Obama urged Congress to pass an immigration reform bill, Bloomberg said policymakers ``should give a green card to anybody around the world who wants to come here.'' -AP

More demand for ethnic vegetables SOUTH DEERFIELD, Mass.: Maxixe is relatively unknown in the US, but the Brazilian relative of the cucumber may one day be as common as cilantro as farmers and consumers embrace more socalled ethnic vegetables. University of Massachusetts professor Frank Mangan says immigrants from Africa, Asia and Latin America and their children account for more than one-third of produce sales in supermarkets. And, sales of ethnic vegetables are expected to grow as other customers become familiar with them. To take advantage of that market, agriculture experts at UMass and elsewhere are teaching farmers to grow non-native vegetables like maxixe. -AP

Immigration India Post

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July 16, 2010

Obama says politics to blame for immigration delay WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama has blamed Republicans for delays in improving the U.S. immigration system, accusing the opposition of excessive partisanship during an election year. -AP

US federal government sues Arizona over immigration law India Post News Service

NEW YORK: The US Department of Justice challenged the state of Arizona's recently passed immigration law, S.B. 1070, in federal court June 6. In a brief filed in the District of Arizona, the Department said S.B. 1070 unconstitutionally interferes with the federal government's authority to set and enforce immigration policy, explaining that "the Constitution and federal law do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country." A patchwork of state and local policies would seriously disrupt federal immigration enforcement. Having enacted its own immigration policy that conflicts with federal immigration law, Arizona "crossed a constitutional line." The Department's brief said that S.B. 1070 will place significant burdens on federal agencies, di-

verting their resources away from high-priority targets, such as aliens implicated in terrorism, drug smuggling, and gang activity, and those with criminal records. The law's mandates on Arizona law enforcement will also result in the harassment and detention of foreign visitors and legal immigrants, as well as US citizens, who cannot

cooperate with law enforcement officials and that implementation of the law would require them to reassign officers from critical areas such as violent crimes, property crimes, and home invasions. The Department filed the suit after extensive consultation with Arizona officials, law enforcement officers and groups, and civil rights

‘The Constitution and federal law do not permit the development of a patchwork of state and local immigration policies throughout the country’ readily prove their lawful status. In declarations filed with the brief, Arizona law enforcement officials, including the Chiefs of Police of Phoenix and Tucson, said that S.B. 1070 will hamper their ability to effectively police their communities. The chiefs said that victims of or witnesses to crimes would be less likely to contact or

advocates. The suit was filed on behalf of the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of State, which share responsibilities in administering federal immigration law. "Arizonans are understandably frustrated with illegal immigration, and the federal government has a

responsibility to comprehensively address those concerns," Attorney General Eric Holder said. "But diverting federal resources away from dangerous aliens such as terrorism suspects and aliens with criminal records will impact the entire country's safety. Setting immigration policy and enforcing immigration laws is a national responsibility. Seeking to address the issue through a patchwork of state laws will only create more problems than it solves." "With the strong support of state and local law enforcement, I vetoed several similar pieces of legislation as Governor of Arizona because they would have diverted critical law enforcement resources from the most serious threats to public safety and undermined the vital trust between local jurisdictions and the communities they serve," Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said. Cont’d on page 41

Consular fee interim final rule published CYRUS D MEHTA

n response to a previously published proposed rule and related supplementary notice, the Department of State received 1,797 comments and has reopened the comment period for an additional 60 days, until August 27. The interim final rule takes effect on July 13. Nonimmigrant visa fees, including fees for Machine-Readable Visas (MRVs) and Border Crossing Cards (BCCs), have been modified under a separate rule published in May 2010, and those modified fees are also reflected in the Schedule of Fees in the interim rule. Among other fee changes: • The Department is increasing the application fee for a passport book for an adult (age 16 and older) from $55 to $70, and increasing the passport book security surcharge from $20 to $40. The application fee for a passport book for a minor (under age 16) will remain at $40. • Instead of a single fee for

processing an immigrant visa, the Department has created fees depending on the category of visa. The application fee for an employment-based visa processed on the basis of an I-140 petition will be $720. The application fee for a family-based visa (immediate relative and preference) processed on the basis of an I-130, I-600, or I-800 petition will be $330. Other immi-

able at edocket.access.gpo.gov/ 2010/pdf/2010-15622.pdf. USCIS proposes changes in fees, large new fee for EB-5 Regional Center Applications A new proposed fee rule would increase the average application and petition fees by a "weighted average" of approximately 10 percent, and would establish a hefty new fee of $6,230 for an applica-

The Department is increasing the immigrant visa security surcharge, which all applicants except those statutorily exempted must pay, from $45 to $74 grant visa applications (including for diversity visa applicants) will have a fee of $305. • The Department is increasing the immigrant visa security surcharge, which all applicants except those statutorily exempted must pay, from $45 to $74. The interim final rule, which includes a long discussion of the many comments received, is avail-

tion for regional center designation under the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Pilot Program. "Understanding the unique importance of naturalization," U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) said it is not proposing a naturalization application fee increase. The proposed rule would establish several other new fees, however,

including for individuals seeking civil surgeon designation ($615) and recovery of the cost of processing immigrant visas granted by the Department of State ($165). Among others, the Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker (Form I-140) fee would increase from $475 to $580; the Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker (Form I-129) fee would increase from $320 to $325; and the Application for Employment Authorization (Form I-765) fee would increase from $340 to $380. The rule also proposes to raise the fee for premium processing from $1,000 to $1,225, calculated by using the percentage increase in inflation according to the Consumer Price Index for urban consumers (CPI-U) since the fee's inception in 2001. The final rule will establish the amount based upon the latest published monthly CPI before the final rule publication. Cont’d on page 42

Immigration Post

July 16, 2010

India Post

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Arizona cops expect scrutiny of immigration enforcement viewing the training materials. Most hadn't decided yet how to use them. ``We feel this is serious enough that it needs to be a hands-on training, not just watching a video,'' said Yuma County Sheriff Ralph Ogden. Arizona's law, sparked by anger over a surging population of illegal immigrants in the border state, generally requires officers enforcing another law - like

Police are not required to ask crime victims or witnesses about their immigration status, and anyone who shows a valid Arizona driver's license is presumed to be in the country speeding or jaywalking - to question a person's immigration status if there's a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the country illegally. Under the law, officers are also allowed to consider if a person does not have identification or tried to run away. But the stakes for making a mistake are high: Officers can be fired if they start asking questions because of a person's race, then lie about it

later, the video warns. ``It is also clear that the actions of Arizona officers will never come under this level of scrutiny again,'' said Lyle Mann, executive director of the state agency that trains police. ``Each and every one of you will now carry the reputation for the entire Arizona law enforcement community with you every day.'' The law applies only to a traffic stop, a person who is detained or an arrest - not when a person flags down an officer. Police are not required to ask crime victims or witnesses about their immigration status, and anyone who shows a valid Arizona driver's license is presumed to be in the country legally. The law restricts the use of race, color or national origin as the basis for triggering immigration questions. But civil rights groups and some police officials argue that officers will still assume that illegal immigrants look Hispanic. Arizona's 460,000 illegal immigrants are almost all Hispanic. Yet Arizona also has nearly 2 million Hispanics who are U.S. citizens or legal residents, about 30 percent of the state's population. In the training video, an expert advises officers to ask themselves whether they would reach the same conclusion about a Hispanic person's immigration status if the subject were white or black. -AP

US federal government sues Arizona over immigration law Cont’d from page 40

"We are actively working with members of Congress from both parties to comprehensively reform our immigration system at the federal level because this challenge cannot be solved by a patchwork of inconsistent state laws, of which this is one. While this bipartisan effort to reform our immigration system progresses, the Department of Homeland Security will continue to enforce the laws on the books by enhancing bor-

der security and removing criminal aliens from this country." The Department has requested a preliminary injunction to enjoin enforcement of the law, arguing that the law's operation will cause irreparable harm. "Arizona impermissibly seeks to regulate immigration by creating an Arizona-specific immigration policy that is expressly designed to rival or supplant that of the federal government. As such, Arizona's immigration policy ex-

ceeds a state's role with respect to aliens, interferes with the federal government's balanced administration of the immigration laws, and critically undermines U.S. foreign policy objectives. S.B. 1070 does not simply seek to provide legitimate support to the federal government's immigration policy, but instead creates an unprecedented independent immigration scheme that exceeds constitutional boundaries," the Department said in its brief.

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PHOENIX: A new training video is too superficial to teach Arizona police officers how to enforce the state's tough crackdown on illegal immigrants, a lawyer for officers trying to block the law said. ``I thought it would be more detailed. I thought it would be more thorough. I thought it would be more expansive,'' said Phoenix attorney Stephen Montoya. In the video, Arizona police officials warned officers not to use race or ethnicity when enforcing the state's new toughest-in-thenation immigration law, saying ``the whole country is watching.'' But officers were told they are allowed to consider if a person speaks poor English, looks nervous or is traveling in an overcrowded vehicle. They can even take into account whether someone is wearing several layers of clothing in a hot climate, or hanging out in an area where illegal immigrants are known to look for work. Police officials cautioned that opponents of the law may secretly videotape police making traffic stops, trying to prove that they are racially profiling Hispanics. ``Nothing about the new law makes racial profiling acceptable,'' Gerald Richard, a special policy adviser at the Arizona Attorney General's Office, says in the video. Law enforcement officials around the state said they were re-

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July 16, 2010

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Agencies team up to arrest gang members in MT BOZEMAN, Mont.: Nine men face deportation to Mexico and a 10th awaits federal immigration charges after a law-enforcement sweep of southwestern Montana resulted in the arrests of people associated with a dangerous street gang. The Gallatin County Sheriff's Office, Missouri River Drug Task Force and West Yellowstone Police Department all helped arrest men that federal officials say are affiliated with the Sureno gang. At least one man had a tattoo of the word ``Sureno'' across his upper back. The Bozeman Daily Chronicle reports that two of the arrests were in West Yellowstone, while

eight were in Bozeman. Sureno gang members are typically associated with communities in California. In recent months, law enforcement agents

In recent months, law enforcement agents there have arrested more than 100 suspected gang members there have arrested more than 100 suspected gang members in cities along California's Central Coast as part of a major crackdown on drugs and violent crime

that has terrorized residents. In Montana, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Carl Rusnok said he's not ready to speculate on whether last week's arrests will spell the end of Sureno activity in the region. ``That would be a little naive,'' Rusnok said. ``This is an ongoing process.'' It's unclear just what the men were doing in the Montana communities, which are located near Yellowstone National Park. Gallatin County Sheriff Jim Cashell says he's limiting information he's releasing about the arrests so he won't compromise any federal investigation. -AP

Consular fee interim rule published Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 40

DHS also proposes to specify that it will use the CPI-U to calculate all future inflation-based fee adjustments and will publish a notice in the Federal Register annually (if applicable) to adjust this fee. The proposed fee structure reduces fees for several individual applications and petitions, including the Application to Extend/ Change Nonimmigrant Status (Form I-539) and the Application to Adjust Status From Temporary To Permanent Resident (Form I-698). Written comments must be submitted by July 26, 2010, using a method set forth in the proposed rule. The proposed fee rule is available at edocket.access.gpo.gov/ 2010/pdf/2010-13991.pdf. USCIS' announcement, which includes a table of current and proposed fees, is available at http://

www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/ menuitem.5 Lawsuit challenges H-1B Memo on employer-employee relationship A group of IT staffing firms and associations has filed a lawsuit challenging a memo issued in January 2010 by Donald T. Neufeld, Associate Director of Service Center Operations for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), that provided guidance on determining employeremployee relationships for H-1B purposes. The firms, Broadgate Inc., Logic Planet Inc., DVR Softek Inc., and trade associations TechServe Alliance and American Staffing Association, filed the lawsuit on June 8, 2010, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Among other things,

the suit alleges that the memo is arbitrary and capricious and not authorized by law or under USCIS's statutory and regulatory authority. The group argues that denials are being issued under the memo's guidance for beneficiaries whose visa applications were approved previously under the regulatory criteria. "IT staffing is a lawful business model that greatly benefits the U.S. economy, U.S. businesses and U.S. workers. The government should not be allowed to attack the industry by circumventing the rulemaking process and reversing long-standing policy by decree," said Mark Roberts, chief executive officer of TechServe Alliance. * Cyrus D Mehta, may be contacted at 212-425-0555 or info@cyrusmehta.com

July 16, 2010

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India Post 43

Briefs

Nine IOC officials sent to 15 days of judicial custody JAIPUR: Nine Indian Oil Corporation officials, including General Manager for Rajasthan, have been sent to 15 days of judicial custody by a local court. The officials were produced before Judicial Magistrate (Sanganer) who sent them to 15 days of judicial custody. The accused will be produced before the court again on July 17, Circle Officer Lalit Sharma told PTI. The police had arrested Gautam Bose (General Manager), Rajesh Sayal (Chief of Operation), Shashank Shekhar (Manager-Operation), K S Kanojia (Senior Terminal Manager), Arun Poddar (Manager-Terminal), Kapil Goyal (Deputy Manager- Terminal), Ashok Gupta (Operation Officer), Kailash Nath Agarwal (Chargeman) and S S Gupta (DGM Pipeline) in the fire case which claimed eleven lives on October 29 last year at Sitapura plant, around 20 kms from here. -PTI

Senior Navy officer killed in firing at training centre KOCHI: Rear Admiral Satyendra Singh Jamwal, Navy's Southern Command chief of staff, was killed in an "accidental firing" incident at a training centre here. Jamwal, 51, who was the second in command of the Navy's Southern Command, was at the training establishment INS Dronacharya's small arms firing range when the accidental firing occurred around 1030 Hours, a Navy spokesperson said in New Delhi. The Navy has ordered an investigation into his death, the spokesperson said. -PTI

Top Maoist among two ultras killed in AP encounter ADILABAD: In a blow to the Maoists, a top Naxal leader, who was also CPI (Maoists) central committee member and its spokesperson, was among two ultras killed in an encounter with the Andhra Pradesh police in this district. Cherukuri Rajkumar alias Azad was killed in an encounter in the forest area at Vankhidi, police said. He was said to be in 50s. Acting on information that some Maoists were coming to Andhra Pradesh from Maharashtra, a police team launched a search operation in Vankhidi area when they came across the ultras at around 2300 hours, they said. -PTI

India News 44

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July 16, 2010

Charges framed against Sajjan Kumar in anti-Sikh riots case NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has framed charges of murder and rioting against senior Congress leader Sajjan Kumar and others in connection with a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case in which six persons were killed in Sultanpuri here. Additional Sessions Judge Sunita Gupta, after finding prima facie evidence against the Congress leader and others, decided to record statements of witnesses from August 23. -PTI

One ambulance, 70 sewing machines & Rs.1.10 crore on KD's birthday Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Shri Y.P. Trivedi, MP and Shri Arun Gujarathi, Ex Speaker of Maharashtra. Also present were Shri Pankaj Patel, CMD of Zydus Cadila; Shri Haresh Mehta of Rohan Life-sketch Ltd; Shri Dhilin Mehta, Chief Promoter of Shree Ashtavinayak Cine Vision

NIDHI SOPARAWALA India Post News Service

MUMBAI: To commemorate the 70th birthday of leading Mumbai community activist Krishnakant Durlabhji Vora, the Mumbai Vikas Manch donated 70 sewing machines, Kapol International Trade Entrepreneurs (KITE) donated one ambulance and Haresh Mehta of Rohan Life-Sketch Ltd. donated Rs. 1.10 crore at a grand function organized at Shanmukhananda Hall on Sunday, June 27. KITE and K.D. Vora Abhivadan Samiti at Shanmikhananda Hall had hosted the event. Shri Ashok Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra presented a memento to K.D. Vora stating that KD is the unique link connecting Maharashtra-Gujarat and MarathiGujarati community. He has managed administration of Kapol Cooperative Bank so well over the years, in a period when people normally fear keeping their money with cooperative banks. He further admired the administrative acumen of KD stating that Kapol Bank had negligible NPA with ever growing public deposit. KD Vora stated in his reply

L-R Sanjay Nirupam, Member of Parliament; Manikrao Thakray, President Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee; K.D.Vora, Vice President of Mumbai Regional Congress Committee; Ashok Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra and Vinesh Mehta, President of KITE

that he was looking forward to the progress of Kapol Community in the fields of education and finance to become self sufficient. Though he was against globalization initially but now he appreciated the work done by doyen of globalization, Shri Manmohan Singh. KD Vora appealed to the business community to undertake social responsibility in addition to consider-

ation of bottom lines of their respective companies. For this mega event, Shri Ashok Chavan, the Chief Minister of Maharashtra was the Chief Guest. The Guests of Honor included Shri Manikrao Thakray, President of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee; Shri Sanjay Nirupam, MP: Shri Shaktisinh Gohil, Leader of Opposition from Gujarat Vidhansabha; Shri A. Rahmankhan,

Shri Ashok Chavan, Chief Minister of Maharashtra presented a memento to K.D. Vora stating that KD is the unique link connecting Maharashtra-Gujarat and Marathi-Gujarati community Ltd and Shri Kundan Vyas, Editor of Janmabhoomi Group of newspapers. Pujya Rameshbhai Oza (Bhaishri), Pujya Gurudev Namramuni Maharajsaheb and Pujyapad G. 108 Shri Vrajkumarji (Mahodayshri) gave blessings on this occasion. Cont'd on page 45

Nashik education inst plans alumni meet MAHEENDRA THAKKAR & NIDHI SOPARAWALA India Post News Service

MUMBAI: Maratha Vidya Prasarak (MVP) of Nashik in Maharashtra plans to hold early next year an Alumni Meet; a gathering of its past students who have settled abroad. MVP is a front ranking educational institution with the state of art facilities to offer training and education in fields of science, art and technology. Dr Vasantrao Pawar, General Secretary of the MVP, said in a talk to this paper that hundreds of students who had their education and professional training at the institute in the past over one and half decades have settled aboard and are doing extremely well in their respective fields of career. "We would like to hold a get together

Dr Vasantrao N Pawar in various moods and style

of these students to see how best we can pool our resources to help this institution further to achieve its objective of imparting high level of education and training in the fields of medicine, pharmacy, science, research and technology and art. "We are compiling a data base of students settled abroad and are appealing to them to send their

details to us as early as possible that would help us to hold an Alumni meet in USA. We are considering this meet either in New Jersey or in Philadelphia early next year," he said. MVP students from pharmacy college and from engineering college have settled in America, Europe as well as Africa, and many in the field of computers and IT,

have been working in USA. "Also, there are graduates and PGs from medical college as also students from business school. So we are planning to have a reunion of past alumni. We would like to hold this meet this year in either New Jersey or Philadelphia, if we get sufficient data about their whereabouts. But early next year, we are sure to organize this meet. We want all our past students to send their e-mail addresses so that we can get in touch with them. Our institute is entering into a centenary after two years thus the celebrations abroad will have an added significance," he said. Dr. Vasanatrao N Pawar, a man with dynamic personality, is not only an eminent surgeon but also an active Member of Legislative Council, Nashik District. He has more than one feather in his cap. Cont'd on page 45

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July 16, 2010

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27 people arrested with fake documents at airport NEW DELHI: Twenty-seven people, including a Bangladeshi, were formally arrested after they were caught at the airport here with fake documents while trying to fly to Dubai with police suspecting that a "rival visa racket" blew the lid on the matter. CISF had detained them last evening after Kingfisher and Jet Airways call centers received calls from anonymous persons that these people were to board two flights to Dubai with fake visas. The callers also claimed that the passengers may try to "hijack" the flights. Police suspect that the calls were made by people belonging

to a rival agency dealing in fake visas because they lost business. A case has been registered against the 27 people for cheating and forgery. One of them is a Bangladeshi while the others are from Punjab and West Bengal, a senior police official said. The call to Jet Airways was made from Dubai and the caller had identified himself as Abhishek. Both the callers were well-versed with how security agencies at the airport function. They wanted to be sure that these people are caught and they also gave a hijack threat, the official said. Normally such calls are made to the immigration officials, they said,

pointing out that this time the callers contacted the call centers. The callers also alleged that those involved in the racket were hand-in-

'They were allowed to enter the airport and as soon as they approached the staff at the airline counters and produced their tickets, they were apprehended' glove with the immigration officials. They made a hijack threat so that all agencies would get involved in it, the official said.

"It appeared that the callers were well-versed in the operations at the airport and how security drills were conducted. They wanted these people to be caught and for that used all possible ways," the official said. All those arrested were from the economically weaker sections of the society who claimed that they had paid around Rs 60,000 to agents to get visas for Dubai where they were to get jobs, the sources said. The Jet Airways call centre in Delhi received the call in which the caller claimed that 15 people were planning to fly to Dubai with fake visas and they might "hijack" the

flight, the sources said. The Kingfisher call centre in Pune received the call in which the caller claimed that 12 passengers with fake visas will be flying to Dubai, they said. Soon after the calls were received, three teams of CISF personnel were deployed in the international terminal to catch them and airline staff were briefed and provided with the PNR numbers of the suspect travelers. "They were allowed to enter the airport and as soon as they approached the staff at the airline counters and produced their tickets, they were apprehended," a senior security official had said. -PTI

Nashik education inst plans alumni meet Mahindra among 5 Bhopal gas convicts granted bail

ContĂd from page 44

He is a secretary of Nationalist Congress Party as well as Member of Medical Council of India since 1987. He is a social worker and has won Dr. B.C. Roy National Award for outstanding services in and Medical and Social work. As an educationist, Dr. Pawar is General Secretary of the institution, Maratha Vidya Prasarak Samaj. This institute has 342 branches all over the district which include pre-primary, primary, secondary, higher secondary schools, Arts, Science, Commerce colleges, Industrial Training Institutes, Law College, B.Ed. College, and D.Ed. College and offers professional courses like Pharmacy, Engineering, Architecture, Nursing, Physiotherapy, and Medical etc. When asked about his interest in the field of education, Dr. Pawar says, "It is my basic attraction or rather my first choice to do social work in the field of education and so I entered this field in the year 1981. I first got selected as a Vice Chairman of the institution and today I am the General Secretary." Dr. Pawar admits to be a surgeon first and then a politician. "Politics is not the main aim of life," states the doctor. Although he agrees that being a politician does help in the field of Education. He exclaims that knowledge is a power that is never corrupt, not even saleable and it is something that lasts forever. According to him Indian Education can be improved for better, and self-financing institutions play an important role in this. Also he believes that Indian education today is not lagging behind in terms of international standards or facilities available abroad. "Let us see the end result. Indian doctors are held in high esteem everywhere. Many have their education and training here. The doctors are well experienced because there is no dearth of vari-

ous patients. They are eligible as well as competent. In many parts of America as well as London, 30 to 90 % of the doctors are of Indian origin. People from Arabic countries too come to India for their treatment. In fact people from all over the world prefer Indian doctors to get treated from," says a proud Dr. Pawar. Indian education scenario today is a competitive one and therefore he believes that the foreign students should come here to receive education instead of Indian students studying abroad. Since India today has many good learning centers, it has been successful in attracting foreign students already.

Dr Pawar is of the opinion that India is one of the best countries in the fields of medicine and computers, in terms of infrastructure as well as education, thus opening options for NRIs "Very soon India will be the world leader in the field of education," states Dr. Pawar. "In America 40% of Indians are working in IT companies and are at the highest positions. According to him, most of these are in those positions because of their intelligence, talent, sincerity. They work very hard to achieve their goals. We have to avoid brain drain in India and let the foreigners come here and explore our education system," declares Dr. Pawar. Dr. Vasantrao Pawar who is also a Chairman of Niphad Sahakari Sakhar Karkhana (sugar factory), Ltd, Pimplas, Niphad,

grieves about the problems faced by the sugar industries. "Sugar industries have so many problems because of government policies, climatic conditions, shortage of water and electricity and the inconsistency in the growth of the crop and other changes in the industry. The production of sugar has come down all over the world so the sugar prices soar," says doctor. "If you are honest with your business, you will always succeed. One has to do business without any favors. When running a bank, you need to be aware about the kind of people you are giving loan to," says, Dr. Pawar, the founder and President of Godavari Urban Co-operative Bank Ltd. He started it back in 1995 when he was the MP. According to him the masses needed to be educated and made aware of their responsibilities towards the banks, credit society as well as the co-operative societies to reduce fraud. He understands that the banking business is not very simple. "In co-operative, profit is not distributed, it goes for the strengthening and benefit of the society, but instead the government has put tax and they get Rs. 550 crores per year. Thus this has to be given a strict thought. Also the banks are being controlled by both co-operatives as well as the RBI. When nationalists' banks are in loss, the government puts surplus in the bank. Therefore government has stopped converting any bank into a nationalist bank," explains Dr. Pawar. Dr. Pawar is of the opinion that India is one of the best countries in the fields of medicine and computers, in terms of infrastructure as well as education, thus opening options for NRIs, who are settled in America. "NRIs abroad should take care of their own country which is India," states Dr. Pawar.

BHOPAL: Former Union Carbide India chairman Keshub Mahindra and four others convicted on June 7 in the Bhopal Gas leak case have been granted bail by a court here.

Former Union Carbide India chairman Keshub Mahindra

UCIL former Managing Director Vijay Gokhle, former Vice President Kishore Kamdar, former Works Manager J Mukund and

former Production Manager S P Choudhry were others granted bail by Chief Judicial Magistrate R V Singh. Former Plant Superintendent K V Shetty and former Operator S I Qureshi, who were also convicted, did not get bail as they were not present in the court. The convicts had filed an appeal in the sessions court against the June 7 verdict which had directed them to seek bail from Chief Judicial Magistrate. They were sentenced under section 304 A, 336, 337 and 338 read with section 35 of the IPC under which each was awarded two years imprisonment and a fine of over Rs 1 lakh under different sections was imposed on them by CJM Mohan P Tiwari. Meanwhile, talking to reporters outside the court, Mahindra said he wanted to do some work for the gas victims. -PTI

One ambulance, 70 sewing machines & Rs.1.10 crore on KD's birthday ContĂd from page 44

Mumbai Vikas Manch was formed under the leadership of KD Vora and Smt. Parul Mehta, Ex Corporator. It was inaugurated by the Chief Minister. The Manch donated 70 sewing machines which will be utilized in the constituency of Shri Sanjay Nirupam. Vinesh Mehta, President of KITE donated one ambulance on behalf of KITE to Apex Hospital, Borivali. Help line of Sanjay Nirupam will manage its services. Well known builder Shri Haresh Mehta of Rohan Lifesketch Ltd. donated Rs 1.10 crore for the project of hospital development and requested Shri Ashok Chavan, CM of Maharashtra to donate suit-

able land in Maharashtra for this noble purpose. Kapolnama, a book depicting glorious past and proud present of Kapol Community, was launched during this function at the hands of P. Vrajrajkumarji. This book was prepared by Mr. Kishore Mehta, Mr. Gopal Parekh and Mr. Prakash Sheth, Vice President of KITE. In the same event, the inspiring biography of Shri K.D. Vora was launched by Shri Rameshbhai Oza (Bhaishri). The book has been interestingly named as "Aa Maanas Barabar Nathi?" in English and Gujarati version, edited by Mukesh Joshi and Hiten Anandpara. The event was compeered by Harish Bhimani.

Datebook

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ILLINOIS

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WASHINGTON DC

Upcoming

Sat July 17

Every Sunday

• Evening of Bharata Natyam

• Sikkil Sri. Gurucharan - Carnatic Vocal Concert

• Divya Jyoti Jagrati Sansthan host Satsang, Bhajan & Meditation Program

Venue: Sri Venkateswara Swami (Balaji) Temple, 1145 Sullivan Road, Aurora, Illinois Time: 5:30pm to 8:30pm Contact: 630-926-3876

Venue: Atman Yoga, 34 Elton Street, 3rd floor, Rochester, New York 14607 Time: 7:30pm Contact: (917) 214-6466

• Amma Sri Karunamayi 2010 World Tour - NY

Fri July 23

Venue: Woodbridge township ambulance and Rescue squad, 77 Queen Road, 3rd Floor, Iselin, NJ 08830 Time: 10:30am to 1pm Contact: (732) 485-0647 Highlights: Lecture by close disciple of Shree Ashutosh Ji Maharaj, Bhajans, free meditation and Mahaprasad.

Venue: Yonkers Riverfront Library, 1 Larkin Center, Yonkers, New York Time: 9am Contact: (914) 736-9170

• Single Gujarati Find your Perfect Match at Matri 2010

San July 17

Mon July 19

Fri July 23

Venue: Ramada Inn, 999 Rt. I S, North Brunswick Time: 8pm Contact: 2010@matri.org

• Miracle Nites with Bro. Rambabu

Sun July 18

Venue: Miracle Nites (Come receive your Miracle/Deliverance), Brooklyn, New York Time: 6:30pm to 9pm Contact: 848-565-1672

• Samarpan Meditation Workshop

Thurs Aug 1

Venue: Residence, 3950 N Lake Shore Dr, Unit 2304, Chicago, Illinois Time: 6:30pm to 8:30pm Contact: 312-607-7404

• Vidushi Sumitra Guha Live in Concert!

Fri July 23

Venue: Reflections Yoga, 250 West 49th Street, 2nd Floor, NY Time: 7pm 9:30pm Contact: 917-853-1416

• Shankar, Ehasaan, Loy Live In Concert

Mon Aug 2 to Sat Aug 7 • Ramayan Sar - Essence of Ramayan Venue: Hanuman Temple of New York., 111 Jerusalem Ave, Hempstead, New York Time: 7pm to 8:30pm Contact: (516) 483-9500

Thurs Aug 8 to Thurs Aug 15 • Essentials of Gita- Part I for children and their parents Venue: Asamai Temple, 80E Barclay St, Hicksville, NY Time: 11:30am to 1:30 Contact: 516-281-5973

Venue: Rosemont Theater, 5400 N. River Rd, Rosemont Time: 8:30pm Contact: AL-Mansoor-773-764-7576

Thurs July 29 • World Premiere: Encountering the Other Venue: Storefront Theater, 66 E Randolph Street, Chicago Time: 7:30pm Contact: 312-212-1240

Sat Aug 14 • Bollywood Dance in Chicago! Venue: Dance SPA, 1890 N Milwaukee Ave., Chicago Time: 10:30am Contact: 650-380-6270

• The 2010 South Asian Spelling Bee in NJ Venue: North Brunswick High School, Route 130 South, Raider Road, North Brunswick, New Jersey Contact: 848-248-4199

Sat July 17 • Sarvam Sai Mayam Venue: Centerville High School, 6001 Union Mill Road, Clifton, Virginia Time: 7pm to 10pm Contact: 703-544-5670

Sun July 18 • The 2010 South Asian Spelling Bee in DC Area Venue: The Universities At Shady Grove, 9630 Gudelski Dr, Rockville, Maryland, WDC Contact: 848-248-4199

Sat July 24 Sat July 17

• Free Mind and Meditation Session

• Shankar, Ehasan, Loy Show In New Jersey

Venue: Ashburn Library, Meeting Room A, 43316 Hay Rd, ashburn, Virginia Time: 11am to 12:30 pm Contact: 703-723-8181

Venue: IZOD CENTER.com, 50 NJ-120, East Rutherford, New Jersey Contact: 609-432-3301

Fri July 23 to Sun Aug 1 • Jeeyar Edu Trust Viswa Santhi Sri Yagam Venue: Jeeyar Asramam, 222 Dey Road, Cranbury, New Jersey Time: 7am Contact: 609-610-3307

Fri July 30 Mon Aug 2 • The Art of Living Yoga and Meditation Course Venue: Ashburn Center, ashburn, Virginia Time: 6:30pm to 9:30pm Contact: 703-723-8181

Fri Aug 6 to Sun Aug 8

Fri July 23 • Single Gujarati Find your Perfect Match at Matri 2010 Venue: Ramada Inn, 999 Rt. I S, North Brunswick, New Jersey Time: 8pm Contact: 732-246-3737

• Shri Ram katha by Pujya Didi Ma sadhavi Ritambaraji Venue: Shri Durga temple, 8400 Durga Place, Fairfax Station, Virginia Time: 3:30pm to 8pm Contact: 703-690-9355

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

Fri July 16

Every Sat (start from Sat Aug 8)

• Gurukul Classes for Children • Ohlone College Presents! Opera on Venue: Sindhu Center, South California the Silver Screen Don Giovanni by Time: 2pm to 4pm Mozart Contact: 818-541-1754 & 909-576-1114 Venue: Ohlone College Smith Center, 43600 Mis- Highlights: Children between the ages of 5 and 18. Chilsion Boulevard in Fremont dren will be taught the Fundamentals of Hinduism, Time: 7:45 pm Pre-show lecture, 8:15 pm Showing Prayers, Shlokas, Bhajans and Values of our culture. Contact: 510-659-6031 & http://www.smithcenter.com Thurs July 15

• IASH will have a Musical Entertaining Evening with Ashish Mehta from In• ICM 101 workshopby Mahesh Kale dia

Sun July 18

Venue: Fireside Room at Unity Palo Alto, 3391 Venue: Jain Center in Buena Park Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, California, Time: 5pm to 9pm Time: 2pm to 6pm Contact: 714-335-9046 Contact: 408-368-4039

Mon July 19 • Panini Summer camp for Kids

Sun July 18 • Virgelia Productions, Inc Presents the Launching of Miss Asia USA & Mrs

Venue: Ortega Park, 626 Harrow Way, CA 94087, Asia USA Sunnyvale, California Venue: Sheraton universal Hotel, 333 Universal HolTime: 8:30am to 12:30 lywood Dr. Universal City CA Contact: 408-431-9214 Time: 2pm (on the Red Carpet with the Delegates), 3pm (Fashion show) Sat July 24 Contact: 818-891-5556, info@missasiausa.org • Mom's Spa & Fashion Night Out Highlights: Meet the final delegates selected to repreVenue: Moms Spa & Fashion Night Out, 460 E Persent their country as they parade in their lavish nasian Dr, Suite # 3, Sunnyvale, California tional costumes, the latest collections of Scala and BG Time: 6pm to 9:30pm Haute, InVein and Malibu Dream Girl. Contact: 650-669-0281

Sun July 25 • Madumita's Bharathnatyam Arangetram

Sun Jul 31 • Arangetram by Sneha Jayaprakash

Venue: Cubberley Theater, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, California Venue: Cubberley Community Center, 4000 Time: 4:00pm to 6:00pm Hosted By: Jayendra Kalakendra Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, California Time: 4pm to 7:30pm Sun Aug 1 Contact: 510-299-1844

Sat July 31

• Shankar Ehsaan Loy, Aman Ki Aasha in LA Venue: LA Sports Arena, 3939 South Figueroa Street,

• Arangetram by Sneha Jayaprakash Los Angeles

Venue: Cubberley Theater, 4000 Middlefield Road, Time: 7pm Palo Alto, California Contact: 562-860-6003 Time: 4pm to 6pm

Sat Aug 7 • Mela Teeyan Da • Instant Karma Presents DJ AKBAR SAMI Venue: The Ranch a Brand New State of the Art Ban-

Sun Aug 14

Venue: AVALON, 777 Lawrence Expwy, Santa Clara, California Time: 8:45pm Contact: 408-368-6865

quet Hall 8590 Bedford motorway Corona, Ca 92883 Time: 11am to 5pm Contact: 909-793-5566 Highlights: For Girls and Ladies Mrs. Punjaban beauty Contest, Stalls of Punjabi Food, Suits, Jewelry etc.

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hat is the cause of the great difference between European and Indian music? Is it the origin or the expression? It is both but in an inverse sense. This very high inspiration comes only rarely in European music; rare also is a psychic origin, very rare. Either it comes from high above or it is vital. The expression is almost always, except in a few rare cases, a vital expression -interesting, powerful. Most often, the origin is purely vital. Sometimes it comes from the very heights, then it is wonderful. Sometimes it is psychic, particularly in what has been religious music, but this is not very frequent. Indian music, when there are good musicians, has almost always a psychic origin; for example, the ragas have a psychic origin, they come from the psychic. The inspiration does not often come from above. But Indian music is very rarely embodied in a strong vital. It has rather an inner and intimate origin. I have heard a great deal of Indian music. I have rarely heard Indian music having vital strength, very rarely; perhaps not more than four or five times. But very often I ARTHUR OSBORNE

efore a man is drawn to the spiritual quest he is directly conscious of only one being, which could therefore be called "this": this which wants coffee for breakfast, this which has a toothache, this which decides to call on so-and-so or read suchand-such a book. Other people, things, events, are known to him only indirectly, through his senses. (including his reason, which the Hindus call the "inner sense"). But the time may come when he apprehends being of another kind: potent, unconfined, awe-inspiring, which he may think of as "That". Henceforth the dominant theme of his life is the relationship between "this" and "That", between the individual who experiences, classifies and decides and the dimly apprehended Reality. It may be largely a matter of mental training whether he regards "That" as other than "this" or as the hidden Self of it. In any case, theoretical conclusions help him very little. What opens before him is a dynamic venture, the attempt to subordinate "this" to "That". The attempt to do this is the quest. Becoming convinced of the identity of "this" with "That" is not realizing it, in fact the quest of

have heard Indian music having a psychic origin; it translates itself almost directly into the physical. And truly one must then concentrate, as it is very tenuous, very subtle. As there are none of those intense vital vibrations, one can easily glide within it and climb back to the psychic origin of the music. It has that effect upon you, a kind of ecstatic trance. As from an intoxication. Then if you listen well and let yourself go, you move

then it is developed with variations, innumerable variations, and it is always the same theme which is developed in one way or another. In Europe there were musicians who were truly musicians and they too had the thing: Bach had it, he used to do the same sort of thing. Mozart had it, his music was purely musical, he had no intention of expressing any other thing, it was music for music's sake.

Mother, when one hears music, how should one truly hear it? For this - if one can be completely silent, you see, silent and attentive, simply as though one were an instrument which has to record it. If one can be absolutely silent, absolutely still and like that, then the thing enters. And it is only later, some time later, that you can become aware of the effect, either of what it meant or the impression it had on you.

Difference between European and Indian music

The Mother

Indian music, when there are good musicians, has almost always a psychic origin. Indian music is very rarely embodied in a strong vital. It has rather an inner and intimate origin

on and glide, glide into a psychic consciousness. But if you remain only in the external consciousness, the music is so tenuous that there is no response from the vital; it leaves you altogether flat. Sometimes, there was a vital force, then it became quite good... I myself like this music very much, this kind of theme developing into a play. The theme is essentially very musical: and

But this manner of taking a certain number of notes in a certain relation (they are like almost infinite variations), personally I find it wonderful to put you in repose. and you enter deep within yourself. And then, if you are ready, it gives you the psychic consciousness: something that makes you withdraw from the external consciousness, which makes you enter elsewhere, enter within.

But the best way of listening is this. To be like a still mirror and very concentrated, very silent. I have seen musicians listening to music, musicians, composers or players who truly love music. They sit completely still. And if one can stop thinking, then it is very good, then one profits fully…. It is one of the methods of inner opening and one of the most powerful.

Realization. "This" feels not only the power but also the grace and pervading beauty of "That" and is strongly attracted towards it. Whether it calls "That" "God" or "Self", "this" is shaken by powerful waves of love and devotion for it. The attraction is such that "this" feels itself being drawn in to be devoured and merged in "That" and senses that the absorption will

est of cases, such as that of Ramana Maharishi) the quest is not a single simple achievement. Normally "this" clings to its separate individual life with one hand while reaching out for the vast universal life with the other. And the two cannot co-exist. "This" must surrender utterly to "That" and consent to be devoured before it can merge in the

harsh aridity when all that was achieved seems to have been lost and all grace withdrawn. That is because "this" turning in love and humility to "That" draws upon itself the grace which is uninterruptedly radiating from "That," like light from the sun; then it filches the grace for its own use or aggrandizement. Whether in thought or deed, it

The relationship between ‘this’ and ‘That’ Arthur Osborne

It is never a gradual, smooth ascent. It always goes in alternate waves of grace and deprivation, expansion and contraction, a phase when life is a tilt of beauty followed by one of harsh aridity

produce the peace beyond understanding; but at the same time, "this" struggles against being absorbed, clinging tenaciously to the life which Christ bade it give up. It still wants its own separate individual existence, its own decisions and enjoyments. Therefore, it may feel waves of resentment or actual hostility to "That". "I sought to devour thee; come now and devour me; then there will be peace, Arunachala!" That is why (except in the rar-

peace of Identity. And it fights against it persistently and cunningly, constantly changing its ground and weapons and tactics, when dislodged from one fortress slipping round the rear of the attacker and setting up another. Hence the uneven course that the quest takes. It is never a gradual, smooth ascent. It always goes in alternate waves of grace and deprivation, expansion and contraction, a phase when life is a tilt of beauty followed by one of

grows proud, considers the grace its own and thus interposes its own dark shadow before the luminosity of "That", causing an eclipse and shutting off the flow of grace. Again and again, it repeats this, learning only very gradually and by bitter experience; and it is only when, in final desperation, it brings itself to complete surrender that at last peace comes. Then "That" becomes "This". There is no other. Excerpted from 'For Those with Little Dust'

Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. -Voltaire Life is occupied in both perpetuating itself and in surpassing itself; if all it does is maintain itself, then living is only not dying. -Simone de Beauvoir Abundance is not something we acquire. It is something we tune into. -Wayne Dyer Doing good to others is not a duty, it is a joy, for it increases our own health and happiness. -Zoroaster All spiritual disciplines are done with a view to still the mind. The perfectly still mind is universal spirit. -Swami Ramdas If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. -Bible To accept a favour is to sell one's freedom -Latin quote

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Need to strengthen communication between rulers & ruled RADHA VINOD RAJU

fficers of the J&K cadre, especially those who joined the cadre before the eighties, would tell you that the most serious law and order problem in Srinagar was when unruly mobs would indulge in intense stone pelting. If it were wintertime, an occasional fling of the 'kangri' (a small earthen pot containing burning charcoal) would add spice to the proceedings. The local executive police, aided by the Jammu & Kashmir Armed Police (JKAP) and the CRPF, would counter with lathi charge, and tear smoke. Officers

ing, with members of the Jamaate-Islami and their properties coming under heavy attacks in the valley. That is how the valley reacts. Invariably in all cases, everyone goes home in the evening, and peace reigns. On the occasion of the first anniversary of Bhutto's hanging, detailed deployments of the executive police, JKAP and the CRPF had been made. The Inspector General, the legendary Peer Ghulam Hassan Shah, was himself present in the Control Room, monitoring the situation. District SP, and Commandants of the JKAP and CRPF were available on spot to

Kashmiri protestors clashing with Indian police in Srinagar

who manned the District Executive police, and the District Special Branch and the CID Special Branch, were carefully chosen for their local knowledge, and would invariably give advance information about upcoming law and order problems. And what were the issues? They could be anything that pulled an emotional chord with the people. This writer remembers one such issue, with which neither the Central nor the State Government had anything to do. I was promoted to the rank of Superintendent of Police in March 1980, and was posted as Commandant of the 3rd Battalion of the JKAP. While most of this unit was in the winter capital, Jammu, its headquarter was in Srinagar. In the last week of March, I was asked to be in Srinagar along with my men to be in place to tackle the expected law and order issue on the first anniversary of the hanging of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan. Neither the Government of India nor the J&K Government had any role in the hanging of Bhutto, but there we were, ready to face a situation in the city. The State had serious law and order problems immediately after Bhutto's hang-

direct and guide their men. As usual, the stone pelting in Bohri Kadal and Maharaj Gunj areas was intense. We soon received information that the CRPF Commandant was seriously injured. He was brought to the Control Room and taken to the Hospi-

The men follow their leaders. Only when there is failure of leadership do men go out of control. Political leaders constantly kept in touch with the people, even during serious law and order situations tal for treatment. But there was no firing on the mob. By evening, the situation, as usual was brought under control. The Commandant of the CRPF who was seriously injured was then on deputation with the CRPF and was commanding the 40 Battalion. He rose in time to become the DGP of the State.

The force, whether it is the J&K Police or the CRPF, has to be personally led by the officer cadre. In those days, SPs and Commandants would be present in the Control Rooms during briefings, and be with their men in the field when facing situations. The men follow their leaders. Only when there is failure of leadership do men go out of control. Political leaders constantly kept in touch with the people, even during serious law and order situations. In the last week of July 1980, there was a civilian-military clash, when some civilians allegedly roughed up some army men late in the evening, which was followed by retaliation by the army unit. The SSP of Srinagar was also seriously injured in the attack. The whole of the following day there was curfew, and attacks on the police by stone pelting mobs. This writer was in charge of the police deployed in the city. Around 3.30 pm, when clashes were still going on, there was a message from the house of the Chief Minister, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah. The message stated that the Chief Minister would like to visit Lal Chowk and address the people. This was a time when the battle between the stone pelting mob and the police was still going on. When my view was sought, I said that the situation was not conducive for the Chief Minister to visit Lal Chowk, a typical police answer given the circumstances. But in the next half an hour, Sheikh Sahib was on his way, and there was nothing that we could do except pray. The Chief Minister arrived at Lal Chowk and somehow got on top of a bus, and then he addressed the mob for about an hour. He explained the reason the Army was in Kashmir, said that it is going to remain there, and that the people should learn to live with the forces. He explained to the people the ground realities, and the role of various actors, including the State Government. The people then dispersed peacefully. That was the last time I saw a mass leader in communication with his people during a crisis. It may not be as easy to speak to people today, and may need much more security for a Chief Minister to go around. But the need for communication between the ruler and the ruled in a democracy cannot be overemphasized. The writer is Former Director General, National Investigation Agency. Courtesy IPCS

India Post Governance failures

oliticians, particularly the ruling ones, have never looked more confused. Right from Kashmir to Kerala, their credibility has become suspect. At a time when India is being called an economic giant on the move, all activity was disrupted by an Opposition-called Bharat Bandh protesting against price rise, imposing an estimated loss of about Rs 3000 crore apart from the inconvenience to the "aam admi" on whose behalf the bandh was called. The immediate provocation was the Central Government's decision to raise the prices of petrol and diesel. The subsidized prices of petroleum products do not make sense but the ruling politicians have failed to explain to the people why a raise in prices was necessary and that its ultimate effect can only be beneficiary. Most of the petroleum products are imported and with the price of oil rising again, it eats into the country's finances. The subsidy on petroleum products also hits the oil refining companies who cannot expand or improve operations due to the losses occurred on lower prices. Another reason in favor of the price increase is that it might make the people conscious of using petroleum products with care and not wasting or throwing money at them. This might also encourage research on alternative indigenous energy sources like solar, wind and electricity to ease the burden of oil imports. But all this doesn't absolve the government of responsibility. The steep rise in prices of food products is not related to this spike in oil prices. A complacent government, a generally absent food minister and lack of empathy with those suffering the onslaught of middlemen's ill-practices has brought about this situation. The government needed to be woken up and it is hoped the countrywide strike might move the relaxed Prime Minister to shake up his ministers who are now taking the country for granted in the absence of the possibility of a viable alternative. The BJP and the Left parties, ideologically poles part, opportunistically exploited the occasion to coincide their strike call on the same day. They are now congratulating themselves on its "success." But what about the states where the BJP and the Left parties rule. Is the condition of people there any better? Trinamool and CPM are quite happy to let the poor remain poor in Kolkata, but suddenly the prices elsewhere prick their conscience. The BJP doesn't know what it stands for. It was the NDA which first raised prices of petroleum products and would do so again if it were in the central government. But denied that responsibility, it likes to embarrass the ruling party. Perhaps it is too pessimistic about its own chances of coming back to power. Otherwise they wouldn't do to others what they wouldn't like done to their own governments, say in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh or Karnataka! The case in Kashmir again is of governance failure. The government there is so centralized that people do not have any avenue to have their grievances addressed at the local level. Too much power is concentrated in hands of the chief minister and his overstretched cabinet. Nor do the separatists have any solution for the local governance problems. They are only exploiting the grievances of the people. It is said that Jammu & Kashmir is the only state in the country which has no elected district and block bodies. The lower tiers of elected bodies would actually act as a feedback mechanism for the state government and help in addressing people's grievances, including human rights violations, in time.

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