IndiaPost_10-28-2011 by Ghanshyam Bisht

Top Stories

India Post V O I C E

O F

I N D I A N S

W O R L D W I D E

www.indiapost.com

New ideas at India-US Education meet Details on page 6

'No religion has a monopoly on terror' Details on page 44

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

VOL 17, No. 894

October 28, 2011

50¢

Periodical Postage

RAJARATNAM GETS 11 YEARS IN PRISON

India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Billionaire hedge fund tycoon Raj Rajaratnam was sentenced Oct 13, to 11 years in prison by the Manhattan federal court for his involvement in the largest hedge fund insider trading scheme in history. The sentence pronounced on Rajaratnam by US District Judge Richard J. Holwell, is the longest sentence to be imposed for insider trading in history.

"It is a sad conclusion to what once seemed to be a glittering story," said US Attorney for Southern Manhattan District, Preet Bharara after the sentencing. In addition to his prison term, the 54 year old Srilankaborn Tamil American, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $53,816,434 and a $10 million fine. He will surrender to authorities on November 28, 2011. Details on page 5

Mayor Healy dances at Diwali Mela Details on page 14

Team Anna embroiled in fresh controversy Details on page 9

India takes up turban issue with France, EU

Dastkar let down by govt apathy

Details on page 7

Details on page 8

Nissan chosen New York City's 'taxi of tomorrow'

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

Does Rajaratnam deserve sympathy?

Details on page 34

Last week’s result

Is Indian intelligence working at last? YES 37%

CONTENTS

NO 63%

Bollywood ---------------------- 32-33 Classifieds ------------------------- 50 Community Post -------------- 10-20 Date Book -------------------------- 49 Edit Page --------------------------- 52 HealthScience Post --------- 41-43 Horoscope ------------------------- 48 Immigration Post ------------- 44-47 Life Style ----------------------- 23-28

CREATING GODS & GODDESSES: Amritsar artist Mulee paints idols of Ganesh and Laxmi at her workshop ahead of Diwali, which falls on October 26. India Post wishes its readers a very happy Diwali.

Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765”

Philosophy ------------------------- 51 Publisherís Diary ------------------ 4 TechBiz Post ------------------- 34-35 Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 36-38

India Post

www.indiapost.com

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

India Post

India Post www.indiapost.com

The Weekly Newspaper Serving Indians Worldwide

Romesh & Sunita Japra Publishers Subhash C Japra Co-Publisher Vikram Paul President Krishan Sharma Mg Director & Joint Editor Ranjana Sodhi Managing Editor Vinod Dhawan Senior Editor Naresh Sodhi General Manager Ghanshyam Bisht Supervisor Graphics SAN FRANCISCO & SILICON VALLEY Vijay Thapar CPRO & Advertising Sonia Sidhu Management Analyst Radhika Jhamb Correspondent Sudesh Kumari Correspondent Deepa Japra Youth Post Correspondent Rama Mehra Advertising Bhumi Bhutani Health Science Correspondent Jaya Gautam Correspondent Sujata Singh Correspondent Sirisha Chandraraju Correspondent Isha Patnaik Correspondent Raaj D. Photo Journalist Srinivas Mangipudi Photo Journalist LOS ANGELES Mrs Shashi Trivedi Bureau Chief J S Bedi PR & Marketing Mrs Prem Kishore Sr Correspondent Greg Heffernan Correspondent Ms Bobby Sharma Correspondent Babeeta Kaur Dhillon Correspondent Pavan Kaur Bhatia Correspondent CHICAGO Ramesh Soparawala Resident Editor A Q Siddiqui Correspondent ST. LOUIS Ashwin Patel Correspondent NEW YORK & NEW JERSEY Pinky Kaur Bureau Chief Srirekha N. Chakravarty Correspondent Nikita Japra Correspondent Sukhvinder Saini Circulation ATLANTA Sanjay Saggere Bureau Chief FLORIDA B K Madnani CANADA Firdaus Ali Correspondent BOSTON Gope Gidwani Bureau Chief DETROIT Ashok B Jain, M D Bureau Chief Gurminder Singh SAN DIEGO Neelu Bhardwaj Bureau Chief SACRAMENTO Madan Sharma Bureau Chief Janak Sidhra Correspondent Upen Shukla Correspondent CENTRAL VALLEY (CA) Dr Ram Saini Bureau Chief Sheila Rogers Correspondent YUBA CITY (CA) Satnam Tatla Correspondent CAROLINAS Nalini Raja Patel Correspondent INDIA Vinod Dhawan Senior Editor & Bureau Chief NEW DELHI Vinod Kumar Khatana Graphics Madan Bangari Graphics PUNJAB Shiv Japra Bureau Chief Anil Kanwar Senior Correspondent/ Marketing CHANDIGARH Raj Kumar Bali Correspondent DOABA, PUNJAB Romesh Kaura Correspondent HYDERABAD M Sagar Kumar Bureau Chief MUMBAI Mayank Thakkar Correspondent Nidhi Soparawala Correspondent Frank Fernandes Correspondent Vaidehi Patel Correspondent NASHIK Mahendra Thakkar Correspondent India Post (ISSN-1064-3868) is published weekly for $30 for 52 issues yearly by India Post, 1900 Mowry Ave # 201 Fremont, CA 94538. Periodicals postage paid at Norwalk, CA and additional mailing office. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the corporate headquarters: 1900 Mowry Ave # 201 Fremont, CA 94538 Copyright © 1994 Indamec, Inc. DISCLAIMER India Post assumes all advertisers to be reliable and responsible for all liability for their claimers

October 28, 2011

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

Publisher’s Diary

he 8th Republican presidential debate rolled out of Las Vegas last week, and in keeping with the spirit of the city, the candidates put up quite a show. With each passing debate, the participating contenders - especially the front runners - are getting fiercer against each other, but none the stronger as individuals. Remember the Democratic pre-primary debates during the last Presidential elections? A stage full of debaters notwithstanding, you knew there were only two candidates in the house who mattered - Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. You listened to only what these two candidates had to say. You knew one of them would win. The Republican scene is way out different this time. No single candidate seems to have a clear agenda, an open policy, a stated manifesto, or a plan even though they have a ready platter of issues in front of them. Republican presidential contenders need to realize that simply being anti-Obama or anti-Obama policies or anti-Democratic Party is not going to work. Perhaps they do already realize that what Americans want from anyone who takes on the reins in the White House, is a sense of direction for the country as a whole. I don't know how many of you empathize with the 'Occupy Wall Street' protesters, but I think that any candidate, who is hopeful of running for President in 2012, including President Obama, would do well to heed to their credo. Their message - inchoate as most mainstream media still thinks it is - lies in the very fact that they have no one demand. Any candidate who manages to tap on the pulse of these faceless protesters who have no organizational backing or corporate sponsorship or political support, will have heard the groaning beat of the ordinary American heart. I don't care who wins or loses a particular debate. Given the present roster of debaters - whether it's Mitt Romney, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, Ron Paul, Rick Santorum, Jon Huntsman, Michelle Bachmann or Newt Gingrich - it would only be picking the bad one out of the worse lot, but not the best candidate for the President of America.

Romesh K Japra rkjapra@indiapost.com

INFO-CENTER CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS 1900 Mowry Ave # 201 Fremont, CA 94538 Tel: 510-797-7799, Fax: 510-790-2806; E-mail: info@indiapost.com

HIGHLIGHTS Bollywood: India's Cruise Fox Studios will cast Shahid Kapoor in the Hindi remake of romantic comedy Knight And Day, which starred Tom Cruise.

Cover Story: Rajaratnam jailed Billionaire hedge fund tycoon Raj Rajaratnam has been sentenced to 11 years in prison by the Manhattan federal court.

Community: Mixed reaction Indian Americans in Chicagoland reacted in a mixed way about the US economy and its impact on Obama’s election prospects.

Immigration: Defending Muslims Americans must reject any suggestion that every Muslim is a terrorist or that every terrorist is a Muslim: James Cole.

E-SUBSCRIPTION: Vikram Paul Tel: 510-789-7520 Extn: 208; E-mail: subscribe@indiapost.com

10 44

Classifieds: Tel: 510-938-8668; E-mail:classifieds@indiapost.com Graphics Inquiry: Tel: 510-936-9490; E-mail: ghanshyam@indiapost.com For Editorial: Sonia Sidhu Tel: 510-797-7799; E-mail: sonia@indiapost.com

For advertisement rates call the office nearest to you: SAN FRANCISCO & SILICON VALLEY 1900 Mowry Ave # 201 Fremont, CA 94538 Tel: 510-938-8667 e-mail: nareshsodhi@gmail.com

LOS ANGELES 12908 Indian Lane Norwalk, CA 90650 Fax: 562-947-0632 Tel: 562-441-5511, shashi19@yahoo.com Tel: 562-929-4213, kimi@indiapost.com

CHICAGO 2740 W Devon Ave Chicago IL 60659 Tel: 773-973-7394; Fax: 773-973-7396; Email: sramesh@aol.com

NEW YORK Tel: 212-944-1931, Fax: 732-969-3735 Tel: 908-338-3752 (Marketing) Tel: 732-283-4939 (Editorial) E-mail: indiapost2000@yahoo.com

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

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

ATLANTA 67 Peach Tree Dr., Ste. 102, Buckhead Atlanta, GA 30309 Tel: 404-425-3021 E-mail: sanjay@eBolo.com

Life Style: New look Akshay This winter, the hottest buzz in Tinsel town is the glam new look of Akshay Kumar in 'Desi Boyz'.

FLORIDA 8401 West Sample Road 30, Coral Springs, Florida - 33065 TORONTO, CANADA Tel/Fax: 416-744-8610

Techbiz:

DELHI

Taxi of Tomorrow

Jin Kushal Suri Complex, 3rd Floor, 230-A, Masjid Moth, (NDSE Part-II) New Delhi - 110049 Tel: 11-46142940, 26257769 Fax: 11-46142969 E-mail:delhi@indiapost.com

New York city with the nation's largest taxi fleet has selected Nissan to design and supply "Taxi of Tomorrow."

MUMBAI • Shivam, 3rd Floor Opp Raj Kumar Hotel Andheri (W) Mumbai Tel: (22) 2677 7782 Email: nidzp_04@yahoo.com • Fernandes Mansion Tam Taloa, Bassien (W) Mumbai 09619 330159 NASHIK 6 Amrit Dhara Deolali, Near Nashik-422 101 94 23 138 700

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

Travel: Eravikulam National Park The Eravikulam National Park in Kerala was established to protect the Nilgiri Tahr, endangered specie of the wild goat.

Cover/Top Stories

October 28, 2011

India Post

www.indiapost.com

Rajaratnam's day of reckoning: 11 years in prison India Post News Service

crimes (committed by Rajaratnam) reflect a virus in our business culture that needs to be eradicated." Rajaratnam, the managing member of Galleon Management, the general partner of Galleon Management, was convicted on May 11, 2011, of all 14 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud with which he was charged, following an eight-week jury trial. Announcing the sentencing, Bharara said, "Two years ago, Raj Rajaratnam stood at the summit of Wall Street, commanding his own financial empire. Then he

The evidence at trial included, among other things, recordings of wiretapped phone calls between Rajaratnam and his various co-conspirators, including Anil Kumar, a former senior partner and director at McKinsey; Rajiv Goel, a former employee of Intel story," said US Attorney for Southern Manhattan District, Preet Bharara after the sentencing. In addition to his prison term, the 54 year old Srilanka-born Tamil American, was sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay forfeiture in the amount of $53,816,434 and a $10 million fine. He will surrender to authorities on November 28, 2011. During the sentencing proceeding, Judge Holwell said that insider trading "is an assault on our free markets," and added that "the crimes and scope of the

was arrested, tried, and convicted by a jury. Mr. Rajaratnam stood convicted 14 times over of felonies, his empire exposed as a web of fraud and corruption that entangled many. Today, Mr. Rajaratnam stood once more and faced justice which was meted out to him. It is a sad conclusion to what once seemed to be a glittering story. We can only hope that this case will be the wake-up call we said it should be when Mr. Rajaratnam was arrested. Privileged professionals do not get a free pass to pursue profit through

corrupt means. The message is the same for everyone no matter who you are or how much money you have - obey the law or face the fate of those who don't." According to court documents from 2003 to March 2009, Rajaratnam repeatedly traded on 'Inside Information' pertaining to upcoming earnings forecasts, mergers, acquisitions, and other business combinations. As the evidence at trial showed, the Inside Information was given as tips by insiders and others at hedge funds, public companies, and investor relations firms including Goldman Sachs, Intel, International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), McKinsey & Company, Moody's Investor Services, Inc., Market Street Partners, Akamai Technologies, and Polycom. The court found Rajaratnam earned "well over $50 million" from his illegal trading. The evidence at trial included, among other things, recordings of wiretapped phone calls between Rajaratnam and his various coconspirators, including Anil Kumar, a former senior partner and director at McKinsey; Rajiv Goel, a former employee of Intel; Adam Smith, a former portfolio manager and analyst at Galleon; and Danielle Chiesi, a former employee of the hedge fund New Castle Partners. Rajaratnam engaged in overlapping conspiracies to commit securities fraud with these individuals, as well as with Mark Kurland, a co-founder at New Castle Partners, Robert Moffat, a former se-

nior vice president at IBM, and Roomy Khan, who traded securities on her own behalf. Chiesi, Kurland, Moffat, Kumar, Goel, Smith and Khan have all pled guilty to their involvement in the insider trading schemes. Chiesi was sentenced to 30 months in prison, Kurland to 27 months in prison, and Moffat to

aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal

Raj Rajaratnam

six months in prison. Kumar, Goel, Smith, and Khan are awaiting sentencing. This case was brought in coordination with President Barack Obama's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, on which US Attorney Bharara serves as a cochair of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Working Group. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an

and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

US forces make big inroads into Haqqani network heartland WASHINGTON: US forces, in a big push into areas close to Pakistan's lawless North Waziristan, have killed 115 insurgents in four days of intense fighting against Haqqani militants to gain control of a critical corridor and resupply route to key bases in northeastern Afghanistan.

than 120 kms away to break-up large groups of Haqqani network, al-Qaeda and Taliban militants, who, intelligence reports say, are concentrated in Kunar province. The US commanders have described the ongoing operation codenamed "Knife Edge" as a "high-intensity, sensitive" mission to hit the Haqqani network,

The US commanders have described the ongoing operation codenamed ‘Knife Edge’ as a ‘high-intensity, sensitive’ mission to hit the Haqqani network, the New York Times reported Deploying long-range bombers from as far away as Persian Gulf emirates of Qatar and bases in Kandahar and Bagram, US and NATO forces are using longrange rockets fired from more

the New York Times reported in the firsthand account of the battle from Kunar's provincial capital Asadabad. American military officials said the fighting in the rugged Kunar

province near the Afghan-Pak border has been going on since October 15. NATO officials said the coalition and its Afghan partners had killed at least 115 insurgents in the past week. The forces are involved in a series of multiple operations that will have larger combined impact. Simultaneously with the push into Kunar, coalition and Afghan forces have launched big operations elsewhere in eastern Afghanistan with sights set on the dreaded Haqqani network, an alQaeda linked group that operates from Pakistan. "We have many F-15s and F16s to count, almost continuous coverage," the NYT quoted an American field commander as saying. "The Afghan army is in the lead and the coalition has the supporting role," the US com-

mander said, adding that besides heavy rockets and bombers, the allied forces were also employing heavily armed plane, the AC130, which the Afghan militants called a "death plane". The operation is going on as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Pakistan after touring Afghanistan to face an

tricts in Kunar, that have become something of a gathering point for large numbers of fighters crossing the border from Pakistan. "Our greatest concentration has been on Ghaziabad district, where we believe the Taliban have built their bases and strongholds," said Col Mohammed

The operation is going on as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Pakistan after touring Afghanistan to face an almost defiant Islamabad in an atmosphere of rancor almost defiant Islamabad in talks that are being held in an atmosphere of rancor. The NYT said major fighting was taking place in Ghaziabad and Asmar, two of the several dis-

Numan Atifi, a spokesman for the Afghan National Army's 201st Corps. "Our aim is to destroy their bases and their stations in these areas," he said.-PTI

Top Stories

India Post

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

India-US Higher Education Summit

Towards a future of Universities without walls SRIREKHA CHAKRAVARTY India Post News Service

NEW YORK: At the recent India-US Higher Education Summit held in Washington DC, educators, thought leaders and policy makers of the two countries got more than mere statistics and projections for possible collaborations. They found themselves being challenged to think different, think people-to-people, and to think of future universities without walls. Co-hosts of the Summit India's Minister for Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in their respective inaugural address on the morning of Oct 13 at Georgetown University, threw up radical yet achievable ideas at the 300 attendees that included heads of elite educational institutions, industry leaders, government officials and diplomats. "We need to open up the university as a learning space, embrace collaborative knowledge production, and break down the walls between institutions." That was a visionary call to educators and policy makers towards radically transforming classrooms of the 21st century as evinced by Minister Sibal. Minister Sibal laid out his vision for a more democratic process of learning aided by technology and unencumbered by physical boundaries in the near future. "The nature of delivery of educational services is changing rapidly," the Minister told the gathering. "Technology has facilitated collaborative learning through the democratizing influence of the web. It may be too early to write the epitaph for the classroom, but the classrooms of the 21st century will be different from those that served us in the past. The content of pedagogy too would be radically altered. The silos that fragmented knowledge have already started collapsing. Customized learning across cultures will be the dominant theme of higher education. We need to open up the university as a learning space, embrace collaborative knowledge production, and break down the walls between institutions." Sibal said he foresees a day where an engineering student from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) can register for a liberal arts course offered by Yale while simultaneously enrolling for an economics course in Stanford. "The university as a physical entity may no longer remain the unit

of learning space," he prophesied. Impressively, Minister Sibal made the responsibility for educating Indian youth a global responsibility as he sees it. "With declining demographics around

quire us to provide for opportunities in higher education for an additional thirty million children by 2020. To do that, we will need to build an additional 1000 universities and 50,000 colleges. To serve

to the world of work. "This requires the award of qualifications of international standards accepted by industry globally," Sibal said. "This will enable mobility of students across voca-

US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, Union Minister for HRD, Kapil Sibal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Robert Blake (R) and Indian ambassador to the US Nirupama Rao (L) during the India-US Education Summit in Georgetown University, Washington

the world, the global community will require a suitably skilled workforce to serve its needs. Our demographic advantage could, thereby, become an integral part of the global workforce," he said. Pushing for American Universities to collaborate with Indian universities he said that providing quality and skill-based education to the millions of youth of India today would prove to be a demographic advantage for not only India but the world at large. For all the future benefits, there are challenges in the present that need to be met head on. "More than 100 million youth - the combined labor forces of Britain, France, Italy and Spain - are projected to join the workforce by 2020," Sibal explained. "This will be a great potential resource only if they are empowered with education and skills to leverage available global opportunities. If we fail to do this, our demographic advantage will be lost and our youth alienated. For us, it is a fundamental imperative that our young have access to affordable, quality education." The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in higher education in India is presently around mere 15%, about 10% below the world average. India aims to increase its GER to 30% by 2020. "This would re-

these institutions, we will require quality faculty of over a million assisted by quality support structures," the Minister said. The "new" demand for higher education in India, Sibal said, was emerging from three groups that traditionally did not have easy access to higher education - the disadvantaged and marginalized, women and a "rising" lowermiddle class. To sustain its own economic

‘The students developed the Embrace baby warmer, a portable incubator for use in poor and rural areas that doesn't require electricity and only costs around $100’ growth, India requires a skilled workforce of about 500 million by 2022. Towards that end, India needs to build a robust Vocational Education system that links education

tional and higher education. Students endowed with skill-sets sought by industry globally will then serve its needs. We can draw from the experiences of community colleges in the US as we proceed to develop the vocational education system in India." Looking to the challenges of the 21st Century, Sibal said "they are truly global" and that nations would have to transcend boundaries in thought and action for sustainable and affordable solutions. "Food security, global warming and the environment, demands on energy, water, security in physical and virtual spaces, healthcare are all matters that we need to address together," he said. "Business as usual is a sure recipe for global disaster," Sibal warned. "The global economy will not be defined by financial flows and trade but by global, collaborative, knowledge networks where ideas move seamlessly." Social networks and resource sharing in cyber-space are precursors to the development of knowledge networks that will aim to address the problems of tomorrow, he said, adding that technology has led to the "death of distance". No idea is off limits For Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who, as a student at Wellesley had hoped for a

Fulbright India scholarship but could not get one owing to a suspension of the program at the time, academic collaboration between India and the US is more than just government to government. Clinton challenged academicians and educators to come up with out of the box solutions, citing a real example: "A few years ago, a small group of American and Indian classmates at Stanford University decided to work together to build a better baby incubator," Clinton narrated. "Four hundred and fifty premature and low-weight babies die every hour, and traditional baby incubators can cost as much as $20,000. So the students developed the Embrace baby warmer, a portable incubator for use in poor and rural areas that doesn't require electricity and only costs around $100. "After graduating from Stanford, this Indian and American team moved to Bangalore to continue working on their idea and launched their project. And it's now in use in hospitals in India and saving babies' lives. Their goal is to save 100,000 babies by 2013. "Now, this is a simple idea born out of conversations between students from both of our countries talking about shared hopes for a better world that led to action. And it took these American and Indian students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives working together to make it happen." With that story, Sec. Clinton said: "I'd like to challenge all of us to jumpstart these kinds of relationships and opportunities for cooperation… consider no idea off limits, no outcome impossible, asking yourselves: How can our universities deepen our collaboration and particularly our student and faculty exchanges, and how can we work more on research, and how can we set goals for ourselves that we then work toward meeting? How can the private sector and government help our educational institutions help catalyze the workforce that will be needed in the 21st century in both of our countries? What institutional barriers can we and should we break down, and how do we build forward?" The Obama-Singh Initiative launched when the two leaders met in 2009, provides $10 million for increased university partnership and junior faculty development. Cont’d on page 7

Top Stories

October 28, 2011

India Post

www.indiapost.com

Customizing education to Indian needs SRIREKHA CHAKRAVARTY India Post News Service

NEW YORK: The current systems in the US and India do not fit the educational aspirations of prospective collaborators and students of both countries, according to former US Ambassador to India Richard Celeste. Amb. Celeste, who was a former Ohio Governor and currently President of The Colorado College, in his candid and precise remarks made during the India-US Higher Education Summit held at Georgetown University in Washington DC, Oct 13, said the two countries needed a common language around quality to deal with credit and transferability; and development of two-way internships that would be useful for work opportunities. Amb. Celeste said that a dramatic reduction in resources in the US and the politicization of education in India over the past several decades has hindered collaborative efforts between the two countries since the 1950s when the IITs were set up in India with help from the US. "A lot has changed," since then, he said. Individual, small institutional

level educators are rewriting the rules; and students whether Indians coming to America or Americans going to India for education, are doing it on their own initiative and not necessarily because of systems instituted by the governments. Amb. Celeste further said that there was an increasing demand from present generation American students for opportunities to

Richard Celeste

study and work abroad. "What drives students today is they want to start early; they want service as well as learning; they want to work to build cross-cultural

competency." But what inhibits these informal initiatives in the US is the credentialing and assessment system in its universities, he added. Speed, innovation and adaptability are traits that will win in future, Amb. Celeste said, adding tongue-in-cheek that both India and the US were allergic to speed and change. "The question is whether the government can become a facilitator or an inhibitor to that change," he challenged, and in the face of urgent and drastic measures required to tackle the needs of today's youth, he said, "We haven't a moment to lose." Need for India-specific models The sense of urgency in Amb. Celeste's final exhortation was not lost on the distinguished panelists of the Summit some of who felt the scale and scope of immediate requirements of the growing youth population in India was daunting and overwhelming. Towards the end of meeting those challenging needs, Sam Pitroda, Advisor to Prime Minister of India on Information Infrastructure & Innovations said, "Connectivity is going to be the key for the future; it allows us to think big, in reaching out to the

India takes up turban issue with France, EU NEW DELHI: Amid concerns "We are also pursuing this played in open in daily life, Juppe over ban against wearing turban matter with EU and we look for- said till now no difficulty has been in many European countries, in- ward to mutually acceptable reso- faced in its implementation. cluding France, India has said it was pursuing the matter with the European Union (EU) and was looking forward to a mutually acceptable solution even as France maintained that its ban was not "discriminatory". Asserting that turban for Sikhs was a "symbol of dignity", External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, who held comprehensive talks with his French counterpart Alain Juppe here, said, "It is a sensitive French Minister for Foreign Affairs and European Affairs, Alain Juppe calling on the Prime issue" and the matter Minister Manmohan Singh, in New Delhi on October 20 was discussed with the French minister. "There is no discrimination He said efforts are on to find a mu- lution to this sensitive issue," tually acceptable solution. Krishna said at a joint media in- against any community," he said, adding that he has suggested to Krishna said he has also writ- teraction with Juppe. ten to the Italian Foreign Minister Maintaining that France is a Indian minister to have a dialogue regarding the problems faced by secular country and believes that with French Interim Minister on Sikhs due to the ban. religion signs should not be dis- the issue.-PTI

bottom of the pyramid." With the possibilities of the Internet, Pitroda even suggested that teachers may soon become redundant in class rooms and might simply play the role of mentors in future. Talking of the kind of education currently imparted in schools globally, Pitroda said, "The best brains in the world have been solving the problems of the rich; I

Calling for a dismantling of boundaries, Pitroda further said that educators need to recognize that technology will play an important role in educating the masses and realize that what they already have is obsolete believe that the best brains should solve problems of the poor." The American model of higher education was far too expensive in India, he said, adding that India needs models of learning that work for its people. "There may be a day in future when we may need to provide degrees for $1000 or $2000 a year fees," Pitroda said. "We need certificates of excellence not for exit but for entry (into institutions). Think of the new kind of students today who are learning differently. It's time we begin to question the old models." With a staggering 550 million Indian youth looking for opportunities, Pitroda said educators need to come up with low cost,

affordable, sustainable, scalable models of education. "We have to think big and loud; think massive; and think digitization," he said. Calling for a dismantling of boundaries, Pitroda further said that educators need to recognize that technology will play an important role in educating the masses and realize that what they already have is obsolete. It was felt that western content would neither be accessible nor affordable to Indian students and therefore Indian content needed to be developed. Be it distance learning or the setting up of community colleges in India, Minister Kapil Sibal said they would have to be tailored to the local Indian context. "Any partnership has to be customized to India's needs," he averred. American students in India While there are over 100,000 Indian students on various American campuses, only about 2,500 American students are enrolled in Indian universities. While part of the reason, it was agreed were perceived stereotypes that India was a poor, unsafe and dirty country, panelists recognized that more needs to be done in terms of marketing India to American students. Also, while Indian students ostensibly come to the US to get degrees, American students in India are largely there in pursuit of India as a subject. Throwing light on a different dimension to collaboration, Minister Sibal said that in view of the high cost of higher education in the US, collaborating with India could bring costs down considerably. "We (in India) can give the same quality education to American students with collaborations between institutions of higher learning in the two countries," he said.

Towards a future of Universities without walls Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 6

The Fulbright-Nehru program has nearly tripled in size in the past three years, and the United States now conducts more faculty exchanges with India than with any other country through this program. Through the new Passport to India program, the US government is working with the private sector to help more American students experience India through internships and service projects. The US has also expanded its Education U.S.A. advising services for Indian stu-

dents and their families to provide information about opportunities for study. In that context, Sec. Clinton said "frankly it is to help (the Indian students) sort out misleading offers that come over the internet, and we know flood into homes across India, giving young Indian students the idea that a certain approach will work for them when, in fact, it is a dead end. We don't want to see that happen. We want to see real exchanges with credible institutions, and we will do everything we can to support that."

Top Stories

India Post

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

S. Australia Premier advocates US National Security Advisor travels to India uranium sale to India India Post News Service

MELBOURNE: The premier of an Australian province has asked the federal government to reconsider its ban on uranium sale to India, saying it was time for a "rethink" on the policy that he himself steadfastly supported earlier. Advocating a "sensible discussion" on the issue, the long-serving Premier of South Australia, Mike Rann, pointed out that international groups had already ended the nuclear apartheid against India. "We've seen various groups... recognizing India and so I think it's probably time to have a rethink on that in terms of the very strict standards that India is now prepared to sign up to," Rann said, suggesting it was time to consider agreeing to India's desire to import uranium from Australia. Answering a query on whether Canberra was wrong in banning uranium exports to India, Rann

said: "I actually believe it's probably timely for a sensible discussion about that". Rann's remarks came a week after he signed off on approvals for mining major BHP Billiton's proposal to expand a mine in the

Rann was a longstanding opponent of uranium exports to India, and had earlier called potential sales a ‘grave mistake’ and ‘extremely foolhardy’ state's far north. "It will be the world's biggest uranium mine," he said referring to the Olympic Dam mine. Rann was a longstanding op-

ponent of uranium exports to India, and had earlier called potential sales a "grave mistake" and "extremely foolhardy". While India is Australia's thirdbiggest export market, the ruling Labor party is opposed to exporting uranium to a nation that has not signed the UN Nuclear NonProliferation Treaty. Earlier in September, Leader of opposition Tony Abbott said the Labor party had made a "great mistake" in reversing the Howard government's decision to sell uranium to India. However, the media report further quoted the Resources and Energy Minister Martin Ferguson as saying that the federal government's policy was clear. "We will only supply uranium to countries that are signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and have signed a bilateral agreement with Australia," he said. -PTI

Donilon will then travel to India for meetings with Indian leadNEW YORK: As an indication ers including the National Secuof the strategic importance the rity Advisor Shiv Shankar Menon. Obama Administration ascribes to Donilon and Indian leaders will review recent deIndia in Asia, the velopments in the US National SecuUS-India strategic rity Advisor Thopartnership, and mas E. Donilon will discuss ways to be traveling this advance key eleweek to China and ments of the relaIndia for a wide tionship, includrange of discusing both counsions with leaders tries' participation of both countries. in the upcoming On October 21, East Asia Summit. Donilon will travel Donilon's visit to Beijing, China underscores the for meetings with O b a m a Chinese leaders Thomas E. Donilon Administration's and policymakers, including Vice Premier Wang commitment to growing US leadQishan and State Councilor Dai ership in Asia, and its work with Bingguo. Donilon will discuss a emerging powers, such as China wide range of bilateral, regional and India, as a core component of and global issues of mutual con- this commitment, the White House has stated. cern.

Dastkar let down by govt apathy Genuine craftspeople being ignored DISHA JAIN

NEW DELHI: People did not know about Dilli Haat at all until NGO Dastkar started 'Nature Bazaar' there bringing in genuine crafts people from all parts of India. Once Dilli Haat started flourishing, for some reason Dastkar was asked to leave and look for an alternative place for its exhibition. They were offered the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) where for the last two years Dastkar had been organizing its very successful craft bazaars on its spacious lawns. But this year, according to Coomi Kapoor of Indian Express, the IGNCA turned down Dastkar's request to use its premises for the fair, claiming it amounted to commercial activ-

ity. Her report says, "Considering that the crafts mela gives small artisans and craftsmen from all over the country an opportunity to sell their wares directly to customers without the involvement of middlemen, the argument is unconvincing. The purpose of the IGNCA is to promote our artistic and craft heritage. The denial of the use of the premises is all the more jarring considering the IGNCA has actually given permission to a little known hotel chain to set up a commercial 24-room boutique hotel on its sprawling 23 acre campus." Flavors at the Dastkar 'Nature Bazaar' tempt visitors from different places but this year the level of excitement is low because of the

unattractive and unknown venue of Crafts Museum. It's a shame that the Crafts Museum is so little known to Delhiwalas. The 170 stalls meander through Museum grounds among the outdoor displays and the wonderful old trees, underlining the point that crafts in India are alive and relevant. There have been complaints from stall-holders at the Bazaar that parking is a problem, there are fewer customers, and many people are unaware of the Dastkar Nature Bazaar. Parking is available opposite Gate 1 of Pragati Maidan, which is a bit of a walk from the entrance. Most of them point out that this could be an outcome of the change in venue - from Dilli Haat to the IGNCA to Craft Museum, Pragati Maidan in Delhi. "Last year at IGNCA we recorded sales of up to Rs 15,000 each day but this time it is onefourth of the sales here," said Jaydev Rana, from Orissa, Terracotta Pottery. Customers can't reach our stall due to the location of our stall. Owner of Beej Bachao Andolan (Save

the seed movement) stall said "Bahut dikaat ho rahi hai humare purane grahak nahi aa rahe hain (we are facing a lot of problems as our old customers can't reach our stall due to the change in venue). Yahan itni achi bikri nahi hai jitni Dilli haat mein aur IGNCA mein thi." Kiran, owner of Kashmir Shawl stall, has been working with Dastkar for the past eight years said "Buyers are fewer this year compared to last year. We are hardly making any money except on Sundays. We have not been offered with lighting facilities at

our stall due to which customers complain and do not buy our products." Commercialization seems to be the order of the day for even the government. According to a source, one can still get a stall at Dilli Haat by paying an amount between Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000. This means only big business people can display their wares at Dilli Haat while the genuine craftsmen, for whom this place was originally meant, are being turned away.

Top Stories

October 28, 2011

India Post

www.indiapost.com

Team Anna embroiled in fresh controversy NEW DELHI: Already plagued by internal dissensions, Team Anna plunged into yet another controversy with allegations against Kiran Bedi that she charged her hosts full fare on air tickets while availing discounts. Allegations were leveled against Bedi, a key member of Team Anna, that she used her gallantry medal to get 75 per cent discount on Air India tickets and then submitted inflated invoices to claim full fare from the organizers who have invited her to the function. It was also alleged that she claimed business class fare even when she was traveling in economy class. Reacting to the allegations, Bedi told PTI, "business class travel is part of the invitation/

entitlement from the event orga- and Kashmir and resignation of nizers/corporates I'm asked to two prominent Core Committee speak at. Traveling economy is a members P V Rajagopal and choice despite entitlement is to Rajinder Singh complaining that ensure that savings remain with decisions were not being taken the NGO. "(There is) no perâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;There is no money sonal gain here. Sorry to disappoint detracwhich I withdraw. The tors trying real hard to invitation is to find a smoking gun. However, I accept this Foundation, the cheque kind of coverage as a is to the Foundation, the part of the challenges withdrawal is from the which being in public life poses," she said Foundation and saved adding the money money is in Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; "saved" went to NGO India Vision Foundation run by her. democratically. Team Anna has been turmoil in There was also dissension in the recent days following Hazare's the team regarding the move to flipflop over Prashant Bhushan's launch an anti-Congress camadvocacy of plebiscite in Jammu paign in Hisar bypolls and upcom-

ing Assembly elections without proper discussion in the Core Committee. "I have nothing to hide. Whatever money came from the orga-

Kiran Bedi

nizers of functions, it went to the institution," Bedi said adding she was "not a beneficiary" in this case as all the money she got went into her NGOs.

"I get a lot of money through my lectures and royalty on books. I donate it to the NGOs," she later told reporters. She also claimed that she herself downgraded her travel and even organizers knew about it. "The person is aware that I am downgrading my travel. Organizers appreciate it. They say we appreciate your gesture that you have saved money for the Foundation." Bedi said the institutions itself offer business class fare to her for attending their functions. "When the invitation comes I take a decision whether I travel business class or I downgrade myself. I sometimes choose to do so and travel in economy class. The money so saved by traveling economy goes to the Foundation.-PTI

Salman Khurshid takes dig at Kiran Bedi PATNA: Taking a dig at Kiran Bedi over allegations that she charged her hosts full fare on air tickets while availing discount, Law Minister Salman Khurshid said unlike Team Anna he cannot pass "exparte" judgments on people. "I don't find myself equipped or able to pronounce a judgment on anybody as quickly as I feel judgment is pronounced on many of us by the movement (led by Anna Hazare) in which Kiran Bedi has a very significant role...I don't

BREAKTHROUGH: Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (C) is welcomed by Indian Health Minsiter Ghulam Nabi Azad after her arrival at the Tin Bigha Corridor which goes through India linking two Bangladeshi enclaves, Dahagram and Angarpota, located in Indian territory in the Cooch Behar district around 110 kms from Siliguri on October 19. Hasina thanked the Indian government for opening the corridor to the residents of the enclaves on a full time basis

VETERAN YATRI: Senior BJP Leader L K Advani addresses a public meeting during his Jan Chetna Yatra at Kamareddy in Andhra Pradesh on Oct 19

find myself in a position to pass ex parte judgments," he told reporters here. Khurshid said perhaps Bedi herself will come up with a "satisfactory explanation" while noting that no one should be condemned without being heard. Ministers in UPA government have often claimed that Team Anna had been making various allegations against them in public fora without first seeking an explanation on them.-PTI

Cong trains guns at Kiran Bedi NEW DELHI: Stepping up attack on Team Anna following allegations against Kiran Bedi, the Congress has said it shows the "true colors" of the Gandhian's associates and asked her to come clean on it. "Bedi must first prove herself clean to the people before she fights against corruption.... It is very unfortunate that while, on one hand she fights against corruption, on the other she should be doing all this," party spokesperson Rashid Alvi said. He said, "One colleague of Anna Hazare demands plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, the other says Anna is above Parliament and now the third one is found charging more money from her hosts than she actually paid on her airfare. All of them are now showing their true colors." His remarks came after allegations were leveled against Bedi, a key member of Team Anna, that

she used her gallantry medal to get 75 per cent discount on Air India tickets and then submitted inflated invoices to claim full fare from the organizers who invited her to a function. AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh termed it a "very serious allegation" and insisted that Bedi should come clean on this. Reacting to the allegations, Bedi, however, said, "Business class travel is part of the invitation or entitlement from the event organizers or corporates I'm asked to speak at. Traveling economy is a choice despite entitlement is to ensure that savings remain with the NGO. "(There is) no personal gain here. Sorry to disappoint detractors trying real hard to find a smoking gun. However, I accept this kind of coverage as a part of the challenges which being in public life poses," she said.-PTI

Desi News Andhra Minister inducted in Univ Hall of Fame MVL PRASAD

STILLWATER, OK: At a grand event conducted by the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology (CEAT) of Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, a state minister from Andhra Pradesh was inducted into its Hall of Fame on Oct 14. In an event attended by over 150 senior professors, heads of departments, former inductees, distinguished members of industry and academia CEAT alumnus Ponnala Lakshmaiah, was inducted as the 89th member of the Hall of Fame of CEAT and the third Indian origin alumnus in its 120+ years of history. Details on page 12

Manav Seva Mandir raises $ 100,000 ARVIND THA.KKAR

Saldef gala recognizes leaders of progress India Post News Service

COMMUNITY ACROSS AMERICA

Kids light up Deepavali cultural program Details on page 18

10 India Post

www.indiapost.com

October 28, 2011

Diwali survey on Obama & India gets mixed review SURESH SHAH AND HARISH RAO

CHICAGO: Indian Americans in Chicagoland reacted in a mixed way about the US economy and its impact on election prospects of President Barack Obama. They were near unanimous that CM Modi, though a charismatic leader, has small chance of becoming PM. They however, agreed that Anna Hazare movement was a good one for India but its longterm impact is a matter of opinion Dinesh Gandhi, a noted banker in Chicagoland, exuded confidence that the US economy though conceivably in a bad shape now, will come out of reversionary tendency, albeit slowly. "It will take time but I am sure that it would be sooner than later as fundamentals are good. Better days are ahead," he said, Discussing the chances of President Obama getting reelected in 2012, he observed, "if the economy is holding or improving, then his chances are very good." Besides one has to note that he is facing poor opposition. Turning to the Indian political scene and the impact of Anna Hazare's anti corruption drive, he felt t there is lot of "hulla gulla" in

Dinesh Gandhi

the short run but in the long run "I do not think that it could create any significant change as corruption has deep roots" On Gujarat CM Modi ascend-

Ajit Gandhi

Ajit Gandhi, an award winner financial planner in Chicagoland, observed that there was a very small chance of the US economy getting revived in the next two to

Gandhi felt that an unfavorable economic climate will hurt President Obama's chances to get re-elected. "That has been the lesson of history” ing to PM position he said that his (Modi's) chances are slim as opposition parties do not have national support or national base in real sense of term."

three years. In fact there is a possibility that it could slid into recession. "It is a slowdown right now and let us hope that this does not drift into a real recession - a dis-

Sohan Joshi

tinct possibility unless corrective measures are taken by the administration at all levels," he feared. Gandhi felt that an unfavorable economic climate will hurt President Obama's chances to get reelected. "That has been the lesson of history and it is likely to be repeated," he said. He welcomed the bold anti-corruption drive by Anna Hazare but felt its long-term impact would not be much. "This is not because there is anything basically wrong with the movement but Indian politicians at large are corrupt and Indian political system leaves much to be desired. Cont’d on page 11

No debit card fee: First Bank scores RAMESH SOPARAWALA India Post News Service

EVANSTON: Gearing up to open its one more branch in Skokie in very near future, an Evanston based front ranking community bank, First Bank & Trust, has come out with one more customer friendly announcement it would not charge debit card fee as has been done by a few leaders in the industry. First Bank & Trust CEO Robert Yohanan announced that his bank will continue to offer its no-fee monthly debit card and also continue to reimburse up to 8 surcharges for out-of-network ATM transactions per statement period. "First Bank & Trust is not hopping on the bandwagon with the bigger banks who are charging customers monthly debit card fees

First Bank and Trust (L), CEO Robert Yohanan

of up to $5 per month and increasing ATM fees. There is no value added to the customer experience

for the banks to recoup profits limited by the Durbin Act." Yohanan continued, "As part of First Bank

From a near zero share in the Evanston market, it now accounts for a 26 per cent market share and is forging ahead with a highly satisfied customer base in relation to the service fees. The fee merely serves a one-sided goal

& Trust's unending commitment to provide the highest quality

banking services, we will continue to explore ways of expanding our customer reach such as the opening next month of an eco-friendly branch in Skokie." While Bank of America announced its plans to charge a $5 per month fee to customers who used their debit card for purchases, and Wells Fargo and Chase admitted to testing a $3 per month debit card fee, First Bank & Trust management has decided that it would not fall in line and continue with its customer friendly policy that has paid a rich dividend to it over past fifteen plus years. From a near zero share in the Evanston market, it now accounts for a 26 per cent market share and is forging ahead with a highly satisfied customer base. Cont’d on page 11

October 28, 2011

Community Across America

India Post 11

www.indiapost.com

Diwali survey on Obama & India gets mixed review Cont’d from page 10

The corrupt elements will find subtle ways and means to torpedo the good effect that this type of movement can generate or trigger. I would very much want total change in Indian politics but I am not sanguine about the ultimate outcome," he said. Gandhi rated CM Modi's chances to head the Indian government very slim. "He is a decent man but "corrupt elements in politics and unprincipled as well as pseudo seculars in media will see to that he is not at the helm of affairs," he added. Dr. Ashok Jain, a leading radiologist and a front ranking community activist in Detroit, said the US economy would slid into recession for the simple reason that the administration has no coherent economic policy to stop the drift.

Gandhi rated CM Modi's chances to head the Indian government very slim. "He is a decent man but "corrupt elements in politics and unprincipled as well as pseudo seculars in media will see to that he is not at the helm of affairs" The crux of the problem is the creation of jobs and it is here that there is a blatant failure. Manufacturing jobs are going down in view of unfair competition from abroad and the government is a silent spectator. Its impact on US politics in normal turn of the events would be that the ruling group and President would not get re-elected. "And this should be true if the elections art held today. But Americans have short memory and there is no strong Republican candidate. At the personal level, I feel that Obama would get re-elected as President," he opined. Dr Jain said that one of the biggest gains of the Anna Hazare movement in India is that the common man is awakened. Earlier, it was at the intellectual and urban level only. One would feel there is an upheaval among the masses who feel tired and angry that they are exploited mercilessly. How

No debit card fee: First Bank scores Cont’d from page 10

Its eco friendly Dempster branch in Skokie has been designed to meet the requirements of a LEED® gold-certification as established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and verified by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). For more information about the new branch visit www.firstbt.com. First Bank & Trust is a locally owned and managed community bank founded in 1995 by Robert Yohanan, Howard Kain and Jay Lytle, with a mission to put community first, and provide personalized banking and investment services to individuals, owner-managed businesses and the not-forprofit community. Now in its 16th year, First Bank & Trust has grown from a staff of 12 to a staff of over 100, with seven locations, and an eighth on the way: Evanston (820 Church Street, 2925 Central Street, 741 Main Street and 824 Emerson), Itasca (1250 Arlington Heights Road), Skokie (8047 Skokie Boulevard and 4007 Dempster - scheduled to open in December 2011) and Winnetka (100 Green Bay Road).

much this will get translated into political outcome in elections has to be seen but chances are that the Congress Party would pay the price. Dr Jain ruled out chances of CM Modi heading the Indian government though he is a "charismatic leader" and has proved beyond doubt his administrative ability. "There are so many roadblocks and one of the biggest is Indian mentality to go with dynastic rule," he observed Sohan Joshi, a former head of Federation of Indian Associations and a tax consultant, said that the US economy would not come out of the woods in the next couple of years. "It will require very bold and imaginative steps on the part of the government to bring it back fast and soon to its Clinton era glory. I doubt it but it will be fine as its fundamentals are still great," he said Joshi said that he is reasonably sure that President Obama will get re-elected. "The current economic mess is not of his making. He inherited it and he is trying his best to address it. There is no immediate result but the American voters do see that the President is concerned about it and is taking some measures," he added. Joshi is an active member here to support Anna Hazare anti-corruption movement in India. He feels the movement has touched the core of Indian conscience and that it will

have its impact short-term and long-term. In short run, Joshi said, that the Indian ruling group will suffer in elections. The new group and alliance will come at the Center and that group will have to be non-corrupt. "This will be the biggest gain of Anna Hazare and his followers in India and abroad,"

‘Americans have short memory and there is no strong Republican candidate. At the personal level, I feel that Obama would get re-elected as President’ Joshi said In spite of Anna Hazare impacting the Indian politics for better and in spite of the fact that CM Modi has all the credentials to be a good PM, "I feel that internal politics will make his task difficult and he may not become PM," he added.

12 India Post

Community Across America

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Andhra Minister inducted in Oklahoma Univ Hall of Fame MVL PRASAD

There was a memorial for Prof. Ranga Komanduri, Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering who passed away a few weeks before. Prof. Ranga was praised by the Dean inductees, distinguished members of industry and academia CEAT alumnus Ponnala Lakshmaiah, was inducted as the 89th member of the Hall of Fame of CEAT and the third Indian origin alumnus in its 120+ years of history. Several friends and family of Ponnala were in attendance at this dinner banquet.

The meeting was called to order by Dean of CEAT Prof. Khaled A.M. Gasem who gave the history of CEAT's Hall of Fame and showed a presentation on former inductees. There was a memorial for Prof. Ranga Komanduri, Distinguished Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering who passed away a few weeks before. Prof. Ranga was praised by the Dean who also recognized his widow Sri Komanduri and son Mukund Komanduri who were present

on the occasion. A detailed presentation on the life and achievements of Minister Ponnala was made before the award was presented by Dean Gasem. This was followed by reading of the citation by Kirk Jewel, President of OSU Foundation.

Minister Ponnala in his speech recalled his humble beginnings of growing up in rural Andhra Pradesh in a remote village with bare-minimum facilities and opportunities. He recalled the inspiration he got from his mother to always do good to others and help the poor and deprived; be humble and become successful and always trust in God for guidance. Going forward he recalled his academic achievements that led him to study mechanical engineering at Osmania University leading to admission at Oklahoma State University in Fall of 1968. Continuing further he delved into his life at OSU which opened umpteen opportunities not only for academics but also in leading a successful professional life. He talked about graduating in record time of 11 months and taking up professional engineering jobs in New Jersey working on fluid power controls for space applications. Having spent a decade in the US, he moved back to India in 1978 in order to apply this knowledge and experience for the upliftment of his fellow citizens in Warangal district of Andhra Pradesh. He then traced his rise in politics as a member of the Legislative Assembly of Andhra Pradesh, holding various ministerial portfolios.

Indo-American Center annual meet on November 13 A.Q. SIDDIQUI

CHICAGO: The Indo-American Center Ravi Baichwal, the keynote speaker, won (IAC) has slated holding its annual benefit the Chicago Emmy Award for best anchor gala on November 13 at the Oakbrook (Chicago/Midwest) from the National AcadMarriott. As always, it will be attended by emy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2008. special guests, sponsors and members of He has previously been an integral part of the community will gather to celebrate and CTV news in Canada and has also done exsupport the IAC's accomplishments and aspirations. The Keynote speaker this time is Ravi Baichwal, Anchor, ABC7 News. "A Portrait of the Community" is this year's gala theme, signifying the broader community that IAC works in and with. "We exist to serve the community," said IAC Executive Director, Jay Luthra. "We would like to showcase our work, explain why some in the community need our help, and why the others in the community may wish Ravi Baichwal to support us so we may continue to provide the help," he continued. IAC teamwork and community colâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;A Portrait of the Community" is laboration have been, and will continue to be, keys to accomplishing this year's gala theme, signifying IAC's primary goal: to continue to the broader community that IAC generate the necessary funds that will enable the Center's work to conworks in and withâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; tinue. The Center has plans for programs expansion as well as space expan- tensive coverage on the world of politics sion to accommodate its exponentially inThe Indo-American Center is a not-forcreasing client base, Jay said. The proceeds profit community service organization servof this year's banquet will help the IAC ac- ing the South Asian immigrant population. complish its goals of developing and im- The mission of the Indo-American Center proving the Center to meet the community's is to promote the well being of South Asian growing need of IAC services and facilities immigrants.

Community Across America

October 28, 2011

India Post 13

www.indiapost.com

Garba and Bhajan Sandhya at Jalaram Mandir YOGESH THAKKAR

CHICAGO: True to tradition since its inception, Jalaram Mandir at Hoffman Estate in Chicagoland hosted a nine-day Navratri festival

Jalaram Mandir invited a well-known singer from India to celebrate the big event of Raas Garba on Friday, October 14. The place was a big hall in Harper College. The program was enjoyed by thousands of people from 8:00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. culminating with Garba and Bhajan Sandhya by Hemant Chauhan and troupe at its premises. In three years of its inception,

Garba Raas by attendees at Jalaram Mandir

the Mandir has been a center of attraction for worshipers. The temple provides celebration of all Hindu festivals and appropriate rituals on all occasions, such as Satyanarayan katha, regular bhajans, Diwali, New Year and other similar events. This year Navaratri Garba was arranged on all Navaratri days. Hundreds of devotees, especially females were dressed in the best possible clothes and enjoyed the music and encircling the Mataji in tradi-

tional rhythmic, rotating fashion. On top of this, Jalaram Mandir invited a well-known singer from India to celebrate the big event of Raas Garba on Friday, October 14. The place was a big hall in Harper College. The program was enjoyed by thousands of people from 8:00 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. Hemant Chauhan and his group of singers and musicians provided excellent music and Garba songs. The program included Garba and Raas, the typical circular Gujarati

2000 throng traditional Durga Puja

Devotees at Durga Puja celebrations. (Pic Asian Media USA) Asian Media USA

OSWEGO: Bengali Association of Greater Chicago had a three-day celebration of Durga Puja beginning October 7 thru 9, 2011 at Oswego East High School in Oswego, a village near Chicago, with close to 2000 people participating. The first day on Friday, October 7 known as Sashti began with a Puja at 6 p.m. followed by dinner and cultural program. On Saturday, (Saptami, Mahashtami) there was also an early Puja at 10 a.m. followed by Anjali at 1 p.m. and the Sandhyarati at 4 pm. There was a cultural program before dinner at 7 pm. A special musical program was presented to end the evening by Shibaji Chattopadhyay Arundhuti Holme Chowdhury. On Sunday (Navami, Dashami) Puja was at 12:30 pm, followed by Anjali,

Arati, Bisarjan and Sindur. Tanushree Shankar and her dance troupe hosted a cultural program. Forty-one years ago, thirteen thousand miles away from their homeland, fourteen Bengali families started the tradition of organizing Bengali religious and social events in Chicago area. Within just a few years more Bengali families joined, and in 1977 the Bengali Association of Greater Chicago (BAGC) was formally established. Since then BAGC has grown into a large and vibrant community. Now the BAGC Durga Puja celebration attracts nearly two thousand people. Its mission is to promote and sustain religious, charitable, educational and literary activities for the community. One of their core values is preserving and promoting Bengali heritage and culture in the Greater Chicago area.

Arati at Jalaram Mandir

folk dance. Every one present performed and enjoyed with their full energy. The volunteers managed a big gathering for so many hours with utmost care and peace. Food was provided at nominal cost. Prizes were awarded to winners in different categories to encourage the participants. The program concluded with Arti. On the previous night, Thursday October 13, Hemant Chauhan and his group provided melodious

devotional bhajans for more than three hours in the Mandir hall. The bhajans were popular items from old Gujarati songs and the overflowing audience was lost in rhythm and melody. The devotees wanted to keep going, but it being a weekday and the fact that next day the group had to perform Garba, Bhajan Sandhya, the program closed at 9-30 pm. Upcoming programs at the Mandir are Diwali and Jalaram Jayanti.

Community Across America

14 India Post

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Manav Seva Mandir raises $ 100,000 ARVIND THAKKAR

BENSENVILLE: Manav Seva Mandir, a non-profit socio-cumreligious organization, raised close to $100,000 during a fundraiser dinner organized at the Mahalxmi Hall of the Mandir recently. It was quite a successful event judging not only from the amount of fund raised but also from the level of attendance. More than 500 members, guests, invites and devotees flocked to the Hall on Saturday October 15 in the evening and had a good time interacting socially, enjoying a grand entertainment program and an excellent dinner. Dr I.K. Patel acted as Master of Ceremony and conducted the entire program elegantly. The Chairman of the Trustee Board, Dr Bharat Barai welcomed the guests and members and dwelt on the activities and the progress of the temple. He also outlined the objectives behind raising additional funds. These are modifications and additions to the temple structure, to help the ongoing activities such as health care facilities, youth program, programs for seniors; provide more activities for children and provide better celebrations of religious festivals. Chief Guest Chhotalal and Hansaben Patel and the Guests of Honor Kirtibhai and Rakshaben Shah were introduced by Trustee Board member Dr V.K. Patel. Very interesting music was provided throughout the evening by Shaila Khedkar and orchestra of Sur Sangeet Group. A report on the youth activities was presented by the youth coordinator Dr Mayank Shah and young members of the youth group.

Lamp lighting by Chief Guests

The Youth group is active in learning about Sanatan Hindu religion, especially Bhagvad Gita. They attend classes on every 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday of

planning to visit homeless shelters to distribute care packages. A detailed report on the healthcare activities was given by Dr Shirish Shah. He men-

Dr Bharat Barai welcoming guests

Dr VK Patel introducing Chief Guests and Guests of Honor

tests as required and free generic medicines. More than 300 patients benefit from this service on an ongoing basis. The temple provides free flu shots every

ferred to by the clinic. Melodious music kept playing and donations kept coming in. The total donations received totaled up to $100,000. At the

The Youth group is active in learning about Sanatan Hindu religion, especially Bhagvad Gita. They attend classes on every 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday of the month Members of audience at the dinner. (Pics Asia Media USA)

the month. The youth group organizes a 2-3 day camps inviting spiritual gurus every year. The youth also provide humanitarian assistance to the needy. Last year on Diwali they distributed blankets and this year they are

tioned that the temple conducts an annual health fair in the month of May and follows it up with organizing a monthly clinic on every third Sunday of the month. The health clinic provides doctors' consultation, blood

year in the month of October. Special mention was made to thank Dr Shirish Shah for providing cardiology services and Dr Parag Majmudar for eye care. These generous doctors provide free specialized services when re-

end, the president of the executive board, Madhukant Shah thanked the guests and all the volunteers and board members for making the event a great success. The program ended with delicious dinner and desert.

Diwali Mela celebrations at Newark Ave

Dr. Sharma, cardiologist being honored by the City Council woman Nidia Lopez for his services to the community. Mayor Jersey City Jeremiah T. Healy is also seen. (Pics: Mohammed Jaffer-SnapsIndia)

Mayor Jersey City Jeremiah T. Healy dancing on Indian music during Diwali Mela Celebrations at Newark Ave on October 15. City Council members of the city and Commissioner Parking Bobby Patel can be seen.

Community Across America

October 28, 2011

India Post 15

www.indiapost.com

Healthcare Award for Dr Habib Bawani MUJEEB OSMAN

CHICAGO: Dr Mohammad Habib Bawani, MD, was presented a health care/ medical well-being commendation award by 8th District IL State Sen. Ira Silverstein, Legislative Counsel Alderman Debra Silverstein and Alderman Joe Moore recently. The award ceremony was held at District Office in Chicago by Sen. Silverstein. The Master of Ceremony was Dr. Wahid Qureshi. Sher Rajput and Prof. Masroor Qureshi were the key-

Dr Bawani was recognized for his outstanding contribution for Illinois healthcare reform and medical care to his patients and their families

Kavi Sammelan by Hindi Lovers Club SURESH SHAH

CHICAGO: Hindi Lovers Club has announced hosting a Kavi Sammelan (poetry session) at Skokie Public Library auditorium on Monday December 5 from 7 to 9 pm. Usha Kamaria, co founder of the Club said that the event is also for those who want to write poetry and want to share their creation with others." It's a beautiful way to express one's feelings. We are giving all an opportunity to put thoughts and emotions in poetry. The subject could be anything from love, politics, patriotism, family, parents, in-laws, friends, and much much more," she said. A poem should be no more than one page long. There is no admission fee for this program but donations to the Club are always welcome, especially when this club is planning some more events for the future. Those interested in presenting a poem are requested to RSVP to Gurbachan at hindiloversclub@gmail.com.

Job opportunities for Asians at Farmers Insurance HARISH RAO

CHICAGO: In a bid to reach out to Asians, Farmers Insurance has come out with a plan to get more Asians working for them. It is now seeking Asians who speak more than one language and who want to own their own business for career opportunities as agents. The company provides prospective agents with a strong presence in the Asian market. The company produces many resources for customers in Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese and Indian languages. There are many benefits to becoming a Farmers Agent. Farmers offers a program for qualified candidates to assist them with their finances. Farmers also provides awardwinning training programs that provide instruction and insight on the insurance industry, selling strategies and techniques and effective office management. In a difficult job market with the current economy, this can turn out to be an opportunity for many to own their own business and to succeed in the job market.

note speakers. Dr Bawani was recognized for his outstanding contribution for Illinois healthcare reform and medical care to his patients and their families. In 2011, he was recognized by Top Physicians of US, in US News and World Reports 2011. Dr. Bawani was humble in accepting the award. He said, "This award recognizes my staff that worked very hard in the background. I have done what I am expected to do for our community."

Dr Mohammad Habib Bawani (left) recipient of the Healthcare Award with Ald DebraSilver Stein, Sher Rajput and Senator Silverstein

16 India Post

Community Across America

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Three Nights of Dandiya Raas

Protest against harassment of Dr Swamy

Pradip (Peter Kothari) addressing crowd during opening & Lamp Lighting Ceremony with Edison Councilman Dr. Prasad, Dy. Mayor of Franklin Twp. Rajiv Prasad, Congressman Lance, Assemblyman Dr. Sam Thompson, Woodbridge Councilman Robert Luban, Invited Guest & Sponsor.

ri-state Indian American community reveled in three consecutive weekend nights of Dandiya-Raas as part of the Navratri festival celebrations organized by the Indo American Religious and Cultural Center (IARCC) at the Garden State Exhibit Center in Somerset, New Jersey. Thousands of Dandiya lovers enjoyed the festivities on the nights of Sept 30-Oct 1, Oct 7-8, and Oct 14-15, as they danced away to the beats of famous musical groups who flew in from India specially to perform on each of the

three weekends. Among the singers were Rex Desouza (of Gurukul fame), Prachi Shah (of Sa-re-gama-pa fame), Vinod Rathod and Natwar Thakkar. On Oct 7, Head of Office of Homeland Security & Preparedness, Charles McKenna accompanied by other officials John Page, David Leonardis and Jignesh Shah visited the venue and enjoyed the festivities. A number of local politicians also turned up during the three weekends - among them Congressman Leonard Lance, Assemblyman Sam Thompson,

Crowd performing Mataji's Aarti.

Edison Mayor Antonia Ricigliano, Franklin Twp. Deputy Mayor Rajiv Prasad, and Councilman Dr. Sudhanshu Prasad. The Dandiya nights organized by IARCC are extremely popular with not only the Indian American community, but also many nonIndians who join in to enjoy the Indian culture. The venue also had booths displaying various products and services as also food stalls, making it a complete package of fun, culture and religious orientation for the participants.

NEW YORK: A demonstration was organized under the banner of Indian American Intellectuals Forum, Save India from Corruption and several other organizations in New York on Oct 16, to protest against the alleged harassment of Dr. Subramanian Swamy, President of Janata Party in India who has been at the forefront of the campaign against corruption in India. The protesters, many of them from other neighboring states, carried banners saying "Sonia Gandhi - Shame, Shame" and "Save Dr. Swamy - Save Indian Democracy". A memorandum submitted by the protesters to the Consulate

General of India in New York said that: India is neither a banana republic nor a fiefdom of any Dynasty. It is a full-fledged and vibrant democracy in which freedom of diverse views is constitutionally guaranteed to all the citizens. Dr. Swamy is being hounded by the Governmental agencies for exposing corruption in high places and for writing an article three months ago in an Indian newspaper in which he had expressed his views as to how to solve the problem of Islamic terror in India. The memorandum also listed the series of attacks on Dr. Swamy's residence, office and on him in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.

October 28, 2011

Community Across America

India Post 17

www.indiapost.com

Saldef gala recognizes leaders of progress India Post News Service

WASHINGTON, DC: The Sikh American Legal Defense Education Fund (Saldef) held its 15th Anniversary National Gala in Washington D.C. on October 8. Joined by over 400 guests, government officials, awardees and supporters from across the country, the sold-out event highlighted Saldef's accomplishments over the past 15 years, and recognized those who have contributed to the Sikh American community's progress and strengthened civil rights in the United States. Opening remarks were delivered by Manjit Singh, Co-Founder and Chairman of Saldef, welcoming the attendees and acknowledging the outpouring of support from the Sikh American community, coalition partners, and federal agencies in celebrating 15 years of Saldef's empowerment for the Sikh American community. This was followed by Kavneet Singh, Saldef Managing Director and Board Member, who gave a glimpse at the history of the organization as well as highlighting the awardees. Saldef Western Regional Director Bhupinder Kaur served as Mistress of Ceremonies for the event. The first award of the night, the Bhagat Singh Thind Community Empowerment Award recognized Rana Singh Sodhi for his ability to transcend the tragedy of his brother's death and utilize it as a catalyst for education, outreach, and understanding. Mr. Sodhi's embodiment of chardi kala and commitment to the community serves as an exemplar for the entire Sikh American community.

Left to right: Daya Singh, Satjiv Chahil, Rana Singh Sodhi, and Floyd Mori

Next, Saldef recognized S. Floyd Mori with the Dorothy Height Coalition Building Award. Mr. Mori is currently the National Executive Director of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and he reflected on the Japanese

aftermath of the attacks of 9/11 successfully directed all flights over United States airspace to land immediately and won widespread praise for restoring public confidence in the transportation system. Mr. Mineta also made con-

Saldef 's 2011 Public Service Award was awarded to former Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta, whose leadership in the aftermath of the attacks of 9/11 won widespread praise American experience after World War II internment, bringing parallels of the fear America faced then to the 9/11 attacks. Next, the Youth Leadership Award recognized Deep Singh, Co-Founder of the Jakara Movement, a youth oriented Sikh organization based in California aimed at connecting Sikh American youth to Sikh history and beliefs as well as social justice. Saldef 's 2011 Public Service Award was awarded to former Secretary of Transportation, Norman Mineta, whose leadership in the

scious efforts to ensure that members of the Sikh, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim and South Asian communities were not befallen with civil rights abuses while traveling. The Dalip Singh Saund Legislative Leadership Award was accepted in absentia by Senator Dick Durbin. In his remarks, delivered via video, Durbin emphasized the integral role that Saldef played in the initial response to the hate crimes immediately following the 9/11 attacks, and ensuring hate crime legislation was put at the forefront of action to backlash

South Brunswick schools close for Diwali India Post News Service

NEW JERSEY: In a first, schools in South Brunswick, New Jersey will remain closed for the Hindu festival of Diwali. According to 2011-2012 school calendar, District schools will stay closed on October 26 for Diwali/ Deepavali. Hindu priest Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada, said that all school districts in New Jersey, one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse states, should declare Diwali as school holiday. Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, argued that awareness about other religions thus created by such holidays like Diwali would make the

South Brunswick School District pupils well-nurtured, well-balanced, and enlightened citizens of tomorrow. It would make District look good also besides bringing cohesion and unity in the community.

claims to be "one of the finest public school systems in New Jersey". Dr. Stephen F. Parker is President of the District Board, while Dr. Gary P. McCartney is Superintendent of District. About 11 percent population of

About 9,100 students are enrolled in 12 schools of the District, which was ranked by New Jersey Education Department as "High Performing School District" About 9,100 students are enrolled in 12 schools of the District, which was ranked by New Jersey Education Department as "High Performing School District". It

South Brunswick is of India-descent. New Jersey is most densely populated and among the top three wealthiest states in the country.

within the South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh American communities. "In the weeks after 9/11 I was proud to work with Saldef and the Sikh American community to pass legislation condemning prejudice and violence against [Sikhs] and any Americans. [By] working together we passed a Federal Hate Crimes Bill.," said Senator Durbin. "As long as Sikhs continue to face religious discrimination in the workplace, [and] Sikh children are continued to be bullied in school because of their faith, we still have work to do, and we must finish that work." Daya Singh Khalsa, President of Akal Security, served as a Guest Speaker for the evening and spoke about his experiences founding his company and how denial of job opportunities to Sikhs at the time, led he and his colleagues to found what is now one of the largest security organizations in the

country. "Anything can come with a vision, being a Sikh should not prevent you in any way from accomplishing or inventing any ideas. Any vision or idea can become reality, a Sikh's identity should not be a hindrance in any vision they have", said Khalsa. Saldef was also fortunate to have Satjiv Chahil, former Chief Marketing Officer at Apple Inc and HP, in attendance as he shared some inspirational anecdotes to the attendees regarding his experiences through his career, and the importance of chardi kala. Jasjit Singh, Saldef Associate Executive Director, presented the final comments and recognizing the 17 participants in attendance. Entertainment for the evening included a memorable performance by Kiran Alhuwalia an award winning vocalist and composer, and a high-energy performance by the DC Bhangra Crew and Joshiley Jawan Bhangra Team.

Community/California

18 India Post

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Kids light up Deepavali cultural program VICTORIA TRUVER

Lighting of diyas

RIVERSIDE: Riverside Shri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir's Annual Deepavali Cultural Program was

Vote of thanks

year's event was the very young age of the performers with children as young as 3 years old dancing.

Pandit. Ragini Iyer's students Aditi Hanumant, Aditi Kaluuru, Akshaya Ranjit, Anisha Prasad,

Procession

held in Corona Civic Center Auditorium. Over 500 crowded into the theatre to view the program. Mandir President Bhoodev Tiwari opened the program with a brief speech. "It is only natural that these students would like to perform on stage and this event is the perfect opportunity for them to showcase their talents." Festival Committee Chair Ranjana Wanchoo thanked everyone for attending and especially Suma Hareesh for organizing the event and the ladies of the Festivals Committee who helped. Vidhya Tiwari, daughter Venuka and Ranjana Wanchoo lit the thali to open the program. MCs Meghna Verma and Anika Patadia announced the program items. Perhaps the most amazing thing about this

from Shiv Dance Academy including Sahana, Sanjana, Reyna, Bency and Roma performed a

Festivals Committee ladies dance

Shreya, Kriti and Suryansh Kumar opened with a Ganesh sloka. Anika, Simrina and Nanita Desar as well as Richa Shah, Swarna & Kanak Das, Arya

Neha Bandaru, Priyal Saretha, Sagarika Chidella and Vaishnavi Kothakonda danced Bharatnatyam. A song was sung by Janaki

dance choreographed by teacher Dhruti Patel. Nishad Marathe sang one song which was followed by a Rajasthani song sung by Ila Arun

The most amazing thing about this year's event was the very young age of the performers with children as young as 3 years old dancing Kids dancing

Anand, Elizabeth Paul, Vibhuti Purohit and Sachi Murdeshwar, performed folk dances choreographed by their teacher, Paulomi

500 attended the event

A free style group dance choreographed by Sonal Jarecha included

Parikh's students including Shukan Parikh, Richa Shah, Arya Patel, Mitali Patel, Roshni Trivedi and Arushi Manikandan. Dancers

and choreographed by Geetika Jain. The performers included Sana Madahar, Gitali Jain, Shukan Parikh and Aarushi Manikandan.

Arya Patel, Joy Patel, Ram Patel, Sarah Tadha and Shana Tadha. Ladies of the Festivals Committee performed a number choreographed by Ragini Iyer. The performers included Ranjana Wanchoo, Rita Mishra, Suma Hareesh, Raji Chakrapani, Jayashri Patel, Padma Prabhakar, Archana Sheth and Lopa Patel. "Colors of Rhythmn" directed by Dipa Patel included Ayush, Slok, Ishaan, Alena, Priyal, Ohmnie, Sheetal, Dipti, Hema, Saira, Seeta, Shifali, Poonam, Nimisha, Rajul, Vibha, Neha, Khushi, Vaibhavi, Dipa, Nilesha and Jigna. A large procession came after the intermission followed by a Bharatnatyam choreographed by Ragini Iyer and performed by Advika Nambisan and Archana Sivanandam.

Participants were given gifts

Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 20

Community/California

October 28, 2011

India Post 19

www.indiapost.com

Northern Nevada's 1st Hindu Temple breaks ground India Post News Service

NEVADA: Northern Nevada's first Hindu temple had its groundbreaking ceremony on October 16 in Reno (USA) amidst chanting of mantras from ancient Hindu scriptures. According to Temple spokesman Rajan Zed, this one-acre temple project has been possible after years of community efforts under the umbrella of Hindu (Sanatan Dharam) Temple of Northern Nevada Inc., a tax-exempt organization. Ground-breaking ceremony, besides few hundred members of the Hindu community, was also attended by Nevada State Treasurer Kate Marshall, Nevada State Controller Kim Wallin, Sparks Mayor Geno Martini, Carson City Mayor Robert Crowell, Nevada State Senator James A. Settelmeyer, and Reno Police Chief Steven Pitts, who also spoke at the ceremony welcoming the new place of worship and applauding the community for their efforts. Various elected and other officials, who could not be present, sent messages, which were read by Zed on the occasion, and who

Groundbreaking of Hindu Temple of Northern Nevada

included: Nevada Lieutenant Governor Brian K. Krolicki, Nevada First Lady Kathleen Sandoval, United State Senators Harry Reid and Dean Heller, Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Nevada Nancy M. Saitta, Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, Nevada State Senator Sheila Leslie, Washoe County Commission Vice Chairman Bonnie Weber and Washoe County School District Superintendent Dr. Heath

Morrison. To be built according to traditional ancient Hindu architecture,

have a courtyard, garden, community hall and classroom facilities. Besides a venue of worship and

President of Temple Board Virender K. Bali points out that the Temple should be ready in over a year and would cost over $600,000 this temple besides a sanctuary containing decorated images of major Hindu deities, also plans to

prayers, it will also serve as a community center organizing various cultural, religious and educational

activities, according to Rajan Zed. President of Temple Board Virender K. Bali points out that the Temple should be ready in over a year and would cost over $600,000. He has urged the community to donate generously. Shambhu Das, Temple Board Member, says that presence of temple will be instrumental in passing the Hindu spiritual and cultural traditions to the next generations. Other two Hindu temples in Nevada are in Las Vegas. There are about 600 Hindu families in northern and western Nevada. Diwali, Baisakhi, Holi, Raas Garba, Ugadhi, Onam, etc., festivals have been celebrated in the area; besides frequent Pujas/Jagrans/ Hawans. Traveling kirtan bands have been visiting the area frequently. Currently the Hindu (Sanathan Dharam) Temple of Northern Nevada functions in a rented building in Reno. Nevada, largest gold producer and 7th largest state, was admitted to USA in 1864. Also called "Silver State", Nevada is known for Las Vegas, Burning Man, Lake Tahoe, etc. Brian Sandoval is Governor.

Magical Garba at Riverside Mandir VICTORIA TRUVER

Ashtami havan

RIVERSIDE: Riverside's Shri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir recently held its annual Navaratri Raas Garba. For 11 evenings thousands attended. The women came dressed in their finest lehengha and chaniya cholis accented by shining gold jewelry and mehendi painted hands and feet. The Mandir was a swirl of color as the bhaktas danced around the new centerpiece, specially constructed in India for the event. The 8-foot tall wooden cabinet had beautiful paintings of

Devis on all sides and was handsomely decorated. Multi-colored pennants and many bright electric Christmas lights completed the magical scene. Following tradition youngsters danced a fast pace closest to the centerpiece while seniors and mothers carrying babies for their first Garba moved slower on the outer ring. Different musicians including Lakhia & Party; Babubhai Goraji, Bhavin Mehta & Akshay Khetani; Hemant Mehta & Group; and Vallabh bhai Ladwa

Mandir President Bhoodev Tiwari stands next to 8-foot centerpeice

Family attending Ashtami havan

played favorite Garba music every night. And of course Dandiya dance was enjoyed later every evening. On Tuesday the Ashtami Havan was well-attended. All 3 Mandir priests officiated including Head Priest Dr. Shukavak Dasa, Pandit Seshacharyulu Samudrala and Pandit Vipul Kumar Jani. A 16-year old summed it up when she commented, "I might be tired for school but it is worth it. I wait all year for the Garba and hate to see it end."

Garba

Community/California

20 India Post

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Colorful Karwa Chauth Festival at Riverside Temple

Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 18

VICTORIA TRUVER

Many circles are formed

beautiful saris or lehenga cholis complemented by fabulous jewelry. Their freshlyhennaed hands carry the traditional arati

Beautiful saris and freshly hennaed hands

RIVERSIDE: Wives from Riverside's Shri Lakshmi Narayan Mandir attended Karwa Chauth on Saturday for the health and prosperity of their husbands. Every year the women fast all day from sunrise until the moon can be seen. A few hours before sunset they arrive in the Mandir dressed in

Kids light up Deepavali cultural program

Every year the women fast all day from sunrise until the moon can be seen thali complete with a decorated pot, mithai, diyas and small decorated cloth. The ladies sit in circles of varying sizes

and follow the instructions of Mandir priests Pandit Seshacharyulu Samudrala and Pandit Vipul Kumar Jani. The thalis are passed in a circle until they finally return to their owners. Once the puja is complete they are blessed by the priests and walk clockwise around Shri LakshmiNarayan. Karwa Chauth is a festival observed mainly in Northern India. In recent years the event has become popular with women from all parts of India. Karwa Chauth is considered to be a romantic festival, symbolizing the love between a husband and wife.

The 13th item was Vaishnava Janato choreographed by Paulomi Pandit and danced by her students including Anika Desar, Simrina Desar, Nanita Desar and Richa Shah. Geetika Jain choregraphed the 'Bollywood Desi Beats' Vatsal Jain, Eera Madahar, Sapna Taker, Priyanka Chander and Alina Saratora. The next item a Bharatnatyam, choreographed by Ragini Iyer, was performed by her students Anagha Nambisan, Jyoti Kurian, Maya Singh, Natasha Spangrud, Tulsi Patel, Vaibhavi Shah, Swarna Das and Kanak Das. A semi-classical dance, choreographed by Nikita Kadakia, was performed by her and her children Arpita and Hiloni. The Desi Club of Redlands High School offered a Desi Mix. Sonal Jarecha choregraphed a traditional Garba dance performed by Anjana Patel, Archana Patel, Dipti Patel, Kunjal Shodhan, Sneha Patel, Sunita Patel and Sweta Shodhan. The program ended with a vote of thanks and an award ceremony. Every year a raffle is held and this year the grand prize, donated by Chairman Surendra Sharma, was an IPad. Other winners won cash prizes donated by Mandir members. Bhoodev Tiwari summed it up, "This program encourages future performers to develop their talents so that they too can perform and continue their cultural heritage. Our children are our future and it is our duty to encourage them in their efforts and applaud them for their successes."

Readers Write... www.indiapost.com

Wall Street protesters inspired by Gandhi, Hazare

he late Martin Luther King Jr and Nelson Mandela, who led vast movements to bring equality and freedom to their people, have often acknowledged the inspirational role of Mahatma Gandhi. These leaders, notably King as well as movements like Poland's Solidarity, were users of Gandhian techniques such as civil disobedience, apart from drawing broader inspiration from the leader of India's epic struggle for Independence. The Indian influence is echoing again and this time at an unlikely place - Wall Street, New York, the financial capital of the world. Thousands of American citizens, protesting under the banner Occupy Wall Street, against alleged greed and corruption in that country, are using tactics made famous by

Gandhi and recently used by the mass movement in India against corruption, led by his self-proclaimed follower Anna Hazare. "The spirit of Mahatma Gandhi is felt tremendously here. Occupy Wall Street is a non-violent movement," said Guillaume Marceau, in an email interview. Marceau, a PhD student in computer science, is a representative for the New York General Assembly that spearheads the protests whose organizers describe it as a "leaderless resistance movement". Marceau says Occupy Wall Street is drawing on the "technical and spiritual leadership of the classic non-violent leaders, such as Gandhi". "The community here has gone to great lengths...to reconfirm its commitment to non-violence, even in the face of the growing numbers of people here in Liberty Plaza

who have been victims of police attacks. As Gandhi taught, the discipline of non-violence displayed by the people here at Liberty Plaza helped convince millions of people - visibly, viscerally - that we hold the moral high ground. With each wave of police action, we grow stronger next day," Marceau added. The first call for mass protests came from a Canadian anti-consumer, pro-environment group called Adbusters, which on July 13 issued a call to 'occupy' Wall Street. Since then similar protests have sprung up in 1,500 locations across the US. Occupy Wall Street claims to represent the 99% that is paying for excesses of the 1% which comprise the ruling elite. And they "will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%". The movement, which is still debating its goals and demands,

is keen to get the government to provide relief for the 12 million people who are long-term unemployed - as a starting point. While Anna Hazare's anti-corruption agitation is widely followed, Marceau argues there is a significant difference between the two movements. "Anna Hazare's movement's main thrust was to push specific Bills through the government. Here at Occupy Wall Street, (it) is not at all clear whether people trust this channel of action anymore. "Still, all the options are on the table while the conversations and strategic planning continues," Marceau added. While Indian media is credited with acting as a force multiplier for Hazare, thus putting pressure on the government, the US media, which was eager to report on Tahrir Square protests, has been accused of ig-

Disclaimer :- India Post does not endorse opinions expressed in the letters.

noring a mass movement closer home. "Certainly, you can imagine a character, maybe an uncle, who finds faults in everyone around him, but never in himself. We imagine countries would rise above the biases commonly found in people, but they really don't. After all, countries are made out of people," the activist riposted. But the movement has now got the media's attention. "That said, after four weeks of protests...we are happy that we are getting broad news coverage, and enough popular support across to withstand (New York) Mayor (Michael) Bloomberg's eviction threat." Dial Gidwany, American Institute of Sindhulogy, Evanston, Illinois

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

India Post 21

Realty Tidbits Â&#x201E; Women/girls entitled to equal property rights

Real Estate

Hindu woman or girl will have equal property rights along with other male relatives for any partition made in intestate succession after September 2005, the Supreme Court has ruled. A bench of justices R M Lodha and Jagdish Singh Khehar in a judgment said that under the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005, the daughters are entitled to equal inheritance rights along with other male siblings, which was not available to them prior to the amendment. The apex court said the female inheritors would not only have the succession rights but also the same liabilities fastened on the property along with the male members. "The new Section 6 provides for parity of rights in the coparcenary property among male and female members of a joint Hindu family on and from September 9, 2005. The legislature has now conferred substantive right in favor of the daughters."

Â&#x201E; DLF to sell stake in hospitality chain

India Post

www.indiapost.com

October 28, 2011

Tata launches luxury project in Bangalore

ata Housing has announced the launch of a luxury residential project - The Promont, its second one in Bangalore. Spread across 14 acres on a hillock, the project would have 320 apartments in the range of Rs 2.1 crore to Rs 4 crore in four apartment towers as part of the first phase, according to a company press release. Rajeeb Dash, head - marketing, Tata Housing, said the investment in the project would be around Rs 600 crore, including land cost.

Environment violation notice to DLF A

cting on a petition alleging se rious environmental violations in allowing a private realtor set up an ultra-luxury housing project, the Himachal Pradesh High Court has issued notice to the state government and Delhibased real estate giant DLF. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Sanjay Karol directed the state revenue and forest

secretaries, the Shimla Municipal Corporation, the project executing agency Bemloe Development and Infrastructure Company and DLF to file their reply before next date of hearing on Oct 31. It also directed the principal chief conservator of forests to clarify as to "what is the amount spent in construction (of the road linking to cottages) and the position on required

clearances from authorities". The judges also directed the union environment ministry to clarify whether the construction of the road undertaken till now has any adverse impact on environment. The petition was filed by two Shimla residents Kuldeep Singh Tanwar and Tikender Singh Panwar. They alleged that the upcoming cottages are located in a thick for-

Oberoi 2nd most valued realty firm

umbai-based Oberoi Realty has pipped Unitech to become the country's second largest real estate company after DLF in terms of market capitalization. Oberoi Realty's market cap now stands at Rs 7,372.12 crore, higher than Unitech's Rs 7,149.92

been the second largest. However, a battering of stock price in recent months has eroded its market value significantly. The company's share price has fallen to Rs 27.35 a piece, which is less than one third of its price at Rs 97.45 a year ago. While Oberoi

Unitech shares have fallen by nearly 72 per cent in past one year, while the Oberoi Realty has lost about 20 per cent. The share price of market leader DLF has also fallen by about 40 per cent in last one year. DLF, Oberoi Realty and Unitech are followed by

crore. While DLF has retained its position as the country's most valued company with a market cap of Rs 39,444 crore, Unitech has lost its long-held second position to Oberoi Realty. Ever since its listing in July 2007, DLF has been the country's largest real estate firm in terms of market value, while Unitech has

Realty has also lost some value since its listing on October 20 last year, the fall has been much sharper for Unitech. After raising Rs 1,028 crore through initial public offer (IPO), Oberoi Realty got listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) at Rs 280. Its shares are at present trading at a price of Rs 224.60.

Godrej Properties (Rs 4,727 crore) and HDIL (Rs 4,158 crore) in terms of market capitalization. In terms of annual revenue, Unitech is ranked higher than Oberoi Realty. In the financial year ended March 31, 2011, Unitech clocked a turnover of over Rs 3,000 crore, as against about Rs 1,000 crore of Oberoi Realty.

ndia's largest realty firm DLF is looking to raise up to Rs 2,500 crore by selling its stake in luxury hospitality chain Amanresorts and the deal is likely to be closed by December-end. According to sources, the company has received offers from few potential buyers and the same is being evaluated. DLF had acquired controlling stake in Amanresorts for $400 million in 2007. It has now 100 per cent stake in the hospitality chain that has about 25 resorts across the world. As part of its strategy to sell non-core assets to reduce debt of over Rs 21,000 crore, the company had decided to sell stake in Amanresorts.

Investors Clinic gets BCCL backing

ennett, Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL) has acquired an undisclosed stake in an ad-for-equity deal with Noida-based Investors Clinic Infratech Pvt Ltd, a real estate marketing and brokerage firm operating under the brand of Investors Clinic, reports VCCircle. The company, started by first-generation entrepreneur Honey Katiyal, works with builders to market their developments and also provides real estate brokerage services. The company is also in talks with two large private equity funds to raise $15 million and expects to close the round in the coming months, Nishant Singhal, who is heading strategy & new business initiatives at Investors Clinic, was quoted as saying. Investors Clinic currently spends around Rs 2 crore a month on advertising expenditure and the deal with BCCL will help it leverage its properties, says Singhal.

est area and Bemloe Development has felled dozens of trees overnight. The Congress has been alleging that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has favored the realtor to set up the project. State Congress president Kaul Singh has said since Shimla is facing a water shortage, besides traffic chaos, such projects would only add to the woes of the people.

Shriram projects in Rajahmundry, Vijayawada

hriram Properties is planning to take up housing projects in Rajahmundry and Vijayawada, according to M Murali, managing director. He was addressing the press in Visakhapatnam after participating in the "bhoomi puja" for the block two in the housing project of the group - Shriram Panorama Hills at Endada. He said the projects in Rajahmundry and Vijayawada were still in the preliminary stage, and sites had to be acquired for them. "We are keen on taking up housing ventures in the two coastal towns and later in other towns of Andhra Pradesh as well," he said. He said the group was focusing on middle-class and upper middle-class housing ventures, but not on luxury housing for the affluent sections. "There is a huge housing scarcity and unmet demand in the country. It is estimated that there is a deficit of 20 million homes right now and it is bound to increase. Therefore, there is room for any number of developers," he said. Murali said Panorama Hills in Visakhapatnam was a mega housing project, taken up at a total cost of Rs 1,800 crore, to build 2,000 apartments and 220 villas. "We are completing it in phases and the whole project may be completed by 2014-15. We have already sold 430 units and 120 villas," he said. Asokan, executive director, Shriram Properties said the construction of block-4 was in the advanced stage and most of the apartments and villas were sold out. "We have performed bhoomi puja for block-2 with four towers consisting of 680 apartments.

Changing the face of movie marketing in India

guru) wanted to change all of that for 'Desi Boyz', and is extremely excited about showcasing the action hero in a sexy avatar.

Deepika Padukone: ‘His fitness is unique and I like this athletic and sporty way of keeping fit. He is looking very good in our film Desi Boyz’

NEW YORK: This winter, the hottest buzz in Tinsel town is the glam new look of Bollywood Superstar Akshay Kumar in the upcoming comedy 'Desi Boyz'. In recent years, Akshay hasn't really accentuated his dashing looks and Kunal Rawal (his makeover India Post News Service

ENGLEWOOD, CO: The Western Union Company, a leader in global payments, has launched a global mass-media campaign in association with Indian film superstar Shahrukh Khan's greatly anticipated movie, Ra.One, which will

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

India Post

Co-actress Chitrangda Singh comments, "I am very much inspired by Akshay's fitness. He told me where he goes for a run in the park nearby and I too have started doing that at 5 in the morning." Comments friend and fellow actor

hero called G.one, a character who signifies heroic love and commitment to his family in a world of good and evil. The Western Union mass media campaign has rolled out in India and will continue around the U.S., Canada, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific focusing

Deepika Padukone: "I have always found Akshay to be very sporty and good looking. His fitness is unique and I like this athletic and sporty way of keeping fit. He is looking very good in our film Desi Boyz." Comments director and producer, Shirish Kunder, "In an era when practically everyone has 6-packs, courtesy steroids, Akshay is a huge inspiration for all the youngsters as to what could be really achieved with a healthy lifestyle and natural workouts." Recently, Akshay was honored with the coveted title of 'Fittest Body' by respected

global media title, People magazine. Desi Boyz marks the directorial debut of Rohit Dhawan, son of one of Indian's cinema's most prized comedy directors, David Dhawan. Desi Boyz will hit theaters worldwide in November.

on key Indian Diaspora countries. It encompasses TV, radio, print and outdoor advertising as well as local activities at Western Union® Agent locations. The campaign creative will also reflect the company's new global brand platform "Moving Money for Better". Its focus is to convey

India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Eros International Media Ltd (Eros International), India's largest integrated film studio along with Red Chillies Entertainment are set to release Shah Rukh Khan's most ambitious project Ra.One this festive season on Oct 26. The countdown to the film's release marks the culmination of one of the biggest marketing blitzkrieg for any Indian film ever, embarked upon by Eros and Shah Rukh Khan with brand tie-ups to the tune of Rs. 52 crores ($10.5 million). The country's biggest brand SRK and leading film studio Eros have come together, jointly exploiting the film's potential and additional revenue streams making Ra.One the first of its kind landmark film. Cont’d on page 27

seas," said Nidhi Gupta, senior marketing manager, Western Union. "Whatever they do in their careers from medical practitioners, engineers, construction workers, software professionals, laborers or service personnel, they are giving the world much more than

cations across 7,000 towns and cities in India. "We are pleased for our film to be associated with a global brand like Western Union that connects families across the world and is creating history by launching the first ever global media campaign with a Bollywood film," said

manpower and intellectual capital," Gupta said. Western Union has been providing services in India for more than 17 years through its Agent network and India currently receives money from 190 countries via a network of 80,000 Agent lo-

Shahrukh Khan. "Anyone who works hard for their child is a hero, but it is a special heroic sacrifice to leave home. Fuelled by their love for their families, families working overseas put aside separation from loved ones,

Western's Union with Ra.One be released during the Diwali holiday, to honor the millions of Indians working overseas. Ra.One, directed by Anubhav Sinha, is pioneering special visual and sound effects that are set to transform the Indian film industry. The global mass-media campaign collaboration is the first of its kind between a Bollywood film and a global company. Western Union's association recognizes the symbolism behind the movie, anchored to a super-

‘G.one, the hero of Ra.One, calls to mind real life superheroes - fathers and mothers -working hard to make any sacrifice for the welfare and happiness of their children’

Western Union products and services as solutions to create moments of better for consumers, while sustaining the company's 160-year history of innovation and helping people improve someone's day. "G.one, the hero of Ra.One, calls to mind real life superheroes - fathers and mothers -working hard to make any sacrifice for the welfare and happiness of their children, and in particular the millions of Indian parents who work over-

Cont’d on page 26

India Post

October 28, 2011 www.indiapost.com

2 documentaries share top prize at Sikh Film Festival India Post News Service

NEW YORK: The 8th Annual Sikh International Film Festival and Heritage Gala on Oct 15 at Cipriani's on Wall Street brought to a close the three-day Sikh International Film Festival and Leadership Summit with an evening of celebration and ceremony. People from all walks of life ventured to Manhattan for a proud and jovial display of Sikh art and culture. Canadian Soldier Sikhs and The Ulysses shared the award for Best Documentary, while Jagjeet captured the award for Best Short Film. Commenting on the occasion, the festival's Film Chair, Dr. Paul Johar, brought to notice "not only the diverse range of films but the filmmakers from all walks of life behind them." Dr. Johar then gave an overview of the 12 documen-

tary and short films that participated in the festival. Acclaimed director Gurinder Chadha presented the film awards. Best Short winner Kanwaljit Singh won for Jagjeet, a narrative short film that examines the toll the 1984 Delhi riots takes on the relationship of two lifelong best friends. The Best Documentary Award was shared by two films: director David Gray was recognized for his film Canadian Soldier Sikhs, a fascinating chronicle of ten Sikh men in the World War Iera Canadian army struggling through enlistment, training, and the battlefield. Accepting the other Best Documentary award were Alberto Garcia Ortiz and Agatha Maciaszek, directors of The Ulysses, a film about Punjabi Indian immigrants in a Spanish enclave of Morocco, awaiting their fate in a shanty community

they've built to avoid deportation. At the closing gala and awards event, Sikh Art & Film Foundation President Tejinder Singh Bindra

Best Short winner Kanwaljit Singh won for Jagjeet, a narrative short film that examines the toll the 1984 Delhi riots takes on the relationship of two lifelong best friends and Chief Guest Preneet Kaur, Minister of State for External Affairs, India handed out the annual Sikh Heritage Awards. Recipients of 2011 honors were Gurinder

Chadha, Filmmaker (Bend It Like Beckham, It's a Wonderful Afterlife) for Art; Jaspal Bindra (CEO Standard Chartered Bank Asia) for Leadership; and author and diplomat Navtej Sarna (India's Ambassador to Israel) for Vision. Chadha, who is currently working on a groundbreaking new film about the Punjabi-British experience during Partition, expressed her gratitude for the honor, acknowledging the wealth of talent who shared their films with audiences throughout the festival. 2011 Sikh Heritage Awards Gala festivities were capped off with a performance from the prince of Bhangra, Sukhbir, and a set from DJ Kucha brought everyone together on the dance floor for a roaring ending to the event. Along with the filmmakers, award recipients and Sikh Art and Film Foundation leaders, guests included

Tarlochan Singh (Former Member of Parliament and Chairman Minorities Commission India), Thomas DiNapoli (Office of the New York State Comptroller), Carol A. Robles-Roman (Deputy Mayor for Legal Affairs, NYC), Prabhu Dayal (Consul General of India), Manjeev Puri (India's Deputy Permanent Representative to UN), Arlene Gonzalez-Sanchez (Commissioner of NY State), Jon Kaiman (Supervisor, Town of Hempstead), Michael Miller (CEO Jewish Community Relations Council), and Stuart Rabinowitz (President Hofstra University). The Sikh International Film Festival was founded in 2003 to create awareness and pride in the diversity, culture and history of the Sikhs. The Sikh Art and Film Foundation is planning next year's Festival and Gala in Manhattan in October 2012.

Jagjit Singh taught us Urdu appreciation PRADEEP ANAND

y ignorance of the language slapped me hard during my first visit to Delhi, at the opening event at Hindu College's cultural festival. The entire IIT Bombay contingent sat in numbed silence in the middle of a raucous audience of a Qawwali program. We couldn't understand a word of the lyrics. The melodies of the songs, the enthusiasm of the singers and the audience kept our interest and us in our seats. However, my total lack of knowledge of Urdu overwhelmed me. Fast forward a few years, and I was at the University of Houston. A friend's room-mate was this lanky, understated Pakistani undergrad, Nadir. He was a unique Pakistani undergrad rooming and hanging out with Indian graduate students. Nadir and I shared interest in music across many genres. One day, he came to me, gave me this tape and said, "I think you'll like this." It was Unforgettables by Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh. Despite the lyrics being in Urdu, I loved the tape. It was produced and packaged by a master of the craft. The sound recording was immaculate, something that immediately put it heavens above the sound quality of Indian music recordings. The Hindustani classical music melodies evoked glorious sentiments of their own accord. A rare chamber-music arrangement of Harmonium, Spanish Guitar, Santoor, Violin, and Tabla, accom-

panied Jagjit's sonorous voice. The first two songs I heard were "Baat Niklegi To Door Talak Jayegi," and "Sarakti Jaaye Rukh Se Naqaab Aahistaa Aahistaa." These two songs blew me away with their subtle sentiments, poetic nuances, masterful singing and musical craft. Jagjit and Chitra Singh's first album was an

my car. I had stopped at a traffic light and he was instantly attracted to it; we exchanged numbers and met later to compare notes. While I was fascinated by Jagjit and his ensemble's musical skills, Arji was struck by the singing talent, pronunciation, language and lyrics. We decided to educate each other about why the

understood meaning of Zamaana was "age" or "era". However, in a different context it could also mean society or the world or universe. I was limited only by the limits of my imagination. Jagjit Singh and his Unforgettables sparked a learning of a language and a musical genre that was, until then, an undiscovered treasure. He made ghazals accessible to Urdu-semiilliterates like me. In the enthusiasm that followed my discovery, I insisted that all my

Jagjit Singh made sure that ghazals were enjoyable to a larger mass that lacked the knowledge of the language to be drawn to them

instant hit. I bought the album, an LP, made a copy of it on a cassette with the best magnetic tape that I could afford as a graduate student, and played it over and over again, in my home, my car, my office (with headphones) and in my friends' homes. Another Pakistani, Arji, heard the tape while I was playing it in

songs were greater than what we had heard. Arji was also a student at the University of Houston. He had the heart of poet and went, along with his room-mate Jamaal, to great extremes to not only define each word that I did not comprehend but also the various nuances of the word across a variety of contexts. For example, the commonly

South Asian friends listen to Jagjit Singh and made them converts. I even broadcast Jagjit Singh into the Houston air, when I guesthosted Music of India during regular-host Meena Datt's absence. A dream came true soon. I was the president of the India Student Association at the University of Houston, when I heard that Jagjit and Chitra were touring the United States. Arji was my counterpart for the Pakistan Student Association. We got the two organizations together and hosted the singing duo

at Cullen Auditorium. That night Jagjit Singh and Chitra Singh sang to a sold out crowd. We had a "Rock Concert" quality sound system in the auditorium that made sure that every person in the remotest corners of the hall would receive the crisp, high quality sound that would be produced on stage. It was an unbelievable concert; one of the best that I have attended in my life, including major rock acts and classical performances of the past four decades. Jagjit was a unique showman, a proselytizer for ghazals. He knew that the heavy-duty poetry and imagery would escape the average listener, who would then get bored, shift and stir in their seats, and disturb the cognoscenti. He anticipated these tendencies and compensated for them by a talented, improvisational musical band, a timely performance of a footstomping, hand-clapping rhythmic composition, explanations of complex words and phrases, and jokes that fitted the contexts of the compositions. In other words, Jagjit Singh made sure that ghazals were enjoyable to a larger mass that lacked the knowledge of the language to be drawn to them. He was the revolutionary who finally took the wealth of ghazals out of the closed coteries of royal durbars and dispersed it for all to enjoy. And we were all too willing to enjoy the spoils. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 27

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

India Post 25

India Post

October 28, 2011 www.indiapost.com

Red Baraat to play at Voodoo Experience Festival India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Brooklyn's celebrated 9-piece Bhangra funk fusionists Red Baraat will return to New Orleans on Oct 28 to play the Voodoo Experience festival. The group will co-headline a bill with The Soul Rebels Brass Band the following evening at the Blue Nile club. The trip marks a return to New Orleans for Red Baraat whose week-long stand in the city during May's Jazz and Heritage Festival became a word of mouth sen-

sation - with legendary artists and scene staples including Glen David Andrews and Soul Rebels joining crowds and jamming with the band. Red Baraat has also announced a November residency at Brooklyn Bowl, which will run on three non-consecutive Monday nights. The group, called by the Village Voice "â&#x20AC;Śan unstoppable blend of Bollywood hijacks and funk freakier than anything Madlib picked up on his trip to India," is currently at work on the follow up to their debut record

Chaal Baby that topped several international best of world music charts. In just three short years, the pioneering Brooklyn dhol and brass party juggernaut Red

Baraat have become known as one of the best live bands playing anywhere. Led by dhol drummer Sunny Jain, the nine piece (comprised of dhol, drumset, percussion, sousaphone, and 5

horns) melds the infectious North Indian rhythm Bhangra with a host of sounds, namely funk, gogo, latin, and jazz. It's a sound so powerful it has left the band in its own utterly unique and enviable class. These days you are as likely to find Red Baraat throwing down at an overheated and unannounced warehouse party in their Brooklyn neighborhood as you are at Lincoln Center, or the Montreal Jazz Festival, or the Barbican. It's a band unquestionably on the ascent playing some of the most prestigious festivals and theatres worldwide, and keeping their chops razor sharp in basements and sweaty sold out clubs across New York City. Leading an audience as diverse and joyful as the band itself, Red Baraat has subsumed a plateful of global influence, fused it, and is now exporting it Brooklyn-style to the world.

Western's Union with Ra.One Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 23

being homesick or lonely, or living in distant lands with different cultures, so that they can provide greater opportunity for their loved ones at home. Similarly our film embodies superheroes," he said. Commenting on the association during Western Union's launch event on September 23 in Mumbai, Khan added, "No super-hero is

complete without his super powers. To facilitate children's growth of life, their studies, finding jobs or just bringing up our children, we all are attempting in our small and big ways to be super-heroes to them. We are working hard, and we are trying to make some kind of economic viability in our families. So, what do these super-heroes working across the globe,

having families in remote villages, do to send money home faster? Western Union gives them that super-power. I think this is an amazing concept that from wherever you are when your family needs money Western Union makes it possible. It's a great association with Western Union because we have a super-hero film, and I hope everyone likes it." Western Union has more than 80,000 Agent locations in India, delivering international money transfer services with reliability, convenience and speed. Western Union's Agent network in India is the largest domestic network in Western Union. According to the World Bank, India is the world's largest remittance receiving market in the world, with remittances of US$55 billion in 2010. The Ministry of Overseas India Affairs states there are over 25 million people of Indian origin living outside India.

October 28, 2011

India Post 27 www.indiapost.com

Jagjit Singh taught us Urdu appreciation Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 24

Thirty years and tens of albums later, I am still a loyal fan. The albums that he and Chitra autographed for me are treasured as are their CDs and records. More important, I treasure his cracking open the ghazal-vault so I could appreciate other performers such as Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali, Mallika Pukhraj, Iqbal Bano and Begum Akhtar, to name a few. In the early 1970s, I had admired an Indian Government's Films Division documentary on Mirza Ghalib, directed by Sukhdev. I didn't understand a word of the poetry that flowed like light, wispy silk curtain in the breeze. Today, I still don't understand Mirza

The beauty of Urdu as a language of poetry and music was a mystery of my childhood. Jagjit Singh dispelled that ignorance and added immense joy to my life Ghalib's poetry in its entirety but its joy is a lot greater than it was more than forty years ago. The beauty of Urdu as a language of poetry and music was a mystery of my childhood. Jagjit

Singh dispelled that ignorance and added immense joy to my life. When people pass away, our loss seems inconsolable. But then I remember the last line of Ahmed Faraz's composition, Shaayad, sung by Jagjit Singh: "Jo bhi bichade hain kab milay hain, Faraz Phir bhi tu intezar kar; shaayad." "When do you ever meet the departed ones, (asks the poet) Faraz. Yet you wait in anticipation; 'Perhaps.'" Perhaps, we will meet again, Jagjit Singh. Shaayad. {Pradeep Anand is President of Seeta Resources; He is author of An Indian in Cowboy Country}

Changing the face of movie marketing in India Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 23

Expected to be India's best marketed film with a 360 degree global campaign and a record number of brands on board, the marketing spends on Ra.One have been subsidized considerably through major brand tie-ups in excess of 25 brands. These include Sony PlayStation, YouTube, Nerolac, McDonald's,

Western Union Money Transfer, UTV Indiagames, Videocon, Nokia, Coke, ESPN Star Sports and Cinthol amongst others. Eros International and Red Chillies have already recovered a major portion of their investments through in-film branding, media endorsements and through pre-licensing Cable & Satellite rights,

music and other rights. Eros International is planning a very wide release for the super hero action packed film in 2D and 3D formats in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu with over 3500 screens worldwide, out of which approx 500 screens are expected to be in 3D in India and approximately 50 plus 3D screens overseas.

India Post

October 28, 2011 www.indiapost.com

Fauja Singh guest speaker at Sikhlens film festival India Post News Service

ORANGE, CA: The world-renowned iconic centenarian marathon runner, Fauja Singh, will be attending the 2011 Sikh Arts and Film Festival to be held from November 18 - 20 at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. Fauja Singh began his career in competitive running at the age of 89, and has been beating multiple world age records ever since. At 100 years old, Singh is currently the oldest man to ever complete a full 26.2 mile marathon, securing a place in the infamous Guinness Book of World Records. Singh was previously selected to carry the Olympic relay torch for the 2004 Athens Games, being the first turbaned man to carry the Olympic torch. He was also a brand ambassador and poster-boy for Adidas, taking his place alongside celebrities like David Beckham. His inspiring story has recently been documented in Turbaned Tornado, an acclaimed biography written by Khushwant Singh. Fauja Singh is an inspiration, and a true testament to will power, faith, and endurance.

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

India Post 29

30 India Post

www.indiapost.com

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

India Post 31

TOP TEN HINDI FILM SONGS

1 Saada Haq: Rockstar 2 Tum Ho: Rockstar 3 Hawaa Hawaa: Rockstar 4 Bhare Naina: Ra.One 5 Raftaarein: Ra.One 32

India Post

www.indiapost.com

October 28, 2011

6 Criminal : Ra.One 7 Chammak Challo: Ra.One 8

Madhushala: Damadamm

9 Habibi Habibi: Azaan 10 Khuda Ke Liye: Azaan

'Watsu' therapy

hahid Kapoor's Mausam may not have won many hearts but this hasn't let the actor down. In fact, Shahid has bagged the biggest project of his career. Well, Fox Studios has decided to cast the young actor in the Hindi remake of 2010 romantic action comedy Knight And Day, which originally starred Tom Cruise. The Bollywood version will be directed by Siddharth Anand. Explaining why Fox Star, the original producers of the film decided to cast Shahid in the lead role, a source told, "Fox Studios feels that Shahid has immense potential to carry out Tom Cruise's histrionics convincingly. They find him to be an actor who can portray a gamut of emotions if and when required." "Also, Shahid is very close to Anand. They share a very good equation. They have worked on some television commercials together," added the source. "The leading lady is yet to be finalised. They will announce it soon enough as they want to go on floors next year," said the source.

eepika Padukone has always hit the headlines for her numerous break-ups and patch-ups. Inspired by her long-list of boyfriend stories, a Bollywood director has decided to make a film on it. Deepika dated Nihar Pandya during her modeling days but left him for Ranbir Kapoor. Deepika's love story with model Nihar Pandya would soon become a reellife story. Claiming Nihar like his own brother, director Prashant Chadda has decided to make a film on Nihar's love and break up with Deepika Padukone. In fact, interestingly, Chadda would cast Nihar for the lead role in the project. Deepika and Nihar love story began in an acting institute in Mumbai in 2005. Though Deepika maintained that they were just friends, the extravagant birthday bashes Nihar organized for the actress revealed that there was more. Prashant Chadda also claimed that Nihar was heart-broken after Deepika ditched him. So, he would owe this to his brother-like Nihar.

ndian-Canadian actress Lisa Ray, who calls herself a cancer graduate, swears by the prowess of yoga and feels "Watsu" is the most relaxing therapy. "'Watsu' is the most relaxing water therapy I've experienced: a visit back to the womb," Lisa posted on her Twitter page. "Watsu" is a form of therapeutic bodywork performed in warm water pools, where the receiver of the treatment is supported by the practitioner, creating a sensation of floating.

October 28, 2011

Bollywood

India Post

www.indiapost.com

areena Kapoor's wax statue at Madame Tussauds will be unveiled on October 27 in Blackpool, UK. She will also flag off a global exhibition, where the statues of Bollywood stars will be taken to six major cities around the world to be exhibited, before they are brought back to Blackpool. Kareena's wax statue was scheduled to be unveiled in the second week of October but the date got postponed after the sad demise of beau Saif Ali Khan's father, cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi. Bebo was in no mood to attend any event after the catastrophe, she just wanted to be there for Saif and his family. She cancelled all her appointments and public appearances that were scheduled in the first week of October. She conveyed to the museum authorities that she could not take part in any form of celebration or attend any public function before Diwali. The museum authorities assured her that they were ready to wait. Everything fell in place and Kareena finalized October 27 as the date for unveiling her statue. Kareena will be missing the Toronto premiere of her much awaited film Ra.One, as it falls on the same day. But Shah Rukh Khan has no problems with that as he feels that her presence at the Dubai and London premieres will be more than enough. The unveiling of Bebo's statue will kick-start a Bollywood exhibition, featuring statues of Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Hrithik Roshan, Salman Khan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan among others, to six countries including Hong Kong and Thailand.

Grand baby shower

ctors like Saira Banu, Asha Parekh and Dimple Kapadia, as well as designers like Neeta Lulla and Shaina NC made a beeline at the Bachchan household Jalsa for the grand baby shower of Aishwarya Rai. The Bandra house was decorated with flowers, and was packed with people in the afternoon. Aishwarya is said to have worn an orangecolored Indian ensemble for the occasion. If guests are to be believed, she looked ethereal, with the glow of any mother-to-be on her face. The actress, married to Abhishek Bachchan, is eight months pregnant. "Aishwarya was looking like a `chand ka tukda`. She was looking beautiful. We wish Abhishek and Aishwarya all the best," Saira Banu, who gifted Aishwarya a gold coin, told a news channel. Choreographer Saroj Khan, who has made Aishwarya dance on songs like "Nimbooda", "Taal se taal mila" and "Barso re", shared some scenes from the Bachchan household. "I have never seen so many celebrity women together. All the women went up to Aishwarya and blessed her. Jayaji received each guest personally and was very warm. Even her daughter, Shweta, gave personal attention to everyone. There were a lot of songs and celebration," said Khan. Other guests included Urmila Matondkar, Twinkle Khanna, Sonali Bendre, Manyata Dutt, Ritu Nanda, Neetu Kapoor, Neelam Kothari, Mana Shetty, Vaibhavi Merchant, Poonam Sinha, designer duo Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla and Karan Johar, among others.

Tough item R

iya Sen played quite a spoilsport on the sets of new director Ishraq Shah's "Ek Bura Aadmi" when she not only refused to shoot an item song with Arunoday Singh, but also refrained from interacting with the media invited to cover the shooting. It was a nightmare, says the director. Riya says this is all a publicity gimmick. Shah recalled: "Riya Sen had signed on to do an item song . We had recorded a really zingy song 'Uchal gayee chamiya kunwaron ke beech mein'. Jayesh Pradhan who did the choreography in 'Aarakashan' was supposed to choreograph Riya's number. Everything was finalized, but thenâ&#x20AC;Ś "She claimed she was unwell and could not rehearse for the item song. Then she showed up for just one shot. I agreed since Arunoday had to leave (for a family event in the US). But then she refused to talk to the media." The director was left nervous. "I'm a new director. This is all very new and embarrassing for me. My producer has suffered losses of at least 70-80 lakh because of this. I don't know how I will shoot the song now.

Tech News India working out mechanism for SA uranium PRETORIA: Energy-hungry India is working out mechanisms with South Africa to access its uranium which is available in sufficient quantity in this country. Stating this while briefing on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's bilateral meeting with South African President Jacob Zuma, Indian High Commissioner to South Africa Virender Gupta said here that it was not a difficult proposition. "We are already beginning to consider how to go about it (accessing uranium from South Africa). In the long term, it will be in our interest to access uranium directly from South Africa," he said. He maintained that he did not see any difficulty in this regard given the fact that India had signed civil nuclear agreement and had got a waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group of which South Africa is a member. -PTI

Petronet eyes capacity at US, Australia terminals NEW DELHI: Petronet LNG Ltd, India's largest liquefied natural gas importer, is in talks to acquire capacity at proposed LNG terminals in the US and Australia with a view to tie up long-term gas supplies. "Five projects (in the US) have applied to US authorities for approval to export gas," Petronet CEO and Managing Director A K Balyan told reporters here. "We are talking to some of them with an aim to tie up long-term volumes." He refused to give details. With domestic gas output falling, companies are looking at new LNG contracts to meet the growing energy demand. -PTI

TechBiz 34 India Post

www.indiapost.com

October 28, 2011

Gehlot discusses development with WB team JAIPUR: Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot held discussions with a World Bank delegation on issues related to the development of the state. Gehlot discussed the progress of the world Bank-financed projects in the state, including Rajasthan Rural Livelihoods Projects', 'Rajasthan Water Sector Restructuring Project' and 'Rajasthan Public Financial Management and Procurement Capacity Building Project', said an official. The chief minister also requested them to give approval as soon as possible to Chambal-Bhilwara Water Supply Project, Rajasthan Agricultural Marketing Competitiveness Project, and Rural Road Development Projects, proposed to be executed with external financial assistance by the World Bank. -PTI

Nissan chosen New York City's 'taxi of tomorrow' India Post News Service

NEW YORK: New York is "hailing" a new era of urban mobility, as the city with the nation's largest taxi fleet has selected Nissan to design and supply the next-generation "Taxi of Tomorrow." The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) selected the Nissan NV200 as the exclusive taxi of New York City beginning in late 2013. The award of Nissan NV200 as the "Taxi of Tomorrow" comes after a rigorous selection process that occurred over more than two years. The competition built upon more than a century of taxi industry heritage to drive the design and creation of a purpose-built vehicle, tuned to the city's streets. The other two finalists included Ford Motor Co. and Karsan, a Turkish vehicle manufacturer. The announcements were made in May during a City Hall press briefing that included Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Nissan Americas Chairman Carlos Tavares. "Nissan is proud to provide the next generation of taxis for the City of New York," said Tavares. "The NV200 taxi will give Nissan the opportunity to showcase our dedication to vehicle quality and ur-

ban mobility to more than 600,000 passengers every day." The Nissan NV200 taxi will be produced in North America at

available in global markets including Japan, Europe and China. Total manufacturer suggested retail price (MSRP) of the vehicle, with

Said Mayor Bloomberg, "We started this process to leverage our taxi industry's purchasing power to get the highest quality taxi” Nissan's facility in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The Nissan NV200 taxi will be a modified version of the compact commercial vehicle currently

all planned standard features, will be around $29,000. As part of the program, Nissan also will work with the City and

taxi owners on a pilot program to study the use of zero-emission, electric vehicles as taxis. Nissan will provide up to six 100-percent electric Nissan LEAFs to taxi owners for testing in 2012 as well as the charging stations to support their use. "The city's Taxi of Tomorrow is the Nissan NV 200 - and it's going to be the safest, most comfortable and most convenient cab the city has ever had," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We started this process to leverage our taxi industry's purchasing power to get the highest quality taxi, one that that can expand and redefine the legendary image of New York City taxicabs. The new taxis will be custom-designed to meet the specific demands of carrying 600,000 passengers a day in New York City traffic and the vehicle meets the top priorities identified by the public in our on-line survey." Planned innovations, which respond to direct input from drivers, owners and passengers, include: • 2.0L 4-cylinder powertrain, engineered to enhance the emission performance and fuel efficiency of the taxi fleet; Contíd on page 35

Regularized transit of Indian goods begins Govt moving cautiously on GM crops: Pawar NEW DELHI: The government has said it is not opposed to GM crops but is studying their impact on soil, environment and living being before allowing commercial production of biotech crops, other than cotton. "We are not opposed to GM crops, but we are very cautious about that," Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar told reporters at the Economic Editors' Conference here. Till today in India, there has been only one GM crop that has been allowed and that is cotton, he added. -PTI

DHAKA: Nine Indian trucks crossed into Bangladesh's northeastern borders marking the formal launch of a regularized transit of goods to Agartala, even as Premier Sheikh Hasina visited her country's enclave via the Tinbigha corridor in West Bengal. Hasina said the two neighbors were expected to soon begin exchange of cross-border enclaves and exclaves to end an over 60 year impasse. Officials and reports said nine trucks loaded with heavy machinery crossed Bangladesh's northeastern borders marking the formal launch of regularized transit of Indian goods to Agartala through Akhaura Land port after completing required customs formalities.

"This marks the start of the regular activities of our Akhaura Land Port" as the consignments carried the machinery to India's Palatana power project in Tripura under an earlier agreement, a custom office spokesman told PTI.

clave during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Dhaka tour last month. "Bangladesh and India will soon start exchanging enclaves and exclaves" in line with the deal signed between the two countries

Hasina said the two neighbors were expected to soon begin exchange of cross-border enclaves and exclaves to end an over 60 year impasse The development came as Hasina made her maiden visit to Bangladesh's AngarpotaDahagram using India's Tinbigha corridor since New Delhi allowed 24 hours unfettered access to Bangladeshi nationals to the en-

during Indian premier's Dhaka visit, she told a rally of the enclave residents. Indian health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and state minister for home affairs Jitin Prasada welcomed her at the corridor that con-

nects mainland Bangladesh with the enclave. "I am here to ensure all kinds of facilities for the enclave people," she said. The corridor gate, which had always been shut after 6pm despite the 1974 treaty between India and Bangladesh, was thrown open at 6pm on September 8 following signing of a protocol during Singh's Dhaka visit. Hasina thanked Indian government and her counterpart for having provided the facility of 24hour access to the people of Dahagram and Angarporta. Upon arrival at the corridor, Azad presented a memento to Hasina, who was given an honor guard by the Indian border guards BSF. Contíd on page 35

TechBiz Post

October 28, 2011

India Post

www.indiapost.com

FDI in aviation under consideration: Ravi MUMBAI: Civil Aviation Minister Vayalar Ravi has said the government is considering the recommendation of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) to allow foreign carriers to pick up stake in domestic airlines. "Yes. It is true that we have not rejected DIPP's recommendation (on allowing foreign airlines to invest in domestic carriers). It is under our consideration," Ravi told reporters on the sidelines of the fourth International Civil Aviation Negotiation Conference 2011 (ICAN 2011) here. However, the minister added that his ministry has not finalized its view on the DIPP proposal. On the ailing national carrier, which is sitting on a debt pile of close to Rs 64,000 crore including accumulated losses, Ravi said that his first priority is to increase the cash flow of Air India which is struggling with interest payments

and high aviation turbine fuel cost. He also said his ministry is trying to get the sales tax on ATF reduced by all the states. "Only Kerala and Andhra did not raise sales tax on ATF when prices went up. All other states increased sales tax on ATF and we are talking to these states." Another focus area is cutting down the expenses of the airline, the minister said. "Air India needs to make money. We can make money by setting up an MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul) outfit. But there are differences of opinions. If an MRO is set up, Air India employees must be sent to the new outfit, but not everyone is keen on being sent there. "I have to strike a compromise with various interests," the minister said. Ravi was, however, reluctant to discuss plans for equity infusion

into the flag carrier, but indicated that during the last week of this month, there will be a meeting of the empowered group of ministers

On whether the country would demand "fifth freedom rights" from foreign carriers, Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi said, "we will keep the domestic aviation interest in mind" on this. "Recently, there was a secretary's committee meeting and their report will also be discussed

at the meeting. I do see an improvement in Air India's performance," Ravi said. The minister claimed that in actual terms, there is a scarcity of aircraft. Air India does not have too many longrange aircraft. On the controversial decision to purchase 27 Dreamliners from Boeing, Ravi said, "I have told the Air India chairman to come to me about how to utilize the aircraft. They have not taken a final decision on purchasing the Boeing 787s because once again, money will have to be borrowed from banks. "Our main problem of debt is the interest payment. I don't want any further on my head. But AI's recommendation is yet to come," he said. On the role of the proposed Civil Aviation Accident Investigation Body, he said it will be separated from the regulatory body

since sometimes the role of the regulator itself is questioned. Since an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) study recommends strengthening the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security, an "aviation security force" would be set up, he said, adding that besides this, an ombudsman would be set up to protect air passengers' rights. On whether the country would demand "fifth freedom rights" from foreign carriers, Aviation Secretary Nasim Zaidi said, "we will keep the domestic aviation interest in mind". He dispelled concerns of certain private airlines which feel that bilateral negotiations may largely end up benefiting Air India at their cost. "When it comes to negotiation of bilateral flying rights, Air India itself may not be able to utilize the entire quota. -PTI

Afghanistan seeks Indian investment Regularized transit of in manufacturing Indian goods begins NEW DELHI: War-hit Afghanistan has sought Indian investments in several sectors including mining and manufacturing to enhance economic engagement between the two countries. Visiting Afghanistan Trade and Industry Minister Anwar Ul Haq Ahady said there are huge opportunities for Indian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the South Asian country. "We are eager to attract Indian investments and form closer trade

links with India. Afghanistan is a virgin market, you will make good money here," Ahady said at CII's India Global Summit on MSMEs 2011 here. He said that Indian SMEs can explore areas like plastics, poultry, packaging, food processing and preserving agri- products. The bilateral trade between the two stood at USD 557.81 million in 2010-11. To enhance that, Ahady said the trade between the two must be routed through Wagah border

instead of Karachi, which is costly. "We hope that this Transit Agreement which we have signed with Pakistan will enable India to export goods through Wagah," Ahady said. Speaking on the occasion, MSME Minister Virbhadra Singh said that in the globalised era, proper understanding of the international market is essential for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to remain globally competitive. -PTI

Nissan chosen New York City's 'taxi of tomorrow' Contíd from page 34

• Ample room for four passengers and their luggage, substantially improved over current taxi models; • A low-annoyance horn with exterior lights that indicate when the vehicle is honking, helping reduce noise pollution; • Sliding doors with entry step and grab handles, providing easy entry and exit; • Transparent roof panel (with shade) that will provide unique views of the city; • Independently controlled rear air conditioning with a grape phenol-coated air filter to improve cabin air quality; • Attractive, breathable, antimicrobial, environmentally friendly

and easy-to-clean seat fabric that simulates the look and feel of leather; • Overhead reading lights for passengers and floor lighting to help locate belongings; • A mobile charging station for passengers that includes a 12V electrical outlet and two USB plugs; • A six-way adjustable driver's seat that features both recline and lumbar adjustments, even with a partition installed; • Standard driver's navigation and telematics systems. Nissan also focused on passenger safety when designing the NV200 taxi. Key safety features include: • Front and rear-seat occupant curtain airbags, as well as seat-

mounted airbags for the front row; • Standard traction control and Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC); • Sliding doors to reduce the risk of pedestrians, cyclists and other motorists getting struck by doors opening unexpectedly; • Lights that alert other road users that taxi doors are opening. With more than 13,000 taxis traveling a cumulative 500 million miles per year, durability was a key factor in the "Taxi of Tomorrow" selection process. Nissan will train taxi fleet operators to conduct routine inhouse service and repairs, and Nissan Commercial Vehicle dealers will provide prompt service by providing the first available service bay to taxi operators needing service.

Contíd from page 34

Earlier, access to the mainland was provided from 0600 hours to 1800 hours, with emergency access to residents during the night. Meanwhile, an Indian High Commission in a statement in Dhaka said "as part of its (India's) efforts to address the inconveniences faced by residents of Enclaves, the Government of India is happy to facilitate the flow of services 24 X 7". "The Tin Bigha Area (however) will continue to be manned efficiently by Indian personnel, as per the agreement between the two

countries," it said. The two neighbors signed a deal last month exchanging 162 enclaves that is to remove a protracted cross-border issue pending since 1947 partition. The enclaves, where pockets of one country's territory are surrounded by the other, appeared as "islands of land" appeared as a major cross border issue after the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent. The ownership arrangements, however, were made centuries ago as the then local kings exchanged pieces of lands of their estates winning or losing gambling. -PTI

Post

he Eravikulam National Park in Kerala was established to protect the Nilgiri Tahr, endangered specie of the wild goat and the only one to be found south of the Himalayas. Rich in forest and grasses, this park is relatively new as it was in 1978 that the area was notified as a park. The park lies along the high ranges of the western coast in the Munnar Forest Division of Idukki district in Kerala. It is situated on the border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the north where it is extends as the Annamalai National Park. History: During the British Raj, the North Travancore Land Planting Society owned the region of Rajamalai and Eravikulam, but they later handed over the area to the Kannan Deven Hill Produce Corporation. The Corporation turned the region into a private hunting area, as it was found unsuitable of tea plantation. The region of Rajamalai was declared a wildlife sanctuary way back in 1936, but the present sanctuary was established only in 1975. In 1978, the status of the sanctuary was upgraded to the level of a national park.

www.indiapost.com

Location: Eravikulam is situated in the south Indian state of Kerala in the higher altitudes of the Western Ghats. Best time to visit: The climate of this region is greatly influenced by the southwestern monsoon. June, July, and August are the monsoon months and this is the period when the region receives maximum rainfall while April and May are the hottest months. January and February receive little rain and the weather is generally clear during this time of the year. From September to December, the northeast monsoon brings a little rain and this period along with the months of January and February are the best time to visit this park. Tourist attractions The vegetation type of this region is mainly tropical evergreen forest. Grasslands, shrubs, and forests are what one finds throughout. Grasslands with patches of forests known as sholas in between cover almost the entire region. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 38

October 28, 2011

The vegetation type of this region is mainly tropical evergreen forest. Grasslands with patches of forests known as sholas in between cover almost the entire region

October 28, 2011

Travel & Hospitality Post

India Post 37

www.indiapost.com

Russia eases visa arrangement for Indians MOSCOW: Russia's lower house of Parliament has overwhelmingly voted to approve an inter-governmental deal on visa regime simplification that will benefit Indian citizens wanting to travel to this country for tourism or business purposes. At its plenary session, the 450strong State Duma approved by 428 votes the Inter-Governmental Agreement on simplification of requirements for mutual travels of certain categories of citizens, which was signed by India and Russia on December 21 last year in New Delhi, the lower house of Parliament said on its website. "The agreement is aimed at consolidating the legal basis for Russia-India relations in the area of mutual travels of citizens and promoting creation of favorable conditions for certain categories of citizens of the two countries, first of all representatives of business, scientists, cultural workers, students and tourists," Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Borodavkin said presenting the document before the House. After the ratification of the Indo-Russian agreement by the upper house of Parliament - the Federation Council - and signing it into law by President Dmitry

Medvedev, the individual citizens and organizations will no longer need an invitation or a tourist voucher to travel to Russia or India and will be able to directly apply for visas. Earlier in August, the Presidium of the Russian Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin approved the Indo-Russian deal easing issuance of business and tourist visas to their nationals and forwarded it to the State Duma. Under the agreement, the citizens

which are yet to be identified. Earlier in June India took a lead in resolving the vexed visa issue by liberalizing its rules for the Russian citizens visiting India on business and for tourism. "To further encourage business contacts and promote tourism between India and Russia we are now issuing multi-entry business visas valid for one year against six months single or double entry in the past and tourist visas valid for six months with multiple entries,"

chaired by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin approved the Indo-Russian deal easing issuance of business and tourist visas to their nationals of the two countries holding valid national passports can stay on the territory of the other country for up to 90 days within a period of 180 days from their first entry. For the first time since the Soviet collapse, the two sides are also considering the possibility of issuing multiple entry visas valid for up to five years to citizens of both countries under the condition that they follow certain requirements,

Indian Ambassador Ajai Malhotra said. The Indian diplomatic missions in Moscow, St Petersburg and Vladivostok have streamlined issuance of business and tourist visas within three working days against 14 days in the past. According to Ambassador Malhotra, the Indian missions in Russia had issued about 110,000 visas to Russian citi-

Private-Partnership (PPP)," Tourism minister Chhagan Bhujbal said. The Sea World-theme park would be made keeping in mind Oceanarium and would be near the Chipi airport, he said. The minister said the Sea World would be similar to the Sea World Orlando, a marine-life based zoological park, near Orlando, Florida (USA). A presentation in this regard was made by the state Tourism department before Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. The study

report of the project was conducted by Science and Technology Park (Pune). Bhujbal said the theme park will have a study centre, dolphin shows, conventional centre, theatre, theme restaurant, information centre etc. The Sea World will have the longest tunnel in the world and will showcase Konkan's rich marine life through it. It will also have the world's largest water quantity which is about ten million gallons. -PTI

Center for panel to monitor Wullar Lake renovation SRINAGAR: To ensure proper utilization of funds, the Center has asked the Jammu and Kashmir government to constitute a panel for better coordination between departments involved in the implementation of Rs 386-crore action plan for rejuvenation of Wullar

India have picked up in recent years, with Goa, New Delhi-AgraJaipur Golden Triangle, Mumbai and Kullu-Manali emerging as major attractions. -PTI

In August, the Presidium of the Russian Cabinet

Rs 510 crore theme park for Konkan MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government has given in-principle approval to the ambitious Rs 510crore 'Sea World' theme park project which aims to boost tourism in the Konkan region. The project would be implemented through public-private partnership. The Viability Gap funding by the state government will be to the tune of Rs 100 crore. "It is a dream project by the MTDC to build Sea World in Sindhudurg district. And it would be implemented through Public-

zens during 2010. "I expect this number to increase by about 25 per cent this year", Malhotra hoped. Tourist flows from Russia to

Lake. Union Secretary for Environment and Ecology T Chatterjee, while reviewing the implementation of the centrally-funded project, stressed on the constitution of a committee comprising members of concerned depart-

ments for monitoring and utilization of the funds, an official spokesman said here. Chatterjee asked executing agencies to start survey and demarcation of the lake on priority basis so that work can start immediately. -PTI

If You are looking For the BEST & the MOST AUTHENTIC VEGETARIAN RESTAURANT IN TOWNCome to One and Only One Place

Publicly Acclaimed Top Vegetarian Restaurant Serving NORTH INDIAN • SOUTH INDIAN • GUJARATI • JAIN DISHES

TASTE OUR 30 PLUSE MOUTH WATERING DISHES ONCE YOU COME TO US YOU WILL NOT ELSEWHERE THAT IS OUR GUARANTEE

2508 W. Devon Ave.Chicago, IL 60659

Tel:(773) 274-5800 Fax: (773) 262-4465 E-mail: aryabhavan@aol.com www.aryabhavan.com

CATERING IS OUR SPECIALITY

Travel & Hospitality Post

38 India Post

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Medical tourism space sees more hiring NEW DELHI: India's emergence as a major medical tourism hub is driving large scale hiring activities in this space and the number of job additions has nearly tripled in past one year, say experts. In the first half of the current fiscal, various medical tourism related segments have seen addition of more than 1,000 jobs, which is nearly thrice the figure for the same period last year. A similar trend could also result in more than 2,000 being further hired in the second part of the year ending March, 2012. The improving quality of healthcare facilities in the country is expected to help Indian medical tourism industry to attain a size of USD 2.4 billion by 2012. "Since mid of last year we had seen sudden increase in hiring activity in the medical tourism segment. After that we had never seen any declining trend till now," MyHiringClub CEO Rajesh Kumar said. "The medical services include doctors, hospitals, various other specialists, laboratories, medical stores and blood banks. The persons to be utilized in medical tourism fields are range from MBBS, MBA, pharmacist, medical transcript experts, medical lawyers, cyber lawyers, IT persons, etc," Tina Sharan, MD at Trip4U Team, a one-stop travel solution, said. "We are doing robust hiring this year compared to the last few years for various medical persons and engage various service providers in this field for last one year," Sharan added.

According to a report by MyHiringClub, hiring in the medical tourism space stood at 1,049 in the first two quarters of current fiscal 2011-12 compared to 348 in the in the year-ago period indicating no signs of losing steam even as the global economy wobbles. In addition, 305 and 478 people were being recruited in the third and fourth quarter of 2010-11, respectively.

"Most estimates claim treatment costs in India start at around a tenth of the price of comparable treatment in America or Britain. "The most popular treatments sought in India by medical tourists are alternative medicine, bonemarrow transplant, cardiac bypass, eye surgery and hip replacement "Day by day medical tourism market is growing rapidly and we are also increasing our number of staff as per requirement to give quality of services and care to our patients. This year our hiring activity is upward compare to last year," Chairman and CMD at Medanta-The Medicity, Naresh Trehan said. Experts believe that one of the

primary reasons for the growth in medical tourism is that availability of low-cost medical facilities. "The reason is that there is significant movement in quality of care and treatment in the last 10 year in India. Quality, care and cost are major reason to attraction of medical tourism in India. India has always been a destination for South Asians. The quality of treatment is almost better or equal to the US or Europe," Trehan added. "Most estimates claim treatment costs in India start at around a tenth of the price of comparable treatment in America or Britain. "The most popular treatments sought in India by medical tourists are alternative medicine, bonemarrow transplant, cardiac bypass, eye surgery and hip replacement. That's the reason for boom in this industry segment," Kumar said, The maximum number of patients come from South Asia, the Middle-East, Africa and CIS countries. Besides, patients from America and Europe are also coming but at lesser pace. The medical tourism has a great future in the country as the Indian government is also taking various steps to address infrastructure issues that hinder the growth in this space. Looking ahead, Kailash Saini, Director of Success Mantra Management said, "Sectors like medical tourism is hiring professionals pretty well. We expect to see opening of more positions in the coming quarters". -PTI

India medical tourism event in Kuwait DUBAI: India will be showcasing its achievements made in the health sectors at an international exhibition to be held in Kuwait, as it gears to become a preferred destination for medical tourism. A galaxy of top-notch hospitals and renowned doctors from India would be participating in the exhibition. An international exhibition and conference titled India Medical Tourism Destination (IMTD), 2011 will be held in Kuwait on November 2-3, it has been announced. The exhibition, being organized by the Embassy of India in Kuwait in partnership with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) and Trident Exhibition will be held at the Kuwait International Fair Grounds. The aim of the exhibition is to make people of Kuwait aware of the advancements made by India in the health and medical sectors. "India with its rich heritage in the areas of traditional and natural medicine and advancements made in the field of modern medicine and

health care techniques, with state of the art infrastructure and technology available in the country, has become a preferred destination for medical value travel," a statement from the embassy said. India holds significant competitive advantage in healthcare de-

A galaxy of top-notch hospitals and renowned doctors from India would be participating in the exhibition livery because of many factors, including quality healthcare delivery, clinical out-comes at par with the world's best centers and competitive costs. Multiple flight options are also available from Kuwait and other GCC countries to various Indian cities with short journey time, it added. -PTI

India eyes 1 per cent of world tourism market BHOPAL: Union Tourism Ministry has set an ambitious target of tapping one per cent of the world tourism market by the end of 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17). "India's share of world tourism market at present is only 0.58 per cent. Our target is to take this share to at least one per cent by the end of 12th Five-Year Plan,"

Tourism Minister Subodhkant Sahai told reporters here. "There is a need to involve states to ensure inter- departmental convergence as well as enhanced budget outlays for tourism. Tourism has to be made an important part of economic and political agenda of the states." -PTI

Eravikulam National Park: Protects Nilgiri Tahr, endangered specie of wild goat Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 36

The Nilgiri Tahr is one of the most endangered species in India and Eravikulam is the only place where one can find it. The primary motive of establishing this park was to give shelter to this animal. Due to the concerted efforts of the park authorities, now at least five to six hundred Tahrs can be seen here. Other fauna species found in the park are gaur, sambar, lion tailed macaque, elephant, tiger, leopard, and giant squirrel. The park is also home to three species of lizards, four of snakes, and five of amphibians. Anamudi (2,695 m) is the highest peak in south India and located within the park area. This is a good place for trekking. Places around Eravikulam comes under the Munnar

Forest Division and travelers can have a panoramic view of the verdant surroundings and forested hills from here. Walks and hiking around this small town are an exhilarating experience. Travelers can also enjoy walking through the numerous tea estates

only protected area in Kerala having semi arid and dry deciduous scrub forests. The wildlife in this park includes elephant, sambar, leopard, gaur, and most importantly, the starred turtle. Marayoor is 42 km from Munnar to east

The Nilgiri Tahr is one of the most endangered species in India and Eravikulam is the only place where one can find it. The primary motive of establishing this park was to give shelter to this animal of Munnar and view the entire process of tea making, right from plucking the tealeaves to their processing at the Kundale tea plantation. Chinnar wildlife sanctuary is located around 60 km away from Munnar and is the

of the Eravikulam National Park. Here, one can experience the peaceful ambience and beauty of a sandalwood forest. Ten kilometers from Munnar, en route to Top Station, one can visit the Mudapetty Dam. This is a popular picnic spot and trav-

elers can indulge in activities like boating and horse riding here. How to reach Air - Cochin International Airport (143 km) is the nearest airport from Eravikulam. It is connected to many places in India by regular flights. The airport is also connected to places in the Middle East by regular flights. Rail - The nearest railway station is Ernakulam, 143 km from Cochin, from where there are regular trains to all the metros in the country. Road - A motorable road is there up to Rajamalai, the park headquarters. From Rajamalai, one needs to travel on foot for around 18 km. Rajamalai is at a distance of around 17 km from the Munnar town connected to many places in Kerala and Tamil Nadu by regular bus services.

October 28, 2011

India Post 39 www.indiapost.com

Serving to P erf ection Perf erfection SOUTH INDIAN CUISINE

SEEMA WORLD TRAVEL, INC.

SCHAUMBURG EXCLUSIVE LUNCH BUFFET 7 DAYS AWEEK

One of the Oldest Travel Agencies in St. Louis

Competitive Rates & Confirmed Seats for All Major Airlines DEVON LOCATION STRICTLY VEGETARIAN CHICAGO:

SCHAUMBURG:

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK 11:30 AM TO 10:00 PM WASHINGTON D.C.:

2543 W. DEVON AVENUE

730 SCHAUMBURG RD.

1329 UNIVERSITY BLVD. EAST

CHICAGO IL 60659

SCHAUMBURG IL60194

TACOMA PARK MD 20783

(773) 338-2152

(847) 884 9510

(301) 434-1531

ENJOY SPECIAL NON-VEG ITEMS AT SCHAUMBURG

New York (Hicksville)

10635 Page Ave., St. Louis, MO 63132

Tel: (314) 423-9990 or (800) 55 SEEMA Fax: (314) 423-0391

AIRWING TRAVELS INC. Est. 1991

Tel: (516) 931 4600

Toll Free: (866) 532 3413

New Jersey (Iselin)

Tel: (732) 658 5450

Lowest Fares / Confirmed Seats to INDIA & Other Destinations Worldwide Save upto 40% on First and Business Class OPEN 7 DAYS - Call or Email : AIRWINGTRAVELS@GMAIL.COM

NEWS on your desktop www.indiapost.com

October 28, 2011

India Post www.indiapost.com

SKY WORLD TRAVEL 1-888-695-0005

CONSOLIDATORS (INTL. & DOMESTIC) : 3HWHUVRQ 6WH &KLFDJR ,/

SPECIAL LOW FARES TO BOMBAY, DELHI, MADRAS, CALCUTTA, DHAKA, KARACHI, LAHORE etc. Tel: 773-728-9071 773-315-8597

E-mail us at: skyworldtravels@hotmail.com

FOR ALL YOUR

MATCHLESS EXPRESS TOURS 2600 W. Peterson Ave., Suite 105 Chicago IL 60659 Experienced Travel Consultants Pasport and Visa Services available * Confirmed seats (Even in High season) * Low Airfares * Courteous Service 2240-42 West Devon Chicago IL 60659 Ph# 773-338-4080 Fax# 773-338-4088

Call and Contact

Tel. (773) 338 6260

TRAVEL NEEDS INTERNATIONAL DOMESTIC AIR INDIA AND ALL OTHER MAJOR AIRLINES. PACKAGE DEAL TAJ TOUR-SOTC

CALL:

Sita Ram Patel @ 847-568-0535

Health

Line

Georgia gets $3 million to improve access to HIV drugs ATLANTA: The state of Georgia has received $3 million in federal funds for a program to improve access to medications for those people living with HIV or AIDS. Georgia and other southeastern states received the second largest funding allocation from the US Department of Health and Human Services under the AIDS Drugs Assistance Program as part of an application for assistance the state filed in December. The Georgia Department of Public Health is using the funds to help alleviate the state's waiting list, which currently has about 1,732 names. About $10,800 is required to treat each patient annually. -AP

Maine CDC: Time for flu vaccines AUGUSTA, Maine: The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention says flu vaccine is plentiful, and it's encouraging residents to go ahead and get their inoculations. Everyone 6 months and older is encouraged to get an annual flu vaccine, even if they were vaccinated last year. It's available as a shot or in the form of a nasal spray. Dr. Sheila Pinette, director of Maine CDC, says that during the last flu season there were 115 influenza-associated pediatric deaths, including one in Maine. She says Mainers should do all they can to protect themselves and loved ones by getting the vaccines. -AP

Barrasso endorses bill to help rural health CHEYENNE, Wyo.: US Sen. John Barrasso is sponsoring legislation to improve rural health care. The Wyoming Republican joined with Kansas Sen. Pat Roberts and others in introducing legislation which they claim will strengthen the rural health delivery system and provide relief to hospitals and other providers serving rural Americans. It is labeled the Craig Thomas Rural Hospital and Provider Equity Act in honor of the service of the late Wyoming Republican Sen. Craig Thomas. Barrasso says the proposal would help rural providers by changing what he calls unfair Medicare payment policies that favor large urban facilities. -AP

Health Science 41

India Post

www.indiapost.com

October 28, 2011

AG candidates spar over health care case LOUISVILLE, Ky.: Republican Todd P'Pool hammered away at Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway for refusing to join a legal challenge against President Barack Obama's health care overhaul as the two candidates met in a hard-hitting televised debate. -AP

Illinois school fights obesity, wins award DANVILLE, Ill.: Five-year-olds dance hip-hop to the alphabet. Third-graders learn math by twisting into geometric shapes, fifthgraders by calculating calories. And everyone goes to the gym every day. In the middle of America's heartland, a small public school, Northeast Elementary Magnet School, has taken on a hefty task reversing obesity. And it's won a gold medal for it, becoming the first elementary school in the country to receive that award from the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. The Alliance was founded by the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation to reduce childhood obesity. Only two other schools have taken the gold. The cafeteria here serves fresh fruit and veggies, low-fat or nofat milk, no sodas or fried foods and no gooey desserts. There are no sweets on kids' birthdays and food is never used as a reward. Teachers wear pedometers and parents have to sign a contract committing to the school's healthy approach. Northeast Elementary is not in some posh, progressive suburb.

It's in Danville, Ill., an economically struggling city of 30,000 in farm country some 150 miles south of Chicago. But teachers, parents and students have embraced the rigorous curriculum and kids even call it ``fun.'' From the outside, it's a drab 50's-era yellow brick building in a blue-collar neighborhood of modest frame homes, a few blocks from a homeless shelter and a Sal-

ing a colleague at the Alliance's June awards ceremony in Little Rock, Ark. Northeast's strict, no-goodies program might sound extreme, but students seem to have bought it. During a recent nutrition lesson, first-graders sat raptly on the hallway floor as a teacher read ``The Very Hungry Caterpillar,'' a classic kids' story about a cater-

"We're a healthy school,'' says 10-year-old Naomi Woods, a shy, slim fifth-grader. "We're not allowed to eat junk food or stuff like that" vation Army donation center. Inside, it's a cheerful oasis for almost 300 kids and has caught the attention of some of the nation's biggest obesity-fighting advocates. Former President Bill Clinton says the steps Northeast has taken are an exemplary way to tackle ``a terrible public health problem.'' ``We will never change it by telling people how bad it is. We've got to show people how good it can be,'' Clinton said, paraphras-

pillar that can't seem to stop eating all kinds of fruit at first. But when the bug moved on to chocolate cake and ice cream, the youngsters gasped and said in hushed tones, ``junk food,'' as if it were poison. ``We're a healthy school,'' says 10-year-old Naomi Woods, a shy, slim fifth-grader. ``We're not allowed to eat junk food or stuff like that.'' Sandy-haired Timothy Mills, a fourth-grader, says the focus ``just keeps us more fit, plus we

have a lot more fun.'' Like Mills, an earnest, heavyset 9-year-old, Northeast kids aren't all skinny. Even some kindergartners are clearly overweight. But they still jump enthusiastically to the alphabet song, and though chubbier kids struggle to run around the football field during gym class, there doesn't seem to be much grumbling. Physical education teacher Becky Burgoyne said it's sometimes tough to get kids of ``all different shapes and sizes'' to be physically active. ``I just ask that students do their best and improve on what they can already do,'' Burgoyne said. Some schools ``may have physical education twice a week, once a week, and that's not acceptable. Children need to move,'' she said. ``To have a healthy body is to have a healthy brain and therefore they become better at reading and math and science. It all works together.'' The students mostly mirror Danville and surrounding Vermilion County generally poorer, less healthy than the state average, with many families struggling with obesity and related problems. Cont’d on page 43

California doctors' group backs legalizing pot ANAHEIM, Calif.: California's largest industry group for doctors is calling for the legalization of marijuana even as it maintains that the drug has few proven health benefits. Trustees of the California Medical Association adopted the new stance at its annual meeting in Anaheim, according to a Los Angeles Times report. Dr. Donald Lyman, the Sacramento physician who wrote the group's new policy, said doctors are increasingly frustrated by the state's medical marijuana law, which allows use with a doctor's recommendation. Physicians are put in the uncomfortable position of having to decide whether to recommend a drug that's illegal under federal law, Lyman said. ``It is an open question whether cannabis is useful or not,'' he told

the newspaper. ``That question can only be answered once it is legalized and more research is done. Then, and only then, can we know what it is useful for.'' The CMA acknowledges health risks associated with marijuana use and proposes regula-

help promote further research on its medical potential. Earlier this year, the Obama administration turned down a request to reclassify marijuana. That decision is being appealed in federal court by legalization advocates. Lyman called current laws a

Critics within the medical community said association leaders did not consider the broader implications of legalizing marijuana tion similar to alcohol and tobacco, but the group says the consequences of criminalization outweigh the dangers. The federal government considers cannabis a drug with no medical use. The CMA wants the White House to reclassify it to

``failed public health policy.'' But critics within the medical community said association leaders did not consider the broader implications of legalizing marijuana. ``I think it's going to lead to more use, and that, to me, is a public health concern,'' Dr. Robert

DuPont, an M.D. and professor of psychiatry at Georgetown Medical School, told the Times. Members of the CMA, which represents more than 35,000 California physicians, were informed of the trustees' vote. It is the first major medical association in the nation to urge legalization of cannabis, according to a group spokeswoman. The group's decision provoked an angry response from some in law enforcement. "Given everything that we know about the physiological impacts of marijuana how it affects young brains, the number of accidents associated with driving under the influence it's just an unbelievably irresponsible position,'' said John Lovell, spokesman for the California Police Chiefs Association. -AP

India Post

Health Science Post

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

FDA panel votes down Parkinson's drug WASHINGTON: A federal health panel with very early Parkinson's disease, who unanimously voted that a drug for had not been treated previously. Parkinson's disease from Teva PharmaceuPatients were randomly assigned to receive ticals has not been shown to slow progress either Azilect or a placebo for nine months, of the debilitating neurological disease. after which those taking placebo were switched Teva's drug Azilect is already approved to the drug for another nine months. The pato treat symptoms of Parkinson's, which tients originally on Azilect continued taking causes tremors, muscle stiffness and a host the drug for the entire study. of other movement problems. The trial was designed to test whether The Israeli drug maker has asked the those taking Azilect for the longer period Food and Drug Administration to expand showed more improvement, suggesting approval so that Azilect can the drug slowed progresbe prescribed to slow the sion of their disease. underlying disease. Cur- The trial was deA 1 milligram dose of the rently no treatments are ap- signed to test drug appeared to slow paproved for that use. tients' disease based on a But the FDA's panel of whether those rating scale that measures outside experts voted 17-0 symptoms and disease proagainst recommending ap- taking Azilect for gression, including its efproval for that use, saying the longer period fects on mental state, mothe company's clinical study tor skills and daily activiresults were not convincing. showed more ties. But the results were ``I believe the drug plagued by statistical inimprovement shows signs of effectiveconsistencies, and a 2 milness for symptomatic use, ligram dose of the drug for which it is already approved. But the failed to show similar results. higher bar is whether it does anything for ``In medical science, things have to make disease modification, and it did not meet sense, and they have to be consistent,'' said that standard,'' said Dr. Justin Zivin of the Dr. Eric Ahlskog of the Mayo Clinic, explainUniversity of California, San Diego. ing his vote against the drug. Much of the panel discussion revolved More than 5 million people worldwide, around the limitations of Teva's trial design including more than a million in North and the difficulty of distinguishing between America, have Parkinson's, according to the improved symptoms and actually slowing National Institutes of Health. The disease the disease itself. is characterized by increasingly severe tremTeva studied Azilect in 1,176 patients ors and periodically stiff or frozen limbs.

Patients gradually lose brain cells that produce dopamine, a chemical key to the circuitry that controls muscle movement. There is no cure, although dopamine-boosting medication and an implanted device called deep brain stimulation can reduce some symptoms. The cause of the disease is unknown.

Earlier in the day, advocates for Parkinson's patients expressed frustration over the lack of clear markers for evaluating drugs' effectiveness for slowing the disease. Some researchers have suggested that brain imaging scans could be used to track disease progression, but so far no consensus has been reached. -AP

AAPI joins AMA on medical liability reform India Post News Service

NEW YORK: The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) has joined the American Medical Association (AMA) in cosigning a coalition letter calling on Congress to include medical liability reforms in its spending cut bill this fall. "The issue of tort reform is of vital concern to our membership," said AAPI president Dr. Sunita Kanumury. "It is a pressing matter that must absolutely be addressed because it directly impacts the way doctors practice medicine and the rising costs of health care in the United States. We are pleased to partner with the AMA on this initiative and hope that Congress will definitively address medical liability reform as part of an overall spending cut package at the end of the year," said Kanumury. The coalition letter was signed by AAPI and

54 medical associations along with 45 state medical associations. It asks the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction to consider several liability reforms in its spending cut bill, including caps on non-economic damages similar to California and Texas. "Placing caps on non-economic damages in states that have adopted tort reform has had a meaningful impact for physicians and health care costs," said Dr. Vijaya Appareddy, chair of AAPI's legislative committee. "We need to get medical liability insurance premiums down, and the only way to do that is reducing the number of baseless lawsuits filed against doctors. Congress passing medical liability reform is the right thing to do," said Appareddy. The AAPI Fall Legislative Day to be held in Washington DC will discuss this issue and others such as fixing the Medicare SGR and increasing residency slots.

Health Science Post

October 28, 2011

India Post

www.indiapost.com

Illinois school fights obesity, wins award Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 41

The percentage of overweight kids at Northeast increased in 2009, the program's third year, but dropped slightly last year, to 32 percent; 17 percent are obese. Those are similar to national figures, Principal Cheryl McIntire said. With only three years of data, it's too soon to call the slight dip in the percentage of overweight children a trend. But she considers it a promising sign, and there's no question that the children are learning healthy habits. In a recent math class, fifth grade teacher Lisa Unzicker explained how food labels can be misleading by listing only calories per serving, not per container. Pointing to an image of a pretzel bag label projected on a screen at the front of the classroom, she taught students to figure out how many calories are in a whole bag, based on the amount in each serving. You have to be careful about potato chips and candy bars, she told the class. ``This is why it pays to be a very conscious consumer.'' Teachers and parents credit

McIntire for the school's success. The principal joined Northeast in 2008, a year after the staff moved to adopt the healthy focus, and has made it her mission to instill that mantra. McIntire literally ``walks the walk.'' When students need a talking-to, she walks to their

She greets students by name each morning, helps with untied shoelaces, and offers hugs classrooms and escorts them to and from her office rather than just messaging for them. When it's her turn for recess duty, she walks with her pedometer around the school's big field instead of standing on the sidelines. She recalls a student recently calling out, ``Hey, Mrs. McIntire, are you doing your steps?'' McIntire is closely involved with choosing school menus and secured money from the state and local school district that have paid for fresh produce, in-

cluding things like kiwi fruit that many children have never seen before. A recent lunch menu featured whole-grain, reduced-fat cheese pizza, broccoli and cauliflower buds, sweet corn, chilled pears, low-fat pudding, and 1 percent low-fat milk. McIntire has changed her own eating habits, giving up potato chips and shedding 15 pounds since last year. Tall, slender and a youthful 56, McIntire guides Northeast with a firm but loving hand. She greets students by name each morning, helps with untied shoelaces, and offers hugs. And she scolds kids who have messy uniforms or are rude to their classmates. School hallways feature signs about good food choices and being healthy, and a poster about the Alliance's gold award is prominently displayed near the school office. The Alliance established a Healthy Schools' program in 2006, with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It helps schools that want to become healthier and meet alliance criteria for winning medals. More

than 500 schools have won bronze and silver awards. Those gold medals are tougher to come by. Memorial High School in West New York, N.J., was the first school in the country ever to win a gold. Last year, Northeast became the first elementary school to do that. Rio Hondo Elementary

in suburban Los Angeles is the latest to win it. Ginny Ehrlich, chief executive officer for the Alliance for a Healthier Generation says of Northeast, ``They truly stand out.'' The school has done a remarkable job of making ``healthy eating and activity the norm.'' -AP

In Brief Federal lawyers visiting Utah to talk immigration SALT LAKE CITY: Justice Department lawyers will visit Utah attorneys and elected officials later this month to discuss a pending lawsuit over the state's tough immigration enforcement law. Federal attorneys will visit Oct. 25 as part of ongoing negotiations about the measure, which requires people to prove their citizenship if they're arrested for a felony or class-A misdemeanor. The federal government has not joined the lawsuit filed by civil rights groups, but a spokeswoman said the law is being reviewed for a possible legal challenge. The law was put on hold in May, and another hearing is scheduled Dec. 2. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff says he previously met with federal officials in Washington, DC. -AP

2 indicted on immigration fraud charges LOS ANGELES: Two men have been indicted on federal immigration fraud charges in Los Angeles for allegedly helping hundreds of Chinese nationals file fake U.S. asylum applications claiming religious persecution. Prosecutors say Haoren Ma, the owner of New Arrival Immigration Service, and his employee Minghan Dong are accused of charging Chinese nationals up to $6,500 for the bogus applications. According to court documents, many of the applications contained nearly identical accounts of purported persecution, including descriptions of underground church meetings that led to arrests and torture by Chinese authorities. -AP

Justice, SC officials to meet on immigration law COLUMBIA, SC: The US Justice Department wants to talk with South Carolina's attorney general about the state's new immigration law. U.S. Attorney's Office spokeswoman Beth Drake said U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles has arranged a meeting with Attorney General Alan Wilson to talk about the law. The South Carolina law requires police to check suspects' immigration status and mandates that all businesses check their hires through a federal online system. The Justice Department is challenging similar laws in other states. -AP

Immigration 44

India Post

www.indiapost.com

October 28, 2011

Severe stutter mars Jamaican's asylum case PHILADELPHIA: A Jamaican farm worker who cannot read or write, and speaks with a severe stutter, has been in immigration custody for 15 months as judges try to resolve his case. -AP

'No religion has a monopoly on terror': Deputy Attorney General India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Americans must reject any suggestion that every Muslim is a terrorist or that every terrorist is a Muslim, said Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole while addressing the Conference on Post 9/11 Discrimination organized by the Department of Justice (DoJ) at the George Washington University in Washington DC, Oct 19. "No religion or ethnicity has a monopoly on terror," Cole said citing bomb attacks from Oklahoma City to the recent attacks in Oslo, Norway. One of the many, tragic legacies of 9/11 has been an increase in prejudice, discrimination and hatred directed against persons of the Muslim and Sikh faiths and those who are, or who are mistakenly believed to be, of Arab or South Asian descent, Cole said. Stating that since 9/11, some Americans have wrongly sought to

blame the horror of the attacks on Arab-American, Muslim American, Sikh-American and South Asian American communities, Cole said, "It has led to attacks against places of worship and other hate crimes, to job discrimination, and to the tragic harassment of children in our schools. This kind of stereotyping and hate

Cole cited several examples where the DoJ had taken definitive action. An Arlington, Texas man was successfully prosecuted for setting fire to playground equipment at a mosque in July 2010. Three men who spray painted swastikas and "white power" on a mosque in Columbia, Tennessee, and

‘One of the many, tragic legacies of 9/11 has been an increase in prejudice, discrimination and hatred directed against persons of the Muslim and Sikh faiths’ runs counter to the basic values of equality and religious liberty on which this nation is founded." The Department of Justice takes seriously its role in enforcing the laws that protect people against such discrimination, Cole said adding that strong action has been taken against hate crimes in the post 9/11 era.

then burned it beyond recognition, were brought to justice. In March 2010, a husband and wife were convicted of harassing with ethnic slurs and assaulting an Indian-American couple on a public beach in South Lake Tahoe; the male victim was beaten so badly that he suffered multiple broken bones in his face.

And earlier this year, a former employee of the Transportation Security Administration pleaded guilty to federal hate crime charges for assaulting an elderly Somali man in May 2010 because of the man's race, national origin and religion. The DoJ, Cole said has committed itself to protecting the rights of Americans of all faiths to build places of worship and to worship in peace. Last October, for example, the Department filed an amicus brief in support of a mosque in Murfreesboro, Tennessee that had been met with strong community opposition and a lawsuit. "In doing so, the Department sought to unequivocally convey its position that a mosque, or for that matter, is a place of worship to be treated the same as a church, synagogue, or any other religious assembly and entitled to full protection by federal law," Cole said. Cont’d on page 46

Prosecutorial discretion and the 'criminal alien' CYRUS D. MEHTA

he June 17, 2011 Memo calling for prosecutorial discretion by ICE Director John Morton is being applied in favor of low priority non-citizens who are threatened with removal. For instance, some who were brought to the US at an early age have been given a temporary reprieve, especially those who would qualify under proposed DREAM Act legislation, which thus far Congress has failed to pass. This is very commendable, and makes sense since the Administration cannot use its limited resources to deport the 10+ million undocumented immigrants in the US. It also makes sense to allow such immigrants with long ties in the US to somewhat regularize their status and obtain a work permit, while under a stay of removal or deferred action order, and thus be allowed to contribute to the US and its economy. While the Administration showcases low priority non-citizens as model immigrants but for the fact that they violated the immigration law, the Administration is crack-

ing down hard on what it calls the "worst of the worst," generally characterized as "criminal aliens." In a recent seven day sweep, called Operation Cross Check, the Administration arrested 2,901 immigrants with criminal records. While the ICE press release highlights some of these individuals with multiple criminal records, including attempted murder, armed

rather amorphous, and could include one who has either been convicted of a crime or one who has been charged with a crime. Under the Administration's Secure Communities program, information about a non-citizen charged with a crime and who is fingerprinted, is provided to the DHS, which can then start removal proceedings against this person even

The Administration is cracking down hard on what it calls the ‘worst of the worst,’ generally characterized as ‘criminal aliens’ robbery and sex crimes against minors, it is not clear whether all of the 2,901 immigrants that were subject to this sweep could be or ought to be characterized as the "worst of the worst." It is also unclear as to how many of them were undocumented or had permanent resident status. Even a so called "criminal alien" can in some cases be deserving of prosecutorial discretion. Actually, the definition of "criminal alien" is

if there is no ultimate conviction or the resulting conviction is based on a very minor offense, such as disorderly conduct. While the use of the word "alien" is itself a pejorative, which applies to anyone who is not a citizen, the additional use of "criminal" is like rubbing salt into the wound. Apart from such a person not being charged at all or the charges being dismissed, non-citizens can also be placed into re-

moval proceedings for having admitted to committing the essential elements of certain offenses, such as crimes involving moral turpitude or minor controlled substance offenses, including smoking pot as a student. Also, a non-citizen convicted of a crime, even while a misdemeanor under the relevant penal law, can be characterized as an aggravated felon under section 101(a) (43) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). For example, minor assault with a one-year suspended sentence can be an aggravated felony under INA 101(a) (43) (F). Take for example the well publicized case of Mary Anne Gehris who lived in the US since she was around one year old. Because she had pulled the hair of another woman in a quarrel over a boyfriend, and had pled guilty upon the advice of her public defender, she suddenly faced removal for the aggravated felony of misdemeanor assault, because she had gotten a one-year suspended sentence. Cont’d on page 47

Immigration Post

October 28, 2011

India Post

www.indiapost.com

US court upholds parts of toughest immigration law ATLANTA: A US appeals court has temporarily blocked parts of what has been called the toughest immigration law in the country, saying the state of Alabama can't require schools to check the immigration status of students but letting stand a provision that allows police to detain immigrants who are suspected of being in the country illegally. The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals issued the order after the Obama administration challenged the Alabama law, saying it could strain relations with Latin American countries, and advocacy groups said it had thrown the state into ``chaos.'' The opinion also blocked a part of the Alabama law that makes it a crime for immigrants to not have proper documentation. A final decision on the law won't be made for months, to allow time for more arguments. Many frightened Hispanics have left the state since a U.S. judge upheld much of the law in late September, fearing they could be arrested or targeted by police. Construction workers, landscapers and field hands stopped com-

ing to work, and large numbers of Hispanic students have been absent from public schools. To cope with the labor shortage, Alabama agriculture commissioner John McMillan at one point suggested farmers should consider hiring inmates in the state's work-release program.

Immigration has become a key issue in Alabama over the past decade as the Hispanic population has grown by 145 percent to about 185,600 people The US Justice Department has called the Alabama law a ``sweeping new state regime,'' and it urged the appeals court to forbid states from creating a patchwork of immigration policies. The agency said the law could strain diplomatic relations with Latin American countries, who have warned the law could impact mil-

lions of workers, tourists and students in the US. The law, the department said, turns illegal immigrants into a ``unique class who cannot lawfully obtain housing, enforce a contract, or send their children to school without fear that enrollment will be used as a tool to seek to detain and remove them and their family members.'' Immigration has become a key issue in Alabama over the past decade as the Hispanic population has grown by 145 percent to about 185,600 people, most of them of Mexican origin. Some counties in north Alabama have large Spanish-speaking communities and schools where most of the students are Hispanic. Alabama's law was considered by both opponents and supporters to be stricter than similar laws enacted in Arizona, Utah, Indiana and Georgia. US judges in those states have blocked all or parts of those measures. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer earlier this year asked the US Supreme Court to resolve the legal fight over her state's tough immigration law. -AP

Test fails to replace immigrant laborers in Alabama BIRMINGHAM, Ala.: Jerry Spencer had an idea after Alabama's tough new law against illegal immigration scared Hispanic workers out of the tomato fields northeast of Birmingham: Recruit unemployed U.S. citizens to do the work, give them free transportation and pay them to pick the fruit and clean the fields. After two weeks, Spencer said, the experiment is a failure. Jobless resident Americans lack the physical stamina and the mental toughness to see the job through, he said, and there's not much of a chance a new state program to fill the jobs will fare better. Gov. Robert Bentley has called such claims ``almost insulting'' to Alabamians. The new program has signed up about 200 people who want to work, but so far only one employer has sought one worker, the administration said. ``There are people willing to do the jobs,'' said Tara Hutchison, a spokeswoman for the Alabama Department of Industrial Relations. But Spencer said that of more than 50 people he recruited for the work, only a few worked more than two or three days, and just one stuck with the job for the last two weeks.

``It's pretty discouraging,'' said Spencer, chief executive of the Birmingham-based Grow Alabama, which sells and promotes produce grown in the state. Tomato farmer Helen Jenkins agrees that there is a problem filling a labor void she said was created by the new law, parts of which have been blocked by federal courts.

‘You can't get the (American) workers out here to do the work that the Hispanics were doing. They're just not capable’ ``It's just not working,'' said Jenkins, who grows tomatoes on Chandler Mountain, near Gadsden. ``You can't get the (American) workers out here to do the work that the Hispanics were doing. They're just not capable.'' Lana Boatwright, another tomato farmer near Steele, said many of the people she has tried to hire since the law went into effect were

concerned about losing their government disability payments if they worked in the fields. Addressing what supporters of the law referred to as a temporary labor shortage linked to the crackdown, the Bentley administration announced a program to use a state labor website to let citizens sign up for jobs in agriculture and other industries affected by a loss of workers. ``There are people today who want these jobs,'' Bentley said in announcing the program. ``I think it is almost insulting to say people in Alabama won't do a hard day's work for a decent day's pay.'' That may be true, but Spencer said he hasn't been able to find unemployed people who would work quickly enough or long enough to make the decent money that Bentley talked about. A four-person crew of immigrant workers can pick and box more than 250 crates of tomatoes in a day, Spencer said, or enough for each person on the crew to earn about $150 at the height of the harvest. A 25-person team of citizens recently picked and processed about 200 boxes in a day, he said, earning each member only $24. -AP

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

Former Assistant State s Attorney

Civil & Criminal Litigation Felonies, Misdemeanors, Inc DUI 1 Personal Injury, Business, Divorce etc. 1 Property Tax for Commercial Properties 1 1

http://www.proy-singh.com

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

Immigration Post

India Post

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Transfer tax valuation discounts for gifts of interests MICHAEL T. SAWYIER

ertain recent decisions of the Tax Court (see, e.g., Thompson Est. v. Comr., T.C. Memo., 2002-246, aff'd sub nom., Turner v. Comr., 382 F.2d 367 (3rd Cir. 2004); Srangi Est. v. Comr., 115 T.C. 478 2000, aff'd in part, rev'd and rem'd in part, 293 F.3d 279 (5th Cir. 2002); and, again, Strangi Est. v. Comr., T.C. Memo 2003-145, aff'd, 417 F.3d 468 (5th Cir. 2005)), have created a brouhaha among estate planners as to whether transfers to family limited liability entities can "work" any longer so as to permit valuation discounts of the entity ownership interests resulting from those contributions. The short answer to this question is an unequivocal Yes. The decisions that gave rise to this brouhaha concerned lastminute transfers to limited liability entities that lacked any credible business purpose and that could only be explained by an implied agreement - found by the courts in each case - that the transferors were actually to retain the continued use and benefit of the transferred assets until their deaths. Therefore, under Section 2036(a) of the Internal Revenue Code, all these courts found that the transferors had retained a continued interest in the transferred property until their deaths, resulting in the inclusion of that property in their taxable estates. This same analysis was initially applied by the United States District Court in Kimbell v. U.S., 244 F.Supp2d 700 (N.D. Tex. 2003), vacated and rem'd, 371 F.3d 257 (5th Cir. 2004). However, on appeal, the Fifth Circuit ruled that the limited partnership and LLC property there concerned

was NOT includible in the transferor's estate because of the exception contained in Section 2036(a) itself for transfers that constitute "bona fide sale[s] for an adequate and full consideration in money and money's worth" applied. The Fifth Circuit ruled that the property transfers to those entities were "bona fide sales" in this sense notwithstanding the concededly lesser market value of the transferor's ownership interest in the transferee entities immediately after the transfers than of her interests in that same property immediately before. Because the transferor had derived substantial consideration beyond the fair market value of the limited liability entity ownership interests received by her upon her transfers, including, importantly, the resulting avoidance of any further personal liability with respect to the transferred assets, the above-stated statutory exception to the general rule of Section 2036(a) applied. As concluded by the excellent discussion of this line of cases by the leading commentator, Louis Mezzulo, in BNA's Tax Management Portfolio 812-2d: Family Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies: "The proper focus of a determination of whether there was full and adequate consideration, the [Kimbell] court said, is: (1) whether the partnership interests were proportionate to the value of the property contributed to the partnership; (2) whether the contributed assets were properly credited to the capital account of the contributing partner; and (3) whether on

termination of the partnership the partners were entitled to distributions equal to their relative capital accounts. In this case, the Fifth Circuit concluded that there was full and adequate considerations, as each of these requirements had been satisfied."

Michael T. Sawyier

In terms of family gift planning, it is probably of greater importance that the owners of family business entities who make such gifts may retain more control (Id. at fn. 145 and related text) The foregoing remarks are not to be understood as minimizing the importance of good-faith business purposes for the formation of family limited liability entities to which assets are transferred. See, e.g., the same BNA Portfolio's discussion (at footnote 152 and related text) of the recent Tax Court decision in Bigelow Est. v. Comr., T.C. Memo. 2005-65, which distinguished Kimbell on that basis. However,

of course, valuation discounts for ownership interests in limited liability entities, as opposed to the market value of the assets transferred to those entities, can still "work." No gift occurs upon the formation of those entities and the contribution of those assets in return for the proportionate ownership interests in the entities (see Kimbell, supra). Thereafter, provided that there were goodfaith nontax business reasons for those transfers in the first place, and that the transferred assets were genuinely meant for the entities' use (not the transferors' continued personal use), the value of subsequent gifts of those ownership interests in the entities should of course be discounted from their theoretical value upon the liquidation of those entities. Discounts of as much as 50 percent or more may be appropriate, in the expert opinions of business appraisers, to reflect the gifted interests' lack of liquidity and control. Such discounts are justified for the simple reason that those discounted values are all that the gifted interests are worth. See generally L. Mezzulo, BNA Tax Management Portfolio 812/2d: Family Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies, supra, at footnotes 87-102 and related text. On the other hand, if the owners of interests in certain family limited liability entities have the right to a buyout of their interests upon dissociation, and if that buyout price is based upon full liquidation value, then there is no reason for valuation discounts of those interests. Moreover, if that right is the default rule under the

'No religion has a monopoly on terror': Deputy Attorney General Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 44

In the post-9/11 era, the Department is also working to ensure that Americans are not forced to decide between their faith and their jobs. "We brought suit against the New York City MTA over its refusal to permit Muslim and Sikh bus and subway drivers to wear religious headcoverings on the job and settled a case involving a Muslim correction worker in Essex County, N.J., who had been fired for refusing to remove her headscarf," Cole said. The Department has also investigated many cases of harassment of Muslim students. The Depart-

ment reached a settlement in a case in Cape Henlopen, Delaware in which a teacher singled out an elementary student because she was Muslim, leading to severe harassment by other students. The Department reached a settlement with a Texas school district to allow Muslim students to pray together at lunchtime in a room in which other students were permitted to gather for various nonreligious uses. Ensuring the rule of law and protecting civil rights in the post9/11 era is a focus not only for the Civil Rights Division, but for the entire DoJ, Cole said, adding that Attorney General Eric Holder has

led the Department in its efforts to engage with Muslim and Arab communities. And the Civil Rights Division of the DoJ regularly hosts leaders from the Muslim, Arab, Sikh and South Asian communities and representatives of numerous government agencies to discuss emerging issues. As a conflict resolution and emergency response agency, the Department's Community Relations Service, or CRS, began engaging early at the community level after 9/11. "In this Administration, CRS has increased its services in response to requests from governments and community lead-

ers, for assistance to address tension, prevent hate crimes against Arab, Muslim, and Sikh communities, and put a stop to the bullying of children because of their religion or ethnicity," Cole said. In conclusion, Cole hoped that in future the topic of post-9/11 discrimination would become obsolete. "I hope that on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, there will be no reason to speak of a discriminatory backlash, because there will be none to speak of. What that happens, it will be because of the thoughtful work, energy and focus that so many have dedicated to this effort."

statute, any limitation of that right by means of the limited partnership agreement or operating agreement may be disregarded as an "applicable restriction" under I.R.C. Section 2704(b)(2). This is why Illinois' Limited Liability Company Act was recently amended to deny the members of a manager-managed LLC the power to dissociate from the company before the dissolution and winding up of the company unless the company's operating agreement specifies the time "or the events upon the happening of which" the member(s) may dissociate. 805 ILCS 180/ 35-50. If such power existed, any limitations upon the LLC's defaultrule obligation to purchase the distributional interest of any dissociated member would be disregarded for federal tax purposes. (The members of member-managed LLCs always have the power to dissociate, by contrast, and thus require a buyout pursuant to the default rule of the statute.) Beneficial interests in trusts are not subject to these particular sorts of valuation discounts unless the assets held by the trusts are themselves valuation-discounted. But this is exactly the preferred technique for the funding of Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) and the selection of assets to be sold to Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGTs), thus leveraging the inherent transfer-tax savings benefits of such trusts by the valuation discounts of the assets in them. Such sophisticated potential uses of family limited liability entities for transfer tax savings are currently of little practical significance to all but the wealthiest persons because the lifetime federal gift tax exemption was recently raised to $5 MM (at least until the end of next year). In terms of family gift planning, it is probably of greater importance that the owners of family business entities who make such gifts may retain more control over those entities (for example, as managers of family LLCs) after making the gifts then they may over trusts that they establish, without drawing such gifts back into their estates or subjecting them to the claims of their own creditors. In short, family limited liability entities offer important potential benefits for most families, beyond their transfer tax (and income tax) benefits for very wellto-do families and their fundamental asset protection benefits for all their owners and operators.

Immigration Post

October 28, 2011

India Post

www.indiapost.com

Prosecutorial discretion and the 'criminal alien' Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 44

Also, theft or forgery with a one-year sentence can be an aggravated felony under 101(a) (43) (G) [theft], 101(a) (43) (R) [forgery]. Thus, one who was convicted of a forgery of a check for $19.83 could be deportable as an aggravated felon. Shoplifting with a one-year sentence, suspended or not, could also be an aggravated felony. Even a "sex offense" relating to a consensual relationship between a 21-year-old man and his 16-year-old girlfriend can potentially be sexual abuse of a minor under INA 101(a) (43) (A). Such cases are also deserving of prosecutorial discretion, and the DHS can exercise this discretion especially over permanent residents who are "aggravated felons" by not even issuing a Notice to Appear, which starts a removal proceeding. A non-citizen permanent resident who is convicted of an aggravated felony is generally foreclosed from relief from removal, such as cancellation of removal under INA 240A (a) or by applying for a waiver of inadmissibility under INA 212(h). Fortunately, with respect to the 212(h) waiver, two circuit courts, the Third, and Fifth, have held that the bar against permanent residents only applies to those who were admitted to the United States as permanent residents at a border or port of entry as opposed to those who adjusted status in the US to permanent residence. See Martinez v. Mukasey, 519 F.3d 532

(5th Cir 2008); Lanier v. US, 631 F.3d 1363 (11th Cir. 2011). The Ninth Circuit has also implied in Sum v. Holder, 602 F.3d 1092 (9th Cir. 2010) that this may be the case. However, these decisions are only binding within the respective circuits, and the Board of Immigration appeals has further blunted these holdings in Matter of Koljenovic, 25 I&N Dec. 219 (BIA 2010) by barring a permanent resident from applying for a 212(h) waiver who entered the US with-

After all, the hyped up notion that "criminal aliens" are dangerous and should be immediately removed from the US is generally misguided out inspection but who adjusted to permanent residence since the adjustment of status is this individual's only admission. Even non-permanent residents who have been convicted of crimes that have been re-characterized as aggravated felonies are similarly deserving of prosecutorial discretion, on a case by case basis, if they can seek relief by virtue of say a potential marriage to a US citizen and by filing a 212(h) waiver. Similarly, such an individual who is convicted of an aggravated felony

US Supreme Court denies Kansas immigrant's appeal WICHITA, Kan.: An illegal immigrant sentenced to more than a decade in prison for repeatedly returning to the United States following deportation exhausted his appeals when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a Kansas case that now sets the standard in 10th Circuit federal district courts for what jurors must consider in deliberating criminal immigration verdicts. Eusebio Sierra-Ledesma, a 73year-old Mexican immigrant, was sentenced last year to a total of 127 months in prison for repeated illegal re-entry so flagrant that U.S. District Judge Monti Belot told him that he needed to ``impress upon you the seriousness of your crime.'' Sierra-Ledesma had been in immigration custody 19 times and had used more than 40 aliases, 10 false dates of birth and seven false Social Security numbers. His criminal record dating to 1964 included illicit drug sales, weapons crimes and immigration offenses.

His federal public defender, Timothy Henry, appealed his latest reentry conviction on the grounds the court did not instruct the jury that the government had to prove the defendant ``knowingly'' intended to enter the United States A three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit Court decided in June that Belot failed to make clear to the jury that prosecutors had to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant reentered the United States with the ``intent'' to do so. But the appeals court declined to overturn his conviction, finding the error was harmless since Sierra-Ledesma had never claimed he had re-entered the United States against his will. The appeals court also noted that the evidence against him was overwhelming including his own sworn admission that he illegally re-entered after deportation finding that the jury verdict would have been the same regardless. -AP

may have a US citizen child who may be turning 21 years in a few years who will be able to provide the basis for an adjustment application and a 212(h) waiver. Prior to the June 17, 2011 Morton Memo, a similar memo in 2000 by former INS Commissioner Doris Meissner contemplated prosecutorial discretion in cases involving non-citizens convicted of crimes and who would be unable to seek relief against removal despite the presence of US citizen qualifying relatives. The same spirit behind the Meissner memo (although it was rarely implemented) should guide ICE prosecutors under the new Morton Memo too, which is being taken more seriously, even though the focus of the latter is on low priority individuals, who ostensibly are not "criminal aliens." After all, the hyped up notion that "criminal aliens" are dangerous and should be immediately removed from the US is generally misguided as most have actually served their sentences or paid their fines under the penal system. If a US citizen is allowed to get a second chance after serving his or her sentence, an immigrant could also be given that chance if he or she is otherwise deserving of prosecutorial discretion through family ties and the gravity and nature of the past criminal conduct. In the second decade of the 21st century, in light of other pressing concerns and challenges, the draconian impact of the 1996 Immigration Act, especially pertaining to the retroactive re-characterization of minor criminal convictions as aggravated felonies, remains a distant memory and is taken for granted. Any movement for immigration reform of a broken immigration system must also press for a roll back on some of the harshest provisions of the 1996 law, especially the elimination of relief for persons convicted of aggravated felonies, despite evidence of reform, rehabilitation and close families ties in the US. While we continue to press ahead for reform in a Congress that is in a stalemate, including the DREAM Act for children who were brought into the US and are now out of status,

the Administration has wisely used its powers to exercise prosecutorial discretion in favor of immigrants who clearly do not deserve to be deported from the US. Some of these people ought

to also include those with criminal convictions. * Cyrus D Mehta, may be contacted at 212-425-0555 or info@cyrusmehta.com

Horoscope

India Post

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Your Weekly Future by Pandit Parashar

OCTOBER 28TH - NOVEMBER 3RD ARIES (MARCH 21 TO APRIL 20)

TAURUS (APRIL 21 TO MAY 20)

t will be another morale boosting week. Things and is sues stuck in the past will start moving in right direction. Health and confidence level will be at peak. There will be some more positive changes in ongoing legal matters. You will have the opportunity to spend quality time with some influential people.

ou will be travelling to a warm area to attend to some important business. Right advice will help you see things more clearly and make you more optimistic. Proper diet will help overcome health issue. Money will be spent on good reasons and close family members. Legal matters will ultimately take a favorable turn.

GEMINI (MAY 21 TO JUNE 20)

CANCER (JUNE 21 TO JULY 22)

fforts made in the past will start to show positive results from now and on. Transiting Mars in second may make you spend money on buying some electronic item for the home or personal use. You should try your hands at lottery this week. Boss will take your side and you may receive clearance from government also.

ome of you may accept the new job offer or start a new project in partnership with some like minded people you know for long time. You may become double minded about an upcoming trip. Do not ignore the health issue bothering you for past few months. You have large chunk of money coming through legal channel soon.

LEO (JULY 23 TO AUGUST 22)

trong Mars in your sign will bring energy back. You will handle many tricky situations in smart way and find excellent solutions. Some long overdue money could also show up during the week. Some of you may decide to go legal way to prove your point. You will purchase some interesting items for the house this week.

VIRGO (AUGUST 23 TO SEPTEMBER 22)

void any argument with a sibling. This may not be the right time to take any chance with law either. You must continue to work on your plans patiently as results will come soon. You will receive help and some good tips from an older person. Some of you will need new prescription for eye glasses.

LIBRA (SEPTEMBER 23 TO OCTOBER 22)

SCORPIO (OCTOBER 23 TO NOVEMBER 22)

ou will need to think fast and take some important de cisions about career this week. Do not jump to conclusion and make complete inquiry before you sign those papers. You will continue to enjoy company of new friends. Trip will be relaxing and results will come instant. It will be better to dispose off money making stocks and wit for another week to buy them back.

ffer will be lucrative and hard to turn down. Up coming changes will cause excitement in the family. Gambling instincts will pay off and you may make some money through stocks too. Property deal can also get finalized this week after little changes. Relationship will keep getting stronger every day.

SAGITTARIUS (NOVEMBER 23 TO DECEMBER 22)

CAPRICORN (DECEMBER 22 TO JANUARY 19)

pouse will be spending lots of money on buying things and some of them may not be necessary items. Jupiter in fifth can help those looking for an expansion in the family. Some of you may sign up for a short term program to update your knowledge. You will become little overaggressive and have few things done.

uch awaited news will come during the week. Children will also do better. You will make few big payments and still have some leftover. Some of you will be working towards an upcoming long distance trip. Value of your stocks will appreciate and it will be better to hold on to them for another week.

AQUARIUS (JANUARY 20 TO FEBRUARY 18)

PISCES (FEBRUARY 19 TO MARCH 20)

ittle efforts can bring in rich rewards this week. Jupiter in second can take you closer to your financial goals. New contract will benefit you more in long term. You may finalize to buy a property or another vehicle this weekend. Boss will invite you to discuss a new and exciting project and make serious notes.

ombination of Venus and Mercury in tenth is helpful. You can hit the bulls eye and achieve your professional goals. Some of you may switch your job to a better paying one. You will also receive some very good piece of advice from a learned person. Financially you will continue to do very well and may get some money out of property deal also.

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

925-833-7170 website: www.parashar.com

Datebook

October 28, 2011

India Post

www.indiapost.com

NEW YORK

ILLINOIS

Upcoming

Thurs Oct 27 • MACs Girls Night Out Venue: Radisson Hotel, One Radisson Plaza, New Rochelle, NY Time: 5pm Contact: 914-299-2859

Sun Oct 30 • Dancing the Gods: KuchipudiShantala Shivalingappa Venue: NYU Skirball Center, 566 LaGuardia Place, Washington Square South, New York Time: 7pm Contact: 212-545-7536

Sat Nov 12 • Fifth Annual Indian Classical Dance Festival Venue: Baruch Performing Arts Center 55 Lexington Ave 25th St, New York Time: 12pm Contact: 212-561-0504

Fri Oct 28

NEW JERSEY

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

• Building Bridges of Peace Conference

Thurs Oct 27

Fri Oct 28

Venue: Hilton Chicago, 720 S. Michingan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60605 Time: 12am Contact: 847-636-9894

• Macs Girls Night Out!

• 3M Presents their 6th Annual Bollywood Halloween PartyBolloween

Thurs Nov 10

Venue: Radisson Hotel, One Radisson Plaza, New Rochelle, NY Time: 5pm Contact: 914-299-2859

Venue: Kaama Lounge 385, S. Winchester Blvd, San Jose, CA 95128 Time: 8pm Contact: 408-234-6709

• Timeless Traditions An Evening of Classical Indian Music and Dance

Fri Oct 28

Venue: Fine Arts Recital Hall, Northeastern Illinois University Campus, 5500, N. St Louis Ill Time: 7pm Contact: 773-363-9303

Venue: Place of Asia, RT 70, Cherry Hill, NJ Time: 8pm Contact: 610-664-3011

Fri Oct 28

Sat Nov 5

Venue: Smith Center at Ohlone College, 43600 Mission Boulevard, Fremont, CA 94539 Time: 7pm Contact: 510-659-6031 Highlights: Ohlone College, Psychology Club Speaker Series Dr. Anthony Pratkanis Selling FlimFlam

Fri Nov 11 • Bankim Pathak Live in Concert Venue: Copernicus Theater 5216 W Lawrence Ave, Chicago, IL Time: 8:30pm Contact: 773-764-7576

• Diwali Celebration

• Futures (Indian Property & Investment Show) Venue: Edison Hotel (tentaive venue), NJ Time: 11am Contact: 927-804-2343

WASHINGTON DC

Upcoming Fri Oct 28 • Bollywood 2 Night: Diwali Edition at Underground Venue: Underground Lounge, 2477, 18th Street NW, Washington, DC 20009 Time: 10pm Contact: 301-633-5311

Sat Oct 29 • GWTCS Diwali Celebrations Venue: Herndon High School, 700 Bennett St Herndon VA 20170 Time: 5pm Contact: 703-501-5629

Sat Dec 31 • Kaveri Kannada Association 2011 Membership Venue: Kaveri Kannada Association 10070 Darnestown Road # 232, Rockville, MD 20850 Time: 10pm Contact: 301-633-5311

• The Social Psychology of Influence

Sun Oct 30 • The Outsurced Comedy Tour: Desi Stand Up Comics! Venue: Cobbs Comedy Club 915 Columbus Avenue San Francisco, CA Time: 7pm Contact: 415-928-4320

Sun Oct 30 • Imran Khan, Hard Kaur, Culture Shock, H-Dhami in THe Takeover Concert Tour Venue: Oracle Arena 7000 Coliseum Way Oakland, CA 94621 Time: 8pm Contact: 408-368-6865

Fri Nov 18 to Sun Nov 20 • The Sikh Arts & Film Festival Venue: Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, in Orange, CA Contact: 714-759-4SAF Highlights: The festival opens with a red carpet welcome night, filled with films and entertainment, and a sumptuous dessert reception.

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Upcoming Fri Oct 28 • Radio 5 Event Presents The 6th Annual Heaven N Hell Halloween Party Venue: Crimson 1650, Schrader Blvd, LA Time: 10pm Contact: 323-205-5594

Fri Oct 28 • Bollywood HP Night Out Venue: Rock Bar N Lounge 8462, W Sunset Blvd, West Los Angeles,CA 90069 Time: 10pm Contact: 805-587-9144

Sat Oct 29 • Meet, Greet & Connect at Exclusive Dinner Reception: Hon. Paramdeep Singh Gill Director General of Police Venue: Artesia DES Hall 11903 Ashworth Street, Artesia, CA Time: 5:30pm to 9:30pm Contact: 562-773-5674

Fri Nov 4 • Bollywood HP Night out Venue: Rock Bar N Lounge 8462, W Sunset Blvd, West Las Angeles Time: 10pm Contact: 805-587-9144

Sat Nov 5 • HTHF Diwali Cultural Program Venue: Clifton Middle School Auditorium, 226 S. Ivy Ave, Monrovia, California Time: 6pm to 10pm Contact: 626-991-4789

Sun Nov 6 • A Musical Diwali Night by Chili Beatz Venue: The Canyon Club, 28912, Roadside Drive, Agoura Hills, CA Time: 4pm Contact: 8.805-492-0152

Classifieds

India Post

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Licensed Real Estate Agent (Fremont) FAST GROWING REAL ESTATE BROKERAGE AND NEEDED AGENTS IN FREMONT. I am targeting very specific agents:

Agents who aren't making the money they would like, but have the passion to work!

You've completed transactions and understand the process BE SELF MOTIVATED

Be education based (willing to take classes, educate your clients, etc)

Looking to build their client portfolio

NOTICE This notice is given for and on behalf of Shri Virumal Motwani, s/o Late Pritam Das, Currently residing at 1780 Crescent Knolls Glen, Escondido, CA 単 92025, USA. The said Mr. Virumal Motwani the Executor, has filed a petition for probate of the will

(by closing transactions) Have some sales background Excellent communicator a must We will provide lots of open house opportunities, leads, and clientele base

ofShri Pritam Das dated 25.3.2000 vide Testamentary Case No.47

Please email to

of 2011 in the Delhi High Court regarding the properties mention

lindayoung8000@yahoo.com

hereinafter. 1. House No. A-1/33, Janak Puri, New Delhi (663.1 Sq Mts) 2. Shop situated at 7A/9, WEA, Karol Bagh, New Delhi 3. Shop situated at Topi Bazaar, Lashkar, Gwalior, bearing Municipal No. 40/417/2 4. Shop Nos. 2, 4 and 4A situated at Pritam Market, Topi

NEWS

Bazaar, Lashkar, Gwalior 5. Cash, Bank Balances, Fixed Deposits and Securities. If anybody has any objection in this Hon鱈ble Court granting pro-

on your desktop

bate in favour of the said Mr. Virumal Motwani, write to or send your objection with adequate documentary support to the undersigned within 30 days from the date of this notice. Saurabh Suman Sinha Advocate, Supreme Court of India C-128, II Floor, Defense Colony, New Delhi 単 110 024

www.indiapost.com

Notice is hereby given that sealed competitive bids will be accepted in the office of the GSA-Purchasing Department, County of Alameda, 1401 Lakeside Drive, Suite 907, Oakland, CA 94612 MANDATORY NETWORKING/SOUTH COUNTY BIDDERS CONFERENCE AND SITE WALKTHROUGH RFP #900812 - 700/800 MHz Public Safety Radio Coverage, Monday, October 31, 2011, 2:00 P.M. 単 Eden Area Multi-Service Center, 24100 Amador Street, California Poppy Suite 225-226, Hayward, CA Responses Due by 2:00 pm on December 6, 2011 County Contact : Jeff Thomas (510) 208-9613 or via e m a i l : jeff.thomas@acgov.org Attendance at Networking Conference is Mandatory. Specifications regarding the above may be obtained at the Alameda County Current Contracting Opportunities Internet website at www.acgov.org. 10/28/11 CNS-2188155#

Philosophy

October 28, 2011

India Post

www.indiapost.com

Page Sponsored by Sahanis DEEPAK CHOPRA

ll of us need to believe that we are loved and lovable. We began life with confidence on both points, bathed in a mother's love and swaddled in our own innocence. Love was never in question, but over time our certainty clouded. When you look at yourself today, can you still make the two statements every infant could if it had the words? I am completely loved. I am completely lovable. Few people can, for looking at yourself honestly you see flaws that make you less than completely lovable and less than perfectly loved. In many ways this seems right to you, for perfect love is supposedly not of this world. Yet in a deeper sense, what you call flaws are really just the scars of hurts and wounds accumulated over a lifetime. When you look in the mirror, you think you are looking at yourself realistically, but your mirror doesn't reveal the truth that endures despite all hurt. In a way it is amazing that you do not realize this, because underneath everything you think and feel, innocence is still intact. Time cannot blemish your essence, your portion of spirit. But if you lose sight of this essence, you will mistake yourself for your experiences, and there is no doubt that experience can do much to oblitSUNYATA (EMANUEL SORENSEN)

e are in Life and what we are and what we have is so much more than what we think. How lovely it is to greet Life, in varying and strange forms and to feel our kinship with it! At times, it seems moving, merging, intermingling in the phenomenal world. Life and death are one. And then suddenly lo! All is seen as a meaningful light-suffused whole, of which we are a due and inevitable part. Then parts move and merge. Perfection is there - the parts glide into a pattern. Our blinders fall and we see! In truth, nothing is ugly or dull if we can open our eyes and see. Things open out and nothing is inarticulate to us if we can be still, open and free (from ego-consciousness), if we can live with Life and listen. Once upon a time, the animals did speak. They still do, but neither in Hindi nor in English and we shall hardly learn their language until we have learned our own language of being. It seems that it is we who have fallen from grace and awareness. It is we who have lost the faculty, the power and the truth of elo-

erate love. In an often hostile and brutal world, maintaining innocence seems impossible. Therefore, you find yourself experiencing only so much love and only so much lovability. This can change. Although you perceive yourself in limited terms, as a mind and a body confined in time and space, there is a wealth of spiritual teaching that says otherwise. In spirit you are unbounded by time and

beloved would unite - this creates the love you have to share. Not many people find the spiritual goal of life. The aching need created by lack of love can only be filled by learning anew to love and be loved. All of us must discover for ourselves that love is a force as real as gravity, and that being upheld in love every day, every hour, every minute is not a fantasy - it is intended as our natural state. Everything love is meant to do

The path to love, however, is never about externals. However good or bad you feel about your relationship, the person you are with at this moment is the "right" person, because he or she is a mirror of who you are inside. When you struggle with your partner, you are struggling with yourself. Every fault you see in them touches a denied weakness in yourself. Every conflict you wage is an

Love is a force as real as gravity The reason you do not feel completely loved and completely lovable is that you Deepak Chopra

do not identify with your spiritual nature

He who is filled with love is filled with God himself. -Saint Augustine If you judge people, you have no time to love them. -Mother Teresa

space, untouched by experience. In spirit you are pure love. The reason you do not feel completely loved and completely lovable is that you do not identify with your spiritual nature. Your sense of love has lost one thing it cannot afford to do without: its higher dimension. What would it be like to restore this lost part of yourself? Mind, body, and spirit would unite - this union creates the love you have to give. You and your

is possible. Knowing this, however, has only made the gap between love and non-love more painful. When you find your path, you will also find your love story. People today are consumed by doubts about their relationships: Have I found the right partner? Am I being true to myself? Have I given the best part of myself away? As a result, there is a restless kind of consumer shopping for partners.

excuse not to face a conflict within. The path to love therefore clears up a monumental mistake that millions of people make - the mistake that someone "out there" is going to give (or take) something that is not already yours. When you truly find love, you find yourself. Excerpted from The Path to Love The 65th birth anniverasy of Deepak Chopra is being observed on Oct 22

The great awareness comes slowly, piece by piece. The path of spiritual growth is a path of lifelong learning. The experience of spiritual power is basically a joyful one. -M. Scott Peck

quent silence and organic being. It is not because we do not know deeply enough that we jabber and get excited. We really do know what we practice. What we are is self-evident. In our form and being's rhythm, It shines through and life speaks to life in a language truer than words and fashions. But we must be silent and still to hear the Word and to

The unbroken perfection of Reality must, by its very nature, be incapable of expression in any language, except that of Being if we can but live it. Those who know, know and those who do not yet know, cannot be told. We can touch and taste a joy and a freedom which neither death nor fellow pilgrims can possibly destroy or scatter.

and increased by being shared. We can come back to the fountain, the pristine source, to drink of immortality-awareness. India has eternity in her rhythm. Her stiffened forms may protect pearls and her rottenness and decay may make good manure. Life moves on and it knows its way. Life and Death are one and "we and our

To us also, through every star, through every blade of grass, is not God made visible if we will open our minds and our eye? Thomas Carlyle

In truth, nothing is ugly or dull Sunyata

contemplate with God, face to face. If we know our dharma enough, we need not fuss or flutter, enthuse or fear. We can Be and let Be. If we listen freely, we can hear the sheer silence of a deeper and richly satisfying life, the joyous harmony of a creative symphony in all actualities. We can listen with our whole being and then words neither help nor disturb.

Things open out and nothing is inarticulate to us if we can be still, open and free (from ego-consciousness) India is near the cradle of an Aryan race and still she guards our deepest treasures - our richest heirloom. So little of her real wealth has yet been touched in spite of the wave after wave of conquerors who were attracted by gold and an outward glory. The real and central values can only be ours by recognition and appreciation. They can be shared

Father are One." Our awareness transfigures our values and sets us free to "belong" to all, and to recognize God beyond ideas, ideals, assertions and egos. Excerpted from 'Dancing With The Void' The 131st birth anniversary of Sunyata will be observed on Oct 27

Trees are the earth's endless effort to speak to the listening heaven. -Rabindranath Tagore If you look to others for fulfillment, you will never be truly fulfilled. -Lao Tzu The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time. -Mark Twain

You Insure all your Valuables, all are replaceable except YOU! So Insure yourself FIRST. Call Sahanis, (Arish, Priya or Shiv) for your Insurance needs 718- 271- 0453. Serving for last 35 yrs

Edit Page

52 India Post

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

Nuristan: The second front in Afghan insurgency RAGHAV SHARMA

uch has been written about the US surge, much of it being directed towards mounting military offenses against the Taliban in its traditional strongholds in the south. NATO generals too have laid tall claims at having made 'credible' yet 'fragile' gains in the region. In contrast relatively scant attention has been paid to the Taliban literally laying bare NATO's doctrinal strategy of 'clear, hold and build' in the far flung, yet what could prove to be a critical hold in eastern province of Nuristan. Since 2009 when the Taliban overran camp Keating in Kamdesh district of Nuristan province, the coalition troops have successfully lost ground. Today of the eight districts comprising Nuristan province, six of them - Barg-e-Matal, Wagal, Kamdesh, Mandol, Doab and Noorguram - are under effective Taliban control. The problem is further compounded by a complete abdication by the Afghan state of its duty to govern the province. The increasing momentum acquired by the Taliban is significant on several counts. First, the growing strength of the insurgency in a province entirely inhabited by non-Pashtun tribes which are ethno-linguistically different from the rest of the Afghan populace and also relatively recent converts to Islam, signals an expanding social base of the insurgency and lends strength to the Taliban's pan-Afghan claims. Second, geographically, the province's location is critical. It borders Badakshan and Panjsher provinces in the north, and Laghman, Nangarhar and Kunar Provinces in the east. Of these Panjsher, Laghman and Nangrhar all share a border with Kabul province. Thus, gaining strength in this remote and topographically harsh province provides insurgents with a firm foothold to stir trouble in the relatively calmer provinces in the north and further strengthen their position in the east. While Kunar province has remained unstable for quite a while now, security in the relatively calmer neighboring provinces of Nangarhar and Laghman has shown signs of deterioration over the course of the year. Third, with troop drawdown

slowly underway, and large reinforcements in the region unlikely in the near future, the Taliban appear confident of further consolidating their military gains. The prevailing military balance has thus significantly hindered the possibility of international troops regaining any significant military momentum in Nuristan. Thus, of late the situation has forced the international military forces to exercise the option of

Taliban fighters in Nuristan

using surface-to-surface missiles (SSMs), fired from Jalalabad airfield, to target insurgents. For instance on 10 October four villages were targeted in Waigal district, where it was believed training camps had been set up by militants. While casualties were reported the numbers and nature

With the area under de-facto control of the Taliban, a number of other militant groups such as the Lashkar-iToiba, Lashkar-iJhangvi and the Hizbi-Islami are said to be extremely active in the province remain unclear. The option to use SSMs is likely to result in collateral damage and further undermine NATO's proclaimed goal of winning 'hearts and minds'. Fourth, with the area under defacto control of the Taliban, a number of other militant groups such as the Lashkar-i-Toiba, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and the Hizb-iIslami are said to be extremely active in the province. This development is likely to cause immense

unease in New Delhi given the past history and actions of these groups. Significantly the province also borders Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, and people from the province often refer to the effective use of political and economic marginalization of the province coupled with a clever deployment of religion to recruit locals for their proclaimed jihad, many of them enlisting as foot-soldiers for fighting Indian forces in Jammu and Kashmir. With scant development to speak of - only 6 of the 800 approved projects being implemented thus far according to provincial Governor Tarmim Nuristani - hardly any economic avenues are available to the people and the Afghan government and its international partners having steadily ceded ground. It therefore comes as little surprise that the Taliban and its affiliates have successfully filled the vacuum. The groups operating in the province reportedly pay a sum of PKR 50,000 each year as ex-gratia payment to families of those killed in combat, while orphans receive PKR 800 per month. The payments are disbursed with clinical efficiency, while the Afghan government, citing infrastructural issues, struggles to even ensure that government employees receive paltry salaries at least every few months in Nuristan. Thus, for the reasons elucidated above the unfolding scenario in the east, particularly Nuristan should be a cause for considerable concern in both Kabul and Washington. It calls for immediate and effective measures to arrest and reverse the current trend. This requires a synchronization of good governance efforts with security, which in turn can be realistically worked towards by tailoring the gradual military drawdown to realities as they exist on the ground as opposed to rigid timetables and political expediency being its guiding force. The writer is Doctoral Candidate, Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, University of Erfurt and Research Analyst, Kabul Center for Strategic Studies, Kabul. Courtesy IPCS

India Post Awakening Advani

f 100-year-old Fauja Singh can run the marathon, why can't 84year old (he would be 86 in 2014, the election year) L.K. Advani be Prime Minister of India? Noticing the weakening of UPA-II under a 78-year-old Manmohan Singh, perhaps the BJP thinks the remedy is to provide an even older leader to "strengthen" the country. Some BJP leaders are quick to point out the umpteenth rath yatra is not a party plan but self-inflicted by the Dev Anand of politics. Unfazed by RSS dampeners and Narendra Modi tantrums, the evergreen hero has claimed the purpose of his sixth rath yatra was not for self-promotion or even for the BJP, but to "awaken people." Indeed the Indian people need to be awakened. But they are not so sleepy as to trust the words of a politician. The corruption cases, the Anna Hazare movement and now the by-election results have demonstrated a lack of faith in the present dispensation governing India. Sensing the opportunity of an alternative, leaders in the BJP have thrown their hats in the ring for the post of prime ministership and Mr Advani is the first past the initial post. He has taken such a long route to establish his credentials because the party is not enthusiastic about his candidature. Before he embarked on his marathon yatra, the RSS summoned and half extracted from him a promise that he will not project himself as a prime ministerial candidate. Narendra Modi started his own official fast to upstage Advani. The Sushma Swarajs and Arun Jaitleys watched from windows wondering about their own chances being spoiled by the insatiable old man. Given the grudging support shown by the average partyman, it is a wonder the veteran has not "awakened" to his poor potential. Ostensibly, the rath yatra is against corruption. Advani wanted to take advantage of the people's mood fired by the Anna agitation. But when the deadly arrows from Karnataka struck his rath, he could only offer apologies: "We had warned Yeddyurappa." As the top leader of the party if he is unable to exercise control over the Yeddyurappas and the Narendra Modis of the party, what hope can there be that he will be in control as prime minister? As an old patriarch he could have guided the younger leadership but he is so to keen to fulfill his personal ambition, which was evident even when he was deputy prime minister under Atal Bihari Vajpayee during NDA rule, that he has jettisoned all sense of propriety. During the 2009 elections he was even pumping iron to prove he is the real ironman, the Sardar Patel of BJP. Unfortunately even the gym could not take him to prime ministership. His ambition lay crushed as the actual leadership was given to younger partymen and women in parliament. The dormant desire has once again raised its head now that the septuagenarian PM seems on shaky ground. Advani needs to understand if the people have risen against the present Congress leadership it is not due to any initiative or particular leadership action of this veteran leader. They have risen against corruption in their daily life. How does a ghost-like apparition riding a chariot Mahabharata style solve the problems of their daily life? Instead of projecting himself as the savior against corruption, this long serving politician could have joined hands with the Anna movement and even the ruling Congress to set up some institutional measures to root out corruption. He could have won the faith of people by initiatives against corruption for which he does not need to ride a chariot and expose himself to ridicule in these modern times.

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

India Post 53

54 India Post

www.indiapost.com

October 28, 2011

www.indiapost.com

India Post 55

56 India Post

www.indiapost.com

October 28, 2011