IndiaPost_11-07-2014_e-paper by Ghanshyam Bisht

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Health meet highlights tele-medicine Details on page 36

Pentagon exposes Pak use of militants Details on page 6

US offers Pak help to probe Wagah attack

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

VOL 20, No. 1051

November 7, 2014

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Periodical Postage

INDIAN-AMERICANS FASHIONED N-DEAL

WASHINGTON: It was a grassroot campaign by Indian-Americans, who literally flooded their lawmakers with emails, letters and faxes, that saw the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement pass through the Congress, says a new book on the unprecedented coming together of the community for the deal. Leading Indian-American entrepreneur and activist Swadesh Chatterjee in his book 'Building Bridges: How Indian-Americans Brought the United States and India Closer Together', provides a first-hand account of the in-

volvement of the influential community in getting the deal through the US Congress. "The Indian government hired high-powered and highpriced lobbyists to press their case, but it was really the Indian-American community that took the lead in the campaign for civil nuclear agreement," writes Chatterjee. The book hit the stores in the US this week while its Indian edition is expected to be released later this year. Details on page 5

Details on page 8

Tulsi Gabbard called for active duty Details on page 5

Tulsi Gabbard to visit India next year Details on page 17

Fresh polls to be held for Delhi Assembly Details on page 6

Robbers are targeting IndianAmericans in NJ

Indian-origin businessman shot dead

Details on page 8

Details on page 12

Actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar passes away

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

Details on page 51

Community Post -------------- 16-27 Date Book -------------------------- 47

INDIA POST SURVEY

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

survey@indiapost.com

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

This week’s question

Horoscope ------------------------- 49

Is the Indo-US nuclear deal now in limbo?

Immigration Post ------------- 44-46 Life Style ----------------------- 50-52 Philosophy ------------------------- 53

Last week’s result

Will keeping Shiv Sena out boomerang? YES 45%

NO 55%

KICK RESUMED: Pakistani border guards perform high kicks during a flag lowering ceremony a day after the suicide bombing at the Pakistan-Indian border post, in Wagah, Pakistan, Monday, Nov. 3. (Details on page 8)

Publisher’s Diary ------------------ 4 Real Estate -------------------- 34-35 TechBiz Post ------------------- 30-33 Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 40-43

Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765”

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November 7, 2014

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

his week, I pay homage to two visionaries whose pioneering work gave Indian Americans their cultural identity in this country. Those were still the days in the 1970s when Indian immigrants to the US were as yet shy to wear their culture on their sleeve, let alone flaunt it the way we do today. From among the early Indian immigrants, Dr. Alagappa Alagappan and Dr. Banad Viswanath led with the gumption that it was indeed okay to be an Indian while living in America. Dedicated in 1977, it was Dr. Alagappan's vision that gave not just Indian Americans but America at large, the first Hindu temple - the Mahavallabha Ganapati Temple in Flushing, New York. From thereon, Dr. Alagappan's vision expanded to help build several more Hindu temples in this great country, earning himself the sobriquet of being the father of Hindu temples in America. Today we have more than 700 temples across the US, and it gives me great pride to say that I myself am associated with one such religious and cultural center here in California. What made Dr. Alagappan a visionary was his inclusivity, where he saw the temples as centers, where members of all faiths could comingle. This is evident in the logo of the temple society that he had designed - a circular logo that bears a Christian cross, a Star of David, an Islamic crescent and star, and the Om. This eminent personality passed away at 88, on Oct. 24. To all of us in the Indian American community, particularly, the desi media here, Dr. Viswanath is a stalwart who brought us our daily dose of Indian news and entertainment, starved as we were in those days for anything Indian. He launched Vision of Asia, the first Indian American TV show in 1976 and a decade later, ITV Gold, the first 24x7 cable TV channel in the US. Today, even with satellite channels bringing every Indian television show into our homes, ITV is still holding ground, faithfully covering the Indian American community and its many colors. This doctor, media man and philanthropist passed away at 77, on Oct. 30.

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HIGHLIGHTS Bollywood: Something special The long legged dusky beauty Deepika Padukone is all set to romance Salman Khan in Yash Raj banner’s next movie.

Cover Story: Grassroot campaign It was a grassroot campaign by IndianAmericans that saw Indo-US civil nuclear agreement pass through Congress

Community: Warm welcome Sri Sri Ravi Shankar got a warm welcome from members of the Indian community as well as from mainstream Americans

Appeal to Obama Three Republican senators have urged Obama to hold off on any steps to shield millions of people from deportation.

Life style: German Prem Though born in Germany, Prem Joshua, a master flutist and saxophonist, has huge love and connection with India

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Kurukshetra Kurukshetra has sacred association with Lord Krishna, the benevolent god who preached the Bhagawat Gita

44 50 30 40

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November 7, 2014

India Post

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Indian-Americans fashioned N-deal WASHINGTON: It was a grassroot campaign by IndianAmericans, who literally flooded their lawmakers with emails, letters and faxes, that saw the IndoUS civil nuclear agreement pass through the Congress, says a new book on the unprecedented coming together of the community for the deal. Leading Indian-American entrepreneur and activist Swadesh Chatterjee in his book 'Building Bridges: How Indian-Americans

gress," Sen was quoted as saying in the book. "How can we get this done? Who should U reach out to? What organizations should I work with?" the Ambassador asked. And thereafter Chatterjee, a resident of North Carolina and a successful entrepreneur, made it a mission to get the deal through the Congress. "The task was not that easy. It was like moving a mountain.

"The Indian government hired high-powered and high-priced lobbyists to press their case, but it was really the Indian-American community that took the lead in the campaign for civil nuclear agreement," Brought the United States and India Closer Together', provides a first-hand account of the involvement of the influential community in getting the deal through the US Congress. "The Indian government hired high-powered and high-priced lobbyists to press their case, but it was really the Indian-American community that took the lead in the campaign for civil nuclear agreement," writes Chatterjee. The book hit the stores in the US this week while its Indian edition is expected to be released later this year. "Swadesh, you are wasting your time," the then powerful Congressman, Gary Ackerman, a leading lawmaker of the House Caucus on India and Indian Americans told him, when he went and met him and sought his support. "This deal is dead on arrival," Ackerman told Chatterjee, according to the book. "There were few takers for the bill," Chatterjee told PTI here. "But we were determined to get the bill through the Congress. This we strongly felt was in the best interest of both India and the US. We believed that this was the golden opportunity for the two countries to come together," Chatterjee said. Chatterjee, who had received the prestigious 'Padma Bhushan' award in 2001 for his role in lifting of American sanctions after Indian nuclear tests, was the one who received the first call from the then Indian Ambassador to the US, Ronen Sen, after the then US President, George W Bush, announced the outline of the civil nuclear deal during his trip to India in March 2006. "Swadesh, I need your help getting this accord through Con-

But we finally did it," he said. When a small group of some 20 top Indian Americans met Sen at a club near the Indian Embassy in Washington DC, Chatterjee told the job was not that easy. "We need to unite Indian Americans and work together, but as you all know, we are two million Indian Americans, but we have 10 million egos. We need to

port it. I just do not think it has a chance," Congressman David Rice told him. Response, from a majority of other lawmakers were the same. "I returned home terribly disappointed. With my usual avenues for building support blocked, I knew we would have to devise an alternate plan of attack...It was time to broaden our approach, to draw on the strength of the entire Indian American community across the country," writes Chatterjee, who led US-India Friendship Council, a group of eminent Indian-Americans. "We decided to compose a letter making our case, and then we would flood the email account, jam the fax machines and fill the appointment books of every single US Senator and Congressman. To this we employed both high-tech and low-tech approaches," Chatterjee writes. Chatterjee sought the help of an IT company in Kolkata for a software that would allow any Indian-American to insert his or name and zip code and, with just a few clicks, send a form letter by email arguing the merits of the accord to that persons specific

This was the first time we mastered the grassroots game - and in America, where all politics is really grassroots politics, the importance of this achievement cannot be over-emphasized," he writes keep those egos in the deep freezer for a few years," Chatterjee told the group. Chatterjee said there was a very negative response from the lawmakers. "I am not sure that I can be the guy to sponsor the bill. My colleagues will never sup-

congressman and senators. "We set up a website to direct people to, and we advertised the program in all the Indian-American ethnic newspapers," he said. "At the other end of the spectrum, we did some good old-fashioned petitioning. At temples and gurdwaras across the country, at

Swadesh Chatterjee, left, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a recent visit

parties Diwali and Holi, we gathered signatures and faxed them to lawmakers," he said. "With this multi-platform approach, we managed to tap a broad swath of the nation's Indian-Americans - everyone from the whiz kids of Silicone Valley to the pious elderly ladies wearing their finest saris to temple. "We focused on the states with the highest concentrations of Indian Americans - New York, New Jersey, California, Texas, Illinois and Michigan - as well as on my home state of North Carolina," Chatterjee said. "This was the first time in our community's history that we mounted such a concerted

grassroots effort. Traditionally, we focused on fundraising, which is a necessary strategy, of course, but not enough in itself. "Ultimately, the rewards of fundraising are limited - and a community like ours could never fundraise our way to winning over lawmakers. This was the first time we mastered the grassroots game - and in America, where all politics is really grassroots politics, the importance of this achievement cannot be over-emphasized," he writes. "We had no way of counting exactly how many letters were sent, but we know it was in the thousands. Several congressional staffers told me their offices were bombarded, Chatterjee said. -PTI

Tulsi Gabbard called for active duty WASHINGTON: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, the first ever Hindu elected to the US House of Representatives, has been called for active duty by the National Guard for which she is a reservist to help with a volcanic eruption in her native Hawaii. "Gabbard has been called up for activation by the Hawaii Army National Guard to support their assistance to Hawaii County's response to the ongoing Kilauea lava flow," her spokesperson Heather Fluit said in a statement. Gabbard, who is seeking reelection, is joining about 80 Na-

tional Guard soldiers and airmen already on the ground. Gabbard, 33, serves as a Military Police Captain in the Hawaii Army National

ties," Fluit said. The term of her duty has not been determined. "Her offices in Hawaii and

"During this time, she will be unable to accept media requests or make public statements related to her official congressional duties," Fluit said Guard. "During this time, she will be unable to accept media requests or make public statements related to her official congressional du-

Washington, DC will remain open and serving her constituents during this period. The duration of her duty is yet to be determined," Fluit said.

Gabbard was first elected to the US House of Representatives in 2012. A strong advocate of India US relationship, she has been endorsed by Hindu American Political Action Committee. She met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York and presented him a copy of the holy Gita on which she had taken her Congressional oath in January 2013. The US National Guard is deploying troops in the rural Hawaii town as lava from Kilauea volcano slowly makes its way towards homes and roads. -PTI

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Fresh polls to be held for Delhi Assembly NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet has recommended dissolution of the Delhi Assembly, paving the way for fresh polls ending eight months of political hibernation after the fall of the AAP government in February. The decision was taken at a meeting of the cabinet presided over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after LG Najeeb Jung sent his recommendation after talks with BJP, Congress and AAP who all expressed their inability to form government and sought fresh mandate. "The Union Cabinet recommended dissolution of the Delhi Assembly with immediate effect," a senior Union Minister said after the brief meeting. While the fresh elections may be held early next year, the pro-

Delhi BJP in-charge Prabhat Jha, Delhi BJP President Satish Upadhyay, senior leader Jagdish Mukhi and other oofice bearers during a meeting regarding preparations for Assembly elections, in New Delhi on November 4

AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal addressing a press conference in New Delhi on November 4. Party leaders Gopal Rai and Ashutosh are also seen

cess for the November 25 by-elections to three constituencies, for which last date of nominations is tomorrow, will be cancelled. The LG held consultations with political parties in the wake of the Supreme Court putting the issue on the fast track and giving him time till November 11 to explore the possibility of forming a government. The court was hearing AAP's petition seeking early dissolution of the Assembly which has been under suspended animation since February after the fall of the AAP government. In the outgoing Assembly, BJP

and its ally Akali Dal have 29 MLAs in a House of 67. Three seats fell vacant after the incumbents were elected to the Lok

The LG held consultations with political parties in the wake of the Supreme Court putting the issue on the fast track Sabha. BJP had emerged as the single largest party in the December As-

sembly polls winning 31 seats but fell four seats short of a simple majority. It had refused to form government then, saying it will not resort to any "unfair means" to take over the reins. AAP had formed the government in Delhi with the support of Congress. The government led by Kejriwal had resigned on February 14 after the party's pet project, the Janlokpal Bill, could not be passed due to opposition from BJP and Congress. President's Rule was imposed on February 17.-PTI

Indian-American store owner 'Pak using militants as proxies to counter army' indicted for fraud NEW YORK: A 39-year-old Indian-American convenience store owner has been indicted by a federal jury on charges of committing fraud related to the US government's food stamps program and faces a maximum

(SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, US Attorney Benjamin Wagner said. According to the indictment, Singh owns and operates a convenience store that was authorized to accept SNAP

On numerous occasions, Singh accepted SNAP benefits as payment for ineligible items, including beer, cigarettes, toilet paper, toys and diapers sentence of 20 years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine if convicted. Bharpur Singh of California was indicted for defrauding the US Department of Agriculture's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

benefits from customers to pay for eligible food items through the electronic benefits transfer (EBT) card program. Retailers are not permitted to trade cash for SNAP benefits or accept SNAP benefits as payment for ineligible items.

From October 2008 until May 2014, Singh traded the benefits for cash rather than for eligible food products as required under the program. Singh would swipe a SNAP benefit recipient's EBT card for a certain amount, give the benefit recipient cash for approximately half the amount of the transaction and keep approximately one-half for himself. On numerous occasions, Singh accepted SNAP benefits as payment for ineligible items, including beer, cigarettes, toilet paper, toys and diapers. Singh faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine for each wire fraud count, and five years in prison and a USD 10,000 fine for each count of unauthorized use of USDA benefits. -PTI

WASHINGTON: In a blunt assessment of terrorist safe havens in Pakistan, the Pentagon has told the US Congress that the country is using militant groups as proxies to counter the superior Indian military. "Afghan-and Indian-focused militants continue to operate from Pakistan territory to the detriment of Afghan and regional stability. Pakistan uses these proxy forces to hedge against the loss of influence in Afghanistan and to counter India's superior military," the Pentagon told the Congress in its latest six-monthly report on the current situation in Afghanistan. "These relationships run counter to Pakistan's public commitment to support Afghan-led reconciliation. Such groups continue to act as the primary irritant in Afghan-Pakistan bilateral relations," the Pentagon said in the

report running into more than 100 pages. Referring to the attack on the Indian Consulate in Herat, the Pentagon said this was done just ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India. "In May of this reporting period, the Indian consulate in Herat Province was attacked by a group of four heavily armed militants. The attack came three days prior to the swearing-in of the new Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Prime Minister Modi is perceived as being close to Hindu nationalist groups, a fact that may have played into the timing of the attack," it said. "In June, the US Department of State announced that the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba was responsible for the attack. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 9

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Indiana University sets up India office FRANK FERNANDES India Post News Service

MUMBAI: Achieving new milestones in its effort to be among the nation's most internationally focused universities, Indiana University has dramatically strengthened its engagement in two nations, India and Saudi Arabia, where the university's ties are among its deepest. India and Saudi Arabia rank second and fourth, respectively, in the number of international students who study at IU campuses across Indiana. More than 8,500

international students are enrolled at IU this fall, including nearly 1,200 Indian students and nearly 600 students from Saudi Arabia. With music and other fanfare, Indiana University dedicated its IU India Office during a ceremony on October 30 at Jindal Global University in Gurgaon that marked the latest chapter in IU's lengthy history of engagement in India. This formal establishment of the IU India Office, ushers in a new era in IU's longstanding engagement with India. It also signals IU's desire to work even more closely with leading Indian universities,

Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie speaks at the dedication of the IU India Office

businesses and other institutions, as well as the country's social and cultural leaders. Raj Kumar, vice chancellor at O.P. Jindal Global University, and Deepender Hooda, a member of the Lok Sabha, the lower house of India's parliament, and an alumnus of the IU Kelley School of Business, joined IU President McRobbie at the ceremony. Michael Pelletier, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi, was a special guest at the ceremony. "The IU India Office, first and foremost, is symbolic of Indiana University's desire to work in a spirit of mutually beneficial cooperation with Indian universities, business and other institutions, as well as India's social and cultural leaders," McRobbie said. "IU's pres-

IU India Office

own terms and to begin an exchange that will benefit both India and Indiana and strengthen the connections between India and the United States." Acclaimed Indian classical muAcclaimed Indian classical musician and sarod virtuoso sician and sarod Ayaan Ali Khan concluded the dedication ceremony for virtuoso Ayaan Ali the new IU India Office with a musical performance Khan concluded ence in India is indicative of our the dedication ceremony with a desire to learn about India on its moving musical performance.

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21 arrested after attack US condemns Wagah suicide blast at Wagah LAHORE: At least 21 people, including a suicide-bomber, were arrested and explosives and a suicide vest recovered from Wagah border area as entire Pakistan was put on red alert after 61 people were killed in a deadly terror attack at the Indo-Pak land border crossing. A Punjab Rangers official said that explosives and a suicide jacket had been found during a search operation in the area.

police, rangers and intelligence agencies have started its probe into the incident. The army and rangers along with police will provide security to Muharram processions in Lahore and they have been put on high alert in the wake of Sunday's attack," he said. They also arrested a suspected suicide-bomber from Multan district, some 350 kilometers from Lahore. The Lahore police issued a

At least 61 people, including 10 women, eight children and three security personnel, have died in the attack that took place when a suicide attacker detonated a powerful bomb at Wagah. Over 100 injured are being treated in different hospitals in Lahore "The suicide vest stuffed with explosives and ball bearings has been defused by the bomb disposal squad," he said. The law enforcement agencies arrested 20 'suspects' from the Wagah border areas during the search operation. Lahore police spokesman Niyab Haider Naqvi told PTI that the law enforcement agencies launched operation in the residential areas in Wagah after the attack and taken 20 suspects into custody. "A joint investigation team of

sketch of 17-year-old Abdul Rehman who had gone missing from a seminary in old city of Lahore for a month. "The police along with an intelligence agency have raided a house in Multan district and arrested Abdul Rehman," Naqvi said, adding Rehman has been shifted to unknown place for interrogation. At least 61 people, including 10 women, eight children and three security personnel, have died in the attack that took place when a suicide attacker detonated

US offers help to probe Wagah attack ISLAMABAD: The US has offered to provide any assistance to Pakistan to track down the perpetrators behind the "senseless" terrorist attack at Wagah Border that killed at least 61 people. Condemning the horrific suicide attack as a "senseless terrorist act", Ambassador Richard Olson said it demonstrates terrorists' blatant disregard for life. "This act demonstrates terrorists' blatant disregard for life. The United States remains steadfast in its commitment to the people of Pakistan in their efforts to counter terrorism, uphold the rule of law, and build a peaceful future for themselves and their children," Olson said in a statement. "The US supports Pakistan's

efforts to bring all those involved in planning and executing this attack to justice and stand ready to provide any appropriate assistance to authorities investigating this tragic attack," he said. Offering condolences to the victims, he said, "On behalf of the American people, I extend my heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the families of the victims as well as to the Government and people of Pakistan." At least 61 people were killed and nearly 200 injured when a suicide attacker detonated a powerful bomb at Wagah in Pakistan, minutes after the popular flag-lowering ceremony at the main Indo-Pak land border crossing. -PTI

a powerful bomb at Wagah. Over 100 injured are being treated in different hospitals in Lahore. Three militant factions, including splinter groups of the Taliban, have separately claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that took place after the popular flaglowering ceremony at Wagah. Al-Qaeda affiliated militant group Jundullah (Soldiers of Allah), a splinter group of the Tehriki-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was the first to claim the attack. Shortly afterwards Jamaat-ulAhrar said its bomber Hafiz Hanifullah carried out the attack. Later, a lesser-known Mahar Mehsud group also claimed responsibility for the bombing. Hours after canceling the beating retreat ceremony at Wagah following a deadly suicide attack, Pakistan allowed general public to view the popular ceremony. "We have decided in a meeting this afternoon to allow the general public to come and watch the flag-lowering ceremony," Punjab Rangers spokesman Major Shahid Abbas said. Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan has directed officials of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) to collect intelligence reports and share information with provincial authorities, Express News reported. Mobile services have been suspended in parts of Pakistan and pillion riding banned in Karachi and Lahore, in an attempt to keep all processions peaceful. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has condemned the attack and vowed to eliminate terrorists from the country. "We will not let the terrorists succeed in their aims to divide and scare the nation which stands united against the twisted ideology of the extremists," he said in a statement. He said operation Zarb-e-Azb underway in North Waziristan Agency against the local and foreign terrorists will be carried out until the last terrorist is taken out. Meanwhile, the US today offered any assistance to Pakistan to track down the perpetrators behind the "senseless" terrorist attack. "This act demonstrates terrorists' blatant disregard for life. The United States remains steadfast in its commitment to the people of Pakistan in their efforts to counter terrorism, uphold the rule of law, and build a peaceful future for themselves and their children," Ambassador Richard Olson said in a statement.-PTI

WASHINGTON: The US has rule of law and build a peaceful condemned the suicide blast near future for themselves and their the Wagah-Attari border between children," Psaki said in response India and Pakistan, which killed to a question. at least 61 people on the Pakistani Over 100 were injured in the side over the weekend, describ- blast that had taken place when a ing it as a senseless act of terror. large number of people were re"We certainly condemn the turning after attending the flag senseless terrorist act at the lowering ceremony at the main Wagah border post on November Indo-Pak land border crossing, 2nd. We offer our deepest condo- which is heavily guarded by the lences to the families of those killed in the attack and wish those injured a quick recovery," State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters. The US, she said, supports the Pakistani government's efforts to bring all those involved in planning and executing the attack to justice, and stands ready to provide State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki any appropriate assistance to authorities investigating this tragic at- Punjab Rangers. tack. A young suicide-bomber blew "We remain steadfast in our himself up near the main exit gate commitment to assisting the of Parade Avenue at 6.03 pm (lopeople of Pakistan in their efforts cal time), causing colossal devasto counterterrorism, uphold the tation. -PTI

Robbers targeting Indian-Americans in NJ NEW YORK: Several IndianAmerican families living in the New Jersey area have been robbed following the festival of Diwali, triggering fear among the community for their safety. Rajesh Singh said in a report in

three masked men with guns who followed Singh's wife into their home as she returned from taking out the garbage late at night last week. Singh said the robbers woke up the couple's three children, ages 10, 11 and 13 at gunpoint and bound each family member with The robbery at Singh's duct tape and proceeded to rob the house was the fourth one house. that has occurred in The robbery at Singh's house was the less than two weeks fourth one that has occurred in less than two PIX 11 that after Diwali robbers weeks. In all the robberies, Indiancame into their house, "tied" his origin people were targeted just family up and took "away what- days after they celebrated Diwali. ever we had". Earlier, men of a similar descrip"It all happened after Diwali, tion broke into three other homes these incidents that we're talking in the area and tied up families and about," said Singh, a father of robbed them. Indians put up trathree. ditional Diwali decorations as well The Middlesex County as strings of electric lights in their Prosecutor's Office is handling the houses and customarily bring out investigation, and has a reward for jewelry, money and other valuinformation that leads to an arrest. ables from under lock and key. Police continues to search for PTI

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Rani Gaidinliu's legacy to be resurrected FRANK FERNANDES India Post News Service

MUMBAI: Rani Ma Gaidinliu, a Naga freedom fighter, spent 14 years in jail from 1933 to 1947 fighting the British. Her name may not ring a bell outside her home state, and few would know that Jawahar Lal Nehru gave her the title 'Rani' in 1937. In 2015, her centenary year, Gaidinliu's legacy will be resurrected, not by Dynasty lovers, but by a group of like minded people who seek creating awareness about our easily forgotten or not easily remembered freedom fighters. On November 24 and 25, historians and the Itihas Sankalan Samiti will conduct a two-day seminar in Guwahati on her legacy, thus bringing a new icon into its nationalist tabernacle. A National Implementation Committee has asked the government to confer a Bharat Ratna on Gaidinliu. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is systematically seeking to re-establish oft forgotten nationalist icons. Nanaji Deshmukh, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, Sri Aurobindo, Swami Vivekananda, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Hemu

Vikramaditya, Ayyankali, Sri Narayana Guru, Rajendra Chola and Shaheed Ashfaqullah Khan

dom, celebrated as heroes by the nations they fought for. However, it is not history but the govern-

Rani Ma Gaidinliu

are the new presiding deities of holistic Indian history. Martyrs are symbols of free-

ment that decides the pantheon of national heroes. The longer the rule of a personality or party, its

India committed to Maldives' security: Swaraj MALE: India has reaffirmed its strong commitment towards security, stability and prosperity of Maldives while favoring expansion of ties in areas like trade and investment. External Affairs Sushma Swaraj

Swaraj made a transit halt here on her return from Mauritius, where she was on a three-day visit. Both Ministers discussed matters of bilateral importance, including upcoming projects in

Foreign Minister and reiterated India's strong commitment towards prosperity, stability and security of Maldives, officials said. She also noted that India and Maldives were entering the 50th year of establishment of diplomatic ties and several e v e n t s would be organized in the coming year to commemorate this important milestone in the bilateral relationship. Over the years, India has extended ecoExternal Affairs Sushma Swaraj with her Maldivian counterpart Dunya Maumoon nomic and technical asheld talks with her Maldivian Maldives executed with India's sistance to Maldives including in counterpart Dunya Maumoon assistance. the areas of health, education, huduring which bilateral and reDuring the meeting, Swaraj ex- man resource development, infragional issues of mutual interests tended Victory Day greetings to structure development and capacwere discussed. the people of Maldives and the ity building. -PTI

their template of heroes that be- parted rigorous military training. come entrenched in the public The Mahila Battalion of her imagination. "In Communist Rus- Army was a force to reckon with. sia and China, the likes of Joseph Her inspiring speeches poured Stalin are venerated as heroes, life even in most passive persons. while in India the Nehru-Gandhi Rani Ma's fight for the freedom of family have turned into demo- the country from the British rule cratic divinities," says Kalidas made her a role-mode for millions Patel, a MumbaI based Chartered of women throughout northeast accountant and a community ac- and the whole country. tivist. In recognition to her services Traditionally, the social insti- to the nation, Government of tutions and village administration were manned by men only. Her inspiring speeches Rani Ma - a great visionpoured life even in most ary and God-gifted divine person understood passive persons. Rani Ma's the significant role of fight for the freedom of the women in building a country from the British rule strong Naga society. After assassination made her a role-mode for of Haipou Jadonang on millions of women through29th August 1931 at Imphal by the then out northeast and the white rulers, the leader- whole country ship of Freedom Movement fell on the shoulders of Rani Ma - then a young Bharat awarded her Tamrapatra in girl of 17. She traveled length and 1972 and Padma Bhushan in 1982. breadth of Zeliangrong area, now She was also awarded Vivekanand scattered in all the three states of Sewa Samman by Bada Bazaar Manipur, Nagaland and Assam. Kumar Sabha Kolkatta. The Indian She strengthened the Freedom postal department brought out a Army; acquired rifles and lethal Postal stamp to commemorate her weapons for her jawans and im- memory.

'Pak using militants as proxies to counter army' Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 6

Following the attack, former Afghan President Karzai denounced the attack and made strong statements supporting relations with India," the report said. The Pentagon informed the Congress that India continues to support Afghanistan, believing a secure and stable Afghanistan will benefit the region and facilitate economic corridors into Central Asia. "India and Afghanistan signed a strategic partnership declaration in 2011, which formalized cooperation on governance, economics, commerce, education, public administration, and security and law enforcement," it said. Subsequent engagements are reinforcing the positive relationship between Afghanistan and India, the report said. "India supports a variety of high-visibility projects and initiatives in Afghanistan. These ven-

tures are focused primarily on major infrastructure projects, including electricity generation and transmission, road construction, and mining," it said. "India has shown increased interest in Afghan security assis-

tance, though activities in this area remain limited. India currently offers India based training to ANSF personnel across a number of specialties and the Indian government committed to expand this program. India does not provide direct military support or training in Afghanistan," the Pentagon said. -PTI

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India calls for enhanced support to LLDCs UNITED NATIONS: India has said that the new development agenda post-2015 must ensure enhanced availability of international financial and technological support to landlocked developing countries. India has also expressed hope that the international community will put in place holistic frameworks to help Landlocked Developing Countries to achieve their development objectives and sustain robust economic growth. "As the global community charts a new path for development in the post-2015 period with the overarching objective of ending poverty and giving a life of dignity to

all, the new development agenda for the Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) would need to address their concerns in a holistic manner," General (Retd) Vijay Kumar Singh, India's Minister of State for External Affairs said. Addressing the 2nd UN Conference on Landlocked Developing Countries in Vienna, Singh said it was imperative that LLDCs are able to generate and sustain robust economic growth and structurally transform their economies to be able to overcome the negative effects of their geographic constraints. "The new development agenda must also

Gen. Vijay Kumar Singh

ensure enhanced availability of international financial and technological support to LLDCs in the spirit of a strengthened global partnership for their development," he said. Singh said India was deeply sensitive to the unique challenges faced by the landlocked developing countries on account of their geography but stressed that these challenges can be overcome. "India enjoys close and historical ties with its landlocked neighbors and attaches the highest priority to further enhancing our friendly and good neighborly relations, including through the strengthening of trade relations and cooperation on transit issues," he said. Noting that the new Indian government has put a renewed emphasis on building the linkages between the countries in its immediate neighborhood, Singh highlighted India's historic cultural and economic ties with the LLDCs in its region including Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan. "India has a longstanding tradition of being a reliable partner in south-south cooperation sharing our limited means and expertise in a spirit of solidarity," he said. While this is not a substitute for the development assistance such as the Official development assistance (ODA) by the developed countries, we remain committed

"India has a longstanding tradition of being a reliable partner in south-south cooperation sharing our limited means and expertise in a spirit of solidarity," he said to continue our development partnership through trade measures, concessional loans and grants, training and scholarships and other forms of joint ventures, he said. Singh, however, added that the LLDCs as a group continue to face daunting developmental challenges due to constraints imposed by their geographical location. "Despite high growth rates, the share of LLDCs in global trade remains modest and restricted to a few products. Landlocked developing countries remain fragile and vulnerable to external shocks, not only because of their high transport and transit costs, but also due to their lack of economic diversification, limited productive capacities and low export competitiveness," he said. He said that an effective solution to the problems faced by LLDCs must also address the constraints and challenges faced by the transit developing countries that neighbor landlocked developing countries in a holistic and integrated manner. "It is important therefore for the international community, development partners and the international organizations to give equal emphasis to supporting the efforts of the transit developing countries," he said.-PTI

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India, Mauritius to safeguard Indian Ocean PORT LOUIS: The Indian Navy is committed to ensuring the safety and security of the strategically vital Indian Ocean region in cooperation with the coast guards of Mauritius, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said here. "Maritime security is of vital significance for an island nation like Mauritius as well as for a country with a vast coastline like India," Swaraj said in her speech here. "A large part of our trade passes through the vast expanse of the Indian Ocean. Safety and security of the sea-lanes is thus indispensable for our territorial, economic and energy security," she added. "The Indian Navy is committed to ensuring the safety and security of these sea-lanes in co-

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addresses Mauritius- India Business meet on November 3

operation with the National Coast Guard of Mauritius," she said. Swaraj was on a three-day visit to the Indian Ocean nation, to cel-

ebrate 'Apravasi Divas', marking 180 years since the first Indian indentured laborers arrived in Mauritius.

India, Pakistan spar over Kashmir at UNGA UNITED NATIONS: Sparring over Kashmir at the UN General Assembly, India and Pakistan have again exchanged verbal volleys over the issue with the Indian delegate dubbing the remarks of his Pakistani counterpart as "unsolicited comments" that were "factually incorrect". According to a summary on the UN website of a meeting in the General Assembly's Third Committee that deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues, Pakistani delegate Diyar Khan raised the issue of Kashmir by saying that he regretted that the people of Jammu and Kashmir had been "deprived of their right to self-determination." Participating in the session on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and right to self-determination here, Khan said the right to self-determination must be exercised in an environment free from coercion or duress, as electoral processes held in situations of foreign occupation or alien domination did not reflect people's true wishes. He said self-determination did not lapse with the passage of time and neither could it be "set aside" by charges of terrorism. Indian delegate Mayank Joshi stressed that Pakistan's "unsolicited comments" pertaining to Jammu and Kashmir were "factually incorrect", according to the meeting's summary. He said free, fair and open elections were regularly held in that territory at all levels. Joshi said India was a multi-re-

ligious, multi-ethnic and multi-lingual society, fully committed to the goal of eliminating all forms of discrimination. Exercising the Right of Reply, the Pakistani representative said that the Indian delegation had "alleged" that Jammu and Kashmir was part of India. He refuted this assertion made by India saying that the UN Security Council had adopted sev-

eral resolutions declaring Jammu and Kashmir as a "disputed territory". Khan claimed that the elections in Jammu and Kashmir had been rejected by the United Nations and the Kashmiri people. Resolutions had clarified that no electoral exercise conducted by the Indian authorities could be a substitute for a free plebiscite held by the United Nations, he said.-PTI

New app tells how long you have left to live WASHINGTON: Developers of a new app claim it can determine the date of your death by analyzing data on your lifestyle, height, blood pressure, sleep and physical activity. The app, called Deadline, uses iphone's Healthkit to "determine your date of expiration." Healthkit tool records statistical information, like the user's height and diastolic blood pressure, and monitors their sleep and the amount of steps they take in a day. Using this data and a short survey with more questions about their lifestyle, the app determines the approximate date and time of

a person's demise, and then counts down how much time they have left, 'bustle.com' reported. The app's developers Gist LLC pointed out in the product's description, "no app can really accurately determine when you will die." Instead, the company suggests using the app as a way to monitor your own health and motivate yourself to make better lifestyle choices or consult a physician, if necessary. Users can change their predicted date of death by following a healthy diet and an active exercise routine. -PTI

Three ships from the Western Fleet of the Indian Navy namely, INS Mumbai, INS Deepak and INS Talwar were also docked in

Mauritian waters to enhance and deepen security ties. "These ships have been deployed to Mauritius with a view to qualitatively enhancing our long standing and multi-faceted cooperation in ensuring peace, stability and maritime security in the Indian Ocean region," Swaraj said. "This will go a long way in further strengthening our deeprooted cooperation and that our friendship, including in defense sector, will grow from strength to strength in times to come," she added. Earlier, Swaraj met Mauritian President Rajkeswur Purryag and Prime Minister Navinchandra Ramgoolam and discussed bilateral and regional issues of common interest. -PTI

India to include Mauritius in Visa on Arrival scheme PORT LOUIS: India is working its achievements in various on the inclusion of Mauritius in fields, be it political, economic, the group of countries to be listed scientific, or cultural. in its Visa on Arrival scheme, Ex"From Ebene to Silicon Valley, ternal Affairs Minister Sushma the Indian Diaspora has made Swaraj said here describing the valuable contribution to the bilateral ties as truly unique and socio-economic fabric of their extraordinary. adopted countries. We also be"Mauritius was the first and lieve that the Indian Diaspora has largest recipient of indentured la- much more to contribute to the bor from India, and is home to building of modern India. the Aapravasi Ghat, a spiritual To facilitate, and promote the and emotional shrine to the engagement of Diaspora, the new memory of these brave souls," government recently announced Swaraj said at the inauguration the merging of Persons of Indian of the International Conference Origin and Overseas Citizens of on Indentured Labor Route Project here. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I would also like to take this "India's relationship with Mauritius is truly opportunity to invite you all unique and extraordi- to attend the Pravasi nary, and is anchored in the footsteps im- Bharatiya Divas being orgaprinted on the sixteen nized in Gandhinagar, steps of the Aapravasi Gujarat from 7-9 January Ghat by the first Indians that landed there 2015, which happens to be 180 years back," she the 100th anniversary of said. Swaraj said India Gandhiji's return to Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; has long supported Mauritius in all its efforts to re- India schemes as well as other search, document and preserve benefits. this precious history, and the In"Meanwhile, we have already dentured Labor Route Project can granted lifetime visa-free access also be assured of the full sup- to India to all PIO card-holders. port of India. We are also working on the inPraising the Indian community clusion of Mauritius in the next around the world, Swaraj said, group of countries to be included "India is extremely proud of its in our Visa on Arrival scheme," Diaspora around the world, and she said.-PTI

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Indian-origin businessman shot dead by robbers LONDON: A 35-year-old Indian-origin businessman has been killed by robbers after he confronted them outside his shop in Manchester in the UK, police said. Pragaret Singh, a father of three young children, was shot dead when he confronted two robbers

Detective Superintendent Jon Chadwick said: "Although this investigation remains in its infancy, at this stage we believe Charlie's death was the result of simply trying to protect his business from armed robbers, during which he was shot at least twice." The robbers are believed to

Charlie's entire family have suffered an unimaginable loss. Their lives have been shattered and specially-trained officers will be providing as much support as the family need over the coming days and weeks," Chadwick said who attacked him as he closed the shop for the night. Singh was found with gunshot wounds to his abdomen and chest at Manchester Food Traders in the Openshaw suburb. Detectives said Singh, known to family and friends as Charlie, is believed to have grappled with at least one of the men before being shot. Singh died later in a hospital.

have made off with a "large amount of money". Armed officers swooped on the scene in Wood Street, east Manchester, and found Singh, from Swinton, lying nearby. Chadwick added that Singh's family had been left absolutely and utterly distraught" at his murder. He said: "At this stage of our

inquiry we believe this is the tragic death of an innocent businessman and father-of-three who was simply trying to protect his livelihood from criminals." "As a result, Charlie's entire family have suffered an unimaginable loss. Their lives have been shattered and specially-trained officers will be providing as much support as the family need over the coming days and weeks," Chadwick said. Singh's brother Toggy told the Manchester Evening News his brother was a hard-working family man with a wife, Sukhwinder, and children aged two, five and seven. Assistant Chief Constable Zoe Sheard said there would be a visible police presence in the area for the coming days and weeks. "I would also urge people to ensure their security measures are in place, such as making sure any CCTV is working, looking out for anyone suspicious hanging around the area and being aware of your surroundings when locking up," he added. -PTI

Bill Gates to give USD 500 million for malaria WASHINGTON: US philanthropist Bill Gates has announced he will donate over USD 500 million to fight malaria and other infectious diseases in the developing world, saying the Ebola outbreak is a call to action. The former Microsoft CEO told the 63rd annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene in New Orleans that his Gates Foundation is committing more than USD 500 million in 2014 "to reduce the burden of malaria, pneumonia, diarrheal diseases, and an array of parasitic infections that are leading causes of death and disability in developing countries," a statement said. Gates also said that in addition to that pledge, his foundation has boosted its annual funding for malaria by 30 percent. Gates described the Ebola epidemic that has killed more than 4,900 people in West Africa since the beginning of the year as a "critical moment in the history of global health," and said the world's largest outbreak of the hemorrhagic fever underscores the need for stronger efforts to stay ahead of disease threats such

as drug-resistant malaria and dengue fever. "The Ebola epidemic has shown, once again, that in today's interconnected world, health challenges anywhere create health challenges everywhere -- and the best way to overcome those challenges is to dedicate ourselves to

Bill Gates

the great cause of reducing the global burden of infectious disease," Gates said in his prepared remarks. The Gates Foundation announced in September a USD 50million commitment to help scale up efforts to contain the Ebola

outbreak. The more than USD 500 million announced by him includes over USD 150 million to the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative to advance development of next-generation malaria vaccines, and USD 29 million to the Clinton Health Access Initiative to support malaria elimination efforts in Southern Africa and the G r e a t e r Mekong Subregion of Southeast Asia. Gates said the rise in resistance to effective malaria drugs in Southeast Asia should serve as a warning, that better research and development is needed to "stay ahead of the natural evolution of infectious diseases." Gates said that eradicating malaria by the middle of this century is "both a necessary objective and an attainable one." -AFP

Missing Indian waiter's body found ROME: The body of an Indian Sicilian passenger Maria Grazia waiter, who was the last missing Trecarichi, were found in August. victim of the shipwrecked Costa A year after the Concordia hit a Concordia, has been found while Tuscan rock on January 13, 2012 in dismantling the vessel, nearly the disaster, a Spanish diver died three years after Italy's worst post- while working on the salvage operawar maritime disaster. tion, taking the total death toll to 33. The remains of the 32nd and In addition to the 32 people last victim from the January 2012 who lost their lives in the disasCosta Concordia disaster, Indian ter, hundreds were injured. waiter Russel Rebello, were found The incident also caused masin a cabin in the wreck in Genoa sive economic damage for Costa where it is set to be scrapped. Cruises and the residents of Giglio Russel Rebello's brother Kevin, Island, which is a popular tourist in a Facebook post said, "Costa destination, Italian news agency Concordia after 1,025 days. I ANSA reported. promised my family that I will bring back home my brother some The incident also caused day...My younger brother Russel massive economic damage Rebello's body has fi- for Costa Cruises and the nally been found on residents of Giglio Island, deck 8 in a cabin of the wrecked Concordia, which is a popular tourist who guarded him for destination more that 1,025 days." "I don't have words to express. Just My pain my tears, Former captain Francesco my heart pounding harder and my Schettino is on trial for multiple body trembling, when i Broke the manslaughter and dereliction of news to my parents a while duty, and could face up to 20 ago...Thanks to everyone who years in prison if he is found guilty. prayed and believed that one day Dubbed "Captain Coward" by he would be found," Kevin said. the media for allegedly abandon"Now we wait for the DNA test ing ship without overseeing the and the procedures to give Russel evacuation, Schettino claims his his final resting place with honor, image and actions have been disrespect and a hero's welcome. In- torted by investigators and redia we are coming," he said. cently called on judges for a new The remains of the 31st victim, probe.-PTI

Indian-origin man jailed for 15 years for fraud NEW YORK: An Indian-origin man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in the US for a USD 20 million investment fraud in which he targeted members of the Indian- Fijian community. Vincent Singh, 45, of Elk Grove was sentenced by the US court to 15 and a half years in prison for wire fraud and false statements in bankruptcy, the US Attorney Benjamin Wagner said. According to court documents, Singh carried out an investment fraud through an entity known as the Perfect Financial Group. He targeted 190 members of the ethnic Indian-Fijian community for an investment fraud that grossed approximately USD 20 million. Singh told investors that he was using their money for hard money lending but actually used

USD 12 million for gambling, made USD two million in cash withdrawals, spent USD 880,000 on a film project and spent more than USD 1 million on other business ventures. He also used millions of dollars of investor money to pay early investors, which made the enterprise look successful. The scheme collapsed, and when Singh declared bankruptcy, he failed to disclose 19 of the bank accounts that he had used in the investment fraud. "Singh convinced people who considered him a friend to invest with him. Rather than invest the funds, he spent it on gambling and frivolous projects. The sentence brings a measure of justice, but it cannot right the wrongs Singh's conduct visited on his nearly 200 victims," Wagner said. -PTI

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World Trade Center reopens, 13 years after attack NEW YORK: The silvery skyscraper that rose from the ashes of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to become a symbol of American resilience has opened for business, as 175 employees of the magazine publishing giant

whole again," said Patrick Foye, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns both the building and the World Trade Center site. Steps away from the new 1,776foot (541-metre) tower are two

Charles Townsend, CEO of Conde Nast, arrives at One World Trade Center with Patricia Röckenwagner, senior vice president of Corporate Branding and Communications, Monday, Nov. 3, in New York

Conde Nast settled into their first day of work there. The opening of the country's tallest building, One World Trade Center, marked a symbolic return to a sense of normalcy for the site where the twin towers fell more than 13 years ago. "The New York City skyline is

memorial fountains built on the footprints of the decimated towers, a reminder of the more than 2,700 people who died. Conde Nast, publisher of Vogue, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, is expected to move in about 3,000 more employees by early next year, eventually occu-

pying 25 floors of the USD 3.9 billion, 104-story tower. Privately, some Conde Nast employees acknowledged that they were nervous about working in a skyscraper that could again be a terrorist target. Foye countered that it's "the most secure office building in America." And its chief architect, TJ Gottesdiener, said the high-rise was built with steel-reinforced concrete that makes it as terror attack-proof as possible - much stronger than the original towers that collapsed when the hijacked planes hit. The stairwells are built with a hardened concrete core, and wider to allow firefighters to move while people exit. The building's mechanical systems are also encased in hardened concrete. "If my son told me he had a job in the trade center Tower 1, I would have no qualms about him being there," Gottesdiener said. One World Trade Center is 60 per cent leased. Its eight-year construction came after years of political, financial and legal infighting that threatened to derail the project. The area has prospered in recent years. About 60,000 more residents now live in the area "three times more than before 9/11" keeping streets, restaurants and shops alive even after Wall Street and other offices close for the day. Still, it's a bittersweet victory. "The city and the world were watching us, and we had to do it right, to do it better than before," Gottesdiener said. "And we did it, we finally did it." -AP

World acknowledging Pak support to terror NEW DELHI: India has described Pentagon's report that Pakistan was using militant groups as proxies to counter the superior Indian military a manifestation of growing acknowledgment globally of the extent of the neighboring country's involvement in international terrorism. In a blunt assessment of terrorist safe havens in Pakistan, the Pentagon has told the US Congress that "Afghan- and Indian-focused militants continue to operate from Pakistan territory to the detriment of Afghan and regional stability." "Pakistan uses these proxy forces to hedge against the loss of influence in Afghanistan and

to counter India's superior military," the Pentagon told in its latest six- monthly report on the current situation in Afghanistan.

Syed Akbaruddin

Reacting to the Pentagon report, official spokesperson in External Affairs Ministry Syed

Akbaruddin said, "It manifests a growing acknowledgment in the international community of the extent of Pakistan's involvement in international terrorism." In its report running into more than 100 pages, the Pentagon further added that "These relationships run counter to Pakistan's public commitment to support Afghan-led reconciliation. Such groups continue to act as the primary irritant in Afghan-Pakistan bilateral relations" and referred to the attack on the Indian Consulate in Herat, which it said was done just ahead of the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.PTI

No decision on compensation to 1984 riot victims NEW DELHI: The Home Min- killed in Delhi alone while rest of istry has informed the Election the victims were from Uttar Commission that it has not taken Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya a decision on providing Rs five Pradesh, Maharashtra and other lakh compensation to the next of states. kin of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot vicThe Narendra Modi Governtims and has thus not violated the ment had received several petiModel Code of Conduct. Responding to an EC letter, the ministry clarified that it has not taken a decision and not formally announced it. As the deadline ended this evening for it to respond to the Home Minister Rajnath Singh EC letter, the ministry made its stand clear on the issue. tions from various Sikh organizaThe ministry told the poll body tions in the last three months that it has not violated the MCC, about the grievances of the vicEC sources said. tims' families. It may be recalled that the GovThe fresh compensation is exernment had expressed its inten- pected to cost the exchequer Rs tion to give Rs five lakh each to 166 crore. the next of kin of 3,325 victims of The anti-Sikhs riots were trigthe 1984 anti-Sikh riots triggered gered following the assassination after assassination of the then of the then Prime Minister Indira Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards Of the 3,325 victims, 2,733 were on October 31, 1984. -PTI

Sikhs seek Obama's help on justice for 1984 riots WASHINGTON: Sikh-Ameri- India on the need to provide juscans have sought US President tice to the victims and survivors. Barack Obama's help in getting The letter further says that "orjustice for the victims of the 1984 ganized massacres" followed the anti-Sikh riots that occurred after assassination of Prime Minister the assassination of the then Indira Gandhi by two of her Sikh Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. bodyguards on October 31, 1984. "Only 30 people have been "However, the entire Sikh comconvicted for these crimes, with munity was targeted in retribution, police and prosecutorial authori- while the Delhi police largely did ties failing to bring government and party officials allegedly involved ‘The entire Sikh community to justice," a number of was targeted in retribution, Sikh American organizations said in a letter while the Delhi police largely did nothing to protect to the US President. "Given the important them,’ the letter said role that India is poised to play, and is increasingly seeking, in setting interna- nothing to protect them," the lettional policy - potentially as a per- ter said. manent member of the United Na"Although the government tions Security Council - we urge promptly convicted and executed you to address impunity for the those responsible for conspiring 1984 premeditated violence in Gandhi's assassination, it has alyour engagement with India," the lowed most of those responsible letter said. for the anti-Sikh violence to elude Written jointly by Ensaaf, Hu- prosecution, owing to flawed inman Rights Watch and the Sikh vestigations, intimidation of witCoalition, the letter urges the nesses and the destruction and Obama administration to suppression of evidence by postrengthen its engagement with lice officials," it said. -PTI

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India's past in biting satire by Sudhir Tailang NEW DELHI: Artfully chronicling three decades of the country's tumultuous political past, renowned cartoonist Sudhir Tailang's solo exhibition "Here and Now (Rajiv to Modi)," offers a unique look into the events that shaped the destiny of a nation, a glimpse unsparing in purview and biting in satire. "All I wanted to do when I was younger was to be a gate keeper at cinema theatres. But now I have ended up as a cartoonist," said the renowned cartoonist during the inauguration of his exhibition here recently. "You are not a politician of any consequence if you are not in cartoons. It's a measurement of your stature in politics. When a politician stops appearing in cartoons, that's the beginning of the end of his political career," he added. Tailang, who in the recent past suffered from brain tumor, has made a remarkable comeback from the surgery to the art gallery. "You can remove a tumor from my brain, but not the humor," he quipped. From Rajiv Gandhi to Narendra Modi, the exhibition traces the fortunes of the Prime Ministers of the country in the backdrop of important happenings. Caricatures of political figures like I K Gujral and Manmohan Singh, start off as sidekicks but slowly evolve

into main subjects of the sketches. Personalities cutting across the political spectrum including senior BJP veteran L K Advani, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan, Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, Left leader Sitaram Yechury and Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal, all of whom and who had one time or the other been the subject of Tailang's scathing eye

Tailang, who in the recent past suffered from brain tumor, has made a remarkable comeback. â&#x20AC;&#x153;You can remove a tumor from my brain, but not the humor," turned up at the inauguration of his show. The cartoonist demonstrated that he was as outspoken in real life as he was in his cartoons. "My biggest victim has been Advaniji. I have depicted him in over a thousand cartoons, most of which have been critical. Mr Yechury has also appeared

in my sketches several times. I have often said that his is the only leftist who is left," he said. "It is only politicians who can laugh at themselves can be trusted and those who cannot do the same cannot be trusted to protect democratic ideals of the country," he said. "It is unfortunate that in a democracy we have politicians who throw people into jail for depicting them as cartoons. Then there was the time when the Parliament decided to ban not just a Shankar cartoon on B R Ambedkar in one text book but all cartoons, on all leaders, in all textbooks," he said. Tailang said he reveled in highlighting a topic close to his heart- the freedom of artistic expression. He has sketched an array of popular comic characters including Tintin, Donald Duck and Beetle Bailey holding placards proclaiming 'laugh and let laugh', which also finds its place in the ongoing exhibition. Tailang recalled Narasimha Rao as the personality he enjoyed drawing the most. "Narasimha Rao was my favorite caricature. Initially my sketches did not resemble him, but with time he started resembling my sketches," he said.-PTI

Penn varsity offers 'wasting time on internet' course WASHINGTON: A prestigious Ivy League University is offering a new course on 'wasting time on the Internet' which requires students to stare at a screen for hours

According to the course description on the university's website, "we spend our lives in front of screens, mostly wasting time: checking social media,

and only interact via chat rooms and social media. The Department of English at the University of Pennsylvania is offering the course titled "Wasting time on the Internet" for the spring 2015 semester.

watching cat videos, chatting, and shopping. What if these activities - clicking, SMSing, status-updating, and random surfing - were used as raw material for creating compelling and emotional works of literature?"

"Could we reconstruct our autobiography using only Facebook? Could we write a great novella by plundering our Twitter feed? Could we reframe the internet as the greatest poem ever written? "Using our laptops and a wifi connection as our only materials, this class will focus on the alchemical recuperation of aimless surfing into substantial works of literature," the description said. Students will be required to attend a weekly three hour seminar where they stare at the screen for three hours, only interacting through chat rooms, bots, social media and listservs. The students will also explore the long history of the recuperation of boredom and time-wasting through critical texts by thinkers such as John Cage, Betty Friedan and Guy Debord. Distraction, multi-tasking, and aimless drifting is mandatory, the course description added. -PTI

Chappell rubbishes but teammates back Tendulkar's claims NEW DELHI/MELBOURNE: his comeback into the national Sachin Tendulkar's scathing at- team and called him a "control tack on Greg Chappell has re- freak", Harbhajan said that the ceived the whole-hearted backing Australian "temporarily deof two of his then teammates - stroyed Indian cricket" and tarZaheer Khan and Harbhajan geted the senior players. Singh - even as the Australian hit "After he was appointed the back at the batting maestro's claim coach of the Indian team, he once that he tried to topple Rahul came up to me and told "Zaheer, Dravid as captain. you will not be playing for India A day after Tendulkar's revela- till I remain the coach," Zaheer told tions that Chappell tried offering PTI. Zaheer said that Chappell's him the captaincy at the expense two-year phase in Indian cricket of Dravid barely a few months was "easily the worst and darkest before the 2007 World Cup, the phase" that he could remember. Australian denied discussing "I understood one thing. This such a possibility with the now- man had agendas and was getting retired legend. personal. He had his set ideas and In his autobiography - 'Playing if you didn't fall in line, then you it My Way' - Tendulkar has have to be prepared to fall by the claimed that the Australian visited his house and tried to convince him to take over the captaincy from Dravid. But Chappell said he was stunned by the claims. "Whilst I don't propose to get into a war of words, I can state quite clearly that during my time as Indian coach I never contemplated Sachin replacing Rahul Dravid as captain," Sachin Tendulkar and Greg Chappell Chappell said in a statement. "I was therefore very surprised wayside. to read the claims made in the He tried to finish my career but book. During those years, I only I believe I came back even stronever visited Sachin's home once, ger in South Africa during the end and that was with our physio and of 2006," said the left-arm pacer, assistant coach during Sachin's who has 311 Test and 282 ODI rehabilitation from injury, at least wickets in his 14-year-interna12 months earlier than what was tional career. reported in the book," he said. Zaheer didn't stop short of callChappell said he enjoyed a ing him a "control freak". pleasant afternoon at Tendulkar's "He had some issues with the home and the captaincy issue senior guys in the team. He tried never came up for discussion. many ways to stop my comeback Tendulkar, in the book, said that into Indian team during the phase he was shocked by Chappell's when I was out of the team for suggestion and the lack of respect nearly a year. I came to know later shown to Dravid. that every time when my name was Tendulkar is scathing in his discussed, he (Chappell) would criticism of Chappell, who was the find means to delay my comeback national coach from 2005 to 2007, by 3-4 months," added Zaheer. describing him as a "ringmaster Harbhajan echoed the sentiwho imposed his ideas on the ments but added that a few playplayers without showing any ers in the team were complicit in signs of being concerned about feeding wrong information to whether they felt comfortable or Chappell. not". "Chappell destroyed Indian However, Zaheer and cricket to such an extent that it Harbhajan supported Tendulkar's required at least three years to version of the events, stating that again get back on track. The worst they too had been victims of part was some players in that team, Chappell's dictatorial style of func- who sucked up to the coach and tioning. would supply selective misinforWhile Zaheer claimed that mation creating bigger rifts," Chappell tried his best to prevent Harbhajan said.-PTI

Desi News Thousands attend BAPS Diwali celebration SURENDRA ULLAL & ANAND SONI

IACS hosts Mega Diversity Job Fair SURENDRA ULLAL

COMMUNITY ACROSS AMERICA

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Grand celebration of Tulsi Vivah at Grayslake temple Details on page 23

November 7, 2014

Sri Sri highlights value of meditation and joy of giving ZANKAR DESAI & ASIAN MEDIA USA

CHICAGO: Yatra Tatra Sarvatra - here there and everywhere wherever Indian spiritual Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar goes he is sure to get the warmest welcome and reception not only from members of the Indian community but also from mainstream Americans and elected officials. This was more than evident when he decided to visit St Louis ahead of his trip to Chicago for Laxmi Puja and meditation workshop. St. Louis city council declared October 23 as Sri Sri Ravishankar Day in recognition of his immense contribution towards unity in the society and empowerment of women and youth.

Sri Sri Ravishankar presented with Declaration by St Louis officials

Art of Living. Officials from Webster University, Washington University, Compassionate St.

riots and looting in the wake of killing of African American Mike Brown by a White policeman.

The session was highlighted by a keynote address with Sri Sri talking about the roots of racism, stress and declining human values and outlining a path to removing these through culturing inner peace, and educating children to be part of a one world family. He talked about the value of meditation in light of what's happened in Ferguson, connecting the theme of inner peace to world peace. He then led a meditation with the huge crowd - many of whom who had never meditated before - that left the room of 1000+ in pin-drop silence During the audience question & answer session that followed,

Details on page 19

Gujarati Samaj Chicago celebrates Diwali HARISH RAO

A section of the crowd in St Louis with Sri Sri

Close to one thousand people including many officials in and around the area flocked to the St. Charles Convention Center where an evening meeting was organized by the local St Louis Facility of

Sri Sri Ravi Shanker lighting lamp in Chicago

Louis, as well as civic and community leaders besides the Mayor of Ferguson city, James Knowles, were in attendance. Ferguson city has been in news recently in the wake of widespread

Mayor Knowles came to seek blessing and advice from Sri Sri who had visited the troubled territories in Pakistan and Iraq "to bring together hostile parties caught in the hardest conflicts."

Acharya Joshi helps conduciting Lakshmi Pooja

Sri Sri explained, "It's time we move from infant joy where we just want to get something all the time, to mature joy, where our concern is what we can give." Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 20

Art of Living activists in Chicago, Nita Virani and Vinesh Virani paying their tributes to Goddess Laksmhi

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Tulsi Gabbard to visit India next year dynamic leadership of Narendra Modi observing "it was a great opportunity to meet him during his recent visit here." After her short speech there was a question answer session. Questions were put to her relating to her job, aid to Pakistan, China, women issues , rights and equal opportunity and equal pay etc. She replied to all of them in detail and clarified her views. Vinesh Virani, community activist, proposed a vote of thanks to Tulsi and all the supporters present. He asked for maximum possible donation observing the legal limit of $5200 per person whether it comes from a US citizen or a legal US resident.

Asian Media & IPNS

CHICAGO: Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said here that there was a huge scope for close cooperation between United States and India in many areas specifically health, technology, space travel, education and culture, and it would be most appropriate and important to cement the existing ties further between the two democracies, especially after the visit of Indian PM Narendra Modi a month ago. She indicated that she planned a visit to India in foreseeable future and alluded to the fact that Narendra Modi had invited her personally during her meeting with him in New York. Congresswoman Tulsi was addressing a fundraising dinner meet hosted in Chicagoland by her supporters and fans led by Dr Bharat Barai,

Tulsi Gabbard with fundraising supporters

A good number of professionals, community leaders and elites from all walks of life attended the event on Sunday, October 26 at Schaumburg Hotel & Conferen

Tulsi Gabbard with Nirav Patel

Balwinder Singh, Nirav Patel and Vinesh Virani among others. A good number of professionals, community leaders and elites from all walks of life attended the event on Sunday, October 26 at Schaumburg Hotel & Conferen, in Schaumburg, a northwest suburb of Chicago. Welcoming guests and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, Dr Bharat Barai pointed out that Tulsi Gabbard is among the first two female war veterans and the first Hindu member of the US Congress. He observed that she would be a winner in years to

come. In terminology of horse racing, she is a horse of long race. She was a staunch supporter of Narendra Modi even before he became the Indian PM. He appealed to all to donate generously towards her fund. Responding to the warm support and welcome accorded to her, Tulsi Gabbard appreciated the

Tulsi Gabbard addressing the audience

Tulsi Gabbard and Viranis

Dr Bharat Barai addressing the audience

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Thousands attend BAPS Diwali celebration SURENDRA ULLAL & ANAND SONI

CHICAGO: The BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Bartlett celebrated Diwali on October 23 and 24 with usual pomp and gaiety. Over 15000 devotees, invitees and guests attended the celebration. The celebrations had in fact begun much earlier on Saturday October 11 as children learned about cultural traditions at the Kids Diwali. The program included skits and funfilled games to engage a younger audience. Arts and crafts stations were set up to illustrate traditions and teachings of Diwali. The Diwali celebration continued with grand fireworks show on October 18 with music, videos, and traditional dances. As fireworks lit up the night sky over the Mandir, young children danced and saw how the Festival of Lights is celebrated in India. Nemi Nabiraj from Elk Grove added, "We practice Jainism and celebrate for different reasons, but it's important to come here and celebrate with other community members as well." Mike Herz, a resident of Des Plaines, attending for the first time said, "I've volunteered at a lot of events, and the spirit of service at this celebration that I witnessed was phenomenal. It's so great to see the youth so involved and enthusiastic about celebrating their culture and giving back to their community-at-large." Kristen Ras, an educator from Wheaton, teaches religion at St. Francis High School,

Devotees and guests at the BAPS Mandir

attends the Diwali festivities at BAPS every year. She stated, "I'm extremely impressed by the volunteer work by the youth

and how they implement their values in their daily lives outside of Mandir and give back to their communities." The celebration continued the day after Diwali with the beginning of the Hindu New Year with a grand offering of the Annakut ('a mountain of food'). Consisting of over a thousand different vegetarian food items, it is prepared by devotees, to thank God for His providence over the past year and to seek His blessings for the year ahead. Each year, the BAPS Mandir in Bartlett also holds a themed exhibition to showcase important values and highlight how Indian-Americans can share their heritage with their larger community. This year's exhibit encompassed environmentalfriendly decorations with a historical perspective, as the Mandir recognized the 150th anniversary of the life of the founder of BAPS, Shastriji Maharaj. He championed maintaining peace and harmony within the family unit and in society, and encouraging community involvement. He inspired many to change their lives as much as with the start of the new Hindu year. Dressed up in traditional, colorful clothes, families and friends wished each other sentiments of prosperity. Adults, community members, and young children eagerly visited the Mandir to view the colorful dĂŠcor,

various food dishes, creative fruit carvings, and imaginative artwork Community members prayed that the coming year will bring joy and peace to their family and pass along these cultural traditions and values to coming generations. BAPS, a worldwide socio-spiritual organization, is dedicated to community service, peace and harmony. Motivated by Hindu principles, BAPS strives to care for the world by caring for societies, families and

Annakut Darshan

individuals. Through social and spiritual activities, BAPS endeavors to produce better citizens of tomorrow who have a high esteem for their roots. Its 3,300 international centers support these character-building activities. Under the guidance and leadership of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, BAPS aspires to build a community that is morally, ethically and spiritually pure, and free of addictions.

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IACS hosts Mega Diversity Job Fair SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: The Indian American Community Services (IACS), a Chicagoland based no profit organization, continued its recently developed practice of aiding jobseekers throughout the country by organizing its fifth annual Mega Diversity Job Fair on October 28 at the Hilton Hotel in Chicago. The event created quite a buzz, and provided opportunities to both companies and jobseekers. It attracted more than 1000 jobseekers and 50 companies from broad range of industries. Job seekers came from several areas such as: Chicago, Michigan, Wisconsin and Indiana. Prakash, a job seeker who completed his undergraduation in IIT in Chennai India and is currently in second year MIS program at UIC, said, "I came to this job fair last year and ended up interning at CME Group during summer. This year, I see newer companies here. This event is a great source of opportunity for students" IACS also provided free professional resume critiques and counseling sessions led by industry experts at the job fair. Parag Thakkar, a Senior Manager from Deloitte, was also in the team of industry experts that IACS assembled for free resume critique

Job seekers visiting various booths including AT&T

In total, 50 companies participated in the job fair. Other large companies who attended include: Dover, AT&T, PNC, BP, Ulta, Chicago Tribune, and Rush University

W.W Grainger representatives talk to a job seeker

services. He mentioned, "This was a great service I have been part of. More than 400 job seekers in varied career fields both experienced and entry level candidates that attended this event benefited from this service." The Job fair attracted many large companies such as W.W. Grainger, ITW, L&T Infotech and L&T Technologies, Exelon, Allstate who were all corporate sponsors.

Medical Center. Gigi Alfonso, who was coordinating the Grainger's booth, stated that, "Grainger is always looking to hire diverse candidates with great talent and we are already in process of setting up interviews for the selected candidates from this Job fair." Griffin Goldin from Exelon said that "It was truly amazing to see so much diverse talent here from multiple ethnicities - this

Job seekers talking to the L&T Infotech representatives

job fair provided great platform for Exelon" Jagan Bukkaraju secretary of IACS said "Our team has been working throughout the year to bring in this Job Fair. It is truly satisfying to see that we were able to help people from all different backgrounds in the Chicago Tri-state area." Sreenivas Katragadda, president of the organization, said that as part of its ongoing efforts, IACS will introduce diversity job fairs in several cities over the next two years.

It will conduct Diversity Job Fairs this year in Dallas and New York and the decision to expand the organization's footprint is driven by the overwhelming demand for the range of community services offered by IACS." IACS is dedicated to empowering the South Asian community through a variety of events including: Woman's conferences, Leadership Intern programs, professional and leadership networking, and Business and Entrepreneurial conferences.

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Sri Sri highlights value of meditation & joy of giving Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 16

He stated that there is much work to do in the community, and encouraged everyone to find how they can contribute in a positive way. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Guruji) was in Chicago from October 23

Addressing the gathering Guruji said, "Happy Diwali to all and Happy and Prosperous New Year to Gujaratis. Diwali is the festival of Light, Joy and Prosperity. Diyas are a symbol of real life joy which can be attained by banishing darkness of ignorance from

Wedding Expo at Waterford attracts hundreds

he said. Through his initiatives and addresses, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has consistently emphasized the need for reinforcing human values and recognizing humanity as our highest identity. Fostering interfaith harmony and calling for multi-cul-

Ravi Rawat, Prajnesh Gandhi, Neelam Bhardwaj and a guest

RAMESH SOPARAWALA India Post News Service

Musicians at Bhajan session

to 26 and one of the biggest draws was conducting Lakshmi Pooja on Hindu New Year day at Hilton Chicago. The Pooja on Friday October 24 was open to all and free of charge. Attendance at the event was huge with the Hilton Pooja room jam packed. People from all walks of life such as political, entertainment, education, business, medical, IT (Information Technology), community leaders and most importantly students from universities and the US born second generation youngsters - participated in the event very enthusiastically. Acharya Rohit Joshi of Northeastern Illinois University conducted religious Pooja ceremony propitiating Goddess Lakshmi following strict rituals. He pointed out that students, staff and community of Northeastern Illinois University have been fortunate to have Darshan of Guru Ji on campus couple of times in past. Nita Virani and Vinesh Virani also met Dean Murrell J. H. Duster for setting up Art of Living courses on campus of NEIU.

your heart. Pooja renews our contact with divinity. Pooja is a process to awaken divinity." Acharya Rohit Joshi said that the festival of light known popularly as Deepawali means "that we must create the rows of enlight-

There were people from different countries and communities of the world including lot of Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Mexicans who were not only present but took part in deliberations ened persons. Guru Sri Sri Ji recommends that each one is supposed to light one lamp. When everyone gets enlightened, the entire universe will glow light dispelling the darkness of ignorance,

Ecscatic crowd during the pooja

tural education as the remedy for fanaticism are significant parts of his efforts to achieve sustainable peace on our planet. Lakshmi Pooja was celebrated with devotion and enthusiasm. Tiny divas were lit to drive away the shadows of evil spirits. Bhajans, devotional songs in praise of Goddess Lakshmi, were sung by a group of musicians and singers making the whole atmosphere spiritually uplifted. "Naivedya" of traditional sweets was offered to the Goddess, Annakut, comprising 108 foods and everybody had divine Darshan. Aarti was performed followed by distribution of packets of prasad. There were people from different countries and communities of the world including lot of Americans, Japanese, Chinese, Mexicans who were not only present but took part in deliberations and danced to the tunes of Bhajans in the company of Guruji himself. This was a unique scene to witness.

CHICAGO: With fifty plus vendors displaying their wares and over one thousand visitors from across Chicago and neighboring States coming to Waterford Banquet, the fourth Wedding Expo organized jointly by India House and Waterford Banquets was a huge success. Ravi Rawat, one of the two organizing brains behind the Expo, said that the success has induced "us to have one more such Mela in April next.' It creates a good awareness among people from Indian sub-continent residing here that everything they need for having a successful wedding gala is available here and that too at competitive prices, he said. Vendors ranging from Mandap decorators to Jewelry dealers,

dress makers, photographers, video graphers and caterers also exuded confidence and happiness that they have now a good platform to convince the potential buyers that they are here to serve them and meet their all requirements pertaining to wedding. "Why go to India or Pakistan then" quipped a beaming vendor. Indra Rami, specializing in Mandap and Mandap decorations, said that he has been a regular participant for the past four such expositions and this time he " came up with novel concepts and decoration pieces to show that we cannot be outdone in creations, ideas and prices." He was happy that he did not miss this Mela that attracted hundreds of visitors. Poonam Creations too had a fair share of visitors to their shop.

Indra Rami with his huge mandap

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Wedding Expo at Waterford attracts hundreds Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 20

Bagias had a jewelry outlet on Devon Avenue but here they had decided to come out with varieties of dresses and to their immense satisfaction they were besieged by customers. Jewelers abounded and Kate Sandu, the coordinator

Dave was a pianist and also stole some attraction though his live play. Prajnesh Gandhi of Waterford Banquet in a talk to this paper said that he was very much grateful to vendors and public alike for their huge cooperation and encouragement. The space for the wedding

Crowd of visitors and Bagias seen marketing dresses

Rawats at the reception area Elegance DĂŠcor

said that there were seven to eight of them in the Mela. The number of photographers - Shan and Syed - are regulars and so also Happy Farm that assures Bridegrooms of getting them easy rides on Horse backs.

expo was provided by Waterford Banquet courtesy Gandhi and the excellent food - right from panni puri to chat, Chinese cuisines, Punjabi dishes, Gujarati items culminating with sweets - cakes and tea - were taken care of by India

Maharaja Carrier for Baratis

The Fashion show was an additional attraction and it was hosted by Sakhi Selections and Sadhana Fashions. The event was eye catching and hundreds plus enjoyed presentations for abut one and half hours. Shreepad

House and Ravi Rawat. Paying handsome tribute to the tasty and mouth watering food items at the Expo, Madhu Patel of NRI Press Club said that they literally put in great flavor and made the event worth visiting again and again.

Fashion models

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Gujarati Samaj Chicago celebrates Diwali HARISH RAO

CHICAGO: Gujarati Samaj, a Chicago based no profit organization, hosted a grand Diwali Gala Dinner highlighted with a live musical concert on Saturday, October 18 at India House Banquet in Schaumburg. The event that started at 6 pm lasted till well past midnight and was greatly enjoyed by more than 600 members and guests. The MC for the occasion was Manish Pandya, Cultural Secretary, who kept the crowd actively engaged for the entire length of the program. The program began with two prayers sung by Alka and Sunny on Lord Ganesh. President Suryakant Patel welcomed all the guests and thanked members for bringing the best Diwali celebration for all. The organization has expanded with leaps and bounds adding 15 to 20 new life members every year. Besides four mains events - Bowling, Summer Picnic, Navratri and Diwali party - they introduced Mix

Lamp Lighting: Jayesh Parikh, General Secretary; Manish Pandya, Cultural Secretary; Mrs Urvashi Patel - New GSC President; Mr Suryakant Patel - Former GSC President; Mrs Harsha C Patel; Chhotabhai A Patel - Chief Guest;

event's Chief Chhotalal Patel who in his inspiring speech narrated a few incidents of his life here, including his experience with security personnel The orchestra team led by upon entering. He urged to absorb the Sunny Jadhav known as good parts of the socithe "Voice of Kishore ety here without giving Kumar" lifted the spirit of all up "our culture and Gujarati spirit". present through rendering This was followed by the lighting of beautiful songs. "Deepawali Diya" by office bearers and all & Mingle and achieved great suc- sponsors recognized then. The cess. The GSC's website is re- orchestra team led by Sunny freshed and efforts continue to im- Jadhav known as the "Voice of prove it for everyone's benefit in- Kishore Kumar" lifted the spirit of cluding the vendors and spon- all present through rendering sors, according to General Secre- beautiful songs. Alka Thakur was a treat for ears tary Jayesh Parikh. Jayesh Parikh introduced the singing Asha, Lata and Alka

songs. Kanwarlal, an excellent mimicry artist, pleased all with a wide range of poetry and shayari. And finally, Kalpesh Kharwa, a young and talented singer, sang songs of artists such as Rahat Fateh Ali Khan and Mohammed Rafi. Anand Chaudhari anchored the Entertainment Program. Mrs Urvashi Patel was introduced as GSC's new President who introduced her 2014-2015 Executive Board consisting of -Bhavesh Shah; Cultural Secretary-Manish Pandya; Jt. Cultural Secretary-Nirisha Shah; TreasurerSandip Shah; Jt.TreasurerDakshesh Modi; Board Members: Vibha Dave; Payal Shah; Nikunj Baxi; Ashok Shah; Chandrika Shah; Devang Desai. Kamlesh Shah gave a final vote of thanks.

Gujarati Samaj of Chicago Executive Board and Sponsors of GSC Diwali Gala Dinner event

McDonald Educational Seminar a big success BABU TANGEWALA

DALLAS, TX: The 2014 McDonald's Educational Seminar hosted by Southern News Group on Saturday, October 25 at John Paul II High School, Plano was a huge success. This workshop was supported by the Indian American Friendship Council (IAFC), Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce and US-China Chamber of Commerce of Dallas. More than 300 students and parents attended the educational seminar with lot of enthusiasm and excitement to know more about the college admission process and the available scholarship opportunities. L-R Kamal Kaushal, Dr Yu Meng, David Ku, Wea H. Lee, Richardson City Mayor Laura Maczka, Jessica Yang, Dr Prasad Thotakura and Roger Hung

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Grand celebration of Tulsi Vivah at Grayslake temple HARISH RAO

CHICAGO: A large number of devotees flocked to Hindu Mandir in Grayslake on Sunday afternoon to attend the 'Vivah Samaroh' - a marriage of Tulsi and Saligram (Lord Krishna) - watching the ritual with reverence. Grand decorations and a genuine marriage-like atmosphere marked the celebration of Tulsi Vivah. Devendra Patel, Dr Harsh Kumar, and Vandana Jhingan families welcomed the Baarat of Lord Krishna led by Sanjay Jetva family by exchanging Uttariyas and big hugs. Pt. Anil Joshi Ji performed an elaborate Gotrachaar. Other devotees of the temple were treated as the groom's and bride's relatives. This holy wedding ceremony started with Ganesh and Var Pujan followed by Kanya and Gow Daana. With all the mantras the marriage was commemorated and rice mixed with vermilion was showered on the holy couple, Tulsi and Shaligram. Exchange of Jaya Mala was witnessed by the devotees with great enthusiasm as they were able to observe Shri Krishna, marrying Holy Tulsi

Pt Joshi conducting Puja

orders and many others. Tulsi is planted at the entrance of the Hindu house to bring good fortune and positive energy in the house. A Hindu household is not complete without the holy plant Tulsi.

Commencement of Tulsi Vivah at Grayslake Hindu Temple

dressed up in traditional Indian Every person who performs wedding clothes. Rita Patel, Atul the wedding of Tulsi to Lord Soni, Atwal, Ajay Ghai and others Vishnu earns the credit of performsung devotional and spiritually ing Kanyadaan (to marry off one's uplifting wedding and farewell daughter). Pt Joshi said that one songs. Pt Joshi explained the story and signifi- Geetha Patil decorated the cance of Tulsi in our life deities and prepared a saying that " we respect all the living crea- beautiful mandapam for tures and worship the Tulsi Vivah ceremony. plants such as Tulsi, Pipal, Banana, and Bodi trees." Tulsi plant, he pointed purpose of organizing this vivah out, has several medicinal prop- is to make people, particularly our erties giving out oxygen for 20 younger generation, aware of Inhours and ozone for 4 hours a day dian rituals and culture. along with its nascent oxygen Geetha Patil decorated the deiwhich absorbs harmful gases like ties and prepared a beautiful carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide mandapam for the Tulsi Vivah cerand sulphur dioxide from the en- emony. Dr Harsh Kumar thanked vironment. all devotees for their active parTulsi extracts can also be used ticipation and volunteers for their to cure many common ailments hard work in making every event like headache, cold, stomach dis- of the temple a grand success.

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South Asians celebrate Diwali with officials India Post News Service

NEW YORK: The spirit of Diwali continues with South Asians for Right Choice (SA4RC) celebrating the event with several elected officials. Hosted by SA4RC (South Asian For Right Choice - Pam Kwatra, Eric Kumar & Team), Co-hosted by Congresswoman Grace Meng & Public Advocate Letitia "Tish" James, several elected officials, Organization

Presidents, Community leaders and over 350 people from all over Tri- State graced the occasion at Richie Rich Restaurant in Queens. The overall event was coordinated by Eric Kumar and Flora Parekh General Secretary for SA4RC. Elected officials and representatives namely Senator James Sanders, Senator Toby Stavisky, Assembly Member David Weprin, Councilmen Peter Koo, Assembly Member Felix Ortiz, Hon. John Liu, Emily Saltzman Representative from Governor Cuomo's office, Meena Malik Representative from District Attorney Ken Thompson's office, Mohammad Hack Representative from Queens Borough President Melinda Katz's office, and Dev Awasthi, Representative from NYC comptroller Scott Stringer's office. Inspector Brian Maguire Head of Queens Narcotics and Captain Danielle Raiai Executive officer from 102nd Pct, graced the event with their presence. Elected Offi-

increase the number of appointed officials and enhance the coordination & bonding with our community" said Pam Kwatra, Founder and Chairwoman. "SA4RC was created with the goal and need of providing a united front for the South Asian community to actively participate in the American governing and electoral process," said Eric Kumar, Co-Founder & Vice Chair. Congresswoman Grace Meng & Public Advocate Letitia "Tish" James, honored SA4RC with a

cials shared their views on Diwali and the importance of South Asian community involvement & support in the political process. "SA4RC is a goal-based united front to deal with elected officials & candidates running for offices, become influential in legislation that affects the concerns of the South Asian community, encourage and support our fellow South Asians in running for offices and

Proclamation for its outstanding services to the South Asian & American community. Three distinguished community leaders Hemant Mathur, Jarnail Singh & Flora Parekh - were honored by Congresswoman Grace Meng and Public Advocate Letitia "Tish" James for their excellent contribution to community services. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 27

November 7, 2014

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Sikhs to honor founders of Palatine Gurughar

McDonald Educational Seminar a big success Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 22

THAKAR BASATI

CHICAGO: The Sikh community of Chicago will honor the founders of Palatine Gurdwara Sahib on Saturday November 22 at Sikh Religious Society in Palatine from 10 am to noon. Sehaj Pathh will start on Friday November 7 in the morning and Sangat is requested to participate in the Pathh. There were some people in the 70s who took personal loans to purchase 3.5 acre wooded land on a lake. Today the Gurughar stands on more than 11 acre land. Palatine Gurughar is the first and largest Gurdwara Sahib in mid west. "So thhann suhava" is very well reflected here.

Many people contributed later to purchase land and build buildings. Everybody says "Wow" when they see today's building. It amazes many non-Sikh visitors

quested to come and share memories. Light snacks and Langar will be served. If you would like to participate in Pathh or celebration, or

that almost everything is done here by volunteers. "There is a history that needs to be preserved. Everyone who was involved is re-

you have memories to share, kindly let Mrs Jasbir Kaur Saluja, at 847-676-4576 or S.Jaidev Singh Bhattal at 847-732-7681 know.

Wea Lea, Chairman & CEO, Southern News Group, in his welcome address thanked McDonald for their community involvement and support, students and parents for attending in large numbers and special guests for taking time to attend this important seminar. Dr Prasad Thotakura. TX State Coordinator IAFC, stated that just perfect SAT Scores, 4.0 GPA are not enough to get into good schools. Students must identify themselves as they are very innovative, motivated with a lot of enthusiasm to progress and prove they not only excel in studies but also in extra circular activities like community service, leadership roles and should exhibit their unique talents, hobbies, special skills etc., Education became very expensive and highly competitive. Students must be ready today to face the challenges of tomorrow.

Dr David Kusin, Alumnus of Harvard University in his keynote address mentioned that Harvard University gets more than 36,000 applications every year but only 2,000 students will get in. Students must be honest, prove themselves that they are something else beyond studies, unique in nature and they will add a lot of value to the educational institution that they want to get in and the society that they are in with their knowledge, thought process and behavior. Angela Chen thanked John Paul Scholl management for providing their excellent facility, all students, parents, volunteers and special guests for participating, several community organizations for their support and Media Partners eKnazar.com and Cheerinus.com for their promotional help and the last but not the least McDonald Company for their unconditional support in making the event successful.

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November 7, 2014

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South Asians celebrate Diwali with officials

Congress Woman Grace Meng with Honoree Flora Parekh Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 25

The festivities started with "Lightning of the lamps" or diyas by the elected officials, SA4RC team & distinguished community leaders, followed by American Anthem & Indian Anthem by Master of Ceremonies Eric Kumar & Flora Parekh. The celebrations continued with the surprise birthday celebration of Congresswoman Grace Meng followed by several official / community leaders greeting and dancing to the tunes of professional singer Varsha Joshi & DJ Vic.

The venue was beautifully decorated with traditional diyas and rangoli by Taran Bir Kaur - Joint Secretary of SA4RC. Miss South Asia International 2014, Trisha Guduru welcomed all guests with a traditional Vermillion tika and the guests were warmly hosted by SA4RC Executive Committee members Dr Raj Bhayani, Paresh Parekh and SA4RC Treasurer Raj Wadhwa. SA4RC Advisors Rupal Sehgal and Vishal Sharma along with a team of volunteers welcomed at over 350+ attendees at this weekday event. Richie Rich restaurant provided delicious food to all invitees. Beautiful dance number by Nikki and Simran Jagda cast a spell on the audience. The event ended with a Vote of thanks from Pam Kwatra and a box of delicious Diwali sweets to all attendees.

TOP TEN HINDI FILM SONGS

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November 7, 2014

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eepika Padukone is all set to romance Salman Khan in Yash Raj banner next movie. Deepika always wanted to work with Salman but things did not work out for both of them and now it seems things are working in their favor and very soon audience will get to see the electrifying pair together for the first time. The

film in question will be directed by Ali Abbas Zafar of 'Gunday' fame. The actors have not yet signed on the dotted lines but talk is in progress. Most of them might not know that the first film offered to the long legged dusky beauty was by Salman Khan but unfortunately Deepika failed to do it as she was very young then. Speaking about her first Bollywood offer, the long legged actress said, "He offered me my first film when I was too young and I was not ready to be in front of the camera. I will always be grateful to him. Just the fact that he offered me a film was a great thing. It is taking a long time for us to come together on screen, so I think there is something special waiting for us." According to a past report, Deepika was also approached for a special song for Salman Khan's 'Kick' but she turned down the offer.

1 Meherbaan : Bang Bang 2 Manwa Laage : Happy New Year 3 Tere Ho Ke Rahenge : Raja Natwarlal 4 Bang Bang: Bang Bang 5 Lovely : Happy New Year 6 Bismil : Haider 7Tu Meri : Bang Bang 8 India Waale : Happy New Year 9 Sawaan Aaya Hai : Creature 3D 10 Naina: Khoobsurat

Most of them might not know that the first film offered to the long legged dusky beauty was by Salman Khan but unfortunately Deepika failed to do it as she was very young then

t was an angel's dream. And Shruti Haasan had to make it come true. The actress recently took a day off from the shoot of her ongoing film, Yaara, and her hunky co-star Vidyut Jammwal to drive down to Pune and spend the day with Sheetal Pawar, a child battling the Big C who has been confined to a hospital for months now. Sheetal recently returned home and her only wish was to meet her favorite poster girl. Not wanting to disappoint her, the family managed to get in touch with Shruti with some apprehension. But their fears turned out to be misplaced as Shruti readily agreed to meet Sheetal, and insisted she will come over to their home in Pune. True to her word, Shruti landed up at Sheetal's place and the two chatted away about all things movies and music. When it was time to leave, Shruti was gracious enough to give her new friend a hand-written personalized letter, which is now the teen's prized possession.

Sheetal recently returned home and her only wish was to meet her favorite poster girl. Not wanting to disappoint her, the family managed to get in touch with Shruti with some apprehension.

Bollywood

November 7, 2014

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eha Dhupia has parted ways with her Venezuelan boyfriend James Sylvester. The two were in a seri ous relationship since three years and James had virtually settled down in India. But a few months ago, he flew back to the US. According to a friend of the couple, that's when the downslide began. "Things ceased to be the same between Neha and James after he went from India. They tried to keep the long-distance relationship going, but things just didn't work out," says the friend. When contacted, Neha said: "Yes, Jimmy (as she fondly calls him) has moved to Washington. Beyond this, I don't wish to comment on my personal life." Adds the friend, "Jimmy was wooing Neha ardently. Everyday he had a surprise for her, they were madly in love. Their common friends still hope that they get back."

"Yes, Jimmy (as she fondly calls him) has moved to Washington. Beyond this, I don't wish to comment on my personal life."

riyanka Chopra has been making headlines ever since she was announced as part of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani. While an image of the actress made its rounds on the internet, several started speculating on how it was her look as Kashibai in the magnum opus. However, Priyanka is amused by the rumors and took to a popular microblogging site to clarify the same - "This image is from an ashram during Navratri" tweeted the actress. Putting the rumors to rest Sanjay Leela Bhansali's spokesperson says, "This is to clarify that the image of Priyanka Chopra in the saree that has been floating online is not from Bajirao Mastani - Her look has been kept under wraps".

ollywood actor Kal Penn was all praise for Saqib Saleem in his recent press interactions during the promotions of his up-coming film based on the Bhopal gas tragedy. Talking about some of the recent Bollywood films that he loved watching, Kal mentioned 'Mere Dad ki Maruti' and 'Bombay Talkies' and said that he thought Saqib was 'insanely awesome' in the latter. While praising the newer generation of Indian film makers and actors, he expressed his desire to do a buddy comedy with Saqib.

Tech News Canon India elevates EVP Alok Bharadwaj NEW DELHI: Canon India has elevated Executive Vice President Alok Bharadwaj to international operations in Singapore where he would join its headquarters for South East & South Asia business.

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Google offers Hindi voice search NEW DELHI: Aimed at bringing 300 million people online, search giant Google has partnered content providers like ABP News and Amar Ujala, along with government agency, CDAC to make regional content available on Internet. Google, which currently offers voice search in English, has also added Hindi language service and plans to other languages like Tamil, Marathi and Bengali to the list in coming months.-PTI

Black money: Swiss banks mull anticipatory measures The change is effective January 1, 2015, Canon said in a statement. Bharadwaj would be reporting to Canon's South East & South Asia operations President & CEO Kensaku Konishi, it added. He will head corporate strategy group in Singapore and will be responsible for strategic business planning and execution as well as corporate communications for Canon's South East & South Asian regional operations, the statement added. Apart from that, he would also oversee business development in emerging Asian markets in this region. Bharadwaj, an alumnus of FMS Delhi, has been working with Canon from last 13 years and under his leadership the company registered a record-breaking expansion to emerge as an imaging industry leader in India. -PTI

India-China trade through Lipulekh pass at Rs 3 cr PITHORAGARH: Border trade worth over Rs 3 crore took place between India and China this year through Lipulekh pass in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand, according to final figures released by Dharchula sub-division of the district. Indian traders imported goods worth Rs 2,14,71707 from Taklakot Mart in Chinese territory of Tibet while they sold goods worth Rs 19,12,0515 to their Tibetan clients. "The imported goods include Pashmina wool, raw Tibetan wool jackets, shoes, and animal skin, besides several medicinal herbs while exported items include tobacco, sugar candy, jaggery (Gur) and items of daily use," said Pramod Kumar, designated trade officer and SDM of Dharchula. According to the official, a total of 273 persons, including 89 traders and their helpers had gone to Taklakot mart in western Tibet to transact business. -PTI

BERNE/NEW DELHI: As probe into suspected black money stashed abroad by Indians gathers steam, banks in Switzerland are running from pillar to post to safeguard their interest while some are also considering financial provisions in their books for possible penal actions and legal costs. At the same time, banks are also lobbying with the Swiss government to insist on putting in place necessary measures in their information-exchange and administrative assistance frameworks with India for safeguarding the interest of banking institutions during the subsequent prosecution and other legal or regulatory proceedings in the black money cases. Sources, however, said that the role of some banks, as also that of certain bankers, has already come under scanner for acting in concert with the suspected black money hoarders and also for making 'safe haven' promises for their funds. The suspected lapses on the part of at least three large European banks, including two from Switzerland itself and the third having a significant presence in the Alpine nation, are also being

probed for allegedly facilitating rerouting funds of certain Indian corporate houses back into their listed companies as foreign investments. Capital market watchdog Sebi

pected to have taken place in case of 15-20 Indian companies, a senior official said, but refused to disclose their names as also that of the banks saying it might impede the investigations.

is probing at least three large global banks and many Indian companies for alleged round tripping of funds by way of multi-layered transactions, while the regulatory noose has further tightened in these cases with involvement of other regulatory and enforcement agencies. Such transactions are sus-

Some portfolio managers at some banks, which have a significant presence in the Indian financial markets, could have helped clients route money back into the country as foreign funds using investment vehicles across jurisdictions. So far, the focus of this Supreme Court monitored probe has mainly

remained on the persons and entities from India suspected to have stashed illicit wealth in overseas locations including Swiss banks. However, as the probe moves further, including by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) with two former Supreme Court judges as Chairman and Vice-Chairman along with members from various investigative and regulatory agencies, the banks are turning wary about possible action against them going ahead. Senior executives at various banks, including three large ones headquartered in Switzerland and the Swiss units of some major European banks, said that they are considering making financial provisions as anticipatory measures to deal with any action involving them in India's black money probe. The banks are also said to be lobbying with the Swiss government that it should ask the Indian authorities to put in place a 'settlement' mechanism to deal with the suspected entities, including the banks and their customers, before seeking any assistance in its black money probe. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 32

Mauritius to help SIT's black money probe PORT LOUIS: Mauritius, often accused of being a route for round-tripping of funds by Indians, has conveyed to Indian government that it was ready to support its Special Investigation Team (SIT) to unearth black money. This was conveyed to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade Arvin Boolell during a meeting here, the External Affairs Ministry spokesperson said. Boolell conveyed that Mauritius will take measures to ensure it remains "jurisdiction of repute", he said.

Mauritius used to be the biggest gateway for flow of funds into India through FDI as well as FII routes, but its position has come down amid concerns about this

in by overseas investors into Indian markets. According to Sebi, Mauritius accounted for Rs 3.31 lakh crore worth 'assets under custody' of

Mauritius used to be the biggest gateway for flow of funds into India through FDI as well as FII routes, but its position has come down amid concerns about this island nation being used for round-tripping of funds. island nation being used for round-tripping of funds. It recently slipped to the second place after the US in terms of quantum of money being brought

foreign institutional investors in the Indian equity and debt markets at the end of 2013, as against over Rs 4.37 lakh crore in case of the US.

Fund flows from Mauritius have fallen amid concerns about suspected money-laundering, even though this Indian Ocean island nation has been consistently denying such allegations. India has concerns that Mauritius, which is one of the top sources of foreign direct investments into the country, is being used for round-tripping of funds. Round-tripping is usually referred to routing of domestic investments through Mauritius to take advantage of the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA) between the two countries. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 32

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November 7, 2014

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WhatsApp user-base TCS NY Marathon most technologically advanced crosses 70 mn in India NEW YORK: India's IT giant and the title sponsor for New York City Marathon, TCS has vowed to make the world's premier long-distance athletic event the most advanced race using its core tech-

cially called "TCS New York City Marathon", channelised through the city's five boroughs and witnessed over 50,000 runners. Kenyans emerged winners of the men's and women's title.

Tata Consultancy Services CEO Natarajan Chandrasekaran at the New York city Marathon on November 2

nology skills. "We will make this the most technologically advanced marathon in the years to come. "It is a great privilege for TCS to partner with the city for the marathon," Natarajan Chandrasekaran, CEO and MD of TCS said on Sunday, adding that partnering for the race was a "first of its kind" experience for TCS. The 26.2 mile (36.16 kilometers) running event, which is now offi-

As hundreds of thousands lined the route to cheer the participants, millions watched the event on televisions. Tata Consultancy Services went on a massive image-building exercise as it flooded the metropolis with tens of thousands of its logo. Chandrasekaran said the technology shift that the world is seeing on is one of its kind and there is a huge opportunity to aspire and imagine what the future

can be because of these technologies. "From the society perspective, whether it is running or education, so many things can happen because of the technology," he said. Chandrasekaran said TCS also aspires to make the marathon a more technology-enriched and socially engaged experience for all its participants and fans across the world, using its core technology skills. Kenya's Wilson Kipsang, who previously won marathon titles in Berlin, London and New York, emerged the winner in the men's category, finishing the marathon in two hours and 10 minutes. Mary Keitany, who returned to running in a marathon after giving birth to her second child, won in the women's category. She won in 2 hours, 25 minutes, 7 seconds - three seconds ahead of her closest competitor Jemima Sumgong and recorded closest finish in the history of the women's race. The exhibit featured touchscreen technology from TCS and allowed marathoners, spectators and running fans to journey through the five boroughs and head through the finish line arches to receive a commemorative prize. The TCS New York City Marathon is part of the World Marathon Majors, an alliance of the world's six most important marathons, that each year determines the world's top male and female marathoner.-PTI

80% traffic coming from phones: OLX NEW DELHI: Online classifieds platform OLX says it expects traffic on its website to grow at a strong pace, driven by increasing penetration of smartphones in the country. India, which already accounts for the highest number of listings, had about 1.5 billion monthly page views generated from the country. The NaspersBacked firm generated more than 11 billion monthly page views. It is present in over 106 countries in 40 languages. "Mobile users have fueled a significant portion of OLX's growth, particularly in major emerging markets like Brazil and India. In India, we have a con-

sumer-to-consumer (C2C) marketplace, which has worked well for us. India has the highest number of listings compared to other markets where we are present," OLX India CEO Amarjit Batra told PTI. OLX.in's traffic has

grown 150 times in the last 3.5 years, when its first television Ad was released. "With 80 per cent of our traffic

now coming from mobile, we are on the verge of becoming a mobile-only company. A major chunk is coming from used mobile and electronics, household goods, cars and bikes," Batra said. OLX is available in more than 40 countries and over 50 languages. It connects local people to buy, sell or exchange used goods and services. It has more than 1,200 committed employees worldwide located in Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, New Delhi, Jakarta, Lagos, Lisbon, Manila, Nairobi, Poznan, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. -PTI

MUMBAI: Mobile messenger service WhatsApp's user base in India has grown to 70 million active-users, which is over a 10th of its global users, its business head Neeraj Arora has said. "We have 70 million active-users here who use the application at least once a month," Arora, a vice-president with WhatsApp, said at the fifth annual INK Conference here. He said the total user-base for the company, which was bought by Facebook in a blockbuster USD 19-billion deal earlier this year, is 600 million. With over a 10th of the users from the country, India is one of the biggest markets for WhatsApp, he said, adding connecting billions of people in markets like India and Brazil is the aim of the company. Arora, an alumnus of IIT-Delhi and ISB Hyderabad, said WhatsApp will continue to hold a distinct identity even after the takeover by Facebook and will not get merged with the social networking giant. He said WhatsApp, which has only 80 employees, will benefit through learnings from the social networking giant. Arora, who first heard of WhatsApp as a business devel-

opment executive for the Internet search giant Google and later joined as its business head, said it took two years to stitch the USD 19 billion deal announced this April. Interestingly, Arora said he would have paid a fraction of the sum to buy WhatsApp three years back. It would have been in "low tens of million" dollars, he said stressing that the company has grown a

lot since then. Arora said the user-base has doubled to 600 million from the 30 million when he joined three years ago. The company has flourished because of its focus on the product, rather than the business side of things, he said. "The founders wanted to develop a cool product which will be used by millions and did not have business things like valuations," he said, stressing that this continues to be a motto of the company. -PTI

Govt to decide on minesweeper vessels' deal NEW DELHI: The government will soon take a call on a proposed defense deal of over Rs 2,000 crore for acquisition of eight minesweeper vessels from a South Korean firm with Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi reportedly opining that the tender conditions have been violated. The deal has been stuck for long because of allegations of involvement of middlemen and the new government had sought an opinion from the AG. Now with the opinion in hand, the government will take its next course of action soon, sources said here. Vendors have to sign a pre-contract Integrity Pact stating that there will be no middlemen involved. The Korean firm, Kangnam Cor-

poration, was shoplifted during UPA tenure as it was the cheaper of total three firms that had bid for the proposal floated in 2008. The Navy wants eight 800tonne vessels with composite antimagnetic hulls that can clear sea mines during war. As per the proposal, two vessels would be imported from the foreign vendor for about Rs 2,300 crore, a cost that covers technology transfer to build the remaining six vessels at the Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL). The Modi government had, in August this year, scrapped a seven-year-old global tender worth thousands of crores for the acquisition of 197 helicopters for the Army and IAF after the acquisition process was mired in allegations of corruption. -PTI

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Asian mobile apps challenge tech giants SINGAPORE: Asian-origin mobile applications LINE, YAY and WeChat are posing challenges to technology giants Apple, Facebook, Google and other telecoms carriers, cutting into their market shares, according to a Singapore -based firm. These social messaging services have become alternatives and offer more options for product advertisers, providers of goods and services and mobile apps, said Nakul Gupta, the Chief Technology Officer at Clone Algo group. New inventions allow Tencent Holdings' WeChat users to book taxis, top up phone credit, while Clone Algo's YAY App users are able to talk and chat free besides being able to apply for online for micro loans and use Clone Algo trading algorithms. Highlighting some of the latest achievements of these applications, Gupta said that in Thailand, Naver Corp's LINE broke all records recently through a "flash sales via its app" with more than five million users signing up to buy lipsticks and other products. Companies marketing these services are further strengthening their product lines and marketing

through acquisitions and raising funds for more research and development work, he said. Rakuten Inc has acquired messaging company Viber for USD 900 million to gain further ground in the market place. To support its market and R&D work, Singapore-based Clone Algo is raising USD 250 Million at a valuation of USD 11 billion while Line has similar placement plans,

users around the globe and especially the ever increasing numbers of mobile-savvy consumers in India and China. Over 50 per cent of the active smart phones are on these userfriendly apps, which has already replaced the traditional short messages or SMSes. "The market has become very attractive," said Gupta, pointing out that some companies have

according to banking sources. Recently launched YAY had difficulties in penetrating some of the smaller emerging markets because of the lack of scale or distribution infrastructure. "But with the launch of YAY Micro loans, the service can now penetrate markets with our digital businesses," said Gupta of the Clone Algo. All these service providers are competing for market share especially the billions of mobile phone

built a base of over 10 million per app. YAY, LINE, KakaoTalk and WeChat have emerged as some of the most popular in Asia with their offers of mixes of chat, downloadable icons and loans. Though not ignorant of the challenges, the big players are not in a position to challenges the newcomers who are usually dominant in their domestic markets YAY in India and Middle East, LINE in Japan, KakaoTalk in South Korea and WeChat in China. -PTI

Black money: Swiss banks mull anticipatory measures Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 30

Following a high-level delegation visit from India, Switzerland last month agreed to cooperate on matters related to verification of genuineness of accounts and reply to requests for banking account details in a time-bound manner, and also to initiate a process to include India among the countries eligible for 'automatic exchange of information'. Under this new agreement, Switzerland has also promised to assist Indian authorities on a priority basis. There has been a huge political uproar over Indian black money allegedly stashed in Swiss banks and the new government has said it is committed to tackling this menace.

On the other hand, some banks are said to be advising their clients to use various 'layering' methods, including by way of share market and export-import routes, to move funds from Switzerland to other locations including India. Other risk-wary banks are, however, have turned cautious about dealing with their Indian clients in the wake of a growing scrutiny of such accounts, as a huge public outcry has made even genuine Swiss bank accounts look like suspicious. A number of Swiss banks, including three with significant global presence, have begun telling their Indian clients to sign undertakings that are aimed at 'derisking' the banking institutions from poten- As per Swiss National tial risks arising out of regulatory actions Bank's latest data, the total against the bank cus- money held by Indians in tomers by foreign govSwiss banks stood at over ernments. Some banks are also Rs 14,000 crore as in Detelling their clients to close their accounts if cember 2013 they are not ready to take such risks, or if they have apprehensions about As per Swiss National Bank's such accounts not being compli- latest data, the total money held ant to regulatory requirements in by Indians in Swiss banks stood their home countries. at over Rs 14,000 crore as in DeThrough these 'derisking' un- cember 2013, up by nearly 42 per dertakings, the customer agrees to cent from a year ago. take responsibility for any posWhile banks put in place necsible regulatory or administrative essary safeguards, there are apcompliance with international prehensions that many of their clinorms. ents are being advised to move the At the same time, the bankers funds through gold, diamond and are also lobbying with the Swiss other routes. government to ensure that any A new strategy of 'layering' has information would be shared with also come to light at Swiss banks their Indian counterpart about ac- to thwart any attempt for identificounts held in Swiss banks only cation of real beneficiary owners after necessary provisions are of funds entrusted with them, as made to safeguard the interest of per government and banking the concerned banking institution. sources.-PTI

Mauritius to help SIT's black money probe Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 30

A view of Ganga arti in Varanasi on the occassion of 51st birthday of Nita Ambani, wife of business tycoon Mukesh Ambani on November 1

The island nation received requests for information in 97 cases from India during one-year period ended August, 2014. According to a Mauritius government official, 85 per cent of those requests have been resolved and efforts are on to address concerns of Indian authorities in the remaining ones. "Between August 2013 and August this year, we have re-

ceived requests in as many as 97 cases for the exchange of information with Indian authorities and we have already provided banking information and other financial details to them in 85 per cent of these cases," M Rawoteea, Head Analyst at Ministry of Finance, Mauritius had told PTI earlier. Over the past few years, effective exchange of information between the two countries has taken place in at least 170 cases. -PTI

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Maruti launches new Alto K10 priced up to Rs 3.82 l NEW DELHI: The country's largest car maker, Maruti Suzuki India has launched the new generation of its small car Alto K10 that comes equipped with automated gear shift and is priced up to Rs 3.82 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). With an eye on reviving growth in its bread and butter mini car segment, the company has also improved the fuel efficiency of the model by 15 per cent. The manual petrol variants of the new Alto K10 are priced between Rs 3.06 lakh and Rs 3.56 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi), while the newly introduced CNG version is tagged at Rs 3.82 lakh (all prices ex-showroom). The auto gear shift variant of the car with petrol engine is priced at Rs 3.80 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi). Maruti is positioning the new car as a mass market product equipped with 'futuristic technology' to cater to "very demanding, value for money conscious customers."

MD & CEO Kenichi Ayukawa and Executive Director, Marketing & Sales RS Kalsi at the launch of Maruti Suzukis next generation Alto K10 in New Delhi on November 3

It has been developed at a cost of Rs 200 crore on the existing platform of the model by its engineers along with counterparts at parent Suzuki Motor Corp in Japan. "Alto K10 is the third Maruti Suzuki car within few weeks where

our suppliers and engineers have improved the fuel efficiency substantially," Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) Managing Director and CEO Kenichi Ayukawa told reporters here. The company has sold 2.6 mil-

Create more jobs in nonfarm sector: Prez NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee has said more jobs need to be created in non-farm sector as employment creation is

dreams of young India, he said that achieving these two tasks pose a formidable challenge considering India has only 2.4 per cent

nation' and not merely 'poverty alleviation'," Mukherjee said at an Assocham event. Since the average age of an Indian will be 29 years by 2020, the country not only has to find gainful employment to engage the growing manpower but also to equip them with capacity and expertise, he said. Stating that job creation is the most potent tool for wiping out the curse of poverty, the President said there is a "freeze in fresh farm jobs" owing to over-employment and therefore more jobs needed to be created in non-farm sector. "To lift the pressure off the farm sector, more President Pranab Mukherjee and ASSOCHAM president Rana Kapoor at an ASSOCHAM jobs in non-farm sector summit on Livelihood Security of India in New Delhi on November 3 are required to be created the most potent tool for bringing of world's geographical area and through a paradigm shift from pridown poverty. 17 per cent of the global popula- mary to secondary agriculture," he Addressing a summit on liveli- tion. added. hood security, he also asked the "In India, the high incidence of Highlighting that food processindustry to create a mechanism for poverty of over 60 per cent that ing sector provides a window for income opportunities and capac- prevailed six decades ago have generating jobs in rural areas and ity building through corporate come down to over 30 per cent small townships, Mukherjee said: social responsibility (CSR). now. ...Even then a sizeable num- "Developing this sunrise sector While emphasizing on the need ber of about 270 million remained calls for greater investment in infrafor providing livelihood security below the poverty line as on 2011- structure like cold chains, handling, to the poor and realizing the 12. Our goal now is 'poverty elimi- packaging and transportation."-PTI

lion Alto cars since it was launched 14 years ago, he added. "We have sold over 4 lakh units of Alto K10 in the last four years," Ayukawa said. After the Celerio, the Alto K10 is the second model to be

equipped with auto gear shift (AGS) feature. It seeks to leverage on the convenience factor of the AGS with high fuel efficiency levels at affordable cost to woo entry-level customers. While the petrol version delivers a mileage of 24.07 km per liter, the CNG variant will have a fuel economy of 32.26 km per kg. It will have six different variants and the AGS option will be available only with the top-end model. The previous version of the Alto K10 was priced between Rs 3.15 lakh and Rs 3.31 lakh (exshowroom Delhi). The new Alto K10 is coming at a time when MSI's sales in the mini segment, comprising Alto and WagonR, witnessed 2.6 per cent decline in the April-October period this fiscal at 2,37,474 units as against 2,43,714 units in the yearago period. In October 2014, it stood at 35,753 units as against 39,379 units in the same month last year, down 9.2 per cent. -PTI

Old shipping laws need to be changed: Gadkari CHENNAI: After proposing to modify the Motor Vehicles Act 1988, the Centre is now planning to change rules for the Shipping Industry, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari has said. "In Shipping we are very much backward. We need all kinds of infrastructure. All laws are old. These should be thrown out," Gadkari said at a meeting organized by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry here late last night. The Ministry, after observing that the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 was old and required modifications, announced its decision to change it recently. "We have the 1988 Motor Vehicles Act. We are going to change it. We do not need an RTO (Regional Transport Office). There was corruption of crores of rupees (in RTO offices) and we are going to stop it," he said. "We need to bring in transparency. We have already started the process. If somebody was seen violating rules through the online system, immediately we can cancel his license or see what are the earlier violations he has done," the minister said. Observing that the country requires nine joint ventures in ship building projects, he said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken

a decision. We are also making a policy (for bringing nine ship building projects). We are searching for national and international companies to have joint ventures." "One company has come forward to do one ship building project. Similarly, we are also looking at ship breaking projects," he said. Similar to Roadways, Gadkari said, the government has planned

Nitin Gadkari

to come out with a consultancy in which 500 projects in the defense sector would be cleared. "In defense, now we have decided to have a bank for 500 projects through DPR. We are making a DPR (detailed project report) and setting up a Project Management Consultancy. For the consultancy, we are giving them responsibility and 500 projects would be cleared without any delay," he said. -PTI

Realty Tidbits

Fitch assigns stable rating to Indiabulls NEW DELHI: Fitch Ratings has assigned a stable rating to Mumbai-based Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd. It has also assigned B+ rating to the company's proposed dollar denominated notes. "Fitch Ratings has assigned India-based Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd (IBREL) a Long-Term Foreign Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of 'B+'. The Outlook is Stable. "The agency has also assigned IBREL's proposed US dollar denominated guaranteed notes an expected rating of 'B+(EXP)' and Recovery Rating of 'RR4'," Fitch said in a statement. The proposed senior notes will be issued IBREL's Jersey- based subsidiary Century Ltd and will be unconditionally and irrevocably guaranteed by IBREL and its key subsidiaries. -PTI

Communities getting $1.9 mn in housing grants

CONCORD, N.H.: Five New Hampshire communities have been approved to receive nearly $1.9 million in grants toward affordable housing projects and repairs. The grants approved by the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority are going to Grafton County, the towns of Conway and Allenstown, and the cities of Claremont and Concord. They await final approval from the Executive Council. One of the larger grants, for $500,000, goes to Allenstown to construct a new Suncook Boys & Girls Club. The new clubhouse will double the number of children served in the community. In July, the authority awarded $700,000 in investment tax credits toward the $1.6 million initiative. Other grants will support energy efficient apartments, housing for seniors and those with developmental disabilities and water system replacement. In Claremont, $300,000 will go to replace the water system at the Pleasant Valley Estates Cooperative. Its 50-yearold pipes have experienced 12 leaks in the past 18 months and sediment has been getting into the drinking water. ``All of these projects have demonstrated they will positively impact the lives of children, families, and seniors throughout New Hampshire,'' said Kevin Flynn, a spokesman for the authority. ``These federal grants will benefit 283 residents, 77 percent of whom are of low-to-moderate income.''-AP

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FDI in real estate may double after easing of rules NEW DELHI: Foreign direct investment (FDI) in the real estate sector could jump over two-fold in the next one year with easing of FDI rules in the construction sector, realtors' body NAREDCO has said. Real estate developers and consultants were of the view that this move would give a fillip to cashstarved realty sector, which is reeling under a slowdown since last 2-3 years. It will help developers in raising funds to complete projects. The Cabinet has relaxed FDI rules in construction sector by reducing minimum built-up area as well as capital requirement and easing the exit norms. "Reduction in minimum built-up area to 20,000 sq meters from 50,000 sq meters and reduction in capital investment to USD 5 million from USD 10 million has the potential to more than double FDI inflows into housing, commercial real estate, hotels and townships in the next one year," NAREDCO Chairman Navin Raheja said in a statement. In 2013-14 fiscal, the FDI in construction development, which include housing and township, was USD 1.22 billion. During April-August period of this fiscal, the sector has attracted USD 446 million worth FDI. Hailing the move, India's largest realty major DLF Group Executive Director Rajeev Talwar said: "Praise to the Finance Minister for being so prompt in meeting the requirements of this industry in his budget announcement, then approval for Real Estate Investment Trusts and now relaxation in FDI norm. There will be huge amount of FDI inflow in this sector". Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra said this would "surely provide a boost to the real estate industry and go a long way in fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi's dream of creating smart cities throughout the country." Permission to sell completed projects to foreign investors will help Indian developers get much needed liquidity into the system, Chandra added.

Parsvnath Developers Chairman Pradeep Jain said: "We are thankful to government for this move. The sector is reeling under acute funding pressure. The foreign investment in real estate has

Terming the decision as a positive development, realty consultant CBRE South Asia CMD Anshuman Magazine said: "Real estate and infrastructure industry is starved of funds. This an-

NAREDCO Chairman Navin Raheja

also gone down in last few years. Hence, this move has sent a positive signal for the real estate sector".

nouncement will widen the base of investors, especially mid-sized financial institutions." It would also encourage new

development projects in prime areas of large cities and in tier II towns, Magazine added. Property consultant Cushman & Wakefield said the move is likely to give fillip to real estate sector. This step would be beneficial for the next phase of urban development. Audit firm KPMG India Partner and Head, Real Estate and Construction Sector Neeraj Bansal said: "Following up with REITs norms, the recent relaxation of FDI norms in construction development is expected to provide an immediate breather to the cashstrapped real estate sector." "The reform would now allow foreign investor to invest in smaller projects spread over land parcel of about 3-4 acres," he added. KPMG expects the policy to support housing and commercial projects in metro cities such as Delhi and Mumbai, where project size is generally small, yet requires heavy investment due to expensive land parcels and high construction cost. Cont’d on page 38

Govt to launch 'rental housing' scheme NEW DELHI: Aiming to provide temporary shelter for migrants and homeless people, the government is firming up a new initiative to launch a rental housing project in the big cities to answer their accommodation needs. "We are launching a major initiative to promote rental housing on a large scale, for which an investment of Rs 6,000 crore is proposed," said a senior Urban Development Ministry official. "Migrants who flock to big cities in search of livelihood often face housing problems. Since most of them are economically weak, they face difficulties in getting suitable accommodation," said the official. According to the plan, the rental housing project is expected to be first taken up in the national capital before being later replicated in other cities.

The project aims at providing shelter to migrants and the homeless for short periods till they acquire their own houses, the official said.

The government hopes that the Housing for All initiative will spur economic growth as it offers huge investment opportunities. The housing shortage is at nearly 18.78 million according to estimates in 2012 and 95 per cent of the shortage is in the low-income category. The NDA government is also

going to launch the Sardar Patel National Urban Housing Mission to enable slum dwellers, economically weaker sections and low income groups to own houses in urban areas. "The Urban Housing Mission is a part of the government's goal of 'Housing for All by 2022'. Under the grand initiative, over 10 crore new houses need to be built in the next eight years," said the official. The government hopes that the Housing for All initiative will spur economic growth as it offers huge investment opportunities. However, the official said, "It requires massive funding as housing in urban areas alone is estimated to cost Rs 22.50 lakh crore. We are keen to promote the private sector in a big way to achieve housing construction targets." -PTI

Real Estate Post

November 7, 2014

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Housing prices rise in 18 cities by up to 3.9 pc NEW DELHI: Housing prices appreciated in 18 major cities by up to 3.9 per cent in April-June over the preceding quarter while property rates fell in six cities including Delhi, according to National Housing Bank (NHB). In the national capital, housing prices dropped by 3 per cent during the first quarter of this fiscal compared with the January-March 2014. Maximum price increase was witnessed in Pune by 3.9 per cent, while Chandigarh saw highest fall of 4.4 per cent, according to NHB's 'RESIDEX'. NHB had launched housing index 'RESIDEX' in July 2007 to track the movement of housing prices on a quarterly basis. It currently covers 26 cities.

Prices in two cities - Hyderabad and Raipur - remained stagnant. "The movement in prices of residential properties for the quarter April-June, 2014 has shown marginal increasing trend in 18 cities ranging from 0.5 per cent in Bhubaneswar to 3.9 per cent in

Pune, and fall in 6 cities ranging from -0.5 per cent in Lucknow to 4.4 per cent in Chandigarh in comparison to the previous quarter January-March, 2014," NHB said in a statement. The appreciation in property prices in majority of cities tracked

Property prices to remain stable for 6 months MUMBAI: Even as the overall sentiment in the real estate sector has improved, buyers feel property prices across top 10 cities are likely to remain stable for the next six months, according to a recent survey. The Housing Sentiment Index (HSI) assessed by IIM Bangalore and real estate portal Magicbricks home buyers across 10 cities Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Noida and Pune - suggests that real estate prices are likely to remain stable over the next six months. The aggregate HSI measured across the cities dropped marginally by four per cent during JulySeptember quarter to 114 compared to April-June period, indicating property prices would remain static. "The Indian real estate consumer is still in the wait and watch mode. While there is active interest in the market, evinced by the time spent by consumers on Magicbricks searching for houses, the consumer still expects prices to hold for at least six months and is willing to wait to buy," Magicbricks Business Head Sudhir Pai said. As per the survey, sentiment in Ahmedabad soared by 30 per cent and can be attributed to the progressive policies and intelligent governance that led to mushrooming of various industries, the report said. "The fact that the current reform-focused Prime Minister

Narendra Modi hails from Ahmedabad has assisted in the heightened positive atmosphere in the city," Pai said. Pune was the only city beside Ahmedabad to register higher sentiments this quarter, while Hyderabad posted an HSI of 104, a drop of 12 per cent as compared to the previous quarter. Bangalore, however, registered a drop in sentiments.

"Although all cities posted positive sentiments, consumers expect prices to remain stable or rise marginally. With the economy expected to perform better, effective policies in the housing sector will ensure that positive sentiments translate into actual purchase," IIMB-Century Real Estate Research Initiative (CRERI) lead researcher Uma Sitaraman said. -PTI

New Florida varsity dorm will be innovative GAINESVILLE, Fla.: Students living in the residence halls on campus at the University of Florida cannot operate a business out of their dorm rooms. Can't have FedEx trucks coming by to pick up packages. Can't have supply trucks dropping off supplies. Can't build prototypes in the community room. A new residence hall being built two blocks east of campus will allow all that and more. In fact, entrepreneurs and startup businesses are welcome. Infinity Hall, a first-of-its kind public-private partnership between the University of Florida and Signet Development, will have dorm space for 308 students to live, eat and sleep, and another 20,000 square feet of space for them to pursue their projects. It's also the first privately funded project in Innovation

Square and the first privatized dorm at UF. The five-story, 97,000square-foot dorm's $23 million cost is being footed entirely by Signet, which also put together the design and construction team. It's also an economic development project for the city of Gainesville that will go back on the tax rolls. ``Signet is the first private-sector partner we've had,'' UF President Bernie Machen said. The residence hall project has special significance for Machen, who is stepping down as UF's 11th president in December. ``It is probably my last project to start as I go walking out the door,'' he said. But it also represents a huge shift in the relationship between UF, the city and county, and private partnerships, he said, anticipating more projects of its kind to come. -AP

by NHB comes at a time when the domestic real estate sector is reeling under a lingering slowdown for last 2-3 years. Maximum increase was observed in Pune (3.9 per cent) followed by Coimbatore (3.5 per cent), Indore (3.3 per cent), Guwahati (3.2 per cent), Patna (2.7 per cent) and Kolkata (2.4 per cent). Housing prices appreciated in Ahmedabad by 1.91 per cent, Vijayawada (1.88 per cent), Mumbai (1.75 per cent), Chennai (1.72 per cent), Ludhiana (1.4 per cent), Bhopal (1.3 per cent), Kochi (1.2 per cent), Jaipur (0.99 per cent), Faridabad (0.96 per cent), Bengaluru (0.93 per cent), Nagpur (0.6 per cent) and Bhubaneswar (0.5 per cent). "Six cities have shown decline

in prices over the previous quarter with maximum fall observed in Chandigarh (-4.4 per cent) followed by Meerut (-3.6 per cent), Delhi (-3 per cent), Surat (-2.4 per cent), Dehradun (-2.1 per cent) and Lucknow (-0.5 per cent)," NHB said. The Residex for the quarter April-June, 2014 has taken into account the price trends for residential properties in different locations and zones in each city and is based upon the transaction data received from Central Registry of Securitization Asset Reconstruction and Security Interest of India (CERSAI). The data based on actual transactions are put through a model that depicts the trend in the market, NHB said. -PTI

FDI in real estate may double after easing of rules Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 39

Echoing similar views, Shriram Properties MD M Murali said: "I would say this is an excellent positive announcement the Government has made appreciating the contribution of construction sector to the economy and the nation as well. "Easy and more money to the construction sector would mean - more jobs! - More houses! Needless to say the still faster growth of ancillary industries," he added. Supertech CMD RK Arora said: "With this positive announcement and REITs coming soon, we believe foreign players will not hesitate in investing to India." Gaursons MD Manoj Gaur said the Centre has taken a big step by relaxing the FDI policy. "These new changes will help to attract money in the sector that will work as soothing breeze in

starving sector of real estate." SARE Homes MD Vineet Relia said the relaxation of the two norms will improve the overall investor sentiments and increase the inflow of investments. Prateek group Chairman Prashant Tiwari said the much needed breather for the sector will further entice developers to be more aggressive in the segment and take development beyond metro cities. "With this improved cash flow, developers will now be able to expedite the construction of delayed projects and closing in of the increasing gap between demand and supply," he added. M3M Director Pankaj Bansal said the move would inject muchrequired foreign capital in real estate. It will speed up the completion and delivery of projects and motivate investors to venture into new deals and develop projects like smart cities." -PTI

Â&#x201E; Health

Line

Vitamin D can help asthma patients JERUSALEM: Boosting Vitamin D levels can help manage asthma in sufferers, a new study has found. Asthma, which inflames and narrows the airways, has no known cure but it can be managed with medication and by avoiding allergens and other triggers. The new study by Tel Aviv University researchers found that catching some rays outside could be a convenient, free way to manage acute asthmatic episodes. Dr Ronit Confino-Cohen of TAU's Sackler Faculty of Medicine and her team analyzed the medical records of nearly four million members of Clalit Health Services, Israel's largest health care provider. The Vitamin D levels of 307,900 people were measured between 2008 and 2012. Researchers also took into account key predictors of asthma, such as obesity, smoking, and other chronic diseases. Of some 21,000 asthma patients in Israel studied, those with a Vitamin D deficiency were 25 per cent more likely than other asthmatics to have had at least one flare-up in the recent past. -PTI

Â&#x201E; Walking workstations can boost health WASHINGTON: Walking workstations can improve not only physical but also mental health during office hours, a new study has found. Michael Sliter from the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) hopes the study encourages employers to examine methods to assist workers in healthy living. "We found that the walking workstations, regardless of a person's exercise habits or body mass index (BMI), had significant benefits," Sliter said. "Even if you don't exercise or if you are overweight, you'll experience both short-term physical and psychological benefits," said Sliter. A sample of 180 participants was evaluated on boredom, task satisfaction, stress, arousal, and performance while completing work-related computer tasks across four randomly assigned workstations: seated, standing, cycling or walking. The researchers found walking workstation participants had higher satisfaction and arousal, while experiencing less boredom and stress than the standing and sitting workstation participants.-PTI

Health Science

India to spend Rs 1.7 lakh cr on universal health plan

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Details on Page 38

Health Transformations meet highlights importance of tele-medicine FREMONT, CA: Silicon Valley Health Transformations 3.0 meet up was held at Japra Vineyards on

potential. Healthcare transformations 3.0 identified three critical areas that need innovation. They are technology transformation, process transformation and personnel

Oct 30 in Fremont, California. The purpose of the meet-up was to assist entrepreneurs and innovators to identify the opportunities in entire healthcare industry across the globe. Highly accomplished physicians, physician entrepreneurs, an array of personnel from reputable imaging centers, surgical centers and hospitals as speakers and mentors attended this event. If you already have a health care company start up, then this is your one stop shop which assists in reaching your true market

transformation. Event host and organizer Dr Romesh Japra is an eminent cardiologist from Silicon Valley, a dynamic leader with extensive background in both clinical and non clinical side of healthcare. Dr Japra is an investor, advisor, mentor and he has actively participated in several startups. Dr Javeed Siddiqui was the keynote speaker of the evening and emphasized on the importance of tele-medicine. He is the co-founder and Chief Medical Officer for TeleMed2U, a 100%

VIDYA SETHURAMAN India Post News Service

telemedicine based multi-specialty clinical practice. In addition to being an Infectious Diseases physician, Dr Siddiqui is a recognized medical technologist and served as the first Medical Direc-

tor of California's Institute for Science and Innovation. Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication and information technologies in order to provide clinical health care at a distance. It helps eliminate distance barriers and can improve access to medical services that would often not be consistently available in distant rural communities. It is also used to save lives in critical care and emergency situations, says Dr Siddiqui. The global telemedicine market has grown from $9.8 billion in 2010 to $11.6 billion in 2011 and is expected to grow to $27.3 billion in 2016, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.6% over the next five years.

Cont'd on Page 39

Indian American surgeons meet in SF India Post News Service

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: Indian American Surgical Association held its second annual meeting in San Francisco on Sunday, October 26. Surgeons of Indian origin practicing in the US and India, fellows, residents, and medical students attending the ACS Clinical Congress gathered to discuss their initiatives to enhance medical practice and education in India and globally. Individuals shared their experiences in collaborating with their Indian counterparts, the resistance they may have faced in

implementing their programs and progress they are making in their endeavors overall. A strong gathering of close to

70 faculty deliberated major issues of mutual interest in academic, research, and clinical work. A strong interest was seen in building a

A group of Indian Surgeons at SF meet

trauma education program similar to the one recently run by Dr Vyas and IASA team in Jodhpur. IASA President Dr Vijay Mittal discussed his Fulbright visit to India and the lessons he learned in his efforts to improve quality of surgical education in India. IASA Vice-Presidents, Dr Ajai Malhotra, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Dr Dinesh Vyas, Michigan State University, also spoke on the vision of IASA and its potential impact. Cont'd on Page 38

November 7, 2014

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Ebola knocks on the doors of USA! What next?

amed after the river along which the virus is believed to have originated in 1976, Ebola virus disease (EVD) has resurfaced again with much more intensity. The numbers speak the story themselves - In comparison to the 1,716 cases of Ebola from 1976 to 2013, the recent Ebola outbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea has accounted for more than 10,000 cases, of which, close to 5,000 victims have succumbed to the virus. At the time of writing, the Ebola disease is present in epidemic proportions in the above three west African countries, while five countries have been witness to travelassociated Ebola disease: Mali, Senegal, Nigeria, Spain and USA. In USA, as of October 24, four cases of laboratory-proven Ebola have been reported with one of them having died. A flurry of statements every alternate day by the WHO highlights the gravity of the matter. While monetary and healthcare help from all corners of the world has been pouring into these three worst hit countries, the virus is slowly but surely spreading its reach to other parts of the world as well. Recent cases of Ebola in the USA have sent shivers much beyond the country's boundaries. For those who look up to the USA as the world leader, this news came as a shock. The first Ebola victim in the USA

DR. MUNISH KUMAR RAIZADA

was reported from Dallas in Texas. Thomas Eric Duncan, a Liberian national who used to visit his family in Texas, died on 8th October. The next two suspected cases to have been reported in the country were of the

Dr MK Raizada

nurses who took care of Duncan, but both fortunately did not develop the disease. And just when it seemed like the disease won't pick up any further, New York reported its first Ebola case. Craig Spencer, a physician, had just come back from Guinea after working with the humanitarian aid NGO, 'Doctors Without Borders'. As panic struck the city, Bill de Blasio,

Cancer cell fingerprints in blood may speed up diagnosis LONDON: Scientists have identified cancer cell fingerprints in the blood that could one day help doctors diagnose a range of children's cancers faster and more accurately. Researchers, from the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, have found unique molecular fingerprints for 11 types of children's tumors, which could be used to develop blood tests to diagnose the cancers.

This may eventually lead to a quicker, more accurate way to diagnose tumors, and could also reduce the need for children to undergo surgery to get a diagnosis one day. The researchers uncovered the fingerprints left by the tumors by analyzing blood samples from children when they were diagnosed with cancer.

They were looking for molecules that turn genes on and off, called microRNAs, to find common changes linked to different tumors. In particular they found a very specific fingerprint which identifies different types of neuroblastoma, a form of childhood cancer which develops from a type of nerve cell. Lead researchers Dr Matthew Murray and Professor Nicholas Coleman, both from the University of Cambridge and Addenbrooke's Hospital said the research suggested that different types of tumor could be identified using a blood test which recognizes the unique fingerprints produced by tumors. "We hope that this early research could eventually lead to the development of non-invasive tests which are faster, more accurate and gentler, transforming the way we make a cancer diagnosis in the future," said Murray. "Using a blood test instead of surgery to remove a tumor sample could improve diagnosis - such that results take a matter of hours rather than days or weeks. "However, before such a test can be incorporated into clinical practice, it will now be important for these findings to be validated in other, larger independent studies," Murray said. -PTI

New York City's mayor, came out to assure the locals that there is nothing to worry about. One of the other major reasons that have been worrying the city's locals is that Spencer revealed that before being tested positive for Ebola virus, he did go to places within the city. He traveled on different subway lines and went out with his fiancĂŠ to a number of public places. As of writing of this column, Dr Spencer seems to be having more symptoms of the disease. Four states - New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois - have enforced mandatory quarantine (of 21 days) on health workers arriving here from W African countries afflicted with the disease. Though Ebola is not an air-borne disease, because of its contagious nature, if stricter measures are not taken, it can spread to many more countries. In modern era of air-travel, it is a real possibility! And it would be foolish to assume that it can't possibly reach India. India would rather be advised to take a closer look at its facilities and prepare for the deadly disease sooner rather than later. With a population like ours, India could easily turn into a happy breeding ground for Ebola. While steps such as thorough checking at airports have been termed as 'adequate' by the Government, cases such as Spencer's, where his Ebola was tested a

week after his US return, suggest that such measures could account for nothing. Preparing state of the art isolation centers is the least we must do to back up our claims. I know this is being debated. But as a

It would be foolish to assume that it can't possibly reach India. India would rather be advised to take a closer look at its facilities and prepare for the deadly disease sooner rather than later health professional, I have been espousing for restricting international travel to the affected countries. This seems to be one logical step to contain the disease along with providing the affected countries all the adequate technological and financial support. The case fatality rates in current outbreaks have been high; varying from 50 to 70%, thus the scare it has generated is understandable. There is no specific therapy available and no vaccine is yet available. Under such circumstances, prevention and control of Ebola virus disease is important. The author is a Chicago-based Boardcertified practicing doctor (Neonatologist).

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Indian-American jailed for healthcare fraud NEW YORK: An Indian-American physical therapist assistant has been sentenced to over four years in prison and ordered to pay USD 1.9 million in restitution for his role in a USD 14.9 million health insurance fraud scheme. Jigar Patel, 31, a physical therapist assistant of Michigan has been sentenced to 50 months in prison by US District Judge Terrence Berg for his role in billing federal health insurance programs for home health services that were never provided. In addition to his prison term, Patel was asked to pay USD 1.9 million in restitution for the healthcare fraud in which he provided beneficiaries with prescriptions for unnecessary painkillers and other narcotics to induce them to sign false medical documents to support the fraudulent billings, Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell of the Justice Department's Criminal Division said in a statement. Patel, along with co-defendants Srinivas Reddy, 38, an unlicensed doctor and Shahzad Mirza, 43, a physical therapist both from Michigan were each convicted by a federal jury in April this year of one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud.

In addition, Mirza and Patel were found guilty of two counts of health care fraud, and Reddy was found guilty of three counts of health care fraud and they will be sentenced at a later date. Meanwhile, Patel was also found guilty of one count of money laundering. As a result of the defendants'

and promised them access to unnecessary prescriptions for painkillers and other narcotics. Through a fifth company, the defendants employed unlicensed individuals, including Reddy, to provide the beneficiaries with the promised prescriptions and to obtain the necessary information to complete the referrals for medi-

Jigar Patel, 31, a physical therapist assistant of Michigan has been sentenced to 50 months in prison by US District Judge Terrence Berg for his role in billing federal health insurance programs for home health services that were never provided. fraudulent conduct, Medicare paid nearly USD 15 million. According to evidence presented at trial, between July 2008 and September 2011, the defendants used four home health care companies to fraudulently bill Medicare for home health care services that were never provided. The defendants used these companies to pay kickbacks to recruiters for the referral of Medicare beneficiaries. In turn, the recruiters paid the beneficiaries cash

cally unnecessary home health care services. Evidence presented at trial showed that beneficiaries signed blank medical paperwork that Patel and others then completed with false information to show that care was provided, when it was not. In the course of the conspiracy, Patel incorporated his own staffing company through which he laundered proceeds of the fraud. -PTI

India to spend Rs 1.7 lakh cr on universal health plan NEW DELHI: India will be spending around Rs 1.7 lakh crore (USD 28 billion) on its ambitious universal healthcare scheme under which free drugs, diagnostic tests and insurance cover will be provided to all its citizens. The scheme under the National Health Assurance Mission, to be rolled out in a phased manner from April next year, will cover the entire population while taking care of their healthcare needs by March, 2019. According to sources, the Health Ministry is in the process of finalizing a note for the Union Cabinet with an aim to get its approval in the next two months. The approval of the Finance Ministry is also being sought separately. At a meeting of top Health Ministry officials to review progress on the proposal, it was decided that three to four districts will be selected in each state for rolling

out the scheme. Sources said later the scheme will be launched in a phased manner in all the districts across the country and will be applicable to all state governments as well as private medical establishments.

All citizens will get free medicines, drugs and diagnostic tests in all government as well as private medical establishments across the country "We are preparing the scheme since it involves a lot of preparatory activities. We hope to launch it from the year 2015-16 in a

phased manner," Additional Secretary Health C K Mishra told PTI. He said once fully operational, all citizens will get free medicines, drugs and diagnostic tests in all government as well as private medical establishments across the country. Officials said an Expert Committee set up in this regard has estimated that a total expenditure of Rs 1.7 lakh crores (around USD 28 Billion) will be made under the scheme. They added that around Rs 80,000 crore (around USD 13 billion) will be spent annually under the scheme but final details are being worked out to reduce the expenditure to some extent. Health officials said the scheme under the National Health Assurance Mission is been given final shape to help take care of the common man's healthcare needs in the country. -PTI

NYC doctor with Ebola upgraded to stable condition NEW YORK: A New York doc- tined fiancĂŠe and two friends retor who became infected with main symptom free. Ebola while treating patients in City health officials also anGuinea has been upgraded from nounced that they would no serious but stable condition to longer restrict the daily movestable condition, hospital officials ments of one of the individuals said, marking progress in a case who had been quarantined bethat intensified the debate over cause of contact with Spencer. how to treat health workers re- They said the person, who was turning from West Africa. not identified, would be assessed The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation issued the upgrade for Dr. Craig Spencer nine days after he was brought to the hospital after reporting a fever. The agency, which runs Bellevue Hospital Center, where Spencer has been undergoing treatment, said he will remain in isolation and receive full treatment to recover from a virus that has killed nearly 5,000 New York Ebola patient Dr. Craig Spencer people in West Africa. twice a day by Health Department Spencer, the only confirmed staff. Ebola patient in New York, is a 32The agency said in a statement year-old Doctors Without Borders that health officials reconfirmed physician who had returned from that ``the individual's exposure Ebola-plagued Guinea less than a was not consistent with how week before notifying authorities Ebola is transmitted.'' Oct. 23 that he had a fever. After Spencer was hospitalized, The HHC has said Spencer is city health officials reassured the receiving antiviral and plasma public that there was almost no therapies that were effective in chance strangers were infected by treating Ebola patients in Atlanta a virus that must be transmitted and Nebraska. Spencer's quaran- through bodily fluids. -AP

Indian American surgeons meet in SF Cont'd from Page 36

Dr Mohammed Siddiqui of the Folsom Surgery and Vein Center in California and co-founder of the Global Medical Foundation discussed his work to bring improved medical services and education to Bangalore. Dr Bikram Paul of the National Institutes of Health and Johns Hopkins University explained the numerous projects he has been involved with in developing trauma programs overseas. Dr Vijay Maker, Chairman, UIC affiliate Hospital, stressed the importance of collaboration and the spirit of giving back to India. Karl Mehta, from Edcast, presented his innovative cloud technology that connects students

and faculty through an online interactive educational forum. Edcast allows individuals to learn, share, and collaborate virtually and can help bridge knowledge and technology gaps between Indian and American systems. Apoorva Aekka, research scholar from Michigan State University gave an excellent engaging presentation on Vyas Pre-hospital care initiative, goals and plans Constructive and achievable short and long term strategic decisions were taken to build a strong surgical networking community on both sides working towards common goals: better patient care, research, education and clinical excellence, said Dr Vyas, spokesman of IASA.

November 7, 2014

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Health Transformations meet highlights importance of tele-medicine Cont'd from Page 36

He has been actively involved in telemedicine and tele health since 2002 and has been recognized as a national thought leader in these fields. TeleMed2U is a multispecialty medical practice that is 100% telemedicine based. In addition, TeleMed2U is breaking new ground in the application of telemedicine and telehealth in the field of healthcare re-

form. TeleMed2U is designed to provide a win/win proposition for the entire health care supply chain including physicians, patients, hospitals and insurance companies. Telemedicine and TeleMed2U will play a key role in healthcare reform in increasing access to care, changing the environment of healthcare delivery and reducing the per capita cost. Tingbin Tang, Chief Creative Officer at iHealth Lab spoke on his products. With

over 15 years experience in the product development field, specialized in user experience research, user interface design, and industrial design, he was the Winner of Good Design 2004 - an International industrial and graphics design competition. Raju Annamraju was the Moderator. With a 20-year career in the health care field, with strong emphasis on Radiology and Cardiology fields Ramana has owned and operated an Imaging center for 10 years. He

authored several work flow process for Radiology and Cardiology outsourcing. Ramana was instrumental in forming several physician networks across United States and actively participated in forming of IPAs and HMOs. The event was well attended by CEOs of medical device and healthcare industry startup.

2 sentenced in $258 mn Medicare fraud BATON ROUGE, La.: The U.S. Justice Department says the operator of community health centers in Baton Rouge and a patient recruiter for a community mental health center in Houston have been sentenced in a $258 million Medicare fraud scheme.

The department said 53year-old Roslyn F. Dogan, of Baton Rouge was sentenced to 90 months in prison; 48-year-old James R. Hunter of Houston received 60 months. The sentences were handed down in federal court in Baton Rouge. The department said 53-year-old Roslyn F. Dogan, of Baton Rouge was sentenced to 90 months in prison; 48-year-old James R. Hunter of Houston received 60 months. In May a federal jury found Dogan guilty of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, and two counts of health care fraud. The jurors convicted Hunter of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and conspiracy to pay and receive kickbacks. The department said Dogan and Hunter

are among 17 people convicted in the case. ``The companies collectively submitted more than $258 million in claims to Medicare for PHP services over a period of seven years,'' the department said. The sentencing of Dogan and Hunter was the latest development in the case. Dogan was a co-owner of Serenity Center of Baton Rouge and a manager and marketer for both Serenity Center and Shifa Community Mental Health Center of Baton Rouge. The Justice Department said Dogan recruited Medicare beneficiaries who were living in nursing homes and assisted living facilities to attend partial hospitalization psychiatric service programs at Shifa and Serenity, knowing the individuals did not need the psychotherapy programs. Her scheme also involved falsifying records to show patients were treated when they had not been. The department said Hunter recruited Medicare beneficiaries to attend the PHP program at Shifa Community Mental Health Center of Texas in Houston in exchange for $1,500 per week in cash. ``Hunter recruited Medicare recipients from group homes who were not appropriate for the PHP services, but who agreed to attend the program in exchange for $75 cash per week. `` A Baton Rouge psychiatrist, Zahid Imran, 56, pleaded guilty in the case earlier this year.-AP

40 India Post

urukshetra means the field of righteousness, a name well suited to its legendary past and religious predominance. A holy town in the state of Haryana, Kurukshetra had acquired many ramifications and to the teeming millions of India, this place reminds them of the sacred association it has with Lord Krishna, the benevolent god in the entire Hindu Pantheon. The legendary tales of Kurukshetra starts with Kuru, who laid the foundation of a domain that has its roots on uprightness and benevolence. Ironically this land has to witness a great battle between the successors of Kuru, in which the Lord himself had played a key role. Thus, Kurukshetra encompasses a rich and a colorful history of centuries, where one can experience the theological and

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rational gibbets of Hinduism. The sacredness of the city grew with the visit of saintly avatars like Lord Buddha and numerous Sikh gurus. Kurukshetra stands as an unparalleled pilgrimage site, which includes a large number of devout centers, holy shrines, kunds and gurudwaras linked with the epic ages and the earliest Indian civilization. Though Kurukshetra holds versatile facets in the religious arena, its holiness and sanctity lies in the single fact that this was the place where Lord Krishna preached the theory of Karma to his favorite friend Arjun. This gave birth to the holiest of all Hindu textures, Bhagawat Gita or the Song Celestial, which symbolizes the paramount principles of the Hindu religion. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 42

November 7, 2014

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Branson's rocketry goal is long-distance travel LOS ANGELES: The Virgin Galactic spaceship destroyed in a fatal accident high over the Mojave Desert was only designed to take tourists on a fleeting thrill ride into the lower reaches of space. Yet even as company founder Richard Branson vowed to find out what happened and reiterated how ``incredibly hard'' space programs can be, the billionaire reminded reporters that he has always intended to build a system to take people on actual journeys. ``This is the start of a long program,'' he said. ``I have spoken before of once we got this program off the ground of offering pointto-point travel. In the early days of aviation, there were incidents,

and then aviation became very safe. In the early days of commercial space travel, there have been incidents. We hope that one day the test pilots will enable people to be able to go to space safely.'' Here are answers to questions about the difference between the space-tourism plan and future point-to-point travel. WHAT IS VIRGIN GALACTIC OFFERING? The company's spacecraft, dubbed SpaceShipTwo as a followup to the Ansari X-Prize-winning SpaceShipOne, is designed to be carried high into the sky by a jetpowered mothership and then released for rocket-powered flight to an altitude of 62 miles or higher,

California crash is setback for space tourism

providing six passengers a stunning view of the Earth below and a

The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo rocket explodes in mid-air during a test flight above the Mojave Desert in California

brief period of weightlessness. It would then descend back into the

MOJAVE, Calif.: It's been a dream of British billionaire Richard Branson to launch paying customers into space. But that effort appears to have suffered a serious setback with the crash of the space tourism rocket known as ``SpaceShip Two,'' owned by Branson's company Virgin Galactic. SpaceShipTwo, which is typically flown by two pilots, was designed to provide a suborbital thrill ride into space before it returns to Earth as a glider. Virgin Galactic, once it finished developing its rocket ship, was going to launch space tourism flights from the quarter-billion-dollar

Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. Virgin Galactic is in line to be the main tenant at the spaceport. The company has repeatedly pushed back the timetable for when the $250,000 flights were to begin, pointing to delays in development and testing of the rocket ship. Taxpayers footed the bill to build the state-of-the-art hangar and runway in a remote stretch of desert in southern New Mexico as part of a plan devised by Branson and former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson. Critics have long challenged the state's investment, questioning whether flights would ever get off the ground. -AP

thickening atmosphere and fly as an unpowered glider back to the

airport where the flight began. WHAT DOES BRANSON

MEAN BY POINT-TO-POINT? Point-to-point travel would link distant points on the Earth's surface with flights that leave the atmosphere and enter space, then reenter the atmosphere to land. The advantage over regular air travel would be a significant reduction in time, making the trip from, for example, London to Sydney, Australia, take only a few hours or a trip from New York to London take less than an hour. WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TO ACHIEVE POINT-TO-POINT TRAVEL? In 2004, SpaceShipOne demonstrated that a rocket pilot could manually fly the suborbital flight profile for the type of quick hop up and down that is the immediate goal for space tourism flights. However, suborbital flights between continents would require sophisticated guidance. In addition, the rocket motor would have to be powerful enough to give the spaceship enough range to cross continents or oceans, especially as upgrades or additions to equipment such as life support increase weight. -AP

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KURUKSHETRA

Where Lord Krishna preached the Bhagawat Gita Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 40

As the cradle of Indian civilization, this place found its rendering in many of the ancient texts. Most of the books of that time contain either a description of Kurukshetra or names of personalities from there. A good number of Vedic transcripts were composed from here and Kurukshetra was the seat of all the social, spiritual and political traditions of the old era. Apart from the holy sites, a bevy of other fascinating attractions of historical interest are in store in Kurukshetra. Archaeological expeditions have proved that this city was in existence during the pre-Harrapan times.

Kurukshetra with its religious colors and historical succinctness would be a treasure hunt for all those who want to get a deep insight into the cultural ethnicity of ancient India.

Krishna Museum: Established in the year 1987, Krishna Museum tries to depict the multi faceted personality of Lord Krishna through

of Krishna's persona namely an incarnation of Vishnu, an astute statesman, an epic hero, a great philosopher and a supreme lover. The museum has six galleries which present Krishna as he is described in the Bhagavata Purana and Mahabharata. The first thing that arrests the attention of the visitor would be the beautiful statue of Lord Ganesha in a dancing posture. The exhibits in the galleries encompass exquisite woodcarvings, wooden panels, bronze casting, ivory works, palmleaf etchings, stone sculptures, archaeological artifacts and miniature paintings. Tableaux made from papier-mache and clay based on Bhagavata and Mahabharata

the various artifacts from 1st Century AD to 11th Century AD. The museum displays various articles from all over India and it portrays the different aspects

ATTRACTIONS need special mention. Brahma Sarovar: Brahma Sarovar is a lovely water body where history, legends and beauty coincide. As per Hindu mythology, it was from here that Lord Brahma created mother earth. So Brahma Sarovar is often called the cradle of Indian civilization. This lake found its mention in the 11th century book Kitab-ul-Hind written by Alberuni. Encircled by a number of holy shrines Brahma Sarovar presents an enchanting environ to the pious people. The sarovar is also mentioned in the eleventh century AD memoirs of Al Beruni. Sannihit Sarovar: One of the

most venerated sites in Kurukshetra is the Sannihit Sarovar, which is believed to be the meeting point of seven sacred Saraswaties. It is believed to be the abode of Lord Vishnu. The myth is that a dip in the holy waters of this Sarovar takes away all sins. It is believed that bathing on the day of Amavasi or on the day of an eclipse would fetch the fortune of an aswamedha yajna. The Sarovar premises also holds small shrines of Dhruv Narayan, Sri Hanuman, Lord Vishnu, Dhruv Bhagat, Laxmi Narayan and Goddess Durga Bhadrakali Temple: A legendary temple that has close association with Pandavas, Bhadrakali temple at north Thaneswar holds much religious significance. Legend has it that the Pandavas had performed austerities and rituals before their final battle against the Kauravas. Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple: Another legendary spot that bears close association with the Pandava Brothers, Sthaneshwar Mahadev Temple holds much significance. Legend has it that Lord Shiva blessed the Pandavas while they were at S t h a n e s h w e r. The popular belief is that the tank adjoining

the temple has some curative properties. It is also believed that the sacred waters of the tank cured Banasura's long-term leprosy.

Hence a visit to Lord Shiva's temple here tops the pilgrim's itinerary. Best season to visit Kurukshetra is September to March. HOW TO REACH By Train: Kurukshetra is a major railway junction connected to all important railway stations in the country. By Air: The nearest airports are at Delhi and Chandigarh, which are connected to Kurukshetra by road and rail. Taxi services are also available from the airports. By Bus: Haryana Roadways buses and other neighboring State Corporation buses connect Kurukshetra to other cities like Delhi, Chandigarh and other important places.

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Branded, ready-to-eat food on trains delayed NEW DELHI: Rail travelers will have to wait for a few more days to get branded, ready-to-eat meals on their journeys as Railways and packaged food manufacturers are busy sorting out pricing issues. Flooded with complaints about the quality of the food served on

trains, Railways had decided to provide ready-to-eat food as an additional option for its passengers by October 30. Even as he admitted that determining the prices for the branded food items was a factor that has led to the delay in the launch of the new menu on mail and express trains, Railway Member (Traffic), D P Pande, said, "It is being resolved now." While Railways is averse to the high price demand of the food manufacturers, the latter maintain that the rate of pre-cooked food like pav bhaji, chicken biryani, rajma chawal served up in sealed packages will be a bit more than the prices of the standard meals available in pantry cars.

"We have made them agree to our approved rate and now the policy is being finalized and expected to be rolled out in a month from now," Pande said. He, however, said that the option will be launched on a select few trains in the first phase and

more trains will be covered later on. It would be made available on mail and express trains which have a pantry car. The service is likely to be initially launched on trains such as Karnataka Express, Frontier Mail, Paschim Express where the trial of these pre-cooked food items are already being carried out. A committee comprising health officials and senior rail officials has been formed to examine the quality, hygienic condition and protein value of the packaged food. Since these items are pre-cooked,

the committee will have to certify about its bacteria-free shelf life, said a senior railway ministry official. The branded food would be served to passengers as an 'add on' option along with the standard items as part of the catering service on trains. However, the national transporter insists that price of the precooked food will be kept on a par with the standard meals currently available on trains. Given the high volume and branding opportunity, the companies are being told to charge reasonable rates, the rail official said. As to the trials, the official said that pre-cooked food by reputed brands like ITC, MTR, Kohinoor Foods, Quickmeal and Deleez were made available on a few trains and the response of passengers was encouraging. "Our aim is to ensure quality hygienic food for passengers. It must also be seen that the brands of meals or food items their quality, quantity, rate, hygiene - are properly maintained," the official added. After the launch, senior railway officials will undertake a drive on the trains for checking the availability of branded and approved readyto-eat food for the passengers. A media campaign will also be initiated by all zones to publicize the pre-cooked food being served on trains. -PTI

Kathmandu-Delhi bus service planned KATHMANDU: India and Nepal have finalized a new agreement to boost people to people contacts and promote tourism by planning bus services on three routes from Kathmandu and Pokhara to New Delhi and Varanasi later this month. The Motor Vehicle Agreement will be signed during the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Nepal during the 18th SAARC Summit which is taking place on November 25, according to Indian embassy sources. "The officials of Nepal and India held talks in Kathmandu on October 30 to finalize the Motor Vehicle Agreement and other matters related with road transport and infrastructure," Indian embassy

said. The agreement envisages regular bus services on three routes Kathmandu to New Delhi,

Kathmandu to Varanasi and Pokhara to New Delhi, it said. The agreement also aims to simplify the movement of private vehicles across the border. The

proposed India-Nepal Friendship Car Rally on the Puri-KathmanduDelhi route will also get assistance from both governments. The new bus service is likely to be launched on November 25, the day Prime Minister Modi arrives in Kathmandu, officials said. While the Nepalese delegation was represented by Physical Infrastructure and Transport secretary Tulasi Prasad Situala, Indian side was led by Vijay Chibber, secretary in Road Transport and Highways Ministry.-PTI

India organizes seminar in Kuwait to attract tourists DUBAI: In its efforts to attract more and more tourists from the Gulf and the Middle East region, India has organized a seminar in Kuwait to provide a glimpse of the attractive tourism products as well as cultural, spiritual and travel experiences that it offers as a tourist destination. The 'Know India Seminar' was organized in Kuwait by the India Tourism, Dubai, in cooperation with the Embassy of India in Kuwait.

Members of the travel industry and local media got an opportunity to meet members of the Indian travel industry and know more about tourist attractions in India during the seminar. Gulf region have been showing a positive growth of Foreign Tourist Arrivals to India over the last two to three years with around 3,43,113 tourist arrivals registered during 2013, showing a growth of nearly 17.9 per cent over the previous year.

The seminar provided a glimpse of the attractive tourism products as well as the countless cultural, spiritual and travel experiences that India offers as a tourist destination. The highlight of 'Know India' seminar was to depict the country as a multi-faceted tourist destination for luxury, wildlife, wellness and medical tourism.

The tourist traffic from Kuwait to India was over 10,000 during 2013. Foreign tourist arrivals into India have witnessed a steady increase over the years, touching 7 million in 2013, with an annual growth rate of 5.9 per cent. India is also popular for Wellness Tourism with the ancient practice of healing, yoga and Ayurveda.-PTI

Tourism program gives out TV, lottery tickets LINCOLN, Neb.: A Nebraska tourism program that encourages people to visit a variety of sites in the state recently handed out a 60inch television and a collection of 300 scratch lottery tickets. The Nebraska Tourism Commission says Linda Weichel of Dunbar won the plasma television worth $750. Laura Waters of LaVista won the lottery tickets.

Weichel visited all 80 of the sites that were included in the Nebraska Passport program this year to qualify for the grand prize drawing. Weichel says she and her oldest daughter made it a project to visit all the sites this year. The retired teacher says the two of them planned loops out of Lincoln and Kearney and spent a week in western Nebraska to see everything. -AP

Virginia taps natural resources to drive tourism CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.: Virginia is renewing efforts to tap its natural resources to help drive tourism. While summer remains the peak for tourism, state officials are working to shoulder the busier months with increased tourism other times of the year, especially fall. Tourism revenue rose to a record high of $21.5 billion last year and the industry also supported 213,000 jobs. Officials have said the tourism

industry helps to diversify Virginia's economy and a plan released last year said outdoor recreation and the development of the state's natural resources remain key growth drivers. Virginia is home to countless miles of trails, parkways and scenic byways, and encompasses nearly 1,000 square miles of lakes, rivers and bays. It also boasts 22 national parks, 35 state parks and more than 4,000 caves. -AP

In Brief Federal agents rescue immigrant lost in desert DEMING, N.M.: Border Patrol agents rescued a man who got lost in the southwestern New Mexico desert after crossing the border illegally from Mexico. The Border Patrol says the rescue was performed after Luna County authorities received a 911 call from the man, who said he was lost, in distress and needed help. Agents used his cell-phone signal to identify a search area, and Customs and Border Protection helicopters then were sent to search for the man. According to the Border Patrol, the man told agents who rescued him that he'd crossed the border illegally a day earlier and realized while walking in the desert that he was lost. -AP

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Australians support immigration and multiculturalism

MELBOURNE: A majority of Australians support immigration intake and multiculturalism even as five per cent of the country's population experience discrimination on a monthly basis, according to a new study. The study titled 2014's Mapping Social Cohesion report by Scanlon Foundation which surveyed over 24,000 people reported strong public support for immigration intake and the benefits of multiculturalism. "Australia's public sentiment toward immigration intake is possibly the most positive in the western world. In 2014, 58 per cent of people agree that the immigration intake is about right or too low.

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Details on page 46

Minnesota man wants immigration fraud case tossed MINNEAPOLIS: A Minnesota man accused of entering the U.S. and obtaining a green card illegally by concealing his military service during the Bosnian war and omitting allegations that he killed a neighbor - is asking that the case against him be dismissed. Zdenko Jakisa, 46, has pleaded not guilty to one count of possessing unlawfully obtained documents. Prosecutors say he got his permanent resident card illegally when he didn't disclose that he had served in the armed forces of the Croatian Defense Council in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s or disclose his criminal past. Details on page 46

Immigration

Atlanta NPC not forwarding to BALCA all Perm requests

44 India Post

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November 7, 2014

Details on page 45

GOP senators urge Obama to hold off on immigration WASHINGTON: The three Republican senators responsible for comprehensive immigration legislation, which remains stalled in Congress, have urged President Barack Obama to hold off on any steps to shield millions of people from deportation. ``Acting by executive order on an issue of this magnitude would be the most divisive action you could take - completely undermining any good-faith effort to meaningfully address this important issue, which would be a disservice to the needs of the American people,'' Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida wrote to Obama. Obama has said he would act after next week's midterm elections as Congress has failed to pass legislation to overhaul the nation's immigration system. The President said he would take steps to increase border security, upgrade the processing of border crossers

and encourage legal immigration. He also said he would offer immigrants who have been illegally

act this past summer, but delayed any decisions until after the elections, drawing the wrath of immi-

The three Republican senators responsible for comprehensive immigration legislation, which remains stalled in Congress, urged President Obama to hold off on executive orders regarding the system

in the United States for some time a way to become legal residents, pay taxes, pay a fine and learn English. The President had promised to

gration advocacy groups and complaints from Republicans of ``raw politics.'' The three senators said in the letter that no presidential action

should be taken until ``we have properly secured our southern border and provided for effective enforcement of immigration laws.'' They complained that any executive action would undermine congressional efforts to reform the system. McCain, Graham and Rubio were members of the so-called Gang of Eight, a bipartisan group that put together a broad overhaul of immigration that boosted border security, increased visas for legal immigrants and a provided a path to citizenship for the 11 million immigrants living in the country illegally. The Senate passed the measure on a bipartisan vote in June 2013, but the Republican-led House has failed to act on any broad measure despite promises from GOP leaders that they would address the issue. Time is running out on the Senate-passed bill, with no indication that the House would vote during a post election, lameduck session. -AP

Germany says UK reaching 'point of no return' BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned British Prime Minister David Cameron he is approaching a "point of no return" with the European Union over his immigration proposals, according to a report. News weekly Der Spiegel writes in its latest edition that Merkel told Cameron on the sidelines of an EU summit last month that his moves to limit an influx of EU migrant workers undermined core principles of the bloc. If he continues, Germany would no longer fight to keep Britain in the EU. "For the first time, Cameron is pushing his country toward a 'point of no return' in terms of its EU membership, the chancellery and the foreign ministry believe," Spiegel said, citing unnamed German government officials.

If Cameron imposes a quota on EU citizens moving to Britain, "then that would be it", the pub-

vate discussion with Cameron barely touched on the more highprofile spat of the summit, a 2.1

Angela Merkel is reported to have told David Cameron that she will not negotiate on EU migration

lication quoted a government source as saying. Spiegel said that Merkel's pri-

billion euro (USD 2.6 billion) surcharge that Britain has been asked to pay for the EU budget

by December 1. Cameron told parliament that the amount requested and the short deadline were "unacceptable", setting up a showdown with Brussels. His Conservative Party is aiming to curb immigration, as it faces increased electoral pressure from the anti-EU UK Independence Party. Under EU rules, citizens of most EU countries have the right to live and work in any other member state. Merkel had previous warned in a newspaper interview last month that any attempts to "tamper with the fundamental principles of free movement in the EU" would not be tolerated by Britain's European partners. Cameron has agreed to hold an in-or-out referendum on Britain's EU membership in 2017 if he wins the general election in May. -AFP

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Atlanta NPC not forwarding to BALCA all Perm requests

CYRUS MEHTA

he Department of Labor's Office of Foreign Labor Certification (OFLC) recently announced the following news:

ployer must affirmatively request review before BALCA no later than 30 calendar days after the date the Notice of Decision is issued.

Atlanta NPC change in process As of October 27, 2014, the Atlanta National Processing Center is no longer automatically forwarding to the Board of Alien Labor Certification Appeals (BALCA) all PERM Requests for Reconsideration where the original case decision was upheld. Rather, a Notice of Decision will be issued when the case is upheld, and the em-

Statistical updates for FY 2014 Q4. OFLC has issued updated program fact sheets with selected statistics for the permanent labor certification program, prevailing wage determination program, H-1B temporary visa program, H-2A temporary agricultural visa program, and H-2B temporary nonagricultural visa program. Reports were de-

rived from program data as of September 30, 2014. H-1B legacy records no longer available On July 8, 2013, the National Archives and Records Administra-

The OFLC said it is no longer responding to inquiries to search for records in response to Freedom of Information Act requests, or providing information for requests for duplicate certifications

Italy phases out sea rescues to save migrants ROME: Italy insists that lives won't be sacrificed as it ended its costly Mediterranean Sea rescue operation and shifted over to a less ambitious joint patrol with the European Union. Italy launched the Mare Nos-

100,000 people who had paid smugglers to bring them to Europe. Italy had long insisted that Europe must do more to shoulder the burden of rescuing migrants. Rome successfully lobbied to have

tion (NARA) approved OFLC's revised retention schedule following a 30-day period of public notice and review. NARA determined that employer applications for labor certification and supporting documentation, whether

budget of 2.9 million euros ($3.6 million) a month, the European Commission said. While Alfano hailed the end of Italy's politically unpopular rescue program, Rome will still be spending about 3.5 million euros ($4.4 million) a month to keep a third of its sea fleet on hand for rescue missions alongside Frontex for the next two months. He also said Italy would still honor its obligations to respond to ships in distress. But he acknowledged that while Mare Nostrum ``almost reached the North African coast,'' Frontex will be patrolling Europe's borders, not Libya's. Critics of Mare The Italian Coastguard, a boat reportedly carrying 760 migrants arrives at the Lampedusa Nostrum had argued harbor, Italy. Italy is officially ending its Mare Nostrum rescue operation and the EU's Frontex border control will begin its Tritone mission. that patrolling so close to Libya entrum (Our Sea) operation last year the EU's Frontex border control couraged migrants to take the after 366 would-be migrants agency launch a new operation, risky trip out to sea. drowned off Sicily. Italian ships Triton. The EU says Frontex is not reSome 21 EU nations have said placing Italy's obligation to rescue and aircraft involved in the 9.5 million-euro ($11.9 million) per month they would be willing to contrib- ships in distress, terming the mission patrolled close to the ute ships, aircraft and personnel Triton operation as one ``in supLibyan coast, rescuing over to the Triton mission, which has a port of'' Italian efforts. -AP

retained in paper or electronic form, are temporary records and subject to destruction. The OFLC-approved disposition schedule authorizes the retention of records for five years after the date a final determination letter is

issued or final action occurs, such as a withdrawn application, subject to an active investigation or litigation hold. .Labor Condition Applications (LCAs) retained in the LCA Online System are all beyond the retention period of five years from a date of final determination or final action. Therefore, effective October 17, 2014, the LCA Online System at http:// www.lca.doleta.gov has been decommissioned. The OFLC said it is no longer responding to inquiries to search for records in response to Freedom of Information Act requests, or providing information for requests for duplicate certifications for LCA applications processed in the LCA Online System, in keeping with the OFLC records schedule.

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

Former Assistant StateÂ&#x2019;s Attorney

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

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

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Australians support immigration and multiculturalism MELBOURNE: A majority of Australians support immigration intake and multiculturalism even as five per cent of the country's population experience discrimination on a monthly basis, according to a new study. The study titled 2014's Mapping Social Cohesion report by Scanlon Foundation which surveyed over 24,000 people reported strong public support for immigration intake and the benefits of multiculturalism. "Australia's public sentiment toward immigration intake is possibly the most positive in the western world. In 2014, 58 per cent of people agreed that the immigration intake is about right or too low. Just 35 per cent of people consider that the immigration intake is too high," the Foundation said in a statement. "This level of public support is

somewhat surprising in the context of rising unemployment and other economic concerns, as well as international comparisons," said report author Andrew Markus of Monash University. "In 2014, American and European surveys have found disapproval of immigration in the range of 60 to 75 per cent," he said.

The report also highlighted that the experience of discrimination remained close to the highest level at 18 per cent since the surveys began in 2014. Of those who reported experience of discrimination, 30 per cent indicated that it was a frequent occurrence, at least once a month. "This translates to five per cent

"Australia's public sentiment toward immigration intake is possibly the most positive in the western world. In 2014, 58 per cent of people agreed that the immigration intake is about right or too low. The largest study of its kind monitored public attitudes on issues including immigration, multiculturalism, discrimination and belonging.

of our population experiencing discrimination on a monthly basis," Markus said. "It would seem that acceptance of the government's measures to

Jakisa, who lives in Forest Lake and runs a taxicab company with his wife, entered the U.S. as a refugee in 1998 and became a lawful permanent resident in 2002. He was indicted on the immigration fraud charge in April. Jakisa's attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Reynaldo Aligada Jr., said in court documents that prosecutors waited too long to charge Jakisa and the

Documents filed by prosecutors this week say two brothers also accused Jakisa of killing their parents, Ahmet Basic and Emina Basic, in 1993. However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Petterson wrote that prosecutors don't intend to bring up Jakisa's alleged involvement tained documents. Prosecutors say he got his permanent resident card illegally when he didn't disclose that he had served in the armed forces of the Croatian Defense Council in BosniaHerzegovina in the 1990s or disclose his criminal past. Jakisa was charged in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1993 killing of a neighbor, Nevenka Elezovic. Prosecutors say he's accused of other crimes as well, and authorities in Bosnia said earlier this year that he's suspected of ``war crimes against civilians'' and wanted for questioning.

case should be dismissed. Aligada wrote that to prove Jakisa lied to immigration officials, prosecutors also must prove he committed crimes in Bosnia 21 years ago. Aligada said a key witness in Elezovic's killing has died and the gun allegedly used by Jakisa is not available - impairing Jakisa's ability to defend himself. Prosecutors argue the charge is timely. At a hearing earlier this year, Michael Plotnick, a special agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations, testified

that Jakisa killed his neighbor, a Serbian woman, in September 1993 by firing an AK-47 into her window. Court documents show he was charged with causing general danger. He came to the U.S. while his case was pending and was convicted in absentia and sentenced to six months in prison. Documents filed by prosecutors this week say two brothers also accused Jakisa of killing their parents, Ahmet Basic and Emina Basic, in 1993. However, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Petterson wrote that prosecutors don't intend to bring up Jakisa's alleged involvement in the Basics' deaths because he hasn't been charged. According to a June 6, 2012, article in the Forest Lake Press, Jakisa and his wife applied to come to the U.S. in 1998 through the U.S. Embassy in Croatia. The article mentions Jakisa was required to serve in the military in Croatia's 1991-95 war for independence from the Serb-led Yugoslavia. ``I lost tons of my friends,'' Jakisa told the newspaper. ``It was a bad war for nothing _ just good for government people so they can still talk lies to their own people.'' More than 100,000 people were killed during the Bosnian war, which also turned half of the country's population of 4.3 million into refugees. -AP

stop the arrival of asylum seekers by boat has influenced this outcome," he added. Public concern over asylum seeker arrivals by boat has dropped. In 2013, the issue was seen as the major problem facing Australia by 12 per cent of people. In 2014, less than 4 per cent of people hold the same view. Support for eligibility for permanent settlement for asylum seekers arriving by boat has risen, but remains a minority viewpoint. Just

one in four people (24 per cent) support asylum seekers arriving by boat to be eligible for permanent settlement. In terms of attitudes toward multiculturalism, 85 per cent of people agree that it has been good for Australia, almost identical with the proportion in the 2013 survey. As for the nation's scorecard on social cohesion, Professor Markus says that in 2014, overall and by international standards, Australia remains highly cohesive. -PTI

Australia suspends immigration from Ebola-hit nations SYDNEY: Australia has said it was suspending migration from Ebola-hit West African nations to try to prevent the virus from crossing its borders, as a teenager who arrived from Guinea tested negative for the disease. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told parliament the gov-

ernment had stopped issuing visas to people from those countries hit by the disease, which has claimed close to 5,000 lives in its worst outbreak. "These measures include temporarily suspending our immigration program, including our humanitarian program, from EVD (Ebola Virus Disease) affected countries," he said.

"This means we are not processing any application from these affected countries." People who had already been granted visas on humanitarian grounds would be able to travel to Australia, but would be subject to three separate health checks before departure as well as screening on arrival. But officials would cancel and refuse nonpermanent or temporary visas for people who had not yet departed for Australia, Morrison said. The restrictions came as an 18-year-old girl who arrived in Australia from Guinea 12 days ago with eight relatives remained in isolation in a Queensland hospital after testing negative for Ebola, authorities said. Morrison called on Australians and other travelers to inform immigration officials about their travel history when they enter the country "if you have been in West Africa up to 21 days prior to your arrival". "This is especially important if you have had a broken journey en route to Australia," he said.-AFP

Datebook

November 7, 2014

NEW JERSEY

NEW YORK Upcoming

Upcoming Sat, Nov 8 • Mega Tamil Musical Extravaganza

Sat, Nov 8

Venue: Harrington Middle School Theater - South Jersey, NJ, 514 Mt Laurel Rd, Mt Laurel, NJ 08054 Time: 4:00 pm

Venue: Pranna, 79 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 Time: 8:00 pm Contact: 908-403-7045

Fri, Nov 07

Sat, Nov 15

• Ek Yaad Mukesh Ji Ke Baad Venue: Ritz Theater, 1148 East Jersey Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07201 Time: 8:30 pm Contact: 732-910-6227

Fri, Nov 14 • Mehfil-e-Ghazal with Rasika Shekar Venue: Shahnawaz Palace, 159 Jackson Ave, Edison, NJ 08837 Time : 08:00 pm Contact: 732-277-6687

• 10th Annual Halloween Hangover

• Runway Princess 2014 Venue: Hotel Pennsylvania, 33rd St. & 7th Ave., Madison Square Garden, NY 10007 Time : 07:00 pm Contact: 732-310-3456

Sat, Nov 15 • Dj Rekha Presents Basement Bhangra Venue: Le Poisson Rouge, 158 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012 Time : 7:00 pm

India Post 47

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NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Upcoming

Nov 9, 16, 23, 30 • Sat, July 12

• Vivekananda Vedanta Society

Chicago

Swami Ishatmananda: Why We Should Meditate: Yoga Aphorisms Tuesdays: Swami Ishatmananda Fridays: Swami Varadananda Venue: 14630 Lemont Road Homer Glen, IL 60491 Time: 7:30 pm Shivanama Sankirtan Time: 06:30pm Contact : chicagovedanta.org

Sat, Nov 8 • Kasturi Media 5th Year Celebration Venue: Woodside High School Auditorium, 199 Churchill Ave, Woodside, CA Time: 4:30 pm. Contact: 5104024633

Sun, Nov 9 • Kalakshetras Ananda Shankar Jayant Venue: McAfee Theater, Saratoga High

Sat, Nov 15 • Jhalak Dreams 2014 - From

School, 20300 Herriman Ave, Saratoga, CA

Venue: Silver Creek High Auditorium, 3434 Silver Creek Rd, San Jose, CA 95121 Time: 01:00 pm Contact: 408-238-4034

Contact: 408-329-7040

Tradition To Innovation

Sat, Nov 15 • Bollywood Affair Venue: Chakra Restaurant and Lounge, 151 S Doheny Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90211 Timet: 9:30 pm Contact: 843-503-2133

Nov 1, 6-8, 13-15 • Ohlone College Dept. of

Theatre & Dance presents Dracula Directed by Michael Navarra

Time: 4:00 pm

ATLANTA Upcoming Sat, Nov 15 • Chhora Ganga Kinare Wala Venue: Ashland High School, 65 East Union Street, Ashland, MA 01721 Time: 05:30 pm Contact: 978-726-4095

Sat, Nov 22 • 11 th Annual Boston Bhangra Competition

Venue: Smith Center at Ohlone College 43600 Mission Boulevard, Fremont Timet: 8:00 pm Contact: smithcenter.com.

Venue: Orpheum Theatre, 1 Hamilton Pl, Boston, MA 02108 Time: 6:00 pm Contact: 617-448-25088

Sun, Nov 16 • Red Carpet Wedding Show

Sat, Dec 6 • Maadhurya - A Grand Evening of Dance and Music

Venue: Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, Los Angeles, 7000 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90028 Time :04:00 pm Contact: 562-366-3649

Venue: Ashland High School, 65 East Union Street, Ashland, MA 01721 Time: 3:30 am Contact: 978-206-1486

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

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

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

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

India Post

Classifieds

November 7, 2014

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Horoscope

November 7, 2014

India Post

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Your Weekly Future by Pandit Parashar

November 7th - November 13th, 2014 (March 21 to April 20)

xpenses towards a child will shoot up suddenly. Investing in property is a good idea and will prove to be profitable in long term. People in business will be able to recover some old debts. Changing weather may cause minor health problem. Some of you will start working on an upcoming trip. Avoiding extending loan to anyone.

(April 21 to May 20)

lanets will cause sudden and positive changes in career. Students may experience slight difficulty in focusing because of temporary distraction. You may finally go ahead and sign that document related to a property. Expenses will stay under control. Spouse may complain of some ache and pain in joints and need medicines.

(May 21 to June 20)

ou will continue to gain anedge over your opponents and get ready to appear for an important exam or and interview that provide an life changing opportunity. People in business will add new inventory to stay well ahead of their competition. Some of you may finally gather your self and make an offer on an existing business.

(June 21 to July 22)

lans and venture launched in last few months will start to reap rich rewards. You may add some more very advanced product to existing line. Health issues can be resolved with home remedy. Gambling instincts may help you win some money in lottery also. One of your child will need your help in shape of making the right choice in life.

(July 23 to August 22)

(November 23 to December 22)

hanges will be good and family would love them. Try to eat on regular interval in order to avoid complications. You may finally start working on an upcoming and interesting trip overseas. Some of you may also replace an older vehicle with an economical model. You may also buy some new furniture or some high tech items this week.

(August 23 to September 22)

nitiating a law suit to prove your point may cross your mind and you may try to make an appointment with a high ranking government official. Running around will increase but will be fruitful. Idea of going into food business is not bad. Bachelors will be introduced to a very like minded person by another friend. Try few lottery tickets.

(September 23 to October 22)

orking conditions will get tough and you may assigned additional work or responsibility without any benefits. You may need to answer a legal query also from a government agency. Some money will go on repairs to one of your vehicle or some gadget in the kitchen. You may also attend an important event with family this week.

(October 23 to November 22)

female will be the root cause of stress. Conflicting reports will cause more confusion and it will be hard to make the choice. It will be better to consult an expert before you make that important move. Bank balance will creep up slowly. You may visit a holy place with family. You may receive some nice and valuable gifts.

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

eople prone to litigation should not let their guards down for next few weeks especially. Every one at home will be excited about upcoming trip. It will be better to maintain a proper record of all clients you see this week. Little exercise will bring you back in shape. Do not hold your ideas, discuss with people who could help you implement them.

(December 22 to January 19)

oney you almost gave up on, will arrive in mail giving you another reason to celebrate with family. Expect all help from boss and people holding good position in government. Just keep an eye on a shady character trying to flirt with you. It will be great week for people connected with hardware or high tech industry.

(January 20 to February 18)

oncentration of many planets in house of luck will help you hit the bulls eye. Issues on hold and causing strain in mind will get resolved over night. Any venture started at this point will go a long way and can turn profitable quickly. Your eyes may be set on a nice piece of property. Take help of a person with honey color eyes.

(February 19 to March 20)

dvise from a matured person will be helpful. You may send some valuable gifts to a sibling. Expenses will stay in control and extra hours spent at work will bring in much needed extra cash. You may be little concerned about the health of an elderly family member. Jupiter in fifth improves your chance to add another family member.

510-886-4370 www.parashar.com

Details on Page 52

50 India Post

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November 7, 2014

Prem Joshua & his Kashi - Dance of Shakti albums

CHICAGO: Though born in Germany, Prem Joshua, a master flutist and saxophonist, has huge love and connection with India, probably borrowed from his previous birth. He was asked once while in India if he loved any Indian woman, and he responded saying, "Yes, I fell in love with Indian women, but my love affair with India herself remained undiminished." Joshua was the name his parents gave him, he later added Prem to it, dropping the family name, to remind him of the essence of love - Prem means love in Hindi

tirelessly devoted his life's work to channeling India's rich spiritual depth into a new, global language through his music, recording a prolific nineteen albums over the past two and a half decades. From combining elements of lilting, nuanced jazz with mantra incantations, to infusing Hindustani acoustic instruments with trance beats, his innovations have contributed greatly to the Asian Underground east-west fusion scene as well as the ever-growing ambient genre of meditation music, where he is among the best-known and most beloved pioneers. With his new album Kashi: Songs From The India Within, Prem Joshua and his talented ensemble

Osho inspired him and his music a lot. His website states that "In the presence of this man with a long white beard, eyes as deep as the ocean and a strong sense of humor, he came in touch with the art of the "inner music" - Silence

While some songs pay homage through mantras to Hindu deities Krishna, Ganesha, Durga, Shiva Prem Joshua says "the images…have less to do with a religious belief system than a representation of basic life energies

SURENDRA ULLAL

Learning the flute at the age of five, he played the flute and the saxophone for various local bands. He traveled overland to India at the age 18 studying the indigenous folk music of countries along the way. Joshua was the name his parents gave him, he later added Prem to it, dropping the family name, to remind him of the essence of love (Prem means love in Hindi). Prem learned to play the sitar from Ustad Usman Khan, but Osho inspired him and his music a lot. His website states that "In the presence of this man with a long white beard, eyes as deep as the ocean and a strong sense of humor, he came in touch with the art of the "inner music" - Silence. This was really coming home!" The eighteen-year-old became deeply inspired by the ancient spirituality of his new adopted home, and began to hear his music as well in terms of fusing the familiar forms of western music with the exotic Eastern sounds that the culture of India began to unfold for him. He has

Prem with an Indian producer Subhash

have crafted a sparkling suite of new songs around beloved, traditional Indian mantras and shlokas (a type of couplet verse that is the basis of such ancient Indian poetry as the The Mahabharata and Ramayana epics). But, tradition aside, each original track - composed by Prem Joshua and collaborator Chintan Relenberg - offers a fresh take on devotional music that is transcendent but utterly and accessibly contemporary - and always highly enjoyable as well as enlightening. While some songs pay homage through mantras to Hindu deities - Krishna, Ganesha, Durga, Shiva - Prem Joshua says "the images…have less to do with a religious belief system than a representation of basic life energies; so it is with mantras. It is not about blindly adopting religious concepts, but rather about experiencing these images and sounds as guide maps for the inner journey." Cont'd on Page 52

India Post 51

November 7, 2014 www.indiapost.com

Grandma's house in Lahore

t was 1965, the year when India and Pakistan went to war again after 1947. I was just 16, living in a small village in Amritsar district, located about 25 kms from the border. We were a Punjabi Brahmin family which had seen much comfort in the past. But after Partition, we were on a shoestring budget. My father worked with Punjab Roadways and was suffering from severe blood pressure in his early forties. He was the sole bread earner and with myriad medical expenses and family responsibilities, the financial crunch was proving bitter. My grandmother belonged to Lahore district of pre-partition India. Her village where she spent her childhood was about 2-3 kilometres from the border. After the untimely demise of my grandfather, a government officer, she had raised my father independently. She was a strong woman known for her inimitable wisdom. Although frail and with poor eyesight, my grandmother had her wits about her. The Indian army had advanced to the outskirts of Lahore and this became a liberalized zone under the Border Security Force (BSF). Those days radio was the only media to give us updates on the IndoPak war which started in September 1965. The Indian army had closed on to Lahore and subsequently took position on the Indian side of Ichhogil canal on the outskirts of Lahore. This resulted in the area between border and new positions of the army to be known as "Liberated Territory". As she heard this news blaring from the radio, she was filled with nostalgia and longing. Almost 17 years after partition, there was a possibility for her to revisit her childhood home in Lahore. There was a glint in her eyes. She was hell bent upon visiting

COL. (RETD) AJIT KAMAL

the house where she grew up. After much coaxing, she somehow prevailed upon me. With one elder brother, a younger brother and an elder sister, I was pretty much middle-rung. Yet the most adventurous of the lot, so I took up the challenge. During partition and delineation of the boundary, people had to leave their houses on very short notice, with time just enough to catch hold of their kith and kin. My grandmother's maternal house also had to be abandoned in the same manner by her relatives. One fine day, early morning we embarked on our journey to

We started scraping the mud wall with a small knife which we were carrying for our security. To our bewilderment, silver coins started falling to the ground Lahore. I took my grandmother on the back of my cycle (the only mode of conveyance available those days in rural Punjab), along with two family friends. There were no roads and most of the journey was cross-country, on mud-tracks. After riding for about three hours, we reached a BSF check post. We saluted and chanted slogans for the BSF soldiers - "BSF ki jai ho" and presented fruits to them. Without much hassle, they permitted us to cross-over, only reiterating that we should be back before it gets dark. After covering some more distance, we reached the village. She could easily spot the house. The building was intact but in a wretched state. All four of us entered inside. She immediately kneeled down and reached out to a small cavity in a wall and pulled out an iron can which was stuffed with gold

jewellery. She emptied it in her dupatta. After that she went to another room where larger amount of jewellery was supposed to be hidden, but the new occupants had carried out alterations and the wall had been demolished. She was quite frustrated. Anyway we moved ahead towards a mud wall. My grandmother signalled us to get a shovel or some sharp object. We started scraping the mud wall with a small knife which we were carrying for our security. To our bewilderment, silver coins started falling to the ground. She collected the coins and after looking around her old childhood house with moist eyes that she will never be able to see again, we trooped out. It was evening and we were still inside Pakistan. As the dark enveloped us, our family friends turned greedy. They demanded whatever we had collected should be divided before we reached our village. My grandmother did not agree but when the pestering became threatening and aggressive, she gave in. They took away the major portion and left her with small items. We had no choice. It was dark by now with no soul in sight. After this bitter episode we silently drove back to our home. I was a boy of barely 16 and both of them were full-grown young men. Being very young and inexperienced, I was sure they would return our items upon reaching our house. Had I guessed their intentions correctly and in time, I was adventurous and tough enough to outmatch them in cycling back home. These ornaments saw us through my father's illness and my sister's marriage. Over the years I was offered an opportunity to cross border during 1971 war and some other times but this particular crossing is still vivid in my mind.

Actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar passes away MUMBAI: Veteran Bollywood actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar, who essayed villainous and comic roles with equal ease and gave powerful performances in "Ardh Satya" and "Sadak", died here after battling lung infection. Amrapukar was 64. "Sadashiv Amarapurkar was suffering from Interstitial Lung Disease and passed away peacefully at 2.45 am," his daughter Rima Amrapurkar said. Amrapukar's last rites were performed at his native place in Ahmednagar district. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bollywood fraternity took to Twitter to condole the death of Amrapukar. "We will remember Sadashiv Amrapurkar as a versatile actor, popular across generations. RIP. My deepest condolences to his family," Modi tweeted. Amitabh

spent together, of acknowledgement of their work..," Bachchan posted on Twitter. Amrapukar played iconic character roles including as a ruthless eunuch in 'Sadak', a villain in 'Ardh Satya' and a selfish father in 'Ishq' with an effortless ease. Ardh Satya was Amrapukar's debut Hindi film in 1983. Amrapurkar had won two Filmfare awards. In 1984, he won the award for the best supporting actor for "Ardh Satya" and in 1991, the best villain trophy for his portrayal in "Sadak". His other works included "Aankhen", "Ishq", "Coolie No. 1" and "Gupt: The Hidden Truth". Ironically, while he would instill fear with his negative roles on-

Sadashiv Amrapurkar

Bachchan, who is currently shooting his upcoming film 'Piku' in Kolkata, said the actor was close to his heart. "Waking up in Kolkata to the sad news of the passing away of Sadasiv Amrapurkar.. A colleague and a gifted talent.. Prayers! When a colleague suddenly passes away there is a sudden vacuum, of times

screen, the actor was a true gentleman in real life and was involved in many social activities. He later shifted his focus on Marathi movies. Amrapurkar was last seen on the big screen in 2012 film 'Bombay Talkies'. He had become selective and was more into social work in the last few years.-PTI

52 India Post

November 7, 2014 www.indiapost.com

Star couple finally granted divorce MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan and his estranged wife Sussanne Khan were granted divorce by a family court, nearly a year after the star couple announced end of their marriage. 'The court has granted divorce to both of them. It was a divorce

by mutual consent,' Hrithik's lawyer Mrunalini Deshmukh said. Hrithik and Sussanne, who have two children, approached the court in April this year and filed an application for separation by mutual consent. On December 14 last year, the couple had called off

Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne Khan at the court in Bandra

their marriage. In a statement, the 40-year-old Krrish actor had said Sussanne decided to walk out of their 13year-old marriage. In a separate statement, Sussanne, who also belongs to a Bollywood family like Hrithik, had called the split 'our own individual choices.' 'We are two individuals who respect and care for each other and have made our own individual choices. We are parents of two wonderful kids and our responsibility remains to protect and take care of them,' she said. Hrithik and Sussanne, who were childhood sweethearts, had tied the knot in 2000 after a four-year-long relationship.-Agencies

A German Prem interprets India Cont'd from Page 50

Opening with the atmospheric "Balakrishna" - a modern take on kirtan that celebrates the life-affirming divine child Krishna and evolves into a breezy, beat-laden excursion - the album traverses rich and diverse terrain in both style and content. Throughout, the mellifluous vocal chem- The humorously-titled "All istry of singers Hamsika Iyer (known Roads Lead to Om," (as for her work with opposed to "Rome") - a Bombay Dub Orchestra and Juno Reactor), joyfully lovely groove Prem Joshua himself, draws its prayer from the and Sanou Olszewski Brihadaranyaka Upanishads is framed with great subtlety by the multiinstrumental arrangements of sage remains as urgently relevant Joshua (sitar, bamboo flute, and today as ever. Joshua says, "In a saxophones), Chintan (keyboards, world where fanaticism and ignobass, tabla, kanjira, pandeiro, udu, rance seem to be taking hold ever drum programming), guitarist more strongly, this prayer shines Werner Schultheiss, and tabla like a beacon - guiding our jourplayer Raul Sengupta. ney along the 'Road to Om.'" "Tumhaari Mara" marries sitar The final track, over ten minand Indian melody, vaguely utes long and a stately yet rapturevocative of Bollywood, with ous delivery of the full traditional sturdy reggae rhythms and deep "Lingashtakam" mantra in honor bass - as its lyrics honor the re- of Lord Shiva, builds to a luscious vocal crescendo before easing gracefully off into mellow instrumentation, wrapping up a thoroughly rewarding and soulful sonic experience - and leaving the listener wanting more. lion in 2011-12, and controls asIn a short talk with this paper sets valued at USD 77.7 billion. Prem observed that India today is "The philanthropic trusts reigned by Bollywood music. control a majority of the Tata Forget about the subtleties of holding company, Tata Sons. classical music - Bollywood has The Tata family is a very small to be loud and extreme, just like shareholder. Yet, the owners are the Indian colors, the spicy food, only one of four stakeholders the over-population, the conTata sets out to serve. In additrasts of rich and poor. tion to the owners (which include Bollywood music has become shareholders) are employees, the national anthem of India; the customers, and society itself," identification of "I am proud to the book, published by Penguin, be Indian" is set to a loud beat. says. Strangely enough, today "The guiding principle for evBollywood music is not really Ineryone at Tata is sharing the dian at all - it is basically "stowealth. With Tata reporting anlen" Western pop music but with nual profits in 2012 of USD 6.23 Hindi lyrics. But who cares? In billion, this means that a very the West, Bollywood films, mularge amount of money is insic and dance are now being sold vested back into the economy as "Indian culture" and Westernevery year just from this one ers feel a certain fascination in source," it says. this loudness, colorfulness and The members of the Tata famextremity. ily have established a set of philBut knowing the real backanthropic trusts to which the majority of the family's personal ground and depth of Indian culwealth has been dedicated and ture, Bollywood is just an exbequeathed. tremely distorted and commerLike their father, Dorabji Tata cialized version of India's true and Ratan Tata also donated the heritage. majority of their personal wealth He indicated that he planned to trusts they established.-PTI to come visiting Chicago along with other cities in USA next year.

Book explores philanthropy angle in Tata story

he values at the heart of the Tata Group as well as the role played in its development by the philanthropic trusts that own two-thirds of the company are explored in a new book that is a brief history of the Tatas. How did Tata transform itself from a family-owned venture to the position it is today in an array of unrelated businesses? What is the 'Tata Way', which has earned it much admiration and respect? These are among several aspects that the book "The Greatest Company in the World?: The Story of Tata" by Peter Casey looks into. It charts the contribution of every Tata chairman - from Jamsetji Tata, who set up the company in 1868, to Ratan Tata and Cyrus Mistry in transforming the company into one of the most professionally-managed enterprises in the world. As founder and Executive Chairman of Claddagh Resources, Casey decided to write the book initially to help his recruiters and executive search

consultants have a better understanding of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which over 14 years, had become his company's biggest client. "It was supposed to just be a short 15-page summary, but the more I started studying TCS and Tata, the more captivated I got and the project developed a life of its own," he says. According to the writer, while other successful capitalists and captains of industry started companies to create profit and, thereby, wealth, Jamsetji Tata planted the seeds of philanthropic trusts, which now own 66 per cent of the Tata Group. "In harmony with his religion, Tata's company would exist to finance and initiate projects to improve the lives of the people of India," he says.

"So, Jamsetji Tata became not only a catalyst for sweeping change in his vast homeland, but, in the process, conceptualized an entirely new way of doing business as well as philanthropy. What he began has changed the lives of billions, as the company he founded continues to work for the betterment of society," he says. In the words of Jamsetji, "We think we started on sound and straightforward business principles, considering the interests of the shareholders our own, and the health and welfare of the employees, the sure foundation of our success." Today, the Tata Group employs nearly half a million people, and earns revenues of USD 100 billion. It reported a profit of USD 6.23 bil-

vered 16th century Rajasthani royal poet-saint Meera. The humorously-titled "All Roads Lead to Om," (as opposed to "Rome") a joyfully lovely groove - draws its prayer from the Brihadaranyaka Upanishads, which - at over 3,000 years old - are considered the oldest of all Vedic texts. Yet its mes-

Philosophy

November 7, 2014

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eople commonly believe that they have a separate self that is fixed and unchanging, an inside core that is a me. Despite noticing that thoughts, feelings, perceptions and body sensations change every instant, it is believed that there exists a separate self that remains the same. So one holds on tightly to this identity of a me and therefore to the mine for fear of grave loss, leaping from one imagined cliff to another. However, that very attachment and that very strategy, perpetuates the fear. It is a painful feedback loop and an unnecessary one, as it is driven by the illusion of the separate self. There is no separate existence to defend. There is no independent self that is ever separate from what happens. The whole mirage of subjectivity depends upon countless conditions that are not subjective. For instance, a seer could not exist without the seen. Therefore, there is no actual seer of things. For a seer cannot itself see. In other words, a subject needs an object to be a subject. Both are inseparable, mutually arisen. This also applies to thought, emotion, perception and sensation. This is why the separate self is an illusion, why there is no independent self to be found. What we call a self depends upon everything that is not considered to be a self. If even air or water were re-

JAYA ROW

he concluding chapter of the Bhagwad Gita begins by Arjuna asking for definitions of the two most important concepts in Vedanta - sannyasa, (renunciation) and tyaga (resignation). Krishna says sannyasa is giving up desire-driven action while tyaga is giving up fruit of action. Contrary to popular perception neither sannyasa nor tyaga implies giving up action. Action continues, giving up the two things that come in the way of excellence in action - desire from the past and anxiety for the fruit which belongs to the future. Desire is necessary to initiate action. Without desire no action will be undertaken. Similarly there is always a fruit in mind before acting. However, while executing action, 100% of the mind must be focused on the action. If at this time the mind meanders into the dead past or unborn future it is not concentrating on the present action. Action becomes faulty, leading to failure. The grandeur and magnificence of renunciation lies in growth to a higher dimension as a result of which the lower fascinations drop.

moved, there would be no self-essence, nature or being left over. Whatever exists dependently, cannot also exist independently or separately. A mind and body are dependently arisen and therefore lack independent existence, have no essence or being of their own. Like all phenomena, they are empty of selfhood. It can be helpful to consider this reasoning by using the example of a house. A house depends upon wood, cement, windows, nails,

the way that things are believed to inherently exist are misconceived. A good emptiness inquiry is to see if even one aspect of what is considered to represent a self, such as a feeling, emotion or physical characteristic, exists independently and is not dependent upon something else or other conditions. Thought for instance, depends upon what does not think, because thought does not exist in and of itself, with its own indepen-

lished. And as there are no separate phenomena existing as their own things, there is not one universal essence that is its own totality either. How can a composite be of one essential nature? Being empty, nothing can be pinned down. Being interrelated, who can say that things are truly the same or different? There are conventional appearances and the functional naming of things, but these are not self-created, nor self-enduring en-

Realizing emptiness, fear is removed from root

Susan Kahn

Whatever exists dependently, cannot also exist independently or separately. A mind and body are dependently arisen and therefore lack independent existence

I searched for God and found only myself. I searched for myself and found only God. - Sufi Proverb IF words come out of the heart, they will enter the heart, but if they come from the tongue, they will not pass beyond the ears.

etc., which further depend upon rain clouds, air, metal, minerals and so forth. There is nothing independent that is house, that exists as its own thing. One assumes that these parts belong to the house. However, if the parts did belong to the house, then the house must have already existed before the parts and therefore, there must be two houses, one with parts and one without parts. This shows how our ordinary assumptions of

dent nature. Thoughts are always thoughts of what is not thinking, including thought objects that do not themselves think. There is no subject-object division, no thinker apart from non-thinker. There is diversity in life, but this is not a diversity of separate things, not a diversity grounded in ultimate distinctions. Everything is like an inter-reflection, just as objects in dreams lack their own substance and are not self-estab-

tities. As everything is interdependent, rather than self-established, a self of persons and all phenomena must be empty of their own separate thingness. Realizing emptiness is how fear is removed from the root. Susan Kahn is a licensed psychotherapist in California who unites both traditional and nondual emptiness teachings. Her passion is to penetrate the surface of things and help others.

It is giving up that which comes in the way of your success and happiness. The Gita asks you to remove the wrapper and relish the chocolate, remove the unpleasant aspects of life and enjoy the world.

mance of obligatory action because it ought to be done, giving up attachment and fruit. Desire stands between you and your higher dimension. In fact desire stands in the way of even ob-

you achieve the goal. When your mind is focused on investing your energies towards the ideal you will not indulge in anything that takes you away from the goal. The lower desires thus

- Al-Suhrawardi The Thing we tell of can never be found by seeking, yet only seekers find it. - Bayazid Bistami Happy are those who find fault with themselves instead of finding fault with others. - Muhammad What is done for you - al-

Renunciation is giving up that which is in way of success

low it to be done. What you must do yourself make sure you do it.

While executing action, 100% of the mind must be focused on the action. If at this time the mind meanders, it is not concentrating on the present action. Action becomes faulty, leading to failure.

- Khawwas Enlightenment must come little by little - otherwise it Jaya Row

would overwhelm.

- Idries Shah vanish. In the final stage when you are on the verge of realization you Whatever we perceive in need to let go of the last thought, the world around us tends the mantra, which is the last impediment. This is the final act of to reflect who we are and renunciation that takes you to the what we care about most exalted state of realization. Mumbai-based Jaya Row is the deeply, as in the old sayfounder of Vedanta Vision dediing, "When a thief sees a cated to the dissemination of Vedanta. She had a distinguished saint, all he sees are his management career which she repockets." nounced to devote herself full time - Robert Frager to the interpretation and re-presentation of Vedanta for the modern generation. 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 Renunciation is opening your mind to deeper and more fulfilling aspects of your personality while continuing to enjoy the lower joys. Yet it has been horribly misunderstood as mere giving up of things that are dear to us. As a result people have given up the Gita! Tyaga is of three kinds sattvika, rajasika and tamasika. Abandoning obligatory action out of delusion is tamasika. It is not tyaga at all. False or rajasika tyaga is giving up action that is troublesome, fearing physical discomfort. True or sattvika tyaga is perfor-

taining objects of desire. In order to rise above desire you need to perform acts of yajna, sacrifice, tapa, penance and dana, charity. Yajna is acting in a spirit of service for a higher cause. The highest ideal is Self-realization. When your thoughts are anchored in the higher while you act in the world, the lower desires get starved and fall away. Tapa is going through the discipline required in order to achieve the ideal. A sportsperson has to keep fit, a musician needs to do riaz, a student must study. Only then will

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Current strategies against IS counterproductive

India Post

RANJIT GUPTA

he efficacy of the US strategy to defeat the Islamic State (IS) can only be meaningfully evaluated in the context of the current regional and international geopolitical configurations. It should be self-evident that there is no possibility at all of any political approach to successfully confront and overcome the challenge posed by the IS. If the IS is not defeated, the whole system of nation states in West Asia will almost surely crumble. At the present critical juncture, given the ground realities in Iraq, Syria and the Arab world in gen-

policy of not supplying arms to countries in zones of conflict, Germany will be supplying arms to the Kurdistan Regional Government in Iraq. Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have carried out air strikes in Syria. There are varying accounts of Qatar's involvement. After doggedly refusing to allow any support for any military action in Iraq or Syria against the IS despite intense personal efforts by US President Barack Obama and the secretaries of state and defense, Turkey has reluctantly allowed the Free Syrian Army fighters and the Iraqi Kurdish Peshmerga to transit its territory

Peshmerga. Thus we have the strange scenario of seeing the US and Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iran, Saudi Arabia and Shia ruled Iraq, the Assad regime and those sworn to overthrow it - Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the US and assorted Islamist extremist groups, Kurds of different nationality groups and factions perpetually at loggerheads with each other, all in the same camp warring against the IS, tacitly cooperating with each other even if they more often than not publicly deny any open explicit collaboration. This is a part of the ground reality even if not a formal part of US strategy.

eral - and internal divisions amongst Arab states and between Arab states and non-Arab states such as Iran and Turkey - it should also be clear that there is no possibility of any regional military coalition being forged to take on the IS. Therefore, countries of the region have little or no choice but to have the US lead the fight against the IS even though Washington's military entanglements in the Arab and Muslim worlds have greatly adversely affected its credibility, influence and standing in the region; and have in fact been one of the primary causes of the rise of Islamic extremism. After all, the US has been the preeminent regional security architect for the past several decades and remains the major weapons supplier to regional countries barring Iran and Syria. No other Western or non-regional country can do it or will even be willing to attempt to do it by themselves; even their involvement is predicated only on the US leading the war. Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands and UK too have joined in conducting air strikes in Iraq. In a break from the traditional

en route to Kobani to dislodge the IS from there. The central feature of the strategy is to carry out air strikes both in Iraq and Syria initially to stop the heretofore irresistible advance of the IS and to degrade its capabilities. This has happened in many sectors if not everywhere. The US and its partners have by now carried out a few thousand air strikes. However, Obama has made it clear that there will be no American boots on the ground, meaning Americans in the tens of thousands will not be there as in the past. Such involvement will only exacerbate extremism. Another caveat is that combat activity must absolutely include the active involvement of regional countries. This is what the US has been implementing. Even though it is clear that the war cannot be won through air strikes alone, the reality is that the world has no better alternative to this approach for the present. So far, however, a Shiite coalition, of Iran, Hezbollah, Iraqi Shia militias and the Iraqi and Syrian governments, has been the main force arrayed against the IS on the ground apart from particularly valiant contributions by the Kurdish

However, the fight against the IS cannot be compartmentalized. It occupies 2/5ths of the total territory of Syria and 2/5ths of the total territory of Iraq and is actually stronger in Syria; the border between the two countries has been erased. The IS cannot be defeated in Iraq without being defeated in Syria and therefore it will have to be confronted in Syria also. Despite recognizing this as exhibited by the air strikes in Syria, countries opposed to Assad are maintaining that they will not cooperate with Assad in fighting the IS and will continue supporting so called 'moderate' rebels by supplying arms. Such distinctions are completely arbitrary and subjective and have proven to be counterproductive. The US has promised $500 million worth of arms and training is going to be provided to the rebels in Saudi Arabia. This will only exacerbate and prolong Syria's civil war and undermine the dire need of a united response to the IS. The coalition's policy approach in Syria maybe alright as a temporary tactic, but strategically, it is completely counterproductive. The writer is Former Member, National Security Advisory Board (NSAB). Courtesy IPCS

National leaders

ndia had a galaxy of leaders who made significant contributions to India's Independence movement working under, along with or even apart from Mahatma Gandhi. But after Independence there was no move to remember them or highlight their importance. With the dominance of Congress at the Center, only the Nehru-Gandhi family members were celebrated as if they were the only national leaders and the rest were just overlooked. In one cathartic move on October 31Prime Minister Narendra Modi brought back the honor for at least one great Indian - Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel - on his birth anniversary. It was dedicated as National Unity Day and a "Run for Unity" in the heart of New Delhi was joined by the Prime Minister. Indira Gandhi was also assassinated on this day 30 years ago and each year the day was commemorated all over the country in a big way. However the massacre of Sikhs that happened in the wake of her assassination was never mentioned nor any steps taken to address the wounds of the near and dear ones left behind. Modi took a conscious decision not to join in the ritual ceremony at Shakti Sthal, the Samadhi of Indira Gandhi but pointedly remarked at the 'Run for Unity' event "It is a misfortune of this country that 30 years ago on the birth anniversary of such a leader an incident which shook the unity of nation took place." The Congress leaders were livid at this reference and the PM not joining in the homage at Shakti Sthal. But they could do nothing about it and in some places had to join the formality of paying homage to Sardar Patel thus acknowledging that injustice had been done to the "Iron man" of India. For the first time a step had been taken to correct the lopsided importance that had been appropriated by the Nehru-Gandhi family at the cost of other leaders. Sardar Patel belonged to the Congress. Even so late in time Sonia Gandhi and family could have made a gesture by garlanding the statue of Sardar Patel to show that they indeed cared for other leaders. Modi paid lip service to the martyrdom of Indira Gandhi. The Gandhi family could also have paid similar lip service to Sardar Patel. But they missed the opportunity. President Pranab Mukherjee, a lifelong Congressman, however flagged off 'Run for Unity' from Rashtrapati Bhawan and also attended the homage to Indira Gandhi at Shakti Sthal. It was a good gesture of the PM to remember Sardar Patel who was the architect of a unified India. But for him, India would have been divided into 500 parts. Unfortunately, he was not given the pride of place which he rightly deserved. Instead of a national commemoration, his birthday remained just a small sideshow or one limited to his home state of Gujarat. Ashok Malik in his column in NDTV calls Modi's bold departure from practice as a "strong message that national icons need to be rescued from the obscurity the Congress has reserved for them." He points out that "Rajiv Gandhi was commemorated as a national leader but Patel, subtly, was classified as a symbol of Gujarati regional prideâ&#x20AC;ŚSubhas Bose is presented as a Bengali symbol, Madan Mohan Malviya as an Uttar Pradesh Brahmin figure, Rajaji as a right-winger who lived in Tamil Nadu, Ambedkar as a Dalit who could swing a few votes in Maharashtra. If one moves down a generation, Charan Singh is a Jat orâ&#x20AC;Ś.a "kulak leader". It is a wonder that such expressions and such semi-disguised pejoration are never deployed for Indira and her family." It is not suggested that in a feeling of revenge, the contributions of the Nehrus and Gandhi are not to be acknowledged. Indira Gandhi's wartime leadership and Nehru's great record in office have to be acknowledged. But India is diverse country with hundreds of great leaders. All of them need to be given their due.

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