IndiaPost_12-11-2009 by Ghanshyam Bisht

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Olympic honor for Akshay Kumar Details on page 26

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

VOL 15, No. 796

December 11, 2009

50¢

Periodical Postage

U.S. SEEKS INDIA ROLE IN AFGHAN

NEW DELHI: A day after President Barack Obama announced his new Af-Pak policy and a troop surge in Afghanistan, the US said it looks forward to working with India in rebuilding the war-torn country.

US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer, who was in Washington during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's state visit to the US, said Obama also sought Singh's "important" views on Afghanistan. Details on page 6

Private bone marrow drive for Maya

Maneck Dalal

NRI gets award for promoting Indian culture Details on page 36

Differences among Gandhi fund members Details on page 14

LeT men admit involvement in Bangalore blasts Details on page 8

Details on page 19

Community told to participate in 2010 census Details on page 36

World Bank to triple lending to India French honor for Lata Mangeshkar Details on page 26

US asks Pak to take more steps against terrorists

Details on page 40

HONORING HEROES: Robert F. Willard, Commander of the US Pacific Command, pays his respects after placing a wreath at the India Gate War Memorial in honor of some 90,000 soldiers who sacrificed their lives during World War I, in New Delhi on December 3

A dinner to remember for Indian Americans

Indian students in UK scrounge for food Details on page 8

ULFA chairman detained in Bangladesh

Details on page 6

'ISI desperate to revive terrorism in Punjab, J-K'

Details on page 6

CONTENTS Bollywood ---------------------- 24-25 Classifieds --------------------- 44-47

Details on page 8

Community Post -------------- 12-19 Date Book -------------------------- 48

INDIA POST SURVEY

Edit Page --------------------------- 50 HealthScience Post --------- 20-22

survey@indiapost.com This week’s question

Obama’s new Af-Pak strategy will succeed? Last week’s result

India-US friendship is enduring? YES 63%

NO 37%

SAALT Executive Director Deepa Iyer with Vice President Biden

SRIREKHA N. CHAKRAVARTY India Post News Service

NEW YORK: It was the most sought after party of the year held at the country's First Address - the White

Annetta Seecharran (former Executive Director of South Asian Youth Action) with Steven Spielberg

Horoscope ------------------------- 34 Immigration Post ------------- 36-39

House. And when the President of America hosts a state dinner and the First Lady comes under the spot to prove herself as the First hostess, one can be assured that no detail would be spared.

Life Style ----------------------- 26-27

Details on page 7

TechBiz Post ------------------- 40-42

Philosophy ------------------------- 49 Publisherís Diary ------------------ 4 Real Estate ------------------------ 43 Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 28-31

Certified by “CIRCULATION VERIFICATION COUNCIL Readership 117,765”

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December 11, 2009

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opping up after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's state visit to Washington DC last week - after the strategic bilateral meet with President Obama, the dozens of meetings with US lawmakers and administration officials, the speeches before the business elite and think tanks, the Vice Presidential lunch and the Presidential banquet at the White House - what is left of the visit is a tabloid version courtesy, the US media. The highlight of the story? Not Obama, not Singh, but Michaele and Tareq Salahe, the Virginia couple who gate crashed into the White House state dinner. I am so done with watching the couple (the woman breezing through the White House corridors in a bright gaudy red sari) on every single show and newscast of every single channel on TV. So okay, it was a grave security breach; it was a huge lapse on part of the secret service; and an embarrassment for the White House. But why don't all concerned just stop playing the cat and mouse game and come out clean with what exactly happened? If the couple did gatecrash into a White House dinner, what is stopping the secret service or even the local police to bring them in and question them and pin down those at fault? And if they did not gatecrash, then what is stopping the couple from simply flashing the blessed invitation and shut everyone up once and for all? It's exasperating to say the least to watch the media milk a story for all its worth, spending precious airtime on speculation while the authorities keep skirting the issue till they either find a scapegoat or the media loses interest; and the actual culprits go scot free and even making a quick buck out of their 15-minutes of fame. What is lost in all this, if anyone still cares to remember, is the effort that is going into bringing two colossal countries together through political, strategic, trade and cultural ties to hopefully make lives of all those connected through such efforts, better. Hopefully, one day we will get to that story.

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Bollywood One year break Aamir Khan has decided to take one full year off by not signing any films after Ghajini, to rejuvenate himself.

Cover Story: India role in Afgan US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer says it looks forward to working with India in rebuilding war-torn Afganistan.

Community: Excellence in Information

IIC recognizes winners and finalists at the 14th annual Excellence in Information Integrity Awards (EIIA) Banquet.

Immigration: Census appeal Census representatives emphasize the importance of participation of community members in the decennial survey.

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US seeks India role in Afghanistan NEW DELHI: A day after President Barack Obama announced his new Af-Pak policy and a troop surge in Afghanistan, the US said it looks forward to working with India in rebuilding the war-torn country. US Ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer, who was in Washington during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's state visit to the US, said Obama also sought Singh's "important" views on Afghanistan. "After the PM's very successful visit to Washington and before his statement on the new Af-Pak policy, the President also called the PM and they had a very good talk," Roemer told reporters at the US pavilion at a food expo here. He said the President sought

Singh's "very important" views on Afghanistan, "this shows how much respect the US has for the Prime Minister and his views on the region". He said the issues of terrorism

‘After the PM's very successful visit to Washington and before his statement on the new Af-Pak policy, the President also called the PM and they had a very good talk,’ Roemer told reporters

and global economy featured prominently during PM's visit to the US. "We thank PM for his support in rebuilding Afghanistan -- in the development work, in education and economy. We look forward to working with India on the issue... as also on agriculture and commerce," he said. Roemer said there was scope for greater trade relations between India and the US in the agricultural sector. "I am happy to know that agricultural trade has grown by 27 per cent between India and the US in the past year. Nothing helps in strengthening ties more than food, as we all know this especially in India where we love food," he said. -PTI

Timothy J Roemer

US asks Pak to take more steps Elders protest stopping of Ladakh road project against terrorists WASHINGTON: As part of efforts to convince Pakistan to abandon its policy of using extremist elements as a strategic tool, the US has warned it that there is "no good terrorist" whom it can count on and asked it to take more steps against Taliban and al-Qaeda militants. Pakistan's military action against terrorists in the country's restive northwest is an "important first step", but it needs to take "more steps", Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at a Congressional hearing convened

interests," she said in response to a question from Republican Edward Royce. There has to be a recognition in Pakistan of connection between those elements of Taliban who attacked their military and intelligence headquarters, indiscriminately killed and maimed so many hundreds of Pakistanis and all of the other elements of "this syndicate of terrorism," Clinton said. Later in an interview to 'CBS Evening News', she said "the case we've been making to both

During the Congressional hearing, Clinton told the lawmakers that Pakistan has certainly demonstrated over the last year their commitment and willingness to take on the Pakistan Taliban who directly threaten them. ‘Obviously, we think al-Qaeda is not only the inspiration but the funder, the equipper, the trainer, the planner’ by the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs. "We think that in the last year the Pakistanis have really stepped up their military action against the Pakistani Taliban in both Swat and South Waziristan as an abrupt about- face from their prior policies. And it's been a unifying policy supported by the people of Pakistan," she said. "So they have taken an important first step, but they need to take more steps in their own best

the civilian and the military leadership of Pakistan is a simple one: There is no good terrorist, there is no terrorist that you can count on not to turn against you. Clinton maintained that Pakistani government has taken "some important steps" over the course of this past year that they were not taking before the Obama Administration came to office. During the Congressional hearing, Clinton told the lawmakers that Pakistan has certainly

demonstrated over the last year their commitment and willingness to take on the Pakistan Taliban who directly threaten them. "Obviously, we think al-Qaeda is not only the inspiration but the funder, the equipper, the trainer, the planner. And so our task is to make that case," she argued. Congressman Royce was of the view that the US has not been able to exert enough pressure on Pakistan. "I don't think to date we've been very effective in bringing the type of pressure to bear on Pakistan. I would suggest that all of us think anew about a strategy that might work," he said. Clinton, however, asserted that the US has degraded the al-Qaeda leadership. "We have been successful in going after a number of the mainstays of his (Osama bin Laden's) organization; but we haven't gotten him and we haven't gotten (his deputy Aiman al) Zawahiri and we haven't gotten (Afghan Taliban chief) Mullah Omar," she said. "I think that that has to be a primary goal of what ... we're doing. And it certainly is for me, and I think it is for the President (Barack Obama). And part of the strategy that we're unfolding we think will assist us," she said. "There has been a considerable diminishment of al-Qaeda over the last couple of years in terms of their leadership; obviously, not bin Laden or Zawahiri specifically. -PTI

NEW DELHI: Members in the Rajya Sabha took strong exception to halting of work at Ladakh border road because of Chinese objection and said it was "humiliating" and a "challenge to India's sovereignty". Raising the issue in Zero Hour, Shreegopal Vyas (BJP) said, "It is very humiliating and a challenge to India's sovereignty." Noting that 35 members in Lok Sabha have conveyed their concern to the government over the issue, he sought to know why Indian Army did not respond when Chinese forces intruded into Indian territory to stop the construction and beat up workers. He also demanded that the Chinese delegation coming to India should be told about the country's concern over the issue and that India would not tolerate any interference. Vyas sought steps by the government in accordance with the country's sovereignty and ex-

pressed concern over the official response on the issue. Even if China considers the border as disputed, India should know its border delineation, he said. Birendra Prasad Baishya (AGP) said that North Eastern region is under "great threat" due to actions by China and sought "special measures" by the Centre to tackle the problem. He said, "China is trying to divert river Brahmaputra at the source. They have also constructed dams. This was also tracked by National Remote Sensing Agency. Brahmaputra is the life-line of Assam. Without Brahmaputra we cannot survive." While Prime Minister Manmohan Singh took up the issue with Chinese premiere Wen Jiabao during the recent ASEAN meeting, India should raise the matter at international forum, he said. His colleague Kumar Dipak Das was also concerned. -PTI

ULFA Chairman detained in Bangladesh GUWAHATI/NEW DELHI: Chairman of outlawed ULFA Arabinda Rajkhowa has been detained in Bangladesh and efforts were on to get him deported to India, intelligence sources said here. 53-year-old Rajkhowa was picked up in Dhaka and was likely to be handed over to the Indian

authorities along the Indo-Bangla border either in Tripura or in Assam soon, they said. The detention was also confirmed by sources in the Union Home Ministry but they refused to elaborate any further. Cont’d on page 7

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A dinner to remember for Indian Americans SRIREKHA N. CHAKRAVARTY India Post News Service

NEW YORK: It was the most sought after party of the year held at the country's First Address - the White House. And when the President of America hosts a state dinner and the First Lady comes under the spot to prove herself as the First hostess, one can be assured that no detail would be spared. And so, at President Obama's first state dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the candle lights, chandeliers, place settings, flowers, music and the thoughtful vegetarian menu aside, it must be given to the Obamas for their careful selection of their guest list, where they brought under the beautiful tent on the White House's South Lawn a mix of political biggies to Hollywood A-listers, business tycoons and professionals to local community activists. "Being invited to the White House state dinner was a tremendous honor, one that I will always

L-R: Deepa Iyer, Executive Director, South Asian Americans Leading Together, Annetta Seecharran, former Executive Director of South Asian Youth Action, Seema Agnani, Executive Director of Chhaya CDC

dian American community here in the United States as acknowledgment of the ties that bind India and the United States. For those of us who are community advocates and activists, it was important to be part of the event. Among the corporate leaders, entertainers and elected officials in the audience were also people like Bhairavi Desai (New York Taxi Workers Alliance),

The place setting with menu

cherish," said Deepa Iyer of SAALT (South Asian Americans Leading Together). "I was fortunate to have my father, a physician in Louisville, Kentucky, with me at the event. “We enjoyed every moment of the event, from the pre-reception in the East Wing where we met Attorney General Eric Holder and director Steven Spielberg to the receiving line where we spoke briefly with the President, the First Lady, the Prime Minister and Mrs. Kaur, to the dinner and entertainment." The honor of being invited for such an occasion was more than personal for Iyer. Speaking from the standpoint of a community advocate, she says: "Both the President and the Prime Minister remarked upon the contributions and presence of the growing In-

Maneesha Kelkar (Manavi), Seema Agnani (Chhaya CDC) and Annetta Seecharran (South Asian Youth Action) who advocate on behalf of South Asian communities each day. Having a seat at the table - for an event like this and more important, for purposes of affecting policy change - is extremely meaningful. It demonstrates that the Indian American community is blazing trails in many sectors and arenas, and that community-based organizations are important partners." Echoing her sentiments is Maneesha Kelkar, Executive Director of Manavi, a South Asian women's advocacy group. "We were excited to be part of this momentous occasion," she said. "It was an honor to represent social justice issues such as gender

based violence facing South Asian Women, and to highlight their importance to South Asian communities across the US." For the young and trailblazing Assemblyman from Ohio, Jay Goyal, it was an experience he would not forget soon. "The state dinner at the White House was a magical evening," he told India Post. "It was a privilege to be able to take my mother, Kiran, as my guest. She said that felt truly honored and privileged to be able to attend the event. Her highlight was meeting President Obama and the First Lady." Goyal says the evening provided him an opportunity to interact with a number of government, military, and business officials and discuss the many issues and challenges facing Ohioans. "In particular, it was a pleasure to talk with Admiral Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs for the U.S. armed forces. The 179th airlift wing, a military base for the air national guard, is located in my district. At the event I was able to speak with Admiral Mullen about the deployment issues and the strain that it places on families." "Overall," he says, "it was an experience that I will not forget anytime soon." Dr. Surinder Malhotra, a New York-based physician and President of the Indian Overseas Congress (INOC), it was an honor to be part of the evening, more because it was his native country's prime minister who was being honored as the first state guest of the Obama White House. Of the evening itself, he loved the exotic food, Jennifer Hudson's singing and was most impressed with the Bhangra performance that was part of the entertainment at the dinner. Dr. Malhotra does not think the gesture was merely symbolic on part of America. "When two heads of the state meet, it cannot simply be symbolic," he told India Post. "Particularly when one is invited

Deepa Iyer and Vasudeva Iyer with Sanjay Gupta (CNN)

as the first state guest, it has to have some depth and substance… this itself is a message to the rest of the world about Indo-US relations." The day after the dinner, Dr. Vinod Shah, president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), who attended the dinner with his wife Ila, was still starry-eyed from the experience. "It was an absolutely unbelievable experience for me in the 42

two leaders was so visible that we could feel it. The way the President spoke about our culture, our country and the way the Prime Minister responded by appreciating the President's wisdom was just unbelievable." Dr. Shah felt the atmosphere under the tent where the dinner was held, reminded him of being under a beautiful Indian shamiana. "The gorgeous chandeliers… the whole atmosphere was fantastic," he gushed. More than anything,

‘Having a seat at the table - for an event like this and more important, for purposes of affecting policy change - is extremely meaningful. It demonstrates that the Indian American community is blazing trails in many sectors and arenas, and that community-based organizations are important partners’ years of my life in the US," he says. "It was one of the best moments of my life." Dr. Shah, who had attended the Democratic Convention last year and later President Obama's inauguration earlier in the year, says nothing could beat the experience of the state dinner. "This is an unusual experience. The friendship and mutual respect between the

he says, "I think the depth was in the bond between the two leaders, which was so genuine, it cannot be just symbolic." Dr. Shah was the only national president of an Indian American organization invited to the State dinner. He also attended the lunch hosted by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for Prime Minister Dr. Singh the same afternoon.

ULFA Chairman detained in Bangladesh Cont’d from page 6

The ULFA Chairman has reportedly been in favor of talks with the Central government. Two other top ULFA leaders, self-styled Finance Secretary Chitrabon Hazarika and Foreign Secretary Sasha Choudhury had been arrested in Bangladesh in November last and handed over

to Assam police in whose custody they are lodged at present. The arrests assume significance in view of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India slated later this month and also the signing of three proposed agreements, including the extradition treaty and another on combating international terrorism. -PTI

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LeT operatives admit involvement in Bangalore blasts SHILLONG: The two Lashkere-Taiba militants, handed over to India by Bangladesh, have confessed to their involvement in the serial blasts that rocked Bangalore last year, a top police official said here. Nazir Tarian Dabede (25) alias T Nazir told interrogators of the Meghalaya Police and BSF that he had planted the bombs along with a person called Rahim, the official, who is also a part of the interrogation team, said. Nazir, a bomb expert, and another LeT operative Siraj Shamshudeen Shamas (33), both from Kerela, were handed over to the BSF by Bangladesh's BDR. The BSF had tipped off its

Bangladesh counterpart about the militants' presence in that country. The duo, however, have so far not admitted their involvement in

Nazir, a bomb expert, and another LeT operative Siraj Shamshudeen Shamas (33), both from Kerela, were handed over to the BSF by Bangladesh's BDR the attack at the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) in 2005, the official, who did not wish to be

named, said, adding they would be interrogated again. Nazir and Siraj had been in Bangladesh for about a year and they are understood to have revealed vital information regarding their "bases" in south India. Nazir's name surfaced in February last year when Mohammed Yahya Kammukutty, 31, hailing from Mukkom in Kozhikode district of Kerala, was arrested as part of a probe into a SIMI network in Karnataka. According to the official, Nazir said during the interrogation that five new recruits of the LeT had gone to Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) for training five months after the Bangalore

blasts. While the four of them were killed by the Army, the whereabouts of the last one was not yet known. The duo also revealed the ex-

The duo were first interrogated at Pynursla police station and later brought to Laban police station in Shillong where they were being interrogated istence of their group's bases in UAE, Qatar and Bahrain, the official claimed.

A team from the Bangalore Police is arriving in Shillong to take the custody of the two, police said. The duo were first interrogated at Pynursla police station and later brought to Laban police station in Shillong where they were being interrogated by a special Meghalaya Police team and central security agencies, sources said. According to the sources, there was an intelligence report that a Lashker commander had been in touch with Nazir and the duo were on a recruitment spree under instructions from Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). -PTI

Lakhvi's pleas against indictment rejected

METRO MAN HONORED: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presents an Award For Excellence to Delhi Metro Rail Chief Sreedharan (R) as Minister of Urban Development Jaipal Reddy (L) looks on during the National Conference of Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in New Delhi on December 3. Singh inaugurated the conference and said his Congress-led UPA government can take ĂŹgreat pride in having launched a Mission that is a game changer for urban IndiaĂŽ

Cash-strapped Indian students in UK scrounge for food LONDON: Hundreds of Indian students who come to the UK to pursue courses in colleges are unable to find part-time work to fund their stay and studies here and have been forced to eat in gurdwaras in Southall. There has been a three-fold rise in the number of Indian students coming to the UK since the points-based immigration system was introduced in April this year. Many of them come in the hope of finding work so that they can

maintain themselves here. A BBC Radio 5 documentary found that such students were desperate when they cannot find work. They were also reluctant to return to Indian for the shame that will follow. Many such students flock to the gurdwaras in Southall for free food. The documentary quoted Nitin Walia, a student who has sought refuge at the gurdwara, as saying: "I can't afford to rent a room; I'm

borrowing money from relatives at home just to buy my bus fare to college. I will only be able to rent a room if I can find a job, if I can't find one I will return to India." "But that will bring great shame. I don't know how I will return the money I have borrowed." Didar Singh Randhawa, President of Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Southall, said a combination of recession and a surge in the number of students is changing the local landscape. -PTI

ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Pakistan-based LeT's operations chief and Mumbai attacks mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi failed to get any reprieve from the Lahore High Court, which disposed of his two petitions challenging his indictment for involvement in the 26/11 strikes. While disposing of the petitions, a Rawalpindi-based bench of the Lahore High Court only directed the anti-terrorism court, which had formally charged him along with six other suspects last month with involvement in the 26/11 strikes, to consider Lakhvi's objections against his indictment under provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code. Lakhvi's lawyer Khwaja Sultan Ahmed claimed during proceedings that the prosecution had no incriminating evidence

against his client. He also said the statement given to Indian authorities by Ajmal Amir Kasab, the lone attacker captured in Mumbai, is not admissible in the anti-terrorism court. However, the judges told Ahmed such issues could be addressed only when the evidence, including Kasab's statement, is presented during the trial in the anti-terrorism court. It is not possible for such matters to be addressed now, they indicated. Lakhvi's counsel filed the petitions challenging his indictment in the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court. Lakhvi was indicted along with six other suspects for planning and helping execute the attacks that killed 166 people in India's financial hub.-PTI

'ISI desperate to revive terrorism in Punjab, J-K' CHANDIGARH: Punjab DGP P S Gill has said that ISI is making desperate attempts to revive terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. Addressing his first press conference here four months after he took over as DGP after relinquishing the charge in J-K, Gill said, "ISI has always been active. Due to the prevailing situation in Pakistan they (ISI) are making desperate attempts to revive terrorism in J-K and Punjab". "It is motivating the youth, especially the unemployed, through various incentives including sending them abroad to Malaysia, Greece etc," the DGP said. He said the state police is train-

ing the youth to help them get jobs. "The Punjab Police is trying to give training to the unemployed youths in various skills to ensure their rehabilitation," he said. Stating that the police was all geared up to foil attempts at revival of terrorism, Gill said highly trained and specially equipped Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams were being created in each of the six Police Ranges of Ludhiana, Faridkot, Ferozepur, Patiala, Jalandhar and Border Range based at Amritsar. Gill said during the current year the state police has busted nine terrorist modules with the arrest of 46 terrorists "thereby foiling all terrorist efforts at revival". -PTI

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Lok Sabha remembers Bhopal gas tragedy

French author Dominique Lapierre (C) joins activists rallying in memory of the 1984 gas disaster victims on the accidentĂs 25th anniversary in Bhopal on December 3

NEW DELHI: The Lok Sabha expressed solidarity with the victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy which had left thousands of people dead and maimed. "It was on this day, 25 years ago that the country witnessed one of the most harrowing manmade tragedies in which thousands of people lost their lives and many were blinded or otherwise physically disabled," Speaker Meira Kumar said in the Lok Sabha.

The survivors of the gas tragedy are still suffering from the ill-effects of the gas leaked from the Union Carbide Plant at Bhopal, she said adding that "even after two decades and a half, the pain and anguish of the survivors continue to torment us." "Let us on this occasion express our solidarity with the victims of this terrible tragedy and reiterate our resolve to make it a better place for the coming gen-

Yechury, who was supported by almost the entire House, said that toxic waste is still lying around Union Carbide plant affecting water and soil in five square kilometers area

CHANDIGARH: Qila Raipur recognize the desperate power MLA Jassi Khangura has urged deficit status of the state and apPrime Minister Manmohan Singh preciate the efforts to alleviate the to seriously consider the plea for power issues of the nation a nuclear power plant for Punjab through the Indo-US Nuclear as the state was faced with se- Deal. "When the common man vere power crisis. Khangura also struggles daily to run his busisought to clarify the stand of the ness, the farmer to irrigate his Punjabis towards the Indo-US fields, and the student to do her Nuclear deal in view of the oppo- homework, all due to a lack of sition to the deal by the Akali and power, it is time to seek action", BJP MPs when it came for voting he observed. in July 2008. In a letter to the The Qila Raipur MLA said, Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, vast number of people in Khangura assured him that most of the Punjab recognize the desperPunjabis, including ate power deficit status of the some MPs of the Akali Dal were also in favor state and appreciate the of the deal and efforts to alleviate the power wanted to support it. "Let me assure you issues of the nation through that he (Badal) did not the Indo-US Nuclear Deal speak for all Punjabis when he pressured his MPs, many of whom were inclined Khangura said, "it is high time to support or abstain, to stand to plead with the Prime Minister against you during the trust vote not to ignore the otherwise unlast year", he said, while adding, heard voices of Punjab which are "he (Badal) simply spoke for him- drowned out time and again by self and his son, Sukhbir Badal, the despotic shouts of the father and against progress for the son duo who profess to be leadState". ing us to a brighter future, but in The Qila Raipur MLA said, fact are consigning us, quite litervast number of people in Punjab ally, to darkness". -Agencies

erations," he said. Noting that it was the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Kumar said "this occasion calls for sensitizing the society to the problems and special needs and aspirations of the differently-abled persons." "Let us on this day renew our efforts to promote the cause of the differently-abled persons with a view to ensuring that they achieve their rightful place in our society," the Speaker said. -PTI

Concern in RS over delay in compensation to Bhopal gas victims NEW DELHI: The CPI-M expressed concern over compensation not being paid to the victims of Bhopal gas tragedy that struck on this day 25 years ago, killing about 20,000 and leaving a devastating effect on about 5.7 lakh people. Party member Sitaram Yechury, who raised the issue in the Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha noted with anguish the "criminal negligence" in delay in payment of compensation to the victims. Yechury, who was supported by almost the entire House, said that toxic waste is still lying around Union Carbide plant af-

Khangura pleads for nuclear power to Punjab

fecting water and soil in five square kilometers area. He described it as an "act of neglect towards environment cleaning". The CPI-M leader also said safety of workers was not being paid adequate attention and expressed shock at the "criminal neglect" to the issue. "As many as 127 workers lost their lives in 11 places at 10 sites in last one year. Not a single person has been punished," he rued. He also felt that the proposed amendment in the labor laws will make workers more vulnerable.-PTI

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Pak trying to show India hand in Balochistan

MISS INDIA IN JOHANNESBURG: Pooja Chopra, winner of the Pantaloons Femina Miss India World 2009 pageant, shakes hands with South African President Jacob Zuma in Johannesburg. Chopra is competing in the Miss World 2009 pageant, which will take place in Johannesburg on December 12

Court adjourns hearing on Rana's bail CHICAGO: A decision whether to release on bond Pakistan-born Canadian Tahawwur Rana, arrested by FBI on charges of plotting terror attacks in India at the behest of LeT, was postponed till December 15 by a federal judge who said she needs more time to review the evidence. US Magistrate Judge Nan Nolan adjourned the matter after one-and-a-half-hour bail hearing during which Rana's lawyer Patrick Blegen produced three character witnesses, including his brother-in-law, and described him as a "peaceful, honest, trustworthy and non-violent person who cannot talk about violence as he is a very peaceful person". Judge Nolan, while adjourning the matter till December 15, said she would need a "week's time" to read the statement, including a five hour video of Rana's statement to FBI after his arrest in October, "if I am going to be able to be fair to both sides." "I would like to do a good job on it... as I am the only judge that Rana has," she said. She also said that she needed time to study two al-Qaeda videos that were recovered from Rana's house and go through his e-mails with another LeT operative David Coleman Headley that use coded messages. 48-year-old Rana, who was wearing an orange jumpsuit, was

brought to the courtroom in shackles, which were removed. He remained silent during the hearing, in which his family members, including his parents-in-law, were also present. Rana's lawyer Blegen argued that his client was not involved in the last year's Mumbai terror attacks. "He (Rana) denies he was involved with those tragic events

She needed time to study two al-Qaeda videos that were recovered from Rana's house and go through his emails with another LeT operative David Coleman Headley that use coded messages (26/11 attacks) at all. So, yes, you can say he denies his involvement," Blegen told the judge when asked whether his client was involved in the Mumbai terror attacks. One of the witnesses Mohammad Arshad Mirza, a local eye doctor, said he knew Rana since they were members of 'Iqbal Society', a body that exhorted Muslims to be educated and organized people and to reach their

goals through non-violent, peaceful and constitutional means. Another witness Raja Muhammed Yaqoob said about 20 people including members of Rana's family met last Sunday to understand Rana's case and discuss how we can help him. "The consensus among everyone was that Rana is a trustworthy, honest and decent person". Rana's brother-in-law Athar Akhtar deposed "he was a welleducated person and has never expressed any opinion in favor of violence. The whole family is well educated". The witnesses said they did not have any conversation regarding Illyas Kashmiri, a militant commander, with Rana. Prosecutor Assistant US Attorney Dan Collins said the witnesses don't know real Rana, who maintained his relationship with Headley and talked about 'targets'. He also said Rana had arranged for Headley's travel to Denmark and other countries. "He spent a significant amount of time with [Headley] a lot more time than the three witnesses who were put here," Collins said, adding they just don't know this guy the way the evidence reveals him to be. "The word 'target' is that man's word, it came out of his mouth," he said referring to a recorded phone call. -PTI

NEW DELHI: Hitting out at "Pakistan is striving hard to fabPakistan, India has said it was ricate evidence of India's involve"striving hard to fabricate" evi- ment in Balochistan," he said. dence to show India was foment"Government has firmly reing trouble in Balochistan. jected, including at the highest External Affairs Minister S M level, such unfounded allegaKrishna told the Rajya Sabha that tions (of India's involvement in India has conveyed to Pakistan Balochistan). Prime Minister had at the highest level that it had no told Prime Minister of Pakistan interest in destabilizing the that India has no interest in deneighboring country and was not stabilizing Pakistan and that our involved in any activity there. conduct is an open book," he "We have never interfered in Balochistan," he â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Statements by Pakistan's Foreign said replying to Minister that Islamabad is comquestions. Referring to statements piling hard evidence against by Pakistani lead- India and that it would disclose ers alleging Indian interference in India's involvement at right time Balochistan, he when read together indicate that said, "Government has firmly rejected Pakistan is striving hard to such unfounded fabricate evidence of India's allegations." involvement in Balochistanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; "Pakistan has not been able to marshal any evidence on India's said. involvement in problems in Asked if Pakistan has proBalochistan," he said. vided any evidence to indicate Statements by Pakistan's For- India's involvement in eign Minister that Islamabad is Balochistan, he said, "Not even compiling hard evidence against a shred of it. Nothing has been India and that it would disclose heard from Pakistan (on the eviIndia's involvement at right time dence it was going to provide)," when read together indicate that he said. -PTI

Speculative reporting on ULFA creating confusion: PC NEW DELHI: Against the backdrop of reports of surrender of ULFA chief Arabinda Rajkhowa, Home Minister P Chidambaram has said the media was creating confusion by "speculative" reporting. "Media, by the speculative reports, is only creating more confusion than is necessary. I request you to please observe restraint," he told reporters outside Parliament House when asked about

details of the surrender of Rajkhowa. Refusing to give any details, Chidambaram said whatever he wanted to say on the issue, he had said in Parliament, "and whatever I need to say, I will say at the appropriate moment." When External Affairs Minister S M Krishna was asked to 'clear the confusion', he said "If there is any confusion, it has to be set right on the floor of the House". -PTI

26/11 trial: Kasab's lawyer sacked MUMBAI: The special 26/11 trial court has sacked Abbas Kazmi, the defense counsel for Pakistani gunman Ajmal Kasab for "non-cooperation", three days after it showed leniency and allowed him to continue accepting an unconditional apology for his controversial utterances. Judge M L Tahaliyani ordered Kazmi's termination after he refused to consider the court's suggestion to pick out 71 formal witnesses out of the total 340, in-

cluding the doctors who treated the victims, conducted postmortem, those who drew inquest panchnama, carried forensic evidences to labs and victims' family members who claimed the bodies. The court asked Kazmi to consider how many witnesses he would like to cross-examine from the first category of 71 witnesses, but he insisted on examining all 340, rejecting the court's suggestion.-PTI

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Obama steers clear of Indo-Pak issues in his Af-Pak policy WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama steered clear of Indo-Pak issues while unveiling his new momentous Af-Pak policy, but he consulted Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh while formulating his strategy. As the new policy deals extensively with the issue of confronting terrorism, especially the hardline al-Qaeda, Taliban and other extremist groups, Obama personally made a telephone call to Singh to brief him about his new policy on Afghanistan and Pakistan. The move is in tune with what Obama said, "India is indispensable" while welcoming Singh at the White House. It is also recognition of India's growing stature as a regional and global power. In spite of pressure from Islamabad to exclude India from Afghanistan, the Obama Administration has been highly appreciative and supportive of New Delhi's role in Kabul. Unlike six months ago, the Obama Administration now feels that there is no role for it in IndoPak relationship. This is probably the reason why, there is no reference to Indo-

Pak relationship in Obama's speech, despite Pakistan's assertion otherwise. "To lessen tensions between two nuclear-armed nations that too often teeter on the edge of escalation and confrontation, we must pursue constructive diplomacy with both India and Pakistan," Obama said in his March

The core of the new Indo-Pak relationship is based on the fact that India is a rapidly rising country full of hopes and aspirations for the future 27 speech, wherein he announced his new Af-Pak policy in less than 100 days into the White House. Despite that the two leaders had extensive talks on this issue only a week ago, Obama made it a point to call Singh, along with select few world leaders to brief him on his new policy. "The two leaders discussed the

President's decision on the way forward in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They agreed on the need to confront terrorism and extremism as part of broader efforts in the region," Mike Hammer, spokesman of the National Security Council, White House, said. In an interview to PTI last week, the National Security Advisor General (rtd) James Jones had said the core of the new Indo-Pak relationship is based on the fact that India is a rapidly rising country full of hopes and aspirations for the future. Obama Administration's view on Indo-Pak relationship was articulated by the President himself at a joint press conference with the Prime Minister at the White House last week. "Obviously there are historic conflicts between India and Pakistan. It is not the place of the United States to try to, from the outside, resolve all those conflicts. On the other hand, we want to be encouraging of ways in which both India and Pakistan can feel secure, and focus on the development of their own countries and their own people," Obama said in response to a question. -PTI

Centre bans mining at six mines in AP NEW DELHI: The Centre has suspended forest clearances of some firms, including that of the Obulapuram Mining Company owned by Karnataka minister G Janardhana Reddy, for allegedly carrying out "illegal" mining in six mines in Andhra Pradesh. The action has been taken by the Ministry of Environment and Forests after a Supreme Courtappointed committee suggested that "illegal" mining was being carried out in these six mines in Anantpur district, bordering Karnataka. The ministry has the asked the state government to ban mining activities at these mines immediately. Reddy and his brother G Karunakara Reddy, both BJP leaders, were in news recently for their rebellion against Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa and their attempts to dislodge him. Earlier, the Central Empowered Committee of the Supreme Court had said that the Obulapuram Mining Company (OMC) was carrying out "illegal" mining of iron ore in the Andhra PradeshKarnataka border. "The state government has been asked to stop mining activities at these six mines immedi-

ately. It will also stop the transportation of materials excavated at these six sites," a ministry official said. Besides, the Andhra Pradesh government has been asked to conduct a survey for demarcation of the mining boundaries. The ministry has advised the

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Considering the shape of the mining leases, the CEC is of the view that without doubt there existed un-allotted forest area between three mining leases of OMC, Bellary Iron Ore Private Limited and Y M Sons and wherein illegal mining has taken place,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; the CEC report had said state government to get the survey done by Survey of India, the official said. Earlier, CEC recommended to the Supreme Court that all mining activity in the region be suspended immediately till the

boundaries of the mining leases are determined and fixed by an independent agency. The CEC noted that "the objectivity, fairness and impartiality which is expected from a state government is shockingly lacking here and does not inspire confidence". The CEC was constituted by the Supreme Court to inquire into the matter based on a writ petition filed by Tapal Ganesh of Bellary against the OMC over the alleged illegal activity in violation of the Forest Conservation Act. "The mining boundaries now determined by the state were totally inconsistent and different in terms of area of the mining lease, shape, length and bearings of the boundary line and location of the mining leases of OMC. "Considering the shape of the mining leases, the CEC is of the view that without doubt there existed un-allotted forest area between three mining leases of OMC, Bellary Iron Ore Private Limited and Y M Sons and wherein illegal mining has taken place," the CEC report had said. The opposition parties in Andhra Pradesh, led by TDP, had been raising the issue of illegal mining for some time. -PTI

Developing countries have no emission reduction obligations NEW DELHI: India and other developing countries have no emission reduction obligations and will take appropriate mitigation actions on voluntary basis as supported and enabled by finance and technology provided by developed nations, the government said here. "Voluntary actions of developing nations will be subject to international monitoring, report and verification (MRV) as per agreed procedures to the extent that these actions receive international support," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said in reply to a written query in Lok Sabha. He made it clear that India's position on climate change negotiations is anchored in the principle of equity and "common but

differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities" of parties as enshrined in the UN Framework of Convention on Climate Change and Kyoto Protocol. "India and other developing nations have also consistently stated that the industrialized nations must fulfill their commitments under the Convention to provide resources to developed countries to enable them to take mitigation and adaptation actions to tackle climate change," Ramesh added. The Minister noted that the "negotiations on these issues are underway and the parties are expected to reach an agreed outcome on the negotiations in Copenhagen," slated to begin from December 7. -PTI

Doctor who found first AIDS cases in India still going strong NEW DELHI: In 1986, when the world had woken up to the dreaded infectious disease of AIDS, a government medical college professor in south India guided her student to detect the first cases of the virus in India. Twenty three years later the doctor is now concentrating her efforts to bring about an attitude change in society to accept people living with HIV and AIDS on par with those with other chronic diseases. "As a professor I asked one of my postgraduate students to do her PhD on the subject since there were no known cases in India," says Dr Suniti Solomon who taught microbiology at the Madras Medical College. Though the student initially voiced her doubts about finding such HIV affected people in a

country where AIDS was still unknown, together the doctor-student duo helped by others were able to identify in 1986, the initial cases of AIDS virus among female sex workers in Tamil Nadu. "We chose from people who had undergone multiple blood transfusions, went to remand homes where they had rounded up some sex workers and altogether tested a total of 100 people. Six sex workers turned up positive," says the doctor. One of the youngest, a 13year-old, had after staying in various remand houses finally found employment at the YRG centre set up by Dr Solomon in Chennai but died three years ago. "I do not know the fate of the remaining five... I have been unable to trace them," says Solomon. -PTI

Madhu Koda arrested in disproportionate assets case RANCHI: Former Jharkhand Chief Minister Madhu Koda has been arrested from West Singhbhum district by the Vigilance Bureau in a disproportionate assets case, weeks after defying repeated summons by various agencies probing the alleged hawala scam. "He has been arrested and is being brought to Ranchi," Inspector General of Police (Vigilance), M V Rao, told PTI here. "We have reached a stage when his arrest was necessary. We had taken the arrest warrant from the competent court," he added.

The police picked up 38-yearold Koda from his Dumri residence just before he was to address an election meeting at Sareikela, official sources said. The arrest followed the independent MP's defiance of the Vigilance Bureau's summons to present himself before it on November 27, forcing it to issue fresh summons on December 4 in the disproportionate assets case. Koda defied three summons by the Enforcement Directorate, one by the Income Tax department and one by the Vigilance bureau.-PTI

Desi News Differences surface among Gandhi fund members MOHAMMAD GHOUSE

GOPIO Houston chapter inaugurated India Post News Service

NEW YORK: GOPIO Houston, a chapter of the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin was inaugurated on Nov 20 by Lt. Governor David Dewhurst in the presence of India's Consul General in Houston Sanjiv Arora. The event at India House was well attended by dignitaries including Consul General of Germany Roland Hermann and Consul General of Canada David McGregor. Details on page 13

Vraj-Vrindavan turning into desert? SURI SWAMY

COMMUNITY ACROSS AMERICA

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BAPS charities celebrates Thanksgiving

December 11, 2009

Details on page 17

Excellence in Information Integrity (EII) Awards presented AJIT GANDHI

NAPERVILLE, IL: The Information Integrity Coalition (IIC), a notfor-profit organization that promotes awareness and understanding of Information Integrity, recently recognized winners and finalists at the 14th annual Excellence in Information Integrity Awards (EIIA) Banquet. The Banquet was held at the Northern Illinois University's Naperville Campus in Naperville, Illinois, USA. Information Integrity is the accuracy, consistency and reliability of the information content, and associated processes, systems and environment. The EII Awards Program recognizes two categories of organizations: For-Profit and Non-Profit. In each category there are three award levels: Gold, Silver and Bronze. The 2009 Awards Program recognized organizations that have made exceptional progress to provide accurate, consistent and reliable information to their customers, suppliers and partners through a single project or an enterprise-wide effort towards achieving Information Integrity. The 2009 EIIA program was cosponsored by 25 organizations. The 2009 EIIA Banquet was sponsored by Infogix, Inc., Business Excellence, Inc., Pharmaconsultant Inc., Broadway Bank, EAGLE Registrations Inc., Health Care Service Corporation and Senryo Technologies. All award applications were reviewed by a panel of independent judges who are advocates of Information Integrity. The judges evaluated applications based on how the applicant addressed Information Integrity issues/opportunities using best practices on a sustained basis producing de-

Anant Ahluwalia (Hannaford Brothers) accepting the 2009 EIIA For-Profit Gold Winner trophy from Madhavan Nayar (Co-founder, Director & President) of Information Integrity Coalition (IIC).

monstrable results. Independent scores and comments were reviewed collectively by the judges to determine the winners and fi-

Inc. - Northfield, IL, USA • Bronze Winner - Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited - Ranipet, Tamil Nadu, India

The 2009 Awards Program recognized organizations that have made exceptional progress to provide accurate, consistent and reliable information to their customers nalists in each category. Winners and Finalists in the For-Profit category included: • Gold Winner - Hannaford Brothers - Scarborough, Maine, USA • Silver Winner - Kraft Foods

• Finalist - Educomp Solutions Limited - R&D - Gurgaon, Haryana, India • Finalist - KazMicroFinance Almaty, Kazakhstan • Finalist - US Bank - St. Louis, Missouri, USA

Winners and Finalists in the Non-Profit category included: • Gold Winner - Helsinki University Central Hospital - Helsinki, Finland • Silver Winner - EKI - Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina • Bronze Winner - Arghyam Bangalore, Karnataka, India • Finalist - Institute of Rural Research and Development (IRRAD) - Gurgaon, Haryana, India • Finalist - Ramakrishna Mission Sevashrama - Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India • Finalist - Sustainable Innovations - Aakash Ganga - Fairfax, Virginia, USA Cont’d on page 14

Community/Illinois

December 11, 2009

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Indian group contributes GOPIO Houston chapter inaugurated Assistant Director at NASA JSC, to pediatric clinic The event at India International Festival Chiarman India Post News Service

YOGESH KHATRI

Patients at the clinic

MILWAUKEE: The Wisconsin Coalition of Asian Indian Organizations will present an oversized check for $35,000 to the Downtown Health Center on December 8. The Center, a division of Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, is the largest pediatric clinic in the city serving lowincome children and runs the state’s largest pediatric injury prevention program, which is the beneficiary of the Coalition’s 2009 fundraising campaign. Since 2001, WCAIO has raised more than $400,000 in contributions to local schools, nonprofit agencies and for disaster relief. Two years ago, the coalition donated dozens of defibrillators to Milwaukee Public Schools. Previously, they raised money to buy the local Red Cross a new disaster-response van, provided vision screening and eyeglasses for more than 100 local students, provided funding for the 9/11 Fund and for earthquake relief in Gujarat, India, and raised the funds to erect and donate the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in India-America Friendship Park, just west of MacArthur Square, on the east front of the County Courthouse, in downtown Milwaukee. “This year, we’re proud to announce that we will be making a substantial contribution to the Injury Prevention Program at Children’s Hospital of Wiscon-

sin Downtown Health Center (DHC),” said Kamal Shah, President of the Coalition. “The DHC is the city’s largest pediatric health clinic, serving a low-income population with significant need from their clinic on the Au-

Since 2001, WCAIO has raised more than $400,000 in contributions to local schools, nonprofit agencies and for disaster relief. Two years ago, the coalition donated dozens of defibrillators to Milwaukee Public Schools rora Sinai Medical Center campus, and the community is glad to support their work.” The public is invited to join the celebration to note the contributions of the Indian community in Southeastern Wisconsin, as well as the excellent work of the staff at the Downtown Health Center.

House was well attended by dignitaries including Consul General of Germany Roland Hermann and Consul General of Canada David McGregor Houston Systems President and Chancellor Dr. Renu Khator, Dr. Suresh Khator, Dr. Kamlesh Lulla,

Robert Sakowitz, and several leaders of Indian American organizations. Chapter president Sam Kannappan called this a historic event for the Indo Americans of Greater Houston. He declared this GOPIO chapter will link Houston to the global Indian Diaspora community. The Lt. Governor lauded the success of Indo Americans and their contribution to Texas and wished success to the newly inaugurated chapter. Cont’d on page 19

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Differences surface among Gandhi fund members MOHAMMAD GHOUSE

CHICAGO: Sharp intra organizational differences among top officers of Gandhi Memorial Trust Fund have surfaced with the executive body of the Fund offering their resignation en masse to protest again alleged high handed attitude of two the founding members. The president Dakhes Laxpati, Subhas Bhatt, vice president, Pratap Sampat, Secretary, Mukesh Shah, Jt. Secretary and Bipin Patel, treasurer tendered their resignations citing non-cooperation and unnecessary intervention by Om Prakash and Usha Kamarias. The Trust was registered in 2003 with Om Prakash Kamaria as president, Usha Kamaria as advisor and many other trustees and board members with the intention of installing a statue for the father of Indian nation, Mahatma Gandhi. The statue was inaugurated with much fanfare in 2004 with support from the Indian-American community of Chicagoland.

Following this initial effort programs were held in 2005 and 2006, highlighting Gandhian philosophy. Some how the enthusiasm

The EB alleges, its functioning was hampered at every stage by the Chairman (Omprakash Kamaria) and his wife Usha Kamaria (Advisor to the Trust) ebbed and promotion of Gandhi's philosophy - central to the aims of the Trust - were not carried out, as

alleged by the resigning board members, to Kamarias' problems with different sections of our society. They say, more recently the Kamarias were compelled to revive the activities of the Trust by pressure from a few prominent leaders of the community and appointed Dakshes Laxpati as President in October 2008. Laxpati formed an executive body in March 2009 and started looking to the community for support in his endeavor of advancing the voice of the Indian community and spreading the non-violence ideals of Gandhi. However, the EB alleges, during the eight-month period they were in control, its functioning was hampered at every stage by the Chairman (Omprakash Kamaria) and his wife Usha Kamaria (Advisor to the Trust). Omprakash Kamaria did his best to obstruct its day-to-day activities and responsibilities.

Excellence in Information Integrity (EII) Awards presented

The EB further alleges Kamaria did not hand over any records of the Trust, the minutes of meetings, the formation details of the Trust etc. He also refused to hand over the key to the mailbox and stead-

‘At the statue when the Joint Secretary was concluding with a vote of thanks, Usha Kamaria stepped forward and proceeded, with the active encouragement of the Chairman, to rattle off a litany of personal ‘grievances’ fastly refused to hand over any of the bank records. Despite all this negativism from the Kamarias, the EB worked hard to plan new programs for 2009. On October 4, the Executive Board held a Peace Walk commemorating Gandhiji's 140th birth anniversary to showcase Gandhian philosophy. The celebration was attended by the Skokie Mayor Van Dusen, professors from Oakton Community College, staffers from the Indian Consulate, Skokie Village Trustees Randy Roberts and Pramod Shah, Village Counsel Pat Henley and Ald. Steve Bernstein of Evanston. Also present in sizable number were members of the Press and the

local mainstream, Indian-American and other communities. At the statue when the Joint Secretary was concluding the formal event with a vote of thanks to all attendees and supporters, Usha Kamaria stepped forward from the audience and proceeded, with the active encouragement of the Chairman, to rattle off a litany of personal "grievances" - principally that she and her spouse Omprakash had worked so hard to establish the Gandhi statue, and had not been acknowledged at the event by the current EB. In the words of the Board - "this untimely intervention by the Advisor of the Trust, who actually talked of "war" at a Gandhian peace rally - and that too, under the Gandhi statue and in front of the Press and the members of all communities -- stripped the occasion of all its dignity". After careful consideration the members of the EB unanimously decided to submit their resignations last week. Further this action on the Kamarias' part gave the EB members an opportunity to re-evaluate the role of the Trust. As such, the signatories feel strongly that the Trust should function to serve the principles for which it was founded, rather than to promote the individuals manning the Trust. The functioning of important community institutions like the Gandhi Memorial Trust should be totally transparent, accountable, beneficial to the community at large and ethical in its conduct and finally the administration of the Trust should be fully in line with the expectations of any significant and principled organization.

OFBJP-USA condemns Liberhan Report India Post News Service

IIC Board of Directors (Left to right): First row - Steve Minder, Dr. James O'Donnell, Ms. Betty McPhilimy, David Richards and Madhavan Nayar Second row - Dr. Manu Vora, Dr. Dharmapuri Vidyasagar, Dr. Sridhar Ramamoorti and Dr. Martin Bariff. Cont’d from page 12

Dr. Paul Prabhaker and Dr. Denise Schoenbachler of the NIU College of Business welcomed all the guests. Madhavan Nayar, Co-Founder, Director and President of the IIC outlined the importance of Information Integrity and stressed the importance of advancing the cause of Information Integrity globally.

Around 120 distinguished executives attended the Banquet. The Northern Illinois University's Naperville Campus provided a great ambience for the evening Banquet. "We are delighted to honor the winners and finalists in the 2009 EII Awards program on a global basis. They along with past winners and finalists provide a shining beacon to increase Information Integrity awareness

globally." said Dr. Manu Vora, Chair of the 2009 EII Awards Program and IIC Director & Secretary, Naperville, Illinois. The Information Integrity Coalition (IIC) is a not-for-profit organization, which promotes the awareness and understanding of Information Integrity. The mission of the Information Integrity Coalition is to enable society to use and exchange information with confidence.

NEW YORK: The Overseas Friends of BJP (OFBJP)-USA has strongly condemned the findings and conclusions of Liberhan Commission in its report on the demolition of Babri Structure on December 6, 1992, calling the report "political, mischievous, and false." The Commission holds 68 persons of the Sangh Parivaar responsible for the demolition but exonerates totally the P.V. Narasimha Rao-led Congress government at the center at the time. "The fact is that everybody is responsible for the December 6 incident," a press release states. "The biggest culprit has been the Congress Party and its leaders including Late Rajiv Gandhi who opened the locks of the disputed structure and al-

lowed the Shilaanyas." The OFBJP-USA further says, "The authenticity and the political bias of the report is obvious by holding A.B.Vajpayee as also

‘The biggest culprit has been the Congress Party and its leaders including Late Rajiv Gandhi who opened the locks of the disputed structure’ responsible for the demolition, who was not even present in Ayodhya on December 6 and neither was examined by the Commission." Cont’d on page 15

December 11, 2009

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Vraj-Vrindavan turning into desert? SURI SWAMY

CHICAGO: Vrindavan, popularly known as Braj, is an ancient land revered by millions of Hindus across the world. Thee extensive forests of Vrindavan have been subjected to urbanization, first by local Rajas and in recent decades by apartment developers. The conditions deteriorated as the greedy industrialists and businessmen targeted it by developing the area for the mining industry. As a result, within the last few decades, the hills, forests, flora and fauna had been whittled away, and the local wildlife, including peacocks, cows, monkeys and a variety of bird species have been eliminated or are close to it. A few peacocks and monkeys can be seen but cows are found only in the gosalas of the major Ashrams of Vrindavan Swami Vraj Raj Sharan, a disciple of Baba Rameshji of Vraj who is currently on a tour of the US, described the extremely sad and calamitous situation prevailing in the land of Braj in an exclusive interview in Chicago. Playground of Lord Krishna, where cows, peacocks and wildlife freely grazed and nature endowed the healthy environment for a peaceful living, he said, had been turned into a

desert land driving all living creatures out of its vicinity. "The situation is worsening because of health hazard due to want of water and clean air. The disaster is two-fold, spiritual as well as econological," lamented Swami Vraj Raj Sharma. "Destruction of forest and greenery has resulted in scarcity of water because of absence of rain. Every pond in the region has dried out. Every year nearly 80 million pilgrims visit this holy land and the future holds a very bleak prospect of this to be continued. This means considerable reduction in the tourist business and loss of revenue to the State. Just because of the selfishness and greed of a few business people, the local people are suffering. Mine owners claim that they offer jobs to millions of people. Nothing could be further from truth, because in reality the employment generation is not more 20,000 at best," Swami Vraj Raj Sharma cried out. "For hundreds of years there was no killing of cows in the neighborhood of Vraj, but situation has now changed because of the secular governments imposing their will. Now there are slaughter houses around Braj killing thousands of

OFBJP-USA condemns Liberhan Report Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 14

The Home Ministry's role in leaking of the selective contents of the report to some newspapers was primarily for causing a division in the opposition ranks to skirt the embarrassing complicity of some Congress party leaders in Madhu Koda's mammoth mining scam, and sugar cane prices on which the entire opposition had demonstrated remarkable unity, it says. It seems Liberhan Commission report can be termed as 'pseudo' report intended to indict the Sangh Parivaaar in general and BJP in particular, and give a clean chit to Congress party and its leaders. This is an outright sinister ploy on part of the Congress led UPA government to distract people's attention from an ongoing healthy debate regarding price rise, sugar cane price, farmer's issues, and Madhu Koda's gigantic scam, says the OFBJP-USA, while demanding the resignation of home minister P. Chidambaram who, it alleges, is responsible for leakage

of the report before tabling it in the Parliament. "It is amazing that the commission took 17 long years at the expense of huge public money to conclude what was not so surprising anyway. What is surprising is that how blatantly one can falsify

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Liberhan Commission report can be termed as 'pseudo' report intended to indict the Sangh Parivaaar in general and BJP in particularâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the facts to suit Congress Party's political agenda. What a shame?" the press release says. OFBJP-USA reiterated that there shall be built a grand Ram temple at the birth place of Lord Rama and no power on earth can stop it, "sooner it is done better it is for the unity, harmony and prosperity of India."

cows that added to the pollution of environment and incidents of Tuberculosis. Farmers are the worsthit not being able to raise crops for want of rain. Thus the total destruction of economy, nature and community-health are hundredfold, more than advantages of little employ-

destruction of nature and continuing greed of businessmen with utter disregard to human welfare and spirituality, Baba announced recently that he would undertake fast unto death if The government continued to neglect this life and death situation, and did indeed began the

ment by the industry." The Government should share the blame with the industry. People must awake and arise against this loot of nature and peaceful life of the citizens," he explained. "Baba Ramesh ji is fighting this scourge for the last several years. Distraught by this wanton

fast when nearly 10,000 members of news and TV from across India and around the world met there. "This finally awakened the government, and the Chief Minister called Baba and agreed for a compromise. He assured in writing that mining activities in the region would be stopped. Accordingly all the

crushers were removed. In the process, many attempts were made on the life of Baba, but fortunately he survived all to guide us to continue with the fight. "We grieve at the loss of our institutions and spiritual traditions built over the last 5000 years. Let the government show any inclination to destroy the Red Fort in Agra, there will be riots and public and private properties would be destroyed, but the Government has allowed the destruction of a Sacred Land with impunity. So every Bharatiya should be aware of such attack on spiritual institutions and resist all such attempt," Swami Vraj Sharma pleaded. In order to protect and awaken the people to the dangers of industry or government taking advantage of the pious people's silence, he said Baba Rameshji is continuing his mission and sought the cooperation of the people from the US, for which he had asked him to undertake this sojourn. The Baba said for want of time and opportunity, he could not call a Press conference, and hence gave this exclusive interview to Desi Talk in Chicago. He however had a discourse and bhajans in Hari Om Mandir.

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December 11, 2009

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Reiki growing popular among Indians & Americans SURI SWAMY

Guru Telang's local associates and teachers (left) Ms Ursula Patel and (right) Ms Nanda Ambore

CHICAGO: Ajit Telang, a Reiki Guru from India with surging following here, has planned one more visit to this country in June 2010 for extensively conducting classes and organizing seminars, says Acharya Rohit Joshi, US Coordinator. Ajit Telang was in Chicago as part of his US trip last month and had conducted four seminars cum classes for the new intending students as well as for those who already had their first lesson done Reiki, though not an Indian word describing this ancient art of healing and disciplining the mind, has its roots in In-

Telang has many associates who have taken advanced courses in Reiki and two of them Ms. Ursula Patel and Ms. Nanda Amore hail from Indiana and Texas. They help him out in his tour across the country dian Vedic scriptures and is now improvised to meet the present days challenges posed by mental stress and physical ailments, Joshi said. He held ten such seminars or classes in the US and the number of classes for the past four years has been over 60, he added One of the sessions was held at North Eastern Illinois University, a regular jaunt for Guru Telang as Muriel H Duster, the dean of Academic development, has been a great supporter of the Guru and this practice. Rohit Joshi who is also associated with

Reiki Guru Ajit Telang being honored at North Eastern Illinois University during last month's visit to Chicago for conducting Reiki classes and seminars

the University said that a session was held there with over 20 students, many Americans and the University staff attending it. Those attending were so impressed and overwhelmed that at the end of the twoday session, they honored Guru Telang with a memento and a shawl. Telang has many associates who have taken advanced courses in Reiki and two of them Ms. Ursula Patel and Ms. Nanda Amore hail from Indiana and Texas. They help him out in his tour across the country. Guru Telang say that the ultimate cure for the crisis in human life - stress, anxiety, uncertainty, pain and fear could be taken care of by Reiki and Agnihotra, an ancient Vedic practice. Reiki is not alternative therapy to treat physical ailments as it is made out to be in the West. It is the ultimate consciousness of the spiritual and cosmic energy encompassing the whole human consciousness, he says emphatically. One of the founding members from Reiki India Resource Center Mumbai, Telang has been visiting the US for the last many years and is slated to visit again in 2010. During his visits he initiates members to realize the "physical, mental and emotional restructuring through reiki. In an attempt to bring together mind, intellect and the soul Telang, lovingly called Guruji, has combined reiki with the Vedic concept of Agnihotra. "Reiki addresses the energetic disturbance in the human body and balances the body in a state of relaxation; it is the Japanese spiritual practice starting with addressing the imbalance in the body. Reiki connects the spirit with physical wellness. He explained that reiki, pronounced as "Ray Key", is the spiritually guided (Rei) life force energy (Ki), which is channeled through the healer and received by the body of the recipient as a gentle supportive healing energy. He also

cautioned that reiki is not based on reli- sity and Metropolitan Asian Family Cengion or faith. Agnihotra, he states, starts ter. He also spoke at a Skokie public library from purifying the environment and to make people realize the benefits of livthereby helping man to live a holistic life ing a life connected with the supreme cosof goodness. mic energy that keeps life going in the uniReiki, Telang says, has been in the In- verse. At the NEIU he initiated a large numdian spiritual scene since 1989 and has ber of students and participants to reiki. been a well-established spiritual healing Ajit Telang and two of his close friends practice throughout the world. Telang, a Dr Subhash Gokhale and Dineshbhai reiki master, started teaching the science Thakar have founded Reiki Vidya Mission in 1997. He believes in its power to give in Devrukh, near Mumbai. bliss and happiness and reminds the be"It is not a business for us; it is a mislievers that it is a hosion for us. We are listic system encomteaching people passing the mental, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;It is not a business for us; how to get bliss emotional and spiriand happiness in tual aura. their lives" says it is a mission for us. We Agnihotra on the Telang in an interother hand is an an- are teaching people how view. Reiki Vidya cient Vedic practice Mission works in to get bliss and happiness corroborated in the close association Atharva Veda in de- in their livesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; says Telang. with the tail. It teaches man to Maharashtra and maintain atmospheric Reiki Vidya Mission works Gujarat police balance. According forces organizing to practice individu- in close association with workshops at oldals need to perform the Maharashtra and age homes, orhavan or yagna durphanages, and ing the time of sun- Gujarat police forces destitute homes. rise and sunset by The mission using copper, gold or also imparts earthen pyramid and lighting a small fire people lesions on parenting and maintainand putting rice or supari into the fire. ing healthy familial relationships and on Gajanan Maharaj rediscovered this an- conflict resolution too. Telang who cient art form, which stands for the enrich- doesn't believe in advertising, says, "The ment of the environment. Telang says, mission is bigger than me" and spreads "Both reiki and Agnihotra are effective in the idea that goodness still prevails. Beinfluencing the collective consciousness ing a scientist and a spiritual thinker it and are beneficial in working out the physi- helps him to be extremely articulate about cal, mental and spiritual restructuring pro- his ideas. cess. By following the two sciences people One of the participating students have been cured of drug addiction, trauma, trained by Telang says, "I joined the reiki mental retardation, stress and depression." classes out of curiosity. There have been During his last visit to Chicago Telang a lot of changes in my life." He vows to conducted classes extensively at Manav spread the science as far as possible by Seva Mandir, Northeastern Illinois Univer- training others in the field of reiki.

December 11, 2009

Community/California

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BAPS charities distributes fruit baskets to celebrate Thanksgiving India Post News Service

CHINO HILLS, CA: Apples, Oranges, and bananas. These may be some of the most common fruits that people consume. Yet, when placed in the context of Thanksgiving, they serve the purpose of bringing together the diversity within a community. On November 26, approximately 20 volunteers from BAPS Charities participated in distributing fruit baskets to the residents of the Ranch Monte Vista Mobile Homes community in an effort to promote the values that represent Thanksgiving. Volunteers, ranging from the ages of 8 to 50, gathered to prepare the baskets at 9:30am on the morning of Thanksgiving. Over 250 households received the fruit baskets. A community member

munity. The gift of sharing and giving helps us come together and by participating in the preparations for the Thanksgiving Food

who received a fruit basket, Marissa, responded to the act of kindness by saying "this is great - I really like it because I feel that this is a type of love and respect that you are giving!"

Drive hosted by BAPS, I was truly able to feel this connection." As a part of the Thanksgiving festivities, BAPS Charities collaborated with the Caring for the Hills organization, on Saturday

Volunteers, ranging from the ages of 8 to 50, gathered to prepare the baskets at 9:30am on the morning of Thanksgiving. Over 250 households received the fruit baskets Shirali Patel, a BAPS Charities volunteer, narrated her experience of the event. "While I am thankful for everyone and everything in my life, it's just as important to me to contribute what I can to the com-

21st November, to provide Thanksgiving gifts to more than 170 families who had been registered to receive the gifts. Volunteers of BAPS Charities provided large quantities of fresh produce such

as cabbage, potatoes, celery, beetroot, baby carrots, spinach, cantaloupes and fresh beans. In addition to this, they also assisted

with the distribution of the baskets directly to those in need. While many people do recognize Thanksgiving as a time to be

thankful, it is also a time for members of the community to come together and works towards giving back to their community. It is a

time to not just be thankful, but also share with others. Through events such as the food drives,

It is also a time for members of the community to come together and works towards giving back to their community. It is a time to not just be thankful, but also share with others BAPS Charities has continually taken the initiative to support causes that strive to help others as well as the community.

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December 11, 2009

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Sikh community joins Thanksgiving mission

Thanksgiving is a big occasion at the Fred Jordan Mission and the Southland Sikh community was not going to be left behind. These pictures show the Sikh community's contribution on Thanksgiving 2009 at the Fred Jordan Mission in downtown Los Angeles.

Sulekha organizes 'Voice of India' contest India Post News Service

ulekha.com, the online community website for Indians worldwide, has launched the "Voice of India Contest" for its registered members. The Contest attempts to allow bloggers to capture the essence of Indian Festivals, traditions, and importance of festivals. Sulekha.com is giving away $3000 worth of prizes. The best articles that capture the true essence of Indian Festivals will also be chosen and a book will be published by the Sulekha Book Series. The Sulekha Book Series is Sulekha.com's own publication

series to encourage quality blogging by publishing works of their bloggers in two parts. It will feature both publications of an individual blogger and collective works of multiple blogger's. This is a tribute to the thousands of blogger's who come together on Sulekha.com everyday and share their diverse creative talents. Speaking about the launch of this contest, Param Parameswaran, Chairman, Sulekha.com, said "Bloggers are a wonderful part of the Sulekha community. This contest, centered around festivals, is one way we celebrate their writings and contributions. We look forward to many, many great en-

The duration of the Contest is From September 2009 - April 2010 .The total prize amount spread across the 8 months is $ 3000. Prizes would be announced every 2 months tries." The previous contest that had

been conducted last year "Sulekha -Penguin Blog Print Contest" had thousands of articles and critiques pouring in, in fiction and non-fiction categories. Sulekha.com is the most preferred social media site for Indians worldwide and the aim is to connect Indians across the globe. It was felt that the common thread that held all Indians together was the celebratory spirit of the various Indian festivals. Therefore the Idea of the Contest came about The duration of the Contest is From September 2009 - April 2010 .The total prize amount spread across the 8 months is $ 3000. Prizes would be announced every 2

months. The Festival Seasons have been Clubbed- September & October'09, November & December'09, January & February'10 and March & April'10. Interested Participants can participate in the following categories - The Best Photo(s), Best Video(s), Best Creative Writing, Best Recipe & Best captured event would be the categories for winning. Participants can post their articles as blogs capturing the Indian way of life, it can be an event, a festival celebration, a participation in any activity, Indian living abroad, Indians holding on to their roots of tradition and culture.

Community/California

December 11, 2009

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Private bone marrow drive for Maya JS BEDI India Post News Service

CARSON, CA: Gamini and Kanthi Edirisinghe held a private bone marrow donor sign-up as part of the overall campaign to save the life of 4 year old Maya who has been diagnosed with a rare blood disease. It was an open day and the visitors showered with traditional Sri Lankan hospitality. Kanthi Edirisinghe, the gracious hostess that she is, had a sumptuous lunch for the guests. The food was simply amazing and it was hard not to splurge on the choicest Sri Lankan delicacies. Apart from signing up as bone marrow donors, the guests also handcrafted cards for Maya. It was heartening to see the response. There were Sri Lankans, Indians, people from all over -

Supun Edirisinghe and friends making cards for little Maya

Korea, Philippines, African Americans. It goes to prove that humanity knows no frontiers. The man behind it all was the junior Edirisinghe, Gamini and Kanthi's

Maya, get well soon

GOPIO Houston chapter inaugurated Cont’d from page 13

Consul General Arora said the visit by Secretary Mohan Das of Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs and GOPIO International Chaiman Dr. Thomas Abraham in March 2009 started the task of the chapter formation. GOPIO Houston will conduct a seminar on PIO and OCI card schemes Dec 6 at India House. A seminar on NRI taxation bill in Indian Parliament is also planned for January.

A brief presentation by the Vice President Chad Patel high lighted GOPIO Houston's two major focus areas, Global Indian Network of Knowledge and Global Indian Network of Youth. Once the website of Global INK, which is scheduled to be launched in January 2010 by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, the chapter intends to move forward to help build a strong database of Indian professionals and intellectuals for advancement and development of NRIs/PIOs and that of India.

illustrious son Supun. He is no stranger to public service and has been in the forefront as a volunteer in serving humanity. The Edirisinghe family is very well known for their kindness and compassion. They plan more such lunches with a strong belief that there is a donor for Maya somewhere. Four year old Maya Chamberlain became sick with flu-like symptoms on Sept. 9 but was then diagnosed with a rare form of blood disorder. Maya's case has worsened with doctors on Oct.12 pronouncing her condition as "urgent." Maya's mother Mina has issued an urgent appeal for a donor in their fight for their daughter's life. Little Maya's brother Jaden, is not a match for her. The child is now at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Millers Children Hospital in Long Beach where the diagnosis was made - a rare form of a blood disease, called hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH for

The Edirisinghe family.

short. This disease involves the histiocyte cells eating up normal blood cells which are then stored in the liver and spleen.

Four year old Maya Chamberlain became sick with flu-like symptoms on Sept. 9 but was then diagnosed with a rare form of blood disorder. Maya's case has worsened with doctors on Oct.12 pronouncing her condition as ‘urgent’ This results in an enlarged liver and spleen which then compromises breathing by pushing on the lungs. The disease is so rare that there is not even a body of data on which a prognosis can

be based, says the family. The treatment is a form of chemotherapy and was started the same day of the diagnosis, Sept.14 Those seeking to help can visit A3Mhope.org or call (888) 236 4673. Maya's mother Mina has sent the following e-mail: "We really need your help to stay with us to find a donor for Maya ASAP. The more people helping out, the more donors we can recruit, the more the odds of finding a match. Unfortunately, the one donor that was listed in the registry as a potential match for her did not pan out. “So we are back to square one. We need more donors registered. Sam and I really appreciate your help. Please help us continue this momentum and we will forever be grateful. Little Maya has so much to offer to all of us, to this world, but first she needs a donor. Help her find one." Maya's story can also be read in detail at www.caringbridge.com. Please enter "concentrate" to enter the website.

Â&#x201E; Health

Line

Hoarding disorder gets prime-time treatment JACKSONVILLE, Fla.: For years, no one on Crest Drive paid much attention to the little white house with pink trim. The front yard was overgrown with shrubs and three cars sat motionless in the driveway. Neighbors on the quiet street knew the owner, a retired psychologist named Carina DeOcampo, was an odd, private person - even her family would leave bags of food on the front steps, then quickly drive away. But folks here were shocked in early October when police forced their way into the home and discovered the 72-year-old DeOcampo dead, surrounded by six feet of garbage that packed the house. -AP

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Health providers seek to increase scope of lawsuit BOISE, Idaho: A group of private agencies that serve hundreds of severely developmentally delayed people across Idaho have asked a federal judge to allow them to broaden their lawsuit against the state and Medicaid over reimbursement rates. The groups sued in April after the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare decided to cut Medicaid reimbursement payments by as much as 55 percent, contending the change would put them out of business, infringe on the care provided to more than 2,000 adults and children, conflict with federal law and violate state law because the rate structure was never vetted by the Idaho Legislature. -AP

Â&#x201E; Inspections find concerns at hospital cafeterias BOSTON: Boston city records show that health inspectors found fruit flies, inadequate hand-washing and other unsanitary conditions at several city hospital cafeterias in 2008 and 2009. The Boston Herald reports 10 of the 12 major Boston hospitals' cafeterias had failing grades on their most recent surprise food inspections. Some cafeterias failed because of critical violations, such as letting dairy products get too warm. Others had less serious problems, such as dirty floors. Tom Goodfellow, an assistant commissioner at Boston's Inspectional Services Department, says hospital cafeterias are inspected three times yearly because their patrons may be highly susceptible to illness. -AP

Health Science 20

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December 11, 2009

Lawmakers may make colleges insure students BOSTON: Lawmakers are weighing a bill to require every full and part-time college student in Massachusetts to have at least the basic level of health insurance required under the state's landmark 2006 health care law. -AP

Laid-off workers face expiration of health benefit WASHINGTON: An auto parts employee laid off from his job last year has been able to hang onto his health insurance because the federal government has picked up most of the tab. That subsidy is ending for Don Hall and thousands of other Americans. Hall's premiums will jump $500 a month, becoming unaffordable for him and his wife. A new study finds that many other workers will be in the same position unless Congress acts. "That extra $500 is the difference between mortgage, insurance or a couple other items that are of course important to our health food, utilities, those kinds of things,'' Hall, of Castalia, Ohio, said in a phone interview. Will he be able to keep paying for health insurance for himself and his wife at the higher price? ``Not for very long,'' Hall said. At issue is a provision of the economic stimulus bill signed by President Barack Obama in Febru-

ary that cut the price tag for COBRA, the federal program that allows workers to keep their company's health insurance plan after they leave their job. Prior to passage of the stimulus bill workers had to pay the full cost of their premium both their share and their employer's share, plus an additional administrative fee in order to keep their cover-

ranks of the uninsured as unemployment moved toward double digits. But the reduced-cost premium lasted only nine months, and with joblessness still high many workers are now facing the expiration of their health insurance subsidies before they've been able to find new jobs. Those like Hall who started getting the subsidy in March - the

Prior to passage of the stimulus bill workers had to pay the full cost of their premium both their share and their employer's share, plus an additional administrative fee in order to keep their coverage under COBRA age under COBRA. That made the policies so expensive that only a minority of eligible workers signed up. The stimulus bill reduced the cost by 65 percent for workers laid off between Sept. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2009. The measure was designed to stanch growth in the

first full month after the stimulus bill was signed - lose the subsidy. After December it will no longer be available at all for laid-off workers, barring congressional action to extend it. Democrats in the House and Senate want to act, but it's not clear how or when that could

happen. One option is to include the subsidy extension in a larger jobs bill that's being discussed. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, whose office provided Hall's name, has introduced a standalone bill that would increase the subsidy and extend it for an additional six months. A report by the advocacy group Families USA finds that, on average, unemployed families who lose the COBRA subsidy will see their premiums increase from $389 per month to $1,111 per month, an amount that few long-term unemployed families will be able to afford, the group says. It finds that premiums of $1,111 would consume 83.4 percent of the average unemployment check, leaving little for food, housing, and other necessities. In nine states Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee COBRA costs would actually exceed unemployment benefits. -AP

Review/change your current health care coverage India Post News Service

WASHINGTON: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is encouraging Medicare beneficiaries to take advantage of the annual Open Enrollment period to make sure they have the best coverage availableto meet their healthcare needs in 2010. The Open Enrollment period begins on November 15th and runs through December 31st. It's the one time every year when all people with Medicare can review and, if necessary, change their current health care coverage. "Medicare beneficiaries will continue to have a wide range of health and drug plan options in 2010, including Original Medicare," said Jonathan Blum, director of the Center for Medicare Management and the acting director of the Center for Drug and Health Plan Choice. "Open Enrollment is the time

for those with Medicare to doublecheck that they have the best coverage for their individual needs. They may find that they like what they have, or may find a coverage option that better fits their needs." Beginning November 15th, beneficiaries can go to www.medicare.gov or

ment. Since coverage varies by plan, CMS recommends that those with Medicare use Open Enrollment to think about how their health may have changed, and what their needs will be for the coming year. Resources for Medicare Beneficiaries

The Open Enrollment period begins on November 15th and runs through December 31st. It's the one time every year when all people with Medicare can review and, if necessary, change their current health care coverage call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800633-4227) to make changes in their Medicare prescription drug and health coverage. People in Original Medicare without prescription drug coverage can enroll in a drug plan or health plan that offers drug coverage during Open Enrollment. Just as always, it is important for people with Medicare to review their coverage during Open Enroll-

There are a number of easy ways that beneficiaries can get information and assistance about what plan is best for their needs. These include: Calling Medicare at 1-800MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) (TTY#: 1-877-486-2048) or visiting www.medicare.gov to review plans to see how the costs and

coverage compares for different coverage options available in their area. Medicare customer service representatives are available 24-hours a day/7 days a week with multiple language options and resources for people with disabilities. * Reviewing CMS' Medicare and You handbook. The handbook was mailed to all Medicare beneficiaries in October and provides a listing of available prescription drug and health coverage plans in their areas. All people with Medicare should also have received information from their current health and prescriptions drug plans. This handbook is also conveniently available online at www.medicare.gov *Meeting one-on-one with a trained Medicare specialist. To find a Medicare specialist in their area, seniors should call 1-800633-4227 (1-800-MEDICARE) or visit www.medicare.gov.

Health Science Post

December 11, 2009

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Not HHS secretary, but in health Tempers rise as Senate moves toward health vote care fight anyway WASHINGTON: Look who's at the health care negotiating table Tom Daschle! The former Senate Democratic leader's nomination as health and human services secretary was derailed over a back taxes flap earlier this year. But that's not stopping Daschle, a close ally of President Barack Obama, from playing a significant role in Capitol Hill health care talks much as he'd be doing if he'd actually gotten the job. The outsized role is unusual for someone who's an adviser to lobbying firms, especially given Obama's campaign vow to change business as usual in Washington. Daschle was in a strategy meeting earlier this week with top Senate and White House officials, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, and the actual HHS secretary, Kathleen Sebelius. Sebelius was Obama's second choice for the job after Daschle withdrew amid the tax controversy. It was the second such highlevel meeting Daschle attended in

Reid's office in the past few weeks. ``He is an expert in health care,'' Reid told reporters in explaining the arrangement. Reid spokesman Jim Manley said Daschle's role in working the Senate on the health care bill was Obama's idea, and that the president also dispatched two

Tom Daschle

other former senators, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Vice President Joe Biden, to Capitol Hill. The difference is that unlike the others, Daschle is no longer a government official, elected or appointed. He works for a prominent lobbying firm, DLA Piper, though he himself is not a registered lobbyist and has said he is more comfortable being de-

scribed as a ``resource'' for former colleagues and others. An aide at DLA Piper said that Daschle was not available for an interview. Daschle joined the firm, which represents several health care-related clients, including vaccine maker Sanofi Pasteur, in midNovember. He previously worked at Alston & Bird, which represents numerous health care clients, including CVS Caremark Inc. and insurer Humana Inc. Daschle's involvement in the health care talks might seem to present a conflict of interest problem for an administration that's vowed to keep lobbyists at arm's length. White House spokesman Reid Cherlin declined to address that issue, saying only in a statement, ``Tom Daschle is one of the country's foremost advocates for health reform, and his expertise in legislative strategy and longstanding friendships with senators from both parties put him in a unique position to help Senate leadership chart the course forward.'' -AP

WASHINGTON: A Republican senator asserted during a rancorous floor debate that President Barack Obama's health care overhaul will shorten the lives of America's seniors by cutting Medicare. ``I have a message for you: You're going to die sooner,'' said Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., an obstetrician-turned-lawmaker. A senior Democrat decried such comments as scare tactics designed to kill legislation that he said would improve some benefits for seniors. At times, the debate recalled the raw charges and countercharges of the summer's town hall meetings. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., defended the health care legislation, saying it would make Medicare a smarter buyer and improve prescription coverage and preventive benefits for seniors. ``I hate to say it ... these are scare tactics,'' Baucus said. ``Sometimes you've got to call a spade a spade.'' The Senate was debating an amendment by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., that would strip from the bill more than $400 billion in Medicare cuts to home health providers, hospitals, hospices and others.

Polls show that seniors are concerned that expanding coverage for the uninsured will come at their expense. Earlier this year, former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin warned of ``death panels'' that would deny coverage to frail seniors - a charge that was widely debunked. Medicare spending actually would keep growing under the Democrats' legislation, albeit at a slower rate. Despite the partisan sparring over Medicare, the first health care amendment offered was bipartisan, a measure to increase preventive care for women co-sponsored by Sens. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Olympia Snowe, R-Maine. Snowe was the only Senate Republican to vote in favor of Democrats' health care legislation in committee. Their amendment would give the Health and Human Services secretary authority to require health plans to cover additional preventive services for women and was inspired in part by controversial recommendations last month that women undergo fewer mammograms and Pap smears to test for cancer. -AP

22 India Post

Health Science Post

December 11, 2009

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Trigger points or hyperirritable spots DIANA PINTO

n several occasions, patients come to me with pain (in the neck-shoulders or the lower back) that is debilitating and which is most often felt in a muscle. When pressure is applied to this sore muscle, patients complain of increase in pain. This pain is often reported as searing, burning or a pain that radiates to the chest, mid-back, shoulder and arm. The pain aggravates with sustained positions and repeated activities and gets worse at the end of the day. Heat and ice packs, Tylenol & Ibuprofen aid in providing temporary relief from pain. Rest may help to improve this pain. What is possibly the reason for such numbing pain? Welcome to the world of trigger points! Trigger points or trigger sites are hyperirritable spots in your neck muscle located in palpable nodes that arise from stretched bands of muscle fibers. These palpable nodes are small areas within a large muscle that are in a state of constant contraction and have therefore not got a chance to relax. This small area of the muscle that is in a state of constant contraction elicits pain. On palpation, the painful point can be felt as a lump or a band in the muscle. On pressing a trigger point, a patient may feel 'localized' stabbing pain along with referred pain (pain that originates from a trigger point but mimics nerve pain by traveling to other areas like the arm or chest). Trigger points can appear not only in muscles but also in tendons, ligaments, skin, joint capsule, teeth/ bones and scar tissue. When present in muscles, there is often pain and weakness in the associated structures. A trigger point should not be confused with a muscle spasm A muscle spasm covers the entire muscle, whereas trigger points affect only certain areas within a muscle.

Fig.: A - One of the most common muscles to be affected by Trigger points is the Trapezius which is notorious for causing neck pain. The muscle has 3 divisions: upper (UT), middle (MT) and lower (LT). Fig. B - Shows that the 3 divisions have different patterns of pain. The bold red area is the part which elicits maximum pain on pressure while the dotted area is where the pain radiates typically

Types of Trigger points: Trigger points can be active, key or latent. An active trigger point is one that actively causes localized or referred pain. A latent trigger point is one that exists and does not yet refer pain actively, but may do so when pressure or strain is applied to the muscle containing the trigger point. A key trigger point is one that has a pain referral pattern similar to a nerve pathway. A key trigger point activates a latent trigger point on the pathway, or creates it. In contrast, a trigger point in one muscle will biomechanically activate a secondary trigger point in different muscle. Treating the trigger point in the first muscle does not treat the secondary trigger point. Causes of Trigger points: Trigger points may be caused by a number of factors, including acute or chronic muscle overload/ overuse & muscle weakness & fatigue. Other factors are cradling a phone between your ear and shoulder, a chair without armrests/ high armrests, sleeping on your front or back with your head rotated to the side for a long period,

A latent trigger point is one that exists and does not yet refer pain actively, but may do so when pressure or strain is applied to the muscle containing the trigger point any profession or activity that requires you to bend over for extended periods (i.e.. dentists/hygienists, architects/draftsmen,

and secretaries/computer users), bra straps that are too tight, a heavy purse or daypack and always carried over one shoulder, bad posture, one leg shorter than the other and large breasts. Treatment: Fortunately, these pain patterns in muscles follow specific nerve pathways and have therefore been readily mapped to allow for identification of the causative pain factor. Many trigger points have pain patterns that overlap, and some create reciprocal cyclic relationships that need to be treated extensively to remove them. These

patterns help a Physical Therapist, Chiropractor and a Massage therapist to diagnose which muscle is the cause for the trigger point pain. Unfortunately, the medical community at large has not embraced the concept or treatment of trigger points. Meeting a Therapist to determine which muscle is cause of pain would help in home based self treatment. Self treatment: Most of the times, a complete cure is possible. Once the source of muscle pain has been diagnosed, a patient can continue treatment of the muscle by massage, self stretching and strengthening at home. A simple yet effective technique for the Trapezius muscle is: Lay face-up on a firm bed or the floor, with knees bent. Keep a tennis ball between the muscle and the bed. Starting at the shoulder, about one inch out to the side of the spine, hold pressure eight seconds to one minute per spot. Scoot a small amount to the next spot further down the back, and continue to hold pressure on each spot. Continue until you get to the bottom of the rib cage. (The exercise should only be done after consulting with your Physical Therapist). Diana Pinto is a New York licensed Physical Therapist with Masters in Biokinesiology. She has experience treating a wide variety of Orthopedic cases. She can be reached at dianapinto2002@hotmail.com

Alvarez cites health in departing McDonald's post OAK BROOK, ILL.: McDonald's Corp. said that long-time executive Ralph Alvarez will retire as president and chief operating officer at the end of the year, due to health reasons. Alvarez, 55, served as president of McDonald's North America, McDonald's USA and McDonald's Mexico before taking over the No. 2 spot in 2006 after the abrupt resignation of Mike Roberts. The 15-year company veteran has been among the handful of McDonald's executives cited by analysts as being in line to potentially succeed CEO Jim Skinner as the eighth CEO in the fast-food giant's history. In a statement, Alvarez said that seven orthopedic surgeries and years of chronic pain, leading to two knee replacements in the past six months, ``have made me realize it's time to move on.'' Alvarez also is resigning from

the company's board of directors. Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's has been a notable winner amid the recession because of its cheap menu. Sales of Dollar Menu items, Angus burgers and its new McCafe espresso drinks have been strong as consumers trade down to less expensive choices when eating out. The company is also updating its image, recently unveiling a revamped midtown Manhattan location complete with flat-screen TVs and upholstered chairs similar to what McDonald's has done at thousands of outlets around in France and the United Kingdom. McDonald's recession-resistant performance drove third-quarter profit above Wall Street expectations to $1.26 billion, but revenue was slightly shy of forecasts. Weaker October sales showed that

the world's largest burger chain isn't completely immune to the pressures on cash-strapped customers and to rising unemployment, which reduces breakfast and lunch traffic. The company said its Area of the World executive leadership team, which is responsible for 32,000 McDonald's restaurants worldwide, will now report to Skinner. The company did not disclose any plans to seek a replacement for Alvarez's posts, but whoever does take on the position may be viewed as being groomed for management's top spot. McDonald's board has engineered smooth CEO transitions in the past few years, following the unexpected losses of two chief executives within a year Jim Cantalupo, who died of a heart attack in 2004, and Charlie Bell, who died of cancer months later. -AP

December 11, 2009

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India Post 23

1 Khanabadosh - London Dreams

6 Shukran Allah - Kurbaan

2 Mann Ka Radio - Radio

7 Andhera Hain - Fruit and Nut

3 You May Be - Aladin

8 Tu Hi Haqeeqat - Tum Mile

4 Tera Hone Laga Hoon

9 Tum Mere Ho - Aao Wish Karein

- Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani 5 Rehnuma - Blue

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December 11, 2009

10 Daata Sun Le - Jail

Rs 10 crore

tag

ver since 'Jab We Met' happened in Kareena's life, her career graph has just been shooting up. Despite the non show of films like 'Kambakkht Ishq' at the box office, Kareena continues to attract top banner movies like Dharma Productions' remake of Stepmother, where she is playing the character played by Julia Roberts and 'Ra. 1', where she is paired opposite Shah Rukh Khan. Here is a girl who has managed to work in all the camps, with all the Khans and the Kumars and managed to still have good relations with all of them. The only Khan who was missing from Kareena's portfolio was Aamir and now with Rajkumar Hirani's '3 Idiots', she has managed to cross that as well. Little wonder that the actress has now been offered money to the tune of Rs 10 crore for 'Golmaal 3' to be directed by Rohit Shetty. The actress did not feature in the first but was an integral part of the second and has now been roped in for the third as well. Having commanded a fee of Rs 10 crore, the actress has finally managed to even leave Aishwariya Rai Bachchan behind and become the highest paid Hindi film actress of her time. Her popularity is the kind which cuts across all classes. In fact, quite like Aish, Kareena's brand image is gradually being associated with everything that is expensive, classy and exclusive. With some of her big movies scheduled to release next year, 2010 promises to be Kareena's year. The Rs. 10 core tag just made it even sweeter of course.

One year break I

t looks like it will be another year at least after 3 Idiots and his own home productions Dhobi Ghat and Delhi Belly before Aamir Khan will sign another new film. Since the release of Ghajini in December 2008, Aamir has not signed on the dotted line for any project. In fact Aamir had decided to take one full year off after Ghajini to rejuvenate himself. After the tough physical and emotional preparation for Ghajini, Aamir just wanted to relax and spend time with his wife and children. That's precisely what he has done for the last one year. But now Aamir would be taking one more year off. This next one year would be devoted to putting his three home productions in order. Aamir feels, all three projects need serious finetuning and have been delayed because he has been busy finishing and promoting 3 Idiots. Says a source, "It requires guts to say no to the best roles going around in Bollywood, and at a reported fee of approximately Rs 30 crores per film. But Aamir suffers no security pangs about not signing films. He told a friend he will work at his own pace, no matter what the temptation or provocation to take on extra work may be."

Bollywood

December 11, 2009

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Magical A eyes W

hen "Paa" came her way, Vidya Balan was excited about sharing screen space with superstar Amitabh Bachchan, but was equally looking forward to working with Abhishek again. The actress is all admiration for Bachchan junior, who she says is an "instinctive" actor and has "something so magical about his eyes". "When 'Paa' came to me, working with Mr. Bachchan was a definite incentive. However, the fact remains that I was actually looking forward to working with Abhishek too. We have acted in 'Guru' earlier and I know for sure that he is a fantastic co-actor," Vidya says. Vidya is particularly impressed about Abhishek's 'no rehearsal' stand that results in an "intuitive" acting experience. "Since Abhishek doesn't rehearse, you don't really know what he is going to do when the director calls for a shot," she said. "When a take is called, there is so much give and take that actors exchange. This is why when he starts delivering his dialogues; you react in a way that was probably never planned. It eventually helps you bring about something intuitive," Vidya added.

fter a big fat wedding, Shilpa Shetty expressed her heart felt desire to be a mother soon. When quizzed about the question of motherhood, the newly wedded actress said, "Oh yes! I certainly want to be a mother. I can't wait to start our family". Shilpa was very happy the way she was wedded as she has cherished the dream of her wedding for a long time. She planned to get married once in her lifetime and always wished to be one of its kinds. When she was asked about relocating to London, Shilpa said that she is not shifting her base to London permanently but will have two homes in two countries. She added that she is yet to know Raj's relatives and friends circle. She is planning to start her own production company and so there is no question of shifting her base to London permanently.

Eager to be mom

Shahid displaces

Akshay? N

o, we aren't referring to the number game as to who is the most in demand hero or whether Shahid is even in the list of Top 5 Heroes. Akki can be pretty secure about his standing there, no one soon will be able to displace him. We are taking about the Casanova image that Akshay had, before he married Twinkle (ok, so the image continued even after that too). Akki had a long list of ladies with whom he shared a 'Special Bond'. From Pooja Batra, Raveena Tandon, Shilpa Shetty, then Twinkle and post that Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif. But now it looks like young Shahid is looking to quickly over throw Akki from his Casanova throne. There was Kareena Kapoor followed by Amrita Rao, Sania Mirza, Vidya Balan, Priyanka Chopra and now Anushka Sharma. Looks like Twinkle can breathe a sigh of relief as this is one throne she must be happy her husband has lost to someone else.

India Post News Service

MUMBAI: Hundreds stood witness as renowned Bollywood action hero Akshay Kumar received the sacred Olympic Torch from the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, at an inaugural event in Mumbai. Akshay was presented with the honour of becoming the Indian Ambassador for the 2010 Olympic Games in Canada and was introduced by the Prime Minister as the sole torch-bearer from India and the only actor in the list of prominent torch-bears from across the globe. Not only was it the first time an Olympic Torch has been presented to an ambassador within his country of residence, but Akshay was the sole star representing the global entertainment industry. Prime Minister Stephen Harper also presented Akshay with the uniform of the torch relay for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic and Paralympic games.

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December 11, 2009

Historically, Ontario is notorious for having only one global celebrity representing the world and this year it has rightly been passed on to the deeply honored and proud Akshay, who will be running with the Olympic Torch in Toronto on 17th December Akshay Kumar is just one of 15 international celebrities to have been invited to Canada to participate in carrying the Olympic Torch. Historically, Ontario is notorious for having only one global celebrity representing the world and this year it has rightly been passed on to the deeply honored and proud Akshay, who will be running with the Olympic Torch in Toronto on 17th December. In response to receiving the Torch Akshay said, "I cannot even begin to describe it. I felt so truly honored and lucky, it's such a huge thing and to be

recognized like that is just surreal!" Renowned for his passion for martial arts, adrenaline sports and Parkour, Akshay Kumar is also one of the World Ambassadors for the Special Olympics, alongside other international stars such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, Colin Farrell and Vanessa Williams.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper with Akshay Kumar

I feel like 18-year-old: Lata Mangeshkar MUMBAI: The grand dame of Indian music, Lata Mangeshkar, who has been honored with France's highest civilian award, the Insignia of 'Officier de la Legion d'Honneur' (Officer of the Legion of Honor), says she continues to grow young with age. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 27

December 11, 2009

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Aishwarya to play Mumtaz in Kingsley's Taj Mahal

I feel like 18-year-old: Lata Mangeshkar Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 26

PANAJI: Ben Kingsley, famous for having played Mahatma Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's Gandhi, will be making a film on

the role of Shah Jahan in the film. He says, "It is one story about India that has global resonance. Shah Jahan built one

Hollywood veteran Ben Kingsley, who played the role of Mohandas Gandhi in the film 'Gandhi', poses with his wife Daniela Lavender in front of the historic Taj Mahal monument in Agra on December 2. Kingsley is in India for the ongoing 40th International Film Festival held in Panaji

the Taj Mahal with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan playing the role of Mumtaz Mahal. Kingsley will himself portray

of the most magnificent monuments to love the world has ever known. He was an epic figure in the truest sense, but I would like

to play him as a flesh and blood character, as a man like you and me, with his strengths and foibles. I am really keen to bring India's culture and history to the big screen once again. This visit has only strengthened my resolve." On the likelihood of Aishwarya Rai playing Mumtaz Mahal, he said, "The only actors that are confirmed at this point are me and wife, Daniela Lavender. I will play Shah Jahan and she will be the Emperor's first wife, Kandahari Begum. The screenplay is with Aishwarya and I would love to have her in the role of Mumtaz Mahal. But her decision would depend entirely on whether she likes the script and role enough to come on board." Kingsley said, "India is home for me and one does not visit but come home." He got nostalgic over the extraordinary welcome he receives in the country, happy that the thread that was created in 198182 during the filming of Gandhi has not snapped.

Lata, famous as the 'Nightingale "I turned 81 on September last. of India' also thanked her family But I am very young at heart. So I and film industry. "It is because of have reversed the order of the fig- them, what I am today. I consider ure. I feel like an 18-year-old," Lata myself to be very lucky," she said. Jerrome Bonnafont, French said while accepting the honor here at a function organized by the Ambassador in India, bestowed French government. "France and India have always stood for values like fraternity, equality and liberty. I thank the French Government for bestowing this highly prestigious honor on me," Lata said. The 'Legion d'Honneur (Legion of Honor) is the highest distinction that can be conferred by the French Republic on a French citizen as Jerrome Bonnafont, French Ambassador in India bestowing the medal on Lata well as on a foreigner. Showering praise on France, the medal, a glittering broach, on which she says is a regular on her Lata. But it proved to be quite a travel itinerary, Lata said, "France tongue twister for Bonnafont is the land of brave hearts as well when he tried to mentioned two as beauty. So are its perfumes, wine particular songs of the singer -and champagne famous world 'Aaayega aane wala....' and 'Ae over. I am a great fan of France." Mere watan ke Logon....' "Besides other things, I found "It is this love in myriad peace, which I am looking for, in a forms, from personal to patrichurch there," said Lata, who was otic, that binds France with Inclad in her trademark simple saree. dia," he said. -PTI

uri, situated in the eastern part of the state of Orissa, is one of the four holy dhams of Hinduism and the hallowed seat of Lord Jagannath. Washed by the waters of the Bay of Bengal and embraced by causarinafringed beaches, it is located at a distance of 60 km from the state capital Bhubaneshwar. It is a famous beach on the eastern coastline of peninsular India. The famous Rath Yatra or the Car Festival is held every year as a part of the festival of the great Jagannath temple; it draws good number of pilgrims from all over the world. The yatra forms an integral part of the India images. Puri was once part of the kingdom of Kalinga, formed by Emperor Ashoka of the Mauryan Empire in 260 BC. The Sabaras, a tribe belonging to pre-Aryan and preDravidian Austric linguistic group, inhabited the region. The region came under British rule in 1803. The Raja of Khurda rebelled in 1804, and there was a peasant uprising in 1817-18. The Orissa famine of 1866 claimed many lives in Puri. Location: Puri has the Bay of Bengal and the rice-growing alluvial plain on its east, Khurda district on its west, Sambalpur on its south and the state capital Bhubaneshwar on its northern side. The forest area lying to the west of Puri provides bamboo and sal. The district of Puri encompasses most of the Chilika Lake, Asia's largest freshwater lake. Bhubaneshwar is also located in Puri district. Tourists Attractions: The fine white sands of Puri beach and the roar of the breakers rolling in from the Bay of Bengal have fascinated visitors for years. The local fishermen, with their catamarans and wide-brimmed cane hats, are also expert masseurs. With excellent hotels and guesthouses, the Puri beach is an ideal holiday spot. However, what attracts most the tourists to this place is the majestic temple of Jagannath. Even before one enters Puri, this 65meter-high structure makes its

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December 11, 2009

The fine white sands of Puri beach and the roar of the breakers rolling in from the Bay of Bengal have fascinated visitors for years. The local fishermen, with their catamarans and wide-brimmed cane hats, are also expert masseurs. With excellent hotels and guesthouses, the Puri beach is an ideal holiday spot presence felt. The 12th-century temple built by Chodaganga, to commemorate the shifting of his capital from south to central Orissa, stands in a compound on the Nilgiri Hill, and is surrounded by a 20-foot-high wall, within which lie several smaller shrines. A traditional porch, shrine, hall of offerings and a pillared hall of dance form the rest of this temple. Unfortunately, Jagannath is not open for non-Hindus, who must contend themselves viewing it from a vantage point, outside its precincts. Another place worth visiting is Ananda Bazar,

the largest food market in the world. Gundicha Mandir is one of the temples closely related to the festivity of the Rath Yatra of Puri. It is a holy place where "God" resides for seven days during the festival. This garden is regarded as the place of Lord Jagannath's aunt. Balighai Beach, 8 km from Puri, is at the mouth of the river Nuanai. It is a popular picnic spot, fringed by lovely causarina trees. Sakshi Gopal (literal meaning, the Witness Lord) is a place 20 km away from Puri where a life-size image of the child Krishna is being built. This was to commemorate the incident when Lord Krishna came to this place as a witness to clear out a dispute of two Brahmans. Later it is said that the Lord liked this place so much that he decided to stay there for a while. Another site to give a visit is the magnificent Atharnala Bridge, constructed during the 13th century. Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d on page 29

Puri, situated in the eastern part of the state of Orissa, is one of the four holy dhams of Hinduism and the hallowed seat of Lord Jagannath

December 11, 2009

Travel & Hospitality Post www.indiapost.com

Puri: Famous for Rath Yatra or the Car Festival Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 28

Besides the places of the city, there are a number of tourist sites outside the city boundary. Balighai, also known for its sea turtle research center, is located just 8 km away from the temple town. Chilika Lake, the largest brackish water lake in Asia (65 km long, 8-20 km wide, about 2 m deep), is situated just a few kilometers away from Puri and is a place worth visiting. For someone interested in local handicrafts, a visit to the small village of Pipli near Puri is a must. This place is famous for the applique work of the traditional Orissa style. Another craftsmen's village is Raghurajpur, few kilometers from Puri. It is famous for the Patta Chitra art of Orissa. Besides these, Brahmagiri, a holy shrine; Satyabadi, another shrine and temple; and Baliharachandi are some of the

sites to visit near Puri. Fairs & Festivals: The Rath Yatra and Nava Kalebara are the famous festivals of Puri. Both these events are re-

lated to the reigning deity, Lord Jagannath. Commemorating the journey of Lord Krishna from Gokul to Mathura, the Rath Yatra is celebrated on the second day of the bright fortnight of Asadha

(June-July). The image is placed in a heavy chariot and the efforts of hundreds of devotees are required to move it. The Nava Kalebara festival is an immensely significant religious ritual, wherein the idols of the three deities-Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra- change their external forms. Puri Beach Festival is celebrated annually in early November. Orissan craft, cuisine and cultural evenings are the highlights of the event. How to reach Air - The nearest airport is at Bhubaneshwar (60 km), the state capital. Road - Puri is connected with Bhubaneshwar, Konark, Berhampur, Taptapani, Sambalpur and Kolkata by road. Rail - Puri is also linked to other cities in Orissa and the country by train

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Cruise tourism has great growth potential: Selja

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KOCHI: Union Tourism Minister Selja has said that Cruise Tourism would give a new dimension to India Tourism, which had slowed down from January this year. Cruise tourism, a niche market, having tremendous growth potential, was one area in which the country was lagging behind, she said. Indian tourism has slowed down from January this year, but things are now looking up again, the Minister told reporters on the sidelines of a function to mark the launching of cruise operations between India-Maldives-Colombo

here. Asked if reports about the visits of terror suspects David

Indian tourism has slowed down from January this year, but things are now looking up again Headley and his associate Tahawwur Hussain Rana, arrested

by FBI, would impact tourism in the country, she said "Not at all. Why should it have any impact?" Tourism sector was very vibrant and these kind of incidents should not be seen as a setback at all, she said. The Indian economy was forging ahead and tourism industry was contributing six per cent to the GDP, she said. Tourism ministry has helped Kochi Port to improve tourism infrastructure especially during the conduct of the recent Volvo Ocean race and this would be further extended, Selja added. -PTI

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Nagaland's Hornbill festival goes international KOHIMA: Coinciding with the Nagaland statehood day, the week-long Hornbill festival got off to a colorful start at Kisama near here with cultural troupes from Japan, Thailand and Myanmar besides North-Eastern states taking part in it. Troupes from Japan, Korea, Thailand and Myanmar joined the 10th edition of the Hornbill festival, which went international as intended by

the Nagaland government. Touted as the 'festival of festivals', the annual extravaganza is a tourism promotional activity at Kisama, Naga heritage village, where one can enjoy the Naga life and culture in their entirety under a single roof. Besides the usual showcasing of Naga dance, music, art, ethnic foods, handlooms and handicrafts, some new features such as

kids festival and a Korean food stall have been added. Welcoming the gathering, Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said the government wants to privatize the management of the huge infrastructure and various events organized during the festival. Stating that the government's role would only be that of a facilitator, Rio asked young entrepreneurs to come forward for managing events. -PTI

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Gujarat can become top tourist destination: Modi BHUJ, Gujarat: Noting that Gujarat's rich cultural heritage has the potential to make the state the world's top tourist destination, Chief Minister Narendra Modi has said he was aiming at bringing a substantial amount of tourist money in the region. Inaugurating the 'Rannotsav', a three-day desert festival in the Rann of Kutch last evening, Modi said Gujarat will woo tourists with its own brand of tourism, without "western gimmicks" like hotels and theme parks. "The annual turnover of the international tourist industry is 7 trillion US dollars, more than four times India's national budget. And I want to bring in that money here to Kutch and to Gujarat," he said while opening the festival on the banks of the Hamirasar Lake. "We led the industrial revolution, the white revolution, now it's time for a cultural revolution. If a tourist goes to Agra, he would have nothing much to do after four hours. But if he comes to Gujarat, he will see sights he will not get to see anywhere else in the world," he said. The initiatives are part of government's effort to make up for the lost years in the sphere of tourism, by wooing travelers to the state, which is known more as an industrial state. The state government has invited foreign dignitaries, including the ambassadors of Peru, Venezu-

ela and Spain to the festival. Modi said the state does not have to ape the west for attracting tourists. "We don't need to follow the West, build fancy hotels and parks. We have plenty of cultural and natural beauty to attract tourists". The Rannotsav will take place

near Dhordor village, which lies on the Indo-Pak border. Some 400 tents have been put up for the visiting tourists and activities include a cultural event in the 'White Rann' (White Desert) by moonlight tonight which will be attended by Modi. -PTI

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Horoscope

India Post

December 11, 2009

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ARIES Mar 21-Apr 20 Money will go on an upcoming trip. You will hear some encouraging news at work but the implementation will take several weeks. Sound strategy will help people in business beat competitors and increase their profit margin. You have a pleasant surprise coming in mail. An old friend will call to invite you to a party at his place.

LEO Jul 23-Aug 22 Some of you may accept the offer from a friend and decide to start the business in partnership. Have proper clothing when you go out in the evening. You may have to pay couple of legal bills also this week. Children will be making some plans for a short trip. You will be call an old friend and try to arrange a get together at your place.

SAGITTARIUS Nov 23-Dec 22

December 11 to December 17

You will be very firm when it comes to dealing with people who kind of used you in the past and every body will notice the change. You will be eagerly waiting for the return on investment made recently. Your good deeds will make you popular in social circle and you will be invited to few parties. Do not ignore health issues.

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TAURUS Apr 21-May 20 You will finalize a short trip to a nice and never visited before place. Things will stay calm at work and soon you will be working on a new project. Intuitions will help you take several correct decisions. You will be doing little work in and around the house. You will be reunited with a close family member soon.

VIRGO Aug 23-Sept 22 Things will slow down all of a sudden but there will be enough money in pipeline. You may be traveling in East direction in near future. You may also receive a small check in shape of a refund. Some of you will be getting ready to travel long distance to meet relatives. You will be working on another big business proposal.

CAPRICORN Dec 23-Jan 19 Avoid any frictions at home. Opponents will make mistakes and you will have the chance to take advantage of the situation. Some of you will be getting ready for an overseas trip. You have big chunk of money coming through legal channel soon. Planets will make you far sighted and you will be planning big from now and on.

GEMINI May 21-Jun 20 You will be under lots of pressure. Family and finances both will be the main issue in mind. Solution will be hard to find. Some one close will express the desire to move to distant place. You will quickly recover from minor health problem also. You may be thinking of contacting an old and trustworthy friend for advice and some directions.

LIBRA Sept 23-Oct 22 You will have many opportunities to make extra money little unorthodox way. You will be traveling and spend most of the time away from home. You may win some money in lottery if you try your hand at it. Dispose off money making stocks and wait few weeks. Eye sight may start giving trouble but you may not get time to visit the doctor.

AQUARIUS Jan 20-Feb 18 You will go on an important trip and it will turn out to be beneficial for you in many ways. New association and friendship is in horizon. People will try to irritate you but will not succeed. You will be spending lots of money with your own hands. You will be spending lots of time on a new project collecting data etc.

CANCER Jun 21-Jul 22 Do not ignore the opportunity. You will be working extra hours and will be on your feet most of the time. You will be working really hard to meet upcoming commitments. Soon you will be reunited with a close family member. There is a big chance of some money coming through legal channel. You will also give final shape to a short trip.

SCORPIO Oct 23-Nov 22 Mind will become very creative and you will buy some interesting items for others. You will be moved to another important project. Money wise you will continue to do well and may dispose off some stocks and pocket the profit. You will take time out to write letters and mail. You will help a very needy person with your expertise.

PISCES Feb 19-Mar 20 Financially it will be a rewarding time. Your popularity is on increase and you will be surrounded by admirers at the party. You will be offered a new project by an intellectual group. A child may not keep well and need extra medical care and rest. You will also give final shape to a short trip to a neighboring state.

December 11, 2009

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India Post 35

In Brief Authorities free girl from alleged human smuggler SANTA ANA, Calif.: Authorities have arrested a suspected human smuggler who allegedly refused to release a 4-year old girl he brought across the border from Mexico at her mother's request. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the girl's mother had the man smuggle the child while she took another route, but he later refused to release her, demanding more and more money. Authorities rescued the girl, who is a US citizen, and returned her to her mother. ICE says deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Department arrested 32-year old Emanuel De La Costa-Valdiva for investigation of human trafficking, kidnapping and extortion. -AP

Former informant pleads guilty, will be sentenced DALLAS: A former Dallas police narcotics informant has pleaded guilty to counterfeiting and immigration charges after serving time for his role in the fake drugs scandal, according to a newspaper report. The Dallas Morning News reported that Enrique Martinez Alonso could be sentenced to 20 years during a hearing. Court documents show that in 2008, Alonso sold an undercover federal agent and an informant $9,970 in counterfeit bills for $400. He was arrested in March after being indicted in February. Alonso is being held in the Seagoville federal prison and couldn't be reached for comment, according to the newspaper. -AP

Knoxville group helps immigrants with car seats KNOXVILLE, Tenn.: Many Latin American immigrants never used child car seats in their home countries. That's why Knoxville's Safe Kids Coalition is now offering car-seat safety demonstrations in Spanish. Safe Kids director Susan Cook leads the demonstrations and also gives away free car seats. Cook told The Knoxville News Sentinel she gives the immigrants infant seats, rather than convertible seats that can be switched from rear-facing to forward-facing as the child grows. Parents can return for a toddler seat when their children outgrow the infant seats. -AP

Immigration 36

India Post

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December 11, 2009

Lawsuit filed by Mount Vernon immigrant settled MOUNT VERNON, Wash.: An illegal immigrant has received $48,000 from the federal government to settle a lawsuit that alleged he was assaulted and illegally arrested by two US Customs and Border Patrol agents in Mount Vernon. -AP

Community participation in 2010 census emphasized India Post News Service

LOS ANGELES: The U.S. Census Bureau held a media briefing at the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce for reporters representing Asian communities. At the briefing, census representatives provided an overview of the 2010 Census and emphasized the importance of participation of community members in the decennial survey. "The Census Bureau understands the importance of reaching Asian communities to educate them about the upcoming 2010 Census," said Sneha Desai, assistant regional manager of the Census Bureau's Los Angeles Regional Center. "This media briefing is an opportunity for us to work with local Asian media to ensure that our communities receive correct information about the census and to work toward the goal of a complete and accurate count of everyone." Desai emphasized that everyone living in the United States, regardless of legal status, are required by the U.S. Constitution to participate in the census. Census data help determine boundaries for state and local legislative and congressional districts. Census data also

Sabbir Bashir, Ravi Kapoor, Sneha Desai, Sharmaine Dias and Viresh Mehta

For the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau will feature one of the shortest census forms in history, with 10 questions that take about 10 minutes to answer help determine how more than $400 billion per year in federal funding is allocated for roads, schools, hospitals, community services and more. The Census Bureau has strict confidentiality provisions that protect the responses of those who participate. By law, Census Bureau employees cannot share

information provided by respondents with any person or government agency. Every employee has taken a lifetime oath to protect the information and is subject to fines and/or jail time if any information is disclosed. "We want to assure residents that any information they provide

on their census form is tightly guarded," said Desai. "We use the information provided for statistical purposes only. Any Census Bureau employee who reveals data pertinent to the 2010 Census can face a fine up to $250,000 and up to five years in jail." For the 2010 Census, the Census Bureau will feature one of the shortest census forms in history, with 10 questions that take about 10 minutes to answer. The form will ask for information such as name, relationship to head of household, gender, age, date of birth, race and whether respondents own or rent their home. For those who speak limited to no English, in-language assistance guides will be available online in 59 different languages to help them fill out their census forms. "Our community and media partners have been instrumental in helping us get the word out about the upcoming Census," said Desai. "The 10 minutes it takes to fill out the questionnaire can help bring in resources that will positively impact the community we live in." For additional information about the 2010 Census and the Census Bureau, visit: www.2010.census.gov

NRI gets award for promoting Indian culture LONDON: Leading NRI entrepreneur Maneck Dalal, who has played a major role in promoting Indian art and culture in the UK, has been awarded the Asian Leadership Award for his contribution towards heritage. Dalal, who has been Chairman of the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan UK for the last 36 years, was presented the award by British lawmaker Keith Vaz here. Receiving the award Dalal asked the people of Indian origin to "remember the culture of your motherland while pledging total loyalty to this country". He said: "The culture you have inherited at your country

Surinder Mongia, a leading NRI entrepreneur specializing in consultancy and design services for aviation projects with offices in Canada, UK, Finland and India, won the Asian of the Year Award 2009 Maneck Dalal

of birth is very good in this mad world of today. Indian culture is the bedrock of sanity".

Surinder Mongia, a leading NRI entrepreneur specializing in consultancy and design services for aviation projects with offices

in Canada, UK, Finland and India, won the Asian of the Year Award 2009. Vijay Goel, partner at Singhania & Co, one of the largest Indian law firms here, received the Asian Leadership in Europe award for his "significant role in promoting Indo-European business relations. Dalal was educated at Cambridge University and called to the bar in London in 1945. At 29, he started Air India in the UK in 1948 and became the airline's first Regional Director. In 1973 he became the Indian Government's Adviser for Tourism and Civil Aviation. -PTI

Immigration Post

December 11, 2009

India Post

www.indiapost.com

UK watchdogs - Who is watching whom & why? ANUJA PRASHAR

have taken on a whole new meaning and prominence. The BNP, maligned as bigots, fascists and antismites, have taken all the flack for the creation of a 'new' racialized discourse of 'insider' and 'outsider'. However, this is hardly a new discourse. Race, as a marker of difference, has been used to establish 'insiders' and 'outsiders' for a very long time in the UK. More

ganizations reveals a deeper hidden agenda based upon economics. Through an analysis of language used by these organizations, this article discusses what they are protecting and for whom? The concept of "watching", within the political arena, has become significant for performing two roles - that of self regulated research platform and self regulated educator. The concept of "watching", within the political field unlike that of formal research institutions, appears to have no boundaries or accountability. Yet this activity carries an enormous responsibility for dissemination of information and creating 'mass' knowledge. The common phrase 'watch dog' indicates a sense of protection and security, associated with this practice. However, within the context of politics we now need to ask ourselves, what is being protected, by whom and for whom? Recently in the UK, with the rise of the BNP and the televised BBC program on which Nick Griffith appeared, immigration 'watching'

recently, religion has also become a key signifier of difference. Is it also fair to suggest that the BNP is the only organization to contribute to the racial, religious and protectionist discourses of exclusion?

The target group for Caste Watch UK are the population group labeled as South Asians Today it is more significant to realization that the principles and 'science' upon which the BNP are building their campaigns is provided by organizations like Migration Watch UK. Founded in 2001, Migration Watch monitors the number of people entering the UK from outside the European Union. Most significant is the political, religious and economic alliances that this organization enjoys - The founder, Sir Andrew

Green, also belongs to the Board of Trustees for Christian Solidarity Worldwide, with a board of trustees made up of key Politicians, Christian clergy and British business people. The stated purpose of Migration Watch is to tackle the problem "that the government has lost control over our borders during the past fifteen years. This has resulted in immigration on a scale that is placing huge strain on our public services, housing, environment, society and quality of life." Likewise, with their logo of the Christian flag of St. George and a marked focus upon themes of 'insiders' and 'outsiders', the BNP's stated mission is "To secure a future for the indigenous peoples of these islands in the North Atlantic which have been our homeland for millennia". The BNP particularly emphasizes the context of "our people are facing denial of service provision, failure to secure business contracts as well as poor job prospects as both reverse discrimination excludes our people from the school room, workplace and boardroom". This specificity of focus on education, workplace and leadership of businesses is a theme that emerges throughout this analysis and therefore merits greater exploration. Who is threatening the so called 'indigenous' populations of the UK in education, employment and business leadership? The target group for Caste Watch UK are the population group labeled as South Asians. Although, they appear to target all South Indian's, the emphasis upon the Hindu religion and its impact upon society is the foundation for all their concerns. The website tells us that "Caste is associated primarily with cultures of the Indian sub-continent" and the stated aim for the organisation is "to raise awareness of Caste discrimination in the United Kingdom and to strive for appropriate legal, social and democratic remedies".

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his article is focused on analyzing, comparing and contrasting the stated purpose, activities and alliances of two organizations, which have set themselves up to protect and provide security for a particular constituency. These two organizations are Migration Watch UK and Caste Watch UK. The protectionism and rhetoric of these two or-

India Post

Immigration Post

December 11, 2009

www.indiapost.com

Irregular migration needs to be addressed: Ravi PANAJI: India has stressed the need to appropriately address the issue of "irregular" migration, which has social and security ramifications and is emerging as a major concern for various nations. "Irregular migration has social and security ramification which are now well beyond mere law enforcement and need to be appropriately addressed by the countries involved," Valayalar Ravi, Union Minister of Overseas Indian affairs, (MOIA) said. The minister, addressing delegates and policy makers from 32 different countries, appealed the participating nations to work in "concerned manner" to address the scourge of smuggling and trafficking of women and children. Ravi was addressing the 8th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) conference of Directors General of Immigration on management of migratory flows at Goa. Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat, MOIA Secretary K Mohandas and conference Chair G Gurucharan were also present on the occasion. The minister said that curbing irregular migration is not only issue of concern for countries of destination but also in the countries of origin. "In the absence of inclusive and equitable development, vastly differing economic opportunities combined with restrictions on free movement only serve to aggravate the problem," he said. . Ravi said "there is evidence to suggest that where legal migration is rendered more difficult, the direct consequence has been more

Valayalar Ravi

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;In a globally integrated world, labor mobility must be seen as a natural corollary to the cross border movement of investment and tradeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; irregular migration". The minister said India has estimated 25 million overseas community members spread over 110 countries while the country is also host to over 20 million immigrants, many of whom are irregular. The economic downturn has fuelled the argument that migrant workers cause job losses or effect of economic meltdown could be subsided, if there were no migrants, he said. "Nothing can be farther from the truth. Migrant workers fill labor supply gaps that often cannot or do not want to be met by

local workers," the minister commented. "History also points to the fact that in times of economic downturn, the governments often adopt protectionist policies thereby exacerbating the negative impact of the crisis on the economy," he added. . The minister said this only makes the condition of migrant workers worse and raising protectionist barriers to the movement of natural persons as a policy response, as some countries are doing, are both short-sighted and counter intuitive and will only delay the recovery from the economic crisis. "In a globally integrated world, labor mobility must be seen as a natural corollary to the cross border movement of investment and trade. We must convert the crisis into an opportunity by enhancing international cooperation on migration," he said. Addressing the delegates from Asian and European countries, Ravi said in the globalize world, the free movement of persons will increasingly shape both the direction and pace of future global development prospects. "We therefore need to work together to change perceptions about free movement of people, allay apprehensions on labor market access in the destination countries, build strong inter-state and inter-regional cooperation and explore new instruments to achieve calibrated migration practices that can best meet the needs of countries of origin and destination," he added. -PTI

Immigration Post

December 11, 2009

India Post

www.indiapost.com

UK watchdogs - Who is watching whom & why? Contâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d from page 36

The conflation of concepts of Caste, South Indian and Hindu is very misleading and often deceptive. The real focus and interests of Caste Watch UK is for those they name Dalits, who are active in missionary activity for conversions to Christianity. Caste Watch UK tells us "It works alone and in partnership with a number of academic institutions, politicians, community groups and organisations promoting the rights of those who are victims of caste discrimination in the UK, including the Dalit Solidarity Network (UK) and Voice of Dalit International to tackle Caste based Discrimination in the UK".

Both Dalit Solidarity Network and Dalit International are Christian organisations supported by the globally acclaimed organisation, Christian Aid. I have written extensively on this subject elsewhere - Creation of Caste Wars, Asian Voice, 2008. The Caste Watch UK website tells us that "Caste discrimination in the UK can be seen in temples, schools, places of higher education, community centers, social clubs, places of employment and services in the UK where people from Indian and Pakistani Diaspora are working, resulting in caste based bullying, leading to inferiority complex and low self esteem in victims. This maltreatment prevents victims from achieving their full

Bar Association backs bill against racial profiling India Post News Service

CHICAGO: Calling racial profiling "a divisive issue that strikes at the very foundation of our democracy," the American Bar Association has come out in strong support of the End Racial Profiling Act of 2009. The ABA says ERPA could help enforce the constitutional right to equal protection of the laws by eliminating racial and ethnic profiling, and represents a federal commitment to restoring public confidence in the criminal justice system at-large. In a letter sent to representative John Conyers, the ABA applauded Conyers' leadership on the legislation, noting that "when law-abiding citizens are treated differently by those who enforce the law simply because of their

race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin, they are denied the basic respect and equal treatment that is the right of every American." The ABA has repeatedly called for reforms aimed at addressing racial and ethnic disparities in the nation's criminal justice system from the point of arrest through sentencing. With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

potential and making their due contribution to British society". The confusion and ambiguity of the use of terminology on the Caste Watch UK website is indeed perplexing. There are three glaring and obvious errors which highlight the superficial nature of the accusation of Caste discrimination.

The confusion and ambiguity of the use of terminology on the Caste Watch UK website is indeed perplexing On the website we are told that the word 'caste' is a Portuguese term meaning "pure stock" and not an Indian word. I affirm this and add, that we should understand that the whole concept of Caste and its associated system of signification and conceptual framework is not Indian or Hindu. It is an Orientalist discourse of Hinduism, originating in Europe during the early 17th century. Secondly, the explanation on the Caste Watch website of "Varna" (the Sanskrit word for social roles in ancient Indian society) to indicate 'color' is incorrect. The "Varna' system of signification and it's associated conceptual framework is a philosophical paradigm based upon a metaphysical discourse of the universe, and reflects the meanings of 'merit' or 'quality' according to a specific Vedic epistemology. Thirdly, the very simple historical explanation of the 'mingling' of Races, across the Indian sub continent, leading to the establishment of a hierarchy of castes

in ancient Indian society is completely baseless and essentially a myth. Despite these obvious errors and deceptive confusions, Caste Watch UK has managed to influence UK members of Parliament to hold debates in the House of Parliament - indeed, since they were founded in 2004, there have been four MPs who raised questions or hosted a debate in the House of Parliament. The European Parliament has also discussed this issue twice since then. In the Economic Times,12th May 2009 The Southall member of Parilament, Virender Sharma has stated that "caste-based thinking is "built into the social fabric" of the estimated 3.5 million South Asians living in Britain. Sharma says it is all the more important to bring in legislation on caste because of "fears" that the increasing number of private Indian companies now setting up in Britain may inadvertently import caste-based practices. "There are more and more Indian companies coming here and they are bring-

ing in senior managers who are in a position to recruit - that's where the problem can arise. That's where the fear is". Is Mr. Virender Sharma, like Migration Watch, suggesting that South Asians coming into the UK work place will change the working culture and ethics of the UK? The conflation of the term South Asian, Indian with the term Hindu is very deceptive. The real target for all this political activity is the UK Hindu population, who Caste Watch UK directly accuse with practicing caste discrimination. According to Mr. Lakha, ex-mayor of Coventry and co-founder of Caste Watch UK, while speaking at the Caste Watch UK conference in March 2009 stated, "No matter where the Indian Culture exists, the problem of caste exists. Hindus are no different from those who support the BNP. It is the concept of power struggle by using the concept of superiority and inferiority on the basis of birth, race and religious inheritance which is a problem."

Tech News Record sales achieved for Amazon Kindle

mazon.com, Inc. has announced that November is already the best sales month ever for Kindle, even before Cyber Monday. With the festival ringing, Kindle continues to be the most wished for, the most gifted and the #1 bestselling products across all product categories on Amazon. "Kindle is a great gift for anyone who loves to read and it's flying off the shelves faster than any other product Amazon sells," said Ian Freed, Vice President, Amazon Kindle. "We're seeing lots of people buying from one to a handful of Kindles as gifts for friends or family, as well as many businesses and other organizations buying Kindles in large quantities for their employees or customers."

MTNL introduces pay per second plan NEW DELHI: Tariff for mobile services in the Indian region has seen a drastic shift in the recent days. With the pay-per second plan hitting the sub-continent most of the operators have made shift by offering their subscribers with the advantage. The latest to join pay-per second bandwagon is the state-telco MTNL. Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) introduced its payper-second plan under which both Prepaid and Postpaid versions have voice and video calls at same rates of just half paisa/sec for calls made to MTNL Delhi and Mumbai Networks, and One paisa/sec for calls made to any other network across India. As for the rates for the messages under this plan, they have been fixed to be at 25 paise for local, Re.1/- for National and Rs.2.50/- for International SMS. cluding about 1.65 lakh 3G customers"

IBM sets up Analytics Solution Center in London

nternational Business Machines Corporation (IBM) has expanded its global network of analytics centers with the launch of its London-based IBM London Analytics Solution Centre. This new analytics center is the part of IBM's global multi-million pound investment initiative. The London centre will help IBM apply its advanced analytics expertise to the complex business challenges facing its UK-based clients, laying utmost focus on the UK financial services sector initially.

TechBiz 40 India Post

www.indiapost.com

December 11, 2009

Dubai's Nakheel demands halt on trading in its bonds DUBAI: Dubai's property developer Nakheel, part of the debt-laden Dubai World conglomerate, has asked for a suspension of trading on all its Islamic bonds traded on NasdaqDubai bourse, the latter said on its website. "Nakheel has asked for all three of their listed Sukuk's (Nakheel Development Limited, Nakheel Development 2 Limited, Nakheel Development 3 Limited) to be suspended until it is in a position to fully inform the market," NasdaqDubai said on its website. It said the request came following the Dubai government's announcement that it intends to request a freeze on Dubai World's debt repayments, sending jitters in global financial markets. -PTI

World Bank plans to triple lending to India NEW DELHI: The World Bank is expected to increase its lending to India by over three times to USD 7 billion in 2009-10 compared to the average USD 2.3 billion for the last four financial years. "The average commitment during the last four financial years from the World Bank has been approximately USD 2.3 billion. However, in the current year, the

said. India is the largest borrower of the World Bank. At the meeting, Zoellick sought India's support in widening the capital base of the World Bank so that it could appropriately meet the needs of developmental finance. The request came after India agreed to invest 10 billion dollars from its reserves to supplement the IMF resources.

‘The average commitment during the last four financial years from the World Bank has been approximately USD 2.3 billion. However, in the current year, the commitments are expected to reach about USD 7 billion’ commitments are expected to reach about USD 7 billion," said an official statement, issued after the multilateral agency President Robert Zoellick met Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee. The current World Bank portfolio in India consists of 68 projects with a total commitment of USD 19.57 billion, the statement

More funds for highways The World Bank has agreed to look at newer ways to raise its funding commitment for the highways projects, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said after meeting the Bank chief Robert Zoellick. "The World Bank has agreed to look at funding viability gap and in

World Bank President Robert Zoellick meeting Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi on December 2.

the annuity projects not only in terms of financing but in terms of institutional support as well," he said. The ministry is seeking a USD 2.96-billion World Bank funding for double-laning of 6,300 km of single-lane highways, out of a total of about 19,000 km single-lane highways in the country. "We are also working with the

USD 1 billion for 'clean Ganga' project NEW DELHI: In a boost to its recently launched "Mission Clean Ganga", India will get USD 1 billion for the project from the World Bank, the government said. "We have estimated that an initial investment of USD 4 billion will be required to achieve the immediate objective of stopping all discharge of untreated sewage and industrial effluent into the Ganga by 2020. USD one billion will be assisted by the World Bank," Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh said after a meeting attended by World Bank President Robert B Zoellick here on the Ganga cleaning program. "This is a project of enormous national importance and I am pleased that the World Bank has come forward to assist us,"

Ramesh said. "The Ganga has sustained civilization throughout time, but is today burdened by expanding production, industries and urban development along its banks and

approval from the Bank's Board of Executive Directors between July 2010 and June 2011. In its initial phase, Bank assistance will focus on three areas -- building the institutions

‘The Ganga has sustained civilization throughout time, but is today burdened by expanding production, industries and urban development along its banks and in its basin, with all the pollution this brings,’ Zoellick said in its basin, with all the pollution this brings," Zoellick told reporters after the meet. The World Bank, which is still working out the details, plans to provide the fund over the next 4-5 years. The fund is likely to get

and knowledge base for Ganga basin management, helping build a global consortium of financiers, and financing priority investments, according to a statement from the premier monetary institution. -PTI

Ministry of Finance for a USD 2.96-billion for converting 6,300 km one-lane roads into two-lane ones. That is now in an advanced stage," Nath said, adding however the USD 3 billion may be provided in tranches and the Finance Ministry will take a final call on this since there are many projects to be financed by the Bank.-PTI

Unauthorized mobile handsets go dead NEW DELHI: Millions of mobile subscribers owning handsets without unique identity numbers saw services discontinued by operators after the government banned use of such phones for security reasons. Leading operators Airtel, Vodafone and others confirmed that they have started disconnecting phones without unique identity numbers. Vodafone Essar Director T V Ramachandran said, "We are disconnecting all those phones which are through the non-IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) handsets." No operator, however, put a number to how many users were disconnected from their respective networks, but sources said it would certainly run into a few millions. -PTI

TechBiz Post

December 11, 2009

India Post

www.indiapost.com

Pervasive Software partners with Tiara Consulting India Post News Service

NEW YORK: Pervasive Software® Inc. (NASDAQ: PVSW), a global value leader in embeddable data management and data integration software, has chosen its existing consulting partner, Tiara Consulting, a California-based US corporation providing valueadded specialized and IT consulting services, as their international Market Development Partner (MDP) for delivery of its integration products in India. Under this long-term strategic partnership, Tiara Consulting, which offers consulting services to build business application solutions using ERP, Business Intelligence (BI) and web technologies, will use its fully-owned India subsidiary to facilitate the distribution and sales of Pervasive data integration products to meet the integration needs of customers across India.

Pervasive's multi-purpose data integration platform accelerates the sharing of information between multiple data stores, applications, and hosted business systems across a broad range of diverse integration scenarios, including prepackaged out-of-thebox integration solutions.

lenge companies in India to adapt quickly to new opportunities and brings with it the need for having an integrated IT platform to support their business. With Pervasive, we can help companies adopt flexible integration that can be rapidly implemented with higher return on investment," says V.A.

As an International MDP for India, Tiara Consulting will focus on selling Pervasive Data Integrator™, a data integration product that can improve the business capabilities of all Indian companies by integrating their business data across different IT systems quickly Through this partnership, Tiara Consulting will utilize its technology expertise to help customers successfully integrate their IT systems using Pervasive data integration products and gain competitive business advantage. "India's high growth rate continues to chal-

Venkatesh Babu, President and CEO of Tiara Consulting. As an International MDP for India, Tiara Consulting will focus on selling Pervasive Data Integrator™, a data integration product that can improve the business capabilities of all Indian companies

India is the biggest newspaper market across the world: WAN-IFRA HYDERABAD: As the debate over devel-opment of alternate revenue model for the print publications continue, the Annual World Press Trends update by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) reveals that at no time in the foreseeable future will digital advertising revenues replace those lost to print. This fact is making the search for new business models including paid-for online access for news a pressing concern for the news publishing industry. Today, with the digital age taking over the print industry, the search engines take the largest slice of internet advertising revenues with very little being retained with the content generators themselves. In a 182-billion dollar press advertising industry, digital revenues of newspapers accounted for less than 6 billion dollars last year. Further according to a forecast by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to grow to no more than 8.4 billion dollars by 2013. Simultaneously the print advertising is expected to decline. PwC predicts that by 2013, combined print and digital ad revenues will be less than the print only ad revenues were in 2008. “These PwC forecasts, similar to those made by Zenith Optimedia and others, demonstrate quite simply that at no time soon will digital advertising revenues come close to achieving the

sort of revenues required, by many, to compensate for falling print revenue,” said Timothy Balding, co-CEO of WAN-IFRA. “So that answer will have to be found elsewhere. Should these forecasts come close to being true, new business models will have to be invented.” “If newspaper companies wish to maintain their strong content leadership, someone is going to have to pay. It looks like we have

‘Today, with the digital age taking over the print industry, the search engines take the largest slice of internet advertising revenues with very little being retained with the content generators themselves’ to solve the digital payment issue and soon,” he said. The annual world press trends survey was presented Tuesday (1 December) at the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum in Hyderabad, India, where the paid content issue is being hotly debated. Yet despite the problems of fall-

ing advertising revenues, forecasts of even further declines, and pressure from new competitors, the global newspaper industry is far from facing an “apocalypse,” Mr Balding said. “Despite the endless predictions about the death of newspapers, they actually continue to grow, at least on a global scale.” The WAN-IFRA survey showed that newspaper circulation grew, on a global scale, by 1.3% in 2008, the last full year for which data exists, and almost 9% over five years. The data shows consistent newspaper growth in Africa, Asia and South America, and a long-term slowdown in the US and European markets. “But even here, a sense of proportion demands that we deny the idea that the apocalypse is upon us,” said Mr Balding. “A circulation drop in Europe, for example, is less than 3 percent over five years. Over five years, according to our survey, newspaper circulation increased in 100 of the 182 nations for which we have reliable data.” The survey, presented to more than 900 publishers, chief editors, managing directors and other senior newspaper executives attending the Congress and Forum, was drawn primarily from data from WAN-IFRA’s World Press Trends and World Digital Media Trends surveys, and from data provided by Zenith Optimedia and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

by integrating their business data across different IT systems quickly and efficiently in a costeffective fashion. In addition, Tiara Consulting adds great value by providing local customer and product support on Pervasive data integration products for all the customers in India. Educational institutions are early adopters for Pervasive Data Integrator, helping students develop a deep understanding of and hands-on experience with data integration and business intelligence while executing academic projects to a better level on these emerging technologies. Dr. R. Srinivasan, EVP of Tiara Consulting's subsidiary in India, said, "Our partnership with Pervasive helps us to demonstrate greater value to the professional

education institutions in India by enhancing their IT infrastructure and skill-building capabilities using Pervasive Integration products to deliver higher quality education." "We are excited that Tiara Consulting is acting as our market development partner for India. Their technology depth and local support capabilities will ensure that local companies and their IT departments, systems integrators and independent software vendors (ISVs) can take advantage of Pervasive's cutting-edge integration products," said Mike Hoskins, EVP, CTO and General Manager, Integration Products for Pervasive. Mr. Hoskins will be visiting India later this month to demonstrate the Texas-based company's commitment to the Indian market.

42 India Post

TechBiz Post www.indiapost.com

Economy grows 7.9 pc in Q2, beats estimates NEW DELHI: Proving all expectations too conservative, the economy clocked a robust 7.9 per cent growth in the second quarter, catapulted by a stimulus packagespowered strong industrial growth. The growth is not only higher than a mere 6.1 per cent in Q1, but also more than 7.7 per cent recorded in July-September 2008, when the economy did not come under the full impact of the then deepening global financial crisis. Besides the industry, the services sector is on an upswing with community, social and personal services expanding by 12.7 per cent during the reporting quarter and the farm sector logging in a growth of 0.9 per cent against a contraction that was projected due to the weak monsoon. The significance of the numbers could

be gauged from the fact that the government as well as the Plan panel expected slower growth in the second quarter than the first quarter and most economists pegged it in the range of 6.1-6.6 per cent. For the first half, the economy grew by seven per cent against 7.8 per cent a year ago, prompting Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to expect over 7 per cent growth this fiscal. For the current fiscal, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expected the economy to grow by 6.5 per cent, RBI by 6 per cent and the Planning Commission by 6.3 per cent. "...this performance does suggest that there may well have to be an upward revision in GDP growth of 6.5 per cent, which has been projected so far," Plan panel Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said. -PTI

December 11, 2009

UAE president says economy is fine

Asian banks have little exposure to Dubai: Moody's SINGAPORE: Banks across Asia have minimal exposure to Dubai and its debtladen conglomerate Dubai World, Moody's Investors Service said. Asian banks have lent billions of dollars to entities in the United Arab Emirates, of which Dubai is a part, but these represent a small portion of their assets, the credit rating agency said in statement. "To date, we have found no Asian bank to have sufficiently high levels of exposure

to members of the Dubai World group to warrant any ratings actions," it said. Moody's said that even for Asian banks with outstanding loans to state-controlled Dubai World and its entities, their profitability was not expected to be at risk from the group's plan to freeze repayments. "Even those banks with the larger exposures to Dubai World firms, could fully provision those exposures and still report a profit for the year," it said. -PTI

DUBAI: UAE President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has said the country's economy is fine and the Dubai administration will "remove obstacles to score achievements." In an address to the nation on the occasion of the 38th National Day of the UAE, President Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said the leadership and the people of the country are confident to continue steadily and consistently the implementation of what has been adopted in terms of strategies and plans. On the Dubai debt crisis the President said: "My brother, Ruler of Dubai and the Council of Ministers, who face every morning challenges, but plan and remove all obstacles to score achievements." State-owned conglomerate Dubai World's decision last week to seek an extension of repayment of USD 59 billion credit until May next year, has robbed the sheen off Dubai as an investment destination. The debt crisis has seen the world markets plunging in the following days and there was blood bath on Gulf bourses with the confidence of investors being rattled. "We would like to assure everyone that our country is stronger and better off, since our economy is fine and our society enjoys welfare. The global financial crisis on its severity will not be a reason for hesitation or retreat, nor a justification to lead us to a despair or inaction," Sheikh Khalifa said. He said with a strong national economy and sound policies the country can overcome the most difficult stage of the crisis. "The economic indicators of growth in most sectors started to grow up gradually, beginning from the last quarter of this year," Sheikh Khalifa added. Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said, "Ambition would remain the key to UAE's plans despite the impact of the global financial crisis and big goals will remain our objectives.

Nobility of our nation and welfare of the citizens will remain the compass that guides us and orientates our work," he said. Elsewhere, Dubai's ruler said the global reaction to the emirate's planned restructuring of its conglomerate Dubai World showed a lack of understanding. -PTI "We are strong and persistent," Arabic media reporters quoted Sheikh Mohammed as saying. "They do not understand anything," he said when asked about the global reaction to Dubai World's standstill request and re-

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We would like to assure everyone that our country is stronger and better off, since our economy is fine and our society enjoys welfareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; structuring plans. "It is the fruit-bearing tree that becomes the target of (stone) throwers," he added, in an apparent reference to criticism of the emirate over the issue. The Vice President said the country is determined to achieve the great renaissance in all areas, "to get to the highest levels in education, to reach to the first place in the world with our infrastructure, facilities and services and to the best known practices in the world with the excellence in government performance. Sheikh Mohammed also highlighted recent achievements such as the completion of the first phase of the Dubai Metro system and Abu Dhabi's successful bid to host the headquarters of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).

Realty Tidbits

Delhi is world's 10th costliest city for businesses NEW DELHI: The national Capital Delhi has moved two notches up and has re-entered the top 10 list of the world's most expensive office market, while the financial capital Mumbai has slipped one notch down, even as globally demand for office space has been softening, says a report. The Capital has moved up to the 10th slot, from the 12th position it held six months ago, whereas Mumbai dropped from the 6th slot to the 7th, says the semi-annual survey 'Global Office Rents', by real estate consultancy CB Richard Ellis. While Mumbai commanded a rent of USD 121.11 per square feet, Delhi was lower at USD 88.92 per square feet as on September 30, 2009, says the report. -PTI

Throwaway prices in US luring Indians

he throwaway real estate prices in the US have been attracting high net worth Indians in a big way. And now it seems, there's more reason to look at investing in America for HNIs. The Obama administration has recently extended the regional centre investment program, which is part of the permanent residency, EB-5 category by three years. Simply put, this program allows investors a fast-track to US green cards and permanent residency. Under the scheme, investors who put in $1 million (about Rs 5 crore) into designated regional centre real estate projects and create at least 10 jobs in the US, are entitled to green cards along with their families. If they are willing to put money into a business carried out on in a designated backward area, the investment required is even lower at $500,000. The EB-5 program is attracting a large number of hospitality entrepreneurs from Gujarat who are keen on setting up shop in the US. Many of the Gujarati hotel entrepreneurs also have strong family links in the US.

Real Estate 43 India Post

www.indiapost.com

December 11, 2009

Dubai plans law to protect property investors DUBAI: Dubai is considering enacting a law to protect the rights of real estate investors in the Emirate. The city-state's Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA) and the land department are working on new guidelines, which upon the government's approval, will be implemented early next year, Gulf news quoted Sultan Bin Mejren, Director-General of Dubai Land Department, as saying. "Our ultimate goal is ensure justice and set up proper rules and regulations to regulate the relationship between developers and investors," Bin Mejren said. -PTI

Real estate collapse in Dubai will affect Indian HNIs

he leveraged asset purchases of Dubai-based wealthy non-resident Indians in the past few years may begin to haunt them, as the collapse of real estate prices in the emirate prompts calls for additional funds as margins which may force them to sell some Indian assets, experts say. "Indian HNIs (high net worth individuals) made good use of easy credit lines in the past two years," says Dubai-based JRG International Brokerage CEO PK Sajitkumar. "They even made investments using leveraged money, investing into India-focused funds, buying freehold property and buying into Indian shares through participatory notes," he said. "The situation is now so bad that many of these people will have to sell their leveraged assets, may be at a loss, to meet margin calls or retire debt." Slide of real estate and other asset prices in the Middle East has begun to accelerate after Dubai World, the government-backed

conglomerate, last week sought moratorium on debts of about $59 billion. This has led to lenders seeking additional collateral for assets funded so far. Those unable to deposit more funds with the banks may be forced to sell assets, including Indian stocks, or even think of selling Indian real estate. The fall in Dubai property prices

"HNIs who bought into Gulf real estate in the one year since May 2007 are in trouble," says Krishnan Ramachandran, CEO of Dubaibased Barjeel Geojit Securities. "They will have to clear their debts by selling off a sizeable portion of their investment portfolio." Dubai-based money managers say banks in the emirate loaned

‘The situation is now so bad that many of these people will have to sell their leveraged assets, may be at a loss, to meet margin calls or retire debt’ has gained momentum over the past two weeks with rates going back to pre-2006 rates. According to Saud Masud, a real estate analyst with UBS Dubai, the city-state's property market could fall by up to 30%, from current levels - it's already down 50% from the past year's levels - and may take more than a decade to recover.

such clients 8-10 times their capital while buying freehold property in 2007 and 2008 when the real estate was booming with the desert being sold as the next big international financial centre behind New York and London. For investing into India-focused funds - funds that invest into Indian assets such as real estate, equities or debt -

wealthy investors were given loans 3-5 times their capital, according to them. Mauritius and British Virgin Island-registered asset management companies have launched more than 500 India-focused funds since 2007, global money managers say. Leveraged investments account for over 60% of the total asset under management of all such funds, they say. Those wealthy individuals who have exposure to Indian equities through participatory notes issued by banks such as Citigroup, Barclays and UBS may be forced to exit their positions to make good the losses incurred in Dubai. These investors will not be able to liquidate all their Indian debt portfolio as rules stipulate such assets are held at least for a year to 3 years. "Leveraged investors may now have to sell risky/highreturn assets to cover their losses in Dubai. Such selling could impact Indian markets as well," said Saurabh Mukherjea, head of Indian equities at Noble Group.

FDI may be freed of lock-in period

oreign investment in the real estate sector may potentially no longer be subject to the statutory three year lock-in period. It is believed that the department of industrial policy & promotion, ministry of commerce & industry, recently circulated a draft note for consideration of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, where it has proposed to remove the condition of

minimum period for repatriation of the original foreign investment. Under FDI policy as on date, 100% foreign investment, without government approval (automatic route), is permitted in townships, housing, built-up infrastructure and construction-development projects. Regulated by Press Note 2 (2005), these investments are subject to certain minimum capi-

to highlight that investments in SEZs, hotels and hospitals are exempt from all, including inter alia, the investment conditions, as stipulated in Press Note 2. The instant recommendation appears to be in keeping with the government's ongoing process to liberalize the FDI regime in India. The original restrictions on repatriation must have been a caution-

The instant recommendation appears to be in keeping with the government's ongoing process to liberalize the FDI regime in India talization norms and conditions prescribing the minimum area to be developed. Press Note 2 also stipulates that the original investment cannot be repatriated before a period of three years from completion of the minimum capitalization, except with prior government approval. It is pertinent

ary measure, intended to prevent speculative investments in the real estate sector. However, this sector has, for some time now, been feeling the pressures of the global economic crisis and has desperately been in need of greater capital and liquidity to fund its existing projects and growth. Thus, the

change, if it were approved and eventually implemented, will undoubtedly be a positive development for the realty sector. But what should also be noted is that, greater foreign investments in this sector will also enhance overall employment opportunities and generate greater domestic economic activity. Some debate appears to be already doing the rounds on whether these norms will be eased with retrospective effect or whether they will only be prospective. Although it would be highly unlikely for them to be retrospective, if and when the government finally decides to do away with the lock-in, it would be helpful that the policy clearly detail the government's intention vis-a-vis existing investments. Discussions are also ongoing on whether the proposed relaxation will result in a fluctuation of realty stocks and thus lead to market volatility.

Classifieds

India Post

December 11, 2009

www.indiapost.com

MATRIMONIALS BRIDEGROOM WANTED

Parents looking for a groom for their beautiful daughter, American Citizen, 31years, 5'3" tall, Caste No Bar. Please send your picture and biodata to P.O.Box # 342, India Post 29274 Union City Blvd.,

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Well Settled in California,

PUNJABI FAMILY INVITES CORRESPODENCE FOR THEIR WORKING DAUGHTER 28 YRS OF AGE, 5'6". SEEKING US RAISED WORKING BOY. SEND RESPONSE TO RSOUGU@YAHOO.COM OR CALL AT 714-234-4921

PUNJABI SIKH PARENTS INVITE CORRESPONDENCE FROM WELL ESTABLISHED FAMILIES FOR DAUGHTER, 24 YRS, BEAUTIFUL, SLIM, 5’3", MASTERS-HUMAN GENETICS, LIVING IN INDIA. PROFESSIONALS PREFERRED. PLEASE SEND BIODATA WITH PICTURE. gundeepsingh8@gmail.com PH:562-201-1130

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or Call 416-464-7471

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Notice is hereby given that sealed competitive bids will be accepted at the Alameda County Social Services Agency Contracts Office, 2000 San Pablo Avenue, 4th Floor, Oakland, CA 94612 NETWORKING/SOUTH COUNTY BIDDERS CONFERENCE RFP CFS-MTFC 2010 ñ Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC), Thursday, December 17, 2009, 8:30 a.m. ñ Alameda County Social Services Agency Eden Area SelfSufficiency Center, 24100 Amador Street, Shooting Star A, 6th Floor, Room 637, Hayward, CA NETWORKING/NORTH COUNTY BIDDERS CONFERENCE RFP CFS-MTFC 2010 ñ Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC), Thursday, December 17, 2009, 2:00 p.m. ñ Alameda County Social Services Agency North Oakland Self-Sufficiency Center, 2000 San Pablo Avenue, Montclair Room, 3rd Floor, Room 350B, Oakland, CA Responses Due by 3:00 pm on January 7, 2010 County Contact : Diane DeVoreFarrugia at (510) 267-8633 or via email: ddevore@acgov.org . Attendance at Networking Conference is Non-mandatory. Specifications regarding the above may be obtained at the Current Contracting Opportunities Internet website at www.acgov.org. 12/11/09 CNS-1745786#

For Chanderika: Seeking alliance for 41 year old/5’5” Punjabi Khatri, well established professional teacher. Very brief marriage annulled. Seeking mature, responsible match from sincere professional/businessman, West Coast preferred. Email biodata/photo at matriad41@gmail.com.

Nai Sikh 5.1’ 25 Girl B.M.I.T.; P.G.D.C.A., from India.

match for Punjabi Khatri handsome son born Nov. 1978, 5'9" educated, selfemployed. Alliance invited from beautiful educated girl. Email biodata and photograph to Dreamsunlimited1@yahoo.com

or Call (626) 374-1942

Experienced book keeper needed

Seeks Suitable Immigrant boy from USA or CANADA.

Full time In Fountain valley, email resume to susan@nevitz.com or fax to

Contact at Email: shoti53@yahoo.com

714-557-1305

with Bio data and Photo

$10.00 / hr.

M.B.A (I.T) From USA. Has Student Visa and work permit Trying for H-1B Visa Brother Dentist in India. Father & Mother in USA

Notice is hereby given that sealed competitive bids will be accepted in the office of the GSA-Purchasing Department, County of Alameda, 1401 Lakeside Drive, Suite 907, Oakland, CA 94612 NETWORKING/NORTH COUNTY BIDDERS CONFERENCE RFP #900644 for Inmate Commissary, Wednesday, December 16, 2009, 10:00 a.m. ñ Lakeside Plaza Building, 1401 Lakeside Drive, Room 1107, 11th Floor, Oakland, CA NETWORKING/SOUTH COUNTY BIDDERS CONFERENCE RFP #900644 for Inmate Commissary, Thursday, December 17, 2009, 2:00 p.m. ñ Public Works Agency, 951 Turner Court, Room 230A, Hayward, CA Responses Due by 2:00 pm on January 14, 2010 County Contact : Ann Marie Romero (510) 208-9742 or via email: AnnMarie.Romero@acgov.org Attendance at Networking Conference is Non-mandatory. Specifications and bid copies regarding the above may be obtained at the Alameda County Current Contracting Opportunities Internet website at www.acgov.org. 12/11/09 CNS-1747910#

Classifieds

December 11, 2009

India Post 45

www.indiapost.com

Executive Chef

For Classifieds Ads Call

San Francisco based restaurant looking for a EXECUTIVE CHEF/culinary graduate. Must have 10 YEARS of experience.

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Classifieds

India Post

December 11, 2009

www.indiapost.com

Staybridge 98 Room Project For Sale in Spring/Houston TX ;Includes land , Plan and Permit . pls Contact Listing for further info Agent

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Classifieds

December 11, 2009

India Post 47

www.indiapost.com

INTERESTED IN PUPPIES?

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Datebook

48 India Post

December 11, 2009

www.indiapost.com

NEW YORK Upcoming

NEW JERSEY Upcoming

ILLINOIS Upcoming

NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Upcoming

Fri Dec 11

Sat Dec 12

• Sri Sri Yoga Course

• Indian Bazaar - Chaos and Cheers Fest

• Great Composers Day

• Mind-Body Wellness Program

Venue: Long Island Diagnostic Imaging Center, 100 Lafayette Dr, Syosset, New York Contact: 516-558-7327

Venue: Alfred Rubin Riverwalk Community Center, 305 W. Jackson Avenue, Naperville, Illinois Time: 2pm to 9pm Contact: 630-355-5468

Venue: HTCS, Sri Venkateswara Temple, Bridgewater, NJ Contact: 908-222-3474

Venue: Hayward Main Library, 27505 Tampa Ave #39, Hayward, California, 94541 Time: 3:00 pm Contact: 510 576 7952

Sat Dec 12

• Live At Kulture Kool

• RagaChitra Music Festival

Wed Dec 16

Venue: Tamil Christian Church, 79-11 Caldwell Ave, Middle Village, Queens, New York Contact: (212) 203 3555

• Jnana Yajna by Swami Sharanananda

Sat Nov 21 • Indiandating.com Desi date and Dash Venue: Bombay Bistro, 155 E 52nd Street, New York Time: 3pm to 7pm Contact: (303) 459-2308

Sat Dec 19 • Indian Astrological Conference Venue: Reeves Great Hall, Fashion Institute of Technology, 7th Avenue at 28th Street, New York Contact: (212) 989-8383

Venue: Kulture Kool, 225 Highland Cross, Rutherford, New Jersey Time: 5:30pm to 8pm Contact: 201-933-6651

Venue: Chinmaya Mission, 11S80 Kingery Hwy, Willowbrook, Illinois Time: 7:30pm to 9pm Contact: 630-789-6607

Thurs Dec 31 • New Year's Eve 2010

Fri Dec 18

Venue: Chutney Manor, 3793 Route 1 South, South Brunswick, New Jersey Time: 8pm Contact: 917-440-5110

• Bhangra The Que Venue: Funky Buddha Lounge, 738 W Grand Ave, Chicago, Illinois Time: 9pm Contact: bhangra@bhangratheque.com

• Varsha's Karaoke Club - Gao Dil Se (4Th) Venue: Holiday Inn - Polo Lounge, 3050 Woodbridge Ave, Edison, New Jersey Time: 6:30pm Contact: 908-217-5838

• Indian Table Tennis Super Star in Chicago Venue: Navy Pier, Chicago, Illinois Time: 10am to 7pm Contact: 508-951-0314

Thurs Nov 26 • Chand Raat & Eid Mela 2009 Venue: Sheraton LaGuardia East, 135-20 39th Avenue, Flushing, New York Time: 7pm to 11:30pm Contact: (718) 600-0954 Highlights: Chand Raat, Eid Mela & Concert 2009 featuring jewelry, clothes, DJ, Food, Entertainment. A complete family fun. 5 hours of Desi Shopping, Desi music, Desi Jewelery, Desi clothing, Desi Food, Desi Crowd and every thing that you expect from a Chand Raat, Eid Mela & Concert.

Wed Dec 30 • Hangama 2009

Sun Dec 13 • Benefit Concert For Hanuman Temple Construction By Bhajan Samraat Anup Jalota

WASHINGTON DC Upcoming

Venue: Holiday Inn, 3050 Woodbridge Ave, Edison, NJ Time: 6pm Contact: 732-234-6682

Sat Dec 12 • Hare Krishna Holiday Bazaar

Sat Dec 19

Venue: Hare Krishna Temple, 10310 Oaklyn Dr, Potomac, Maryland Time:11am to 8pm Contact: 301-299-2100

• Community Band/Wind Orchestra/Tuba Ensemble: Christmas Extravaganza Venue: Smith Center at Ohlone College, 43600 Mission Boulevard in Fremont Time: 7:30pm Contact: 510-659-6031 Highlighs: Performing your favorite holiday music, featuring George Roumanis' epic new work, "Evergreen Christmas: A Symphony of Carols," and Alfred Reed's "Russian Christmas Music."

Sat Dec 12 to Sun Dec 13

Fri Dec 11

Sun Dec 27

Sat Dec 12

• Christmas Party Venue: Griggstown Volunteer Fire, House, 1035 Canal Road, Princeton, New Jersey Contact: 732-456-6345

• 24th Annual Christmas at the mission: Angel's Breath Venue: Old Mission San Jose, 43300 Mission Boulevard in Fremont Time: 8 pm (Sat) 4pm (Sun) Contact: 510-659-6031 Highlights: Celebrating the holidays as the Ohlone Chamber Singers perform music from Johann Sebastian Bach and contemporary arrangements of familiar carols.

Sun Dec 13 • Colors of Punjab Venue: San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles, 520 South First Street, San Jose, California Time: 2pm Contact: 408-971-0323

Fri Dec 18 • The Life and Music of Nikhil Banerjee Venue: Sangati Center, 3049 22nd St, San Francisco, CA Time: 8pm

Venue: Pranna, 79 Medison Ave, Between 28th And 29th Street, New York Time: 10:30pm to 3:30am Contact: 212-696-5700

Thurs Dec 17

Fri Dec 25

• Art of Living Course

• M4U Events Presents Jingle Ball Xmas Day

Sun Dec 13

Venue: 4904 Aspen Hill Road, Rockville, Maryland, Contact: 301-949-8992

Venue: Fire N Ice, 85 Lafayette Road, Fords, New Jersey Time: 8pm Contact: 917-440-5110

• Gita Jayanti Celebration

Thurs Dec 31

Sat Dec 19

• New Years Eve 2010

• Sarva Sadasya Sabhe

Venue: Empire Hotel Rooftop, 44 W 63rd Street, New York City Time: 7pm Contact: 212-802-8268

Venue: Sri Siva Vishnu Temple, 6905 Cipriano Rd, Lanham, Maryland Time: 6pm to 9pm Contact: (301) 552-3335

Thurs Dec 31

Venue: Sanatana Dharma Kendra, 897 Kifer Rd, Sunnyvale, California Time: 4:30pm to 6:30pm Contact: 859-536-0455

• Dhoom Machale 2010 Venue: Edison Jewish, Community Center, 91 Jefferson Blvd, Edison, New Jersey Time: 7:30pm Contact: 732-910-1962

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Upcoming Every 4th Sat every Month

VEDIC DHARMA SAMAJ HINDU TEMPLE & CULTURAL CENTER 3676 Delaware Drive, Fremont, CA 94538 www.fremonttemple.org Tel: (510) 659-0655 Sun

Mon

Regular Daily Events Regular Daily Events Wed

Tue

Thu

Fri

Bhajan, Pravachan, Priti Bhoj Bhajan, Pravachan, Priti Bhoj Ͳ 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM Shri Ganesh & Navagraha Abhishekam Ͳ 6:30 PM

Hanuman Chalisa, Aarti & Preeti Hanuman Chalisa, Aarti & Preeti Seniors Seniors program program Ͳ 10:00 AM to 10:00 AM to Bhoj Ͳ 7:30PM to 9:00PM 1:00 PM Ramayan Katha by Shastri Ji Ͳ 6:30PM to 7:30PM

Yoga Class Ͳ 8:00AM to 9:00AM

Saibaba Program Saibaba Program Ͳ 6:30 PM to 6:30 PM to 7:30PM

Sri Laxmi Abhishekam Ͳ 6:30 PM Sri Laxmi Abhishekam 6:30 PM Balaji Abhishekam Ͳ 10:00 AM 10:00 AM Gita Class Ͳ 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Special Events for Dec'09 Day

Bhajan Group 11:00 AM to 11:45 AM 11:00 AM to 11:45 AM

Date

Pravachan 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM 12:00 Noon to 1:00 PM

Every Sat (start from Sat Aug 8) • Gurukul Classes for Children Venue: Sindhu Center, South California Time: 2pm to 4pm Contact: 818-541-1754 & 909-576-1114 Highlights: Children between the ages of 5 and 18. Children will be taught the Fundamentals of Hinduism, Prayers, Shlokas, Bhajans and Values of our culture.

Thurs Nov 26, 2009 to Sat Jan 3, 2010

Yoga Class Ͳ 7:00 AM to 8:00AM

Gita Class Gita Class Ͳ 10:00 AM to 11:00 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM Shiva Abhishekam Ͳ 6:30 PM

Venue: 2335 S. Diamond Bar Boulevard, DBC Center, Diamond Bar, CA Time: 6:30pm Contact: 909-519-1579, 626-810-2345

Sat

Temple Open Hours Ͳ Daily 7:00 AM to 10:00PM Aarti Ͳ Daily Mornings at 10:00 AM & Evenings at 8:00 PM Free Health Consultation 1:15 PM Ͳ Dr. Pawan & Mrs. Nootan Chadha

• Durga Mata Ka Jagaran

Upcoming Events Upcoming Events

• Celebrate the Holidays at LA Zooís Reindeer Romp Venue: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens 5333 Zoo Drive, LA Time: 10am to 4pm Contact: 323-644-4200 Highlights: The LA Zoo kicks off the Holiday season with the activities for the entire family at Reindeer Romp. Kids of all ages can get close to these beautiful creatures.

Sun Dec 13 • Indiandating.Com Desi Date & Dash

Sunday

12/6/2009

Mohantiji

Saturday Ͳ 12/12/09

Niranjan Srivastava

12/13/2009 Priya Kasturi

Swami Anant Acharayaji Maharaj

12/20/2009 Dr. Prabha Bhatnagar

Leela Mathur

12/27/2009 / / Ravi Bhatia

Shastrijij

6:30 PM to 7:30 PM Ͳ Pravachan by Shri Ramanujam 7:00PM to 10:00 PM Ͳ Mata Ka Jagran

Venue: Tanzore Restaurant & Lounge, 50 N La Cienega Blvd, Beverly Hills, California Time: 3pm to 7pm Contact: (303) 459-2308

Wed Dec 16 • Kirtilals - Diamonds and Jewelry

Preetibhoj on every Tuesday & Sunday Ͳ Dec'09

SPONSORS FOR PREETIBHOJ ARE WELCOME DAY

DATE

SPONSOR

12/1/2009 Pankaj Srivastava

DAY

DATE

SPONSOR

12/6/2009 Shyam Shukla

12/8/2009 Rachna Bhatnagar 12/13/2009 Gaurav Chawla Tuesday Sunday 7:30 PM Ͳ 9:00 PM 12/15/2009 Pradeep & Pragya 1:30 PM Ͳ 3:00 PM 12/20/2009 Usha Sharma 12/22/2009 Ramesh Sarukkai

12/27/2009 Ravi Bhatia

For sponsoring Preetibhoj, participate in temple management Anita Kapoor Administrator 510Ͳ659Ͳ0655 & events. Shashtriji Priest 510Ͳ490Ͳ8979 Bhushan Kumarji Priest 510Ͳ862Ͳ5834 For Special Puja Services. Govind Srinivasan Priest 510Ͳ226Ͳ6479 510Ͳ825Ͳ1927 For Mata Ka Jagrata Ͳ Every 2nd Naresh Sethi For Jagrata 510Ͳ487Ͳ2844 Saturday of the Month.

Venue: Marriott, 13111 Sycamore Drive, Norwalk, CA Time: 11am to 6pm Contact: 562-863-5555

Thurs Dec 31 • Fantasy Ball - New Years Eve 2010 Venue: Olympic Center, 11301 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, California , Time: 8pm Contact: 323-205-5594

Philosophy

December 11, 2009

India Post

www.indiapost.com

Page Sponsored by Sahanis thoughts even when they do not want it. One of the most difficult aspects of any meditation technique is managing thoughts. That is the reason I have developed these exercises for thought management. Once you get to know how to do thought management, it becomes easier to go into any meditative technique. Besides, these also help in sharpening the mind, developing

am reminded of the fateful day of twenty-first March, 1953. For many lives I had been working -- working upon myself, struggling, doing whatsoever can be done -- and nothing was happening. Now I understand why nothing was happening. The very effort was the barrier, the very ladder was preventing, the very urge to seek was the obstacle. Not that one can reach with-

DR KRISHNA BHATTA

One of the most difficult aspects of any meditation technique is managing thoughts. That is the reason I have developed these exercises for thought management

control of mind and help in brainstorming on a particular topic without any interference from mind noise. These exercises help you to get to the point. You experience that gap between you and the thoughts that traverse your mind. 1. Mind is always working Just imagine that you had to work 24 hours a day; seven days a week, 365 days a year. There is no rest. There is no vacation. There is no sleep. It is not pos-

I was invited by a friend of mine. Both I and my wife were at his house for chit-chat and dinner. He is a gastroenterologist and his wife is a psychiatrist. We got into a discussion of mind among many other things. My friend said, "My mind is always busy. Even when I am looking calm and composed my mind is working at full speed. I am always looking into all the ramifications of any of my decisions. I am constantly living in fear that some-

This is not a new problem. It is not just a problem of our times. Arjuna raises this question 5000 years ago to Krishna in Gita: Chnchalam hi manah Krishna, pramathi balawaadriham Tasyaham nigraham manye, vayorivasudushkaram Hey Krishna, the mind is very unsteady, turbulent, tenacious and powerful; I consider it as difficult to control as controlling the wind. //6:34// To be continued

also only with effort, nothing is possible. Just before twenty-first March, 1953, seven days before, I stopped working on myself. A moment comes when you see the whole futility of effort. You have done all that you can do and nothing is happening. You have done all that is humanly possible. Then what else can you do? In sheer helplessness one drops all search. And the day the search

sky and the sun and the air -- it was everywhere. And I was seeking so hard, and I was thinking it is very far away. And it was so near and so close. Just because I was seeking I had become incapable of seeing the near. Seeking is always for the far, seeking is always for the distant -- and it was not distant. I had become far-sighted, I had lost the near-sightedness. The eyes had become focused on the far away,

of the self, is not a thing, it is a process. It is not a substance sitting there inside you; you have to create it each moment. It is like pedaling bicycle. If you pedal it goes on and on, if you don't pedal it stops. It may go a little because of the past momentum, but the moment you stop pedaling, in fact the bicycle starts stopping. It has no more energy, no more power to go anywhere. It is going to fall and collapse. The ego exists because we go on pedaling desire, because we go on striving to get something, because we go on jumping ahead of ourselves. That is the very phenomenon of the ego -- the jump ahead of yourself, the jump in the future, the jump in the tomorrow. The jump in the non-existential creates the ego. Because it comes out of the non-existential it is like a mirage. It consists only of desire and nothing else. It consists only of thirst and nothing else. The ego is not in the present, it is in the future. If you are in the future, then ego seems to be very substantial. If you are in the present the ego is a mirage, it starts disappearing. The 78th birth anniversary of Osho Rajneesh falls on December 11

The very urge to seek is the obstacle

OSHO RAJNEESH

out seeking. Seeking is needed, but then comes a point when seeking has to be dropped. The boat is needed to cross the river but then comes a moment when you have to get out of the boat and forget all about it and leave it behind. Effort is needed, without effort nothing is possible. And

thing is going to happen to me. I have always had to work for anything I have achieved. Luck does not seem to come to me." This is a family that is successful as we know what success should be. He has a wonderful family and he is a wonderful person himself. Does this sound familiar? Does your mind work overtime? The thoughts may be different. But, do you keep thinking all the time?

There is a distinction between thoughts and you

uddha said, "You are what you think." This has been quoted ever since he said these words all around the world. However, this is an incomplete statement. There is a second part of this statement that Buddha worked all his life to give to us. The complete statement should be like this, "You are what you think, but you are not your thoughts." There is a distinction between thoughts and you. Furthermore, meditation is a journey from thoughts to nothoughts. There are no thoughts, no waves and no mind-noises. There is just pure existence. Yet, when realized people like Buddha or Krishna have to communicate, they also have to use the same mind and thoughts that we do. But, they use mind and thoughts as and when they need to rather than be bombarded by

sible. You and I will go crazy. The body will revolt. Yet, in case of our mind that is exactly what is happening. Osho has suggested that we call mind Minding. It is at work all the time. Thoughts keep transiting the mind all the time. They take the form of dreams when we sleep. There is no rest. There is no sleep for the mind. Yet, we do not always go insane. And it is no wonder that some of us do go astray.

And the day the search stopped, the day I was not seeking for something, the day I was not expecting something to happen, it started happening. A new energy arose -- out of nowhere stopped, the day I was not seeking for something, the day I was not expecting something to happen, it started happening. A new energy arose -- out of nowhere. It was not coming from any source. It was coming from nowhere and everywhere. It was in the trees and in the rocks and the

the horizon, and they had lost the quality to see that which is just close, surrounding you. The day effort ceased, I also ceased. Because you cannot exist without effort, and you cannot exist without desire, and you cannot exist without striving. The phenomenon of the ego,

We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed. -Brother Lawrence Indian religion has always felt that since the minds, the temperaments and the intellectual affinities of men are unlimited in their variety, a perfect liberty of thought and of worship must be allowed to the individual in his approach to the Infinite. -Sri Aurobindo As a spider emits and draws in its thread, As plants arise on the earth, As the hairs of the head and body from a living person, So from The Eternal arises everything here. -Maitri Upanishads If you don't find a teacher soon, you'll live this life in vain. It's true, you have the buddha-nature. But without the help of a teacher you'll never know it. Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help. -Bodhidharma Hankering after sense objects will go away when one sees that the essential nature of the self is superior to the sense objects and that the realization of this self gives greater happiness than the enjoyment of sense objects. -Ramanujacharya It is this screen of thought that creates the illusion of separateness, the illusion that there is you and a totally separate "other." You then forget the essential fact that, underneath the level of physical appearances and separate forms, you are one with all that is. -Eckhart Tolle

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

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December 11, 2009

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Sri Lanka: A clash of 'war heroes' N MANOHARAN

ri Lanka has called for presidential elections two years ahead of schedule. According to the Election Commission, the elections will be held on 26 January 2010. While current president Mahinda Rajapakse will bid for a second term, the opposition parties have sponsored General Sarath Fonseka, under whose military leadership Sri Lanka defeated the LTTE in May this year. There is also a third candidate, Wickramabahu Karunaratna of the Left Front. Why should Rajapakse advance presidential elections by two years and hold them even before the parliamentary elections due in April 2010? Who has a fair chance of winning the next presidential bid? What will it mean for Sri Lanka, especially the ethnic minorities? Although President Rajapakse claims that the election was forced on him by the Opposition, there is clear indication that he wishes to capitalize on the prevailing sense of triumph that victory over the once invincible LTTE has brought. This was tested in a series of provincial council elections recently. The ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) expects over 70 per cent popular support to Rajapakse. After winning the presidential bid, Rajapakse intends to hold parliamentary elections and garner the two-thirds majority required to change the Constitution. Since the President is more popular than his government, it is believed that this sequence should work electorally. The time is also considered opportune since the Opposition led by the United National Party (UNP) is not only weak, but also lacks any credible alternative. The Opposition, however, is confident of a victory as it has roped in General Sarath Fonseka to run in the elections. Fonseka is considered as popular as Rajakapse because it was his military leadership that was responsible for "liberating the motherland from terrorism." Interestingly, he is a candidate acceptable to both UNP and Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which are otherwise poles apart in their ideology and outlook. Fonseka, who fell apart from the present regime, is considered the only credible candidate to take-on the ever charismatic Rajapakse. The aim of the Opposition is to use Fonseka, dethrone Rajapaksa and capture power. In this regard,

the UNP has already laid 10 conditions including abolition of the executive presidency, formation of a caretaker government to hold fair general elections and resettlement of Tamil detainees, in return for its support to the former military leader. While President Rajapakse is planning to offer a detailed roadmap for development, Fonseka has declared that he would dedicate himself "to secure the weakening democracy, human rights, media freedom, social justice and secure communal harmony...." Issues like weak economy, and

Zurich, Tamil and Muslim parties expressed "full commitment to a common forum among representatives of all Tamil-speaking people." Yet, given the inherent and traditional fissures, a joint forum on the issue of supporting a particular candidate for president may not be possible, although a unity on the ethnic issue is feasible. Already, People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) has extended support to Rajapakse; Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) has always been part of the SLFP-led alliance; Tamil National Alliance (TNA), which was considered pro-LTTE,

Mahinda Rajapakse

Sarath Fonseka

the present regime's dominant characteristic of "of the family, by the family, and for the family" are also likely to play in favor of the Opposition. Despite the advantages, when compared to Rajapakse, Fonseka clearly lacks political experience.

may not support either of the principal candidates; Ceylon Working Congress (CWC) was categorical in supporting Fonseka; Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Puligal (TMVP) is part of the UFPA, while Sri Lankan Muslim Congress (SLMC) has been with the United National Front (UNF). As of today, Rajapakse has fair chances of retaining his Presidency. However, the result depends on how events unfold and how the present government handles the economy, rehabilitation of the conflict displaced and gives hope to all people in the next two months. None of the candidates has clear roadmap on facilitating the recovery of the economy. On the ethnic issue, both the main camps have hardliners that can spoil the prospect of conceding decent packages to minorities. Rehabilitation, by and large, depends on international aid and assistance. For their own benefit, the minority parties may strike a deal with either of the candidates they think would win, for post-poll sops in return for their support. Such an option instead of abstention seems practical, at least for Tamils. The writer is Senior Fellow, Center for Land Warfare Studies

As of today, Rajapakse has fair chances of retaining his Presidency. However, the result depends on how events unfold and how the present government handles the economy and rehabilitation of the conflict displaced The battle field is very different from the political field. The 14party Opposition that is willing to support Fonseka are strange bedfellows. They may fall apart any time. Also, the stand of Muslims and Tamils, who form about 20 per cent of the population, is crucial in deciding who the next president will be. In a recent conference in

India Post Lop sided development

ontrary to expectations, amid the gloomy economic scene world wide, India's economy grew by a significant 7.9 per cent in the second quarter of this fiscal, up from 6.1 per cent in the previous quarter. This was essentially due to a good showing by the industry and the services sector. Understandably, there have been muted celebrations as this growth is greatly skewed against the poor showing in agriculture which measures the state of the poor and marginalized in India. The bulk of the recovery was led by a 9.2-per cent growth in manufacturing, while mining and construction activities expanded by 9.5 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively. In sharp contrast, there was just 0.9 per cent expansion in farm production. Even before the drought of this year, the neglect of the farm sector was evident in the farmer suicides at the rate of one every 30 minutes! This illustrates the growing gap between the rich and poor which the government of the day is helping to widen. Vast tracts of tribal inhabited land in mineral-rich areas of Jharkhand, Orissa and Chattisgarh are being acquired and given to rich industrialists for exploitation. The government is acting almost as an agent of corporate interests. The elitist media may choose to overlook this but the Maoist upsurge shows how lop-sided is this so-called development. If this growth had been equitable, there would have been no Maoist problem. Those deprived of land and fooled in the name of compensation form the backbone of the Maoist movement which has taken to unprecedented violence to have their views heard. Growth has little to do with poverty reduction as confirmed in a study by World Bank's Development Research Group. And poverty reduction is a nobler objective than GDP growth with which many Indian economists are obsessed. The study highlights the example of Brazil which cut poverty more than India despite much lower growth, just over 1% a year in 1993-2005, compared with India's 5%. Martin Ravallion, director of the Research Group, points out if you calculate the rate of poverty reduction for each unit of GDP growth per person, Brazil did even better than China: the ratio is 4.3 for Brazil, 0.8 for China and 0.4 for India. Per unit of growth, Brazil reduced its proportional poverty rate five times more than China or India did. Explaining this phenomenon, the Economist of London attributes it to inequality which has fallen sharply in Brazil since 1993, while it has soared in China and risen in India. It says greater inequality dampens the poverty-reducing effect of growth. Government policy played a big role in reducing inequality. Brazil's main cash-transfer program, called Bolsa Familia, provides help to 11m families, or 60% of all those in the poorest tenth. "In contrast, government interventions in India are extraordinarily perverse. People in the poorest fifth are the least likely to have any kind of ration card (the key to public handouts), whereas the richest fifth are the most likely to. "With its caste system, and bad state schools, India may be a more unequal society than the numbers alone suggest," concludes the Econimist. This is a severe indcitment of the Indian government. Eminent economist Amit Bhaduri has come out with feasible solutions for India in a new book called 'The Face You Were Afraid to See' which is fiercely critical of financial liberalization, corporate-led globalization and neoliberalism that celebrate unregulated free trade. He exhorts India's planners to see its poor as human beings, not as "factors of production," and calls for growth led by the need for employment rather than corporate profits.

December 11, 2009

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December 11, 2009

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