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Sharma & Associates: A Successful Family Run Law Firm

By Jacob David HOUSTON: Bashist Sharma is a seasoned attorney at law. Practicing law for over 16 years, he has represented thousands of cases. He also provides valuable legal counsel for several associations like India House, SouthAsian Chamber of Commerce and religious institutions. He has an established law firm located North of Houston. He is the proud father of four girls, all of whom are professionals, 3 lawyers and 1 doctor.

Anjali is the oldest, who made the Dean’s list and got her Juris Doctorate, graduating with Honors from St. Thomas University, Miami, 2007. She assists her dad in all cases. “I cannot get a better foundation, for my own professional life than learning constantly from my dad.” she says. They discuss cases, sit in with clients together and even conduct winning cases together.

Anjali is licensed to practice in all state courts in Texas and the Federal Southern District of Texas. Sharda Sharma, the third daughter is a lawyer, who just recently got her article published in the Law Journal, University of Houston - Vol. X 2010 Issue 4. Getting published in any law journal is a difficult task by itself. But she has added this to her long list of achievements. The title of her article reads, “The Impact of the Adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards on the Legal Profession.”

The second daughter, Vhada Sharma, is a doctor, established at the Cooper University Hospital, New Jersey. In good humor, Bashist Sharma says, “She is the only one who strayed into medicine,” he laughs. He has a good sense of humor and readily admits that M*A*S*H is one of the best comedy shows and that he loved watching reruns while still in law school.

Hailing from an Indian ancestry who immigrated to South America in the 1870s, Bashist Sharma was born and raised in Guyana. Guyana is also known as the British West Indies and has over 44% of South Asian Indians. He met his wife, Indira, who was his next door neighbor.

They were childhood family friends. He left with his family to go to the US when he was 17. Soon it was time for marriage and Sharma’s parents visited Indira’s parents. The marriage was part arranged and part love, but “she was the girl who always came to my backyard looking for her chickens and ducks,” Bashist says. Indira is quick to add, “Don’t buy into that story.”

Childhood stories apart, today, Indira helps manage the law firm ably. Theirs is a special tale of realizing the true American dream with their children now grown up and established in professions some families can only dream of. Their office is set in a lush green corporate park with lots of nature - trees and lawns. “I love nature, enjoy the shade these trees provide and hearing the birds sing outside my office. It is so quiet here it actually helps me think.”

For the last 12 years they have had no walk-in clients, only clients by appointment.

It all started when Bashist graduated in 1993 from the University of Oklahoma. Opening his practice in 1994 by Greenspoint, with his brother Jay Sharma, they had to work hard to

and deportation.

Anjali says she feels comfortable handling both the criminal and immigration cases alike, because they are interesting and engaging in their own way.

Corporate cases won for their individual clients have reached generous settlements.

Each case varies and the outcome also varies, cautions Bashist. “It is always good to have a lawyer on your side” when you have real estate dealAnjali Sharma is following her father Bashist Sharma’s footsteps in ings or go into winning cases in Texas courts.

establish themselves. Jay Sharma then started providing legal counsel for Christus St. Joseph hospital here in Houston. He has since moved to the medical insurance industry, providing legal counsel in Maryland. Today the firm is in a position where clients go to them based on their string of successes. They have over 25% who are Asian, 23 - 25% Hispanic and the rest American clients. Most of the legal consultation is done for clients by phone or visitation if it warrants . Some people find the office a little too far off to visit. Bashist is addressing this concern by planning to open a branch near Hillcroft to take care of his clients personally.

The Sharma & Associates law firm is licensed to practice in the State of Texas and New York. It is also licensed to practice in Federal Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas. It has seen exponential growth in the last five years in terms of the cases they represent. They have made it in the news reports

by Houston Chronicle and on TV. From Criminal defense cases such as child predator cases to assault charges, criminal trespass, aggravated sexual offense, possession of controlled substance, personal injury, family law, and immigration, Bashist has been able to defend his clients aggressively and help bring them justice. They have helped with employment and business visas such as the H1-B, E and L; family petitions, adjustments

business he says, “we do incorporations and provide business counsel as well.” To network with the community, Bashist has offered his time to provide free legal counsel for all types of religious organizations. “We try to nip most cases in the bud.” The Sharma law firm has shown constant support to Pratham, AIM for Seva, and other charity organizations. Bashist has also participated in radio shows providing free legal counsel to listeners on Jagat Kamdar’s Open Forum and Dr. Aziz’s show.

Anjali and Bashist are together to be soon joined by Sharda Sharma, who will be helping run the tightly knit family law firm. How does Bashist like reading John Grisham’s novels?

You’ll have to personally ask him that.

Sharma & Associates is located at 14411 Cornerstone Village Dr. Houston, TX 77014 •

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Indo American News • Friday, May 21 , 2010

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B U S I N E S S in d i A

Indians are Buying More Cars: Says Obama WASHINGTON (PTI): Visiting Buffalo in upstate New York, a city that has been badly hit by the current economic crisis, US President Barack Obama did not repeat his 'Buffalo to Bangalore' rhetoric but did say the fact that Indians and Chinese are buying more cars would put a lot pressure on fossil fuel.

Arguing in favour of public transportation system instead of depending on cars for commutation, Obama at a rally in Buffalo said mass transit system would be good for the environment.

"Because one of the things, obviously, that we have to recognise is, is that no matter what we do, oil prices are going to be going up over the long term.

I mean, year to year, they may vary.

Sometimes it's four bucks a gallon at the pump, sometimes it drops back down to two-and-a-half," he noted.

"You're not always clear what's going on, but the long-term trend is just because countries like China -they're starting to buy cars and countries like India are starting to buy cars, and so the demand on petroleum and fossil fuels are going to be greater and greater -- we've got to get a first-class transit system," Obama said.

"We don't have one right now. We used to be at the top. Now you've got China -- they're building multiple high-speed rail lines all across the country, leaving us behind," he said.

"But it's not just transit. It's our ports, our airports, our sewer systems, our water systems.

We're going to figure out how do we make those kinds of long-term investments, but do so in a way that doesn't increase our deficit, and that's going to be a challenge, but I think it's going to be a priority," said the US President.

About a year ago, Obama had raised the rhetoric of 'Buffalo to Bangalore' when on May 4, 2009

he announced end to years of tax incentives to those US companies which create jobs overseas in places like Bangalore.

"It's a tax code that says you should pay lower taxes if you create a job in Bangalore, India, than if you create one in Buffalo, New York," Obama had said as he announced end to years

of tax incentives to those US companies which create jobs overseas.

Instead the incentives would now go to those creating jobs inside the US, in places like the Buffalo city, he said.

This was Obama's first visit to Buffalo after he became the US President.

Obama said the economist might have juggled with the figure to declare that recession has ended; and the stock market might have bounced back, but he believes that recession is far from over as still a lot of people are unemployed.

"Economists have all kinds of fancy formulae and mathematical equations to measure the exact moment that the recession ended.

It's great that the stock market has bounced back, but if you're still looking for a job out there, it's still a recession. If you can't pay your bills or your mortgage, it's still a recession.

No matter what the economists say, it's not a real recovery until people feel it in their own lives, until Americans who want work can find it, and until families can afford to pay their bills and send their kids to college," he said.

Indo American News • Friday, May 21 , 2010

27

Oil Prices Could Reach $ 100 a Barrel Soon: Mukesh Ambani the world. The GDP growth of India from $ 1.5 trillion to $ 5 trillion in the next ten years will make India an economically powerful country in the world,” Mr. Ambani said.

He said this century belongs to India as businesses are shifting to India from other parts of the world. “Almost 40 per cent population of the world belongstoIndiaand China and this will create a paradigm shift. Both India and China will create a huge demand as consumption of these countries will reach new heights.

CMD of RIL Mukesh D.Ambani. File photo Thus, India is going to be a major crude price to three digits in the near manufacturing hub as consumption future,” Reliance Industries Chair- will increase,” he said.

“This is the time developing counman Mukesh Ambani said at an tries like us realised the unrealised industry conference here today.

He said a sluggish growth in refin- potential within us,” he said.

The world was now very much ing capacity would drive the price inter-connected and an economic increase, he said.

“I believe the petrochemical indus- disruption in any country will have try should reinvest and we have to its effect on India.

“I believe people from the corporeset our thinking and must innovate rate sector and the industry have the to tackle these issues,” he said.

According to him, India was poised competency to tackle these issues. to become the world’s strongest The European sovereign debt crisis again shows that Asia has the poteneconomy by 2020.

“I believe by 2020 the balance sheet tial to become more powerful,” Mr. of India would be the strongest in Ambani said.-PTI MUMBAI: Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani today said crude prices could rise to USD 100 a barrel soon.

“Crude oil prices are well above the $ 70 mark. We foresee an increase in

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 21 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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Indo American News • Friday, May 21 , 2010

B U S I N E S S in d ia

Corporate India Wakes Up to Rural Responsibility

By Cithara Paul on convergence of several rural NEW DELHI: India Inc. has development schemes under a finally warmed to the idea of a single project and the marriage rural “marriage” with the govbetween the public-interest oriernment. entation of the government and Top business houses in the the profit orientation of the pricountry, including the Tatas vate sector. The unprecedented and Reliance, have responded interest shown by the private positively to the government’s sector validates the credibility of request to be a partner in urthe scheme,” said an official. banising rural India, a concept Under the scheme, the private A.P.J. Abdul Kalam had repeatpartner will be allowed to choose edly stressed on when he was the the villages it wants to develop President. and generate revenue in return Sources in the rural developfor anchoring development projment ministry said nearly 100 Former President Abdul Kalam has been ects. companies had responded posi- urging businesses to urbanize rural The scheme involves developtively to a notice issued last month ment of livelihood opportunities, inviting “expressions of interurban amenities and infrastruc50 per cent of the residents belonged est” for implementing the Provision to either the Scheduled Castes or ture facilities of prescribed standards of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas the Scheduled Tribes.Earlier, too, and responsibility for maintaining the (Pura) scheme under a public-private governments had tapped the private facilities for a period of 10 years. partnership (PPP) framework.

The selected private partner would sector for help. Under the culture It is learnt that companies like ministry’s National Cultural Fund be required to provide amenities like Tata Power, Tata Realty & Infra- initiative to conserve heritage struc- water supply and sewerage, streets, structure, Jindal Steels & Power, tures, the government had asked drainage, streetlights, telecom links cement manufacturer ACC and Reli- companies to either adopt or maintain and electricity. The selected partner ance Energy have sent proposals to monuments and offered 100 per cent would also have to provide “add-on” the government under the business tax exemption for the money spent on revenue-earning facilities such as model circulated in connection with conservation. They were also prom- village-linked tourism, markets and the Centre-sponsored rural develop- ised advertising spots at sites they rural-economy based projects. ment scheme.

The implementation of the scheme agreed to maintain. But not many “The response that Pura has got is companies had responded. is expected to begin from January a good sign that corporate India is “Corporate heads are very busy next year after the process to select gradually waking up to something people and to get them initiated in the partners is over. The only condicalled corporate social responsibil- these kinds of activities is an uphill tion was the bidder should have a ity,” said an official with the social task,” a culture ministry official ex- minimum net worth of Rs 25 crore justice ministry. Encouraged by the plained. Officials with the rural devel- and experience in developing infraresponse to the scheme, the social opment ministry said the response to structure projects with a cumulative justice ministry, too, has sought the the Pura scheme had a lot to do with value of at least Rs 50 crore. A time support of corporate India to de- the model’s viability. frame of 13 years has been set for the velop 1,000 model villages where “The USP of Pura is the emphasis success of the scheme.- Telegraph

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Ratan Tata Honoured with Global Indian Award

TORONTO: India’s top industrialist and Chairman of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata has received the 2010 CIF Chanchlani Global Indian Award for his outstanding global leadership, vision and professional excellence.

The award which carries USD 225,000 (Rs One Crore) and citation was presented at the AnnualAward Gala of Canada India Foundation, held in Vancouver Barj Dhahan, Gala Chair and Co—Chair of Canada India Foundation said.

Mr. Ratan Tata joined India’s largest business conglomerate in 1962 and in 1991 replaced his predecessor JRDTata, as Chairman of Tata Sons.

Since then, the Group’s Chairman of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata. File Photo revenues have increased when the Tata Nano, also known as 12—fold.

Recent acquisitions under Tata’s ‘the People’s Car’, with an end—user guidance include Jaguar and Land cost of only USD 2,500, went into Rover from Ford Motor Company production last year and has since and Corus Group, an Anglo—Dutch received world—wide acclaim.

Canada India Foundation created steel producer. the CIF Chanchlani Global Indian Mr. Tata was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second— Award to recognise individuals who have demonstrated global leadership, highest civilian award in 2008.

His dream of manufacturing a vision and professional excellence, low—cost and environmentally which has made people of Indian friendly car that more people in In- origin around the globe proud of their dia could afford to drive was realised heritage.- PTI

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business in d ia

Antony Warns of Cyber Warfare Threat NEW DELHI: Defence Minister A. K. Antony on Monday asked the armed forces’ top brass to work in unison and make cyber systems “as secure and as non-porous as possible“.

“Cyber warfare is becoming a serious threat to security. The paradigm of security in the age of information technology are seldom constant. The evolving security matrix is complex and calls for cooperation and coordination of the highest level,” Mr. Antony said inaugurating the biannual Army Commanders’ Conference here.

“Today, no single service can work in isolation. Cyber warfare and threats to cyber security are fast becoming the next generation of threats. We need to make our cyber systems as secure and as non-porous as possible,” he said.

Making a strong plea for synergy among the three forces, the Defence Minister said the future security matrix called for a high degree of cooperation and inter-dependence among the services.

He said the primary area of focus should be to develop a force capable of operating in joint network-centric environment.

“Besides these, the other emerging areas that warrant synergised development are space, NuclearBiological-Chemical (NBC), cyber warfare capabilities, air defence, rotary wing assistance, precision munitions, standoff targeting and missiles, communication systems, logistics and joint training,” he said.

Defence Minister A. K. Antony

Noting that significant progress had been made towards accomplishing synergy in various operational training and administrative facets among the three services, Mr. Antony said there were a number of areas of congruence that needed to be strengthened further.

Referring to the modernisation plans of the armed forces, he said it was in the long-term national interest that India became self-reliant in the field of critical defence equipment.

Mr. Antony said modernisation plans encompassed force modernisation and development of critical combat capabilities, not only against potential adversaries, but across the spectrum of conflict.

“Modernisation of the armed forces wholly depends upon the capital acquisition plan. However, the acquisition of critical technologies

from foreign countries is subject to various technology denial regimes and the prevailing global geo-political situation,” he added.

Mr. Antony said the Defence Public Sector Undertakings were today at a threshold, capable of undertaking design and development work as also to come up with product upgrades on their own.

“Despite these achievements, we must guard against complacency and must ceaselessly work towards more value addition, product support and serviceability of the supplies made to the end-users. It is the collective responsibility of all DPSUs to optimise cost-effectiveness and adhere to time and cost targets,” he added.

The four-day conference presided

by Army Chief General V. K. Singh - the first after he took over -would debate on organisational matters such as cadre restructuring and operational capability.

Among the presentations to the commanders during the conference would be those on the status and review of its systems on which an internal study had been done earlier, general cadre appointments and teeth-to-tail ratio of its weapon systems and men, changes to be brought about in the cadet selection for National Defence Academy, Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) and transformation of military police establishment in the Army.- PTI

Indo American News • Friday, May 21 , 2010

29

Agni-II Missile Test-Fired Successfully By. Y. Mallikarjun BALASORE, ORISSA: Agni-II, the intermediate range surface-to-surface ballistic missile, one of the key weapon systems of India’s nuclear deterrence programme, was successfully flight-tested from the Wheeler Island off the Orissa coast on Monday.

The 2,000 km plus range nuclear-capable missile was fired by personnel of the Strategic Forces Command from the Launch Complex on the Island at 9.18 a.m. It Agni-II blasts off from the Wheeler achieved its full range and Island off Orissa on Monday. splashed down at the preAgni-II, developed as part of designated target in the sea with medium and long range Agni sehigh degree of accuracy after a ries of missile systems, has already flight duration of about 660 sec- been inducted into the Armed onds, a top Defence Research and Forces. It is a two-stage solid Development (DRDO) official propelled system and equipped told The Hindu. with a special navigation system Two naval ships tracked the ve- to achieve high degree of accuhicle homing on to the target, while racy.The system also is provided a network of radars, telemetry and with anti-ballistic defence counter electro-optical instruments moni- measures. It is capable of carrying tored the trajectory. one tonne payload over a distance This was the third time that Agni- of 2,000 km.

II was tested in the last one year.

Top brass from the Armed On the previous two occasions, the Forces besides Scientific adviser missiles failed to meet the respec- to Defence Minister and Directortive mission objectives after they General, DRDO, V.K.Saraswat deviated from the flight path and and Director, Advanced Systems nosedived into the sea during the Laboratory, Avinash Chander separation of the second stage of were present during the launch.the vehicles.

Hindu

Rupee Likely To Rise To 42.75 Per USD By End FY 11: ING MUMBAI: The Indian Rupee is likely to appreciate by a massive 6.3 per cent over the next 10-months despite the Reserve Bank's likely intervention to stem the rally of local currency against the greenback, Financial services major, ING today said.

The Rupee is likely to rise to 42.75 against US Dollar by the end of this fiscal and may stay around 45/dollar

over the next three months, according to ING. The Rupee has appreciated over three per cent in the current financial year on the back of strong inward capital flows. So far in 2010, FIIs have invested over USD 6-billion in the domestic equity market.

A stronger Rupee is not a good news for exporters as it will diminish the value of their receivables.

"Our forecast is that the Rupee will climb to 42.75/80 per cent by the end of the current financial year," ING Financial Markets, Economist, Deepali Bhargava told reporters here today.

The partially convertible Rupee ended at 45.62 against US Dollar today on speculation that investors moved money to safer assets in the wake of deepening debt crisis in the Euro zone. - PTI

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Indo American News • Friday, May 21 , 2010

in d ia

Shekhawat Dies: End of an Era in Rajasthan

JAIPUR: An era has ended in the politics of northern India with the passing away of the former Vice President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on Saturday morning, May 15, at the age of 87.

Mr. Shekhawat, who strode the Rajasthan politics like a colossus for over half a century, could make a mark as the Vice-President and chairman of the Rajya Sabha as well, though he lost out in his pursuit to become the President —curiously to a “bahu” (daughter-in-law) of his own native Shekhawati, Pratibha Devi Singh Patil.

A leader who had risen from his humble surroundings in a village in Sikar district of Rajasthan, Mr. Shekhawat was the quintessential Indian politician who befriended even his enemies and outwitted his friends.

Learning his ropes from the late Mohanlal Sukhadia, the Congress leader who remained Chief Minister of Rajasthan for 17 long years, Mr. Shekhawat was the first non-Congress Chief Minister of the State. Interestingly two of his governments were dismissed — in 1980 and in 1992 — to make way for President’s rule.

It was equally interesting to note that his was the only BJP government which could make a comeback after party governments were dismissed in the wake of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992.

Though of Jan Sangh background his party men with RSS leanings never could get close to Mr. Shekhawat, who perhaps, like his good friend and former Prime Minister Atal Behari

Former Vice-President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat

Vajpayee, was not prejudiced for or against any particular religious group or caste.

In feudal Rajasthan, as a young politician, Mr. Shekhawat had actively participated in the campaign for abolition of the Zamindari system.

Again, much to the dismay of his Rajput kinsmen, he had stood against the glorification of sati in the wake of the infamous Deorala sati of Roop Kanwar in 1987. He was a politician one could love or hate but never ignore. There was a time in Rajasthan when even a good rain was attributed to Mr. Shekhawat. In the process he used to get the blame for the things he did not do as well.

Starting his political career in 1952 as a member of the Rajasthan As-

sembly, Mr. Shekhawat rarely chose the same constituency for re-election and got elected every time barring once. His image of invincibility was such that most of the Congress leaders in the State, barring Ashok Gehlot, perhaps, had tried to keep him in good humour. His meticulous style of gathering information kept both politicians and bureaucrats in dread of him.

A visionary As Chief Minister for the first time, from 1977 to 1980, Mr. Shekhawat, along with his then Secretary, M.L. Mehta, introduced many innovative schemes including Antyodaya, perhaps the mother of all anti-poverty programmes which followed in the country. An able administrator who knew the pulse of the people, Mr. Shekhawat was a visionary who could foresee the dangers of population explosion and the fragmentation of land holdings.

He enjoyed his tenure as Vice-President and proved his detractors within the party and outside wrong when he not only successfully managed the Upper House but even ushered in some widely accepted reforms. His lack of formal education in English did not deter him as he was a selftaught person. Towards the end of his life he had even turned a bibliophile enjoying the company of books. One could see this coming as his visits to Jaipur during his tenure as VicePresident were always crowded by book release programmes.-Hindu

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Constable Shot Dead in Hyderabad

By K.Srinivas Reddy HYDERABAD: Three motorcycleborne assailants opened fire on a police picket killing a constable and injuring two others near Shah Ali Banda in old city on Friday.

Constable Ramesh was shifted to the Osmania General Hospital where he was declared dead. The deceased and the injured constables were part of theA.P Special Police and were on picket duty at Khilwat in Hussaini Alam police station limits.

The constables, it Hyderabad City Police Commissioner A.K. was said, retaliated by Khan inspects the body of police constable opening fire, but the Ramesh who was shot dead by motorcycleassailants sped away. borne assailants in the Shah Ali Banda area The deceased constable on Friday. sustained two bullet inweek. The terror alert was subsejuries.

The assailants, initial reports said, quently withdrawn after the arrest of a wore masks and used a short fire suspected Lashkar activist Zia ul Haq arm, possibly a pistol or a revolver who was working as a cab driver.

The attack comes in the backdrop and sped away after they shot the of the fast approaching third annipolicemen.

Police in the State capital went on versary of the bomb blast in Mecca a state of high alert after the firing Masjid. Recent revelations that a incident. Police sources suspect that right wing fundamentalist organisathe attack could be the handiwork of tion could be involved in the Mecca Masjid blast had led to some tension fundamentalists.

Following intelligence reports in the old city, as police had suspected indicating a possible terror strike, Islamist fundamentalist groups to be Hyderabad City police had taken behind the attack and had arrested up massive checking operations last several people.- Hindu

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Indo American News

31

South Asia News of the Diaspora

Naxals Blow Up Bus Near Dantewada, 33 Killed

DANTEWADA, CHHATTISGARH: Naxalites have blown up a civilian bus at Chingawaram on the Dantewada-Sukma road in Chhattisgarh. There are confirmed reports that 33 people have died, but the toll may rise.

The bus was carrying passengers from Sukma to Dantewada. There were 50 people, including 15 special police officers (SPOs) on the bus, reports said. A Ministry of Home Affairs spokesman said there was no Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on the bus. Most of those killed were civilians, the spokesman said. Seven injured people have been taken to hospital in critical condition.

Intelligence sources confirm 33 deaths. But the toll may be higher.

Special DG V Raman had said earlier: “I fear at least 50 dead, we are checking.” Information is hard to access in this Naxal-infested area.

There are dense forests and nightfall shall make rescue operations even more difficult with landmines spotting the area.

Sources said the SPOs on the bus were part of an operation launched

bus near Gadiras.

Maoists reportedly observed them at the bus stand and passed on the information. Sources said this pointed to the swift and effective intelligence and communication network of the Naxals.

SPOs are mostly local people recruited to fight the Maoists and have emerged as the biggest threat to them.

This is the first such attack on a civilian passenger bus. But only six weeks ago, Dantewada had witnessed the Bodies lie scattered at the blast site at Chingavaram on the Dantewada-Sukhma worst-ever massacre of 75 CRPF road in Chhattisgarh. jawans and one poAfter finishing the operation, most liceman in a Naxal ambush. (Read: two days ago. Two Maoists had been killed in the operation, but the local of those involved were walking 76 jawans killed in Naxal attack) back, but 15 of them boarded the TheMinistryofHomeAffairscalled commander, Ganesh, had escaped.

a meeting in Delhi and condemned the attack. Speaking to NDTV exclusively after the attack, Home Minister P Chidambaram said: “Naxals don’t discriminate, only kill.” He said there is need to revisit tactical operations against the Maoists. (Read: Need to revisit tactical operations against Naxals: Chidambaram to NDTV) Chhattisgarh Home Minister Nanki Ram Kawar said Maoists were targeting innocents out of desperation.

The Congress condemned Monday’s incident saying the strictest action must be taken against the Naxals.

(Read: Naxal attacks - Timeline) Recent attacks: The Naxals had on April 6 carried out their deadliest attack killing 76 security personnel in Mukrana forests of Dantewada district. (Read: 76 jawans killed in Naxal attack) On May 8, seven CRPF jawans were killed when Naxals blew up a bullet-proof vehicle in Bijapur district.

The Maoists also killed six villagers, including a sarpanch, near Teregaon in Rajnandgaon district yesterday and threw their bodies outside the villages.-NDTV

Kasab May Be Hanged By The Year-End, Says Govt NEW DELHI: Government on Tuesday said that Ajmal Amir Kasab, who has been sentenced to death in the Mumbai terror attacks case, may be hanged by the end of this year provided there is no legal bar.

"If there is no petition from him (Kasab) challenging the sessions court verdict in the higher court... he can be hanged by the yearend," Union Home Sec-

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 21 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

retary G K Pillai told CNN IBN. 22-year-old Kasab, a Pakistani terrorist, was awarded capital punishment on May 6 by a Mumbai special court which held him guilty of mass murder and waging war against India, by carrying out the terror strikes in November 2008. As many as 166 people were killed in the attacks by ten gunmen belonging to Lashar-e-Taiba. The death sentence to Kasab has to be confirmed by the Bombay High Court.

On being asked about the status of Parliament attack case convict Afzal Guru's mercy petition, Pillai said, "It is with the government for consideration."- Agencies

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Indo American News • Friday, May 21 , 2010

o p ini o n

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India-Pakistan Relations: Toward Reducing Trust Deficit

The people of India are not against talking to Pakistan. Indeed, nearly all political parties support dialogue. What they do not favour is India going into the talks with its eyes shut. What they do not approve of is profession of good neighbourliness unaccompanied by matching action.

By Chinmaya R. Gharekhan coalition the resumption ing Pakistan. The fact his so-called four-point proposal. We ‘Trust’ is too loaded a term to be of dialogue. The real that Shah Mehmood must not leave Pakistan in any doubt used in inter-state discourse; ‘con- question is whether Mr. Qureshi mentioned this that the only solution, which in any fidence-building’ is a well accepted Gilani has the authority to the Pakistani media case will need endorsement from phrase and is safer to employ. The to take decisions that the suggests that he and his the Indian Parliament, is to convert new buzzword in India-Pakistan dia- army, including the ISI, government were satis- the LoC into an international border. logue is ‘trust deficit.’ Trust ‘deficit’ might not approve of or fied that India was not If Pakistan does not agree, we will presupposes that there is trust, only whether he would have in any way involved in be under no compulsion to offer its quantity or/and quality have di- to clear all the issues in Balochistan; it should, anything by way of ‘out-of-the-box’ minished. Was there ever a time when dealing with India, Aftherefore, refrain from proposals. In any case, we must not there was ‘trust’ between the two ghanistan, Kashmir, etc. bringing it up in future agree to any ‘confidence-building’ countries? first with the military. As discussions with us or measure which would give Pakistan a The circumstances surrounding for the Pakistan Peoples locus standi, however indirect, in the others.

Pakistan’s creation and its aggression Party, Asif Ali Zardari It follows that Paki- affairs of the Valley, in a consultative in Kashmir ensured that there could seems to be in control, stan should stop ob- or any kind of mechanism. ‘Trust’ be no ‘trust’between the countries. In- as evidenced by the fact jecting to the presence must have its limits. We can certainly dira Gandhi tried ‘trust’ — she trusted that the government has In this picture taken on April 28, 2010, Prime Minister of our consulates in Af- agree on and encourage more peopleZ.A. Bhutto to deliver on his promise decided to declare the Manmohan Singh shakes hands with Pakistan Prime ghanistan. Similarly, it to-people contacts, etc. of internationalising the Line of Con- Swiss cases against him Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani prior to a dinner at the 16th Of late, Pakistan has whipped up should stop protesting South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation trol, made to her in Shimla — on the ‘closed.’ Mr. Gilani’s (SAARC) Summit in Thimpu, Bhutan. against our develop- domestic sentiment against India on basis on which she agreed to all that claim to be the valid inment assistance to Af- the water issue. It will certainly bring she did in Shimla. Did Manmohan terlocutor with Dr. Singh ghanistan which has no it up in any dialogue with us. Here, carry much meaning. It should be acSingh trust Pervez Musharraf? We must be taken with a hidden anti-Pakistan it is important to acknowledge that companied by specific action. There agenda. In fact, it can join India in Mr. Qureshi has publicly admitted do not know but Indians cannot forget fistful of salt. that the General was responsible for It is essential that India does not should be credible evidence of Paki- some of the projects. This will help that the water woes of Pakistan are a Kargil which cost us the lives of more engage Pakistan in talks without a stan vigorously pursuing the prosecu- in persuading General McChrystal consequence of its own mismanagethan 800 of our best and bravest. Atal clear idea of what it expects of the tion of the perpetrators of the Mumbai not to make gratuitous remarks about ment of its resources and that India is Bihari Vajpayee surely did not trust neighbour in terms of reducing the blasts. We need not keep harping on our assistance to Afghanistan — of not to blame. If Pakistan has specific him after his experience at Agra. ‘trust deficit’; it cannot be simply a the slow pace of the process, so long the kind he made in his written report complaints, it should be encouraged It came as no surprise that our Prime case of making a subjective judgment as we are satisfied with the serious- to President Barack Obama. to raise them within the framework Minister went all the way in Thimphu, on whether Pakistan has done any- ness of the prosecution. Pakistan can We should expect that Pakistan of the Indus Waters Treaty. However responding positively to Pakistan’s thing, or enough, to reduce the deficit. certainly do more to contain Hafiz too will have its yardstick to assess irrational, Pakistanis are not suicidal; demand for resumption of dialogue There are quantifiable criteria which Saeed. It takes recourse to the uncon- whether or not India has done enough they know that the IWT is much at the political level. He jumped the can be spelt out and even publicly vincing argument that it is unable to to reduce the trust ‘deficit’. Kashmir more generous to them than to India produce admissible evidence against would be on top of its agenda. We and they would not want to renegotiseveral steps on Pakistan’s ‘road map’ announced by our side. and met his Pakistani counterpart At the same time, we must be ob- this terrorist, but it can definitely take should not shy away from discussing ate it. in Bhutan for over an hour. Thus jective in our analysis and approach. administrative action to bring him Kashmir. After all, it is our territory it The people of India are not against the road map suggested by Pakistan As for prosecuting the perpetrators under control. has occupied illegally for the past six talking to Pakistan. Indeed, nearly A related test is the rate of infiltra- decades; why should we not discuss all political parties support dialogue. got reversed; it started at the highest of 26/11, a judicial process is on in tion across the LoC. Our government with Pakistan the ways and means What they do not favour is India political level and will be followed Pakistan. After the role the judiciary has officially declared that it has of getting the occupied territory va- going into the talks with its eyes up at the ministerial and Secretary has played in toppling Gen. Musharlevels. He has set himself the vision raf and considering the role it wants gone up, and is a matter of con- cated? If it brings up the long-dead shut. What they do not approve of of establishing cordial relations and to play in applying the revocation of cern. It should not at all be difficult United Nations resolutions, as its is profession of good neighbourliis determined to shame Pakistan into NRO to Mr. Zardari, it would not be to determine whether Pakistan has Foreign Minister recently did raise in ness unaccompanied by matching good neighbourly behaviour. fair to doubt its independence. By taken any measure to eliminate, or at its National Assembly, it will indicate action, and repetition of the usual Sometimes, this approach can the same token, it is unfair on the least significantly reduce, infiltration. that it is not serious about discussing mantras of not allowing Pakistan’s work. Going by media reports quot- part of those in Pakistan who cast Similarly, the terrorist training camps Kashmir. In any case, is Pakistan territory for terrorism against India. ing unnamed MEA sources, Pakistan aspersions on our judicial process — — the existence of which in Pakistan- ready to pull out all its forces, regular They are also not convinced that seems to have sold the line that Yusuf whereby the two Indians co-accused occupied Kashmir and elsewhere is a and irregular, from PoK, which is a asking for American intervention is Raza Gilani has armed himself with with Kasab were acquitted of all known fact — should be dismantled. condition precedent to the holding the right or dignified thing to do; it new and enhanced powers under charges. We must note that the Paki- This is another assessable factor. of any referendum? It is also worth gives an image of an India that is not Pakistan managed to introduce recalling that the U.N. resolutions self-confident. We must have well the 18th amendment to Pakistan’s stan government has not joined in Balochistan in Sharm-El Sheikh in give only two options to the Kashmiri defined criteria or benchmarks, some Constitution, making him a worthy these allegations. interlocutor for the serious discusThe most important criterion has the official India-Pakistan dialogue. people — accession to India or Paki- of which have been spelt out above, sion of all weighty issues. This may to do with terrorism. A statement However, no less a person than its stan. Azadi is not an option. to judge whether or not Pakistan has be overstating things a bit. Perhaps by the Pakistan Prime Minister that Foreign Minister said, post-ThimWe must not feel embarrassed or done anything to reduce the ‘trust the ‘official sources’ felt the need for his government will not allow Paki- phu, that Dr. Singh had categorically go on the defensive if Pakistan wants deficit.’ If the civilian government in this argument to justify to the public stan’s territory to be used for terrorist assured his Pakistani counterpart that to talk Kashmir. We must also not Islamabad can deliver on the issues, as well as sceptics within the ruling acts against India does not, by itself, India had no intention of destabilis- revive the Musharraf deposit about we would welcome it.-Hindu

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Indo American News • Friday, May 21 , 2010

The Chemistry of Business

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Success hasn’t come easy for Suchitra Ella. Reflecting on the journey of her biotech firm, she talks about the effort that has been worth it

By Sangeetha Devi Dundoo When the searing heat gives way to monsoons, Suchitra Ella hopes her firm will have the licence for the commercial manufacture of H1N1 vaccine. “The clinical trials were done in January and we are awaiting approvals from the Drug Controller Authority of India,” she says.

The vaccines that will eventually roll out of Bharat Biotech, the biotech major that she co-founded with her husband Dr. Krishna Ella, will have to be made affordable, she notes. “We need international quality vaccines for the country but not at international prices.”

As joint managing director, incharge of marketing, operations and communications of the biotech firm in Genome Valley, Shameerpet, Suchitra Ella has travelled a path quite different from her original academic training — economics in Ethiraj College, Chennai.

In the late 80s and early 90s, she and her husband lived in the US before returning to India to set up a biotech firm. “It was like being blindfolded, let into a dark and hostile territory without any help,” she reminisces.

She could fall back on economics to eke out a career but wanted to partake in her husband’s dream of manufacturing vaccines and making them affordable. “Even in the US, our peers asked us why we wanted to return to India when many Indians were head-

mindsets. “Research students, at that point of time, preferred working in governmentowned or university research labs, conducting experiments and publishing papers and theses. They doubted if a private firm could guaranteethesame freedom in research. Of course, a biotech firm is commercial but your research experiments are put to use to develop vaccines. Those who believed in us joined us and Suchitra K. Ella, Co-Founder, Jt. Managing others felt we are Director, Bharat Biotech International Limited. crazy. We had to Photo: K. Ramesh Babu do some mentoring initially. Plus, ed Westwards during the IT boom in we have a mindset that if something the 90s,” recalls Suchitra. has not been done in the West or Though both Dr. Krishna and Japan, India cannot do it,” Suchitra Suchitra grew up in Tamil Nadu, explains. they chose to set up business in The Genome Valley is a recent adHyderabad, given the strong pres- dition to Hyderabad. When the couence of pharma units in the city. Yet, ple set up Bharat Biotech in 1996, the they had to start from scratch. land was barren, “with stones, bushes If looking for finances was an is- and a few custard apple plants,” she sue, a tougher task was changing recalls. “According to government

regulations, new manufacturing units could be set up only 25 kms away from the heart of the city. During construction work, we used to commute back and forth each day and even carrying five-litre drinking water cans.

There were no restrooms too at the construction site.”

She had to have a tight rein over finances for the first three years, she points out. “The first product came out after three years. Until then, we had to count each rupee spent. Internet connectivity was also out of question in the outskirts.”

Plus, they had to deal with the laidback nature of Hyderabad. “I’ve lived both in the North and the laidback Southern part of the US. But Hyderabad’s nature was something else. Work used to begin at 11 or 12 noon compared to the brisk, early mornings in Chennai,” she laughs.

Still, she preferred Hyderabad over Bangalore. “We could buy property in the US but not in Bangalore.

And Bangalore was witnessing an IT boom in the 90s and wasn’t really conducive for us.”

Suchitra describes her present role in the company rather succinctly: “If my husband is the brain of the company I am the heart.”

Mercury-free vaccines She is proud that Bharat Biotech is the second company in the world to be able to manufacture mercuryfree vaccines for Hepatitis-B. “Our

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vaccines are 99 per cent chemical free. We don’t use even the WHO permissible limit of Caesium Chloride, making the Hepatitis-B vaccine fit to be administered to one-day old babies,” she explains.

Suchitra credits her ability to handle diverse roles to her upbringing.

“My father was a mining engineer in Neyveli and we had all the comforts at home. Yet, I wasn’t allowed to commute by car to school. I took the school bus or the bicycle. Little things like that taught me how to manage things on my own,” she says.

Years later, all that training came in useful when she had to multitask in the US. “I was a mother of two children, working and bringing in the pay cheque when my husband was pursuing his Ph.D,” she recalls. “I was into marketing, an area where very few non-whites were employed,” she says, referring to the time she was working in customer operations in Waikiki Corporation and Woodman’s.

Returning to India, she worked for over 12 hours each day while setting up Bharat Biotech. “The company was like my third child. For me, having children was no excuse to not take up new challenges on the work front.”Today, she is eager to take on new, more socially relevant roles. “I want to do something to give back to society. The focus is going to be on social responsibility,” she says.-Hindu

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Indo American News • Friday, May 21 , 2010

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Diet of Mud And Despair in Indian Village

By Chris Morris GANNE, UP: "We live on a dayto-day basis," Suraj says, as the faint sound of hammering echoes across the village. "What we earn is what we spend on our families in a day."

In Ganne, just off the main road about an hour soutth of the city of Allahabad, this is a simple fact of life.

It is home to members of a poor tribal community, who live in small huts clustered around a series of shallow quarries.

Inside one of the huts sits a little girl called Poonam. She is three years old, and in the early stages of kidney failure.

Like many children in Ganne she has become used to eating bits of dried mud and silica, which she finds in the quarry. Tiny children chew on the mud simply because they are hungry - but it is making them ill.

When reports first emerged of children eating mud here local officials delivered more food and warned the villagers not to speak to outsiders.

But Poonam's father, Bhulli, is close to despair.

"What can I say," he shrugs. "We can't afford to eat properly, so how can I afford to buy medicines for her?"

"I am really worried about my daughter, but I don't know what to do next. The poor need the government's help - if we had it, we wouldn't be in such a desperate state."

People like Bhulli and Suraj make their money filling lorries with bits

"Where do we get the money?" she asks. "We usually eat food only once a day. Last night we went to bed without eating anything at all."

The World Bank estimates that one third of all the very poorest people in the world live in India, and stories like those from Ganne have now inspired a national Right To Food campaign.

Children in Ganne have to eat mud and silica There have been protest of rock. It takes about eight hours rallies in the heart of Delhi, as the for five men to fill one load. They Indian parliament prepares to debate carry the stones up from the quarry a new Food Security Bill. It will dicin plastic washing-up bowls balanced tate how many people in the country get access to massively subsidised on their heads.

One of the women in the village, food grain.

There's no doubt that India should Phulkari, approaches to tell us about be able to afford to feed its people. her little boy.

"My son's name is Suraj, and he's But the devil is in the detail.

"It'll only cost the government started eating mud too," she says.

"What can we do? We eat the mud about 1.2% of GDP to universalize a from the quarry when we feel hun- system of giving food for all, cheap food for all," says Kavitha Srivastava, gry."

the national coordinator of the Right to Food campaign.

"They can do it, if they have the political will. It's prioritising - where do you want to put the money?"

"We think it should go in building people's nutrition levels. You can't have a country which is weak, which is hungry, which is anaemic. How can you have a nation like this?"

Now the government seems to be prepared to accept a new way of defining poverty, which will increase the number of people below the poverty line by more than 100 million to about 372 million.

If international poverty standards were used, the number would be much higher still - and some Indian economists believe it should be.But whichever figure is used, the poverty line feels like a rather fictitious divide because feeding more than a billion people is a massive logistical exercise. Vast quantities of food provided by the state go missing every day because of corruption and theft.

"Food ought to be a right," says Dr Kaushik Basu, the Chief Economic Advisor at India's Ministry of Finance. "And I believe this is a movement in the correct direction."

"But what worries me at times is that we're being too glib and quick about the delivery mechanism."

Official estimates are that right across the country 75% of subsidised grain does not make it to the intended target in villages like Ganne.

"So if you simply throw money

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at this problem, you'll have to throw four times the amount to get the result you want," says Dr Basu. "And the government of India can't afford that.

The budget will go bust."

In other words, the delivery system needs to be reformed as well - and corrupt local officials need to be taken to task. There is a long way to go.

Jean Dreze, a highly respected Belgian-born academic who has worked in India for many years, points out that the current debate is only about the most basic levels of food intake.

"For a family of five to have reasonably good nutrition, nothing like meat or fish or any such thing, but just one egg per person per day, one banana, some dhal, some vegetables, a reasonably balanced diet - it would cost more than 200 rupees ($4.4; £3) per family per day," he says.

And that is far more than the amounts being discussed at the moment.

It is a sobering reminder that feeding India is a daunting challenge - the government knows it, and the prime minister says it must be a priority. But the Right to Food Campaign insists they are not doing enough.

The Indian economy continues to grow at impressive speed, and there is no shortage of food in the country. It just isn't reaching the people who need it most, on a consistent basis.

So in Ganne they continue to eat mud. And without finding a solution here in India, the world will come nowhere near the targets it has set itself for reducing global poverty.- BBC

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f as h i o n

Indo American News • Friday, May 21 , 2010

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Modeling Agency Concept Comes to Indian Fashion Industry NEW DELHI: Sushma Puri, perhaps the first in India to introduce the concept of a modeling agency, says there has been a seachange in the mindset of parents who are now more open to the idea of their daughters becoming models. But she also feels men don’t get a good deal in the industry.

“Today, we have parents visiting us

Her agency has churned out celebrities like Kangana Ranaut, “Slumdog Millionaire” star Freida Pinto and Miss Indias like Neha Kapur, Ekta Chaudhary and Manasvi Mamgai.

Recollecting what a daunting task it was, Puri said, “That time modelling was looked down upon as a profession. So convincing clients and coordinators took a lot of time.

ing activities from where we choose faces that have the potential to be a model. Also, there are times when we see a good face in a pub or a cafe, we approach them, ask them if they are interested in modelling and take them on board with us,” said Puri.

Explaining further, Puri added each new girl is then assigned to a booker, a girl who takes care of her career graph

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Models showing off their trendy hair styles during the Schwarzkopf Professional workshop in Hyderabad.

Sushma Puri says, parents believe being in a female-dominated territory saves their daughters from any kind of harassment. Photo: Abhijit Dev Kumar

with their 16-year-old girl to make her a model. Parents from the smaller cities are also encouraging their daughters to take up this profession. The reason for this change is their mindset,” Puri, Director and CEO of Elite Model Management India (EMMI), told IANS in an interview.

Puri, who was the first to bring the concept of a modelling agency to India when she decided to start EMMI in 2003, says parents believe being in a female-dominated territory saves them from any kind of harassment.

“Today we all know that the fashion industry is a female-dominated profession; hence all the inhibitions regarding modelling have changed and parents are very much open about it. They feel it is the safest profession for their girls,” she said.

We wanted to bring transparency in the profession which was missing earlier.”

Today EMMI has offices in Delhi and Mumbai with around 30 people working on the models. Puri also mentions they have only female workers in the office and it is a policy decision.

“Well, the time we started, fashion wasn’t considered a great profession; so we decided that we will hire only girls to prove a point that girls alone can take a business like this to a higher level if they have perfection,” explained Puri.

“So now when things have changed, we are planning to stick to the decision,” she added.

So how does EMMI work?

“See, we do various model scout-

and grooming.

“Every new face who is with us has to sign a three-year contract. For a year we train them and then for next two years, we try to get them good assignments and movies,” said Puri.

“A booker takes care of 10 girls at a time and she is solely responsible for shaping the career of that model,” she added.

While the big names that the agency has launched are predominately women, Puri confesses that male models are given a raw deal in the industry.

“We sign up very few male models.

The fact is that there is not much work available and also in terms of money - they get a raw deal,” explained Puri.- IANS

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Indo American News • Friday, May 21 , 2010

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In India, Hitching Hopes on a Subway

By Lydia Polgreen NEW DELHI — The trains arrive with a whisper. The doors slide open and a puff of refrigerated air confronts the city’s summertime miasma. A bell dings, the doors close and the train whisks its passengers to the next stop.

This sequence of events might seem utterly ordinary on train platforms in Berlin or Bangkok, Stockholm or Singapore. But here in the sweaty heart of India’s northernmost megacity, the runaway success of the city’s almost complete subway system, known as the Metro, is a feat bordering on miraculous, and it offers new hope that India’s perpetually decrepit urban infrastructure can be dragged into the 21st century.

The Delhi Metro manages to defy just about every stereotype of urban India. It is scrupulously clean, impeccably maintained and almost unfailingly punctual. Its cars are the latest models, complete with airconditioning and even power outlets to let commuters charge their mobile phones and laptops. Its signaling and other safety technology is first rate, and the system is among the best in the world, urban transport experts say. Despite cheap fares, less than 20 cents for the shortest ride and about 67 cents for the longest, the system manages to turn an operating profit.

In a country where government projects are chronically delayed and budgets are busted, the Metro is on track to finish its 118-mile network by fall, right on schedule and within its $6.55 billion budget.

“Metro’s performance has been outstanding,” said Pronab Sen, India’s chief statistician, whose government department keeps track of delays and cost overruns.

The Delhi Metro is perhaps the most ambitious urban infrastructure project since India won its independence, and its progress has been closely watched in a country facing a looming urban disaster. Unlike China and other rapidly growing developing countries, India remains predominantly rural.

But that is changing as millions of impoverished villagers try to grab a slice of India’s rapid but unequally shared economic growth. India has done almost nothing to cope with the influx of villagers into the cities, much less plan for many more, analysts say.

A study published last month by the McKinsey Global Institute estimated that by 2030, 590 million Indians would live in cities and 70 percent of India’s new jobs would be in cities.

India needs $1.2 trillion in infrastructure to accommodate these new arrivals, the report concluded, including 4,600 miles of railways and subways, and real estate equivalent to the entire city of Chicago every year.

India’s romance with the village, which Mahatma Gandhi believed was the most suitable environment for human development, is partly to blame for the decrepitude of Indian cities.

Uniformly, India’s cities are a mess.

Bangalore, India’s high-tech hub, is

New Delhi’s subway system, known as the Metro, is on track to finish its 118-mile network by fall, right on schedule and within its $6.55 billion budget. Commuters took the Metro in New Delhi.

Pawan Sharma, a civil servant who commutes from the western suburb of Dwarka, was so impressed with the Metro that he signed up to be a volunteer monitor. He patrols the train cars for two hours in the morning and evening and tries to prevent them from sitting on the floors and spitting on the Metro.

strangled daily by traffic that has already eroded its image. Mumbai, the commercial capital, is riddled with overcrowded slums.

New Delhi, as the capital, is alone

among India’s largest cities in having control over its own money and destiny. The Metro is the most visible example of that advantage.

Much of the credit for its success is usually laid at the feet of one man, Elattuvalapil Sreedharan, a 77-year-old technocrat who serves as the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s managing director. Mr. Sreedharan has a reputation for fearlessness and incorruptibility. At the Metro he has tried to create the culture of a private start-up business in the most unlikely of petri dishes: the epicenter of India’s sprawling bureaucracy.

Instead of dry procedural manuals, senior managers are given a copy of the Bhagavad-Gita, one of Hinduism’s most important texts.

But its significance is not religious, said Anuj Dayal, a spokesman for the Metro.

“It is a management text,” he said of the book, which is taken from the Mahabharata, an epic poem at the heart of Hindu philosophy. “It is the story of how to motivate an unmotivated person.”

The Bhagavad-Gita retells a battlefield dialogue between the god Krishna, disguised as a chariot driver, and Arjuna, a brave but demoralized king. Krishna convinces him that he must do his duty against all odds, and fight even what seems to be an unwinnable war.

It is a message that resonates with workers, many of whom came from India’s railway system, where bureaucratic procedures hampered even the smallest innovations. But in the Metro even the lowliest employees’ ideas are taken seriously, said P. K. Pathak, who runs Metro’s training institute.

When trainees at the institute,

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which is packed to the gills to try to churn out enough employees to staff its new lines, suggested staggering lunch times in the cafeteria to ease crowding, Mr. Pathak made the change that very day.

“In the railway, change was very difficult,” Mr. Pathak said. “In Metro, we are open to all ideas.”

Some of its changes seem simple but are revolutionary by Indian standards. The Metro has contracted out as much of its work as possible, keeping its payrolls slim and its management structure as simple as possible, officials say. They jettisoned the ubiquitous string-tied paper files, emblematic of India’s vast bureaucracy, doing as much work as possible electronically.

Some critics of the Metro system say that the project ran roughshod over environmental concerns and land-rights issues, two factors that typically cause long delays in infrastructure projects. Others say that it has not integrated fully with the city’s vast network of buses, which are much cheaper and cover far more ground. Nor is it clear that it can easily be replicated, since New Delhi is less densely populated than most large Indian cities, making land acquisition easier.

No one appreciates the Metro more than riders. Pawan Sharma, a civil servant who commutes from the western suburb of Dwarka, was so impressed with the Metro that he signed up to be a volunteer monitor.

With a blue badge affixed to his chest, he patrols the train cars for two hours in the morning and evening, looking for people breaking the rules. He receives no compensation, not even free Metro rides.

The Metro’s rules are strictly enforced. Spitting, a common habit of Northern Indian men, is forbidden.

So is sitting on the floor, a habit from India’s often-squalid railways, where passengers without tickets squat on the floor of overcrowded trains. Public urination, another unfortunate habit in a country where there are more cellphones than toilets, is off limits. Eating and drinking are forbidden, too.

Such rules chafe against the anything-goes chaos of urban life in India, Mr. Sharma said.

“People ask me, ‘Why are you bothering me?’ ” he said on a recent afternoon as he cajoled a young rider to stand up, not squat on the floor.

“But I tell them, ‘The government has given us this nice facility. Why do you want to spoil it?’ ” Mr. Sharma said he had to be strict in this crowded, hectic city.

“Small things add up to big things,” he said. “If you ease up they will start spitting in the trains. They will sit on the floor and play cards. The whole system will become a mess.”

Indeed, it remains to be seen if the Delhi Metro will remain as wellrun as it is today, and whether its lessons can be applied elsewhere.

Mr. Sreedharan recently had heart bypass surgery and is on extended medical leave, and he plans to retire once the Metro is completed later this year.-NYT

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Not Beyond This Place

By Saba Naqvi The world over there may be men nurturing an “Islamic” rage and plotting what we call jehad. But we can rest assured that in India there is no great jehad being planned. When this correspondent began calling eminent Muslims for comments on the story, most of them were, appropriately for the May heat, taking an afternoon nap. When asked why Indians are not part of the global rage, one gentleman quipped: “Because they have to sleep after lunch!”

But terrorism and holy war are serious issues. We have had the odd exception among Muslims, but no large-scale instance of bands of brothers planning a war within. The most famous example was that of the Indian Mujahideen, which claimed responsibility for serial blasts in several Indian cities in 2008. Their members were educated technocrats who sent e-mails in English. Many were said to have been radicalised abroad.

Such elements are actually foreign to the indigenous nature of Islam in India. The idea of a universal brotherhood itself is seriously challenged by the regional and language diversities of India. There have been attempts by Islamic movements to ‘cleanse’ the religion of local motifs, but it is like trying to push back the ocean’s tide. Imtiaz Ahmed, a sociologist, says, “The nature of Islam in India is highly eclectic, diversified and diffused. There is no notion of a classical form of Islam as in other countries. In India, mosques, shrines, local lore, rituals act as a deterrent to any ideological consolidation.”

Ahmed also analyses the role of the state and democracy. “The Indian state has never been coercive about pushing modernity. Muslims can live by their personal laws, announce any fatwa. No one interferes. Yet they are also kept engaged by a state that keeps negotiating and bargaining with the community.” Democracy, with all its imperfections, keeps the community engaged. And Muslims are quite adept at bargaining. They are, Ahmed says, “engaged in the rhetoric of bargain”.

What we have is a grand chaos often projected as a monolithic religion, plus a state which keeps a community on the hook. In Muslimmajority countries like Iran, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, the state has played a role in pushing a particular brand of Islam. This is especially true of Pakistan, which translates into ‘land of the pure’. It’s the only country which, like Israel, was created as a homeland for a particular religion. Conversely, in Egypt and Turkey, it is rigid secularism that has played a part in nourishing and pushing underground radical and conservative Islam. As Shahid Siddiqui, editor, Nai Duniya, says: “Indian Islam is very different from global Islam as it has lived and flourished with other religions for thousands of years. Here it is an accommodating way of life.

In the Arab world, they have their way and do not know the spirit of adjustment.”

This accommodation has also led to a great civilisational impact. In great historic architecture of the past, in nourishing classical traditions and creating language, Islam and Hinduism have created a composite culture that we now take for granted. Today, too, the mullah who issues the fatwa saying women cannot work is as much a part of the Muslim landscape as a Shahrukh Khan or Muslim professionals.

There is a Muslim elite, perhaps depleted since Partition, that has a vested interest in seeing that extremist ideas do not get out of hand. In popular culture too, we have a host of actors of all religions, and the pop Hindi music that is most popular today patently draws from the qawwali form.Yet there are genuine problems with communal mobilisation against Muslims and the manner in which issues relating to Muslims are presented in the sensationalist electronic media.

For instance, Siddiqui points out: “No one takes

these fatwas seriously. Muslims ignore them and laugh. But the media presents a fatwa as a reflection of the community, although they will never say that the khap panchayats that order murder are a reflection of Hinduism.” For good measure, he adds that “even this global Islam problem has been created by the West itself.”

In India, dualisms and a stupefying diversity define lives. There are great imperfections too.

If there is any cause for rage among young Muslims it is not concerns about getting justice for Palestine and attacking Israel or the US. It is the treatment meted out to Muslims in India after every random terror act, or the fact that hundreds continue to face charges in Gujarat years after the savage riots. Amer Ali Khan, part owner and news editor of Hyderabad’s influential Urdu daily Siasat, says, “If you ask me about Muslim terrorists, I will say there has never been a proven case but people are terrified.” Last week, around the time of the Times Square incident, there was a terror alert in Hyderabad. “Muslims were just scared they would be picked up at random and would disappear for some years,” he said. That is precisely what happened after the Mecca Masjid blast on May 18, 2007. Around 200 local boys were picked up. According to a report of the state minority commission, they were brutally tortured—marks were seen on the soles of their feet and there was evidence of electrocution on their nipples. The boys are now free but are possibly damaged for life. The police and security agencies now suspect the blasts to be the handiwork of Hindu militants. That’s why Amer says, “This is a state where there has been a Maoist insurgency and there is an organised network that has worked against the Indian state. But there has never been evidence

A young boy celebrate Kasab’s death sentence after their own fashion in Mumbai.

of Islamists creating any network, although the community is often treated like they are terrorists. Yes, some Muslims may be part of the Maoists, but no claim of Islamic jehadi group has ever been proven.”

Global jehad has no market in India. When the Indian Mujahideen sent e-mails before blasts in 2008, they gave a list of injustices allegedly perpetrated by security agencies, courts and lawyers who would not represent Muslims, commissions of inquiry that were ignored, the Surat riots of 1992 and the post-Godhra riots.

Their grievances were wholly Indian. If their firepower has been stymied since then, it is because the community does not wish to nurture such elements. The narrative of the Indian Muslim has a different past, a complex present, and hopefully a brighter future.- Outlook

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S t r ai g h t u p f o o d t a l k

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9 Must-Try Foods Of The World

by evening, says Thy

By Ruchika Tulshyan Trang, founder of the Argentina Asian Culinary FoThis South American nation rum. is best known for beef and emItaly panadas, but there’s so much Eat lampredotto, more to explore. Believe it a special street-cart or not, the ice cream here is sandwich, when among the best in the world, you’re in Florence, and dulce de leche and malsays David Rocco, bec flavors are absolute mustproducer and host of haves, according to luxury David Rocco’s La travel expert Leah Reilley of Empanadas are popular in Argentina.

Dolce Vita, launchArtisans of Leisure. If you’re ing on the Cooking in the mood for cheese, don’t leave without sampling provoleta--a smoky provolone Channel this month. When friends visit, he reveals the sprinkled with oregano. As far as simple dishes go, it secret ingredients only after they’ve savored it: chili is one of the best. As for native Andean cuisine, locro, sauce, salsa verde and cow’s stomach. “Don’t look at a hearty stew of corn, beans, squash and meat, is deli- it before it’s cooked--it looks like a brain. But one bite and you’re hooked.” cious.

Pizza not exotic enough for you? The pizza in Naples Brazil No culinary trip here is complete without a visit to has a “DOP” stamp of approval from the Italian govthe state of Bahia. First thing to order: Moqueca de ernment to authenticate it. The ingredients are simply peixe, a fish (and sometimes shrimp) stew made with dough and a rich marinara sauce with oregano. In this tomatoes and coconut milk, says Reilley. For a sat- case, native is best. “Locals say there’s something in isfying weekend lunch--not unlike American brunch- the water density in Naples that guarantees you will -feijoada,a heavy stew of beans, meat and sausage, never have a pizza like it anywhere else in the world,” served with rice, can be found all over Brazil. If says Rocco.

If you’re lucky enough to be around during the auyou’re looking for something lighter, fresh grilled fish with tomato-and-onion salad coupled with a couple of tumn truffle season, try uova con tartufi--fried eggs with truffle oil. It can’t be found on restaurant menus, Brahma beers is a perfect beach meal. but chefs from Tuscany and Umbria will know exactly China In Beijing the restaurants in the alleyways of Qian what you mean if you ask for it.

Men are renowned for hot pot, or huo guo, says Anita Japan You can get great sushi almost everywhere, so Lo, executive chef at Annisa in New York. Here you’ll find the streets are lined with boiling pots filled with when you’re in Japan it’s worth trying other delicasoup ingredients. Its excellent selections range from cies. Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto recommends Mongolian specialties--best known for lamb and mut- trying okonomiyaki, a savory pancake (or Japanese pizza) from his hometown of Hiroshima. This dish is ton dishes--and spicy Szechuan.

Some 600-plus miles away, Shanghai is best known made with batter, vegetables, seaweed, meat, a sweet for its street food, especially soup dumplings. But sauce resembling Worcestershire, and Japanese maydon’t stop there, advises Lo. Shen jian bao, steamed onnaise. Other Morimoto regional favorites include pork bun, makes for a perfect for snack, while jian anago-meshi, or sea eel rice, and tonkatsu ramen from bing, egg-based crepes with a bean sauce or chili Hakata, a pork-bone white soup with ramen noodles.

Lebanon smear, is a local power breakfast.

Many dishes, such as hummus, a delicious chickIndia Word of advice: Avoid street food. Try to score an pea spread, are pervasive throughout the Middle East. invite to a local dinner table rather than settle for street But when you’re in Beirut, don’t leave without trying vendors. Many locals are vegetarian, but Indian cui- mezze, a selection of starters with dips like hummus sine includes a variety of delicious meat and seafood. and the smoky eggplant baba ganoush, fresh vegetaGrilled minced lamb, seekh kebabs, are the staple of bles, olives and leavened bread that could be a meal Tandoori cooking, while the nation’s coastal regions in itself. are renowned for masala (spiced) fish or prawns. Na- Russia “The best meals are worth the money in Russia,” tives advise caution when eating seafood during the monsoon months of June to August due to the increase says Reilley. If you see solyanka on the menu, don’t hesitate to order. This salty, sour and often spicy soup in water-borne diseases.

While India conjures up images of curries, local spe- combined with meat or fish and topped with smetana, cialties are worth digging around for. In North India, Russian sour cream, is delicious.

Borscht and pelmeni (dumplings) are ubiquitously never say no to chaat or paani-puri. These delicious crispy crackers are dressed up with condiments of the Russian, but experiment with different varieties; sweet and spicy variety. If you’re in the south, say salmon and wild mushroom pelmeni are Reilley’s recKerala, don’t leave without trying fresh coconut. Trav- ommendations. Borscht can be spiced up with roasted eling tappers climb coconut trees, tap the fruit’s blos- apples and smoked goose breast. If you find the time, som and decant the sap into a bottle. As the day pro- a culinary side trip to Georgia or Armenia in search of gresses, the liquid becomes increasingly intoxicating, Azerbaijaini plov, a spiced rice dish cooked with meat transforming from a light, fizzy drink mid-morning and dried fruit, is worth the journey.

Forbes and fermenting into a seriously strong alcoholic drink

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Babulbhai

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india

On Your Mercs

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Driving a Merc is Aurangabad’s way of telling the world they’re not backward

By Sheela Reddy When the Mercedes office in Pune got a call two months ago from Aurangabad, a city better known for the nearby seventh century AjantaEllora caves than for its industrial growth, the salesman at the receiving end was not impressed. Not even when the caller told him that they wanted to book at least a 100 Mercedes cars, the largest-ever bulk booking of the luxury car in India. “We’ll call you back,” he said, but never did.

It’s an attitude that raises the hackles of Aurangabad’s mushrooming new billionaires. It’s an uphill task, they say, to convince anyone outside Aurangabad that there’s big money in this small town, once touted as Asia’s fastest growing city but better known for the ‘industrialists’ from outside who milked the state government

Nagori. “We realised it wasn’t going to work with a simple call, so a few of us went to Pune and gave a PowerPoint presentation about us and Aurangabad in general.” The dealer then organised a road show in Aurangabad, and agreed to take bookings. “They gave us only three days to make the bookings, otherwise the number would have easily gone up to 250-300,” Nagori says, adding that he’s still receiving cheques from those he couldn’t get in touch with on time.

It’s not hard to understand why the Mercedes Benz dealer, Chandravadan Bhandari, took so long to recognise their true worth:Aurangabad’s new rich seem unlike any you’ve seen before.

They don’t smoke or drink, don’t flaunt labels, nobody’s ever heard of a child going astray and their idea of a good time is getting together with

The moped is still seen in the city

Kiran Wadhi, 41, Builder/Contractor: “At least 25 per cent of the people living in our apartment complex can afford to buy a Mercedes,” says Wadhi. It takes courage to own one, according to him, because while it’s every businessman’s dream to drive in a Mercedes, “we put it off, saying not now, maybe next year.”

The Merc Gang of Aurangabad

dry of subsidies and vanished overnight. “We resent being called a backward town,” explains Sachin Nagori, a builder who, like many of the city’s rich, has made his fortune from scratch in the last 10 years. “Even MacDonald’s and Pizza Hut haven’t set up shop here as yet,” Nagori says, adding that a few years ago when Aurangabad’s entrepreneurs wanted Skoda to open shop here, they had to make a trip to the parent office with a Czech interpreter to persuade them. Fed up with the patronising tone they get from metros and multinationals alike, Nagori persuaded his friends and business associates to book their Mercs in bulk—140 of them at last count. “It was time to tell people outside that Aurangabad, far from being backward, has the potential to be another Pune.”

It was easier to convince Aurangabad’s rich to buy their first—or second and third, in some cases—Mercs than to persuade the luxury car company to take them seriously, according to

other families for a potluck dinner. And many of them continue to live in 400 sq ft apartments with peeling walls and stained stairways, the only concession to their new status being the two big cars parked among the neighbours’ scooters and Marutis. Like Kiran Wadhi, a builder who moved into his modestly furnished two-bedroom apartment in 1993, when he was still working for a construction company on a salary of Rs 5,000. For Wadhi, who rode a bike

Shiv Sagar

Manzoor Khan, 49, Silk mill owner: Khan’s grandfather started the first Himroo powerloom factory. He went to work in a tonga. With business growing fast, Khan is about to demolish his old home and build a new mansion instead. “In the last three years, owning a Merc here is no longer seen as flaunting your wealth,” he says.

for many years before he could afford his first Maruti car, the Merc is less a status symbol than a sign of achievement: he and his family of five (mother, wife, two school-going sons) have spent 14 of their happiest years in this tiny flat, as Mona, his wife, tells us. So why spend a fortune acquiring a Mercedes? “Because it’s always been my dream to own one—for a businessman, it’s a sign of ultimate achievement.” Mona interjects: “Our son always used to ask, ‘When will Papa get a Mercedes car?’” But the Wadhis are clear about one thing: “Just because we’re buying a Mercedes, we’re not going to change our lifestyle. We are old-fashioned people who believe in old values.”

Even the concept of a steel-and-glass office is quite new: until Nagori built his swank business centre a year ago, most of Aurangabad’s multi-billion businesses were conducted in 300 sq ft rooms, with an old desk and a few chairs and a mudpot of drinking water. It’s the kind of office even Sitaram Agrawal, chairman of one of Aurangabad’s biggest real estate companies, had until he shifted to his new office four years ago. In fact, Agrawal’s first Mercedes— gifted to him by his son for his 25th wedding anniversary—was parked for years outside their little office and flat. Was it an embarrassment, considering the neighbours probably owned, at best, a scooter or a bike? “It was a gift and I had to honour my son’s feelings,” explains Agrawal, whose father ran a grocery store and who started his own career on a scooter, running small contracts.

As in Agrawal’s case, the Merc is sometimes a tribute by sons to fathers who have built their business empires out of nothing. Virendrasingh Pawar has booked a top-class Mercedes for precisely that reason: his father made a fortune from scratch by supplying private security to Aurangabad’s industries and hotels. And now that Virendrasingh has taken over the business, diversifying into electronic security, growing in the last few years into the country’s leading firm, he wants to celebrate by gifting his father his dream car. For himself, young Pawar would prefer a BMW but feels that can wait. At first, Pawar senior, who has seen hard times, resisted, but like Agrawal, succumbed for reasons of sentiment that had nothing to do with a desire to flaunt a status symbol.

Aurangabad’s rich are also bending the hierarchy of Merc models to suit their own notion of family ranking. As Agrawal explains, the Merc he booked with the group of 140 was going to be of the top class, costing Rs 81 lakh. Since he already owns a Merc, he wanted to buy one for his son instead. But the son refused to accept the top class, saying that if his father drove a E-class Merc, he’d only drive a lower model—so they ended up getting the C-class one.

Continued on page 46

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E N T E R T AIN M E N T

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JOB POSTING

NEWS PHOTOGRAPHER/ LIVE TRUCK OPERATOR

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Kites Aims To Bring Bollywood To The West

KTRK-TV, the ABC O&O located in Houston, TX has an immediate opening for a full time News Photographer/Live Truck Operator.

Candidates should have a minimum three years experience in all facets of television news photography including lighting, audio and editing, and show exceptional knowledge and creativity in these areas.

Applicants should have a good eye for news photography, be able to work in the field unsupervised or with various reporters and be able to work in deadline situations. The ideal candidate will have experience shooting investigative reports, the use of hidden cameras and ability to shoot records and documents. Candidates should also have experience operating a microwave live truck and must be able to lift and carry 30 Ibs. of equipment.

All interested applicants must apply on-line at www.disneycareers. com by uploading a resume file, cover letter and list of references.

Interested applicants should also send a video tape sample of your news related work to: Human Resources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet, Houston, TX 77005. Please Reference Job 10: 248531 on all materials submitted. No phone calls please, and no third parties. Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V/D.

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The latest movie to come out of India, Kites, has been described by some critics as bringing Bollywood to Hollywood - but at what cost? The film has been adapted for the West to appeal to a wider audience, with dance scenes cut out and steamy scenes put in.

It is also over half-an-hour shorter than the Indian version of the movie.

Actor Hrithik Roshan, one of India’s most idolised artists, stars alongside Mexican actress Barbari Mori and he told Sky News it

is the tale that makes it a potential global blockbuster.

“It’s a love story. It’s a really simple, sweet, straightforward, honest love story about two people who don’t have a common language yet fall in love which is what I think makes it a universal phenomenom,” Roshan told Sky’s Eamonn Holmes. The film’s director, Anurag Basu, is considered one of the most forward-thinking filmmakers to emerge from India and is said to be fearless in his vision of breaking the conventions

associated with Indian filmmaking. US director Brett Ratner - of Rush Hour and Prison Break fame - has edited the English language version.

Roshan added: “Every creative work has a potential to find its own level and its own audience.

“Whatever has happened has been such a natural progression of the attempt of making an honest film and I think that is what eventually gives the film its strength to be presented on a global platform.

“It’s honest, it is a human story.”

ADVERTISEMENT FOR BIDS CITY OF HOUSTON

The City Secretary for City of Houston will receive bids at 900 Bagby, Room P101, Houston, Texas for the following Department of Public Works and Engineering project[s]: Project Name : WBS Number : Bid Date : Project Location : Project Manager : Estimated Construction Cost: Prebid Meeting :

Neighborhood Back Lot Wastewater Substitute Service Program – W. Clay, W. Pierce, and W. Bell R-002011-0071-4 June 24, 2010 West Clay, West Pierce, and West Bell Streets Robert C. Miles, P.E. Phone Number (832) 395-2330 $427,535.00 Tuesday, June 1, 2010, at 1:00 P.M., 14th Floor, Conference Room No. 1414, 611 Walker, Houston, Texas 77002

Bids will be accepted until 10:30 a.m., local time on the Bid Date shown above. Bids received after that time will not be accepted. Bids will be publicly opened and read aloud at 11:00 a.m. on the same day in City Council Chambers. All interested parties are invited to attend. Place and date of Bid opening may be changed in accordance with Sections 15 3(b)(5) and 15-3(b)(6) of the City of Houston Code of Ordinances. Low bidder shall comply with City of Houston Code of Ordinances. All bidders shall comply with Article II, Chapter 15, City of Houston Code of Ordinances.

The requirements and terms of the City of Houston Pay or Play Program, as set out in Executive Order 1-7 and Ordinance 2007-0534, are incorporated into this project for all purposes. All bidders shall comply with the terms and conditions of the Pay or Play Program as they are set out at the time of City Council approval of this Agreement.

Bid Documents may be purchased at the City of Houston offices located on the Smith Street side of the 1st Floor Lobby of 611 Walker, Houston, Texas 77002 for $50.00 per set. Only cash, checks or money orders will be accepted and a maximum of two sets will be sold to each prospective bidder. Addenda will be distributed at no cost to those who are registered plan holders with the City. Bid documents and drawings may also be obtained electronically at the City’s website: http://bidsets.publicworks. houstontx.gov/ The Project may contain City of Houston Standard Construction Specifications for Wastewater Collection Systems, Water Lines, Storm Drainage, and Street Paving sections that are incorporated into Project Manual by reference. These Standard Specifications, along with Standard Details, may be acquired at no cost on the City’s website at http:// documents.publicworks.houstontx.gov/documents/specifications/2009_standard_specification.pdf.

Bidders shall comply with City Ordinance 2007-0293 (March 7, 2007) and City of Houston Affirmative Action and Contract Compliance Division Minority/Women-owned Business Enterprise (MWBE) Procedures. Low Bidder will be required to make good faith efforts to achieve a MWBE participation goal as stated in Document 00800 – Supplementary Conditions.

It is unlawful for any Contractor to contribute or offer any contribution to a candidate for City elective office during a certain period prior to and following a contract award. Bidders should refer to Chapter 18, City of Houston Code of Ordinances for filing requirements and further explanation.

Dated: (Publish Friday, May 21, 2010)

Anna Russell City Secretary

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On Your Mercs

Continued from page 43

For Santosh Muthiyan too, the Merc is more a matter of family prestige. Some twenty years ago, his father, who owned a cloth shop, threw him out of the house because he failed his tenth class exam. Muthiyan began as a door-to-door salesman.

Today, he and his partners own the biggest infrastructure company in Aurangabad, building luxury homes and a mall that is expected to be one of Asia’s biggest. At 37, Muthiyan believes it’s time he started living: in a few months he’ll be moving from his 1,000 sq ft apartment into a 51,000 sq

Sanjeevkumar Kankariya, 49, Kankariya Group Chief: Starting his career selling cherries, Kankariya took a loan to start a printing press when he was 21. A multibillionaire today, he says: “I started off on a bicycle, and will always think of myself like that. But there’s no harm spending when you’ve earned it and pay your taxes.” ft mansion with a swimming pool and gym that he’s building for himself.

Left to himself, he’d probably like to go on living in his present apartment which he shows us around with great pride. But Muthiyan sees an upward lifestyle almost as a challenge. “I promised myself that I’d take my father to live with me when I have a big house and a big car, and I’m now fulfilling that pledge.” Muthiyan has, of course, booked the top-class car for

his father.

Muthiyan believes that money must “rotate”; that it’s the obligation of every rich man to spend so that the city can grow. But there are those who scoff at this “Mercedes Benz patriotism”. As Ram Bhogale, chairman of Umasons Auto Components, one of the leading auto parts manufacturers here, says: “I can certainly afford to buy a Merc, but why would I spend Rs 50-80 lakh on a car? I’d rather

invest it in a machine for the factory.” This Merc gang, according to Bhogale, is attracting the wrong kind of attention to Aurangabad. “You’ll end up attracting scamsters and real estate mafia here by these sort of gimmicks,” he says, adding: “Don’t build bridges to wrong destinations.”

Agrees A.N. Kadam, secretary of the Mahatma Gandhi mission, which runs several private colleges with an annual turnover of Rs 32 crore: “There’s a cultural difference between the old and new generations in Aurangabad. The latter want fast money and development, not caring if it’s sustainable or not. They call it development, I call it a mess.”

“But it’s in the nature of entrepreneurs to be impatient,” argues Nandkishore Kagliwal, another selfmade billionaire who now heads the region’s biggest seed companies.

Kagliwal says he’d be just as happy to drive in his old ambassador car.

But he’s booked a Merc as well just in solidarity with the group.

As Mansingh Pawaar, vice-chief of the Maharashtra Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture puts it: “The idea was to make the world sit up and take note of Aurangabad’s rapid growth, and it worked.” What an idea, Sirji!- Outlook

May 31: Day to Quit Facebook SAN FRANCISCO(Agencies): Has that time finally arrived when you’d be better off deleting your Facebook account? If so, then May 31 is looking like D-Day. A website called Quit Facebook Day has set the last day of May as the day everyone keen to leave the social network should finally take the plunge and hit the Delete key.

Several high profile technology pundits and celebs are kicking the world's number one social networking site to the curb.

The bridge too far has been Facebook's recent introduction of a platform that, by default, gives third-party companies access to members' names, friend lists and hobbies to "personalise" their surfing experience.

When a member logs onto a partner site, such as Yelp or Pandora, the content displayed is shaped by their own interests, as

well as the activities of their Facebook friends. To disable this feature, a manual opt-out is required.

According to a security expert website, Facebook users unwittingly expose themselves to five

dangers that might be beyond their control: their information is shared with third parties; their privacy settings revert to a less safe default mode after each redesign; malware from Facebook advertisements; fake profiles from scammers; and real friends who unknowingly make them vulnerable.

Agencies Google Canada reports that the top online search related to "Facebook account"

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is "delete Facebook," while the fastest-rising related query is "deactivate Facebook account," up 40 per cent over the past 90 days.

Worldwide, the search engine's results on Facebook account deletion ballooned from 15.9 million to 19.5 million between May 11 and 13 alone. There are 400 million members in total.

Privacy and security must be dirty words at the Facebook HQ at the moment as the world's largest social media network comes under fire for its privacy policy that has left users exposed and vulnerable.

Amazingly, it was reported that Facebook's privacy policy is a whopping 5,830 words long, even more verbose than the Constitution of the United States which reads at 4,543 words. Meanwhile, Facebook is making it difficult for users to delete their accounts. Let's wait for May 31!

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s p o rt s

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England Beat Australia To Lift World T20

England stunned pre-tournament favorites Australia by a whopping margin of seven wickets and with three overs to spare to win the ICC World T20.

Paul Collingwood won the toss and decided to field first, in a decision that surprised many an expert. However, the same looked justified as the Aussies lost three wickets in the very first three overs to be reduced to 8/3.

ShaneWatson was caught at the first slip after the ball was parried by the wicket-keeper Craig Kieswetter, while his opening partner Dave Warner was run-out off a direct hit.

This was followed by Brad Haddin being caught down the leg-side as

Sidebottom took the two wickets.

Clarke had batted at number three but could not get going and was dis-

Car Racing Both are bigger than life and enjoy taking a risk or two. Formula One’s Bernie Ecclestone and Force India owner Vijay Mallya have more things in common than one could imagine and once they start talking, the stories don’t stop rolling.

Vijay, what advice did you get from Bernie when you told him that you were going to take over the ailing Spyker F1 team?

Mallya: To be fair, I first brought up the subject of buying a team with Bernie when I started sponsoring Toyota in 2007. I asked him whether he thought I should buy a Formula One team, and he said no - leave your hands off. That was his first spontaneous advice to me. But I had a clear concept. I didn’t want to pour money into a team, but I wanted

missed by Graeme Swann for 27 (27 balls), as the Aussies slumped to 47/4 in ten overs. At this Australia was in

trouble but it was Cameron White who came to the rescue again.

Yardy was banished for a couple of sixes to go with a couple of fours, while, despite the wicket of White (30), the momentum did not ebb.

David Hussey got to his 50, an in company of his brother took the Aussie total to 147/6 in the 20 overs. 100 had come off the last ten overs, and 55

off the last five.

In reply, Michael Lumb departed

very early, but the Englishmen acquitted themselves rather well through a second wicket stand of a century between Kevin Pietersen and Craig Kieswetter, both of whom looked in ravishing touch.

Pietersen scored 47 but was usurped by an innings to remember from Kieswetter who smacked a 49-ball 63 to turn the game in the favour of England.

In the end, both the batsmen were dismissed in quick succession but the Aussies did not have anything left in the tank as England romped home to a seven-wicket win. Kieswetter won the man of the match as the English side won their first ever World Cup tournament.

- Contributed by www.cricketusamag.com

I’m in F1 for the Fun of it: Mallya

to create a competitive team with strong Indian ties. I told Bernie that it would be very positive for F1 if India could become part of the sport with its own team, especially as Bernie had just done a deal to have an Indian Grand Prix by 2011. In hindsight I know that my decision was right.

Bernie, when did it dawn on you that Vijay was the right man to successfully establish an Indian team?

Bernie: I knew that he wanted it, and I also knew that when he puts his energy behind something, in the end he will be successful. On the other hand he knew that if he wouldn’t do it then I would find somebody else

(laughs).

Mallya: Bernie knew that I wasn’t a freshman. I sponsored Benetton back in 1995. I’ve worked together with Michael Schumacher and Flavio Briatore. I’ve watched Formula One develop. That in itself is a huge asset - if you know what you are dealing with before you get involved. One of the biggest stimuli for me sure was to see how Asia was becoming a huge stronghold of F1.

Bernie: Go East! That was one of my visions.

How important will it be for you to

have an Indian driver at some point in the future?

Mallya: It is very important. I would love it. I’m not a fool and can see the enormous publicity potential which would come from it. The downside at the moment is that there is not one Indian pilot who has the potential to battle the best on the track.

Bernie: And this then would be extremely negative. To choose an Indian driver who just runs after all the others is no use to anybody. It would be counter-productive.

What should we expect from the

first Indian Grand Prix in 2011?

Bernie: A lot of curry (laughs).

What I have encountered in India, when I’ve been there, is that even the poorest people don’t show any form of envy. They give from the bottom of their hearts.

Mallya: More spectators than you have ever seen for an event. Amazing fans who will bring their love and show their enthusiasm for Formula One. (By arrangement with Force India Formula One Ltd and www.formula1.com ) Times of India

TCC Spartans Defeated Houston Cougars By 3 Wickets HOUSTON - There were couple of matches this sunday. The game was played at Matzke Park.

Cougars batted first and scored 193 runs after losing 7 wickets – Amir Manjee 25, Mustafa Himani 29, Jam Niazi 27 and Amar S 34, were the highlights of Cougars’ batting. Vishnu G. took four wickets from TCC bowling squad.

TCC Spartans’ start was little shaky but they still managed to chase 193 in only 38.3 overs with Manas 34, Srinivas 49 and Imran K 39. Mustafa took 3 wickets for Cougars.

While on the Stafford City Park, Cougars –II managed to win the game by 6 wickets defeating HECC. HECC batted first and were all out on 51 with Ali A scoring 24, he was the only player to reach double figures. Mudassar and Amir took 3 wickets each, Iqra

took 2 wickets.

Cougars – II reached the score in 11th over after losing 4 wickets. Riffat Bari 12 and Fahad Naved 16. Fahad D. took 2 wickets from HECC bowling.

Cavalier Cricket Club defeated Houston India Cricket Club by 9 wickets. The game was played at Sardar Patel Stadium.

HICC batted first and only managed to put 154 on the board. Ankit Mehta was the highest scorer with 24, second highest 23 by extras. Supritam and Damodhar took 2 wickets each.

Cavalier had a very good start with both the openers making fifties, Damodhar 51 and Phani K. 60 no out.

Supritam scored 37 not out. Cavalier chased the score in 19.4 overs. Kuldeep Patel took Damodhar’s wicket.

Contributed by Raheel Khan

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MAY 21 , 2010 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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Indo American News • Friday, May 21 , 2010

c o mm u n i t y c o n n e c t i o n s

RELIGIOUS SERVICES

Arya Samaj of Greater Houston 281-242-5000

Havan Satsang 10 AM - 12, discourse by Dr. Premchand Shridhar: 281-7520100 DAV Sanskriti school 10 AM - 12 - Havan, Hindi and Naitik Shiksha classes. Shekhar Agrawal: 281-242-5000

Every Sunday satsang assembly accompanied by Santo with inspirational BAPS 281-765-BAPS (2277) talks & devotional bhajans from 4:30pm - 6:30pm followed by arati and mahaprasad. 281-765-BAPS (2277), www.houston.baps.org

may 2010

Daily Darshan & Arati Times: 4.30am, 7am, 8.30am, 12noon, 4.30pm, 7pm, 9pm. See darshan live on www.iskconhouston.org. Sunday Festival: 5.30pm to 7.30pm. Located at 1320 West 34th St, Houston, TX 77018.

Hindu Worship Society Temple

Priest – “Bhibhdutt Mishra Ji”. Open for Darshan all days, except Thursday, from 8am -10am & 5pm - 8pm. Sunday 11:30am to 1:30pm – Regular Puja, Religious discourses and Prasad. Website www.hwst.org

JVB Preksha Center

Regular weekly program of Yoga and meditation Mon-Thu 7.15pm to 8.15pm.

On Saturdays from 9.00am to 11.15am. Located at 14102 Schiller Rd.

281-596-9642

21 Fri

Temple hours: Mon - Fri: 8.30am-Noon, 5-8pm, Sat & Sun: 8.30am-2pm, 5-8pm, Aarti: Noon and 7.30pm, Chinmaya Prabha, 10353 Synott Rd, Sugar Land, TX 77478. www.saumyakasi.org, Bharati Sutaria: 281-568-1690

Parkash & prayer everyday: 6-7:15am, Evening Diwan: 7:15-8:30pm, Special Sikh Center of Gulf Diwan: Wed: 7-8:30pm, Sun: 10am-1:30pm, Langar everyday. 8819 Prairie Coast Area Dr., Houtson TX 77064, 713-466-6538, 281-635-7466, 832-633-5092 Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple 281-498-2344

8pm: DJ Aqeel Live in Houston, ABCD Houston, PRAVADA, Montrose: 713-533-1200

22 Sat Sat

Shri Kripalu Kunj Ashram 713-344-1321

Satsang & spiritual discourses, Sun: 10.30 am.-12.30pm. with simultaneous prog. of Hindi, Sanskrit and Moral science for kids, dance classes for children and adults every Fri:8 pm, www.shrikripalukunj.org

Shri Radha Krishna Four Arti daily: 6:30am , 12 noon, 7pm & 9pm. Tuesday & Saturday 7:10pm.

Sunday Bhajan and Kritan at 6pm. Maha Arti 7pm, More information www.

Temple srkt.org Located at 11625 Beechnut Houston, TX 77072.

281-933-8100 Swaminarayan Mandir (ISSO) 281-530-2565 Vedanta Society

Darshan: Daily 7.30am-12.30pm, 4-8.30pm. Aarti: Daily 7.45am & 7pm. Hanumanji Aarti: Sat: 7.15pm. Rajbhog Thaal (No Darshan): 10.30-11am. Dinner Thaal 5.30-6pm. Located at 10080 Synott Rd, Sugar Land TX 77498.

5906 Cypress • Classes Sunday from 10.30am to 12.30pm on Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, 1st &3rd Sunday; Bhagavad-Gita, 2nd Sunday; on works of Swami Vivekananda, More information visit www.houstonvedanta.org

Free Citizenship Classes @ Houston Public Library

February - May 2010

Mondays & Thursdays Wednesdays 7-8:30pm 5:30-7:30pm Carnegie Neighborhood Library Henington Regional Library 832-393-1820 832-393-1970

Indo-American News - 120 Distribution Points 20% more copies . . . High Bright Newsprint paper Reaching more readers in our Community!

29 years in service! Thank you for your support!

2pm: Natural Healing Powers of the Body, Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, Free admission, Keshav Smruthi, 713-582-3240 5pm: Young Professional Social, SEWA International, Houston, Avanti Apartments, Apt#1312, houston@sewausa.org 7pm: Tarun Vijay-Spokesperson of BJP Speaks on Current Challenges Facing India, India House, Gitesh Desai: 281300-7346

23 Sun

10pm: Natural Healing Powers of the Body, Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana, Free admission, JVB Preksha Meditation Center, 713-582-3240 12noon: Meditation Classes, Science of Spirituality, Free admission,University of St. Thomas, 713-261-7212, www.houstonsos.org

Daily Schedule: 7:30am – 9:30am -Suprabhatam, Sri Murthy Aaradhana, Tiruppa:vai Sevakalam, Theertha Ghosti, Balabhogam, 9:30am – 11am :Temple is open, 6:30am – 7pm, www.jetusahouston.org

Sri Guruvayurappan 11620 Ormandy St. Houston, TX 77035, www.guruvayurusa.org, temple@ guruvayurusa.org Temple Houston

6:30pm: Annual Awareness and Membership Drive, The Hindu American Foundation, & Hindus of Greater Houston, Madras Pavillion, Sugar Land, Vijay Pallod: 281-565-0001, www. hafsite.org 8pm: India Jazz Suites, Indo American Association, Wortham Center, 832-758-2844

Sanatan Shiv Shakti Rudrabhiskek every Monday followed by Aarti and mahaprasad. 5645 HillMandir croft, #701 Houston TX 77036.

713-278-9099

Saumyakasi Sivalaya 281-568-1690

CURRENT EVENTS

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Durga Bari Society Temple hours: Monday - Saturday: 9am- 11am and 4pm to 7pm; Sandhya Aarti 6.30pm. Sunday 9am- 7 pm. www.houstondurgabari.org, Champak 832-347-4003 Sadhu. • 13944 Schiller Road.

Hare Krishna Dham

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3pm: Role of Diet and Complementary Medicine in Cancer, Indo American Cancer Network, India House, iacannetwork@ gmail.com, www.iacannetwork.org

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3pm: Changing India by Good Governance, Dr Jayprakash Narayan, Chutneys Restaurant, 781-367-9367, pflhouston@gmail. com

Wed

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8pm: Sukhwinder Singh Jai Ho, Hum Tum City, Arena theatre, , 713-545-4115, www.humtumcity.com

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6:30pm: Chai Exchange, South Asian Chamber of Commerce, ,Westin Oaks Galleria, The Roof

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