July 27, 2012 e- Newspaper

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Friday, July 27 2012 | Vol. 31, No. 30

Indo American erican News f o s e r u t n Hanuman The Adve www.indoamerican-news.com Published weekly from Houston, TX

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Pranab is President

Shunya presents a new musical play

The Chief Justice of India, Justice S.H. Kapadia administers the oath of the office of the President of India to Pranab Mukherjee at a swearing-in ceremony in the central hall of Parliament, in New Delhi. P27

CG Arora Bids Adieu

Rehearsal photos from The Adventures of Hanuman. Top: choreographing the “Creation Song.” Bottom left: Gargi Samarth (Hanuman) and Gaurav Bangia (Jambavan) rehearse a scene; Bottom right: Layaa Raja as Sita.

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Consul General Sanjiv Arora leaves Houston after completing a four-year assignment for a new post as India’s ambassador to Qatar. Arora spoke about leaving with a “sense of fulfillment” in an interview Saturday with Indo-American News. P3

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CG Sanjiv Arora: Leaving Houston with a “Sense of Fulfillment”

BY PRAMOD KULKARNI HOUSTON: After a four-year assignment as the Consul General of one of India’s top 10 consulates in the world, Sanjiv Arora departs for the highly coveted post of India’s Ambassador to Qatar. The incoming CG for Houston will be P. Harish of IAS batch 1992, a native of Andhra Pradesh, the first South Indian to be assigned to Houston.

Arora looked back on his fouryear tenure during a weekend interview with Indo-American News.

What came to mind when you were posted to Houston four years ago?

I was very excited. Texas is well known for its diversity, business potential ... oil and gas. Looking back, I can say that it has been very interesting, very involving, incessantly hectic and a very fulfilling assignment. I am leaving with a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction.

What do you consider your milestone achievements?

It is not for me to dwell on and for my superiors to judge. Given the very large public relations aspect of the job, it is for the public at large to assess.

Consular services are of paramount importance. Over the years, the volume of work has increased immensely. In 2011, we provided 133,376 Consular services. In terms of such services, the Indian Consulate in Houston ranks among the top 10 Indian missions in the world.

It has been my endeavor to improve the efficiency of Consular services. Soon after I came, we started an emergency help line.

There has been progressive outsourcing of the application process. We’re still in the driver’s seat. The entire decisionmaking remains with us. We issued more than 60,000 visas last year. Close to 19,000 OCI cards. More than

7,000 PIO cards. More than 17,000 passports. More than 22,000 surrender certificates in 2011. We provide emergency services round the clock. We have also started an open day every Wednesday when people can come without appointments to discuss any urgent Consular issues. This service has been widely appreciated.

We have moved to this new building on Scotland Street about a year ago. The shift was as swift and smooth as possible in less than two days. Our Consular services were not affected. It is a centrally located stand-alone building with much more space. It is now a permanent asset. The Consular residence was purchased in 1995.

Last year, there was stir in the community due to delays in visa processing. Now the services seem to be streamlined. What are your thoughts looking back at those incidences?

Here’s some background on what happened. After the horrific 26/11 terrorist attack, a few days after my arrival here, the Government

of India felt it necessary to review some of the Consular procedures.

For example, the need emerged to get a special endorsement on a tourist visa for reentry within 60 days. The need for a surrender certificate for an Indian passport was not new, because we do not have dual citizenship. It was now necessary to obtain a surrender certificate and place a cancellation stamp on the Indian passport. In 2010, more than 30,000 surrender certificates had to be issued, and more than 22,000 in 2011. The implementation of this process occurred quite well.

We made earnest efforts to disseminate this information, but a few persons in different places in the United States reacted very emotionally to this change. Perhaps it was apprehension of the unknown. Throughout, the channels of communication were open: we’re on call 24/7. I think the basis of any engagement has to be mutual respect, appreciation of each other’s viewpoint, and based on facts and not emotions. When-

ever I address Consular services, we request precise facts. Broadbased generalities do not make discussions productive.

What about business services?

That is another high priority. The nine states we service account for more than 27% of U.S.-India’s bilateral trade. What is heartening is the increasing participation of Indian companies here. We have Mahindras and Tata Consultancy Services which recently created 700 jobs in San Antonio. Wellspun in Arkansas operates five manufacturing plants. L&T has been expanding its engineering operations. Reliance is participating in high-level shale partnerships in both North and South Texas. Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) has established a wholly owned subsidiary based in Houston. We work closely with U.S.-Indian chambers of commerce and other Indian business entities.

In these nine states, we currently have 11 chambers since 1999.

Three of these have been set up during my tenure—two in Florida

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

and one in Oklahoma City. Discussions are underway to set up chambers in Austin, Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Gov. Rick Perry has agreed to lead a trade delegation to India.

We also interact with U.S. businesses, Consular Corps and media.

We have a large number of Indian students at universities here. In all my travels, visiting local universities was always very important.

What has been the nature of your interactions with the Indian-American community?

We have conducted an active outreach to our communities in a broad based manner. It is an accomplished and vibrant community. Their contribution to improving U.S.-India cooperation and friendship is significant. I have enjoyed my interactions, working together in a spirit of mutual respect in an inclusive manner. This public diplomacy has been the most enjoyable aspect of my work here.

India House is undoubtedly an excellent facility where Indian Americans of diverse backgrounds can get together to participate in the various activities.

On the cricket field, we played the first match between the Indian Consulate and India House. I hope the match takes place every year.

I particularly remember the broadbased community gathering that was organized immediately after the 26/11 attacks.

There are a large number of community organizations—a sign of India’s pluralism and diversity.

There are organizations such as the Mahatma Gandhi library, India Culture Center, and so many others. We’ve had close associations with the Museum of Fine Arts of Houston and Asia Society. Last year, I was at the New Orleans Museum of Art. At the end of the day, this job is about human relations.

This has been a guiding principle of my endeavors.

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COMMUNITY

July 27, 2012

IACCGH Chamber Bids Fond Adieu to Indian CG Arora

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: As word spread around that the Indian Consul General Sanjiv Arora was preparing to leave the Bayou City, many organizations and individuals have started to give him and his wife Chaya farewell send offs (see related stories in this issue). But perhaps the most fitting from the Indian community was the farewell dinner that was organized by the Indo American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH) this past Monday, July 23 at the Bombay Brasserie restaurant on the West Loop.

“The Chamber was started in 1999 with the encouragement of then Indian Consul General Rinzing Wangdi,” acknowledged current President Ajit Thakur, “and supported by successive Consul Generals. This is a sad and sweet occasion. We are sad that CG Arora is leaving, but it is sweet because he will take an a higher post as Ambassador to Qatar. But since there is a direct flight from Houston to Doha, we expect him to visit us again.”

Arora will be leaving on August 4 and his replacement, Parvathaneni Harish will arrive towards the end of July, according to sources. Harish has been the Officer on Special Duty to the Indian Vice President for the past two years.

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, a frequent guest at community events, stepped onto a chair at the back of the room in order to get a better vantage point and paid tribute to the Aroras. “Sanjiv Arora and his wife Chaya have become part of our community,” he said. “You did a wonderful job for India and Houston. Please come back 0612-35_TexasDMA_IndoAm_10x7.pdf 1 and visit us again.”

Arora then revealed tid-bits of news on his first day in Houston and how he managed to borrow some clothes as his own luggage was lost for 50 hours. He then relented on his earlier promise not to call out notable guests by pointing out several and sharing some reminisces. He also presented a book on India to the Chamber President. Dinner was served after the speech.

WRITERS ...

TAKE NOTICE

IACCGH Board members with Consul General Sanjiv Arora

The Chamber then presented small tokens of appreciation to both Arora and Chaya.

After accepting them, Arora took his cue from Emmett and stepped on the chair to address the 70 or so invited guests. “I will not read off the names of the people who are attending here,” said Arora, discarding the typewritten list that his assistant Raghubir Singh had created. Instead, Arora talked about the role he had in helping to form nine Chambers or similar organizations in the 11 states that the Houston Consulate has jurisdiction over. He pointed out to the President of the Miami group, Piyush Agarwal, who had come to attend the reception.

Arora spoke of some highlights of his tenure in Houston and then asked his staff to join him and his wife at the make shift podi7/5/12 PM um. He2:25 acknowledged their roles and work.

Photo: Bijay Dixit

“Those who have been trained by Sanjiv Arora have always done well,” he added.

He recalled the work of the two chauffeurs, Alfredo Dupia and Kevin Newsome, with whom he had lots of time to chat as they drove him across the state on business.

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For more information, call 713-789-NEWS (6397) or email us at: indoamericannews@ yahoo.com Indo American News (ISSN 887-5936) is published weekly every Friday (for a subscription of $40 per year) by IndoAmerican News Inc., 7457 Harwin Dr., Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036, tel: 713-7896397, fax:713-789-6399, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com.

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COMMUNITY

July 27, 2012

Meet the First IACF “Sing for Charity” Idol Winner: Srisanvita Sridhar

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: The Indo American Charity Foundation held the finals of its Sing for Charity Idol Song Competition this past Saturday, July 21 and crowned the winner from a field of 14 semi-finalists, all of who sang their hearts out. The event was held at the Arabia Shriner’s Center on 10510 Harwin Drive on the city’s Westside and included a sumptuous dinner catered by Bombay Brasserie restaurant. The emcee for the evening was Dr. Subodh Bhuchar.

The finals were held after a month-long set of judging from a much larger field of entrants at the JVB Preksha Center on Schiller Road. Entrants ran from nearly 70 years of age to 5 and had to come up with a new song at every step of the way to show their range of singing skills and onstage presence. Major sponsors for the event were India Coffee House, Merrill Lynch and Dr. Dominic Shresta of Texas In Patient Consultants. The judges for the event were Anuradha Subramaniam, Chadrakanta Courtney, Vanitha Arora, Ranjita Badopadhya and the Bollywood playback star Mauli Dave, who also provided entertainment for the evening after the show.

The semi-finalists were Aparjita Maitra

Mauli Dave

Idol winner Srisanvita Sridhar with her family Photos: Jawahar Malhotra

of Dallas, Srivalli Rangaraj, Dipti Kanhere, Anu Cherukara, Samrat Bhattacharya, Pradeep Suresh, Neha Srivastava, Apurva Batra, Dimple Swali, Vijay Shenoy, Gaurav Garg, Arushi Garg, Vinisha Vasan and Srisanvita Sridhar. As an added attraction, 5-year old Lasiya Dhulipala an early entrant who didn’t make the first cut, was asked to sing a foot-tapping song, “Dil hai chota sa”, much to the delight of the audience.

After singing their first songs, the three

finalists chosen were Srisanvita Sridhar, Vijay Shenoy and Apurva Batra. These three then sang new songs and gave it all they had. In the end, the Idol Crown belonged to Srisanvita Sridhar, who had previously won in the Lil Champs competition held in India House last year. In second place was Apurva Batra and Vijay Shenoy came in third.

All three received monetary prizes. In ad-

dition, all semifinalists received certificates, and token gifts from Rajeev Gadgil of India Herald and IACF Board Director Jawahar Malhotra, who is also publisher of IndoAmerican News. Consolation cash prizes were given to Dimple Swali and Aparjita Maitra by David Raj as a personal sponsorship, in recognition of their amazing talent CONTINUED ON PAGE 8 as singers.

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COMMUNITY

July 27, 2012

First IACF Idol Winner Crowned CONTINUED FROM PAGE

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IACF President David Raj, who has personally invested much of his time and effort into making this event a success was proud of the show which highlighted Houston’s growing pool of talented Indian second generation singers. Raj is himself an accomplished sell-taught guitarist and often plays for charity events and other occasions with his band and joined in afterwards with Mauli Dave as a backup guitarist on stage.

Local singer turned Sa Re Ga Ma finalist and now Bollywood artist Mauli Dave was the chief entertainer at the event, belting out many dance numbers and getting the audience going. She gave a spirited performance and wowed the audience with the range of her vocals. She was joined onstage by a group of talented musicians and also in singing by her equally talented brother Onkar (who also played the dholuk) and father Hemant.

For slideshow and video of the event, visit www.indoamerican-news.com

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Amazing Curries at Kurry Walah: Now Talk of the Town

BY VIPIN KUMAR KATY : The new restaurant in Katy, Kurry Walah, owned and operated by Chef Nirman Shah, a graduate of Indian Hotel Management (IHM), Ahmedabad has become the talk of the town.

Before arriving in US, shah earned accolades working as Chief Chef at famous Rambagh Palace Hotel in Jaipur, a former residence of Maharaja of Jaipur and now a luxury Taj Palace Hotel. He migrated to US landing in New Jersey in 1998.

While in Jersey, he designed, developed and introduced many new food concepts like “Bombay Pav”, “Bombay Food Corner”, and “Food from Hyderabad”. These gained so much popularity that he started serving these meals to many eating joints/small restaurants as a wholesaler. He also owned his own restaurant in NJ before embarking to settle down in Houston. He is also the pioneer of starting the Hot Breads chain in US, the first being in NJ. When questioned “Why Houston”, he said, it was not a very easy decision. It took him almost eight months to decide between Dallas and Houston.

Finally, he chose Katy for its large Indian food loving South Asian and British congregation. The Kurry Walah is located on south Mason road, in the heart of the city. If you are wondering why the “K” in the “Kurry”, its because of its location in Katy. The restaurant has an inside seating capacity of

Chef Nirman Shah at the restaurant

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Nirman smiled and explained, he uses only pure Desi Ghee in his cooking and does not use Soda in any of the food items. No doubt, the food tastes just like home cooked food.

The saying goes “If you have visited Kurry Walah and not tasted Chicken 65 you have really missed something”. They serve Gujarati food on order. In fact Chef Nirman is ready to cook any item upon request. This small anecdote will vouch for it. During the interview with him, an old couple walked in and asked the waiting staff if they could be served something without garlic and onion. Chef Nirman was quick to his feet and in a jiffy prepared few items without using garlic, onion and

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Chamber Continues Distinguished Lecture Series with Talk on Business Opportunities in India

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: The Indo American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH) presented another in its popular Distinguished Lecture Series this past Thursday, July 19 with a speech entitled “The India Opportunity” at the Westin Galleria Hotel around the lunch hour. A large number of the Chamber’s members and many invited guests attended the event held on the 24th floor banquet hall.

In opening up the event, the Chamber’s Executive Director Jagdip Ahluwalia joked that the “Chamber will be touring like a circus to all parts of Houston”, a reference to the decision by current Chamber President Ajit Thakur to “take the Chamber’s events all corners of the Metroplex – from The Woodlands to Clear Lake and Sugar Land.” The always-jovial Thakur also revealed that Ahluwalia had been appointed as the Chairperson of the City of Houston’s International Development Committee. Ahluwalia reminded the guests of upcoming events, including the Chamber’s Gala on August 25.

Before the speaker was introduced, the podium belonged to the Indian Consul General Sanjiv Arora who disclosed that he will soon leaving Houston as he has been posted as Indian Ambassador to Qatar (see related stories in this issue). Arora acknowledged the Indian Consulates prominent role in helping form the Chamber in 1999 under the then CG Rinzing Wangdi. “Since then, I am happy to report,” continued Arora, that we have helped set up nine more Chambers or like organizations in the 11 states that our consulate has jurisdiction over.”

Stepping in for the featured speaker Ron Somers, the President of the US-India Business Council, was the Executive Vice-President Diane Farrell. “I was asked to step in at the last minute as Ron had to

Diane Farrell, Executive Vice President of US India Business Council speaking at the event Photo: Bijay Dixit

take his wife to the hospital in California for an emergency,” Farrell explained in a hoarse voice, which she put down to a hectic speaking schedule. Farrell was equally familiar with the topic of Somers’ speech, even using his PowerPoint slides. She explained that the USIBC was not just a policy think tank in Washington GC, but also had field offices in California and New Delhi and wanted to open another in Mumbai.

Farrell focused on the business potential between India and the US, peppering her talk with plenty of statistics about the growth in trade and improving diplomatic and cultural ties, with bilateral trade projected to grow to $25 bn by 2015.

“But this is not just one way from the US to India,” she pointed out, “as many Indian companies are investing in the US too.”

She cautioned that there were many issues to be dealt with

though, like how to handle multibrand retailing, especially as the Indian Government has been seen to be flip-flopping on the rules; pharmaceuticals, tax issues, a Bilateral Investment Treaty, facilitating job growth, work visas, and opportunities in progressive states like Gujarat. She showed ten reasons why India was a good area for US businesses to set their sights on.

“India will take over as the world’s largest consumer class,” she declared although when pressed to explain why another model had not yet been considered by the 360 major corporations that the USIBC considers as its members for working around the “WalMart effect” that threaten the small shop keepers and traders, she offered only that some accommodation would have to be reached and noted the recent IKEA entry into the Indian retail scene as a model.

Correction in Skylink Article In our issue dated July 20, 2012, we incorrectly identified Ashish Vyas as the owner of Skybird travel. We regret this error and the inconveT:6” nience it may have caused.

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COMMUNITY

July 27, 2012

Rishi Vij Marries Marcela Masso

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: For the excited couple, their nuptials were to be cross-cultural as well as an international affair. At the beautiful luxury oceanfront resort Los Suenos Marriott Resort Hotel in Costa Rica, Rishi Vij and Marcela Masso exchanged vows in a Catholic wedding on Saturday, June 23, in front of about 200 guests, 150 of whom had flown in from Houston.

Three weeks later, the couple exchanged vows again on Saturday, July 14 in a traditional Hindu ceremony held at the Intercontinental Hotel on the West Loop in Houston, with many more guests present. At the reception which followed later in the evening, the grooms father, Rakesh Vij, cracked people up with his witty comments, much to the surprise of the many friends who have known him for the past four decades. Rishi’s mother Nilima was equally elated. The groom’s sister Priya, who will be a senior at New York University, emceed the reception.

The couple met in November 2009 while pursuing their MBAs at Rice University in Houston.

Both finished their degrees last year. The couple will make their home in Houston.

The bride will continue to work at Accenture, a multinational management consulting, technology

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Rakesh Vij (left), Marcela Masso, Rishi Vij, Nilima Vij and Priya, Rishi’s sister services and outsourcing company, where she has been employed for five years. She is the daughter of Dr. Anthony H. Masso who was a chemical engineer with Shell Oil for most of his career and is now a semi-retired consultant. Her mother, Angela, is a homemaker and has previously been the Honorary Consul General in Houston for Costa Rica.

The groom will continue to work at the firm his father Rakesh founded in 1985, R. K. International, a supplier of high-quality solid brass decorative builders hardware. Along with his father, Rishi has also produced a full-length movie, Dancing in Twilight, in 2005.

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COMMUNITY

12 July 27, 2012

Consul General Arora Honored in a Grand Farewell Function

HOUSTON: A large crowd of volunteers, young and old, men and women, neatly attired in the traditional Bohra dresses of the three piece white kurta-payjama for men, and colorful rida of the women with beautiful patterns and intricate lace work, were literally buzzing around 5:30pm, giving last touches to their community center on Coventry Drive near Katy. With all the excitement in their voices, it was hard to believe that each of them was fasting since dawn. It was 100 degrees outside, yet no one would even take a sip of water for at least three more hours.

Sunday was the third day of fasting (Muslims fast the entire month of Ramadan, the holiest month for Muslims, during which The Quran, their Holy Book, was first revealed to the Prophet).

The day was Sunday, July 22 and the occasion was a farewell party hosted by Indian Muslims Association of Greater Houston (IMAGH) for the outgoing Indian CG Sanjiv Arora. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee was an honorary guest. Promptly at six, the guests started arriving and soon the big hall was overflowing with over 1200 people.

The entire Consulate staff, led by Consul Anil Matta and consisting of S.N. Sharma, Jagdish Chandra, Jagdeep Kapoor, Rinku Mehta and Raghuvir Singh, arrived and was warmly welcomed. CG Arora was

CG Sanjiv Arora with IMAGH President Latafath Hussain (second from right) and other Bohra community members

welcomed by Amil Saheb , the Leader of the Bohra Community in Houston, and Latafath Hussain, President of Indian Muslims Association of Greater Houston.

Prominent in the crowd, were former Mayor Pro-Term, Gordon Quan, Ellen Goldberg, Cyhthia Cisneros, George & Shanti Willy, Munira Panjwani-Zahid, Sam Merchant, Van Shotwell, Dr. Aziz Siddiqui, Ayaz Naser, Abdullah Jafri, Saleha & Shabbir Khumawala, Marabbi Saheb, Sheikh Qutbuddin Kareemji, Dr. Mustafa Mandiwala, Taiyeb Kalolwala , Manisha Mehta, Swapan Dhairyawan, Ashok Dhingra, and many more. A host of other leaders from

Civic, Social, and Government bodies were also present, giving credence to the fact that it was both a farewell party for the outgoing Consul General of India and an Outreach by the Muslim Community to showcase Ramadan and the Dawoodi Bohra Community.

Honorable Janab Taha Bhai Saheb ibne Shz Malik-ul-Ashter Bhai Saheb Shujauddin and grandson of His Holiness Syedna Burhanuddin blessed the gathering with his appearance. This truly was a historic and poignant occasion, for rarely does His Highness make public appearances. He had come to honor the Indian Consul General and Congresswoman

Sheila Jackson-Lee, as both have deep personal ties and respect for Dai Mutlaq Syedna Mohammed Burhanuddin TUS. Amil Saheb in welcoming the guests to the Community Center, talked about the wonderful work that IMAGH is doing in bringing all the Muslim Communities under one umbrella and of their planned Outreach to the Mainstream. This was the first gathering of IMAGH as an association and the Bohra Community is truly honored to host this historic event.

He said, “While we are losing a great friend, we wish CG Arora the very best as the new Ambassador to Qatar”. During his tenure, CG Arora worked tirelessly to engage the large and multi-cultural Indian Community in the entire Southern United States. Under his leadership several important projects came to completion, including the new Consulate Office near downtown. He also warmly welcomed Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee to the center for the very first time.

Chairman of the Board of Advisors of IMAGH, and a very prominent Community Leader, Abeezar Tyebji, welcomed Sheila JacksonLee to the Bohra Community Centre. He talked about her special relationship to the Indian Community and of her visit to India. Congresswoman Lee was absolutely mesmerized by the hospitality of

the community and questioned why it took so long to form an organization like IMAGH. She said this organization should have been formed a long time ago, because though outreach activities for every community is important, it is especially important for the Muslim Community in America.

Noted NASA scientist and Urdu Poet, Zafar Taqvi, read a poem , especially written for Consul General Arora and his family, about his days in Houston. The Consul General was so moved with this poem, that his words were choked with emotion, when he began his speech. He thanked IMAGH for organizing the event, Bohra Community for hosting it and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee, who despite her very hectic schedule, took the time out to attend .

He said that this is his second visit in this facility and then recalled that when the first Indian Consulate office was opened in Houston, the Door plaque was erected by Dawoodi Bohra Jamaat, and later when the government of India purchased its own Consulate building, the flag pole of India was erected

by Dawoodi Bohra Jamaat. He said while he is looking forward to being India’s Ambassador to Qatar, he is really going to miss the friendships of so many wonderful people in his almost four years in Houston.

CONTINUED ON PAGE

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NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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7/18/12 6:27 PM

14 July 27, 2012

ENTERTAINMENT

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regression where she sees herself remembering situations and lovers from her past lives.

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7/20/12 5:22 PM

16 July 27, 2012 2012 Annual Gala

United in Excellence DATE

TIME

8.25.12

ADDRESS

6:30 pm

Hilton Americas Houston 1600 Lamar | Houston, TX

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Jim Compton Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer for United Airlines, the world’s leading airline

GALA CHAIRS

Bashar and Brigitte Kalai

MEDIA UNDERWRITER

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

ENTERTAINMENT

July 27, 2012

In Conversation with Trishna Star Freida Pinto

Freida Pinto’s acclaimed new film TRISHNA is now playing in New York and Los Angeles and is released on Friday, July 20, in additional U.S. cities including San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, San Diego, Seattle, and Washington D.C. Pinto sat down to talk about her latest film TRISHNA in the interview below.

Take us through the process of how you became involved in the project. What attracted you to it and to the role of Trishna?

When I was told that Michael Winterbottom would like to meet me to discuss his new film project, I obviously jumped on the opportunity.

He is one of those rare directors who makes films by boldly attempting and embracing any given genre. I was already familiar with Thomas Hardy’s 19th century novel Tess of the d’Urbervilles and the idea of having it set in contemporary India was absolutely brilliant and apt. I was pining to sink my teeth into a hardcore independent project and Trishna came along.

Who is Trishna?

According to our story, Trishna is the nineteen year-old daughter of a rickshaw driver.

Since she’s had a taste of a little education, she doesn’t entirely conform or fit into the traditional mould of thinking that her parents belong to. She leaves school and works at a hotel near her hometown of Ossian in Rajasthan to bring more money into the household. She is, however, determined to ensure that her younger siblings are given a good English middle school education. That’s something that she wishes she could have continued as well. She meets Jay while working at the hotel and falls in love with him and has a sometimes blissful, but mostly tumultuous relationship with him, which eventually leads us into their tragedy.

Tell us about Trishna’s personal journey.

Trishna for me, is the epitome of purity and suffering. Her journey can be divided into the three phases within the film. The first is her mundane family life in Ossian which starts changing only after she meets Jay. An unspoken passionate tension and subtle seduction rule this phase. The second phase is what I called “the Happy Phase” where both Jay and Trishna get temporary freedom from everything class-related, where they can just enjoy being together, uninhibited, in the city of Mumbai. They really discover each other during this time and are passionately in love. This is where Trishna, although she misses her family, is a lot more relaxed with Jay. The last phase is the most complex one of the story where Trishna has to face the inevitability of her fate with Jay and the fact that she would never be able to rise from her social class/status to be on the same level as him. In a way she would always have to submit to him in society. However, in their private moments while the love still exists, it slowly turns into sadistic torture especially for Trishna, which she swallows as a bitter pill.

Finally, she is pushed over the edge and that’s when she decides she cannot take it anymore.

Trishna is constantly torn between her desire to adopt Jay’s modernism and urbanity - which to some extent she does, and the traditional family values and rural roots that she finds hard to ignore. Therein lies her conflict. She does find it very liberating when Jay comes back looking for her and takes her to Mumbai. But there’s a certain sadness in the fact that she never fully fits into that setting but is nonetheless happy to try. When Jay finally takes her back to Rajasthan after finding out that she has been hiding a secret from him, she is in a way made to accept the unfairness that she has always been subjected to. To sum up her journey throughout the film in short, she’s almost there but never really there.

Tell us about her relationship with Jay.

Jay in our film is the embodiment of both Angel and Alec in Hardy’s novel. Trishna’s purity is alluring to Jay but it’s that very quality he ends up exploiting in his Alec phase. It’s a very passionate relationship filled with sexual tension, awe and a certain admiration for each other. But they are almost like each other’s forbidden fruit. Trishna would probably only dream of falling in love with someone like Jay and only in her wildest dreams would she ever imagine it to be a reciprocal feeling. There is a lot of shyness and passivity in the way she handles her side of the relationship with him never knowing how much she could actually open up. So when she finally does tell him about

scenes. Every film has had its own unique and wonderful experience but this is what is unique about Michael.

What sort of preparation and research did you do and what other skills did you have to learn? You do a lot of dancing…

Oh yes - the dancing! I accompanied one of the crew members on a recce a month before we started filming to get a better sense of the culture I was going to dive into. It’s obviously not enough to just be an Indian to play this character.

Rajasthan is vastly different from Mumbai. I met a lot of families, young girls working at hotels, recorded videos and audio tapes, went to local schools, spoke to students there and

the pregnancy, his image of her being a symbol of “ultimate purity” comes down like a house of cards and they move into a very sadistic phase of their relationship where she continues to be even more passive which irks Jay further and in turn he keeps provoking her to get her to react.

It’s a doomed romance.

How different was the shooting experience and working with Michael, compared to your other films?

Michael has a very distinctive style of filming. He is not afraid of getting his hands dirty in a way that he can be fully involved in the story and encourages and expects us to do the same. He also has an optimism that is absolutely admirable but also quite intense. He knew I didn’t speak Marvadi at all but somehow thought since I spoke Hindi I would be able to speak and improvise in Marvadi as well. It obviously scared the living delights out of me and forced me to find a method to pick up the language in less than 20 days! I didn’t have a dialect coach on set so I had to prepare myself fully for whatever could be thrown at me. I think in that sense, he expected our homework to be thorough and for us to be as prepared as he always is. That quality made me think a lot more independently as an actor and to be able to make the set more organic rather than contrived.

He likes working with a very intimate set - very few people where you don’t feel like it’s a movie set. He is very flexible and invites the actors to come up with their own ideas to enhance the

got interesting insights on their dreams and aspirations and the hurdles they come across in accomplishing those dreams. For me, my research consisted of studying people. I was not playing Tess in England or Mumbai, so I had to keep it as authentic to the Rajasthani setting as possible. In terms of skills, I learnt to speak a bit of Marvadi and of course learning the traditional Rajasthani dance moves was fun.

Can milking cows and goats also be considered a skill? I think yes!

The role of Trishna is huge and required flexibility and versatility, which you excelled at. What were the biggest challenges and biggest joys of the shoot?

It has been by far my biggest and most demanding role and I couldn’t have enjoyed it more. The biggest challenge was adopting Trishna’s passivity which is not necessarily her strength or weakness, it is both. Many times Michael had to remind me during certain scenes not to respond and join in every conversation but rather be the observer and absorber. That’s very difficult for a chatty girl like me who is always ready with a response! But through the course of the filming process it started falling into place - the frustration, the internalisation of the pain she feels that ultimately pushes her over the edge. For me it was almost like her passivity was a must to understanding her suffering.

Working with a team that introduced a guerilla style of filmmaking to me was a complete joy and I cannot say I wasn’t ready for it. I was more

17

than happy to embrace it. The simplicity of our living conditions in Ossian made it easier for me to feel closer to Trishna. I found it very interesting that we didn’t just work with professional actors. The family playing Trishna’s family in the film were a real Rajasthani family from Ossian (except for those playing my mother and father). It was like the saying “go with the flow” for most part but with an obvious direction.

How was it working with Riz? There is something absolutely earthy and raw about the way he performs. He takes every moment as it is given to him; he feels it inside out and delivers with impact. He can be very hard on himself sometimes but that’s the way he functions. I believe that’s his way of pushing himself to do better and excel. His ability to communicate his ideas and at the same time be open to debate made it very easy and a memorable experience to work with him.

Michael has compared the England of the 19th Century during Tess’ time with the new India that’s emerging (industrialization, urbanization, education). Do you agree? How have you seen India change in recent years and how in particular, has it changed for women like Trishna?

It is quite true and I never really paid attention to that comparison, till I had to justify to myself why TRISHNA would be the perfect Indian Rajasthani adaptation. It definitely is. India has changed in a lot of ways and in some ways there is still the need for more change. Education is slowly trickling into most remote villages of India and the importance of educating the girlchild is also coming to the forefront. There are still a few rigid ways and blind faith beliefs, social class system and casteism - that serve as hindrances in a few small towns and villages in the interiors of the country but despite that conscious efforts are being made to ensure that the need for basic education to children – male and female is met and adequate support to see it through is provided for. The Thar English Medium Primary School in Ossian that lent their support in the pre-production process of the film is one such example of the educational change in rural areas. As far as cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore etc go, there is an incredibly distinctive change. Technology and modernisation has improved the quality of life, and education has become on a par with the international standards if not better. The manner in which India’s economy has seen an unprecedented boom in the last one and half decades and particularly in the last four to five years has a lot in common to the industrial revolution of England. There is also considerable growth and development of “home grown MNCs” in India. Besides the open door policy that allows foreign investment in India, we also have our own corporate giants like the Tata group, the Birla group, the Ambani group that have made a mark in the business and entertainment world not just in India but also overseas And of course as far as changing role of woman in society goes , the fact that the current President of India is a woman is quite a shining example.

Michael has drawn similarities between Thomas Hardy’s storytelling and Bollywood films (melodrama, love, poor girl falling in love with rich man and being carried away).

Can you see that?

Absolutely. Essentially it can be viewed as a typical Bollywood story – the themes and the definite melodrama in it. Even some of Hardy’s lines can find a direct parallel to some of the Bollywood films, especially when Angel returns from Brazil to find her as a mistress to Alec and Tess tells him “It’s too late, it’s too late”. It’s reality that is heightened with tools like melodrama.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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EDITORIAL

July 27, 2012

Passage of Time and Leaders

We often mark milestones of our personal lives with political events. Where were you when President John F. Kennedy was assasinated? Most of you were probably cosmic dust waiting to be born. I was 11 years old, recently arrived in Hyderabad after spending the period of 1961-63 in Salt Lake City, Utah. For our younger readers, perhaps 9/11 or 26/11 have been milestone events.

We’re in the midst of a U.S. presidential election with Barack Obama seeking a second term and Mitt Romney seeking to unseat him. The first U.S. President I remember is Dwight Eisenhower.

That’s a lot of presidents over the years.

In India, Pranab Mukherjee has become the 13th President of India. In my lifetime, I can recall all of the Indian presidents, starting from Rajendra Prasad. The next President, S. Radhakrishnan, with his distinctive pagadi, had come to our high school in Hyderabad.

When I was growing up, it seems like Jawaharlal Nehru was our permanent Prime Minister. When the transition to Lal Bahadur Shastri, I remember cycling to Begumpet airport to take a look at his official airplane. Who could forget the strongwoman Indira Gandhi? And it seems like only yesterday when young Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi came to Houston.

Here in Houston, we’re also undergoing a transition from Consul General Sanjiv Arora to P. Harish. Starting from Swashpavan Singh to Tayal, Wangdi, Gavai, and Arora, Harish will be our sixth CG. Each CG has had his unique personality and working style. Under CG Arora, there has been a tremendous increase in the Consular services workload. Houston is now among the Top 10 Indian missions. After the expected delays due to additional procedures as a result of the 26/11 attacks, the process of getting a passport, visa and OCI/PIO cards is now relatively smooth. CG Arora deserves credit for this efficient transition. The Consulate has also shifted to a spacious, centrally located building.

CG Harish will have his own challenges through the passage of time and change of circumstances. As we bid a fond adieu to CG Arora, we greet CG Harish with enthusiasm.

Pramod Kulkarni

Going Beyond Symbols

It’s time Akhilesh Yadav delivers real change. Yadav was elected chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in a wave of expectant goodwill. Voters were eager to see the state’s youngest-ever CM usher in socio-economic improvement. But 130 days later those voters are still waiting - and watching as the 38-year-old leader adopts exasperatingly familiar tactics. His latest move has been renaming districts his predecessor Mayawati named after Dalit leaders. Yadav’s decision to change these districts’ names back to their older ones makes little pragmatic sense - but reflects jaded political sensibility. Instead of injecting notable new enterprise, order and development into his state, Yadav seems to be milking the same old cows of community, caste and convenience.

Times of India

Redefining the Presidency

BY NEERJA CHOWDHURY Pranab Mukherjee, who was sworn in last Wednesday as the 13th President of the Indian Republic, is a man conscious of his political stature. He is also a realist. It’s the combination of these two qualities, which, in all probability will come to define his presidency. As a skilled practitioner of statecraft, it’s not surprising that “Arthashastra” is his favorite book. Or, that a picture of its author Kautilya adorns his room.

Here’s a pointer to an interesting facet of his persona. Mukherjee had refused to pick up the phone and dial Mamata Bannerjee’s number himself to seek her support for his candidature. Instead, he got his secretary and senior Congress leaders to line up an appointment to see her. The meeting, though, did not materialize. Fearing Mamata’s rejection, Mukherjee might not have wanted to land himself in such a situation. It’s another matter that Mamata was later compelled to eat her words and vote for him.

By way of an explanation for his reluctance to make that phone call, Mukherjee recounted what Indira Gandhi, who influenced him deeply as she did a generation of Congress leaders, had once told him.

Political standing, Gandhi said, must never be compromised. A six feet tall man could lose weight if he was not given enough to eat.

But he couldn’t and shouldn’t lose height!

Pranab Mukherjee has also demonstrated a rare ability to read the writing on the wall. This was evident in his agreeing to work under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, which, given his seniority and experience, could not have been easy.

As finance minister in the early 80s, Mukherjee had signed the order appointing Manmohan Singh as the RBI Governor. Yet he stood solidly behind the PM as Singh increasingly resorted to running the government through GOMs and EGOMs, most of them headed by Mukherjee. He showed this realism once again in 2010 accepting that he wouldn’t be able to become prime minister, and turning his at-

As the head of state, the commander in chief of the armed services, and visitor to central universities, Mukherjee will try and restore health to our democratic institutions, which have taken a severe beating. tention to Raisina Hills.

Presidents come and go every five years. Each Rashtrapati has defined his presidency. R Venkataraman saw his presidency as an “emergency light” which automatically came on in a crisis and went off after it was over. K R Narayanan saw himself as ‘working’ president, while APJ Abdul Kalam was the ‘people’s Prez’.

How will Pranab Mukherjee fashion his presidency? Will his tenure be like that of the first president, Rajendra Prasad, who enjoyed a parity of stature with the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru and counseled the government on a host of issues? But, while Rajendra Prasad often volunteered advice, even unsolicited, to Nehru, Manmohan Singh is likely to informally seek Pranab Mukherjee’s advice himself. There are a thousand informal ways for a President to help the PM. The extent to which Pranab Mukherjee will be able to act as a friend, philosopher and guide to the government, and even troubleshoot behind the scenes, will depend on the kind of working relationship he and Manmohan Singh are able to establish in their new roles. There was a time when Manmohan Singh used to refer to Pranab Mukherjee as “Sir”.

In 2004, Singh became PM, but still out of habit, continued to call his number two “sir” in private.

Mukherjee isn’t likely to be a rubber stamp President like Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed who signed on the

Indo American News FOUNDER: DR. K.L. SINDWANI PUBLISHER: JAWAHAR MALHOTRA EDITOR: PRAMOD KULKARNI PARTNER: KRISHNA GIRI MANAGING EDITOR: MANASI GOKHALE ADVERTISING & ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER: VANSHIKA VIPIN CORRESPONDENTS HOUSTON: PARTH DWIVEDI, SOWMYA NANDKUMAR, CHETNA SAMAL CHICAGO: NAND KAPOOR, INDIA: RAJ KANWAR ®All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the written consent of the publisher. The deadline for advertising and articles is 5 pm on Monday of each week. Please include self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of all unsolicited material. Published at 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 262, Houston, Texas 77036. Tel: 713-789-NEWS or 6397 Fax: 713-789-6399, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com, website: indoamerican-news.com

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dotted line promulgating emergency in 1975. Neither does the constitution expect the Rashtrapati to be one. At the same time, Mukherjee isn’t going to be an adventurist, controversy courting President.

Essentially a middle roader, a believer in the system, Mukherjee will be a constitutionally correct President, probably an active and interactive one too.

The President’s discretionary powers have aroused more than the usual interest this time, primarily because the 2014 verdict is expected to be more fractured than in 2009. Many Congress baiters are hoping that Mukherjee would not facilitate the elevation of Rahul Gandhi as PM in case of a muddled verdict. Here are some pertinent issues for consideration.

Firstly, the powers of the President to invite anyone as PM have been restrained since the days of Shankar Dayal Sharma. The latter invited Atal Bihari Vajpayee to form government in 1996 without clarity on how he would get a majority. Sharma’s successor KR Narayanan insisted on letters of support, and various Supreme Court judgements have also laid down floor test as the ultimate yardstick, which, any President would have to be mindful of. Secondly, no President can deny Rahul Gandhi - or anyone else - the opportunity to form a government if he, as the leader of his party, can prove his majority. What is more, Mukherjee is unlikely to do something unconstitutional at the end of his long political innings.

The more interesting question is whether, as the head of state, the commander in chief of the armed services, and Visitor to central universities, Mukherjee will try and restore health to our democratic institutions, which have taken a severe beating. He may not have executive powers. But will he use his position to persuade, restrain, counsel and encourage without getting into a confrontation, to move in this direction?

The writer is a senior political commentator for Times of India.

COMMUNITY

NASA Includes Two Indian Innovators for Conference on Waste Management

WASHINGTON (TOI): NASA, the US space agency has included two Indian innovators for its conference on waste management.

Nitin Gupta from Attero Recycling and Anshu Goonj from Goonj are among nine innovators from across the globe that made it to the NASA conference on waste management, which started on Friday.

Supported by the USAgency for International Development (USAID), the State Department and Nike; the fourth installment of the event being held at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, is called LAUNCH: Beyond Waste.

It aims to identify and accelerate solutions in waste management, an immediate issue for astronauts aboard the International Space Station, as well as people around the world.

The forum runs through July 22.

Gupta from Attero Recycling is India’s leading provider of end-to-end electronic and electrical goods eWaste management services; while Goonj is a grassroots NGO focused on transforming and revaluing clothing and textiles waste by working on these issues directly at the community level.

NASA said these innovators were chosen for this forum because of their groundbreaking technologies

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and programmes that address a broad range of waste issues, including waste-to-energy; eWaste, which includes discarded electrical or electronic devices; upcycling, the process of using waste to create new materials; recycling; agricultural waste and conservation; medical waste; sustainable chemicals and materials; and improved sanitation. During the three-day forum, LAUNCH innovators will discuss their most pressing business and programme issues with LAUNCH Council members, who represent the business, waste management, investment, international development, policy, engineering, science, communications and sus-

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tainability sectors.

For NASA, LAUNCH draws parallels between resource challenges humans face aboard the space station and on Earth. With no natural resources in the hostile environment of space, astronauts must generate, collect, store, conserve, recycle and manage their resources wisely, NASA said.

LAUNCHoffers NASA’s problemsolving expertise to crucial conversations on sustainability-related topics with innovative problem solvers from around the world.

It enables the agency to promote emerging, transformative technology to sustain and enrich the quality of life on Earth, it said.

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Maruti Suzuki Imposes Lockout at India Plant After Deadly Riot

BY KARTHIKEYAN SUNDARAM & SIDDHARTH PHILIP (Bloomberg) Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. (MSIL), the country’s largest carmaker, fell in Mumbai trading after the company said it’s halting a factory near New Delhi pending the conclusion of a probe into a deadly riot last week.

Maruti dropped 5.9 percent to close at 1,079.95 rupees, the lowest since June 20. The stock was the worst performer on India’s Sensitive Index (SENSEX), which lost 1.6 percent.

Suzuki Motor Corp. (7269), which owns a majority stake in the automaker, declined 3.9 percent to 1,366 yen in Tokyo, the lowest close since February 2009.

Chairman R.C. Bhargava on July 21 announced the lockout and ruled out an early resumption of the factory, which accounts for about 40 percent of the company’s manufacturing capacity. The stoppage, the fourth at the plant in a year, means Maruti may fail to meet growing demand for diesel cars and risk alienating customers.

“There’s big demand for diesel vehicles and most of Maruti’s diesel models are made here,” said Umesh Karne, an analyst at BRICS Securities Ltd. in Mumbai. “This may also change customer perception as this is happening regularly and customers may avoid booking and waiting for Maruti cars.”

At the Manesar factory, where Maruti assembles its top- selling Swift and Dzire models, policemen extended their cordon of the site as they investigate the violence. The charred security booth at the entrance gate was covered in tarpaulin material, with entry limited to police, guards and firemen. No signs of cleanup operations were visible as of 12:45 p.m.

The factory produces about 1,600 vehicles worth 700 million rupees ($12.5 million) a day, according to Ashvin Shetty, an analyst at Ambit Capital Pvt. in Mumbai.

Bhargava didn’t give an estimate as to how long the stoppage will last.

“We cannot risk any further damage,” Bhargava said. “That’s the reason why it’s necessary for us to do a complete investigation into the events that happened and identify the factors that caused the events to happen, what were the causes, what was behind all this, why did it happen?”

Last week’s violence -- which resulted in the death of Awanish Kumar Dev, a human resources general manager, and at least 70 injuries -- has led one of the nation’s biggest business lobbies to say the incident has undermined India’s reputation as an investment destination.

“It’s a matter of deep concern for a country that seeks to project itself as offering an environment that is business- friendly,” R.V. Kanoria, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said in an e-mailed statement July 21, calling for authorities to deal “firmly” with the situation.

The automaker won’t import cars to make up for the loss of production at

Security staff survey damage to a factory building caused by rioting workers at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd’s Manesar plant, near New Delhi Photo: Sanjit Das

its Manesar factory, Bhargava said.

Indian authorities said July 19 that all 3,000 union workers at the Manesar plant would be charged with murder and attempted murder.

K.K. Sindhu, police commissioner of Gurgaon district, said in an interview today police may not charge all the workers with murder and were only detaining them to obtain information about the incident.

Maruti has no plans to relocate the plant out of Manesar in northern Haryana state, Bhargava said. A factory at Gurgaon, about 19 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Manesar, is operating at full capacity, he said.

Suzuki is sending about 10 Japanbased employees to support recovery work, Tokyo-based spokesman Ei Mochizuki said today.

“This is bad news for Maruti as it may take as little as five days or as long as 50 days to identify the rogue elements in the workers who did this,” said Mahantesh Sabarad, an analyst at Fortune Equity Brokers India Ltd. in Mumbai. “It also shows the trust deficit between the management and the workers. This lockout comes at a very efficient factory that produces some of Maruti’s most popular models.”

The lockout comes amid a slowdown in car sales in India as high gasoline prices and interest rates deter buyers. The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers on July 10 cut its forecast for growth to a range of 9 percent to 11 percent for the year ending March 31 from an estimate of 10 percent to 12 percent given in April.

India’s economic growth slowed to the weakest in almost a decade in the quarter ended March and the rupee slumped to a record low amid a paralysis in policy making that has hurt efforts to spur investment as a global recovery falters. The government’s recent setbacks include the December suspension of a move to let foreign companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (WMT) open supermarkets, and abandoning of plans to allow investment in the pension and insurance industries.

The rioting at Maruti “may definitely impact the investment in India in the short run,” Malvinder Singh, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry’s northern region, said on July 20.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

Narendra Modi, chief minister of India’s Gujarat state, who’s on a visit to Japan, will meet Suzuki officials at Hamamatsu on July 25, according to an e-mailed statement. Modi’s visit has fueled speculation that he would convince Maruti to consider a bigger plant than the 250,000-unit facility it has announced in the state, the Press Trust of India reported July 20.

Shinzo Nakanishi, managing director of Maruti, said July 21 Suzuki is expanding in Gujarat, not shifting production there.

Maruti’s board in October approved buying as much as 1,400 acres (567 hectares) of land for future expansion in Gujarat, where General Motors Co. (GM), Tata Motors Ltd. (TTMT) and Ford Motor Co. (F) either have plants or are building factories.

Gujarat’s Minister of State for Industries Saurabh Patel said media reports that Maruti may shift parts of its Manesar plant to the state was “far from truth and a figment of imagination.” Maruti’s decision to invest in Gujarat was made long ago, he said in a statement on the government’s website. Maruti and the workers’ union have blamed each other for the Manesar incident.

According to Maruti, the dispute began July 18 after a worker beat up a supervisor on the shop floor.

The union then prevented management from taking disciplinary action, blocking managers from leaving the factory after work, Maruti said.

Workers attacked managers after talks to resolve the dispute failed, with employees setting property on fire and ransacking offices, according to the company.

The union has said it was keen to have a dialogue with the company to resolve the matter and that workers were attacked by bouncers working for Maruti while discussions were on with guild leaders.

“Following the incidents of violence and arson at the Manesar facility, the management believes that if employees are asked to report for work at the facility, their lives will be endangered,” Maruti said in an e-mailed statement on July 21.

Ram Meher Singh, president of the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union, and Sarabjeet Singh, the general secretary, could not be reached for comments yesterday as their mobile phones were switched off.

July 27, 2012

21

R.I.P. Pepper Hussain

Pepper Hussain crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge on July 1, 2012 Mourning Family Members: Zabie, Latafath, Zaid & Zain Hussain

Lord, you have embraced a good friend and loving companion.

While we mourn what we have lost, we do celebrate what we had... and in saying goodbye, we renew our pledge to love and care for any creature you entrust to us for its time of life.

Thank you, Lord, for the joy this loved one gave us and for making it possible for us to have made this friend's life a good one.

Courtesy: IPAWS Houston Indo American Pet & Animal Welfare Society of Greater Houston www.facebook.com/ipawshouston EMail: ipawshouston@gmail.com

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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COMMUNITY

July 27, 2012

Vibha Strikes the Right Chord with Banerjee Concert

HOUSTON: Vibha Houston hosted Pandit. Debojyoti Bose and Pandit. Abhijit Banerjee Concert at the Belin Chapel, Houston Baptist University on July 21.

Pt. Debojyoti Bose is a worldrenowned sarod player and a disciple of Ustad Amjad Ali Khan. He is a veteran in blending the tabla with his sarod recitals. A prolific performer, Pt. Bose has performed at innumerable venues of prestige across India and in many other countries. He has scored music for more than 25 TV serials, telefilms and several films including “Hundred Years of Cinema” by the renowned Mrinal Sen. Pt. Debojyoti Bose was accompanied by Pt. Abhijit Banerjee, top ranking tabla player.

He is accepted as one of pioneering disciples of the illustrious guru, the late Pt. Ghyan Prakash Ghosh. He has accompanied nearly all the top ranking luminaries of Indian classical music including Pt. Ravi Shankar, Pt. Jasraj, and Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma, to name a few. He is also a reputed tabla soloist.

These luminaries delivered a blissful performance in the beautiful Belin Chapel Hall. This event provided a great opportunity for Houstonions to hear the maestros and appreciate their soulful renditions. The amazing jugalbandhi of Sarod and Tabla held the audience spellbound for almost

CONTINUED FROM PAGE

two hours. In the first half, the Pandits played the soulful ragas, Kalawati and Behag, reaching ecstatic heights.

In the second half, they delivered a few folk tunes and Rabindra Sangeet leaving the audience desiring more.

This amazing concert was organized by the dedicated efforts of Vibha Houston volunteers. Vibha is a non-profit, non-religious and nonpolitical organization with the mission to educate, empower and enable every individual who wishes to make a positive difference in the life of the underprivileged children. Vibha acts as a liaison between the individuals who want to help and the kids who

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need their help. One way to enable this is by conducting fund raising events every year. These funds are directed towards supporting projects for underprivileged kids in the US and India. Vibha provides the projects with financial support, monitors them with their expertise and scales them up with their network. Currently, Vibha funds 25 projects reaching 25,000 children on a yearly basis.

Vibha Houston volunteers at the Houston Food Bank. As part of the last volunteering event at the Keegan kitchen, Vibha Houston helped pack food that will feed 2046 children and provided HFB savings of $ 1748.

Each year, Vibha Houston strives to organize unique and exciting events to provide enriching experiences for their patrons. The support of patrons has enabled Vibha Houston achieve their vision to enable every child to attain his/her right to education, health and opportunity. The live concert was supported by a number of patrons who want to help Vibha in their mission. Vibha Houston would liek to their patrons for their support and looks forward to seeing them at their future fundraising events.

For more information, visit www. vibha.org

Visit Our Website Daily for News Updates

CG Sanjiv Arora, Dr. Maqbool Haq, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee and Amil Saheb

The formal session was followed by the opening of Iftar, Namaz and then a truly sumptuous dinner. The Dinner was served in the traditional Bohra style. Several guests sat around a thal, and were served course –wise dinner consisting of chicken, Biryani, Roti, Hummus, Vegetables, daal, different types of salads, and desserts. In true Gujarati style, dessert was served first and then the entrees. Special arrangements were made for vegetarians.

IMAGH President Latafath Hussain said that we are very lucky that our very first event was such a great success. To have such a large representation from the Community, especially during Ramadan, when fasting literally drains your energy by evening time, and to have had the opportunity to showcase to non-Muslim friends Ramadan , in this particular setting--Bohra Community Center--- where the hospitality of the Bohras far exceeded any ones expectations, is huge. We just gave CG Arora a very emotional farewell, because we did this with a lot of dil se, in a totally different setting .

He also thanked the members of IMAGH who worked very hard to make their maiden event a great Janab Taha Bhai Saheb with CG Sanjiv Arora success.

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Pt. Abhijit Banerjee (left) with Pt. Debojyoti Bose

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Ex-Mckinsey’s Anil Kumar Gets 2-Year Probation in Insider Case

NEW YORK: An Indian-American former Mckinsey partner, who helped convict Wall Street tycoons Raj Rajaratnam and Rajat Gupta for insider trading, was sentenced to two years probation on securities fraud charges and ordered to forfeit $2.26 million, avoiding a jail term in the case.

Anil Kumar, 53, was sentenced by US Circuit Court Judge Denny Chin in Manhattan federal court. Apart from the probation sentence, he was ordered to pay a $25,000 Former McKinsey & Co. partner Anil Kumar was sentenced fine and forfeit $2.26 mil- to two years’ probation for his role in an insider-trading lion. “I am persuaded that scheme involving Galleon Group LLC co-founder Raj Rajaratnam. Photo: Scott Eells this was aberrational conduct and that Mr Kumar has led a law-abiding pleaded guilty in 2010 to one count of conspirand productive life,” Chin said. “I am persuaded acy and one count of securities fraud. He faced he cooperated not to get a lighter sentence but a maximum prison sentence of 20 years but was given a lenient jail term due to his extensive to make amends for what he did.”

Prosecutors had told the judge that Kumar had cooperation with the government. “I stand in earned leniency with his willingness to come this court today completely and totally shamed clean about his misdeeds. “Kumar’s significant, by the conduct that has brought me before your powerful, and timely cooperation has provided honour,” Kumar said at his court hearing. “I substantial assistance to the Government in the strayed from my core beliefs that I stood for investigation and prosecution of two of the most all my life.” A day before his sentencing, court high-profile defendants convicted of illegal papers submitted by Kumar’s lawyers were unsealed in which he had sought probation for insider trading in history,” prosecutor said.

Kumar was arrested along with hedge fund his cooperation in the government’s crackdown founder Rajaratnam in October 2009 and had on insider trading on the Wall Street.

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The Inner Voice that says “Don’t Give Up”

BY PRAKASH IYER W Mitchell is a remarkable man with a remarkable story.As a 28-yearold, he was riding a motorcycle on a highway when disaster struck. His motorcycle crashed into a stationary truck. His hands and his hips were crushed. The petrol in his bike’s tank spilled and caught fire and Mitchell’s body was in flames. His face was burnt beyond recognition. His body was covered with third degree burns, and doctors at the hospital didn’t think he’d survive. After 16 skin grafts and numerous surgeries, Mitchell survived. With a badly scarred face, and no fingers on his hands.

Six months later, Mitchell was back on his feet, making a new life.

He founded a company and became a millionaire. He then became the Mayor of his town. And despite having no fingers on his hands, he trained and became a pilot. Life was good once again. And then four years later, a little plane he was piloting crashlanded. Twelve of his vertebrae were crushed, his spinal cord damaged beyond repair.

And he could never walk again.

Consigned to a wheel chair, and with no hands, Mitchell remained unfazed and continued to lead a full life – running a large enterprise, skydiving, and motivating people around the world. “Before my accidents, there were 10,000 things I could do,” says Mitchell. “I could have spent the rest of my life focusing on the one thousand that I could not now do, but I chose instead to focus on the nine thousand things I could still do!”

Mitchell lost his fingers, lost senses in his spinal cord, and lost the ability to walk. But he never lost hope.

If you look at the stories of successful people, you’ll probably see familiar ingredients: big dreams, adversity, hard work, persistence, passion, discipline, failure, persever-

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Prakash Iyer is Executive Coach & MD, Kimberly-Clark Lever and author of ‘The Habit of Winning’. ance, more hard work, and finally success. While the proportions may vary, the common thread holding them all together is hope.

Hope is what ensures that people keep going when all seems lost. Hope is the cornerstone of all actions and achievements. A student with no hope of passing an exam won’t study. Why bother, he’ll probably tell himself, when I am going to fail anyway. An overweight person with no hope of becoming slim, won’t go on a diet.

‘Why bother? I am going to be fat anyway’. Hope is the fuel that keeps the engine of life running at all times.

When the whole world seems to say “Give up, you can’t do it”, hope is

that little voice inside us which says, “Come on, give it one more try, you can do it.” But hope alone is never enough. You need to take responsibility as well. And you need to take action.

There’s a little poem that’s been mounted on my desk for many, many years now. The author is unknown – but it’s a poem that Brian Tracy – the author and motivational Guru - loves to share. It’s been something that’s given me strength and inspiration – and I thought you would enjoy reading it too. Here it is: “When things go wrong as they sometimes will When the road you’re trudging seems all up hill.

When funds are low and the debts are high.

And you want to smile, but you have to sigh.

When care is pressing you down a bit.

Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns.

As everyone of us sometimes learns.

And many a failure turns about When he might have won had he stuck it out: Don’t give up though the pace seems slow You may succeed with another blow.

Success is failure turned inside out The silver tint of the clouds of doubt.

And you never can tell how close you are.

It may be near when it seems so far: So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.”

Next time you feel like giving up... don’t! Think of W Mitchell’s life and you’ll realise how small your problems are. Keep the hope alive.

Take charge. Take action. And keep winning.

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Upcoming Event 12 hour satsang at Shri Kripalu Kunj Ashram on Sat August 4 2012 from 9am to 9pm.

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If you look at the stories of successful people, you’ll probably see familiar ingredients: big dreams, adversity, hard work, persistence, passion, discipline, failure, perseverance, more hard work, and finally success. While the proportions may vary, the common thread holding them all together is hope.

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It was an Easy Stroll for Mukherjee to Rashtrapati Bhavan

BY RAJ KANWAR IAN INDIA CORRESPONDENT It was just an easy stroll that the veteran politician Pranab Mukherjee took this Sunday from his erstwhile finance ministry’s office in the North Block to reach the sprawling 340room Rashtrapati Bhavan. Like his easy stroll, his win too was as easy.

It was a much deserved victory for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) which had also attracted support from across the political spectrum In the election held on 19 July, his only rival PA Sangma, a former Lok Sabha speaker, failed to put up a fight. Even though supported

by BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) barring two of its major constituents, Sangma could not even secure half as many votes as Mukherjee did.

Even before the formal declaration of the results, Mukherjee’s 13 Talkotora Road residence had acquired a festive look with hundreds of his supporters and well-wishers thronging its not very large complex. Appropriately, two of capital’s famous sweets’ shops, namely Bengali Sweets and Kaleva Sweets were just across the street and soon their famous delicacies, mootichoor ladoos, malai kulhars and Mukherjee’s own favorite “Sandesh” instantly became flavors of the day. Namkeen delicacies such as dahi bhalle, khasta kachoris and Idli sambar too did the rounds.

With the formal declaration of the results, the festivities became more boisterous with the top Congress leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the Congress President Sonia Gandhi arriving there to personally congratulate him.

Soon there was a continuous flow of every body that is somebody and Mukherjee’s house then looked more like a beehive of VVIPs than a throng of hoi polloi that it was earlier. His relatives and other friends

tory celebrations in Kolkota took the cake. His election as India’s 13th president was like the rolling of festivals of Diwali and Holi into a single festival. The celebrations there were as spontaneous as these could be, much to the embarrassment of Mamata Banerji who had continued to oppose his candidature almost till the last moment, and when she grudgingly and ungracefully extended her support to him, it was “with a heavy heart”.

Though Mukherjee was born and raised in the state of West Bengal, New Delhi has been his Karmabhoomi over the past 40 years now.

In the course of this long period,

Mukherjee changed houses five times, mostly in the same neighborhood. He moved to the grandeur of Rashtrapati Bhavan on July 25 on his formal installation as the 13th President of India.

This Sunday must have been a sad day for Bengal’s “lone ranger” who has had her way most of the time in recent times. The fact the Mukherjee secured nearly two third of the total votes polled leaving his rival with paltry one third share must also be humiliating experience for BJP, India’s principal opposition party which now has plenty of time to rue its politics of “negativism” that it has been practicing recently.

Petrol Price Up by 70 Paise a Litre One of India’s most experienced and canny politicians, Mukherjee, won the sweepstakes with a massive margin, bagging 713,763 votes, about 70 percent, leaving Sangma way behind with 315,887 votes.

surrounded him as he addressed the media at his residence.

Mukherjee was humility personified; he became somewhat emotional and that was quite natural. Expressing a deep gratitude to the people of this “ great country” for conferring upon him the distinction of electing him to the august office of India’s President, he promised that he would try to live up to their expectations and would protect, defend and preserve the Constitution .He also voiced his thanks to the political parties, parliamentarians and state legislators for extending their unstinted support to him.

Interestingly, Mukherjee is only the third sitting MP to have been elected to the august office of the president of India. Fakhruddin Ahmed and Zail Singh were the earlier ones.

It has been a 40-year- long journey

for Mukherjee, starting in 1969 as a member of the Rajya Sabha and finally culminating in his election as India’s President. In between he has had the honor of occupying high offices of ministers of foreign affairs and of finance. India’s Economics Times describes Mukherjee as “veteran of politics and art of governance.

He brings a wealth of experience to the top Constitutional office having held numerous key positions both in the party and at the Center “He also enjoys the reputation of being a patient negotiator with the uncanny knack of getting across to those holding contrary view points. He was also the most –in- demand troubleshooter of the Congress party and the Federal government.

Mukherjee’s victory was celebrated with much gusto in many parts of the country including Chandigarh, Mumbai et al. However, the vic-

NEW DELHI: After two rounds of rate cuts last month, petrol price was today hiked by 70 paise per litre on firming international oil rates. Petrol in Delhi will cost Rs 68.48 per litre with effect from midnight tonight as compared to Rs 67.78 a litre now, state-owned oil companies announced today.

The marginal hike in rate follows reductions last month - Rs 2.02 per litre on June 3 and Rs 2.46 a litre on June 29. The twin price cuts followed the massive Rs 7.54 per litre increase in rates, the biggest in the history, effected in May. Average price of Indian basket of crude is USD 101.28 per barrel while international petrol price is USD 111.59 a barrel. The Rupee-USD exchange rate is around Rs 55.36 to a dollar.

“At these levels, the oil companies are incurring losses of about Rs 1.41 per litre on petrol sales in the domestic market. However, as the price movement is quite volatile, it has been decided that an increase of Rs 0.70 per litre ..,” it said. In Mumbai, petrol price has raised by Rs 0.88 to Rs 74.24 per litre, while it will cost Rs 73.61 a litre in Kolkata from tomorrow compared to Rs 72.74 per litre currently. Chennai saw a hike of Rs 0.89 per litre in price to Rs 73.16 a litre.

IOC said the three state-owned oil marketing firms are projected to lose record Rs 1,60,000 crore in revenue on sale of diesel, domestic LPG and kerosene, whose rates have not been revised in over a year now.

Today’s price hike was necessitated as international rate for gasoline, against which domestic petrol prices are benchmarked, has risen from USD 106.93 a barrel at the time of last reduction to USD 111.59 per barrel.

Value of rupee against the US dollar has also been a big dampener. Rupee has devalued to Rs 55.36 to a US dollar from Rs 54.96 to a US dollar, making imports costlier. “At these rates, it is estimated that under-recovery (or revenue loss) on sale of sensitive products during 2012-13 shall be around Rs 86,000 crore (for IOC) and Rs 1,60,000 crore for the industry,” it added.

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July 27, 2012

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Indian Spark Leading to the Discovery of Higgs-Boson “God” Particle

BY ANVAR ALIKHAN

KOLKOTA (Outlook): Given all the recent global newspaper headlines about the ‘God particle’, it’s interesting to look at its Indian connection—and at Satyendranath Bose, the legendary Indian physicist. For the ‘God particle’, of course, is more correctly called the Higgs boson. And the boson itself happens to be named after Bose, for his work on “Bose-Einstein statistics”, which defines the boson’s behaviour. Serious physicists scoff that this connection is tenuous and naive, but there does seem to be a connection.

Bose was one of the great physicists of our time, and his name is clubbed together with Einstein, Niels Bohr and Max Planck. Many scientists express surprise that he never won a Nobel Prize for his work, especially since various other later physicists won a Nobel for work on concepts that had been pioneered by him. And, as some would ask, if Enrico Fermi (after whom the fermion was named) could win a Nobel, why didn’t Bose (after whom the boson was obviously named) do so?

Bose, remarkably, was self-taught in physics (his MSc was in mathematics and he never did a PhD). He started out as a child math prodigy, and the legend goes that at Calcutta’s famous Hindu School, his teacher gave him 110 in a maths exam, explaining that he’d correctly answered all of the alternative questions too. Bose went on to study at Presidency College, whose galaxy of teaching stars included Jagadish Chandra Bose in physics and Prafulla Chandra Ray in chemistry. Bose stood first in the BSc (Hons) examination (while Meghnad Saha, later known for his famous ‘Saha Equation’ of thermal ionisation, came second). In their MSc examination, the two of them again came first and second, respectively.

A bit of trivia: ‘over-qualified’ for a job after finishing his MSc, Bose briefly gave private tuitions in maths to a zamindar’s son, Pramathesh Barua, who later became a pioneer among Indian film-makers, and who made the original Devdas in 1935. By then, of course, Bose got an appointment at Calcutta University. As a young man, Bose had to overcome enormous hurdles to teach himself physics: he had no access to modern textbooks on the concepts that were revolutionising physics at the time, like the theory of relativity and the quantum theory. He fi-

When Bose himself was once asked that question about the Nobel prize, he simply replied, “I have got all the recognition I deserve”— probably because in the realms of science to which he belonged, what is important is not a Nobel, but whether one’s name will live on in scientific discussions in the decades to come. And it’s clear The discovery of the Higgs-Boson particle is based on the original theoretical physica concepts developed that bosons, Bose statistics, Bose-Einstein conby India’s S.N. Bose. densates, and the name of nally made friends with P.J. Bruhl, a Ger- of friends perfected to a fine art, discussing S.N. Bose will live on in the annals of sciman scientist living in Calcutta, who lent everything under the sun, from physics to ence for a long, long time. Which is all that him the latest textbooks—but they were in economics, politics and musicology, over the great man really wanted, anyway.

German, so Bose had to first teach himself endless cups of ‘cha’.

German. k In 1924, Bose—then only 30 years -Pali o d n old—sent a paper to Albert Einstein, titled I epa N Planck’s Law and the Light Quantum Hypothesis, which had been turned down by an English scientific publication. Einstein was deluged with mail, but Bose’s paper caught his attention. Realising its importance, Einstein himself translated it into German, and July 13 - Aug 13 submitted it to the prestigious Zeitschrift fur Now Dr. K. B. Singh Physik, with a note saying, with obvious unis here, Every Sunday from 11.00AM. All Acute and Chronic Diseases are derstatement, “Bose’s derivation of Planck’s Curable with Ayurveda formula appears to me an important step Dr. K.B. Singh forward”. Bose’s work was acknowledged So Call Now for appointment 713-449-5265 as a breakthrough in quantum physics, and Medjool Ahmed Deer Einstein himself was sufficiently influenced Dates Pheny Vermicelli by it to work on a series of papers on what 200gm 11lb 200gm he termed ‘Bose statistics’. As a result, Bose became a celebrity worldwide. He spent two 99 19 00 4 for years in Europe, rubbing shoulders—and ideas—with greats like Einstein, Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrodinger.

Neesa Pasand India Gate Zafarani Basmati Rice Basmati Rice Bose’s name, interestingly, figures in EinBasmati Rice stein’s biography, Subtle is the Lord, which 10lb 10lb 10lb notes, “The paper by Bose is the fourth and last of the revolutionary papers of the old quantum theory (the other three being by, respectively, Planck, Einstein, and Bohr).”

Medium Baby Shakti Somehow, however, Bose has acquired the Goat Goat Bhog Atta reputation of being a genius who didn’t work 1lb 1lb 22lb hard enough to make full use of his talents.

Perhaps it was because he was known to be 99 happiest in front of a blackboard with his students. Or perhaps it was his typical Bengali love of ‘adda’, which he and his group

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July 27, 2012

Amla’s 311 Leads S. Africa to Innings Win vs. England

BY ANDREW MCGLASHAN

THE OVAL (ESPN Cricinfo): South Africa 637 for 2 dec (Amla 311*, Kallis 182*, Smith 131) beat England 385 (Cook 115, Trott 71, Prior 60, Morkel 4-72) and 240 (Bell 55, Steyn 5-56) by an innings and 12 runs South Africa, dominant since the start of the second day, secured an innings and 12-run victory at The Oval as they broke the back of some stubborn England resistance either side of the new ball on the final afternoon. Ian Bell and Matt Prior had given the home side hope, but Imran Tahir broke the stand and Dale Steyn then steamed in to finish with 5 for 56.

The result was nothing less than South Africa deserved for a performance that confirmed what a formidable team they are and they achieved it on a ground where they had not won in 13 previous attempts. Indifferent on the first day, they barely put a foot wrong from the moment they rattled England on Friday morning. Showing the benefit of a finely balanced attack including pace, swing, seam, accuracy and spin, they did not fret when resistance was being put up.

It was England’s first home defeat since losing to Pakistan, on the same ground, in 2010 and their first innings loss since facing South Africa, at Johannesburg, earlier that same year. For South Africa, it continues their run of taking the series lead each time in England since readmission although it is the first time they have won the opening Test since 1994.

As in England’s first innings, when Kevin Pietersen was dismissed, it was wicket moments before the second new ball that undid much of the good work.

Prior, having shown impressive judgement, swept Tahir who was bowling around the wicket into the rough and a top edge went to Jacques Kallis at slip. The sweep, which caused England so many problems in the UAE and in Galle, was back to haunt them.

Bell, having reached his slowest Test fifty and resisted for 220 deliveries, then played his worst shot for some time when he guided the ball straight to Kallis at second slip

was introduced and should have removed Bell for 20 in his first over but AB de Villiers could not take a regulation outside edge. It was de Villiers’ first mistake of the match and ultimately would not prove costly.

For the second time in the match, Prior and Bell were nearly involved in a run out when Prior played a ball square to cover and Bell was a little slow responding for the run, but de Villiers could not quite gather JP Duminy’s throw. When Bell elegantly drove the last ball of the session down the ground there was just a thought that a Cardiffstyle escape was within England’s grasp. South Africa soon dashed that notion.

Andrew McGlashan is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

India: Winning Start

Hashim Amla brought up his second Test double century, England v South Africa, 1st Investec Test, The Oval.

as though giving morning catching practice. As in Cape Town in 2010 it was another defiant display from Bell but the weakness of the shot that ended his stay was symptomatic of why England came off second best. You cannot let down your guard for a moment against this South Africa team.

A tail, even with England’s pedigree, against a new ball is giftwrapped for a pumped-up Steyn and it did not take him long. Stuart Broad was given out through the DRS to a glove down the leg side and Graeme Swann drove to cover. Tim Bresnan and James Anderson resisted for 10 overs, delayed tea, and threatened to make South Africa bat again, but Tahir ended the match with a grubber to trap Anderson lbw.

Although England had hope shortly after lunch, the major

damage had been done the previous evening with the loss of four top-order wickets. Bell and Ravi Bopara resumed with the deficit still 150 and the odds stacked against them.

Initially Bopara suggested solidity with a tight defence and a couple of confident shots into the leg side, although he came within a millimetre of losing his off stump when he left a delivery from Steyn which shaped back. Then, in Steyn’s next, his eyes lit up at the offer of some width but instead of the ball finding the cover boundary it took a bottom edge into middle stump. The days between this Test and Headingley will be filled with further debate over his Test place.

After the early spells from the quicks, Tahir, who created plenty of problems on the fourth evening especially for Andrew Strauss,

HAMBANTOTA: India 314 for 6 (Kohli 106, Sehwag 96) beat Sri Lanka 293 for 9 (Sangakkara 133, Irfan 2-37, Ashwin 2-46) by 21 runs India hardly looked a side playing their first match in four months.

Their batsmen pounded Sri Lanka for a 300-plus total; their bowling, for once, did not fall apart and led

by Irfan Pathan, ensured the total was a winning one. Virat Kohli, now easily one of the best ODI batsmen in the world, cracked his third consecutive century against Sri Lanka, his fourth in five innings, and his fifth successive fifty-plus score, equalling the Indian record. Virender Sehwag resembled a man playing his first international game in nearly five months only briefly, before scattering the field with a 97-ball 96.

Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni made sure India recovered from a slight wobble.

Kumar Sangakkara responded with his third century in four international games, but by the time he got credible support at the other end from No. 8 Thisara Perera, the match had slipped too far out of Sri Lanka’s grasp. Perera did give India a scare, smacking 44 off 28 deliveries, but the departure of Sangakkara ended a stand of 78 off 53, and also Sri Lanka’s hopes.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 • WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

SPORTS

Indian Archers to do Ganguly after Medal

LONDON: India’s male archers plan to do an action replay of Sourav Ganguly’s torso-baring celebrations if they manage to notch up an Olympic medal at cricket’s Mecca --the hallowed turf of Lord’s.

Veteran archer Tarundeep Rai is all excited about taking aim at the historic cricket venue which will host the archery competition during the Olympics.

“At this moment, we are not looking too far. I don’t know what would it be like. But surely, we would celebrate like Ganguly (by baring torso and swirling the jersey) had done (in 2002),” Rai told PTI. Aiming a fourth straight Olympic title, the South Korean men archers maybe supremely confident but against the Indians, the world champions would surely find themselves jittery, felt Rai. Fresh from grabbing the quota places in the final Olympic qualification meet at the World Cup Stage III in Ogden this month, the resurgent Indians are yet to lose against the mighty Koreans, with a two out of two win record in one year.

From being number one till the World Cup 2011 Stage One in May when they beat Korea in the semifinals before losing to the US to settle for a silver, India slipped to number six.

In fact, when their women counterparts qualified for the Olympics from World Championships, the men’s team went on a losing spree.

As fate would have it, the Indians lifted the giant monkey off their back when they stunned the Koreans in World Cup 2012 Stage II in May this year to return to winning ways.

They later clinched the Olympic berth on the sidelines of Stage III this month.

“It was like a life-coming-afull-circle moment. 2011 was like a punishment. People were only talking about us whenever we went out. It was humiliating,” Rai, who would compete in his second Olympics, said.

July 27, 2012

Cultural Events & musical concert on Thursday, Aug 9, 7:30 pm & Sunday Aug 12, 5:30 pm

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Prasadam & decorations sponsored by Char Dham Hindu Temple (SKAI foundation)

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

32 July 27, 2012

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 27, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM