E newspaper11292013

Friday, November 29 2013 | Vol. 32, No. 48

Indo American erican News

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www.indoamerican-news.com Published weekly from Houston, TX

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November 29, 2013

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COMMUNITY

November 29, 2013

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Slow Down Awhile and Get to Know Your Neighbors in Delhi, Texas

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA DELHI, TX: A persistent tail wind flinging sprays of intermittent rain followed me on a bitterly cold Sunday morning as the Arctic front made its way across Texas and invaded the Hill Country. I had an errand to make just north of Gonzales at the Happy Hens Farm that required taking the cut-off to on to State Highway 304 just this side of Bastrop, east of the Colorado River.

The lack of traffic, the crunch of the asphalt road and the 70 mile speed limit lulled me into the hypnotic rhythm of driving when I noticed a sign that sped by and came to a quick stop. I drove back in reverse to look at the sign again.

Sure enough, it said “Delhi” and for this lad from that metropolis in the Old Country, it was like a red beacon luring him to stop and tarry for awhile.

To the west side, was the Delhi Volunteer Fire Department with two overhead doors, a gravel drive and two flag poles framing the building sign and a granite memorial to two fallen firefighters in front, with lots of space left for those who might fall in the future.

Across the highway was the Delhi Baptist Church, proclaiming its service hours and praising the Lord on a low glass encased sign. The pastor probably lived in the house next door with the minivan in the drive and to the side and behind the church was the Delhi Cemetery, opened in 1880, the wrought iron sign above the gate proclaimed, locking in the rows of gravestones.

A few steps beyond the church was the Delhi Community Center, with a sign on a two-wheeled trailer still advertising the Delhi Ladies Club Bazaar from eight days ago, on November 16. To the left was an open-sided wooden pavilion with wooden benches and

The little town of Delhi is nothing more than several structures along the sides of Texas Highway 304 in Caldwell County. The church, cemetery and community center are on the east side and the volunteer fire station is on the west side. A historical marker by the community center identifies the significance of the small settlement.

country tables and just steps away, two more white wooden buildings marked off the boundaries of a gathering field.

In front, a grey steel and black enamel plaque erected by the Texas Historical Commission before an oak tree described how Delhi was settled around 1870 by Orin and Susannah Winters. When the Post Office opened in 1873, it rejected the first name – Iron Mountain - selected by the community

but accepted the second name, Delhi, which was the name of a traveling salesman who stayed there for awhile and dispensed patent medicines and provided entertainment for the settlers.

The town flourished for a while with two cotton gins, a school, a syrup mill, blacksmith, casket shop and other businesses and the population climbed to 200 but declined to 30 by 1925 after the post office closed in 1929, and even

further to 25 by 1940. By 2000 the population had risen back up to 300, with the town folk mostly tending to farms in the area as the sandy foam soils make it ideal for agriculture and raising livestock.

But this Sunday, there were none of the townsfolk around to badger with questions whether they knew why the traveling salesman was named “Delhi”. Was he a long lost

desi, an Indian in Cowboy country who may have been selling some Aryuvedic or homeopathic medicines? What charms did he possess that made the community honor him forever in this way?

My mind wondered as I climbed back in to drive the rest of the way down to Interstate 10 towards the Happy Hens Farm.

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November 29, 2013

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COMMUNITY

November 29, 2013

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Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s 88th Birthday Celebrated with Grandeur

HOUSTON: The Sathya Sai Centers of Houston celebrated Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s 88th Birthday at The Durga Bari’s Sur Auditorium on Saturday November 23. Over 400 guests graced the occasion in spite of the inclement weather.

The South Houston Sai Center President, Sondip Mathur opened the program by extending a warm welcome to the guests. Three inspiring plays carrying messages of surrendering to God through detachment, humility, faith and devotion presented by the Sai Spiritual Education Children (SSE) were the highlight of the evening.

The first play, ‘Secret to My Success’ opened with a Breaking News clip, in which volunteers were shown helping a town devastated by a hurricane. The first amongst the volunteers was a doctor. Upon being asked by the reporter about the secret to his success, he goes into a flashback about his school days. He is tempted by his friends to cheat on an exam, but at the final hour he remembers that before Jesus Christ was crucified, He was going through a mental turmoil as well. Peace bestows upon Him, as soon as He prays to God to use Him as His instrument. Thereafter the young medical student resolves to do the right thing in life,

in making the program successful. He advised that all programs of the Sathya Sai organization are designed to bring internal change in the individuals. Be it service activities, teaching, spiritual education to children, or participating in study circles or devotional activities. He made an appeal to the audience to commit to dedicate all actions to God and participate in service activities on a regular basis.

‘Melodious devotional bhajans that followed the plays took everyone to a new high’. The program ended with touching birthday cake cutting by young children followed by a sumptuous Mahaprasad (dinner) served by Udipi Restaurant.

Houston area Sai devotees meet at two locations in the North and South parts of town on Sundays by keeping in the forefront Sri Sathya Sai Baba’s message to act righteously.

The second play ‘Gajendra Moksham’ depicts the mental and physical turmoil of the king of elephants, being trapped in a lake by the king of the crocodiles due to his ego and lack of faith in God. Only after he completely surrenders to God and crushes his ego, God appears to set him free from

the clutches of the king of crocodiles. A graceful dance showing Lord Vishnu dancing amongst his devotees enhanced the beauty of the play.

The third play shows the indomitable devotion of saint Thyagaraja towards Lord Rama. The play depicted the path to eternal joy through a glimpse of the saint’s life, which gave a message of humility, faith, and devotion.

Carlene Womack, the community relations representative from Amerigroup, gave a heartwarming presentation. She has organized several Medical Camps and Food Drives in the impoverished East Texas area with the Sathya Sai Organization since 2005. She informed the audience that recently when the food banks in East Texas area were running low on food supplies, she contacted the Sathya Sai Organization and food supplies were replenished immediately. She gave several examples of when recipients of service activities expressed their heartfelt thanks for the wonderful work that

the Sai organization has done in their area.

During the closing address, the President of the North Houston Sai Center, Sanjay Gupta, thanked everyone on behalf of the Sai Centers of Houston for their participation and expressed his heartfelt gratitude to all the children who participated in the plays and the volunteers who worked diligently

from 3:00pm - 5:30pm. They engage in weekly activities that include community service, Sai Spiritual Education classes for children, meditation, study circle, and devotional group singing.

For further information visit www.sairegion10.org.

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: 713-789-6397, fax:713-789-6399, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com.

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November 29, 2013

Tape Ball Cricket has never been this exciting...

On behalf of management committee of

Isa Cricket Club

I would request the pleasure of your company at Houston’s first Night Cricket League’s final game and dinner DARREN BEAZLEY - CEO USA Cricket Association JERRY DELSO - Mayor of Wallis ROD PAVLOCK - Mayor of Orchard and many other distinguished personalities of Houston Cricket and community leaders are among the guests attending the event.

PROGRAM: 7:00 PM : Program Starts 7:15 PM : Dinner (During Program) 7:30 PM : Game Starts 10:30 PM : Award Ceremony

on Saturday, December 7, 2013

at Isa Cricket Club

9311 Johnson Rd. Wallis TX 77485

Nawaid Isa President, Isa Cricket Club Ph. 832-443-3340 Email: nawaidisa@hotmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/IsaNightCricketLeague Our 2nd Night League starting from December 10, 2013 Contact Nawaid Isa at 832-443-3340 to register or send an email to nawaidisa@hotmail.com

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November 29, 2013

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COMMUNITY

November 29, 2013

IIT 2013 Global Conference Shines International Spotlight on Houston, December 6-8

World-class engineers and technologists come together to solve global challenges

Conference team at a planning meeting for IIT 2013

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BY PARTHA SARATHI CHATTERJEE HOUSTON: IIT 2013 Global Conference will take place for the first time in the southern U.S. in Houston. Houston IIT Alumni will be the host and it is open to all with over 30% Non-IITians attending the Conference.

Witty Bindra, conference chair, said, “We are honored to bring the IIT Global Conference to Houston, the Energy Capital of the World.” Bringing together over 1,500 engineers, technologists and scientists, the conference will feature an elite list of speakers, panelists and discussions focused on identifying and developing innovative solutions to an ambitious global challenge: How do we build a better world for current and future generations?

Partha Sarathi Chatterjee, marketing and media chair, said, “When we started planning the conference, we were passionate about giving back to the greater humanity and leaving a tangible mark for the future.”

A dedicated group of volunteers have been working for more than 15 months on every aspect of the conference – program, outreach, sponsorship, operations, exhibits, marketing, and business plan competition.

Mayor Annise Parker and P. Harish, Con-

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WRITERS ... TAKE NOTICE

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sul General of India, will inaugurate the conference. Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri will be part of the closing ceremony.

Over 70 international, national and local speakers and thought-leaders will participate throughout the weekend, including: • Amartya Sen, Nobel Laureate Professor, Harvard University • Vicente Fox, Former President of Mexico • Renu Khator, President and Chancellor, University of Houston • Andrew Gould, Chairman, BG Group • Gene Krantz, Apollo 13 Mission Director(NASA) • Blake Irving, CEO, GoDaddy. com • Andrew Ng, Co-founder, Coursera; Professor of Computer Science, Stanford University • Anant Agarwal, President, edX Ever-green entertainer - Usha Uthup will be the lead entertainer. It will be a great opportunity to have fun and funda with friends.

Do not miss this unforgettable event.

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COMMUNITY

November 29, 2013

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An Enjoyable Evening of Music by the Prana School of Music

BY SANCHALI BASU HOUSTON: Prana School of Music and Arts presented its Annual Event on Nov 24, in the Sur Auditorium of Houston Durgabari Society. Prana School of Music and Arts (PSMA) has been instrumental in spreading music and fine arts for the last 7 years in Katy, Texas under Raja Banga, the Principal of the school, who has been teaching tabla for the last 10 years in Houston-Katy area. The school now offers classes on North Indian classical/semi-classical vocal music, tabla, flute, Jazz guitar, Arts and Crafts The evening started with an invocation by the renowned vocalist Shri Balkar Singh, who serves as the vocal faculty for the school.

Balkarji and the young kids chanted Ganapati Vandana set to Raag Bhopali Todi and Rupak taal. This was followed by group tabla lehra renditions by the students of the school. The youngest group of merely 7 years of age went first, and was very poised and exquisite while presenting a short lehra on tintaal. The next item was by the intermediate group, whose presentation included introductory compositions like Uthan followed by Kaeda, Rela and various Tukras, all set in Tintaal. The final tabla presentation included students learning for 4 years and over, led

by Rishabh Shah, the senior-most student of the school, who has been learning tabla for the last 10 years from Shri Raja Banga. This senior group presented a group lehra, and Peshkar, which is the well-known introductory composition of the Farukhabad Gharana, the style Rajaji is trained in with excellent poise and timing. The Peshkar was followed by a number of Tishra Jaati and Chatushra Jaati kaedas presented with compositions recited and explained by Rajaji. This rendition ended with a classic Chalan and Laggi which highlighted the nuances of rhythmic variations, while the students were being tested by the Guru on stage.

A couple of recent graduates of the school shared with the audience their learning experience and the

Photos: Saurabh Sen Gupta

ja. As explained by Shyama, who introduced the artists, the music took the audience from the spell of Alice’s wonderland to the wonderland of soulful music. Balkar Singh and Biplab Samadder opened the session with alaap on raag Shri, which matched the bereaved mood of the evening, followed by an instrumental-vocal jugalbandi bandish on Shankar Mahadev. Biplab on violin and Raja on tabla embel-

lished the rendition to an exquisite level. The last item was an instrumental jugalbandi on Raag Bachaspati which started with alaap, jod accompanied by pakhawaj, and high speed tintaal jhala with a dramatic 16 beat mukhra. The audience enjoyed the occasional exchanges of Taalkari between Biplab and Raja, as this gave them the flavor of saath-sangat and also the drama of sawal-jawab. The final chakkardaar-tihai of the evening left the audience at Durgabari speechless!

value of Indian heritage through music and culture. The next item of the evening was called World Percussion Ensemble, which highlighted various drums from all over the globe, such as Tabla, Pakhawaj, Dholak, Dhol, Dhaak, Kanjira, Tambourine, Djembe and Octopad producing western drumbeats. A number of local vocalists such as Shyama, Rupa, Ruchira, Shamik and Satyaki sang numbers referring to various types of percussions or taals. The drummers included young Vikram, Devanshu, Nirmalya, and veteran Shri Nani Gopal Ghosh.

The penultimate item of the evening was the drama, “Alice in Wonderland”, presented by kids aged 5-12, directed by Debleena Banerji, the Director of the School.

The excellent acting supported by wonderful narration and appropriate background audio-visual effects, won the crowd over.

The Grand Finale of the evening was by the trio Balkar-Biplab-Ra-

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November 29, 2013

COMMUNITY

New York Life’s Strong Life Insurance Sales Continue Through Third Quarter NEW YORK: New York Life, America’s largest mutual life insurer, announced very strong third quarter gains in sales of life insurance, annuities and mutual funds, as well as a solid increase in agent new hires in the first nine months of 2013. New York Life agents recorded a 10 percent increase in sales of recurring premium whole life insurance and an 11 percent increase in total annuity sales compared with the first nine months of 2012.

The company also announced that for the second consecutive year its dividend payout

to participating policyholders will climb by eight percent, an increase of $109 million over the prior year, for a total payout of $1.43 billion in 2014.

Even in the face of unprecedented low interest rates, the company had strong operating performance and was able to enhance both its surplus and dividends through the strong performance of its investment subsidiary, New York Life Investments, and from the recent divestiture of several international operations. The company also has had better than expected persistency as policyholders

maintain their policies in force despite the challenging economy, which speaks to the consumer appeal of New York Life’s strong ratings for financial strength.

Next year is the 160th consecutive year New York Life has paid a cash dividend, a validation of mutual strength and a reflection of the company’s singular focus on creating value for its customers. New York Life has paid a dividend every year since 1854.

The company’s insurance sales continued to build on the strong pace set in previous quarters this year, with individual recurring

premium life insurance sales through agents up 12 percent through the third quarter compared with the same period in 2012. The solid sales growth of recurring life insurance products came from the company’s suite of permanent products – whole life, universal life and variable universal life.

The company is also seeing exceptional growth in various cultural markets, with 46 percent of the company’s new life insurance policies produced by agents serving the African-American, Chinese, Hispanic, Korean, South Asian, and Vietnamese markets in the United States.

“Our sales growth proves that people continue to believe in life insurance. When our agents meet face-to-face with people, they are finding more receptivity to how life insurance can help customers with important financial needs. This is why our sales continue to rise each year, despite a tough economy – and why our country needs career agents more than ever,” said Mark Pfaff, executive vice president in charge of Agency. “Even further, Americans increasingly understand the value that a permanent product like whole life provides. The company’s mutual structure and ability to offer dividends on this participating product is important to insurance consumers and that is why 2014 marks the 160th anniversary of offering consecutive cash dividends, a remarkable achievement, especially at a time when so many financial institutions are having difficulty.”

New York Life’s sales of guaranteed income annuity products, which include single premium immediate annuities and the company’s deferred income annuity, Guaranteed Future Income Annuity, increased 17 percent through the third quarter compared with the same period in 2012. Total annuity sales through all channels have increased 36 percent compared with the nine months of 2012.

In addition, sales through New York Life Direct increased by five percent over the same period last year. New York Life Direct includes the AARP Operation, which is the exclusive provider of life insurance and lifetime income annuities to AARP’s 37 million members. New York Life has been offering life insurance to AARP members since 1994 and lifetime income annuities to AARP members since 2006.

Sales of New York Life’s MainStay family of mutual funds increased by 78 percent to a record $22.47 billion through the third quarter, compared with the same period a year ago. Consistent investment performance across the fund family is helping to drive these exceptionally strong mutual fund sales, particularly in funds seeking capital appreciation, which remain in high demand from customers.

New York Life’s operations in Mexico, Seguros Monterrey New York Life, had a strong first nine months with 10 percent sales growth compared with the same period last year.

New York Life has hired 2,246 new agents through the third quarter. New York Life is on pace to make this year the seventh consecutive year the company has hired more than 3,200 agents. Over that period the company’s agent force has grown 16 percent.

New York Life Insurance Company, a Fortune 100 company founded in 1845, is the largest mutual life insurance company in the United States and one of the largest life insurers in the world.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

November 29, 2013

Alok Utsav Celebrated for the Fourth Time with Great Sincerity and Passion

Photos: Nirmalya Roy

BY SANCHALI BASU HOUSTON: The Lakeview Auditorium in Sugar Land was agog with activity and there was a buzz of intense excitement in the air on the evening of November 23, when the Kalaangan School of dance held its annual Odissi dance festival. Artistic director Supradipta Datta started off the evening with her erudite welcome address thanking all her Gurus, students and the audience and introduced the chief guest Sugar Land Councilman Himesh Gandhi. He performed the inaugural lamp lighting and emcee Shreya Mandal took charge of guiding the audience through the rest of the evening.

Jaya Jagannath was the opening dance performed by the juniormost group and it was a prayer to the presiding God of Orissa, Lord Jagannath. Mangalacharan, the next number was an invocatory composition seeking the blessings of Lord Ganesha for an auspicious beginning. Aradhana, a

pure dance composition featuring the basic Odissi chauka steps followed and the degree of difficulty of the dance movements kept increasing with each dance.

Sthayee Nritya, a pure dance composition featuring sculpturesque poses and complex footwork ensued and was indeed a feast for the eyes. Saveri Pallavi with nuances of the Shringara Rasa was a lyrical elaboration of both music and dance. Ashtapadi was an abhinaya-based dance where Krishna enjoys the beauty of spring with the Gopinis. A second Mangalacharan paying obeisance to Lord Rama this time was then presented.

Mohana Pallavi, featuring innovative adaptation of typical Odissi steps then brought out the dynamic side of the art form. Durga, a powerful composition describing the beauty and valor of Goddess Durga was danced beautifully by the senior-most students of the school

and received the loudest applause.

Mokshya Mangalam concluded the evening where the dancers attempt to attain the ultimate goal of life – the reintegration of the soul with the Absolute.

A couple of students expressed their appreciation for dance and the Guru and a couple of parents also expressed their gratitude toward the Guru and the school during the course of the program.

Datta gave her Vote of Thanks and congratulated all the students on the hard work they put in and the parents for their cooperation and all the volunteers and donors who made the evening possible.

The audience left with a smile on their face after experiencing an enjoyable evening filled with quality Odissi dance performances by 45 talented dancers and partaking in delicious snacks served in the foyer.

May the Kalaangan School keep growing in leaps and bounds under the able guidance of deserving Guru Supradipta Datta.

Read us online at

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COMMUNITY

November 29, 2013

Mikita Roharia Weds Kevin Nguyen

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA KYLE, TX: The groom came up the driveway on a blazing red motorcycle dressed in the finest traditional Indian royal red silk embroidered kurta, gold chuddidaar pajama and a crimson turban with a flowing tail. Though there was no music or dhol, his baraatis were his groomsmen, clapping enthusiastically and taking improvised dance steps, while someone strummed a ditty as they escorted him to the front steps where the bride’s mother and relatives waited for the welcoming ceremony.

This was not the first of two ceremonies in the Texas Hill Country but the culmination of a week of events that brought together the friends and families of Mikita Roharia, 24 of Austin and Kevin Nguyen, 27 who grew up in Clear Lake. The two had met while still at the University of Texas studying electrical engineering and continued to get to know each other while working at AMD in Austin.

The wedding ceremony was held at Sage Hall, a rustic country ranch house built in a new development called Old Town, about six miles from Kyle off I-35 between San Marcos and Austin.

The couple had wanted to hold the two ceremonies in the gazebo next to a small pond, but the Arctic blast that sped through the region the day before forced all activities indoors into the large wooden building.

The newlyweds Kevin Nguyen and Mitika Roharia after the Hindu wedding ceremony in the morning and the Baptist wedding ceremony in the evening. Both ceremonies and the reception in the evening were held at Sage Hall in Old Town, in Kyle, located between San Marcos and Austin in the Hill Country.

tra intermingled with other romantic ballads from Bollywood.

Later, as planned after dinner, the bride’s party really brought the house down with the newlyweds joining in for several bhangra and Bollywood routines they had rehearsed for over the past week, including a garba joined in by other guests. Kevin surprised everyone with his energetic mastery of Bollywood and bhangra dance moves.

The revelries went on to midnight, when the newlyweds sped off in a vintage white open top Cadillac.

Both the Indian-Chinese buffet lunch and North Indian buffet dinner for the events was catered by Chola Indian restaurant of Round Rock, north of Austin.

The bride is the daughter of Sanjay and Anand Roharia and was born in New Delhi but moved with her parents to Dubai for six years before coming to Austin 12 years ago. Her father is also an electrical engineer who also works for AMD and her mother Anand is a homemaker. Her younger brother Ashvin is studying electrical engineering at UT. Her parents and their entire extended family are originally from Jaipur, Rajasthan

The Indian wedding was held in the morning and conducted by a local priest in front of the mostly Indian guests that included the bride’s uncles and their wives who had flown in from New Delhi and a few of the groom’s Filipino friends

The newlyweds with the families. On the left, from left; the Nguyen family: sister Leslie, dad Howard and mom Linda; on the right, from the right, the Roharia family: dad Sanjay, mom Anand and brother Ashvin

and relatives. The ceremony was colorful, fluid and entertaining, with the bride’s brother Ashvin taking off with the groom’s shoes at the end in the age-old traditional game of trading their return in exchange for money.

The Christian Baptist ceremony was held later in the evening by an ordained priest in a more solemn setting with bridesmaids, best men and young flower girls escorting the wedding party to the stage. The bride wore a long white gown and

the groom a black tuxedo as they exchanged vows in front of about 300 guests who sat at tables across room. The groom’s best man drove in over 36 hours to arrive from Vancouver and many of his side’s guests came from Houston.

The reception started immediately after the second wedding with the traditional first dances by the couple and their parents and was pumped up with music played by DJ Mike Marischen of Live Oak DJ which started with Frank Sina-

but have settled in new Delhi long ago.

The groom is the son of Howard “Kim” and Linda Nguyen and was born in Houston. His father is an electrical engineer working for NASA and had left Saigon to come to the US in 1975. His mother is a nurse who emigrated from the Philippines in the 70’s and he has an older sister Leslie. After the wedding, the couple will make their home in the Austin area.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

November 29, 2013

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YLDP at Lighthouse: Drawing Strength from Adversity

BY SAHITHY GUDAVALLI HOUSTON: As I made my way to the session hall, I brushed my crude fingers across the Braille-imprinted wall. I didn’t know exactly how to feel when I first walked into the Lighthouse of Houston. My mind was blank but it was also open. I knew this week’s meeting was going to cover the general theme of philanthropy and charity. It made sense as the Lighthouse of Houston acts as a service center for the blind and the visually impaired, but I still didn’t fully understand what to expect from this session.

Gibson McTerroil, the President of the center, humbly introduced the setting, discussing the visually impaired community, shedding light on how they adapt to their circumstances, explaining the determination and achievement each of these individuals harbor. Even through the tour, McTerroil continued to further his stance.

The same energy that McTerroil embodied

was reciprocated in Sandhya Rao, a visually impaired Law Clerk and a board member of the Lighthouse of Houston. In such a casual demeanor, Rao recounted her life and how she was able to rise above her physical ailments.

As she spoke, not once did I see the fragile woman that one would expect from someone facing such physical difficulties. The desire for pity never flickered in her eyes. Rao simply did not give off that vibe.

At the end of the session, I once again ran my fingers across the Braille-imprinted wall as I exited the building. The letters carried so much more weight and meaning. That day I learned so much more than the insight I gained from on the visually impaired community. That day I understood that individuals only develop and grow by seeking strength from adversities. Part of being human is learning. This includes learning from experiences whether they are good or bad.

Life is not fixated and the only way to keep

up with its twists and turns is by adapting to its measures. It is the simple most effective way an individual can become a better person than they were the day before.

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COMMUNITY

November 29, 2013

“Mapping your Future” an IACCGH-Shell Seminar Featuring Dean Latha Ramchand

BY SANGEETA PASRIJA HOUSTON: On November 13, evening it was yet another very successful “Women’s Leadership Series” event brought to Houston area ladies by IACCGH. The keynote speaker Dr. Latha Ramchand, Dean, C.T. Bauer College of Business, UH, captivated the attention of ambitious and highly motivated women involved with a wide range of professions ranging from CEO’s, CPAs, Doctors, Nurses, IT specialists, Scientists, Sales, Entrepreneurs, Business Owners, and Social workers.

There were over 40% newcomers this time in the comfortable ambience of San Jacinto room at the Hess Club.

Dr. Latha Ramchand’s pleasant personality made the crowd engage in the topic of “Mapping Your Future” even more interpersonal as she delivered various disappointing statistics regarding women’s position in the business world compared to men! Only 17% of the Fortune 500 board seats are occupied by women!

I’ve enjoyed all the women speakers so far in this series but Dr. Ramchand had entirely different approach. She did not talk about herself, did not share her success story, but she made us share our goals, passions and visions. Everyone was handed out the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, & Threats) Analysis worksheets and was asked to fill it and then share (if brave enough) with all the women present. A flawless speaker herself, she articulated some pearls of wisdom like ‘whoever owns the language owns the conversation’ and ‘Ultimate power is the Knowledge’. Her repeated penchant was to first figure out

Job Posting:

From left: Madu Prasad, Past President IACCGH, Dean Latha Ramchand, Joya Shukla and Jagdip Ahluwalia posing together as Dean Ramchand receives a shawl, a sign of respect in Indian Culture.

Photos: Bijay Dixit

what you needed to get to your desired position/place, and then seek all the expert help and mentoring you could get specially from someone you look up to. Determine how and when you are going to get those needs met. Write down your goals for next five years, ten years; write your strategies.

She pointed out some tactics to empower women by first asking to leave their hesitations, weaknesses behind. To move forward equip yourself with what you think you lack…education, training, attending more conferences/seminars

and reading and learning more about the industry and jumping out of your comfort zone. She encouraged to read the HBR (Harvard Business Reviews) blogs by Tony Schwartz, and check out ‘Because I said I would’ website for motivation and insight. She explored the obvious and unforeseen benefits of networking where Jagdip Ahluwalia, Executive Director of IACCGH gave an example of his golf buddy putting him in contact with a high powered individual whom Jagdip himself would not have been able to approach. She

encouraged networking in all directions not just linear.

The worksheet handed out asks to map an implementation time line of our actions towards selfimposed goals. We were assured that it is a work in progress as we all figure out the next step and how to leave the back foot from the comfort of lower rung of the ladder to climb a bit higher. It was hinted that in the next such session

we might be asked to share our progress towards our goals!

Fun of networking with colorful group of ladies who represented diversity of Houston, enjoying coffee and snacks and then Italian dinner with sumptuous cake for desert all while envisioning a better/happier/more coveted place in future together drenched me in a warm feeling of being proud to be a woman associated with such a wonderful like-minded set of ladies in attendance.

The “Women in Leadership” Series event was chaired by IACCGH Board Member/Secretary Joya Shukla and was possible thanks to the generous support of Shell. IACCGH President Elect Sanjay Ramabhadran welcomed the guests on behalf of President Pankaj Dhume. Past President Madhukar Prasad joined Chair Joya Shukla in presenting Dean Ramchand with a shawl and a certificate of appreciation. The event was attended by over 60 women and included recently re-elected HCC Trustee Neeta Sane, the Presidents of the Asian Chamber and East End Chamber and representatives of the Hispanic Chamber, the Columbian Chamber, the Women’s Business Enterprise Alliance , the UH SBDA, the City of Houston Office of Business Opportunity and Houston Community College.

A copy of the Dean’s presentation is available on line at www. iaccgh.com and the Chamber can be contacted for a copy of her workbook at info@iaccghg.com.

SALES ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE

KTRK-TV, an ABC-TV Owned Television Station located in Houston, Texas is seeking to fill a Sales Account Executive position. Candidate must be able to develop new business and increase station revenue/ share on existing accounts. The ability to successfully sell advertising on ABC13.com, Live Well, WATCH and other mobile platforms is paramount. Candidate must be a self-motivated team player with the ability to grow their business. Applicant must have a thorough knowledge of the daily television business including Traffic, Promotion, News and Marketing. A proven track record and prior broadcasting sales experience is required.

Candidates must apply on-line at www.disneycareers. com by uploading a resume file. Please reference Job ID: 151484BR on all materials submitted. No phone calls please, no third parties.

Dean Latha Ramchand

KTRK-TV is an Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V. INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

November 29, 2013

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

15

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COMMUNITY

November 29, 2013

“Nava Anubhava” : 2nd Annual Fall Festival by Youth Committee - Classical Arts Society of Houston

LEARN TO DRIVE TODAY!

BY CHITRA DHARMARAJAN HOUSTON: The second annual Youth festival of the Classical Arts Society, Houston was held at the Sri Meenakshi Temple Kalyana Mantapam on Sunday, November 10. The lighting of the lamp by Board member Nalinakshi Rangala followed by shloka chants by Vedic Heritage students of MTS. Viji Viswanath was the enlightening MC for the event.

The program began with a pleasant rendition of ‘Navaragamalika’ varnam on the violins. Maya Iyer led the group of students from the Pranavam school of music. They were supported by Vishnu Sadagopan on the mridangam. Krishna Gana Sudha school of music students led by Kruthi Bhat followed to sing Suryamurte, a ‘Navagraha’ kriti of Dikshitar. Harikatha on ‘Nava Vida bhakthi’ as presented

by Muktha Nair with vocal support from Uma Ranganathan was divine. Shambu Natanam a dance number was executed gracefully

by Layaa Raja in celebration of Lord Shiva of ‘Nava Kailasam’.

Vikram Murali followed this with a presentation on the violin of a ‘Navarathri’ kriti Devi Pavane

by Swati Thirunal. He was well supported on the Mridangam by Karun Salvady. Shilpa Sadagopan presented a soulful Natajana Kalpavalli from the Kamakshi ‘Navavaranam’ of Oothukadu Venkata

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Harsha Nagarajan, president of SPICMACAY Texas A&M, was the invited guest presenter. His lec dem on Dikshitar’s Kamalamba ‘Navavaranam’ was well delivered. He concluded his presentation with the ninth Avarana kriti in Ahiri ragam. He was ably supported by Deepa Ramachandran on the violin and Dr. N. Sivakumar on the Mridangam. ‘Navathirupathi’ the nine abodes of Lord Vishnu in South India were celebrated next through a sloka on the Navathirupathi “ThiruPulingudi” followed by a composition “Venkataramana” by Papanasam Sivan in Ragam Lathangi by Shilpa Sadagopan. Nilothpala Gowlandhya kritis is another group of Nine songs by the genius composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar. Kruthi Bhat’s presentation of the gem in Nari Reethigowlai, was excellent and so were her swaraprastharas.

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Surabhi Veeraraghavan concluded the program displaying the ‘Navarasas’ or nine emotions through her Bharatanatyam to the padam ‘Navarasa Nilaye’ by Sri Dandayudapani Pillai - a song on episodes from Sri Rama’s life. She had live music support from Uma Ranganathan, Viram Murali and Karun Salvady who handled the transition to different ragas effortlessly.

Chairman of MTS, Tupil Narasiman, in his speech accoladed the effort by the Youth Committee and Board member Ranjana Narasiman distributed the trophies to the participants. Behind this energetic team of youngsters, giving great support, encouragement and advice was the board representative, Dr. Nalini Sadagopan. A superb show on the’ Nava’ (nine) theme indeed was a Nava (new) anubhava (experience) for all of us in the audience.

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Rajesh and Nupur Talwar Get Life Sentence in Aarushi-Hemraj Murder Case

GHAZIABAD: Rajesh and Nupur Talwar were sentenced to life in prison on Tuesday for slitting the throats of their teenage daughter Aarushi Talwar and domestic help Hemraj in a case that transfixed the nation, a lawyer said.

A special CBI court judge handed the sentence to the dentist couple who were on Monday convicted of murdering their daughter and Nepalese help at their Noida home on the intervening night of May 15-16, 2008.

“It’s life,” independent lawyer Naresh Yadav told a scrum of reporters outside the court in Ghaziabad, a satellite city just outside the national capital.

Earlier, CBI had sought death penalty for Talwar couple. Public prosecutor RK Saini had said the case comes under the “rarest of rare” category as daughter Aarushi and Hemraj were found dead with their throats slit at the Talwar residence in Noida in May 2008.

Counsel for the Talwars had sought leniency from the court.

Special CBI Judge Shyam Lal pronounced the verdict at 4.30pm.

Judge Shyam Lal spared the couple the death penalty, which had been sought by the prosecution after their conviction on Monday.

The sentence was the latest dramatic twist in the long-running case that has been awash with sexual rumour and charges of

police bungling and media bias.

The couple - successful, middle-class dentists - have vowed to appeal, insisting that they are victims of police incompetence and a media witchhunt.

The Talwars were declared guilty of the crime under sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Rajesh was also convicted under section 203 of the Indian Penal Code for filing wrong information with the Noida police about the crime.

The case that saw multiple twists and turns was widely speculated

to be an instance of honour killing by the couple owing to their daughter’s ‘liaison’ with Hemraj, 45, who hailed from Nepal.

Immediately after the verdict was announced on Monday, a statement was circulated on behalf of the Talwar couple which read “we are deeply disappointed, hurt and anguished for being for being convicted for a crime that we have not committed. We refuse to feel defeated and will continue to fight for justice.”

Defence lawyer Satyaketu Singh said the judgment was wrong in law and would be appealed against in the high court.

Rajesh and Nupur Talwar’s failure to explain the murders stacked up as crucial circumstantial evi-

dence, leading to their conviction.

As there were no eyewitnesses, special CBI judge Shyam Lal heavily relied on a chain of circumstantial evidence in pronouncing the dental couple guilty.

There were four people in the house and two were dead. In the absence of any evidence suggesting entry of outsiders, the needle of suspicion remained on them.

During the 15-month trial, the CBI repeatedly highlighted this point and the court, too, asked pointed questions but the couple had no answers.

The court concluded that the murders were the outcome of ‘grave provocation’ caused to the Talwars after they found Banjade in a compromising position with their daughter.

The dressing up of the crime

scene — Aarushi’s bedroom — and tampering with gave credence to the CBI theory that the two were killed after being found together.

Blood stains on the walls but spotless toys on the teenager’s bed that was close to the wall pointed that the crime scene had been interfered with. A wet patch on Aarushi’s bed indicated that the sheet was cleaned with water.

The court in its order mentioned that there was tacit understanding between the Talwars in cleaning of the apartment where the murders took place.

The judgment also mentioned that the murders could not have been carried out by one person alone even as the judge gave 26 observations on the chain of events.

-Hindustantimes

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

18 November 29, 2013 Such Filmi Pain

Have you seen that movie with no name? We mean Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film, formerly known as Ram-Leela, until courts in Uttar Pradesh heard petitioners argue this name hurt their religious sentiments. Evidently moved by the thought of the devout being led into cinema halls to enjoy a holy performance - and then being shell-shocked by Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone’s steamy romance - the film’s makers were instructed to change its name forthwith.

Hence, its snappy new title Goliyon ki Rasleela Ram-Leela.

But clearly, picture abhi baki hai. Even the new title has been found objectionable. The Allahabad High Court now finds petitioners pained by the name Rasleela; thus, the film’s makers have been told to come up with a new, new title. Interestingly, even as they scratch their heads over this, the film itself is running to packed houses - in many places, with no name! In an ironic twist, this might satisfy the spirit flickering behind the flick - William Shakespeare, whose Romeo and Juliet Ram-Leela is inspired by.

After all, Shakespeare mused: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.” Bhansali can take comfort from “Romeo would, were he not Romeo called, retain that dear perfection.”

But even as we await No-Name movie’s new name, here’s asking our own non-state actors - social agents of various hues whose hurt sentiments need tender loving care - why they don’t just skip a film they find so shocking, instead of forcing changes which even the censors don’t demand?

What - and miss those slippery cholis, thumping dances and sensual encounters - now that would be truly painful!

-Times of India

EDITORIAL

Promise of Paradise

BY DILIP BOBB Election time is all about dreaming big, for the voter, that is. Free TVs, laptops, washing machines, pledges to make everyone a millionaire, make India a superpower, transform the country and the countryside into a land of milk and honey, change slums into a paradise, a roof over every head, a ceiling on taxes, water in taps, electricity to light up lives and food in every distended belly. India will look, as the Micromax tagline says, nothing like anything.

Here’s how, and where.

Madhya Pradesh: Lush green fields stretching to the horizon, smooth, wide roads, shiny happy people. That’s the vision in Madhya Pradesh in poll advertisements put out by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. It looks like a country in Europe, mainly because it is a country in Europe, downloaded from the Web. Actually, it could have something to do with Chouhan’s poll promise to send farmers on a foreign trip to learn farming, to give students smartphones to make them smarter, a veterinary ambulance to treat sick animals, a Middle Classes Commission for, well, the middle classes, and that the state will pay the rent of students staying in private hostels or shared accommodation. For MP’s voters, Utopia is an EVM button away.

Delhi: If Sheila Dikshit retains power, Delhi will be a world-class city (sounds familiar?), with double- decker flyovers to accommodate double-decker buses. There will be automatic vending machines in every colony dispensing food grains and pulses along with milk and ice-cream for the poor (just insert your Aadhar Card), a Central Business District for hawkers to conduct their business centrally and toilets in every street for citizens to conduct their business privately.

Alternatively, if the AAP comes to power, nirvana will be even closer. Power bills will be halved; everyone will get free water homedelivered; the sand mafia, land mafia, band mafia, crooked cops

and corrupt politicians will be thrown in jail; local mohallas will have power to fix or build roads, collect garbage, maintain drainage and parks, eliminating the need for MLAs; and, for women’s safety, a force of 25 commandos in each ward will use the Gujarat model to protect single women from stalkers and snoopers. Also, all stings will be banned.

If the BJP regains power, here’s what we get — the green capital of the world (unclear if the city will be painted green a la Mamata, or grass will grow greener), also every house will be a “power house” courtesy solar power and gobar gas and everyone can make extra money by selling excess power to their neighbours. It could be all gas.

Rajasthan: The BJP manifesto pledges establishment of a separate Ministry for Cow Rearing, which presumably means breeding cows and not their rears. There will be 24-hour bijli, paani and total elimination of corruption. The two, however, are not connected. The Congress spreads the electoral net wider, with a free Scooty for SC/ ST, OBC, SBC girls to give them greater social mobility, and quotas for Gujjars, the Raika, Rabari, Dewasi, Banjara, Baldia, Labana, Gadia Luhar and Gadoliya castes.

Anyone left out can appeal if the party wins.

Chhattisgarh: The BJP and Congress are in dead heat over freebies for everyone, with cava-

lier disregard for where the money will come from.

Tidbits

BY COOMI KAPOOR Election Aches. Narendra Modi referred to Sonia Gandhi’s ill health in one of his public rallies, but the 63-year-old Gujarat Chief Minister has some health issues of his own. He has serious dental problems, and doctors believe that Modi may eventually need dentures. However, Modi has postponed all major procedures till after the polls. He has also developed backache due to his hectic campaign schedule.

Intellectuals Galore. After several years, the prestigious India International Centre is opening its doors to new members. The club, meant for scholars and foreign policy experts, is charging Rs 500 per application form. There is a mad scramble to apply though there are only a few hundred vacancies.

Already over 20,000 forms have been sold, which means that the IIC will earn more than Rs 1 crore on forms alone.

Considering the VIPs in the queue include judges, secretaries to the government of India, ambassadors and prominent scribes, ordinary applicants don’t have much chance. Nevertheless, thousands are applying. Some old-timers are already grumbling about the “nonintellectual”, “non-professional” background of some members admitted in recent years.

Indian Express

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INDIA

November 29, 2013

BY RAJ KANWAR IAN INDIA CORRESPONDENT

How Prepared Are We to Face a War? enjoyed an impeccable reputation.

Today there are faceless midgets, wary of having their names mentioned, but who find time to write books or raise bogeys about coups to denigrate the Armed Forces or take some quick-fix decisions to take care of emerging contingencies with no thought to their long term implications on the defence services or on national security.

Dehra Dun-based RAJ KANWAR describes himself as a grass root security analyst. He writes regularly for DEFENCE WATCH. “How well are we prepared to face a war today?” In this piece, Kanwar asks and himself answers this question. He makes out a case for lateral induction of officers from the armed forces into the Defence ministry.

ARE we, as a country, prepared to face a war or even limited skirmishes today or in the near future? Sadly, the answer is “wholly unprepared”.

Why is it so? Let me examine.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) on its website proclaims its task as “providing the policy framework and wherewithal to the Armed Forces to discharge their responsibilities in defending the country”.

Is the Ministry of Defence competently manned and equipped to discharge its avowed task of preparing a long-term policy framework and to provide the required wherewithal to the armed forces to enable them discharge their sacrosanct task of defending the country? What exactly is this Ministry of Defence? Who actually rules the roost there? Symbolically, it is headed by a minister. The secretary, a senior IAS officer, is the administrative head of this behemoth of a ministry. He is supported by a few additional secretaries, many joint secretaries and plethora of deputy secretaries, under secretaries et al. And all these secretaries, irrespective of their hierarchical ranking, have hundreds and hundreds of babus under them. No definite figure of employees in MOD is available on its website but one can safely assume that it must be running into thousands.

Other than the Ministry of Defence, there are also Armed Forces headquarters with separate offices for each of the three armed force viz, the army, the navy and the air force. Though senior officers from these armed forces head the different divisions/sections in their respective headquarters, it is the civilians who actually man the armed forces headquarters. Nearly 12,000 civilian employees work at these headquarters, according to a recent count. A joint secretary from the IAS cadre with the twin designations of chief administrative officer (CAO) and joint secretary (training) is their overall boss.

The domineering presence of civilians With this domineering presence of the civilians both in the defence ministry and the armed forces headquarters, it becomes pityingly clear that no room or place in these strategic defence establishments is envisaged for personnel from the armed forces. Historically, ‘generalists’ from IAS cadre have invariably occupied domineering positions there. Almost all of them are

All this has caused inordinate delay and cost / time overruns. The bottom line is, “are we really prepared today or tomorrow to stand up to the enemy – any enemy?

Frankly, the answer is a big NO.

Indian Ministry of Defence

devoid of any defence or security related background. A secretary in the ministry of agriculture or coal today could tomorrow find himself at the helm of the defence ministry.

Thus it is no wonder that most of the secretaries in the defence ministry over all these years were total strangers to matters defence; a few of them did not even make an effort to do their homework or understand the basics. Sadly, the tenure of some of the defence secretaries was just about a year or even less with the result that they had hardly found their bearings in the South Block before being shunted out.

Most ministers were not men of vision Ever since independence, the Defence Ministry, barring a few exceptions, rarely has had at its helm men of vision even though they were men of probity. Many of them were politically men of stature but none could justifiably claim to possess the vision required for such a strategic position. Some unfortunately, lived in disconnect with the then prevailing military ethos, etiquette and sartorial norms. Imagine a defence minister taking a guard of honour dressed in a crumbled kurta pajama and loose chappals; another defence minister would take a salute wearing a loose dhoti. Another worthy openly displayed his bias against the use of English for no rhyme or reason. One minister in Nehru’s cabinet often voiced his ideological inclinations and even factored those in the official defence strategy. He had had to make a hasty retreat after 1962 debacle.

What ails the Ministry of Defence?

So, what has the MOD accomplished as part of its avowed mandate? Did it ever prepare an integrated national security doctrine?

There is no such doctrine at least in the public domain. How far has the MOD performed in another of its assigned role i.e. providing the required wherewithal to the armed forces? If the answers to these two questions are NO, then how does the MOD justify its very raison d’être? What is then the rationale of having such a bloated ministry of defence, if it could not even carry out its very primary objectives?

Why our otherwise hyper-active Comptroller & Auditor General (C&AG) has not ever done a per-

19

formance audit in the ministry of defence? Why has there been no serious debate in the public domain on the role of MOD? How come that our otherwise very vociferous and shrill MPs have never ever cared to discuss this very crucial issue in the Parliament? Our news channels hold nightly discussions on frivolous issues like sexual indiscretions of an editor-in-chief or of some self-styled god and this Baba or that Babu. But why are they wary of debating crucial and important issues like the inadequacies of our defence preparedness and how the Defence Ministry has been amiss on this all-important issue of the country’s defence?

What then ails the Ministry of Defence? Why the professional men from the armed forces are not laterally inducted into the Defence Ministry in order to give its decision-making a semblance of professionalism? That is the only way that the armed forces will have a say in the matter of formulating a defence policy and strategy in truly professional a manner.

But then why we can’t have a no holds barred discussion all such issues? The usual refrain is that the defence forces are the ‘holy cows’ and that their inadequacies be not discussed in public. Thus we stop short of questioning their ability and capability. Even the Pay Commissions do not include any representative from the armed forces with the result that the far reaching decisions taken by it are invariably unsympathetic to the cause of the armed forces. What really stops the government from appointing a senior lieutenant general as secretary in the Ministry of Defence and a few more in other crucial positions? Why must only the ‘generalist’ sit on judgement on matters so very crucial to the country’s defence. Sadly, it is the ineptitude, insolence and lack of compassion on the part of babus in the ministry of defence that has now become the country’s bane.

Policy making, on defence or any other subjects, remains the prerogative of the government whose mainstay is the civilian babu. Gone are the days when men of calibre and stature like HM Patel, MK Vellodi, KB Lall, Govind Narain HC Sarin, NN Vohra, KA Nambiar or Sushital Banerji headed the defence ministry and had

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

Raj Kanwar is a Dehra Dun-based author and freelance journalist.

20 November 29, 2013 Ashes: Aussies Hand England 381-Run Drubbing

BY DAVID HOPPS BRISBANE (ESPN Cricinfo): Australia 295 (Haddin 94, Johnson 64, Broad 6-81) and 7 for 401 dec (Warner 124, Clarke 113, Haddin 53) beat England 136 (Johnson 4-61, Harris 3-28) and 173 (Cook 65, Johnson 5-42) by 381 runs The field set for Mitchell Johnson summed up Australia’s supremacy as they closed in on victory in the first Test at the Gabba.

Every fielder was there for the kill: four slips, a fly slip, two leg slips, silly mid off, short leg. Australia were all over England - or at least Johnson was - and after tea it briefly felt like the 1970s again with Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson in their pomp.

Australia needed this win badly.

They had not won a Test in 10 attempts and an Ashes Test in eight goes. But from such a fallow period they have somehow learned how to dominate again. They have backed up their talk by inflicting on England one of the heaviest drubbings in Ashes history.

They cranked up the sledging with England nine down with the stump mic picking up conflicting opinions from their captain, Michael Clarke, and T20 captain, George Bailey, about whether James Anderson was going to get his arm or his hand broken. The umpires had to step in as feelings became heated.

Clarke insisted that “mutual respect” remained off the field and that it was good, tough cricket.

“I cop as much as I give,” Clarke said. “I have had a lot worse.

There is not one person in the England team that we have a personal vendetta against.” Alastair Cook, England’s captain, suggested that back-to-back Ashes series made a rise in tensions almost inevitable.

Johnson finished with 9 for 103 in the match, freed from the technical doubts that have dogged his career, technically sounder for the moment at least and relishing the thrill of bowling fast. Every time he came on, the crowd roared with anticipation.

Maybe it should always have been this way. It has come late in the day - he is 32 now - but this could be the Ashes series that ce-

SPORTS

WI Level ODI Series Against India

Darren Sammy targets the leg side, 2nd ODI, Visakhapatnam, November 24, 2013.

Mitchell Johnson broke through at the start of the second hour.

ments his reputation. Australia just need to give him quick, bouncy pitches and feed him steak every time he looks likely to lapse into self-analysis.

At the Gabba three years ago, Johnson made a duck and took none for 170. On this occasion, his 64 alongside Brad Haddin rescued Australia’s first innings and his bowling, physically threatening at times, will have left England mentally scarred. Graham Gooch’s dog thrower, used to hone England’s batsmen against quick bowling, will have to be employed with such ferocity that it could wrench his shoulder.

Roofs have been ripped from houses in Queensland, power lines are down and there was even a report of a tornado. There were three storms at the Gabba on the fourth day and only one of them was called Johnson: he was the most violent of the three. The first curtailed the afternoon session to 16 overs as hailstones fell the size of marbles and then soon disappeared, as marbles tend to do. The final storm was barely a whimper.

England lost four wickets for nine runs in 20 balls after the first

storm, their second collapse of the match. The first of them was Cook, their redoubtable captain, and the one batsman who shaped as if saving the game was within his ken.

Cook fell to his second ball after the resumption, immediately after tea, seeking the cut shot that had been his most productive stroke, and undone by a little extra bounce and turn. Nathan Lyon’s ability to find overspin has been beneficial on a pitch of decent bounce and he has outbowled Graeme Swann here as a result.

No side can fail to win for so long without nagging doubts remaining, even in such a powerful position.

When Australia introduced Shane Watson before lunch it invited fears as to whether his damaged calf would stand the strain. For Ryan Harris to slide into the boundary boards in a failed attempt to stop Bell’s straight hit against Steve Smith crossing the boundary, it felt like an Extreme Sport, but he rose again and Australia breathed easily. Siddle left the pitch for treatment on his back. Even now, Australia, Mitchell Johnson could be slipping on a bar of soap in the shower.

BY SIDHARTH MONGA

VISHAKHAPATNAM (ESPN Cricinfo): West Indies 289 for 8 (Sammy 63*, Simmons 62, Powell 59, Darren Bravo 50, Ashwin 2-37) beat India 288 for 7 (Kohli 99, Dhoni 51*, Rampaul 4-60) by two wickets Chasing 289 on an outfield that looked like it was wet because of persistent rain and not dew, West Indies had it all to lose, and some of their batsmen tried their best to do so. Ultimately, the cool head of deposed ODI captain Darren Sammy prevailed to level the series 1-1. Kieran Powell and the brothers Bravo threw their wickets away, and Lendl Simmons tried to do so unsuccessfully, but Sammy timed the final assault well to carry a stumbling West Indies to their first win of the tour.

The West Indies bowling towards the end of the Indian innings played a key role in keeping the series alive. India were 194 for 3 when the 36th over began, with Virat Kohli on course for an 18th ODI century. Ravi Rampaul, Jason Holder and Sunil Narine pulled them back, and Kohli fell for 99.

Narine bowled his last five overs, coming back in the 37th, for just eight runs, bowling two maidens

while Rampaul took the wickets.

Despite MS Dhoni’s assault towards the end, a total of 95 in the last 15 overs meant a manageable chase, which became easier as the dew got heavier.

The balls must have felt like bars of soap to India and had to be changed on three occasions. They skidded on, negating the slowness of the surface that had pulled India back when the conditions were dry.

West Indies, though, were benevolent. Darren Bravo was dropped three times in four deliveries before he went to cut a length ball from R Ashwin and was dismissed. That ended West Indies’ best partnership of the tour, an even 100, and left Powell kicking the ground in disgust at the other end.

Soon, Powell would show an equal lack of situational awareness. In the 26th and the 27th over, both the wet balls were changed for drier ones. And once again, Powell had the best seat in the house to learn from his partner’s mistake.

Lendl Simmons went driving at the first delivery of the 26th over, but the drier ball gripped and turned past the bat. The second took the edge, and fell short of slip. Powell, though, wasn’t observing, and premeditated a skip-and-defence to the first dry ball he faced, missing the line of the ball by at least six inches, and getting stumped by a mile. That was R Ashwin’s second wicket; he bowled 10 overs for 37, a big achievement for a spinner in wet conditions.

At 123 for 2, West Indies needed 166 in 28 overs; at 185 for 4, the 104 required off 15.4 overs seemed even more manageable with a wet ball. Somehow, they managed to throw it away on both occasions, this time Dwayne Bravo pulling to the only man in the deep. Sammy, though, came out and showed his team-mates how to do it.

Sammy began with two singles, then played out a maiden from Ravindra Jadeja, but that didn’t worry him. His partner Simmons always tried a big shot whenever he faced a few dots. Sammy, though, knew he could wait. Unlike in the Tests, he backed his game here.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

DIASPORA

BY PRADIP KUMAR SAHA In the fall of 2010, an unassuming Indian jeweler took the auction world by storm. His exquisitely designed diamond necklace with a pear-shaped Golconda diamond of 12.29 carats embedded in the centre on a lattice-work chain, studded with a cluster of rectangular pink and oval colourless diamonds, fetched $3.56 million at a Christie’s auction in Hong Kong.

The auction marked Nirav Modi’s entry into the world of bigtime jewellers, just a year after he started designing jewellery. It made him the first Indian to feature on the cover of Christie’s auction catalogue, quite an accolade for a country known more for its diamond cutting and polishing industry and less for high-end jewellery.

In an interview with Forbes magazine earlier this year, Rahul Kadakia, head of Christie’s jewellery department in New York, acknowledged that the auction house doesn’t generally feature first-time designers on the cover of its auction catalogue, but Modi’s “fluid design” couldn’t be overlooked.

As for Modi, there was no looking back. He kept appearing at various international auctions and, in October 2012, his Riviere Diamond Necklace was sold for $5.1 million at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong to an Asian buyer.

Featuring 36 colourless diamonds, the necklace weighed 88.88 carats, “a numerical symbol of prosperity and fortune in Chinese culture,” says Quek Chin Yeow, deputy chairman and head of jewellery department, Sotheby’s Asia, who was in charge of the sale of the necklace.

“With excellent cut, polish and symmetry, all 36 diamonds, ranging from 1.25 to 6 carats, were of type IIa purity—a rare quality found in less than 2% of all gem-quality diamonds that denotes the gem is free of nitrogen,” says Quek. “Such a highly desirable strand of pure perfection is rare in the market.”

In March this year, Modi entered the Forbes list of billionaires. At the age of 42, Modi was 52nd in the list of Indian billionaires and 1,342 in the global list with a net worth of $1 billion.

Diamonds in his DNA Diamonds, in his own words, are in the genes of Modi, who was born to a Jain family from the Gujarat-Rajasthan border city of Palanpur. His grandfather Keshavlal Modi used to trade diamonds in southern India in the 1930s and ’40s, and then moved to Sin-

November 29, 2013

Nirav Modi : Man of Stone

Jeweller Nirav Modi

gapore. His father Deepak Modi took the business to Antwerp in Belgium, the diamond capital of the world, and is still active in the business. Modi was born in India, but grew up in Belgium.

“Dinner-table conversations used to be always about rare diamonds, and business,” recalls Modi. “Sub-consciously, I picked up on diamond terminology.”

But despite the background, he didn’t want to be in the family business in his formative years.

“I wanted to be a music conductor,” Modi says. “Tough. I never had the talent and neither did I study music. But I was just fascinated. Like some children want to be doctors or pilots or something, I wanted to be a music conductor. It was mesmerizing to see a man in an impeccable black suit moving his hand in waves and beautiful music being played following those instructions.”

Antwerp also exposed him to a lot of art, culture and design. “It is a beautiful city with plenty of natural landscapes and parks,” he recalls. And his interior designer mother ensured he went to every museum in every city they visited. “As a child, who wants to go to a museum? I hated it then, but today I am thankful she did that.

That’s how I started appreciating my surroundings and taking inspiration from them.” Modi says.

He decided to join the family business when he was 19 and quit Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania to join his uncle at Gitanjali Gems in Mumbai. It was here that he learnt the different facets of the jewellery business.

“He worked with me for close

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to 10 years,” says Mehul Choksi, chairman and managing director, Gitanjali Group, one of the largest diamond companies in India, and Modi’s maternal uncle. “And he was all about style. Very few people in India can match up to his standards.”

Mumbai was a culture shock for Modi even though he used to visit the city often during the summers.

“Diamond traders here spoke in Gujarati, and though our family is Gujarati, too, we speak English at home,” Modi says. “I decided to devote myself completely to work.”

Choksi remembers Modi as a shy and introverted person who was focused completely on his business. “He has a no-nonsense attitude when it comes to business. Some day, I am sure, he will make one of those legendary brands like Harry Winston or Van Cleef (& Arpels),” says Choksi.

Building a business Working for Choksi six-and-ahalf days a week for nearly a decade was a very important phase of Modi’s life, he says. It gave him the confidence to start his own business and, in 1999, he started Firestone Diamond Pvt. Ltd. The company later changed its name to Firestar Diamond.

What had started as a 15-person operation in a modest office, at a time when the gems and jewellery industry was in decline, has now become a global enterprise with a workforce of 1,300 that operates out of a sprawling 28,000 sq. ft office in Kamla Mills Compound in Lower Parel, Mumbai. The company has wholly owned subsidiaries in Hong Kong and the US to strengthen

its marketing base. It also has manufacturing units in Armenia.

Modi started his business by trading in diamonds in bulk. He would buy diamonds in bulk, sort them out for shapes, sizes and colours, and sell them to jewellers.

For fiscal year 2012, Firestar posted revenue of Rs.2,602.58 crore and net profit of Rs.28.77 crore, according to a CARE Ratings report released in April this year.

Firestar today has several hundred copyrights, 75 registered trademarks, and 10 mechanical patents in its intellectual property library.

In 2010, Modi joined hands with Rio Tinto to retail the Australian miner’s signature Argyle Pink Diamonds in India. The value of such pink diamonds is directly related to their rarity. For every coloured diamond, there exist at least 10,000 colourless ones.

“The annual production of fancy pink diamonds will fill up a champagne flute, that’s it,” Modi said in an earlier interview with NDTV Profit news channel. “And the life of a mine is also limited.

So, say, in another 10-odd years, we might run out of pink diamonds,” he said in that interview.

His company today offers its customers products for every diamond requirement— rough diamonds, polished diamonds with specific cuts, and certified diamonds.

What transformed Modi from a diamantaire into a jeweller is an interesting story.

The transformation In 2009, he designed a pair of earrings for a close friend. “I was initially reluctant as I had avoided doing business with friends for years and even changed the subject every time she asked me.

Eventually, however, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole process of selecting the right diamonds, going through multiple designs, and crafting the perfect jewel,” says Modi.

But what separates a diamantaire from a jeweller? Modi says they are two different domains.

“Diamantaires are diamond dealers. So they buy diamonds, polish and then sell diamonds. It is a trading mentality. Jewellery making is more about creation,” he says.

Modi’s passion for jewellery speaks for itself. He first understood the significance of jewellery during one exchange of jewels between his mother and wife. “It is an age-old tradition for a woman to pass on her jewellery to her daughter and daughter in-law. The

21

jewellery becomes a treasure from the past and a glimpse into the future,” says Modi. “Which is why jewellery is a kind of investment.”

And exactly why it takes so long to design an exquisite piece of jewellery. One such piece was the Endless Cut band.

“We have a band that looks like it has been carved out of one diamond. There are no breaks or seams,” says Modi. “It took me almost 20 years to make. I had the idea and the intention, but did not have the financial resources or the mental wherewithal.”

There is no bread-and-butter thought, design or inspiration for Modi. The inspiration can come from technology, religion, art, nature—anything, he says.

Inspirations Take for example the Scheherazade collection that was inspired by the legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights. Or the Shalimar Ring that took its lotus motif from Hindu goddess Lakshmi. The Diamond Embrace Bangles were born when Modi saw his daughters playing with elastic bands.

“You know these plastic bangles that are generally polished gold and stretch to fit all sizes. Once, I saw them playing with them and thought to create a piece of jewellery. That’s how the Diamond Embrace Bangles were made,” Modi says. “It is made up of around 800 interlocking parts and stretches to fit all sizes. So it’s a beautiful piece of engineering. It has got white-gold springs and took us two years to make.”

When he is not travelling for work or working from his office, Modi loves to read. In his own words, he could be reading the Bhagavad Gita or a fiction thriller, a classic, or the biography of a famous historical figure. “I read around threefour hours every day,” he says. He also tries new devices or apps as soon as they are out. “Apart from reading, I love spending time with my wife and three kids.”

His spaces, personal or in office, are dotted with artwork.

For example, one can not overlook the Buddhist influence inside his Mumbai office, be it the Buddha statue around the reception area or the prayer wheels along one of the passage.

For such an illustrious jeweller, he doesn’t own any jewellery. Last year, his wife gifted him cufflinks with both their daughters’ handprints. Other than that, he only wears a wedding band.

-Livemint.com

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BY RAMKI SREENIVASAN (Livemint.com): Amrut Fusion Single Malt rated one of best three whiskies in world” splashed in the media across the world in September 2009 causing tremors (and some hiccups) in the whisky world.

Leading whisky expert Jim Murray had named a virtually unknown (especially to Indians) single-malt whisky from Bangalore the third best in the world in his 2010 edition of the aptly named Whisky Bible.

Being a single-malt whisky enthusiast, I fell off my chair in excitement and pride.

Amrut Fusion achieved this accolade while competing against 4,000 whiskies that were rated. It scored a whopping 97 points (out of 100) and just like that stormed into the highest echelon of great whiskies.

The whisky world is still coming to terms with this tour de force.

The story so far To the makers of the whisky, this was a just a matter of time.

The whisky comes from Bangalore-based Amrut Distilleries, set up in 1948 and which introduced its first single malt in the UK in 2004. Amrut has been owned and run by successive generations of the Jagdale family.

In 2004, their go-to-market

strategy in the crowded Scotchdominated whisky market was typical of the Jagdales—humble yet unconventional. Rakshit Jagdale, then an MBA student in Newcastle, UK, and now the executive director of the distillery, decided to host a blind product tasting (BPT) of their whiskies to a bunch of malt enthusiasts at Glasgow’s famous Pot Still whisky pub. The result was an epiphany to the management—a unanimous appreciation from the entire group.

This encouraged Amrut to carry its experiment to mainstream success.

The report card came out in 2009 in the form of the Whisky Bible.

Recently, I was part of a BPT of several Amrut expressions in Bangalore where the homegrown trounced several Scottish single-malt heavyweights. No kidding. Knockout. The BPT is a good measure for product superiority as it strips away branding, country and other biases.

When contacted, the unassuming and extremely friendly management were happy to organize a guided walk of the distillery.

Master brewer and vice-president Surinder Kumar as well as Rakshit Jagdale personally led our tour. We were treated to deep

insights of the whisky-making process as well as some fascinating trivia of their journey.

How is Amrut made?

For the record, Scotch whisky regulations dictate “single-malt whisky” must be made in a single distillery from malted (sprouting) barley, must be distilled in a pot still, and must be aged for at least three years in oak casks.

Only three ingredients are to be used: barley, water and yeast.

Amrut single-malt whiskies are made from selected Indian barley grown in the north Indian states of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan.

For some expressions such as Fusion or Peated, barley is sourced from Scotland and used along with Indian barley. Water is sourced from the foothills of the Himalayas as well as locally in Bangalore.

The barley is carefully milled, mashed, fermented and distilled in small batches to preserve the natural aroma, and matured in oak barrels in a unique tropical condition at Bangalore’s 3,000ft altitude. After maturation, the whisky is non-chill filtered to retain its natural uniqueness. The whisky is then bottled in the distillery.

The senior management takes great pride in the “human touch” that results in their truly great whiskies. The team constantly innovates with elements that affect whisky character—duration of various processes such as distillation, shape and design of the pot stills, nature of barrel selection for maturing, etc.

Our photo feature here shows a step-by-step account of how Amrut is made. Something uniquely Indian yet instantly global.

Very fittingly, the founders offer Amrut as a humble tribute to the Indian farmer, who tills the soil and grows the barley with loving care.

Ramki Sreenivasan is a Bangalore-based technology entrepreneur and wildlife photographer.

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ENTERTAINMENT

November 29, 2013

Movie Review : Gori Tere Pyaar Mein

BY MADHUREETA MUKHERJEE Story: She’s the Punjab-di-gori who loves her ‘mera gaon mera desh’. He’s the rich Tamilian playboy who likes his women and his cars ‘fast’. In a clash of ideologies, they seem to be a bridge too far.

Review: Meet the gorgeous gora-gori jodi of this village-side story. Dia (Kareena), a social worker living in Bengaluru. There she meets the phoren-educated architect Sriram (Imran) - who she calls ‘Sridevi’; a misfit and ‘black’ sheep in a traditional, lungi-clad Tam-Brahm family. He’s carefree,

casual about love, lazy and shows little humanitarian inkling. She’s a fiery, righteous rebel, a mini ‘Mother India’ who fights for everything ‘unfair’. They fall in love, but their ideologies are unaligned, so over some ‘tooh-tooh main main’, they split up and move on. He moves on to Vasudha (Shraddha), the pretty matrimonial pick, while Dia heads to a remote village in Gujarat.

Soon he realizes his dil beats for Dia, and he follows her all the way to Jhumli gaon. The only way to win her over is to embrace the gobar, gareebi, gais (cows)

murghis (though he’d rather see the ‘chick(en)s’ in a tandoor), and whole bunch of dhoti-clad villagers (straight out of ‘Lagaan’, even with ‘Oh Mitwa’ playing in the background for impact).

Yes, he even sacrifices his strictly ‘chicketarian’ diet for dhoklas instead (becharo chhokro!). Lastly, he helps Dia with her mammoth dream of replacing the gaon’s shaky rope-bridge with a real one. Now, will ‘Sridevi’ be able to use his chaalbaazi to crossover to his chhori - That’s the idea.

Imran, is most at ease playing Romedy roles, it shows. He’s endearing and likeable as a loverboy.

Kareena looks stunning in her desi avatar and pulls off the chhorichichhori with spontaneity and spunk. Shraddha makes a ‘pretty’ pleasant cameo; and Anupam Kher entertains with his madcap act.

Punit’s ‘GTPM’, is a sweet, breezy romcom with likeable characters presented in glossy, lavish, true Karan Johar (producer) style.

In the second half, the ‘the bridge over troubled waters’ project is a bit stretched, and you wish the gaonwallahs would leave the pair to romance instead. Music (VishalShekhar) is peppy and pleasing.

This isn’t the most rousing romance (second-half lacks ‘rom’), but has its feel-good moments. Chew it up with some ‘Chingam’ and a cute date.

-Times of India

23

Dhoom: 3 Makers Spend Rs. 5cr on One Song

There is a lot of curiosity around Aamir Khan’s Dhoom 3 look.

BY KAVITA AWAASTHI A few months ago, reports revealed that the makers of Welcome Back had allegedly spent over Rs. 3 crore to shoot a song featuring John Abraham. Now, film-maker Aditya Chopra’s upcoming movie Dhoom:3 just might break that record and become one of most expensive songs in Bollywood. The track titled Malang is a high energy number and was apparently shot on a whopping budget of over Rs. 5 crore.

“The song features 200 profes-

sional gymnasts who were flown in from the US. And yes, the budget is roughly Rs. 5 crore,” says a source. The cost includes the fees of the gymnasts, their costumes and even the elaborate sets.

“The 200 artistes stayed in the city for 20 days as they were training. The humongous set took nearly two months to be created,” adds the source.

The Dhoom:3 track will feature Aamir Khan and Katrina Kaif.

-Hindustantimes

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Mama’s Punjabi Recipes Boondi ya Aaloo Raita (Chickpea Drop Or Potato Yogurt Sauce) Raita can loosely be translated as thinned yogurt dip - though it is not to be eaten as a dip - or a sauce, which it is used as often. The taste depends on the way the yogurt is thinned down, the ingredients and the dishes it complements. Many people use water to thin the yogurt down but all too often it is thinned down so much that is loses its consistency and becomes a gravy, like the type that is poured over kebabs, in Gyros or in pita bread wraps.

Raita is known and eaten all over India and it is important to understand that it is not a condiment but a complement to most Indian foods. It helps to soften the taste - and sometimes the spiciness - of the dish. When it is thicker, it can be served with bhalle (fried lentil balls) and eaten as a separate dish with its own condiments. When it is thinned down a lot with cold water and milk and mixed with spices, it can be drunk like lassi (buttermilk).

So it is important that true raita must have the right consistency and that can be eaten with roti, paranthas or chawal (rice) without running all over the plate but stick to the breads and rice.

Raita is usually made with an ingredient that adds flavor to the otherwise bland taste of plain dahi (yogurt). Depending on the taste desired and the other main dishes on the table, there are many types of ingredients that can be added.

There are many types of raita and the two below – boondi (chickpea flour drops) and aaloo (potato) are the most popular. I will present other types of vegetable raitas later.

Boondi raita is very popular in the Punjab and the chief ingredient is the boondi which nowadays can be bought in a packet. In the old days, we would make the boondi by pouring the besan (chickpea flour) masala through a chanani (perforated flat ladle) into a karai (wok) of hot vegetable oil. It would take only a few minutes for the drops to fry and turn yellowish-brown.

Ingredients: • 500gm saddi dahi (plain yo gurt) • 1-25gm pkt of boondi (chick pea flour drops) • ½ cup doodh (milk) • 10 leaves of pudina (mint) (cut in halves) • Spices to taste: namak (salt), mirch (red pepper) Directions: 1.

Place the boodni in lukewarm water for 10 minutes.

This allows the oil to wash out and also the boondi fluffs up.

2.

Run through a strainer and let the boondi sit to drain well and cool down for 5 minutes.

3.

Place the dahi in a bowl and stir it thoroughly adding the milk to it. Add the salt and pepper to taste and mix in the mint leaves.

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Throw in the boondi and mix well but gently so as not to break the boondi. Chill for 10 minutes and serve.

Shakuntla Malhotra is a skilled cook of Punjabi dishes made in the old-fashioned style that she learnt as a young woman in her ancestral home in Lyallpur, India before it became part of Pakistan after the Partition in 1947. People have often admired her cooking for its simplicity and taste that comes with each mouthful. Even in her mid-eighties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share some of her delectable Punjabi recipes.

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India Second Most Overworked Country, Says Survey

India is not only ranked the highest with 31% of employed people not taking vacations due to workload but also in cancelling holidays because Indians would like to be present in all key decisions of their companies, said the Expedia survey.

BY MOULISHREE SRIVASTAVA NEW DELHI: India has the second highest number of overworked people, working 42 hours a week on an average, after Hong Kong, where people work 44 hours a week, according to a survey by global travel agency Expedia Inc., released on Thursday.

It also said India is the 10th most vacation-deprived country as Indians do not tend to take leaves to be in their boss’s good books.

About 63% of Indian respondents feel they are vacationdeprived, Expedia said. The company conducted an online survey between August and September, in which 8,535 respondents from 24 countries took part.

“Indians are second, behind Thailand (22%), in not taking leaves to be in boss’s good books, while 18% of Indians don’t use

all the leaves because they fear that taking all of the vacation time will be perceived negatively by their employer,” said the survey.

Indians also prefer getting money in exchange for unused holidays, with 37% of the employed adult population, the highest in the world, opting for it. Brazil follows India with 30% of employed people preferring money over holidays.

India is not only ranked the highest with 31% of employed people not taking vacations due to workload but also in cancelling holidays because Indians would like to be present in all key decisions of their companies, said the survey.

“Indians want to feel important.

They want to be present in all key decisions of the company, with 25% of employed people cancelling vacation due to this reason,” it said. Indians are also ranked

third highest when it comes to saving vacations for future use.

Even when Indians do take a vacation, they are almost never out of touch with work.

“Ninety four percent Indians at least sometimes check work email even on vacation, which is the highest in the world, followed by France (93%), Thailand (92%), Malaysia (91%) and Mexico (91%),” said the survey.

“In India, people still lag behind when it comes to completely letting go during their vacation. Not just this, even during regular days, Indians work for more hours than other countries with 38% people working for 41-50 hours a week.

This shows the need for a better work-life balance,” said Vikram Malhi, general manager, South and Southeast Asia, Expedia India.

-Livemint.com

Rupee Fall Pushes Tata Group Out of $100-bn Club After a spate of bad news on the Indian economy, there is finally something to cheer about. Global consultancy firm Ernst & Young (EY) has said that India is the most attractive investment destination, ahead of China and the US, after the government recently relaxed the policy on foreign investment.

The government had in August announced relaxation of foreign direct investment (FDI) norms in several sectors that such as multi-brand retail and telecom.

“With sharp currency depreciation and opening up of FDI in various sectors, India has become an attractive destination for foreign investors,” EY said in its report, Capital Confidence Barometer. This report is based on a survey of 1,600 senior executives in more than 70 countries.

The report highlighted automotive, technology, life sciences and consumer products as sectors in which deals are likely to be high. Due to the present macro-economic pressures and heavy debt pile, several Indian companies are looking to divest non-core businesses, it added.

“This has created a large opportunity for foreign players vying for a greater role in the Indian

market,” it said. The top three investing countries into India are the US, France and Japan. FDI from these three countries from April 2000 to August 2013 amounted to Rs. 53,673 crore, Rs. 17,718 crore and Rs. 71,870 crore respectively.

The survey said 38% of the respondents felt merger and amalgamations volume in India would improve over the next twelve months, while 30% believe it would remain stable.

“After two years, European countries (Britain and Germany) have made a comeback on the potential investment destinations list for Indian companies,” the report said. Sentiments have improved, specifically on acquisitions and merger plans, it said, adding that these are at a two-year high with credit and cash available.

“The investor outlook for India remains positive, despite challenges in the recent past. At the same time, the improved condition of the world economy has helped increase confidence amongst deal makers, prompting them to take a bolder stance toward transactions,” said Amit Khandelwal, a national leader at EY. -Hindustantimes

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

26 November 29, 2013

First Ever

24 Hour

Telugu Radio in Houston

Online at www.radiohungama.net & Every Sunday 12 PM to 3 PM CST On

KCHN AM 1050 Contact: Sridhar Dadi at

281-217-9736

houstonradio@yahoo.com

For advertising

contact: Jawahar Malhotra/Vanshika Vipin

at 713-789-6397

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

IAN Anniversary Special

Friday, November 29 2013

November 29 2013

Indo American News

27

SPECIAL 31ST ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

A Focal Point for the Community, IAN Carries Torch Forward

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA, PUBLISHER One score and a dozen years ago, an enterprising sociology professor with no background in journalism or publishing but a passion for the dynamics of human interaction saw fit to make his contribution to keeping his growing Indo American community connected by disseminating news.

Ten months later, he turned to others to help nurture the idea and keep it alive.

Two of those – Pramod Kulkarni and myself – have kept the spirit and legacy of Dr. K. L. Sindwani and the resilience of his wife Mohini alive through thick and thin and now the fast changing world of news reporting. We have often sacrificed our personal lives and artfully balanced professional careers to make sure that Indo-American News spreads the word of the community’s achievements, and the personalities who have and continue to emerge.

In these long years, we have moved from hand-placed typeset to desk-top publishing to purely digital and web based publishing.

We have run the community’s first TV show in the entire Southwest – Ashiana Television – and published the community’s first business telephone directories – Desi Connection. We have given birth to our competitors - other weekly papers - and given scores of young people a chance to show what they can do in graphic design and reporting as

From left: Pramod Kulkarni, Jawahar Malhotra and Vanshika Vipin well as a chance to settle in their new adopted country.

In this endeavor, we have discovered that the community has become stronger by knowing how many hands across the city, state and country are working with a common purpose of ensuring a strong future for coming generations of Indo Americans. We have become the repository of a history that can help shift the facts and guide us along.

Recently, the Indo American Charity Foun-

dation tapped into our 32 year-old archives to put together a history of their own 25 year-old organization as much of their own data had scattered away. We will soon be available on permanent archives at the Rice University Library.

Many of the community organizations realize that the background we bring to their events cannot be replicated with a posting on social media sites. In communities where there is no community paper and word fil-

ters through the radio, like in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, the community is less informed and less able to respond in a unified way to current issues. Most local mainstream politicians, marketers and organizations also realize the value we bring and have developed personal relationships with us.

We are also seeing a changing landscape in the generation that is coming after us.

Many first generation immigrants have started their family branches and are passing on. Others have sons and daughters who are getting married and starting their own families. As in any community of expatriates, we are evolving and Indo-American News is too with the addition of Vanshika Vipin as a partner (see page 29) who will ensure that we can continue the work that we set out to do for many more years to come.

It is heartening to realize that so many people have supported us for the way we tell their stories. As I am fond of saying, everyone has a story; it’s the art of telling it that makes it noticed and go forward, especially these days when the internet can spread it like a virus across the planet. The love we have received from our community, supporters and friends and the gratitude for a story well told is worth all the effort as we look forward to serving the dynamic Indo American community – hence our name – and evolve with it and the times.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013• ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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November 29, 2013

IAN Anniversary Special

Congratulations to all of the hard working people at Indo-American News on 32 wonderful years of serving the South Asian community

Dr. K. L. Sindwani & Dr. Mohini Sindwani Founders, Indo American News

Thanks for keeping their vision alive !

Arun Kumar

son, of Wichita Falls, TX

&

Anthony Kumar

grandson, and family of Tucson, AZ ar

um K n u r

A

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013• ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

IAN Anniversary Special

Indo American News thanks the entire community for your continued support for the last 32 years!

November 29 2013

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Meet Indo-American’s New Gen-X Partner : Vanshika Vipin

BY PRAMOD KULKARNI HOUSTON: Ever since Dr. K.L. Sindwani founded Indo-American News 32 years ago, he often wondered how the newspaper will sustain itself and grow over the coming years and decades. Dr. Sindwani himself was the guiding force for the first 29 years of the newspaper. Since his retirement in 2010, partners Jawahar Malhotra, Krishna Giri and Pramod Kulkarni continued managing the newspaper.

Current partners, Jawahar and Pramod, have themselves had long careers of 25-plus years at Indo-American, but now it is time to prepare for the next generation to take on more of the responsibilities of running the newspaper. The ideal candidate to join Indo-American News as partner is Vanshika Vipin, 28, who has prepared for her new role by working in various departments at Indo-American since 2005.

Vanshika was born in New Delhi, but grew up in Bangalore and graduated from St. Francis Xaviers Girls High School and did her pre-university course at Bishop Cotton Women’s Christian College. In 2003, Vanshika and her mother joined her father in Houston. Vanshika finished her BS degree from University of Houston Clear Lake in 2011 with a double major in Business & Healthcare Administration. “I was one of

Vanshika Vipin

the top five students in the entire business school with the highest GPA in my batch and was recognized as an honor student,” she recalled.

Vanshika is currently pursuing her MS degree on a part-time basis even with all the responsibilities at Indo-American.

Besides work and education, Vanshika finds time to participate in the performing arts of dancing and acting. “I’ve been performing since the age of four,” explained Vanshika, who recently acted in the Ram Leela extravaganza, along with her husband, Irfan Karim.

Vanshika puts passion and perseverance in all of her activities. The best example of these qualities is her weight loss program.

In less than a year, she has lost more than 80 pounds and now sports a svelte figure.

The same devotion to the tasks at hand will help Vanshika achieve significant growth milestones for Indo-American News as a partner. “IAN is my passion now. I live, breathe, and sleep IAN 24/7.”

Vanshika is appreciative of all her achievements. “I would like to thank my family, and especially my husband Irfan, for supporting me though all the hurdles,” explained Vanshika. “I also thank Pramod and Jawahar for their guidance and acceptance.”

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November 29, 2013

IAN Anniversary Special

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IAN Anniversary Special

November 29 2013

31

“Making a a Differenc ce in Biom edical Ressearch” Ow wned and Operated by Go opal Savjani

Ansh L Labs is an n innovative life sciences co ompany w with a vision to be the leadiing provid der of bio otechnolo ogy soluti ons for b biomedica al researc ch, drug d developm ment, drug g delivery y systemss, and in v vitro diagnostics. W We arre commiitted to th he researrch and development of sig gnificant hormones and d novel an ntibodies to advan nce pharm maceutica al discove ery, develop pment, an nd clinica al diagnosstics.

Ansh Labs iss a proud spo onsor of IndoͲA American New ws.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013• ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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November 29, 2013

IAN Anniversary Special

Best Wishes to Indo American News on its Anniversary from

Ashok Bhambani

K.T.Shah, M.D

SUGAR LAND HEART CENTER S.G. (NIK) NIKAM MD, FACC, FACP, DTM

Internal Medicine Gastroenterology (retired)

Interventional Cardiologist Author of “Stressless Mind & Priceless Body”, “Heart Healthy Lifestyle”, & “Ramayan Screenplay.”

10710 Memorial Cove Houston, TX 77024

Cardiologist • Writer • Author • Professional Speaker

• 713-984-0499 • M: 281-772-4139 ktshahmd@yahoo.com

16659 S.W Freeway #361, Sugar Land, TX 77479 PH: 281-265-7567

JR Security Services Inc.,

Ram Sharma (President) and Justina Sharma (CEO)

Fax:281-265-4565

Congratulations to Indo American News on their 31st Anniversary

Wishes Indo American News a Happy 31st Anniversary • Office Buildings • Malls • Apartments • Drive-by Patrols • Armed & Unarmed officers Lic #

We are dedicated to Customer Satisfaction!!!

B129

67

With Best Compliments Atul & Arti Vir

713-412-9985 • 713-991-2113 www.jrsecurityservices.com • sharmaandsharma@hotmail.com

www.EquatorAppliances.com Available at Sears, Best Buy, Costco and other retailers in the US and Canada

MD & ASSOCIATES, LLP www.mdassociatescpas.com

Congratulations to Indo-American News on another year of service to the community

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013• ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

IAN Anniversary Special

November 29 201 2013

Congratulations to IAN on its 31st anniversary!

Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH) has supported IAN for all its 24-year history!

People About IAN

Sharad Amin

Thirty two years ago, Indo American News published its first newspaper edition. With the Indo American population not as big as it is today, it was truly a pioneering event. Since then Indo American News has become the newspaper to turn to in the coverage of not only local community events and people, but also important news from India. I congratulate Indo American News on its 31st anniversary and wish it many more years of continued success!

Heartiest Congratulations to IndoAmerican News, which I like to call the BBC of Houston. The newspaper has played a monumental role in bringing the Indian community together. It helps us everyday people feel like we are up to date and aware of all the events that are unfolding in our city. Thank you for making us feel like we are a part of the journey of the Indian community by simply reading your articles. Happy 31st Anniversary to IAN and many more to follow!

Thank you for providing the community with worthy service and information . Your 32 years have been exemplary.

Congratulations & many more successful ones to come.

Shoba Joshi

33

Jay Kabad

Upma Shah

Congratulations to Indo American News on 32 wonderful years of service to the South Asian Community of Greater Houston. Indo American News fulfills a critical role in our community by providing comprehensive and unbiased news and information from Houston, USA, and the rest of the world. Thank you and wish you continued success

Indo-American News is a powerhouse for providing the latest news in a timely and informative manner. Most admirably this Newspaper has extensive community outreach and genuine partnerships with both community leaders and people from different backgrounds and interests. On behalf of the Youth Leadership Development Program (YLDP) of Houston, I want to congratulate Indo-American News on their 31st anniversary, and thank them for encouraging and recognizing High School students, enabling them to be future leaders. Wishing IAN the utmost success!

Karun Sreerama Indo American news has been at the forefront of journalism within the south asian community. We are proud to have been part of such a rich tradition and journalistic excellence.

Anant Patel - Karat 22

Sushma Bhan

Wishes

Indo American News

A Happy 31st Anniversary and thanks them for their ongoing support to the Houston Community www.imagh.org INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013• ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013• ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

IAN Anniversary Special

November 29 2013

Best Wishes to Indo American News on their 31st Anniversary

From Randhir & Sunila Sahni

Congratulations Indo American News on your 31st Anniversary from Reji & Roy Joseph

OnePoint. Inc.,

Constructors & Engineers 10804 Roark, Houston, Texas 77099 Ph: 713-777-6666 • Fax: 713-777-5329 www.onepointinc.com INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013• ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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November 29, 2013

IAN Anniversary Special www.cbre.com/retail 24 -7 Specializing in Retail Services Occupier Practice

Local Real Estate. Worldwide.

Rated 1st in the Industry Business Week

“Let’s shake hands and do business”

Naveen Jaggi, Senior Managing Director

* Top 10 Ranking CBRE Retail Sales Professional (Eastern Region) Worldwide & Houston 2004, 2005 & 2006 * Serving Corporate Service Retail Clients with needs for Dispositions, Acquisitions & Consulting • T: 713-577-1654 • F: 713-577-1677 • naveen.jaggi@cbre.com

Neonatal Consultants, LLP Wishes Indo American News a Happy 31th Anniversary Dr. H.S. Bedi, M.D., F.A.A.P

Neonatologist,

Board Certified in Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine

832-866-8606 • neonat@aol.com INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013• ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

IAN Anniversary Special

s t r

e h t of

e H

n o r Pat

November 29 2013

From Bharatanatyam to Bollywood

From passion to compassion We cover them all Serving South - Asians Since 1982

Indo American American erican News News

Texas’s only all-color South Asian publication 7457 Harwin Dr, Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036 713.789.NEWS (6397) • Fax: 713.789.6399 indoamericannews@yahoo.com • www.indoamerican-news.com

SUPPORTING THOSE WHO KEEP HOUSTON

CLEAN • SAFE • HAPPY

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013• ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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