E newspaper 12022016

Friday, December 02, 2016 | Vol. 35, No. 49

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December 02, 2016

INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2016 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

BY RAVI OZARKER

HOUSTON:

India House has organized more than 200 professional cricket games in the year 2016! Starting their first cricketing session a year ago with a humble 6 teams, the progressions has been phenomenal, from 6 to 8 to 12 to 16 Teams in One Year. Cricket is increasingly becoming a professional sport in Houston Area. Not only is it a sport for Houstonians but is a way to socialize and chill after a hectic work week.

All this started back in Jan 2016 with 6 teams participating in “Houston Sunday Cricket League Tournament (HSCLT) which ended on Feb 7, 2016. In the next tournament, ten best teams in Houston were selected to participate in the “India House Cricket Tournament” (IHCT). The India House Houston Premier League Winter 2016-17, started on October 16, would be the fourth tournament organized in this year on one of the best cricket grounds in Houston with 16 best Houston based cricket clubs participating in this professional taped ball cricket tournament. Sanjay Aggarwal, coordinator of the India House Houston Premier League Winter Tournament says that along with India House Management, he shares big dreams for the future of this ground and cricket talent in the City of Houston.

Five members General Body Group for IHCT has been constituted for decision making and dispute resolutions, the members being: Sanjay Aggarwal (IHCC), Vijay Ahire (RWCC) , Gopi Kishan (GCC), Sourabh Malhotra (NGCC), Ravi Ozarker (NGCC) & Col Vipin Kumar (Executive Director, India House) IHCT Tournament final played between Grady Thunders (formerly GCC) vs Cliff Jumpers Cricket Club (CJCC) on May 21, 2016 turned out to be a cliff hanger.

CJCC lost by 6 runs required on the last ball. About 60 matches were organized in the IHCT. Next tournament, “India House Cricket Club League Tournaments” (IHCCL) was played with 12 teams participating in it. The tournament saw centuries scored, innings score of 250 runs in 18 overs, hattricks and 5 wickets in an innings by a bowler. With Gopi’s help all the scores were displayed online for public viewing on India House’s state-of-art website. Final was played between Cliff Jumpers

December 02, 2016

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India House Cricket Tournament

(CJCC) vs. Houston Oilers Cricket Club (HOCC) on Oct 15, 2016 with HOCC emerging as winner.

Live Commentary was given by DJ Andy. Dr. Virendra Mathur was the chief guest of the award ceremony and announced that he would like to take these competitive tournaments to the next level.

He also pointed out that winning these tournaments is going to be more and more difficult but teams and players will improve their game if they play with the best teams. Awards were given out

by Dr. Virendra Mathur, Colonel Vipin Kumar, Sanjay Aggarwal, Saurabh Malhotra, Megha Ozarker, Vijay Ahire, and Ravi Ozarker.

The General Body Meeting took place at India House Library followed by a Captain’s Meeting on Sep 15, 2016 at Shiv Sagar Restaurant in Houston. Food was complementary from India House for

Winning team Houston Oilers Cricket Club (HOCC) with General Body Group.

General Body Group Meeting on Sep 15, 2016 at India House Library.

Chief Guest Dr. Virendra Mathur giving awards along with Colonel Vipin Kumar (left) and Sanjay Aggarwal (Right).

Captains Meeting at Shiv Sagar Restaurant in Houston. Food was complementary from India House for all Captains and Vice-Captains from the 16 best cricket teams in Houston Area.

all Captains and Vice-Captains. At the Captain’s Meeting, the General Body was pleased to announce that after another debate about increasing the scope of the tournaments, a new tournament “India House Houston Premier League Winter 2016-17” (IHHPL 2016-2017)

will be organized with 16 Teams!

Yes 16 Teams!

With the help of our energetic volunteers Saurabh, Sanjay, Gopi, Vijay, Ravi, and Col. Vipin Kumar, the tournament started on October 16, 2016 and is expected to end in March 2017. Hats off to the dedi-

Man of the Match Kishore from Houston Oilers Cricket Club (HOCC) hitting a boundary in the 18th over against CJCC.

cation of all India House Management, volunteers, team captains/ managers and players who made this task possible. These games offer players and participants/ families to socialize. Sanjay Aggarwal has planned events for the

next year to bring all these players together through social events and celebrations at India House.

For more information log on to www.indiahouseinc.org

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December 02, 2016

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COMMUNITY

HOUSTON: The National Mar-

row Donor Program (NMDP)/Be The Match, which operates the Be The Match Registry, at the opening session of their 2016 Council Meeting on Friday, November 11, held at Hilton Minneapolis presented the Indian American Cancer Network (IACAN) the 2016 Leadership Award. The Council Meeting was attended by over 1,150 attendees, including nearly 200 attendees from 36 different countries.

On behalf of IACAN, Kumari Susarla, current President and Dr. V.K. Dorai, PhD, immediate past President received the award from Dr. Jeffery Chell, M.D., CEO of National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP)/Be The Match. IACAN was recognized for its exceptional success in promoting bone marrow donor registration and donations through educational outreach and bone marrow drives among the South Asian community in the Greater Houston area.

In 1996 before the conception of IACAN, P. G. Parameswaran, MD, a now former board member and joint secretary of IACAN, began hosting

December 02, 2016

National Marrow Donor Program Honors Houston’s Indian American Cancer Network (IACAN)

Suvasini Dorai, Blair Foy (Marketing Content Specialist – Marketing Partnerships, NMDP), Gaytri Kapoor (Donor Contact Representative, Marrow Donor Program, Gulf Coast Region), Kumari Susarla (President, IACAN), Dr. V.K. Dorai (past President, IACAN) and Dr. Jeffery Chell, M.D., (CEO of NMDP)

bone marrow donor drives for Houston’s South Asian community. IACAN is now responsible for organizing and sponsoring

over 100 bone marrow donor registration drives. In addition, the organization has registered over 4,000 new registrants, thus sub-

Jain Sangh Hosts First Ever Jain Retreat

BY DR. SULEKH C. JAIN

LAS VEGAS: Many prominent

leaders of the Jain community across the US and Canada met in Las Vegas from October 14-19 for a first time ever retreat organized by the Jain Sangh of Las Vegas.

The purpose of this retreat was to mix, mingle establish relationship

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with local fellow Jains and nonJains, relax, have fun, share and learn from each other.

The participants came from Boston, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Houston, Los Angeles, Laguna Beach, Iowa City, Denver, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; and Norway. Most

of them are renowned for their visionary leadership, dedication and philanthropy. They included the Past President of the Federation of Jain Associations in North America (JAINA); founders of Jain Centers in Boston, Los Angeles, New Jersey, Houston, Toledo (Ohio), Chicago and Albany

stantially increasing the number of South Asian bone marrow donor registrants in the national registry.

IACAN has increased the national (New York); donors to establish Chairs for Jain Studies at the University of California Irvine and other universities; singers, retired professors, researchers, artists and authors.

The program included a Meet and Greet; singing of bhajans; lectures on the scientific basis of Jain Karma theory; the status and progress of Jain academic education in North America and a visit to local attractions such as the Valley of Fire, Red Rock Canyon and a cruise on Lake Mead. During the retreat, several Jain families from Las Vegas hosted the guests to lavish dinner receptions at their homes and at the Hindu Jain temple.

Shalin Shah, a young and dedicated Animal Rights activist especially flew in from Denver to talk about his Jeev Daya initiative to establish an animal sanctuary for sick and injured animals on a 40-

registry’s Houston area South Asian donations by 275 percent. Before IACAN began its work in 2009, the national registry accounted for 12 donations by South Asians, but since IACAN’s involvement the number of donations has grown to 45 in the Houston area, as of June 2016. acre parcel of land near Denver.

Mauyri Bhandari, a graduate student in Jain and Hindu yoga Studies at Loyola Marymount University shared her experiences from the International School of Jain Studies (www.isjs.in) in India and performed a beautiful dance to the delight of all. All the meals served were pure Jain vegetarian or Jain vegan.

The delegates shared their wisdom, contributions and vision for promoting Jainism in their respective cities and nationally in USA and Canada. The retreat resulted in several key action items to take the objectives of this group to the next level. The Jain Sangh of Las Vegas and the delegates learnt a lot from the experiences, work and vision to promote Jain principles, practices and the Jain Way of Life among younger generations of Jains and to develop a plan to reach out to them and others.

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December 02, 2016

The Elegancy of Kaishika Dwadashi Sangeetharchana Enthralls MTS Devotees

BY CHITTOOR RAMACHANDRAN

PEARLAND: Among the periodic rituals

Sri Meenakshi Temple conducts on special auspicious days, the annual Kaishika Dwadashi Sangeetharchana particularly fascinates many devotees. Many Hindu families look forward to attend this unique event due to the cultural and religious significance of this day to visit the temple. Kaisika Dwadasi is observed on the Shukla Paksha Dwadasi (or the 12th day) during the waxing phase of the moon as per traditional Hindu calendar (usually falls in November). This year it was on Saturday, November 26.

The magnificent main temple provided the perfect spiritual ambience for conducting of this event. Formal worship of Sriman Narayana (Sri Venkateswara) and the rendition of devotional songs by the musicians simultaneously took place during the event.

It is believed that attending a session of Nama Sankeerthanam rekindles bhakthi in the devotees simultaneously offering pleasant feeling.

The basis of the format of Kaishika Dwadashi celebration reemphasized the message given in a highly revered story on Nambaduvan in Kaishika Puranam. This Puranam reiterates that the world exists on promises and their fulfillment. The story of Nambaduvan describes the greatest virtues of those devoted and committed to the service to the Lord. The ardent devotees of Sriman Narayana will never err or sin in life.

There cannot be a better example than that of the legendary Nambaduvan.

Nambaduvan was an ardent devotee of Lord Mahavishnu who hails from an oppressed class happens to meet a Brahmarakshas (demon). The demon was actually a Brahmin who was by curse turned to a demon. The demon threatens to kill Nambaduvan. However, Nambaduvan convinces the demon that since he is on his way to offer prayers to the Lord, he will definitely become his prey after his return from the worship place. The devotee offers prayers by singing a keerthanam in Kaishika Raga and returns back to offer his body to be

devoured as food to the demon. Seeing the truthfulness of the devotee, the demon leaves him and gets back to his original form getting out of the curse. The truthful Nambaduvan attains salvation. Kaishika Dwadashi is observed as a mark of respect to the keertanam rendered by the devotee in Kaishika Raga. This legend is mentioned in Varaha puranam.

While the priest Sri Sridharan Raghavan led the ritualistic part of the event, the music rendition was performed by dozens of Houston’s Carnatic musicians. The meticulous planning of the program was done by Vidushi Rajarajeswari Bhat. Several leading musicians also joined the group rendition.

Particularly remarkable was to see young children participating in the rendition. Musicians of all levels of training customarily meet and sing on Kaishika Dwadashi day in praise of the Lord, especially the Raga Kaishika in praise of Sri Venkateswara.

The musicians selected a variety of devotional compositions in a variety of ragas. The event lasted for more than two hours including the aradhana in between the songs. The opening song in Mohanam (swagatham Krishna) spread a pleasant atmosphere which lasted throughout the event. It was followed by a Tyagaraja composition in raga Saraswathi (Anuragamule ).

Sri Muthuswami Dikshitar’s composition in Mangala kaishiki (Bhargavi) that followed was elegant and melodious. This was followed by Annamacharya krithi (Nigama nigama) in Hindolam. Tyagaraja’s majestic pancharatna krithi (Sachinchine) were sung superbly well and drew much attention.

Several krithis that followed (Hamsanandi, Kurinji etc) were well delivered to make the event very special.

During the concluding rituals, the reverberating Veda manthras elicited an extraordinarily blissful experience in all the devotees assembled. The team of scholarly priests and the talented musicians deserve great appreciation for making this event very enjoyable.

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10 December 02, 2016 HOUSTON: Sewa International

is a Hindu faith-based, humanitarian, nonprofit service organization registered under Internal Revenue Code 501 (c) (3). Founded in 2003, Sewa International is part of a larger movement that started in India in 1989 and has currently spread to 20 countries. Sewa serves humanity irrespective of race, color, religion, gender or nationality. We specialize in disaster relief and rehabilitation. Our development programs focus on family services; child, tribal and refugee welfare; women empowerment; health; and education. In addition to the US, we conduct development projects in Colombia, Guyana, India, Kenya, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Sewa’s volunteers are energetic, inspiring, selfless, and committed.

Every year Sewa International conduct Charity Cricket Tournament and fund raising event in collaboration with Houston cricket clubs, this was a friendly tournament open for all age group including men’s and women’s interested in players playing cricket together. This year we have 12 teams participated all over Houston from KPMG, Pearland, Katy, Star Pipe and Sewa group, add all team names*. Each group was club with 3 teams and we had four groups, top one team from each group was qualified for Semi-final rounds(names of all 4teams* ) and final was played between winning

COMMUNITY

Sewa “De Ghuma Ke” Cricket Tournament 2016

on matted pitch of India House ground from morning 7am to 5pm on weekends of November 5, 6 12 &13. Each team consist of 8 players and 8 overs match and all games were equipped with live DJ and commentary from DJ ANDY. Star India (SPP) won the Sewa Cricket tournament 2016 defeating Pearland Hawks by five wickets in a closely contested game. It was a well-deserved win for Star India who won the championship 2nd time. They played exciting cricket throughout the season and were one of the favorites to win the championship going into the

Winner Team

Runner Up Team

teams from SF. This year Star Pipe products sponsored team Star India headed

by Anand Bhattad won the championship, this is consecutive 2nd year for Star Pipe to hold the winning trophy. Star Pipe Products

has been manufacturing and distributing quality iron products for the water and wastewater industry since 1981. With fourteen distribution centers across North America and over 300 employees, Star Pipe Products remains committed to

providing customers with quality products and professional service.

Star Pipe team is also one of the helping hand and donated $1500 towards this charity cricket tournament and fund raising event All the games were played

tournament. Pearland hawks had a great tournament reaching finals for the 2nd time. The tournament was a highly competitive one featuring 12 participating teams.

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December 02, 2016

Atma Kabad – Monica Bansal Wedding

The newlyweds Atma and Monica Kabad with their parents and siblings on either side and Atma’s grandmother Kumud Nilekani (on his right).

Photo: Bijay Dixit

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA

HOUSTON: The story is not un-

common for many first generation Americans. Four people from four different parts of India who immigrated to the US settle down 14 miles from each other. Four two decades, the Kabads have lived in the southwest in New Territory and the Bansals in the northwest in Copperfield. But their paths never crossed in the immense Indian community in the Metroplex. Until their children met years later.

That’s when it became the story of same cities and similar paths.

The Kabads elder son Atma was born in Houston, as was the Bansals younger daughter Monica. They both graduated from high school here and both went to the University of Texas at Austin but never met there eiher. Atma went

to law school at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and Monica studied law at the American University in Washington, DC. Both came back to Houston to work in law firms. But they first met only two-and-a-half years ago through some mutual friends at a party. The attraction was mutual and soon the two brought their parents – the Bansals Punjabis from the North and the Kabads from the South – together in the Bayou City that has become their home.

“I never knew her parents or that they lived here,” chuckled Atma’s dad Jayanth.

A little over 6 weeks ago on October 8, the two got married in a small, intimate ceremony in Austin. A much larger reception for close to 500 people was held this past Friday, November 25 at the Texas Safari Ranch on FM 1464

on the far west side. Atma’s grandmother, the youthful and creative Kumud Nilekani, 82, sang a song in English that she wrote, with the audience humming and clapping along in rhythm. His sister Anasuya sang a medley of Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole love songs.

Atma Kabad, 30, works in Houston as a corporate lawyer with the Vinson and Elkins law firm. He is the son of Jayanth “Jay” Kabad, a former engineer, who earned his MBA from the University of Pittsburgh. He started his own firm JayKay Wealth Advisors firm that he founded in 1982 and Atma’s mom Kanchan joined in 1995. Kanchan is also very active in local charitable work and was the past president of the Indian American Cancer Network. They have a younger daughter Anasuya, 26, joined the family business after getting her bachelors in Public Policy from the University of Chicago and working there for two years.

Monica, also 30, is a lawyer handling commercial litigation for a small law firm. She is the daughter of Bharat Bansal, originally from Ludhiana, an engineer with KBR and her mother Reena, originally from Amritsar, has had her own business. They have an older son, Arvin, 33 who is a cardiologist associated with Southeast Memorial Hospital.

The couple had a honeymoon on safari in South Africa and plan to make their home in Houston.

Sewa “De Ghuma Ke” Cricket Tournament 2016 CONTINUED FROM PAGE

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On a beautiful Sunday morning of Nov 13, followed by Semi-final rounds, final was scheduled between two finalist - Star India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Right from the onset of the game SPP sponsored Star India team tried to be positive and kept pressure on Pearland hawks batsman and didn’t allow them to score big shots. However, Pearland hawks tried to punched the batting line up and attempted to score big total but Star India powerful bowling line up and their bowlers stuck to the plan and got crucial wickets at every juncture to peg back Pearland hawks. At the end of 8 overs Pearland hawks scored 61 runs for the loss of 6 wickets.

After the end of the first innings, the momentum had clearly shifted towards Star India and Pearland hawks were well aware that they would need some quality bowling to defend the total. Anand captain

of Star India and Raunak opened the batting, wrest back the initiative, both this opener gave decent start and scored 31 runs in first 4 overs without losing wicket, later Raunak was replaced by Pratik who is awarded as Man of the series and MOM for the final who hitted 3 powerful sixes against Pearland Hawks in final, this added the icing on cake and made sure comprehensive win for Star India against Pearland hawks.

The game was followed by a well-organized prize distribution ceremony arranged by Sewa Team. The presentation party included Hon’ble Gitesh desai, Sarojini Gupta, Vasudev Singh, etc.. add names of guests with designation*. They all spoke about the fun and time advantage of zestful cricket games and paid rich tributes to Sewa for their initiative in youth cricket.

Winning team was felicitated by guest with a plaque sponsored

by Sanjay Agrawal* for his contribution and support to cricket in

Houston followed by other awards.

Please add names of organizing team from sewa cricket tournament who coordinated the presentation ceremony with DJ Andy & all team names who played in this tournament. ) Man of the tournament trophy – Pratik Hande 2) Best Bowler of the tournament – Karan Pasey 3) Best Batsman – Anand Bhattad 4) Best Fielder – Raunak Goswami 5) Man of the match (Finals) Pratik

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Signs of India - Some Unexpected All Over New England

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA

HANOVER, NH: If you fol-

low the road less traveled, don’t be surprised to see things that might amaze you. On a casual drive around the tightly-bound campus of Dartmouth College on a cloudless, sunny Fall afternoon, the streets and lawns were ablaze with trees turning colors of reddish brown to ochre, as if they may shed all at once any minute if someone were to give them a fright.

Dartmouth College is a private Ivy League research university that was established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, and is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Nestled in a valley of the Connecticut River, it is an hour east of the skiing resorts at Killington, Vermont, four-and-a-half hours northwest of New York City and an hour-and-a-half south of the Canadian border. Even with annual tuition and boarding costs of nearly $70,000, there was no lack of Indian faces among the 6,350 students that go there.

And then, catty-corner from the Black Family Visual Arts Center, in a white two-story house with a dining patio in the back stood “The Jewel of India, Fine authentic Indian cuisine” proclaimed by

The Rollins Chapel at Dartmouth College, which features Hindu Pujas every evening

The Jewel of India restaurant in Hanover, NH

The studio of the artist Norman Rockwell in Stockbridge, MA. His cover portrait of India’s first prime minister Jawahar Lal Nehru graced the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on January 19, 1953 and is displayed in the museum in Rockwell’s name.

The Shah Trucking company’s 18-wheeler at a rest stop in New Jersey on I-78 INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2016 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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signs on two sides. A quick loop through the small commercial district on Main Street, by the Green and just east of the tall clock tower of Baker Library is the Romanesque Rollins Chapel, where the glass-encased sign out front reads at the bottom, “Hindu Pujas Daily at 7pm”.

Indian restaurants are almost ubiquitous in many parts of the world; a testimony to the widespread South Asian diaspora and the popularity of the cuisine. A friend returning from Reykjavik, Iceland spoke about the five Indian restaurants there and there is even one near Interlaken in the Swiss Alps. So, it was not completely surprising to see the “Salt & Pepper Indian-Pakistani-Halal Restaurant” in a ramshackle house painted in colored stripes, in the shadow of the power plant and the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut, by the Seaside Park.

The rundown place had obviously been closed for sometime in the mostly economically blighted and depressed city with a mixed Haitian, East Asian and Hispanic population mix.

Not far away in Shelton, Connecticut, in the Red Lotus Asian restaurant, a surprisingly good find, a middle-aged couple walked in from the slight chill to dine.

The young waiter who took our order was a 24 year-old South Indian who was about to finish two years of his Master’s degree in Computer Technology at the local college that he found admission in after coming from India. He was anxious about his prospects for the future. “Its way too cold here,” he says “and few chances for a Green Card” and he hoped to move to Dallas for better prospects and to be with his brother.

Further north, in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, the Norman Rockwell Museum features most of the iconic illustrator and paint-

The defunct Salt & Pepper Indian-Pakistani-Halal restaurant in Bridgeport, CT is stands by the Seaside Park

Indian food trucks and street stalls are common all over New York City

er’s works in a white building on a sprawling estate strewn with sculptor pieces that reflect Rockwell’s quirky curiosity and humorous view of life. Every cover he made for the Saturday Evening Post is exhibited in a huge hall; including the portrait he made of India’s first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru from January 19, 1953 At the bookstore, the cheerful lady at the checkout register was South Indian – “we’ve lived in the area for 10 years,” she said - who reciprocated to my Diwali greeting.

Further south in New York City, signs of South Asians are everywhere, and to be expected, especially in restaurants, taxis, little convenience item kiosks and of course food trucks and street food

stalls.

What was a surprise was to run across – no pun intended – was an 18-wheeler with the name “Shah” emblazoned all across the sides in a rest stop in New Jersey on I-78.

It was intriguing to say the least, and I wondered if it was an Iranian company or indeed Indian.

A quick web search revealed that Shah Trucking was launched in 2014 by Guru Shah. The Baylor and Vanderbilt graduate and entrepreneur saw an opportunity for building an asset-based trucking company located in Chattanooga, Tennessee and now has 10 trucks, 12 trailers and a box truck. Just another off-the-beaten-path business for a desi to be in!

IMMEDIATE OPENINGS @ Indian Supermarket Are you looking to join a winning team? Our employees enjoy doing their jobs with warm smiles and a real passion for helping customers. We are passionate about food and take pride in providing exceptional service.

We are hiring at our Houston, Hillcroft store for the following part time & full time positions: Cashiers (multiple openings) Admin Assistants / Package Shipping Clerks

Email Resume to jobs@subhlaxmigrocers.com INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2016 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

December 02, 2016

17

Vibrant Dance Ballet Presenting the Nava Rasas in Srimad Bhagavatam

PEARLAND: Global Organiza-

tion for Divinity/Namadwaar will present a bharatanatyam dance ballet – Bhakti Sugandham-The Fragrance of Devotion – on Dec 18, 4 pm at the CA Nelson auditorium at 2337 N Galveston Ave, Pearland TX 77581.

The ballet will portray popular as well as lesser-known legends from Srimad Bhagavatam, the 5000-year-old crown jewel of all Puranas, highlighting the Nava Rasas (nine emotions) from the scripture - Courage, Wonder, Anger, Compassion, Disgust, Fearfulness, Love, Humor and Peace.

Srimad Bhagavatam, which presents the essential message of bhakti, i.e. of Shravanam (listening to the stories of the Lord and His devotees as the seed for true devotion), contains deep philosophical discussions couched in the seemingly simple garb of stories of divine incarnations, kings and princesses, sages and devotees, devas and asuras. This scripture is said to emanate the fragrance of devotion and sprout devotion in anyone who reads it regularly. Legends from this beautiful text portraying each of the nine emotions will be presented in this performance, using the intricate, graceful and expressive medium of the classical Indian dance form of bharatanatyam.

The ballet weaves an English narrative with traditional Indian classical music, Sanskrit and Tamil devotional compositions of a contemporary Indian saint, His Holiness Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji, and original Sanskrit verses from the text itself. It is sure to have the audience riveted and enthralled!

The production, which is a fundraiser for the nonprofit community activities of Global Organization for Divinity, has been put together largely by local artists. Surabi Veeraragavan, an accomplished dancer from Houston is the dance director and choreographer, Uma Ranganathan, an accomplished musician from Houston is the music director and vocalist.

The concept, script and production

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was put together by G.O.D. volunteers from Houston, Minneapolis and India, with audio recording and production done in India. The dancer cast includes several experienced dancers and gurus from Houston and other cities including Surabi Veeraragavan, Soujanya Madhusudhan, Sandhya Raghuraman, Shobitha Arun and Meenakshi Venkataraman; and a number of talented dancers of all ages from around Houston - students of Smt. Rathna Kumar, Smt. Padmini Chari, Smt. Indrani Parthasarathy, Smt. Sunanda Nair, Smt. Soujanya Madhusudhan and other gurus – Divya Koothan, Hema Naren, Jvalanti Prasad, Krishnaya Corbett, Pavithra Chandrasekaran, Radha Venkat, Ratna Ramaraju, Selvi Samy, Shriya Fruitwala, Shruti Natarajan, Varsha Vasu, Usha Prashanth,

Zenitha Ram, Advaith Subramanian, Ananya Hariharasudhan, Madhura Sriram, Maithreyi Asthagiri, Maya Shankar, Sahana Thothadri.

Tickets are $15 advance purchase or $20 at the door on the day of the event. Donor/VIP passes with preferred seating are offered for donors $100, $250, $500 and above.

To buy tickets online visit www. godivinity.org, or on phone, call 281-402-6585.

Global Organization for Divinity (G.O.D.) is a nonprofit organization that aims to promote peace, harmony and universal love amid cultural diversity. G.O.D. is involved in several cultural, spiritual, and community service activities in the Houston area.

G.O.D. frequently presents classical arts events in Houston and many cities around the world.

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18 December 02, 2016

EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY

India’s Trump Card While on the face of it, countries did celebrate the outcome

of the latest round of climate negotiations in Marrakesh, the uncertainty brought out by the US presidential elections is likely to be on the mind of everyone returning from Marrakesh. If Donald Trump executes his threat of pulling his country out of the climate convention, the negotiations will lose out on US diplomatic efforts that have been pivotal to their success in the past few years — the rapid entry into force of the Paris Agreement that was adopted by all countries in 2015 being its last success.

With the US likely to be out of commission during Trump’s presidential tenure, the world has started looking out for a leader to fill this void. The first answer that comes to mind is China. The country’s engagement in climate change diplomacy has been growing rapidly. The two punch approach by the US and China have, of late, left other countries with no option but to follow their lead. The texts of the final agreements of the CoP 20 and CoP 21 summits were directly adopted from the joint statements made by the two countries in the run-up to the summits.

But this leadership void on climate change action needs to be filled carefully. The Chinese approach to foreign policy has been relatively inward-looking. This is evident in Chinese economic investments in other developing countries, particularly in the African continent, and in the country’s latest diplomatic response to its claims on the South China Sea. China’s responses to India’s recent foreign policy aspirations such as membership to the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and the UN resolution to ban terrorist organisations were well-calculated to suit its own concerns and not global interests.

Climate change leadership requires an approach where needs and interests of the poorest and most vulnerable are kept at the centre. Such kind of leadership has eluded us so far, with only a few countries deciding the global course of action. This is a great opportunity for India to orchestrate an “alliance of the willing” that can be a positive counterbalance to the existing power structure.

India’s foreign policy approach, “Panchsheel” — the five principles of co-existence whose bedrock is mutual selfrespect, mutual non-aggression, mutual non-interference in internal affairs, equality and cooperation for mutual benefit and peaceful co-existence — could be the basis of the new modus operandi for building this “coalition of the willing” for climate change action.

Though a leadership void resulting from the US election stares the world, India should view it as a potential opportunity to establish itself as a global leader. HT Siddharth Pathak is climate change lead at Climate Action Network.

BY JANAKI NAIR

Vijayanagara in Bengaluru

T

ime was, when south Indian monarchs built temples to commemorate their political victories, their changes of religious allegiance, their command of agrarian economies. Sometimes they were acts of piety as well.

From the Gangas, Hoysalas and Chalukyas, down to principalities such as that of the Wodeyars, the temple was the monumental “gift of power.” Into its fretted stone or towering gopuram was hewn the grandeur of triumph The Karnataka people, in short, are spoilt for choice in monumental grandeur. Former chief minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah was mindful of this heritage in choosing Chalukyan motifs for Bengaluru’s Vidhana Soudha, that quintessential symbol of representative democracy.

Monarchical symbols of power have held an irresistible attraction for many in contemporary southern Indian politics. Given the special place occupied by cine-politics in exaggerating the power of southern matinee idols, there has been a doubling of these spectacles, both as cinema and as politics. Jayalalithaa learned, at great political cost, that such spectacles can be counterproductive when she lost the election following her sponsorship of the ostentatious wedding of her foster son and Shashikala’s son in 1995.

Since then, she has taken to the more productive path of bestowing more durable gifts on citizens, and thus ensured lasting adoration. At a time of massive withdrawal by the state from social security programmes, these schemes serve as new redistributive mechanisms.

No such redistribution was envisaged when Janardhan Reddy staged the massive wedding of his daughter Brahmini. The obvious contrast with the sufferings of the hoi polloi following demonetisation has distracted from the event itself and its possible meanings for our public life. In the cacophonous clucking of tongues about this extravagance in the midst of obvious misery, we missed an important voice, that of Karnataka’s health minister, Ramesh Kumar, who called for a cap on wedding expenditure.

In this, he paid, perhaps unwittingly, obeisance to another of Mysore’s —

Gali Janardhan Reddy’s daughter Brahmani Reddy married Rajeev Reddy, son of Andhra businessman Panyam Vikram Deva Reddy, who has mining interests in Africa.

now much maligned — monarchs, Tipu Sultan, who, in his many efforts to redraw social life in his kingdom, also attempted to limit extravagant wedding expenses.

Kumar’s voice may sound like Rip van Winkle’s at a time when consumption is not only good, but a patriotic duty. But Kumar must be recalled for another more important remark that he made in passing, when he said that today, the private has become the public, and the public, private.

For many people, a wedding is the most familial of all events. But it has periodically erupted into public view as a time to declare wealth, display power, flaunt political connections, and indulge in sheer fantasy. This potlatch of Reddy, this symbolic burning of wealth, picked its symbols well in recreating Hampi’s Vittala temple, and Tirupati’s Tirumala Devasthana, one a UNESCO heritage site, and the other one of the most powerful corporations in southern India.

The setting itself was important.

Bengaluru’s Palace Grounds have been, for some time, the site of ostentatious weddings. The “public” here has long become “private”, since these grounds, which have already been distributed between various Wodeyar heirs, despite the state’s legislative takeover of the space, epitomise the compromised nature of state power.

The ease with which public became private in Ballari since 1999 (and the state lost Rs 16,000 crore in revenue) was matched only by the devastation that Reddy wrought on the region.

The simulacrum in Bengaluru was necessary not only because Reddy has been exiled from the region that he ravaged; it was his insouciant thumbing of the nose at those who ended his reign of terror at Ballari.

The wedding reasserted Reddy as one who made the public into private, and now placed that illegitimately won private sphere on display.

In this sense, Reddy’s actions may be placed alongside other shows of extra-legal power from an assortment of actors ranging from Shahabuddin to the Shiv Sena.

Reddy’s public assertion of financial power, at which the IT department, much like the police in the Hindi film, arrived too late, was not only his claim to continued relevance in the political realm. He also reclaimed the power of the neighbourhood tough in that forever reddened earth of Ballari.

Coming at a time when the government has placed the entire Indian people under the shadow of criminality for wanting to access their own money, the robber-baron’s return to public life is a garish reminder of the continued importance that extra-legal power enjoys in our public life.

It also personifies Raghuram Rajan’s observation at Davos, that the Indian state is getting the reputation of going after the small and the defenceless, while letting big fish get away.

That has been the enduring legacy of colonialism, and for so long has been a staple of our democracy. IE The writer teaches history at the Centre for Historical Studies, JNU

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December 02, 2016

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20 December 02, 2016 K

“ now thou this-that men Are as the time is………”

Shakespeare.

I shall give you a piece of my mind to help you get some peace of mind.

All writings on esoteric matters like meditation, God and philosophy are shrouded in mystery and couched in unintelligible sesquipedalia verba.

Nowadays they come packaged for sale, not to speak of their high cost in tune with the present trend in the market. They remind me of the popular junk food.I hope these methods are not as dangerous to health as are the junk food packets!

The need for peace of mind started with the onset of the monetary economy,culminating in the new epidemic of suicides and divorces in the west. The plastic card economy would only enhance this need. Once a student reminded me that my efforts to make man tranquil would have to, per force, fail, since this universe is a combination of the opposites- good with the bad, yin with yang, positive with the negative, happiness with sorrow, elation and depression, etc. Even at the micro level, he said, the atom remains intact because of the protons, neutrons, and other quantum particles with opposite charges.

While I agreed with him, my submission was that the balance between the good and the bad- the bad arising out of oppression, suppression, and denial- has reached a flash point. If that were to happen to the atom the latter would have exploded by now.

Before the macro world explodes we have to hasten to act. Otherwise, the

A Piece of Mind

saying of the poet “when the last tree is cut, when the last river is poisoned, and the last fish eaten, mankind would realize, for the first time, that money can not be the substitute for food and water,” would come true. Mankind then would have to follow the path shown by the mighty dinosaurs.

I have tried every one of the methods of meditation to get tranquility.

While each one of them results in lower breathing and heart rates, I am not sure if there would be long term tranquility. I could draw a parallel from modern medicine. While blood pressure, sugar, and cholesterol lowering drugs get us better labora-

tory reports, almost all of them fail to translate into better health in the long run.The reason is not far to seek.

Lowering the physical parameters alone will not translate into holistic health and longevity.

Be that as it may, let us look at common day to day human activities that bring permanent pleasure and lasting tranquility. Our scriptures have shown the path and the great science of Ayurveda has reiterated the same time and again for centuries.

“Aaapthopasevi bhavet aarogyam”treating everyone around you like your near and dear ones would give you positive health for certain, is the

basis of Ayurvedic art of healthy living. I have been trying this experiment on myself for decades now with very good results. If I had a day when I did not get an opportunity to show some kindness to someone, do a good turn to others, give a smile to the needy, or wipe a tear from another’s eye, I get tired easily. On the other hand even when I was dead tired, if I got an opportunity to be of some use to another, my tiredness would vanish. Similarly, if I had inadvertently harmed someone, my body signals that all is not well by way of backache, pain in the neck, heartburn, sleeplessness, tension headaches, migraine etc.

Over the years I have learnt to analyze my body responses to my thoughts. Even when I think ill of others my breathing and heart rates hasten. When I help another I feel very tranquil and have peace within.

Anger, hatred, jealousy, hostility, frustration, and other similar negative thoughts bring on discomfort immediately. This needs one to fine tune oneself to receive body signals.

My post-meditation feeling is not comparable with the immense happiness that I get from sharing and caring that make me tranquil round the clock. I have come to realize that spirituality and meditation are nothing but sharing and caring. The joy of sharing is enormous when one cares for those that hate you. This is not easy, though. It requires lots of practice and understanding. If one

ADVICE

could fill “the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds of distance run,” one could be really, really happy.

That said, I must hasten to add that the above simple message can not be packaged into a ready made recipe for all. No two individuals are alike, not even the uni-ovular twins.

Each one will have to tailor this to his/her convenience. Perseverance pays dividends in the long run. Total health requires a holistic approach. I am not infallible. I, however, feel that I have described meditation in a more tangible fashion for the common man to understand. There are no easy short cuts in life. One has to work hard to get good results, but the results are better if one does not get too possessive about the outcome.

Belle Monappa Hegde often abbreviated as B. M. Hegde (born 18 August 1938) is an Indian medical scientist, educationist and author.

He is the former Vice Chancellor of Manipal University, Co-Chairman of the TAG-VHS Diabetes Research Centre, Chennai and the chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mangalore. He has authored several books on medical practice and ethics. He is also the Editor in Chief of the medical journal, Journal of the Science of Healing Outcomes. He was awarded the Dr. B. C. Roy Award in 1999. In 2010, he was honoured with the Padma Bhushan, one of India’s highest civilian awards.

-bmhegde.com

INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2016 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

BEAUTY

December 02, 2016

21

5 Things You Should be Doing this Winter for Healthy, Beautiful Hair dry hair.

3. If you can keep washing your hair to a minimum, say two to three times a week, this will prevent your hair from drying out too much. And always make sure you dry your hair before leaving the house. Not only because you will get a cold, but the moisture in your hair combined with the cold air, will add further damage to your hair by making it more brittle and dry.

4. Regular trims are a great way to

Now that the winter months are

upon us and the days are much colder, it’s time to start thinking about ways to protect our hair from the damage that the winter elements can cause.

Here are five tips that will help you maintain healthy, beautiful hair this season.

1. One very simple tip is to wear a hat when out as it keeps your hair covered from the wind, rain and snow. But as we all know, no woman wants the “dreaded hat hair.” A great way to avoid this is to wrap your hair in a silk scarf before putting on your cozy, wool beanie. This helps to protect your hair from damage caused by the hat rubbing against your hair and it also cuts down on the static.

Another great way to combat static is to use a good heat styling product for blowdrying such as the Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Heat Protect and

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Shine Spray. This can also be used on dry hair before using a curling iron or flat iron.

2. During the winter months, it’s a great idea to treat your hair once a week to a deep conditioning treatment. This will help to replenish the moisture, which tends to get depleted from things such as the dry heat in your apartment and the cold winter air. I recommend something like the Vidal Sassoon Pro Series Moisture Lock One Minute Mask or Bumble & Bumble Quenching Masque. These products are quick and easy ways to lock moisture back into your hair.

An alternative is to use a hair oil like Oribe’s Gold Lust Nourishing Hair Oil after you’ve shampooed your hair. It’s like liquid gold for dehydrated or color-treated hair! This can be used on wet hair to blow-dry in or as a smoother and shine oil on

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keep your hair in good health during the winter months as well — every six to eight weeks, just get a light dusting of the ends to help reduce the chance of dry, splitting ends.

5. One unexpected secret to keep your hair looking good in the winter is to invest in a humidifier. You must be thinking that humidity equals frizzy hair, but when you have the heat on, the air in your apartment becomes very dry and I find the humidifier helps stop your hair and skin from

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PUZZLES / RECIPES Mama’s Punjabi Recipes Bhune Pyaaz da Pulao (Spicy Sauteed Onion Pilaf) Directions:

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readers – and especially some younger ones - this is a reprint of Mama’s pyaaz da pulao recipe, but with some additional information and directions.

This pulao recipe is not only tasty but even while the onions and rice are being cooked, people’s mouths start to salivate! This pulao is unique because the rice comes out looking brown, but it is not made with brown rice. The rice still has the distinct taste and aroma of regular basmati rice but because of the way it is made, the pulao has an additional taste of spiced onions. The brown color of the onions runs off on to the rice, which is why I call this “brown onion rice”. This is a very Punjabi dish that is made on special occasions.

Chawal (rice) is a seed of grasses that are generally classified as Asian or African type, whereas wild rice may have evolved in Australia. Rice is normally grown as an annual plant which can grow from 3 to 6 feet tall, depending on the soil fertility. There are three types of rice grains – long, medium or short. The long remain intact after cooking; the medium becomes stickier and is used for sweet dishes or sushi; and the short is used for puddings. Instant rice is fully cooked and then dried. Rice is high in carbohydrates, has some protein and various minerals and brown rice is only higher in fiber than white rice.

The much appreciated aromatic Basmati (literally meaning “fragrant”) rice is long, slender-grained and traditionally from the Indian Subcontinent, with 65% exported

by India and the rest from Pakistan.

There are at least seven varieties of basmati rice.

Rice is a basic ingredient in many Indian cuisines, irrespective of which part of the country you come from. It

is not eaten as much in the Punjab or other parts of Northwest India, where wheat is the staple and rice is made at special occasions like weddings, and usually prepared as a pulao (pilaf) or biryani, a similar dish, both of which can include vegetables or meats.

Pulao is a method of cooking rice in a seasoned broth and was adopted from the Persians who invaded North India three times. In some cases, the rice may become brown depending on the use of onions, a mix of spices and meat or vegetables, depending on the local cuisine. A variation of it can be found in the Middle East, Central and South Asia, East Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Ingredients: • • • • • • • •

2 cups chawal (long grain rice, preferably Basmati) 2 medium pyaaz (onion) 4 cups pani (water) 2 tbsp olive oil or any other oil you prefer 1 stick daal chinni (cinnamon) – broken into 1 inch pieces 2 loung (cloves) 2 ilacchi (cardamom) - split Namak (salt) to taste

1. Soak the rice for 30 minutes in cold water in a wide rimmed bowl.

2. Peel the onions and cut them into thin, long slices so that the slivers come part.

3. Heat the oil in a medium sized pot and place the sliced onions in it. Stir frequently till they are dark brown, but be careful not to burn them.

4. Add the salt and cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and stir. Add the water and bring to a boil.

5. Drain the rice, then add it to the pot and bring to a boil again. Now reduce the heat to very low, cover the pot and let it simmer.

6. After about 10 minutes, the rice will rise to fill the pot. With a long fork, poke the rice to check that there is no more water on the bottom. Turn the heat off and leave the pot covered for 10 minutes.

7. Serve warm with plain yogurt, daal or rajmah (red beans) or eat simply with Indian pickles.

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

MAMA’S T IP OF THE WEEK FOR TE

NDER BASMATI RI CE, SOAK THE GRAIN S BEFORE COOKIN All too often, I hear G

that people say they ca watery or too stick y, and I am confused n’t cook well, that it is either too at tell me that they let the rice boil for awhil how they cook it. Generally they e problem is that the starch binds the rice and then serve it from the pot. The together when it is bo allow the long-grains iled and doesn’t to Others stir-fry the ric show. This also affects the way the co oked rice tastes. e in oil before addin g the water, but this rice from fluffing up only keeps the completely.

The best way to co ok rice – especially Basmati – is to let it minutes before cook soak ing it. The water let s the rice puffs up an for 30 or 45 the starch is washed d then most of off when you drain the water. Then add to cook. You’ll love it to boiling water the results!

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INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2016 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

December 02, 2016

ENTERTAINMENT:REVIEWS/NEWS ENTERTAINMENT:REVIEWS/NEWS

Moh Maya Money:

Dear Zindagi Holds up a Mirror to Life

W

hen we meet Kaira aka Koko (Alia Bhatt) in Dear Zindagi first, she is working. On a set. Looking at the world through a lens, constructing pretty images. We know, from her smile, and from the appreciative comments of her co-workers, that she is good at what she does.

To have a female lead presented as possessing a profession from the getgo, and excelling at it, still feel like a significant step for a Bollywood movie. And to have Kaira declare to a current love that she has had a fling with another feels nothing short of a revolution.

Right there, within a few minutes of the opening of ‘Dear Zindagi’, director Gauri Shinde has us intrigued.

We want to know more about Kaira, about what makes her tick, what she wants to do, because she wants to do something, be someone.

And then, just as suddenly, the film gets becalmed. It stops moving. It becomes, instead, a sea of words, where Kaira and her besties —

played by Ira Dubey and Yashwasini Dayama (last seen in ‘Phobia’), and her potential romantic interests (Kunal Kapoor, Ali Zafar, Angad Bedi) — chat up a storm, in living rooms, bars, parties, cars. And nothing happens slowly as we get to know that the confident Kaira is actually just a sorry mess, and underneath all that bluster lives a scared little girl, dealing with childhood trauma and abandonment issues.

The vehicle through which, or should we say whom, Kaira Learns Life-Lessons, is a dishy shrink played

by Shah Rukh Khan. Dr Jehangir Khan has her sit across him in his cosy consultation room, takes her off for long walks on the beach, and teaches her that playing with waves is not just a game. It is Life Itself.

Real-life therapists might gape when they see Dr Khan brushing off rules, dimpling his way through his sessions, while giving Kaira, and us, lectures on the virtues of finding the right chair only after experimenting with several (for chair, read relationship, and roll your eyes).

M o r e eye-rolls are caused by the dialogues which are

23

An apt film in these demonetisation times

A young estate agent with loose

straining to be natural, but end up being far too many for much too little. Finally, despite Alia Bhatt’s clear and present spark ( she keeps disappearing into the construct of the Fragile, Vulnerable Little Girl, coming up for air only once in a while) and Shah Rukh’s raffish charm (he keeps reaching out for the right `sur’, a mix of gravitas and lightness, and catches it only occasionally, letting us notice the white in his beard : hey, look, there’s a superstar playing his age!), ‘Dear Zindagi’ comes off as a film which could have done with less preciousness, and more plot.

Given the potential of the theme—growing up pains, and walking past the past– and the attractive leads. ‘Dear Zindagi’ should have been a much better film.

What we get instead, in spades, is bumper-sticker self-help notes which are strictly boiler-plate.

-indianexpress.com

morals tries to pull off a scam. He fails and things turn very ugly as he has to resort to sinister means, along with his wife, to make things all right.

Aman (Ranvir Shorey) is a glib talking estate agent who longs to make it big. He does all kinds of deals, black and white and sees a lot of money exchange hands, but all he gets is a very small piece of action. He wants a bigger piece of the pie and is ready to cheat his own company to get that. His wife Divya (Neha Dhupia), a news producer discourages him, but he hides his schemes from her. His game ends badly and he reveals it all to Divya.

He shows his vulnerable side to her, but Divya is too emotionally detached to play along. Yet she does and the emotional price she pays is big.

Ranvir Shorey has played characters from Delhi in his previous films, and like every time, it’s a joy to watch him play them. He’s a total scum yet capable of loving selflessly. He is a product of his environment where a scam pulled off neatly is a job well done. As his schemes gets murkier, we see the terrified human side to him and empathise with him. Neha Dhupia barely does justice to her character as a cold and calculative

career woman. While her world is white, the secrets she is party to are just as dark, if not more, than her husband’s. But when she realises the emotional toll that life is taking on her, makes for an interesting watch.

The story builds quite well and keeps you guessing. The twists are interesting, unexpected and add to the story. It has a non-linear narrative, but it’s not tough to follow.

However, the loose ends could have been tied up well, and the end leaves you wanting more. Although it’s a well made crime thriller, there are a few loose ends which could have been tied up well. The effect is that the end leaves you wanting more.

-timesofindia.com

Boman Irani December 2, 1959

Konkona Sen Sharma December 3, 1979

INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2016 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

24 December 02, 2016

3rd Test: India’s All-Round Show Earns 2-0 Lead

BY ANDREW MCGLASHAN

M

OHALI: (ESPN Cricinfo): India 417 (Jadeja 90, Ashwin 72, Kohli 62, Jayant 55, Pujara 51, Stokes 5-73, Rashid 4-118) and 104 for 2 (Parthiv 67*) beat England 283 (Bairstow 89, Shami 3-63) and 236 (Root 78, Hameed 59*, Ashwin 3-81) by eight wickets It took, perhaps, a little longer than may have been expected but India duly cantered to an eight-wicket victory in Mohali and an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. That it was not until after tea that they knocked off the runs was largely down to a resilient display from Haseeb Hameed, batting at No. 8 due to his finger injury which was confirmed as tour-ending, who ended unbeaten on 59. But the target was swiftly dealt with by Parthiv Patel’s unbeaten 54-ball 67.

Hameed’s innings put into context the wasteful batting that had pockmarked England’s performance.

They were chasing the game since the opening session, when they handed three of the four wickets to fall to India, who only briefly let them back into the contest during a frenetic period after tea on the second day when they lost 3 for 8.

England began the fourth day 56 behind with six wickets hand and though Joe Root helped them erase the deficit during the morning session, two further wickets had been shipped by then.

When Root departed for 78, sharply held at slip, there were visions of a swift conclusion to the match but Hameed dug in and Chris Woakes played positively to persuade India that the second new ball was needed.

It was used with potent effect by Mohammed Shami who claimed two wickets in three deliveries. Hameed was eventually left stranded when James Anderson was slow coming back for a second run.

M Vijay’s diminishing returns since his century in Rajkot continued when he fell for a duck, edging a short ball from Woakes to slip, but Parthiv led India’s surge to the target - in the process creating a potential selectionposer should Wriddhiman Saha be fit - while Cheteshwar Pujara was content to play within himself, avoiding

Parthiv Patel rolls his wrists over a sweep shot, India v England, 3rd Test, Mohali, 4th day, November 29, 2016.

a regular diet of bouncers, until topedging a sweep with 15 required.

It was noticeable how England’s quicks went for a concerted shortpitched attack early in India’s chase, something that had been missing with the game in the balance on the third morning, but barring Ben Stokes’herculean efforts they were out-bowled by the India pacemen.

That was no better highlighted than

by Shami’s use of the second new ball. He rattled Woakes with a short ball, which hammered into his helmet and dislodged the stem guard, and followed up with another pinpoint short delivery which Woakes could only fend behind to the keeper. Two balls later, Adil Rashid was also bounced out, hooking to fine leg.

The extent of Hameed’s injury was still not clear when he came in below Jos Buttler, but Alastair Cook confirmed after play that he required surgery. It was to his immense credit that he did not appear in significant discomfort although he did need further painkillers during his stay.

It took Hameed 19 balls to get off the mark and he needed 111 deliveries to score his first boundary, which came with a slog-sweep against R Ashwin. He had also been given a life on 6 when Parthiv could not gather a tough chance off Ashwin. When he was joined by last-man Anderson he had 23 off 127 balls, but then showed

the other side to his game. He took on Shami and, when he was somewhat surprisingly removed from the attack, continued to take on both Aswhin and Ravindra Jadeja with his fifty coming up off 147 deliveries when he slogswept for six over deep midwicket.

It had not taken long for India to make their first breakthrough when nightwatchman Gareth Batty propped forward at Jadeja’s second ball of the day and was given lbw.

Root and Buttler responded with intent: Buttler came down the pitch to loft Jadeja over long-off and Root scampered hard between the wickets.

For a short period it was reminiscent of a one-day partnership and Virat Kohli relaxed his attacking fields a little.

However, when a batsman such as Buttler is keen to dominate - which was not without merit - the scouts in the deep become wicket-taking catchers and so it proved when Buttler miscued Jayant Yadav to deep midwicket.

Hameed was never going to opt for the Buttler route so it was left to Root to do the majority of the runscoring while he bedded in. Shami went short at him for a brief period, to try and target the injured hand, but with the old ball the pacemen’s main threat continued to be reverse swing with both Shami and Umesh Yadav finding prodigious movement on

occasions.

Root’s half-century, his secondslowest in Test cricket, was brought up with his third boundary and he then became engaged in a tussle with Ashwin. A cover drive and strong sweep went Root’s way, but attempting another sweep he was fortunate to escape as it looped over the wicketkeeper.

It was another bowling change which ended his resistance - another call that worked for Kohli in this match - when Root drove at a delivery from Jadeja which gripped enough to take the edge.

If there was a shot in the Mohali Test that said “you may as well shake hands now” it was Parthiv Patel’s upper cut off Ben Stokes for four with India needing 48 runs to win.

Parthiv was playing for India for the first time in eight years and he gave a fine account of himself, cracking 67 off 54 balls.

“I think he really stood out in this game for me as a batsman,” India’s captain, Virat Kohli, said. So was there a chance that he might stay with the team as a back-up batsman even if Wriddhiman Saha comes back to keep wicket for the Mumbai Test, starting on December 8?

Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo

SPORTS

New Zealand Snatch Win in Dramatic Last Session

H

AMILTON (ESPN Cricinfo): New Zealand 271 (Raval 55, Watling 49*, Sohail 4-99) and 313 for 5 dec (Taylor 102*, Latham 80, Imran 3-76) beat Pakistan 216 (Azam 90*, Southee 6-80) and 230 (Aslam 90, Azhar 58, Wagner 3-57) by 138 runs New Zealand took nine wickets in a dramatic final session, sealing a 2-0 series whitewash as Pakistan collapsed against the second new ball to slump to a 138-run defeat. When the final session began, the draw seemed the likeliest result by far, and a New Zealand win perhaps less likely than a Pakistan win.

With a minimum of 34 overs left, Pakistan needed 211, with nine wickets in hand. Those nine wickets fell in the space of 24.3 overs, the last six to the second new ball in the space of 11 overs.

On a pitch that offered little help to the bowlers apart from occasionally inconsistent bounce - which became less of a factor as the ball aged - New Zealand gave themselves a chance by playing the waiting game as Pakistan plotted a heist of their own. Pakistan had chased down two 300-plus targets in the last two years, both times against Sri Lanka - 302 in two sessions in Sharjah, and 377 in Pallekele.

With the required rate creeping past six an over at the start of the final session, Kane Williamson’s tactics began to yield their desired results.

His defensive fields had kept Pakistan in the game without letting them get too close, and now, they asked the batsmen to take risks.

Babar Azam, going after a wide, flighted ball from Mitchell Santner, dragged the ball onto his stumps, replicating Azhar’s dismissal before tea. Aslam, failing to get elevation while looking to clear mid-off, fell ten short of a maiden Test hundred. Then Sarfraz Ahmed was run out, looking to steal a suicidal second run.

In all, Pakistan scored 51 in 13 overs after the drinks break, and were 158 for 1 at tea. Aslam was batting on 75, Azam on 16 off 23 balls, and their minds must have been busy calculating run rates and figuring out which boundaries to target after the break.

Neither they nor their team-mates nor their opponents could have imagined what was to follow.

INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2016 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

December 02, 2016

Reliance Industries Seeks Access to India’s Longest LPG Pipeline by IOC

25

Service Tax Department to Auction Vijay Mallya Plane on 28-29 November

MUMBAI: In its bid to recover

around Rs535 crore due from beleaguered businessman Vijay Mallya, the service tax department is looking at having more participation when it reauctions his luxury personal jet on 28-29 November.

The e-auction will be carried out

by MSTC, the department said, adding it had roped in a professional valuer for revaluation of the aircraft following a recent Bombay high court order to do so at a reduced reserve price. The department had initially fixed a reserve price of Rs152 crore but could not find a buyer following which the HC had ordered to review the price. But the department official refused to share the quantum of price reduction

have more participation,” a department official told.

“We are in touch with all the parties who have shown interest in the aircraft in the past and we hope they will participate in the sale process this time as well on 28-29 November,” he said.

The highest bid received by the department at the second auction held in August was a measly Rs27 crore against the reserve price of Rs152 crore which was offered by a domestic firm SGI Commex.

At the first auction held in June, only one bidder--a UAE-based aviation support firm Alna Aero Distributional Finance Holdings--had participated and had made an offer of Rs1.09 crore for the jet.

saying doing so would hamper sale prospects.

This will be the third time that the department is going for eauction of the plane as it failed both the times in the past.

“We are trying to get potential buyers globally and we have got the forthcoming auction advertised in international journals in our bid to

The department has got conducted b o r e scope, which is a technical analysis of the plane, by Air India Engineering.

“We have got borescope of the aircraft conducted by Air India Engineering,” he said.

-livemint.com

The pipeline being laid by IOC will carry 3.75 million tons per annum of LPG.

NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries

Ltd (RIL) has sought access to India’s longest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline that Indian Oil Corp.

(IOC) is laying from Gujarat to Gorakhpur in eastern Uttar Pradesh to cater to the growing demand for cooking gas in the country.

IOC plans to import LPG at Kandla in Gujarat and move it through the 1,987 kilometer pipeline to Gorakhpur via Ahmedabad (in Gujarat), Ujjain, Bhopal (in Madhya Pradesh), Kanpur, Allahabad, Varanasi and Lucknow (in Uttar Pradesh).

In comments on IOC proposal made to Petroleum And Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB), RIL said it is “interested in meeting its own demand in the geographical areas that is serviced by this pipeline and seeks capacity access in the pipeline.”

RIL said it wants to put in its own LPG, possibly produced at its Jamangar refineries in Gujarat, in the pipeline for transportation to hinterland.

The pipeline will carry 3.75 million tons per annum of LPG, IOC said in

an application to the sector regulator PNGRB seeking approval for laying the pipeline. Of this, 25% will be common carrier capacity that can be provided to third parties.

“As you are aware the government is keen on rural penetration of LPG due to health, safety and environment (HSE) imperatives. RIL has been marketing (LPG) only in rural areas and would compete in predominantly rural areas serviced by this pipeline,” it said.

Besides getting right to move its own LPG through the pipeline, RIL also wanted third party access to storages IOC will build along the pipeline route for stocking the gas before sent to bottling plants for filling in cylinders for sale to consumers.

RIL said assistance at the allied storages proposed en route is vital for it to compete and rural penetration.

“Since the facilities of storage also fall within the definition of ‘Petroleum & Petroleum Products Pipelines’, we request that you declare all the facilities and the pipelines as ‘com-

mon carrier’,” RIL said in the letter to PNGRB. If needed, IOC should also provide facility for loading bulk trucks, cost of which can be recovered in pipeline transportation tariffs.

The company, which owns refining capacity of 62 million tons, said aggregation of demand will help avoid infructuous investment in the parallel pipeline, bringing down the cost of transportation. “Access to RIL will also enhance rural penetration, one of the policy imperatives of the government,” it added.

IOC plans to feed LPG into the pipeline at Kandla port as well as its Koyali refinery in Gujarat. It will connect eight of IOC’s LPG bottling plants in central and northern India.

This will be the biggest LPG pipeline in the country.

Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL) currently operates a 1,415-km line from Jamnagar in Gujarat to Loni near here. The line carries 2.5 million tons of LPG annually.

-livemint.com

INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2016 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

26 December 02, 2016 India’s Growth Likely to Slow to 6.5% Due to Demonetisation

NEW DELHI: India’s real GDP

growth is expected to slow to 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal on the likely impact of demonetisation, while

growth will see a moderation in the near term and would gradually recover to 7.5 per cent in the next financial year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 had announced the

“We expect growth to be impacted adversely in the present and next quarters due to the government’s temporary de-monetisation initiative,” said the note, adding that GDP

to increase public spending from the next fiscal year to offset the likely lingering impact of a slower growth in the informal economy. Moreover, the RBI is also likely to keep mon-

muted inflation may open room for additional rate cuts, says a Deutsche Bank report. According to the global financial services major, economic

demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, thereby withdrawing 86 per cent or Rs 14 lakh crore worth currency from circulation.

will slow to 6.5 per cent in 2016-17, and gradually recover to 7.5 per cent in 2017-18. According to the report, the government is expected

etary policy accommodative for a prolonged period, which will help private consumption to recover once again in the next fiscal year, especially

in the second half.

“This could help push up FY18 real GDP growth to about 7.5 per cent, with the recovery likely to be more back-ended,” Deutsche Bank added. The global brokerage expects CPI inflation to average under 5 per cent both in 2016-17 and 2017-18, opening up considerable additional room for rate cuts. “Given the growthinflation outlook, we have pencilled in 25 bps cut at the 7th December meeting and another additional 50 bps rate cut for the next year. We expect the RBI to cut rates in February (post the Union Budget) and in April (annual policy meeting) by 25 bps each,” the report said.

The Monetary Policy Committee headed by RBI Governor Urjit Patel last month cut benchmark interest rates by 0.25 per cent to 6.25 per cent. The next RBI policy review is on December 7.

-indianexpress.com

India Intensifies Efforts to Trace Indians’ Swiss Account Details

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efforts to trace black money parked abroad, India has shot off at least 20 ‘administrative assistance’ requests to Switzerland in recent months seeking details of Indians suspected to have misused Swiss banks’famed high-secrecy walls to evade taxes.

The individuals and companies about whom India has requested for information include at least three listed companies, former CEO of a real estate major, wife of a Delhi-based former bureaucrat, a Dubai-based Indian origin investment banker, a high-profile fugitive along with his wife and an UAE-based holding company, as also some Gujarati businessmen settled abroad and presumably in trading business.

Many of these are suspected to have maintained accounts in Swiss banks through offshore entities, including in Panama and British Virgin Islands.

These requests for ‘administrative assistance’, which typically involves exchange of information on submission of proof by the requesting country about the account holder’s wrongdoing, have been documented by Swiss authorities in their Federal Gazette as per local laws to give the concerned person or entity a last chance to appeal against sharing of data.

While India and Switzerland last week signed a new pact for automatic exchange of information about account details September

Under growing global pressure, Switzerland has begun sharing information in cases where other countries have been able to present some evidence of suspected illegalities.

2018 onwards, the pending requests have been made under their existing bilateral tax treaty.

In the past also, names of some Indian nationals figured in Switzerland’s Federal Gazette notifications after the Swiss authorities were approached

by India for information about those people with regard to the pending taxrelated probes against them.

After following the due process prescribed under Swiss law, the information has been shared by Switzerland with India in some cases, pursuant to which the Indian authorities –including the tax department and Enforcement Directorate –have proceeded with their prosecution and other actions.

However, the pace of seeking such details seems to have quickened in the recent months, going by the sudden spurt in the number of Indian names figuring in such notifications.

So far in November alone, five

Indian names have been disclosed, while a similar number of ‘administrative assistance’ requests were notified in October as well. Since June this year, at least 20 such requests have been disclosed by the Swiss authorities.

Typically, these notifications include name, nationality and date of birth of the concerned individual, while in case of companies, their names and the country of registration are mentioned.

For long, Switzerland has been known for strict secrecy clauses about details of foreigners having accounts in Swiss banks. However, under growing global pressure, Switzerland has begun sharing information in cases where other countries have been able to present some evidence of suspected illegalities.

-indianexpress.com

INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2016 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

December 02, 2016

INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, DECEMBER 02, 2016 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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December 02, 2016

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