July 13, 2012

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Friday, July 13 2012 | Vol. 31, No. 28

Indo American erican News

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

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Swami Vidyadhishananda Talks on Indian Temple Architecture 2012

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Third Eye on Temple Heritage

By Himalayan monk, His Holiness Swami Vidyadhishananda

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Join us for a stunning audio visual presentation and meditative fellowship featuring a selection of our Nonprofit's Fellowship Archives. Riveting imagery of India’s temples will be shared while His Holiness Swami Vidyadhishananda elucidates on the philosophical roots and spiritual depth of India’s architectural wonders. This is a rare chance to view vintage images of India from the earliest days of photography.

In his presentation, Swamiji compared and contrasted different styles of temple architecture houston.tx@swamahiman.org in India with relation to Online registration is highly recommended the ancient puranic texts.

Visit www.swamahiman.org and click on Event Registration 713.291.7962 The presentation showed Sponsorships and Heartfelt Donations to the Nonprofit are much appreciated how thoroughly Swami Vidyadhishananda had Self Enquiry Life Fellowship – a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit • www.swamahiman.org • quest@swamahiman.org • 909.543.6003 researched the topic, and he explained how difficult it was to access some of the extraordinary photographs.

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Swami Vidyadhishananda Shares Views on Indian Temple Architecture

BY PARTH DWIVEDI HOUSTON: A slender man in orange garb walks into Gaurang Hall at Hare Krishna Dham, his teeth shining out of a warm smile that can be seen through his beard.

Swami Vidyadhishananda takes a lot of care to look at everyone in the lobby while proceeding to the back, escorted by an entourage of devotees. He was in Houston to give a presentation this past Saturday, July 7, arriving promptly at 10 am.

A welcoming committee happily greeted those just entering and pointed people in the right direction. An event that took four months to plan and sixty volunteers – many from as far away as Hollywood - to execute ran very smoothly, and was publicized well enough to gather close to 500 attendees. As expected, parking was a squeeze at the temple on the city’s northside, but everyone was accommodated.

Much care was taken to maintain an atmosphere of peace and serenity in the hall itself, and it could be felt in the air, as a devotee from Austin strummed gently at the strings on her harp. A few minutes before the presentation started, people began showing up, a gentle voice reminded them to help maintain the calm atmosphere by respecting the silence in the hall.

The proceedings themselves be-

His Holiness Swami Vidyadhishananda (center) with Houston volunteers of Self Enquiry Life Fellowship after the conclusion of the event.

gan with introductions by the organizers and devotees, and led up to a ceremonial lighting of the lamp of knowledge before Swamiji himself took the stage. He uttered an invocation in Sanskrit to start the presentation off and then narrated a photographic slideshow of some of the “sacred spaces” found throughout India, a presentation

Late 1800’s photograph of the Madurai Temple which was featured in His Holiness Swami Vidyadhishananda’s presentation

he has made before in his last trip to Houston, but for the first time at the Hare Krishna Dham. He explained the background information on temple architecture and ancient political geography found in puranic literature as an introduction to the remainder of the presentation.

The majority of Swamiji’s presentation concerned itself with

Indo American News

comparing and contrasting different styles of temple architecture in India with relation to the ancient puranic texts. It showed how thoroughly Swami Vidyadhishananda had researched the topic, and he explained how difficult it was to access some of the photographs that are in the possession of the Indian government. In fact, a team of ten people, including Swamiji, has

been gathering and analyzing this information since 2001.

As he concluded the slideshow, Swami Vidyadhishananda led a meditation exercise before the attendees broke for lunch. Swamiji eventually walked around to greet those present, and took much care to meet and speak briefly with everyone who wanted to talk. A question-and-answer session followed in which attendees asked questions ranging on a wide variety of topics, but mostly related to the presentation.

The event was sponsored by Swamahiman, also known as the Self Enquiry Life Fellowship, an organization founded by Swamiji but owned and run separately. As Board member Vissa Rammohan described it, the purpose of the international organization is to carry the dharmic message to the world.

Rammohan said that the presentation was put together to elucidate notions of what actually constitutes a temple and to showcase the great diversity of temples in India.

It was, for the most part, an interim event, as similar events are being organized, the next one being a presentation on temples along the Ganges River in San Jose, California. CDs are also going to be released containing this and other lectures and presentations.

For more information, visit www.swamahiman.org

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July 13, 2012

Pakistani Acid-Attack Victim finds New Life in Houston

BY SUSAN CARROLL HOUSTON (Chronicle): She was 16 years old, working as an operator in a tiny, public call office in Pakistan, when a man walked in and saw the silver cross dangling around her neck.

He asked her three times: “Are you a Christian?”

Julie Aftab answered, “Yes, sir,” the first two times, and then got frustrated.

“Didn’t you hear me?” she asked.

They argued, and the man abruptly left the little office, returning 30 or 40 minutes later with a turquoise bottle. Aftab tried to block the arc of battery acid, but it melted much of the right side of her face and left her with swirling, bone-deep burns on her chest and arms. She ran for the door, but a second man grabbed her hair, and they poured the acid down her throat, searing her esophagus.

A decade and 31 surgeries later, Aftab is an accounting major at the University of Houston-Clear Lake with a melodic laugh.

She spoke no English when she arrived in Houston in February 2004, but is poised to take her citizenship test later this month.

Doctors in Houston have donated their time to painstakingly reconstruct her cheek, nose, upper lip and replace her eyelids.

Over time, her scars have faded from hues of deep wine to mocha.

And, with time, the 26-year-old said, she has learned to forgive.

“Those people, they think they did a bad thing to me, but they brought me closer to God,” Aftab said. “They helped me fulfill my dreams. I never imagined I could be the person I am today.”

Aftab was born in Faisalabad, Pakistan, the eldest of seven children in a Christian working-class family.

She dreamed of becoming a doctor, but dropped out of school at age 12 to work in a sewing factory after her father, a bus driver and the family’s sole breadwinner, broke his back in an accident. After the sewing factory closed when Aftab was 16, she took a job as a telephone operator helping people place phone calls from the small office in the city’s center.

It was June 15, 2002, two weeks into her new job, when the customer spotted her silver cross, a gift from her grandfather. She wore it despite knowing it branded her as Christian, a tiny minority in the Muslim-

Julie Aftab, a Pakistani who was attacked with battery acid in 2002 when she was 16 years old, was welcomed into the Deer Park home of Gloria Ervin and her husband, Lee, in 2004. They taught her to read and write English and continue to give her a loving home. Photo: Melissa Phillip / © 2012 Houston Chronicle

majority country.

You are living life in the gutter, the Muslim man told her. She tried to ignore him, remembering what her mother had taught her since she was a child: “You are no one to insult someone’s religion. If someone is insulting religion, they have to answer to God.” You are going to hell, the man told her.

You are living in darkness. “I am living in the light,” Aftab replied. So you think Islam is in darkness? the man demanded.

Aftab was frightened. She knew Christians had been accused of violating Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws in the past when others had twisted their words, to make it sound as though they had attacked Islam. “No, you said that,” she replied. “Not me.”

But the man was enraged and returned with the battery acid and his friend. When she finally broke away from them, the acid searing her skin and throat, she ran down the street. As she screamed, teeth fell from her mouth and hit the ground.

A woman heard her screams and threw her head cover on Aftab so she could touch her without getting burned. The woman took Aftab to her home and poured water on her.

Others eventually came to help take her to the hospital.

People in the neighborhood detained the two men who assaulted her until police arrived. Why did you do that? the men were asked. They said Aftab insulted Islam, that she said Muslims are living in the darkness and are going to hell.

“They all turned against me,” she said.

“Even the people who took me to the hospital. They told the doctor they were going to set the hospital on fire if they treated me.”

The police let the two men go, and did not even file an official report on the assault until Christian leaders complained, she said.

Aftab’s family was turned away from one hospital, and then another. Her mother begged a doctor at a third hospital to treat her, and he relented.

Aftab could not speak or move her arms.

Doctors said 67 percent of her esophagus was burned. She was missing an eye and eyelids. Her remaining teeth could be seen through her missing cheek. The doctors predicted she would die any day.

She was angry at first, she said.

“God, why did you do this to me? Why did you put me through this?”

Slowly, she started to heal. Three months and 17 days after being burned, she spoke again and was able to see through her left eye. She spent almost a year in the hospital.

Aftab quickly learned that in her old neighborhood, she was a pariah. Her mutilated face was plastered on the news, associated with insulting Islam. Her family was persecuted, and their house was burned down.

“They wanted to hang me,” she said.

“They thought it would be an insult to Islam if I lived.”

Aftab and her parents went to a nondenominational bishop in Pakistan, who said he would try to help. He took her in, contacted Shriners Hospitals for Children, and arranged for her treatment in Houston.

He gave her one piece of advice before she left Pakistan in 2004: “If you forgive them,” he said, “your wound will heal without any medication. You can heal from the inside out.”

Lee and Gloria Ervin prayed together on the night they heard that a young Pakistani girl undergoing medical treatment in Houston needed a place to stay. The Ervins, active in their congregation at Deer Park United Methodist Church, had raised four children of their own, and had a spare bedroom.

They offered to take Aftab in for six months.

When she first arrived, Aftab was painfully shy, stared at the floor and dressed headto-toe in black, Gloria said. They quickly realized she spoke no English.

Lee, a retired Shell worker, taught Aftab how to read and write using the children’s picture books from the church library.

The couple would sit with Aftab when she woke up scared in the middle of the night, screaming and crying.

Aftab enrolled in Deer Park High School, and endured surgery after surgery at Shriners and at Methodist hospitals. She credits a list of doctors with the careful reconstrucCONTINUED ON PAGE

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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July 13, 2012

Dr. Hardeep Singh Lauded with Healthcare Systems Safety Award

0612-35_TexasDMA_IndoAm_10x7.pdf

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7/5/12

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: With the current intense national focus on controlling health care costs and improving quality, one area that President Obama emphasizes is the push to develop electronic medical records systems and make it easier to access patient related that information. This has opened up an ancillary field to make sense of the mountains of accumulated data so that vital decisions can be made about not only the type of care but also the quality of care that a patient receives.

All too often, healthcare providers are inundated with information and can miss vital signs that can lead to a better diagnosis and treatment. Appropriate electronic medical record use, including effectively communicating patient data, can lead to significant savings in treatment costs while benefitting the patient with less stressful therapies.

For the past few years, Dr. Hardeep Singh, chief of the health policy and quality program at the Houston VA Health Services Research and Development Center of Excellence and assistant professor of medicine-health services research at Baylor College of Medicine, has made this area the focus of his research. His work studies the uses of electronic medical records and other types of information technologies to reduce medical errors for outpatients, especially in missed and delayed diagnosis and explores strategies to improve patient safety.

A native of New Delhi, India, Singh received his MBBS degree from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi and completed his residency at the Baylor

2:25 PM

Dr. Hardeep Singh

College of Medicine in Houston. After practicing for three years in the lush, open spaces of Lufkin in rural East Texas, he moved with his family – wife Susan, and daughter Jasmine to Houston where his other daughter Maya and son Devin were born - to take up the position at the VA Hospital. He received CONTINUED ON PAGE

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July 13, 2012

Dr. Singh Receives New Investigator Award CONTINUED FROM PAGE

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his Masters in Public Health from the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee while still practicing. He then moved into research in 2005.

“It was while I was in practice that I realized how often health care system issues, including problems in the medical records made it difficult to form a speedier and accurate diagnosis of the patient’s condition,” said Singh in a telephone interview while he waited to attend a conference on the issue at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta this past Tuesday.

Singh’s trailblazing work was recognized

by AcademyHealth, a leading national professional society serving the fields of health services and policy research, based out of Washington, DC and it honored him with

the 2012 Alice S. Hersh New Investigator Award at the society’s annual research meeting in Orlando, Florida this past June 26.

This award, initiated in 1986, recognizes the contributions of new scholars to the field of health services research and Singh is its first recipient from Texas as well as the first who graduated of an Indian medical school.

AcademyHealth was established in June 2000 following a merger between the Alpha Center (founded in 1976) and the Association for Health Services Research (formed in 1981). Health services research is a multidisciplinary field that studies how social factors, financing, organizations, health technologies, and personal behavior affects access to as well as the quality of health care we receive.

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July 13, 2012

Shunya Theatre Presents The Adventures of Hanuman

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HOUSTON: Hanuman is tired of being laughed at by his monkey friends. They make fun of him and claim he tells fairy tales, but he is about to tell them the most important story he knows. It begins with a song about the creation of the world, and ends with an adventure big enough for any Prince.

Aditi Kapil’s delightful musical play “The Adventures of Hanuman, King of the Monkeys” comes to life in Houston this August.

It’s a colorful, lively stage play with song, dance and live music, produced by Shunya Theatre, Houston’s hometown Indian theatre troupe.

“I’m thrilled that we are able to produce this wonderful play in Houston, and to do it with a cast of local actors - both youth and adult - makes it all the better,” says Shunya’s Artistic Co-Director Yaksha Bhatt. “It has been an enriching experience for everyone involved, and a wonderful summer project for the youth involved.”

One of those youth is Neha Kodali, who plays a monkey. “I am excited about having fun, dressing up and learning how to act!”

Neha is joined by a large cast of Princes, birds, and a big bear, who have been singing, dancing and rehearsing through their summer to put on a wonderful show.

Joining Shunya in this production is Infused Performing Arts, a Bollywood dance school in Stafford. Infused Performing Arts has been teaching in Houston for the last two years, but the Artistic Directors Kiron Kumar and Tina Bose have themselves been each teaching dance for over ten years now. Kiron also plays Ravana in the play.

The cast and crew of the show, youth and adults alike, are eagerly looking forward to opening night. “This is a show for the whole family, and I think everyone is going to love it -- the songs, the dancing and the live music will make this an event to talk about.” says Shunya’s Artistic Co-Director Sara Kumar.

The Adventures of Hanuman runs August 3, 4, 5, 10, 11, and 12. Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 3 pm.

For more information, visit www.ShunyaTheatre.org.

Pakistani Acid-Attack Victim Lives in Houston

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tion of her face, neck and ears - all done on donated time.

“Maybe those doctors don’t know what they did. Maybe they think they just did their jobs,” she said. “But for me, they gave me a life.”

She graduated from high school and went to San Jacinto College on a full scholarship, courtesy of the Deer Park Rotary Club.

In 2007, Aftab applied for and received asylum with the help of Catholic Charities.

She is scheduled for her naturalization interview on July 17.

Over time, she became part of the fabric of the Ervin family, standing at the center of the group portrait shot at the couple’s 50th wedding anniversary. She still lives in

the couple’s spare bedroom, and calls them “Auntie Gloria” and “Uncle Lee.” She says she is unspeakably grateful for them, for their kindness.

She stopped wearing all black, and now calls her scars “my jewel, my gift from God.” “You don’t even see the scars anymore,” said Lee, 71. “You see so much beauty.”

“We are very proud of her,” said Gloria, 72. “We’re very proud of all of our kids.”

Aftab works at Lowe’s in the mornings and takes classes at UH-Clear Lake in the evenings. She plans to someday become a pastor, and raises money for a safe house for persecuted girls in Pakistan.

“There is a reason God gave me life,” she said. “I don’t want to miss one second of it.”

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July 13, 2012

Pratham USA Names Dr. Molly Smith Executive Director

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Dr. Smith to focus on continuing Pratham’s mission to educate the children of India

NEW YORK, NY: Pratham USA has named Dr. Molly Smith as its Executive Director. A 501(c)(3) organization, Pratham USA primarily raises money to support the efforts of Pratham to ensure that every child in India is in school and learning well.

“The opportunity to bring my experiences in India, the UK, and the US to bear on extending Pratham’s powerful mission and positive impact on individuals and communities is an extraordinary opportunity in service and leadership,” says Dr. Smith. “This position allows me to wed my interests in educational excellence, access to learning, India, globalism, and philanthropy into a single role.”

Throughout her career, Dr. Smith has spoken about the power of philanthropy to transform communities and lives and about the compelling responsibility we all share as global citizens to ensure that all children have the opportunity to acquire a quality education.

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Dr. Molly Smith

have Dr. Smith assume the role of Executive Director,” says Dr. Atul Varadhachary, President of Pratham USA. “She is an outstanding educator and proven leader who distinguished herself throughout our search process.”

“Her passion for education and providing quality learning for all children drives her commitments and we look forward to seeing Pratham USA’s mission and Pratham’s impact extend further under her leadership,” says Arvind Sanger, Chairman of the Board of Pratham USA. Smith says her immediate task at Pratham USA will be to work closely with the organization’s Board of Directors, the fifteen

Chapter Leaders in the USA, the national Executive Leadership Team, and volunteers across the US, as well as with Pratham’s leadership in India, to continue the organization’s phenomenal success since its founding in 1994.

Pratham currently has programs in nineteen of the twenty eight states in India.

A Shakespeare scholar, Dr. Smith has previously held positions as President, Provost, Dean, and Professor of English at several colleges and universities in the United States as well as at the University of Aberdeen in the UK. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Fairleigh Dickinson University and on the Executive

Committee of the International Association of University Presidents (IAUP), where she leads an initiative to develop women as academic leaders globally; Dr. Smith is a representative of the IAUP to the United Nations.

Dr. Smith will be working closely with Pratham USA’s National Board of Directors. Most recently, Dinyar “Dinny” Devitre joined several other successful and prominent leaders from the IndianAmerican community – including Avinash Ahuja, Sudesh Arora, Vijay Goradia, Jaideep Khanna, Paul Pandian, and Arvind Sanger – as a member of Pratham USA’s national Board.

Dr. Smith was born in Chennai (India) and earned her undergraduate degree from Ethiraj College for Women, her M. A. in English from Madras Christian College, and her Ph.D. from Auburn University.

Smith has written two books and several articles on Shakespeare and Renaissance drama and regularly lectures on a number of subjects, including the transformative power of education and women’s leadership. She assumed her new position with Pratham USA on Monday, July 2nd.

About Pratham USA and

Pratham: Pratham USA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with has been awarded a four-star rating, the highest possible, from Charity Navigator for the past 6 consecutive years. Pratham USA currently has chapters in 15 cities throughout the United States. The organization accepts tax deductible contributions from U.S. donors to support the mission of Pratham in India to ensure that “Every child is in school and learning well.” For more information, visit www.prathamusa.org Pratham which means “first” in Sanskrit, was founded with UNICEF support in the slums of Mumbai in 1994. Today, Pratham’s direct urban programs, including pre-schools, community libraries, and remedial learning programs reach hundreds of thousands of children annually. In 2007, with the support of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Pratham launched its flagship Read India Campaign, an innovative, low-cost effort to reach the 100 million children in India who cannot read, write or do basic math. Pratham’s Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) evaluates India’s status of education through direct testing of more than 700,000 children in 16,000 villages across India.

For more information, visit www. pratham.org

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9-Year-Old Indian American Boy Working on His College Degree

SACRAMENTO, CA (Daily Mail) : At 9-years-old Tanishq Abraham is already working on earning his college degree, was inducted into genius society Mensa at the age of 4, and scores in the 99.9 percentile on a standardized intelligence test.

The youngest student to be accepted at American River College in Sacramento, California at the age of 8, Tanishq spends his days among students more than twice his age - whom he also occasionally lectures.

‘I like particle physics and contemplating the fate of the universe,’ the boy genius recently told the Digital Journal.

Precocious being an obvious description for him – while his acute intelligence was first recognized by his mother at the age of 2-1/2 - Tanishq keeps his parents busy trying to keep up. His father, Bijou Abraham, is a software engineer, and his mother Dr. Taji Abraham, a doctor of veterinary medicine.

‘A typical comment is that we are really pushing him,’ his father laughed to Fox40. ‘He’s pushing us,’ he insists.

‘People think we want all these things, but it’s his passion. This is what he loves,’ his mother added.

Able to count to 100 at the age of 2, and having to skip the first grade when fully capable of performing 4th and 5th grade mathematics instead, Tanishq’s life could be seen as a challenge for him to fit in.

Our challenge is to keep him stimulated, not bored and to advance. We don’t want him to stagnate,’ his father told News 10.

‘I’m not very good because kids and people are kind of rude to me,’ Tanishq, which means Jewel in Sanskrit, told the Sacramento Bee of his previous school with children his own age.

‘They are testing me to see whether I’m smart,’ he said of their teasing and constant questions and challenges.

Thanks to his college enrolment today he instead gives class presentations and occasionally guest lectures on subjects like palaeontology, astronomy and one of his favourites, dinosaurs. His mother sometimes even joins in on his classes though she says some of the lectures come easier to her son.

‘He’s a real asset,’ Geology Professor Stephen Sterling at ARC told the American River Current.

‘He’s the top student. The students love him and look up to him because they respect him [as they would] a peer.’

‘It was intimidating at first,’ 23-year-old ARC student Alison Gaube told the Sacramento Bee. She shared an Astronomy course with him which had the boy frequently shooting his arm up when asked questions like what is

Pulled from public schooling due to his boredom at regular class levels, as well as teasing from other children, Tanishq now spends his days among students more than twice his age.

Accomplishments • At age of 2, Tanishq could count from 1-100 • At age of 4-1/2 he scored in the 99.9 percentile on the standardized intelligence test and inducted into Mensa • Skipped first grade to perform 4th and 5th grade math • Admitted to American River College at age of 8 - youngest student ever at school • Occasionally gives guest lectures to college classmates • Performs in the San Francisco Boys Chorus • Sang the National Anthem at the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s games • Sister Tiara, 6, is in MENSA too scoring in the 98.8 percentile Newton’s second law of motion.

‘But we treat him like any other student,’ Ms Gaube said. ‘...I had to go with my sister,

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

Tiara on a class field trip. It was at a science museum for kids age 2-8 as thats what it says in their site,’ Tanishq wrote earlier this year in an online blog he started keeping.

‘All they do is play! Well it was okay, nothing interesting for me, was bored after playing for sometime.’

Championing that day he wrote was a copy of an IEEE Spectrum magazine - a magazine selfdescribed as meeting an audience of ‘technology professionals and senior executives worldwide in the high technology sectors of industry, government, and academia.’

‘I like them a lot. especially their “hands-on” section,’ he wrote.

While perhaps writing his boredom with his little sister’s friend’s, Tiara too is in Mensa (which means ‘table’ in Latin).

At the age of six, she was inducted after scoring in the 98.8 percentile.

Sitting in front of a piano, her tiny feet just barely scraping the floor, the girl elegantly taps down on the keys, one of many talents she shares with her brother.

Balancing his academia, Tanishq performs in the San Francisco Boys Chorus, in gymnastics, soccer, piano and even sang the National Anthem at the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s games.

‘We are going to learn Amazing Grace in Cherokee version and Morning Song, another Cherokee song,’ he wrote of his singing class. ‘...after that me and my family had dinner and [then] time for bed (the worst part in the day for me ) ...the end!’

Asked what he thinks he may want to do when he’s a bit older, he ponders and then shoots out his answer: ‘I really want to be a scientist or a president. President of the United States,’ he told the Digital Journal.

‘I’ll make the United States more healthy for us and more efficient,’ he reasons of his highly plausible platform, come the required 35year-age minimum or 26 years to go.

COMMUNITY

July 13, 2012

Neeta Bhasin Honored at Nassau County

NEW YORK: Neeta Bhasin, CEO and President of ASB Communications was recognized as one of the recipients of the Nassau County Awards. She was honored by the Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano, and other elected officials, who were proud to celebrate the vibrant contributions that Indian Americans have made to enhance the quality of life in Nassau County and nationwide.

The award is a commendation to Bhasin’s continuous efforts and dedication of her service within the community. The ceremony was held by the Indian American Forum at the Indian American Night on Sunday, June 24 at Harry Chapin Lakeside Theatre at Eisenhower Park in East Meadow, New York.

Bhasin’s dedication and compassion has led her to become a pioneer in the multicultural advertising and marketing world.

Through the firm’s marketing efforts, her company has reached out to the South Asian community across North America.

Over the past five years, ASB has expanded to various ethnic markets including Asian, Afri-

Indo American erican News

11

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From left: Sher Singh, Sheetal Talati, Dr. Sunil Mehra, Executive Edward Mangano, Dr. Sukhvinder Ranu, Neeta Bhasin, and Jasbir Chorpa(CEO and President of Indus American Bank and IA Bancorp, INC.)

can, Middle Eastern, and the Eastern European communities.

Other respected members of the community, such as Jasbir Chopra, CEO Indus American Bank; Dr. Sukhvinder Ranu, President India Association of Long Island; Dr. Sunil Mehra, President AAPI QLI, Sher Singh Madra, Nargis Dutt Foundation; and Sheetal Talati, CEO RAJBHOG Foods, were all

bestowed with the same honor.

All the distinguished honorees have been innovators in their field, which has led the South Asian community to become a vital asset to Nassau County. The evening also celebrated a showcase of classical Indian music and folk dances from all regions of India.

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12 July 13, 2012

Houston Premier League 2012 Kicks Off Season in Grand Style

BY ROHAN BAVADEKAR HOUSTON: The 2012 Houston Premier League (HPL) kicked off in Grand Style on July 4 with a double header, featuring some of Houston’s top players pitted against each other for their respective franchises. This year’s edition marked the debut of three new teams, making it a total of six teams to participate in this year’s event.

The organizers welcomed The Houston Avengers, The Houston Stallions and the Houston Lions to the HPL. The Houston Avengers are co-owned by a group that includes Niraj Shah (representing Sankalp Indian Restaurant), renowned entrepreneur George Eapen, Sreedhar Dadi (representing Hungama Entertainment) and our very own IndoAmerican News. The Rangers, Gladiators and the Texans are the other teams in the tournament.

The 4th of July featured games between the Stallions and the Lions followed by the Gladiators playing the Texans. The Stallions beat the Lions comfortably by 106 runs. Iqra Farooqi, of the Stallions, was the game MVP for his innings of 89. The second game was a much closer affair, after being reduced to 17-a-side match. The Gladiators posted a fighting, if not match-winning, total of 111 in their allotted 17 overs. They fought back to strangle the Texans run-scoring by getting regular wickets. The Texans, who were the defending champions, managed to score

only 95 and lost by 16 runs. Haris Latif was the game MVP for his spell of 2-13.

The Saturday (July 7) of the following weekend featured games between the Rangers and the Lions followed by the Stallions playing the Avengers. The Rangers beat the Lions easily by 7 wickets, chasing 156.

Ryan Corns, of the Rangers, was the game MVP for his spell of 3-24 and an innings of 33n.o.

The second game was a nail biting match that went down to the last ball. The Avengers posted a total of 147/7 in their 20 overs.

They fought brilliantly in the field, but the Stallions won by 3 wickets off the last ball of the match. Japen Patel, of the Stallions, was the game MVP for his spell of 2-27 and scoring 29.

Sunday (July 8) featured games between the Rangers and the Gladiators followed by the Avengers playing the Texans. It was a rainy day and the game between the Rangers and the Gladiators was washed out, with the teams sharing the points.

The second game (between the Avengers and Texans) was a reduced match of 13 overs a-side and it turned out to be another humdinger that went down to the last over. The Avengers scored 115/4 in their 13 overs and then stifled the star-studded Texans line-up by getting key wickets and won their first game of the tournament by 5 runs.

Sai Ramesh, of the Avengers, was the game MVP for his spell of 2-15 and scoring a blistering 35.

COMMUNITY

Avengers: The Team to Beat in HPL 2012

BY ROHAN BAVADEKAR HOUSTON: The Houston Avengers launched their debut campaign in HPL 2012 this past weekend with games against the Stallions on the July 7and the Texans on July 8.

In their first game against the Stallions, the Avengers captain Niraj Shah won the toss and decided to bat first. Avengers looked to put up a huge total on the board for the Stallions to chase. The Avengers openers Sai Ramesh and Manas Dasaraju came in with the sole intent of gaining the initial advantage with a rousing start.

They went after the bowlers from the first over, scoring 17 quick runs in the first 2 overs. Asif Ullah, of the Stallions, came back strongly and sent back both the openers with the score on 38. Mustafa Hemani and Ashish Mayekar then built a crucial partnership for the Avengers. They were both looking good until Hemani got tempted to go for a big shot on the very

heavy rain. But the Avengers showed their mettle and batted out of their skins aggressively. Given the conditions, the Avengers just batted superbly and the Texans were under pressure from the outset. The openers Manas and Sai gave a great start and had a partnership of 55 runs in around 6 overs, before Manas was run out after playing a fiery knock of 34 off just 20 deliveries. Sai then played some beautiful shots before getting out caught in the deep for 35. Ashish, Niraj and Mustafa contributed significantly to help boost the total to 115/4 in 13 overs.

The Texans were backed up by a very deep batting lineup, with the likes of Ghulam Rasool and Rafey Kazi coming down the order. Ahmer Abbasi and Zain Naqvi walked in to open for the Texans.

Chaitanya Challa, who took the new ball for the Avengers, clean bowled Abbasi on the very first legal delivery, and that was followed by Shiraz Khan removing Zain

Avengers Captain Niraj Shah and co-owner George Eapen with the winners cheque after the game on Sunday, July 8.

first ball from Ricardo Powell, but missed it. Ashish played a magnificent knock by hitting the gaps, putting the bad ball away and yet, playing proper cricketing shots.

He scored a superb 44, which was the top score of the innings.

The Avengers middle and lower order played short and sweet knocks around Ashish and put up a fighting total of 147 on the board for the bowlers to defend.

Avengers were not able to pick up early wickets that were needed to get the advantage with the new ball. Japen and Iqra were dismissed by first-change Shiraz Khan after playing good knocks of 29 and 22 respectively. Ricardo Powell and Majid Rizvi took over from there and were in cruise control until skipper Niraj came in with a different plan. He dismissed Ricardo Powell in his very first over to put the brakes on the scoring. From that point onwards, the Stallions were shaky and lost 4 quick wickets in the next 5 overs. Niraj picked up 2 in the 18th over, that turned out to be a maiden over as well. The Stallions pair of Krishna Kasturi and Asif Ullah were facing a tough task of 14 off 12 balls and later 7 needed off 6. But they held their nerve to scamper home by 3 wickets.

Japen Patel, of the Stallions, was the game MVP for his spell of 2-27 and scoring 29.

The Avengers’ next game on Sunday against the Texans was a rain-affected game and it was reduced to 13 overs aside. The captain Niraj Shah lost the toss and Avengers were asked to bat first by the Texans’ captain Ankit Mehta. The outfield was on the heavier side and the conditions were ideal for bowling after the

with some clever bowling. Ankit and Charan Gowda walked in and looked in total control till the time they were together at the crease. Charan moved to 43 in a hurry along with Ankit on 22, when Ankit pulled Krishna Shastry to the deep square leg boundary, only to be spectacularly caught

by Sai Ramesh a foot inside the ropes.

Charan , while trying to release the pressure brought on by the loss of Ankit, tried to go for a big shot but only succeeded in popping a skier which was caught by the bowler Sai himself.

After that the Avengers took over and fielded excellently affecting two run outs, not to forget an absolute Ripper of a catch taken by Askar Ali in the last over that sealed the fate of the Texans. The brilliance of the Avengers fielding, especially in the last 5 overs, made sure the Texans lost the game by 5 runs and fell to 0-2 in the tournament.

The game MVP was Sai Ramesh for a superb all-round contribution of 35 dazzling runs, 2 wickets, and 3 catches.

“This is a terrific result for us. We spoke about improving the fielding standards after the last game and that’s what the guys have done in this game. We knew that’ll make the difference for us in most of the games. We’re very excited about our chances in this year’s tournament and we’re hoping some luck goes our way as well.”, said former HCL player and Avengers’ manager Rohan Bavadekar.

The Avengers, who are on a roll and appear to be the team to beat, next play the Lions (0-2) on Sunday, July 15 at 9:30 am.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

July 13, 2012

13

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Kusum Sharma’s Shri Natraj School Of Dance

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14 July 13, 2012

Five Doctors Settle SEC Insider Trading Charges

GRAND BLANC, Michigan: Five doctors have agreed to pay $1.9 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission civil charges that they conducted insider trading in shares of a medical professional liability insurer that was preparing to be sold.

The SEC said Dr. Apparao Mukkamala routinely tipped the other doctors in 2010 about confidential details of the sale process for American Physicians Capital Inc (“APCapital”), where he had been chairman at the time.

It said the other doctors bought nearly $2.2 million of the East Lansing, Michigan-based company’s stock between April 30 and July 7, 2010, based on the tips, and that Mukkamala himself bought shares through a charitable organization where he was president.

On July 8, 2010, The Doctors Co, a Napa, California-based medical malpractice insurer, agreed to buy APCapital at $41.50 per share, a 31 percent premium, in a transaction valued at about $386 million.

The SEC said the five doctors made more than $623,000 of illegal profit on APCapital shares following the announcement.

“Board chairmen and other insiders should never choose greed over duty when possessing confidential information about the companies they serve,” Robert Burson, senior associate regional director in the SEC’s Chicago office, said in a statement.

None of the defendants, whose ages range from the mid-50s to early-70s, admitted wrongdoing in agreeing to settle.

Mukkamala, a resident of Grand Blanc, Michigan, agreed to pay $631,000. Dr. Suresh Anne, also of Grand Blanc, will pay $697,000; Dr. Rao Yalamanchili, who lives in Staten Island, New

Indo American News

Dr. Apparao Mukkamala York, $298,000; Dr. Mallikarjunarao Anne, a Chicago resident and Mukkamala’s brother-in-law, $253,000; and Dr. Jitendra Prasad Katneni of Fenton, Michigan, $22,000.

Lawyers for Mukkamala and Yalamanchili declined to comment. Lawyers for the other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The complaint was brought as a civil action in federal district court because the SEC does not have authority to file criminal charges. SEC investigators do sometimes work with prosecutors to bring criminal charges for illegal investing, but SEC officials declined to comment on whether that was discussed as an option in this case. The case is SEC v. Mukkamala et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan, No. 12-13020.

Mukkamala, a radiologist, received the Distinguished Citizen Award from the Tall Pine CouncilBoy Scouts of America in 2010 for his humanitarian efforts.

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Arsha Vidya Satsanga in Sugar Land Supports

Reputed KSRI Sanskrit Institute in Chennai

BY PARTHA R. SARATHY HOUSTON: While the ancient language of Sanskrit is witnessing a modern-day revival with its use in Artificial Intelligence recommended by a NASA researcher amidst burgeoning numbers of Sanskrit students in American universities and schools, there is a growing circle of Houstonian Sanskrit-lovers who are determined to play a decisive role in bolstering the prodigious efforts of a Sanskrit Institute in faraway Chennai.

Their passion and commitment were palpable at a recent presentation in Sugar Land by Dr. Sita Sundar Ram of Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute (KSRI), to an interested audience of Arsha Vidya Satsanga (AVS) devotees, on the Institute’s remarkable contribution and plans to preserve its treasures of ancient knowledge and culture for future generations.

With its vision to re-establish the cultural self-identity of Sanatana Dharma, AVS aims to help KSRI’s growth via ideas and tangible support with an ongoing fundraising campaign, that has raised $3000 so far with the likelihood of additional support from Sanskrit-premis in Houston.

In her lucid presentation, Dr. Sita explained that, since 1945, KSRI is highly respected for its impressive library and research work, awarding graduate degrees, and recognized as Adarsha Shodh Samstha (Ideal Research Institute) by India Government. KSRI is sustained principally by ad-hoc financial assistance from philanthropists from India and the USA, plus nonregular Government grants. (See: http://www.KSRISanskrit.in ) Research, Library and Publications Current KSRI research activities include Literature, Language, Grammar, Yoga, Psychology, Law and Jurisprudence, Philosophy, etc.. A recent example is the book publication “Bijapallava of Krsna Daivajna – A critical study”, resulting from the highly commended doctorate research study of a 16th century algebra text in Sanskrit. Sanskrit Literature of-

fers abundant material for new research avenues, like Women’s Legal Rights in ancient Dharmashastra texts, Dream Motif, Nephology (scientific study of clouds), Chaturyuga calendar, Svarodaya (breath control) science, Town Planning, etc..

KSRI has also hosted scholars from the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia; organized over 300 lectures and several national/international seminars/conferences; and will conduct Sanskrit classes for Oslo University graduate students on alternate semesters.

The commitment of a small, dedicated staff has enabled concurrent doctoral research by upto 24 scholars, plus the strong reputation of its library for its impressive, and growing, collection of 50,000 books, research journals and periodicals related to Sanskrit and Indological studies. The Institutes also maintains an large collection of ancient palm-leaf manuscripts on music and dance written in Grantha, Telugu, Malayalam, Tamil, Nandinagari and Devanagari - containing material on Vedas, Epics, Shrauta Sutras, Dharma Sutras, Philosophy, and Literature.

Uniquely embodying the personal collections of great savants such as Dr.S.Radhakrishnan, the library’s Indology collection, continuously growing, is in Sanskrit,

Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and European languages on Dance and Music, Epigraphy, Ethics, Law, Language and Literature, Philosophy and Ayurveda.

KSRI publishes the internationally renowned Journal of Oriental Research, and over 100 books/monographs on Indology.

Support KSRI has a new thrust to foster robust development in the 21st century, with several additional projects. Using a two-pronged approach, the Management Committee drives to assure a corpus of funds to sustain current-level activities and, second, to raise the level of awareness to garner support for enhanced research and development activities, such as maha-kavyas. Identified projects may be sponsored on an individual basis.

Our literature helps us not so much to know our world but to know ourselves. Sanskrit is the language which contributed to our philosophy and enhancement, helps us form and retain our value system in our approach to life; it is our link between this world and a higher world, glimpses of which we see and experience from time to time.

For more information, call AVS at 28-403-9887 or email heritageindia.houston@gmail.com

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Tickets are available: sulekha.com, tickets2events, Maharani Music, Madras Pavilion, Vishala Grocers or by calling Surender Talwar(713-668-2948), Manisha Mehta(832-876-2142) or Vanitha(832-752-7279) Visit: indoamerican charityfoundation.org

statefarm.com/southasian INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

16 July 13, 2012 Swami Anubhavananda For the first time in Houston, Tx July 15-18, 2012

Discourses & Meditation Main Kaun Hoon

Date: Sunday, July 15th Time: 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. *Prasad dinner to follow

Balancing Personal & Professional Life

Location: Shri Radha Krishna Temple 11625 Beechnut St Houston, TX 77072 (281) 933-8100 www.srkt.org

(in English) Dates:

Monday, July 16th Tuesday, July 17th Time: 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. *Snacks provided

Gita Kya Kahati Hai

SWAMI ANUBHAVANANDA is a guiding force of the current information revolution age. He has been giving discourses on Geeta, Upanishads, Srimad Bhagawatam, Patanjali Yogasutras as well as his trademark “Mauj Me Raho” series of talks that makes him one of the most sought after speakers on Vedanta today. His joke-a-minute style keeps the audience in splits. A disciple of H.H. Swami Chinmayananda, he was Acharya at Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Powai, India, a Post Graduate Academy for Vedantic Studies.

To know more about Swamiji or order his lectures/books visit www.justbehappy.org

Date : Monday, July 16th Time: 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. *Snacks provided

Mauj Mein Raho

Date: Tuesday, July 17th Time: 7:30 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. *Snacks provided

Guided Meditation Dates: Time:

Monday, July 16th Tuesday, July 17th Wednesday, July 18th 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.

For more information please contact: Ravi Patel Ph: 832-217-7104 ravipatel511@yahoo.com OR Falguni Patel Ph: 832-215-6236 fhpatel2003@yahoo.com

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

ENTERTAINMENT

July 13, 2012

17

Movie Review: Gangs of Wasseypur, Facinating Characters, But Too Long

Direction: Anurag Kashyap Actors: Manoj Bajpayee, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Jaideep Ahlawat Rating: *** Gangs of Wasseypur is an ambitious, sprawling saga about the coal mining mafia in Bihar. Three generations of Khan men carry on a blood feud that starts in 1941 and will continue in Gangs of Wasseypur Part 2, which is set in contemporary times.

These are men without a moral compass, living in a lawless land. The actors — Jaideep Ahlawat playing Shahid Khan, Manoj Bajpayee playing his son Sardar Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui playing his son Faizal — are terrific. This is undoubtedly Bajpayee’s best performance since Bhiku Mhatre in Satya.

Sardar Khan has an insatiable appetite for sex and power. He murders with glee. And yet he’s charming.

Wasseypur, at least in director Anurag Kashyap’s version, brims with such fascinating characters.

There’s Sardar’s firebrand wife, played with a steely gaze by Richa Chadda, who finally just accepts that he will have other lovers and so tells him to eat well, saying, ‘Bahar jaake bezati mat karana (Don’t go out and disgrace yourself)’. There’s Ramadhir, the local strongman who battles

the Khan men, played with quiet menace by Tigmanshu Dhulia. Even the minor players, like a gun dealer in Varanasi who looks like he could be a class teacher, are memorable.

The milieu and language is pitchperfect and enhanced by Sneha Khanwalkar’s crackling soundtrack.

Movie Review: Maximum, Tired Subject

BY ANUPAMA CHOPRA (HT) Direction: Kabeer Kaushik Actors: Sonu Sood, Naseeruddin Shah, Mohan Agashe Rating: ** Can we all agree that Bollywood has squeezed as much cinema as is humanly possible out of Mumbai’s infamous encounter cops, their weasel-faced informers and the

ter specialists. Pratap Pandit, played

by Sonu Sood, is the young turk who challenges the supremacy of the equally blood-thirsty Arun Inaamdar, played by Naseeruddin Shah. Their rivalry is used and abused by their seniors and juniors, a don and a wily politician. Everyone shoots at each other until they all fall down.

police-politician-builder-underworld nexus? Can these subjects be embargoed for the next five years so that viewers get a break from grim men gunning down other grim men in dark alleys?And while we are at it, let’s ban girls jiggling in dance bars too.

In Maximum, director Kabeer Kaushik takes all of the above and fashions it into a cautionary tale about two power-hungry, corrupt encoun-

Kaushik, who earlier made the police drama Sehar, is clearly enamoured by these men. Pratap is a rockstar cop who invariably walks in glorifying slow-motion, has a loving wife and child, but is also living it up with Bollywood belles and bar dancers, and doesn’t so much speak as pronounce judgment with inordinately long pauses. Using his imposing physicality to full effect, Sood

mostly postures while Shah slums it.

He keeps a fixed snarling expression for much of the film.

Kaushik has also written the film but he seems more interested in style than substance. There is little character delineation or growth. It’s all about being gritty and cool. So characters deliver lines such as ‘bada game khelo’ or ‘what a player.’

Slow motion shots of birds flying over Maximum City are frequently used to connect scenes.

Kaushik effectively captures the crowds and frenetic energy but little here is compelling or new.

All the usual Mumbai sights are ticked off — local trains, the Ganesh Chaturthi festival, Marine Drive lashed by the rains. Too early in the film, fatigue sets in and the strangely inert plot doesn’t help to alleviate it.

Maximum has stray moments of power but the film feels like a Ram Gopal Varma rehash; mercifully though there are no cameras zooming into teacups like there were in Varma’s recently released Department, which was also about power-hungry, corrupt encounter specialists.

We really need an embargo.

I also really enjoyed the snatches of humour in between the explosive violence.

Kashyap’s material is strong, but there’s just too much of it. There is so much plot squeezed into the twohour-forty-five-minute running time that your head swims. We hardly

ever stay with a character long enough to get emotionally invested, and a voice-over clumsily interrupts the story to connect the dots.

At one point, I was so confused that I longed for a master key booklet to the film that outlined the various factions, relationships and rivalries.

The narrative also moves constantly between the personal and professional (murder, revenge and thuggery being the main professions). So the film moves from the enmity track to Sardar’s mistress and at one point even segues into Sardar’s son’s Bollywoodinspired romance-over-RayBans fantasy. It’s indulgent and much too long. Gangs of Wasseypur is by turns absorbing and frustrating. Watching it feels like gorging on too much good food, leaving you feeling more exhausted than satiated.

But there is enough in the sound and fury to enjoy.

70-Year-Old Run Over by Arbaaz Khan’s Car MUMBAI (NYDAILYNEWS): A 70-year-old woman was killed when she was knocked down by a Land Cruiser owned by Bollywood actor-filmmaker Arbaaz Khan. The Khan family says that they would not pay any compensation to the victim’s family as she was disowned by them. The incident occurred around 11 p.m. Sunday near St. Andrew’s Church when the vehicle was headed towards the home of the Khans at Bandstand. The woman has been identified as Chandra Bala, police said.

She was rushed to the Bhabha Hospital by a police constable and some autorickshaw drivers in the vicinity but died from her injuries.The car was being driven by Dhananjay Pimpale. A top police official supervising the investigation said Pimpale came and reported the accident case to the police station shortly afterwards.

“We have recorded his statement and also the statements of two eyewitnesses who were present at the scene of the accident. We shall record the statements of the vehicle owner (Arbaaz Khan) and Sohail Khan (who has been using the vehicle),” the official told media-persons. He confirmed that nobody else was present in the vehicle and also the fact that Pimpale was not intoxicated at the time of the accident.

“However, we shall send his blood samples for analysis to further confirm this,” the official added. Pimpale was later presented before a magistrate here Monday afternoon. After a brief hearing, Pimpale was remanded in police custody till July 9, but soon afterwards, he applied for and secured a bail on an amount of Rs.10,000, his lawyer Zameer Khan told media persons. Arbaaz’s father, Salim Khan called it an “unfortunate” incident and told IANS: “The woman suddenly came in front of the vehicle and fell. The driver immediately applied the brakes and reported the matter to the police.” He claimed that the woman, apparently frail, was not “crushed” as claimed in some quarters, but fell near the vehicle.

Meanwhile, Salman Khan - brother of Arbaaz - said that they won’t pay any compensation, but would attend her cremation. “We are not paying any compensation to the family members of the victim as we got to know that her family had disowned her,” he told media outside his residence Galaxy Apartment in Bandra.

“She was sleeping on the streets that shows that her family had disowned her. Now those who will come to claim her body, they won’t necessarily be her family members. But I hope they come to claim her body.” “When we’ll come to know that her body has been handed over for cremation, we’ll make sure that we three brothers and our father are there,” added the star.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

18

COMMENTARY

July 13, 2012

PUBLISHER’S LETTER

Renewal and New Beginning Many of you will recall Dr. K.L. Sindwani, who founded Indo-American News with the help of his wife, Mohini Sindwani, and three partners—myself, Pramod Kulkarni and Koshy Thomas. The couple passed away last year after decades of long and fruitful community service.

After a six-month transition period, I am pleased to continue Dr. Sindwani’s legacy as the new Publisher. I am honored and humbled to hold this position and I am thankful to everyone who contributed to its continued success, including Rajiv Gadgil and Krishna Giri. The new team at Indo-American News includes Pramod Kulkarni, who continues as Editor and Krishna Giri as partner. Team members with additional responsibilities are Manasi Gokhale as Managing Editor and Vanshika Vipin as Advertising & Administrative Manager. Art Director is Saqib Rana.

Houston’s South Asian community has a connectivity that is remarkable, given the sheer area of the Metroplex and how the population is scattered. Of course, we have our share of multiple radio shows, but the one big difference is that our inquisitive desi public likes to …. read! A quaint trait in this era of virtual everything. Indo American News can be found at over 150 outlets across the Bayou City, Waller and Ft. Bend counties.

Indo American News played a pioneering role to keep us all connected when it first hit the streets in June 1982. Soon we were a weekly, then Thomas embarked on his own paper (Voice of Asia), years later, our Managing Editor, Rajeev Gadgil started his own (India Herald) and soon Pakistani papers entered the market. Meanwhile, the radio programs started to proliferate and Indo American News even started the first South Asian television program, Asiana Television.

This proliferation bodes well for a community as it helps us share the stories of our lives, synchronize our efforts and thoughts and glues us together at all times.

Indo American News has evolved with the times and we try to stay lock step with the growing community. For 31 years, we have been the chronicler of this desi community— our archives go back to 1982—and now, we are being read by an international audience on the web. We have built our credibility, trust and loyalty on the premise of being a leading source of South Asian information and entertainment.

As we embark on this new era for Indo-American News, I would like to thank our readers and advertisers for their support and we hope to continue to earn your support in the years and decades to come.

Jawahar Malhotra

No to Meena Kumari Politics

BY SHEKHAR GUPTA

Last two years’ electoral politics has made one thing clear: You no longer win elections in India by reminding people how awfully rotten their fate is. Particularly when you and your party have been governing them most of the time.

This young, aware India is aspirational, impatient and unforgiving. This is no longer a country of Meena Kumaris. Those of my vintage will know what I mean. But for the younger readers, Meena Kumari was the tragedy queen of the sixties and the entire theatre broke out in tears the moment she appeared on the screen. Our mothers would then tell us to take two handkerchiefs if we were going to watch a Meena Kumari film.

At some point at the turn of the century, I would even say, in the wake of the Kargil turnaround, the new generation of Indians dumped that negative, defeatist, self-pitying, kasam tumhari main ro padungi attitude. This new mood was then fuelled by a decade of rising growth, increased global respect for the Indian passport, a renaissance of sorts that touched everything, from art, literature, cinema to sports, and, most importantly, ushered in the easy monthly installment (EMI) culture among the middle classes.

It was at this precise point that the Congress decided to change the script, telling the people of India how badly off they were and how they had been betrayed by their rulers all these decades. So badly, that two Indias had come into being, one shining and one declining and so, something had to give.

The strategy guaranteed not merely defeat in elections subsequently, but also destroyed from within a government that had achieved a feat not seen in nearly four decades, of an incumbent at the Centre winning back power after serving a full term. It broke the virtuous momentum that both the UPA and India had been riding. Suddenly, growth was a fourletter word, entrepreneurs were all crooks and crony capitalists, and all Indians, besides the rotten bil-

This young, aware India is aspirational, impatient and unforgiving. This is no longer a country of Meena Kumaris. ... At some point at the turn of the century, I would even say, in the wake of the Kargil turnaround, the new generation of Indians dumped that negative, defeatist, selfpitying, kasam tumhari main ro padungi attitude. lionaires and millionaires, were starving, malnourished or, at best menial, migrant laborers in the metros. In short, we were being told by the very people we had reelected that we were back to our “reality”, a country of Meena Kumaris.

That this self-destructive backward march has ensured the Congress party’s rout in most elections lately is not the issue. This is a democracy, voters have choices, and someone or the other will be elected to rule us. The damage it did was to India, its economy, its pride, to the national mood and self-esteem, or The India Story Every reformist move was blocked by opposition from within the party. Its top leaders stopped having any contact with modernising, entrepreneurial, jobcreating India. They thought they did not need to. Because, in their new, post-2009 wisdom, India’s real job-creators were the district collectors distributing the miserable National Rural Employment Guarantee Allocation (NREGA) largesse. Because that is what the

Indo American News FOUNDER: DR. K.L. SINDWANI

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

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

vast majority of Indians so desperately needed. And, if I may turn the knife, deserved.

An important and powerful Congress MP — a formidable threeterm Lok Sabha winner, not one of those smug, never-retiring Rajya Sabha squatters — made a confession in an in-flight conversation last week. He said the party made a suicidal blunder by brainwashing itself that the 2009 victory had come because of NREGA when it had, in fact, come from growth.

Never mind that the data never justified this. In states where nearly 65 per cent of India’s below poverty line (BPL) families live, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Orissa, the Congress party’s strike rate was just about 20 per cent.

The party, or its UPA allies, on the other hand, swept every major city (except Bangalore, which was split) and had a nearly 60 per cent strike rate in the richer states. It did enormously better, for example, even in Modi’s Gujarat than in Bihar, Orissa or, for that matter, Uttar Pradesh, which was seen as a success story. The aspirational Indians sent a thank-you card to UPA. It responded, in turn, by kicking them in the shins, increasing taxes, EMIs, blocking manufacturing, mining, shutting down power plants, stopping ongoing projects and investments and generating massive job losses. That same once grateful and resurgent India is now downbeat and furious. And what about the very poor? Of course, they are grateful, even for NREGA, but to the non-Congress chief ministers who do a much better job of governance and implementation of central schemes.

So what does the future look like to the Congress people? They all say two things: one, that power will not return to them in 2014.

And second, that the BJP is also in no better shape so we will have a couple of years of khichdi and then a remorseful people will have no choice but to bring us back. This is how the Congress defines optimism now. IE

COMMUNITY

19

July 13, 2012 income tax

Indian American Comedian Ansari Makes a Campaign Ad for Obama

BANGALORE (SI): Aziz Ansari, an Indian-origin American writer and stand-up comedian has come up with an ad for President Barack Obama’s voter registration campaign, which says “I’ll blink when you register.”

Ansari has been supporting Obama’s reelection campaigns from the past many months and previous year he attended a fundraiser for Obama in New York City.

Obama pointed out Ansari during the dinner that followed, telling that his daughter is a huge fan of Ansari.

“Now, this is big because Malia is a big ‘Parks and Recreation’ fan. So having Aziz here is like the only thing she thinks is worth me doing,” Obama said. He also added, “I know he’s backstage, but I just want to remind him: I’ve got more Twitter followers than you, man. I just want to keep him humble and hungry.”

Ansari responded to this by tweeting, “President Obama gives me a shoutout, calls me out on lack of Twitter followers. Unreal.”

Ansari’s and Obma’s relationship became stronger when the former attended the White House Correspondence dinner with several other celebrities in the month of April, last year. Ansari, who holds a graduation in marketing from Leonard N. Stern School of Business at New York University, started his career performing stand-up comedy. He got a place in the “Hot List” of Rolling Stone in the year 2005 and was also honoured with the Jury Award for “Best Standup” at HBO’s U.S Comedy Arts Festival in the year 2006. He was born in South Carolina to Indian immigrants from Tamil Nadu.

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Live Worm Pulled from Man’s Eye in Mumbai

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A 13-centimetre long worm that was surgically removed from the eye of patient PK Krishnamurthy by consultant opthalmologist Dr V Seetharaman. Picture: AFP / Fortis Hospital Mulund Source: AFP

Open 7 days a week

MUMBAI (Yahoo): A doctor in India has pulled a live 13 centimetrelong worm from the eye of an elderly patient who was complaining of persistent pain in an operation reminiscent of a far-fetched alien movie plot.

When Dr V. Seetharaman examined 75-year-old patient P.K. Krishnamurthy at Mumbai’s Fortis Hospital this week, the eye expert was shocked by the highly unusual sight of the writhing parasite and had to operate speedily to remove it before serious damage was caused.

“It was wriggling there under the conjunctiva,” Seetharaman told AFP, referring to the thin membrane lining the eye. “It was the first time in my career of 30 years that I had seen such a case.”

Krishnamurthy had been suffering for more than two weeks with redness and irritation before the doctor pinpointed the threadlike creature under a microscope on Wednesday.

“He was also confused and very much disturbed,” said Seetharaman.

The specialist removed the 13-centimetre (five-inch) worm by making a small opening in the conjunctiva -- a 15-minute operation that was observed by the patient’s horrified wife, Saraswati. “It just kept moving and jumping; it was scary for a bit,” she told the Mumbai Mirror.

The patient was relieved of his symptoms while the worm, which was alive for another 30 minutes after surgery, was sent to the hospital’s microbiologists to be identified.

Seetharaman had previously only

heard of worms of about two to three centimetres being removed. “Probably this is a record,” he said.

He suggested the creature could have entered the patient from a cut in his foot or from eating raw or improperly cooked food, before entering the bloodstream and travelling to the eye.

“If the worm was not removed it could have gone into the layers of the eye and caused visual loss,” he said. “It could have entered the brain and caused major neurological problems.”

Dr S. Narayani, the hospital’s medical director, agreed it was an extremely rare case. “We have a very active ophthalmology department and we have not come across a case like this in the last 10 years,” she said.

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The 59th Idea Filmfare Awards 2011(South): Dookudu Steals the Show with 6 Awards

Celebrities from four of South’s biggest film industries turned up in their festive best at the 59th Idea Filmfare South Awards. In this picture above, Nisha, Kajal Aggarwal, Tamanna and Shruti Hassan.

BY SUNAYANA SURESH (TOI) The 59th Idea Filmfare Awards 2011 (South) was a fun-filled night that had actors and technicians, young and old, celebrating the fact that they all belong to one big family.

And the evening’s winners proved that the Black Lady recognizes both commercial and offbeat cinema.

If Tollywood blockbuster Dookudu that starred Mahesh Babu stole the show with six awards, in Sandalwood, Mollywood, and Kollywood, offbeat cinema stole the thunder.

Sanju Weds Geetha (Kannada) and Pranayam (Malayalam) won four awards each, while the Tamil film Aadukalam fetched the team five awards, which included a technical award for cinematography.

The evening also saw the celebration of two living legends, veteran director SP Muthuraman and actor Seema Sasi, who received their awards to standing ovations. The evening also saw child actor Annie walk away as the Best Supporting Actor (Female) in Telugu for her role in the Nagarjuna-starrer Rajanna.

One for the team Filmmaking is a team effort and Sandalwood’s top stars, Puneet Rajkumar and Ramya, dedicated their wins at the 59th Idea FilmfareAwards (South) to everyone who made their victory possible. While Puneet won his award for his performance as the selfless friend in Hudugaru, Ramya took the Best Actor (Female) Award for her gritty show in the tragic love story Sanju Weds Geetha. “This is for my team, especially for (Srinagara) Kitty and Yogi, my co-actors. I’d like to thank Samuthirakani for writing such a lovely script and director Madhesh for adapting it so well to Kannada sensibilities. It was a great team to work with, and, coincidentally, my first multi-starrer,” said Puneet.

Ramya, who was dressed in a black-and-gold one-shoulder outfit, was emotional when she received her award. “The film is very special to me because we battled financial

hardships and extreme weather conditions. We had a quiet release and the film ended up being one of the blockbusters of 2011,” she said.

Acts galore The evening had many performances, which included acts by Sanjjanaa, Poorna, Richa Gangopadhyay, Shruti Haasan, Priya Mani, Tamannaah, Rima Kallingal and Dhanush.

There was an interesting mix of hit numbers of this year and the last year too, from all four languages, which had the stars singing along.

Thanks dad An interesting moment on stage was when Shruti Haasan won the Best Debut — Female award from her father Kamal Haasan. She sought his blessings and embraced him before receiving the award. Ulaganayan stayed back till Shruti’s performance and then congratulated her backstage before he left.

A song to sing The night also had many happy moments when host Chinmayi got several actors to sing. Vikram decided to sing Thenpandi from Nayagan, but not before apologizing to Kamal Haasan. Karthi sang his brother Suriya’s hit number Anjale from Varanam Aayiram, while Udhayanidhi Stalin sang the song Vena Machan from Oru Kal Oru Kannadi. Mahesh Babu shied away from the microphone saying, “I’m not a good singer, I never sing.”

The title sponsor of the 59th Idea Filmfare Awards 211 (South) was Idea, while the associate sponsors were Vijay Shanthi and C. Krishniah Chetty & Sons. The telecast partners are Vijay TV, Maa TV, Suvarna TV and Asianet. Radio partner is Radio Mirchi. Other partners include Black Dog, hospitality partner Hyatt Regency, fashion partner Reliance Trends, multiplex partner Khushi Advertising, trophy partner The Award Gallery, event consultants were Oxygen Entertainment and event management was by Percept.

Tickled pink!

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JULY 13, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

Pink was the favoured hue of this glittering star-studded evening, with Shruti Haasan, Sharmila Mandre, and Richa Gangopadhyay turned out in rosy shades. Saris too made a fashion statement at this dazzling do and we spotted Amy Jackson, Shruti Haasan, Sarah-Jane Dias, Sanjjanaa and Ananya, among others, gracefully carrying themselves in their nineyard splendour. Actor Priya Mani, though, chose to wear a yellow dress on the red carpet.

Dhanush goes local The Kolaveri Di star Dhanush made quite a style statement attired in a gold-bordered veshti teamed with a white shirt. The actor, who also performed his hit number, won the Best Actor award in Tamil for Aadukalam, had a tearyeyed moment, when he called his parents to the stage and dedicated his award to them.

I’m the heroine Shruthi, who won her fifth Filmfare Award, this time as the Best Supporting Actor (Female) for Puttakkana Highway, had a rather interesting speech. While she thanked the jury for giving her an award for this film, which “is so dear” to her heart, she said, “I played Puttakka in the film, which means the entire script revolved around me.”

First time winner Best Supporting Actor Ravishankar, who has won many laurels as a dubbing artist, said, “This award is special because it is my first award as an actor. I feel ecstatic that I’ve won the Black Lady for Kempegowda. It motivates me to win more laurels.”

Kannada songs rocked Actors Priya Mani and Sanjjanaa danced to Kannada numbers, much to the delight of Sandalwood fans. While Sanjjanaa performed to a medley of four Kannada numbers, Gaganave from Sanju Weds Geetha, Pyaarge Aagbittaithe from Govindaya Namaha, Mylapura Mylari from Mylari and Pankaja from Hudugaru, Priya Mani danced to Oorigoble Padmavathi from Johnny Mera Naam...

July 13, 2012

21

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July 13, 2012

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OPINION July 13, 2012

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OPINION

July 13, 2012

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One Becomes Old When One Stops Laughing

BY DR. K. GANAPATHY (Hindu) It all started with a not-soyoung lady offering me her seat for a three-minute bus ride to the aircraft.

My God, do I look so old, I thought to myself. I had been offering a seat to others for decades and now the boot is on the other foot! Last month, my driving licence was renewed for only five years, instead of 10. The premium for my overseas travel insurance was doubled (a privilege for senior citizens). A well-meaning relative advised “Derisking” of investments.

shifts: sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

In developed countries, life expectancy is 83. Every sixth individual in Japan is an octogenarian. According to WHO, those born in 2030 in developed countries could become centenarians. A life span of 125 in the next century may not be impossible.

In just 15 years, every fifth Chennaite will be over sixty. How do you communicate to those around you that the process and concept of getting “old” is not what it was.

At work, I was asked to recommend a smart, intelligent, industrious neurosurgeon some fortyish, for an opening!! Should I read between the lines? My children bombard me with “enough is enough, you have taken night calls for 38 years –it’s time that you started enjoying life.”

Why is there a perception that a senior citizen cannot ‘do’ a 100-hour week and revel in life? Just 2000 years ago, life expectancy was 28.

Today, Shakespeare certainly would not have inscribed: “The sixth age

“Ageing” is a state of one’s mind!

Middle age to me has never been static — it is one’s current age plus five! The most significant aspect of ageing is one’s attitude. A glass can be viewed half-full or half-empty.

My late father at 93 would literally jump with joy, every time Sachin dispatched the ball to the ropes. Of course, he would also switch of TV when the ball hit the wicket. Life in the seventh decade and beyond requires a raison d’être. Centenarians are active optimists, with a sense of

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humour, coping skills and a strong sense of purpose. One does not stop laughing when one becomes old; one becomes old, because one stops laughing. As one wag put it, “It is not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years.” The traditional view has been that wear and tear causes ageing. Markedly different life spans in species, with similar wear and tear, suggest otherwise. The Canada goose lives for 23 years but its kin, the emperor goose, only six years. Engineers know that devices do not age. They function reliably but ‘die’ instantly when a critical component fails. Complex machines have multiple layers of redundancy — with backup systems, and backup systems for the backup systems.

Is that why we have an extra kidney, an extra lung, extra teeth, even extra copies of a gene? Longevity is significantly (25%) based on one’s Methuselah gene (Methuselah is a Biblical personality 969 years old). Modifying this gene increased the life span of the Drosophila melanogaster (fruit fly) 30 times.

The genome of Homo sapiens does overlap the genome of the fruit fly, so who knows! The DNA of centenarians suggests that for those with the “right” Methuselah gene a master check up is less important.

Epilogue: Chivalry not being dead, I accepted the seat in the bus, deciding not to dye my hair or get a Botox job but to capitalise on my new status as a junior senior citizen. After all, middle age is when your age starts to show around your middle. There is no old age. There is, as there always was, just you.

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July 13, 2012

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Business IndoAmerican News

STOCKS • FINANCE • SOUTH ASIAN MARKETS • TECHNOLOGY

IKEA India Entry Hits Snag on Local Content ing middle class.

NEW DELHI (ToI): A plan to open India’s India has rebuffed a reretail sector to foreign suquest by IKEA to relax permarkets such as Walrules on buying goods Mart stalled last year after locally, a government a fierce political backlash, source said on Friday, although the government is raising the prospect of now pushing to revive it. a delay in the world’s IKEA announced its plans largest furniture maker to invest in India over a peentering the Indian reriod of 15-20 years after tail market. the government removed IKEA, famous for foreign investment caps in its self-build flatpacks single-brand retail in Januand huge stores, said ary. last month it would Apart from IKEA, Cocainvest 1.5 billion eu- IKEA wants India to relax rules on local content.

Cola Co is the only other ros ($1.86 billion) and foreign company to anopen 25 outlets, thrownounce big India investments in ing a lifeline to the government in The Swedish recent months.

India where economic growth has company sought a Coke last month announced a slowed sharply. further $3 billion in investment But the Swedish company sought 10-year window to in India over the next eight years a 10-year window to comply with comply with rules as the world’s biggest soft drinks rules that foreign retailers source maker seeks to expand in a coun30 percent from local small and that foreign retailers try where its flagship brand trails medium-sized firms, a require- source 30 percent rival Pepsi. ment which overseas companies from local small and Singh took over the running of say discourages investment. the finance ministry in June, raisWhen contacted by Reuters, medium-sized firms, ing investor hopes of movement IKEA said a short delay in its for- a requirement which on major policy decisions as he mal application to enter the Indian promised to revive the Indian market would not affect its deci- overseas companies economy’s “animal spirit” and end sion to open stores, and hoped to say discourages a “climate of pessimism”. start operations soon. investment.

The government’s requirement The stakes are high for both that foreign retailers source locally sides.

India offers IKEA a huge new IKEA’s proposed phase-in period is designed to ensure that domestic manufacturers share the benefit of market while the government is “too long”.

“They’ll rework it, I’m sure,” an influx of foreign capital. battling heavy criticism over its “We will source at least 30 permanagement of Asia’s third-larg- the source said, speaking on conest economy where growth has dition of anonymity because of the cent of the purchase value of products sold in India from our direct slipped to its weakest pace in nine sensitivity of the matter.

An IKEA spokesman said the and indirect supply chain comprisyears.

Prime Minister Manmohan time period to implement the ing Indian small industries,” IKEA Singh said on Friday that IKEA’s sourcing rules was “not set in said in a statement.

“In the longer term however, the planned entry was proof that in- stone”.

The requirements underscore the mandatory sourcing of 30 per cent vestors still had confidence in Inpotential pitfalls for foreign retail- of the value of goods sold in India dia.

A government source involved ers as they seek entry to a market from domestic small industries rein formulating retail policy called of 1.2 billion people with a swell- mains a challenge,” it said.

PM Singh: Seeking Economic Revival NEW DELHI (HT): Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, now holding the bit for the economy, means business. A week after taking over the finance minister’s job, Mr Singh has admitted slackening investments are way up on his agenda.

Very few things can revive the animal spirits as convincingly as an assurance that Mr Singh’s eye is now firmly planted on the economy. This is the central message in the prime minister’s exclusive interview to the Hindustan Times, but there is much more in it a downcast investor can chew on.

Mr Singh has, with his acuity as an economist, already identified the steps needed to restore the investment climate. Taxes will be transparent and fair for all classes of investors. Government borrowing crowding out productive investment will be curbed. Household savings will be weaned off gold for more fruitful deployment in the capital markets. The government will lower its reaction time to business proposals. And the emphasis on infrastructure spending will be renewed, which means more joint ventures with industry. For a nation that was reconciling itself to reforms being hijacked by political brinkmanship, India’s foremost reformer holds out hope. Most of the tweaks the economy needs to begin firing on all cylinders again do not, in Mr Singh’s assessment, require changes in laws.

The differences of opinion exist within the government and can be bridged, the prime minister feels - a comforting

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admission. India’s transition to a market economy has not been in doubt since Mr Singh set it on course a couple of decades ago, the national discourse, he feels, should now veer to managing it better. Markets can deliver the Congress party’s social welfare commitments more efficiently than the State, provided new machinery - like the national identity scheme, which paves the way for cash subsidy transfers is installed.

Mr Singh succeeds in talking up investor sentiment without jettisoning the legacy of his former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee. The prime minister’s position on a controversial retrospective tax on acquisition of Indian assets by foreign companies and misgivings over new rules empowering the taxman is nuanced: investor concerns will be addressed through a process set in motion by Mr Mukherjee.

This continuity of approach pops up again in Mr Singh’s response to charges of policy drift: the government pulled the economy out of the crisis of 2008, it will do so now as well.

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July 13, 2012

Jundal, 26/11 Issues Dominate Krishna-Khar Meeting Mumbai, the continued antiIndia propaganda by LeT founder Hafiz Saeed and release of Sarabjit Singh were among the important issues that figured in the KrishnaKhar talks, which came two days after their Foreign Secretaries’ meeting in New Delhi.

During the Secretary-level talks, Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai had shared with his counterpart Jalil Abbas Jilani the information gathered from Ansari who revealed that he, along with Saeed, was in the control room in Pakistan during the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

Mr. Mathai also shared the information on Pakistani passport and Pakistan’s domestic identity cards issued to Ansari in the name of Riyasat Ali, indicating the involvement of Pakistan’s state agencies in the Mumbai attacks.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar during the sidelines India also asked the Pakiof the International Conference on Afghansitan in Tokyo Sunday. stani side to find out how such crucial national documents TOKYO (HT): External Affairs ditional concrete evidence of the asserted that India has provided Minister S.M. Krishna met his same. additional concrete evidence of were issued to Ansari and to find out who were behind providing Pakistani counterpart Hina RabbaMr. Krishna, who met Ms. Khar such activities. ni Khar on Sunday during which on the sidelines of a conference on Official sources said that recent the passport and the two ID cards he strongly raised the issue of anti- Afghanistan in Tokyo, asked Paki- revelations by Zabiuddin Ansari to him. However, Mr. Jilani had India activities being carried out stan to take steps to check terror alias Abu Jundal, the LeT opera- rejected the role of Pakistani state from the Pakistani soil, maintain- activities directed against India. tive who allegedly handled those agency in the Mumbai carnage in ing that New Delhi has given adDuring the meeting, Mr. Krishna involved in the 26/11 carnage in which 166 people were killed.

Sadanand Gowda Resigns as Karnataka CM, Ending BJP Impasse BENGALURU (IE): Ending the political impasse in Karnataka triggered by factional politics in the BJP, Chief Minister Sadanand Gowda resigned today to be replaced Jagadish Shettar, a second change of Chief Minister in 11 months.

The BJP high command bowed to Lingayat leader B S Yeddyurappa’s demand for the change in view of the Assembly elections due early next year and agreed to replace 59-year-old Gowda, a Vokkaliga leader, with Rural Development Minister Shettar, 56, who is a Lingayat.

BJP President Nitin Gadkari said, “In view of the current political situation in Karnataka, Sadanand Gowda has handed over his resignation to me. In his tenure, he did good work and the performance of our government was very good.

“There were no complaints against him on grounds of corruption but keeping the party’s interest in mind, as a good party worker, he has resigned,” he told reporters here.

He also announced that he has accepted Gowda’s resignation on behalf of the party.

“Our party has decided to hand over the leadership to Jagadish Shettar,” Gadkari said.

Senior BJP leaders Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley will go to Bengaluru tomorrow to oversee the formal election of Shettar as Chief Minister of Karnataka by the party MLAs. Asked if Deputy Chief Ministers would also be appointed by the party as was reported earlier, Gadkari said no such decision has been taken on this issue.

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With the Assembly elections just 10 months away, the BJP central leadership realised that to put up a “good show”, it will have to fight under the leadership of Yeddyurappa, whom many see as the undisputed leader of the Lingayat community which has always voted for the party, BJP sources said.

Gowda is gone: Karnataka Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda met BJP president Nitin Gadkari and submitted his resignation. Rural Development Minister Jagadish Shettar will replace him.

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Buddhist Sculptures Seized by Pak Police

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani officials say police have seized a large number of ancient Buddhist sculptures that smugglers were attempting to spirit out of the country.

Salimul Haq, who is a director of the government’s archaeology department, said Saturday that the artefacts likely would have fetched millions of dollars on the international antiquities market.

Police seized the relics Friday from a 20-foot container in the southern port city of Karachi that was being trucked north toward the capital, Islamabad.

The load included many sculptures of Buddha and other related religious figures that experts indicated could be over 2,000 years old.

On information received from intelligence agencies, police conducted a raid and seized the antiquities and arrested two men, one being the owner and identified as Atif Butt.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Awami Colony Majeed Abbas told newsmen that the value of the artefacts was being ascertained by the experts. The haul included statues of Buddha, life-sized idols, bronze artefacts, utensils and decorative plaques, Qasim Ali Qasim, director of Sindh province archaeology department said.

Qasim said he believed the items had been dug up in Taleban-infested northwest Pakistan and brought to Karachi a piece or two at a time, ready for dispatch to Europe overland via Afghanistan.

“The thieves and mafias involved in this business dig in the northwest, which is filled with Gandhara sites with little control by the authorities,” Qasim said.

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July 13, 2012

Indian Lady Archers Target Olympic Gold

MUMBAI (ToI): Like in the 2004 Athens Games, Indian archers will be competing in all the medal events in the Olympics - the men’s individual, women’s individual, men’s team and women’s team - this time around in London. While the women’s recurve team members Laishram Bombayla Devi, Deepika Kumari and Chekrovolu Swuro earned their berths by clinching a silver medal at the World Archery Championship in Turin (Italy) in July 2011, the men’s team of Rahul Banerjee, Jayanta Talukdar Gold medal winners, Dola Banerjee, Deepika Kumari and Bombayala Devi and Tarundeep Rai booked Laishram of India celebrate after the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games. the London tickets by finI have also heard a lot from my Indian archers has been that they ishing second best in the last qualifying event in Ogden, sister (Olympian Dola). She has fail to live up to their potential in cautioned me that one can get un- international tournaments. London USA last month.

Going by recent form, most ex- nerved at such a huge event. Hence will provide the opportunity to put perts feel the London Games is the it is important to stay calm and fo- such talk to rest.

This is only the second time greatest chance for the Indian ar- cused,” Banerjee told TOI. As for Deepika, Olympics is a since 2004 Athens Games, when chers to win some medals for the country, the best being teenager dream which she has nurtured ever Indian archers have been able to Deepika Kumari in the women’s since she picked up a bow and ar- earn the maximum of six quota individual category. However, the row. The Ranchi girl won her first places for the Olympics and powmanner in which the men’s team World Cup individual recurve ered by Deepika’s sublime form, fought to qualify for the Games gold medal in Antalya, Turkey in the team will look for podium has made them the dark horses May and became the world No. 1 finishes in at least two of the four for the Games.“I think they (men) in the FITA rankings last month. events in London.

The 18-year-old Deepika shot have peaked at the right time and I But her focus is on London. “The No. 1 ranking is okay but I will be to fame when she won her first am confident that both the men’s and women’s teams will win med- happy only when we win a gold in international medal, becoming the cadet world champion in Ogden als in London,” Archery Associa- the Olympics,” he said.

Cricket’s mecca - the legendary 2009. The Ranchi girl has not tion of India (AAI) general secretary Paresh Nath Mukherjee told Lord’s stadium - will be the venue looked back ever since.

Daughter of an autorickshaw TOI. His confidence stems from for the archery event this time and the fact that the archers have been the AAI held a month-long sum- driver, the teenager emerged as the consistently shooting in the 220 mer camp at the Paljor stadium in biggest archery sensation when points range, which Mukherjee Gangtok to help the archers get a she won the Commonwealth gold medal in Delhi 2010. feels is good enough for an Olym- feel of the conditions in London The team will leave 10 days beDeepika continued to dominate pic medal.

London will be the first Olym- fore the event to get acclimatized her age group as she won the junior pics for four out six archers, which to the conditions in London. “Wind world title in 2011, while recently means India will have a mix of is likely to play an important role she showed her top form when she won the World Cup Stage II gold experience and exuberance. The this time,” Banerjee felt.

National coach Limba Ram, in Antalya. onus will be on Rai and Bombayla “She is definitely our best bet in Devi, who have participated in the who himself missed out on an Olympics before, to channelize Olympic bronze medal by just one the women’s section for a medal the youthful energy of Banerjee, point in Barcelona in 1992, wants in the individual event,” national Talukdar, Deepika and Chekrovo- to experience that winning feel- coach Limba Ram told PTI, assertlu since big stage nerves like can ing through his wards. “We stand ing that they were aiming for two a good chance to win medals this medals. “Her progress graph is leave first-timers awe-struck.

“Olympics are always special. time. Deepika is in good form and impressive. In past two years, she Every sportsperson grows up lis- the men’s team too has picked up has beaten some of the big names including the world champion Kotening to Olympics stories. It’s no at the right time,” he said.

The common complaint against reans,” he added. doubt the greatest show on Earth.

SPORTS Yuvi: Returning to Cricket Soon

NEW DELHI (ToI): Yuvraj Singh, having battled a rare germcell cancer called mediastinal seminoma for the last six months, is seeking fitness and redemption, and believes T20 will be an ideal format for him to explore his return to competitive cricket.

The World Twenty20 has been marked down by many as the event that will signal his comeback, but on Friday, Yuvraj said he ideally wanted to be completely ready in time for two T20 internationals against New Zealand scheduled for Visakhapat- Yuvraj Singh signals “thumbs up” on his nam on September 8 plans to return to Twenty20. and Chennai on SepYuvraj was speaking at his tember 11.

“It’s important for me to play a academy, the Yuvraj Singh little bit of cricket before I play Centre of Excellence, at the the T20 World Cup. I should be Pathways School near Gurgaon, ready enough to play in those Delhi, on Friday, the day before two games. I want to be ready the launch of a cancer initiative 15-20 days in advance so I can called YouWeCan. It was here push really hard in the T20 World that he made his first public appearance after returning from Cup.” He said he thought he had a chemotherapy in the US in “95 to 100%” chance of mak- April. The man in the room this ing it back in time for the World week was significantly altered Twenty20 and the bigger event from the bald, slightly hesitant happened to be a “realistic” tar- and almost unrecognisable figget. “I’m not going to come back ure who wore sunglasses in90% fit or 80% fit. If I feel I am doors to deal with the glare of 100% fit then I am going to go camera lights.

The two months between then into the field… I am recovering really well, getting a lot of and now, Yuvraj said, had been strength, my cardio sessions spent recovering from his chehave been good. [If I] keep do- motherapy, taking a vacation ing those repetitions, I think my with friends, and most recently his first nets session in six body will recover faster.”

The post-cancer routines, he months.

The transformation from besaid, had not varied greatly.

“There’s nothing different to it, ing in a wheelchair during his it’s just that I have to build on final cycle of chemotherapy in everything altogether. So T20 Indianapolis and three months would be a great start for me be- later walking into the NCA cause you’re playing 20 overs. nets or sprinting, up to what he Then you play 50 overs. Once called 90% of capacity, was, he you have that feel of interna- said, an experience hard to “extional cricket, you’ll be fine to plain in words”. Yuvraj called play all other formats.” It is why the NCA nets “stepping stones he believed setting out for T20 for me to come back”. He said would be an “ideal start” for him he had been anxious when he went into the nets. in international cricket.

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