june 15 Pages 1-36

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Friday, June 15 2012 | Vol. 31, No. 24

Indo American erican News

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

7457 Harwin Dr, Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036 713.789.NEWS (6397) • Fax: 713.789.6399 • indoamericannews@yahoo.com

Partnered & Syndicated with Times of India, Sulekha.com, Google, Yahoo & Bing

Reform or perish, Standard and Poor’s warns India. Here’s more proof that the world is losing faith in, and patience with, the sputtering India growth story.

In a report titled Will India Be The First BRIC Fallen Angel?, the U.S. credit rating firm Standard and Poor (S&P) on Monday warned that India ran the risk of losing its “investment grade” status, which will erode and, perhaps even spoil, its attractiveness as a global business hotspot and investment destination.

If that happens, India will be the first among the four emerging BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India and China) - that were projected as the world’s future economic powerhouses - to be reduced to “junk” status.

If this calamity happpens, the economy will slow down and financing from international sources will be costlier.

End of an Era as

Mehdi

Hassan

Passes Away

P18

S&P Rating Service Warns India

reform or

P11

perish 10

After being unwell for a long period of time, Pakistan’s legendary classical singer Mehdi Hassan passed away at a local hospital in Karachi on Wednesday.

He was 84.

Source: Business & Economics

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Dr. Alok Kalia and IACAN Encourage Community to Eat Better

BY MIKA RAO KALAPATAPU HOUSTON: On June 3, 2012, a packed audience filled the Arya Samaj Greater Houston as community members came to learn about how to improve their health through eating better. According to recent data, South Asians have the highest risk of heart disease and diabetes compared to any major ethnic group in the world.

“Food should be our friend, but now seems to be our enemy,” said Dr. Alok Kalia who presented The Call of the Jalebi: The Twisted Tale of Food Addiction. “As our ancestors transitioned from hunter-gatherers into technologically advanced humans, we changed our food but not our biology.

Now there is a mismatch between what the body expects us to eat and what we are actually eating.”

Given the higher levels of heart disease and diabetes among South

Asians, Dr. Kalia cautioned that community members need to be more conscious about their diet.

“Our metabolism is different,” he advised. “South Asians tend to collect fat around the waist and this fat is more dangerous than fat anywhere else in the body. In addition, we have higher insulin resistance.” Of particular concern are Indian children who are already overweight. “Twenty-five years after you are overweight, medical problems begin,” explained Dr. Kalia. “We got overweight in our thirties, but these children are becoming overweight at five or ten years of age.”

Dr. Kalia’s presentation was sponsored by the Indian American Cancer Network, IACAN, a 501(c)(3) organization in Houston and made possible through the support of The Arya Samaj Greater Houston and The Susan G. Ko-

Dr. Alok Kalia was the guest speaker.

men Foundation in Houston. IACAN was founded in 2009 with a mission to promote cancer awareness and to support Indian Americans affected by the disease. “This is our second seminar featuring Dr. Kalia,” shares IACAN president Kanchan Kabad. “We asked him to present again because there is great need and interest among our community in Dr. Kalia educates community on connection between diet and health during IACAN improving health event at Arya Samaj of Greater Houston. outcomes.” In adsalt or sugar. Not only do starchy, dinner with one part protein, one dition, research suggests that a diet high in fresh fried, and highly tasty foods cause part starch, and one part vegetable. fruits and vegetables, and low in cravings and food addiction, such Since life is meant to be enjoyed, refined starches and fat may play foods are also converted quickly Dr. Kalia’s plan also includes oca role in cancer prevention. “Obe- into fat. The current staples of the casionally cheating on richer foods sity increases risks of cancer,” South Asian diet - white rice and and allows for treats like a small said Dr. Kalia. “But losing weight finely ground flour- are both gly- piece of dark chocolate or glass of reduces colon, breast and uterine cemic and artificial foods. “Our red wine. “Every three days, enancestors ate brown rice and rotis joy a nice meal!” encouraged Dr. cancer risks.”

Dr. Kalia began his talk by asking made from coarsely ground flour Kalia. He also recommended rethe audience to reflect if they were from which the fiber had not been moving items of temptation from the home and planning meals in happy with their own health and removed,” said Dr. Kalia. advance. “These steps will reduce Dr. Kalia does not believe eating habits. By the chuckles in the crowd, it was clear that almost in quick-fix diets because any diabetes, health disease, cancer everyone could be making better weight that is lost is usually re- and serve as an example to your choices. Dr. Kalia explained the gained. Instead, he recommends children.” stated Dr. Kalia. distinction between the food our lifestyle modifications that can be To learn more about Dr. Kalia’s bodies are designed to eat: fruits, sustained. His plan for sensible vegetables, and simple proteins, eating includes eating a simple, advice for healthy eating, visit versus the delicious, unhealthy nutritious breakfast, one uncooked www.bluebonnethealth.com For items our body craves. Examples meal a day- for example a lunch more information about the Inin this category include foods that salad with beans, cheese or other dian American Cancer Network, are high in processed starch, fried, protein; two snacks - such as al- please visit www.iacannetwork. or cooked with spices or excess monds with fruit, and a satisfying org

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

June 15, 2012

5

FIS Demonstrates Its Oral History Project, Acted Out on Stage

BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: On the mini studio, set on-stage in the main hall of the India House, Dr. Nik Nikam was interviewing the chief guests, former Mayor Bill White and his wife Andrea, about their involvement in the desi community. White explained how he had played a part in helping launch the Oral History Project at Krishna Vavilala’s insistence.

“This project is a marvelous way to preserve memories of our community,” White said. Andrea echoed his sentiments and added that the project, which is being developed through a partnership with the Houston Pubic Library, will help future generations to appreciate the diversity that is such a part of Houston.

The short program was held on Sunday, June 10 by the Foundation for India Studies, of which Vavilala is the Board Chair, to demonstrate the power of preserving oral history on video for the benefit of future generations of historians to understand the way immigrants influenced the development of their communities in the Bayou City.

Vavilala has pressed on for this project to come to fruition through a partnership with Houston Public Library which offered the studio space for videotaping and then digitizing and uploading the files onto their servers. “We are glad that HPL can provide this service to the Indian community,” said Judith Hiott, Chair of the HPL Automated Network, who attended the program along with Ronnie Ghosh who actually describes the OHP files that

Foundation for Indian Studies Board Chairman Krishna Vavilala presents a plaque to former Mayor Bill White as Dr. Nik Nikam, Andrea White and Vice-Chair Parul Fernandes look on. Photo by Jawahar Malhotra.

Jagat Kamdar interviews Rathna Kumar.

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Vavilala was recently able to bring in the Houston Community College Filmmaking Department to help with some of the taping and editing work, an effort that the Department Chair, Ty Welborn was glad to be involved in. “As a trained historian, I see the value of this,” Welborn said, “and this project provides an excellent tool for our student filmmakers to gain experience on.”

To demonstrate the process, short interviews were conducted onstage of two individuals who have been selected to be part of the first 100 people who will be taped. The first of these was of Dr. Zafar Taqvi, a retired electrical engineer from the space program, poet and former radio show host who was interviewed by this reporter (who conducted the first two interviews early last year with Dr. Raj Bhalla and the late Dr. Paul Mehta). The second interview was of Rathna Kumar, the renowned classical dancer who founded and directs the Anjali School for Performing Arts, who was interviewed by Jagat Kamdar, one of the hosts of the Open Forum radio program.

The program was emceed by Dr. Vikas Jhingran (who has conducted two other videotaped interviews of Dr. Satish Jhingran and Dr. Jagdish Sharma) and opening introductions to the Whites was by Manisha Mehta. FIS Board members Vatsa Kumar and Parul Fernandes were on hand to conduct the program, along with several other volunteers.

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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June 15, 2012

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Chariot Pulling of Deities by Devotees Hindustani Devotional Vocal Concert by maestro from the Mewati Gharana, Pandit Suman Ghosh, accompanied on the Tabla by Pandit Shantilal Shah Classical Indian Dance by Guru Supradipta Datta and Group Classical Indian Dance on Rabindra Sangeet Bhajans For Information Contact: Dr. Bishnupada Goswami, Chief Priest (832)367-6646 Partha Mohanty (832)326-4274 INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

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8

LETTER

June 15, 2012

Open Letter to Chairman of the Governing Board, Mr. Gururaj Deshpande, and CEO, Ms. Madhu Sridhar, of Akshaya Patra USA

event in Houston Texas USA in oct. 2010.

We raised total of approximately $750,000/ [ seven hundred and fifty thousand us dollars ] during that event. A-P USA website should give following details.

From: K.T. Shah MD, Former Chairman (2006-11), Akshaya Patra chapter, Houston, TX. Open letter to Houston community—in continuation of my previous open letter re.

Akshaya patra usa – dated June 1,2012 and in reply to letter written by Akshaya Patra USA gov. board.- dated June 8,2012.

I want Houston community to note the following:

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[1] Akshaya Patra USA board has convinently and deliberately decided not to answer my first six questions I asked in my open letter dated June 1,2012. Especially my very first question – “ Why A-P BOARD has ignored and not bothered to reply my original letter I wrote to A-P BOARD on oct. 24, 2010 ??”

[2] A-P BOARD has not answered any of the next 5 questions at all—can you find a better example of stonewalling ??

[3] In answer to my Q. NO.8 – re. complete lack of financial transparency on A-P USA website- please read their answer carefully- they are talking a lot about financial info. given on A-P INDIA website—my questions have been specifically re. A-P USA website.

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I strongly suggest that to maintain claim of financial transparency A-P USA board should put complete yearly account of each year duly audited by a usa licensed CPA on A-P USA website immediately.

I also suggest that A-P board, on their website, should give financial details of each fundraising event held in different cities of USA—For example we had a fundraising

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[2] how much money was actually collected ??

[3] how much was the total expense of this particular event ??

[4] how much money finally reached A-P INDIA from this event ??

I think donors to A-P USA from Houston community deserve to know these details from A-P USA website.

This rule should apply to all fundraising events of 2011 and all future events.

I request all concerned community members of greater Houston area to read my original OPEN LETTER of June 1,2012 and read reply written by A-P USA board and then read my latest current letter of june 13, 2012.

And then ask A-P USA board – Why are they not giving any such details on their website ?? If an organization claims to be transparent then that org. should put all these details on their website.

If they do not give all these details on their website then we have a right to ask –“what are you trying to hide ??”—“what are you afraid of ??”

I encourage all members to write to A-P USA board.

Madhu Sridhar: madhu@akshayapatrausa.org Deshpande: desh@spartangroupLLC. com c.p.dasa: cpd@askconbangalore.org and ask them the questions I have raised.

Let me know your comments.

K.T. Shah, MD Cell: 281-772-4139 email: ktshahmd@yahoo.com Date-June 13, 2012.

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COMMUNITY

June 15, 2012

IACF Idol Contest in Full Swing, Auditions Soon

HOUSTON: The Indo American Charity Foundation of Houston has organized a Sing for Charity Competition fundraiser on July 21 and invites all interested singers to submit their entries to compete.

All entries must be emailed by June 22 to indoamericancharityfoundation@gmail.com. All proceeds from the competition will support the charitable work done by the IACF. The competition is open to all people in Texas and singers in all categories can sing in any language. There are three age group categories: 6 to 18 years; 18-30 years and 30 and above. Initial auditions are free but the 2nd and final round contestants will have to make a donation of $25 and $50 respectively. The winners of each category will compete for the title.

The total amount of prize money to be awarded is $2,000. “IACF offers an opportunity to sing through the entire family to compete and win $2,000,” said a spokesman for the IACF. Auditions for the Sing for Charity Competition will be held at the JVB Preksha Meditation Center at 14102 Schiller Road, Houston, Texas 77082, located just before the Durga Bari Temple. Auditions will take place on Saturday, June

23 from 11am to 6pm. Send up auditions to select the Semi Finalists will take place on June 30th 116pm at the same location.

The final competition will be held on Saturday, July 21 at the Shriners’ Hall, 10510 Harwin Dr, Houston, Texas 77036 where the famous Sa Re Ga Ma winner Mauli Dave will be one of the judges and will sing the final one hour of that evening. The first two hours of the finals will be the live competition between the semi finalists. Tickets for the final are $25, $50, $75 and $100 and are available from at tickets2events.com, sulekha. com, Maharani Video, Madras Pavilion, Patel Brothers or through the IACF website: indoamericancharityfoundation.org

9

IPAWS Plans Pet Clinic and Adoption Event HOUSTON: Indo American Pet & Animal Welfare Society of Greater Houston (IPAWS Houston) is an Animal Welfare initiative of the Indo Americans of Greater Houston.

IPAWS Houston has organized a Micro Chip Clinic along with consultation with vets at hand on Sunday June 17, 2012 from 9AM to Noon. The Microchip service is free to all new members of IPAWS Houston and heavily discounted for existing members. It is the first Pets Micro-chip, Pet Check-up & Pets for Adoption Clinic being held by IPAWS Houston.

IPAWS Houston will also have few pets for adoption – don’t miss the opportunity to come by with your family members.

Ideally located outside Udupi Café at Hilcroft of Hwy59, the Clinic is an ideal opportunity for all pet owners to have their pets

micro chipped and also have a basic examination, if desired by the Vet. A study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, including 53 animal shelters across the U.S., confirmed the high rate of return of micro chipped dogs and cats to their families, and the importance of microchip registration. From the study: • Only about 22 percent of lost dogs that entered the animal shelters were reunited with their families. However, the return-to-owner rate for micro chipped dogs was over 52 percent (a 238 percent increase).

• Less than 2 percent of lost cats that entered the animal shelters were reunited with their families.

The return-to-owner rate for micro chipped cats was dramatically higher at over 38 percent (more

than 2000 percent better).

IPAWS Houston has had several initiatives since it’s inception, which has included saving, fostering and facilitating adoption of several dogs that would have otherwise been euthanized.

IPAWS Houston is on face book – you can visit and like the page at www.facebook.com/ipawshouston or visit us at www.ipawshouston.org For more information, contact any of our Board Members: Suma Mudan, President – 484358-6586; Latafath Hussain, Vice President – 713-269-6171; Krishna Giri , Treasurer – 832-3684012; Preanka Desai, Secretary – 281-723-1183; Minoo Gandhi – 713-501-1561; Dr. Narender Reddy – 832-630-4842; Pranav Kothari – 281-464-3554;Ramesh Anand – 832-731-6133; Satish Rao -281-914-2716

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Was India’s Constitution written at Snail’s Pace?

Controversial Cartoon on Dr.Ambedkar?

BY RAJU KAMBLE I wish to pen down few thoughts in response to the column, “India Fast Becoming an Intolerant Society”

by Raj Kanwar, in your esteemed weekly in May 25, 2012 issue. The column has tried to project the protest over the 63 year old cartoon on the writing of India’s constitution by Dr.B.R.Ambedkar during that time, in the Indian Parliament on May 23, 2012, as an act of intolerance. Indeed, Indians are such a tolerant society that its 300 million dalits and tribals suffer day in and day out under the caste system for centuries together without showing any signs of intolerance. The columnist tried to bring the point that protest in parliament condemning the cartoon and its inclusion in NCERT curriculum amounted to curtailing free press as well as freedom of speech of a cartoonist and those of the NCERT educationist. The issue is not simply a cartoonist’s observation on the issue of the long time taken by the Constituent Assembly for the preparation of India’s constitution. Let us examine the whole issue.

To start with cartoonists definitely have the prerogative to caricature the current issues such as politics, or social themes or any other current issue for that matter. They must be allowed the full freedom to comment on any current issue. Cartoons convey comments in a lighter mood. The controversial cartoon was created by the famous cartoonist Shankar in 1949. That is during the period India’s new constitution was being created. On November 25, 1949, Dr.Ambedkar moved the resolution in the parliament to approve the constitution. The constitution by then had already undergone all the critical reviews it needed to undergo, ever since its draft was submitted to the Constituent Assembly/parliament on November 4, 1948. Dr.Ambedkar during this speech of November 25, 1949 did answer the criticism about the long time taken to frame the constitution. There must have been some criticism to challenge why a long time was taken to draft and complete the constitution. A cartoon on this current topic was not at all out of context. At the same time, I guess the cartoonists do research the topic they are planning to caricature. Could a cartoon come up contrary to the truth? Can a cartoon always represent an opinion. Let us see what Dr.Ambedkar said in his speech of November 25, 1949 (please note exactly after 2 months that is on January 26, 1950, India’s constitution became functional).

Dr.Ambedkar said, “Sir (the Chairman of the Constituent Assembly), looking back to the work of the Constituent Assembly, it will now be two years, eleven months and seventeen days. Coming to the Drafting Committee, it was elected by the Constituent Assembly on 29th August 1947. It held its first meeting on 30th August 1947. Since August 30th, it sat for 141 days during which it was engaged in preparation of the Draft Constitution. The Draft Constitution, as prepared by the Constitutional Advisor as a text for the Drafting Committee to work upon, consisted of 243 articles and 13 schedules. The first draft constitution as presented by the Drafting Committee to the Constituent Assembly contained 315 Articles and 8 Schedules. At the end of the consideration stage, the number of articles in the Draft Constitution increased to 386. In its final form, the Draft Constitution contains 395 Articles and 8 Schedules. The total number of amendments to the Draft Constitution tabled was approximately 7635. Of them, the total number of amendments actually moved in the House were 2473. I mention these facts because at one stage it was going on leisurely and wasting public money. It was said to be a case of Nero fiddling while Rome was burning. Is there any justification for this complaint? Let us note the time consumed by Constituent Assemblies in other countries appointed for framing their constitutions”. He further writes, “American Convention completed the work of their constitution in 4 months (between May 25, 1787 and September 17, 1787). The Constitutional Convention of Canada took 2 years and 5 months to complete their constitution (between 10 October 1864 and March 1867). The

Australian Constitutional Convention took 9 years to write their constitution (between March 1891 and 9 July 1900). The South African Constitution was prepared using one year’s labor (between October 1908 and 20th September 1909).

We have taken more time than the Canadian Convention but much less time than the Australian Constitutional Convention. In making comparisons on the basis of time consumed, two things must be remembered. One is that the Constitutions of America, Canada, South Africa and Australia are much smaller than ours. Our constitution, as I said contains 395 articles while America has just 7 articles, Canadian has 147, Australia 128 and South African 153 sections.

The second thing to be remembered is that makers of the Constitutions of America, Canada, Australia and South Africa did not have to face the problem of amendments. They were passed as moved. On the other hand, this Constituent Assembly had to deal with as many as 2473 amendments. Having to regard to these facts, the charge of dilatariness seems to me unfounded and this assembly may well congratulate itself for having accomplished so formidable task in so short time.” I am sure the cartoon by Shankar came out before Dr.Ambedkar gave this explanation, which clears all the air. The apprehensions of the cartoon were precisely responded to, that too in the Constituent Assembly debates on the floor of the house.

Here are some observations of an American scholar based in India. Gail Omdevt has to say on this cartoon issue: “Whatever time required for dealing with the constitution was due to the conservative and fundamentalist nature of the political leaders, the representatives of various upper castes and established classes, and of various religious groups. These created obstacles by not agreeing to the democratic, egalitarian and secular values represented basically by Ambedkar and also by Nehru. Secondly, this was the constitution which went ahead of even the British Constitution and the U.S. at the time in regard to affirmative action (reservations). One should remember that the Indian Constitution also gave voting rights to women without the bitter struggle that they had to undergo in the U.S and Britain. Finally, the existing law in India related to property rights was mainly based on outdated religious precepts of various kinds, and without creating a big uproar from the religious fundamentalists, giving property rights according to modern secular concepts was a mountainous task.

Considering all these tasks, the Constitution was actually done very quickly. Instead of showing a snail as the Constitution, the cartoon should have shown Babasaheb Ambedkar sitting on a racehorse bringing the Constitution in his hands. NCERT should be forced to remove this insulting and obnoxious cartoon.”

Nehru trying to whip Dr.Ambedkar, in spite of the hard work he alone put into framing the constitution, was also reflected in a very poor taste. How much Dr.Ambedkar labored to write this constitution is very clear from the debates of the Constituent Assembly after the completion of the constitution. There was one session when all of the parliamentarians showered praise on Dr.Ambedkar for completing such a stupendous task. Dr.Ambedkar did not even care for his health, which was in any case very frail even at the start of the functioning of the Constituent Assembly’s work. The cartoon was definitely drawn in a prejudiced manner. Indian Constitution since it was written by an untouchable was not given the importance by a large number of rightwing idealogue. More so rightwing organizations in India never accepted the constitution as it was not a pro-religious constitution, but a secular constitution. This point of view was expressed very clearly way back in 1949. That is the premise of projecting Dr.Ambedkar in such a low esteem through Shankar’s cartoon. Dr.Ambedkar’s scholarship was always looked at in India from the

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

CONTINUED ON PAGE

12

COMMUNITY

June 15, 2012

Ghazal Maestro Mehdi Hassan Passes Away

11

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KARACHI (Dawn.com): His son Asif told reporters, the ghazal maestro had been suffering from multiple lung, chest and urinary tract conditions. His health suddenly deteriorated for the worse early Wednesday, leading to his death around 12:15 PM. Mehdi Hasan’s body was taken to Karachi’s Gulberg area where family members as well as a large number of relatives, friends and fans had gathered.

So far, no announcement has been made for the legendary singer’s funeral.

The undisputed ghazal king, or

the ‘Shahenshah-e-Ghazal’, had not only captivated millions of music fans across South Asia, but had a major following throughout the world.

Hassan was born to a family of musicians on July 18, 1927 in Indian Rajasthan, and later migrated to Pakistan after partition.

Although he was involved in music since his childhood, he formally started his musical journey from Radio Pakistan in 1952 — a career that would span over 25,000 recordings including songs featured in movies as well as ghazals.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf

Raza Gilani expressed his condolences, calling Hassan “an icon who mesmerised music lovers” in Pakistan and the sub-continent for decades.

Indian singing legend Lata Mangeshkar told a Pakistani private TV channel that his death was a “big loss”.

Hassan also won awards and accolades in India and Nepal, as well as Pakistan.

He was born in India and migrated to Pakistan after partition and independence from British rule in 1947.

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LETTER

12 June 15, 2012

Controversial Cartoon on Dr. Ambedkar?

CONTINUED FROM PAGE

10

prism of caste.

One more point here; Did Nehru carry the whip against Dr.Ambedkar? The facts seem to be contrary to the depiction in the cartoon. Dr.Ambedkar was doing his job of writing the constitution as his mundane duty as a true nationalist of a non-congress fervour.

He was in the camp of Congress people, purely to carry out his responsibilities to the building of a modern India. His speech in the Indian parliament on 17 December 1946 is a testimony to his great services to this country.

There were few occasions when Dr.Ambedkar refused to take instructions from Nehru-Patel and told off the emissaries point blank, “take this constitution and write it yourself. I am not interested ---- (wording is not verbatim)”.

Patel used to make comments on Dr.Ambedkar’s statements against Congress to Nehru. Nehru would

reply to Patel, “We cannot discipline Dr.Ambedkar. We do not have anyone at this point of time, who could take the task of writing the constitution. (wording not verbatim). Dr.Ambedkar very freely used to say, “Though I am a Minister in Congress Government but I am not a 25 paisa member of Congress”. And at the earliest provocation, Dr.Ambedkar resigned from Nehru Cabinet in 1951. So one can easily make out who had the whip.

However the cartoon must stay where it is, in the records of history books as the opinion of a cartoonist, even though it did not do justice to the services of Dr.Ambedkar to the process of constitution making. The cartoon is not based on the historical facts surrounding the the making of the constitution vis-à-vis its chief architect, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar. Now the worst thing is that this car-

toon gets picked up for the education of senior students of politics.

Nothing can be more malicious than this. Again one can see here very clearly the rightwing bias of the creators of the NCERT textbooks at its worst. Hence demand to remove the cartoon from the NCERT text books was not unjustified when it was done on May 11, 2012 in Indian Parliament. The NCERT should have researched the subject before selecting it for its text books. A cartoonist could hold and stand by the cartoon as his opinion rightwing or left wing.

But selecting it to the NCERT text books needed proper study of the truth. And definitely the truth was contrary to the selection. There wasn’t any intolerance on the part of those who were demanding the removal of the cartoon from the NCERT text books.

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COMMUNITY

June 15, 2012

13

Ekal Movement Conquering Hearts and Minds through Musical Events

HOUSTON: The Ekal movement has been reaching out to hearts and minds of people and not just to the purses of its donors. Habib Khan, who worked for BP for 25 years, expired recently after a massive heart attack, always wanted to help educate the disadvantaged children in India’s villages. As per his wishes, his wife Sheila asked his colleagues and friends to donate for Ekal instead of flowers at his memoril. Habib had attended only a few musical events at the invitation of Ekal national president Ashok Danda and was moved by what Ekal was doing in rural India.

“Myself and my wife Praveena were humbled by her graciousness to help children in remote parts of India,” said Danda. “Now with the donations from Habib’s colleagues and friends, at least 500 kids in India will have education for an year in memory of Habib.”

Ekal Vidyalaya now covers 36,783 remote tribal villages, providing education to 1,035,344 children. Ekal’s aim is to open 100,000 schools and eradicate illiteracy from rural and tribal India by 2015. The success of Ekal’s recent musical events, showed the growing outreach of Ekal’s movement across North America.

The events in 43 cities in the US and Canada, organized by Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation USA from February 8 to June 4 this year, mustered enough donations to fund over 11,000 schools in India. “Lots of people came to the front desk to appreciate the program. They were impressed with Ekal Vidyalaya’s simple format and access to remote areas,” said Ramesh Shah, immediate past chairman of Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation USA. The singing duo of Samir

are definitely having a great time,” said Prakash Shah, president of Ekal Houston Chapter. “We the Ekal team planned and worked hard to present an excellent program and I am pleased to announce it paid off.

Thanks to all those who attended this Ekal volunteers with Ashok Danda and Prakash Shah event.”

Meera Kapur an Ekal volunteer said “I was Date and Dipalee Somiya made a whirlwind tour of 43 cities entertaining people. They extremely impressed the way Samir Date were aided by Samit Poddar on keyboard came to the stage and talked about the Ekal and Sanjeet Birba on pad. The tour started program. He said he and Dipalee Somaiya in Jacksonville, Florida, on February 8 and were still debating whether to go for four ended in Houston, Texas, on June 3. Titled months for Ekal concert series to US but “Bollywood Milestones 1961-2011. Despite when we visited an Ekal school we had no an extremely hectic tour of an average stay doubt that we will go.” She said that Samir of 2.75 days in each city, the artists had the and Dipalee made the audience happy by satisfaction of working for a cause and were singing songs in different languages - Hindi, ready to do it again if required. “Artists Punjabi, Guajarati, Marathi and Rajasthani. can also contribute to development of their At the same time they gave tribute to Rafi Ji, country by associating themselves with Shammi Ji, Kishore Da, and Devanand Ji by causes like Ekal,” Samir Date said. “We do singing their songs.

Meera Kapur said: “Their unique style of not get opportunity to work for a charity,” said Dipalee Somaiya. “I wish to continue closing the program is commendable, they my association with Ekal after going to In- asked everyone to stand and sing along “eh dia by doing similar programs.” Among all mere vatan ke logo zara aankh mein bharlo cities, the artists liked performing in Chica- pani” The program ended with standing go and Houston as they found the audiences ovation and the hall full of clapping sounds.

I am glad I was there.” more responsive and better informed.

Vijay and Bhushan Verma, who attend “From the sound of claps from the audience, I knew the artists were doing a great Ekal concerts every year, said “the Ekal job but when our donors increased the dona- Vidyalaya concert has always been a very tion for the number of schools, I knew they nice and entertaining program, but this year

Samir Date and Dipalee Somiya

it was especially enjoyable with the two excellent singers Samir Date and Dipalee Somaiya. They were very energetic and versatile besides having a great chemistry and presence on the stage. They catered to the requests from the audience and mixed the old and new songs so well that kept everyone fully engaged to the end. Congratulations to the organizers for doing such a wonderful program once again!”

The concerts were successful because Samir, Deepali and the team understood what was needed by the audiences.

“We had a mix of old and new songs, depending on which city we were and what the age mix of the audience,” both Samir and Dipalee said. “The theme of Bollywood Milestones from 1960 to 2011 gave us a lot of flexibility to mix romantic melodies with rhythmical and disco style songs. Within an hour of the beginning of the program, we would know the audience and what kind of mix to present,” they said.

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

14 June 15, 2012

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

COMMUNITY

June 15, 2012

15

NATA Welcomes Telugus to its 1st National Convention in Houston

HOUSTON: Mahatma Gandhi once famously said that the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. North American Telugu Association (NATA) imbibed this philosophy and is doing yeoman service for the wellbeing of Telugu community in America and Canada. NATA is involved in community service, showcasing the rich and varied heritage of the Telugu culture in US, promote social activities, provide assistance to the large number of Telugu students, and play a significant role in preservation and promotion of the Telugu language and heritage within the United States and around the globe. NATA has a strong presence in USA and Canada with thousands as its members. Under the stewardship of its President, Mr. AVN Reddy, NATA has undertaken quite a few community service programs in North America and India while serving the growing needs of the estimated three hundred thousand people of Telugu origin living in North America.

NATA’s first of the bi-annual convention - NATA 2012 - is going to be held from June 29, 2012 to July 1, 2012 in the culturally vibrant and cosmopolitan city of Houston, Texas, The convention is being held at the George R. Brown convention center in Houston, Texas. An estimated 7000 delegates from all over USA, Canada, India and other countries are expected to attend the three day convention. Several dignitaries, government officials from state of Andhra Pradesh and USA are expected to attend this conference. NATA’s first convention is going to showcase the best in each category - renowned Music Direc-

tors from Telugu Cinema, Business Seminars from successful Telugu Businessman from around the world, Literary sessions, Youth forum, Literary sessions, Woman Forum etc.

Mr. Jitender Reddy, the Convener of the NATA 2012 Convention Center has assembled various teams of dedicated individuals and has promised to make this a glorious event with memories to cherish for a long time. The cultural team has been putting countless hours and tireless efforts to ensure that the attendees will witness informative seminars from leading doctors, engineers, successful Telugu Entrepreneurs and meet the stalwarts of Telugu movie industry. The doyen of Telugu film industry - Nandamuri Balakrishna – has confirmed his participation and has promised to entertain the audience and interact with them throughout the convention. Hero Nitin, riding high on his recent success of Ishq, will enthrall the NATA 2012 delegates with his entertaining performance.

Prabhas and Daggubati Rana are among the heroes that are invited and expected to attend.

Leading ladies Parvati Melton, Richa Gangopadhaya (of Leader fame), Amani and Vimala Raman have confirmed their attendance to the convention. Other stars like Sneha, Nayanatara, Trisha and Charmy have been invited and expected to attend. Veteran comedian Ramaprabha will entertain the audience with her act. Comedians that are ruling the current comedy scene in Telugu industry like Srinivas Reddy, ‘Thagubothu’ Ramesh (of Ala Modalaindi fame), Dhanraj, and a host of other famous comedians who promise to make it a hilarious event. Legendary actors Mr. Rajendra Prasad and literary scion Mr, Tanikella Bharani are invited and audience

can expect an informative and humorous take on the literary values of the entertainment industry. For the first time the traditional acts of Harikatha and Burrakatha by famous groups from India have confirmed their participation at the NATA Convention.

An unprecedented grand musical event is organized in the history of USA Telugu conventions with three famous music directors Mani Sharma, Koti and Vanedmataram Srinivas on the same stage. The current popular and talented crop of singers accompanying the music directors will perform foot tapping numbers to enthrall the audience. It is the intent of the NATA convention team to bring out the best Telugu talent in USA. NATA 2012 Convention is planning to recognize the veritable talent of non-resident Telugu people. To encourage and show case the best singing talent among NRI’s, NATA is conducting ‘NATA-Swaramadhuri’ singing competition. “Super Guru” Ramachary will guide and coordinate the contestants.

Dance drama, classical and folk dance items, Skits, Drama and Mimicry competitions will be held during NATA convention and winners shall be recognized on stage.

Only registered guests are allowed to participate in the competitions.

For the first time, NATA has recognized the power of short films and is conducting a Short Film Competition, NSFC to lend its support and throw its weight behind the next generation of talented filmmakers and screenwriters. Winning filmmakers and screenwriters will be honored for their exceptional achievements. Selected short films will be screened at the convention for the attendees.

To encourage and recognize the athletic talent of the youth, NATA is conducting sports competitions in various fields. After the tremendous response to the sporting events (Cricket, Volleyball and Golf competitions¬) across the US, NATA is planning to felicitate the winners during the Convention. One of India’s fab four and the stylish Hyderabadi batsmen, VVS Laxman, has agreed to grace the occasion to encourage the participants.

NATA would like to recognize our youngsters in the age group of 16-25 for outstanding accomplishments in various fields by presenting them with TSR-NATA Youth Awards. Nine awards will be given in association with T. Subbarami Reddy Lalitha Kala Parishat International (India) in the fields of classical and western dance, painting, singing, instrumental music and community service etc.

NATA Gala Banquet will be held on Friday, June 29th, 2012 at the Hilton Americas, overlooking the skyline of downtown Houston. Banquet dinner is the curtain raiser for the first ever NATA convention.

Arrangements have been made to serve the attendees, a 5-course delicious Andhra meal with festive ambience. At this event, NATA recognizes individuals for their outstanding contributions in various categories, such as science, engineering, medicine, business, culture, community service etc. Mr. Jitender Reddy has extended the invitation to all the Telugus across the world, to come and be a part of this journey and get entertained while enjoying the Texas style hospitality.

Visit www.NATA2012.org for live updates on convention.

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16 June 15, 2012

COMMUNITY

Faculty to Discuss Innovation and Incubation at IIT Madras

The IIT Madras delegation consisting of two-member team led

by Director, Dr. Bhaskar Ramamurthi and Dr. Ram Nagarajan, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and the Faculty Advisor, Office of Alumni Affairs will be visiting Houston on June 18 and 19, 2012.

The Team will be meeting with IIT Madras Alumni of North America (IITMAANA) and IIT Alumni of Greater Houston (IITAGH) members on June 18th evening to communicate “IITM Vision and Plans” to the alumni and solicit their input and support.

This meeting is scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM on Monday, June 18, 2012 at Mayuri Restaurant at 5857 Westheimer.

On June 19th, at the Luncheon meeting in collaboration with the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston, Dr. Bhaskar Ramamurthi plans to address the business and entrepreneur community about the recent successes of IIT Madras innovation and incubation initiatives and seek their potential collaboration and partnership. This gathering will take place at Narin’s Bombay Brasserie , 3115 West Loop South, Suite 110; Houston TX 77027 on Tuesday June 19, 2012 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. Later in the afternoon, at the “Academic and Research Collaboration” session, the Team plans

Dr. Bhaskar Ramamurthi

to communicate IITM academic collaboration initiatives with the Deans and Faculties of Rice University, University of Houston, University of Texas, and Texas A& M University and solicit their active participation.

Dr. Bhaskar Ramamurthi got his B.Tech in Electronics from IIT Madras in 1980, and his M.S. and Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara, in 1982 and 1985 respectively. After working at AT&T Bell Laboratories for a couple of years, he joined the faculty of IIT Madras, his alma mater, in 1986. He took over as Director, IIT Madras in September 2011.

Dr. Ram Nagarajan obtained his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Yale University in 1986 and a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in 1981 from the IIT Madras. Prior to taking up this academic position in 2004, Dr. Nagarajan was a world-renowned

Dr. Ram Nagarajan

expert in the areas of chemical integration and contamination control during his 15-year tenure with IBM Storage Systems Division in San Jose, California.

The IITM delegation is visiting seven cities – New York, Boston, Lafayette (IN), Washington D. C., Chicago, San Francisco Bay Area, and Houston from June 11-20, 2012. The delegation will share the success and achievements of the recently completed Vision 2010 and present new goals and challenges as part of the Vision 2020 plan. IIT Madras, IITMAANA, and IITAGH invite alumni participation in engaging with the Institute to help achieve some of these goals.

The IITMAANA, established in 1980, is a US based non-profit alumni organization that serves the needs of IIT Madras and her alumni in North America region.

The Houston Chapter is actively pursuing Prof. S. Sampath Endow-

ment Chair Fund Raising, the first of its kind “to honor the Professors who have made profound impact on the students during their days at IITM and beyond in a sustainable way”.

The IITAGH, established in 2004, IITAGH is a non-profit organization that was created to meet three goals: to promote professional growth of its members; to provide a social network for IIT alumni and their family members to swiftly assimilate into the Houston community, and to give back to the local community.

The Team’s visit is locally coordinated by Mr. Mallik Putcha, and Dr. Subba Viswanathan, Founding President and Director respective-

ly of IITMAANA, and supported

by Mr. Witty Bindra, President of IITAGH. Mr. Ajit Thakur and Mr. Jagdip Ahluwalia, President and Executive Director respectively of IACCGH have supported the business and entrepreneur session. Dr. Ramanan Krishnamoorthi, Chairman and Professor of Chemical & Bimolecular Engineering, University of Houston, Dr. Chandrika Rajagopal, Program and Advancement Coordinator, Center for Teaching Excellence, A&M have coordinated the Academic session.

For registration for the events, please visit http://www.iitagh.org

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June 15, 2012

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17

EDITORIAL

18 June 15, 2012

It Doesn’t Add Up

Still Ample Time

The 2011 census corroborated what we have been witnessing for a few years now: unbridled urbanization. According to demographers, the tempo of urbanization in India today is close to the highest-ever increase seen earlier, during the period between 1971 and 1981.

Demographers attribute this spurt in urbanisation to economic growth, the classification of many areas as ‘census towns’based on the density of population and a sharp decline in the growth rate of rural areas while in urban areas it remains the same.

But what is happening — and this is a source of much concern — is that India’s towns and cities have failed miserably to live up to the challenges of increasing urbanisation. Most metros — including the much-pampered capital city — are always short of electricity and water, especially during the torrid summer months. The less said the better about the second tier towns.

The story has repeated itself even in the new towns in the National Capital Region like Gurgaon, which we had once hoped would be planned and organized. Even in the upmarket areas of these towns, the roads are no better than what we find in rural areas.

The Mumbai story is also the same: every monsoon, the city goes underwater. And, try driving in Bangalore — it’s a test of one’s patience.Along with these traffic and electricity problems, there are other civic problems like the appalling waste management systems, environment pollution and lack of adequate and properly maintained public spaces.

Recently, the Central Pollution Control Board confirmed that the total polluted stretch of the Yamuna has now increased to 600 kilometre from 500 kilometre since 2010. Before the Commonwealth Games, the Delhi government had promised to develop the Yamuna promenade on the lines of the Thames in London.

A couple of years ago, Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit — and she is not the only one — blamed incessant migration for this complete breakdown of urban services. Yes, there could be some truth in this but blaming the wave of migration will not solve the problem. It is an issue that governments will have to handle and they have to be proactive and not reactive about this.

One institutional barrier is the Constitution because urban development is a state subject and, therefore, solutions are often slow in coming. Moreover, there is a dearth of trained professionals, rules are often made, changed and implemented arbitrarily and most important, no city has an feasible vision.

India needs to create institutional capacities if it wants to handle an urban growth of at least 250 million people in the next two decades. Often we find chief ministers promising to turn the cities they preside over into Shanghai, London or Paris.

But, those who have to grapple with problems every day, have only one request: London or Paris can wait, please, make India’s cities a little more livable. Hindustan Times

BY SITARAM YECHURY

Dark clouds are enveloping India’s economy threatening the livelihood of millions. The growth rate has dipped to the lowest in a decade. Inflation and price rise continue relentlessly. The index of industrial production, manufacturing in particular, has dipped to its lowest level in recent times and the Sensex has now registered a 24% fall from its highest level.

This has inevitably impacted on the growth of unemployment in the country. It’s now reported that at least 123 cotton and fibre textile mills in the organised sector have closed down resulting in the layoff of 44,681 workers. The Apparel Export Promotion Council estimates that over 45 lakh people have lost their jobs in the textile sector, the largest employer after agriculture in our country. About 65% of our textile exports are to the U.S. and the EU. With both of them on the brink of a severe recession, the situation in India can only worsen.

India’s chief economic adviser has warned that India will face the adverse effects of this crisis and its “waves will come up on our shore in a big way”. Despite this, reflecting a typical ostrich mentality, the commerce ministry has announced a supplementary Foreign Trade Policy on June 4. Several sops have been announced, estimated at over Rs. 1,200 crore, to promote India’s tumbling exports. While India’s exports grew by 21% in 2011-12, to touch $303.7 billion, they crashed to a mere 3.2% this year, despite the severe depreciation of the rupee. Depreciation would make our goods cheaper in foreign lands, which should normally increase their sales. This, however, is not happening because of the deepening global economic crisis and recession. Yet, UPA 2 has adopted a seven-point strategy to increase India’s exports, despite the recent sharp decline to $360 billion.

The world has seen a sharp deceleration in global trade from a 13.8% growth in 2010 to 5% in 2011 and the World Trade Organi-

Several sops have been announced, estimated at over Rs. 1,200 crore, to promote India’s tumbling exports.

While India’s exports grew by 21% in 201112, to touch $303.7 billion, they crashed to a mere 3.2% this year, despite the severe depreciation of the rupee. sation (WTO) forecasts a mere 3.7% in 2012. This can well lead to a slew of restrictive trade practices in many countries, in pursuit of protecting their economies, which will have an adverse impact on our exports. In this context, the Rs. 1,200 crore package to promote exports will end up helping exporters and won’t increase the volume of exports. The latter requires a growing demand for our products in foreign lands. This cannot be created by granting fiscal concessions at home. Further, export growth requires Indian manufacturing to face severe competition from countries like China and even Bangladesh (in apparel exports, which is our largest net export earner). These concessions, therefore, will only protect the profit margins of Indian exporters at the expense of a mounting fiscal deficit.

Rather than working towards reversing our economic slowdown, UPA 2 seems to be concentrating on the revival of larger profits to India Inc and international finance capital. This has found expression with the calls for GenNext reforms from the recent Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting. The privatisation, with sizeable foreign

Indo American News FOUNDER: DR. K.L. SINDWANI EDITOR: PRAMOD KULKARNI BUSINESS MANAGER: JAWAHAR MALHOTRA MANAGING PARTNER: KRISHNA GIRI COMMUNITY EDITOR: MANASI GOKHALE ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER: VANSHIKA VIPIN GRAPHIC DESIGN: SAQIB RANA COMMUNITY CORRESPONDENT: SOWMYA NANDAKUMAR CORRESPONDENTS 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, JUNE 15, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

financial participation, of pension funds is in the offing. Likewise, reforms seeking to increase foreign financial participation in the insurance sector and granting foreign banks the right to take over private Indian banks appear to be in the pipeline. These reforms were on the agenda of the neo-liberal trajectory since 2004. However, they were prevented by the Left parties during UPA 1. This resulted in the relative insulation of the Indian economy from the devastating impact of the global financial meltdown of 2008. This shield, so to speak, is now sought to be ripped apart.

The revival of the Indian economy can only take place by enlarging the levels of domestic demand.

This is currently being squeezed due to the relentless price rise and sharply widening economic inequalities. This can be reversed only by banning all speculative trading in essential commodities and, importantly, generating largescale employment through significant public investments in building our much-needed infrastructure.

There is no dearth of resources for this, if only the massive tax concessions granted in 2011-12 (nearly Rs. 5.28 lakh crore), which exceed our fiscal deficit (nearly Rs. 5.22 lakh crore) are withdrawn this year.

Internationally, it is accepted that a 3% deficit level is, in fact, healthy for economic growth. Instead of doling out such concessions, if these legitimate taxes were collected, then we could have partly reduced our fiscal deficit and used the rest for largescale public investments. This will, in turn, generate employment and substantially increase the aggregate domestic demand. This will put our economy on the path of a healthy revival. This can only happen when UPA 2 abandons its misplaced hopes of an economic revival on the basis of granting greater tax concessions and enlarging profit margins.

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Dr. Lulla Honored for Excellence in Science & Technology

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Association celebrates 20 years by honoring Dr Kamlesh Lulla at the Omni Houston Hotel on May 18th 20102.

On May 18th 2012, Dr Kamlesh Lulla was honored with the Astronaut Colonel Ellison Onizuka Award for his exceptional achievements and excellence in science and technology. This award recognizes an Asian American who has made exceptional contributions to any field of science and engineering.

This award is named after the Space Shuttle Challenger Astronaut Colonel Ellison Onizuka- the first Asian American to fly into space. The astronauts of Space Shuttle Challenger all perished during the lift-off in 1986.

The late Colonel Onizuka was an Asian American pioneer who served the nation in the United States Air Force before joining NASA as an

Dr Kamlesh Lulla

astronaut. This is the first ever award created in his memory to honor his

19

June 15, 2012 legacy of technical excellence and leadership. Mrs. Lorna Onizuka, widow of astronaut Ellison Onizuka was present at the ceremonies.

The Asian Pacific American Association received many outstanding nominations from Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, East Asian engineers and scientists. There was rigorous selection process. Dr. Kamlesh Lulla, An Indian American is the first recipient of the astronaut Ellison Onizuka Award.

Dr Koichi Wakata, chief astronaut for Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) aptly stated “ Dr. Lulla is a torchbearer of Colonel Onizuka’s ideals of technical excellence and efforts to make a difference in the lives of younger generations”.

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SET Asia Kicks Off Indian Idol Season 6

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Sony Entertainment Network’s flagship general entertainment channel Sony Entertainment Television, Asia has announced the exclusive launch of Indian Idol for yet another great season.

Indian Idol Season 6 comes to you this year with four music gurus - Salim Merchant, Anu Malik, Sunidhi Chauhan and the legendary Asha Bhosle.

Witness your idol in the making every Friday & Saturday at 8:30 PM EST only on Sony Entertainment Television Asia.

Started on 1st June, this musical extravaganza brings audiences from all around the world together to make one extremely talented and lucky individual’s dreams come true.

Hosted by Indian Idol’s two favorite presenters, Hussain Kuwajerwala and Mini Mathur will once again set the stage on fire.

For the first time ever, Indian Idol has undertaken an adventurous path of allowing participants to audition online, reaching out to a much larger audience. Over 150,000 contestants from all over the country have registered themselves online in the first month of the registration process.

This unique initiative will also allow people worldwide to view the audition videos and add further anticipation of who the next Indian Idol will be.

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All four judges have expressed their excitement for the launch of the musical reality show. Salim, Sunidhi and Mini are all constantly on Twitter; “The talent we’ve found this year is incredible. Our country will be proud of its singers” commented Salim.

While Sunidhi has been constantly updating her followers with images throughout the city auditions.

“The first thing I will ever look for in any contestant is their sur. My focus will be on sur because it is the most important part of singing. I don’t like singers, who have not been trained properly,” said Asha Bhosle.

Jaideep Janakiram, SVP International Business-Head of North America said, “The show is truly amazing with all of the sentimental and emotional moments brought together by the true gift of singing. The show is also about fathers who encourage

their daughters to sing, a son fulfilling his mother’s lifelong dream, or even a child who was raised on the streets and could only dream to step foot on a stage. The brilliant voices show hope, character, spirit, faith, love, and emotions that send chills down your spine, satiate your inner being and bring tears to your eyes.”

Indian Idol 6 is presented by Saavn and is powered by Amantel and Prem Jyotish. Associate sponsors are Metlife, Malani Jewellers, Gits Foods, Times of Money, Visitors Coverage and CBazaar.

The new season of Indian Idol-6 launched on 1st June. Watch the episodes every Friday & Saturday at 8:30pm only on SONY TV Asia. Follow, cheer and support your idol in the making, every step of the way!

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Rajiv Joseph, Pulitzer Finalist Playwright

BY SOWMYA NANDAKUMAR When one is at Alley Theater, downtown, for a performance, and reads their brochure, one cant help but feel a sense of pride at learning that an American of partial Indian origin, Rajiv Joseph is a company artist at Alley theater and a playwright who was a Pulitzer finalist in 2010!

Rajiv Joseph was born on June 16, 1974, in Cleveland, Ohio. His father migrated to the US from India and his mother is of European origin (French and German ancestry). At age 11 Joseph was cast in a community theater production of the musical, Nine.

Fascinated by the precision of lyrics in the musical, he started paying more attention to the precision of language in his favorite shows, Cabaret, and Into The Woods. He became more observant of plots and character development.

According to an article in the NY Times, at Gesu Catholic School, Cleveland, the other eighth graders in his class voted him most likely to become a priest. He was an altar boy in his school years and was extremely quiet, observant and introverted. Having been an altar boy, even he apparently entertained ideas of becoming a priest but as he grew older, his interest in the opposite sex also grew and that quite ruled out the chances of priesthood, carving him a unique career path.

Having been exposed to the Bible and its many stories, he loved the theatricality and the ethical contrasts in these stories good and evil, sin and redemption – these contrasts found expression in his plays.

Joseph went to Cleveland Heights High School. In 1996 he graduated with a B.A in Creative Writing from Miami University, Ohio. At the University, he was a member of the premier male a cappella group, called the Cheezies.

After he graduated he joined the Peace Corps and served for three years in the West African Republic of Senegal, where he worked with farmers on crop development and other projects. Joseph started to get into the discipline of writing when he was there. He felt forced to sit down and write everyday, which led him to a journey of discovering the power of language. He transitioned from writing short stories to writing a journal filled with his own moods, frustrations, and successes in the projects with the villagers.

In 2000 he moved to New York, hoping to become a writer, instead he wound up working at a dot-com for accountants. In 2002, he enrolled for a degree in dramatic writing from New York University, at the Tisch School of Arts, and graduated with an MFA in 2004.

His theatrical debut was the play, Huck and Holden, at Cherry Lane Theater, in Manhattan, NY, in 2005.

In 2006 the same play ran on the West Coast in Black Dahlia Theater, LA. The idea for this story, of an

Moises Kaufman (left), Robin Williams, and Rajiv Joseph Indian college student in the US is apparently based on his father’s life experiences. Reportedly, one critic said that, Joseph is fearless about exploring racial themes and Joseph thinks it is probably because he is a person of mixed race himself.

In 2006, All This Intimacy premiered at New York’s McGinn/Cazale Theater. In 2007, Joseph’s version of The Leopard and the Fox was featured by the TBG Theater in NY. In 2008, Animals Out of Paper premiered at the Second Stage Theatre.

That year, Vineyard Theater awarded Joseph the Paula Vogel Award, given to emerging playwrights. Animals Out of Paper also staged in many other theaters including Boise Contemporary Theater in 2009, the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney, Australia, and San Francisco Playhouse in 2010.

Directed by Tony Award winner, Moisés Kaufman, Joseph’s Pulitzer finalist production, Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, debuted at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City, California in May, 2009. For this play, the 2009 LA Stage Alliance Ovation Awards nominated Joseph for Playwriting for an Original Play.

In Oct 2009, Gruesome Playground Injuries premiered at the Alley Theatre in Houston, Texas. The same year, Joseph won the Whiting Writers’ Award, (an international award presented annually to 10 writers of fiction, non-fiction, plays, poetry, to encourage the exceptional talent they have shown early in their careers), and received the Kesselring Fellowship (awarded to emerging dramatists).

On Apr 12, 2010, Joseph was named A Pulitzer Prize for Drama Finalist for Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. The play also won five Backstage Garland Awards in 2010.

In May 2010, Bengal Tiger ran at the Mark Taper Forum in LA, and Gruesome Playground Injuries ran at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. United States Artists named Joseph USA Rockefeller Fellow. An offBroadway production, of Gruesome Playground Injuries opened in January 2011 at the Second Stage Theater in New York City.

In early 2011, Oscar and Emmy Award winner, Robin Williams, made his Broadway debut with Joseph’s Bengal Tiger. For Joseph, this was Broadway’s premiere of his play! This acclaimed play, made Rajiv Joseph a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2010.

According to Broadway’s summary of the play, it is the story of a complete transformation that occurs in the lives of two American Marines and an Iraqi translator on encountering a quick-witted tiger.

This tiger stomps the streets of wartorn Baghdad, in search of meaning, forgiveness and redemption amidst the city’s ruins. The New York Times wrote, “This boldly imagined, harrowing and surprisingly funny drama is wonderfully daring.”

In 2011, The North Pool premiered at Theatre Works in Silicon Valley in Spring and was awarded the Glickman Award for the Best Play to make its world premiere in the Bay Area.

The Monster at the Door debuted at Houston’s Alley Theatre in May 2011. Back in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Joseph’s hometown, Gruesome Playground Injuries ran at the Ensemble Theatre of Cleveland from April 27-May 20.

The next time one of Rajiv Joseph’s plays stage at the Alley Theater, for those who haven’t seen a production, it might be well worth the effort!

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

21

June 15, 2012

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22 June 15, 2012

ENTERTAINMENT

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to Perform in Las Vegas on June 15

BY LISA TSERING (Indiawest) This generation’s undisputed king of qawaali will perform in a place made legendary by another “king,” rock icon Elvis Presley, when Ustad Rahat FatehAli Khan performs in Las Vegas this coming weekend.

Promoter Salman Ahmed told by phone that Khan is the first major South Asian act to headline a show in Las Vegas. “An Evening to Remember: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan” will take place at the Treasure Island Theatre on the Las Vegas Strip June 15 at 8 p.m.

Khan’s blistering Sufi style has drawn in thousands of fans to his shows across North America — and what is even more noteworthy is the fact that South Asian audiences simply can’t get enough of the man.

He played to capacity crowds in San Jose, Calif., in April 2011 and again in April 2012 (I-W, April 27), among many other concert dates over the past year.

“For four years in a row, Khan has visited North America,” said Ahmed.

“The last time he came, within 11 months of his previous show, people said it might be too early. But the shows in all the cities on this 2012 tour have been selling out.”

The number of Indian visitors to glittery Las Vegas has not been quantified but the resort city in the desert remains a major tourist draw.

A Bollywood romantic comedy set in Vegas, the February 2012 release “Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu,” starring Imran Khan and Kareena Kapoor, offered up a view of the city that has tempted Indian American fans.

“Kites,” starring Hrithik Roshan, showed a darker side of the city.

Ranbir Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra shot scenes from “Anjaana Anjaani” in the city, too. A Bollywood star show was planned in late 2010, which would have brought together Hrithik Roshan, Akshay Kumar, Katrina Kaif and Priyanka Chopra, but that had to be scrapped when the performers could not coordinate their dates.

But till now, no South Asian promoter has dared to attempt a major show there, said Ahmed.

“Vegas is a market [South Asian promoters] haven’t explored yet,” he told India-West. But it’s an entertain-

Rahat Fateh Ali Khan will become the first South Asian act to headline a major venue in Las Vegas when he performs at the Treasure Island Theatre June 15.

ment hub, with gambling, too.”

Ahmed gave special credit to Najam Khan, Treasure Island’s executive vice president and general manager, saying Khan “has been the one to make this event happen at the Treasure Island.”

The show is presented by Portfolio Marketing and Events and it will be telecast at a later date by Star Plus.

Various tiers of ticket pricing offer a wide range of entertainment possibilities that will make the entire weekend memorable, said Ahmed.

• $1,000 tickets: access to the Red Carpet, a quick Interview on the

Red Carpet by an Indian TV Channel, VIP seating, an exclusive dinner with Khan the night before the show, and photos/video on a personalized DVD. • $500 tickets: access to the Red Carpet, VIP seating, post-concert dinner with Khan, photos taken with Khan.

• $250 tickets: VIP seating and a CD autographed by Khan.

• $100 and $75 tickets: Premium and regular seating.

“The $500 & $1000 are more about an experience then just watching the performance,” stressed Ahmed.

In addition, Treasure Island is offering a special “Room and Show” rate to concertgoers that will feature extras such as discounts for the resort’s Oleksandra Spa, two-for-one buffet dinner and other amenities.

Visit http://www.treasureisland.com/ special_offers/#urfak for information on room packages.

The newly renovated Treasure Island hotel, resort and casino has become one of the Strip’s most exciting destinations. Winner of the AAA Four Diamond Award continuously from 1999-2012, it has also been named a Top Pick by the Travel Channel.

According to a press release, the international promoters and the organizers for this Rahat Fateh Ali Khan tour are Portfolio Marketing

& Events LLC, comprised of Salman Ahmed, a businessman with 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry; Anwaar Chaudhry, whose experience includes major entertainment events in North America and the UK for over 20 years; Seema Salman, PME’s head of operations; and Mike Hasnain, whom Khan described as “the energy behind making the Las Vegas show happen.”

Khan also highlights the contributions of local community leaders in Las Vegas including Jaldeep Daulat, Amar Chadha, Malik Hoodhbhoy and Mike Vaswani.

Tickets are available on www. desiclub.com or www.treasureisland.com. For more information, visit ww.rfakliveshows.com or Call 551-689-4411.

Saif to Wed Kareena on October 16 (Emirates247) Finally the date is fixed for Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor’s wedding.

In the first official confirmation from the family, Saif Ali Khan’s mother, Sharmila Tagore has confirmed her son’s marriage to actor Kareena Kapoor on October 16.

“Yes, that’s the date we have decided upon. There will be a reception, too, but not a very big one,” reports MidDay. The wedding ceremony, said close sources, will be a quiet affair, too.

Kareena had hinted that she would become the ‘Begum of Pataudi’ by the end of this year, while promoting ‘Agent Vinod’.

The wedding, which will be held at the Pataudis’ ancestral home, will only be attended by immediate family members of the couple.

Reports suggest that both the families have been planning the wedding and preparations are taking place. Jewelry for Kareena is being ordered and the wedding ensembles are to be designed by renouned designer Ritu Kumar.

In Bollywood there is one event that has kept everyone guessing - Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor’s wedding.

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INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

Not just media, gossip mongers and the film fraternity even their friends wanted to know when the couple is getting hitched.

The couple, who were rumoured to be planning an early 2012 wedding after the release of their film ‘Agent Vinod’, is now set an October 16 date for their big day.

Earlier their wedding was postponed due to the demise of Saif’s father and former cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan. After that the two had a chock-a-block work schedule and were unable to squeeze in a wedding date.

Kareena will complete Madhur Bhandarkar’s movie ‘Heroine’ by July. After marriage, she will do two films a year. Right after she completes Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Heroine’, she’ll begin shooting for Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s ‘Ram Leela’.

At present Saif is busy shooting in Turkey for the sequel of his movie ‘Race’.

The couple, who have been dating for many years now, have remained evasive about the issue and only hinted about their wedding plans.

All said and done we hope the couple a ‘happy ever after’ climax.

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23

OPINION INDIA

24 June 15, 2012

Despite 657 New Officers, Indian Army Still Faces Big Shortage of Officers

BY RAJ KANWAR IAN INDIA CORRESPONDENT India’s IMA along with US Military Academy, West Point and Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst are three of the best military academies in the world.

India boasts of world’s third largest standing Army behind the Peoples’ Liberation Army of China and the armed forces of the United States. The country is also very proud of its armed forces which have proved their mettle in battle after battle over a period of more than 100 years, and won innumerable laurels and kudos in battlefields across the world. The Dehra Dun-based Indian Military Academy (IMA) is the primary source of providing officer cadre to the Indian Army. Over the past 80 years, IMA has produced more than 51,000 officers for the Indian Army. However, the Indian Army today is facing a gnawing shortage of officers.

The sanctioned strength of officers in the Army is around 46,500. However, according to Defense minister AK Antony, the Indian Army is short of 12500 officers as of 2010. The question before the Indian Military establishment is how to fill up this sizeable gap? The army, which has growing commitments both on its Western and Eastern fronts, has proposed an increase by 16,000 officers in its sanctioned strength.

However, it is easier said than done. It takes two to four years to train an officer and the existing infrastructure at IMA is already bursting at its seams and would need to be substantially expanded if the intake of gentlemen cadets is to be increased.

The Indian Military Academy has an expansive complex spread across 1400 lush green acres nestling at the foothills of the Himalayas.

At any given time, it trains 1800 cadets. It holds two graduation ceremonies every year in months of June and December called, “Passing out Parades”, each approximately with 550 to 700 commissioned officers. At the Passing out Parade held Saturday last week, 657 new officers joined the ranks of the Indian Army; additionally there were 21 gentlemen cadets from friendly foreign countries who were also trained at the Academy.

IMA Commandant Lt. Gen. Manvender Singh told media persons Friday that IMA had proposed to increase its intake from the present 1800 to 2400 cadets. However, it would need 2000 acres of additional land sufficient to meet the training requirements for a larger number of cadets. He also indicated 100% that the National Defense Academy (NDA)VEGETARIAN too would be expanded.

Incidentally, NDA is the principal inter-service training institution which trains future officers of the Indian Armed Forces. After a strenuous 3-year long training, the army cadets from there are sent to IMAwhile Navy andAir Force cadets are sent to their respective Naval Academy and

w o N pen O

PUNJABI FOOD

India’s IMA along with U.S. Military Academy, West Point, and Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst are three of the best military academies in the world.

of gentlemen cadets imbibe. The most famous is the Chetwode Credo which instills in every cadet the religious belief “that the safety, honor and welfare of the country would come first always and every time, the honor welfare and comfort of the men you command come next and finally your own ease, comfort and safety come last, always and every time.”

At the Passing out Parade Saturday, there were

a large number of parents, who had come from various parts of the country to proudly watch their sons getting commissioned that day into the Indian army. I accosted a farmer from Bihar dressed in a loose shirt and lungi; he wore his pride on his shirt sleeve, and there were tears of joy in his eyes when he told how hard his son studied even when he could not afford to pay for his tuitions etc. There were some siblings too prancing about to celebrate the grant of commission in the Indian army to their brothers.

There were proud sisters as well. It was almost like a mini India with parents (and siblings too) coming from various parts of the country to see for themselves what would be a red-letter day in the life of their son.

The Commandant at the Helm: Lt. Gen. Manvender Singh, AVSM, VSM

Air Force Academy.

The only other training institute is the OfThe Indian Military Academy’s expansive ficers’ Training School (OTS). It was set up complex spread across 1400 lush green acres in 1963 in the wake of Chinese aggression was very familiar to Lt. Gen. Manvender Singh of 1962 and its primary task then was to train when he arrived there on Oct 21, 2011 to take gentlemen cadets for emergency commission over the high profile job as its Commandant; afin order to meet the expanded requirements of ter all he had spent there his final year of rigorous officers. OTS was renamed as Officers’ Train- training regime of several years leading up to his ing Academy (OTA) on January 1, 1988 when commission in the Indian Army in December it completed 25 years of its existence. However, 1974. Though the Academy had acquired many it had started training officers for short service new buildings and undergone a makeover in commission much earlier from 1965 onwards. this 37-year long interregnum, there still stood Later, with the entry of women officers into the many old landmarks, and Gen. Singh really felt army from since September 21, 1992, about 100 at ease and at home. After all he had collected lady officers are trained there every year. in that one year many notable achievements; The birth of the Indian Military Academy in it was there again in its hallow precincts that December 1932 was the culmination of a long Manvender had won the prestigious Sword and persistent demand by a strong and vocal of Honour as the best passing out gentleman Indian public opinion for the grant of commis- cadet and where he had seen several years of Lt. Gen. Manvender Singh sion to Indians in the British Indian Army. The his tapasya come to fruition; the tapasya that had first batch of 40 gentlemen cadets fittingly called started in Dehra Dun’s famed Rashtriya Indian in converting it into a mechanized infantry bat‘The Pioneer’ was commissioned in 1934. It in- Military College (RIMC) and then continued talion. Some of his other notable achievements cluded big names like Smith Dun, Mohammad at Khadakvasla’s National Defence Academy were the command of the famous Chushul BriMusa and SHFJ Manekshaw. Dun was to later (NDA). At RIMC young Manvender had gade in Ladakh, Tawang Division in Arunachal become the Chief of the Burmese Army and shown outstanding results both in academics as also the command of Delhi Area.

Musa of the Pakistan Army. Manekshaw, as is and in the sports arena; he had stood 10th in the Just over seven months into his high profile well known, went on to become a Field Mar- All India merit list and his selection in the NDA job as the Commandant of the Indian Military shal, and led the historic 1971 Indo-Pak war that was just a natural progression. At NDA, he too Academy, Lt. Gen. Manvender Singh has ended with the creation of Bangladesh. Another showed his mettle and held the prestigious ap- already created a niche position for himself in distinguished pioneer was MF de Mellow who pointment of Academy Cadet Adjutant in his its historic campus. He sincerely and strongly was to become a legend for his news broadcasts final term. Besides many other honours, he was believes that a soldier, more so an officer, must on All India Radio during the World War II and also declared the ‘best army cadet’. zealously follow the three major dharmas of an later as a star cricket commentator.

December 22, 1974, was indeed a red letter army officer which are inscribed in the IMA Today,GRAND IMA stands along with the United day as it marked the beginning of a distin- Credo, the Honour Code and the Code of the JAIN OPENING OF States Military Academy, West Point andFRIENDLY the guished career in the Indian army; it was on this Warrior. At every opportunity, the CommanSAGAR UK’s Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst as ITEMS way that he was commissioned into 14 Guards, dant tried to inculcate amongst the gentlemen INDIAN three of the best military academies in the world. a regiment of his choice. There too he continued cadets the importance of religiously observing There isCUISINE! also a good deal of mutual respect and to collect ‘medals of excellence’ and won many the Credo and these two codes. And after seeing bonhomie amongst these three international an honour; he acquired rich experience on bor- GRAND the proud demeanor of the gentlemen cadets on MUMBAI JAIN OPENING INDO military academies.

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Business IndoAmerican News

STOCKS • FINANCE • SOUTH ASIAN MARKETS • TECHNOLOGY

Shale Fracturing is a Boon for India’s Guar Farmers JAIPUR (Reuters): In India’s northern desert states, farmers are scrambling to harvest as much as they can of a bean with the power to lift them out of poverty. In the United States, the multi-billion dollar shale energy industry is banking on their success.

U.S. companies drilling for oil and gas in shale formations have developed a voracious appetite for the powder-like gum made from the seeds of guar, or cluster bean, and the boom in their business has created a bonanza for thousands of small-scale farmers in India who produce 80 percent of the world’s beans.

“Guar has changed my life,” said Shivlal, a guar farmer who made 300,000 rupees ($5,400) five times more than his average seasonal income - from selling the beans he planted on five acres (two hectares) of sandy soil in Rajasthan state.

“Now, I have a concrete house and a color TV. Next season I will even try to grow guar on the roof.”

Guar gum, which is also used to make sauces and ice cream, is a main ingredient of the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, process used to extract oil and gas from oil shale.

Fracking has been called the technology that will change the geopolitics of energy, boosting domestic North American gas supplies to such an extent that experts predict the net importing region will soon turn into a significant gas exporter.

It has also turned guar into a precious commodity farmers now call “black gold”. In the Rajasthani city of Jodhpur, under the shadow of an ancient fort, traders buy guar

Farmers in India grow 80% of the world’s supply of guar beans, which are used as thickening agents for food products as well as fluids used to fracture shale gas wells.

seed at 305 rupees ($5.5) a kg, a 10-fold increase from a year ago.

“The whole world got caught not ever thinking they would need as much guar as they do now,” said Wade Cowan, co-owner of West Texas Guar Inc., a Brownfield, Texas, company that supplies the powder to U.S. energy companies.

India, on average, produces more than 1 million metric tons (1.1023 million tons) of guar beans annually, the biggest crop in the world.

It exported more than 400,000 metric tons of guar products, including gum, in the fiscal year that ended in March 2011. Exporting beans is prohibited.

U.S. energy firms, however, will need nearly 300,000 metric tons of guar gum this year, energy investment banking firm Simmons & Company International said in a February report. Last year, the guar shortfall forced some U.S.

firms to halt fracking, it said.

“There is a shortage of seeds.

Last year, good quality seeds were available at around 60 rupees a kilo but now, traders are demanding over 500 rupees per kilo for the same seed,” said Shyam Lal, a farmer based in the Churu district of Rajasthan.

Guar gum is used to increase the viscosity of proppants, materials which are forced into shale fractures to enlarge them so that the oil and gas can be extracted. It also helps reduce friction, which in turn decreases the energy consumed.

In March, the United States bought 33,800 metric metric tons of guar gum from India, the highest amount ever. Last year, U.S. firms bought an average 22,000 metric metric tons from India a month.

About nine metric tons of guar gum are used per well. Some companies are also fracking wells sev-

eral times to squeeze out as much as possible, which means using even more guar.

As a result, guar prices in India has risen rapidly, so fast that the local commodity exchanges halted trading in guar futures in late March amid a ministerial inquiry.

David Lesar, CEO at market leader Halliburton (HAL.N), recently said the cost of the guar gel now accounted for up to 30 percent of fracking costs to customers in some basins.

“The problem with guar is it is probably the fastest-moving commodity price that I have ever seen,” Lesar said.

To cash in on the guar rush, Vikas WSP (VWSP.BO), India’s largest producer of guar gum, is distributing, free of charge, seeds worth more than 900 million rupees to 100,000 farmers and giving them guaranteed returns, said B.D. Agarwal, its chairman and managing director.

Some farmers are planting more seeds early this year, taking advantage of early rain.

“This upcoming season supplies will definitely be higher than 2011,” said Uday Merchant, managing director of Lucid Colloids, a guar exporter based in Mumbai.

The United States produces guar, but only on 40,000 acres, an area that pales in comparison with the more than 10 million acres (4 million hectares) Indian farmers are expected to plant this year in the Thar desert.

In 2011, about 20,000 acres were planted with guar in Texas but only 5,000 acres were cultivated as the crop was hit by drought, said guar supplier Cowan. He estimates the planted acreage might be twice as much this year.

127

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 • WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

Ambitious Reliance MUMBAI: Barely 24 hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had set high targets for infrastructure growth and investments, Reliance Industries Ltd unveiled a big-bang investment plan for the next five years. “We will invest nearly Rs 1 lakh crore… to build a stronger and more diversified Reliance,” RIL chief Mukesh Ambani, 55, told shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday.

Revealing the plan to double the group’s profits by 2016, Ambani said the investment would cover retail, telecom and financial services businesses.

While many global and domestic business leaders have criticised the government for its alleged policy inaction, Ambani said RIL “continues to be in the mindset” of focusing on India.

Ambani sounded bullish about business prospects despite the global and domestic challenges, such high inflation, a sliding rupee and a wobbly international economy.

Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani will invest $Rs. 1 lakh crore in growth.

28

INDIA June 15, 2012

Photographs of Yesteryear Bollywood by German Cinematographer

Devika Rani takes a smoke break while shooting Izzat (left), Helen, Josef & Charlotte Wirsching appear for the song Itni badi mehfil...in Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai, 1960, Crowds gather for the premiere of Jawani Ki Hawa (1935) outside Bombay’s Imperial Theatre.

BY NAMRATA JOSHI GOA (Outlook): Fabio Mansion in Goa’s Moira hamlet is another inconspicuous, modest house down the road. No sign announces the bit of cinema history lying behind its walls—unknown, unacknowledged and uncelebrated. I’m at the house of Wolfgang Peter Wirsching, son of Joseph Wirsching, among the earliest cin-

ematographers of Indian cinema.

A German, Wirsching Sr arrived in India in 1925, for the IndoEuropean collaboration, The Light of Asia, directed by another nonnative, Franz Osten. Wirsching went on to make India his home and worked in more than 20 films of the leading film studio of the time—Bombay Talkies—and later with Kamal Amrohi on Dil Apna

Aur Preet Parayi and Pakeezah.

Death overtook him in 1967 while he was still shooting Pakeezah. But locked in an obscure steel trunk, he left behind a rare, inestimable legacy—a magnificent treasure of pictures he took on and off film sets. Some 2,000 priceless images associated with the movies he was working in, besides many film synopsis booklets, original

film reviews from publications of the time, a few personal letters of appreciation from people in the industry and some personal handwritten letters from Devika Rani.

The memorabilia sketch out a whole history for us: of a studio in its heyday and decline, of Wirsching’s personal travails when the British sent him to the Ahmednagar, Dehradun and Satara intern-

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 • WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

ment camps during World War II. Most importantly, Wirsching Sr’s efforts allow us a glimpse into the filmmaking of those early years— the technology, set designs, camera set-ups, even the continuity guys!

But finest of all are the stunning photographs of the earliest of our screen goddesses, Devika Rani— smoking, swinging, playing with the camera, or just smiling into it.

June 15, 2012

Emigration Abroad Pattern Shifts from South to North India NEW DELHI (IE): Ending a 15 year trend, the number of emigrants with Emigration Check Required (ECR) endorsement from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar has since last year surpassed their counterparts from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, so far the largest feeders for overseas employment.

According to the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are the states which sent the largest number of workers abroad with ECR endorsement in 2011.

“It only shows a shift in social profile in the southern states. This could mean that more workers from Tamil Nadu and Kerala are qualifying themselves educationally and do not need ECR endorsement anymore,” a senior ministry official said.

On the other hand, more workers from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar may increasingly find overseas employment attractive, he said.

While Tamil Nadu saw a decline in numbers from 1,55,631 applicants in 2006 to 68,732 in 2011, Bihar saw an increase from 36,493 applicants in 2006 to 71,438 last year.

Kerala sent only 86,783 workers last year, as against 1,20,083 in 2006, while the numbers from

Indian construction workers at a building site in Dubai. More North Indians are emigrating for work to the Middle East than South Indians.

Uttar Pradesh went up to 1,55,301 last year from 66,131 in 2006.

As per the new guidelines, the blank page two on passports is deemed to have been ECNR endorsed, which otherwise would specifically state “Emigration Check Required (ECR).”

Of desired destinations, Saudi Arabia continues to attract Indi-

ans most with 2,89,297 workers in 2011, while the United Arab Emirates and Oman were at second and third spots with 1,38,861 and 73,819 emigrants, the official said.

The total number of emigrants from India in the last six years are 6,76,912 (2006), 8,09,453 (2007), 8,48,601 (2008), 6,10,272 (2009),

6,41,356 (2010) and 6,26,565 (2011).

A reverse trend also exists.

Over 750 Indians from Egypt and 17,927 from Libya and 846 from Yemen returned home with the help of Indian missions in these countries, following internal disturbances there last year.

Nitish Kumar’s Backlash vs. Modi: “Bihar is Not Backward” PATNA (IE): A day after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had observed that the ‘casteist’ leaders had pushed Bihar to economic backwardness, his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar today asked the former to look at his situation instead of making comments on others.

“One should think about one’s own situation (Bihar par tippani karne walon ko apne halaat ke bare me sochana chahiye)”, he told reporters in reply to a question eliciting his reaction on Modi’s diatribe against the Bihar leaders.

Without taking Modi’s name, Kumar referred to two vernacular proverbs to apparently rebuke the former for casting aspersions on others when he himself faced crisis in the party and in public life.

When asked to elaborate further, the chief minister quipped that he was not in the habit of making comments about others and left

the media persons to interpret his reaction to Modi’s comments on Bihar politicians.

“It is for you (media) to interpret my comments”, he said.

Apparently rejecting his Gujarat counterpart’s contention about backwardness and lack of economic development in Bihar, Kumar said that the state has been marching on the path of development by taking care of various adversities and problems dogging it over the years.

“Bihar has been a place of learning since ancient times”, he said in an apparent rejection of Modi’s assessment of the state.

The Gujarat Chief Minister had at the state BJP executive meeting in Rajkot yesterday attacked the Bihar politicians for their ‘casteist’ outlook and attributed it as the main reason of economic backwardness and lack of development in Bihar.

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Bihar CM Nitish Kumar defends his state from Gujarat CM Narendra Modi’s charge of backwardness.

29

UP CM’s Wife Dimple Elected MP Unopposed

LUCKNOW: Dimple Yadav, wife of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, was on Saturday declared elected unopposed from Kannauj Lok Sabha seat after two candidates in the fray against her withdrew their nominations for the bypoll.

35-year-old Dimple Yadav would be the second woman to represent the constituency.

Earlier in 1984, Sheila Dixit, who is now the Delhi chief minister, was elected from Kannauj.

After the withdrawal of names by both the candidates Dashrath Singh Shankwar (Samyukt Samajwadi Dal) and Sanju Katiyar (independent), the election of Dimple Yadav was a mere formality .

After Congress and BSP decided against fielding their nominees and the BJP candidate failed to file his nomination papers at the last minute, Dimple was expected to get a walkover on the seat vacated by her husband Akhilesh Yadav when he became the chief minister and was elected to the Legislative Council.

She had suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of Congress’ Raj Babbar in the by-polls for the Firozabad Lok Sabha seat in 2009.

The Congress had opted not to contest the election in Kannauj, saying it did not field its candidate even in 2009 elections and the BSP had decided to keep away from the bypoll alleging the ruling party of continuing with its tradition of nepotism by fielding Dimple.

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June 15, 2012

Trouble for Sibal’s IIT Common Entrance Exam

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HRD Minister Kapil Sibal’s common entrance exam is running into turbulence from the IIT alumni.

eration.

Sibal had claimed it was approved without dissent at the IIT Council meeting and had the backing of the senates of four of the seven Indian Institutes of Technology.

“The council consists of the IITs, the IIITs and the NITs. There was not a single dissent. It was unanimously adopted. Therefore, I went forward,” the minister had said.

The IIT alumni plans to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and BJP leader LK Advani in the hope of raising support against the HRD ministry’s decision to introduce a common entrance test

(CET) for centrally-funded engineering institutions like IITs. HRD minister Kapil Sibal had last week announced the new formula for the common test for IITs, NITs and IIITs. He had added that three states — Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra — had already agreed to implement the common test in their states.

Under the new plan, all aspirants will have to appear for two exams — JEE main and JEE advanced — to be held on the same day. The aspirant’s set of scores will decide whether s/he will be eligible for admission to the premier Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT), centrally-funded institutions like NIITs or IIITs or state-funded institutions.

For admission to IITs, students will be shortlisted on the basis of their cumulative score for class XII and the main test (50% weightage each). Class XII marks will be standardized on percentile basis by a formula worked out by the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI).

The merit list will be decided on the candidate’s performance in the advance test.

For students, who have appeared for class XII board this year, the Council has decided that they may be allowed to sit for the board exam again if they would like to improve their scores. CBSE and state boards will be asked to make appropriate arrangements.

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NEW DELHI (ToI): IIT Kharagpur, IIT Guwahati, IIT Madras and IIT Roorkie have decided to stand

by Kapil Sibal’s move to hold common entrance exam for IITs, NITs, IIITs. The director of IIT Kharagpur told Times Now that the institution does not have any objection with Sibal’s move to hold common entrance exam for central engineering institutions.

Earlier, after IIT Kanpur rejected the Centre’s ‘one-nation one-test’ proposal and decided to conduct its own entrance exam from next year, IIT Delhi Alumni Association is pushing IIT Delhi to follow suit.

A decision is expected to be taken next week when the senate of IIT Delhi meet here. “In all likelihood, IIT Delhi Senate seems to be geared up to follow IIT Kanpur Senate,” IIT Delhi alumni president Somnath Bharti told PTI. The senate, while deciding to go it alone, had also said the Centre’s ‘one-nation one-test’ proposal was in “violation of the Institutes of Technology Act (1961) and IIT Kanpur Ordinances (Ordinance 3.2 (Admissions)”.

HRD minister Kapil Sibal on May 28 had announced that from 2013, aspiring candidates for IITs and other central institutes like NITs and IIITs will have to sit under a new format of common entrance test, which will also take plus two board results into consid-

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PAKISTAN

June 15, 2012

Kashmir Protest vs. Both India and Pakistan

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Pakistani Kashmiri nationalists shout slogans as the march during a demonstration in Keran, about 90 kilometres northeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, on June 10, 2012.—AFP Photo

KERAN (Dawn): Hundreds of Kashmiris on Sunday staged an emotional demonstration on the banks of a fast-flowing river to urge India and Pakistan to withdraw troops from the disputed Himalayan region.

On the Pakistani side, tearful relatives waved across the gushing Neelum – which separates the two countries – to their family on the Indian side, using loudspeakers to try to speak to them, an AFP photographer said.

But the deafening roar of the river – about 200 feet wide at the village of Keran – was too loud for the cries to carry across to the Indian side.

About 600 men and women gathered by the river in Keran, about 90 kilometres northeast of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Many migrated to Muzaffarabad in 1990 to escape violence.

The gathering, called by nationalists, was a rare occasion – the authorities do not normally allow

such events on the river.

For Ashraf Jan, who left her mother and father to come to Muzaffarabad with her aunt in 1947, it was almost too much.

Overwhelmed with emotion, the 70-year-old had to be stopped by relatives from jumping in the furious river to try to reach her ageing parents on the Indian side.

“Let me go. I just want to see my parents and after that if I die, I will be in peace,” she said.

Indian police and military did not allow Kashmiris on the other side to come near the river bank and they were left to wave from a distance.

Kashmir was split in the aftermath of independence on the subcontinent when British rule ended in 1947. Both India and Pakistan claim the entire territory, which is divided by a heavily militarised Line of Control (LoC).

The LoC is heavily guarded on both sides and strictly off-limits.

Though Kashmiris can cross the border via a special bus service

started in 2005, it requires lengthy clearance procedures at both sides, meaning few go.

Arif Shahid, president of the proindependence Jammu Kashmir National Liberation Conference, urged India and Pakistan to divert their military spending to help poor people in both countries.

“India and Pakistan are wasting money on arms when millions of people have to sleep without any meal every night. They should withdraw troops from Kashmir and liberate us so that they are able to work for the welfare of their citizens,” Shahid said.

There are nearly a dozen Kashmir militant groups fighting for the divided Muslim-majority region to become part of Pakistan and over 47,000 people have been killed since the outbreak of a separatist insurgency in 1989.

But militant violence has dropped sharply in Kashmir since India and Pakistan started a peace process in 2004.

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India, Pak Ministers to Review Peace Process

ISLAMABAD: Foreign ministers of Pakistan and India will review the progress made under the resumed dialogue process when Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna travels to Islamabad next month to hold talks with Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar.

Krishna is expected to visit Pakistan on July 17-18 to hold talks with Khar which will be preceded by a meeting between the foreign secretaries of the two countries, official sources said here, Press Trust of India reported.

Ahead of the ministerial-level parleys, Pakistan High Commissioner Shahid Malik termed the current atmosphere between the two countries as “satisfactory” and said “small dents” have also started appearing in the “trust-deficit”.

He also stressed the need for both countries to seize this opportunity and take steps to make the peace process “irreversible”.

India External Affairs Minister S. M. Krishna with Pakistan Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar.

Indo-Pak dialogue, which had stalled following Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008, resumed last year with both sides holding a series of meetings on eight components, including terrorism, Siachen, Sir Creek, trade

and Kashmir. The two countries have already had four segments, including terrorism, trade and water in the past few months with two more -on Siachen and Sir Creekslated for this month as part of the second round of talks.

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INDIA

June 15, 2012

Dutch Governor of Malabar Captured Kerala’s Horticulture 300 Years Ago

COCHIN (Outlook): One would be forgiven for mistaking Hortus Malabaricus to be a treatise on exotic plants from the Garden of Eden instead of the Garden of Malabar. For author Hendrik Adriaan van Rheede tot Drakenstein’s (then governor of Dutch Malabar, 167077) prose on his many journeys into the dense forests of Malabar (in present day Kerala) is almost as lush as the vegetation. Indeed, in one section he describes that he saw such a marvellous variety of flora that it was difficult to find two trees of the same kind in the same forest.

In a flourish of similes, he likens a tree adorned with green creepers to a magnificent palace. (Hardly the stuff one expects in a preface to a plant encyclopedia.) What astonished him no less was how the natives would pick up a few leaves, crush them to use as a balm or eat them to relieve themselves of some ailment.

The secrets of the leaves, roots, berries etc and their effects on the human body were common knowledge in Malabar in the 17th century, passed down orally from one generation to the next. Rheede was intent on documenting this vast trove of traditional knowledge for his fellow Europeans and proceeded to oversee the scientific description and paintings of the medicinal uses of 742 species of flora of Malabar. It was a hercu-

lean task which took documenting the flohim 30 years to comra, is also a subverted plete. As governor, commentary on the he employed 25 exculture, linguistics perts for the project, and social structure including physicians, of the period. The rebotanists, painters, cord shows that iniengravers, translators tially three Saraswat and a legion of 200 Brahmins—Ranga supporting staff to Bhatt, Vinayak Pangather the plants. The dit and Appu Bhatt— Raja of Cochin and gymnosophists well the Zamorin of Caliversed in the classic cut readily lent their medical texts, were support. The period initially employed to was not without po- Illustrations in the Hortus were captured ‘live’. Dutch governor of assist in identifying Van Rheede had painters staying at his residence to accurately litical intrigue and Malabar depict the plants as they were brought in, often waiting a whole year the plants. But when in between Rheede or more until the plant bore fruits and flowers to ensure all the parts Van Rheede found found himself posted were painted. A total of 794 copperplate engravings were made. that the Brahmins reto Batavia in the midlied on their servants (published by Kerala University) dle of the project. But for physical verifihe remained ardently faithful to it. with a Malayalam edition coming cation of the plants he found Itty The 12 volumes of Hortus were out in 2008.

Achuthan far more invaluable. (In A comprehensive analysis of a sense, through the encyclopaedia published in Amsterdam between the Hortus also throws up some he created, for the first time, an 1678 and 1693.

For over 300 years the Hortus uncomfortable questions, some of unimaginable inter-caste collabovolumes remained in relative ob- which have already got the state’s ration.) Achuthan, a descendant scurity due to a linguistic barrier: intelligentsia talking. Like the case of Kollatt vaidyans, had inherited it was written in Old Latin and of the Hortus’s main contributor, a certain ancient palm leaf manuthere was none well versed both hereditary Ezhava vaidyan (physi- scripts which set out in detail the in Old Latin and the plant king- cian) named Itty Achuthan, who medicinal use of various plants. dom to decipher it. In 1968, K.S. was at the time forbidden from During his time, he was considManilal, a botany scholar and using the official written form of ered the most knowledgeable man taxonomist, finally undertook the Malayalam, vattezhuthu, because in the field. arduous task of studying Latin for he was not from the upper caste.

Commemorating the 333rd year 12 years, collected over 400 spe- His certificate in kolezhuthu, pub- of the Hortus, historians now becies of the mentioned plants and lished in the Hortus, is a testament lieve it is the only authentic source decoded Hortus. The project took to this though, ironically, he was of the ancient ethno-medical 35 years of his life, but an English the chief protagonist in the docu- knowledge of Kerala, pre-dating translation was published in 2003 mentation. So Hortus, besides even Ayurveda. As Dr B. Ekbal,

INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 2012 • WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM

former Kerala University V-C, puts it, “It was a decentralised medical practice that was Dravidian and predated ayurveda. Almost like an internal colonisation, later Ayurvedic practitioners appropriated this knowledge.” Today’s Ayurveda doctors are not too sure about this theory, saying their system is codified and argue that the medicinal properties described in Hortus are based mostly on folklore. Dr K. Anilkumar, executive director of Kerala Ayurveda Ltd, says, “We need to study Hortus to ascertain its efficacy. Like it’s mentioned that the bark of the coconut tree can be used to cure liver diseases. We’ll need research to see if there’s any truth to it.”

Kerala’s traditional knowledge of the curative powers of plants has eroded over the years but with the translation of Hortus an intangible heritage has once again become accessible. Some of the plants mentioned have become extinct, others unidentifiable. Even the health of the forests has declined, with trees now reduced to pygmies: the biggest kokum or kodampuli tree of today would at most fill a man’s armspan today but the book has instances of a similar tree’s girth “filling the embrace of two men”.

Hortus is a repository of medical treasures as well as insights: who knew the oil of the common brinjal taken with opium has the potent effect of poison?

SPORTS

June 15, 2012

Saina Wins Thailand Open, Second Major Title of the Year

BANGKOK (HT): Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal got a shot in the arm ahead of next month’s Olympics as she lifted the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold title after rallying to beat Thailand’s Ratchanok Inthanon in the final of the event in Bangkok on Sunday.

The 22-year-old world number five Indian beat Inthanon 19-21 21-15 21-10 at the C U Sport Complex in Bangkok for her second title of the year after the Swiss Open win in March.

The win will come as a massive boost to Saina’s confidence ahead of Olympics in July-August. The top seeded Indian was scratchy to start with but drew from her experience and superb maneuvering at the net to beat her second-seeded 17-year-old rival.

Although it was a see-saw battle to start with, Inthanon’s energy and fabulous baseline play stood out. The smash winner, which is Saina’s stock shot, was coming out more frequently from the Thai’s racquet who seemed to revel amid the partisan crowd’s thunderous cheering.

Inthanon, ranked 11th in the world, grabbed a 10-7 lead after Saina’s attempted smash landed outside the court and the teenager, to whom Saina had lost in the Sudirman Cup last year, made it 16-10 in no time.

At that point, Saina was struggling to match up to the Thai’s sheer athleticism and swiftness on the court. In fact, most of the points that Saina notched up during the game were courtesy the errors committed by Inthanon instead of standout shots by the Indian.

The gap kept widening in favour of the Thai, whose spectacular speed in covering all ends on the court was commendable. Down 12-19, Saina staged a recovery of sorts making it 17-19 as Inthanon had an attack of nerves which led her to commit a few unforced errors.

She ended up wasting a game point by stroking one into the net but egged on by a vocal coach and vociferous home supporters, she managed to clinch the game on Saina’s serve.

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SL Wins 2nd ODI vs Pak PALLEKE, Sri Lanka (Cricinfo): Tillakaratne Dilshan batted through the innings with a century to take Sri Lanka to 280. Azhar Ali looked set to match Dilshan’s feat and nearly reached his maiden ODI ton. Ultimately though, it was Thisara Perera’s six-wicket haul, aided by his own brilliant fielding, which helped Sri Lanka level the series after a disappointing showing on Thursday. Perera’s efforts were all the more special because four of those wickets included top-order victims. In the process, he bagged the overall best bowling figures against Pakistan in one-dayers.

Dilshan dropped anchor to bat the entire inning with 119 runs.

Saina was clearly the better of the two at net but it was Inthanon’s seven smash winners against the Indian’s one which made the decisive difference in the game.

The change of ends in the second game also brought with it a change in fortunes as Saina took the lead by drawing Inthanon to the net and forcing her to commit mistakes.

The Indian took a 8-3 lead with four net winners as Inthanon struggled to adjust the pace of her shots from close range. In all, Saina managed 12 net winners in this game against Inthanon’s three.

Inthanon’s energy that was so visible in the opening game seemed lacking in the second but Saina too deserved credit for adapting to the pace of the game,

in fact slowing it down much to the Thai’s discomfort.

The baseline smashes that were flowing smoothly from Inthanon’s racquet in the first game were landing on the net in the second even as Saina regained her touch to come up with some aggressive strokes to take a 16-12 lead at one stage.

But the Thai was in mood to give up without a fight and narrowed the gap to 15-17 with her fifth smash winner of the game.

However, Saina drew from her experience to reel off four consecutive points to clinch the game and equalise in the match.

Saina was quick off the blocks in the deciding game and took a 3-0 lead and was up 11-4 in no time

thanks mainly to Inthanon’s erratic play.

Inthanon’s net game was not the strongest but even from the baseline, the teenager was unable to bring out the sheer pace which had flummoxed Saina in the opening game.

Changing her racquet could not make the difference that Inthanon had been hoping for as Saina took a formidable 17-7 lead once again with her superior net play which fetched her eight points against the local favourite’s three at that stage.

Leading 17-10, Saina came up with one of her trademark smash winners and let out a scream before notching up four successive points to clinch the title.

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Pakistan gambled with their line-up by playing only five specialist batsmen in both games.

It didn’t matter in the first ODI, where they were chasing a paltry target. However, in their chase of 281, their over-reliance on Azhar bit them. As the required-rate increased, Azhar’s own strike-rate dipped. None of the others passed 50, the next highest being 27.

Sri Lanka didn’t gamble with theirs. Thursday’s batting meltdown necessitated a reshuffle and the change gave the hosts a greater sense of security. It was imperative that at least one of the seniors - who were struggling for consistency - batted through. Upul Tharanga returned to the position he’s best known for, while Dinesh Chandimal was sandwiched between two experienced players to ease the pressure off his shoulders. It led to an efficient batting effort, led by Dilshan, who dropped anchor and batted with the intention of playing 50 overs.

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June 15, 2012

Former Indian Army Officer Kills Family, Self in California Murder-Suicide

SELMA, California: Neighbors of an Indian family killed in a murder-suicide grappled with allegations on Sunday that the man accused in the shooting in a small California agricultural town was a former Indian army officer wanted for years for murder in his homeland.

News of Saturday’s shooting boomeranged through the area’s close-knit Indian community, which numbers 15,500 in Fresno County, including about 750 in Selma, a small town surrounded by vineyards and peach orchards and known as the “Raisin Capital of the World.” The majority of Indians in the area are Punjabi Sikhs, like the family.

Authorities have said the former officer, Avtar Singh, shot his wife and two children and gravely wounded a third child early Saturday before turning the gun on himself. Investigators were still trying to determine a motive.

“Our community is completely shocked,” said Rajbir Singh Pannu, president of the town’s Sikh temple. “It’s a really bad misfortune, especially for the children who died. Anybody who takes somebody’s life, in our religion that’s cowardice.”

It was just more than a year ago that Singh was arrested after his wife said he had choked her.

That set off a process that prompted the Indian government to seek

his extradition days latChilders, said the famier in the 1996 death of ly’s three-year-old often a prominent lawyer and rode his bike outside and human rights activist in the wife cooked with her Kashmir. window open.

Singh, who in recent On Saturday, Childers years operated a small said she heard 11 shots. trucking business in Soon afterward, the Selma, was released on neighbourhood was bail after last year’s arevacuated by police. rest. It remained unclear Singh called police Sunday why he was around 6.15 am. and never extradited. told them that he had In India, the lawyer just killed four people, and brother of Jalil AnFresno County Sheriff’s drabi — the murdered Deputy Chris Curtice human rights activist Former Indian Army officer Avtar Singh killed his wife said. A sheriff’s SWAT — blamed the Indian and two children and gravely injured a third child team was called in to asgovernment, saying before killing himself. He wanted in the murder of a sist because of Singh’s Singh’s family would human rights lawyer in Kashmir. military background still be alive if officials and the Indian charges had tried harder to bring him to people,” he said. against him, Curtice said.

Neighbours and Indian commujustice.

The SWAT team found the bod“These lives could have been nity members said they knew little ies of Singh, a woman believed to saved if a trial of Maj. Avtar Singh about the husband’s military past. be his wife and two children, ages “Not many people knew him. He 3 and 15 in the home. All appeared was conducted on time,” said Andrabi’s brother, Arshad. “We have didn’t tell anybody who he is or to have died from gunshot wounds, lost that chance now. He was a where he came from,” said Harry Curtice said. known murderer and we are ap- Gill, president of Punjabi Sahit, a The 17-year-old suffered severe palled that he was even shielded in Punjabi organization in the Cen- head trauma. He remained in critithe United States. It’s a failure of tral Valley. “The family didn’t at- cal condition on at a Fresno meditend any functions. They lived a cal center. justice at all levels.”

In Selma, community members very low profile life.”

Selma police last had contact News of the murder-suicide with Singh about two months ago were also disappointed that police did not send Singh back to India reached Gill on Saturday at an In- when he called to complain that when his warrant came to light, dian wedding attended by about an Indian reporter who was in the 1,000 people. When Gill asked area wouldn’t leave him alone bePannu said.

“They should have taken him others about the family, no one cause of the murder warrant. then and there, if they had evi- knew much about them.

The Indian reporter, freelancer Next door neighbour, Barbara Zahid Rafiq, told The Associated dence, and not let him kill more

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Press that Singh also called him and threatened to kill him if he approached Singh for an interview.

A police investigation said Andrabi had been picked up from his Srinagar home by troops and killed in their custody. The probe blamed Singh and his soldiers for that killing and also accused Singh of involvement in the killings of six other Kashmiri men.

Singh had been charged in Kashmir only with Andrabi’s killing. But Kashmir police had also sought permission from the government of India for Singh’s prosecution in the six other killings.

Under India’s Armed Forces Special Powers Act, federal permission has to be obtained before police can prosecute any army or paramilitary soldier posted in Kashmir.

At the temple in Selma on Sunday, women in flowing tunics and pants, colorful shawls draped over their heads, kneeled on the right of the hall and men in turbans and scarves on the left while community leaders read prayers for the family during the Sunday service.

Temple leaders said the community would collect money so that those killed could be cremated, — the usual method for disposal of remains in Sikhism.

Neighbors and classmates also planned to hold a vigil for the family on Sunday evening

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