Voice of Asia May 17 2013

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FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

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Vol. 26 No. 20 Friday, May 17, 2013 Published Weekly from Houston 713-774-5140 20 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com

HPD honors Siddiqi with Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston’s ‘Officer of the Year’ Award 2013 Tapestry Gala A Great Success Marie and Vijay Goradia Honored

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Houston Mayor Annise Parker (rt) and HPD Chief Charles McClelland presented Officer Muzaffar Siddiqi (c) with “Officer of the Year” award.

HOUSTON – Officer Muzaffar Siddiqi, one of the most decorate police officers in Texas, has been honored yet again for his services to the community and the Houston Police Department.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker and HPD Chief Charles McClelland presented Officer Siddiqi with “Officer of the Year” award on May 13 at the Hyatt Regency Downtown, 1200 Louisiana, during an awards ceremony organized as part of the Police Week from Friday, May 10, through Friday, May 17.

INSIDE Save A Mother Gala Raises $65000 Indian Senior Citizens host Mother’s Day and more ....

SECTION 2 Life Style Young life Bollywood Masala Healthy Living Horoscope Business and more..

Officer Siddiqi has been honored several times in the past for exceptional services. He is the only police officer of South Asian descent to have received so many awards. His dedication to work and high professional standards have distinguished him as one of the best known police officer in the South Asian He is the only police officer of South Asian descent to have received so many awards. His dedication to work and high professional standards have distinguished him as one of the best known police officer in the South Asian community.

OUSTON (May 13, 2013) Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston held its fifth annual Tapestry Gala on May 9 at the Hilton Americas Houston.

The event honored Marie and Vijay Goradia with the Tapestry Award, an honor that recognizes community leaders who have shown remarkable dignity through tangible work for the betterment of Houston and the world. The event raised more than $900,000 for Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston with Shell Oil Company and Motiva Enterprises LLC leading the way as Presenting Sponsor of the event.

The Tapestry Gala was chaired by Shazma and Arshad Matin and Paula Sutton and Bill Gross with Honorary Chairs Shaista and Shahzad Bashir. During the evening, Revered Dr. L. James Bankston, a senior board member, was presented with a special tribute by Bill King for his years of service to Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston.

Additionally, Marie and Vijay Goradia and the Indo-American Charity Foundation presented Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston with a check for $61,000.

Continued on Page 5

Honorees Marie and Vijay Goradia at the IM 2013 Tapestry Gala.

Photo credit: Kim Coffman

Consul General P. Harish hosts breakfast in honor of Chairman Ed Royce and Congressman Pete Olson

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OUSTON - Indian Consul General P. Harish hosted a breakfast in honor of Chairman Ed Royce (R), Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and Congressman Pete Olson, Representative (R-TX 22nd District) on 12 May, 2013 at his residence.

During the meeting, Consul General Harish and Hon. Chairman Ed Royce discussed issues of mutual concern in the international arena, prospects for bilateral cooperation on energy especially LNG, bilateral trade and investment, and expressed

appreciation for the contributions of the Indian American community in promoting India-US relations.

Consul General thanked Hon. Chairman Ed Royce and Hon. Congressman Pete Olson for their support for stronger bilateral economic engagement.

Later that afternoon Chairman Royce and Congressman Olson met with members of the Indian American community members at a Meet & Greet event held at the Mayuri Restaurant organized by the Indo-American Political Action Committee (IAPAC).

L-R: Chairman Ed Royce, Consul General P. Harish and Congressman Pete Olson.

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OP-ED/COMMENTS/VIEWS

VOICE OF ASIA 2

by Muhammad Yunus

Publisher: Koshy Thomas Associate Publisher: Sherly Philip Editor: Shobana Muratee Austin Correspondent: Sherine Thomas Marketing: Jacob David Production: AR Vadlamani Office Manager Priyan Mathew

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STUDY UN says natural disasters cost $2.5 tn since 2000

by Jonathan Fowle

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ENEVA — The cost of natural disasters has hit $2.5 trillion so far this century, far higher than previously estimated, a UN report said Wednesday, urging companies to face up to the risks.

The study by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) said the figure, representing only direct losses, was more accurate than traditional tallies.

Most tallies “just represent the picture from internationally-reported disasters, the big disasters which get into the headlines,” said Andrew Maskrey, author of the UNISDR’s latest Global Assessment Report.

“If you add in all the nationally-reported disasters, which don’t get into the international media and the international databases, our impression is that losses are about 50 percent higher than is currently being reported, and losses are going up rapidly,” he said.

As governments strive to limit the economic and human impact of catastrophes such as hurricanes or floods -- which experts warn will strike increasingly amid climate change -- Maskrey said business has been missing from the debate.

Businesses have been outsourcing to disasterprone locations without taking adequate catastrophe-proofing precautions, a move which could be potentially costly in case of a disaster, he noted.

In 2011, for example, rains swamped factories located on a flood plain in Thailand, hitting a plant

that supplied the global auto sector and thereby halting output in countries such as the United States, Britain, China and India.

“Businesses over the last 20 or 30 years have been gradually decentralising their production to areas with cheap labour costs, that offer access to export markets, good infrastructure,” said Maskrey.

“This has obviously enabled a number of global businesses to become competitive, more profitable, more productive, but in doing so, this has meant there’s been an awful lot of investment in capital assets in highly hazardprone locations.”

Unthinking investment in risk regions could be dubbed “toxic assets”, he added.

And any damage could have long-term effects, he added.

“Say your business does stop, you’re out of business for two or three months, your customers are likely to migrate to an alternative business, skilled workers may go elsewhere, your market share may go down and your reputation may suffer,” he added.

Maskrey said locating in such regions was not wrongheaded, but that government investment agencies and analysts needed to be frank about risks, while companies needed to make wise decisions, for example by using disaster-proof buildings.

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or Bangladeshis, the tragedy at the garment factory in Savar is a symbol of the nation’s failure. The crack that caused the collapse of the building has shown that if Bangladeshis do not face up to the cracks in their own systems, as a nation they will be lost in the debris. Today, the souls of those who lost their lives in the Rana Plaza tragedy are watching what the rest of us are doing and listening to what we are saying.

The last breath of those souls surrounds us.

Has the nation learnt anything at all from this terrible loss of so many lives? Or will Bangladesh have completed its duty by merely expressing its deep sympathy? What should we do now, even as news of a deadly fire in another factory in Dhaka reaches us?

Important questions have been raised about the future of the garment industry. Pope Francis has said buyers are treating the garment workers like slave labourers. A very large foreign buyer, Disney, has decided to pull out of Bangladesh.

Others may follow. If that happens, it will severely damage the nation’s social and economic future.

This industry has brought about immense change in the society by transforming the lives of women.

We cannot allow it to be destroyed. Instead, Bangladeshis must be united as a nation to strengthen the garment industry and foreign companies must play their part too.

After Savar tragedy, it’s time for international minimum wage Bangladesh’s garment industry must be reformed, not destroyed.

Let’s see foreign buyers unite to lift workers out of ‘slave labour’ Consumers, in fact, will be proud to support the product and the company, rather than feeling guilty about wearing a product made under harsh working conditions.

I do not expect all companies to immediately implement my proposal, but I hope at least a few to come forward to experiment. Governments and organisations that work to protect labour rights, citizens groups, church groups and the media will step forward to support it, too. This issue should attract attention more urgently now in the light of the Savar deaths.

Image Credit: Luis Vazquez/©Gulf News market reaction. Some will argue that Bangladesh will lose the competitiveness it has gained by offering the cheapest labour. To retain its competitiveness, Bangladesh will have to increase its attractiveness in other ways, for example, by increasing productivity and specialised labour skills, regaining buyers’ trust and ensuring workers’ welfare. However, until the nation is able to fix an international minimum wage, it will not be able to pull its workers from the grievous category of “slave labour” that the pope had placed them in.

I propose that foreign buyers jointly fix a minimum international wage for the industry. This may be around 50 cents an hour, twice the level typically found in Bangladesh. This minimum wage will be an integral part of reforming the industry, which will in turn help prevent future tragedies. We have to make international companies understand that while the workers are physically in Bangladesh, they are contributing to the businesses worldwide: They are stakeholders. Physical separation should not be grounds to ignore the wellbeing of these labourers.

Gaining support for a minimum wage will not be easy, but through sincere discussions with politicians, business leaders, citizens, church groups and the media in consumer countries, it can be achieved. In the past, I have tried to convince foreign buyers — but without success. Now, after the Savar tragedy, the issue has gained a new urgency. I want to mobilise my international and Bangladeshi friends to make stronger and more persistent efforts this time.

It will not be necessary for all the companies to agree to a minimum wage at the same time. If some leading firms take the initiative, it will start the ball rolling.

Of course, we have to be prepared for a negative

There is also another practical way to help en-

sure better standards for Bangladeshi garment workers. Let us say a garment factory produces and sells a piece of clothing for $5 (Dh18.39), which is then packaged and shipped to New York.

This $5 includes not only the production, packaging, shipment, profit and management cost, but also indirectly covers the share that goes to the cotton farmers, yarn mills and the cost of dying and weaving.

When US customers buy this item from a shop for $35, they feel happy that they have got it at a bargain. But everyone involved in the production collectively received $5.

Another $30 was added in the US for taking the product to the final consumer.

Now, with a little effort, we can make a huge impact in the lives of workers. Will a consumer in a shopping mall be upset if he or she is asked to pay $35.50 instead of $35?

My answer is no, they will not even notice that. If we can create a Garment Workers Welfare Trust in Bangladesh, with that additional 50 cents, we can resolve most of the issues the workers face — safety, work environment, pension, health care, housing, children’s health, education, child care, retirement, old age and travel. Everything can be taken care of through this trust.

Bangladesh exports garments worth $18 billion each year. If all the garment buyers accept this proposal, the trust will receive $1.8 billion each year — that is $500 in the trust for each of the 3.6 million workers. All we have to do is to sell the item of clothing for $35.50 instead of $35 — a barely noticeable change to the price can work wonders.

Of course, international buyers may argue that the extra 50 cents will reduce the demand for the product and that their profits will shrink. But an arrangement can be offered to them whereby their sales will actually go up.

The extra 50 cents can be a marketing tool to make the product more attractive to consumers. We can put a special tag on each piece of clothing, saying: “From the happy workers of Bangladesh, with pleasure. Workers’ well-being guaranteed.” It can be endorsed by Grameen, the NGO Brac or some other respected international organisation. There can be a beautiful logo to go with it.

When consumers see that a well-known and trusted institution has taken the responsibility to secure both the present and the future of the workers who produced the garment, they will not mind paying that extra 50 cents.

Pulling the industry out of Bangladesh is not a solution. It will be unfortunate for Bangladesh and for the foreign buyers.

There is no sense in them leaving a country that has benefited a great deal from their business, a country that can have continuing, rapid and visible economic and social progress because of these companies.

I believe these companies will remain in Bangladesh and take pride in creating a new society and economy. Changes are taking place in the world of business. Even if they are tiny changes, they are coming nonetheless. We can accelerate that change.

The Savar tragedy has created a huge wound and deep pain in the minds of the people of Bangladesh.

I pray that from this deep pain we will find a way to resolve the problems.

When we watched the tragedy unfold on television screens, it made us aware of what Bangladesh’s dysfunctional system has led us to. After all this, will we just keep watching as more such incidents keep happening, again and again?

SOURCE: Guardian News & Media Ltd. Published: May 13, 2013 Muhammad Yunus is a Bangladeshi banker and professor of economics who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his development of microfinance.

Sad demise of Syed Abul Hasan Asif

The report showed that even firms with risk-management departments tend to frame the issue in terms of political and market threats, currency fluctuations, or litigation.

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It is the policy of Voice of Asia to publish letters to the editor which evidence a variety of viewpoints. The opinions expressed in any particular letter to the editor are not necessarily those of the management. Voice of Asia welcomes letters in reply to issues raised in letters to editor. In as much letters to the editor are not articles written or researched by members of Voice of Asia, it is not the policy of the Voice of Asia to perform any investigation or confirmation of any facts or allegations contained in letters to the editor.

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Mr. Hasan Asif who passed away on Monday, May 6th, 2013 in Houston, was the founder of globally successful Apex Group which is now operated by his older son Lutfi Hassan. His extensive executive experience of fifty years spanned over many countries including India, Middle East (Kuwait, Oman, UAE) and the United States.

His legendary personality with a God gifted talent of developing friendship across the globe has accorded him with friends from the cross section of many religions.

He will be missed by all his friends & relatives all over the world. Mr. Hasan Asif was born in Hyderabad, India in the jagirdar (estate holder) family and was educated at the exclusive and elite school called the Jagirdars College of Hyderabad.

Syed Abul Hasan Asif He is survived by his wife Tahseen Hasan and children Lutfi Hassan, Safder Hasan, Azam Hasan, Adil Hasan, Seema Bilgrami, Sameera Hasan and Sukaina Razvi.

VOICE OF ASIA 3

COMMUNITY VOICE OF ASIA

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Second Front Page

Friday, May 17, 2013

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Tel: 713-774-5140

ISKCON and Char Indian Senior Citizens AssociDhama in 2013 Art ation Celebrate Mother’s Day Car Parade

and the blessings of the seniors. He reinforced ICC’s commitment to supporting ISCA’s National Convention.

Poems by Vilas Praful Pipalya, Sangita Pasricha, Fateh Ali Chatur and songs sung by Manisha Gandhi, Falguni Gandhi and Surender Talwar were very enthralling. A special token of $101 was made by Sagar Sangvi, a young man who saved up his earnings to give to senior citizens.

Koshy Thomas, publisher, Voice of Asia an-

India Culture center, Directors, Past Presidents and Trustees joined the ISCA in celebrating Mother’s Day. ICC’s 40th Anniversary was initiated with the lighting of the lamp with senior citizens.

by Shobana Muratee

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ISKCON float: The Rath with a murti of Lord Jagannath. Photo credit KTRK.com

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n Saturday, May 11th, devotees from ISKCON Houston and Char Dhama of the Woodlands participated in the 2013 Houston Art Car Parade over a 2 mile route along Allen Parkway downtown, attended by over 100,000 people, despite heavy rains the day before. On a decorated trailer equipped with amplification, members of Jiv Jago, the ISKCON youth kirtan group, chanted Sri Krishna kirtan, while volunteers, including devotee children on bicycles, distributed approximately 8,000 packaged pieces of peanut butter fudge prasada to enthusiastic onlookers.

Following the ISKCON float in the parade was an authentic Rath chariot with a murti of Lord Jagannath. The colorful chariot was built in Puri, Orissa, having been commissioned by Mr. Surya Sahoo of the SKAI Foundation and Char Dhama.

ISKCON and Char Dhama will collaborate in the Greater Houston Ratha Yatra or Festival of Chariots, to be held at Discovery Green on Saturday, July 13th at 5:30 p.m. The free Discovery Green program will include a Ratha Yatra with three chariots, for Lord Jagannath, Baladeva & Lady Subhadra, cultural entertainment and a free vegetarian feast. For more information, please contact http://greaterhoustonrathayatra.org or www.iskconhouston.com (Forwarded by David Garvin).

OUSTON – On Saturday, May 11, the Indian Senior Citizens Association (ISCA) hosted Mother’s Day at the India House in West Belfort. It was a well attended event with over 450 guests mostly members as well as volunteers and supporters. Lalit M. Chinoy President, ISCA welcomed the guests and wished all mothers a Happy Mother’s Day. Special Guest Consul Anil Matta of the Indian Consulate, India Culture Center (ICC) President PV Patel, Gujarati Samaj of Houston, Nisha Mirani, and other community leaders were recognized and welcomed. Chinoy briefly updated ISCA’s members of the previous meetings minutes and gave a report of the activities. Prayers and good wishes for the quick recovery of some members who were sick were expressed.

On the occasion, Chinoy spoke of the forthcoming ISCA National Convention to be held in September 2013, 14th & 15th here at Stafford.

He mentioned about early registration and urged members to get registered immediately since admission to the Convention was by registration only.

All details about the Convention were available on the ISCA website he told the members. A group from Austin is expected and two buses from Dallas. Guests from Phoenix are also expected for the Convention. So far 220 have registered out of the expected

300 Chinoy said.

The ISCA National Convention 2013 has been in the planning for quite some time now and is expect to set a new record from its earlier Mini Convention that the organization held.

Chinoy is very confident that the executive Board: Ravind Trivedi VicePresident, Arvind Patel Secretary, Sudhir Mathuria Treasurer, Nitin Vyas Tech. Support , Shailesh Desai Picnic Planner, Devendra Patel Food ChairPerson and Ravi Arora Ex-Officio BOD and Trustees: Nita Mehta, Sudha Trivedi, Raman Parekh, and Praful Gandhi will make it a huge success.

In his message, Consul Matta wished all Mother’s on the occasion, When we talk of mother’s, we talk of an entity greater than God,’’ he said.

He went on the say how significant mother’s are in our lives in making us what we are and there are no words to express their greatness. Speaking of the seniors, Matta said, “They are an asset to the community, a source of inspiration and guardians to the younger generation.’ He also congratulated ICC for assisting the senior citizens in their endeavors.

The ICC organized the entertainment segment of the Mother’s Day event. ICC president, PV Patel took the opportunity of seniors gathered and announced ICC’s 40th Anniversary celebrations to be held on August 25th 2013 and kicked off the celebrations with the lighting of the lamp

Consul Anil Matta speaks on the occasion nounced that it would be the media sponsors of the Convention and would help in promoting the event in its publication and its website. Chinoy expressed his thanks for his support. He urged other newspapers for their support as well.

Lunch for the guests was sponsored

by Banke Bihari Group. They also conducted prayers and bhajans for the seniors. A gift of a thermos mug was given to all the mothers present. ISCA announced that they will celebrate Father’s Day on Saturday, 8th June 2013. The forthcoming picnic on May 19th to the Wonderland was also announced to the members. Visit www. iscahouston for deatils on iSCA Convention 2013.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 4

The People’s Lawyer www.peopleslawyer.net Richard M. Alderman Interim Dean of the Law Center

You can stop a debt collector from calling

Houston Community College Request for Proposals (RFP) Property and Casualty Insurance Program Services Project No. 13-35

lege (“HCC”) is soliciting sealed

proposals

from

qualified firms to provide Property and Casu-

A. Under a federal law, called the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, you have the right to stop all calls from a debt collector, or, to stop just calls at work. Under this law, once you notify a debt collector in writing that you want him to stop all future communication, the collector essentially must stop all calls, letters, emails and any other form of communication. He can contact you just once more to tell you what steps he will take next. If you want to continue communicating with the collector, but not at work, you can tell the collector you are not allowed to receive such calls at work, and the law says he cannot continue to call. If the debt collector violates this law, you have a claim for damages and penalties.

tion documents can be

I suggest you let the debt collector know you know about this law and expect he will stop calling. My guess is that will end the calls. If he doesn’t stop you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission and a private attorney.

and 4:30 PM (local time),

A. First, be sure to give your landlord a forwarding address. Assuming that you were current in your rent, gave your landlord proper notice and a forwarding address, the Texas Security Deposit Law offers you substantial protection. Under this law, a landlord must either return your security deposit or send you written notice why it is not being returned, within thirty days after you move out. If the landlord does not act within this time period, the law presumes he is acting in bad faith. If you went to small claims court to collect, you could be entitled to up to three times the deposit plus an additional $100.

I also should point out that a landlord cannot just arbitrarily withhold money from your deposit. The landlord can withhold only for damages caused by a breach of the terms of the lease, and he cannot withhold for damage caused by ordinary wear and tear. If you don’t hear from your landlord within the thirty days limit, let him know you know your legal rights. My guess is that you will get back your deposit. For more information about this law, check out the landlord-tenant section on my website, www.peopleslawyer.net.

Q. I was hired at a company to do their books. I found that in years past a lot of work this company did was not billed for or paid. How far back can I go in order to try to collect on this work performed?

Some of the debts are ten years old.

A. If someone owes the company money, the debt continues forever, or until the person who owes the money files bankruptcy. This means you can send them an invoice for obligations that are ten years old. You probably cannot, however, take steps to collect debts more than four years old through the courts. Under a law known as the statute of limitations, obligations arising from a contract cannot be enforced more than four years after they went into default. If you were to sue on these debts, the person you sued could get it dismissed, and probably collect his attorney’s fees and expenses against you.

Q. My husband and I have been separated for several years. We haven’t done anything from a legal standpoint, but are planning on getting a divorce. A friend told me that my husband won a lot of money in the lottery. Do I have any right to that money?

A. Based on what you say, you and your husband are still married. Being “separated” does not change your legal status as married. As a general rule, all money obtained while you are married, unless it is a gift or inheritance to just one spouse, is “community property.” This means that the money he won in the lottery is probably community property. Assuming that is the case, you both have an equal interest in the money. I suggest you promptly speak with a family law attorney about your divorce and the division of this money.

Do you want to know more about your legal rights? Visit my website, www.peopleslawyer.net.

Sri BASAVESHWARA JAYANTI

Houston Community Col-

Q. I have a debt collector calling me at work. I have told him that my employer prohibits such calls and I could lose my job. His answer was, “then you better pay me because I am not going to stop calling you.” How can I stop these calls?

Q. I am a college student and I just moved out of my apartment. I gave proper notice and left it cleaner than when I moved in. I have been told this landlord does not return security deposits. How long do I have to wait to find out if mine is being returned?

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

alty Insurance Program Services.

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Celebration at Shirdi Sai Jalaram Mandir

Street (11th Floor), Houston, TX 77002, between the hours of 8:00 AM Monday through Friday or by calling Pam Ferreira at (713) 718-5003 or by visiting the HCC website at www.hccs.edu (Click on: Business & Community / Doing Business with HCC / Procurement / Current Bids and RFPs). A nonmandatory pre-proposal meeting will be held in

Address: 13845 W Bellfort St, Sugar Land, TX 77498 Phone:(281) 265-5580

Saturday, May 18th 2013 9:30 AM to 4 PM VSNA Houston Chapter

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Procurement Operations, 3100 Main Street (11th Floor, Conference Room 11A07), on Tuesday, May 28, 2013, at 10:00 a.m. (local time). Sealed proposals will be received in Procurement Operations, 3100 Main Street, 11th Floor (Room No. 11A06), until 3:00 p.m. (local time)

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Continued from Page 1

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ore than 700 people, with notables, Aziz Jamaluddin, Bimla and Swatantra Jain, Leena and Ash Shah, Ashok & Vijay Dhingra, Murthy Divakurina, Ahu Bala and David Raj, attended the gala which celebrated Houston’s great diversity in cultures, ethnicities and faith traditions.

COMMUNITY

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston’s 2013 Tapestry Gala A Great Success

provides a safe harbor for greater Houston through its many interfaith programs and dialogue efforts. More information can be found at www. imgh.org.

Guests entered the Americas Ballroom adorned with bright red and orange roses with blue hydrangeas by Darryl & Co. The evening consisted of a fabulous four course dinner and beautiful program celebrating diversity with a number of musical performances provided by Kenneth Gayle Productions. Lisa Malosky presided over the event as the Master of Ceremonies.

The event benefited Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, a non-profit organization that brings people of diverse faith traditions together for dialogue, collaboration and service. The organization provides four main services to the Houston area: Meals on Wheels for Greater Houston, Refugee Services, Disaster Preparedness and Interfaith Dialogue.

Dance performances by students of Naach Houston. Photo credit: Mahesh Mahbubani

Elliot Gershenson - President and CEO (c) with Surender Talwar IM member (rt) and a guest (lt).

L-R: IACF president Murthy Divakaruni, Fatima Mawji (IM), Anu Bala (IACF), Shazma Matin, Arshad Matin, Paula Sutton, Bill Gross, (Tapestry Gala Chairs) and David Raj (IACF). Photo credit: Kim Coffman

IM Supporters and members L-R: Sushma Mahajan, Sushma Mahajan, Meena Datt

About Interfaith Ministries For Greater Houston A United Way agency, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston (IM) brings people of diverse faith traditions together for dialogue, collaboration and service. IM provides four main services including Meals on Wheels for Greater Houston which delivers more than one million meals each year to seniors in Harris county; Refugee Services which, in conjunction with the U.S. State Department, resettles hundreds of refugees in Houston each year; Office of Disaster Preparedness and Response (ODPR) which facilitates communication on behalf of Houston’s faith communities during relief and recovery efforts and; Interfaith Relations which

DIASPORA

VOICE OF ASIA 7

Indian kid Ritankar Das in UC Berkeley leaves academia awestruck

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ASHINGTON: A Kolkata-born Indian teenager has become the youngest medalist in a century of the famed University of California, Berkeley, in the process completing a double major in bioengineering and chemical biology in only three years - all the age of 18.

Adding to the lore of the preternaturally bright Indian students, some 100,000 of who are studying in the US at any given time, Ritankar Das is also the first student from the University’s College of Chemistry in 58 years - and the first ever from the Department of Bioengineering - to earn the honor, UC Berkeley officials said on Thursday.

Established in 1871, the University Medal is awarded each year to an exemplary graduating student with a minimum Grade Point Average of 3.96.

Das is graduating with more than 200 credits and a GPA of 3.99, which includes eight A+ marks. Das will receive the medal and give a speech at Commencement Convocation on Saturday, May 18, to be addressed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak.

Among other alumni, UC Berkeley also counts Intel founder Gordon Moore and mouse inventor Doug Engelbart, besides dozens of Nobel laureates and a score of Academy Award winners.

From the subcontinent, the liberal bastion has also graduated the socialist icon Jayaprakash Narayan, Pakistan’s Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.

Despite its illustrious alumni and great heritage, the university was sufficiently chuffed about its brilliant young graduate to put out an elaborate

A Kolkata-born Indian teenager has become the youngest medalist in a century of the famed UCLA, Berkeley, in the process completing a double major in bioengineering and chemical biology in only three years statement. “In my 30 years at Berkeley, I cannot think of a single undergraduate student who would match Ritankar’s accomplishments, his range of activities and projects that he initiated and currently leads, and his academic excellence,” it quoted Marcin Majda, professor and undergraduate dean in the College of Chemistry, as saying in a recommendation letter submitted to the prize committee.

Born in Kolkata, Das moved to Waukesha, Wisconsin, at the age of 7 with his parents, Sankar and Kakali Das, the University statement said, revealing that he “grew up with limited financial resources, often walking several miles with his mother to elementary school in the freezing cold.”

Despite these challenges, he excelled in school, leapfrogging ahead of his peers by doing advanced projects outside

A dozen arrested in north Harris County sex sting

by Robert Stanton (May 8, 2013, Houston Chronicle)

A

n undercover prostitution ring targeting north Harris County has resulted in the arrests of 12 men, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Tuesday The operation focused on suspects soliciting sex online.

Female undercover deputies advertised as escorts online and arranged for the alleged “johns” to meet them at a prearranged location off Interstate 45 North and Beltway 8, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office.

The suspects were arrested Tuesday after they arrived and

Ratilal K. Patel, 73, of Houston

made an agreement with the undercover deputies to receive sexual services in exchange for money.

of class. At age 12, he would use a blender and other kitchen supplies to investigate artificial photosynthesis.

Das soon made his mark at UC Berkeley after he moved with his parents to California. His early interest in energy continued through the research projects he pursued at the Energy Biosciences Institute and the US Department of Energy. He worked to develop better solvents to break down cellulose for biofuels and discovered new ways to grow nanowires for use in high-efficiency solar cells. He also formed a campus chap-

ter of the American Chemical Society, creating and teaching a DeCal course on chemistry internships, and founding the Berkeley Chemical Review research journal, the University said.

After graduation, Das, who is fluent in Bengali and Hindi, and conversational in Spanish, will head to Oxford University to pursue a master’s degree in biomedical engineering with a fully funded Whitaker Fellowship. He will then continue his studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he has been admitted to the chemistry Ph.D. program.

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Houston Community College Notice of Procurement Opportunities Request for Qualifications

Houston Community College Notice of Procurement Opportunities Request for Qualifications

Project: RFQ 13-40 – BOND PROJECT MANAGEMENT SERVICES, Responses Due: May 28, 2013, at 3:00 pm. (local time). Pre-Proposal: Not Applicable Submittal: 05/10/2013. Sealed Responses to the above solicitations will be received in Procurement Operations, 3100 Main Street (11th Floor), Houston, TX 77002, as stated under each project above and are due by the submittal date, May 28, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. (local time). To obtain a copy of solicitation documents go to our website at www.hccs.edu (Click on: Business & Community / Doing Business with HCC / Procurement / Current Bids and RFPs). For assistance call: 713-7185014. HCC is an equal opportunity/ educational institution, which does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age or disability.

Project: RFQ 13-39 – BOND PROGRAM MANAGEMENT SERVICES, Responses Due: May 28, 2013, at 3:00 pm. (local time). Pre-Proposal: Not Applicable Submittal: 05/10/2013. Sealed Responses to the above solicitations will be received in Procurement Operations, 3100 Main Street (11th Floor), Houston, TX 77002, as stated under each project above and are due by the submittal date, May 28, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. (local time). To obtain a copy of solicitation documents go to our website at www.hccs.edu (Click on: Business & Community / Doing Business with HCC / Procurement / Current Bids and RFPs). For assistance call: 713-7185014. HCC is an equal opportunity/ educational institution, which does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age or disability.

VOICE OF ASIA 11

LIFESTYLE

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Vol. 26

No. 20

Friday, May 17, 2013

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Tel: 713-774-5140

India’s rebels in red take on sexual predators

by Abhaya Srivastava ndia’s “Red Brigade” is a group of angry young women with a simple message for the country’s sexual predators: change your ways or be ready to face the consequences.

Dressed in bright red shirts and loose black pants, the brigade’s members are fed up with deeply ingrained patriarchal mindsets and promote a brand of vigilante justice that is testing the law in their home state of Uttar Pradesh.

Their leader is 25-year-old Usha Vishwakarma, who has become an unlikely heroine to poor young girls growing up in the squalid bylanes of Madiyon, a suburb of state capital Lucknow.

Vishwakarma founded the group two years ago when she saw many of her friends being forced to give up their studies or stop going out for fear of stalking, groping or assault.

“We were told to stay at home to avoid sex-starved men. If we went to the police, we were asked to ignore the ‘teasing’ and carry on. We were fed up with this moral conditioning,” Vishwakarma said.

Initially comprising 15 members, the group has swelled to more than 100 since the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student in New Delhi in December, which sparked a raging debate over the way women are treated in India.

“The attack in Delhi made us so angry. Many young women have approached us saying they wanted to bring about a change so that no one else has to suffer like she did,” said Vishwakarma, her fiery eyes gleaming.

Reported crimes against Indian women stood at 228,650 in 2011, the latest figures available from the National Crime Records Bureau, but these are thought to represent only a fraction of actual offences.

Social stigma attached to sexual abuse often prevents victims from filing complaints to the police, who are largely perceived as cor-

I

Members of India’s “Red Brigade” take part in a street play in Lucknow. IThe group comprises angry young women challenging deeply ingrained patriarchal mindsets and fighting for vigilante justice. (AFP)

Indian protestors shout anti-government and Delhi police slogans during a demonstration against the rape of a five-year old girl, in front of police headquaters in New Delhi on April 20, 2013. (AFP).

rupt and insensitive.

The experience of Afreen Khan, a 16-year-old high school student and a Red Brigade member, reflects the almost daily harassment that women in the country face and which largely goes unaddressed.

A group of boys would regularly make cat-calls and vulgar comments about her breasts, until the day one of them stopped her and pulled on her bra strap.

“I turned around, snatched the bat that he was carrying and bashed him up. The next day I ran into him again but he fled away before I could say anything,” said

Khan, giggling.

Much of the confidence of the Red Brigade stems from the selfdefence classes they have been taking since the Delhi gang-rape.

During a lesson at a spartan martial arts academy tucked in a narrow bylane of Lucknow, 17-yearold Preeti Verma told AFP how she was learning to “kick an attacker in the sensitive places”.

She was recently part of an attack on a group of boys in the neighbourhood who had been stalking a teenaged girl and sending lewd messages to her mobile phone.

“We just hoisted the boy up in

the air and beat him up with our sandals. He ran away promising never to trouble the girl again,” Verma said.

-- “You can’t take revenge in this fashion” -While the Red Brigade has so far not faced any legal comeback over their actions, authorities take a dim view.

“We do not encourage such vigilante groups. You can’t take revenge in this fashion,” R.K. Vishwakarma, Inspector General (law and order) of Uttar Pradesh state told AFP. “If somebody is harassing you, you have the right to retaliate in self-defence at that time. But you cannot go and even slap a man the next day because that would amount to crime.

“As far as the spirit and confidence of the women is concerned, we appreciate that. But their ways may land them in trouble some day.”

Surprisingly, the rough justice the Red Brigade metes out has

been winning quiet approval from community elders, such as fatherof-four Ram Avatar Singh, who said the group was “showing the way” to other girls.

“When we first started out, everyone ridiculed us. Now they look at us with respect and fear,” said Vishwakarma at her cramped tworoom house that she shares with her parents, four younger siblings and a white mongrel.

The house serves as a meeting point for the Red Brigade where the “target” is identified, the tactics discussed and the final action plan sealed.

The latest attack to anger the group was the rape of a 13-yearold girl belonging to a low-caste community, who now sits among them with the hope that her voice can be heard.

“I had gone out to fetch water when a boy from the neighbourhood pounced on me. He lifted me up and took me to the nearby fields and raped me,” she recounted tearfully.

The police did not believe her

account and registered the case as harassment, despite new laws that stipulate authorities must investigate rape allegations.

It was only after her family and others from her village protested that the police acted and detained the 19-year-old offender. A medical investigation later confirmed the rape.

The Red Brigade has drawn inspiration from the “Pink Gang”, another vigilante group that is credited with sowing the seeds of women’s grassroots activism across Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state.

Activist Kavita Krishnan of the Delhi-based All India Progressive Women’s Alliance calls such groups a “positive and collective assertion” of women’s rights, but not everyone is a fan.

“If everyone starts taking law into their hands there will be total anarchy. We should not condone mob justice mentality,” warned Mriganka Dadwal, founder of SLAP, another women’s rights group.

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VOICE OF ASIA 12

Friday, May 17, 2013

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Tel: 713-774-5140

Student Debt and the Crushing of the American Dream

by Joseph E. Stiglitz

A

certain drama has become familiar in the United States (and some other advanced industrialized countries): Bankers encourage people to borrow beyond their means, preying especially on those who are financially unsophisticated.

They use their political influence to get favorable treatment of one form or another. Debts mount. Journalists record the human toll. Then comes bewilderment: How could we let this happen again? Officials promise to fix things. Something is done about the most egregious abuses.People move on, reassured that the crisis has abated, but suspecting that it will recur soon.

The crisis that is about to break out involves student debt and how we finance higher education. Like the housing crisis that preceded it, this crisis is intimately connected to America’s soaring inequality, and how, as Americans on the bottom rungs of the ladder strive to climb up, they are inevitably pulled down — some to a point even lower than where they began.

This new crisis is emerging even before the last one has been resolved, and the two are becoming intertwined. In the decades after World War II, homeownership and higher education became signs of success in America.

Massachusetts, for lower student-loan interest rates is a step in the right direction.

Yet education loans are almost impossible to write off in bankruptcy court — even when for-profit schools didn’t deliver what they promised and didn’t provide an education that would let the borrower get a job that paid enough to pay back the loan.

Along with tougher regulation of for-profit schools and the banks they connive with, and more humane bankruptcy laws, we must give more support to middle-class families struggling to send their children to college, to ensure that they have a standard of living at least equal to that of their parents.

We should cut off federal support for these for-profit schools when they fail to graduate students, who don’t get jobs and then default on their loans.

A general view of the gates of Harvard University on April 25, 2013 in Cambridge, Mass. College tuition has skyrocketed in recent years, leaving students with heavy debts. (Paul Marotta/Getty Images) $100,000. These debts are beyond students’ ability to repay, (especially in our nearly jobless recovery); this is demonstrated by the fact that delinquency and default rates are soaring.

Some 17 percent of studentloan borrowers were 90 days or more behind in payments at the end of 2012. When only those in repayment were counted — in other words, not including borrowers who were in loan deferment or forbearance — more than 30 percent were 90 days or more behind. For federal loans taken out in the 2009 fiscal year, three-year default rates exceeded 13 percent.

Before the housing bubble burst in 2007, banks persuaded low- and moderate-income homeowners that they could turn their houses and apartments into piggy banks. They seduced them into taking out home-equity loans — and in the end, millions lost their homes. In other cases, the banks, mortgage brokers and real-estate agents pushed aspiring homeowners to borrow beyond their means. The wizards of finance, who prided themselves on risk management, sold toxic mortgages that were designed to explode. They bundled the dubious loans into complex financial instruments and sold them to unsuspecting investors.

America is distinctive among advanced industrialized countries in the burden it places on students and their parents for financing higher education.

America is also exceptional among comparable countries for the high cost of a college degree, including at public universities. Average tuition, and room and board, at fouryear colleges is just short of $22,000 a year, up from under $9,000 (adjusted for inflation) in 1980-81.

Everyone recognizes that education is the only way up, but as a college degree becomes increasingly essential to making one’s way in a 21st-century economy, education for those not to the manner born is increasingly unaffordable. Student debt for seniors graduating with loans now exceeds $26,000, about a 40 percent increase (not adjusted for inflation) in just seven years. But an “average” like this masks huge variations.

Like much else, the problem of student debt worsened during the Great Recession: tuition costs at public universities increased by 27 percent in the past five years — partly because of cutbacks — while median income shrank. In California, inflation-adjusted tuition more than doubled in public two-year community colleges (which for poorer Americans are often the key to upward mobility), and by more than 70 percent in four-year public schools, from 2007-8 to 2012-13.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, almost 13 percent of studentloan borrowers of all ages owe more than $50,000, and nearly 4 percent owe more than

incentives for creditors to assess the creditworthiness of borrowers.

Compare this more-than-doubling in tuition with the stagnation in median family income, which is now about $50,000, compared to $46,000 in 1980 (adjusted for inflation).

With costs soaring, incomes stagnating and little help from government, it was not surprising that total student debt, around $1 trillion, surpassed

total credit-card debt last year.

Responsible Americans have learned how to curb their credit-card debt — many have forsaken them for debit cards, or educated themselves about usurious interest rates, fees and penalties charged by card issuers — but the challenge of controlling student debt is even more unsettling.

Curbing student debt is tantamount to curbing social and economic opportunity. College graduates earn $12,000 more per year than those without college degrees; the gap has almost tripled just since 1980.

Our economy is increasingly reliant on knowledge-related industries. No matter what happens with currency wars and trade balances, the United States is not going to return to making textiles. Unemployment rates among college graduates are much lower than among those with only a high school diploma.

America — home of the landgrant university, the G.I. Bill and world-class public universities from California to Michigan to Texas — has fallen from the top in terms of university education. With strangling student debt, we are likely to fall further. What economists call “human capital” — investing in people — is a key to long-term growth. To be competitive in the 21st century is to have a highly educated labor force, one with college and advanced degrees.

Instead, we are foreclosing on our future as a nation.

Student debt also is a drag on the slow recovery that began in 2009. By dampening consumption, it hinders economic growth. It is also holding back recovery in real estate, the sector where the Great Recession started.

It’s true that housing prices seem to be on the upswing, but home construction is far from the levels reached in the years before the bubble burst of 2007.

Those with huge debts are

likely to be cautious before undertaking the additional burdens of a family. But even when they do, they will find it more difficult to get a mortgage. And if they do, it will be smaller, and the real estate recovery will consequently be weaker. (One study of recent Rutgers University graduates showed that 40 percent had delayed making a major home purchase, and for a quarter, the high level of debt had an effect on household formation or getting further education. Another recent study showed that homeownership among 30-year-olds with a history of student debt fell by more than 10 percentage points during the Great Recession and in its aftermath.)

It’s a vicious cycle: lack of demand for housing contributes to a lack of jobs, which contributes to weak household formation, which contributes to a lack of demand for housing.

As bad as things are, they may get worse. With budgetary pressures mounting — along with demands for cutbacks in “discretionary domestic programs” (read: K-12 education subsidies, Pell Grants for poor kids to attend college, research money) — students and families are left to fend for themselves.

College costs will continue to rise far faster than incomes. As has been repeatedly observed, all of the economic gains since the Great Recession have gone to the top 1 percent.

To its credit, the Obama administration tried to make it tougher for these predatory schools to lure students with false promises. Under the new rules, schools had to meet one of three tests, or lose their eligibility for federal student aid: at least 35 percent of graduates had to be repaying their loans; the typical graduate’s estimated annual loan payments could not exceed 12 percent of earnings; or the payments could not exceed 30 percent of discretionary income. But in 2012, a federal judge struck down the rules as arbitrary; the rules remain in legal limbo.

The combination of predatory for-profit schools and predatory lenders is a leech on America’s poor. These schools have even gone after young veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

There are heart-rending stories of parents who co-signed student loans — only to see their child killed in an accident or die of cancer or another disease — and, like students, can’t easily discharge these debts.

Interest rates on federal Stafford loans were set to double in July, to 6.8 percent.

Good news came on Friday: it appears that there is a temporary reprieve, as Republicans have come around. But the stay would be temporary and would not address a more fundamental issue: if the Federal Reserve is willing to lend to the banks that caused the crisis at just 0.75 percent, shouldn’t it be willing to lend to students, who will be crucial to our longterm recovery, at an appropriately low rate? The government shouldn’t be profiting from our

But a real long-term solution requires rethinking how we finance higher education. Australia has designed a system of publicly provided income-contingent loans that all students must take out. Repayments vary according to individual income after graduation. This aligns the incentives of the providers of education and the receivers. Both have an incentive to see that students do well.

It means that if an unfortunate event happens, like an illness or an accident, the loan obligation is automatically reduced.

It means that the burden of the debt is always commensurate with an individual’s ability to repay. The repayments are collected through the tax system, minimizing the administrative costs.

Some wonder how the American ideal of equality of opportunity has eroded so much. The way we finance higher education provides part of the answer.

Student debt has become an integral part of the story of American inequality. Robust higher education, with healthy public support, was once the linchpin in a system that promised opportunity for dedicated students of any means. We now have a pay-to-play, winner-take-all game where the wealthiest are assured a spot, and the rest are compelled to take a gamble on huge debts, with no guarantee of a payoff.

Even if compassion isn’t a factor — even if we focus just on recovery now and growth and innovation tomorrow — we must do something about student debt. Those concerned about the damage America’s growing divide is doing to our ideals and our moral character should put student debt at

Consider another dubious distinction: student debt is almost impossible to discharge in bankruptcy proceedings.

We’re a long way from the debtors’ prisons Dickens described. We don’t send debtors to penal colonies or put them in bonded labor. Although personal bankruptcy laws have been tightened, the principle that bankrupt individuals should be allowed a fresh start, and a chance to discharge excessive debt, is an established principle. This helps debt markets work better, and also provides

poorest while subsidizing our richest. A proposal by Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of

the top of any reform agenda.

(Courtesy: Opinionator, The New York Times)

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VOICE OF ASIA 13

BOLLYWOOD MASALA

Friday, May 17, 2013

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Tel: 713-774-5140

Bollywood celebrities at Shah Rukh Khan conferred Rajasthan Fashion Week 2013 with the Chevalier Sivaji Award

Models display top designer’s collections

Shah Rukh received the award from the hands of Kamal Haasan, Vijay and members from the family of Sivaji Ganeshan at the 7th Edition of Vijay awards constituted after veteran Tamil actor Sivaji Ganeshan. Photo: Yogen Shah.

T

he second edition of the 2013 Rajasthan Fashion Week began at the Fairmont on Friday with Mumbai based designer Vikram Phadnis showcasing Rajasthan’s traditional outfits and accessories for both men and women.

Rajasthan Fashion Week 2013, a 3-day “rich, extravagant lifestyle & royal fashion” experience showcasing designer outfits through top models & celebrities as showstoppers. This year being the second season will witness a differential scale of creative canvas & new dimensions to the business of Fashion in India as a distinctive brand to reckon with.

Several designers like Ritu Kumar, Vikram Phadnis, Pallavi Jaipuria, Payal Jain, Charu Parashar and Mandira Wirk put on display the best of Rajasthan’s embroidery and

C

HENNAI (May 12, 2013) Bollywood baadshah Shahrukh Khan was conferred with Chevalier Sivaji Award, constituted after veteran Tamil actor Sivaji Ganeshan, Saturday here at the

7th edition of Vijay awards.

Shahrukh received the award from the hands of Kamal Haasan, Vijay and members from the family of Sivaji Ganeshan.

“I have enjoyed working with

Kamal Haasan and Ajith Kumar in my career. I may be the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL cricket league, but my favorite team is Chennai Super Kings,” said Shahrukh while receiving his award. (Courtesy: IANS)

Sanjay Dutt to go to jail after court rejects plea Sameera Reddy graced the Rajasthan ramp flaunting a Neeta Lulla collection. prints in their collections.

Sameera Reddy, R. Madhavan, Rohit Roy, Anjana Sukhani, Hrishitaa Bhatt, Krishika Lulla, Shibani

Kashyap, Tusshar Kapoor, among others walked the ramp at the second edition of Rajasthan Fashion Week.

N

EW DELHI, - Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was set to go to jail this week after India’s top court Tuesday dismissed his last-ditch plea for a review of a five-year sentence related to the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

The muscular, tattooed 53year-old was convicted by an anti-terrorism court in 2006 of possessing arms supplied by the plotters of the deadly bomb attacks, but was freed on bail after serving 18 months in prison.

In March this year the Supreme Court upheld Dutt’s conviction but cut his jail term to five years from six. He now must serve the remaining threeand-a-half-years of his term.

A Supreme Court bench on Tuesday refused to hear the plea of a film producer who sought more time for Dutt to surrender so he can complete two films that are still being shot.

The court’s decision meant Dutt must surrender to authorities on Thursday to serve the rest of his sentence.

Indian Bollywood film actor Sanjay Dutt in Mumbai on May 5, 2013 (AFP/File) ous conspiracy charges in the blasts that killed 257 people.

The attacks were seen as retaliation for religious riots in which mainly Muslims died after the razing of an old mosque at Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh state.

Dutt’s first wife died of can-

cer while his second marriage, to a model, ended in divorce.

He wed for a third time in 2008 and has two young children.

At a news conference following the March hearing, Dutt declared himself “a shattered man” and some prominent figures have called for the actor to be pardoned.

Analysts estimate about 2.5 billion rupees ($45 million) is riding in Bollywood on Dutt, whose parents were two of India’s biggest stars. He has some five films in the pipeline that cannot be completed before he goes to prison.

The court’s decision came on a day when full-page advertisements appeared in Indian newspapers showing a smiling Dutt dressed in a police uniform for one of his soon-to-be-released movies.

The actor shot to fame in the 1980s in a string of action movies in which he performed his own stunts, earning him the nickname “Deadly Dutt”. He is best known for playing a mobster with a heart of gold in the “Munnabhai” series.

The actor, whose mother was Muslim and father Hindu, was acquitted in 2007 of more seri-

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VOICE OF ASIA 14

ENTERTAINMENT

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Cannes jurist Balan sees golden Hindus pleased as Selena dropped age for Indian cinema - Interview bindi in actual “Come & Get It” video

H

indus are pleased at American actress/ singer Selena Gomez not wearing bindi in sexy music video for her latest single “Come & Get It”, which premiered on May seven night, as bindi did not make it to the actual video.

by Udita Jhunjhunwala

M

UMBAI, (AFP) As the Cannes film festival prepares to join in the celebrations for Indian cinema’s 100th birthday, one of the biggest names in modern-day Bollywood says the industry is enjoying a new golden age.

Vidya Balan, the star of Bollywood hits such “The Dirty Picture”, will be among the jurors deciding this year’s feature film award in Cannes as the traditional movie industry doffs its hat to its younger Indian cousins.

The 35-year-old Balan is herself a symbol of the changing face of Indian film-making, having garnered a reputation as a risk-taking heroine in an industry where leading roles have traditionally been the preserve of men.

“We are going through a wonderful time in Indian cinema,” Balan told AFP in an exclusive interview ahead of her departure to the French Riviera.

“We are celebrating versatility in every way -- content, treatment, presentation, and all of it is unapologetically Indian.”

Balan is one of two Indian actresses who have been invited as a juror, with actress and director Nandita Das returning to Cannes as a part of the Cinefondation jury after a debut stint in 1995.

The festival will feature a gala screening of “Bombay Talkies”, a four-part feature by four contemporary Indian directors -- Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar.

And there will also be screenings of Amit Kumar’s “Monsoon Shootout”, Ritesh Batra’s “Lunch Box”, Anurag Kashyap’s “Ugly” and Manjeet Singh’s “Chenu”.

Balan sees Cannes as “an opportunity to reach our cinema to a wider world” and showcase

Hindus had termed Selena’s debut performance of “Come & Get It” at MTV Awards ceremony in California (USA) on April 14 sporting bindi as “insensitive” and asked for an apology.

Vidya Balan, the star of Bollywood hits such as “The Dirty Picture”, will be among the jurors deciding this year’s feature film award in Cannes. File Photo its coming of age in the last decade, evidenced by selection at film festivals and growing audiences beyond the diaspora.

And Balan believes Indian cinema has the potential to make further inroads with international audiences.

“Indian cinema has a big audience within the diaspora, but our cinema has a unique style and grammar and that too differs between the many different Indian language films,” she said.

“Our films tend to be longer, they have songs and dances, the dramatic quotient is higher and we follow a different rhythm of storytelling.

“This is our cinematic heritage and our uniqueness. It’s why our movies are loved by our audiences around the world.

“We should celebrate this, and with the world becoming a smaller place, I am sure more and more people the world over will wake up to the magic of Indian cinema.”

Balan has defied the “size zero” definition of Bollywood heroines, and fought back against constant criticism for her sartorial choices by embracing the Indian national dress -the sari.

She is more likely to be seen

in a sari by Indian fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee than the showy evening gowns favoured by Hollywood’s leading ladies.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, in a statement in Nevada (USA), said that bindi on fore-

head was an ancient tradition in Hinduism and had religious significance and was not meant to be thrown around loosely for seductive effects as fashion accessory aiming at mercantile greed.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, in a statement in Nevada today, thanked Selena Marie Gomez’s, 20, for having a feel for the Hindu sentiments and thus not wearing bindi in the music video.

Rajan Zed suggested that instead of loosely talking

Zed pointed out that Hollywood needed to understand that Hinduism, with about one billion adherents, was oldest and third largest religion of the world with a rich philosophical thought. Its concepts and symbols had well-defined meanings and purposes and these were not created just for Hollywood’s usage to add dramatic affects as some sanctity and spirituality was attached to these, Zed added.

Veteran actor Pran honored with Dadasaheb Phalke Award

M

UMBAI:: Veteran Bollywood actor Pran Krishan Sikand, a Hindi cinema villain loved and feared in equal measure by moviegoers, was today chosen for the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award, the highest official recognition for film personalities in India.

Asked if she felt pressure to look immaculate given the media attention on red carpet couture, Balan told AFP she would stick to the sari.

“If it was an Indian male actor on the Cannes jury, would he have been questioned about what he was going to wear and if he was stressed about it?

Something to think about in these times of gender equality,” she said.

The announcement about honouring the 93-year-old actor was welcomed by his son Sunil Sikand.

The award, named after the father of Indian cinema Dada Saheb Phalke, will be conferred on Pran on May 3, which will also mark the 100 years of cinema this year.

With a string of hits such as “Paa”, “No One Killed Jessica” and “Kahaani” to her name, Balan has both broken stereotypes of the kind of roles actresses can play and proved that a woman can deliver at the box office.

Pran, who has acted in over 400 films in his six-decadelong career, retired from acting in 1998.

“I feel humbled to be thought of as an actor who can shoulder a movie on her own. I have always responded to the story, role, director and producer, in that order,” she said.

“The intention has never been to make a statement with the roles I have played or to make any larger point, but just to play an interesting role in a great story directed by a talented filmmaker and hopefully backed by a strong studio.

about Hinduism, Selena Marie Gomez’s, 20, should seriously explore Hinduism. He or other Hindu scholars would gladly assist, if asked, he added.

Beginning his career as a hero in 1940 with ‘Yamala Jat’, Pran went on to achieve fame as a villain in numerous film including classics like ‘Milan’, ‘Madhumati’ and ‘Kashmir Ki Kali’.

Pran was honoured with Dadasaheb Phalke Award at his residence in Mumbai on 10th May

Such was the magic of his unique on-screen villainy, that people stopped naming their children ‘Pran’ at the height of his fame as an actor.

HEALTHY LIVING HEALTH

VOICE OF ASIA 15

Friday, May 17, 2013

by Kerry Sheridan

W

ASHINGTON, (AFP) - The amount of salt in foods that are processed or sold at fast food restaurants is still high despite calls by medical experts for people to cut sodium for better health, a US study said Monday.

Americans on average eat more than twice the recommended daily allowance of salt, and as much as 80 percent of sodium consumption comes from salt that is added by restaurants or in the making of convenience foods, experts say.

High salt is considered a leading factor in the development of high blood pressure, which affects as many as 90 percent of Americans in their lifetimes and is linked to heart disease and stroke, said the study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Some research has suggested that lowering salt intake could save up to 150,000 lives a year in the United States, but controversy persists over whether consumers can reduce sodium or if the food industry should face tighter regulations.

The study found that little has changed in terms of sodium content in a sample of 480 processed and restaurant foods from 2005 to 2011.

Some products did show decreases -- including sliced cheddar cheese, canned tomato soup, canned diced tomatoes, tuna fish and deli turkey slices -- but others showed increases.

Restaurant french fries and cheese pizza were found to have higher sodium in 2011 than 2005, as did whole wheat bread, Caesar dressing and barbecue sauce.

Some of the products studied showed decreases of at least 30 percent, but a greater number showed increases of at least 30 percent, said the study.

The study’s overarching finding was “the absence of any appreciable or statistically significant changes in sodium content during six years,” it said.

“The voluntary approach has failed,” said Stephen Havas, co-author of the paper and a research professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

“The study demonstrates that the food industry has been dragging its feet and making very few changes. This issue will not go away unless the government steps in to protect the public.

Section 2

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Tel: 713-774-5140

EMBARGO Salt in foods is still high: US study The amount of sodium in our food supply needs to be regulated.”

An Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee concluded in 2010 that voluntary reductions would not be enough, and found that Americans were consuming almost 1,200 milligrams a day more of sodium in 2007-2008 than they had in the 1970s.

The US Department of Agriculture’s dietary guidelines of 2010 say that about two-thirds of all adults -- including middleaged or older people, AfricanAmericans, and anyone with high blood pressure, diabetes, or kidney disease -- should limit their sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams per day.

Others are urged to consume

less than 2,300 milligrams per day.

The current per capita sodium consumption in America is about 3,300 milligrams per day, according to the research in JAMA. The US Food and Drug Administration declined to comment on the JAMA study.

“FDA has not exercised its regulatory authority to limit the amount of salt added to processed foods; however, the agency is conducting research in this area,” said the FDA website, on a page last updated in May 2010.

Salt is a substance that is generally recognized as safe and substances that contain it do not need FDA approval prior to use.

However, the FDA does re-

Vitamin D:

quire sodium content be listed in food labels, and urges consumers to choose options that contain less than five percent of the daily value of sodium per serving.

The National Restaurant Association said the study sampled only a limited number of products, and did not include new options available after 2005 so its results “do not accurately reflect all available choices.”

David Jeyaraj, MD

T

hose of you who follow “medical news” would have heard that The United States Preventive Task force in 2012 recommended against calcium and Vitamin D supplements. After reviewing 137 published studies about Vitamin D., they came to the conclusion that low dose Vitamin D ( 400 mg/ day) is ineffective in preventing fractures or cancer. Their recommendation was that people should not take any Vitamin D or calcium.

“Restaurants have made significant progress in developing lower sodium menu options,” said Joy Dubost, director of nutrition at the National Restaurant Association.

“The industry’s proactive and ongoing efforts will better enable the gradual reduction of sodium in the food supply.”

This is a classic case of “right diagnosis, wrong advice”. It’s true that you are wasting your time if you are taking 400 IU of Vitamin D a day. You need something close to 4000-5000 IU per day in order for it to be effective.

Brad Pitt, with whom she has six children, attended for all three operations, starting on February 2 with a “nipple delay” procedure which lessens the risk of losing the nipples.

“Her partner was on hand to greet her as soon as she came around from the anesthetic, as he was during each of the operations,” said Funk.

The main surgery was on Saturday, February 16, and “went smoothly,” she wrote.

Two days later, good news: “The pathology returned and I called Angelina to confirm our biggest hope: all of the breast tissue was benign.

The benefits of adequate Vitamin D intake are: • Improves absorption of calcium, magnesium and phosphorous from the intestines and prevents excretion by the kidneys.

• Improves bone density, prevents bone fractures in the general population and post menopausal women.

Angelina Jolie, pictured in London on 11 April, underwent a preventative double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery that was completed on 27 April. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images .

“On day four after her mastectomies, I was pleased to find her not only in good spirits with bountiful energy, but with two walls in her house covered with freshly assembled storyboards for the next project she is directing.

“All the while she spoke, six (surgical) drains dangled from her chest, three on each side, fastened to an elastic belt around her waist,” she said.

The final operation was carried out on April 27, ten weeks after the mastectomies, reconstructing the breasts with implants, “which went extremely well, bringing an end to her surgical journey,” she said.

The blog gave comprehensive details about the various

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Reduces cancer risk.

How does pure water act

Speaking outside the Beverly Hills clinic earlier, Funk said she hoped Jolie’s decision to have the operation -- and to go public with it -- would lead other at-risk women to take action.

“We hope that the awareness she is raising around the world will save countless lives,” she said, adding that the clinic “applauds Angelina Jolie’s bold choices regarding her BRCA mutation.”

She said she was confirmed as having the “faulty” gene, BRCA1, that doctors said gave her a 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.

• sure.

Reduces blood presblood

• Improves symptoms of Multiple sclerosis, Rheumatoid arthriris and inflammatory bowel disease.

• Treatment of Hyperparathyroidism.

• health.

Essential for dental

• Improves depression and seasonal affective disorder.

•

Improves memory.

In fact, going through the abstracts of the articles on the benefits on Vitamin D, the only condition I can think of that Vitamin D does not help is an ingrown toe nail, but even that, I’m not sure.

Dr David Jeyaraj is board certified in Internal Medicine and has been in practice for 14 years. When he faced a personal health crisis, he at first turned to conventional medicine. He exercised, ate right, took his medications regularly. He transitioned from conventional medicine to full time age management medicine . Dr Jeyaraj is certified in age management by Cengenics Institute, Las Vegas and is a member of the Age Management Medicine Group. He can be reached at: 713.271.0705 www.texasami. com

WATER THERAPY - Part 2

surgical procedures and drugs involved in the double mastectomy, which Jolie revealed in an op ed article in The New York Times.

In the New York Times piece, the actress -- whose mother Marcheline Bertrand died of ovarian cancer at the age of 56 -- encouraged other women to address threats to their health.

prostate

• Prevent cardiovascular diseases.

BEVERLY HILLS, California, May 14, 2013 (AFP) - Angelina Jolie was up and working with “bountiful energy” on her next film project just four days after having her double mastectomy, her surgeon said Tuesday.

“To a large extent, I believe recovery reflects expectation.

Angelina expected to feel well, to be active,” she wrote in a blog posted the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Beverly Hills.

Controls

• Improves sugar in diabetics.

Surgeon details mastectomies, hails ‘bold’ Jolie

Dr. Kristi Funk hailed the “bold” Oscar-winning actress’s positive attitude as she underwent three operations -- two in February and one in April -- to remove tissue and reconstruct her breasts.

• cancer.

Consuming ordinary water by the right method purifies human body .It renders the colon more effective by forming new fresh blood, known in medical terms as “Hematopoiesis.” The mucosal folds of the colon are activated by this method and new fresh blood is produced.

The way bathing cleans the external body; same way water therapy cleans the internal body parts.

Dr.Fereydoon Batmanghelidj pioneer in water therapy in his book “Your body’s many cries for water,” claimed that dehydration was the underlying cause of many diseases including those which the medical profession regarded as incurable.

(Disclaimer: This book shall deliver the basic knowledge on these three methods. I would request the readers’ discretion to use this book more from the perspective of information. I wish to emphasis that this book in no way a substitute to medical treatment; Medical Professional before starting the procedures.)

The body signals its water shortage by producing pain and many degenerative diseases including asthma, arthritis, hypertension, an-

gina, adult onset diabetes and others.

Connection between water and some diseases: The brain must be kept hydrated at all times. So the body, when it is lacking water will do everything possible to keep supplying adequate water.

Our body tries to prevent respiratory water loss by producing histamines, which close off the capillaries in your lungs. Through the constriction of these capillaries, water loss is reduced, but of course breathing is made more difficult.

Asthma patients as you see need more water on a regular basis, not histamine linked drugs.

By not drinking water and attempting to lose weight for fear it will add water weight, they actually impair their body’s ability to metabolise fat. If you want to lose weight you have to give your body enough water so that it’s no longer in a state of emergency. The chronic dehydration will not let go of fat supplies easily.

Dr. Hiten Patel is a Registered Medical Practitioner (Alternative Medicine) and ACWA. www.drhitenpatel.blogspot.in mind.therapist@gmail.com

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Ashish Kapoor, M.D.

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Schedule a visit: • 713.271.0705 • 10101 Southwest Freeway, Suite 205, Houston, Texas 77074

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BUSINESS

VOICE OF ASIA 16

Friday, May 17, 2013

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Tel: 713-774-5140

Asia shares mixed after US data, dollar stumbles

By Anuj Chopra

1,968.83.

Asian shares were mixed Tuesday, with the dollar’s rally against the yen stumbling despite better than expected

Sydney rose 0.21 percent, or 10.7 points, to 5,221 but the Australian dollar traded just below parity with the greenback before an austere annual budget was unveiled in the evening, projecting an $18 billion deficit for 2013/14.

Hong Kong closed down 0.26 percent, or 59.53 points, to 22,930.28 and Shanghai fell 1.11 percent, or 24.91 points, to 2,217.01.

Asian markets were barely stirred by the announcement of a slight improvement in US consumer spending for last month.

Retail sales in April were $419.0 billion, up from $418.7 billion the previous month, boosting the earnings outlook for Asian exporters.

US retail figures that highlighted a steady recovery in the world’s largest economy.

Tokyo slipped 0.16 percent, or 23.79 points, to 14,758.42, but Seoul rose 1.03 percent, or 20.13 points, to

Analysts had predicted a decline of 0.3 percent as consumers dealt with a January 1 increase in payroll and other taxes.

Consumer spending in the United States drives roughly two-thirds of all US economic activity.

The April jobs report in early May also came in stronger than expected.

The US economy added 165,000 new

positions and February and March job growth numbers were revised sharply upwards.

Inflation data, which is due on Thursday, will be the next key release.

The dollar was at 101.54 yen in afternoon Asian trade, weakening from 101.82 yen in New York late Monday but still much higher than the 99-yen range a week earlier.

The greenback briefly breached the 102-yen level in Monday’s Asian trade on the back of speculation that the US Federal Reserve could be the first among major central banks to roll back its quantitative easing policy.

The dollar’s strength has been a dominant theme in currency trading in recent days as it gained against other currencies due to further signs of US recovery.

The euro fetched $1.3014 and 132.16 yen against $1.2975 and 132.11 yen in US trade.

US stocks traded largely flat Monday under the shadow of lower than expected growth in Chinese industrial output for April, which suggested a sluggish recovery in the world’s second largest economy.

The S&P 500 managed to set a new closing record, but only on the back of an almost negligible 0.07 point gain from the previous mark Friday, ending at 1,633.77.

The narrower blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 0.18 percent to 15,091.68.

points, to 7,313.46.

Bloomberry Resorts gained 2.79 percent to 12.54 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone rose 2.62 percent to 3,210 pesos.

-- Jakarta ended up 0.54 percent, or 27.31 points, at 5,081.94.

Oil rebounded in Asian trade, with New York’s main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June, gaining 19 cents to $95.36 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for June delivery rose one cent to $102.83 in afternoon trade.

Car maker Astra International rose 1.44 percent to 7,050 rupiah, while palm oil producer Astra Agro Lestari lost 0.57 percent to 17,300 rupiah.

Gold was at $1,428.40 at 1040 GMT compared with $1,428.90 on Monday.

Skytrain operator BTS Group Holdings gained 3.55 percent to 8.75 baht, while Thai Union Frozen Products jumped 4.62 percent to 62.25 baht.

In other markets: -- Taipei was flat, edging up 3.50 points to 8,251.82.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.87 percent higher at Tw$115.5 while Hon Hai Precision fell 0.50 percent to Tw$79.2.

-- Wellington fell 0.55 percent, or 25.78 points, to 4,645.86.

Telecom Corp was down 1.11 percent at NZ$2.675 while Fletcher Building was up 0.70 percent to NZ$8.61.

-- Manila rose 0.70 percent, or 51.08

-- Bangkok added 0.36 percent, or 5.75 points, to 1,623.48.

-- Kuala Lumpur was flat, inching up 0.53 points to close at 1,788.43.

CIMB Group added 0.1 percent to end at 8.67 ringgit while Malayan Banking lost 0.8 percent to 10.14 ringgit.

-- Mumbai rose 0.16 percent, or 30.62 points, to 19,722.29.

Reliance Communications jumped 5.77 percent to 111.85 rupees while state-run oil explorer ONGC was up 1.78 percent at 326.5 rupees.

Rocky road for electric car market

by Rob Lever

also scaled back plans for all-electric vehicles for the US market.

W

ASHINGTON, (AFP) The road has gotten bumpier for electric cars.

And Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne said recently the company stands to lose $10,000 on every battery-powered Fiat 500 it sells in California.

Coda Automotive, one of what had been a promising crop of electric car startups, filed for bankruptcy protection this month, and said it would reorganize around the electric storage market.

There are a few bright spots, however.

Tesla Motors posted its first-ever quarterly profit, of $11 million in the first quarter as revenues rose 83 percent from the prior quarter.

High-end electric car maker Fisker Automotive, which has had financial woes for months, announced meanwhile it was laying off 75 percent of its workforce, raising the prospect of defaulting on US government loans.

Tesla is banking on its Model S, which sells for upwards of $60,000, by offering special financing and leasing deals with a guaranteed resale price. The car, which has an estimated range of more than 200 miles (320 kilometers), was given a top rating by Consumer Reports.

Electric cars are still coming to market from luxury maker Tesla, and from major automakers such as General Motors, Nissan and others, but the outlook has become murkier.

Analysts are divided on the outlook, but few believe President Barack Obama’s goal of getting one million electric cars on the market by 2015 will be met.

“It’s not like people are clamoring for these vehicles,” said Rebecca Lindland, analyst with Rebel Three Media, and member of a committee studying barriers to electric cars for the National Academy of Sciences.

Lindland said her view that Americans “just don’t see how an electric car can fit into their lifestyle. We continue to be risk-averse in investing in new technology in our cars.”

Mike VanNieuwkuyk of the research

Nissan has boosted sales of its allelectric Leaf to over 5,000 in the first quarter, overtaking the Chevrolet Volt, which has seen sales sputter.

A man plugs an electric powered car to a charging station in Sofia on October 17, 2012 (AFP/File, Dimitar Dilkoff) firm JD Power & Associates said more people are aware of the electric cars on the market “but there is still a low number of consumers who say they would purchase an electric car.”

A report by JD Power and its partner LMC Automotive found battery-pow-

ered vehicles’ share of US auto sales was just 0.08 percent in 2012, and predicts this will reach only 0.47 percent by 2015.

Only about three percent in the survey said their next vehicle would likely have a battery-electric powertrain.

tag of electric cars.

Jason Kavanagh, engineering editor at the research firm Edmunds.com said recent surveys suggest pure electric vehicles are unlikely to get past one percent of the US market, even by 2040.

Va n N i e u wkuyk said consumers are held back by a lack of plug-in charging stations, concerns about the range of the vehicle before it needs recharging, and especially the high cost.

The lack of range and long recharging times are key factors.

At the same time, the analyst said, gasolinepowered cars “are improving enough to meet the needs of the consumer,” without the price

“The US power grid is not capable of supporting that,” he told AFP. “You would need a multitude of small nuclear power stations to support that recharging.”

“Sitting around for eight hours waiting for your (Nissan) Leaf to charge up is not exactly a selling point,” he said. “EVs have a sitting-on-your-ass factor that conventional cars do not.”

More important, said Kavanagh, is that the US electric power system cannot support large numbers of electric vehicles which need constant charging.

Chevrolet cut production of its Volt last year amid soft demand, and is reported to be working on a less expensive version. Toyota and Honda

Brett Smith, analyst at the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said he is not surprised by the slow progress in the electric car market.

“There was an enormous electric vehicle hype,” he said. “In a way that was good because it helped push the technology.”

Smith said it is clear that batterypowered cars “are not a near-term mainstream product” but still believes in the value of the technology.

“There is a pretty good chance something positive will come out of this,” Smith told AFP. “Whether or not we get a cost-competitive electric vehicle in the next 10 years, the good news is there is lot of development which crosses over to other vehicles.”

Kavanagh of Edmunds.com said beneficiary of the trend will likely be hybrids, which use both gasoline and electric power, and charge during driving.

“We’re going to see a big jump in hybrids, which can take advantage of the infrastructure we have,” he said.

Kavanagh said he expects hybrids may become more attractive in the coming years “because they will become more capable in range and more cost-effective.”

FEATURE

VOICE OF ASIA 17

A Strip of Cloth That Makes Dry Cleaners Shudder

by Vijai Singh fter Hurricane Sandy made Tanya Aeya evacuate her apartment in the West Village, she returned to discover that her clothes had been sitting in water for three weeks.

“The embroidery and all the metallic work on it, everything faded and had water marks and water damage,” said Ms. Aeya, 33, a speech pathologist. She frantically searched for a dry cleaner who would try to salvage her garments.

But almost no one would touch them because they included saris.

With temperatures rising and weddings looming, many women will be slipping on ornate saris, putting the delicate garments in the cross hairs of wayward pieces of food. That possibility makes many a dry cleaner shudder. Forget trying to make red wine stains disappear. Perhaps nothing is more challenging than removing, say, a curry stain from a sari.

“I don’t enjoy doing it,” said Anil Dua, 55, owner of Edison Organic Cleaners in Edison, N.J. “The color comes out,” he said. “Thread comes out. Beads melt. They are not meant to be dry cleaned even though they have the label ‘dry clean only.’ ” Still, not all dry cleaners are as leery. Samir Patel came up with his own method after buying an IPURA, a $45,000 Italian dry cleaning machine he discovered at a dry cleaning expo.

“They said,” recalled Mr. Patel, the owner of Dry Clean World in Blackwood, N.J., “as long as you pretreat it right and know what cycle to put it in, you would be able to do anything you want.”

After trimming loose threads, treating stains and removing loose dirt, he sprays the fabric with a hydrocarbon solution to see if the colors run. Then, he puts the sari on the IPURA’S delicate cycle. After the machine finishes, he steams the sari and presses it. The process takes about an hour and he charges $10 to $50 per piece.

Joon Kyu Park, who owns a dry cleaning store in Queens,

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Your Horoscope (For week beginning Friday, May 17, 2013)

Hardik Vyas, Astrologer Cell : 832-298-9950

A

As per Indian Vedic Astrology the Moon sign is considered, in which every Rashi has control over certain letters, which are initials of your name. Whereas in Western system of Sun Sign, all the people born in one month belong to the same sign. For example, every year approximately around 21 of March to 20th April, the Sun is moving in the Aries Constellation. So all the people born in that month belong to the Sign of Aries. If you were born in between those two dates then you are a Aries born.

Aries (A,L,E) 21st. March to 20 April A brocade sari has mostly Indian customers.

He decided to invest in a top-ofthe-line machine after too many complaints about damaged saris.

Leafing through a dry cleaning magazine, Mr. Park came across the Satec B-300, a German machine that cost $65,000.

Now, he said, “the customers are happy.”

Not every piece can be saved.

“One woman brought a garment that had an Indian pickle smell,” Mr. Dua recalled.

“She brought it from India.

The pickle container opened up in the suitcase. I cleaned it so many times and it still smelled.”

He put it outside to try to air it out. It was stolen.

A sari, which means “strip of cloth” in Sanskrit, is a traditional Indian garment, about six yards long, that has been worn in a variety of ways for centuries. The various colors and patterns often have different meanings — Hindu brides, for example, often wear red.

Some women distrust dry cleaners and prefer to clean their own saris, which can cost $300 or more, washing them in a bucket or bathtub, or gently spot-cleaning them.

“Sometimes what I do, I spread it nicely on the dining table or in a big space and then carefully look at where the spot is,” said Srimathi Bhatt, 51, a confidential assistant who lives in Queens Village and owns several dozen saris. “I use delicate soap, such as Ivory soap, to carefully brush these spots,” she said.

Nan Phrsai, 53, who works for the AMC networks and lives

in Levittown, N.Y., has a closet filled with about 50 Indian outfits. She says she washes her saris one at a time in her washing machine, sticking them in a pillowcase that she folds and pins shut.

“If it’s going to be ruined, at least I did it,” Ms. Phrsai said.

Some women go further — waiting until they travel to India to take care of their soiled saris.

Assuming that saris are made there, they reason, Indian dry cleaners should know what they are doing.

“I don’t trust anyone here,” Ms. Aeya said.

But Ms. Aeya did not want to carry the 30 or so outfits drenched by Hurricane Sandy all the way to India. She called numerous dry cleaners until she reached Mr. Patel, the owner of Dry Clean World, who said he would try.

“If there was even a 1 percent chance to save some of my clothes,” she said, “I would’ve spent anything.” But despite Mr. Patel’s efforts, she wound up throwing everything out.

Mr. Patel says he embraces the challenge. “My goal is to have an Indian-dry-cleaningonly store by next year,” he said.

He recently started advertising his business in the sari shops in Iselin, N.J., using a friend’s office there as a drop-off point for customers.

Sejal Patel (no relation to Mr. Patel) lives in Philadelphia and took in four saris after picking up Mr. Patel’s business card in Iselin. “Some clothes are your favorites, like my mom’s 30year-old sari, so you want to keep them good and wear them again,” she said.

Need to give yourself a little more personal freedom. Change the atmosphere by putting a positive spin on everything you do. Your physical and mental health may need to find new outlets. Break away from seriousness and allow your sense of humor to take over. A challenging week is likely from the jump with only showing a modicum of cooperation likely from members. Address needs quickly this week and save your ‘most patient efforts’ as they are likely to have multiple challenges. Be leery of any ‘new deals’ and new people is also a good idea.

Taurus

Your research opportunities which will open a new perspective. Your interpretation of events should give you some answers. Your sensitive mood will brighten when you realize how much happiness you can spin. Your strength of character will overcome your fears. Ideal conditions to be ‘heard and understood’ could be undermined by unintentional actions, so be tolerant and forgiving and hold a ‘re do’ or give them a second chance. You may be indispensable to elders or parents due to Long talks.

Don’t jump to conclusions; gather hard evidence and facts before allow a discussion to be held.

Gemini

Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 July This being a good time for a little rest and relaxation, time to re-charge your batteries. Keep your commitments to an absolute minimum. Others may try to reveal themselves in mysterious ways.

You know very well who you are dealing with and will be able to intrigue them. SEVERAL pit falls wait for the Archer this week starting right out with when you are prone to excess, over spending and having issues with ‘clashes over/with other members’. Then your next pit fall is the next week when you may be ‘harassed’ and have your fuse shortened. At last, when you either jump to conclusions or are the target of those who do, you may be too easily misunderstood and prone to simple mistakes escalating into much bigger hassles, especially if you work closely with/for the insurance, banking, investing or land development industries.

Leo (M) 23 July to 23 August

YTrying not to get lost in your own world; allow other to enjoy your interests. Creative conversations will lead to a better understanding of yourself. Communicate! If you express your viewpoint, you’ll continue bringing others together. Your positive energy will enable you to reach higher. Your stars show you may have to be one of those ‘Jack of all trades’ this week fixing, solving and serving in a wide range of capacities, especially for youth and elders, Serving in community events is very likely on weekend so watch out for how much commitment they ‘get out of you’. Things may happen FASTER than expected but ONLY beginning and the rest of the week things DRAG to the point of wanting to shoot yourself in the foot!

Virgo (P) 24 August to - 23 September Your strong emotional feelings and you may have you second guessing everything. You need to dig deep and be honest about how you feel. Try your best to keep pace with everyone else. You may need to rejuvenate your present physical state. Get yourself on a regime to keep fit. A ‘rift’ may unfold with you ‘smack in the middle’. Don’t try to appease everyone; back the person who is right but do it low profile. Upgrade domestic life, making others happy and getting everyone ‘on the same page’ is likely to be your chief aim! Being asked to explain or represent is also likely in your career life and while this may not be very significant now, it will be later.

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(R,T) 24 Sept. to 23 Oct.

Special people in your life whom will show you their gratitude. Take them up on their offers.

Push through the hype and find your perfect fit. Your professional expertise will be recognized where it really counts. Envision your life and continue to immerse yourself in your career. This is a week of poor cooperation and many needs/requests ‘on your back’. IF you direct, request and address the smallest issues/needs first and then keep ‘moving on to the next’. You stand in error of making assumptions; avoid that one by no ‘assuming’ anything until you ‘check it out’ and get concrete facts, figures. Whatever you do, this is going to be a challenging week and the best game plan is to stick to ‘routine’

UMA MANTRAVADI

(713) 787-5297

(K,CHH,GH) 22 May to 21 June

Fine tuning and some last minute touches may push you to resist change. Take a deep breath and look at the problem from a different angle. You’ll find yourself involved in interesting topics of conversation. This will allow you to ponder new ways to flow. Try to keep your options open. This is flat out NOT a good week for you, especially the evening of the weekend. You may get some cooperation from family members but that’s about IT. Your ‘best day’ to get ease and cooperation is the Monday, but it appears to unfold more in your career life than in your domestic arena.

Libra

HOUSTON LOCATION: 6200 Savoy Dr., Ste. 414 Houston, TX 77036

(B,V,U) 21 April to 21 May

Scorpio (N,Y) 24 Oct. to 23 Nov. Recognizing a change in your positive flow will affect other’s attitude. Some mysteries may be solved if you continue to follow up on your hunches. You will hear some good news that makes you feel more empowered. Friends, neighbors and family will help celebrate your new venture.A vehicle expense or short range trip expense is highly likely and the big message later that day is ‘don’t push your luck’ press and issue or get too aggressive or speak about issues ‘too far in the future’. Most of the week appears rather cooperative but it is possible that the weekend could contain some ‘uncomfortable’ times or discussions.

Sagittarius (BH,F,DH,TH) 23. Nov. to 21 Dec. Your well thought out ideas which can help deal with a sad situation. Your touch will be noticed. Expect much honest appreciation for who you are. Your leadership skills will be required to organize others. Feel free to express your ideas to back them up. Be yourself in all you do. This may be one of those week where all you want to do is to just SURVIVE the ordeal! Spending spikes, members squabble, problems with lying teens, vehicle expense, breakdown/repair are all viable events this week

Capricorn

(KH,J) 22 Dec. to 20 Jan.

Sensitivity to another’s dilemma which will help you to win them over. You cannot please everyone, but you can be very flexible to other’s needs. You need to push your ideas harder. Don’t allow others to flounder and waste your time. Get yourself equipped for any future possibilities. Pitfalls, personal upset and a variety of ‘complaints and different challenging family dynamics exchanges’ appear very likely throughout the ENTIRE week, peppered here and there, mostly, but that one appears to be either you or another ‘jumping to a conclusion’ of some kind. Prepare for a few communication glitches near.

Aquarius (G,S,SH) 21st Jan. to 18th Feb.

Need to find a better way to pursue your current goals. Strong emotional ties may be threatened if you continue on your current path. Your schedule is full, but you need to find time to please your loved ones. They will appreciate your sentiment much more than you think. A very uncomfortable week is sadly, likely for many and staring out with a spike in some level of ‘personal stress’ most likely, when issues seem to almost ‘fix on their own’. Cheerful news is likely end of week, especially on employment, sales of big ticket items and extra cash ‘falling into the household’.

Pisces

(D,CH,Z) 19th Feb. to 20th March

Need to do more planning in order to attain your goals. Many new aspects of your life will shine brightly if you do. Take more time to imagine all that can be. Your intuition can successfully lead you to improve areas of your life that are really lacking. Spending may go on the rise but for ‘basic necessities’ and possibly some ‘sport injury repairs’ on some of you, especially IF you ‘play outside sports’. Fun gatherings, long talk but ‘heated tempers’ may take up some. Poor quality cooperation, things falling dead in their tracks, problems with coworkers and power people or bosses, may ‘mar your week.’ Just stay your course.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

VOICE OF ASIA 18

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

RELIGIOUS INSTITUTES & ORGANIZATIONS OF HOUSTON - call Voice of Asia 713-774-5140 Hare Krishna Dham (ISKCON)

Vedanta Society of Greater Houston

Prog: Everyday, 7 Aratis and bhoga offerings daily. Sunday Festival: 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.

Location: 1320 West 34th St, Houston, TX 77018.

Contact:281-433-1635/E-mail harekrishnadham@gmail.com Website: www.iskconhouston. org

Prog: Vedanta teachings Sundays at 10:30 AM Location: at 14809 Lindita Dr. Houston, TX -77083.

Website: www.vedantahouston. org

BAPS

Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya Temple Temple Hrs: 9 am to noon and 5 to 9 pm.

Sri Astalaksmi puja: 7 pm.

Sri Laksmi Archana will be performed on request all day.

Location:10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX77498.

Phone: 832.541.0059.

Website: www.saumyakasi.org;

Prog: Location: 1150 Brand Rd. Stafford, TX. Contact: 281-765-2277 Web:

Sri Meenakshi Temple Prog: Location: 17130 McLean Road Pearland, TX 77584 Contact: (281) 489-0358

Arsha Vidya Bharati

Prog: Open all days except Thursdays (by appt). Regular Puja and Prasad. Sunday Service 11:30 AM to 1:30 Location: 2223 Wirtcrest Lane Houston TX 77055.

ISSO

Barsana Dham Houston Chapter

VPSS Houston

QR

Prog: Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Stotra Parayanam: daily 6.30 p.m. Location:10098 Synott Road. Sugar Land, TX 77478 Phone: 281- 498-2344 Website: www.ashtalakshmi.org

Prog: Location:10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX77498.

Phone: 832.541.0059.

Website:www.chinmayahouston. org.

Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Baitus Samee Mosque

Prog: Regular prog :Sloka Classes for kids and teens.

Location: Katy, Hwy 249 & Sugar Land.

Contact: 281.995.0930/ 281.808.2159

Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple

Chinmaya Mission

Prog: Darshan daily from 7.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.; Aarti daily from 7.45 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Location: 10080 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX 77478 Phone: 281-530-2565 Web:

Ashirwad - A Blessing Temple

Prog: Sundays Dewan 10:00 11:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Langar Location:14811 Lindita Drive, Houston, TX 77083 Phone: 281-498-5200 Website: www.gurdwaraswh. com

Hindu Worship Society

Prog.:Sanskrit classes and special worship sessions for all ages Location: 2918 Renoir, Sugar Land, TX 77479 Contact: 281-606-5607 or AVB. Houston@gmail.com Web-site: https://sites.google. com/site/avbtexas/classes

Prog: Friday Prayer - 1:30 PM Children’s Classes | Interfaith meeting | Location: 1333 Spears Rd, Houston, TX 77067 Imam - Mohammed Zafarullah Contact : Work: 281-875-3400 | Cell: 713-874-4363 Zafarullah_Hanjra@hotmail. com www.Alislam.org

Gurdwara Sahib of SW Houston

Prog: Location VPSS Vallabh Hall, 11715 Belfort Village Dr. Houston 77031.

Contact:713-530-2900 Website:www.vpsshaveli.org

Shri Satyanarayan Sai Puja Darshan Prog: Daily from 10:00 a.m. to 1:p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Every Thursday Abhishek Location: 16338 Kensington Dr, Ste 110, Sugar Land 77479.

Phone: 713-933-8821 / 9359.

Shri Radha Krishna Temple Prog: Location:11625 Beechnut, Houston, TX 77072 Phone: 281-933-8100 Website: www.SRKT.org.

Prog: Satsang every Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Location: India House, 8888 West Belfort 77031 Phone: (713) 855-9818 for details Website: www.jkphouston.org Weekly Radio Program-1460 AM Saturdays 10-11 a.m.

Shirdi Sai Jalaram Mandir Prog: Location:3845 West Bellfort, St., Sugar Land, TX 77498 Website: www.babamandir.org

Lakshmi Narayan Mandir

Spring, TX 77382.

Contact: info@woodlandshindutemple.org, 832-585-0001 Website: www.woodlandshindutemple.org.

JVB Preksha Meditation Center

Patanjali Yogpeeth Center Prog: Free Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun from 8 am to 9:30 am Location: Arya Samaj @Schiller Road.

Contact: 281-579-9433.

Websites: www.pyptusa.org

Jain Center of Houston Prog: Location: 3905 Arc St. Houston, TX 77063 Contact: 281-606-JAIN; Email: ecjsh@jain-houston.org Website:www.jain-houston.org

Telugu Christian Fellowship

Prog: Sundays Satsang, Bal-

Prog; Every third Saturday 6:30 PM. Worship is in English

A full service CPA firm

3 Locations to serve you

Houston 713-774-6533 Spring 281-251-2205 Dallas 214-722-7545

visit us at : www.mdassociatescpas.com

Comprehensive Paperless Bookkeeping LLC Home to all your Accounting & Tax service needs

Contact: Rimple 713-785-3900 Email: contact@abkcpa.com

Automotive MANN AUTOMOTIVE

COMPLETE AUTO REPAIR & BODY WORK. ALL INSURANCE ACCEPTED. ALL DOMESTIC AND IMPORT VEHICLE. FREE ESTIMATE . FREE TOWING WITH APPROVED REPAIR.

15919 KUYKENDAHL RD. HOUSTON, TX 77068

Houston Tamil Church Houston Tamil Church meets every Sunday at 11 a.m. at 1323 Phyllis St., Rosharon, TX 77583 just minutes from FM521 on HWY 6 and HWY 288. Service in Tamil and English.

Contact: 281 804 5930.

Website www. houstontamilchurch.org

VOICE OF ASIA GROUP

Bakery

To advertise, call:

Phone: 713-774-5140 E-mail: Adsvoa@yahoo.com Restaurants Bombay to Beijing 14025 Southwest Fwy. Sugarland.TX 77478

713-785-1212 www.houstonhotbreads.com

EGGLESS cakes Available

Call 7 Days a Week 24 hrs

Tile, Hardwood, Laminate, Carpet, Roofing, Siding, Gutters, Brick, Block, Stucco, Paint, Sheetrock, Texture, Wallpaper, Patio, Cabinets, Doors, Windows, Fence, Formica, Glass, Power Wash

Electrical Service Superior One Electric

281-242-4242 www.bombaybeijing.com Indian Restaurant

Taste the difference! Cater your next event with us!

Gourmet India - Restaurant & Catering

for home and office parties, Dine in Business Lunches, conferences & parties, On-site dining, corporate lunch packages

Ph: 281-493-5435

India’s Restaurant & Catering

for special parties and corporate events. Preferred Wine list, Authentic vegetarian & non-vegetarian dishes, finest Indian cuisine with chef’s special dishes

Commercial & Residential

Ph: 713-266-0131/ 0805

* Repair/ Remodeling * New Installation * Ceiling Fans * Light Fixtures * Electric Panel * Trouble Shooting * Services Upgrades

Shiva Indian Restaurant & Catering

KHOA TRINH, Electrical Technician Tel: 832-359-5447 Free Estimate TECL# 27099

specializing in North Indian cuisine, Office and Corporate catering.

Roofing 522),1* VEEDONE CONSTRUCTION, LLC. - ROOFING Roofing, Siding, Gutters and Fence WIND & HAIL INSURANCE CLAIMS SPECIALIST

281-919-1920

(281) 701-7760 www.VeeDone.com

Computer Repair & Networking

Medical School

Home & Business, Microsoft & A+ certified, low flat rates, free estimates, pickup & delivery.

Become a Doctor - High School to Medical School

www.PCNetworkGuru.com Call Amit at 832-971-6807

Prog: Sundays worship at 4:30 pm, Location: All Saints Lutheran Church 1211 West Belfort Avenue, Stafford, TX 77477.

Contact: 281-686-4135 / Email: pastorvj@linchouston. org

Location: 7601 S. Forest Gate Drive at Woodlands Parkway,

Sales Tax, Income Tax Audits and Representations

M.D. Associates LLP

Our Redeemer Church

Hindu Temple of The Woodlands

MAK CONSTRUCTION 281-591-8492

S. Ram and Associates

Prog: Sundays Worship Tamil 5:30 pm-7:00 pm. English 10:30am-12:30pm.

Location: 810 Murphy/FM 1092 suite F&G, Stafford, Tx.77477.

Contact: 281-317-7331 Website:bethesdahoustontamilc hurch.org

Prog: Every Friday Satsangh from 7:30 pm to 9 pm. Bhajans and Devi Puja, Discourses.

Location: 12530 Ann Louise Road, Houston, 77086.

Phone: Contact Vishnu at (832) 309- 7181.

Construction

Tel: 832-877-9625 Free Consultation asu2020.com

Prog:Satsang every Sunday evening from 5 - 7 p.m. Vedic heritage classes for kids 5-14.

Location: 16628 Kieth Harrow blvd. Houston, TX 77084 Contact: 281-499-3347/281491-4114.

Gayatri Pariwar of Houston

BOOK-KEEPING INCOME TAX Personal and Business Tax Returns, Payroll

Govindaji Gaudiya Math

Prog: Sundays from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at two locations Locations: Contact: (North) 832-418-3842 or (South) 281-788-4786.

Website:www.saicenterofhouston.org

5700A Hillcroft Ave. Houston, TX 77036

(832) 620.4757 - Email: setlurn@gmail.com

Prog: Bhajans: Sat.7:00 -8:00 p.m.; Sundays 9:00 a.m.-1:00 a.m.Location: 1620 Ormandy Street, Houston, TX 77035 Contact: 713-729-8994

Prog: Sandhya Arati at 6:30 p.m.; Sunday: 9:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m.

Location: 13944 Schiller Road.

Contact: 281-597-8100 Website:www.houstondurgabari. org

Accounting, Tax Returns, Cost Accounting, Peachtree, Sales Tax, Franchise Tax. Retail, Manufacturing, Construction, Franchise Accounting

Prog: Daily classes in Raja Yoga Meditation To register call or email.

Contact:832-379-8888/ Email: houston@bktexas.com Website: bktexas.com

Bethesda Houston Tamil Church

Sri Guruvayurappan Temple

Durga Bari Society

• BAKERY • CAKE SHOPPE • CAFE

Visit our website www.karanika.net

Prog: Location: Chinmaya Prabha, 10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land -TX 77498.

Contact: 281.568.1690 Website: www.saumyakasi.org

Sathya Sai Baba Centers

NARESH SETLUR, CPA Certified, Quickbooks Proadvisor

Location: The Triumph Church, 10555 West Airport Boulevard, Stafford, TX 77477.

Contact:713-301-6444 Website:

Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center

Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya

Prog: Annual Family Camp “Understanding Joy & Sorrow” on March 29 - 31, 2013 (Good Friday Weekend) Bellville, TX. Location: 14102 Schiller Road, Houston TX 77082 Phone: 281.596.9642 Website: www.jvbhouston.org

QUICK REFERENCE SERVICES DIRECTORY

Accountants

Sanskar Shala, from 11am to 1pm.

Location: 5645 Hillcroft, Suite # 307, Houston, TX 77036.

Website: http://www.gayatripariwarhouston.org/ “

Starts $45,000 for all 4 years INDIA, Europe, Carib, China etc 209-830-8266; 248-419-0284 EasyMedSchool@yahoo.com www.EasyMedSchool.com 1/2

• 2514 Times Blvd. Rice Village, Ph: 713-523-4753 • 2130 Lone Star Dr. Sugar Land, Ph: 281-494-2981

Visit Us VoiceofAsiaOnline.com Call us today!

713-774-5140

VOICE OF ASIA 19

CLASSIFIEDS

NCLEX-RN

FRIDAY, May 17, 2013

Start a Rewarding Career With a Great Company 165 years of financial stability and strength

3 Months Intensive Coaching for

NCLEX - RN Exams

Fees - $1000/Call Mrs. Usha: 281-239-3769 : 281-795-1239 Email: nclexhouston@gmail.com

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

By becoming a sales agent at New York Life, you’ll help families achieve the financial security they need and desire.

Space For Lease

You may also make a significant contribution to your community – and when you see the difference that can make, it’s more fulfilling than you might imagine.

Space For Lease

5000 sq.ft available for lease - cheap rent in Stafford Area. For details,

Ramesh Cherivirala, Ph.D, LUTCF, CLTC Partner New York Life Insurance Company

Call: 832-545-0916

3200 Southwest Frwy, # 1900 Houston, TX 77027 13135 Dairy Ashford Rd, Ste 550 Sugar Land, TX 77478

(281) 295-2726 rcherivirala@ft.newyorklife.com

LIQUOR STORE FOR SALE

© New York Life Insurance Company

Liquor Store, Houston area, for sale with Inventory $25+K.

KTRK-TV, an ABC O&O located in Houston, TX, has an opening for a full time temporary News Reporter. Candidates should have experience in general assignment reporting, including Live ENG and satellite work. Applicants must be able to develop contacts, enterprise good, hard news stories, and respond well to breaking and spot news. Candidates must have outstanding writing skills and the ability to make good use of graphics and production equipment. Must be willing to work evenings and weekends.

All interested applicants must apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com by uploading a resume file, cover letter and list of references. Interested applicants should also send video tape samples of your news related work to: Human Resources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet, Houston, TX 77005. Please Reference Job ID: 108244BR on all materials submitted. No phone calls please, and no third parties. Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V/D.

713-680-3570

HELP WANTED Office in Katy needs female workers in and around katy area to handle office work.

Should be multi tasking with basic Computer and Internet skills, will train. Full time flexible working mom hours 8am - 4pm Please email your resume to

rajatriti@yahoo.com or Call us on 832-363-7448

New development rules could affect your community Recent changes to the City’s development rules will allow houses to be built on smaller lots than are typically found in most suburban style neighborhoods.

Learn how your neighborhood can preserve the existing lot size character and prevent incompatible development.

To find a community meeting near you, go to: www.HoustonPlanning.com or call 713-837-7701 for more information about Neighborhood Character Preservation tools.

EOE M/F/D/V

TEMPORARY NEWS REPORTER

Interested parties may contact:

Should Your Neighborhood Participate?

www.newyorklife-india.com

TEMPORARY NEWS REPORTER

Read Voice of Asia for Community News

KTRK-TV, an ABC O&O located in Houston, TX, has an opening for a full time temporary News Reporter. Candidates should have experience in general assignment reporting, including Live ENG and satellite work. Applicants must be able to develop contacts, enterprise good, hard news stories, and respond well to breaking and spot news. Candidates must have outstanding writing skills and the ability to make good use of graphics and production equipment. Must be willing to work evenings and weekends.

All interested applicants must apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com by uploading a resume file, cover letter and list of references. Interested applicants should also send video tape samples of your news related work to: Human Resources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet, Houston, TX 77005.

Please Reference Job ID: 109030BR on all materials submitted. No phone calls please, and no third parties. Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V/D.

Programming Photographer/ Editor - Temporary KTRK-TV, the ABC/Disney owned station located in Houston, TX has an immediate opening for a Temporary Programming Department Photographer who can do it all. (Shoot, edit, produce) Responsibilities will include working on a variety of innovative station programming projects both long and short form. Qualified candidates must be detail-oriented with the creative knack for compelling storytelling through sound and pictures. Must have a valid driver’s license and be flexible to working any shift assigned. All interested candidates should send a video sample of your best work to be considered.

Candidates must apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com by uploading a resume file. Please Reference Job ID: 109295BR on all materials submitted.

Send non-returnable DVD or VHS resume tape to the attention of Human Resources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet; Houston, TX 77005 and include the job reference ID. No phone calls please. Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V/D.

Temporary Programming Editor/ Producer KTRK-TV, the ABC/Disney owned station located in Houston, TX has an immediate opening for a Temporary Programming Editor/Producer with strong broadcast televlsion editing skills.

Responsibilities include working on a variety of innovative station projects. Qualified candidates must be detailed oriented with the creative knack for compelling storytelling and client messaging through sound and pictures. Must be able to work under deadline. Experience editing on Final Cut Pro a plus. All interested candidates should send a video sample of your best work to be considered. For consideration, all interested applicants must apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com by uploading a resume file, cover letter and list of references. Please send work samples to: Human Resources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet, Houston, TX 77005. Please Reference Job ID: 109090BR on all materials submitted. No phone calls please, and no third parties. Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/V/D.

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