Voice of Asia May 1 2015

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VOICE OF ASIA Over 26 years of dedicated service to the community

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

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Vol. 28 No. 18 Friday, May 1, 2015 • Published Weekly from Houston • 713-774-5140 20 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com

As human crisis takes priority Pratham gala raises over after Nepal quake, a nation’s $2 million for children’s charity treasures become its scrap

by Harsha Mary Pradeep

by Ellen Barry and Nida Na- jar

K

ATMANDU, Nepal — On Katmandu’s Basantapur Durbar Square on Tuesday, a heavy wooden beam was slipping down what was left of the Maju Dega Temple.

Nepal, the death toll has mounted so quickly, to more than 5,000, that most concerns other than the health and safety of its people have been put aside.

Hope for finding survivors was waning, and tens of thousands of people are living in tents despite heavy rains. Reserves of

called an official in Nepal’s department of archaeology to report having thwarted an attempt to steal a bronze bell from the roof of a temple here in the capital, the authorities took some first steps to guard against looting. A notice was printed in a local newspaper on

Fittingly, it was also an occasion to honor Dr. Renu Khator, chancellor and president of the University of Houston and a leading figure in the city’s educator community. Dr. Khator shared her journey - from arriving in America as a young bride in an arranged marriage to leading one of the most important research and learning institutions in America and credited her husband’s support and encouragement along the way.

Basantapur Durbar Square on Sunday after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal. (AP Photo) Members of a volunteer search-and-rescue team were clambering up and down the temple’s base, using the beam as a stepladder and occasionally sending a shower of bricks crashing onto it. It would end up on a pile of timber, in a square traversed by people, exposed to the rain.

If you worked as an auction house expert, you would note certain things about the beam: It was intricately carved with the image of two deities and possibly dated to the 17th century — the kind of piece that could sell for many thousands of dollars in the West.

In the three days since a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck

H

OUSTON - The educational non-profit Pratham rang in 20 years of service with a gala at the Hilton Americas here on Saturday, raising $2.05 million in donations that will go to supporting the charity’s various programs for underprivileged children and young adults in 21 out of 29 Indian states.

clean water are running low.

The earthquake that struck Nepal on April 25 flattened sections of Katmandu’s historic center, where many structures were made with bricks.

But in the meantime, in many places, the detritus of centuries-old temples and palaces has been left unguarded, diminishing chances to eventually rebuild one of the world’s largest clusters of cultural heritage sites. Pedestrians, possibly for sentimental value, are walking away with bricks from the 19th-century Dharahara Tower, which crashed to the earth on Saturday, trapping at least 40 people inside.

On Monday, after a citizen

Tuesday, warning that anyone taking artifacts will be punished.

But there was also a sense of helplessness at the magnitude of the calamity that has befallen the Katmandu Valley, a place meticulously documented by preservationists and named a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1979. “Nobody is really able to do this — the government not, Unesco not, so I think all have to work together,� said Christian Manhart, the head of Unesco’s office in Katmandu. “There are thousands of sites, and we cannot put a policeman or military on each of the sites 24 hours a Continued on page 6

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At 7 p.m., as guests dressed in their desi finest claimed their seats in the ballroom, they were welcomed by the emcee for the evening, former Miss America Nina Davuluri. Ms. Davuluri invited the gala co-chairs Lillie Robertson, Beth Madison and Harriet Latimer to light a lamp onstage signifying the illumination brought by education to 4.7 million children thanks to Pratham.

The event then truly kicked off with a dance performance

by Naach Houston that set the tone for the celebratory evening to follow.

Highlights of the evening include the inspiring speeches given by Houston’s young Readathon champions Sachin Chanchani and Indrani Maitra who led their groups of friends in reading books to raise funds for Pratham.

Sachin Chanchani came onstage holding two pairs of branded socks popular with middle schoolers costing $25, an amount he described as “ridiculous� to much applause and laughter. Instead, he roused parents to donate that money in order to guarantee “a year’s

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VOICE OF ASIA 2

VOICE OF ASIA Publisher:

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by Syed Hasanat Shah

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Columnists: Legal: Richard M. Alderman Legal: Sharlene Sharmila Richards Research: Prof. Meenakshi Bhattacharjee Health Insurance: Sudhir Mathuria Astrology: Hardik Vyas

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R

ampant and violent terrorism has long become the hallmark of Pakistan, however, the massacre of innocent children in Pakistan;s Army Public School in Peshawar on December 16 wrote a new leaf of brutality in the violent history of terror in Pakistan. The cold-blooded murder of 140 children shocked the nation and the pain was felt across the globe.

Probably this was not the last time that the media savvy terrorists grabbed the headlines at the pile of helpless victims and successfully transmitted the fear of terror far and beyond the intended target. However, it was the first time that an act of terror opened the eyes of apologists and confused policy makers to the brutality of terror.

The unmatched cruelty infused an equally unprecedented unity among the politicians, armed forces and common people to call enough is enough. Within a few hours after the massacre, political leadership and armed forces unequivocally vowed a swift and decisive action to defeat terrorism in all forms and manifestations. After a consensus of decisive action, a moratorium on capital punishment for terrorists was revoked and the main culprit in attacks on GHQ and former general were executed in a first phase. The operation in Waziristan also intensified where Pakistani Air Force pounded the hideouts of militant’s organization and key terror suspects were reportedly killed.

It took policy makers 20 long years, 50 thousand precious lives and $50 billion to identify the real enemy and realize that the biggest threat is ticking within, rather than across the boundaries of Pakistan. In the meanwhile, the seeds of terror sowed by the Zia regime and pruned by Musharaf in both the good and bad, to ensure strategic depth, have sucked sufficient blood out of the nation to become a sprawling thorny tree. Therefore, the physical existence of Taliban in our file and ranks after enjoying impunity for years is the tip of iceberg.

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

Why force alone can’t win war on terror in Pakistan The real challenge for the state to wipe-out terrorism and restore writ is to address the ideology of Talibanization that has been spreading at the fuel of poverty, injustice, lack of transparency and self denial.

Upon this backdrop the question is: Can force alone address the problem of terrorism in Pakistan. To address this issue, I hope the policy makers will not wait for thousands more to lay down their lives or billions of dollars to perish, nor will they count on another U-turn.

Past experience is evidence that just challenging the terrorists has not served Pakistan well. Pakistan needs a multipronged counterterrorism policy to decapitate the mass killing ability of terrorists as a top priority. Following are a few important factors that need to be addressed if Pakistan wants to win the war on terror and reverse the process of extremism once and for all.

Economic Factors: Poverty and unemployment are the two important parameters of socioeconomic status of a country.

In Pakistan, 40 percent of the population lives on less than a dollar a day and 25 percent of the youth are unemployed.

The unofficial poverty and unemployment rate goes up to 50 and 40 percent respectively in the federally administered tribal belt, the epicenter of terrorism in Pakistan.

Enhancing the economic status of socially excluded and vulnerable groups can break the vicious circle of both, terrorism and under-development in Pakistan. Otherwise the socially and economically aggrieved are more likely to engage in terrorism and live to or die for a purpose, though extremely grotesque it may be. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the state to provide job opportunities and self-respect to the unemployed and poor segment of the society before deprivation push them to extremism.

Social Amenities: Education and health are the most neglected sectors in Pakistan. Pakistan would have been one of the most innovative countries in the world if it spent 10 percent of GDP on education in 1990’s and 2.1 percent on defense.

But, unfortunately, the reality is the other way around. Currently Pakistan is spending just 2.1 percent of GDP on education and less than 1 percent on health sector. These figures are not adjusted for the widespread corruption prevailing in the two sectors. Unequal opportunities of health and education increase the sense of deprivation that severely damage the bonds of social cohesion and pave the way for hatred.

Law & Order: The justice System in Pakistan is a trap that exhausts the petitioners before they cab find a safe exit. Due to the slow moving judicial system and increasing demand for justice, terror organizations run a tilted, but parallel speedy judicial system that helps them establish their authority at the cost of the writ of the government. In a civil and just society the police should be accountable to the public and they should serve the public, rather than trample on them on behalf of their political masters.

Madrassahs and Foreign Hand: Madrassahs has been remaining a part and parcel of our society, but Madrassahs built and financed during the first Afghan crisis are fanning fundamentalism. The state’s inability to provide decent education opportunities across the board pushes youth from humble backgrounds in to Madrassahs (seminaries) for education-cum-meals. The majority of Madrassahs in Pakistan are financed from abroad and thus less accountable to the state of Pakistan. They pursue their sponsor’s interest. Their curriculum is outdated and hardly imparts the much needed values in the students to compete in modern society. Some Ma-

drassahs brainwash the youth and propagate their parochial ideologies as the true representation of Islam.

Transparency in Defense: The apologists could have been deprived of a good excuse if consensus was developed before joining the allied forces in the on going war on terror in 2001.

A decision by a few living in fortified complexes at the cost of the public exchequer never considered the interests of their subjects in the game of give and take. The flawed concept of strategic depth and the imposition of blur policies on 180 million people from GHQ needs to be stopped if the government is serious in the war on terror. 50 thousand people have died and not a single guardian of ‘strategic depth’ has been exposed.

Political Structure and Institutions: Our political structure serves the elite. The monopolization of politics creates a vacuum of bold leaders and efficient policy makers. The political class is interested to amass illegal wealth and secure personal gains at the cost of national interest. This class is callously indifferent to the suffering of people within the country and more loyal to their foreign mentors. The political elite behave as if the country is their personal property and they can sell it to anyone at any cost as they wish.

Finally, a comprehensive policy as an antidote to the venom of terror include addressing the grievances of marginalized groups, rule of law instead the rule of a few crooks, encouraging religious tolerance, provision of objective liberal education, employment and much needed justice to the people along with disengagement and realignment of brain washed individuals. Otherwise wining the war on terror just by force will be a momentary success.

-Syed Hasanat Shah is Associate Professor at Jilin University, China

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VOICE OF ASIA 3

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

Second Front Page

Friday, May 1, 2015 • www.voiceofasiaonline.com • Page 3 • Email: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com • Tel: 713-774-5140

Dr. Bhalla earns Masonic Golden Trowel Award

Sri Meenakshi Pattabhishekam highlights the early part of Chittirai Mahotsavam at MTS

by P. Vaduganathan and Chitoor Ramachandran, Photos by Srini Sundararajan

I

t was a divine sight to witness on Saturday April 25th as one of the traditions of Madurai Meenakshi temple of hundreds of years was followed right in Houston’s own Sri Meenakshi Temple So-

during the utsavam in addition to being part of Somaskandha.

In order to preserve the sanctity of a temple as a place of worship, certain rituals are performed as a tradition everyday (during the 10 days) outside in a tent in accordance with the basic guidelines established by the Hindu Shastras.

Pratham Continued from page 1

Goradia noted that educating an underprivileged child for a year in India costs only $25, or roughly the price of six Starbucks coffees; a keen reminder of how far a few dollars contributed from America can take the organization’s work in India.

She also emphasized the

tricts in India, and for the last ten years, we’ve been able to go, without fail, to every district,” she said. “To understand the status of reading, of arithmetic, of schooling in every district. The report has been published exactly on time every year.”

Dr. Banerjee and outgoing CEO Madhav Chavan were both honored with trophies from the Houston chapter.

The live auction at the end

Right Worshipful Charles Cupples, District Deputy Grand Master for Masonic District 108 presents the award to Raj Bhalla while Secretary Jim Starks looks on.

I

n a packed Morton Masonic Hall, Morton Lodge No. 72 presented Dr. Raj Bhalla the prestigious Golden Trowel Award in a public ceremony on Saturday, April 18.

In attendance were a number of Masons from Morton Lodge as well as a large contingent consisting of Dr. Bhalla’s family and friends.

Since its inception the Golden Trowel Award continues to be an exciting means for Lodges to recognize and honor distinguished members with an official award from the Grand Lodge of Texas.

The Golden Trowel is the Lodge’s formal recognition of a Brother for his devoted service to Masonic principles in general or to his Lodge.

It is intended for the Brother who year after year quietly but actively demonstrates his devotion to the teachings of Masonry without thought of recognition or special honors.

This year the committee of the three most recent past masters

selected Brother Raj Bhalla to receive this award, the highest honor a lodge can pay to one of its members: “Brother Raj has been an enthusiastic supporter of Morton Lodge No. 72 and to Freemasonry. Raised in his home lodge in India some fifty years ago, then serving as the Worshipful Master of his lodge in New York and finally becoming a part of the Morton family, Raj has been generous of his time and treasure.

“He is a vigorous promoter of our annual golf tournament, bringing several teams into the activity. He participates in the planning 41 events and give often much needed guidance. He is often the first to console someone in difficulty or to congratulate someone for their good deeds.

MTS chairman Dr Vaduganathan family with devotees commenced the Pattabhishekam ceremony with the Invocatory prayer at the Ganesh temple. ciety (MTS).

As a prelude, on the previous day (Friday) MTS devotees enthralled in the nostalgic Chithirai Thiruvizha watched the annual dhwaja-arohanam (flag hoisting) on Friday, April

After morning showers in Pearland, Sun was shining over the newly painted Kalyana Mantapam and Youth center and the temple was ready for the Pattabhishekam of Sri Meenakshi. Under the guid-

Readathon champion Indrani Maitra led a group of friends in reading books to raise funds for Pratham. distinct multi-generational impact of educating a girl.

“When you educate a girl, she will educate her children,” Dr. Goradia said. “You are now empowering two genera-

of the evening featured a diamond necklace and earrings donated by Aku and Meena Patel of Karat 22, valued at $9,450, a ten-person gourmet dining package donated to-

“He is a valued and valuable asset to Morton Lodge No. 72.

We view him as something if a treasure. He is truly an exceptional example of the Craft.”

Following the ceremony a dinner was held at Karl’s Restaurant in Richmond.

Muni Seva Ashram fundraising event successful

From L-R: Saket Maheshwari, Dr. Suresh and Renu Khator Gala Honoree - and Marie, Sapphira, Kevin, and Vijay Goradia Exquisite Sri Meenakshi in Poo Pallakku (flower Palanquin) following the Pattabhishekam at Chitirai Mahotsavam 24 that signifies the start of the festivities at MTS.

From L-R, Hemang Thakkar - Rhythm of Dreams, Nina Desai - Emcee, Dr. Vikram Patel-Chairman Muni Seva Ashram, Bina Patel-organizer, Hemant Patel - secretary MSCF.

Story on page 5

On Saturday a decorated podium had been set inside the main temple at the center where the utsavamoorthys of Somaskandha (a name derived from Sa - Uma-Skandha to indicate the gruhasta ashrama (married life) of Lord Shiva with his consort Parvathi, and their sons Ganesha and Karthikeya). Sri Meenakshi has a special place as the female energy (Shakthi)

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ance of Sri Manicka Bhattar and Acharya Kalyana Sundara Gurukkal, the procession began at Ganesh temple and arrived at the Main temple. Chairman Vaduganathan narrated the story of the coronation of Meenakshi and the Meenakshi kalyanam.

Goddess Meenakshi (incarnation of Parvathi) is believed to have descended on earth as the only child of the Pandya Raja Malayadhwaja and Queen Continued on page 5

tions.”

Pratham USA chairman Dinyar Devitre shared his joy and thoughts on the 20th anniversary, leading to the keynote address by the foundation’s new CEO Dr. Rukmini Banerjee who gave special thanks to Pratham Houston for being the first U.S. chapter and the bedrock of Pratham’s activities in the country.

Dr. Banerjee shared her pride in one of the organization’s prime initiatives, the Annual Status of Education Report.

“We have close to 600 dis-

gether by Mr. Dubey of India’s Restaurant, costing $750, and Kiran Verma of Kiran’s, Narin Sehgal of Bombay Brasserie, and Sheela and Ashok Rao of Song Kran Thai Kitchen, costing $1,000 each, and a design consultation and 40 design hours from interior designer Nina Magon, valued at $10,000.

Other speakers for the evening were Richa Maheshwari, a graduate student at Columbia and former Pratham India volunteer, and gala co-chair Lillie Robertson who introduced her friend Dr. Renu Khator.

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YOUR IMMIGRATION LAWYER

The People’s Lawyer

Answers to your Immigration Questions

by Sharlene Sharmila Richards, Immigration Lawyer email at srichardslaw@aol.com

www.peopleslawyer.net Richard M. Alderman Interim Dean of the Law Center

Sharlene Sharmila Richards

Be careful if you give your credit card to a friend Q. A little less than a year ago I let a former friend use my credit card to buy a new tire. I couldn’t go with her, so I just told her to take the card and have them call me if there were any issues. No one called, so I assumed it all went well.

I saw her the next day at church and asked her how it went and she confessed to me that instead of getting one tire they talked her in to all four. I didn’t know how to react or if to even cry, because at that time my personal car needed new tires and she practically maxed out my credit card. I told her she would have to pay me back ASAP because it would affect my credit. Next month she deposited $70 into my account, and since then has paid nothing. Now my credit card company charging late fees and interest. Do I owe this money? What can I do to get her to pay me ASAP? A. Letting another person use your credit card can be dangerous. As far as the law is concerned, when you give someone your credit card to use you generally are responsible for whatever they charge, even if it is in excess of what you agree to. You may have agreed that your friend would buy just one tire, but that agreement is between you and your friend, not the credit card company. You should not entrust your credit card to anyone, unless you are willing to be responsible for whatever they purchase.

You do, however, have a claim against her for the full amount she charged.

But forcing her to pay you back ASAP will be difficult. The best immediate solution is to convince her to promptly reimburse you, or begin substantial partial payments.

If she does not, your only legal remedy is a suit in justice court. Justice court is the real people’s court and it does process claims quickly, but you are looking at several months before any suit is resolved, and if she disputes your claim it could take much longer.

More importantly, even after you win in court collecting what you are owed can be difficult. The court will award a judgment in your favor that can be filed, but you them must begin collection efforts. In Texas, most of what a person owns is “exempt” and not subject to the judgment. For example, you cannot garnish wages or take most personal property or a home. One option is to garnish a bank account, if you know where she banks. To see what options you have after winning in court, and how to collect, look at the debt collection section on my website, www.peopleslawyer.net.

Q. You have written that I get up to three times my damages if someone violates the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Can I sue for these damages without an attorney in justice court?

A. The Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act is our state’s consumer protection law.

As I have written in the past, this law protects you if you are misled or deceived, or if there is a breach of warranty or unconscionability.

Under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act, you are entitled to recover your economic damage plus up to three times your damages if you show the person acted “knowingly.” This means that the person knew or should have known he was acting wrongfully. For example, if someone makes an innocent misrepresentation, you are not entitled to three times your damages. On the other hand, if the person knew or should have known that what he said was false, the court could award additional damages.

Any court, including justice court, may award what is usually referred to as “treble damages.” If you prove your case and show that the person acted “knowingly,” the justice in small claims court may award you treble damages.

Q. Is an oral lease valid? My landlord says it is not. He now wants to raise my rent, and increase the security deposit.

A. As a general rule, agreements dealing with real estate, including a lease, must be in writing to be enforceable. Under Texas law, however, a residential lease for a year or less does not have to be in writing to be valid. If you have an oral lease for a year or less it is as binding as a written one. Of course, you must prove the existence of the agreement and its terms.

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ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT CITIZENSHIP

Q: How long do I have to be a permanent resident first before I can apply for naturalization?

A: Generally, the requirement is you have to be a permanent resident for at least five years. If you are married to a US citizen and still living with your US Citizen spouse, you become eligible for citizenship after three years of becoming a permanent resident.

Q: I stayed abroad for more than 6 months but less than one year in the last 5 years. Is this a problem for my citizenship application?

A: Yes, possibly. I am assuming that you qualify for citizenship in all other respects.

Generally, any single absence between 6 months and a year within the requisite 5 year statutory period creates a rebuttable presumption that continuous residence has been interrupted. Because this presumption is rebuttable, you may present evidence to show that your continuous residence was not interrupted. For example, evidence that you had maintained your employment in the US, did not obtain employment abroad, retained full access to your home in the US, and that your close family members continued to remain here during the period of your absence will be helpful.

Q: I had a re-entry permit and was overseas for more than one year last year. I applied for citizenship. Will my application be granted?

A: Your citizenship application will most likely be denied because any absence of more than one year during the period which continuous residence is required interrupts the continuous residence requirement. As such, you may reapply to naturalize four years and one day after your return from your overseas trip or two years and one day under the rules for spouse of a U.S. citizen.

Q: What is the exemption to the English Language and US History and Government test?

A: These persons are exempt from the need to demonstrate that they have elementary level of reading, writing and understanding the English Language –at least 50 years and older at the time of filing and been a permanent resident for at least 20 years or at least 55 years and older and lived in the US as permanent resident for at least 15 years. If you are at least 65 years old and have been a permanent resident for at least 20 years, you will be given an easier US History and Government test. Also, those who can show that they are suffering from a disability or impairment which impairs their ability to learn English and the US History and Government test are exempt. This disability exemption request is filed on Form N-648.

Q: I was placed on probation for an offence about three year ago and I have completed the probation. Can I apply for citizenship now?

A: If an applicant has been on probation, parole or had a suspended sentence during all or part of the required statutory period, the applicant may still apply for citizenship. However, the immigration officer has the discretion to take into account that probation, parole or suspended sentence to determine whether the applicant possesses good moral character during the statutory period. I suggest that you contact an immigration lawyer to review the conviction record to determine the effect the conviction and sentence will have on your application for citizenship.

Q; I had my conviction expunged many year ago. Do I have to disclose this conviction in my application for naturalization?

A: Yes, you need to be truthful about all your arrests and convictions even those that have been expunged.

Q: I have an old conviction and it is outside the 5 period. Will this affect my citizenship application?

A: When there is a conviction at any time, it is wise to be careful. Because there are so many different types of convictions, some of them more serious than the others, it is advisable to consult an immigration lawyer to review the conviction records for determination that it will not affect your citizenship application in any way or worse still, result in you being place in removal proceedings.

Q: I missed my Oath Ceremony last month. What happens now?

A: Typically, you will receive a letter scheduling you to attend the next Oath Ceremony.

Disclaimer: Any advice provided in this article is general in nature and not intended to constitute legal advice for any specific case. Please consult with an immigration lawyer about the specific circumstances of your case.

My Bio Sharlene Sharmila Richards is a licensed Immigration lawyer practicing in Houston, Texas. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2000 and is a member of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and a member of the US Supreme Court. You may contact her at telephone number 713-6238088 or by email at srichardslaw@aol.com to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case. www.richardsimmigration.com VOICEOFASIAONLINE.COM

VOICEOFASIAONLINE.COM

VOICE OF ASIA 5

Eventful night leads to successful fundraising for Muni Seva Ashram

by Tanya Patel

O

ver a hundred people stepped away from their daily routines on Saturday, April 25th, to learn about an incredible non-profit organization known as Muni Seva Ashram. The event was held at VPSS Vallabh Hall in Houston from 3-7pm. Emcee Nina Desai said it best, “the name ‘Ashram’ is deceiving; the organization is not about people chanting and temples, it is about helping people, especially the less fortunate, in any way we can”.

Muni Seva Ashram was founded by the late Anuben Thakkar in 1978. What started out as a small hut to babysit children has now grown into a 300 acre social service project with the help of Chairman Dr. Vikram Patel. Muni Seva Ashram has programs dedicated to agriculture, education and medicine.

Programs include, but are not limited to, a world renowned cancer hospital, a senior center, and several K-12 schools.

Unfortunately, not many people have heard about Muni Seva Ashram. Hemant Patel, secretary for the sister organization, Muni Seva Charitable Foundation, stated that “only about 2% of the finances are dedicated to advertising”. This struck a chord in event organizer Bina Patel, who has been volunteering for the organization for more than 10 years. “I feel a purpose towards this great organization and am motivated to do more than the minimum amount”.

Sharing Anuben Thakkar’s and Dr. Vikrambhai Patel’s vision for Muni Seva Ashram, Bina Patel, along with the assistance of Nina Desai, inspired local businesses to donate to the cause. Kohinoor Diamonds, Karat 22 Jewelers, and Subhlaxmi Grocers all generously donated items to be auctioned off while Deep Foods donated snacks and drinks. Dr. K.T. Shah also donated jewelry made by his late wife, Vasantben Shah. The musical group, Rhythm of Dreams, provided beautiful melodic entertainment throughout the night.

MTS Continued from page 3 Kanchanamala, as a boon to the Raja’s penance. Meenakshi grew up as a princess of Madhurapuri conquering in all four directions. Volumes of poems and stories have been written for centuries in praise of the divine beauty, valor, benevolence, and spiritual powers of Sri Meenakshi.

The coronation of Meenakshi was done in a festive setting and the symbolic scepter was handed over to the Chairman as was the tradition in the Meenakshi temple. The Chairman in turn carried it around the main temple to display it to the citizens that Meenakshi is now crowned. The Goddess Meenakshi was carried in the beautiful Palanquin, the Poopallakku. With the dusk settling in the scene was surreal with the backdrop of the Rajagopuram as the procession progressed.

The Grand Mahotsavam requires efforts by many including MTS priests and staff, with coordination by Narayanan and the RAC team; Poo Pallakku was coordinated by S. Balakrishnan and several volunteers worked many hours to make the beautiful Palanquin.

Daily cultural events (coordinated by Mala Gopal) with classical music and dance performance, which started with the presentation by Vedic Heritage Students.

Above all Goddess Sri Meenakshi’s blessing makes it possible for the devotees to enjoy the start of the ten days of Chittirai Mahotsavam celebrations that will conclude with the divine wedding (Thirukalyanam) of Sri Meenakshi with Sundareswarar (Lord Shiva) with a grand lunch feast on May 3.

For more information please visit www.eMeenakshi.org.

Having Dr. Vikrambhai Patel and Hemant Patel in attendance to inspire and motivate the guests on the success that is Muni Seva Ashram, a little over $60,000 was raised for this wonderful cause.

COMMUNITY

A Bangladeshi venture Youth Leadership Development Program on Rice radio

K

TRU, an elite radio station is a favorite among Houstonians for over 45 years, but South Asians are geared mostly to mainstream Indian music. To cleanse the palate a refreshing specialty show called Navrang which is based on the nine rasas of Indian music is offered on Rice radio. The show hosted by Varsha Vakil delivers a superior musical experience for eclectic music seeking audience.

Young leaders ask the critical question: Is there enough regulation in society?

by Kaushiki Tewary

O

n an early Saturday morning, YLDP students from the 2014-2015 program, which instills leadership qualities within youth, gathered at India House to gain insight from a truly Dr. Hardeep Singh inspiring leader in the Indian and how he stayed true to his community.

Indian roots and beliefs.

Varsha’s personal pursuit to explore and appreciate music paves the path for South Asian artists to channel their vocation and passion towards eclectic music lovers. Suparna Ghosh a well-known Bangladeshi artist in Houston made her debut appearance on ktru. The talented and humble Suparna Ghosh also known as Rupa Ghosh sang melodious Tagore and Nazrul’s poems on the live show. Her dedication and knowledge about the subject was elucidated passionately through her on-air interaction.

With the motivation of successful leaders, the determination of hardworking volunteers, and the generosity of a captivated audience, it was truly a night to remember.

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

During the course of the interview Rupa Ghosh emphasized that singing Tagore poems is natural and from her heart therefore rendition of these poems is effortless to her. Rupa Ghosh’s “Shantineketan style” teachings resonated in her young students who sang the poems with the same ease and gusto. At her Surangan school she introduces the works of Tagore and Nazrul both at educational and performing levels.

Dr. Hardeep Singh is a nationally recognized leader in research, policy and clinical practice initiatives, and is part of the Health Policy, Quality & Informatics program at the Houston Veterans Affairs Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety. With over two decades of experience in America, he shared with students his life story, struggles, and a pathway to success despite adversities. As a part of the student group, I was struck by how Dr. Singh was able to overcome the challenges of being a minority in this country,

Students were asked to split up into teams and reflect on the talk given by Dr. Singh, and my team was tasked with discussing if more policy and regulation was necessary in today’s society. While we argued on some points, we were able to say, like Dr. Singh, that policy and regulation are necessary in keeping an ethical and moral standard in society. Whether it be in the education system, in the food industry, or even the justice system — our society is plagued by questions of right and wrong. Take for example Continued on page 8

SOUTH ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 6

Is Modi’s new $2 billion trans-India highway project just too ambitious?

by Manu Balachandran

N

arendra Modi wants to build a massive new highway that cuts across the heart of the country, connecting all of India’s Himalayan states.

metres of new highway will cost the government, somewhere around Rs53,000 crore ($9 billion).

Yet, the budget for the Bharat Mala project, as this new plan

firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. “These routes will not see heavy traffic and that would mean that the private sector does not see potential.”

Putting out that sort of money won’t exactly be easy for the government either, which has been struggling to cut expenditure, and restrain the fiscal deficit.

It doesn’t help that India’s road sector has itself been a complete mess for many years.

A lot of road to cover. (AP Photo/Channi Anand) The Indian prime minister wants to do this in five years, at an estimated cost of Rs14,000 crore ($2.2 billion), the Economic Times reported.

has been named, which will connect Gujarat in the west to Mizoram in India’s northeast, is reportedly only about Rs14,000 crore.

But that might be simply too ambitious.

Presumably, the government will reach out to the private sector for additional funding, but there might not be enough appetite in India Inc. for such a project.

To start with, the financials of the project seem a little off. Building one kilometre of highway in India, according to industry estimates, requires a minimum of about Rs10 crore ($1.5 million). By that measure, constructing 5,300 kilo-

“Most of the funding will have to come from the government itself,” said Vishwas Udgirkar, a partner at consultancy

Marriage sacred in India, so ‘marital rape’ does not apply: Government

N

EW DELHI: The concept of marital rape does not apply in India as marriage is treated as sacred here, the government said in Parliament today.

rape a crime. She had also asked whether the UN Committee on Elimination of Discrimination Against Women had recommended to India that marital rape should be criminalised.

“It is considered that the concept of marital rape, as understood internationally, cannot be suitably applied in the Indian context due to various factors, including level of education, illiteracy, poverty, myriad social customs and values, religious beliefs, mindset of the society to treat marriage as a sacrament,” Minister of State for Home, Haribhai Parathibhai Chaudhary said in the Rajya Sabha.

Ms Kanimozhi cited a UN estimate that 75 per cent of the married women in India are subjected to marital rape.

He was replying to a written question by DMK’s K Kanimozhi, who had asked whether the government was planning to amend the law to make marital

In response, the minister said that the UN panel had, indeed, recommended that marital rape should be made a criminal offence, but added there was no move to do so.

“The Law Commission of India did not recommend criminalisation of marital rape by amending the exception to Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code and hence presently there is no proposal to bring any amendment to the IPC in this regard,” the Minister said.

No plans to extend e-tourist visa to Chinese nationals

N

EW DELHI: Government has no plans to extend the e-Tourist Visa to Chinese nationals as of now, Rajya Sabha was informed today.

“At present government of India has not planned to extend the e-Tourist Visa (old name Tourist Visa-on-Arrival enabled with Electronic Travel Authorisation) programme to Chinese,” Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju said replying a written question.

Tourism Minister Mahesh Sharma had said recently that government was planning to extend the scheme to a few more countries in phased manner in coming days that include the UK, France, Italy, Spain and China.

Government had launched

the scheme on November 27, 2014 to 44 countries at 9 airports to facilitate short of duration international travellers.

The E-Tourist Visa enabled

by Electronic Travel Authorisation would enable the prospective visitor to apply for an Indian visa from his or her home country online without visiting the Indian mission and also pay the visa fee online.

Once approved, the applicant will receive an email authorising him or her to travel to India and he or she can travel with a print out of this authorisation. On arrival, the visitor has to present the authorisation to the immigration authorities who would then stamp the entry into the country.

-PTI

Read more community stories Visit us at voiceofasiaonline.com

Until January 2014, as many as 161 projects—worth some Rs83,000 crore—out of a total of 220 projects awarded under the public-private-partnership mode were unfinished. Between April 2014 and January 2015, the road ministry completed construction of only about 3,038 kilometres of road against a target of 6,300 kilometres. India now plans to complete construction of 30 kilometres of road per day for the next two years.

“There is a huge agenda already pending before the road sector both at the central and state level, including challenging areas such as the borders,” Vinayak Chatterjee, chairman at Feedback Infra, said.

“The announcement of such a project could improve greater confidence if accompanied by scientific traffic flow estimates on the proposed alignment.”

Moreover, the Indian government will have to acquire an enormous ribbon of land that could stretch across as many as 13 states.

After beginning in Gujarat, the Bharat Mala project will cut through Rajasthan and Punjab, then cover all the Himalayan states—Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand—before moving to Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Finally, it will also touch northeastern states of Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Mizoram.

“Our idea is to plan for a structured programme for building roads along our borders, especially the northern borders,” India’s road secretary Vijay Chhibber told the Economic Times newspaper.

Telephone calls and text

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

Nepal

Continued from front page day. They are needed for other purposes. So it’s impossible, as you can imagine.”

Unesco’s top official, Irina Bokova, said in an interview on Monday that she was unaware of any natural disaster in modern times that had damaged so much cultural heritage.

A dull, deep sadness hung around the valley’s most celebrated neighborhoods this week. Two days after the earthquake, a steep, narrow street in Bhaktapur, an ancient pink-brick city several miles from Katmandu, had been so completely abandoned by its residents that a visitor could hear no sound except pigeons cooing.

A glance up explained why: cracks zigzagged up the faces of the brick houses, tall, elegant structures with carved windows, some of which had toppled inward on Saturday, crushing the people inside. Occasionally this week, residents would dash in to grab bags of rice or other supplies, but their fear was still so intense that they would not stop to talk.

Sitting on a curb on Yalachhen Street, in no hurry to go anywhere, was Kishor Rajbhandari, who sat gazing at the house that had belonged to his family for three generations.

“This is my house,” he said.

“It’s almost gone. Outside it looks all right, but inside, there are cracks in every corner. If the next 6.5 comes, it goes out.”

The city of Katmandu was

messages to Chhibber from Quartz went unanswered. The post will be updated if, and when, he reverts.

But acquiring land across such an expansive stretch won’t be easy. For India’s National Highway Authority, the lead government organisation for road construction in India, the inability to acquire land has been a massive problem.

“During the review meetings, it is observed that the land acquisition is one of the reasons for delay of completion of projects” Pon Radhakrishnan, minister of state for roads, said last month. Over 600 road projects in India are currently delayed due to land acquisition problems.

-Quartz.com

Villagers plead for food after an aid helicopter landed at the remote mountain village of Gumda, Gorkha district, Nepal. Photograph: Wally Santana/AP built at the intersection of two trade routes linking China and India, and its architectural heritage reflects overlapping influences: miniature Buddhist votive structures from the seventh century, decorated with fine brass and wood carvings; tiered temples made of fired red bricks; monasteries, religious complexes, palaces, courtyards and clusters of tileroofed homes.

The destruction has been overwhelming. Unesco has said temple complexes in Katmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan are almost destroyed. At Basantapur Durbar Square on Tuesday, teams of volunteers were shoveling debris off the foundations of two temples that had collapsed on Saturday; ambulances arrived to remove two bodies the volunteers found. A few police officers stood in the square, but made no attempt to supervise the effort.

“There is no organization whatsoever,” said Kaitlin Bull, 22, a tourist from Canada who spent four hours helping clear rubble off Maju Dega. “It’s just a free-for-all.”

In the hurry to remove the rubble, carved beams and struts had ended up in piles of scrap wood, though a few particularly beautiful carvings — like one pink-stained piece showing women frolicking acrobatically below two smiling gods — had been set aside.

Anil Adhikari, a police inspector at a station in the square, said that the only arrests for looting in the square were of eight teenagers who had planned to sell wood carvings at an antiques market.

Outside the police station, in white bags used to sell rice, Mr. Adhikari had collected about a dozen statues of gods and goddesses.

Mr. Adhikari said his police station had informed officials from the government’s Ar-

chaeology Department of the treasures in the rubble, but the department’s officials had not come.

Chandra Mani Adhikari, a member of the government’s national planning commission, said he had instructed the department to “make an action plan, and take action to preserve all these things quickly.”

The director general of the Archaeology Department, Bhesh Narayan Dahal, for his part, said he had visited the city’s police and district officer and “requested him to please provide more and more security in that area.”

He had also given orders for the warning against looting to be printed and broadcast, and told staff members to visit heritage sites and lock up artifacts in a museum for safekeeping.

“I am too much worried,” he said. “How can I tell you? I am too much worried. How will we save our heritage?”

But that was a subordinate worry on Tuesday in Basantapur Durbar Square, where volunteers were intent on removing the last bodies from the dusty rubble. Shortly after noon, they found one, a Nepalese man who was found on his chest, apparently crushed when he tried to run down the temple stairs.

Thomas Bell, a journalist and the author of “Kathmandu,” a 2014 book about the city, was watching the volunteers toss down carved beams, which landed atop each other in a cloud of dust. The beams, he said, should be immediately cataloged, stored and protected from any further damage.

In Nepal, “people don’t necessarily place a great deal of value on a piece of wood just because it’s old,” he said. “But if you were to restore the temple, you would want it back.”

-New York Times News

INDIA

VOICE OF ASIA 7

India revokes licenses of nearly 9,000 nonprofits

by Preetika Rana

N

EW DELHI—India has revoked licenses of nearly 9,000 nonprofits, which it says failed to report details of donations received from abroad, in the latest attempt to tighten its grip on foreign-aided charities.

The decision, posted on the Ministry of Home Affairs’ website late Monday, comes weeks after New Delhi froze bank accounts of Greenpeace India and put the New York-based Ford Foundation under scrutiny.

A notice from the ministry this month alleged Greenpeace’s Indian arm had “underreported” its foreign funding, while a spokesman last week said the ministry suspected the Ford Foundation, one of the biggest philanthropic organizations in the U.S., of backing “agencies not registered with the ministry.”

A U.S. State Department spokeswoman said this month the clampdown on Greenpeace and the Ford Foundation was limiting “necessary and critical debate” in the world’s largest democracy. The U.S. said it had sought a clarification from India.

The new order, dated April 6, didn’t name the 8,975 nonprofits whose licenses were

revoked, but said they all received foreign aid.

founders of the Indian trust are outspoken critics of Mr. Modi.

Praween Kavi, a ministry official, denied what many have described as a crackdown on groups taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Instead, he called the cancellation a routine affair.

The ministry also froze seven bank accounts belonging to Greenpeace’s Indian arm alleging the environmental group had “under-reported and repeatedly mentioned incorrect” amounts of foreign aid received. “The most glaring example,” it said in a notice this month, was an auditor’s report that the organization had an opening bank balance of zero when it actually had 66,031,783 rupees, or about $1 million.

“These nonprofits haven’t filed their annual returns in three years. That’s a violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act,” Mr. Kavi said.

The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act requires nonprofits in India annually to declare donations received from abroad. Mr. Kavi said notices had been issued to more than 10,000 nonprofits this past fall, of which only a handful had responded with paperwork.

“Licenses of those who didn’t respond were canceled,” he added.

Greenpeace, in response, said its auditor had made a typing error. Revised bank statements were later submitted to the government for review, it added.

Samit Aich, who runs the Indian arm of Greenpeace, called the move to block the organization’s foreign-funding stream “a smear campaign.” Greenpeace is leading campaigns against nuclear energy and coal mining, which Mr. Modi is encouraging to end India’s chronic power outages.

In the case of the Ford Foundation and Greenpeace, though, activists said the ministry was targeting groups critical of Mr. Modi’s economic policies.

“A campaign is being waged against dissent, but we will not be cowed,” Mr. Aich said in a statement. A spokeswoman said Greenpeace plans to challenge the Indian government’s claims.

India this month asked the country’s central bank to hold up funds from the Ford Foundation until they were reviewed by the Home Affairs Ministry.

The foundation said the action stemmed from its support of a local group, Sabrang. The

-Wall Street Journal

India sends Gorkha soldiers for Nepal quake relief

N

EW DELHI: India has sent the Army’s Gorkha soldiers to quake-hit Nepal to help in relief and rescue work, an official tweet said on Wednesday.

Ambassador-designate of Nepal Deep Kumar Upadhyay also expressed concerns on “congestion on Kathmandu airport” that was hampering taking aid to the victims.

Nepal today thanked India for extending a “blank cheque” and taking initiative in launching relief operations in the aftermath of Saturday’s killer earthquake, which was followed suit by other countries.

“India took the initiative in relief operations, which other countries followed. We are thankful to the government of India that it was kind enough to extend a ‘blank cheque’ after the shattering earthquake. It

has done tremendous work to provide help,” he told reporters here.

“The Indian government has also accepted our request for special trains to border areas so that our people who want to return to their homes can go there.

The service will be increased as per demand,” he added.

Upadhyay said “I know we are two (countries), but we are receiving support like we are

R E V O C S I D R U YO ER POW 2015 3 0 Y A M N O T S HOU IN FRONT OF MINUTE MAID PARK

Rahul Gandhi takes a swipe at PM Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ campaign

C

HANDIGARH: Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi today asked whether farmers are not contributing to ‘Make in India’ by providing food to the entire country.

“Prime Minister (Modi) speaks of ‘Make in India’. But no one does ‘Make in India’ more than a farmer of Punjab. He has established this country. Is the work done by poor not ‘Make in India’? Is it something else? Rahul asked in an interaction with reporters while referring to Modi’s pet theme of wooing foreign investors to manufacture in India.

Vowing to raise voice for farmers from very platform, Rahul said government should take into account their serious concerns and not just extend monetary assistance.

His remarks came a day after the Parkash Singh Badal government in Punjab announced disbursement of Rs 4,000 crore to farmers within 24 hours as payment for their harvest.

The Congress Vice President, who met farmers hit by unseasonal rains in Punjab and stayed here overnight after travelling by train to the NDA-ruled state, also took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said,”I will raise the voice and pain suffered by one. There is no problem of coordination between us. The aid will have a positive impact on us. It’s a matter of human emotions.”

Expressing concern about the obstacles in the relief work going on in the Himalayan nation round the clock, he said one major issue was congestion at Kathmandu airport due to which flying down support materials and resuming passenger

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FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

Vowing to raise voice for farmers, Rahul said govt should take into account their serious concerns and not just extend monetary assistance. Photo: PTI farmers and atrocities on them from every platform.” said Rahul

in Delhi and later his attacks against the NDA dispensation in the Lok Sabha on the issue.

BJP and its ally in Punjab Shiromani Akali Dal have termed his visit as a “political drama” over the land bill.

He will now travel to Maharashtra and undertake a 15-km, day-long padyatra in Amravati division of Vidarbha region in Maharashtra on April 30 to highlight the farmers’ plight.

Rahul said farmers should be helped as they are the backbone of the country.

“No one works harder for the country than the farmers. Punjab farmers provide food to the entire country.I understand the pain of farmers and listened to their voice,” he said.

Back from his nearly twomonth sabbatical, Rahul has struck an aggressive note taking on the government over the land bill with his Kisan rally flights were getting affected.

“The Kathmandu airport has a parking capacity of just seven to eight planes. At present 30 helicopters are already stationed there, including 20 from India and a few from the US. So there is congestion and we are unable to welcome rescue teams and relief material,” Upadhyay said.

And in this regard, the most important requirement was that

Maharashtra is one of the states that experienced severe agrarian crisis and the Amravati division in Vidarbha region has witnessed many farmer suicides this year.

Yesterday, Rahul visited the ‘mandis’ of Sirhind, Gobindgarh and Khanna, the latter housing the country’s largest grain market.

-PTI the aircraft come, off load relief material and return immediately, he said.

“This will help resume normal commercial passenger flight,” he added.

Upadhyay said providing food and shelter was a priority and the focus will shift toward them as “hopefully all kind of primary rescue work will be over by today”.

-IANS

SOUTH ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 8

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

Progressives in Pakistan see dark Bangladesh local elections marred by vote-rigging allegations future after Sabeen’s murder Ruling party sweeps to victory, opposition pulls out of vote

I

SLAMABAD - The killing of Sabeen Mahmud - a prominent rights campaigner – on Friday has sent shockwaves through the country’s progressives, as those who speak out against alleged abuses by the state say they are under increasing threat.

by Syed Zain Al-Mahmood

D

HAKA, Bangladesh Ruling party-backed candidates swept to victory in acrimonious city council elections after their opponents withdrew in protest, underscoring the deep divisions that remain between the government and the country’s main opposition party.

Mahmud, the 40-year-old director The Second Floor cafe in Karachi which regularly hosted debates and arts events, was killed when gunmen attacked her car as she left the venue minutes after hosting a seminar on abuses in Balochistan.

The same talk – featuring prominent Baloch activist Mama Qadeer who has campaigned for the “missing people” of Balochistan – had been cancelled by the prestigious Lahore University of Management Sciences weeks earlier after members of faculty reported pressure from intelligence agencies.

Police say they are examining whether she was targeted because of her work at the cafe, which held talks against religious extremism as well as state brutality.

“She had no personal enmity so there is much possibility that she might have been targeted because of her intellectual activities. She was getting threatening calls from some unknown callers. We are working (out) who they might be,” senior police official Jamil Ahmed said Sunday.

Her death led to an outpouring of grief with hundreds of mourners attending her funeral Saturday, as the United States and the European Union joined Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in officially condemning the killing.

But most analysts say there is little chance her murderers will ever be brought to justice given the recent history of impunity among those who target the country’s marginalised liberals.

Last year, prominent TV host Raza Rumi narrowly escaped a gun attack on his car in Lahore that killed his driver, while another anchor, Hamid Mir, sur-

The murdered human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud vived being shot in the stomach in Karachi shortly after hosting a TV programme about Balochistan.

No perpetrators have been brought to justice in either case.

TV anchor Mir, whose brother quickly pointed the finger at the Inter Services Intelligence agency (ISI) for the attempt on his life, said he saw several parallels with the attack on Mahmud.

“The most common factor was Mama Qadeer Baloch because I received threats when I invited him on my show,” Mir told AFP. “I got six bullet injuries, she got maybe four. I was attacked by the people who were riding a motorcycle, she was too. My attackers were guided by some people who were sitting in a car and this was the same case in her incident.”

Hashim Bin Rashid, a leftwing columnist and activist, says that there is a growing atmosphere among the country’s urban middle classes that encourages the silencing of dissenting voices.

“The overall atmosphere of fascism… is much more worrying – where anyone is offering any dissent is going to be called a traitor,” he said.

Activists who write about the rights of Baloch people on social media, or condemn the killing of minorities, are of-

ten loudly berated and receive death threats that are never investigated, while on the other hand the government blocks pages belonging to progressive groups on Facebook, he added.

Mir said the room for freedom of expression on Balochistan had significantly narrowed in the mainstream media.

“Since I was attacked last year, the media has been facing a lot of pressure,” said Mir, who now travels with an armed escort.

“They feel they are helpless, they cannot express their views in the media openly, they cannot get justice. They feel anyone who speaks truth or people who become voice for the voiceless will be silenced.

This is not good for democratic society.”

Abid Hussain, a Karachibased journalist who attended Friday’s seminar and had known Mahmud for more than a decade, described her loss as “unquantifiable”.

“I truly hope we are able to rally around her and do our best to continue her legacy and what she taught us… but the sceptic in me says that it won’t be possible,” he said.

The first test, he said, would be whether a talk on Baochistan scheduled to be held at the University of Karachi next month is allowed to go ahead – and safely.

-AFP

Nepal struggles to cope with international aid

C

ountries around the world have launched massive aid operations to help victims of the Nepal earthquake, but distribution of aid faces challenges as Nepal is still trying to come to terms with the scale of the disaster.

With over 4,400 dead, 8,000 injured and 8 million people across Nepal affected, numerous aid groups and at least 16 nations have rushed to send supplies and workers to the stricken country.

But now the Nepalese government and army who are leading the disaster response face another problem: How to effectively coordinate and organize the massive influx of humanitarian aid.

Nepal relies on only one international airport to receive and deliver aid. Relief organizations say the tarmac at Tribhuvan International Airport remains jam-packed with a large number of cargo planes.

Several aircraft carrying es-

YLDP Continued from page 5 the multitude of cop shootings last year in cases like Ferguson and the Trayvon Martin case.

Had there been more regulation to enact communication between the suspects and police officers, perhaps the killings could have been ultimately avoided. However, because there was a lack of regulation in part of the police officers, unarmed citizens were killed and serious questions of ethics and moral were asked.

Ultimately, students came to see the truth behind the seriousness of regulation, whether it be in society as a whole, or even in our health systems today. With Dr. Singh’s guidance, students were exposed to a whole new industry of work, and encouraged to question the reliability of the smallest facets of their lives.

sential supplies have been turned away, or diverted to India and elsewhere.

“The airport is totally congested. Even the planes which have landed, goods haven’t been offloaded,” Jagan Chapagain, the Asia Pacific Director of the IFRC (International Federations of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) reports.

The United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team who is on the ground coordinating international relief efforts says they are doing all they can.

“There are lots of flights arriving from around the world for search and rescue, and that’s the challenge we’re trying to address by supporting the airport staff directly,” said Marcus

polling stations.

The opposition’s withdrawal dashed hopes that Bangladesh would move away from the fractious politics and violence that have claimed more than 100 lives since January.

Local media were critical of the elections on Wednesday.

was an atmosphere of fear,” she said. Other analysts said the BNP’s withdrawal early on Tuesday had also affected turnout.

The Election Commission said voter turnout figures would be provided later in the week.

At a college hosting a poll-

In polls marred by allegations of irregularities, vote-rigging and intimidation of voters and the press, Awami League candidates Annisul Huq and Sayeed Khokon were elected mayor of Dhaka North and Dhaka South councils, respectively. Nasir Uddin, another ruling partybacked candidate, won the race for mayor of Chittagong city, election officials said Wednesday.

The mayoral races in Dhaka and Chittagong—Bangladesh’s biggest cities—had taken on added significance after the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party nominated candidates to challenge the ruling Awami League party. Opposition groups, led by the BNP, boycotted national elections last year and have been waging often-violent street protests to unseat the government.

However, on Tuesday, as balloting was going on, the BNP announced it was withdrawing from the elections, citing polling irregularities. At a news conference, opposition-backed candidates said ruling-party activists had “taken control of polling centers” and had forced out opposition polling agents.

Election officials said they had witnessed no irregularities.

Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad, the chief election commissioner, said the election had been “largely free and fair.”

Awami League officials denied accusations of intimidation and said the BNP was trying to undermine the elections.

But in both Dhaka and Chittagong, independent election observers reported acts of intimidation, multiple voting and ballot-box stuffing at some

Werne, a UNDAC team leader.

But Chapagain says that airport management is still chaotic, with staff and military not being able to clear runways and offload supplies effectively.

According to a U.N. situation report, main roads in Kathmandu are open, but remote areas are largely inaccessible.

“Due to the mountainous geography, infrastructure damage, collapsed bridges and damaged roads, access to many of the affected areas is reported to be extremely limited,” read the report.

Pedestrians crowd onto a street in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Feb. 17 during a countrywide strike called by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia had called a nationwide transport blockade in January to mark the first anniversary of elections that the BNP and allies boycotted. -Photo: European Pressphoto Agency “Awami League Wins, Democracy Loses” was the headline carried by Prothom Alo, a Bengali-language newspaper with the largest circulation in the country. Dhaka’s Daily Star newspaper said “widespread vote rigging, and intimidation of BNP-backed candidates, their workers and the press” had set a “new low for the country’s politics.”

Sharmeen Murshid, executive director of Brotee, a nonprofit election-monitoring group, said: “Based on our observations, these elections did not meet the parameters for free and fair polls. Although we saw only sporadic violence, we did observe widespread intimidation of voters and opposition activists and in some cases, outright rigging.”

Ms. Murshid added that turnout was low, especially among female voters, indicating that voters didn’t feel safe. “There

The Nepalese government has not been able to provide relief to all affected areas due to difficulties in transporting goods.

The helicopters are small.

They don’t fly in windy and cloudy conditions. Given Nepal’s geographical terrain surface transport is limited. The operation to get aid to survivors in Nepal is still “very ad hoc” and it will be a few days before the distribution becomes organized because the government is still constrained by the scale of the disaster.

-CNN

ing station in southern Dhaka, stick-wielding activists chanted in support of the ruling Awami League as they chased away supporters of a rival group. At several other polling centers, the atmosphere appeared to be tense and Awami League activists outnumbered voters.

Hasan Mahmud, a leader of the Awami League, accused opposition supporters of launching attacks. He said Awami League activists hadn’t targeted journalists.

Outside the Kabi Nazrul polling center in Dhaka’s Shakharibazar neighborhood, a would-be voter said he had decided to leave after clashes broke out.

Another said she had arrived at the polling center only to find someone else had voted in her name.

In a statement, the U.S. embassy in Dhaka said: “We are disappointed by widespread, firsthand, and credible reports of vote-rigging, intimidation and violence … and the BNP’s decision to boycott the city corporation polls.” The statement called on the election commission and the government to investigate alleged irregularities.

Political analysts in Dhaka said violence in the run-up to the elections may have frightened voters.

Khaleda Zia, the leader of the BNP, was attacked on three consecutive days during campaigning last week. The BNP blamed the government and the local press identified Awami League activists among the attackers. The Awami League said its supporters had been protesting peacefully.

-Wall Street Journal

WORLD/US

VOICE OF ASIA 9

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

Russian spacecraft Progress Supreme court asks if execution drugs are like being M-27M ‘hurtling towards Earth’ A Russian spacecraft ‘burned alive at the stake’ delivering supplies T In Glossip v Gross justice Elena Kagan cites uncertainty that midazolam puts inmates under enough to avoid feeling sudden infliction of pain from other drugs

T

he prospect of death row inmates being “burned alive at the stake from inside” in the absence of effective anesthesia was invoked at the US supreme court on Wednesday as the justices wrestled with the nationwide crisis caused by the European-led boycott of lethal injection drugs.

Anger spilled from the nine justices from both sides of the court’s ideological divide. The

chloride, which stops the heart?

“People say that potassium chloride is like being burned alive – they talk about being burned at the stake, which everyone agrees is cruel and unusual.”

Alito added that the boycott had made “impossible for the states to carry out executions with little or no pain – they are having to resort to drugs such as [midazolam] which cause disputes”.

Kagan’s probing was backed up by other justices on the more liberal side of the court, notably Sonia Sotomayor, who has led the recent charge within the highest court against the increasingly maverick meth-

Justice Antonin Scalia concurred that “abolitionists have put pressure on manufacturers.

The abolitionists have rendered drugs that are 100% safe unavailable.”

The death chamber in Huntsville, Texas, where supplies of execution drugs are believed to be running low because of a European-led boycott. -Photo: Paul Buck/EPA more conservative wing vented their disapproval at those they called “abolitionists” who they accused of trying to overturn the death penalty by stealth, while the more liberal judges attacked states such as Oklahoma for using a new drug protocol that had left prisoners “writhing in pain” in executions that took up to two hours to complete.

The fraught oral argument, the first hearing of its sort at the supreme court in seven years, encapsulated the highly charged nature of the debate around capital punishment in America today. It indicated that the ethical and legal conundrum induced by a boycott of medical drugs being sold to US corrections departments has now percolated right to the pinnacle of the country’s judicial system.

In Glossip v Gross, the court is being asked to decide whether the use of a new drug in executions, midazolam, fell within the boundaries of the US constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

A string of recent procedures have shown prisoners displaying visible signs of prolonged distress – most notoriously the execution of Clayton Lockett almost exactly one year ago, in which he thrashed and groaned on the gurney in full view of witnesses, taking 43 minutes to die.

Justice Elena Kagan, who normally sides with the unofficial group of four liberal judges on the nine-strong panel, put the issue confronting the court most vividly. She questioned whether the state of Oklahoma could give a solid guarantee that midazolam could produce and sustain such deep unconsciousness in a prisoner that he would feel no pain throughout the execution.

“There is huge uncertainty about what happens when somebody is given [midazolam]. The evidence is that nobody can tell – that nobody knows for sure whether midazolam will work,” Kagan said.

If that were the case, she argued, then what would happen when a prisoner is administered the third drug in the triple lethal injection protocol – potassium

ods deployed by death penalty states. She suggested that the scientific experts used by Oklahoma to justify the use of midazolam were “plainly wrong” and said she was minded to believe nothing that the state said in testimony.

Stephen Breyer pointed to studies that showed that midazolam, which is a sedative normally used to reduce anxiety in patients rather than to prevent pain, was unreliable as an anesthetic. Cases had been reported where patients who had been rendered unconscious with midazolam were “jolted back into consciousness” and even woke up again when they felt a sudden infliction of pain.

“You lose right there,” he told Oklahoma’s attorney, Patrick Wyrick.

Both sides agreed that this case was not an existential discussion about the death penalty in itself. In its last hearing on the subject, in 2008, the supreme court ruled that the triple injection was constitutional, and there appeared to be no appetite among the justices to go back on that.

Breyer, however, did sound the only note of the morning in which capital punishment was questioned at its core. “If there’s no method of executing a person that does not cause pain, that may show the death penalty is not consistent with the eighth amendment,” he said.

On the other side of the supreme court rift, the conservative-leaning justices made little attempt to disguise their rising anger at the worldwide boycott on lethal injection drugs that over the past five years have bled stocks dry. In Oklahoma, drugs that once dependably formed the basis of the state’s execution protocol – sodium thiopental and pentobarbital – are now unattainable through a combination of government restrictions and the refusal of manufacturers to sell the chemicals to US prisons.

“Let’s be honest about what’s going on here,” said Samuel Alito. “This court has ruled that executions are constitutional, but some people are trying to abolish the death penalty.”

Two dozen writers join Charlie Hebdo PEN award protest

M

ore than two dozen writers including Junot Díaz, Joyce Carol Oates and Lorrie Moore have joined a protest against a freedom of expression award for Charlie Hebdo, signing a letter taking issue with what they see as a “reward” for the magazine’s controversial cartoons.

In their letter the writers protest against the award from PEN America, the prominent literary organization of which most of

the signatories are members, accusing the French satirical magazine of mocking a “section of the French population that is already marginalized, embattled, and victimized”.

26 writers, including Pulitzer and National Book Award winners, joined six others – Peter Carey, Michael Ondaatje, Francine Prose, Teju Cole, Rachel Kushner and Taiye Selasi – who had previously withdrawn from the PEN gala. -BBC News

The court’s chief justice, John Roberts, pressed Robin Konrad, the attorney representing the four death row inmates who brought the petition (one of whom has already been executed), to give examples of alternative ways of killing prisoners. When she mentioned the state’s recent decision to make nitrogen gas its back-up method, Roberts burst out: “Are you suggesting the gas chamber is preferable?”

Roberts complained that Glossip, the death row inmate named on the petition, “was recognized as guilty, is eligible for the death penalty, but you put us in the position where he can’t be executed and yet you have no alternative”.

As so often in the modern era of the supreme court, what emerges from the Glossip case – if anything – may well boil down to the view of the traditional swing vote on the panel: Justice Anthony Kennedy. To the frustration of those reading the tea leaves of the oral argument, he gave no clue as to his personal leanings, only intervening once over a technicality.

What appears certain from the proceedings is that the supreme court’s ruling, expected in the summer, will not challenge the death penalty as an ongoing facet of modern American life. But in reaching their majority decision, the justices may put out a signal – one way or the other – that could have a far-reaching bearing on the future application of the judicial taking of life.

-The Guardian

he unmanned cargo ship was launched from Kazakhstan on Tuesday, but contact was lost with it soon afterwards.

Russia’s space agency says Progress M-27M is now orbiting in an uncontrolled spin.

to the International Space Station is out of control and will fall back to Earth

“I always remind people that two-thirds of Earth’s surface is water,” she said.

“The likelihood of it coming down and hitting someone is so remote as to be miniscule.”

It cannot reach the ISS and is likely to break up on re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.

The craft carried on to a higher orbit after contact was lost.

Igor Komarov, the head of Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, said: “The craft’s continued flight and its docking with the ISS is not possible.”

Two astronauts spending a year on the ISS, Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko, told the Associated Press news agency that flight controllers had given up hope of controlling Progress again.

Interfax reports that Progress is likely to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere in the coming hours if communication is not restored, but the Russian news agency Interfax said it would re-enter between 7 and 11 May. Other capsules - including one Progress craft last year have burned up and disintegrat-

Progress had been due to deliver fuel, food and supplies to the International Space Station. -Photo: NASA ed on re-entering Earth’s atmosphere without posing a threat to the planet’s population.

Cathleen Lewis, a specialist in Russian space programmes at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, said it was not yet known where debris will fall - but that it was highly unlikely to hit urban areas.

Progress was to deliver food, water, fuel, oxygen and clothing to the crew of six people on the space station that orbits about 420km (250 miles) above Earth.

Even after Progress’ loss, the astronauts have enough supplies to keep them going until the next expected delivery on 19 June. -BBC News

Church ejects tai chi group A New Zealand church has told a group of elderly people that they can longer practice tai chi there because it conflicts with worshippers’ “spiritual wellbeing”.

T

wenty women, some with arthritis, had for years been using the Central Southland Presbyterian Parish hall to practise the martial art, known for its slow and gentle movements. But the parish council says they can no longer do so because tai chi doesn’t fit with the church’s values, The Southland Times reports. “ As church leaders we need to look after everyone in the parish, and their spiritual wellbeing,” John Willis, the parish council’s clerk, tells the paper.

“The first commandment is that we must honour God and have no other God before us, and having come from Taoism tai chi is promoting another God.” That doesn’t fly with the

group’s teacher, who says while the martial art may have been developed by Taoist monks, it’s now just another form of exercise. “The classes I teach are for older ladies and arthritis sufferers and have absolutely no religious significance,” the woman, who isn’t identified, tells the paper. While parish council suggested the women could stay put if they stopped calling their classes tai chi, that idea was apparently rejected by their teacher. The women have now moved their classes to a different venue.

In 2012, a priest banned a yoga class from using a church hall in the English town of Eastleigh after saying it was “not compatible with Catholicism”.

The local Catholic Diocese said at the time that banning “nonChristian activities” was a matter on which individual priests should decide. -BBC News

INNOVATION

VOICE OF ASIA 10

American philanthropy

Japanese PM seeks tech innovation in Silicon Valley visit

A symbol of american exceptionalism

by Chandra K. Mittal, Ph.D.

R

ecent announcement

by Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple Computers, Inc. that he will donate his entire wealth of about 750 Million Dollars for charity, reaffirmed yet again the American exceptionalism of volunteer “giving” back to society, indeed to the global society. In making such pledge Mr. Cook joins the rank of global philanthropists like Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Larry Ellison and many other Americans who are sharing their wealth for charitable causes.

Such charitable giving reinforces the truth that capitalism and market economy are not evil but indeed the source for human good in many ways despite the critics and skeptics who perpetuate the myth that capitalism is only about “taking” rather than “giving”.

One does not have to go too far or dig too deep to find American wealth working for charitable purposes around the world. In many instances, the private charities like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ford Foundation, etc. work for human welfare side by side the United Nations or the US government-funded programs for control and eradication of disease epidemics, natural disasters, war-torn areas, refugees relief, protection and empowerment of women, prevention of children exploitation, abolition of poverty etc.

Not many countries can match United States in contributing to global charity. In 2013, the year for which latest data is available, Americans gave Dollar 335 Billion in charity, an impressive sum of money despite that country experienced a severe recession between 2008 and 2010 with higher unemployment. Per Giving USA 2012, the largest source of charitable giving came from individuals at $241.32 billion, or 72% of total giving; fol-

lowed by foundations ($50.28 billion/15%), bequests ($26.81 billion/8%), and corporations ($16.76 billion/5%).

American charity giving is not confined to only Millionaires and Billionaires. It does percolate to all sections of the society. At individual level Americans are instinctively generous when it comes to giving for charitable worldwide for worthy causes. In 2013 with median household income of $ 52,250 about 95.4% of American households made individual voluntary contribution of about $3,000 to hundreds of charities around the world. Such contributions turn out to be about 6% of their yearly incomes. This is in addition to paying income taxes, real estate taxes, sales tax, etc. to the government coffers which also pays for many welfare programs in society.

The skeptics with socialistic leanings, however, argue that governments should play the dominant role in welfare programs for its citizens and it should not be left to the voluntary “giving” of private citizens.

They feel that governments should levy heavy taxation on the wealth creators to collect more revenue to fund these services. This may be relevant to some selected segments such as civil infrastructure, defense etc., but this model has universally failed to meet its promise in most government-provided social services programs as these are generally inefficient, ineffective and ridden with corruption. In contrast, the welfare programs sponsored and executed by the private individuals and foundations run more efficiently and effectively and bring actual relief to the needy.

Economics is a man-made (social) science that deals with production, distribution and consumption of goods and services in human society. Depending on how these components are controlled, make it a capitalistic (private ownership) or socialistic (public owner-

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

ship) model of economics.

While the overall wealth may be collectively owned by the nation, the history has shown that private ownership and control of resources creates positive economic growth in a society. These reasons convinced the American founding fathers having experienced the tyranny of the British monarchy and feudalism to adopt the capitalistic economic system with private ownership rights for their new nation. And this system has delivered on its promise which is unmatched in the world.

It is only the genius of the American capitalistic system that has created wealth which has also found its way in supporting various charitable causes. Philanthropy is only possible if people have the opportunity to create private wealth.

As Ted Turner, the Founder of CNN once said in his TV interview with Pier Morgan, “you have to have a Billion before you can donate it”. He was speaking in the context of his pledge to give 1 Billion Dollars to the United Nations for charitable causes over the 10 year period.

As countries liberalize and adopt market-based capitalistic economic model, the level of private philanthropy is likely catch up in the world as is being witnessed in countries like India, Mexico, etc.

by Martha Mendoza

J

apan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans a swing through Silicon Valley on Thursday, speaking with Stanford University experts about innovation, building relationships with tech firms and investors, and — as head of one of the world’s leading car producing nations — popping in on electric carmaker Tesla Motors.

“This Japanese administration has been focusing on changing its economy to a growth-based system built on innovation,” said Japanese economic researcher Takeo Hoshi, a senior fellow at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. “This is probably the best place in the world to look at that.”

The 1,854-square-mile region, including San Francisco and its peninsula stretching south to San Jose, is home to Google, Apple and other leading tech firms which help drive the U.S. economy. Today the economy is booming; last year the average annual earnings were $116,000, compared to $61,000 nationally. Venture capitalists invested $14.5 billion in businesses and 76,450 new jobs opened up.

-AP

Abe is one of a series of foreign officials to visit the Silicon Valley in recent years, including French President Francois Hollande, along with top leaders from Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Haiti, Russia and Turkey.

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“We’ve had a parade of ministers and secretaries lately, and they’re all wanting to associate themselves with the dynamism that is in evidence here,” said Russell Hancock, president of Joint Venture Silicon Valley, an organization focused on the local economy and quality of life.

Abe’s California schedule includes a round-table with business leaders at a resort on Sand Hill Road, a busy stretch of street known as the epicenter of tech venture capital companies that have launched Amazon, Facebook, Twitter and more. He will go to Stanford for a speech and meetings with Japanese foreign exchange students, followed by visits to social media giant Facebook, and the offices of Tesla Motors, whose electric cars are built in a nearby plant first opened by General Motors more than 50 years ago.

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THURSDAY MAY 21, 2015 6:00 – Reception 7:00 – Dinner and Program HILTON AMERICAS – GRAND BALLROOM 1600 Lamar Shell Oil Company and Motiva Enterprises LLC Presenting Sponsor PAULA SUTTON and BILL GROSS KAREN and JAY HARBERG LEENA and ASH SHAH Co-Chairs ANNE and JOHN MENDELSOHN, M. D. Honorary Chairs benefiting Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston For tickets, please call

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Lifestyle VOICE OF ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 11

ONLINE .COM voiceofasiaonline.com

Vol. 28 No. 18 Friday, May 1, 2015 Section 2 Page 11

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

Email: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com Tel: 713-774-5140

Pakistan Fashion Week:

Zara Shahjahan does vintage The collection was based on a fresh color palette on luxe materials

T

he sounds of Bollywood tracks Humma Humma, O Humdum Suniyo Re and Maahi Ve resonated in the hall as models sashayed across the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2015 ramp in Lahore in creations by designer Zara Shahjahan.

Shahjahan’s return to PSFW 2015 for the fourth time was marked by her new collection of luxury pret titled New Vintage.

“I took inspiration from the intangible qualities and emotions that possess and define the modern woman, qualities such as vivacity, that encapsulates the desire to experiment and live life to the fullest,” said the designer.

The womenswear collection was based on a fresh colour palette of blues, maroons, salmon pinks and pistachio greens on luxurious silks and karandi (a type of raw silk).

There were a lot of androgynous silhouettes and separates adorned with jewel embellishments, crystals and semi-precious stones.

national anthem is played before the start of every show, during which the entire audience in the main show area stands up.

Another remarkable point of the ongoing fashion gala is that there is no break between shows.

So, if you enter with the idea of coming out after watching one show, you are wrong. It will go on until the last show of the day, and thereby finishing the day on time, unlike many other fashion weeks that run into the wee hours.

This also proves that designers here want to spend more time making a collection that will create memories rather than investing time in making huge sets and adding drama on the ramp with lighting and decoration.

All in all, there are many things to learn from this booming industry.

S h a h j a h a n ’s collection was a celebration of i n d i v i d u a l i t y, femininity and sophistication.

Undoubtedly, Pakistani designers and the Pakistan fashion week is unique in many ways.

Above: By design vet Shamaeel Ansari were amazing, intricately embroidered capes and trousers in detailed brocade of burnished gold and rich maroons. They’re clothes made for carrying yourself like a royal, no matter where you are, but also they have a lot of give and leeway

One of the high points of the Pakistan fashion week is that the audio and video of the country’s

Intricate detailing was everywhere, though—in the stunning, elegant motion of seemingly weightless shawls made by Zara Shahjahan (above). She has a bridal line, as well, which is even more extravagant than this; you can imagine based on the painstakingness of the beadwork, tiny stars on a navy sky.

Ways to keep eyes healthy

M

ost of the computer users suffer from the symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) and an expert says that it is important to take breaks and blink regularly.

According to a recent study, prolonged sitting while at your desk can increase your

But that’s not the only thing at work that poses a risk to our health. Around 70 percent of computer users regularly leave work suffering from the symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) so it is important to follow a few easy steps to ensure sitting at a desk doesn’t take its toll on your health:

minute. Our usual rate of blinking is more like 18 - 20 times per minute, so this is a significant reduction - it can cause symptoms such as dry eyes and blurred vision,” said professor Dan Reinstein of the London Vision Clinic.”

Other common symptoms of CVS include red eyes, eye strain, double vision, headaches and difficulty refocusing the eyes.

Reinstein provides his top tips on how to prevent CVS, and keep our eyes healthy and comfortable.

- Take a short break from your computer screen at least once every hour; ensure that you move and look away from your computer.

Ways to keep your eyes healthy risk of heart disease, diabetes and stroke, reports femalefirst. co.uk.

- Keep your computer screen clean.

“When we use a computer for long periods, we only blink around 4 - 7 times per

The best and worst airlines for summer 2015 travel

I

n first place: Hawaiian Airlines, which has repeatedly taken FORBES’ crown as the most timely airline for Thanksgiving and Christmas travel. In second place: Alaska Airlines, which also has scored well among the best airlines during the winter.

On Hawaiian, 93.4 percent of travelers arrived on time, and just 6.4 percent of flights arrived late. (The other fraction were canceled.) It was the only major airline whose flights arrived on time more than 90 percent. Flights by Alaska, meanwhile, had an 86.3 percent on-time arrival record during the past three summers.

In third place, and scoring the best performance by a major airline, was Delta Air Lines Nearly 82 percent of its flights arrived on time in the summer, even though Delta has extensive

service across the South, in the Midwest and on the East Coast, where summer thunderstorms often cause problems in the afternoon.

Fourth place went to US Airways (we listed it separately because it operated independently of merger partner American the past three summers, and because it’s still possible to book a US Airways flight). Its summer ontime record was 79.6 percent.

The worst performance was

by Express Jet, which carries regional passengers for Delta and United Airlines. Its on-time arrival rate averaged 71.2 % The second worst airline for an on-time arrival record was Envoy Air, which was American Eagle until 2014. Its on-time arrival record the past three summers was 71.4 percent.

-FORBES

- Be conscious of blinking regularly.

Several of the designers showed that there are a trillion ways to re-interpret and make traditional looks contemporary. At left, a celebratory nature scene on a gown by Zaheer Abbas is festive and hyper-feminine while being authoritative and strong. A more casual but no less luxe look by Deepak Perwani, middle, combines relaxed, resort-appropriate pants with a to-die-for ombre dye job on balloon sleeves, no less. And this technicolor floral pantsuit by Sana Safinaz (right), is the perfect ensemble for going from work to party.

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- Optimise the angle, height and distance of your screen.

Being the wrong distance away from your screen can increase muscle strain and visual discomfort.

- Be aware of environmental factors. Air-conditioning and fans can worsen the dry-eye symptoms of CVS. - If contact lenses make your eyes feel dry, avoid wearing them when using a computer.

CVS is particularly common in contact lens wearers.

At the London Vision Clinic, we often see patients who are choosing to have laser eye surgery because they find they can no longer wear their contact lenses for long periods, especially while using computers.

- Drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated.

- Avoid ‘glare’ from windows and overhead lights.

- Ensure that your computer screen is not flickering.

- And, most importantly, have an eye examination.

-IANS

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SCIENCE & TECH

VOICE OF ASIA 12

Cheaper robots, fewer workers

by Keith Bradsher

F

aced with an acute and worsening shortage of blue-collar workers, China is rushing to develop and deploy a wide variety of robots for use in thousands of factories.

Waves of migrant workers

than $500 a month in coastal provinces.

Chinese businesses and the government are responding by designing and starting to install large numbers of robots, with the goal of keeping factories running and expanding without necessarily causing a drop in overall employment.

force each year.

The main ages for factory labor in China and in other developing countries are 18 to 24.

Compounding the labor shortage for China’s manufacturing-intensive economy is that workers are staying in school longer — much longer. And following a Confucian tradition that the educated do not soil their hands with manual labor, graduates overwhelmingly refuse to accept factory work, except in supervisory, design or engineering positions.

As recently as 1997, China had only 3.2 million undergraduate students. With the Asian financial crisis that year, China began expanding its universities quickly, in an attempt to offset job losses among young people.

China is rushing to develop and deploy a wide variety of robots from the countryside filled China’s factories for the last three decades and helped make the nation the world’s largest manufacturer. But many companies now find themselves struggling to hire enough workers. And for the scarce workers they do find, pay has more than quintupled in the last decade, to more

Government rules limiting most couples to just one child halved the birthrate in China from 1987 to 2003. The birthrate then leveled off at a lower level per 1,000 residents than in the United States. So China has lots of workers in their late 20s, but an ever-shrinking supply of workers now entering the work

A few low-tech industries, like garment manufacturing, are moving from China to places that still have very low wages, like Bangladesh. But many industries, particularly electronics, are still moving factories to China. That is because so many of the parts suppliers are now in China that it is often more costly to do assembly elsewhere.

So although building robots to replace workers is seldom cheap, a growing number of companies are finding it less costly than either paying everhigher wages in China or moving to another country.

-NewYorkTimes

Crowdfunded science is here. But is it legit science?

by Neel V. Patel

A

crowdfunding CAMPAIGN FOR A brain imaging study closed Monday after raising almost $80,000 toward a unique goal: the first functional magnetic resonance images of the brain on LSD. The Beckley Foundation, a UK-based charitable trust that promotes research and awareness of psychoactive drugs, will use the money to scan volunteers who’ve dropped acid. Such are the sacrifices people will make for science.

Now, it’s little surprise scientists studying the effects of illicit drugs must sometimes find unconventional benefactors—or that thousands of people would invest in seeing the brains of volunteers tripping balls. But in recent years, crowdfunding has grown increasingly popular among researchers in nearly every field.

Successful campaigns have explored drought tolerance in Spanish and Indian oak species, attempted to explain jokes with math, and worked to discover exoplanets in the far reaches of space. The first crowdfunded experiments popped up on traditional plat-

The images represent the interconnectivity of the brain on placebo and psilocybin. Researchers expect similar results in their LSD-imaging studies. Photo: THE BECKLEY FOUNDATION forms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo; now sites like Petridish, Experiment, and Walacea cater specifically to scientific fundraising.

In the US, most scientific funding comes from the government, distributed in grants awarded by an assortment of federal science, health, and defense agencies. So it’s a bit disconcerting that some scientists find it necessary to fund their research the same way dudebros raise money for a potato salad. Does that migration suggest the current grant system is broken? If it is, how can we ensure that funding goes to legitimate science working to-

ward meaningful discoveries?

On its own, the fact that scientists are seeking new sources of funding isn’t so weird. In the view of David Kaiser, a science historian at MIT, crowdfunding is simply the latest “pendulum swing” in how scientists and research institutions fund their work.

Once upon a time, research at MIT and other universities was funded primarily by student tuition and private philanthropists. In 1919, however, with philanthropic investment drying up, MIT launched an ambitious plan that allowed local Continued on page 13

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FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

The 22 best Apple Watch health and fitness apps

by Sarah Buhr

I

n case you haven’t heard, the Apple Watch, Apple’s first step into the world of wearables, has started shipping to consumers.

The Watch marks an interesting time in the wearable fitness space, in particular. Health and fitness trackers like Jawbone Up and Fitbit have dominated much of that space in the last few years. According to NDP, these wearable fitness devices sold close to 3.3 million units last year.

The Apple Watch is more of a comprehensive platform, but it has definitely taken the popularity of these fitness trackers into account, equipping the Watch with a built-in heart rate monitor, GPS tracker to measure distance and speed during workouts, an accelerometer to track body movement, and proprietary apps that show calories burned and overall fitness levels.

Not wanting to be left out of the action on this new platform, many health technology companies have started to repurpose their smartphone apps for the Apple Watch as well. While not all apps add much more to the Watch experience than they do to your phone, there are a few that make that subtle leap.

First, let’s go through the apps that Apple has chosen to feature on the Apple Watch section on its site.

Nike+ Running – Apple kicked both Jawbone Up and Nike+ Fuel Band out of the Apple store in anticipation of the Watch. But it looks like Apple through Nike some love by adding the Nike+ Watch app into the featured set of fitness apps on Apple’s website. The Nike+ Running app will allow owners of the Watch to connect with its global running community as well as log distance and run duration right on their wrist.

Green Kitchen – This app adds dozens of healthy recipes and the step-by-step instructions to make them with a tap on the screen. The app includes a timer within the Watch to notify you when to take certain items out of the oven.

Strava – Know how high you climbed, your average speed, distance and heart rate in realtime as well as segment by segment updates to keep you pushing forward in your workout.

Mayo Clinic Synthesis – This app is a bit more for the medical doctor side of management.

It helps physicians manage their daily schedule and alerts them when a patient is waiting for them in the lobby or the exam room. It also provides basic patient information such as age, sex and weight.

LifeSum – Think of this one as a food journal on your wrist. This app provides a way to track what you are eating and drinking throughout the day and then look it up later to figure out how many calories you’ve consumed. It also provides the right portion size and which foods to avoid.

Runtastic – The Apple Watch will have three apps from the popular run tracking platform: The original Runtastic to track runs using GPS, Runtastic Six Pack and Runtastic Butt Trainer. The apps include a Glances feature to display an avatar that will demonstrate the right way to do each exercise. This helps the person working out follow along instead of having to look up or hold a phone while going through the movements.

Touting many apps for improving your fitness levels, the Apple Watch is worth a look.

There are many, many health and fitness apps that are either already on the Watch or will be on the Watch in the near future.

The following is a collection of the top apps we believe have the best use case on your wrist.

Hello Heart – This is a blood pressure monitor and heart health companion app. This is a good one for the Watch as it can record and upload vital signs right from your wrist. More than 100 million Americans have some type of a heart condition. This app could make it easy for them to monitor those conditions in real-time, rather than having to go into a doctor’s office or pharmacy to get that information.

Fitstar Yoga – Instead of having to look up at the screen or instructor to make sure you have the pose right, this app helps the user see what the proper pose looks like right on their wrist. It also allows them to check on the time remaining for the chosen yoga session or manage the session by using the play, pause or use the back and forth controls.

WaterMinder – This is a pretty straightforward app that helps folks stay hydrated by reminding them to drink up. You can also visualize your daily water levels to figure out if you are drinking enough.

Map My Run – At this point you may be wondering why another running app, besides the native app in the Apple Watch and the Nike+ Running app are worth a try. Map My Run not only has a significant and dedicated community to encourage that running life. The new Watch app will also let enthusiasts log more than 600 different types of workouts, record GPS activities, sync and share activity on Apple Health and MyFitnessPal and socially share workouts with friends.

HealthTap – Tap on the app to ask questions and get answers to medical questions from 68,000 U.S. doctors while on the go.

The app will also provide reminders for virtual sessions with your doctor, personal notifications and reminders to take your prescribed medications.

Medication Alarm – Reminds you to take any type of medication throughout the day, using an infinite amount of reminders, medication and times to take. Also lets you track how many pills you have left to give you a heads up on when you need to order more.

Human – This one tracks your activities throughout the day and pushes you to get up and move for 30 minutes every day. That’s important because while you may not be physically close to your phone all the time, you will be able to see that reminder on the watch to get up and move at least 30 minutes a day. The app automatically picks up your walks, bike rides, runs and other activities that go for a minute or more and then logs them on the app.

Misfit Minute – Misfit already has a popular wearable product worn on the wrist, but started venturing into other platforms

with a fitness app on the Pebble watch last July. Continuing on the trend of being hardware agnostic, Misfit has created an app for the Watch that will give consumers a total body workout, using body weight training and circuit intervals.

Carrot Fit – Carrot, the zany artificial intelligence family of apps, will all be on the Apple Watch, including an app that shames you into working out.

Carrot Fit both terrifies and inspires with seven minute workouts that will have you escaping from a squad of mean ostriches and punching Justin Bieber. This way you can receive judgement and pop references on your wrist instead of your phone.

Clue – This is a period tracking app that lets women figure out where they are in their cycle. Apple was criticized for not including a period tracker in HealthKit, but that’s a pretty important part of women’s health. This app prognosticates when a woman will next start her period, PMS and when she is most likely to get pregnant.

WebMD – The WebMD app will remind patients to take their meds as well as provide instructions on how to take certain medications and a daily schedule of when to take them.

BACtrack – There are a couple of smartphone breathalyzer test apps on the market, but this one lets you check your blood alcohol levels without fumbling around in a drunken state while looking for your phone.

Of course, you’ll have to also have the BACtrack’s smart breathalyzer tool on you to start a BAC test, but it frees up one of your hands to hold the tool while taking the test. drchrono – Physicians who use the iOS app can already pull up a patient’s medical information and use an iPad to send the bill. The Apple Watch app helps medical professionals see chat messages from their clinic colleagues reminding them to wrap up their visit and see their schedule without it looking like they are ignoring the patient and playing with their phone.

They can also use the app to respond privately to patient text messages and view patient information on their wrist.

Doximity – The largest medical professional network in the U.S. comes to the wrist. According to company estimates, about half of all of America’s doctors are Doximity members. Physicians with an Apple Watch will be able to access Doximity’s free tools such as HIPPA-compliant messaging, electronic fax capabilities and reading up on curated medical news.

Skin – The skin is the body’s largest organ and can tell you a lot about your health. The Skin app requires the use of your phone’s camera to take pictures of your skin. The Watch app then helps you pull up those images quickly and monitor changes in your skin over time.

It won’t diagnose you, but it does alert you if something has changed or should get checked out by a medical professional.

-TechCrunch

LEISURE

VOICE OF ASIA 13

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

Freedom and the new leisure classes

by Lawrence J. Fedewa

S

ince the beginning of our history, America has been all about freedom.

America was founded as a nation by people who had nothing to lose: religious refugees, outlaws, servants, serfs, slaves and outcasts. The one thing they all had in common was their obsession with freedom. Everywhere else in the 18th century world individuals were classified by their birth into narrow life stations according to religion, caste, craft, clan, place, or parents. America, of course, was also such a place. But the people who came here, who stayed here, and who made it here were people of great courage, resourcefulness and above all a determination to be free of the bonds from which they had fled. This characteristic is still the bedrock of what it is to be an American.

The first freedom was a personal thing — “I want to be free to do what I want for myself and my family.” It was clear from the beginning, however, that each person’s own freedom depended on the freedom of the people we lived with.

The expansion of this “circle of the free” has been a constant in American life and can be considered in some ways the story of this country. From the first Thanksgiving at Plymouth Rock in 1621 when Gov. Bradford invited the great Pawtuxet king Massasoit and 90 of his people to a feast which lasted three days, to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, to 19th amendment (women’s right to vote) in 1920, to the civil rights movement of the late 20th century, to the gay rights movement of the 21st century, the “circle of the free” has always continued to expand.

For many of those years, and still today for many Americans, the principal thrust was “freedom FROM” – from England, first, but also from injustice, from invasion of privacy, from arbitrary laws and criminal enforcement, from onerous taxation, and the rest of the Bill of Rights. These were civil freedoms. There were also techno-

logical freedoms to be sought — from weather, distance, disease, ignorance, from backbreaking labor and fatigue. We have developed machines to assist with many of the tasks of life — machines to move the earth, to move people and goods, to wash our dishes, to clean our floors, to print our letters, to play our music, to cook our food, and to sew our clothes. Our economic freedom protects our private property and, among other things, allows every person and household to decide whether to purchase any, all, or none of these products.

The best examples of contemporary American leisure classes are perhaps the young and the old, before and after the busy years of raising a family and maintaining a career.

Many children of the relatively affluent families in our society have grown up in an atmosphere of hectic activities, such as sports, crafts, music, and other hobbies, which have as their primary purpose the pleasure of the participants.

These activities have little to do with the economic responsibilities these youngsters will be later expected to undertake. As they grow older, they begin to realize this disconnect and seek alternatives, some in drugs, sex or violence.

The quickly growing community of retired persons is another leisure class. Retirees are prone to a different type of pleasure-seeking. A common assumption seems to be: “Now that I am free from the demands of work, I have fulfilled my responsibilities to society and can spend my time sightseeing, playing golf (or bridge), watching television, or fishing.

It is freedom which makes the extended person possible. their freedom. The huge growth of volunteerism in America is one sign of a positive answer to the unparalleled freedom of many Americans. More and more fields are experiencing a quantum leap in interest and creativity, whether politics, philanthropy, medical causes, education, the arts, science, entrepreneurship, history, or help

for the handicapped and infirm, including wounded warriors.

The contributions of leisure class Americans to these causes are frequently breath-taking.

Science

new nanoparticles to fight cancer cells on Experiment, have embraced crowdfunding. The grant-awarding process can feel arbitrary, says Bishop, and “the selection of those studies skews towards projects that take fewer risks.” In addition, most grants require scientists to provide proof-of-concept studies for their research, which makes it extremely difficult for more experimental projects to get off the ground. “It used to be that the grant money was there to do the experiment,” says Bishop. “Now the cynical joke is that you need to do the experiment first in order to be awarded a grant.”

Continued from page 12 companies to sponsor specific labs and projects.

Critics complained the university had allowed corporate interests to dig their claws into scientific endeavors and befoul intellectual autonomy. (Sound familiar?) But once WWII began, the US government became a force for funding, giving huge wartime grants to research groups nationwide.

Federal patronage continued expanding in the decades after the war.

In the history of civilization, it has been observed by cultural historians that many of the most important and enduring contributions to philosophy,

This hedonism in American society is one answer to the questions of what freedom is FOR. It says, “Now that I am free to do whatever I want, I will spend my time doing what gives me pleasure.”

Seventy years later, that trend has reversed: As the federal budget shrinks, government investment in scientific research has reached new lows.

The conventional models for federal grants, explains University of Iowa immunologist Gail Bishop, “were designed to work such that 25 to 30 percent of studies were funded.

Now it’s around 10 percent.”

Crowdfunding allows smallscale research to bypass the time and trouble required to draft and defend a grant proposal, and find money to cover the startup costs of a project.

While most biomedical grants leave nine long months between submission and decision, Bishop was pleasantly surprised to see her campaign progress in real time toward its meager $1,500 goal.

Many members of both these leisure classes, however, do find productive ways to use

That’s part of the reason scientists like Bishop, who successfully funded a study of

But like all shortcuts, crowdfunding has its downsides.

Government-funded institu-

science, art, literature, and religion have been the products of a leisure class. Never in history, however, has there been a leisure class of more than a few hundred privileged people at the top of the economic ladder of their society.

The prospect of tens of millions of people having the freedom to follow their creative energies holds monumental promise for society. We are already seeing evidence of this promise in a myriad of different fields. To live in this world of expanded possibilities gives Americans the prospect of living a larger, more fulfilling, and more productive life than any previous generations.

This democratization of the leisure class is fast becoming the privilege of many Americans. It is ours to use for good or ill.

-Washington Post tions might be bogged down by tight regulations, but those rules can act as crucial checks on studies that might stand on shaky evidence or harm participants. (The Beckley Foundation’s LSD study is being run at Imperial College, so the researchers must follow institutional guidelines that are meant to protect participants.)

Government grants also typically require a transparent accounting of how money is used, while money raised through crowdfunding doesn’t have those stipulations attached. There’s always the possibility—however rare— that a scientist or researcher may use funds in irresponsible or unethical ways.

The “crowd” part of crowdfunding also presents a significant problem. When scientists have to shill their ideas on social media like every other entrepreneur, there’s nothing to stop sexy, sensational campaigns from overshadowing more important or legitimate studies. “You want to go viral, but that’s not so easy to do,” says Aaron Seitz, a psychologist at UC Riverside who used a crowdfunded campaign to pay for his study on audi-

tory dysfunction in veterans of war. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been given to Immunity Project, a company seeking to develop a vaccine for HIV, but whose scientific credentials are debatable at best. That’s money that could have instead gone toward campaigns to study autism, or measure toxic chemicals in local bodies of water.

That’s the advantage of agency-funded research: At least in theory, there’s a body of intelligent, scientifically-informed individuals making the call about what research needs to get done. You can bet that the majority of funders of the Beckley LSD study didn’t do it because they believe in the scientific preeminence of the researchers behind it: They did it because they like the idea of sticking high people in an fMRI (and who wouldn’t?).

But that doesn’t mean that the science getting crowdfunded is crap. The researchers for the LSD study, for example, have been investigating the effects of psychedelics for years now, and their results have been published in several prestigious journals. The majority of people looking for funding on these platforms are credentialed scientists whose work will ultimately be subjected to peer review. As long as those checks and balances are still in place, any junk science that makes its way onto a crowdfunding platform still won’t get published.

And the amount of money awarded to poorly-designed studies will remain quite low.

Common funding goals rank in the single-digit thousands— only a fraction of the size of a typical federal grant.

“Crowdfunding won’t replace conventional means of funding,” says Kaiser. What it will do is offer a chance for smaller studies to take off when they would be denied the opportunity otherwise.

Kaiser thinks small projects, especially theoretical research that perhaps doesn’t require as much in equipment and staff costs, will take advantage of crowdfunding more and more.

That, and probably a few more high fMRI studies than you’d otherwise see the NIH fund.

-Wired

Young Life

VOICE OF ASIA 14

Friday, May 1, 2015

Section 2

Page 14

Email: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

Tel: 713-774-5140

Babies as young as six Jordan’s 20-year-old Prince months using mobile media to UN: Must protect youth from being lured into M radical Islam’s ‘dark world’ ore than one-third of babies are tapping on smartphones and tablets even before they learn to walk or talk, and by 1 year of age, one in seven toddlers is using devices for at least an hour a day, according to a study to be presented Saturday, April 25 at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in San Diego.

The American Academy of Pediatrics discourages the use of entertainment media such as televisions, computers, smartphones and tablets by children under age 2. Little is known, however, when youngsters actually start using mobile devices.

Researchers developed a 20item survey to find out when young children are first exposed to mobile media and how they use devices.

The questionnaire was adapted from the “Zero to Eight” Common Sense Media national survey on media use in children.

A recent UN report showed an increase in the number of foreign jihadist fighters

T

he crown prince of Jordan, Hussein bin Abdullah, became the youngest person to ever chair a session of the United Nation’s Security Council on Thursday.

Little girl taking a ‘selfie’ (stock image) had less than a high school education. Media devices were ubiquitous, with 97 percent having TVs, 83 percent having tablets, 77 percent having

Lead author Hilda Kabali, MD, a third-year resident in the Pediatrics Department at Einstein Healthcare Network, said the results surprised her.

More than one-third of babies are tapping on smartphones and tablets even before they learn to walk or talk

Parents of children ages 6 months to 4 years old who were at a hospital-based pediatric clinic that serves a low-income, minority community were recruited to fill out the survey. Participants were asked about what types of media devices they have in their household, children’s age at initial exposure to mobile media, frequency of use, types of activities and if their pediatrician had discussed media use with them.

Results from 370 parents showed that 74 percent were African-American, 14 percent were Hispanic and 13 percent

smartphones and 59 percent having Internet access.

Children younger than 1 year of age were exposed to media devices in surprisingly large numbers: 52 percent had watched TV shows, 36 percent had touched or scrolled a screen, 24 percent had called someone, 15 percent used apps and 12 percent played video games.

By 2 years of age, most children were using mobile devices.

“We didn’t expect children were using the devices from the age of 6 months,” she said. “Some children were on the screen for as long as 30 minutes.”

Results also showed 73 percent of parents let their children play with mobile devices while doing household chores, 60 percent while running errands, 65 percent to calm a child and 29 percent to put a child to sleep.

Time creased percent percent devices day.

Finally, only 30 percent of parents said their child’s pediatrician had discussed media use with them.

-American Academy of Pediatrics

Youth are also being drawn by the promise of being able to make nation-altering change in the Middle East.

The Security Council heard from anthropologist Scott

Youth recruitment in the militant group has increased to alarming levels (Stock photo)

M

ost European youth who travel to Iraq and Syria to fight with Islamic State militants do so because they do not feel at home in Europe, academics told a United Nations Security Council meeting.

Peter Neumann, a professor at the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence at King’s College London, said that his center had tracked 700 young Europeans fighting with Islamic State on social media and had spoken to nearly 100 of them to find out their stories.

G

“We are dealing with an incredibly diverse group,” Neumann told the Security Council.

“What many, if not most of them, had in

Enough of what, exactly?

Cheating, being told to “chill out,” being called a moron, fights among students, being the subject of rumors, feeling unsafe in his own classroom.

He followed up with a second e-mail to administrators at the school, informing them of what he’d done.

“Swift measures should be taken to stop feeding the fires of terrorism with the blood of our youth, who are the primary

target of recruitment, both voluntary and forced, by armies and extremist and terrorist groups,” the prince told the Security Council.

Atran, who described ISIS and al-Qaeda as “’the world’s most dynamic countercultural movement,’ drawing youths from many places into the ‘most potent extraterritorial fighting force since World War II.’” A UN report released at the beginning of April showed an increase in the number of foreign fighters from last year, with over 25,000 foreign jihadists from more than 100 countries now involved in armed conflicts.

The report indicated the countries where most fighters are coming from include Tunisia, Morocco, France, and Russia, with new flows of jihadists coming from the Maldives, Finland, Trinidad and Tobago, and some countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Jordan plans to host a conference in August to encourage new leaders who want peace and opportunity to arise among Islamic youth. -INS

SIDELINE:

ALVESTON - For Texas A&M at Galveston professor Irwin Horwitz, “enough was enough.”

“None of you, in my opinion, given the behavior in this class, deserve to pass, or graduate to become an Aggie, as you do not in any way embody the honor that the university holds graduates should have within their personal character,” he wrote in the e-mail, which was published by Inside Higher Ed.

The oldest son of King Abdullah II said one of the main causes of young people being siphoned off into groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is the lack of opportunities. Young people look at a “dead-end future” and are ripe for recruitment from radical Islam.

The crown prince of Jordan, Hussein bin Abdullah, became the youngest person to ever chair a session of the United Nation’s Security Council (Credit: YouTube/World Network TV)

spent on devices inwith age, with 26 of 2-year-olds and 38 of 4-year-olds using for at least an hour a

Epic fail: Texas A&M Galveston professor flunks entire class for “disgraceful” conduct

At least, those are the reasons he gave in an e-mail to his strategic management class last week, when he informed students that he was quitting the course - and leaving every one of them with a failing grade.

The prince presided over a debate about the role of youth in countering the threat of radical Islam. He said measures must be taken to keep young people from being “lured into the dark world” of extremists.

common is that they didn’t feel they had a stake in their societies. They often felt that … they weren’t European, they didn’t belong, that they’d never succeed however hard they tried.”

He said this had opened their minds to an ideology that “you can’t be European and Muslim at the same time.”

Anthropologist Scott Atran of the University of Michigan and the National Center for Scientific Research in Paris, said that countries needed to focus on the “inherent energy and idealism” of their youth.

“Without recognizing these passions, we risk fanning them,” Atran said.

- Reuters

DeVry University closing in Houston

A

No students were allowed to pass in this classroom (Stock photo) Predicting (correctly) that students would complain, Horwitz wrote to school officials that such complaints were “your problem now.”

According to local NBC affiliate KPRC, Horwitz’s department head will take over the class for the remainder of the semester. And although the university is investigating the allegations of cheating and other misbehavior in Horwitz’s e-mail, they won’t be uphold-

ing his decision to grant an F to the entire class of roughly 30 students.

“None of them have failed until the end of the class, meaning the only reason a student would fail is because he or she has not performed the expectations for that particular class,” Vice President for Academic Affairs Patrick Louchouarn told KPRC. Texas

A&M

spokesman

popular university is closing its doors here in Houston as it transitions to an-online only program for some of its locations.

The school currently has two locations. One at 11125 Equity Drive in Northwest Houston while the other is at 2000 W. Loop South in the Galleria area.

About 583 Houston graduShane Hinckley told the Houston Chronicle that no action had been taken regarding Horwitz’s employment.

Horwitz, who has taught

DeVry’s Galleria campus’ days are numbered ate and undergraduate students will be affected by the changes, while roughly 80 staff mem-

bers from both campuses will be impacted.

-KPRC Houston

management for two decades at six universities, according to his faculty bio, said that this class was his worst in all his years of teaching.

“This class is unique. I have never failed a class. It is very rare that I fail students; sometimes learning incorporates tough love,” he told KPRC. -Washington Post

VOICE OF ASIA 15

Friday, May 1, 2015

Bollywood Masala Section 2

Page 15

Email: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

Tel: 713-774-5140

Hollywood will rise but Bollywood won’t fall

by Vishal Verma

T

he performance of ‘Fast and Furious 7’ and ‘Avengers Age of Ultron’ has opened up the debate on India’s growing market potential and Bollywood’s capacity to cope with the change.

Is it a curse or a boon? The ‘Avengers Age Of Ultron’ has pegged in 35.74 crore weekend.

The most astonishing and underlining fact is the upsurge of audience from India’s so called ‘mass’ centers like Bihar, Hindi belt etc where this Hollywood most anticipated franchise saw boards of ‘Housefull’ - a phenomena associated with Bollywood mass heroes and super stars.

Rishi Kapoor: Ranbir spends more time with me now but I miss him

American poplar franchises are now finding bigger and better say and stay in Indian markets. Previously ‘Fast and Furious 7’ got much better of the well promoted Yash Raj period detective thriller ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’ and it is claimed to have touched the 100 crore mark in India (a rare phenomenon for a Hollywood film).

Raking a fantabulous 12 crore moolah on day one, ‘Fast and Furious 7’ broke the record of ‘The Amazing Spider Man 2’ (7.50).

YRF Indian desi dhoti kurta clad tram traveler detective played by Sushant Singh Rajput and helmed by the national award winner Dibaker Banerjee was left behind in the race with James Wan and Neal Moritz designed super sleek wheels driven by the macho Americans Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. ‘Detective Byomkesh Bakshy!’ managed 4.20 crore on day one.

Anyhow nothing much was expected from the Indian releases - ‘Ishq Ke Parindey’, ‘Jai Ho! Democracy’ and ‘Kaagaz Ke Fools’ which came along with ‘Avengers Age Of Ultron’.

None of the three reached 1 crore as the audience flocked to Avengers third installment.

“Our job is only about passion. It’s a kind of junoon”

R

ishi Kapoor is someone who enjoys his drinks and it is almost customary for him to drink every night. I met him while he was shooting a song on the set of All Is Well, when coincidentally he had not drunk for the last 23 days. He doesn’t think it’s a big deal either way, though everyone around him does.

He gets offered many roles as the main protagonist, but Rishi Kapoor is a not a man who lives in a false world.

He is practical and grounded and knows which film to accept and which not to. He has worked as the younger brother of Amitabh Bachchan in many iconic films, but will be playing Abhishek’s father for the first time in All Is Well. Excerpts from a conversation with the bright, forthright, affectionate and charming Rishiji.

You have worked with Amitabh Bachchan in so many films and now you are working with Abhishek in All Is Well.

What’s the difference?

Abhishek is such a bachcha and such a kid at heart and so genuine. He is a wonderful actor. He is so playful and so lively on the set. Amitji was a reserved kind of actor. He is a

reserved man, while Abhishek is a joyful kid. He wouldn’t talk much on the set and would always mind his own work.

He was always apne kaam se kaam. Abhishek is the exact opposite of his father. I am happy that he is getting his worth right now and is getting the films he is getting and he is enjoying it. He is a hard-working and work-loving actor and that I like very much, as there are very few actors who are passionate. Abhishek ko acting ka shauk hai.

Amitabh Bachchan was never crass, he was always class Our job is only about passion, it’s a kind of junoon. And he has that about him. So working with him is like revisiting the Bachchan family.

Do they both have anything in common?

The height, the talent. But Abhishek has his own way.

Unlike his father, he is not a stylised actor. In fact, I don’t think this generation has any stylised actors. They have all become very natural and spontaneous and Abhishek is also one of them.

Continued on page 16

A certain section of the trade is biting it nails in anguish and worrying about the increasing audience base of Hollywood movies in India. Veteran trade experts where seen taking potshots at this development.

Amod Mehra twitted, “Success of #FF7 has encouraged Universal to make the next franchise edition in Hindi. As the hero they signed.. no not Salman.. his driver..”

Komal Nahata twitted, “Avengers: Age Of Ultron opens very big in India. What a terrific start. Bollywood needs to pull up its socks. First, Fast&Furious 7, now Avengers.”

Prominent trade expert Vinod Mirani commented on this development, “If the audience would have had a better option they would have opted for the same. Detective Byomkesh Bakshi was for select audience and it had Sushant Singh Rajput in a period base detective drama. On the other hand Fast and Furious 7 had a popular branding associated with the youth appeal and a well planned release in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu’. Avengers : Age Of Ultron almost had a free run with unpopular Bollywood releases Ishq Ke Parindey, Jai Ho! Democracy and Kaagaz Ke Fools in competition’.”

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Akshay Kumar, Shruti K. Haasan and Kareena Kapoor star in new movie ‘Gabbar Is Back’’ He further added that insisted of voicing concern the makers should take care of the content, price and costing. “A person will be willing to pay 250 for a 3D ‘Furious 7’ in multiplex, 100 rupees for ‘Avengers’ in 2D mass center for its Hindi version. Why will the audience pay the same for a Vinay Pathak, Om Puri or a new comer starrer? Look at the way Mr.X 3D was done... It wasn’t necessary. We should be doing more and more properly planned products like ‘Dum Laga ke Haishya’ which was correct in its content, costing and pricing”.

“If we look at the perspective with an open mind, the Hollywood recent Dance of Joy is good music for Indian market and an indication of the growing confidence of Hollywood in India as an audience.”

Girish Wankhede National Marketing Head - PVR Pictures Ltd, is glad by the scenario and says, “The overwhelming performance of Hollywood franchise Furious, Avengers, is a confirmation of the huge base and following of the popular series in India. The global branding of Furious and Avengers is tremendous and unbeatable.

Universal and Disney have sense the following and release in good number of theatres giv-

ing the audience the entertainment and market the return of the investment.”

On the voices of concern coming from certain section of the trade Girish explains, “Bollywood has great capability to entertain its audience by its good content, we are churning out good films and there is a scope for all and audience for every genre. There’s no worry at all. In fact is good and encouraging to see Hollywood cinema finding more and more patronage thanks to the current generation who are more open and aware. Rise of Hollywood in no way indicates decline of Bollywood”.

Girish is also upbeat about Akshay Kumar’s ‘Gabbar Is Back’ and says, “The mass

appeal of Gabbar and popularity of Akshay will bring in the expected numbers and this is a great positive sign for the market. On one hand we see Hollywood expanding its base amongst the Indian audience; while the ‘massy’ Bollywood masala lover waits for Friday to see his hero in action once again. Similarly the upcoming Hollywood, Bollywood releases - Spectrum, Jurassic Park, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Prem Ratan Dhan Payo will see its audience without any disturbance.”

Interestingly Hollywood’s ‘furious’ have avenged recent Bollywood days of gloom making the audience choice and preference the winner once again.

-IndiaGlitz

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VOICE OF ASIA 16

Friday, May 1, 2015

Section 2

Page 16

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U.S. Dietary Committee recommends Mediterranean diet for healthy living

T

he United States Dietary Guideline Advisory Committee released new dietary guidelines for the Mediterranean diet in their 2015 Scientific Report, suggesting Americans should follow the Mediterranean dietary model for better health.

The 2015 DGAC report is designed to provide Americans with the best dietary recommendations from 14 leading experts in nutrition. Recommendations come from the most recent research on nutrition, providing guidelines for federal policy, nutrition programs, businesses and hospitals.

The report, which is prepared for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

and the Department of Agriculture, suggests in order to receive optimal nutrition, prevent disease and illness and maintain a healthy weight, people should follow a collaboration of three dietary patterns: the Healthy U.S. dietary pattern, the Healthy Vegetarian dietary

A

dults 65 or older have an option to prevent pneumonia thanks to two vaccines.

Pneumococcal disease is a serious health threat that can lead to death. Many strains of the bacteria are resistant to antibiotics and are the leading cause of serious illness in adults and children worldwide.

In the United States alone, more people die from pneumococcal disease each year than all other vaccine-preventable diseases combined.

Who should receive the pneumonia vaccine?

Last summer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that all adults 65 or older receive the new pneumococcal conjugate vaccine — also known by its brand name, Prevnar 13. Within six to 12 months of receiving the Prevnar 13 vaccine, the CDC recommends that physicians administer a dose of another vaccine known as Pneumovax unless the person has received it in the past.

The CDC stresses that adults 65 and older should get both

The DGAC also released a chart outlining the recommended daily intake of each food group within all three dietary

models. Intakes of these foods are based on caloric intake.

These models were designed by experts based on their staples and recommended intakes. Research shows that eating high quantities of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, low or nonfat dairy and seafood constitute a healthy diet.

In the Healthy Mediterranean dietary plan, the DGAC says the normal adult should be eating two and a half to three cups

Pneumonia vaccines recommended if you’re 65 or older

by Richard Zweig, MD

are staples in the Mediterranean diet, which shares common elements with the other two dietary patterns.

pattern and the Healthy Mediterranean dietary pattern.

All the recommended foods

vaccines.

Adults aged 19 to 64 with certain medical conditions such as kidney disease, asthma,chronic heart or lung disease, cancer, or tobacco use should receive Pneumovax also.

The vaccines are the best way to prevent pneumococcal disease and now protect against 36 types of pneumococcal bacteria.

The vaccine protects by preparing the body to fight bacteria that cause pneumococcal diseases which include pneumonia, meningitis and septicemia.

Who should not receive the pneumonia vaccine?

People who have a lifethreatening allergic reaction to either vaccine or a severe allergy to any of the vaccine’s ingredients should not receive the vaccines. For patients who are moderately ill, your doctor may recommend waiting to get the shot until you recover.

However the CDC does say that you can still receive a vaccine if you have a mild illness such as a cold or low-grade fever.

-Bristol Press

Rishi

Continued from page 15 Who did you enjoy working with more?

I started working with Amitabh Bachchan when he was not the Amitabh Bachchan that he became. So I could say that Amitabh Bachchan was a work in progress in becoming Amitabh Bachchan and we are all part of that foundation.

Were you competing with Mr Bachchan?

The best thing about our relationship was that I was never pitted against him. I was always his younger brother, so there was only love and affection between us. There was never any competition for a girl and we were not partners in crime. We always had a common agenda that we got lost in our childhood and then we met again when we became adults, be it in Naseeb or Amar Akbar Anthony or even in Coolie. Kabhie Kabhie was more a reality check and we played different generations.

Did you find a change in Mr Bachchan from the time he was not the Amitabh Bachchan to when he became the Amitabh Bachchan?

No. Amitabh Bachchan was always very correct, very good and very grounded. Never a wrong moment. Amitabh Bachchan was never crass, he was always class. Always. He was the best class that you can work with and now, so is his son.

Did you and Mr Bachchan ever have a crush on the same actress?

Sorry to say that but we were going to work in a film called Mehrunnisa that was about

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of fruit a day and two and a half to three and a half cups of vegetables. Red and orange vegetables topped the charts with a weekly recommendation of five and a half to six cups. Dark greens and legumes are recommended for less consumption with only one and a half to two cups per week.

The DGAC also recommends adults following the Mediterranean diet eat six to eight ounces of grains a day, while protein, which includes meat, soy, seafood, nuts, seeds and eggs, should be consumed at a rate of six to seven and a half ounces per day. Dairy should be limited to a daily two cups, and oil intake should be between 22 and 31 grams a day.

The DGAC Scientific Report is in its viewing stage and is accepting written comments from the public until May 8.

-GoogleNews two old people, who had been best friends, but had not met for 40 years and were fighting for the same girl. I truly have a wish list. I do wish that Sudhir Mishra should someday still make that film.

You recently got a lot of negative comments on your view on the Land Bill. Could you explain your point of view?

I am like I am on twitter. I can’t be false. My wife keeps fighting with me all the time as I keep inviting trouble. But I always say the truth. And what the hell yaar, it’s a democracy.

I am basically a Modi-BJP guy, but this time I agreed with the Congress. I feel the best way to solve the farmer problem is that you take the land, ie, let the government take the land but do what the farmers did in Gurgaon. They said you pay us some money and then you make us partners in whatever you get into, so it becomes likes an annuity for them and they are safeguarded for life. If you just give them the money at one go, they go mad seeing so much money and blow it up in three months and then they don’t know what to do for the rest of their lives as they are neither left with money nor land that they can earn from.

So what I said was, ‘You must ensure and insure them.’ They need to be supported for a lifetime so that their lives are not dependent on the rains. So I only said that make the farmer a partner in the zameen in whatever pursuit you want him to do as against giving him the money to blow up.

With Ranbir having moved out with Katrina, are you and Neetuji enjoying each other’s company?

Well we are dining out a lot, but we miss Ranbir. About two months from now, the house

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Cash value in life insurance policies is routinely used to provide income, so it is not surprising that life insurance can play a role in retirement planning. An advantage of using life insurance to produce retirement income is that earnings in a policy’s cash value are tax-deferred until withdrawn; however, by using a strategy of withdrawing funds from the cash value up to the policy owner’s cost basis (total premiums less dividends) and then switching to policy loans, a policy owner’s income from a life insurance policy’s cash value can also be entirely tax free.

The policy owner can withdraw an amount tax free from the policy equal to his or her total premiums paid.

When that has been done, the policy owner can switch to policy loans to continue to take funds from the cash value tax free.

A cautionary note, however, is that a policy using this strategy must not be surrendered or allowed to lapse.

If the policy employing this strategy is surrendered or allowed to lapse, then all of the policy loan is considered a distribution and can result in substantial income tax liability. The policy owner must permit the policy to be paid as a death benefit. In such a case, no income tax liability results.

A qualified retirement plan is a tax-advantaged plan that provides for the payment of retirement benefits to covered employees and is maintained by an employer.

Depending on the provisions of the qualified retirement plan document (simply referred to as the “plan document”), life insurance can sometimes be purchased through a qualified pension we live in, Krishna Raj, will be broken and remade over the next two years. During that time, Neetu and me are shifting into a three-storey transit apartment close to where Ranbir lives. After two years, we will all move back with Ranbir to the new Krishna Raj after it’s ready.

Who gets Ranbir’s share of

Sudhir Mathuria Contact: Sudhir Mathuria Licensed Professional Health Life 360 6650 Southwest Freeway Houston TX 77074 713-771-2900 www.MyMedicarePlanning.com or profit-sharing plan. In such a case, the life insurance is purchased and owned by the plan, using employer contributions to the plan as a source of premiums. Purchasing a life insurance policy inside a qualified retirement plan has several benefits.

For example, when a substantial number of employees covered under a qualified plan have an otherwise unmet life insurance need, either for family protection or for estate liquidity, life insurance can be authorized in the plan to provide a needed death benefit.

Alternatively, an employer may want a secure funding vehicle with guarantees as to future plan costs and benefits in the pension plan. Finally, a defined benefit pension plan partially funded with life insurance can increase the permitted employer contributions.

When other company plans providing death benefits have gaps and limitations, using life insurance in the qualified retirement plan as a means of offsetting the limitations is advantageous.

In addition to using life insurance in a defined benefit plan, it can be purchased at the participant’s option in a defined contribution plan, such as a 401(k) plan, a profitsharing plan, or a money purchase pension plan. In such cases, life insurance can be attractive to plan participants as an additional option for them.

Life insurance is most often used in this way in a profitsharing or 401(k) plan, but it could be used in other types of defined contribution plans as well.

To plan and purchase life insurance from any major company contact Sudhir Mathuria @ 713-771-2900. scolding at home now?

He never got any firing as he never gave any reason for you to do that. As it is whenever Ranbir was at home, he was never meeting me as he was always so busy with himself and his work. So now, when he is not staying with us, I see him more as he now comes and visits us. -Times of India

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Business VOICE OF ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 17

Section 2

Page 17 Email: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com

US, UK funds approach India on MAT citing OECD However, OECD being persuasive may not help funds based out of nations whose treaties do not give specific exemption

by Jayshree P Upadhyay

N

EW DEHLI - The Indian government’s clarification that it would honour tax treaties while making a demand of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) at the effective rate of 20 per cent came as a relief for favourable treaty nations. But, dilemma still hangs over funds from other nations, whose treaties do not grant an exemption from capital gains.

ICI Global, a global organisation with investors managing 19.2 trillion dollars, has written to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, citing Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) principles for tax exemption for their funds.

In the letter dated April 13 and 20, the London headquartered organisation whose majority of members are based in the United States, United Kingdom and Hong Kong have highlighted that as per the OECD principles, report of 2010 the income of Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV) is entitled to treaty benefits.

A total of 46 per cent flows come from nations such as USA, UK and Norway as per the data of February 2015.

CIVs are funds that are widely held and hold a diversified portfolio of securities. These funds are subjected to investor protection regulations in the country they are established in.

Such funds are typically mutual funds and private equity (PE) funds.

to be tested before courtsý,” said Rajesh Gandhi, partner, Deloitte Haskin and Sells.

So far, over 50 PEs and mutual funds have received notices from the tax authorities making a tax demand. Even though India adheres to OECD guiding principles, it is not contractually bound to agree to the terms and principles of OECD.

According to sources, the tax certainty is essential for these pooling instruments as investor transactions are affected by the Net Asset Value of the fund (NAV). NAV is calculated by determining the assets, liabilities of the fund and tax liability can impact the NAV calculations.

“It would be the prerogative of the tax officer whether they consider OECD principles while making assessment.

However, unlike the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), that grants specific exemption from capital gains; OECD is guiding principle and not binding as per the income tax act,” said an official.

Tax experts also opine that OECD principles might not be of much help.

“The OECD defines a CIV and recommends that CIVs should be eligible for treaty benefits. However, that does not by itself mean that a CIV will not be liable to MAT. Accordingly, CIVs, which are set up in countries such as USA and Luxembourg, could still be exposed to the risk of MAT because India’s treaties with USA and Luxembourg do not exempt them from capital gains tax in India. One could, however, take an argument that the treaty with USA and Luxembourg allows India to tax capital gains and not book profits as defined under MAT provisions. This is an argument, which will need

Agreeing with Gandhi, Tejesh Chitlangi, founder, IC Legal says ýOECD norms are not binding.

“OECD norms, or for that purpose, guidance prescribed by similar international organisations may not be treated on a par with DTAA provisions.

These are at best of persuasive value unlike the DTAA clauses which have a binding contractual force. Hence, investors from a non-treaty nation or an unfavourable treaty nation may not be benefited,” says Chitlangi.

In the letter, the organisation says “anything less than a prompt action from the Indian government would have negative consequences on the Indian capital markets”.

So far organisations like ICI Global and Asian Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (ASIFMA) have written to the Indian government to resolve the MAT tussle.

-The Business Standard

by Michael Wayland

I

ndia-based Sakthi Automotive Group plans to significantly expand its operations in southwest Detroit.

The Michigan Strategic Fund on Tuesday announced that the auto parts supplier, a part of $1.2-billion industrial conglomerate Sakthi Group, will invest up to $31.9 million to expand its operations near its current facility on West Fort near Livernois.

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

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India auto parts supplier to invest $31.9M in Detroit

The investment includes the addition of 350 new jobs in Detroit — more than doubling its workforce of about 200.

As part of the investment and jobs, the MSF approved a $3.5million performance-based grant for Sakthi. The company, according to state officials, chose the grant over offers of free land, training grants and low-interest construction loans dangled by other states including Ohio, Georgia and South Carolina.

The state funds will be used to help offset the higher operating costs than other states, interior site conditions, and need to locate, hire and retain a skilled workforce for its facility in Detroit, according to documents from the MSF approval of state incentives.

The investment and new jobs are expected by 2020, according to state officials. A spokesperson for Sakthi could not immediately be reached.

The investment, according to the document, includes a new aluminum foundry to support auto industry initiatives to reduce weight; planned purchase and reuse of the former Southwestern High School, just west

U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez, left, checked out examples of the auto parts made by Sakthi Automotive Group USA as Sakthi CEO Lalit Verma talked about the process at the factory in Detroit (Photo: Brandy Baker / The Detroit News) of their current facility, into a manufacturing, advanced worker training and employee wellness center; and the development of two other buildings for “additional manufacturing and machining operations.”

This is the second time the state has worked with the south India-based company. In 2012, Sakthi received a $1.5 million incentive from the Michigan Business Development Program to open the Detroit plant.

Earlier this year, U.S. and Detroit officials touted Sakthi as a success story after the company pledged to hire at least two formerly incarcerated individuals each month.

“What Sakthi has done is a great example of taking returning citizens and putting them in jobs where they are highly productive and I think probably very loyal,” said Mayor Mike Duggan, when touring the plant April 15. “You don’t see much turnover with returning citizens.”

Duggan was joined by U.S. Labor Secretary Thomas Perez for the tour, which included a look at the plant production of various parts for a variety of automakers, including Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. They also got a glimpse at the design and testing process at the facility.

-The Detroit News

Capgemini to become No. 3 MNC IT employer in India

M

UMBAI - The Capgemini-IGATE merger will make the French company a leading employer of Indian engineers, thereby enabling it to better compete with domestic vendors for price-sensitive IT engagements, industry insiders feel.

“Our estimate is that Capgemini-IGATE would currently employ 83,000 people in India. This number could easily go upto 1,00,000 by the end of this year. This suddenly makes Capgemini very competitive from a delivery standpoint,” said Sanchit Vir Gogia, Founder-Chief Executive Officer at advisory firm Greyhound Research.

Job-creation “We believe that Capgemini

will become the third largest MNC IT employer in India after IBM and Accenture. Moreover, more jobs will move to India from Capgemini’s global operations going forward,” said Gogia. With this deal, Capgemini now has more employees globally than Wipro, India’s third largest software services firm. As on March 31, Capgemini had an overall headcount of 1,47,016 while IGATE had 31,453 staffers on its rolls.

Thus, the collective entity will have 1,78,469 employees immediately, while Wipro has an employee base of 1,58,217 by the previous year-end. Once the Capgemini-IGATE deal closes, Capgemini is expected to have 1,90,000 people on its rolls.

It may be recalled that

Capgemini’s India operations had got a major boost in 2006 after it agreed to acquire Kanbay International, which had significant operations in India. The IGATE acquisition is further expected to strengthen the company’s global delivery model.

“Our recent interactions with 30 large customers in the USA confirm that Capgemini has become more aggressive in the US and is winning some business previously held by Indian firms,” said Peter Schumacher, President and CEO of Value Leadership Group, a management consulting firm. The likes of TCS, Infosys and Wipro are generally able to offer their services at competitive price points because of strong offshore leverage.

-The Hindu Business Line

Now, a mentor-on-road to approach 6,000 startups in India

by Virendra Pandit

A

HMEDABAD - A month after he trained many Pakistanis at Karachi on how to engage in global business, leading trade and management consultant Jagat Shah is all set to wheel down to 27 cities across India from next week to empower nearly 6,000 MSMEs, budding entrepreneurs and startups and encourage them to contribute to the “Make in India” drive.

After completion of this journey, Shah will submit a report to the Prime Minister on the challenges faced by rural enterprises, MSMEs and startups.

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Shah, a confidante of Narendra Modi, had organised the China visit in November 2011 for the then Gujarat Chief Minister and was also the part of Modi’s team to prepare for the latter’s high-profile US visit in 2015.

Starting his mentor-on-road ‘business yatra’, along with his family, on May 3 in Ahmedabad, Shah will criss-cross 18

states, covering 9,400 kms in 65 days and return here on July 7. “I have also converted my SUV into a mobile office, equipped with all with the necessary gadgets for instant communication,” he told BusinessLine here on Tuesday. The PM’s “Swachchata Abhiyan” will also be a focus, he said.

The objective of this drive is to create an eco system to connect industry with academia and make the graduates employable and job-ready, at a time when only 15% of engineering graduates in India are actually employable. “In this eco system, mentor is the most important factor. This strategy is expected to create several successful startups.”

In different cities, he will also be joined by nearly 40 “foreign friends” who would help the beneficiaries with their domain knowledge, experience and contacts. Besides, he would be joined by technical partners at various places for providing “true” mentoring, access to international markets and linkages.

For this marathon businesscatalysing journey, Shah has tied up with the Gujarati Samaj officials across India, apart from engineering, commerce and management teaching institutions to gather young enthusiasts raring to turn entrepreneurs. “I will also encourage the Gujarati businessmen in making productive use of their CSR-related activities.”

He said he would encourage the youngsters to be job-creators.

Mentor-on-Road is a concept envisaged by Shah, Founder and Chief Mentor of Cluster Pulse, an economic development agency, and Global Network, an international trade advisory firm. The project is aimed at supporting rural enterprises, SMEs, startups and young professionals who seek guidance and networking support for their business, talent and ideas.

A local mentor from each city will join Shah for two days and will be trained for a year. Mentors will connect companies to global value chains and supply chains in India.

-The Hindu Business Line

HOROSCOPE

VOICE OF ASIA 18

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

Your Horoscope for the Week of May 1, 2015 READ YOUR COMPLETE HOROSCOPE

by Hardik Vyas, Astrologer Cell : 832-298-9950

ONLINE WWW.VOICEOFASIAONLINE.COM

Aries (A,L,E) 21 March to 20 April

Libra (R,T) 23 Sept to 22 Oct

You need to control your emotions. Finalize contracts as quickly as possible. Concentrate on key positions. Don’t be too quick to judge others. You may have invalid information that will cause you to make the wrong choices. Doors will open professionally if you send out your resume and go for interviews. Don’t allow children or entertainment to cost too much or you’ll have financial problems. Self-improvement projects are your best outlet. You need an outlet. You’ll be sensitive to the comments made by loved ones.

You need a change of scenery. Travel for business or pleasure and you’ll break up the monotony. Use your finesse to get what you want. You’ll be surprised by the response you receive. Check out some of the courses offered in your community. You need to start learning new skills if you want to keep up with the never-ending technological changes at work. Don’t become involved in dubious financial schemes. Extravagance could be your downfall. Excessiveness will result in minor illness.

Scorpio (N,Y) 23 Oct to 21 Nov

Taurus (B,V,U) 21 April to 20 May Use your innovative ideas and your energetic nature. This force will help you to push your ideas into motion. You’ll be receptive to new ideas and concepts. Friendships could develop into serious partnerships. You must act quickly if you want to meet your deadlines. Don’t hesitate to ask others for favors owed. You have more allies than you think.

Don’t let boredom stand in the way of doing a good job.

Keep continue your efforts to help others. It will be admired by onlookers. Someone you work with may be jealous of you. Keep your thoughts and intentions to yourself. Outdoor activities will be invigorating. Take care of your family responsibilities first or include the ones you love in the events you attend. Don’t overspend on those unworthy of your generosity. You may want to look into the nature of an organization before you donate or join it. Your partner will not put up with your possessiveness. Expect to get into a heated discussion.

Sagittarius (BH,F,DH,TH) 22 Nov to 21 Dec

Gemini (K,CHH,GH) 21 May to 20 June Stick to your budget. Don’t bite off too much financially, losses will be evident if you aren’t stringent with your money. Someone is likely to misinterpret you if you aren’t perfectly clear about your intentions. Spend time pampering yourself and you’ll be glad you did. Don’t reveal secret information about others. Co-workers won’t be willing to cooperate with you, and you’ll have to accomplish projects on your own. Mingle with intellectual people to meet the type of companions.

Use discretion when discussing personal matters. You can avoid emotional issues with loved ones by being affectionate, fun loving and active. You’ll be able to make money if you investment in yourself. Be discriminating when discussing work, You won’t be able to trust some of your colleagues or clients. Keep your ideas to yourself for the time being. Find out all you can about your present position and the changes going on around you. Work hard to complete projects that might make a real difference to your professional future.

Capricorn (KH,J) 22 Dec to 20 Jan

Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 July Outmaneuver & overcome any obstacle that stands in your way. You’ll so fine, as long as you don’t get angry. Don’t give up just because you face opposition, turn on your charm and push ahead. You’ll be indecisive, your spouse will be confused by your actions. Take the initiative and go after your goals. Business ventures can earn you extra cash. You’ll have to be careful that you don’t make rash decisions you’ll regret later. Don’t promise your spouse that you’ll do something for him or her unless you have full intentions of following through.

Go into new ventures with enthusiasm and an open mind. Stay put and work on the projects that don’t require a lot of travel or communication. Take things in stride. You are best to busy yourself with personal projects. You should be thinking about a career move. Someone you work for is probably trying to hold you back. Protect your reputation and prepare yourself for unexpected changes. It’s time to take a serious look at getting into shape before summer hits and you have to shed some of those layers of clothing you’ve been hiding under.

Aquarius (G,S,SH) 21 Jan to 19 Feb

Leo (M) 23 July to 22 August Get your point across. Work diligently on projects requiring fine detail. Avoid peers who want to get you involved in their personal dilemmas. You may want to help them, however you may get blamed for the outcome. You will learn more if you listen. Someone you know well will reveal information pertinent to your professional future. New friendships will develop through activities that include large groups. Move quickly if you see an opportunity to advance. Your timing must be impeccable.

You need to get out and meet some new people. You need to put some excitement back into your life. Emotional blackmail will get you into trouble. Don’t blame others for your own mistakes or unhappiness. New acquaintances will show interest in you if you are happy and positive about yourself. You need to make some personal changes in your life. Don’t be depressed. You need to concentrate on your creative projects and not worry so much about what other people are saying or doing. Put your heart and soul into things you enjoy.

Pisces (D,CH,Z) 20 Feb to 20 March

Virgo (P) 23 August to 22 September Concentrate on things you enjoy doing rather than just doing for others. You need a real break. Your colorful manner will attract attention. Use your energy in a constructive manner. The work you do around your home will be rewarding. Check out activities that offer a physical challenge. Now you’re ready to entertain. You must learn not to force your opinions on others. Participating in a challenging physical activity will help ease your tension and stress. You will be looking for a good fight if things don’t go your way. Remember that you can’t make decisions for other people even if you did pay their way.

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Emotional and personal situations will drain your energy. Refuse to get dragged into the middle of an argument. Don’t take sides. Get out and socialize with colleagues. If you can combine some work with pleasure, you will gain respect and help from those in a position to help you get ahead. If you made a promise to your family, you must not renege. Put everything else on hold. Emotional problems with family members will be disheartening. You must listen rather than offer your opinions. Visit with friends who may be able to shed some light on your situation. Don’t bend to other people’s whims.

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Part Time Accountant Property Management Company in Houston is looking for a part-time accountant with the following qualifications: • Degree in Accounting or Business preferred.

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MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE DAY FROM HBR.ORG Show Employees You’re Willing to Hear Them Out Managers are often more accustomed to speaking than listening, but there are times when you need to shift gears and really hear your employees out. When you’re having a conversation, show that you are listening by silencing your phone, shutting off your computer, and getting rid of any other potential distractions. You don’t want to risk sending a message that the employee and his message aren’t important.

Then look for nonverbal cues. In a conversation, people might say one thing while their face and body say the opposite.

Don’t let these cues pass by unaddressed. Acknowledge them with questions like, “You seem excited about this, can you tell me more?” or “I get the sense that this upsets you, is there anything you need to share?” Finally, verify what you’ve heard and ask clarifying questions like, “Here’s what I thought you said, is that correct?”

FRIDAY, May 1, 2015

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