VoA E-Paper March 18 2016

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28 years of dedicated service to the community Vol. 29 No. 12 Friday, March 18, 2016 • Published Weekly from Houston • 713-774-5140 20 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com

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FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

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28 years of dedicated service to the community

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Read on Page 16 or Call 832-806-1000

Vol. 29 No. 12 Friday, March 18, 2016 • Published Weekly from Houston • 713-774-5140 20 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com

Obama picks Merrick Garland over Indian-American Srinivasan for SC Judge

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ASHINGTON, 0316- 2016 (PTI) - Barack Obama Wednesday nominated Merrick Garland as the Supreme Court judge over Indian-American Sri Srinivasan, in a significant move that could trigger a showdown with Senate Republicans who have warned the US President against taking a decision in an election year.

Nomination of 63-year-old Garland, the chief judge for the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, fills the Supreme Court seat left vacant by the sudden death of conservative icon justice Antonin Scalia last month.

Obama formally announced his intent to nominate the centrist judge, who has earlier been on the shortlist twice, in a ceremony at the White House’s Rose Garden.

“Garland would bring integrity, modesty and even-handedness to (the) Supreme Court,” Obama said.

An appointee of President Bill Clinton, Garland is a graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law School. As a Justice Department lawyer, he supervised the investigations in the Unabomber case as well as the Oklahoma City bombing.

White House officials said that the former prosecutor “has more federal judicial experience than any other Supreme Court nominee in history”.

The nomination comes at a time of bitter political divide when it would be tough for Obama to get through his choice of the judge and sets the stage for an intense showdown by Senate Republicans who have maintained that Obama should not choose Scalia’s successor, with less than a year left for his presidency.

The Senators have said they do not plan to vet or hold hearings on the nominee, and say the next President should choose the new judge on the nine member bench. However, Obama and Democrats are of the view that that with 10 months left, there is plenty of time for the Senate to take up and confirm a new justice.

Earlier, it was widely reported that Obama could nominate 48year-old “trailblazer” Srinivasan to the country’s highest judicial body. The moderate judge, who enjoys impeccable bipartisan support, would have been the first Indian-American to be on the bench of the US Supreme Court.

Record Attendance at Tiger Ball 2016: Asia Society Texas Center’s Major Fundraiser brings in more than $1 Million

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OUSTON, TX March 14, 2016 – Houston’s global community, including the crème de la crème of the bayou city’s business, political and society circles, gathered Wednesday evening (March 9) for Asia Society Texas Center’s Tiger Ball 2016, celebrating contemporary Korea.

A record crowd of more than 700 guests strolled into the grand Chevron Gala Pavilion, named for the event’s presenting corporate sponsor. Reception hosts, Kathy and Glen Gondo, welcomed the throng of guests into the grand tent with tantalizing sushi, provided

by Sushic, the Sushi Company.

While Taiko drummers with Memorial Jumbo Group performed, guests flowed from a magnificent tent into the world-class Yoshio Taniguchidesigned building, where volunteers modeling Jasmine Shinhyo Park’s stunning traditional gowns greeted them as they entered the Fayez Sarofim Grand Continued on page 7

IndianAmerican, registers big win in Congressional primary

Raja Krishnamoorthi

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ASHINGTON, (PTI) IndianAmerican Raja Krishnamoorthi, who was an adviser in President Barack Obama’s 2008 poll campaign, has registered a big win in the Democratic Congressional primary in the US state of Illinois by defeating the state Senator.

Alexander and Lou Ann Chae, Bonna Kol, Nancy C. Allen, Edward R. Allen III and Chinhui Juhn, Susan and Michael Jhin.

Grand Maha Sivarathri celebrations at Sri Meenakshi Temple

Krishnamoorthi’s win brightens the chance of yet another person of Indian-origin to be elected to the US House of Representatives in the November general elections.

Born in New Delhi, 42-yearold Krishnamoorthi, an attorney and entrepreneur, polled 57 per cent of the votes in the eighth Congressional District of Illinois as against his two other rivals State Senator Mike Noland (29 per cent) and Deb Bullwinkel (13 per cent).

The district has a sizable Indian-American population.

“Thank you! I’m honoured to be the Democratic Party Nominee for Congressman of Illinois’ 8th District,” he tweeted late last night after results were out.

Krishnamoorthi seeks to replace his party man Tammy Duckworth who decided against seeking re-election and instead run for the US Senate against incumbent Republican Mark Kirk. Duckworth won the Democratic primary for the Senate seat.

In the November 8 general elections, Krishnamoorthi now faces Peter DiCianni of Republican party who ran unopposed during the primary.

Consul General of India, Houston, Mr. P. Harish and Mrs. Nandita Harish joined the devotees at the puja.

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If elected, Krishnamoorthi would join Ami Bera, 51, the only Indian-American lawmaker in the current US House of Representatives and Congressman Jan Schakowsky.

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OP-ED/COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS

VOICE OF ASIA 4

Over-Speculative US Capitalism: A Source of Public Discontent and Political Divide

VOICE OF ASIA Publisher:

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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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All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the consent of the publisher.

Voice of Asia assumes no liability resulting from action taken based on the information included herein. Published weekly by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713-774-5140. Fax: 713-7745143. Email for editorial submissions: voiceasia@aol.com; Email for advertising inquiries and submissions: ads@ voiceofasiagroup.com

Voice of Asia (USPS 010-215) (ISSN#10705058) is published every Friday (for a subscription rate of $30 per year) by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713-774-5140. Fax: 713774-5143. Periodical postage paid at Houston, Texas.

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It is the policy of Voice of Asia to publish letters to the editor which evidence a variety of viewpoints. The opinions expressed in any particular letter to the editor are not necessarily those of the management. Voice of Asia welcomes letters in reply to issues raised in letters to editor. In as much letters to the editor are not articles written or researched by members of Voice of Asia, it is not the policy of the Voice of Asia to perform any investigation or confirmation of any facts or allegations contained in letters to the editor. Moreover, Voice of Asia reserves the right to edit letters to the editor as necessary to correct errors of fact, punctuation, spelling and to comply with space constraints.

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Chandra K. Mitta

by Chandra K. Mittal, Ph.D

A

s the US Presidential election is heating up with Primary elections underway, there is increasing polarizing rhetoric about the wealth disparity and the dwindling middle class in America. To fix the problem, the Democratic candidates are proposing the idea of “wealth redistribution” while the Republican are emphasizing “creation” of wealth through expanding private enterprises to boost employment. This is, of course, the routine rhetoric that politicians offer in each election cycle to gain votes, but are never able to reverse the trend when elected due to the complexity of the US economic system.

Senator Bernie Sanders, the Socialistic Democratic candidate has been claiming that top 1/10th of 1% of Americans own as much wealth as the bottom 90%, which he intends to change if elected President by wealth redistribution. Unfortunately, he is not likely to succeed in his quest for various reasons. First, the so called “wealth” on the top is not in the form of cash but “speculated” value of various investment instruments with

complex set of rules. The liquidation of these instruments will not yield equivalent cash due to selling pressure. Second and most important, most of these innovative instruments are linked to each other in a series and are backed only by one “tangible” asset.

So, Sen. Bernie’s approach is not likely to yield much.

But the issue of wealth disparity does bring to fore an important issue of “speculated” market value of investments and their impact on the macroeconomic system of United States. The trading of investment instruments in the market are not part of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but uses standard national currency for their transactions. This creates an “illusionary” wealth that pollutes the economic perceptions and do not contribute substantively to enhance the GDP, which is described as the total value of all goods and services.

The disjoint between the GDP and the value of investments like stock market-caps or bonds etc. it is the principle source of friction in the society and creates political divide. Because relatively small part of population owns investments, many people see the Wall Street as manipulating the wealth creation limited to only a few. Even though investment values and GDP

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are qualitatively different but the public perceives them as synonymous. Unfortunately, this is also fueled by political rhetoric from leaders who often point to and equate the two in the same breath to reflect on the health of US country, which is political gimmickry.

Stock market is a genuine integral part of a capitalistic market economy where private investors can speculate price of investments and express their economic freedom.

But the excessive speculation of investment values become irrelevant to economic fundamentals or the underlying strength of businesses. Hence, this makes it a gambling event which is a non-productive economic activity.

It is not unusual to find a loss-making company’s stock having high market cap far exceeding its book value.

Some argue that in a free society investor takes risk with their investments and become either a winner or a loser. This is true but excessive speculation sucks money away from actual economic expansion by creating or expanding new enterprises and employment opportunities.

Furthermore, when the investors become too big and are not allowed to fail, the public has to rescue them, which is unfair. It is not lost on anyone’s mind that 2008 US economic meltdown was

primarily led by banks and financial services companies who operated in the world of extreme “speculation” trying to catch “pie in the sky”.

None of these transactions were part of GDP data and yet these siphoned off huge sum of actual money leaving the real economy short of investment in creating or growing “goods and services”. US Federal Reserve Bank even created new money by way of Quantitative Easing to support failed financial institutions.

So, while Sen. Sanders’s claim about the “actual” value of the wealth may lack substance, it does point to the impact of over speculation on the US capitalism. To a great extent over-speculative activities and practices represent economic malpractice as these lack backing of tangible assets and are unsustainable.

It is no wonder that world renowned investor Warren Buffett’s rule of market cap to GDP ratio may be useful criteria for prudent investors. After all money does not grow of trees but is created only by development of goods and services – the real contributors to GDP and societal prosperity.

Dr. Chandra Mittal is Professor at Houston Community College, and Co-Founder of Indo-American Association, Houston. He can be contacted at drckmittal@yahoo.com

51-year-old Zia Siddiqui’s murder suspect on the run tually making his way into the office, where he started shooting. Siddiqui collapsed on the ground and died at the scene.

The store clerk was not injured.

- The Publisher

E-blast

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

Zia A. Siddiqui, 51, was shot and killed during a robbery Saturday night. (Photo: Family photo).

HOUSTON, March 15, 2016 - A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Nadonte Pugh, 19, after police say he robbed a store and shot and killed the owner during a robbery in northwest Houston on March 12.

He is being charged with capital murder.

Investigators said the suspect may have been shot. After the shooting, police said the man ran toward a field that leads to the Wellington Apartments on FM 1960. Police checked surrounding hospitals Sunday

to see if anyone with bullet wounds checked in.

Investigators described the suspect as a black man in his early 20s, about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing between 130 to 145 pounds with a fit build.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600.

Source: (KPRC)

Police said a man wearing a red cap entered the store and looked around for a few minutes before going to the register, where he placed a soda on the counter. Investigators said the man pulled a gun and pointed it at an employee.

The robbery happened Saturday around 8:20 p.m. at a RaceWay gas station in the 8500 block of FM 1960.

When the suspect demanded money, the employee ran to the kitchen, which was connected to Siddiqui’s office, investigators said.

Police identified the victim as 51-year-old Zia Siddiqui. The man accused of shooting him is now on the run from authorities.

According to police, Siddiqui held a gun in his hand while the two tried to push the door close.

Police said the suspect forced himself into the doorway, even-

Nadonte Pugh, 19 is wanted by police. If spotted call Crime Stopers at 713-222-TIPS.

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The Hindus of Greater Houston to host Hindu Youth Awards 2016

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OUSTON - The Hindus of Greater Houston (HGH), an organization that brings Houston Hindus together, is proud to announce the 6th Annual Hindu Youth Awards and Gala on April 9th 2016 at Sri Meenakshi Temple Society, Pearland, Texas. With HGH’s strong belief in promoting youth activities and involvement in our community, Hindu Youth awards set a milestone in celebration of youth and their achievements. Hindus of Greater Houston’s focus is not only to unite and bring Hindus together but our key interest is to encourage Youth who are the future Hindu leaders of the society.

The highlights of the evening would include listening to the inspiring stories of the youth awardees and recognizing the donors and organizations for their commitment and support of the important cause and enjoy a cultural program.

Bharat Pallod an award recipient in the 2015 Hindu Youth Awards says “Our generation is given incentive to succeed in every field, from the sciences to the arts. One area this is lacking is giving back to their religion and heritage. I think the Hindu Youth

Vinay Mahadevan (seen taking the pledge) to be the Guest Speaker at the Awards ceremony.

Award is a huge step in that direction and something the recipients and community should be very proud of”.

We are honored to have as keynote speaker Joseph Emmett, Director of Vedanta Institute San Francisco, a non-profit foundation in as-

sociation with Vedanta World, is the son of Harris County Judge Honorable Ed Emmett.

Joseph has been a student of Swami Parthasarathy, a philosopher and exponent of Vedanta. The study of Vedanta presents eternal principles of life and living, equips one with

Gaura Purnima Festival - March 22 at ISKCON of Houston

the strength of intellect to meet challenges. As the Director of Vedanta Institute San Francisco, Joseph conducts free weekly classes for the community on the philosophy of Vedanta, offers Vedanta based management programs to the business community.

Sugar Land Earth Day celebration scheduled for April 16

ri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu appeared as a devotee of Krishna in Mayapur, West Bengal, India in the late fifteenth century. He introduced sankirtan, widespread congregational chanting of the Supreme Person’s names, as the most effective means by which anyone can achieve spiritual perfection. By His influence, many of India’s leading religious scholars and their followers became devotees of Krishna themselves.

UGAR LAND, TX ¬- Sugar Land’s Earth Day Celebration called Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rock - will be held Saturday April 16, from 1-5 p.m., on the plaza at Sugar Land Town Square.

In His youth, Mahaprabhu started a Sanskrit academy in Navadvipa—one of India’s top centers of learning at the time—and earned a reputation as an excellent scholar. But at age twenty-four he renounced everything to travel the subcontinent, encouraging everyone he met to chant the Hare Krishna mantra.

Plan to visit the Wyland Foundations’ Mobile Learning Experience! It promises to be a fun and enlightening experience for all who come. Visitors attending the Mobile Learning Experience may engage, experiment and learn through an array of exhibits, computer models and interactive watershed and river models. Children and adults will have the opportunity to travel through a watershed and discover an estuary’s food web. Visitors will even be able to create an actual rain storm and other fun experiments.

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He is considered by disciples, scholars and followers to be the latest avatar of Krishna Himself, based on extensive evidence found in Vedic literature.

The International Society for

This year’s Earth Day Celebration promises to be a rockin’ good time with live performances by Vocal Trash. Don’t miss this green minded high energy performance!

Abhishek being performed for Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu. File photo.

Krishna Consciousness, ISKCON, is a continuation of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s sankirtan movement.

Program Schedule: 6:30 pm - Kirtan 7:00 pm - Abhishek 7:30 pm - Announcements & Goswami Academy presentation 7:45 pm - Class 7:45 pm - Class 8:30 pm - Aarati 8:45 pm - Prasadam

scriptures especially the Bhagawad Gita that teaches how to meet the challenges of everyday life struggle in the most odd situations that applies to daily life’s questions, struggles, and triumphs.

To quote the President of Hindus of Greater Houston, Partha Krishnaswamy “It would be an honor, if you could attend the Hindu Youth Awards 2016, to witness the young budding volunteers speak about their Joseph Emmett, Dir. of Vedanta Institute remarkable contribuSan Francisco, to be the Keynote speaker tion towards Sanatana Dharma principles through their own orWe also have a guest speaker, Vinay Mahadevan who ganizations/temples. I am sure graduated from the United you will enjoy this event with States Military Academy at your family and friends.”

West Point, NY in 2005 with Save the date on Saturday, a B.S. in Applied Math and September 10, 2016 for JanInternational Relations. Upon mashtami, a signature event graduation, he was commis- that Hindus of Greater Houssioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in ton has been celebrating for the U.S. Corps of Engineers. the past twenty-six years. We His unit deployed to Operation support a variety of events Iraqi Freedom from 2006 to on an ongoing basis, with the 2007 conducting counter-IED generous help of donors and patrols in the areas around Sa- patrons in the community. For marra, Tikrit and Bayji. Vinay more details visit www.hindurelates to the values of Hindu sofhouston.org

Paper shredding will be provided by ProShred at no cost throughout the event in the

parking lot at Sugar Land City Hall, 14727 Town Center Blvd.

North.

Paper shredding must adhere to the following guidelines: .

Residents must remain in their vehicles at all times.

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Walk-ups will not be accepted.

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ProShred staff will remove items from vehicles.

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Residents may not be able to watch their documents get shredded. .

Containers used to transport items and papers will not be returned.

Environmental activity booths and performances are planned on the plaza from 1-5 p.m. Enjoy eco-friendly displays and demonstrations, interactive games and educational booths from many local organizations. Planned events include: .

Vocal Trash at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.;

. reptile shows by Texas Snakes & More at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.; and . the Wyland Foundations’ Mobile Learning Experience (allow a minimum of 30 minutes for each visit).

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rock is provided by the City of Sugar Land in partnership with Keep Sugar Land Beautiful and Sugar Land Town Square.

For more information, visit www.sugarlandtx.gov/earthday or www.kslb.org

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VOICE OF ASIA 6

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

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

ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT H-1B VISA RELATED ISSUES

Richard M. Alderman Interim Dean of the Law Center

Sharlene Sharmila Richards

Driving without insurance can be costly Q. My daughter-in-law received a ticket last year for lack of auto insurance and paid the $250 fine. She thought it was paid in full, but recently she received another bill for $250.

When she asked about this bill, she was told that she has to pay the $250 “surcharge” for three years. Is this true? Please explain the lack of insurance fine and its duration.

A. Texas, like other states, requires all drivers to carry a stated minimum of automobile liability coverage. The basic insurance requirement in Texas is called 30/60/25—$30,000 per injured person, $60,000 per accident, and $25,000 for property damage. First time offenders will, by law, be cited and fined between $175 and $350. Additionally, a surcharge of $250 will be added to your annual driver’s license fee for each of the next three years. Added up, getting caught driving without insurance in Texas the first time will end up costing you between $925 and $1100. To learn more about Texas automobile insurance, visit http://www. tdi.texas.gov/pubs/consumer/cb020.html.

Q. I had someone do some remodeling work at my house. We have a disagreement, and now he says if I don’t pay he will put a lien on my house. Can he do this?

A. A person who constructs or repairs a house may be able to file a lien against the house for any unpaid amounts. To obtain a lien, however, there must be a written contract before the work is done, the contract must have a conspicuous warning about a possible lien, and both the husband and wife must sign the contract. A contractor who wrongfully places a lien on your property could be liable for substantial damages.

I suggest you review your contract. If you do not have a written contract or it does not properly provide for the lien, let the contractor know your know your rights and will speak with an attorney if he places an unlawful lien on your property.

Q. My stepfather died without a will. His wife died several years ago and he has two other children. Am I entitled to share his property? For most of my life I have been treated the same as his other children.

A. Unless a stepchild is a beneficiary named in a will, he or she does not inherit any of a stepparent’s property. When a person dies without a will, the law determines who inherits his or her property. A stepchild is not included within the list of people to whom property passes after death. With a will, of course, the stepparent may leave property to whomever he or she wants, and may treat all children, including stepchildren, the same.

Q. Until recently, I had a month-to-month tenancy. In March, my landlord and I agreed that we would extend the agreement until October. Now the landlord says he wants me out next month. He says our oral agreement is not enforceable. Is that the law?

A. It is not the law! As a general rule, agreements dealing with land, such as a sale or lease, must be in writing to be enforceable. There is an exception, however, for certain leases. A residential lease for a year or less is enforceable even if it is not in writing. If you and your landlord have an oral agreement from March until October, it is enforceable. Of course, you will have to prove the agreement exists. I suggest you speak to the landlord and let him know you are going to stick to your agreement and you assume he will also. You might be able to work out a compromise position.

Q. I am a landlord. College age students often ask me about renting an apartment. Some have not yet turned 18. Is it legal for me to rent to a minor?

A. It is legal to rent to a minor, however, the contract may be “voidable” by the minor.

What this means is that the lease would be binding on you, but the minor could probably get out of it anytime he wanted. There are some exceptions to this rule, for example, certain contracts for necessaries are enforceable and the minor may be emancipated. The best way to insure that a contract with a minor will be enforceable, however, is to have someone above the age of majority, such as a parent or guardian, co-sign.

This article was first published in May 2015.

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

Call Ramesh Cherivirala Ph.D, LUTCF Financial Adviser

Q: We have a company and we like to file several H-1B petitions for the same employee for several different positions. Are multiple filings permitted?

A: USCIS has taken the position that an employer may not file, in the same fiscal year, more than one H-1B petition on behalf of the same beneficiary if it is a cap subject case. If the employer files more than one H-1B petition for the same beneficiary in the same fiscal year, it will result in the denial or revocation of all such filed petitions. In addition if related companies (such as the parent company, subsidiary or affiliate) files more than one H-1B cap subject petition for the same beneficiary in the same fiscal year, the related companies may be required to demonstrate that they do have a legitimate business need to file the H-1B petition on behalf of the same beneficiary and failure to demonstrate that will also result in the denial or revocation of all the petitions.

Q: I have a 3 year Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering (Software). Is this sufficient for the H-1B visa requirement? If not, what can I do about it?

A: The H-1B requirement for bachelor’s degree is either a US Bachelor’s Degree or its equivalent. Typically, a three year foreign Bachelor’s Degree is insufficient. You will need a four year Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited or recognized foreign university or college.

If you have less than a four year degree, you may combine with either work experience or with another degree, if you have multiple degrees.

If you are combining with work experience, you will need three years of progressive work experience in the relevant field to be considered the equivalent of one year of university study.

Q: I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce and an employer has offered me a job in his business as a Manager. Will the H-1B petition be approved?

A: For H-1B purposes, the applicant’s degree must be one which is related to the occupation. It is unclear what type of Managerial duties you will have to perform. It will be best that the petition specify what kind of Managerial duties you will have and when doing so, you will have to ensure that the job duties correlate with your qualifications.

Q: How do I know if my foreign bachelor’s degree will be acceptable for H-1B purposes?

A: You will first need an education credential evaluation to determine if your foreign degree is an equivalent to the U.S Bachelor’s degree. The education credential evaluation will need to be submitted with the H-1B petition.

Q: What is in the Credential Evaluation?

A: A credential evaluation will include information about the degree the foreign national has such as the type of degree, when it was awarded, the name of the institution which awarded the degree, the field of study and the findings of the evaluator as to whether the foreign degree is equivalent to a U.S Bachelor’s Degree in the particular field. It will also normally include the credentials of the evaluator to show his or her expertise in performing such degree evaluations.

Q: For H-1B purposes, please can you explain the requirements needed for the Master’s Degree cap exemption A: For H-1B, an additional 20,000 visas are made available for foreign nationals with advanced degrees. There are specific requirements for the type of advanced degree which qualify. The Master’s degree or higher must be one awarded by a U.S based institution of higher learning. The other requirements are the institution of higher learning must be a public or non-profit institution and also be one which is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency.

Q: My U.S Master’s Degree was awarded by a private educational institution. Can I still apply under the 20,000

Master’s degree cap exemption?

A: Most likely not as the statutory requirement to qualify for the 20,000 Master’s degree cap exemption states that the degree must be one awarded by a non-profit U.S educational institution.

If the petition is filed under the 20,000 Master’s degree cap exemption, most likely USCIS will deny the petition and not consider it under the regular 65,000 cap. It may be best to avoid this problem in the first place and file the petition under the regular cap.

Q: How does the Master’s cap lottery work?

A: If there are more than 20,000 Master’s cap petitions, USCIS will first run the lottery for the H-1B Master’s cap and those petitions which we not selected under the Master’s quota will be placed in the pool together with the regular cap petitions. If the regular cap petitions exceed 65,000, then all those petitions in that pool will be subjected to the random selection process.

All unselected petitions will then be returned to the Petitioners.

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 713-623-8088 or by email at srichardslaw@aol.com to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.

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COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 7

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

Tiger Ball 2016: Continued from page 3 Hall to enjoy the Yeesookyung exhibition. Then, it was on to a lavish dinner catered by City Kitchen. Patrons finished the evening with dancing and an auction in which they bid on once-in-a-lifetime experiences including throwing out the first pitch at a Houston Astros game to sparkling diamond earrings and luxurious travel and dining packages.

Asia Society Texas Center’s Major Fundraiser brings in more than $1 Million

Next year, Tiger Ball 2017 celebrates the magnificence of India, honoring long-time supporters Sushila and Durga Agrawal, who were also in attendance last night. To inquire about 2017 sponsorships, please contact Sadhavi Chauhan at Schauhan@AsiaSociety. org.

Gala Co-Chairs, Lou Ann and Alexander C. Chae and Susan and Michael K. Jhin, and guests honored Asia Society Texas Center’s Board Chairman Edward “Eddie” R. Allen III and wife Chinhui Juhn. Asia Society’s Executive Director Bonna Kol and Joni Baird of Chevron presented the honorees, Eddie and Chinhui, with the Tiger Ball 2016 award for their continued support of Asia Society.

Among the supporters in attendance were Anne and Albert Chao, Y. Ping Sun and David Leebron, Andrea and Bill White, Isla and Thomas Reckling, Claudia and Roberto Contreras, Lily and Charles Foster, Margeret Alkek Williams, Joanne Herring, Phoebe Tudor, and Asia Society’s grand patron Nancy C. Allen.

The $1.2 million raised by Tiger Ball 2016 benefits exhibitions and programs, which promotes mutual understanding between the U.S. and Asia and strengthens the partnerships of all of Houston’s diverse communities.

About Asia Society Texas Center

A section of the attendees at the Asia Society Texas Center during the celebration of tiger Ball 2016. Photos by Asia Society Texas Center.

Ravi and Monjula Chidambaram, Bonna Kol, Lou Ann and Alexander C. Chae, Y. Ping Sun

Cultivating Global Leaders for the 21st Century - Young Leader’s Institute 2016: China Asia Society Offers FREE Summer Camp for High School Students (HOUSTON, TX) - Give your child the skills they need today for success tomorrow by registering him/her in Asia Society Texas Center’s inaugural Young Leaders Institute, a week-long program that prepares high school students for the challenges of the 21st century job market.

cluding cybersecurity, climate change and energy cooperation, and military challenges involving the South China Sea. Students will address these issues by engaging in the four tenants of global competency: Investigate the world -- Recognize perspectives -- Communicate ideas -- Take action.

This summer, Houston and area high school students will learn the critical qualities needed for leadership in a globally interconnected world. June 20 to 24, (2016), the Young Leaders Institute will focus on China’s global challenges, in-

Students will learn the value of collaboration as they work in teams, researching, debating, and presenting solutions for the challenges facing our world. They will be mentored throughout the week by local experts and Asia Society’s staff

in their respective fields.

Students interested in participating in the Young Leaders Institute should complete an application and submit a letter of recommendation online by Friday, April 8, 2016 at www.

AsiaSociety.org/Texas.

Students will be notified of acceptance by Wednesday, April 20, 2016. Due to a generous donation, the Institute will be offered free in 2016. Applicants are encouraged to apply early.

The application process is competitive and spaces are limited.

For more details visit www.

AsiaSociety.org/Texas

With 12 locations throughout the world, Asia Society is the leading educational organization promoting mutual understanding and strengthening partnerships among the peoples, leaders, and institutions of Asia and the United States. Asia Society Texas Center executes the global mission with a local focus, enriching and engaging the vast diversity of Houston through innovative, relevant programs in arts and culture, business and policy, education, and community outreach.

Durga and Sushila Agrawal (couple on right far) will be the honorees for Tiger Ball 2017 when it celebrates the magnificence of India. Also seen are guest at the Tiger Ball 2016.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 8

by Vinod Sharma and Padmashree Rao Photos by Rajesh Thatte, Jayesh Mistry and Nilesh Shah ord Siva, the ideal of auspiciousness, was invoked at Chinmaya Prabha and Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya in a weeklong Mahasivaratri celebration that began on March 6th and culminated on March 13, 2016. Befitting the holiest time of worship of the great three-eyed Lord, the celebrations were highlighted by three events – a unique Rudra puja performed exclusively by over 700 Bala Vihar children; a sacred and traditional Sivaratri when thousands participated in Ksirabhisekam, ritualistic worship, and Vedic chanting; and a reverential Maha Mrtyunjaya Homam offered by a multitude of devotees for the health and spiritual prosperity of the world at large.

On March 6th, the many adorably sincere children of Chinmaya Bala Vihar were the unforgettable leaders who flagged off this year’s Sivaratri celebration. The enthusiastic and eager young devotees from kindergarten through 12th grade individually performed the intricately nuanced rituals of the Rudram Puja following flawlessly the seemingly complex Sanskrit Vedic chants that were described in a concise narrative. The students were guided step by step in offering the symbolic sixteen-step pujas for Lord Ganesa and Lord Siva with Shobha Ravishankar giving appropriate references to the meaning behind each action.

A thoughtfully designed Power Point presentation creatively interwove the ancient and majestic verses and conveyed to impressionable minds the powerful purpose of puja.

Sri Ganeshji, the priest of Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya, then continued to energize the elaborate puja with his powerful chanting of the ancient Rudram.

Immersed in the sacred vibrations of the Rudram, parents and adults witnessed children perform abhisekam to beautifully majestic Sivalingas made with great love and devotion by sincere teachers, room parents, and many Chinmaya mission volunteers. As each class of children sat around their special Sivalingas and made garlands and wrote “Om Namah Sivaya”

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

Mahasivaratri at Chinmaya Prabha, unique and symbolic

L

Acarya Gaurang Nanavaty, offers prayers to Lord Shiva.

Children offering prayers to the Sivalinga.

on the bilva leaves in revered silence, it was an entrancing sight to behold. When all those hundreds of young voices chanted “Om Namah Sivaya” 108 times at the end of the Rudra puja, it was as though the entire Chin-

maya Prabha was uplifted to a realm beyond words.

Watching the young generation involve themselves with such sincere purity in the puja that spanned over an hour, it felt as if the hundreds of Balavihar

students had been magically transported to a gurukula in ancient India to perform the sacred rituals in their presence of their gurus and elders. With the support of Acarya Gaurang Nanavaty, Acarya Darshana Nanavaty’s love, care and vision for her Balavihar students was actualized by her inspired team of dedicated teachers and sevakas who used artistry and technology to inspire spirituality.

With that spirited beginning, an endless and steady stream of devotees began arriving at the Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya temple to celebrate Mahasivaratri on March 7th. Visitors numbered in the thousands from the rich and diverse mosaic of the Indian American community in Houston as evidenced by the array of Indian languages heard in the soft conversations that wafted in the evening breeze.

Arriving families were respectfully ushered into the temple courtyard where they formed long lines. As the evening advanced, the lines grew longer and the skies grew darker with storm clouds. From a distance, the canopies installed outside the temple with their peaks looked like the distant Himalayan ranges on a stormy night. The stronger the wind gusts got, the more vibrantly the row of orange flags fluttered.

Ensconced within this scene, the Sivalaya stood out like the veritable Kailas, resplendent with lights that outlined the temple and illuminated by the flood lights that surrounded the courtyard and temple.

The continuous melodious chanting of ‘Om Namah Sivaya’ instilled a contemplative hue on the premises. When devotees reached the Tapovan room, they performed ksirabisekam (milk offering) to the Sivalinga kept there, bowed to portrait of Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda, and prayed

to the pratima of Lord Ganesa. Thus, with minds purified, devotees made their way up the steps to Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya for darsana of the meditative Lord Siva. There, Sri Ganeshji and a team of other priests led the Ekadasa Rudrabhisekams, chanting the sacred Hindu verses in a spiritual symphony and immersing the entire environs in the holy glow of spirituality. With the dedicated efforts of a sincere team of volunteers, it was as if the Sri Saumyakasi temple and all present were transported in time and space into a Mahasivaratri puja in ancient India.

The auspicious abhisekams were followed by melodious bhajanas that concluded with an arati.

As the midnight hour approached, all became quiet for an hour of meditation. The lights were turned down, and deep silence permeated the surroundings like the stillness of calm waters. It was time for all thoughts to cease, for stillness and peace to connect the soul to Siva in that matchless experience in the Sivalaya on Mahasivaratri.

To extend Sivaratri worship into a heartfelt prayer for the maximum happiness for all, the culminating event of Mahamrtyunjaya Homam was performed in the Chinmaya Smrti hall of Chinmaya Prabha on March 13th. Once again, hundreds of devotees congregated to pray for the well-being of the world, chanting the great Mahamrtyunjaya mantra a significant 108 times during the ceremony. The selfless prayer sanctified the atmosphere; as this year’s Sivaratri celebrations concluded, it felt like everyone was encircled in the great graceful presence of Lord Siva.

For more information on Chinmaya Mission Houston, Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya and its activities visit www. chinmayahouston.org, www. saumyakasi.org

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DIASPORA

VOICE OF ASIA 9

G

lobal Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) elected a new international executive council at a warmly contested election, conducted electronically for the first time, where 208 of the 223 international delegates from 21 countries cast votes, electing Mr. Niraj Baxi of Silicon Valley (USA) as its President. Other elected officers are: Mr. Noel Lal (Sydney, Australia) as Executive Vice President, Mr. Ram Gadhavi (New Jersey, USA) Vice President, Dr. Rajeev Mehta (USA), Dr. Pradip Sewoke (France), Mrs. Suman Kapoor (New Zealand), and Mr. Rajidre Tiwari (The Netherland) as International Coordinators. The election process was supervised by GOPIO Chairman Inder Singh who will continue in that position.

Formed in 1989 at the First Global Convention of People of Indian Origin, GOPIO has now reached most countries with a sizable Indian Diaspora population. Past GOPIO elections were generally held at its biennial conventions wherein only a fraction of the international delegates could participate.

However, with new technologies being available, the present election was held electronically with a record participation by 93% of the international delegates.

With India at the threshold of accepting new technologies and business investment, the new team has come up with a motto, “GOPIO Means Business” so as to attract Indian Diaspora entrepreneurs and businessmen to take more interest in investing in India in all spheres, in business, philanthropy, education healthcare and social causes.

“With an investment and business friendly government in India, we see a lot opportunity for the Indian Diaspora to invest and actively participate in India’s development,” said President Niraj Baxi.

GOPIO Executive Vice President Noel Lal said that GOPIO would reach out all countries where we have the Diaspora presence.

Vice President Ram Gadhavi who has brought Gujarati Diaspora writers on a common platform in the US, plans to extend it to all Indian writers on a global GOPIO forum.

GOPIO Founder President Dr. Thomas Abraham, who also serves as the Executive Trustee of GOPIO Foundation said that GOPIO will increase its social and philanthropic activities in India as well as in countries with a large Indian Diaspora population.

Baxi further said that he would work towards making GOPIO the voice of any and all NRIs and PIOs and would take initiatives in growing GOPIO all countries and regions of the world.

“In all our internal and external activities, we want to bring about fairness, transparency and accountability; there are many challenges that lie ahead of us and we need good wishes and continued hard work from

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

Newly elected GOPIO International team seeks closer Diaspora ties with India

Oceania - Suman Kapoor (Waikato, New Zealand) A founder President of GOPIO’s first chapter in New Zealand, Suman served as chairperson of GOPIO’s Women’s Council and Cultural council. She was conferred Uttar Pradesh NRI Samman Award in Jan 2016 and several other awards including Bharat Gaurav, Hind Rattan and NRI of the year (Times Now). She has been often referred to as GOPIO LADY in her local community, is very widely traveled globally and has participated in International conferences including PBDs in India, Europe, Australia, Fiji, etc.

International Coordinator-atLarge - Rajindre Tewari (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

GOPIO 2016 Officers: From top left clockwise, Niraj Baxi, Noel Lal, Ram Gadhavi, Dr. Rajeev Mehta, Dr. Pradip Sewoke, Suman Kapoor, Rajendre Tiwari, GOPIO Chairman Inder Singh. everyone,” Baxi continued.

GOPIO elected officers are as follows: President - Niraj Baxi (Silicon Valley, CA, USA) In 1984, Niraj visited various countries, becoming the first emissary of the National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA), which sponsored the First Global Convention of People of Indian Origin in 1989. He coordinated NFIA and GOPIO organized the 90th Anniversary of Gadar in San Francisco. Niraj has served as Regional Vice President of GOPIO. Niraj has served in several positions at NFIA and became its President in 2003. He is also active in many civic, political and community service Associations.

Professionally, Niraj is a third generation insurance and financial services professional.

Executive Vice President Noel Lal (Sydney, Australia) Originally from Fiji, Noel came into GOPIO at the 2000 GOPIO Convention in Zurich, Switzerland. Noel served as the Regional VP and International Coordinator for the Oceania region. Noel is also a current Trustee of the Foundation for Educating Needy Children in Fiji. A Justice of Peace in Australia, Noel is an engineer by profession is currently the Managing Director of South Pacific Engineering Pty Ltd. Vice President - Ram Gadhavi (Wayne, New Jersey, USA) For four decades, Ram Gadhavi has been involved in various community activities, starting with the India Cultural Society of NJ where he served as its Chairman, helped build the Gandhi Mandir, was Secre-

tary/President of the Federation of Indian Associations (FIA of CT, NJ & NY) where he organized the 1st India Day Parade, President of Gujarati Literary Academy of NA, Secretary of Bharatiya Vidyà Bhavan (USA), and as founding CoConvener of the first GOPIO Convention in 1989. A chemical engineering project manager of Lummus Co., Ram, after retirement, started a home building and re-modelling company.

International Coordinator for North America - Dr. Rajeev Mehta (Piscataway, New Jersey, USA)

Dr. Rajeev Mehta is the Founder President of GOPIOCentral Jersey (and served in this capacity 2008 to 2012).

He also served as Co-chair of the GOPIO Health Council (2010-2014), Co-Convener of the 2011 GOPIO International Biennial Convention held in New Jersey, and Chair of GOPIO Health Council 2014 onward. He has organized several health camps on behalf of GOPIO Central Jersey. He is a researcher, clinician and professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Jersey.

Founder and President of GOPIO Belfort and Borders of East France (Switzerland, Germany), Pradip attended GOPIO International Convention in New Delhi and New York.

Support the development of GOPIO Chapters in the francophone countries (Europe, Canada, Africa, Islands of Mauritius, Reunion, Antilles, etc.).

Professionally, Pradip is an interventional cardiologist and Co-Director at Diaconat Clinic, Mulhouse, France.

International Coordinator for

International Coordinator for

Europe - Dr. Pradip Sewoke (Belfort. France)​

Rajindre served as Chapter president of GOPIO-Amsterdam followed by Country Coordinator, then EU coordinator, and later served as International Coordinator for Europe in the GOPIO Executive Council 2012 onward. Rajindre Tewari is the MD of an Investment Company with a strong focus on private equity & emerging market investments and chairs the India Business Council of the Dutch Council for Trade. As a Dutch PIO with roots in UP, he studied in Delhi, Antwerpen and Leiden, and comes from a family that was performing Seva for generations.

GOPIO is a non-partisan, non-sectarian and secular global organization with 65 chapters, over 200 life members in over 24 countries. It actively promotes the interests of people of Indian origin worldwide by monitoring and addressing current critical issues of concern, and by enhancing cooperation and communication between groups of Indians living in various countries.

For more information, please email nbaxi@insuranceplanning.com or www.gopio.net

Ganga Ram’s great great granddaughter running for top US post

W

ASHINGTON, Mar 13, 2016, (PTI) - : A great great granddaughter of Ganga Ram, an Indian civil engineer known for building a network of health infrastructures in both India and Pakistan before partition, is running for a top elected position in the US State of Vermont.

Seeking an inspiration from her great great-grandfather, Indian-Jewish-American Kesha Ram promises to make accessible health care and education as one of her prime focus if elected as the Lt Governor of the American State of Vermont later this fall.

Ram, 29, is the first woman of colour to run for State wide office in Vermont.

Vermont has been in the news lately as its Senator Bernie Sanders is a Democratic presidential candidate

and is giving a run for the money to the party’s frontrunner Hillary Clinton.

“I was there (in India) last year. Unfortunately, I had to take my father’s ashes to the holy river. But in the course of the trip, we were able to visit Sir Ganga Ram hospital, where my relatives lead the board of directors,” Ram told PTI in an interview.

Her father was born in Lahore but after partition the family moved to India and grew in Punjab. He came to Los Angeles for studies as a student where he met her mother, a Jewish American. ..

“Together they opened an Irish pub in Los Angeles,” she said, adding that here she helped her father.

For her studies, Ram moved to the University of Vermont.

She was elected to the state House of Representatives at age 22 to represent the University District and Hill Section of Burlington. She has represented the district since 2009.

“It (Indian and Jewish heritage) really gave me an important foundation in terms of tolerance and being versatile, hoping to bridge different world,” she said.

“Vermont and the country is at a very pivotal time when we are having conversations about whether or not keep our borders open and how to be a welcoming place for people from other countries.

I feel uniquely positioned how to lead that conversation as some one with an immigrant parents with a diverse background,” Ram said in response to a question.

Ram said Sanders gave her the “first big break” in poli-

tics.

“He invited me to introduce him and then Senator Barack Obama on stage when I was a student, when Bernie was running for the Senate seat for the first time. Ever since then, I have been very grateful to his leadership and his role in shaping, change and advocating for economic equality,” Ram said, adding that for now she is very supportive of the message and energy coming from the Sanders’s campaign.

Asked if the US is ready for the first woman president, she said yes.

“I believe; the US has been ready for the first US president. I hope, if it is not Hillary Clinton, people do not see that as the country not being ready for a woman president. The country is still having a conversation about gender equality,” she said.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 10

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

Grand Maha Sivarathri celebrations at Sri Meenakshi Temple Dance, Abhinaya School of Dance and Sunanda Nair’s School of Dance. All the dances were beautifully choreographed and revolved around the theme of Lord Shiva and His Cosmic dance. What is a better place than Meenakshi Temple, on Sivarathri, for a classical dancer to converse with the Lord of Dance, for dance itself is their language of communication!

More than a 100 devotees stayed up all night chanting the Sivanama

for Chatur Kala Pujas (Abhishekam & puja with Vedic chanting and bhajans) at mid night, 1:30AM, 3:00AM and 4:30AM. The temple provided light refreshments which was supplemented by prasadams from devotees. The priests performed the abhishekams and pujas with utmost sincerity and dedication, filling the entire temple with bhakti and spirituality. Overall, it was a very blissful and fulfilling Sivarathri at MTS. More than a thousand devotees came to the temple on this

most auspicious day and night even though it was on a weekday, showing the very uniqueness and authenticity of the temple. The Mahasivarathri function went very well thanks to all the hard work and dedication of the priests, volunteers, board and council members, coordinators Sheila Sriram, Dr. Vadugunathan, RAC members, Chair Narayanan and Vice Chair Padmini Nathan, temple staff, and most importantly due to the bhakti of the devotees. It was coordinated by Sheila Sriram.

Beautiful decorations especially of the Kailasam mountain and the

by M.K.Sriram and Anu Mahesh t was a Grand Mahasivarathri Day celebration at Sri Meenakshi Temple on Monday, March 7th.

Devotees started streaming in soon after the doors opened in the morning and swelled to a large gathering when the puja started at twilight. The weather was beautiful and more than 1,000 devotees thronged the temple.

The Honorable Indian Consul General Mr. P. Harish and Mrs. Nandita Harish were present among devotees.

The decorations were stunningly beautiful, especially the heavenly “Kailas” mountain that was created by the very talented temple artisans.

The puja started with the traditional Ganesh puja, followed by Punyahavachanam (purification), invocation of the 108 conches, then by a Homam (offering to Agni) to the chant of the most divine Vedic mantra Sri Rudram. It was followed by the offering of Purnahuthi and Abhishekam, when Lord Sundareswara in the form of the sacred Siva Lingam was bathed in milk, honey, fruit juice, yogurt and many other ingredients, and finally with the sanctified water from the 108 conches. The Lord then was adorned with Alankaram and when the sanctum doors opened, there was a spontaneous and collective cry by the devotees - “Om Nama Shivaya”.

A special Archana was performed

I

with gold Bilva leaves with the devotees repeated the sacred mantras led by the priests, The evening puja concluded with the Maha Aarthi and Athma Lingam puja where all devotees lined up to perform their own milk abhishekam to the Siva Lingam. Devotees cherish it as a moment when they are closest to God who is invoked in their own hearts and souls.

A wonderful cultural program organized by Mala Gopal started with a welcome speech by Chairman Narayanan followed by Adhi Gopal, a Vedic Heritage Society (VHS) student singing a prayer and beautifully explaining the significance of Maha Sivarathri with a short story of Lord Shiva.

“Aangikam bhuvanam yasya, vachikam sarva vaangmayam Aahaaryam chandra thaaraadi, tam namah saathwikam Shivamâ” (To whom the whole world is the movement of His body, all sound His speech, the Moon and the Stars His ornaments, Him the Almighty being Shiva, the embodiments of divine serenity, I salute Natya Shashtra.)

The 2 hour long program constituted performances by many of Houston’s dance schools including Anjali Center for Performing Arts, Silambam, Sreepadam School of

Priests performing puja in the main temple.

Read More Community stories online.

Visit www.voiceofasiaonline.com

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Vol. 29 No. 12

Lifestyle VOICE OF ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 11

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

Tel: 713-774-5140

Boys in pink: ‘genderless’ fashion goes big in Japan in droves -- sporting trousers since the 1930s when French fashion legend Coco Chanel put her equestrian clients in pants -- the sight of a man in a skirt still raises eyebrows in the West.

In much of Asia, however, unisex clothing -- whether in the form of a traditional shalwar kameez, sarong or kimono -- boasts a long history, while popular theatrical traditions regularly feature gender bending performances.

Genking’s long bleached blond locks, curled eyelashes and fondness for both womenswear and menswear testify to a self-professed identity as a “genderless” person.

Born Genki Tanaka, Genking fell in love with fashion at an early age, dreaming of Chanel purses and pastel pink accessories.

“My mother was pretty tolerant.... But in those days, I still didn’t want to admit my feminine side and I was kind of trying to hide it,” Genking said.

“When I turned 20, I quit pretending.”

fashion in which young men adopt unequivocally feminine styles and challenge traditional norms.

Genking set up an Instagram account where selfies showcase a style that has attracted nearly 850,000 followers, kicking off a television career and culminating in a catwalk appearance at the packed Tokyo Girls Collection show last year.

Although women around the world have taken to menswear

In Japan, men play every role during traditional kabuki -- all-

Models display creations designed by ha-ha design team. AFP Photo.

by Ammu KANNAMPILLY

T

OKYO, Japan - No stranger to barrettes, bows and beauty products, Japanese Instagram icon and model Genking is a proud flag bearer for “genderless”

Models display creations by Japanese designer Tsukasa Mikami at the 2016 autumn/winter collection show in Tokyo on March 14, 2016, during Tokyo Fashion Week. Photo: Toru Yamanaka / AFP.

male theatre -- performances, while the century-old Takarazuka Revue -- an all-female musical theatre troupe -- sees women slick back their hair and don tuxedos to the delight of adoring female fans.

from watching male actors play women on stage to adopting “girly” accessories and wearing makeup themselves, were it not for the overwhelming influence of Korean pop music and Japanese anime movies.

“Gender role play through fashion and performance has always been a big part of Japanese culture,” said Tokyo-based style blogger and TV host, Misha Janette.

“When K-pop became big in Japan, many young men adopted that style, trying to copy the effeminate facial features of male band members,” Janette told AFP.

Local retailers have long catered to a fashion-hungry menswear market with slick tailoring, leather clutches and luxury skincare products.

Meanwhile, as anime’s popularity rose, young boys turned to makeup in a bid to resemble their favourite cartoon characters.

Few young men, however, would have made the leap

“Genderless” trailblazers like singer Yohdi Kondo and style star Ryucheru regularly don schoolgirl braids, swipe on blush and dress in pink fluffy sweaters, adopting “kawaii”, or cute, styles usually reserved for young women.

Coming to a hotel near you: the robot humanoid receptionist

by Marie JULIEN ERLIN, Germany - In a hotel not in a galaxy far, far away, a robot bids you welcome as you pull into the driveway.

Another hands out the keycard to your room, and a third gives you the password to the wifi network.

Robots are making an entry into the hospitality industry that has until now always prided itself on delivering a warm and personable touch.

At an entrance to Berlin’s exhibition hall where thousands of travel industry professionals are gathering for the ITB trade show, humanoid robot ChihiraKanae greets visitors -- in English, German, Chinese and Japanese.

Dressed in a blue jacket with a neck scarf, ChihiraKanae is on her first visit to Europe where she is seeking potential employment for herself and her kind.

Three months ago, her “sister” began working as a meetand-greeter in a Tokyo shopping centre.

Their creator, Toshiba, also foresees a great future ahead for them in tourism.

Mario has already found a job -- at the Ghent Marriott Hotel in Belgium, where he has welcomed visitors since June.

He is also multi-lingual, speaking 19 languages to be precise. On top of that, he helps with serving at hotel buffets, and entertains guests by singing and dancing.

- He makes guests smile -Unlike ChihiraKanae, Mario doesn’t pretend to look like a human.

Standing just 50 centimetres (1.6 foot) tall, Mario is white with red stripes, has speakers for ears and a total of just six fingers.

But his employer is pleased with his work.

He “puts a smile on everybody’s face,” said Roger Langhout, director general of the hotel, adding that “it’s a good way to get people to remember our hotel”.

“We are still exploring the possibilities of Mario,” he said, even if he acknowledges that humans can never be fully replaced by machines in the hotel business.

Oxford University’s Carl Benedikt Frey believes however that robots do have a big future

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- ‘Genderless’ future - But while Japanese fashion seeks to overturn convention, commentators say it will take more than men dressed in skirts to transform traditional gender dynamics in the conservative country.

“The genderless trend is really a fashion moment, it’s not necessarily about sexuality or any social agenda... I don’t think a trend like this changes anything for women, it’s not empowering (for them),” said TV host Janette.

At an entrance to Berlin’s exhibition hall where travel industry professionals are gathering for the ITB trade show, humanoid robot ChihiraKanae greets visitors -- in English, German, Chinese and Japanese (AFP Photo/Tobias Schwarz ). in the industry.

“In tourism, quite a few jobs remain non-automatable, like concierges or chefs,” he said.

“But a wide range of jobs are very much sustainable to automation,” he added, suggesting that robots could work as waiters, dishwashers, tour guides or even chauffeurs.

What is key is that they should do tasks that require only basic communication, he said.

In fact, a survey of 6,000 travellers by US online bookings company Travelzoo found that two in three people are comfortable with seeing robots in the tourism industry.

The Chinese are among the most enthusiastic, while the French and Germans are more reticent.

Taleb Rifai, secretary general of the World Tourism Organization, said the industry should broaden its usage of technology and robots.

“I would not put any limit on the use of technology or innovation in any hotel or tourism facility,” he said.

“As a matter of fact, we are way behind as a sector in the implementation of technology and the use of it. We were able to send a man to the moon long before we thought about adding wheels on a suitcase.”

- Virtual reality -If robots are still a nascent discovery in the industry, virtual reality (VR) has charmed operators.

German high-tech association Bitkom said virtual reality is the technology that “perhaps has the greatest potential” in the travel industry.

At several stands at the ITB fair, which runs until Sunday, guests could put on virtual reality glasses and escape the gloomy Berlin winter.

In one case, you could lounge on a tropical terrace and watch elephants lumbering against the backdrop of the setting sun, while a waiter delivers a colourful cocktail.

The hotel chain Cinnamon, which is active in the Maldives and Sri Lanka, is using the “new marketing tool” to allow potential visitors to get “closer to the product you see,” said marketing director Dileep Mudadeniya.

At the stand for southern Germany’s Bavaria region, young women dressed in the traditional dirndl dress are also trying to tempt visitors to put on the glasses for a glimpse of its green meadows and snowcapped mountains.

British tour operator Thomas Cook has been a pioneer in giving its clients a VR preview of adventure -- a tour by helicopter above Manhattan.

Professor Armin Brysch, from Kempten’s Applied Sciences University in southern Germany, believes that VR is here to stay in the industry as it pro-

vides a “new quality of experience” that could entice people to book holidays in destinations that they may not have considered.

timistic, pointing to the rising visibility of LGBT icons like Caitlyn Jenner, the transgender Olympic champion formerly known as Bruce.

Designer Tsukasa Mikami opened Tokyo fashion week Monday with a show featuring male and female models in floral silkscreen-printed garments and combat boots.

Mikami, whose previous collections have showcased men and women wearing the same garments, said creating unisex clothing came naturally.

“I don’t make any distinction between the sexes,” he told AFP. Hot new unisex label “ilk” offers a selection of dresses and belted tunics aimed at “customers of all ages, genders and sexualities”, according to designer Koji Ota. Meanwhile, in a nod to the trend’s growing reach, retail giant Zara last week launched a unisex line of sweatshirts, tank tops and sneakers called “Ungendered”. “(The LGBT movement) is a global movement that we cannot separate from fashion... I think this free way of thinking is suited to modern society and (its) fashion,” said Ota. For “genderless” fashionista Genking, the playful style heralds the dawn of a new age.

Japanese activists have staged a long battle to scrap sexist, discriminatory laws while female participation rates in the workforce and political sphere are among the lowest in developed nations.

“The gender boundary is disappearing... Japan is still conservative, but I think we will see more men open up to genderless culture,” Genking told AFP.

Nevertheless, proponents of “genderless” fashion are op-

“How you dress is how you live.”

But would people just opt to see the world from their armchairs?

Unlikely, said Rifai.

“To think that virtual reality could be used so that you stay at home and travel the world, it is not going to happen -- I hope,” he said.

LEISURE

VOICE OF ASIA 12

BOOK:

Before We Visit the Goddess child, Tara, with dangerous lessons about adulthood that will take a lifetime to unlearn.

“”Tender, bittersweet, beautifully wrought tales about love and longing, exile and loneliness.”

In her latest novel, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni explores the relationships between mothers and daughters, and the different kinds of love that bind us across generations. Before We Visit the Goddess captures the gorgeous complexity of these multi-generational and transcontinental bonds, sweeping across the twentieth century from the countryside of Bengal, India, to the streets of Houston, Texas—an extraordinary journey told through a sparkling symphony of male and female voices.

Here is an advance review from Booklist: “The always enchanting and enlightening Divakaruni spins another silken yet tensile saga about the lives of women in India and as immigrants in America. Divakaruni’s gracefully insightful, dazzlingly descriptive, and covertly stinging tale illuminates the opposition women must confront, generation by generation, as they seek both independence and connection.”

Writer Amitav Ghosh (The Ibis Trilogy) describes this novel as, Author, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

About the book: The daughter of a poor sweetmaker in rural Bengal, India, Sabitri yearns to get an education. However, her family’s situation makes college an impossible dream. Then an influential woman from Kolkata takes Sabitri under her wing, but her generosity curdles after a single, unforgiveable misstep.

Years later, Sabitri’s daughter, Bela, haunted by her mother’s choices, flees to America with her political refugee lover, only to find the country—and love— vastly different from her imaginings. Forced to forge her own path, Bela unwittingly imprints her own

Cover

About the Author Indian American writer Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an award-winning author, poet, activist and teacher. Her books have been translated into 29 languages, and her work has appeared in over a hundred magazines and anthologies. Several of her novels and stories, such as Mistress of Spices, Arranged Marriage, Sister of My Heart, Oleander Girl, and Palace of Illusions have been made into films and plays.

She has won an American Book Award, a Premio Scanno award, also known as the Italian Nobel, and a Light of India award. Divakaruni teaches Creative Writing at the University of Houston and writes for both adults and children. In 2015, she was chosen by the Economic Times for their list Twenty Most Influential Global Indian Women.

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

Sony in nationwide US launch of online TV ‘bundles’ ashington, United States | AFP | Monday 3/14/2016 - Sony said Monday its Internet-based television service aimed at luring consumers away from cable subscriptions was being expanded to the entire US market.

This makes Vue “the first pay-TV service to be available nationwide that offers more than 100 top live sports, movie and TV channels, with unique features such as simultaneous streaming and an unmatched cloud DVR,” the statement said.

The PlayStation Vue will offer streamlined “bundles” for as little as $30 a month without long-term contracts.

Subscribers will have options from 55 channels at $30 to more than 100 channels at $45.

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The network launched in a handful of US cities a year ago, will have content from three of the four major broadcast networks -- ABC, NBC and Fox -- as “on demand” content available 24 hours after the live broadcasts.

“Since launching a year ago, our priority with PlayStation Vue has been to secure the best TV content for our audience and make it available to consumers nationwide; today, we’re delivering on that promise,” said Eric Lempel, senior vice president of PlayStation Network Americas.

Content from the fourth network, CBS, “will be added to select TV markets at a later date,” said a statement from Sony Network Entertainment International LLC, the unit of the Japanese electronics and entertainment giant.

“PlayStation Vue has been an ambitious project from the start, and national expansion demonstrates our ability to innovate in an industry that’s overdue for a reinvented experience.”

The new offerings will include live feeds from major channels such as AMC, Disney and the sports channel ESPN. Sony said it is working to add live broadcasts from major networks.

Viewers will be able to save and replay programs via a “cloud DVR,” or digital video recorder and stream simultaneously to multiple devices.

He boasted the service would provide “a better way to watch TV.” The new service comes as a number of market players are moving into streaming to counter the rise of services like Netflix and Amazon.

Telecom giants Verizon and AT&T are among those in the process of launching streaming packages, while CBS and HBO are offering their own subscriptions to viewers without a cable or satellite plan.

Asian art auctions kick off in NBC renews ‘Little Big NY after theft shame Shots’ for a second season

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ew York kicks off its annual week of Asian art sales Tuesday, red-faced after stolen Indian statues were impounded from Christie’s and testing the market in the face of a Chinese economic slowdown.

US special agents seized the sandstone statues, dating back to the eighth and 10th centuries, from Christie’s auction house following an international investigation with assistance from India and Interpol, US officials said.

Both objects had been valued at $150,000 and $300,000, and were listed in Christie’s sale of Indian and Himalayan art on Tuesday.

“We have withdrawn the lots and we are fully cooperating with the authorities on their investigation,” a spokesperson for the auction house said.

US agents said both artifacts came from a specific smuggler, and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance warned art dealers and auction houses to do everything possible to avoid selling stolen cultural heritage.

Christie’s said the auction house would never knowingly offer art for sale when there were valid concerns over its provenance and said the evi-

dence uncovered in this case had not been publicly available and “therefore could not have been accessed by Christie’s for vetting purposes.”

- ‘First really big test’ -While eclipsed by the sales of contemporary Asian art in Hong Kong each April, insiders say the importance of New York’s annual celebration and promotion of Asian ceramics, paintings and sculpture grows every year.

Last year raked in record sales of $360 million, nearly 50 percent more than the $250 million collected in 2011. Asian art week was introduced in 2009.

Last year, the Chinese stock markets imploded and the economy has slowed further in 2016, which could dampen the appetite of once cash-rich collectors.

“It’s the first really big test of the year,” said Henry Howard-Sneyd, chairman of Asian art at Sotheby’s.

To intice buyers, Sotheby’s is offering pieces that have not been available at auction for decades, Howard-Sneyd said.

Their standout lot is an untitled piece by Indian abstract painter V.S. Gaitonde,

estimated by Sotheby’s to be worth $2.5 million to $3.5 million, a year after New York’s famed Guggenheim Museum gave the late artist a retrospective.

Other Sotheby’s highlights are four Chinese 18th century silk landscapes valued at $600,000 to $800,000, and a rare yellow and green dish from the Yongzheng period also valued at $600,000 to $800,000.

In a nod to the economic slowdown, Michael Bass, international director of Chinese ceramics and works of art at Christie’s, conceded that people would be “looking to see what will happen.”

Bass said Christie’s offerings were rich and diverse.

“These are unique pieces,” he said.

“You’re not just investing in something that’s just a piece of paper, this is actually a beautiful object that you can own.”

Christie’s highlights include an 18th century painting of the Buddhist deity Vaisravana, valued at $550,000 to $750,000, and an imperial carved Zitan dragon throne valued at $800,000 to $1.2 million. The Asia sales conclude Saturday.

Akash Vukoti on the first season of “Little Big Shots” (Danny Feld / NBC)

by Meredith Blake

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BC has ordered another round of shots -- “Little Big Shots,”

that is.

The variety series showcases young performers with an array of talents, such as a 5-year-old animal hypnotist and a 6-yearold choir director. The guests

also sit for interviews with host Steve Harvey, with frequently adorable results.

The series, executive-produced

by Harvey and Ellen DeGeneres, had its official premiere Sunday, drawing 14.8 million live plus same-day viewers, putting it well ahead of any other show on broadcast television that night.

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The International Civil Aviation Organization “recognizes that sub-orbital and outer space flights will foster new tourism and transport markets, and that investments in related research and development remain at a very healthy level,” ICAO Council President Olumuyiwa Benard Aliu said.

“Personally, as an engineer, I am very excited to see the dream and theory of normalized space flight now becoming such a tangible reality,” he told an aerospace symposium in Abu Dhabi.

In making its case, the agency noted an uptick in the number of spacecraft designs that have made the leap from concept to reality, saying more will follow.

The ICAO also cited a steady increase in rocket ship launch-

Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipOne was the first private spacecraft to reach the edge of space in 2004 (AFP Photo/Frederic J. Brown).

es, and commercial spaceports are now becoming “operational realities,” the Montreal-based agency said in a statement.

Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, last month unveiled a new commercial spaceship 16 months after its predecessor crashed, killing a pilot during a test flight.

The company’s SpaceShipOne was the first private spacecraft to reach the edge of space in 2004.

Meanwhile, SpaceX, owned

by another billionaire, Elon Musk, has successfully launched a communications satellite into a distant orbit, but failed to land the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket on an ocean platform earlier this month.

Rules must be put in place soon to ensure safety and security in space, as well as prevent the creation of a patchwork of regulations by individual states, the ICAO said.

The agency suggested adapting the existing regulatory framework for aviation, for which the ICAO and national governments are responsible.

Courtesy: Los Angeles Times

Youngest Astrologer of North America

Space travel rules needed within 5 years: UN ONTREAL, Canada - The UN aviation agency called Tuesday for regulations on space travel to be enacted within five years in order to bolster a burgeoning space tourism and transportation sector.

“I am so excited there’s going to be a second season of ‘Little Big Shots,’” said DeGeneres, making a joking reference to “The Bachelor” to point out the lack of family-friendly entertainment on the air. “When it’s over you won’t have to explain what happens in the ‘fantasy suite.”

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VOICE OF ASIA 13

HEALTH, SC & TECH

Apple says FBI out to ‘rewrite history’ in iPhone case

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

PlayStation virtual reality gear to launch in October

Sony’s virtual reality head gear for PlayStation VR on display during the Tokyo Game Show on September 17, 2015

by Glenn CHAPMAN AN FRANCISCO - Sony plans to make virtual reality -- long the stuff of films cast off into a distant future -- mainstream with the October release of PlayStation VR headgear priced at $399.

- Game makers dive in -More than 230 developers and publishers are working on games for PlayStation VR, with some 50 titles expected to be available by the end of this year, according to Sony.

“Virtual reality represents a new frontier for gaming, one that will forever change the way users interact with games,” Sony Computer Entertainment chief executive Andrew House said during a press event in San Francisco on Tuesday.

The list included French video game titan Ubisoft, which is creating an “Eagle Flight” game that lets players virtually take wing, and a collaboration between Electronic Arts, DICE, and Lucasfilm on a new “Star Wars Battlefront” title for PlayStation VR.

Sony chose October for the launch of PlayStation VR to allow time for making enough units to meet anticipated demand and to let developers get games ready for the headsets, according to House.

PlayStation motion-sensing “Move” wand-shaped controllers were used to provide “hands” in some titles demonstrated at the event

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Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey testifies during a House Judiciary Committee hearing titled “The Encryption Tightrope: Balancing Americans’ Security and Privacy,” on Capitol Hill, March 1, 2016 in Washington, DC (AFP Photo/Drew Angerer).

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AN FRANCISCO - Apple fired anew Tuesday at the US government’s legal fight to force it to break into an attacker’s iPhone, saying the tactic would “appall” the country’s founders.

Apple dug into its legal position in a written filing ahead of a hearing set for March 22 before a federal judge in Southern California.

The headsets are designed to plug into PlayStation 4 (PS4) consoles.

Apple stuck to its argument that the FBI was overstepping legal bounds by using an All Writs Act to compel the company to help break an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the December terror attack in San Bernardino, California.

“The government attempts to rewrite history by portraying the Act as an allpowerful magic wand rather than the limited procedural tool it is,” Apple attorneys said in a filing that responded to one submitted to the court a week earlier by the Justice Department.

“Thus, according to the government, short of kidnapping or breaking an express law, the courts can order private parties to do virtually anything the Justice Department and FBI can dream up. The founders would be appalled.”

Apple urged the court to reject the FBI request on the ground it is forbidden by the Constitution.

- ‘Modest’ request? Forcing Apple to help unlock an iPhone is a “modest” demand that may turn up vital evidence in a terrorist attack, the US government argued in a brief filed last week, upping the ante in its legal standoff with the technology giant.

Apple, which is backed by a broad

Sony touted PS4 as its fastest-selling console ever with more than 36 million of them bought since they hit the market in late 2013.

But there is competition and Facebook-owned virtual reality start Oculus is set to begin shipping its Rift headsets later this month. iPhone users protesting. AFP photo. coalition of powerful rival technology firms and activists, argues that the FBI is seeking a “back door” into all iPhones as part of the probe.

ment” and apparently crafted to smear the iPhone maker with innuendo such as implying a “sinister” relationship with China.

The government brief, in sharp contrast, argued it is a single case of technical assistance in an important national security investigation.

He bashed the “cheap shot” brief as “an unsubstantiated effort to vilify Apple” that was on a flimsy legal footing.

“The court’s order is modest,” Justice Department lawyers wrote.

Apple attorneys said that the California-based company has “categorically and absolutely not” been asked by any government other than the United States to build a backdoor into a product.

“It applies to a single iPhone and it allows Apple to decide the least burdensome means of complying.”

An FBI victory in the case could serve as a legal precedent backing requests for access to iPhones by law enforcement agencies throughout the US. Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell last week slammed the Justice Department brief as reading “like an indict-

The government brief said the request is similar to requiring telephone companies to install wiretaps under court orders.

Apple is “fully capable of complying with the court’s order,” government lawyers wrote.

Vaccine against dengue virus is 100 percent effective: study

by Kerry SHERIDAN

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IAMI, AFP - An experimental vaccine against dengue, the world’s most common mosquito-borne virus, was 100 percent effective in early trials and could speed up the pace of a vaccine against Zika, researchers said Wednesday.

Dengue -- which is in the same family of flaviviruses as Zika -- infects some 390 million people each year in more than 120 countries of the world.

Dengue symptoms are often mild, but more than two million people annually develop dengue hemorrhagic fever -- which can involve severe headaches, pain behind the eyes, rash, pain in the joints, muscles or bones pain, and leaking blood vessels.

More than 25,000 people die of dengue hemorrhagic fever each year.

“Knowing what we know about this new vaccine, we are confident that it is going to work,” said lead author Anna Durbin, associate professor in International Health at the Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University.

“And we have to be confident: Dengue is unique and if you don’t do it right, you can do more harm than good.”

- Four strains -The vaccine candidate, known as TV003, was tested in a group of 48 people -- half of whom received the vaccine, with the other half given a placebo.

TV003 is made by researchers at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) from a mixture of four weakened but live viruses, targeted to each of the four serotypes of dengue.

Six months after vaccination, the two groups were exposed to a weakened form of dengue serotype 2 virus, the hardest of the four dengue strains to prevent.

Previous research on TV003, which has been in development for 15 years, had shown it worked well at preventing dengue 1, 3 and 4 viruses.

However, the “portion of the vaccine that was designed to prevent dengue 2 did not induce as strong an immune response in people as the other three components,” said a statement from Johns Hopkins.

This time, researchers looked beyond antibody response “for the evidence of actual infection: virus in the blood, rash and low white blood cell count.”

Of the 41 people that remained in the study until the end, none of the 21 who were vaccinated showed any evidence of dengue.

The 20 in the placebo group all had dengue virus in their blood. Eighty percent of them developed a rash, and 20 percent showed lower white blood cell counts, suggesting their bodies were fighting an infection.

The study was done in the United States, where dengue does not circulate in the population.

This helped researchers identify the vaccine’s effectiveness in people who had not been previously exposed to any strain of dengue.

“The findings from this trial are very encouraging to those of us who have spent many years working on vaccine candidates to protect against dengue, a disease that is a significant burden in much of the world and is now endemic in Puerto Rico,” said Stephen Whitehead, of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

A larger, phase III trial of TV003 began last month in Brazil. It is one of several candidate vaccines currently in clinical trials.

- Zika virus -Researchers said their findings may assist in the development of a vaccine against Zika, which has been linked to surge in birth defects in Brazil.

Top US health experts have said a vaccine against the mosquito-borne disease will take years to develop.

“We think that this is a tool that can really accelerate vaccine development, it’s a tool that we think can be extrapolated to others flaviviruses,” said Durbin.

“We hope to do this with Zika virus.

There’s an urgent need for a Zika vaccine.”

Oculus has been taking orders for Rift at a price of $599 and has worked with computer makers to certify machines as powerful enough to handle the technology.

Pre-orders have also been taken on bundles combining Rift with compatible gaming computers starting about $1,500.

Buying a PS4 and PlayStation VR would add up to about half that price.

“We are proud of the price point we have been able to achieve,” House said of PlayStation VR. PlayStation VR users will still need to buy camera and controller accessories, pushing the price up slightly, but it is considerably less expensive than rival headsets that synch to gaming computers, according to Gartner analyst Brian Blau.

“The cost of ownership of PlayStation is going to be a lot more affordable than the PC (personal computer) counterparts,” Blau told AFP after attending the Sony event.

And, since millions of PS4 have already been bought, the price of adding virtual reality is comparably lower for owners of those consoles since no computer upgrade is needed.

Virtual reality was a hot topic at a Game Developers Conference (GDC) taking place a short distance from the Sony press briefing.

Chip makers showed off powerful processors designed to handle rendering rich, immersive graphics in virtual worlds. Games shown off at GDC included titles tailored for PlayStation VR and rivals Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Thirty-year-old GDC bills itself as the largest and longest-running event for professional game makers.

This year, GDC integrated an inaugural Virtual Reality Developers Conference focused on “making immersive virtual reality and augmented reality experiences.”

The virtual reality portion of GDC had to be moved to larger rooms to double the capacity in response to heavy demand, according to organizers.

In a sign that virtual reality is poised to extend beyond gaming, PlayStation VR boasted a Cinematic mode that can let people watch digital video on large virtual screens.

House promised more information on “entertainment content” in coming months.

“It makes sense that you should be able to see all kinds of PlayStation content inside the headset,” analyst Blau said.

“I think it will extend PlayStation into areas it has never been before.”

For example, Blau noted, PlayStation VR could expand to include sports viewing, streaming films or television shows, and even be put to work use by businesses.

Google spotlights rise in web traffic encryption

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AN FRANCISCO - Google reported that the amount of encrypted online traffic hitting its servers jumped in the past year in a sign of heightened interest in protecting information on the Internet.

Google introduced a new encryption, or HTTPS, section in a transparency report released on Tuesday to highlight the need to safeguard data online.

Slightly more than 75 percent of requests to Google servers were encrypted as of January in a jump from 50 percent a year earlier, according to the transparency report.

“Implementing encryption is not easy work,” Google “HTTPS evangelists” Rutledge Chin Feman and Tim Willis said in a blog post.

“But, as more people spend more of their time on the web, it’s an increasingly essential element of online security.”

The encryption section of the report was intended to provide a look at Google’s efforts to encourage “everyone” to use the data-scrambling technology on the Internet, according to the post.

All messages sent using Google’s free Gmail were encrypted, the report indicated.

Google is working to have encryption across all its online products and services. YouTube activity is not en-

crypted.

The vast majority of unencrypted traffic to Google servers come from mobile devices, many of which might never be updated by makers with improved security, according to the report.

Google shone a spotlight on encryption less a week before Apple and the US government are to face off in federal court in Southern California in a legal fight to force the company to break into an attacker’s iPhone.

Apple on Tuesday filed a written response brief saying the tactic would have appalled the country’s founders.

Apple stuck to its argument that the FBI was overstepping legal bounds by using an All Writs Act to compel the company to help break into an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the December terror attack in San Bernardino, California.

Apple sees the request as a demand for a “back door” into software powering all iPhones.

The government brief, in sharp contrast, argued it is a single case of making a “modest” demand for technical assistance in an important national security investigation.

An FBI victory in the case could serve as a legal precedent backing requests for access to iPhones by law enforcement agencies throughout the US.

VOICE OF ASIA 14

Section 2

Young Life

by Marlowe HOOD

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ARIS, France | AFP - The number of teenagers trying alcohol or cigarettes before they turn 14 has dropped, especially among girls, according to a World Health Organization study of 42 welloff nations.

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Youth in well-off nations smoke, drink less than in 2010: WHO drinking among early teens, with 13 and 20 percent of 13-year-old girls and boys respectively saying they consume alcohol at least one a week.

From 2010 to 2014, the percentage of 15-year-old boys in Europe, Canada and Israel who said they’d smoked their first cigarette at 13 fell from 26 to 22 among boys -- but plunged from 22 to 13 for girls.

- Boys fat, girls think they are -By age 15, those percentages have climbed to 17 and 32 respectively.

Romania, Albania, Croatia, Greece and Italy fill out the top of the list, while Norway, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands and Spain have the most abstemious adolescents.

Alcohol use among young teens in the 42 countries canvassed also went down over the same period, by about 10 percent.

But when it came to boozing, the percentage of 13-and-under girls who indulged weekly -- while still smaller than for boys -- did not decline as much, narrowing the gender gap.

“Health behaviours along with social habits and attitudes acquired in the critical second decade of a young person’s life can carry on into adulthood and affect the entire life-course,” said Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO regional director for Europe.

“A good start can last a lifetime,” she said in a statement.

Conducted every four years, the survey examines self-perception and risky behaviour among 11-, 13- and 15-year olds.

Greenland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and the Czech Republic topped

by Susan NJANJI

L

ADYSMITH, South Africa | AFP | - Thubelihle Dlodlo would not have made it to university in South Africa this year as her family could not afford the fees, but virginity brought her a lifeline.

From 2010 to 2014, the percentage of 15-year-old boys in Europe, Canada and Israel who said they’d smoked their first cigarette at 13 fell from 26 to 22 among boys -- but plunged from 22 to 13 for girls (AFP Photo/Patrik Stollarz). the list of young smokers in 2014, with 38 to 56 percent of boys, and 36 to 53 percent of girls, saying they had already lit up by age 13.

The countries with the lowest rates of reported tobacco use at the same age were Iceland, Albania, Canada, Norway and Spain.

In Europe, 16 percent of all deaths in adults over 30 are due to tobacco -the highest rate of all WHO regions.

Studies have shown that exposure to nicotine during adolescence can have lasting effect on brain development.

Most countries have taken steps to discourage teens from smoking, including banning point-of-sale displays, aggressive public service campaigns, and stiff taxes.

When it came to getting flat-out drunk, Denmark topped the ranking of 15-year-olds -- nearly 40 percent -- who had been plastered at least twice, with Hungary, Lithuania, Bulgaria and Scotland rounding out the top five.

England had the distinction of being the only country in which a higher percentage of girls (31) had been seriously boozed up than boys (25).

France, Ireland and Britain are also moving toward plain packaging.

The Health Behaviour in Schoolaged Children survey also gathered statistics on obesity -- an objective measure -- as well as how teens felt about their weight, a subjective one.

Bulgaria tops the list for regular

The numbers in both categories are

‘My virginity will change my future’, vows S.African student

Halfway through her four-year teaching diploma, she is the oldest of the 16 beneficiaries of the grants.

That figure drops to half of the countries at age 13, and about a quarter at age 15.

For the opposite sex, however, there is no nation in which more than 25 percent of girls -- in any age bracket -- tip the scales that far, except one: Malta.

The other countries with the chubbiest youngsters are Greece, Canada, Greenland and Bulgaria.

In all nations and age categories but one -- Ireland, at age 11 -- more boys than girls carried too much weight, usually by a large margin.

Despite that imbalance, however, a higher percentage of girls in all 42 countries said that they thought they were too fat.

The older they got, the higher that gender gap in self-perception became.

By age 15, more than 50 percent of girls in 14 nations said they needed to shed pounds or kilos, including England, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and -- topping the list at 61 percent -- Poland.

“Girls are more likely to be discontented with their body weight regardless of country or region,” the report noted.

“There is no qualitative and quantitative research that has actually proven that by inspecting girls, you are going to reduce HIV/AIDS,” Shozi said.

She hopes to be a “role model” for other young women.

“There is no invasion of privacy because it’s done voluntarily, it’s not painful, there is no humiliation at all,” added Mazibuko, Uthukela’s female mayor.

Dudu Zwane, 58, is a former health worker who now carries out the tests.

She says she can determine virginity by a visual inspection of genitalia -- a concept dismissed by medical experts.

The size of the grants varies, but can be worth several thousand dollars a year.

“With your body, with your virginity, we get the bursary.”

At eleven years old, more than 25 percent of boys are obese or overweight in three-quarters of the countries surveyed.

“Virginity testing does not invade my privacy. I love who I am and it gives me more dignity,” said Dlodlo.

“This bursary is so important because it will change my future. I can conquer the world,” said Dlodlo, wearing a green-and-yellow miniskirt and multi-coloured necklace beads.

“There is no limit for us as maidens,” Sithole said. “We are going to get the bursary (whether we)... pass with distinction or not.

very different for boys and girls.

- ‘Keep your virginity’ -But the maidens, the women who do the testing, and the local authorities disagree.

The 18-year-old secured a bursary or grant that rewards “maidens” in an attempt to curb teenage pregnancies and the rampant spread of HIV/AIDS in Uthukela district, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of the coastal city of Durban.

Even at 32, she has delayed having sex.

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Rights groups are also concerned that virginity screening is intrusive.

As long as she remains a virgin, her tuition and boarding fees will be paid by her hometown municipality until the completion of her bachelor’s degree in education at a Pretoria university.

A fellow recipient, Bongiwe Sithole, would also have dropped out of university due to poverty, but now will continue her studies.

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

Matron, Dudu Zwane, sits with her iintombi (maidens) and explains the importance of virginity in Zulu culture in Ezakheni, on the outskirts of Ladysmith, South Africa (AFP Photo/Leonardo Angelucci). procedure itself, which they consider demeaning.

But the Uthukela authorities are unfazed.

“The main reason behind introducing the bursary is that... in our district we have got a very high rate of teenage pregnancies, and a lot of young people are infected by HIV and AIDS,” mayor Dudu Mazibuko told AFP.

high -- with around 25 percent of girls becoming pregnant by the age of 19, according to statistics cited by the factchecking organisation Africa Check.

“To find young girls that are able to abstain -- for us that is an encouragement and we saw it fit that we encourage them by giving bursaries,” said Mazibuko.

One of the conditions, however, is to undergo virginity tests, conducted by elderly women.

Up to half of the population between the ages of 15 and 49 in the district is infected with HIV and AIDS, according to municipal statistics.

She said the idea was mooted by the “maidens” themselves, who complained that they were not recognised, while their peers who fall pregnant get “rewarded” by the government with child support grants.

Rights activists are in an uproar over the idea of virginity tests, let alone the

- Idea from ‘maidens’ -The number of teenagers giving birth in South Africa is

But gender and women’s rights activists strongly oppose the scholarship

scheme.

Bathabile Dlamin, the ruling African National Congress women’s league chairwoman and minister of social development, slammed virginity testing as a “patently harmful practice steeped in patriarchal practices that serve to oppress women”.

The Commission for Gender Equality’s chairman Mfanozelwe Shozi said the bursary scheme “looks very discriminatory” and violates the constitution because it comes with the “conditionality” that the girls must be virgins.

And there appears to be no evidence of its impact on the HIV health crisis.

“What I am doing is to bring back our culture. Our bayethe (traditional Zulu king) says keep your virginity,” she said, bemoaning the high HIV rate.

The mayor denied that the tests were sexist, saying that plans were under way to launch a similar scheme for boys, without explaining how they would be tested.

“We have started with the girls because they are more vulnerable, but... our long-term plan is ensuring that we reward young boys who stay virgins,” she said.

Mazibuko challenged those criticising the bursary scheme to “come up with better solutions.”

“We want to fight HIV and AIDS, we want to stop teenage pregnancy.

This is what we thought will work for us.”

VOICE OF ASIA 15

Section 2

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

B ollywood M asala Bollywood Masala

Email: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com

Bollywood stars to flock to Madrid for IIFA awards Madrid will host the “Bollywood Oscars” on June 25, officials said Monday, with Spain hoping the glittering awards ceremony will help draw more tourists from fast-growing India.

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There were reports that Aamir was considering to release the sportsbiopic ahead of its originally scheduled release on Christmas this year.

“It is going to be real, real madness,” Anil Kapoor, one of India’s most popular actors who starred in “Slumdog Millionaire”, told a news conference in Madrid.

The actor said he had also heard the rumours, but clarified that the film will not release on August 15.

“I heard the rumours too, but there is no truth in that. I had said that since it is a patriotic film, about the daughters of India, a date like August 15 would’ve been ideal.

“There is a tremendous amount of similarity between the Spanish people and Indian people. We believe in enjoying life, we believe in family values, we love to dance.”

The choice of Madrid to host the event comes as Spain is pushing to diversify its tourism base beyond the traditional northern European sunseekers and capture a greater slice of the rising tourism flows from emerging economies like India.

Last year just 85,000 Indians visited Spain but this is nearly a threefold rise from 30,000 visitors in 2011, the director general of Spanish tourist board Turespana, Marta Blanco, said at the presentation of the awards show.

“But we are not coming on that date.

We are coming on Christmas. We always wanted to release on Christmas,” Aamir told reporters here at his 51st birthday bash.

Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan performs on stage during the fourth and final day of the 15th International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards at the Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, April 27, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jewel Samad)

The actors then posted tweeted pictures of themselves eating jamon (ham) at a Madrid market, dancing flamenco and meeting with Real Madrid starts Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema at the club’s Bernabeu stadium.

Known for catchy songs and whimsical backdrops, India’s film industry is thriving commercially with the country producing over 1,000 movies a year -- more than Hollywood.

The Indian film awards is expected to bring 15,000 visitors to Madrid during the week of the ceremony and generate 15 million euros ($16.7 million) in revenue, organisers said.

The Indian industry sells over four billion movie tickets a year, according to the International Indian Film Academy award organisers.

The Indian film awards were held in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia last year.

Europe last hosted the event in 2007 when it was held in Yorkshire, England.

The film, directed by Nitesh Tiwari of “Bhoothnath Returns” fame, stars Aamir in the role of Mahavir Singh Phogat, who taught wrestling to his daughters Babita Kumari and Geeta Phogat.

The “PK” actor, who had put on weight for his role in the film, said he has now lost 13 kgs and aims to get the “Ghajini” look.

heartthrob Hrithik Roshan -- in front to Madrid city hall to promote the awards ceremony.

“It is a country with great potential.

We want a better positioning of our country in this strategic market,” she said.

Several hundred people turned out on Sunday for a flashmob hosted by Kapoor and two other top Bollywood stars -- actress Sonakshi Sinha and

‘Dangal’ not releasing on Aug 15: Aamir Khan UMBAI, Mar 14 (PTI) Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan today dismissed reports that his upcoming film “Dangal” will release on Independence day.

Over 100 Bollywood stars will attend the International Indian Film Academy awards, which is expected to have a worldwide viewership of about 800 million people, according to organisers.

The ceremony, first held in 2000, honours the previous year’s films and is filled with over the top performances. It is held in a different country each year.

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“In ‘Dangal’ I had gained weight, up to 95 kgs. The portions where I was fat have been completed, so I’ve started reducing. I am at 82 kgs, which is 13 kgs less. Now 12 more kgs are left to shed, so I have reached the half-way mark. My aim is to get the ‘Ghajini’ look,” he said.

Aamir said his family was happy that he lost weight.

Indian actress Sonakshi Sinha (C) takes a selfie as fellow Indian actors Anil Kapoor (L) and Hrithik Roshan take part in a flashmob in Madrid, Spain, March 13, 2016 to promote the Bollywood Oscars which are scheduled to take place Madrid in June. REUTERS/Paul Hanna.

“I am taking six months (to lose weight). My family is happy that I am losing weight and am half-way there. It’s a concern for me too. Losing weight fast is not very healthy. I am pushing the envelope a little bit,” he said.

The actor, who was in the US for intense training in weight loss, said he will now have fish, despite being a vegan, to get in shape of his character.

Sonam replaces Aishwarya Sushant Singh Rajput rocks as as Kalyan Jewellers envoy railway TC in the MS Dhoni’s biopic – The Untold Story

Sonam Kapoor UMBAI, Mar 14 (PTI) Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor has replaced Aishwarya Rai Bachchan as the brand ambassador for a leading jewellery company.

M

Sonam will take the place of Aishwarya, who had been associated Kalyan Jewellers for three years. Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya continue to be the ambassadors for the leading jewellery chain.

Sonam, 30, will endorse Kalyan’s exquisite range of gold and diamond jewellery.

“We would like to thank Aishwarya Rai Bachchan for augmenting the product propo-

sitions of brand Kalyan over the last 3 years and helping Kalyan establish itself as a leading national brand.

“We welcome Sonam Kapoor and are confident that her status as a style icon and popularity will strengthen future product

campaigns of Kalyan Jewellers,” Ramesh Kalyanaraman, Executive Director, Marketing and Operations, said in a statement here.

The company’s other brand ambassadors are Nagarjuna, Prabhu, Shivaraj Kumar and

In the new teaser of MS Dhoni – The Untold Story released moments before India’s first T-20 World Cup match, Sushant just showed why perhaps he is the best fit to play Dhoni.

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In the new teaser of MS Dhoni – The Untold Story released moments before India’s first T-20 World Cup match, Sushant just showed why perhaps he is the best fit to play Dhoni.

Dressed as a TC (ticket checker), Sushant walks confidently among a sea of commuters on railway station as he enters his first day of duty with South Eastern Indian railways.

Sushant is seen diligently listening to instructions given by his superior as he walks cooly to take charge of his first big professional assignment. The brief teaser ends with chants of Dhoni after he scores a six to help India lift the world cup.

Unarguably, one of the most awaited biopics of 2016, M.S Dhoni has been generating great positive vibes. It remains to be seen how well cricketer Dhoni (Sushant) will hit sixes onscreen.

Courtesy: Indian Express.

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VOICE OF ASIA 16

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

HEALTHY LIVING VOICE OF ASIA

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Tel: 713-774-5140

Genetically high cholesterol may be More Tax Payments more common than thought

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Miami, UNITED STATES | AFP | Monday 3/14/2016 - People who are born with genetically high cholesterol may be about twice as common in the United States as previously believed, according to new research published on Monday.

About one in 250 adults likely have this type of high cholesterol, which may require aggressive management to avoid the risk of heart attack, said the findings in the journal Circulation, a publication of the American Heart Association.

The condition is named familial hypercholesterolemia (FH), and causes severely high cholesterol from birth. It is also a leading cause of early heart attack, researchers said.

“It’s more common than we thought and it’s important to look for it at a young age because someone with FH may have no symptoms until there is serious heart disease,” said lead author Sarah de Ferranti, assistant professor of pediatric cardiology at Harvard Medical School.

“A common story might be someone who develops chest pain or has a heart attack in their 30s or 40s -- even

though they look healthy, eat well, and are thin and fit,” she said.

Prior studies have suggested that about one in 500 US adults were born with the condition.

The latest study is based on data from nearly 37,000 adults who took part in the 1999-2012 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Participants were deemed to have “probable or definite” cases of FH if they had high levels of low-densitylipoprotein cholesterol -- also called “bad” cholesterol because it can clog arteries -- and early heart disease themselves or in a close relative.

By extrapolating their results to the wider US population, researchers estimated that 834,500 US adults may have FH. Both men and women are affected equally, but FH was more common in African-Americans (one in 211) than whites (one in 249) or Hispanics (one in 414).

One key drawback to the study was that it was based on survey responses,

not genetic tests.

“The next step forward could be to take blood samples from a data set such as NHANES and look for the prevalence of FH genetic mutations and the heart attack rate,” she said.

People who are diagnosed at a young age may take statin medications to lower their cholesterol.

Doctors also recommended controlling other risk factors, such as smoking, high blood pressure, lack of exercise, poor diet and increased body weight.

“If you’re born with FH you have lifelong exposure to high cholesterol, making your heart attack risk similar to someone decades older,” de Ferranti said.

“If you know that somebody has had an early heart attack in your family, consider asking for everyone to be checked.”

The American Heart Association warned last year that FH is “under diagnosed and under treated worldwide,” and called for more research.

Overweight mothers have larger babies: study All the women had European ancestry and lived in Europe, North America or Australia. They gave birth between 1929 and 2013.

The researchers examined genetic variants associated with womens’ body mass index, blood glucose and lipid levels and blood pressure, together with measurements of those characteristics during pregnancy and babies’ birth weights.

A four-point higher body mass index (BMI) for mothers results in a 1.9 ounce (54 grams) higher birth weight for babies, the study found.

ASHINGTON, | Tuesday 3/15/2016 - Overweight or obese women give birth to larger babies, says new research which could make some pregnant women think twice before reaching for that box of ice cream.

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Mothers with high blood sugar or diabetes, even within a healthy range, also tend to have bigger babies, according to a study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Conversely, having higher blood pressure during pregnancy causes women to deliver smaller babies, researchers at the British universities

of Bristol and Exeter, who led the study, found.

“Being born very large or very small can carry health risks for a newborn baby, particularly when that’s at the extreme end of the spectrum,” said Rachel Freathy of the University of Exeter Medical School, who co-wrote the report.

Understanding which characteristics of mothers influence birth weights may help reduce the number of babies born too large or too small, she added.

The researchers examined data from more than 30,000 healthy

I

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women and their babies across 18 studies.

PHOTO: AFP

f you’re financially unable to pay your tax debt immediately, you can make monthly payments through an installment agreement. As long as you pay your tax debt in full, you can reduce or eliminate your payment of penalties or interest, and avoid the fee associated with setting up the agreement.

Researchers also determined ratios for correlations between higher glucose levels in mothers’ blood and higher birth weights, as well as higher blood pressure in mothers and lower birth weights.

“The estimated associations between these maternal traits and birth weight (either increased or reduced) are substantial and of clinical importance,” the authors wrote.

“They support efforts to maintain healthy gestational glucose and blood pressure levels to ensure healthy fetal growth.”

The researchers also found that lipids, or fat levels, in mothers’ blood do not appear to affect baby sizes, contrary to the findings of some previous studies.

Small Businesses with employees can apply for an in-Business Trust Fund Express installment agreement • These installment agreements generally do not require a financial statement or financial verification as part of the application process.

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Understand your agreement & avoid default • Your future refunds will be applied to your tax debt until it is paid in full; • Pay at least your minimum monthly payment when it’s due; • Include your name, address, SSN, daytime phone number, tax year and return type on your payment; • File all required tax returns on time & pay all taxes in-full and on time (contact us to change your existing agreement if you cannot); • Make all scheduled payments even if we apply your refund to your account balance; and • Ensure your statement is sent to the correct address, contact us if you move or complete and mail Form 8822, Change of Address (PDF).

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If taxes are not paid timely, and the IRS is not notified why the taxes cannot be paid, the law requires that enforcement action be taken, which could include the following: • Issuing a Notice of Levy on salary and other income, bank accounts or property (legally seize property to satisfy the tax debt) • Assessing a Trust Fund Recovery Penalty for certain unpaid employment taxes • Issuing a Summons to the taxpayer or third parties to secure information to prepare unfiled tax returns or determine the taxpayer’s ability to pay Note: To collect delinquent tax debts, certain federal payments (vendor, OPM, SSA, federal salary, and federal employee travel) disbursed by the Department of the Treasury, Financial Management Service (FMS) may be subject to a levy through the Federal Payment Levy Program (FPLP).

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Fed meeting: no rate hike US still world leader in expected, but will FOMC patent filings turn bullish?

by Paul HANDLEY

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ASHINGTON, 3/16/2016 Almost no one expects the Federal Reserve to announce another interest rate hike on Wednesday, but all eyes are focused on whether the US central bank turns more bullish in its outlook.

Long-awaited signs of strengthening inflation have appeared in US economic data that would support the Fed signaling more tightening ahead, even as the global economic outlook has weakened.

But with other central banks easing monetary conditions and worries that tighter US policy could spur more turmoil in global markets, the Fed has to walk a cautious line about what it indicates for the future.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), led by Fed Chair Janet Yellen, will release its updated policy statement at 2:00 pm (1800 GMT).

They will also release new forecasts for economic growth, unemployment, inflation and interest rates, and Yellen will then explain the decision in a press conference.

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At stake is the pace of expected increases in the benchmark federal funds rate, which the Fed increased for the first time in more than nine years in December, to a still ultra-low 0.25-0.50 percent.

At the time FOMC forecasts implied expectations of four more quarter-point increases over this year.

But in the months since then economic growth has sagged slightly and inflation, which the Fed wants to see pick up to 2.0 percent, has remained weak.

Yet data is mixed: Hiring has remained strong and home construction and auto sales robust, while exports and industrial output are weak and overall consumer spending softer than expected.

Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said last week that he expects that after the oil market crash bottoms out -- and some people think it has now -- the economy and inflation will appear much stronger than currently.

Early Wednesday the consumer price index (CPI) for February showed an overall fall due to sinking fuel prices,

TAX

but the core was up 0.3 percent and 1.7 percent year-on-year -though still shy of the 2.0 percent target.

Industrial output was also down in February, but mainly on slower activity in mining and utilities, while manufacturing, hit over the past year by the strong dollar, increased.

“Not bad for a sector allegedly pulling the whole economy into recession... the deterioration seen last year appears to be over,” said Ian Shepherdson at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

That picture has left analysts forecasting between one and three rate increases this year.

After the last several inflation numbers, it seems the hawks will win the debate for a rate hike in the first half of 2016.

Pointing to the strength in the CPI inflation numbers, Harm Bandholz of UniCredit forecasts three.

“The Fed should and will not ignore the message from today’s (CPI) report. The FOMC will reiterate its baseline view that further normalization of the policy stance is warranted.”

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ENEVA, Switzerland - The United States remained world leader in international patent filings in 2015, followed by Japan and China, the World Intellectual Property Organization said on Wednesday.

International patent applications grew by 1.7 percent last year, with Chinese innovators accounting for much of the growth, UN agency WIPO said in its annual report.

The United States has filed the greatest number of patents

of any country every year for nearly forty decades.

In 2015 American companies filed 57,385 patents, down 6.7 percent from a year earlier.

Japan filed 44,235 patents, and China 29,846.

Among individual countries, China clocked up the greatest growth rate in filings last year, followed by South Korea, Israel, Switzerland, Japan and the Netherlands.

“While the United States of

America maintains its premier position, the geography of innovation continues to shift and to evolve, with Asia, and in particular Japan, China and the Republic of Korea, forming the predominant geographical cluster,” WIPO Director General Francis Gurry said in a statement.

Most patent filings came from telecommunication companies, with China’s Huawei Technologies leading the pack for the second year running, ahead of US company Qualcomm and Chinese company ZTE.

OPEC, non-OPEC producers to meet on April 17 in Doha: Qatar

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World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) director general Francis Gurry, pictured on March 23, 2012, said, “the geography of innovation continues to shift and to evolve” ©Noel Celis (AFP/ File).

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OPEC members and key oil producers from outside the cartel will meet on April 17 in Doha in a bid to stabilise falling crude prices (AFP Photo/Oli Scarff)

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OHA, Qatar | AFP | OPEC members and key oil producers from outside the cartel will meet on April 17 in Doha in a bid to stabilise falling crude prices, Qatar’s energy minister said Wednesday.

the meeting.

The meeting was a “followup” to last month’s talks between Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela when they proposed an accord to freeze oil output at January levels, said Mohammed alSada, the current OPEC president.

Ahead of the meeting, a common declaration could be drafted to reflect the “countries’ intention to freeze their oil production at a level not higher than that of January,” he said.

He said in a statement that 15 countries accounting for some 73 percent of global oil output supported the initiative, including the world’s top exporter Saudi Arabia, and Russia.

OPEC member Kuwait said Monday it would take part in

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Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak concurred that “some 15 countries” were expected to take part in the meeting, according to Russian news agencies.

“We will also discuss in this meeting some mechanisms to monitor the (implementation of the) agreement.”

Oil prices, which have plummeted more than 60 percent since mid-2014 partly because of oversupply, recently recovered slightly following talk of an output freeze.

Novak had said that the meeting would “probably” be held in April after it was expected to take place this month.

His comments on Monday put pressure on oil prices after he indicated Iran could be excluded from a freeze deal to allow it to increase its crude production after Western sanctions over its nuclear programme.

Novak said Wednesday that Iran had indicated that it is “ready to participate” in the meeting.

One of the world’s biggest producers, Iran, returned to the export market in January.

According to OPEC’s monthly report released on Monday, Iran pumped out 3.1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude in February, up from 2.9 million in January. It pumped 4.0 million bpd before sanctions were imposed.

Overall production by the 13nation cartel fell by 175,000 barrels per day in February to an average of 32.28 million bpd, largely because of a steep drop in Iraqi output and smaller falls in Nigeria and the United Arab Emirates, the report said.

Oil prices rebounded on Wednesday as investors bought back into the black gold after a two-day sell-off. At about 1200 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in April was up 73 cents at $37.07 a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for May delivery won 69 cents to $39.43 a barrel.

HOROSCOPE

VOICE OF ASIA 18

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

Your Horoscope for the Week of March 18, 2016 READ YOUR COMPLETE HOROSCOPE

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

ONLINE WWW.VOICEOFASIAONLINE.COM

Libra (R,T) 23 Sept to 22 Oct

Aries (A,L,E) 21 March to 20 April Everyone will be fascinated with your conversations. Your showmanship & flair may be questioned by those in authority. Exhibit the benefits of the new venture.

Peers may try to question your motives, respond with positive financial data. Collect & study the facts, you may be tested to remember, later. Don’t be too ready to accuse someone without knowing the facts, but you probably shouldn’t trust everything you hear. If you are selling something, you are likely to close the deals and get top gains.

Share yourself & your confidence level will increase. Investigate new possibilities in matters of business & trading. Use your productive time to organize others, lead the way to the top. You may be pleasantly surprised with other’s reactions. Something complicated may come to light. Don’t cover it up, instead clean it up. Problems are sometimes opportunities to show how competent you are and could lead to a more efficient system. You may have to keep hammering away to get your point across.

Scorpio (N,Y) 23 Oct to 21 Nov

Taurus (B,V,U) 21 April to 20 May Whether it be for business or for pleasure, take advantage of the situation before you.

Set the standards, keep the flow positive & don’t try to preach your morals to others.

Keep distance between your personal life and your social life. Your excess energy might put you in danger of saying or doing something inappropriate. Others may not be in a mood to have their limitations challenged. Romance your opponent until they are firmly in your camp. The closer you get to someone, the less your differences matter.

Your skills are a valuable asset to any team on which you’re a player. Hold off on making your report final until you have listened to others concerns. There will also be changes in your domestic affairs. A chance meeting will be the start of a fresh new relationship. Spend some quality time & realize how special you feel. Your entire outlook will be transformed. Gatherings may be heated, refuse to take sides in family disagreements. It’ll only cause you to make bad feelings.

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

Gemini (K,CHH,GH) 21 May to 20 June You might do well to tiptoe around someone who is irritable. You haven’t done anything wrong, you simply may be working with some very vulnerable people right now.

You may be surprised by what you hear. Rather than defend yourself, face the truth with a readiness to make changes. Even if you try to get off to a quick start, chances are you’ll need to slow down to deal with delays and obstacles. Events this week may become a starting point for personal & professional successes. Don’t panic.

Time, schedules and your ability to have discipline in your life. This is the way to achieve your immediate goals. Talk to a trusted friend about their experiences. If possible, try to get an extension on your deadline. Hasty actions could be worse for you than not acting at all. If you have more time, try to devote it to getting it right. Someone close to you may disappoint you. There’s no point in pretending to be objective, but at least you can be fair with your feelings. Partners in an intense friendship have many ways to communicate.

Capricorn (KH,J) 22 Dec to 20 Jan

Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 July Small changes that may ultimately give you the freedom you seek. Changes in life can help you to appreciate others feelings & emotional insecurities. As long as you are sure of your position, you should prevail. Look to your dreams for a clue to what you might need to change. You may get caught up in details when this is really a good time to enjoy art, nature’s beauty, love, and recreation. There is, though, that stubborn person who just wants to keep doing things the old way.

Push yourself to listen to other’s problems & try to make compromises for them.

If your co-workers are compatible, you’ll be able to produce great results. If your relationships are less than ideal, this is probably as good a time as any to resolve those difficulties. Keep a smile on your face and you’ll be amazed at what you can get away with. This approach is one that enables you to be strong while appearing gentle. Some intense debate could prove engaging late in the week.

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

Leo (M) 23 July to 22 August The attention you receive will be encouraging rather than distracting. Your judgements could play a big role in their lives. A high level of confidence will announce to others that you’re ready to get down to business. Communicate your intentions clearly from the very beginning. The secret to your success will lie in finding a compatible partner to bounce off of. If you continue to argue on every point, then you may need to look elsewhere. You need to know when you’re wrong and when to admit it.

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

Virgo (P) 23 August to 22 September You can’t continue to wear your emotions on your sleeve. Recent chain of events need to be addressed. Keep recent promise to continue to keep yourself fit, will benefit you both physically & emotionally. You could be easily irritated by small matters & may not appreciate others criticizing your methods. Try not to turn this into a war.

There are, after all, many ways to approach a problem. Wisdom is about the willingness to take in, with an open mind, the views of others.

QR

A good, solid understanding of yourself and your own needs is very helpful at this time. Petty jobs demand your time and attention. Don’t worry, this is not permanent.

In fact, you may find yourself in a much more sociable mood. Give yourself the right to try some different approaches, bold and direct, demure and indirect. A bossy person may shake your self-image. You needn’t copy someone else’s model to be successful yourself. Open the doors & be yourself. If you prepare properly, this could be a great adventure.

You know your independent spirit & knowing when compassion is required. You may be called on to stand up and explain yourself, avoid defensiveness, be objective.

You need to be more compassionate towards loved ones & learn to enjoy the simple treasures you possess. You might be feeling financially pinched, don’t let that shut down your plans for a good time. The company you keep could lift your spirits and remind you that fun doesn’t have to be expensive. One of the most useful activities is simply to share your thoughts with someone you trust.

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CLASSIFIEDS

VOICE OF ASIA 19

FRIDAY, March 18, 2016

WANTED

M/WBE SUPPLIERS WANTED Edmentum is bidding on RFP # 16-03-10 for District Instructional Software for the Houston Independent School District. We are looking for possible M/WBE suppliers to provide the following: Professional Development and Customer Service. If you are interested in this opportunity, please contact our office by phone at : 952-832-1744.

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OBITUARY

Books Make Great Easter Gifts for Kids

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Photo credit: StatePoint

A

longside all those delicious sweet treats this Easter, think about surprising your little ones with new books. They make an exciting addition to baskets, and are a fun find on egg hunts.

“Books are the perfect gift for young children on any occasion, but in an Easter basket, they can be an extra special surprise,” says Nancy Ellwood, Editorial Director at DK, a publisher of adult and children’s books.

Fluffy Bunny With padded covers, simple images and a range of textures, “Baby Touch and Feel: Bunny” is a great choice for Easter. Part of the classic “Touch and Feel” series designed to capture the attention of budding readers, the book’s textured format promotes sensory learning. Simple visuals and labels encourage recognition and naming of objects.

Hands-On Learning

For preschoolers, consider these titles, which are nice fits for the spring season.

Make Noise Babies love reading with parents. And infants especially love books that encourage them to make noise.

Guide babies in making fun, silly sounds with “Baby Cheep!

Cheep!” Colorful pictures of favorite animals and rhyming text keep babies engaged and help them learn about the world around them.

Help preschoolers develop fine motor skills with “Follow the Trail: Farm.” The book encourages little ones to use their fingers to follow the shiny trails. DK’s new “Follow the Trail” series includes colorful photography and activities that teach children about shapes, sorting, and matching, as well as developing hand-eye coordination and pre-writing skills.

With trails that let toddlers circle the wheel of a tractor, explore around the farm, and connect farm animals and the

products they give us, this title provides hands-on learning.

Educational Firsts Packed with information and eye-catching images, “My First Tractor” is part of the re-launch of the iconic “My First” series.

This revamp includes updated photography, contemporary design, and a modern approach to engaging preschoolers -- excellent for reading alone or with an adult.

With clear labels and 16 spreads of tractor images, the book builds vocabulary and language skills. Kids also learn about different types of tractors and their uses. The book includes counting and colormatching activities.

More kids’ book ideas for Easter can be found at www. dk.com.

To treat children to special Easter surprises they can enjoy beyond the holiday, consider giving a book.

Source: StatePoint.

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