VOA E-Paper May 10 2019

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Five Texas Students Named 2019 U.S. Presidential Scholars

UNICEF USA nets $1 million, honors late Lester Smith at its Sixth Annual Gala in Houston

by Shobana Muratee n Friday, May 3 was held the annual UNICEF USA's Southwest Regional Office at Post Oak Hotel, attended by 390 guests and friends of UNICEF. The blacktie fundraiser set a new high netting $1 million to fund UNICEF’s lifesaving work toward children and to raise awareness of global and domestic issue that need help. Nearly 15,000 children under the age of 5 die each day from preventable causes due to lack of care and proper nutrition. UNICEF has helped save the lives of 122 million children around the world since 1990.

O

Isha Parapudi (left) and Lauren Yang. Picture from 2018 Class of Texas Young Masters (Courtesy: Texas Commission on the Arts).

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ASHINGTON | May 7, 2019 - An Andrews High School senior is one of five Texas students who have been named U.S. Presidential Scholars for 2019.

Jordan H. Barton and the other honorees will receive a Presidential Scholar Medallion in a ceremony June 23 in Washington, D.C. The other Texas students are Isha Parupudi of Friendswood, Clear Springs High School; Kyle Braden Smith of Dallas, St. Mark’s School of Texas; Emma Claire Sutherland of Frisco, Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts; and Lauren Hu Yang, Sugar

Land, Dulles High School.

A total of 161 students from the U.S. and Puerto Rico have been designated as Presidential Scholars for their accomplishments in academics, the arts and career and technical fields, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Education.

The White House Commission on Presidential Scholars selects scholars annually based on their academic success, artistic and technical excellence, essays, school evaluations and transcripts, as well as evidence of community service, leadership and demonstrated commitment to high ideals, according to the release.

Continued on Page 4

Susan Boggio, Mayor Sylvester Turner and Dan Boggio attend the 6th Annual UNICEF Gala Houston 2019 at The Post Oak Houston on May 03, 2019 in Houston, Texas. Photo: Bob Levey, Getty Images For UNICEF

Insys founder Kapoor convicted of Stafford Mayor Scarcella bribing doctors to prescribe opiates re-elected

STAFFORD On May 4, Scarcella won re-election with 1,150 votes (62.91 percent) of the total 1,828 votes cast and is recognized as the longest serving Mayor in Texas. Scarcella has been Mayor of Stafford for 49 years since he was first elected 1969.

His two opponents: Arthur James “AJ” Honore, finished with 638 (34.9 percent) and Adam Alfonse “Bob Sugar” Sanchez with 2.19 percent of the ballots cast.

Among his noted achievements is the implementation of Stafford Municipal School District, the only breakaway school district in the nation to gain the approval of the federal courts and the only municipal school district in the state. More on Page 11

NEW YORK | AFP | 5/3/2019 The founder of Insys Therapeutics on Thursday became the first head of a major US pharmaceutical to be convicted of bribing doctors to prescribe addictive painkillers blamed for fueling an opioid crisis that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.

John Kapoor, 76, was found guilty of criminal conspiracy, along with four other former executives of the Arizona-based firm.

The former billionaire and his codefendants, including regional sales director Sunrise Lee, a former stripper, face up to 20 years in prison, and will be sentenced at a later date.

Leonard Scarcella, Stafford Mayor

Continued on Page 5

Insys founder John Kapoor was convicted of bribing doctors to prescribe its fentanyl spray Subsys. Photo credit: AP

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OP-ED/COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS

by Dr. Barbara L. Mcaneny

T

oo many patients are suffering from sticker shock when they receive bills for their visits to the emergency room.

Taking the surprise out of surprise billing

The American Medical Association believes patients should not be caught in the middle of what is essentially a billing dispute between insurers and providers.

and deductibles that plans impose for out-of-network care can financially benefit the plan when patients are unable to obtain care from an in-network physician.

Patients aren’t responsible for unanticipated out-of-network medical bills. Patients who seek emergency care – or who otherwise lack the chance to select their provider – should not bear costs above those they would face had they been seen by an in-network provider. Much like patients who may not have an opportunity to choose a physician in their network in an emergency, physicians often have little information on which networks patients have joined – but are legally and ethically compelled to provide care regardless of a patient’s coverage.

Let’s consider solutions.

The goal is to determine a fair payment from an insurer to a provider, while protecting patients from the financial consequences of an insurance network that does not have an adequate number of providers under contract.

The insurance industry must own up to its role in springing these surprises. Most health insurance markets are highly concentrated, and the number of cities is increasing where a single insurer holds a market share of at least 50 percent.

This undermines incentives for these insurers to negotiate payment rates in good faith. In fact, lower payment rates and higher patient co-payments

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

Network adequacy is a prime consideration here. A physician’s out-of-network status is not always due to a disagreement over payment rates.

Many physicians who wish to join a network are not offered contracts to do so, while others already participating are dropped without cause or explanation. Often, patients will select a health plan based on whether their preferred providers are in-network, only to experience a midyear network contraction. That means patients would have to accept higher out-of-pocket costs if they wished to keep their preferred physician.

To serve a community, an adequate network should in-

clude a proper ratio of hospital-based physicians as well as on-call specialists and subspecialists. Overly narrow provider networks – particularly those that lack sufficient numbers of specialists – are a major factor in unanticipated billing. The AMA believes state insurance commissioners and the federal government need to provide strong oversight and enforcement to ensure network adequacy.

At the same time, provider directories must be accurate and up to date so patients can make informed decisions when purchasing a health plan – and use the services of innetwork providers whenever possible once that plan is in place. Providers need the same level of accuracy from health plans so they can refer patients to in-network specialists when further care is needed.

Transparency will enable patients to make prudent decision. When scheduling services, providers should inform patients of the anticipated charges – and insurers should make it clear to patients what portion of those charges they intend to cover.

In circumstances where pay-

ment rates themselves are the root of the problem, mechanisms can be put in place to arrive at a fair compromise.

Some states tie out-of-network benchmark payment rates to a percentage of local charges determined by an independent claims data base. Others have established a binding arbitration process that incentivizes both providers and insurers to reach agreement on more realistic payment rates. In both situations, the dispute over rates is kept between the provider and the insurer, with the patient held harmless.

The AMA recognizes the financial burden an unanticipated bill can impose on individuals and families, and we support solutions that hold patients harmless when care from an out-of-network provider is unavoidable. We look forward to working with all members of Congress, and with lawmakers at the state level, to craft a workable solution that protects patients while treating providers and payers equitably.

Courtesy: The Hill, Published on 05/07/19.

Barbara L. McAneny, MD, is president of the American Medical Association.

Faith in Institutions, Security, and Confidence of the Indian public from 20142018: A Positive Report Card for Modi

Anjali Kanojia, PhD.

by Anjali Kanojia,

I

nstitutions are pillars of democracy.

National security has been on the public, media and legislative agenda for the Government of India, especially during the ongoing 2019 general elections. A recent Gallup survey expressed confidence of the Indian citizenry in institutions such as the military and also assessed thoughts on local law enforcement and feelings of personal safety.

The student debt crisis isn't what you think it is

by Glenn C. Altschuler The Hill n 2019, more than 44 million Americans collectively owe $1.5 trillion in student loans. Surpassing credit cards and auto loans, student debt is now the second-highest consumer debt category, behind only home mortgages.

What’s more, 11.4 percent of student borrowers are more than 90 days delinquent on their payments; 5.1 million borrowers have defaulted.

The media is awash in stories about America’s "out-ofcontrol" student loan crisis.

Politicians agree that skyrocketing student debt is a serious problem but disagree on solutions. Claiming that federal government loan guarantees encourage colleges and universities to raise tuition, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos wants to limit lending. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has proposed the College for All Act to eliminate undergraduate tuition at public universities for students from households making less than $125,000 per year, with the federal government paying two-thirds of the cost and the states picking up the remaining third. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-Mass.) plan, paid for with a tax on households with an annual income in excess of $50 million, guarantees every student the opportunity to attend a two- or four-year college without paying tuition and fees — and eliminates up to $50,000 in debt for students in households with an annual income of less than $250,000.

These initiatives are almost certain to be debated during the 2020 presidential campaign.

A national dialogue, however, should be grounded in a factbased analysis of student debt.

Here are seven things Americans should know.

1) The debt crisis is best understood by dividing bor-

I

rowers into three groups: students financially dependent on their parents, independent students (who are more likely to be older, attend college part time and work full time), and graduate and professional school students. In “Game of Loans,” Beth Akers and Matthew M. Chingos reveal that for dependent undergraduates, the lifetime limit on borrowing set by the federal government is less than $35,000. For independent undergraduates, it’s less than $60,000. But graduate and professional students can borrow up to the full price of attendance. Not surprisingly, then, about 89 percent of dependents and 71 percent of independents who receive an undergraduate degree accumulate less than $40,000 in debt; almost half of graduate degree recipients have piled up more than $60,000 in debt (with 17 percent taking on $100,000).

2) While acknowledging the profound economic hardship some borrowers face, Akers and Chingos report that the median monthly payment of student loans has remained essentially flat at (a manageable) 3 percent or 4 percent of earnings for about 20 years.

Default rates, of course, are higher during recessions and lower during periods of economic growth.

3) Affluent Americans have made extensive use of federal loans, which are available to any student enrolled at least half time in an accredited institution. About a third of education debt is held by the richest 25 percent of households, much of it for degrees in medicine, law and business.

4) Although media stories focus on six-figure liabilities, most distressed borrowers — and defaulters — have relatively small debt balances.

They have difficulty repaying loans because they did not complete a degree, do not

Indians seem to show greater confidence in the security sector since Modi came into power, and according 3,000 respondents age fifteen and older polled in nine different languages, face-to-face during October through December 2018, Indians showed 94% confidence in the military in 2018, an increase from 87% in 2014. One could safely assume that this high percentage has remained steady or probably increased after India’s strikes on terrorists in Balakot, Pakistan. Earlier in February 2019, a convoy of vehicles was attacked by a suicide bomber claimed by Pakistan-

have a high-paying job and cannot get financial assistance from family members. These days, fewer than 60 percent of students who enroll in a four-year college or university earn a bachelor’s degree in six years; completion rates at twoyear colleges are less than 30 percent. A recent study found that 34 percent of borrowers who dropped out of school with $1,000 to $5,000 in debt in 2009 defaulted within five years.

5) Much of the increase in defaults over the last decade comes from for-profit institutions. University of Phoenix students, for example, owed $35.5 billion to the federal government in 2014. By then, 45 percent of those who entered repayment in 2009 had defaulted, with only 1 percent of this group’s debt repaid.

Four-year public and private undergraduate colleges and graduate schools, by contrast, reported default rates below — and often well below — 10 percent.

6) Higher tuition is, indeed, responsible for some of the increase in student debt. That said, per-student state appropriations to colleges and universities have neither kept up with inflation nor dropped in the 21st century. In 1975, states appropriated 58 percent of the cost of their public universities; in 2019, state support has

based Islamist militant group Jaish-e-Mohammad resulting in deaths of forty Indian Central Reserve Police Force personnel. India’s response to the terrorist attack resulted in airstrikes over Balakot.

Also, the recent development of petitioning the United Nations to list Pakistan-based armed group Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist is being hailed as a diplomatic success by the Government of India.

Historically, the military has always been viewed in a positive light by Indians while local police do not have the same public confidence. However, since 2014 66% of those surveyed seem to have confidence in the local police while 75% of those surveyed expressed confidence in local police in 2018. This percentage tipped at 79% confidence in 2017.

This steady upward trend is a result of reforms such as modernizing, improved training along with the continuous building of civil society coupled with a consistent decline in overall crime.

Indians in both urban and rural areas seem to have similar perceptions of safety, which is interesting given the contemporary narratives of urban-rural divide in all matters. About 72% of urban and 69% of rural citizens polled hold similar perceptions of personal safety, though region-wise Eastern and Southern Indians report feeling most safety at 78% and 75% while Northerners report 60% and Central India report 64% on perceptions of safety. Communal violence in India is usually localized and has little effect nation-wide, although the regions in central and northern India bordering ambivalent nations may affect feeling less safe within those regions given interference and skirmishes.

The poll shows that almost seven in ten Indians surveyed feel safe walking alone at night, and the percentage has gone up from 52% in 2014 to 69% in 2018. There is a geographic variation in the distribution of perceptions of safety, however, people seem to feel relatively safe despite media hype about safety concerns.

The poll shows a gender gap in perceptions of safety where 65% of women compared to 73% of men report feeling safe walking at night. These statistics are predictive and far from alarming as similar discrepancies are observed in developed nations. It should be noted that both females and males seem to report feeling safer since 2014. Meaning, more women in India today feel safe now, a number which has gone up from 49% in 2014 to 65% in 2018. Prime Minister Modi has developed and successfully implemented various initiatives against female infanticide and towards education and social progress of girls

dropped to 37 percent.

7) In 1981, Akers and Chingos point out, loans passed grants as the dominant form of student aid. These days, the ratio of loan to grant dollars is about 3-to-1. For every Pell dollar granted to a low-income student, the federal government spends about 55 cents on education tax credits, which go to middle-class and affluent families.

This context, in my judgment, should shape the questions we ask about the nature and impact of the student debt "crisis" and options going forward.

Should "college for all" become the law of the land? If not, what is the optimum mix of loans and grants for qualified students from lower-income families? Is $25,550 of student debt, the current average at public colleges, appropriate or too much? Should wealthy students be eligible for low-interest federal loans?

Should loan policies for medical, law and business students, who have substantial earning potential, be revisited?

Should loan repayments be set each year as a percentage of current income? Should loans be renewed (or not) each year

by promoting awareness and improvement in welfare services for girls under the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana, or initiative, as well as introducing reforms in the law sector to combat sexual violence against women.

Faith in the military, perceptions of security and personal safety in their respective regions along with positive views towards the rule of law and freedom are architectures of democracy. According to the improved confidence in the public under Modi’s tenure coupled with incumbency advantage over loosely-organized challengers lacking clear policy agenda(s) will likely translate into votes, and we will soon know the results when yet another fruitful exercise in democracy – the electoral process – concludes in India in May 2019.

References: Buckles, Grant. 2019. “Indians Feeling Safer Under Modi,” retrieved from: https:// news.gallup.com/poll/249203/ indians-feeling-safer-modi. aspx?utm_source=alert&utm_ medium=email&utm_ content=morelink&utm_ campaign=syndication Anjali Kanojia, Ph.D. is a Political Scientist and views expressed here are her own.

based on a grade-point average or some other criterion related to progress toward a degree?

Should rates of graduation be a significant factor in awarding or withdrawing accreditation from public, private, and forprofit colleges and universities?

Most importantly, student lending policies should be judged by their capacity to achieve a core principle: access to higher education for all talented students, regardless of their ability to pay.

Glenn C. Altschuler is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Professor of American Studies at Cornell University.

VOICE OF ASIA 3

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Singer Javed Ali Lights Up the Stage Live in Concert

Javid Ali performing at the Stafford Center on On Friday, May 3. Photo by msanphoto.

Mousumi Banerjee with singer Javid Ali seen receiving a proclamation from Stafford Mayor Scarcella. Photo by msanphoto.

by Shobana Muratee

S

TAFFORD – On Friday, May 3, India’s leading singer and music composer Javed Ali was Live in Concert for the first time in Houston giving an electric performance to a packed audience at the Stafford Center. Local promoter Mousumi Banerjee, CEO, MB Entertainment Company was delighted with her successive hit show, following Samir Dipalee Concert in 2018.

Prior to the show, Banerjee

hosted a Meet and Greet with the singer on Thursday, May 2 at the Embassy Suites Houston Energy a Corridor where Ali mingled with the guests while Abiya Malhotra emceed the show. Guests asked the celebrity about his favorite singer and music composure and Javed said that he enjoyed working with all but had worked more extensively with A.R. Rahman and Pritam whom he admired.

Ali has been an ardent follower of Ustad Ghulam Ali Khan and his music. He wanted to be a

Ghazal singer like him but later chose to become a playback singer realizing the scope in singing in various genres. Ali is believed to be the most versatile singer in Bollywood. His hits are a of a wide range and a testament to his immense talent.

Besides Hindi, Ali has sung in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Odia and Marathi, “I try to catch the pronunciation in the best possible way,” he said.

About remixes and remakes: “I think everything has a trend, some songs are beautiful then and some songs are beautiful after remixed and remake also.

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But original songs are the best and it sometimes hurts to hear when people say that remake was better than original,” Ali expressed. The event was well received especially, the Q & A and photo-ops topped by delectable dinner hosted by Bombay Brasserie.

On the day of the Concert, noted radio host, Meena Dutt, welcomed the gathering at Stafford Center and Manisha, singer opened the show with hits like sawar lu and lagja gale. Later, Ali, opened with an unplugged version of the hit “Jashne bahara” from film Jodha Akhbar. Followed by other hits like Guzarish from Gajni, and Tu jo mila from Bajrangi bhaijaan. He paid tribute to the legendary singer late Mohammad Rafi with the hit Tum jo mil gaye ho. He presented a medley of classical and semiclassical Ghazals like: Abhi na jaao chodhkar kar, Ranjish hi sahi, Tumko dekha, and Jagjit

Singh’s Tum itna jo. Ali had the audience mesmerized during his rendition of Sufi songs that included Kun faya kun and Maula. Later he switched to romantic songs with “Padharo mare desh and a duet with Manisha Tum tak from Ranjhana

the movie Kalank. The best was for the last and Ali had the audience reenergized when he sang Nagada from the film Jab We Met and Ali ho from Highway and had them asking for more.

Overall, it was a well-organized and a great event for the family.

Stafford Mayor, Leonard Scarcella presented Event promoter Mousumi with a proclamation of recognition for her work and recognition for the City of Stafford. She later thanked the audience and sponsors that included: Omar Saeed from Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management, Ashar Ali from MIR Builders, and John Verghese from Prompt Group of Companies, for making the event a success. Ali continued with a blend of old and new famous songs like Dil ibadat, Chand Chupa , Chupke se, Ek din teri raho, Dar de dil, Gulabi aankhen. His versatility was well portrayed in these songs. He also presented his latest 2019 song Ara-gaira from

About the Promoter: Mousumi Banerjee, the CEO of MB Entertainment Company helps promote large and small-scale events in the likes of Concerts, Talent shows and Cultural shows across Houston. She has also been persistently supporting non-profit organizations like India House, CRY, SEWA International and Indo American Charity Foundation. For more information about MB Entertainment and future events visit: www.facebook.com/MousumiBanerjee-2046130342332317/ or email: mousumib@yahoo. com or call 832-841-5727.

(With input from Vanshika Vipin ).

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 4

UNICEF USA nets $1 million, honors late Lester Smith at its Sixth Annual Gala in Houston Continued from Page 1 Chaired by Cheryl Byington, Mary Ann McKeithan, Beth Wolff and Hallie Vanderhider who also served as major donors hosted the elegant and impactful event. Houston mayor Sylvester Turner who spoke briefly on the occasion stressed on the immediate need to support the cause of children.

County Judge KP George Issues Disaster Declaration for Fort Bend County

F

ORT BEND COUNTY, TX.- Fort Bend County Judge KP George at 9:27 PM on May 7th issued a Disaster Declaration in Fort Bend County for flash flooding and potential Brazos River Flooding

In an honorary segment, UNICEF USA CEO and President Caryl M. Stern presented honorees and Helenka Pantaleoni Humanitarian Award recipients Susan and Dan Boggio with a balloon surprise from the actress Téa Leoni, who happens to be the granddaughter of UNICEF USA's founding director, Helenka Pantaleoni. Caryl shared her experiences with children and narrated inspiring stories about them that showed the power of sharing that a child has. She spoke about the UNICEF Kid Power, which she said connects children’s actions to real world impact.

From L-R: Sanjay Murthy, Honorary Chairs Leela Krishnamurthy and Nat Krishnamurthy, Mayor Sylvester Turner, Ms Trini Mendenhal and Ms Joni Baird. Photo provided by UNICEF.

Lead support came from the Albert and Margaret Alkek Foundation of $100,000 (matching fund) pledged toward UNICEF Kid Power, an interactive program where children through activities help provide lifesaving nutrition that UNICEF delivers to severely malnourished children. The children to children program is designed to generate empathy and teach children to make a difference.

a New Jersey-style group of crooners provided a special Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons tribute.

Then was the time to party!

UNICEF NextGen supporters began entering into the ballroom to get the ‘Silent Disco” after-party started. Silent Events provided the entertainment through the evening.

Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is monitoring the situation carefully and coordinating and assisting response operations throughout our county.

Additionally, the EOC has been in constant contact with the National Weather Service to ensure that the most accurate and timely information is communicated throughout our county. Mass notifications and drone footage are also being used to inform the community of updates.

For more information about the flooding incident this week, keep checking the HS&EM website (https://fbcoem.org/) for the County's official updates, and the HS&EM Facebook and Twitter pages.

Officials at the EOC strive to provide the most official and accurate information.

If you are in need of rescue or emergency services, call 9-1-1. Stay safe and be smart: don't put yourself into harms way. If you are an emergency management partner or member of the media and need to contact our office, you can call the main number at 281-3426185.

Tamil Nadu Foundation Celebrates Mother ‘s Day

Margaret Alkek Williams did the honors of presenting the humanitarian award bearing her name to Sue Smith and Lester Smith, posthumously, joined by Lester's son, Stuart Smith. An emotional video tribute to Lester followed. Sue very deftly lifted the vibe with a few playful anecdotes about her late husband, which all enjoy immensely.

Houston TV host and celebrity Deborah Duncan emceed the program with her usual grace. Known for her spontaneity in singing, she livened the evening as she sang "Happy Birthday" to long-time UNICEF supporter Bashar Kalai. The Garden State Guys,

“This weather situation is a serious threat to our residents,” said Fort Bend County Judge KP George. “This flash flooding is contributing to the raised Brazos River levels, which pose a threat later this week. We are not out of the woods yet, but I am issuing a Disaster Declaration to ensure we can take certain response and recovery actions. We will continue to deploy every resource we have and request more for the safety and well-being of our citizens. The County Judge’s Office and our First Responders are working 24/7 to monitor the situation and provide constant yet accurate information to our community.”

A Disaster Declaration is the first step the County can take to ultimately result in State or Federal Declarations. The Fort Bend County

Boggio couple spoke at length of their relationship with UNICEF in the USA. The couple has started a generous push for the organization, through a leadership gift and unrestricted funds, to address child protection, education, trafficking, violence against girls, the Rohingya refugee crisis and expanding UNICEF Kid Power in Houston.

Auctioneer Stephen Lewis set the momentum for the evening as he brought the gathering towards the seven-digit figure by offering impressive live auction packages including a week-long Kenyan safari, earrings from NINI Jewels and tickets to Elton John's legendary Oscars Viewing Party in Los Angeles. The LA event proved to be the evening's most sought-after prize.

India House Houston

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

by Adhi Gopal and Nandhakumar Radhakrishnan

“

God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers” – Rudyard Kipling. Kipling’s sentiment in this quote is universal.

Mother’s Day, an international day of celebrations is to honor all mothers.

Ishwaria and Vivek Subbiah at the UNICEF Gala at the Post Oak Hotel Friday May 3, 2019. Photo credit: Dave Rossman.

Tamil Nadu Foundation, Houston Chapter (TNF-H) is known for its annual Mother’s Day celebrations. This nonprofit organization, on an an-

On this day, this child prodigy was honored with the title “Sorselvi”. Sorselvi Kuralsoodi Umayal Meyyammai received this title from the President, Mrs. Mala Gopal.

The chief guests of the evening were Ms. Amy Rodriquez, CEO of Cornerstone Critical Care Specialty Hospital and Dr. Venkat Sevamanickam, the M.D. Anderson Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Institute at the University

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Mothers being honored by Tamil Nadu Foundation, Houston Chapter. nual basis, honors five mothers from the community who have dedicated their time and efforts for the upliftment of the society. The mothers honored for the year 2018-2019 are Mrs. Ponni Sivaraman, Mrs. Indira Parthasarathy, Mrs. Meena Chockalingam, Mrs. Thara Narasimhan, and Mrs. Savithri Ramanujam. As a tradition, these mothers were driven to the venue, Westchester Academy of International Studies, in a limousine and welcomed by the officers of TNF-H. These dedicated mothers were honored on stage. As a surprise, Dr. Padmini Ranganathan who has played pivotal role in TNFH was honored as the “Queen of Mothers”. Mrs. Mala Go-

pal, the President of TNF-H reminded that mothers should be celebrated all our lives and not just on this special day.

The evening had a variety of programs to entertain the gathering. The Chief Guest of this evening was Selvi Kuralsoodi Umayal Meiyyammai, a child prodigy in Tamil discourse.

This 10-year old child is welllearned in Tamil literature and is known for her excellence in Thirukkural recitation. She captivated the audience with her flow of speech that was aimed to praise motherhood.

Incidentally, her mother Mrs. Vadivambal was also honored, along with other five mothers.

of Houston. They both were on stage and recognized all the kids who participated in Thirukkural Vilayattu, a Kural reciting competition that was held a month ago. The mothers of the first two winners received a custom-designed saree that carried the image of Thiruvalluvar. As a new effort, TNF-H also recognized youth who are graduating this year from high school. These kids are those who have tirelessly volunteered for the Tamil community.

Four hundred people attended the event. The evening concluded with dinner sponsored

by Mr. Rajan Radhakrishnan, Madras Pavilion, Houston.

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Tamil Nadu Foundation, Houston Chapter members and mothers honored.

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Insys founder IACCGH and IDA feature Dr Paul KLotman at Business of medicine event Kapoor convicted....

Continued from Page 1 Two other executives pleaded guilty and testified at the trial in Boston which lasted a little over two months.

"Today's convictions mark the first successful prosecution of top pharmaceutical executives for crimes related to the illicit marketing and prescribing of opioids," federal prosecutor Andrew E. Lelling said in a statement.

Dr Klotman speaking on the occasion.

by Srishti Srivastava The Indo-American Chamber of Greater Houston & Indian Doctor’s Association hosted the Business of Medicine lecture featuring , CEO and Executive Dean of Baylor College of Medicine Dr. Paul Klotman on May 1st at the Double Tree Hilton – Greenway Plaza.

Executive Director Jagdip Ahluwalia opened the event by welcoming the attendees and thanked them for the continued support to the chamber and the community. President Swapan Dhairyawan, shared that the Latin term “com” in commerce means coming together, establishing the purpose of the event, to bring the esteemed people in the medical field and other services together.

Dr. Klotman discussed the ever-evolving nature of the Health/Medical Education

IACCGH & IDA present a token of Appreciation to Dr Klotman. Photos by Bijay Dixit

and the changes observed in the previous years, leading it to the present ecosystem of medial commerce. The modern academic center, inspired form the John Hopkins Medical School Model, has integrated various levels of education, research, clinical care and even community service.

He described at length the unique challenges in each of the different revenue streams, education and research. Dr. Klotman described the challenges in education in the medical industry for the prospective millennial students and in research, with respect to uncertainty in funding, red-tapism and bureaucracy, uncertain recoveries and lack of support from private sectors. He also elaborated on the economic activities of Baylor University and broke it down into a simplified equation to incorporate all sources of income and

expenditure, including cross subsidization. The note included the plans and concerns of the future financial health, and emphasis on the diversification to remain relevant and competitive in the future. He emphasized on the requirement on acquiring funds beyond the NIH, corporate relationships, joint ventures and Philanthropy in efforts to stay sustainable.

Baylor College of Medicine has created over tens of thousands of jobs in Houston alone. It has an annual impact of $4.5 Billion in Texas and $3.2 Billion in Houston. The research in Baylor College of Medicine has had a widespread impact on the community. The alumni also have a major influence in the community. There are nine thousand licensed physicians from the university throughout the United States. There are four

thousand practicing alumni in Texas which account for 10% of the entire work force, and two thousand five hundred physicians in Harris County.

Dr. Klotman concluded the speech with his thoughts that although medicine is still a profession, healthcare is a business.

The event concluded with IDA and IACCGH representatives giving Dr Klotman a token of appreciation and an engaging Q&A session.

For more details about future events, visit www.iaccgh. com

"Just as we would streetlevel drug dealers, we will hold pharmaceutical executives responsible for fueling the opioid epidemic by recklessly and illegally distributing these drugs, especially while conspiring to commit racketeering along the way," he said.

In 2017, President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a national public health emergency.

Almost 400,000 people have died from overdoses involving prescription or illicit opioids over the past two decades, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nearly 48,000 people died in 2017 alone from opiate overdose.

"This is a landmark prosecution that vindicated the public's interest in staunching the flow of opioids into our homes and streets," Lelling said.

To increase sales of their fentanyl spray Subsys, a painkiller 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, Insys executives set up a system of large-scale bribes.

Between 2012 and 2015, they paid health professionals to prescribe large quantities of the highly addictive drug, which was approved to alleviate severe pain in terminal cancer patients.

Doctors were encouraged to recommend the spray to patients who did not need it and also in excessive doses.

Officially, the bribes were paid as fees to doctors speaking at seminars for health professionals to praise the benefits of the drug.

The company's aggressive marketing tactics reportedly also included sales representatives making a rap video to promote the drug.

In some years, Insys paid more than $10 million in bribes in this way. The heads of the firm also set up a scheme to mislead health insurance companies to reimburse patients for the costs of the drug.

According to Insys' annual report, Subsys sales reached $329.5 million in 2015.

The group went public in 2013. Kapoor resigned from the board in October 2017, a few days after his indictment.

BUSINESS & FINANCE

VOICE OF ASIA 6

State Farm® New Asian Indian Ads Know What It’s Like To Be A Cricket Fan In The US

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EW YORK, NY – MAY 1st, 2019 – This week, State Farm launched two new spots targeting the ever-expanding Asian Indian community in the United States. Inspired by the excitement and energy of the Cricket World Cup just a few weeks away, two new ads, Cricket Crashes and Commercial Breaks, capture the emotions of Indians rooting for Team India while living in the U.S. Cricket is an extremely popular global sport but has yet to gain the same popularity in the U.S. For fans, each cricket season comes with a reminder that being a fan of the sport in the U.S. can sometimes be challenging. The newly launched State Farm spots, led

by Admerasia and fluent360, touch upon that unique insight – the longing to find your fandom in a place where few are interested in a sport you like – something rarely expressed in either mainstream or multicultural advertising with humor and empathy. Both ads feature Jinisha Patel, a real-life State Farm agent who understands Asian Indians’ love for cricket and that you can’t miss a single second of the match, especially when India is batting.

Cricket Crashes, the 30s spot, brings to life a distinctive yet familiar story of Ankur, a cricket fan who misses watching cricket with his friends in India.

The ad hilariously plays up his predicament of being a cricket fan in the U.S., where everyone seems to watch either baseball or basketball, especially compared to India where cricket is practically a religion. Served with a healthy side of nostalgia, this spot takes the viewer on Ankur’s journey of searching for fans who love cricket as much him. Commercial Breaks focuses on an intense yet completely relatable aspect of being a cricket fan -- taking calls only when the commercials are on.

The unique 15s ad tells another amusing story when Ankur has ‘literally seven seconds before the commercials end’ and can’t speak to his State Farm agent – a rather meta take on commer-

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The blockbuster report will help allay fears of a slowing economy and cheer President Donald Trump as he seeks re-

Billionaire Warren Buffett gives new hint about his successor

by Luc OLINGA Omaha, United States | AFP | Sunday 5/4/2019 - Billionaire Warren Buffett on Saturday gave a clue on who might succeed him to run his Berkshire Hathaway empire, but did not completely reveal his hand.

The world's third-richest man also said at his company's annual shareholder meeting that its recent investment in Amazon was not a shift in strategy to focus on Silicon Valley firms, which have largely remained missing from Berkshire's voluminous portfolio.

Buffett, 88, was pressed by questions -- each greeted with a torrent of applause -- about who would succeed him.

A still from Cricket Crashes, 30s spot from State Farm.

Without answering directly, Buffett said Gregory Able, 57, and Ajit Jain, 67 -- both promoted last year to the board of directors -- would in the near future join him and longtime business partner Charlie Munger, 95, on the stage to answer shareholder questions.

"You could not have two better operating managers than Greg and Ajit. It's just fantastic what they've accomplished," said Buffett, who is known as the "Oracle of Omaha."

A still from Commercial Breaks, the unique 15s spot from State Farm. cial breaks told through… a commercial. However, Jinisha Patel, the real-life State Farm agent is here to help in whatever way is needed. In Commercial Breaks, she gets why cricket fan Ankur can’t talk on the phone when the game is on and in Cricket Crashes, Jinisha recognizes how the first cricket season away from home can be tough and helps him get back to the game after a cricket crash.

“Cricket has a massive fan-

base among the Asian Indian community, and it’s a terrific opportunity for us to convey our core messaging of empathy and connect with our Asian Indian customers,” said Justin Reckamp, Marketing Manager, State Farm.

“We are always looking for exceptional insights that make the viewer break into a smile each time they watch the commercial. We wanted people to feel like they can easily see themselves in those situations.

That’s how people truly relate to a brand,” said Yashica Dutt, Associate Creative Director, Admerasia.

“What makes these spots compelling and keeps them on point is that when it comes to casting, acting, and the script, we made sure we portrayed our audience in relatable ways, never stereotypically. Last year we accomplished this and we just wanted to make sure we continued with that effort.” said Jose Suaste, Executive Creative Director, fluent360.

US job creation surges in April as jobless rate hits 49-year low ASHINGTON | AFP | Friday 5/3/2019 - The United States had another giant month of job creation in April, with strong hiring in the vast services sector and unemployment fell to a level not seen since 1969, the government reported Friday.

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

election next year.

Employers scooped up workers in construction, health care, computer systems design, administrative support and other industries, adding a total of 263,000 net new positions for the month.

That was well above the result economists expected, and worker pay continued to climb.

The jobless rate fell two tenths

to 3.6 percent but the decline was in part because the pool of workers shrank and fewer people were looking for jobs, pulling them out of the labor force.

Average hourly pay also climbed 3.2 percent over April of last year, its ninth consecutive month with annual growth above three percent, again outstripping inflation and boosting purchasing power for American paychecks.

Compared to March, however,

the increase in pay was only 0.2 percent, shy of forecasts.

Nevertheless, the brisk pace of hiring should dim hopes among investors that the Federal Reserve will feel pressure to cut interest rates in the near term.

Hiring in the manufacturing sector also was a weak spot, with durable goods employment flat and the auto sector continuing to shed jobs.

For decades, Buffett and Munger have been the two stars of Berkshire Hathaway, but on Saturday, Jain answered a shareholder question, though he did so from the floor.

- 'Unbureaucratic' Abel joined the company in 1992 in the energy division, and for more than a year has overseen all non-insurance activities, while Jain came on board in 1986 in the insurance division, which he currently leads.

But who will prevail, or could they jointly take the helm?

"One of the reasons we have trouble with these questions is because Berkshire is so very peculiar. We have a different, kind of unbureaucratic way of making decisions," said Munger.

"But I don't want to be like everybody else because this has worked better. So I think you're going to have to endure us," he said.

Buffett's departure is likely to open a new era at the company, especially with shares of Berkshire considered to be 10 to 15 percent above their real value thanks to the billionaire's presence at the helm.

Some analysts say a Buffettless Berkshire Hathaway could be a candidate for being broken up into multiple companies.

- Investing in tech On Saturday, Buffett and

Munger also faced an onslaught of questions about strategy for investing in technology companies after Berkshire revealed a stake in Amazon.

Buffett said Amazon chief Jeff Bezos has pulled off "close to a miracle" by transforming an online bookseller into the ecommerce giant it is today.

Munger also acknowledged that he and Buffett felt "ashamed" for missing the boat on Google.

"We just sat there sucking our thumbs," he said. "We screwed up."

But there's no indication of a strategy shift at Berkshire to invest more heavily in tech, aside from its new stake in Amazon and a $40-billion stake in Apple.

On Saturday, Berkshire Hathaway announced a net profit of $21.66 billion -- a result that does not take into account expected losses from its stake in Kraft Heinz, which has recently depreciated assets valued in the billions of dollars.

Berkshire Hathaway has holdings in companies such as American Express, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, and is active in sectors like insurance (Geico), rail (BNSF) and energy (PacifiCorp).

The Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, which draws tens of thousands to the small city of Omaha in the American heartland, has been dubbed "Woodstock for Capitalists."

Unlike other annual meetings, the goal here is not to release company results but to hear Buffett identify companies that he might invest in, or from which he might withdraw his money.

Some 20,000 people secured a coveted pass to hear Buffett speak in person, after lining up from 5:00 am, with thousands more left to soak up the atmosphere from outside the theater.

Buffett kicked off the day by touring the souvenir stands at CHI Health Center and mingling with the crowd of attendees, made up of leading executives, investors and billionaires from around the world. This year, many Chinese delegations made the trip.

He later made a surprise appearance at a sideline event organized by a group of women financial professionals aiming to end the gender imbalance in investing.

"It's long overdue," Buffet said of the goal.

Buffett, who is worth almost $90 billion, still lives in a relatively modest house about 10 minutes outside downtown Omaha that he bought in 1958.

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COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 7

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

The Grand Annual Festival at Sri Guruvayurappan Temple, Houston

Elevation of the majestic Sri Guruvayurappan temple in Houston

by Biju K.Pillai

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OUSTON: Sri Guruvayurappan temple festival rituals are being performed with grandeur that marks a remarkable impression among the temple community across the greater Houston area. The annual Festival (Utsavam) of Guruvayurappan Temple is scheduled from May 9 through May 18, 2019. The festival formally starts with traditional flag hoisting ceremony on May 9th late evening in presence of large number of devotees from greater Houston area. Presentations of various classical programs are scheduled every day and on weekends performers are lined up throughout the day and late evenings.

Prominent musicians and classical dancers from local art schools and from neighboring cities will present their talents on temple grounds during the festival days. Preceding the last day (May 17) of the festival, Kathakali, a highly developed art form that was born and nurtured at the temples of Kerala will be performed.

In addition to cultural programs many attractions are included in this year’s festival. The food stall at the temple ground will serve a variety of homemade authentic vegetarian food.

There will be an opportunity for business booths at temple premises, for details contact temple.

The astonishing percussionists of Pallavoor family (Sridharan and Sreekumar Marar) and temple staff Sreejith Marar (from Pallvoor team) will present varieties of chenda melam all through the event. The distinct styles of melams will capture your attention and reverberate the temple surroundings. One would find that the annual utsavam (festi-

val) includes several important rituals established at the ancient famous Guruvayoor Temple of Kerala, India.

Udayasthamana Pooja is one of the most popular offerings at the famous Guruvayoor Temple in India (sponsorship requires early booking). Annadhanam sponsorship (offering food for visitors and devotees) is very popular and a sacred tradition during Utsavam. Please call temple for annadhanam sponsorship. The auspicious Utsav-bali, Sreebootha bali and Kalashabhishekam are part of the festival and key rituals. On the ninth day (May 17) of the festival, the palli vetta (royal hunt) ritual will be conducted with melam and ceremonial procession.

Devotees gather at the Sri Guruvayurappan temple to partake in the festivities. Photos provided by Biju Pillai.

The arattu ceremony (May 18), marking the culmination of the 10day festival, will be held at the specially prepared arattu Kadavu on temple premises. On this special day, Lord Sri Guruvayurapan is given a holy bath on the arattu kadav, which is a unique sight. The idol/deity is then taken in a grand procession and circumnutates around the temple. The entire spiritual and ritualistic observations will be done under the direction and guidance of temple Thantri (Vedic chief priest of the temple) Brahmasri Divakaran Namboothiri, the former Melsanthi (chief priest) of Guruvayur temple, India.

For More information visit www. guruvayurappanhouston.org (Address: 11620 Ormandy Street, Houston, 77035. For details contact temple (713) 729- 8994, Sasidharan Nair (President) at 832-860-0371, Suresh Pilllai (Secretary) at 713-569-7920, Rema Sankar (Treasurer) at 404-6809787 or Ajith Nair (Festival coordinator) 832-713-1710.

An inside view of the temple

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VOICE OF ASIA 8

OPINION

Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act: The case for a more merit-based immigration system

By Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Kevin Cramer (R-N.d.), Opinion Contributors — 05/08/19

A

shish Patel first came to Utah legally in 2005 on a temporary high-skilled work visa. Since that time Mr. Patel worked hard at his job, paid taxes, followed the law, got married, and had two kids, both of whom were born American citizens.

In February 2011, Mr. Patel’s petition to earn a Green Card – the legal document that gives an immigrant the right to live and work in the United States permanently – was approved.

Though approved, his Green Card remains unissued. If Mr. Patel had immigrated from any country in the world other than India he would already have his Green Card today.

But current immigration law caps the number of visas that can be given to immigrants from any given country at 7 percent of the total number of visas awarded for any given year. This means that immigrants from countries with large populations have to wait over decades for their visas to be issued – even though in the vast majority of cases these immigrants have already been living and working in the United States.

While these immigrants are patiently waiting for the per-

country backlog to clear so they can earn permanent residency, they are severely limited in their ability to change jobs or seek a promotion because it might throw them to the back of the line. Because these Green Cards are tied to employment, changing jobs or starting their own business could force them to start from scratch. But it doesn’t just affect them or their employment opportunities; it affects American citizens, too.

Dr. Sri Obulareddy is an oncologist working just outside Dickinson, N.D., who came to the United States in 2006.

She moved to North Dakota because the area is experiencing a shortage of specialized physicians, and her impact on the community has been invaluable. Recently, she tried to return from a trip to India, however approval for her visa was delayed for six weeks, forcing her patients to travel as far as 100 miles as they scrambled to find a temporary physician. The pain this caused her patients would never have happened if she hadn’t been subjected an arbitrary cap based on her country of origin and had already received her Green Card.

The status quo is simply unfair to the high-skilled immigrants left in limbo. The system needs reform.

That is why we have teamed

up with colleagues across the aisle to introduce the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act. Without increasing the number of employment-based visas, the Fairness for HighSkilled Immigrants Act creates a merit-based system that would level the playing field for high skilled immigrants – regardless of their country of origin – by eliminating the percountry caps. This means immigrants receive Green Cards on a “first-come, first-serve” basis, rather than having their wait times depend on where they are from. What’s more, the bill contains important safeguards for immigrants who are already at the “front of the line” to ensure that the transition to a system without country caps is fair to them.

Immigration is often a contentious issue, but we should not delay progress in areas where there is bipartisan agreement. There is a clear desire for a more merit-based system to help our citizens and protect legal immigrants from being penalized for their country of birth. Treating people fairly and equally is part of our founding creed and the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act reflects that belief.

Lee is the senior senator from Utah and a member of the Judiciary Committee. Cramer is the junior senator from North Dakota.

$600,000 Raised for IndianAmerican girl struck by car in hate crime As of Monday evening, the GoFundMe page, created to help seventh grader Dhriti Narayan's family cover the medical costs, had raised more than $600,000.

Dhriti Narayan is currently in coma following severe trauma and head injuries

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ASHINGTON: More than $600,000 has been raised for the treatment of a 13-year-old Indian-American hate crime victim who remains in coma after being struck down intentionally in April by a motorist who thought she was a Muslim.

As of Monday evening, the GoFundMe page, created to help seventh grader Dhriti Narayan's family cover the medical costs, had raised more than $600,000.

The target was $500,000, re-

Two Indian Americans receive 2019 Breakthrough Inspiration Awards

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EW YORK - Two Indian Americans were honored on Wednesday, April 24, at the Breakthrough Inspiration Awards ceremony held at the Pierre. Breakthrough, a U.S. and India-based organization recognizes leaders who stand for equality, humanity, and the power of culture change.

N.J., Mathrani is on the executive board and the board of trustees for the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), executive board and current vice chair of Nareit and on the board of directors of Host Hotels & Resorts, Inc.

Mona Sinha received Lifetime Inspiration Award She is the Chair, Women Moving Millions; Founder, Asian Women’s Leadership Project and Raising Change .

Sandeep Mathrani received Corporate Inspiration Award.

Mathrani is CEO of Brookfield Properties Retail and vice chairman, Brookfield Property Group For nearly eight years, he served as CEO of GGP Inc. and was part of the group that recapitalized GGP in November 2010. He spent nearly a decade as executive vice president at Forest City Ratner, responsible for their retail development and leasing in the New York City metropolitan area.

Mona Sinha, recipient of Breakthrough’s Lifetime Inspiration Award, speaking at the April 24 gala of the human rights organization, held at The Pierre, NYC. (Photo courtesy Breakthrough).

A Master of Engineering, Master of Management Science and Bachelor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken,

Recipients in other categories included the following: Activist Impact Award”

Kenyette Tisha Barnes & Oronike Odeleye, Founders, #MuteRKelly Campaign Aishah Shahidah Simmons, Director, “NO! The Rape Doc-

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

Isaiah Peoples ports the American Bazaar online news portal.

On April 23, Dhriti and other members of her family were crossing a road in Sunnyvale, California. Suddenly a motorist

Sandeep Mathrani, CEO of Brookfield Properties Retail, speaking at the April 24 gala of Breakthrough, a human rights organization, at its awards gala held in The PIerre, NYC. (Photo courtesy Breakthrough) umentary” Kalimah Johnson, Founder & Chair, SASHA Center Aleesha Barlow, Author and Founder, Tell Somebody Luz Marquez Benbow, Associate Director, Sisters of Color Ending Sexual Assault

Culture Change Inspiration Award Christina Weiss Lurie, film producer; minority owner, Philadelphia Eagles; President, Eagles Charitable Foundation and Eagles Social Responsibility.

struck them down intentionally.

The family was targeted because the motorist, Isaiah Peoples, thought they were Muslim.

Seven others, including Dhriti's father Rajesh Narayan and her nine-year-old brother Prakhar were injured in the incident.

Dhriti is currently in coma following severe trauma and head injuries.

Since the fundraising appeal went live on GoFundMe seven days ago, more than 12,360 people donated money.

The fundraiser on the site reads: "While our hearts and prayer go to Dhriti for her speedy recovery but a huge medical bill and potential rehab costs are expected for her recovery.

"We, friends of Dhriti's family, who were touched by her and her family's caring and helpful nature, are actively working with family members and other friends along with appropriate organisations and organising this fund-raising campaign to support the family at this difficult time."

Peoples was arraigned in Santa Clara County Superior Court in San Jose on May 3. He was charged on eight counts of attempted murder. His next hearing will be on May 16.

Courtesy: Indo-Asian News Service

6565 West Loop South, Suite 850, Bellaire, TX 77401 6565 West Loop South, Suite 850, Bellaire, TX 77401

SOUTH ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 9

Sexual harassment case against India top judge dismissed

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EW DELHI | AFP | 5/6/2019 - A Supreme Court panel on Monday dismissed a sexual harassment complaint made against the country's top judge by a former staff member, saying it lacked substance.

by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA Prime Minister Narendra Modi fired up a big, raucous rally in a hot Delhi late Wednesday as India's almost seven-week election approaches its conclusion later this month.

The woman claimed she lost her job and her family were harassed after she rebuffed Gogoi's advances.

Chief Justice of India Justice Ranjan Gogoi. Image: HuffPost India

After the 64-year-old denied the allegations, a three-judge panel was set up to look into the woman's complaint.

with rules governing in-house inquiries, it added.

It also said the panel's report had been submitted to a senior judge as well as to the chief justice.

The contents of the report will not be made public in line

Last week, the woman said she was withdrawing from the inquiry as she was "not likely to get justice from this committee".

In a letter, she said she found the "atmosphere of the committee very frightening" and that she felt "very nervous" as she was not allowed to be accompanied by her lawyer.

Gogoi, who is due to retire in November after a year in the job, has called the allegations "unbelievable" and an attempt

Polio vaccination campaigns have faced stubborn resistance for years in Pakistan.

In recent months Pakistani social media has been inundated with fake news reports and videos -- garnering thousands of views and shares in the last week alone -- claiming numerous children have been killed by the polio vaccine.

Thousands of parents have refused to allow their children to be inoculated.

"The parental refusals due to propaganda on Facebook regarding the vaccine is emerging as the major obstacle in achieving complete eradication of the virus," Babar Atta, who is helping oversee the country's vaccination drive, said in a statement.

"The poor have access to houses, toilets, electricity and are being given benefits of Ay-

Prime Minister Narendra Modi fires up a crowd of supporters at a giant Delhi rally as India's massive election approaches its conclusion

The case comes after a string of sexual harassment allegations were publicly made against Bollywood directors, actors and media figures last year, as the #metoo movement swept the country.

A junior foreign minister was forced to resign after several women accused him of harassment.

The Supreme Court, one of India's most respected institutions, has 25 judges appointed by the president, including the chief justice

Atta has requested "Facebook's management to block and/or manage the dissemination of such anti vaccination propaganda from their platforms operating from within Pakistan".

2011.

The violence coincided with an outbreak of hysteria in cities across northwest Pakistan after rumours of children suffering from adverse reactions to a polio vaccine sparked panic, with tens of thousands rushed to hospitals.

also been frequent, with nearly 100 people killed in assaults targeting vaccine teams since 2012.

Some Taliban and hardline religious figures have been known to fan rumours that vaccines contain ingredients forbidden in Islam, such as pork derivatives, or that can cause At least three people were infertility as part of a conspirakilled in the last country-wide cy to reduce the population. anti-polio campaign in April.

Attacks by militants have

Despite the opposition, campaigners have reported progress with tens of millions of children vaccinated across the Last week, around 10,000 country along with a 96 percent vaccination refusals were re- drop in reported polio cases ported per day in Islamabad, since 2014. compared to 200 to 300 during But as Pakistan nears its goal the previous campaign, accord- of ridding polio from its territoing to figures from the country's ry, new headwinds have arisen anti-polio programme. amid a growing global moveOpposition to myriad forms of inoculation skyrocketed after the CIA organised a fake vaccination drive to help track down Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad, where US forces later killed the militant leader in

"When work is done with good intentions, it also yields results. Inflation used to be on a rise, it is now under control," Modi told the crowd of several tens of thousands.

to malign his reputation.

Pakistan demands Facebook remove polio vaccine misinformation ISLAMABAD | AFP | 5/3/2019 - Pakistan urged Facebook to remove harmful polio-related content from the social networking site on Friday, saying it was jeopardising eradication initiatives and putting the lives of vaccinators at risk.

Modi rocks Delhi as India election moves to capital New Delhi, India | AFP | Wednesday 5/8/2019 -

A 35-year-old junior court assistant had last month accused Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi of making sexual advances towards her on two occasions at his official residence.

"The in-house committee has found no substance in the allegations contained in the complaint dated April 19, 2019 of a former employee of the Supreme Court of India," the secretary general of the Supreme Court said in a statement.

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

ment against inoculation.

In addition to Pakistan, Polio is endemic in two other countries globally -- Afghanistan and Nigeria -- although a relatively rare strain was also detected in Papua New Guinea last year.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters attend a rally as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

ushman Bharat (a free health scheme)," the right-winger thundered.

The world's biggest election with 900 million voters began on April 11, and on Sunday it is Delhi's turn to cast ballots on the penultimate voting day of seven before the event ends on May 19.

Being the capital, the heavily polluted metropolis and city state of some 20 million people is a hard-fought and important electoral prize.

Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won all seven Delhi parliamentary seats in 2014, and hopes to fend off a mounting challenge from the Congress Party and local upstart the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

The AAP, formed on an anti-corruption plank in 2012, stormed to power in Delhi in state elections in 2015 under its charismatic but polarising leader, Arvind Kejriwal.

Kejriwal, now Delhi chief minister, has since accused

Modi's central government of constantly stopping or disrupting his city government's key schemes and initiatives.

But Modi told the crowd of children in Modi masks, women in saris and young party cadres in orange BJP hats -plus the occasional person in a Hindu deity costume -- not to be fooled.

"People of Delhi have been fooled by a bunch of no-gooders who promised a new kind of politics. But they have become synonymous with anarchy and obstructionism," the Hindu nationalist said.

- 'Savior of Hindus' "Modi is the only leader who thinks about us Hindus.

He is our pride. He is the only saviour of Hindus," Bibha Sandwar, a school principal, 50, told AFP: "If he does not come to power, India will become like Pakistan, only Muslims will be heard and seen," Sandwar said at the rally grounds, which ad-

join a large mosque.

Opinion polls suggest Modi will be re-elected, but likely with a reduced majority, and is vulnerable to opposition attacks on the economy and unemployment.

Munish, 41, a businessman at Wednesday's rally, said that Modi had cracked down on the shadow economy and "replaced black money with white money."

"I think there a lot of jobs, not in the public sector but in the private sector. People are just not willing to work," he told AFP. "We have focused on making the lives of the middle class in Delhi easier," Modi told the rally.

"Be it ensuring easier and cheaper housing, cheaper bills for mobile phones and medicines or exempting income up to 500,000 rupees ($7,175) per year from tax net, they have been at the core of our governance," he said.

India politician charged after Pakistan police arrest doctor after donkey ride to file papers 90 infected by HIV syringe KARACHI | AFP | 5/3/2019 - At least 90 people, including 65 children, are believed to have been infected with the HIV virus in Pakistan by a doctor using a contaminated syringe, officials said Friday.

"We have arrested a doctor after receiving complaints from the health authorities," said Kamran Nawaz, the local police chief heading the case in the southern city of Larkana.

"We are told that the doctor also has HIV," he said.

Authorities were first alerted last week after 18 children from a town on the outskirts of the city tested positive for the virus, which causes AIDS, prompting health officials to carry out wider screenings.

Dozens more infections were found.

"More than 90 people have tested HIV positive and the number of children is around 65," Dr Abdul Rehaman, a district health official in Larkana, told AFP. A second official confirmed the outbreak, although gave slightly different figures.

Authorities said they traced the outbreak to a single doctor, who appears to have been using a contaminated syringe on patients.

Azra Pechuho, Sindh province's health minister, confirmed his arrest.

"The blood of the parents of the infected children was also tested, but their results were negative," Pechuho added.

Officials have since launched

an even larger testing and education drive.

Pakistan is considered a low prevalence country for HIV, but the disease is expanding -- mostly among intravenous drug users, sex workers and migrant labourers returning from the Gulf.

Eleven injured as plane slides off Myanmar runway

Y

ANGON | AFP | 5/8/2019 - Eleven people were injured as a plane slid off a runway while landing at Yangon airport in Myanmar Wednesday, police said, as a freak storm hit the city.

Images on Facebook showed a crumpled Biman Bangladesh Airlines plane lying on the grass at the side of the runway.

An AFP photographer saw an injured woman being carried to an ambulance on a stretcher.

"One pilot, an air hostess and nine passengers were slightly injured," a police officer at the airport told AFP, asking not to be named, adding that the plane slid from the runway as it landed at 6.50pm (1220 GMT).

"It happened near Terminal 3 where it fell onto the cargo runway as it landed," he added, saying that the nose and both wings were damaged.

Yangon International Airport did not confirm the crash but announced a closure of "runway operations" due to heavy rains.

Other incoming flights were diverted to the capital Naypyidaw before Yangon airport re-opened at 9.15pm (0245 GMT).

Thirty-one people were on board the stricken aircraft from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Canada, China, India, France and Switzerland.

Civilian airline accidents are relatively rare in Myanmar although there have been a series of crashes of military aircraft.

Independent candidate Mani Bhushan Sharma arrives on a donkey to file his nomination documents at a local election office in Jehanabad, in the Indian state of Bihar (AFP Photo/STR)

N

EW DELH, AFP | 5/1/2019 - Indian police charged a wouldbe election candidate with animal cruelty Wednesday after he rode a donkey to file his application for the national ballot.

Mani Bhushan Sharma, a perennial long-shot candidate, filed his nomination papers on Monday followed by a short donkey ride outside the local election office in Jehanabad town, eastern Bihar state.

"We have filed a case under

prevention of cruelty to animals against the politician," Shree Maneesh, Jehanabad police chief, told AFP.

tions, saying it was symbolic to show the plight of common people that are taken for a ride by politicians.

Maneesh did not elaborate on the exact charges against Sharma, and donkey and mules rides are legal and common in India.

"Common people are dedicated towards building a better society and nation like donkeys (and) unlike politicians who only work for themselves. We are beautiful and hard working, like donkeys," he told AFP.

Convictions under the animal cruelty law -- that mostly deal with physical harm, violence or abandonment of animals -- can result in fines or prison terms up to seven years.

Sharma defended his ac-

Sharma has unsuccessfully contested four elections in the past, and his application on Monday was rejected due to discrepancies in his documents.

US/WORLD

VOICE OF ASIA 10

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

Trump Jr subpoenaed as Congress Mali gets new government battles W.House over Russia report after protests

by Michael Mathes

W

ASHINGTON | AFP | 5/8/2019 - The Russia probe plunged Washington into turmoil Wednesday as Donald Trump's son reportedly was ordered to testify before a Senate panel and the White House refused to release material on investigations into the president.

A day after the top Republican in Congress called the Russia probe "case closed," Trump's conflict with his Democratic opponents escalated to new heights as a House panel voted to hold the nation's Attorney General Bill Barr in contempt for refusing to turn over key documents.

Following a day of drama that included Trump asserting his executive privilege for the first time in his presidency, the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee took the surprise step of issuing a subpoena to Donald Trump Jr to testify as part of its investigation into Russian election interference, US media reported.

It was the first known legal summons issued to a member of the president's family to force testimony in the ongoing investigation, and comes after special counsel Robert Mueller declined to accuse Trump's 2016 campaign of criminal conspiracy to collude with the Russians.

Trump Jr, 41, has testified voluntarily in private once to the committee, and was peppered with questions about a June 9, 2016 meeting in Trump Tower in New York that he and other campaign officials had with a Russian lawyer who had offered them dirt on Democratic presidential

US President Donald Trump with his son Donald, Jr. AFP Photo. candidate Hillary Clinton.

Committee aides would not confirm the subpoena or what they want to discuss with the president's eldest son, who currently helps run the Trump Organization.

Citing a person close to Trump Jr, The Wall Street Journal reported he had offered to answer questions in writing from the committee, and planned to fight the subpoena, which demands he testify in person.

- 'Constitutional crisis' The White House meanwhile has been seeking to shield a large swathe of material -- including redacted portions of Mueller's report -- subpoenaed by lawmakers seeking to exert their oversight responsibility.

Pakistani Christian Asia Bibi flees to Canada after blasphemy saga

The rare move to invoke executive privilege came as the House Judiciary Committee took its most substantive step yet against a member of the Trump administration by approving a contempt motion against Barr.

"This was a very grave and momentous step we were forced to take today," committee chairman Jerry Nadler said after the party-line vote.

Nadler said the contempt citation will proceed "rapidly" for a full House vote but did not offer a timeline.

Nadler accused Trump and the White House of stonewalling by preventing America's congressional representatives from conducting oversight of the executive branch.

"It's an attack on the essence of our democracy," Nadler said. "We are now

Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga became a lightning rod for deep anger, expressed at mass protests, over ethnic violence that has led to as many as 600 deaths over the last 13 months.CreditCreditMichele Cattani/Agence FrancePresse — Getty Images

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AMAKO | AFP | 5/6/2019 Mali's president has named a new government after its predecessor resigned last month amid widespread protests over an upsurge of deadly inter-communal violence, a presidency statement said.

Ibrahim Boubacar Keita on Sunday announced the new executive of 37 members under Prime Minister Boubou Cisse, who was appointed on April 22 to oversee the formation of a "broad-based" government.

Last week, Cisse signed a pact with opposition and majority party representatives in the capital Bamako, declaring their willingness to set up a "politically-inclusive" new government.

Cisse's

predecessor

Soumeylou

Boubeye Maiga and his entire cabinet resigned on April 18 following the massacre of some 160 members of the Fulani herding community on March 23 in the village of Ogossagou near Mali's border with Burkina Faso.

Tens of thousands of people took to the streets on April 5 to protest against an upsurge of violence that has claimed around 600 lives, and which demonstrators said the government had failed to stop.

The new executive has as its foreign minister Tiebile Drame, who led the election campaign of opposition member Soumaila Cisse against Keita in 2018.

Cisse's URD party said it would continue to play a "constructive" opposition role.

Harry and Meghan: royal romance crowned by birth of son

by Robin MILLARD

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ONDON | AFP | Wednesday 5/8/2019 - The arrival this week of their first child -- a boy shown off to the public on Wednesday -- crowns the whirlwind love story of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, coming less than three years since they first met.

It was love at first sight for both parties, who quickly sensed their brief blind date could blossom.

They were set up by a mutual friend when US actress Meghan Markle was passing through London in July 2016.

Hardline Islamists have held massive violent protests calling for Asia Bibi to be executed

by Michel COMTE / with Gohar ABBAS in Islamabad

O

TTAWA | AFP | 5/8/2019 Asia Bibi, a Pakistani Christian woman who escaped a death sentence for blasphemy, began a new life in Canada Wednesday following a decade-long saga that sparked violent unrest and spotlighted religious extremism in her home country.

Neither Islamabad nor Ottawa would confirm her whereabouts, but a Canadian source told AFP: "She is now in Canada" and has reunited with her two daughters.

Earlier, Bibi's lawyer Saif ul Mulook and multiple security sources in Pakistan speaking on condition of anonymity told AFP that Bibi had gone to Canada, with another government source adding she had left "of her own free will."

One of Bibi's daughters, Esham Ashiq, spoke to AFP last October of her hopes of being reunited with her mother, saying she would "thank God that he has got her released."

A laborer from central Punjab province and minority Christian, Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2010 and sent to death row, but acquitted on appeal last year.

Her case swiftly became infamous, drawing worldwide attention to religious extremism in deeply conservative Pakistan where blasphemy carries a maximum penalty of death.

It is an incendiary issue in the Muslim-majority country, and mere allegations of insulting Islam have sparked lynchings and vigilante violence in the past.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declined to confirm Bibi's arrival in Canada, citing privacy and security issues, but his British counterpart Theresa May appeared to confirm she had been granted Canadian asylum.

"Canada made this offer and

we thought it was right and appropriate," May said on the floor of the House of Commons.

Short of confirming her whereabouts, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said Washington "welcomes the news that Asia Bibi has safely reunited with her family."

"The United States uniformly opposes blasphemy laws anywhere in the world, as they jeopardize the exercise of fundamental freedoms," he said.

The couple knew little about each other and the speed of the relationship surprised them both.

"The fact that I fell in love with Meghan so incredibly quickly was a confirmation to me that all the stars were aligned. Everything was just perfect," Harry said.

Within two years, they tied the knot at Windsor Castle, sealing a relationship that rapidly grew out of the media spotlight -- and survived when it went public in explosive fashion.

When the couple first met, she was 34 and a divorcee of three years; he 31 with a few foundered relationships and his 10-year army career recently behind him.

Britain´s Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex (R), and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, pose for a photo with their newborn baby son in St George´s Hall at Windsor Castle in Windsor, west of London on May 8, 2019.—AFP photo Harry had never heard of Meghan or watched "Suits", the US television legal drama series she had starred in since 2011.

"I was beautifully surprised when I walked into that room and saw her," he recalled, and thought to himself: "I'm going to really have to up my game here!"

- Bonding in Botswana Bonding over their passion for the good causes they represented, they im-

mediately set up a second date -- for the following day.

A few weeks later, the prince persuaded her to join him camping out for five days in Botswana, which Harry called a "huge leap" -- but one that paid off.

"We were really by ourselves, which was crucial to me to make sure that we had a chance to get to know each other," he said.

As Markle continued filming "Suits" in Toronto, the pair never went longer than two weeks apart.

VOICE OF ASIA 11

Fort Bend View

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

Sugar Land, Katy, Stafford, Missouri City, Richmond, Rosenberg and Meadows Place

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

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www.voiceofasia.news

Fort Bend county election winners Elections for city council and school board took place all over the county.

Check out the results and see who won their races.

R

•

Section 2

Tel: 713-774-5140

Lost & Found Symposium 2019 set for this Saturday

ICHMOND - The results for the May 4 election has yielded few surprises, however are some that will go to a runoff.

In Stafford, Mayor Leonard Scarcella maintained his historic run in Stafford, winning 62.91% of the votes against his closest challenger, former Councilman A.J. Honore.

O

n this Saturday, May 11th, from 1:00PM - 2:30PM, the local no-kill shelter group will detail their success stories and practices currently being implemented in Fort Bend.

While in the Councilmember Position 1 City of Stafford position, Alice Chen and Arturo Jackson will head to a runoff with neither receiving 50% of the votes in that race.

In Rosenberg, Mayor Bill Benton easily held off three challengers, and won 58.78% of the ballots in his race.

In the Council 1 At-Large incumbent Jacob Balderas was the top vote getter with 31.22%. He will face off against Alice Stratman Jozwiak, who came in second with 28.04% .

In Rosenberg’s race for Position 2 At-Large seat, Kevin Raines took 44.50% of the votes, and will face off against Susan Kroll Euton, who came

Naushad Kermally

Alice Chen, Runoff Candidate

in second with 31.05%.

mad ‘Jazz’ Aijaz, winning 76.02% of the votes to Aijaz’s 23.98%.

In the Needville Mayor’s race, Councilman Andrew Bohac defeated incumbent mayor Ernie Stuart, winning 56.81% to Stewart’s 43.19%.

In Sugar Land council races, Steve R. Porter handily defeated Moham-

In the Position 2 race, Naushad Kermally and Nabila Mansoor will head to a runoff, and in Position 3, Carol McCutcheon defeated William Ferguson, with 64.04% to 35.96%.

Find out how you can effectively help reunite pets in your own neighborhood. Free to all interested in learning what to do when a pet is lost or you find one in your neighborhood.

Join Fort Bend Pets Alive! to learn from Deborah Sullivan who started the Greatwood Pet Directory. She and her group have prevented about 1,300 dogs and cats from entering FBCAS in the time period of 3-4 year! Organized groups will be considered to receive free microchips (free life time registration), a universal scanner and assistance from FBPA!.

Accidents happen! It is a significant impact on our pets that anyone can enjoy. All you need is a Facebook account!

The gathering location is Mission Bend Library, 8421 Addicks Clodine, Houston, Texas.

Fort Bend County Pets Alive! is a non-profit, 501(C)3 organization, dedicated to helping make Fort Bend a no kill community through programs such as adoptions, education and community outreach, low cost spay and neuter surgeries, fostering, Positive Alternatives to Shelter Surrender (PASS), and rescuing from euthanasia list. Fort Bend Pets Alive! relies on donations. Please contact claudinevass@fortbendpetsaliv.org to donate , or volunteer.

FBISD names 2019 Jason Argonauts Sugar Land celebrates Bike to

F

Work Day and School Day

ort Bend ISD has named its 2019 JASON Argonauts – Hightower High School student Nia Sampson and Missouri City Middle School teacher Dr. Cynthia Maye. Both will travel to San Simon, Arizona this summer to join scientists in the Owl Forest. They will help in documenting habitat-specific productivity of forest owls, identify the potential impacts of climate change on breeding and document the availability of natural tree cavities as it relates to owl community dynamics.

S

hape Up Fort Bend and the city of Sugar Land will celebrate National Bike Month on Friday, May 10 with the ninth annual Bike to Work Day and fifth annual Bike to School Day. Join residents, neighbors and friends for a celebratory ride from Sugar Land Memorial Park, 15300 University Blvd., to Fort Settlement Middle School, 5440 Elkins Road, and Sugar Land Town Square near U.S. Highway 59 and State Highway 6.

Sampson is a sophomore at Hightower and the first high school student chosen for the JASON program in Fort Bend ISD. Dr. Maye is a seventh- and eighth-grade science teacher at Missouri City.

As JASON Argonauts, Sampson and Dr. Maye will join dozens of other Houston-area Argonauts who will join scientific expeditions this year that will take them to Nevada to study the effects of climate change on caterpillars, Costa Rica to study pollinators or Peru to study the Amazon Rainforest.

Both Sampson and Dr. Maye learned of their selection as Argonaturs during a surprise presentation, where they received flowers, balloons, a certificate, a giant-size “boarding pass,” and a backpack carrying items they’ll need on their expedition. The presentation was made by district administrators including Tajuana Wilson, Second-

The event begins at 7:30 a.m. with fun, food and prizes at the South Meadow Pavilion at Sugar Land’s Memorial Park adjacent to the Pawm Springs Dog Park.

Dr. Cynthia Maye (center) will represent the District as the 2019 teacher JASON Argonaut. (Photo: FBISD) ary Science Curriculum Coordinator; Rhonda LeDuff, Secondary Science Intervention and Enrichment Coordinator; Desera Ortiz, Secondary Science Assessment Design Coordinator; and Tracy Granger, Science Technology Integration Specialist.

All Houston-area Argonauts will be honored at the 2019 Houston Area JASON National Argonauts reception, to be held May 15, 2019 at the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD Boardroom.

- FBISD News

Following a safety briefing at 8:25 a.m., all participants will ride 1.1 miles to Fort Settlement Middle School via University Boulevard. After dropping off students, Bike to Work Day participants will continue another 6.4 miles to Sugar Land Town Square via Commonwealth, Austin Parkway and Lexington Boulevard.

The closing celebration at Sugar Land Town Square will include a proclamation recognizing Bike Month, Bike to Work and School Day, a group photo, food and more.

Participants must pre-register and

bring their own bicycles and helmets to participate.

Bike to Work and School Day takes place during National Bike Month.

National Bike Month is celebrated nationwide and is an opportunity for local cyclists to spread awareness of bicycling opportunities in the community and to share the efforts toward making the city of Sugar Land a safe environment for bicyclists. It is also an ideal time to stress the importance of knowing and following state and local laws that apply to bicyclists, sharing the road legally with motorists and demonstrating the bicycle as a useful form of transportation.

Visit “Share the Road Sugar Land” at www.sugarlandtx.gov/sharetheroad for educational resources focusing on road safety. The webpage is intended to help everyone safely use city roads and sidewalks whether in a vehicle, on a bike or on foot.

The city of Sugar Land encourages all riders to wear bright clothing, travel in the direction of traffic, stop at all stop signs and traffic lights, and follow all traffic laws.

For more information and to register for the event, visit www.sugarlandtx. gov/biketowork. For questions, call 3-1-1 (281-275-2900).

- City of Sugar Land

Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital receives quality award

S

UGAR LAND, (May 6, 2019) - Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital has received the TMF Hospital Quality Improvement Bronze Award from TMF® Health Quality Institute. The award is sponsored by TMF, the Arkansas Hospital Association, Oklahoma Hospital Association, Oklahoma State Office of Rural Health, Texas Hospital Association and Texas Organization of Rural and Community Hospitals.

It recognizes hospitals in Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas that have undertaken quality initiatives to improve outcomes in patient care and improve their performance on specific

national quality measures.

The 2018 TMF Hospital Quality Improvement Award program is based on achievements in 2016 and 2017, and honors hospitals that are performing quality initiatives aimed at improving outcomes in patient care by recognizing those hospitals that have improved their performance on specific national quality measures.

“We are proud to have achieved this recognition. Our success illustrates our commitment to patient safety and to delivering quality health care,” said Chris Siebenaler, regional senior vice president and CEO of Houston Methodist Sugar Land.

“TMF is proud to recognize these hospitals for promoting quality improvement activities and their senior management for promoting a quality culture,” said Tom Manley, CEO of TMF Health Quality Institute. “Quality improvement is a complex and demanding process, and we thank Houston Methodist Sugar Land for its commitment to improving the health of patients and the efficiency of health care.”

Siebenaler said the hospital will continue to enhance its quality improvement efforts through collaboration with partners and with TMF Health Quality Institute.

“We want to ensure that every person gets the right care at the right time, every time,” Siebenaler said.

To learn more about Houston Meth-

odist Sugar Land Hospital, visit houstonmethodist.org/sugarland or visit our Facebook page at fb.com/methodistsugarland for the latest news, events and information.

VOICE OF ASIA 12

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

BOLLYWOOD - HOLLYWOOD Section 2

•

www.voiceofasia.news

•

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

‘Jane the Virgin’ star Gina Rodriguez marries actor Joe LoCicero

footage from the wedding on her Instagram account with a caption that read: “May 4th, 2019 was absolute MAGIC. To my husband Joseph, I am yours forever.”

Rodriguez and LoCicero were brought together by The CW show when they met on set in 2016. He played a stripper on Jane the Virgin and apparently his moves caught Rodriguez’s eye as they started dating soon after.

After a month or so of engagement rumors, the couple announced their engagement in August 2018. “I am [engaged]!” Rodriguez told PEOPLE at the time. “He’s the best. He’s the f—ing best. We’ve been engaged for like a month — I’ve kept it a secret for a while.”

From the looks of the clip posted on Gina’s Instagram page, the happy occasion included plenty of dancing and two dresses for Rodriguez.

G

ina Rodriguez has found her someone great!

The Jane the Virgin actress

tied the knot over the weekend, marrying fiancé Joe LoCicero on Saturday. Rodriguez posted video

Plus, her on-screen baby daddy, Justin Baldoni, sang as the bride walked down the aisle.

Congratulations Gina and Joe! - Entertainment Tonight

Met Gala: ‘Camp’ is theme of celebrity fashion’s biggest night

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EW YORK (AFP) - The brightest stars in fashion and Hollywood collide Monday at the Met Gala, the biggest party of the year thrown by the venerable Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

As it does every year, the annual extravaganza to raise money for the museum’s Costume Institute kicks off the Met’s annual major fashion exhibition -- look out, because the theme is “camp.”

And the more outrageous the outfit, the better for the Met Gala red carpet, where the A-listers strut their stuff, usually in the most eye-popping ensemble they can find to match the theme.

Last year, Rihanna showed up in full papal-esque regalia, and Madonna wore a regal black gown -- with a see-through cross in the bodice -- to go along with the “Heavenly Bodies” concept.

S

uperstar Prabhas’ next release Saaho has been making headlines for quite some time now but for all the good reasons. Fans have been waiting with bated breath to receive updates about the film, and are eager to see their favourite star on the big screen.

The action sequences in the film have been directed by Hollywood stunt director Kenny Bates, that makes the wait for fans even harder.

The makers released the trailers titled Shades of Saaho Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 on Prabhas and Shraddha’s respective birthdays.

According to reports the film is set to have an exceptional screenplay and high octane action sequences.

The film will also feature Shraddha Kapoor essaying the role of the female lead, and in the trailers that the makers dropped online a while back, the diva is seen packing some punches in an entirely different avatar.

Recently, in an interview with Pinkvilla, Prabhas opened up about working with his co-star Shraddha.

Calling the actress a “lovely girl”, Prabhas was quoted as saying, “Shraddha is a lovely girl and we have had a great time on the shoot, so far. The whole process of making Saaho is very close to my heart and the preparations are in full swing.”

After completing a shooting schedule in Hyderabad, the makers of Saaho landed in Mumbai for another shoot sequence. Now, according to a report in Deccan Chronicle, the makers of Saaho have completed their Mumbai schedule.

Helmed by Sujeeth, Saaho will also star Neil Nitin Mukesh, Arun Vijay, Jackie Shroff, Evelyn Sharma and more in pivotal roles. The film is slated for an Independence Day release.

Ahead of the release of their upcoming film Kabir Singh, Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani spoke about their bond on Neha Dhupia-hosted show BFFs with Vogue season 3.

Attendance is by invitation only, and word has it that Vogue editor extraordinaire Anna Wintour has the final say over each person on the guest list.

Left: Apart from Kabir Singh, Kiara has Laaxmi Bomb and Shershaah in her kitty. (Photo: APH Images) Gaga slipped into a hot pink dress with a couple of retro accessories. (Photo: Getty Images)

- ‘Subversive’ So what exactly is “camp”?

The museum’s exhibition is based on “Notes on Camp,” an essay written in 1964 by American author Susan Sontag.

“Camp is by nature subversive (...) confronting and challenging the status quo,” the Costume Institute’s head curator Andrew Bolton said Monday at a press event about the exhibition before the gala.

“In the end, the purpose of camp is to put a smile on our faces and a warm glow in our hearts.”

Some of the items in the exhibition might best explain the theme: the “swan dress” worn by Bjork to the Oscars, a glittering costume worn by flamboyant US singer Liberace, a shower head necklace designed by the late Karl Lagerfeld for Chloe in the 1980s.

“We’re experiencing a resurgence of camp -- not just in fashion, but in culture in general,” said Bolton.

“Camp tends to come to the fore in moments of social and political instability. The 1960s was one such moment as were the 1980s.”

The exhibition “Camp: Notes on Fashion” -- a play on the title of Sontag’s essay -- formally opens at the Met on Thursday and runs through September 8.

- Times Now News

BFFs with Vogue Season 3: Shahid Kapoor and Kiara Advani to spill the beans

Want a seat? They go for $35,000 a piece.

Organizers did reveal a smattering of names last month -- members of the so-called “host committee” -- and so expect to see Jennifer Lopez, Bradley Cooper, Katy Perry and Priyanka Chopra.

Wintour co-chairs the event this year with an eclectic mix of boldface names -- Gucci designer Alessandro Michele, pop diva Lady Gaga, British singer Harry Styles and tennis superstar Serena Williams.

Superstar Prabhas wraps up Mumbai shoot schedule of Saaho

‘Crazy Rich Asian star Constance Wu went 1920’s flapper style to the hilt! (Photo: Getty Images)

Right: Neha Dhupia, on the other hand, is also seen in the ongoing adventure series Roadies as a gang leader.

(Photo: APH Images

Read the latest articles and news on BOLLYWOOD /HOLLYWOOD & ENTERTAINMENT Visit : www. voiceofasia.news

LEGAL

VOICE OF ASIA 13

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

www.voiceofasia.news

PERSONAL INJURY – LEADING CAUSES OF CAR ACCIDENTS: DRUNK DRIVING, SPEEDING, AND DRIVER DISTRACTION

Commercial trucks accidents and other motor vehicle crashes cause serious harm to thousands of individuals every year in Texas. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, accidents occur on average once every minute in Texas and reported 3,342 total fatal crashes in 2017.

The most significant causes of these serious auto accidents are driving under the influence, distracted driving, and speeding. These contributing factors result from negligent and reckless driving behavior and could have been easily avoided.

Driving under the influence, or drunk driving, is a major cause of dangerous crashes. In fact, the Texas Department of Transportation reported 3,721 fatalities in auto accidents in Texas for 2017.

Of these fatalities, 1,024 were a result from drivers under the influence crashes (DUI). Further, the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility reported Texas with a 39.4 percent alcohol-impaired driving fatality rate of total fatalities for 2017. This is much higher than the national average at 29.3 percent.

Bringing awareness to this issue may help reduce the number of fatalities and accidents. However, it may not help prevent accidents with those that continually

drink, drive, and have never been caught or first time offenders.

Second, speeding is also a significant factor in auto crashes in Texas. The Texas Department of Transportation reported 139,131 total crashes occurring in Texas for 2017 as a result of drivers failing to control speed, total of 2,601 crashes for speeding over the limit, and another 23,793 crashes for unsafe speed as a contributing factor. Of these causes, 1,178 were fatal crashes. Driving at high speeds reduces response times to dangerous situations where drivers then have less control of their vehicle when traveling at excessive speeds.

Additionally, due to the higher speed and less response time, these crashes typically increase damages to the driver, passengers, vehicle, and nearby structures.

Driver inattention, distraction, and fatigue also contributes to one of the common causes of motor vehicle accidents. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, there were total of 89,037 driver inattention crashes, 12,660 distraction in vehicle accidents, and 9,704 fatigued or asleep total crashes in Texas for 2017.

Additionally, cell phone use caused 1,798 crashes for Texas in 2017. Although some cities have enacted bans on texts and driving, Texas has not enacted a ban against cell phone use during driving.

Understanding these lead-

ing causes of accidents may help to reduce unnecessary negligent or reckless driving and the resulting injuries. Although, those harmed in motor vehicle accidents caused by a negligent driver, may seek full compensation for all categories of damages. If you or a significant other was injured in a motor vehicle accident caused by an at fault driver, an experienced law firm will know how to gather all evidence necessary, create a strong and aggressive case for you, and give you the justice you deserve.

About Mala Sharma Mala Sharma has been practicing family law and personal injury with her family at the Law Offices of Sharma & Associates, founded in 1997. Mala is President Emeritus of the Houston Northwest Bar Association, Board member of the Houston Trial Lawyers Association and South Asian Bar Association. She is also a member of the Houston Bar Association.

Disclaimer: This material is available for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice.

If you require advice on any particular legal question, you may contact Sharma & Associates at 281-893-8644 or by email at mala@sharmalaws.net to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.

Houston woman faces legal fight after converting pool into pond

H

OUSTON -- A Houston woman who converted her pool into a pond faces legal issues after her neighbor complained about critters.

The home is on Haywood Drive in southeast Houston.

George Collins has spent years converting her property into a natural paradise.

“There’s a native ground cover in the shade,” Collins pointed out to Eyewitness News. “There’s native prairie grasses that pop up in the sun.”

One of her favorite natural features can be found in the water. “This is a fish pond,” Collins explained. “I’ve naturalized it.”

Her pool is now stocked with plenty of fish and plants.

“It is not algae, it is duck weed,” Collins said.

of health risks, including drowning and mosquitoes.

She’s scheduled to go to court next month.

Collins said she once had a native habitat permit from the city, but it was lost because the city said she can’t have the pool.

The city parks and recreation department issues the native habitat permits. The agency said pending litigation preventing them from commenting on Collins permit.

The health department said they’ve received several complaints from her neighbor who’s worried about mosquitoes and raccoons.

He wouldn’t talk to ABC13 on camera, but he told us he’s complained because the yard is a “mess.” The health department cited Collins.

They say a pool can’t be converted to a pond because

I

n Austin, a new raft of anti-LGBT legislation is working its way through the state legislature. One of the bills would allow state licensed professionals of all stripes — from doctors and pharmacists to plumbers and electricians — to deny services on religious grounds. Supporters say the legislation is needed to protect religious freedoms. But opponents call them “religious refusal bills” or “bigot bills.”

Last week, on the steps of the capital in Austin, business leaders gathered to announce their opposition to the series of bills which they say would sanction discrimination against their LGBT employees.

Mike Hollinger, an executive at IBM, tried to warn the legislature against the legislative efforts. “I’m proud to speak on behalf of IBM, a company with an 80-plus year legacy in Texas and a workforce of around 10,000

here in the Lone Star State. This license to discriminate will damage the state’s reputation and prevent people, including IBMers from wanting to live and work here.”

A coalition of more than 1,000 Texas and national businesses called Texas Competes are also lobbying against the bills. It includes many of the nation’s biggest tech companies including Facebook, Google and Amazon.

One of the bills, Senate Bill 17, specifically allows licensed professionals to discriminate based on sincerely held religious beliefs. Dale Carpenter, a constitutional law professor at the Dedman School of Law at Southern Methodist University, says the bill would allow licensed service providers to discriminate without worrying that their state occupational license might be threatened by their actions.

Carpenter says the list of professionals included is pro-

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

Q: What is E-1 Treaty Trader Visa?

A: The Treaty Trader visa is a visa given to nationals belonging to countries who are presently maintaining treaties of trade and navigation with the US and those individuals are seeking to enter the US in order to perform trade principally between the US and the treaty country of the E-1 visa applicant. The trade may include goods, services, insurance, transportation, tourism, technology and the transfer of technology, etc.

Q: What are the qualifications or requirements for this E-1 visa?

A: In order to qualify for an E-2 visa, the Treaty Trader must fulfil several qualifications : that a treaty exists; the individual must be a national of a treaty country or business the has the nationality of the particular treaty country; the national must carry on substantial trade and the trade must principally between the U.S. and the treaty country and the individual applicant must intend to depart the US when his or her status expires.

Q: What are the current E-1 Treaty Countries?

A: Some of the E-1 Treaty Trader Countries are Mexico, Canada, Australia, Austria, Belgium, United Kingdom, Turkey, Honduras and China. The complete list of E-1 Treaty Trader Countries can be found at the Department of State’s website at https://travel. state.gov/content/travel/en/ us-visas/visa-informationresources/fees/treaty.html.

OF

While the legislation might be designed mainly for Texas Christians to withhold their services from LGBT people, Carpenter says it would allow discrimination against anyone as long as the motive is a sincerely held religious belief.

One person’s discrimination...

The word “discrimination” gets used by both sides of this political fight.

Supporters of the legislation say this is about safeguarding religious freedoms and ensuring that those who wish to exercise these freedoms aren’t discrimi-

Q: I hold nationality for one of the E-1 Treaty Countries and I am applying to change my status to E-1 Treaty Trader. Can I bring my wife and two children who are under 21 years of age to live with me in the US? A: Yes, the spouse and children under 21 years of age of the E-1 Treaty Trader may apply for and receive E-1 Treaty Trader (dependent) visas.

Q: For the E-1 trading activities, please can you explain how what kind of trading activities and how much trade needs to be done?

A: First of all, for E-1 Treaty Trader visa purposes, the trade must be an international exchange of items of trade which include but are not limited to goods, services, international banking, insurance, transportation, communications, data processing, advertising, accounting, design and engineering, management consulting, etc.

Second, the trade must principally be between the US and the treaty country of the E-1 visa applicant which usually means that trade the between the US and the Treaty country must be more than 50 percent of the total volume of international trade. Finally, the amount of trade must be a continuous flow of sizable

Q: What Form does the sponsoring company need to complete in order to petition for change of status for an E-1 Treaty Trader employee?

The form to use is Form I-129 Petition for A Nonimmigrant Worker and also the E-1/E-2 Classification Supplement to Form I-129.

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.

If you require advice or assistance, 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.

www.richardsimmigration.com E-mail: srichardslaw@aol.com

• • • •

OUR OFFICE:

PRO

A: The E-1 Treaty Trader visa is valid for 2 years and can be extended for additional two year periods, indefinitely, provided that the qualifications for the business remain unchanged and the business continues to operate.

international trade transactions between the US and the treaty country and this cannot come from a single transaction but rather must be through numerous and continuous flow of transactions over a period of time and the income derived must clearly be sufficient to support the treaty trader.

Attorney at Law

CALL US today at: 713-623-8088

digious: “There are literally hundreds of them in Texas ...

They include athletic trainers, doctors, nurses, surgeons, dentists, orthodontists, physical therapists, counselors of all kinds, accountants, engineers, landscape architects, real estate agents, tax consultants, air conditioning repair personnel, electricians, on and on and on it goes.”

Q: How long is the E-1 Treaty Trader visa valid for?

How many times can one extend this status?

Sharlene Sharmila Richards

“It’s not a swimming pool,” Collin said. “It’s a fish pond.

Let me get a variance. They won’t give me a variance, so I have to go to court.”

- KTRK

ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS ABOUT E-1 TREATY TRADER NONIMMIGRANT VISA

Sharlene Sharmila Richards

Although she faces thousands in fines, Collins says she plans to fight to keep her escape afloat.

Business leaders oppose ‘license to discriminate’ against LGBT Texans

by Wade Goodwyn

Tel: 713-774-5140

YOUR IMMIGRATION LAWYER

FAMILY LAW:

Mala Sharma

4151 Southwest Freeway, Ste: 600, Houston, Texas 77027 nated against as a consequence.

Jonathan Saenz is the president of Texas Values, a religious liberty organization which is lobbying in favor of passage. He says the legislation has broad support.

“Texans are very concerned about the attacks on religious freedom and people of faith, particularly people that believe in marriage and sexuality as it’s defined in the bible,” Saenz says.

“Senate Bill 17 just makes it clear that you can’t force someone to choose between their work and their faith. You can’t use the government to punish people that have to get a certain license or authorization just because of some of the personal religious beliefs that they have.”

For Republican legislators, this type of legislation puts them in a tough spot. Two years ago a

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bathroom bill, which singled out transgender public school students and other transgender Texans, tore the Texas GOP in two.

The business community and chambers of commerce hated it.

San Antonio was about to host the NCAA Men’s Final Four Basketball Tournament and the city was terrified the NCAA would pull out if the bathroom bill became law. It passed the Senate but then Speaker of the House, San Antonio Republican Joe Straus, killed it.

A hero to business but loathed by his party’s powerful evangelical wing, Straus retired from politics not long after.

“I’ve got a hundred million dollar’s worth of business that’s currently at risk, if this legislation were to pass,” stated Phillip Jones of VisitDallas.com.

The convention and travel industries in particular tend to be the canaries in the coal mine when it comes to these types of bills. Phillip Jones, president and CEO of VisitDallas, says they’d be the first to keel over if the controversial ‘religious refusal’ legislation passes.

“One in ten trade shows held in America are held in Texas.

I’ve got a hundred million dollar’s worth of business that’s currently at risk, if this legislation were to pass,” says Jones.

“Based on our experience with the bathroom bill they have a provision in their contracts that spells out that, should Texas pass any form of discriminatory legislation, then they can cancel their meeting in Texas or in Dallas without any penalties.”

- NPR

Young Life

VOICE OF ASIA 14

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Chinese family say they were scammed over $6.5mn Stanford payment

H

ONG KONG, China | AFP - The mother of a Chinese student admitted Friday she paid $6.5 million to the man at the heart of a US college admission scandal but said she was duped into believing the sum was a charitable donation.

American academia has been rocked by a colossal bribery scandal run by William “Rick” Singer who has pleaded guilty to working with corrupt coaches, university administrators and exam monitors to get the children of wealthy families into prestigious colleges.

The $25 million scam, which was revealed by US prosecutors earlier this year, has seen some 50 people charged including Hollywood actors and industry CEOs. Most of the cases that have come to light through indictments or guilty pleas have involved parents paying anywhere between $15,000 and $600,000 to ensure their children got into college.

Law firm Mayer Brown declined to give the mother’s full name or say whether Yusi Zhao is still at the prestigious Ivy League college.

But earlier this week US media reported that Singer received a huge payment of $6.5 million from a wealthy Chinese family whose daughter Yusi Zhao got into Stanford in 2017.

On Friday, Hong Kong-based lawyers for Zhao’s mother released a statement on her behalf in which she said the payment was made but that Singer had led her to believe it was a legitimate donation that would go towards Stanford’s staff salaries and scholarship programme.

A reporter from the paper who visited the family’s home in an ultra-wealthy district on the outskirts of Beijing this week said a Ferrari, a Tesla, a Bentley and a Land Rover could be seen parked outside a California-style mansion.

Prosecutors in the US have not filed any charges against the Zhao family.

“The donation is in the same nature as those that many affluent parents have been doing openly to prestigious universities,” the statement read, adding they had made it a month after their daughter was accepted into Stanford.

American colleges are highly sought after among Chinese families and a booming industry has flourished offering consulting and test preparation advice. Chinese students have also become a hugely lucrative demographic for those colleges.

“Since the matters concerning Mr Singer and his foundation have been widely reported, Mrs Zhao has come to realise she has been misled, her generosity has been taken

US media have reported only one other family paid Singer a seven figure sum -- a Chinese family who allegedly paid $1.2 million to get their daughter into Yale.

C

A federal judge on Friday imposed a 10-year prison sentence on the 26-year-old, who could have gotten as little as five years or as many as 20, according to sentencing guidelines.

Prosecutors, pointing to text messages, alleged in a sentencing memorandum filed with the court that Jones targeted young girls under the pretense of “auditions”

Austin Jones allegedly instructed two young female fans via social media to make sexually explicit videos of themselves and send them to him. (Photo: YouTube) for modeling opportunities.

and

other

social media service’s private messaging feature.

“I’m just trying to help you! I know you’re trying your hardest to prove you’re my biggest fan. And I don’t want to have to find someone else,” Jones told one 14-yearold victim via Facebook messenger, according to the court filing.

Jones’s defense lawyers had asked that he be sentenced to five years on the basis of mitigating circumstances having to do with the man’s childhood.

Prosecutors said Facebook tipped off the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about Jones’s conversations with 14- and 15-year-old girls using the

“Austin was a victim of sexual and emotional abuse by his father from age six until age 10. He was young, helpless and scared,” his attorney’s wrote in a court filing.

They claimed Jones suffered from severe depression and other mental health problems.

Late US student’s mother urges pressure on ‘cancer on Earth’ N.Korea

W

ASHINGTON (AFP) - The mother of Otto Warmbier, the young American who died after alleged torture by North Korea, on Friday demanded no let-up in pressure on the regime she called “cancer on the Earth.”

Joining families of abducted Japanese who have pressed for years for answers from North Korea, Cindy Warmbier said she did not oppose President Donald Trump’s diplomacy with Pyongyang but voiced concern for the future.

“North Korea, to me, is a cancer on the Earth. And if we ignore this cancer, it’s not going to go away. It’s going to kill us all,” said Warmbier, who asked to look at pictures of her son so she could maintain her composure.

“Unless we keep the pressure on North Korea, they are not going to change and I am very afraid that we are going to let up on this pressure,” she told the event at the Hudson Institute.

Warmbier, a University of Virginia student, was imprisoned during a tour of the authoritarian state after being accused of taking down a propaganda poster.

Doctors said he suffered

Cindy Warmbier, whose son Otto Warmbier died from alleged torture by North Korea, is calling for no let-up in pressure against the regime (AFP Photo/Nicholas Kamm) severe brain damage while in detention, fell into a coma and died days after arriving back in the United States in June 2017.

He was 22.

“My gorgeous boy, who every girl had an immediate crush on, looked like a monster.

The look in his eyes -- which, I didn’t know, he was blind at the time -- was absolute horror, horror like he had seen the devil. And he had. He was with the devil,” she said.

Otto Warmbier’s case has returned to the public spotlight after the US diplomat who

Tel: 713-774-5140

The New York Times said her father is a wealthy businessman who made his fortune in traditional Chinese medicine and health supplements.

HICAGO | AFP | Saturday 5/3/2019 A YouTube musical celebrity was sentenced Friday in a Chicago courtroom to 10 years in prison for enticing girls as young as 14 to produce sexually explicit videos of themselves.

As part of his plea, Jones admitted to a total of six identified victims and approximately 30 attempts to persuade other girls to send him child pornography, according to prosecutors.

Two Texas youth honored for volunteerism at national award ceremony in Washington, D.C.

advantage of, and her daughter has fallen victim to the scam,” it added.

YouTube star gets 10 years in prison for child porn

Austin Jones, who posted online videos of himself performing songs for a fan base of primarily teenage girls, was arrested in 2017 and pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of child pornography.

www.voiceofasia.news

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

brought home Warmbier confirmed that he signed a promise to pay $2 million to North Korea after the regime presented a bill for his hospitalization. Trump, however, said that the United States never paid.

“I don’t fault anyone for signing to get Otto home,” Warmbier told reporters after the event.

“If I had to, I would have raised money, and I wish they had asked for the money from day one, because it was all about hostage-taking,” she

Award-winning actress Viola Davis congratulates Ian McKenna Goncalo, 14, of Austin (center) and Matthew Reel, 12, of Spring (right) on being named Texas’ top two youth volunteers for 2019.

W

ASHINGTON, D.C. – Texas’ top two youth volunteers of 2019, Ian McKenna Goncalo, 14, of Austin and Matthew Reel, 12, of Spring, were honored in the nation’s capital last night for their outstanding volunteer service during the 24th annual presentation of The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards.

Ian and Matthew – along with 100 other top youth volunteers from across the country – received a $1,000 award and personal congratulations from award-winning actress Viola Davis at an award ceremony and gala dinner reception held at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History.

The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program, sponsored by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), named Ian and Matthew Texas’ top high school and middle level youth volunteers in February. In addition to their cash awards, they each received an engraved silver medallion and an allexpense-paid trip with a parent to Washington, D.C., for four days of recognition events.

Ian proposed creating a “Giving Garden” to his gardening club advisor, who loved the idea. He then got permission to build the garden at an elementary school, developed a design, recruited volunteers, sought donations and reached out to Home Depot for help. By the end of construction day, Ian’s team had built nine raised beds and planted 15 fruit trees that would help feed 54 families that year. In the following years, Ian built gardens at three more schools, as well as one in his own backyard. He estimates his “Giving Gardens” have provided more than 18,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables to a local food bank, hunger relief organizations and directly to families. He also has set up a farm stand to distribute his produce in a low-income area, and hosted community dinners that have served 1,750 nutritious meals. In addition to speaking about hunger issues at school, business and community events, Ian has raised more than $70,000 to create his gardens and to support an organization that encourages young people to fight hunger with gardens in their own communities.

Ian, a member of Travis County 4-H and a sophomore at Liberal Arts and Science Academy, planted vegetable and fruit gardens at four schools and in his backyard that have yielded more than nine tons of fresh produce for families in need over the past six years.

When Ian was 8 years old, he helped deliver Christmas gifts and food to the family of a girl in his younger sister’s class.

“She had never gotten a visit from Santa, nor had a meal outside of the school breakfast and lunch program,” Ian said.

“She believed the reason Santa had never come was because he hated poor people. I learned the true meaning of Christmas that day.” Ian soon realized there were a lot more children facing hunger in his community, and felt called to do something about it. But when he tried to volunteer at a food bank, he was told he was too young.

Then it came to him: He liked gardening. Why not grow food for hungry people?

Matthew, a sixth-grader at Cox Intermediate School, has been helping to feed hungry kids and adults since 2015 by distributing food packets through a Houston mission and packing food into backpacks for students who might otherwise go hungry on weekends. In 2015, when Matthew was 8 years old, his church hosted a family night to make “blessing bags” for the homeless. But by the time it was Matthew’s turn to make a bag, there were hardly any supplies left, so he asked his mother to take him to the store to buy more. After he had filled his bag, he found a homeless man to give it to.

“When I handed it to the man,” said Matthew, “he looked at me, smiled and said, ‘May God bless you, little boy!’ It was then that I knew I was meant to help feed those in need.” He announced to his parents that for his upcoming birthday, he didn’t want a party or presents but instead items to make food packets for the homeless.

said.

conservative Sankei Shimbun newspaper, said that he was willing to meet Kim without conditions and to “talk with him frankly with an open mind.”

- US envoy to return Trump has expressed fondness for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and voiced hope they can make history together by sealing a denuclearization accord, even though their second summit, in Hanoi, ended in deadlock in February.

In a return of diplomacy, the US envoy in charge of North Korea, Stephen Biegun, will visit US allies Japan and South Korea next week, the State Department announced.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in an interview published Wednesday with the

Abe had built his career pushing for a hard line on North Korea over its abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to train the regime’s spies.

The youngest and most emblematic of the 17 abduction victims officially recognized by Japan is Megumi Yokota, who was snatched on her way home from school in 1977 when she was just 13.

Her

brother

Takuya

Over the next few years, Matthew solicited donations via email and online appeals, recruited volunteers to help, and packaged small food items into more than 1,000 gallon Ziploc bags. He then delivered them to the Star of Hope Mission, which serves the needs of homeless men, women and children. Additional items that wouldn’t fit into bags were used by the mission to prepare meals. Later, Matthew learned how hunger affects students’ academic performance. “It was upsetting to me to think that kids my age were not doing well in school because they didn’t have enough to eat,” he said. So he started a backpack program with the goal of providing five families with weekend food. He persuaded four schools to hold food drives for him, and received additional support from scout groups and a church. The next year, with the help of a grant, Matthew expanded his program to 15 families, and began adding items such as toiletries, first aid supplies, arts and crafts materials and books to his backpacks. He now supports 25 families, providing enough food for 4-5 meals every weekend and on school breaks.

He hopes to keep growing his program “so that every kid has the same advantages with their education without lack of food affecting them,” he said.

“We’re impressed and inspired by the way these honorees have identified problems facing their communities and stepped up to the challenge to make a difference,” said Charles Lowrey, chairman and CEO of Prudential Financial, Inc. “It’s a privilege to celebrate their leadership and compassion, and we look forward to seeing the great things they accomplish in the future.”

“These students have not only done important work in support of people in need – they’ve also shown their peers that young people can, and do, create meaningful change,” said Christine Handy, president of NASSP. “We commend each of these young volunteers for all they’ve contributed to their communities.”

- Prudential Financial, Inc.

Yokota, joining Warmbier in Washington, said that the families were confident that Abe would still press the abduction issue -- and that they asked for a similar focus during talks this week with US officials.

The North Koreans “have continued to lie, and for that reason the situation doesn’t warrant optimism,” Yokota said.

“We are opposed to any easing of sanctions so long as the abductions and other human rights issues are not resolved.

That has been a message that we have repeated over and over again,” he said.

VOICE OF ASIA 15

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

May is Older Americans Month

May is American Stroke Awareness Month

Section 2 Tel: 713-774-5140

5 Lessons that helped me start ‘adulting’ with illness

by Yasmeen Anis

T

ransitions are rough for every young adult, but add in a chronic illness to the mix and it’s a whole different ball game.

I was fresh out of college, top of my class, with many opportunities ahead of me: three job offers in different cities, the possibility of grad school, and so much more.

Arthritis is an inflammation of the joints. It can affect one joint or multiple joints. There are more than 100 different types of arthritis, with different causes and treatment methods. Two of the most common types are osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

I had all of the normal young adult decisions to make. Which job offer do I take? Where should I move? How do I do this “adulting” thing? Here are five things I learned from my transitions into the adult world as someone with a chronic illness.

1. Know that it’s possible.

When I met other people with beta thalassemia major – people who had full-time jobs, families, and were happy – I realized I really did have a life ahead of me. Knowing that achieving your dream is possible is half of the battle.

2. Transitions are hard.

No matter what, transitions are hard. When I turned 21, I had to transition out of my pediatric hospital to an adult hospital. This is the hospital that I practically grew up in for 21 years. The nurses watched me grow up. They knew about all of the big things happening in my life, all the birthdays, my high school graduation, when I got my car, when I moved for college but came back at least once a month for treatment, and for everything in between. I know it’s weird to say, but leaving that hospital was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do. However, because of this experience I learned a lot about what I really needed from my doctor. I learned that I had to tell them what I needed and when I needed it.

3. Take risks – with precautions.

Just like most young adults, I wanted to graduate college and then move away from home and go on a new adventure. I applied for jobs as graduation grew near, but the hard part came after getting job offers. There were a lot of things that I, a young adult with a chronic illness, needed to consider when accepting a new job, that other people don’t really have to consider.

I had to compare distances to a good doctor who can treat my illness. I

One of the most common yet important remedies is Physical therapy involving exercises that help strengthen the muscles around the affected joint is a core component of arthritis treatment. had to compare insurance policies between my job offers. I had to find an apartment near my treatment center. I had to make sure that someone I trusted was nearby, in case something happened and I needed help. But no matter how confused I was after reading the insurance policies, or how overwhelmed I was from all the decisions, I knew one thing: I did not want my illness to limit what I do.

4. Asking for help is OK. I realized that I could not do this by myself. I knew what I wanted, but I needed help getting there. I decided to ask for help from my college professors, from Cooley’s Anemia Foundation (CAF), and from friends. CAF pointed me in the direction of a good doctor who could treat my thalassemia and helped me sift through different insurance policies. My college professors helped me get job offers, and my friends and family helped me find a good place to live.

5. Be your own advocate.

After what I went through from previously transitioning to different hospitals, I knew that I had to be my own advocate. I know my body the best, and I know what I need from my doctor. To get the best care, I have to advocate for it. This time, I also had to advocate for myself at work.

I teach elementary school, so I can’t really take off every time I am not feeling well. However, I do have to take off more often than most people, and I had to make sure my job could accommodate having to take off for treatment days. I did not qualify for

the Family Medical Leave Act yet, but my boss was very understanding of my situation. I also had to make sure my boss and co-workers were aware of my illness and knew what to do in case something happened to me at work.

In the end, I had to realize that I could never have it all. Since beta thalassemia major is such a rare illness, with at least 1,000 Americans diagnosed, there are few resources for us.

Thanks to some amazing people at the CAF, I found a great doctor who had experience with treating thalassemia.

Unfortunately, the closest job offer I received was still an hour away from the doctor and treatment center. Still, I was used to driving long distances for treatment, and was willing to make the drive once a month if it meant getting the best health care possible. It helped to also have a good PCP nearby. I accepted my dream job offer, teaching second grade in a low-income area, and found a great apartment. I have amazing co-workers, and my best friend lives nearby.

I am so glad that I did not let me thalassemia limit me or define what I could or could not do.

I am healthy (in my sense of the word). I am thankful to have dream job with my favorite people surrounding me.

I am happy, and I could not ask for more.

Most of all, I am so glad that I didn’t listen to those who kept telling it wasn’t possible.

- Yahoo! News

Scientists develop device to detect bacteria in minutes, not days

W

ASHINGTON | AFP | Monday 5/6/2019 - The era of doctors prescribing patients powerful antibiotics while they wait for lab reports could soon be numbered, with a new device returning results within minutes instead of days.

It was invented by a team at Penn State university and described in a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on Monday.

Co-developed by Pak Kin Wong, a professor of biomedical engineering and mechanical engineering, the device uses microtechnology to trap single bacteria cells that can then be viewed under an electron microscope.

The approach allows clinicians to determine in as little as 30 minutes whether bacteria is present and its

susceptibility to drug treatment -- as opposed to the three-to-five days such lab work currently takes.

“We currently prescribe antibiotics even when there is no bacteria present,” Wong told AFP. “That is over prescription. That is one of things we tried to express. Can we quickly determine the existence of bacterial infection?”

The researchers’ paper said that in addition to being able to detect whether bacteria is present, the device can begin to classify the type by determining whether the cells are spherical, rod-shaped, or spiral.

“This device determines existence but not what type of bacteria it is,” said Wong. “What we’re working on is a complementary molecular approach such that we can ID the species.”

And after finding bacteria is present, the sample is exposed to antibiotics to determine whether the strain is resistant, in which case antibiotic intervention would prove ineffective.

“Urinary tract infections are the most common bacterial infections,” said Wong.

“However, over 75 percent of urine specimens sent to a clinical microbiology laboratory are negative. Rapidly ruling out or confirming the presence of bacteria at a clinically relevant concentration will dramatically enhance patient care.”

He added that the team had applied for a provisional patent and could bring their device, which they hope to scale down in size so that it can be used in hospitals and doctors’ offices, to market in three years’ time.

Pakistan demands Facebook remove polio vaccine misinformation

I

SLAMABAD, Pakistan | AFP | Friday 5/3/2019 - Pakistan urged Facebook to remove harmful polio-related content from the social networking site on Friday, saying it was jeopardising eradication initiatives and putting the lives of vaccinators at risk.

Polio vaccination campaigns have faced stubborn resistance for years in Pakistan.

In recent months Pakistani social media has been inundated with fake news reports and videos -- garnering thousands of views and shares in the last week alone -- claiming numerous children have been killed by the polio vaccine.

Thousands of parents have refused to allow their children to be inoculated.

“The parental refusals due to propaganda on Facebook regarding the vac-

May is Arthritis awareness month.

Learn how Health Insurance Medicare can help

cine is emerging as the major obstacle in achieving complete eradication of the virus,” Babar Atta, who is helping oversee the country’s vaccination drive, said in a statement.

Atta has requested “Facebook’s management to block and/or manage the dissemination of such anti vaccination propaganda from their platforms operating from within Pakistan”.

At least three people were killed in the last country-wide anti-polio campaign in April.

The violence coincided with an outbreak of hysteria in cities across northwest Pakistan after rumours of children suffering from adverse reactions to a polio vaccine sparked panic, with tens of thousands rushed to hospitals.

Last week, around 10,000 vaccination refusals were reported per day in Islamabad, compared to 200 to 300 during the previous campaign, accord-

ing to figures from the country’s antipolio programme.

Opposition to myriad forms of inoculation skyrocketed after the CIA organised a fake vaccination drive to help track down Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad, where US forces later killed the militant leader in 2011.

Some Taliban and hardline religious figures have been known to fan rumours that vaccines

Besides improving life style such as Weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight reduce the risk of developing OA and can reduce symptoms if you already have it.

Eating a healthy diet is important for weight loss. Choosing a diet with lots of antioxidants, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs, can help reduce inflammation. Other inflammationreducing foods include fish and nuts.

Much less food intake or avoid if you have arthritis include fried foods, processed foods, dairy products, and high intakes of meat.

Regular exercise will keep your joints flexible. Swimming is often a good form of exercise for people with arthritis because it doesn’t put pressure on your joints the way running and walking do.

Staying active is important, but you should also be sure to rest when you need to and avoid overexerting yourself.

Manny health insurance policies will provide wellness program that includes gym benefits or home exercise gadget that helps condition of arthritis. If this does not work out, Medicare Provides Greater Access to Home Care. Qualifications for homebased Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy now include “maintenance care.”

It’s likely that patients with chronic conditions like arthritis will only need skilled home care intermittently. After home care is prescribed, a nurse or physical therapist will conduct a detailed assessment of the patient’s health and create a personalized care plan. Depending on the person’s situation, that plan might call for skilled care – such as a registered nurse to teach how to administer pain medication, or a physical

Sudhir Mathuria HEALTHLIFE 360 713-771-2900 therapist to help with an assistive device such as a cane or brace.

Skilled nursing can even include non-drug approaches to pain management, such as music or guided imagery. In order to have Medicare approval following steps are necessary.

A physician must prescribe home care.

A patient must be homebound.

Brief, intermittent trips outside the house are OK, but Medicare regulations don’t clearly define “homebound.”

The care must be skilled. Medicare will pay for a nurse or therapist, but not for the kind of general care provided by a home health aide.

The care must be necessary and reasonable.

A few years ago, many people receiving physical therapy or other services at home had these services cut off. Because it determined these sessions weren’t likely to improve your condition. If that was the determination, Medicare would deny coverage.

Now that the improvement standard is gone, regulators might be even stricter in evaluating claims against the remaining criteria.

CMA offers free information packets to help patients and caregivers understand their rights, and learn how to appeal improvement standard-based denials.

To choose the right health insurance policy, including Medicare Advantage plan, Medicare Supplement Plan or Prescription Drug Plan contact Sudhir Mathuria at 713-771-2900.

voiceofasia.news For Latest on Health News contain ingredients forbidden in Islam, such as pork derivatives, or that can cause infertility as part of a conspiracy to reduce the population.

Attacks by militants have also been frequent, with nearly 100 people killed in assaults targeting vaccine teams since 2012.

Despite the opposition, campaigners have reported progress with tens of millions of children vaccinated across the country along with a 96

percent drop in reported polio cases since 2014.

But as Pakistan nears its goal of ridding polio from its territory, new headwinds have arisen amid a growing global movement against inoculation.

In addition to Pakistan, Polio is endemic in two other countries globally -- Afghanistan and Nigeria -- although a relatively rare strain was also detected in Papua New Guinea last year.

FASHION & STYLE

VOICE OF ASIA 16

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

Swiss watchmaker Omega defies e-commerce boom Bollywood fashion icons at by expanding physical stores network in China Luxury shopping is about experiencing a build-up of emotions and being able to touch the product in a physical shop, says CEO Raynald Aeschlimann

Met Gala

Omega has almost 200 points of sales and 30 shops in more than 90 cities across China.

(Photo: Reuters)

by Joanna Lam

A

t a time most retailers are turning to digital channels to stay competitive, one Swiss luxury watchmaker is doing things differently.

Omega is sticking with good oldfashioned physical shops to underpin its expansion in China even as e-commerce takes the industry by storm.

“Sometimes [luxury shopping] is about waiting and longing for the product and experiencing the buildup of emotions as you personally visit the store and touch the product itself,” said Raynald Aeschlimann, president and CEO of Omega, in an interview with the South China Morning Post.

“E-commerce shouldn’t be taken as a way to replace anything, it should be complementary. While we are working on some [digital] strategies, we’re still very much investing a lot in bricks-and-mortar stores in the main cities in China.”

The brand currently does not have an official Chinese platform for consumers to shop online, nor are they collaborating with any third party ecommerce platforms in the country.

Consumers can only shop for Omega’s products online via the brand’s official US website.

It is estimated that 60 per cent of consumers now use online or digital channels to research prices and information when purchasing watches, and social media’s influence is proving to be supremely significant. Industry experts predict watch brands will invest more heavily in Chinese digital platforms such as Weibo and WeChat this year, and less in bricks-and-mortar stores.

Priyanka Chopra with her husband Nick Jonas.

Raynald Aeschlimann, president & CEO of Omega. (Photo: SCMP Handout) Aeschlimann said the physical shops are strongly tied to emotions and experience. It is important to strike a good balance between online and offline channels, in order to meet different consumers’ demand.

Omega has almost 200 points of sales and 30 shops in more than 90 cities across China.

Aeschlimann is unfazed by the rising popularity of smart watches, seen by many in the industry as a threat to traditional timepieces, particularly with the younger generation.

“Smart watches are just not to be compared with real watches. In fact, I don’t call them watches, instead I refer to them as smart instruments – it’s almost like having a small smart phone on your wrist.

“Traditional watches are the ones that have a soul and are intertwined

with memories. After a couple of years, these electronic accessories are worth nothing and they are nothing but a relay to your phone.”

International watchmakers continue to lead in the Chinese market, with Patek Philippe and Cartier holding 16 per cent and 12 per cent market share respectively.

In the 11 months to the end of November, the value of Swiss watch exports was up 7.1 per cent from the previous period at 19.54 billion Swiss francs (US$19.9 billion), according to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH. Hong Kong, was the biggest export market for Swiss timepieces, up 21 per cent. The US and mainland China, the second and third biggest, rose 8 per cent and 14 per cent respectively.

- South China Morning Post

by Divya Goya

P

riyanka Chopra and Deepika Padukone for a red carpet face-off at Met Gala held at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art annually is the way to start the morning. Priyanka, who is attending the Met Gala for the third time this year arrived hand-in-hand with her husband Nick Jonas. The couple was dressed in Dior - Priyanka in an exaggerated feathered embellished dress and Nick in a pristine white suit. On the other hand, Deepika Padukone opted for a Zac Posen custom metallic pink gown, Priyanka’s team of hairstylists finished out her look with afro curls completed with a crown-like piece while Deepika opted for a high puffed ponytail.

Ethiopian clothes makers worst paid in the world: study

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Priyanka Chopra - the 36-year-old actress wore mesh and sheer gown with a thigh-high slit and feathered hem. She attached a feathered-hem cape to the outfit too.

AIROBI, Kenya | AFP | 5/7/2019 Ethiopia’s clothes factory workers, producing items for top fashion brands including Guess, H&M and Calvin Klein, are the worst paid in the world, earning only $26 (23 euros) a month, a report said Tuesday.

Deepika Padukone, who played safe for her last two appearances, took a bold step this year; more with her exaggerated make-up than her dress.

Deepika’s team of stylists finished out her look with a dark lip colour and matching eye make-up complete with glitters.

This year the Met gala is based on Notes on Camp, an essay written in 1964 by American author Susan Sontag and the theme is called “Camp: Notes on Fashion.” The Costume Institute’s head curator Andrew Bolton of the Metropolitan Museum of Art told news agency AFP: “Camp is by nature subversive (...) confronting and challenging the status quo... In the end, the purpose of camp is to put a smile on our faces and a warm glow in our hearts.”

As Ethiopia seeks to become the continent’s leading manufacturing hub, it has sold investors on workers’ willingness to toil for less than half the salary of tailors in Bangladesh, said the report by New York University’s Stern Center for Business and Human Rights.

The report, entitled “Made in Ethiopia: Challenges in the Garment Industry’s New Frontier,” said that in comparison, notoriously poorly-paid workers in Bangladesh earned $95.

Their Kenyan counterparts earn $207 a month, and those in China $326.

“Rather than the compliant, cheap workforce promoted in Ethiopia, the foreign-based suppliers have encountered employees who are unhappy with their compensation and living conditions and increasingly willing to protest by stopping work or even quitting,” said Paul Barrett, the centre’s deputy director.

“In their eagerness to create a ‘Made in Ethiopia’ brand, the government, global brands, and foreign manufacturers failed to anticipate that the base wage was simply too little for workers to live on.”

Deepika Padukone at the Met Gala 2019. ( AFP Photos)

Whose interpretation of the theme did you like better - Deepika or Priyanka’s?

The Ethiopian government hopes clothing exports will go from $145 million today to $30 billion per year (AFP Photo/Lionel BONAVENTURE) many of them young women, received very little training and faced cultural conflicts with managers from south or east Asia.

The study took place in the Hawassa Industrial Park, the flagship of Ethiopia’s manufacturing drive and one of five hubs inaugurated by the government since 2014.

- ‘Seemingly unrealistic Some 25,000 people work there, making clothes for the most soughtafter brands around the globe, a number expected to grow to about 60,000.

Ethiopia has no official minimum wage for the private sector.

Suppliers from China, India and Sri Lanka have opened factories in the park.

The report found that workers,

Ethiopia is Africa’s second-most

populous country, with some 105 million people who still largely survive off agriculture, and face punishing droughts and poverty.

The government hopes clothing exports will go from $145 million today to about $30 billion per year, a figure the report states is “seemingly unrealistic” not least because low salaries have led to poor productivity, regular strikes and high attrition rates.

The report showed that factories replaced all of their workers every 12 months on average.

The Stern Centre urged the Ethiopian government to establish a minimum wage and craft a long-term economic plan to strengthen the apparel industry.

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SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

VOICE OF ASIA 17

‘Mass extinction event’ that could wipe out a million species is already underway, says UN-backed report

by David Chazan

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The report calls for urgent changes in government policies to limit environmental damage and climate change, but will also recommend that families or individuals sponsor beekeepers near their homes, for a cost of less than £100 a year. Bee populations are falling but they are essential to pollinate crops and food supplies depend on them.

Eating organic food is another way to preserve fast shrinking insect populations.

The report says the reason your car windscreen is no longer covered in dead insects after a long drive is because pesticides have wiped out nearly 80 per cent of Europe’s winged insects over the past three decades.

The decline has also reduced bird numbers by nearly a third, because there are no longer enough insects for them to eat.

If insects disappear, vegetable and fruit crops will fail because they won’t be pollinated.

The report also renews calls to give up plastic straws.

Americans alone use 500 million a year, but they end up in the sea and harm fish and marine animals.

S

“Revenge porn”, when expartners share intimate photos or videos without permission, has become a problem globally because of improvements in technology and the popularity of social media, with many governments legislating

The report recommends five ways people can help preserve species, including sponsoring beekeepers. (Credit: Kenzo Tribouillard/ AFP) People can help save endangered species through adoption, it says; a chimpanzee, for example, can be sponsored for a donation to WWF of around $60 a year.

lenge for decades to come.”

Eating less meat will also help to preserve forests, the experts say. Livestock and agriculture cause deforestation in many parts of the world because trees are cut down to make way for pasture or to grow crops. In the Amazon, some 63 per cent of deforestation stems from livestock farming. But neither should you turn to tofu — soya growing is also a major culprit in the destruction of the world’s largest rainforest.

The report has been prepared over three years for a cost of more than $2.5 million by “150 leading international experts from 50 countries, balancing representation from the natural and social sciences, with additional contributions from a further 310 experts,” according to the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Known officially as the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, it draws on nearly 15,000 references including scientific papers and government data.

The report warns that “half a million to a million species are projected to be threatened with extinction, many within decades.”

Robert Watson, chair of the group that drafted the report, said: “The loss of species, ecosystems and genetic diversity is already a global and generational threat to human well-being. Protecting the invaluable contributions of nature to people will be the defining chal-

Species are being lost because of shrinking habitats, illegal hunting, climate change and pollution, campaigners say.

It is backed up by an open letter urging world leaders to act immediately, signed by nearly 600 scientists, business leaders, environmentalists and public figures, including Jane Goodall, the primatologist and conservationist, and Chris Packham, the naturalist and television presenter.

against it.

Singapore’s parliament passed a bill Monday that made distributing or threatening to distribute intimate images a crime, punishable by up to five years in jail, in addition to a fine and caning.

“Intimate images could become widely shared and on platforms, and may be impossible to completely remove. They have the potential to cause great harm to the victim,” said K. Shanmugam, law and home affairs minister.

“Cyber-flashing” will be punishable by up to a year in prison or a fine. If the recipient is younger than 14, it is punishable by up to two years in jail, a fine or caning.

The changes are part of a major overhaul of Singapore’s penal code. Other new measures include outlawing marital rape, banning child sex dolls, and decriminalising suicide.

Singapore’s nearly 150-yearold penal code was inherited from colonial ruler Britain and was last fully reviewed in 2007.

Killer asteroid destroys NYC in NASA’s simulation exercise

N

ew York City, home to 8.6 million people and one hot duck, has perished in an apocalyptic meteor strike … in a simulation.

Over the past week, some 200 space experts from NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and other organizations have been melding their minds in order to face the crisis of a hypothetical asteroid barreling through space toward North America. The gathering, called the International Academy of Astronautics Planetary Defense Conference, convenes every year with the not-sosimple task of figuring out how to save Earth from a head-on asteroid impact — sort of like war games, but on a planetary scale.

During last year’s meeting, the group successfully saved Tokyo from a catastrophic impact by launching a nuclear bomb at the asteroid, according to French news site AFP. com. The successful response ended a several-year losing streak that recently resulted in the obliteration of the French Riviera and Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Could the same nuclear tactics be used this year to save New York?

No. We’re all doomed.

The simulation began last

by Victor Tangermann

D

But by perching on the side of a building using birdlike claws, according to new research, drones could stay out far longer — since it’d require less energy than hovering in mid-air.

Singapore outlaws ‘revenge porn’, ‘cyber-flashing’ INGAPORE | AFP | Tuesday 5/7/2019 - Singapore has outlawed “revenge porn” and “cyber-flashing” -- sending unsolicited images of one’s private parts -- the latest country to clamp down on sexual offences committed online.

Drones’ batteries could last longer if they could perch like birds rones aren’t known for their lengthy flight times. Until we can figure out how to wirelessly charge them from the ground, their battery life will likely remain limited to less than an hour.

EW YORK - People can help preserve up to a million species at risk of extinction in five simple ways, 150 scientists say in a United Nations-sponsored report released on Monday.

The report comes after a week-long meeting of experts from 50 countries in Paris.

They warn that a “mass extinction event” precipitated by human activities is already underway - the first such event since dinosaurs were wiped out by an asteroid 66 million years ago. Scientists say that in total, our planet has experienced five previous mass extinctions in the past half-billion years; this sixth wave would be the first caused by humans.

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

“Birds usually fly somewhere and they stay at the top of the roof or some tree branches,” Kaiyu Hang, a roboticist who worked on the research at Yale University, told NPR. Hang and his colleagues came up with a bird-inspired design that act as the drone’s “modularized landing gears,” as he describes them in his

In simulation year 2021 (Day 2 of the conference), NASA launched a probe to study the asteroid more closely. Officials learned that the rock was on a collision course with Denver and that a direct hit would destroy much of the western United States. The chances of

- NPR/Futurist

T

ABUR, Pakistan | AFP | Monday 5/6/2019 The engine is from a roadcutter, the wings are burlap, the wheels are borrowed from a rickshaw: a popcorn seller has caught the attention of the Pakistan Air Force by building his own plane.

The tale of Muhammad Fayyaz has captured the hearts of many in a nation where millions, just like him, have limited access to education and are fighting for opportunities.

“I was literally in the air. I couldn’t feel anything else,” Fayyaz said of his first flight in a machine he learned to build mainly from viewing TV clips and online blueprints.

Pakistan has been thrilled before by stories of scientific prodigies plucked from obscurity before -- notably, that of the engineer who said in 2012 that he had invented a car that could run on water -- a story that was later debunked by scientists.

But Fayyaz insists he flew and his claim is being taken seriously by the air force, whose representatives have now visited him multiple times, even issuing a certificate to commend his work, he revealed.

There has been a steady stream of visitors wanting to view his creation, which now sits in the empty courtyard of his three-room home in the village of Tabur in central Punjab province.

- Dreaming of a jet plane The 32-year-old said he had dreamed of joining the air force as a child, but his father died while he was in still in school, forcing him to drop out at the eighth grade and do odd jobs to feed his mother and his five younger siblings.

As an adult, his passion for flying remained undiminished, so he took a wild gamble on a new dream and put everything he had into creating his own craft.

Cheap internet access in impact had risen to 100%.

In year 2024 of the simulation, the impactors launched and three of them struck their target. The collision successfully fragmented the asteroid and knocked the biggest piece off course — unfortunately, a smaller chunk was now headed directly for the eastern United States. The U.S. government considered nuking the asteroid

And the modular claws could have other benefits, too.

“If you perch, for example, underneath a bridge or underneath the eaves of a building you can ride out storms or bad weather that would make it hard to fly,” Stanford University professor Mark Cutkosky told NPR.

by Kaneez Fatima

The first thing he had to acquire was information -- beginning with watching episodes of the National Geographic Channel’s Air Crash Investigation for insight into thrust, air pressure, torque, propulsion.

On Day 3, the world’s space powers met and resolved to build a fleet of six “kinetic impactors” — spacecraft designed to ram into the asteroid, slow its speed and deflect it off course. (NASA plans to test a real deflection strategy like this in 2022.)

paper, published in the journal Science Robotics in March.

The claws are designed to extend and save battery power by allowing the drone to both perch and rest.

The Pakistani popcorn seller who built his own plane

By day he worked as a popcorn seller, by night as a security guard, saving every rupee he could.

week when Defense Conference researchers received an alert that an asteroid between 330 and 1,000 feet (100 to 300 meters) in diameter was detected flying through space on a near-Earth trajectory. According to a fake press release from the simulation, the asteroid had roughly a 1% chance of striking the planet on April 29, 2027 (Day 5 of the simulation).

Photo: Northwestern Polytechnical University

but ultimately ran out of time due to political bickering.

Instead, space agencies continued to monitor the asteroid with every technology available while government officials prepared to coordinate an evacuation. Two months before the impact, it became clear that the asteroid would obliterate New York City and everything in a 9.3-mile (15 kilometers) radius, while threatening life for hundreds of miles around.

America’s most populous city was hastily evacuated, and on April 29, 2027, the asteroid hit.

The engine is from a roadcutter, the wings are burlap, the wheels are borrowed from a rickshaw: a Pakistani popcorn seller has caught the attention of the Air Force by building his own plane. (Photo: Arif Ali/AFP) a nearby city helped fill the gaps, with Fayyaz claiming he spliced blueprints of planes he found online for his own creation.

he said. “It flew for about two to three kilometres before landing.”

He sold a piece of family land, and took out a 50,000 rupee ($350) loan from a microfinance NGO, which he is still paying off.

But the attempt made Fayyaz bold enough to want to try again in front of the rest of his village, many of whom had mocked his efforts.

He used his meagre funds creatively, buying burlap sacks wholesale and persuading a kind workshop employee who had seen him scouting for materials to build him a propeller.

There was trial and error.

Some equipment needed to be replaced, designs had to be altered, the wiring had to be reworked.

His family worried he was obsessed.

“I kept telling him to stop. I kept telling him to concentrate on his family and work, he was being crazy over nothing.

But he didn’t listen to a single word,” his mother, Mumtaz Bibi, recalled.

But Fayyaz kept going. And, at the end of it all produced a plane -- tiny, fragile, and painted a bright blue.

- ‘Locked up with criminals’ In February this year, he said, after more than two years of ridicule, he was ready.

Fayyaz claims his friends helped him to block a small road which he used as a runway for that first flight attempt in February.

The plane reached 120kph before taking off, Ameer Hussain, a witness who claims to have ridden alongside the plane in a motorcycle, told AFP. “It was between two and two and half feet off the ground,”

The rock entered Earth’s atmosphere at a blazing 43,000 mph (69,000 km/h), then exploded over Central Park in a blast with 1,000 times the energy of the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The city, and much of the surrounding countryside, was destroyed. Better luck next year.

While the chance of a giant asteroid smashing into Earth is pretty unlikely, it has happened before (sorry, dinosaurs!) and could happen again. In June 2018, NASA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) released an

AFP has been unable to verify the claim.

He picked March 23, Pakistan Day, for the unveiling.

Police said hundreds of people crowded around his tiny plane, many clutching national flags.

But before Fayyaz could even start the engine, the police arrived and arrested him, confiscating his plane.

“I felt as though I had committed one of the worst acts in the world, as though I am the worst person in Pakistan,” he explained, adding: “I had been locked up with criminals.”

The court released him with a 3,000 rupees ($19) fine.

When AFP visited the local police station, officers said they had arrested Fayyaz as his plane was a safety threat.

Officer Zafar Iqbal explained: “The plane was returned to him as a goodwill gesture. Should he obtain a flying license or permit, he is free to fly.”

Fayyaz’s misfortune resulted in social media fame, and he was called a “hero” and an “inspiration” by some netizens.

Representatives from the Pakistan Air Force have made two visits to view the plane and the commander of a nearby base issued him a certificate which praises his “passion and dexterity” in building what it described as a “mini basic airplane”.

18-page document detailing the steps the agencies planned to take over the next 10 years both to prevent potential asteroid strikes and to prepare the country for the worst if one should hit the planet.

The plan involves increasing ground-based surveillance of near-Earth asteroids, working with other nations to coordinate a national response, and planning a protocol for mass evacuation and emergency response.

Let’s hope the politicians can agree a little better in real life than they did in the recent simulation. - Live Science

SMALL BUSINESSES

VOICE OF ASIA 18

B

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

D

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STATEPOINT CROSSWORD THEME: WEDDING BELLS

When you find some time, READ!

READ DAILY! 15 - 30 minutes of reading daily helps your brain focus better. Grab a novel!

A Community message from Voice of Asia Group

Texas

Week of May 10, 2019 21 March to 20 April When communicative Mercury meets up with jealousy-prone Taurus at the beginning of the week, you might say some things you don’t really mean. Deal with feelings of insecurity privately instead of posting about them on social media.

21 April to 20 May This is a lucky time for team projects and partnerships. You’ll shine in any teaching position. On Thursday, pay close attention to machines and technology you regularly use. The end of the work week is a great time for training or travel.

21 May to 20 June This week features career matters and authority figures, indicating a time of getting in touch with your ambition and work goals. It’s like a big push from the Universe sending you off in the right direction. This may mean more responsibility and additional meetings.

21 June to 22 July Keep your thoughts about yourself upbeat and very positive. This will have an effect on your health. The way you think is crucial to your well-being, and you can see this firsthand. You’ll notice that your body responds accordingly.

23 July to 22 August The combination of talkative Mercury and the steady Bull’s energy makes for relatively smooth sailing in the beginning of the week. You’re persistent now, so getting a “yes” is your main objective.

You are in a good position to feel your way out of awkward dating situations

23 August to 22 Sept Anything you can do to make your contact with people more pleasant on Monday and Tuesday can see you feel more balanced and better prepared for the week ahead.

It will be easy to present yourself in a more positive, assertive manner midweek. Expect helpful encounters.

astrology.com

23 September to 22 Oct You’re facing a time of re-creation.

If you’ve wanted to reinvent yourself somehow, this is a great time to do it.

What you want, you can have, says the Universe, as long as you can imagine it. Making dreams into reality may well become the theme of your week.

23 October to 21 Nov You’re doing well. People notice that you have an extra glow about you.

You understand why it’s so important to factor your body into your plans.

You can’t function if you suffer from chronic bad health.

22 November to 21 Dec A midweek Mercury-Uranus conjunction could cause miscommunications if you aren’t careful. Don’t automatically assume someone received your text or message. The Venus-Jupiter retrograde later in the week helps you see things in a positive light.

22 December to 20 Jan Expect some challenges to your authority this week. Give feisty people room to vent unless you want a confrontation. Wednesday is positive for any sort of team-building activity. Work friends could present you with a new way of seeing or doing things.

21 January to 19 Feb For you, this week is about increasing your earning potential a great deal.

Wherever you sense an opportunity, assert your will, your needs, and your individuality. With the aid of helpful aspects, money comes when you cultivate creativity in your thinking.

20 February to 20 Mar Take it easy if stressful influences lead to minor accidents at home. You and your partner could be at loggerheads. Things will calm down and be more relaxing later.

Use this opportunity to pamper yourself and feel good about life again. Good, old-fashioned home comforts will bring you down to earth.

DOWN

ACROSS 1. Up and about 6. Originally part of smog 9. *Combining ____ pool 13. Tarzan’s swing 14. It is well, if it ends well 15. *Acquired parent

1. Princess Jasmine’s “prince” 2. Deliver a carol 3. Samoan money 4. Dead to the world 5. Drum roll sound 6. Like Eliza Doolittle

16. Coastal feature

7. *One of four wedding “somethings”

17. *Solemn promise

8. Geography class prop

18. Greyish brown

9. Buzzing pest

19. *One of two wedding tossables

10. Twelfth month of Jewish year

21. *Train ready for dancing 23. Scottish cap 24. Dole out 25. Cartridge contents 28. Bangladeshi currency 30. Mischievous-like 35. Designer’s ____book 37. Research facil.

39. Jedi’s aura 40. A Flock of Seagulls’ hit 41. From around here 43. Sound at a funeral 44. Road-tripping guide 46. Curbside call 47. Octagonal sign 48. *Length of a veil 50. Pro ____ 52. Lt.’s subordinate 53. Rinna or Lampanelli 55. Clod chopper 57. *Wedding meal option 60. *Like ring finger 63. One born to Japanese immigrants

11. Back of the neck 12. Ovine mom 15. Reflexive form of “it” 20. Spam, e.g.

22. Beehive State native 24. *It runs from tears 25. Hipbone-related 26. Magnetic ____ 27. Down Under marsupial 29. *To be tied 31. *Some write their own 32. All worked up 33. *Future descendant 34. Gives a hand 36. ____sack 38. Plural of taxon 42. Lithograph, for short 45. Popular post 49. It makes your nose grow?

51. Barbary sheep 54. Tall ancient monument 56. Possible result of trial 57. Trash containers, e.g.

58. Brings into play

64. From Colorado to Wisconsin, on compass

59. Matted wool

66. Be limp

61. Ripped

68. Anoint

62. Sexual attraction, slangily

69. ____ Iacocca

63. Afternoon shut-eye

70. Blood circulation artery

65. *Another of four wedding “somethings”

71. “____, over here!”

72. Hole punching tool

60. Experience emotion

67. “Swan Lake” step

73. *Not to be seen by groom

SOLUTION:

WEDDING BELLS on Page 19

CLASSIFIEDS

VOICE OF ASIA 19

5 unique gift ideas for Mother’s Day

FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

Houston Community College Request for Proposals (RFP) Arborist & Tree Trimming Services Project No. 19-44

Sealed proposals will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No. 11B01, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00PM (local time) on June 4, 2019. Documents can be obtained at: www.hccs. edu/about-hcc/procurement/

PHOTO SOURCE: (c) Konstantin Yuganov/Shutterstock.com

F

lowers are always a classic selection on Mother’s Day, but for gifts that will truly make Mom’s day, consider the following ideas: 1. Self-care. Whether you bring the professionals to your home or plan a spa day, Mom deserves to be taken care of and treated well. A gift certificate is a great way to let her pick the services she wants á la carte, though many spas offer special package deals providing a greater value. Either send Mom alone for some deserved metime, or make a day of it and join her so you can enjoy some quality time together.

2. Music. For musical moms with limited space, or moms looking to learn piano or hone their skills, consider gifting a keyboard with a slim profile.

Weighing in at less than 25 pounds, the Casio’s PX-S1000 boasts the Smart Scaled Hammer Action Keyboard with simulated ebony and ivory key textures, for a grand piano feel

and a remarkable sound. And integrated Bluetooth technology lets you connect your device wirelessly. Complement this gift with a package of lessons or music to get her started.

3. Making a meal. Create memories together, and a new family tradition, by cooking one of Mom’s favorite or most notable recipes together. Not only will you be creating a delicious Mother’s Day meal, she can pass down the recipe to you while you spend quality time together.

4. Timepiece. Put a spin on the usual jewelry given on Mother’s Day, with an accessory that’s not only fashionable, but useful, too. For versatility that will complement simple, classic or retro glam looks, consider the Vintage Collection timepieces from Casio, which are offered in different metallic color combinations, such as gold and black, rose gold, silver, and even camo, and equipped with an LED-lit dis-

play face, a countdown timer and a 1/10th second stopwatch.

They also feature a daily alarm, hourly time signal, and an autocalendar, making them a necessity for anyone looking for fashion flare that keeps them on time.

5. Movie night. Is Mom a movie buff? Upgrade the cinematic experience by helping her create an affordable athome theater. It all starts with the right projector. For a unique, high-brightness tool, consider a LampFree projector from Casio’s Advanced Series, such as the XJ-F210WN, which features two HDMI terminals as well as a USB power supply. It also has Intelligent Light Control, which senses ambient light in the room and automatically adjusts the projection brightness accordingly to ensure viewers have spectacular visuals any time of day and in any lighting conditions.

Stay in touch with your community.

Obituary

When you find some time, READ!

Dr. Sathish Cayenne

READ DAILY! 15 - 30 minutes of reading daily helps your brain focus better. Grab a novel!

A Community message from Voice of Asia Group

Dr. Sathish Cayenne was born on April 30, 1966 in Kolar, India to Smt. Leela and Sri. Narasimha Murthy, the oldest of three children.

After completing his medical training at the Bangalore Medical College, India, and residency at State University of New York in Stony Brook, he went on to establish himself as one of the most beloved Cardiologists in the Greater Houston area.

He is survived by his wife, Smt. Chandra Kaipa, two sons, Samir and Sanal, his mother, and two sisters.

Please keep Dr. Cayenne’s family, friends, and colleagues in your prayers.

A memorial service was held on Saturday, May 4th at First Church of Pearland.

Email Obituaries to us at: voiceasia@aol.com Deadline for publication: Tuesdays by 5pm.

STATEPOINT CROSSWORD SOLUTION

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FRIDAY, May 10, 2019

Home&Real Estate Three quarters of teachers cannot afford Houston-area homes

H

OUSTON - A report from Trulia, Inc. found that nearly three out of every four teachers cannot afford a home in the Houston area, according to the Houston Business Journal.

Nationally, home prices rose 19.2 percent over the last three years while wages only rose 6.7 percent. The

report found that Houston teachers could only afford 25.5 percent of homes, first responders could afford 26.3 percent and restaurant workers could only afford 1.4 percent of homes.

This data was compared to other cities like Denver, Seattle and San Diego, where teachers could only afford around 10 percent of homes.

Home price growth slows

T

he Case-Shiller price index, released Tuesday morning, showed a slowing in the increase of home price growth. The report showed that the national gain was four percent, down from 4.2

percent the previous month. Dallas, the only Texas city measured, had a 3.4 percent year-over-year price growth, which is lower than the national average.

Indicators suggest an upcoming buyer’s market

T

he Case-Shiller Index reported a four percent annual gain in its price index for the month of February. This was consistent across the report’s 10-city list, down to 2.6 percent from 3.1 percent the month prior. The 20-city composite showed a three percent year-over-year gain, down from 3.5 percent in the month prior. Overall, this marked the slowest pace of annual growth since September 2012, which may be a good sign for buyers entering the market this spring.

Indeed, NAR’s Pending Home Sales report revealed those buyers may already be on their way in. The association found a 3.8 percent increase in home contracts signed between February and March. Although this is

a 1.2 percent decrease from the same time last year, the number of contracts signed in March, 105.8, shows a significant and consistent uptick over the last few months.

Using these two sets of data, the market’s outlook for the next few months seems to be good, since pending home sales have been increasing and home prices have been decreasing.

NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun is optimistic about the coming months. “We are seeing a positive sentiment from consumers about home buying, as mortgage applications have been steadily increasing and mortgage rates are extremely favorable,” he said ople in the country,” he said. “We should see a better performing market in the coming quarters and years.”

The world’s most popular Airbnb is this geodesic cabin in California

by Lucy Wang

I

n the redwoods of Aptos, California, a tiny treetop cabin holds the crown as Airbnb’s most visited listing in the world.

When Kitty Mrache and her husband Michael listed a pentagonal cabin that a friend built on their property on Airbnb in 2009, the couple had little clue that their listing would completely transform their lives. The rental—dubbed the “Mushroom Dome Cabin”—exploded in popularity, and it has held the title as Airbnb’s most popular listing for ten years and counting.

Flush with five-star ratings and nearly 1,300 reviews, the Mushroom Dome Cabin is also one of the hardest Airbnbs to book, thanks to its affordable price and stellar treetop location that’s perfectly positioned for bird watching and views of the Milky Way. Guests typically book months in advance; snagging dates on a weekend often require making a request nine to eleven months in advance.

Although the couple have spruced up the cabin and slightly expanded it beyond its original 100-squarefoot size, the dwelling hasn’t lost its rustic charm. A true nature retreat, the elevated tree house-like home comes with a large outdoor deck and is surrounded by hiking trails. The geodesic dome has glazed sections that open the cabin up to natural light and canopy views.

The one-bedroom, one-bath rental comfortably accommodates three guests with a queen-sized mattress in the loft and a couch on the main floor that can be converted to a bed. The bathroom includes a Nature’s Head composting toilet and a tiled shower.

The Mraches have also opened a second rental, Hummingbird Haven, a cozy studio space in the forest surrounded by hundreds of hummingbirds. - Dwell.com

These smart devices protect your home while you’re on vacation Take these steps to protect your home from mishaps and intruders when you leave for vacation.

by Jon Chase

I

t was at our mortgage closing, when the seller received an eyepopping $900 final water bill, that I first developed FOGA: The Fear of Going Away. Apparently, when they vacated the house, a couple of running toilets and a leaky faucet had gone undetected, draining more than 47,000 gallons in a single month — about eight times more than normal.

As with the wisdom about liberty, it seemed the price of homeownership would be eternal vigilance.

The lesson was reaffirmed that winter. Shortly after arriving for a Presidents’ Day weekend ski vacation in the Poconos, I received The Call: Our renter had pulled the battery from the chirping smoke alarm that connected to the boiler and water heater, causing them to shut down. It was 27 degrees out, and I was a threehour drive away. My FOGA levels surged.

with an average claim over $10,000.

What I find particularly appealing is that I can pick and choose the devices that work best for my needs, and that I’m not on the hook for yet another monthly fee. Here are several ways you can protect your home while you’re away, from the quick and cheap to the more involved and more costly.

combination can get in.

The basics: Lighting timers and smart plugs

A smoke alarm is useful only if someone is there to hear it. For our rental unit I installed a Roost battery: If the alarm goes off, I get a notification on my phone, and I can set it to ping a neighbor or family friend, too. (You can find more info in Wirecutter’s guide to smart smoke alarms.)

Before breaking out tools and tech, the first step in vacation-proofing is to check off the basics. Deputy inspector Jessica Corey, commanding officer of the NYPD’s Crime Prevention Division, said that you have to minimize the appearance that no one is home. “Don’t leave a note on the door for the letter carrier or deliveries — stop your mail or get someone to pick it up. And if your drapery isn’t normally closed, it shouldn’t be while

dummy cameras give you a false sense of security.”

You can install a low-cost motionsensing camera — you can see our favorite models in our full guide to indoor security cameras — inside your home as well, and it’ll send word whenever anyone — a house sitter, dogwalker, repairperson, or potential burglar — crosses its path. It also lets you see live video and even

Conspicuously mounted outdoor cameras, such as the Nest Cam Outdoor, do a great job of dissuading

Selling at $25 from Walmart or Amazon, the Wemo Mini is a bestselling smart plug

For stretches longer than a week, hire someone to mow the yard and put out and collect your garbage cans on schedule. Turn off the watersupply valves to the clothes washer and dishwasher, and even the toilets.

Above all, ask a neighbor with a set of spare keys to check on things, including for your cars. As a fail-safe, I place a set of keys in a combination lockbox that hangs from a doorknob — in an emergency, anyone with the

A doorbell camera pings my phone whenever someone is at the door, which is great as I can speak to them

The Yale Assure SL Connected by August eliminates need for keys. communicate walkie-talkie style if need be.

Along with wind and hail, water is one of the most common sources of damage for homeowners. Tiny battery-powered moisture detectors such as the iHome Control Dual Leak Sensor, placed near a water heater or sewer drain, connect to your home’s Wi-Fi and send an alert to your phone if they sense a leak or flood. For more, we have a whole guide to smart leak detectors, and how to buy a good one.

you’re away either.”

needs to come by — the house sitter, an Airbnb guest, the flooring person — and get a notification when they come and go. And I can disable access when I get home without needing to collect keys. I also set it to auto-lock if someone forgets. It’s low-profile and attractive, unlike many keypad locks.

Budget-friendly upgrades: Security cameras and smart lights

Then one day I finally got smart.

And later, when a frantic call came from guests who couldn’t get our door to unlock, I hung up the phone, held it aloft, and commanded Siri to trigger the smart lock I had recently installed.

Siri did it instantly, I was a hero, and it was glorious.

Besides convenience, there is a more practical value to installing smart devices: The Insurance Institute says that 98 percent of annual claims are from property damage, and although fires account for the highest costs, one in 50 homes suffers water damage —

Glazing lets in natural light and views of the tree canopy.

For $25, a smart plug can turn on and off a lamp on a set or varied schedule.

Better yet, get a three-pack and turn on their Away mode, and your lights will randomly turn on and off in set periods to better simulate an occupied home.

(Wirecutter recommends several in our guide to plug-in smart switches.)

Such unwelcome discoveries became the norm. During various trips away from home over the next year or so, there were visits from porch pirates, who twice nabbed packages we hadn’t been expecting.

Oh, and a bike thief. A puddle under the dishwasher. And the discovery that the cellar door had been left open to the elements for a rainy week.

I’ve since outfitted our home with a range of smart devices that have all but eliminated my FOGA. Some devices keep an eye on our place and send me an alert if something is amiss.

Others automate things and make it less evident we’re away. And I like being able to remotely drop in from anywhere to control some devices — a lock, lights, the thermostat — to make sure all is well.

Kitty Mrache stands in front of the Mushroom Dome Cabin, which continues to hold the title as Airbnb’s most popular rental, as confirmed in Airbnb’s press release celebrating the company’s milestone for half a billion guest arrivals.

(Photos: Dwell/Lucy Wang)

potential burglars (you can read about them in our guide to outdoor security cameras). I have one set under our front stoop that sends a notification and a video clip if someone approaches the basement door. Mounted on your house, a camera also lets you check on your property after inclement weather, a huge help if you have large trees or suffer from flooding. And Ms. Corey strongly advises against mounting fake cameras: “If you’re going to mount a camera get a real one —

Ms. Corey recommends using lighting timers, as long as you “make sure the lights and televisions and other items come on at different times, not always on the same schedule.” I’ve found that smart bulbs, such as Philips Hue or LIFX bulbs, are far easier to program and have “scenes” to trigger randomly. They can also trigger in connection with a motion sensor or another smart device like a lock, an additional burglar-busting feature.

“I strongly suggest having motionsensor-activated lighting around the outside of the house — it’s one of the cheapest forms of security you can have,” Ms. Corey said.

The works: Smart locks, thermostats, and security systems I installed a smart lock, the Yale Assure SL Connected by August, our pick for the best smart lock, because it eliminates the need to copy physical keys and keep track of them. I use an app to create a code anytime someone

as if I were home or ignore them while still knowing who is visiting my front step. The model I installed, the Nest Hello, sends alerts if it sees motion.

(For information on other models, see Wirecutter’s guide to smart doorbells.)

It does double-duty as a security camera since it records video 24/7, which I view on my phone. That way I can consult the video if something bad actually does happen, or if I just need to catch the jerk who keeps letting his dog poop on my sidewalk.

To avoid frozen pipes in winter and scorched plants or pets in the summer, a smart thermostat like the Ecobee3 Lite adjusts the temperature in preferred ranges while using the outdoor temperature as reference (extreme temperature swings prematurely age your house as well.)

It also can pair with tiny sensors you place on a shelf to turn things off when people are gone.

My next smart device will be a watershutoff valve, like the Flo by Moen (I haven’t tested it yet.) It attaches to your water supply and uses AI to detect a leak as slight as a dripping faucet and sends you a notification. In the event of a catastrophic leak such as a burst pipe, it automatically shuts off your water. You can turn the water back on with the app or manually with a wrench. Some insurance companies discount your premium by a few percent if you have such a device, but for me it’s worth the expense just for peace of mind. - Wirecutter.com