Voice of Asia E-paper January 25, 2019 by VoiceOf Asia

VOICE OF ASIA 1

TAXES: 3 BIG CHANGES FOR 2019 SEE SECTION 2

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

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Vol. 33 • No. 4 • 24 Pages (2 sections) • 50 cents • 713-774-5140 • www.voiceofasia.news • E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com

Possibilities of India-US relation- USPS unveils Year of The Boar ship are limitless – 3rd Houston commemorative 'Forever' stamp India Conference at Chinese Community Center

Speakers L-R: Dr. Djordjija Petkoski, Lecturer at the Wharton School of Management and Advisor to the World Bank, Sandip Sen, President, Emerging Businesses, Essar Group, and Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Government of India with moderator Sunanda Vashisht (far rt).

OUSTON - (Jan. 11, 2019) - Overwhelming consensus at ICCR Houston India Conference held in Houston, Texas, on January 11th 2019 was that “Possibilities of India-USA relationship are limitless” The

3rd

Houston

India

conference brought together thought leaders in industry, trade, diplomacy, economics and journalism from India, Washington, DC and Texas, USA to focus on investment opportunities in India, and India-Texas bi-lateral trade. The conference had participants

representing over 80 companies including ExxonMobil, BP, Schlumberger, Halliburton, Expedien, L & T Infotech, Goldman Sachs, Texas Medical Center, University of Houston, University of Pennsylvania, World Bank, Rice University, Continued on Page 5

Unveiling of the Year of the Boar Commemorative Forever Stamp. (L-R) Artist Kam Mak, Y. Ping Sun of Rice University Rep. of Counsel, Leigh Smith the Houston Arts Alliance Board Chair and Luke Grossmann, USPS VP Finance and Planning. by Susan Pothanikat

OUSTON, TX—On Thursday, January 17, 2019, Luke Grossmann, Vice President, Finance and Planning, U.S. Postal Service, along with Leigh Smith of the Houston

Arts Alliance Board Chair, Y.Ping Sun of Rice University Representative of Council, Yetter Coleman, LLP and artist Kam Mak unveiled the 12th and last stamp in the Lunar New Year Series at the Chinese Community Center (CCC), located at 9800 Town Park Drive,

Houston, TX 77036. Houston was chosen as the city for the First Day of Issue Dedication Ceremony due to its rich diversity and vibrant Asian American population. Master of Ceremonies, Miya Shay, said Continued on Page 3

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OP-ED/COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS

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Publisher: Associate Publisher: Editor-in-Chief: Austin Correspondent: Marketing Director: Office Manager: Data Entry:

US Government Shutdown: A Symbol of Constitutional Subversion and Congressional Failure

Koshy Thomas Sherly Philip Shobana Muratee Sherine Thomas Susan Pothanikat Priyan Mathew Satish Philip

Prof. Chandra Mittal Houston Community College by Chandra K. Mittal, Ph.D.

Contributors: OpEd: Dr. Chandra Mittal Legal: Sharlene Sharmila Richards Mala Sharma Research: Dr. Meenakshi Bhattacharjee Health: Sudhir Mathuria

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Editor Online: Shobana Muratee Marketing Director: Susan Pothanikat All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the consent of the publisher. Voice of Asia assumes no liability resulting from action taken based on the information included herein. Published weekly by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713774-5140. Fax: 713-774-5143. Email for editorial submissions: voiceasia@aol.com; Email for advertising inquiries and submissions: ads@voiceofasiagroup.com. It is the policy of Voice of Asia to publish letters to the editor which evidence a variety of viewpoints. The opinions expressed in any particular letter to the editor are not necessarily those of the management. Voice of Asia welcomes letters in reply to issues raised in letters to editor. In as much letters to the editor are not articles written or researched by members of Voice of Asia, it is not the policy of the Voice of Asia to perform any investigation or confirmation of any facts or allegations contained in letters to the editor. Moreover, Voice of Asia reserves the right to edit letters to the editor as necessary to correct errors of fact, punctuation, spelling and to comply with space constraints. Although paid advertisements may appear in Voice of Asia Group Publications in print, online, or in other electronic formats, the Voice of Asia Group does not endorse the advertised product, service, or company, nor any of the claims made by the advertisement.

o matter how the ongoing partial shutdown of the US Federal Government turns out in the end, history will judge the “shutdown” as “constitutional subversion”, albeit a temporary one. It is also revealing the internal vulnerability of the American governing system where “Separation of Powers” the “Checks and Balances” as enshrined in the US Constitution are being rendered either “nonoperational” or “ineffective” due to collusion between the Executive and the Legislative branches of the government, which is seriously undercutting and undermining the stability, credibility and sanctity of the American governing institutions. The ongoing crisis has also exposed the inadequacy and lack of political tenacity in the Two-Party American political system which is failing to serve the interests of its citizens. It has indeed, enabled the political custodians to hold the public interest hostage to their whims and fancies leaving citizens helpless and vulnerable – something people face in dictatorial regimes. Such political intransigence at some point can pave way for mass demoralization and anarchy that results from hopelessness. The present government shutdown, when started on December 22, 2018, had appeared to be more of a test of nerves between the Republican President Donald Trump who had made a conscious decision to shut the government

by Desmond Lachman

— The Publisher Voice of Asia (USPS 010-215) (ISSN#10705058) is published every Friday (for a subscription rate of $50 per year) by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713-774-5140. Fax: 713-774-5143. Periodical postage paid at Houston, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Voice of Asia, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074.

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singular failure of President Trump’s economic policy has been the lack of progress in his stated goal of reducing the overall U.S. trade deficit. Indeed, despite a move to higher import tariffs under the Trump administration, the U.S. trade deficit widened to more than $500 billion through the first 10 months of 2018, its highest level in 10 years. The proposed U.S.-China trade deal, under which China would commit itself to substantially increase its U.S. imports, is very unlikely to make a dent in the overall U.S. trade deficit. It will not do so since it does nothing to address the underlying causes of that deficit. A basic arithmetic truth from Macroeconomics 101 is that a country’s trade balance is fundamentally the difference be-

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for lack of Mexican border wall funding, and the Democratic leadership led by Speaker Nancy Pelosi who was opposed to it. But with passage of time, the two political sides have dug in deeper and have grown more stringent and inflexible to yield to the other side regardless of the citizens suffering due to income loss. Sadly, the shutdown and misery of people is being used as the opportunity for political bargaining purposes by the politicians. The continuing kabuki dance of government shutdown is indeed being fueled by the lack of discipline, selfishness and timidity of the members of the United States Congress who have totally surrendered their independence to the Executive branch (i.e. President) and abandoned their mandated duty under the US Constitution. Article 1 of the US Constitution empowers and mandates the both Houses of Congress to pass all financial bills to be signed by the President into law. If President vetoes a financial Bill approved by the Congress, it can be overridden by the 67% supermajority of the members. But in the present circumstances, sadly most of the Republican legislators, who are in majority in the Senate and their leaders (most notably the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell) have been taking cues or orders from the President Donald Trump to craft legislation to his liking. This is a complete subversion of the US Constitution as it is destroying both in spirit and in letter the principle of “separation of powers” and “Checks and Balances” built

in the US Constitution. Such narrow-sighted extraconstitutional actions of legislators are also pushing America towards a system of governance where co-equality of Legislative and Executive branch (President) is being compromised threatening institutions of American democracy. America, known for the strength of its democratic institutions, economic power, and political stability has been the envy of the world. Therefore, a constitutional crisis related to its governance and political institutions is not a welcome development. Besides the detrimental effects of a government shutdown on the affected government employees, it also represents significant selfinflicted wounds on the Executive branch itself as public services are adversely affected causing loss of revenues to the government besides compromised public safety and security, and loss of public trust and confidence in its government. America experienced it first shutdown in 1976 under President Gerald Ford, and since then it has occurred with increasing frequency due to breakdown of the budgeting process in the US Congress. Congress is supposed to finish the year-long process of budget appropriations by October 1 each year for the next fiscal year. But lately due to political wrangling, political divisions and influence of various special interest groups, Congress has been failing to meet budget dead forcing it to pass partial budget by Continuing Resolution (CR) for essential functions of the government, while the two political sides keep bickering about funding

of controversial items like the Border wall in today’s context. The present shutdown which started on December 22, 2018 has already exceeded in length all previous ones. Sensing the urgency of the situation President Donald Trump is attempting to negotiate with Democrats who have majority in the House but are adamantly opposed to funding the wall on Mexican border. In the meantime, the financial fate of some innocent 800,000 federal employees hanging in balance, who will be missing the second pay-period without salary – a real national disgrace. Need of the hour is for both Democrats and Republicans to do their constitutional duty and discharge their legislative responsibility in a manner that is independent and divorced from political interests of the President. It is lost on elected representatives that they are not in the Congress to serve the President but rescue the integrity, dignity and honor of the US Constitution. Anything short of that would be failing America and dishonoring the oath of office they took when entering the United States Congress. Government shutdown is a crisis created by constitutional subversion by Congress and only it can fix it. Otherwise, posterity will not only curse them but will also not judge them kindly. Dr. Chandra Mittal is Professor at Houston Community College, Op-Ed Columnist, and Co-Founder of IndoAmerican Association (IAA)Houston. He can be reached at drckmittal@yahoo.com

A US-China deal will do nothing to shrink our trade deficit tween the amount that a country saves and the amount that it invests. If it saves more than it invests it will have a trade surplus. Conversely, if its savings falls short of its investment level it will run a trade deficit. Viewed through the savings and investment lens, it is not difficult to understand why over the past two years the U.S. trade deficit has continued to widen despite the U.S. move to a very much more restrictive trade policy. By enacting a very large, unfunded tax cut and by going along with Congress’ public spending increases, the Trump administration has substantially reduced the country’s public

savings level by increasing the budget deficit. At the same time, by introducing welcome regulatory reform, the Trump administration has encouraged higher investment. Little wonder then that the U.S. trade deficit has widened as the country’s savings level has fallen increasingly short of its investment level. If China’s proposed trade deal were to succeed in eliminating its bilateral trade surplus with the U.S., it would do so at the cost of increasing its trade surplus with the rest of the world. Sadly, the Trump administration is yet to make the basic connection between the steady

rise in the U.S. overall trade deficit and the marked deterioration in the U.S. budget deficit outlook. Instead, even though the U.S. has experienced a twin deficit problem before in the Reagan years, it has persisted in the erroneous belief that a more restrictive trade policy alone would succeed in eliminating the U.S. trade deficit. Until the Trump administration changes course and addresses the fundamental savings-investment imbalance that is underlying our deteriorating trade performance, we should brace ourselves for ever increasing U.S. trade deficits in the years ahead.

Celebrate India’s 70 Republic Day at India House

Saturday, January 26, 2019 | Flag Hoisting at 10:30 am

Happy Republic Day!

We invite you with your family and friends to come and celebrate the joy & happiness of India’s transition toward becoming an independent republic. O. P. Jindal Center, India House, 8888 West Bellfort Ave., Houston, TX 77031 (Light refreshments will be served)

For more information contact: 713-929-1900 | vipin@indiahouseinc.org | www.indiahouseinc.org

VOICE OF ASIA 3

Section 1

Community Email: voiceasia@aol.com

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

USPS unveils Year of The Boar commemorative 'Forever' stamp at Chinese Community Center

Tel: 713-774-5140

India's Republic Day flag hoisting at Indian Consulate

days that follow, parades featuring enormous and vibrantly painted papier-mache dragons, parties and other special events are common.

Y. Ping Sun addresses audience at Lunar New Year Stamp Unveiling. Seated are Artist Kam Mak, USPS VP Finance and Planning, Luke Grossmann, Houston Arts Alliance Board Chair, Leigh Smith, MC Miya Shay (far right). Continued from Page 1 how this stamp shows that the Chinese culture is a part of the American culture. Over 1/6 of the world’s population is celebrating the Lunar New Year with gifts, music and celebration. The Year of the Boar begins on February 5, 2019 and ends of January 24, 2020. Individuals born during the Year of the Boar are said to be generous, compassionate and warmhearted. Diligent and focused, they often have a great sense of responsibility and need to finish what they start. The boar, also referred to as a pig, is one of the 12 zodiac animal signs associated with the

The stamp design incorporates elements from the previous series of Lunar New Year stamps, including an intricate cut-paper design of a boar and the Chinese character for “boar”, drawn in grass-style calligraphy. Artist Kam Mak said this final design was “bittersweet because it is the last in the series.” Many images are personal to him because it allows him to tell the story on how he celebrates the Lunar New Year and share it to a wider audience who doesn’t know about the festival. He hopes that the Chinese community will support him to start a new series next year. For more details and to purchase stamps, please visit www.usps.com.

Chinese lunar calendar. The Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival in China and Tet in Vietnam, is the most important holiday of the year for many Asian communities and is celebrated primarily by people of Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tibetan, and Mongolian heritage. Peach blossoms, like those depicted in the stamp art, are of particular importance during this auspicious time of year. In China, peach trees typically bloom in early February, just in time for the new year. The appearance of the bright pink blossoms marks the beginning of spring in Chinese culture. On New Year’s Day and in the

OUSTON - Flag hoisting ceremony on the occasion of India’s 70th Republic Day will be held on Saturday, 26 January 2019 at 7:30 AM at the Consulate General of India (4300 Scotland St, Houston Texas, 77007). This will be followed by singing of the National Anthem, reading the address of the President

of India and light refreshments. Indian nationals, members of the Indian American community, friends of India and their families including children are cordially invited to the function. Participants are requested to assemble at the Consulate General of India. Kindly bring your photo ID.

Gandhi Memorial Service, Tribute planned Feb. 2

Close up of Year of the Boar commemorative 'Forever' stamp designed by Artist Kam Mak.

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ahatma Gandhi Library, Unity of Houston, Arya Samaj Greater Houston, Interfaith Ministries for Greater Houston, The Ismaili Jamatkhana Center, Mind Body and Spirit Institute and Bahai’s of Houston will observe Memorial Service and pay Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on Saturday, February 2, 2019 from 3 pm to 5 pm at the Main Sanctuary of Unity of Houston located at 2929 Unity Drive, Houston,

TX 77057. Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on January 30, 1948. In observance of the passing away of this great soul, Mahatma, the above annual memorial service will take place. Please mark your calendar and come pay your respects to Apostle of Peace. We will be honored with your presence. Please see the attached flyer for more information. Light snacks will be served.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 4

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

HOPE (Heaven’s Own Precious Eyes) CHRISTMAS, 2018

eaven’s Own Precious Eyes (HOPE) lit in the minds all who gathered at Immanuel Mar Thoma ChurcH, Stafford, a special light of Peace, Joy and Hope about the forgotten angels of people with special needs, in a world of darkness, where the original message and the spirit of Christmas is so distorted and defaced with affluence and consumerism.

A wonderful experience with the Forgotten Angels: People with special needs.

The event commenced with prayer by Rev. Roy Varghese. Mr. Alexander Jacob, in his welcome speech, emphasized the need for support systems in the community for the vulnerable section of the society. Melodious carols by the Trinity Mar Thoma Church Choir, the St. Thomas Evangelical Church Choir and Immanuel Mar Thoma Church English Choir resonated the Angelic Symphony of Bethlehem and filled the hearts with the Spirit of Christmas.

The Sunday evening of January 6, 2019 marked the dawn of a new awareness in the community in proximity of Immanuel Mar Thoma Church about the ever-growing needs of individuals with special needs and their families to cope with the challenging realities and complexities of the post modern era of the 21 st century. The large audience which stayed through the entire program is to be seen as a promising sign of preparedness to respond to this great challenge. Playing of instrumental piec-

Rev. Abraham Varghese (vicar, Immanuel Mar Thoma Church), Rev. Roy Varghese (Episcopal Church), Rev. Jacob P. Thomas and Rev. Philip Philip (vicars of Trinity Mar Thoma Church, Houston) with HOPE supporters.

Carols were sung by the Trinity Mar Thoma Church Choir, the St. Thomas Evangelical Church Choir and Immanuel Mar Thoma Church English Choir

Children distributing gifts.

es of carols, and action songs by Christopher George and Chandler George, brothers with Autism, amazed the audience with the Joy of Christmas Spirit. The Bible Reading

Thoma Church), Rev. Roy Varghese (Episcopal Church), Rev. Jacob P. Thomas and Rev. Philip Philip (vicars of Trinity Mar Thoma Church, Houston). Rev. Abraham Varghese presided

by Samuel Roy with Autism, and Mathews Alexander with Cerebral Palsy were like sign posts pointing to the exciting possibilities in the future of people with special needs, and

were a thrilling experience for the audience. The event was blessed by the presence of Rev. Abraham Varghese (vicar, Immanuel Mar

The Dalai Lama sends support for local Gandhi Museum promoted by Mayor

OUSTON - His Holiness The Dalai Lama, revered world leader of Tibetan Buddhism and the Tibetan people, has endorsed plans by the Houston-area Mahatma Gandhi Library and its partners to build and operate the privately funded Eternal Gandhi Museum in Houston. The multi-media museum, a tribute to the influential life and just causes of Mahatma Gandhi, is set for completion in 2020. “Methods for generating compassionate peace of mind are essential today,” The Dalai Lama wrote in a letter dated Jan. 19, 2019. “We need to understand what gives rise to inner peace and what destroys it in order to bring about a nonviolent world. The (Houston) museum provides an opportunity to highlight the ancient Indian traditions that have produced an exemplary figure like Mahatma Gandhi. I wish this endeavor all success.” The letter by The Dalai Lama, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, is here. Mayor Sylvester Turner visited Rajghat, the Gandhi Memorial in New Delhi, during the Greater Houston Partnership trade mission he led to India in November. (See photo below). The mayor related the Eternal Gandhi Museum project in Houston to his visit to Gandhi’s living quarters and the garden where Gandhi, an influential force for non-violent social change and India’s independence, was assassinated on Jan. 30, 1948. “The Dalai Lama’s sup-

ally special by the Creator and are endowed with very special qualities and abilities which the society often fail to understand, and it is the responsibility of the society to work together to realize and enhance those gifts and qualities.

port for the Eternal Gandhi Museum in Houston is a huge boost to this exciting project, with the potential to give it the global attention it deserves, even before its doors open,” Mayor Turner said. “The kind words in his letter will also help us show that here in the nation’s most diverse city, we live the values of tolerance, inclusion and pluralism, which were among Gandhi’s most important teachings. We are a welcoming city, where one of every four residents is foreign-born and where we build relationships rather than walls.”

over the event and Rev. Jacob P. Thomas delivered a very meaningful Christmas message, emphasizing that each one of these individuals with special needs is created re-

The solemn evening event consummated with the vote of thanks by Mr. Abraham Samuel, the secretary of HOPE, the closing prayer by Mrs. Beena Kalathoor and the harmony of the Ever Beautiful Christmas

Anthem, “Silent Night”, by the choirs and the audience. Fellowship Dinner at the end of the program supplemented the event for fellowship and social interaction.

Residents’ Input Needed at METRO Public Meeting On Tuesday, Jan. 29; 6:30 p.m.; Community Center

The Houston project has raised $2.25 million toward its goal of $8.5 million. “Mahatma Gandhi Library sincerely appreciates His Holiness The Dalai Lama’s blessings!” said Atul Kothari, library founder and trustee. “As stated eloquently in His Holiness’s letter, we will strive to combine modern education and technological prowess with ancient knowledge of the mind that shaped the individuals like Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi for visitors of the museum. With help and support of all Houstonians, Eternal Gandhi Museum is going to be the best gift not only to the City of Houston, but to the whole U.S.” To learn more about the Eternal Gandhi Museum in Houston and Mahatma Gandhi, visit: http://eternalgandhi.us/ For more about The Dalai Lama, visit: https://www. dalailama.com/

WHAT: METRO is hosting community meetings across the region to share its draft long-range transportation plan— METRONext—designed with public input. The MCTX forum will offer an opportunity for residents citywide to share their input and feedback with METRO staff on this initiative that will identify capital investments and other improvements needed to meet the mobility challenges of the next 20 years. WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 29 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. WHERE: Community Center in City Hall Complex, 1522 Texas Pkwy. For more information, visit www.METRONext.org. For updates, please watch the City website: www.missouricitytx.gov, like us on Facebook—fb/MissouriCityTX, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat—@MissouriCityTX, watch Missouri City Television (Ch. 16 on Comcast and Ch. 99 on AT&T U-verse) or download the MCTX Mobile app (available for free in Google Play and the Apple app store).

VOICE OF ASIA 5

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Possibilities of India-US relationship are limitless â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 3rd Houston India Conference

about the successes of the first two conferences held in 2017 and 2018 in terms of the economic activities including several commercial deals that have taken place as a result of the networking during conferences.

Continued from Page 1 University, Reliance and Mahindra USA among many others in addition to the local government officials, journalists and Think tank experts. The Conference was moderated by Sunanda Vashisht, noted political commentator and Co-founder of new age media company MyIndMakers. Jagdip Ahluwalia, Executive Director IACCGH was the master of ceremony at the conference. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner pointed out that Houston is the 4th busiest gateway for trade between India and USA and emphasized the importance of a direct flight between Houston and India. A direct flight will help grow the bilateral trade relations between Houston and India, he remarked. Houston Mayor Turner and Texas Governor Greg Abbott have led two successful trade delegations to India recently. Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance, Government of India talked about the building of New India, an economy based on innovation and rule of law. He said that the economic fundamentals in India are strong, and the challenge is to push the economy into an even higher growth trajectory. Sandip Sen, President, Emerging Businesses, Essar Group explained the key drivers for the

Dignitaries, Elected officials and Speakers: Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Consul General of India, Dr. Anupam Ray, Fort Bend County Judge KP George, Speaker: Dr. Jyoti Kiran Shukla, Sandip Sen, Dr. Sachin Chaturvedi, Sanjeev Sanyal, Dr. Djordjija Petkoski, Dr. Makarand Paranjape, moderator Sunanda Vashisht, Jagdip Ahluwalia, Exe. Dir. IACCGH, Jiten Agrawal and guest (Not in any order). growth of the Indian economy and talked about the emerging industries and opportunities to invest in it including digital payments, e-commerce, startups and AI/ML. Dr. Djordjija Petkoski, Lecturer at the Wharton School of Management and Advisor to the World Bank said that India is a laboratory where any technology can be developed and tested for it robustness. He emphasized on the role of domestic and multinational corporations in community building and strengthening democracy in India. Dr. Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General at the Research and Information System for Developing Countries, talked about delivering democracy with a focus on governance. He discussed the financial inclusion programs such as Jan Dhan Yojana, banking reforms and Corporate So-

cial Responsibility (CSR) activities in India. Dr. Jyoti Kiran Shukla, Former Chairman of Rajasthan State Finance Commission, talked about how India is developing per day such as 1300 houses built everyday under Pradhan Mantri Jan Awas Yojana, 8400 toilets created per day under the Swachh Bharat and 2,86,752 beneficiaries per day under the Jan Dhan Yojana, to name a few. Air Vice Marshal (Retd) Arjun Subramanian discussed the Indo- US Strategic partnership and how it has been growing steadily over the past two decades and is on an irreversible trajectory. He also talked about how India has progressed from a reactive to a proactive society, which has also led to the stability of the economy from a security perspective.

Consul General of India, Anupam Ray said that the Houston India conference is a unique platform for people involved with writing the India story to help the next generation write the new chapters and a place for business to business, government to government and people to people

Dr. Makarand Paranjape, Director Indian Institute of Advanced Study, quoted Dr. Raja Rao and mentioned that the alliance between India and US existed naturally and was thwarted by the external forces. He said that the Indian diaspora has become such a critical mass in the US, that going forward, the friendship between the two countries will only grow further. Brian Mclaughlin, Senior Vice President, McDermott, spoke on growing presence of McDermott in India and how well educated, relevant and mobile workforce in India has been helping McDemott with its growth. He also mentioned about the absolute fair and transparent procurement process in India. Ashok Belani, CTO, Schulmberger, talked about the huge role India plays in the global hy-

Q & R Session drocarbon market and the initiatives Petroleum Minister of India Dharmendra Pradhan has taken towards improving the energy industry in India. Conference Chair and CEO of Expedien, Jiten Agarwal, welcomed everyone and spoke

interaction between Texas and India. The conference was sponsored by the Consulate General of India, Houston, Economic Diplomacy Division, Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, ICCR and Expedien.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 6

Makar Sankranti and Lohri celebrations at Arya Samaj

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

Ex-honors student gets 33 years in marijuana dealer’s death

REEHOLD, N.J. (January 19, 2019) - A former community college honors student has been sentenced to 33 years in prison in the death of a marijuana dealer authorities say was shot by the defendant’s former boyfriend. The felony murder sentence imposed Friday on 21-year-old Raquel Garajau will require the ex-Brookdale Community College student to serve 30 years before being eligible for parole, The Asbury Park Press reported.

Kite flying is an integral part of the Makar Sankranti festival

his was third year that Arya Samaj Houston went full steam to celebrate the Indian festival variously called as Makar Sankranti, Lohri, Pongal, Bihu, etc. bidding good-bye to the peak of winter. Its Sunday School, the DAV Sanskriti School took the responsibility and converted it into a learning tool for its 150

If you see sun in the morning from a window that opens to the east then you couldn’t have missed out noticing that the sun is now shifting northward, having touched its maximum southern point. This magic of 22 degrees slant creates various seasons that is so important for rainfall, snow deposits, crops, etc, crucial to life support on

to the nature with a deep sense of gratitude. Offering the bounty to the fire transports it in its minute form to all the living beings without any discrimination. The traditional fire was lit by the senior volunteer of Arya Samaj Houston, Shekhar Agrawal followed by the children of DAV Sanskriti School lining up to offer rewari, gajak,

Monmouth County prosecutors said she and Joseph Villani plotted to kill Trupal Patel to steal and sell his marijuana stash. Patel’s body was found in Shark River Park in Wall Township in February 2017. The defense argued she was a young woman in love who may have helped her boyfriend clean up the crime scene, but didn’t help plan the robbery or Trupal Patel. (legacy.com photo). Remarkable ensemble was noticed that dance teams included all age groups – from little children to even seniors. Six-week coaching by its dance teacher Dolly Goyal was well appreciated, founder of ‘Steps for Dancing’ – free for all, including members of public. As Chidanand’s dhol began the high octane sound, all in the 600+ adult audience felt invited to dance on the foyer that had become the large-size stage. Kites were available and children were thrilled to fly them. Kitchen committee served with smile the special meal that included makki di roti and sarson da saag, among other delicious dishes. New parents showed interest in enrolling their children to the spring term of DAV Sanskriti School. For more details, call its director Dr. Kavita Vachaknavee at 832.874.3376.

DAV Sanskriti School students gave a grand performance. children to grasp the rich Indian culture in an experiential manner. Acharya Harish-Chandra described God’s wonderful design that the earth is slant by about 22 degrees as it orbits around the sun. The peak of winter is now almost gone and the days will be getting longer.

the earth. Indian classical scientists called Rishis taught harmony with nature. For them, nature manifests God’s intelligence flowing toward us as pure love. That harmony requires us to return the bounty of nature back

and other foodstuffs into the fire before having a taste of them. Their discipline was at full display. Traditional folk dances from different regions of India were rendered in the form of Garba, Bhangra and Pongal dance.

murder. Villani, 22, pleaded guilty earlier this month to aggravated manslaughter, and although he earlier insisted that Garajau had no role in the killing, said she helped plan the robbery and discussed cleaning up the crime scene afterward. Garajau, who was also convicted of conspiracy, theft, and evidence-tampering, told Superior Court Judge Joseph Oxley that she maintains her innocence and “had no knowledge” that Patel would be killed. Under questioning from the judge, she denied having known that Villani would have a gun when he robbed Patel. “I am not the person that I am being perceived to be, and I didn’t do the things I am accused of,” the former graphic arts student and law firm intern said.

Prosecutors presented witnesses, recorded telephone conversations and numerous text messages suggesting her involvement in drug dealing, setting up the robbery and trying to cover up the crimes. They said Garajau sent messages telling Villani to clean the bullets, bleach everything, move the dead man’s car and throw the victim’s belongings in the ocean, then said “Facetime me please when you are done,” and added “I love you.” “I’m not sure why anybody would be worried about cleaning the bullets unless they were intended to be used,” said Oxley, who added that he believes Garajau was “intimately involved” in planning the events that led to Patel’s death and had shown no remorse for them. - Associated Press

DIASPORA

VOICE OF ASIA 7

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

NRIs to demand dual citizenship, free visas to India from PM Modi at Pravasi Bharatiya Divas

MISSING: Mahabir Paul – Harris County, Texas (1/18/19)

Karupaiya AL Mustami, a Parliament member from Malaysia’s Padang Serai, said the Indian diaspora should be given free visas to help their next generation remain connected with the mother country in the same manner as they have done so far by Umesh Raghuvanshi

he Indian diaspora wants the dual citizenship issue or free visa to be taken up for discussion at the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention here to ensure that the new generation remains connected to the ‘mother country’ India just like their parents and forefathers have done. New Zealand MP Kanwaljit Singh was the first to raise the demand at the 15th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention here this morning. Singh’s sentiments were echoed by delegates from other countries. Malaysia has a large delegation at the convention. The delegates from the country appeared more concerned about the issue, hoping they will be able to raise it before Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he arrives here on Tuesday. “I will like to raise the issue of making visa (for travel) from Malaysia to India free for the diaspora. We want our next generation to remain connected with the ‘mother’ country in the same manner as we have

done so far,” said Karupaiya AL Mustami, MP for Padang Serai, Malaysia. “A fee of 190 RM was being charged for visa to India. This fee has been increased to nearly 500 RM now. Everybody cannot afford an Overseas Citizen of India card, as it costs about 1500 RM. The number of visitors from Malaysia to India is going down. We want this number to go up. PM Modi can take up the issue with the Malaysian PM,” Mustami said. Kanwaljit Singh Bakshi had earlier demanded that dual citizenship or free visa for Indian diaspora in India. “I agree with the point made by New Zealand MP. We Girmitiyas (descendants of indentured Indian labourers) are like Indian bride here. When the bride goes back, she gets return gift and we want union government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give us return gift of free visa,” said another delegate from Malaysia. “Bakshi’s demand is justi-

fied. Most persons come here to visit temples or for medical treatment. A free visa will boost tourism and help the Indian community living abroad,” said another delegate. Although the organisers claimed the best-ever facilities had been done at the 15th PBD convention here, some delegates said a lot more needed to be done here. Dr Sunil Sinha, a physician from the United States said, “No arrangements have been made to provide vehicles to participants to be dropped at the venue. Participants have to walk a long distance as their vehicles are being stopped at barriers put up at a distance. No assistance is being provided to people with disability. They should have provided facility of golf cart etc. Moreover hotels are charging double the normal tariff.” “This is my third convention and a lot of participants here are not happy with the arrangements,” said Sinha. Courtesy: Hindustan Times, Varanasi

Trump taps 3 Indian-American experts for key admin posts

ASHINGTON | PTI | 19 January 2019 - US President Donald Trump has nominated three influential IndianAmericans including a woman nuclear expert to powerful administration positions. Rita Baranwal was nominated for the post of Assistant Secretary of Energy (Nuclear Energy), Aditya Bamzai for member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board and Bimal Patel as the assistant secretary of Treasury.

OUSTON, January 20, 2019 - 71 yearold Mahabir Paul was last seen or heard-from on January 18th 2019 in Harris County, Texas. Mahabir was driving a black 2013, KIA Forte LX, 4-Door Sedan with Texas license plates of HGL8304. His vehicle is very similar to the one pictured above. Mahabir suffers from Diabetes, and has been displaying the symptoms of Dementia. Mahabir was last known to be wearing a black hat, a maroon-colored plaid

ASHINGTON, Jan 23, 2019 - US president Donald Trump on Tuesday re-sent a list of 51 judicial nominees including an Indian American lawyer Neomi Rao, who is under fire for her past writings in which she partly blamed women victims of date-rape, described race as a “hot, money-making issue” and LGBT issues as “trendy”.

Rao’s nomination is attracting close scrutiny also because, as some reports have indicated, she has been added to the White House’s list of potential nominees for the Supreme Court, if and when a slot falls vacant on the nine-member bench. Dr. Rita Baranwal, serves as the Director of the Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative. (Photo: LinkedIn)

Her writings go back mostly to her days at Yale and the Weekly Standard, a conservative magazine that closed recently. A list of these articles was compiled by a liberal advocacy group Alliance for Justice (AFJ) and distributed to news publications last week. In an article in the Standard in 1996, Rao wrote critically about two African American scholars and said they “position themselves above the corporate hype. Race may be a hot, money-making issue, but even … (one of the two men)

Bimal Patel BAFT.org photo

Aditya Bamzai (Phot credit:virginia.edu

tary, have left the Trump administration.

in nuclear fuel materials for US naval reactors.

Baranwal holds the post of Director, Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) initiative.

A Yale graduate, Bamzai teaches and writes about civil procedure, administrative law, federal courts, national security law and computer crime.

If confirmed by the Senate, she will be heading the powerful Office of Nuclear Energy. She will also be responsible for the department’s nuclear technology research and the development and management of the department’s nuclear technology infrastructure. Previously, Baranwal served as director of the Technology Development and Application at Westinghouse and was a manager in Materials Technology at Bechtel Bettis, where she led research and development

He has earlier served as a law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia of the US Supreme Court and to Judge Jeffrey Sutton of the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Before entering the academy, Bamzai served as an attorney-adviser in the Office of legal counsel of the US Department of Justice, and as an appellate attorney in both private practice and for the National Security Division of the justice department.

Patel previously served as senior advisor to Director Jeremiah O Norton on the Board of Directors of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. He also served as an adjunct associate professor at Stanford University, teaching an undergraduate course on banking regulation.

For more diaspora stories Visit us online - voiceofasia.news

Neomi Rao. Facebook photo. seems to realize that it can be talked to death”. In a 1994 article in the Yale Herald, Rao wrote that while men accused of raping a drunk woman must be prosecuted, “a good way to avoid a potential date rape is to stay reasonably sober.” “And if she drinks to the point where she can no longer choose, well, getting to that point was part of her choice,” Rao wrote. “Implying that a drunk woman has no control of her actions, but that a drunk man does strips women of all moral responsibility.” Also in the Yale Herald, she wrote in 1994 while commenting on a rift between LGTB groups on the campus, that “Trendy political movements have only recently added sexuality to the standard checklist of traits requiring tolerance.” AFJ president Nan Aron has questioned Rao’s nomination to the DC circuit saying it is “second in importance only to the U.S. Supreme Court (and the nomination) appears to be entirely consistent with this administration’s stated goal of using the justice system to eviscerate a whole host of le-

gal protections for Americans”. But the department of justice has defended Rao, saying she was being “intentionally provocative” in those writing. “Neomi Rao is a renowned constitutional and administrative law expert. That is why the President nominated her to the DC Circuit. The views she expressed a quarter century ago as a college student writing for her student newspaper were intentionally provocative, designed to raise questions and push back against liberal elitism that dominated her campus at the time,” a spokesperson told BuzzFeed. “More than two decades later, her views can be found in her numerous academic articles and speeches. We are confident Ms Rao will make an exemplary judge on the DC Circuit,” the spokesperson added. But the controversial college writings can cause trouble. One of Trump’s judicial nominees was forced to withdraw his nomination last year over an article written by him in college. COURTESY: Times

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Patel currently serves as deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for the Financial Stability Oversight Council. Prior to joining the United States Department of the Treasury, Patel was a partner and head of the Financial Advisory and Regulation practice in Washington, DC, office of O'Melveny and Myers LLP, the White House said.

disappearance, if you know of his current whereabouts, or if you have any information concerning Mahabir’s disappearance; call the Harris County Sheriff’s Office at (713) 7557427.

by Yashwant Raj (HT).

Questions were raised if she would be re-nominated in the aftermath of the controversial writings that had surfaced since.

So far, Trump has nominated or appointed more than three dozen Indian-Americans in key positions.

shirt, blue jeans and gray shoes with blue tips. He is bald on the top of his head, but has gray hair on the sides and back. Mahabir does have some scars on his arms. If you have seen Mahabir Paul since his reported

College writings catch up with Donald Trump’s Indian-American judge nominee Neomi Rao

Rao, who is currently serving as Trump’s deregulation czar in the Office of Management and Budget, was nominated to replace Brett Kavanaugh on the DC court of appeals in November last year but her nomination with hundreds of others expired with the last Congress.

The nomination of Baranwal, Bamzai and Patel was sent to the Senate Wednesday.

Nikki Haley, the first cabinet ranking Indian-American and Raj Shah, the first IndianAmerican deputy Press Secre-

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VOICE OF ASIA 8

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

40 Universities honor Mahamahopadhyaya Swami Bhadreshdasji at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Scientific Convention Center, Lucknow

Indo Americans in the 2019 Houston Marathon

21st century Bhashyakar, Bhadreshdas Swamiji, is awarded the title of ‘Acharya Pravar’ by Uttar Pradesh State and ‘Excellence in Philosophy’ by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow.

Photo of Indo American participants in 2019 Houston Half Marathon. Left to Right – Chintan Mehta. Ramesh Anand, Zarina Anand, Sesh Bala, Pankaj Desai, Shilpi Desai, Jui Jagad, Shirish Boradia, Kinner Patel, Atul Desai. Amit Desai not in the photo was also part of this group. In 2019, Sesh Bala completed his 16th Houston Half Marathon, and Pankaj Desai his 11th.

abasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University gathers more than 40 Universities at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Scientific Convention Center, Lucknow on 16 January, 2019 to felicitate Mahamahopadhyaya Swami Bhadreshdasji, a sadhu and scholar of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. He was honoured with two awards – ‘Acharya Pravar’ by Uttar Pradesh State and ‘Excellence in Philosophy’ by Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, for authoring two unique contemporary Sanskrit texts: the Swaminarayan Bhashya and the Swaminarayan-Siddhant-Sudha. Throughout the history of India regions, kingdoms and states have all promoted art and literature, particularly works which preserve and promote our traditions and values.

This is not only the first novel bhashya written after 150 years following Baldev Vidyabhushan, but, after Shankaracharya’s bhashya, this is the first time in 1,200 years that a bhashya has been written by one author on all three texts of the Prasthantrayi. The revival of this tradition after many centuries is a source of great pride for us all.

pendent of and distinct to the darshans known to this date, such as Advait, Vishishtadvait, Dvait, etc. The Swaminarayan Bhashya written on the basis of Prasthanatrayi, and the Swaminarayan Siddant Sudha are both traditional and authentic scriptures. As far as I know, such an event is unforeseen in the State of Uttar Pradesh.”

Furthermore, Pujya Bhadreshdas Swami has written the ‘Swaminarayan-Siddhant-Sudha’ – a vadagrantha that offers an exposition, justification and defence of philosophical principles. For such a vadagrantha to be written by the Prasthantrayi-commentator (bhashyakar) himself is unprecedented in the history of Vedantic literature. Thus, the creation of these texts by Swami Bhadreshdasji is considered

Honourable Deputy CM Shri Dinesh Sharma Ji also felicitated Swami Bhadreshdasji and said, “This is one of the greatest event of the century, like Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya Pu. Bhadresh Swami comes in the lineage of ‘acharya’ and by honouring Pu. Bhadreshdas Swami by the title of ‘Acharya Pravar’ the Uttar Pradesh state is honoured”, he also requested BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha

OUSTON - The 47th Chevron Houston Marathon and 17th Aramco Houston Half Marathon held on Jan 20 again lived up to their reputation for being flat and fast, with 44 American athletes with running times that qualify for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials. A total of 6,930 runners finished the marathon, while 12,986 completed the half marathon on a day that saw runners brave an unseasonable start temperature of 33 degrees and 27 degrees windchill. The near freezing cold weather did not deter the runners! The sun came out bright with clear skies later at 8 AM making the cold somewhat bearable, but even at 10 AM it was just 40 degrees. A determined group of Indo Americans as well was out in open space, running and walking, and making their presence felt at the 2019 Chevron Houston Marathon. The Marathon is the largest sporting event in Houston. The Marathon starts and ends at the George R. Brown

Over 40 Universities organized a felicitation ceremony for Mahamahopadhyaya Bhadreshdas Swami of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha at the Dr. Babasahab Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Lucknow in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Dinesh Sharma. Uttar Pradesh state has always been eager in honouring the creators and promoters of such works. With this in mind, the Vice-Chancellor of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow, Dr. N.M.P. Verma, furthered this sentiment by organizing a felicitation ceremony to honour Mahamahopadhyaya Pujya Bhadreshdas Swami Ji. Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Dinesh Sharma, Vice-chancellors and other educational dignitaries joined the felicitation at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Scientific Convention Center, Lucknow. The lineage of commentaries (bhashya) on the Prasthantrayi, namely the Upanishads, the Brahmasutras, and the Bhagavad Gita, is part of India's priceless intellectual heritage. Shankaracharyaji’s bhashya, establishing the Advaita school of Vedanta, is the first of its kind to be recognized within this tradition, followed by Ramanujacharya, Madhavacharya, etc., who respectively went on to establish Vishistadvaita, Dvaita and various other schools of Vedanta philosophy. Baldev Vidyabhushan, 19th century follower of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu’s Achintyabhedabheda School of philosophy, is considered to be the last author of a bhashya on the Brahmasutras. Now, in the 21st century – inspired by HH Pramukh Swami Maharaj and blessed by HH Mahant Swami Maharaj – Bhadreshdas Swamiji has advanced this tradition by writing a commentary on the Prasthantrayi according to principles of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan.

by many scholars to be this century’s most important work in Vedanta philosophy. Bhadreshdas Swamiji and his work is acknowledged by many awards such as Mahamahopadhyay, Vedant Martand, Darshan Kesari, Abhinav Bhashyakar and Vidvat-Sarvabhauma. The Deputy Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri Dinesh Sharma, also took this opportunity to express his and the entire state’s gratitude by the ‘Acharya Pravar’ award. Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University also joined the felicitation by awarding the title of ‘Excellence in Philosophy’ to 21st century Bhashyakar for his contribution to the study of Sanskrit and Vedanta. This event also marked the first time that more than 40 prestigious universities from Uttar Pradesh gathered to join the felicitation of a Sanskrit scholar. Vice-chancellor Dr. Mahrukh Mirza of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Arabi-Farsi University presented a felicitation letter in Arabic language expressing his respect for this historical academic work. The event began with singing of the national anthem and deep pragatya. Thereafter, the vice-chancellor of BBAU, Dr. N.M.P. Verma, welcomed Deputy CM Shri Dinesh Shrama Ji, all of the vice chancellors, and invited guests in attendance. Addressing the assembly, the Chancellor of Sagar University, Shri Balvant Jani Ji said, “Bhadreshdas Swamiji is the contemporary acharya of this age. Akshar-Purushottam Darshan is a Vedic darshan inde-

to establish a university in Uttar Pradesh. The Vice chancellor of Shobhit University Kuvarshekhar Vrajendraji said, “On this occasion we declare to establish a Sanskrut faculty in our Shri Ramswaroop Memorial Univesity”. Honourable Governor Shri Ram Naik also acknowledged this historic work and sent his good will message and letter of appreciation. Swami Bhadreshdasji addressed the audience on the inspiration force behind the creation of the Prasthantrayi bhashyas, his Guru, His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj. “All this work has only been possible due to the grace of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, Guru Pramukh Swami Maharaj and Guru Mahant Swami Maharaj. I offer all the aclaims to their lotus feet,” said Bhadreshdas Swamiji. BAPS senior sadhu, Pujya Narayanmuni Swamiji gave concluding remarks in recognition of the event, “This ceremony is historical as 40 universities and the Deputy Chief Minister himself have gathered to felicitate Pu. Bhadreshdas Swami. This shows their love and respect towards educational accomplishments. This historical ceremony celebrates the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan revealed by Bhagwan Swaminarayan proclaiming that one should become aksharrup and offer upasana to Purushottam” The event concluded with the singing of the national anthem.

Convention Center in downtown. The prize money for the Full Marathon first place was $45,000 and for the Half Marathon $20,000. It is the same amount for men and women. The following are the winners and their running times. Full marathon - Men: Albert Korir of Kenya 2:10:02; Women: Biruktayit Eshetu Degefa of Ethiopia 2:23:28. Half Marathon - Men: Shura Kitata of Ethiopia 1:00:11; Women: Brigid Kosgei of Kenya 1:05:50. Many personal records were broken. The Marathon is also a charitable event; the runners and the organization raise money for many area charities. Each year the organizers make some changes. This year, the route was the same as in 2017 and 2018. The organization of flow of some 20,000 runners through a common start gate is very inefficient since it can take up to an hour for the last person to cross the start line! However, the finish line at the Convention Center was handled extremely well.

The cheering squads at the hoopla stations along the route were entertaining as usual; the spectators came bundled up and prepared. Security precautions were very visible. The organizers deserve praise for the management of such a large race. A casual scanning and observation suggested the Indian American community participation is increasing; there is room for greater presence as runners, walkers, volunteers and spectators. There were more volunteers along the route from the Indian American community seen this year than prior years. In fact, in one of the water stations, a supervisor was giving instructions to the volunteers in Hindi! The Houston Marathon has been a sell-out each year for many years. The next Houston marathon is on Jan 19, 2020. The details are at the site chevronhoustonmarathon.com. Organizations like USA Fit, Fort Bend Fit and KatyFit can help getting trained.

SOUTH ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 9

Priyanka follows Nehru-Gandhi footsteps into Indian politics

EW DELHI, India | AFP | 1/23/2019 - The great-granddaughter of India's founding father made her long-awaited political debut Wednesday, joining her brother in the fight to restore their dynasty to its past glory ahead of looming national elections.

But with national polls just months away, Priyanka has accepted a key post in the opposition Congress party led by her older brother Rahul.

Priyanka Gandhi waves as she arrives at a rally held to support party candidates during the ongoing Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections at Rae Bareli February 17, 2017. Priyanka officially entered politics January 23, 2019, ahead of a looming national election. (AFP Photo) working, will now work with me".

paigning begins in earnest. "This was long overdue... This will be a big boost for the party," said Kamal Nath, who leads a Congress government in Madhya Pradesh state.

But his political opponents have scorned the move, with one describing Priyanka as "crutches from within the family" to save Rahul from defeat.

Prashant Kishor, one of India's top political strategists, described her debut as "one of the most awaited entries in Indian politics".

"It is a shot in the arm... the catalyst that will galvanise the party and infuse fresh spirits in our veins," said Congress politician and former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu.

"I want to congratulate them. For once, they have publicly acknowledged that Rahul Gandhi has failed," said Sambit Patra, a spokesman for Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The party was obliterated in the 2014 polls by current Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party, which secured a record mandate amid widespread dissatisfaction with Congress.

Priyanka has been tasked with overseeing campaigning in the east of Uttar Pradesh state -- a must-win state in India's Hindi-speaking heartland, where the BJP currently hold a comfortable majority.

Priyanka's popularity within Congress did not extend to a serious tilt for party leadership, which went to Rahul when their mother Sonia stepped back from the helm in 2017.

Rahul, who fronted that campaign, struggled to carve out a reputation for political acumen after the landslide loss, and was further hamstrung by unflattering comparisons to the charismatic Priyanka. But the 48-year-old said he was "very happy that my sister, who is very capable and hard-

- 'Long overdue' -

Sonia -- the Italian-born widow of former premier Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991 -- led the party for 19 years and worked tirelessly to ensure her son's succession. But Priyanka's emergence into the political limelight is being seen as a moral boost by Congress stalwarts as cam-

It is also home to Modi's electorate of Varanasi -- one of the holiest cities in Hinduism -- and some see Priyanka's task of tackling the prime minister head on as symbolic. "This is a risky but bold frontal challenge and the Congress making a big statement," veteran political commentator Barkha Dutt said on Twitter. Priyanka is married to Robert Vadra, a businessman who has faced accusations of financial irregularities that he denies, describing them as politically motivated.

Wipro Limited ranked third fasting growing

ANGALORE, India | 1/23/2019 - Wipro Limited, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, has been ranked the third fastest growing global IT services brand in 2019 in a study conducted by Brand Finance, the world’s leading brand valuation firm. Wipro is also among the top 10 most valuable brands in the global IT services sector. According to Brand Finance’s IT Services annual report for 2019, which features 15 leading brands in the segment, Wipro has a total brand value of USD 4.002 billion, up 25% on year, emerging as one of the strongest brands in the category with an AA+ Brand rating. Brand Finance, in their official press release noted that Wipro’s significant investments in digital transformation capabilities, niche acquisitions, and a recent brand refresh, have propelled it to the third fastest growing brand in the segment. The report analyses the brand value and brand strength of the 5000 largest brands across 38 sectors in the world in order to arrive at a list of the world’s most valuable brands. Brand Strength is derived by bench-

marking brand-related metrics against competitors. It is then used to determine an appropriate stream of forecasted brand royalties, which is discounted to a net present value, the Brand Value. Milan Rao, President – Marketing, Innovation & Technology and Global Head – Manufacturing and Communications business, said, “We are delighted to be recognized as one of the fastest growing brands in the global IT landscape. The recognition is a testament to our rich technology heritage, sustained investments in building digital transformation capabilities, and deep domain and consulting expertise. These have helped us create lasting value and emerge as a trusted partner to our clients. As we further bolster our innovation ecosystem and capabilities for the digital era, we are confident that our brand value will go from strength and strength.” In May 2017, Wipro unveiled a new brand identity, which reiterated its position as a trusted digital transformation partner to clients, delivering at a global scale in emerging technologies like digital, cloud, cybersecurity, hyper-automation, analytics and product engineering. With increasingly diversified capa-

bilities across the globe, Wipro is committed to developing a global innovation ecosystem. The new brand identity underscores Wipro's philosophy of bringing together insights across industries and technologies to maximise business value for our clients. Over the past several months, Wipro has launched a slew of campaigns - #BetheNew and Outperform. with Wipro along with its marquee customers to showcase success stories and demonstrate how its offerings can provide clients with a competitive edge in an increasingly digitalized world. In September 2018, the company organized the 13th edition of its annual ‘Spirit of Wipro’ Run, which saw participation from several thousands of Wipro employees, their friends and families, alumni, customers, partners and suppliers across 125 cities in 34 countries. Last year, Wipro was recognized as a World's Most Ethical Company® by Ethisphere Institute® for the seventh consecutive year and was selected as a member of the global Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI) - 2018 for the ninth year in succession. - Business Wire

GOPIO officials brief India's President on diaspora issues Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) organized a convention in conjunction with Pravasi Bharatiya Divas in Varanasi on Jan. 19th to 21st. GOPIO Chairman Dr. Thomas Abraham and President Sunny Kulathakal met Indian President His Excellency Ram Nath Kovind on Jan, 23rd and briefed him on Indian Diaspora issues. Dr.Abraham also presented a book, Global Indian Diaspora - GOPIO Making an Impact.

Law student Khadija Siddiqui, then 23, survived the frenzied daylight attack outside her sister's school in the teeming eastern city of Lahore.

"Congress is not going to be on (the) back foot. It will be on the front foot," the opposition leader told reporters.

Members are describing her elevation as "the spark that ignites" the party, where the well-liked mother of two is being pitched as a potentially reenergising force to stave off a repeat of an election wipeout five years ago.

Pakistan court orders arrest in notorious stabbing case SLAMABAD, Pakistan | AFP | 1/23/2019 - A woman stabbed 23 times for rebuffing a romantic overture has praised Pakistan's top court for ordering the rearrest of her alleged attacker, three years after her ordeal sparked a national debate on violence against women.

Priyanka Gandhi is one of the younger scions of the powerful Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, which has dominated Indian politics since independence. The 47-year-old -- whose father, grandmother and greatgrandfather were all prime ministers -- has rarely been seen in public, except for the rare occasions where she has campaigned for the party.

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

From l. to r.: Dr. Thomas Abraham, President Kovind and Sunny Kulathakal.

Siddiqui had named the perpetrator as Shah Hussain, a classmate whom she had rejected romantically, who was convicted handed down a seven-year prison term in mid2017. But Hussain, the son of a prominent Lahore lawyer, appealed the decision and was acquitted on all charges the following year in a provincial court, prompting uproar across the conservative and deeply patriarchal country.

Siddiqui has emerged as a women's rights crusader since she was viciously stabbed in Lahore for rejecting a romantic overture. (AFP) The supreme court's reversal comes after a tenacious campaign for justice by Siddiqui,

who has emerged as a women's rights crusader since Hussain's acquittal.

Pakistan captain Sarfraz sorry for Phehlukwayo 'black guy' comment

OHANNESBURG, South Africa | AFP | Wednesday 1/23/2019 - Pakistan captain Sarfraz Ahmed apologised on Wednesday following a controversial comment aimed at South Africa's Andile Phehlukwayo which was picked up by a stump microphone during the second one-day international in Durban on Tuesday. Sarfraz was heard making a comment in Urdu about Phehlukwayo during the South African all-rounder's match-winning partnership with Rassie van der Dussen. According to espncricinfo. com, the comment could be translated as: "Hey black guy, where's your mother sitting today? What (prayer) have you got her to say for you today?"

Sarfraz Ahmed (R) could face serious disciplinary action after appearing to be caught on broadcast stump microphones allegedly making racist comments to Andile Phehlukwayo (L) The website and South African media reported that Sarfraz

could face disciplinary action from the International Cricket Council (ICC).

ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 10

Pope Francis announces Japan visit in November

N BOARD THE PAPAL PLANE, Italy | AFP | 1/23/2019 - Pope Francis announced Wednesday he will visit Japan in November, becoming the first pontiff to do so since John Paul II nearly 40 years ago.

EIJING, China | AFP | Monday 1/20/2019 - China's economy grew at its slowest pace in almost three decades in 2018, losing more steam in the last quarter as it battles a massive debt pile and a US trade war, official data showed Monday.

Pope Francis has repeatedly voiced a desire to visit Japan, home to some 450,000 Roman Catholics. (AFP Photo)

Around 510,000 Protestants live in the largely Shinto Buddhist country, according to Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs.

years ago, visiting the Philippines and Sri Lanka in 2014, followed by Myanmar and Bangladesh last year.

Francis had wanted to work as a missionary there in his youth but abandoned the plan after a lung operation.

In January of last year, Francis issued a harrowing photograph taken in 1945 showing a young Japanese boy carrying his dead brother.

The pope has made two trips to Asia since his election five

The child, carried on the

boy's back, was killed when the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Nagasaki. Francis, who has often spoken of the dangers of nuclear weapons, had written on the back of the image just four words: "The fruit of war". Pope John Paul II visited Japan in 1981.

Maldives issue warning amid spike in tourist drownings

OLOMBO, Sri Lanka | AFP | 1/22/2019 Five tourists including a honeymooning couple have drowned in a single week in the Maldives, officials said, prompting a nationwide safety warning to holiday resorts in the pristine islands. Tourism officials said all resort operators in the paradise archipelago were urged Monday to keep a close eye on their clients after the spate of deaths. Strong currents caused by a north-east monsoon were blamed for the slew of drownings in the idyllic atoll nation, where such accidents are usually few and far between.

China's economy grew at slowest pace in 28 years in 2018 by Ryan Mcmorrow

"I will go to Japan in November," he said on board the Papal plane bringing him to Panama for a gathering of young Catholics. The Argentine pontiff has repeatedly voiced a desire to visit Japan, home to some 450,000 Roman Catholics, including most recently in September last year.

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

Around 1.4 million tourists visit the Maldives every year but the latest government data shows just 31 people drowned in 2017. On January 13, two Filipino newlyweds were swept to their deaths by a powerful undertow. The man got into trouble and his wife went to his aid, but both perished. Their bodies were recovered and repatriated to the Philippines, officials said. An 84-year-old Czech tourist and a 66-year-old South Korean woman died within two days of each other at a resort near the capital Male while

snorkelling. A Russian woman on a dive trip was the latest casualty on Sunday. A Pakistani holidaymaker came close to death but was plucked to safety and taken to hospital. The tourism ministry was in the process of identifying safe zones for ocean swimming and diving after the spike in drownings, officials said. The Maldives relies on tourism and visitors come for the turquoise waters and white sand beaches of the islands scattered some 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator.

China's ageing elite live golden years in style

The 6.6 percent growth comes in above the official target of around 6.5 percent and matches a forecast by analysts polled by AFP, but is down from the 6.8 percent chalked up in 2017, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). And in a sign of the struggle Beijing faces, growth in the last three months of the year clocked in at 6.4 percent, matching a low seen during the global financial crisis 10 years ago, with economists widely expecting the slowdown to deepen. "Everyone is widely concerned about the direction of the international situation where there are many variables and uncertain factors," said NBS commissioner Ning Jizhe, noting trade protectionism was in vogue. "For the world's secondlargest economy, where trade accounts for one-third of GDP, this has an impact," he said, adding "downward pressure" on the economy has increased. The slowing growth prompted Premier Li Keqiang last week to vow the government would not let the economy "fall off a cliff". Relations with top trading partner the US deteriorated sharply last year after President Donald Trump hit roughly half of Chinese imports with new tariffs in an attempt to force trade concessions. Escalating the trade war is on hold for now after President Xi Jinping and Trump agreed to a three-month ceasefire, with top negotiators set to meet in Washington at the end of this month as a March deadline for a deal looms large. "China-US economic and trade frictions do indeed affect the economy, but the impact is generally controllable," said Ning. While analysts say the standoff has dented confidence -leaving the stock markets battered and the yuan weakened -- they attribute most of the downturn to the government

The slowing growth prompted Premier Li Keqiang last week to vow the government would not let the economy "fall off a cliff". (File photo) policies to tackle growing debt, financial risk and pollution. China hit the brakes on major projects such as subway lines and motorways to keep a lid on debt last year, with infrastructure investment rising by just 3.8 percent, down from 19 percent the year before. China's exports to US and the world also fell in December, reinforcing the need for its legions of domestic consumers to fuel the economy. Fourth quarter GDP growth slowed as expected, said Lu Ting, China economist at Nomura, in a note. "But the worst is yet to come," he said. - 'Massive market' Li last week touted China's "massive market" and vowed to spur on consumption, but the data shows difficulty ahead. Overall credit growth decelerated every month last year. "The slowdown in credit growth is causing economic momentum to falter," said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics, in a note last week. Slowing disposable income growth and tighter credit has hit consumer spending with car sales falling last year for the first time in more than 20 years. Retail sales growth slowed to 9.0 percent, down from a 10.2 percent increase the previous year. In December, sales grew 8.2 percent. Output at factories and workshops ticked up 6.2 percent for the year, down from 6.6 percent in 2017. Chinese officials say they will not resort to large scale

stimulus like during the financial crisis to jolt growth, instead laying out policies like lower taxes and fees and less red tape to drive consumption. "Growth will remain under pressure in the coming months and policymakers will aim to halt the slowdown in growth, rather than try to engineer a significant pick-up in growth," said Louis Kuijs of Oxford Economics. - Reliable data? The official figures could be painting an overly rosy picture, analysts say. Economists in China and abroad have long suspected data is massaged upward, often noting that full-year gross domestic product hits Beijing's pre-set targets with suspicious regularity. "China's GDP number is not an accurate gauge of economic growth," said Raymond Yeung, economist at ANZ bank. The governor of northeastern Liaoning admitted in 2017 that the industrial province had falsified data for years. Even Li said in 2007, when he was Liaoning's top political official, that results were often "man-made" and he used his own calculations to guide provincial policymaking, according to a confidential memo released by WikiLeaks. "The NBS is part of the government... that is why it is legitimate for the outside world to worry about potential adjustment of data on the economy," said Kuijs. The US-based Conference Board, a widely respected global business think tank, said its methodology indicates growth of 4.1 percent for 2018.

Malaysian royals to pick new king after historic abdication

As China's population ages rapidly and the one-child policy left parents with only a single child to help them in their old age, the upper crust of Chinese society are spending the last years of their lives in luxury

EIJING, China | AFP | At a gated community for Chinese senior citizens, retired military personnel, film-makers and top university professors settle into a new routine: ballet lessons, weightlifting and catered dining. As China's population ages rapidly and the one-child policy left parents with only a single child to help them in their old age, the upper crust of Chinese society are spending the last years of their lives in luxury. A grand piano backlit by floor-to-ceiling windows stands in the Yanyuan community's clubhouse living room. Brightly coloured artworks commissioned from Israeli artist David Gerstein adorn public spaces. "This is our home now," said Li Ying, a 71-year-old resident who spent more than 30 years in the military. "Special circumstances notwithstanding, we are prepared to live here until the end." Though high-end institutions like Yanyuan, which boasts an on-site hospital and on-call staff, are still few in China, they are part of a growing in-

dustry as the country races to develop enough elderly care support for its exploding population of senior citizens. By 2050, one in three people in China, or 487 million people, will be over the age of 60 -â&#x20AC;&#x201C; more than the population of the United States -- according to the official Xinhua news agency. In the past, parents could count on their children for care in their twilight years under Chinese traditions of filial piety. - Ageing crisis But as China reckons with its one-child policy, which was aimed at curbing population growth, Chinese couples are now burdened with raising their own children while supporting both sets of parents -without the help of siblings. "The idea that children should take care of their ageing parents is an old logic spanning thousands of years," explained Li. "As society develops, this is changing." To tackle the country's looming ageing crisis, the Chinese government is trialing a number of policies, including pref-

erential tax policies for elderly care service providers. The push to grow China's elderly care capacity has encouraged more private companies, from real estate developers to insurance firms, to seize on business opportunities in the industry, such as nursing homes where residents enjoy five-star accommodations and professional medical support. At Yanyuan, which is run by insurance giant Taikang, residents can either buy into the company's two million yuan ($290,000) pension plan or make a down payment of one to two million yuan ($145,000 to $290,000) on top of monthly living expenses of at least 6,000 yuan ($870), not including the food budget. Publicly-run nursing homes, on the other hand, can cost less than $1,000 a month or offer subsidies to residents but are often viewed as a last resort for China's more destitute senior citizens. "Whether or not China's elderly care industry can satisfy the needs of (China's) rapidly ageing populace depends on Continued on Page 11

Sports-loving Sultan Abdullah (L), who is the new ruler of Pahang state, is expected to be elected king by Malaysia's royal families Department Of Information/AFP/File Kuala Lumpur (AFP)

UALA LUMPUR, Malaysia | AFP | 1/23/2019 - Malaysia's royal families will elect a king Thursday after the last monarch abdicated following his reported marriage to a Russian ex-beauty queen, with a sports-loving sultan in pole position for the role. The previous king, Sultan Muhammad V, stepped aside this month following just two years on the throne after reports surfaced he had married the former Miss Moscow while on medical leave. There was great shock across Malaysia at the first abdication of a monarch in the Muslimmajority country's history. His likely replacement is Sultan Abdullah of Pahang state, a keen athlete who holds a string of positions on sporting bodies, including on the council of world football governing body

FIFA. Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement where the national throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the country's nine states headed by Islamic royalty. The Islamic rulers will meet at the national palace in Kuala Lumpur in a gathering known as the Conference of Rulers to elect a king to a five-year term. Under the rotation system, Pahang is next in line to provide the monarch. Sultan Abdullah, 59, was named the state's new ruler -- replacing his elderly, ailing father -- several days after Muhammad V's abdication, in a step viewed as paving the way for him to become the next national monarch. As well as being a member of the FIFA council -- which lays out the vision for global

football -- he is president of the Asian Hockey Association and a former head of the Football Association of Malaysia. After attending school in Malaysia, the keen polo player went on to study in Britain, where he attended the Sandhurst military academy, according to a biography published on the official Bernama news agency. If he does not become king -- he could refuse the post, or be deemed unsuitable -- then the next in line for the throne is the powerful sultan of wealthy Johor state. The new king will be sworn in on January 31 in a lavish ceremony. While their role is ceremonial, Malaysia's royalty command great respect, especially from the country's Muslim Malay majority, and criticising them is strictly forbidden.

US/WORLD

VOICE OF ASIA 11

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

US confirms Taliban talks in Qatar Far out from 2020, a deep

Democratic bench takes shape

ASHINGTON | AFP | Tuesday 1/22/2019 - The United States confirmed Tuesday that its envoy is meeting in Qatar with the Taliban, seeking to negotiate an end to the Afghanistan war despite a new major attack claimed by the insurgents.

ASHINGTON | AFP | 1/23/2019 - From a young gay mayor who launched his candidacy Wednesday, to highflying female US senators and charismatic military veterans, a crowded field of Democrats jockeying to challenge Donald Trump in 2020 has already emerged -- and is sure to grow.

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative on Afghan reconciliation, met Tuesday in the Qatari capital Doha with Taliban representatives, the State Department said. "We can confirm that Special Representative Khalilzad and an interagency team are in Doha today talking with representatives of the Taliban," a State Department spokeswoman said, adding that the talks were taking place over two days. Khalilzad has sat down several times with the Taliban but it marks the first time that the United States has confirmed his meetings so directly. The meeting came even though the Taliban claimed responsibility for an attack Tuesday against an Afghan intelligence base in central Wardak province. A local official said that at least 65 people were killed, in the latest high-casualty attack in Afghanistan. A Taliban spokesman announced the meeting with Khalilzad on Monday, saying that the United States accepted an agenda of "ending the occupation of Afghanistan and preventing Afghanistan from

Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special representative on Afghan reconciliation, speaks at an event in April 2016 before his latest position (AFP Photo/Brendan Smialowski) being used against other countries in the future." President Donald Trump has ordered a halving of the 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan as he voices eagerness to end America's longest-ever war, launched in 2001 after the September 11 attacks. The Afghan-born Khalilzad, a key US policymaker under former president George W. Bush, met the Taliban after talks in Afghanistan as well as stops in key regional players China, India and Pakistan. In Kabul, Khalilzad spoke with President Ashraf Ghani and vowed that the United States would maintain security support to Afghan forces. "We agreed military pressure

is essential while we prepare to engage in negotiations for peace," he tweeted. He elaborated later: "To achieve peace, we are ready to address legitimate concerns of all Afghan sides in a process that ensures Afghan independence and sovereignty, and accounts for legitimate interests of regional states." "Urgent that fighting end. But pursuing peace still means we fight as needed," he tweeted. Khalilzad is last known to have met the Taliban last month in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates, which has jockeyed for influence versus Gulf rival Qatar on spearheading diplomacy with the Taliban.

US doing 'very well' in China trade talks: Trump

Data showing China's economy grew at its weakest pace in three decades have fuelled fears it is heading for a rocky patch, exacerbated by the pressure from US tariffs.

Deputy US Trade Representative Jeffrey Gerrish (C) has been leading the US delegation in Beijing

Trump argues that China has skewed the trading rules for decades and must agree to substantial reductions in import barriers, while boosting protection for US intellectual property.

However, the tit-for-tat tariffs between the world's two main economic powers have also hurt US economic confidence and markets are waiting anxiously for a deal. On Wednesday, Chinese Vice

President Wang Qishan told an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos that "the Chinese and US economies are mutually indispensable, so their relations must be mutually beneficial and winwin."

Kim 'satisfaction' over Trump letter as talks approach

EOUL, South Korea | AFP | 1/23/2019 - North Korea's Kim Jong Un has expressed "great satisfaction" after receiving a letter from US President Donald Trump ahead of a second summit between the two leaders, Pyongyang's state media reported Thursday.

"(Kim) spoke highly of President Trump for expressing his unusual determination and will for the settlement of the issue with a great interest in the second DPRK-US summit," KCNA said, referring to the North by its official name.

- Elizabeth Warren At 69, the US Senate's consumer protection champion from Massachusetts became the most high-profile Democrat to enter the race when she announced a presidential exploratory committee on December 31. Warren is on the party's left flank, and built her reputation by holding Wall Street accountable for its missteps. Trump has already taken aim at Warren, mocking her for her proclamation of Native American heritage.

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, pictured on January 19, 2019, is making gender and women's issues a hallmark of her campaign. AFP

- Kirsten Gillibrand This senator from New York cut her teeth on the battle to end sexual assault, especially in the military, before the #MeToo movement gained national prominence. The 52-year-old fierce Trump critic is making gender and women's issues a hallmark of her campaign. - Kamala Harris -

Senator Kamala Harris(rt). AFP

The daughter of an Indian immigrant medical researcher mother and Jamaican economist father, Harris, 54, began her career as a district attorney in San Francisco before serving as California's attorney general.

China "wants to make a deal," he said at the White House. "We're doing very well in the negotiations."

The letter was handed to Kim by one of his right-hand men, vice Chairman Kim Yong Chol, who met Trump at the White House last week as the two countries seek a denuclearisation accord that could ease decades of hostility.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, pictured on January 21, 2019, is on the Democratic Party's left flank. AFP

Here are the first politicos to enter the presidential race, 21 months before the election.

The barrier-breaking senator from California who aspires to be the nation's first black female and Indian-American president announced her candidacy this week on a day honoring slain civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr.

ASHINGTON, AFP | 1/23/2019 US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Washington is doing "very well" in trade talks with China and that Beijing is keen to strike a deal ending their trade war.

Kim is making "good technical preparations" for the meeting, the official KCNA news agency said, in the isolated nation's first comments on the talks scheduled for next month.

All told it will likely be the largest and most diverse coterie of candidates ever, with the potential for dozens of current and former lawmakers, governors, mayors, and businessmen to throw their hat in the ultimate political ring.

- Julian Castro A cabinet member in the Obama era and grandson of a Mexican immigrant, Castro announced his candidacy in English and Spanish on January 12 in the heat of debate on immigration and border security. At 44, the former mayor of San Antonio, Texas hopes to become the nation's first Hispanic president. - Tulsi Gabbard At just 37, this congresswoman from Hawaii would be the first Hindu president if elected. A supporter of liberal Bernie Sanders in the 2016 race, military veteran Gabbard was criticized for meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad during that country's civil war, and for anti-gay positions that she has since retracted and apologized for. - Pete Buttigieg Nine months younger than Gabbard is the South Bend, Indiana mayor who joined the race Wednesday, unveiling a resolutely future-looking and optimistic message to counter Trump's darker vision.

The pair first met in June in Singapore, where they signed a vaguely worded document in which Kim pledged to work toward the "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula" AFP Photo. more details. However, a Vietnamese government source told AFP "logistical preparations" were under way to host the encounter, most likely in the capital Hanoi or coastal city of Danang. The White House has confirmed the summit will go ahead in February.

The strongman said North Korea will "believe in the positive way of thinking of President Trump" as the countries advance "step by step" towards their goals, the agency added.

The pair first met in June in Singapore, where they signed a vaguely worded document in which Kim pledged to work toward the "denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula".

On Saturday, Trump said a location for the summit has been decided, without giving

But progress stalled soon afterward as Pyongyang and Washington -- which stations

28,500 troops in South Korea -- disagree over what that means. The United States expects Pyongyang to give up its nuclear arsenal, doggedly built by the Kim dynasty despite sanctions and nationwide famines. Kim, whose family has brutally ruled North Korea for three generations, is seeking guarantees of the regime's survival as well as relief from biting UN sanctions. Analysts say that a second summit has to make tangible progress on the issue of Pyongyang's nuclear weapons if it is to avoid being dismissed as "reality TV".

A US Navy veteran who put his mayoral duties on hold to serve in Afghanistan, Buttigieg

Julian Castro, pictured in 2016, is a former Obama cabinet member and was a mayor of San Antonio, Texas. AFP would become the first openly gay nominee of any major party. - Richard Ojeda This tattooed, blunt-talking retired US Army paratrooper rose to prominence last year during his unsuccessful bid for a US congressional seat deep in Trump country. Ojeda voted for Trump in 2016 but feels the president has failed to meet his economic promises. He seeks to return the Democratic Party to its roots as a champion of working class Americans. - Andrew Yang This 44-year-old tech entrepreneur launched his campaign with little fanfare in late 2017, warning against the dangers that automation presents to US workers. He has advocated for a form of universal basic income as a way to reduce inequality.

- John Delaney A wealthy businessman who served three terms in Congress, Delaney was the earliest Democrat to officially launch a bid, back in July 2017. He has crisscrossed the early-voting state of Iowa seeking to boost his name recognition. - Waiting in the wings Several big Democratic guns have yet to commit, including former vice president Joe Biden and senators Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, Amy Klobuchar and Sherrod Brown. Former congressman Beto O'Rourke is considering a run, as are billionaire New York ex-mayor Michael Bloomberg and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Current and former governors are in the mix too: Washington's Jay Inslee, John Hickenlooper of Colorado, Steve Bullock of Montana and Virginia's Terry McAuliffe.

China's ageing elite... Continued from Page 10 who is paying for it," says Chen Youhua, a professor at Nanjing University who has studied China's elderly care industry. If it's paid for privately, there could be an overabundance of facilities and beds, but "if it's the government or society who pays... then the current elderly care services industry cannot satisfy such needs", he added. - Not alone Some industry experts are wary that private firms will focus on providing lavish retirement villages for long-term residency, rather than creating

last-mile nursing homes for those who cannot take care of themselves Vivian Lou, an associate professor at the University of Hong Kong, who studies longterm care suggested healthy 60-year olds could enter such villages for seniors, and remain there for 20 years, during which time no one else could take their spot. "This then becomes a housing solution," she explained. Still, for residents at Yanyuan, socialising with peers -and simply not being alone -- is one of the greatest benefits of staying in the retirement community.

In the past, the entire family lived together, "joyous and harmonious," said Ge Ming, who heads operations at Yanyuan. "But over the course of urbanisation, the (family) structure has changed". Young workers from all over China migrate from rural areas in search of higher wages and work opportunities -- they are no longer home to care for their parents or grandparents. For China's ageing elite, many of whom already live in the major cities, their children may be living overseas or simply too busy building their own high-powered careers to look after relatives.

TRAVEL

VOICE OF ASIA 12

Why you should never post a photo of your boarding pass on social media

Instagram star known as 'Bikini Hiker' dies of hypothermia after falling off mountain by Andrea Romano

by Andrea Romano

AIPEI, Taiwan - A social media star famous for taking photos on top of mountains in a bikini has died after a tragic fall.

ake a look at your boarding pass. Notice anything in particular? Probably just a bunch of numbers and letters that you have no idea what they mean.

According to Newsweek, Gigi Wu, also known as the “Bikini Hiker” or “Bikini Climber,” depending on translation, was famous for her stunning photos on social media. Wu would climb to tops of mountainous peaks and document her adventures in an unconventional way: always appearing in her photos in a bikini. On Saturday, however, Wu was found dead by rescue workers after falling about 65 feet into a valley near Mabolasi Mountain in Taiwan’s Yushan National Park, Newsweek reported. She had been on a solo hike for eight days, according to Buzzfeed News. Wu had contacted friends

All those numbers and letters on a boarding pass are there for a reason. Every little number group is there to give airlines data about you. But how do you know if these numbers are secure from people you'd like to hide your personal information from? You might be shocked by the answer. Gigi Wu (Facebook) via satellite phone on Jan. 19 just after her fall. This was the last contact she had with anyone before her death. Workers found her body close to where her distress beacon was activated, around 5,577 feet above

sea level. Wu usually hiked to the top of peaks in normal hiking gear and then changed into a bikini when she reached the top. -Travel + Leisure

New York hotels offer free rooms to furloughed US govt workers

EW YORK | AFP Federal workers affected by the partial US government shutdown may request a free New York hotel room if their situation is dire, a local trade group said.

through the broader US economy, with the deadlock grinding on with no end in sight.

The shutdown began on December 22 after President Donald Trump rejected a budget bill because it did not contain funding for the wall he wants to build along the US-Mexico border.

So "in a show of goodwill to thousands of workers affected by the government shutdown, the Hotel Association of New York City announced it will provide free hotel rooms to furloughed federal workers who need to travel to New York City for personal emergencies during the shutdown," the group said in a statement.

Ripples are starting to widen

Federal workers who might

EU urges crackdown on 'golden visas and passports'

need a free hotel stay were asked to send an email explaining their circumstances with subject "GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN ROOM APPLICATION" to sandy@hanyc. org. "Whether it's a family situation or a health issue that requires people to travel to the city, we will do what we can to provide accommodations on a limited basis to those in dire need," said Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO, Hotel Association of New York City.

According to Popular Mechanics, if you notice a six-digit code on your boarding pass, you might want to take some extra steps to protect your information. Noam Rotem, a security researcher based in Israel, told Popular Mechanics that hackers can find any passenger's passenger name record (PNR) using the six-digit codes printed on boarding passes and luggage tickets. Granted, Noam

was proving his theory on the online booking system Amadeus and not on any other popular booking sites. But the theory remains the same, no matter where you book. “Just by guessing PNRs I was able to access personal data and change contact details of customers," Rotem told Popular Mechanics. “This was confirmed by both El Al's VP and the Amadeus team.” Getting access to PNR codes would allow a hacker to do all kinds of things with your personal information, including stealing frequent flier miles, changing seats and meals, or even changing a customer’s email and phone number to cancel or change a flight reservation with customer service, according to Safety Detective.

But it’s not just Amadeus customers that are vulnerable, according to Rotem. These outdated systems remain unprotected in today’s increasingly stronger and faster technology. Plus, some passengers unaware of the six-digit codes could be sharing photos of their boarding passes on social media, opening themselves up to identity theft. In the meantime, Amadeus has come up with a solution to the PNR glitch by adding “a Recovery PTR to prevent a malicious user from accessing travelers’ personal information,” but if you truly want to protect yourself, make sure you keep that six-digit code as secret and safe as you would your credit card or Social Security card number. -Travel + Leisure

Tel Aviv to hike tax for shortterm rent providers like Airbnb

ERUSALEM, Undefined | AFP | Monday 1/21/2019 - Israel's economic capital Tel Aviv on Monday announced plans to raise taxes for short-term accommodation provided by services like Airbnb to match an increase in long-term rentals. "The aim is to create an equilibrium" between tourist ac-

commodation and long-term rentals, the Tel Aviv municipality said in a statement. Several cities, including Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam, also have taken steps to regulate services like Airbnb which offer short-term accommodation to tourists mainly. In

October,

Ireland

an-

nounced plans to rein in popular short-term rental services such as Airbnb -- whose European headquarters are in Dublin -- in a bid to address a historic housing shortage. The Tel Aviv municipality did not say by how much it would increase property taxes or when the new policy would take effect.

Indian American Nurses Legacy Award (IANLA) Presented by

by Lachlan CARMICHAEL

RUSSELS, Belgium | AFP | 1/23/2019 The European Union urged member countries on Wednesday to crack down on schemes granting "golden visas and passports" to foreign investors, warning they can bring corruption and money laundering in their wake. The European Commission, the EU executive arm, published a report urging members to curb the practice of giving foreigners -- often Chinese, Russians and Americans -- residency or citizenship in return for investment. "We speak about opening (a) golden gate to Europe for some privileged people who have the money to pay for citizenship or residence," EU justice commissioner Vera Jourova said at the report's publication. "We are looking at it with concern," Jourova told a news conference in Brussels. The Czech commissioner said investor residence and citizens schemes offering "golden visas and golden passports" should not be a weak link in EU efforts to curb corruption and money laundering. The report said wealthy candidates for residency or citizenship do face insufficient security and background checks to prevent them from posing a security risk, laundering money or evading taxes. EU countries set conditions for granting and withdrawing nationality but must do so with respect for EU law, enforced by the European Court of Justice, officials said. The bloc's laws are important as a citizen of one EU country has the right to travel to others, exercise economic activities within the 28-nation internal market, and vote in local and European elections. The Commission complained that Bulgaria, Cyprus and Malta run schemes granting foreign investors citizenship for anywhere between 500,000 euros and two million euros. And unlike foreigners who follow the usual naturalisation route, such investors are not required to live in those EU countries or show "genuine connections" to them.

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

Celebrating and honoring the services of the 1st generation Indian immigrant nurses who came to North America from 1965-1975.

Supported by :

Indian American Nurses Association of Greater Houston (IANAGH) National Association of Indian Nurses of American (NAINA)

“Save the Date” October 26, 2019

Your best opportunity to leave a legacy for generations to come. Be a part of the Commemorative Publication. A great opportunity for sponsors & advertisers to be recognized. We request every Nurse who came till the end of 1975 to register.

(Need not be present to receive award) Send form to: nursesawards@gmail.com or register online at voiceofasia.news For more information, please call: 713-774-5140. Submit form by January 31, 2019.

Please forward this form to all your nurses contacts. Name: ______________________________________________________________________________ Email:_____________________________________________ Phone No: ________________________ Place of Arrival: _____________________________________ Date of Arrival:_____________________

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Fort Bend View

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

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

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Scarcella seeks re-election as Stafford mayor

ORT BEND - Leonard Scarcella has announced his candidacy for re-election as mayor of the City of Stafford this May. “As one of the longest continuously serving mayors in the nation, I’ve led this city on a storied journey of incredible achievements, of which most others cities would dare not dream. Noteworthy in my many decades of long accomplishments has been the involvement of citizens of all races and cultures in the truly American pursuit of working, playing, learning and worshipping together to form a better city,” he said. “So what’s on the horizon? At its last meeting of 2018, city council approved the building of a new two-story police annex and a new fire station/ administration complex, both of which should be completed this year. Supplement that with the much celebrated Grid, a mixed use, multi-purpose revitalization complex being erected on the former Texas Instruments property. The developer has advertised it—which induced the city to commit $18 million to the endeavor—as

•

www.voiceofasia.news

Abdulhameed seeks Pct. 3 Constable post

Overall, these efforts are part of a larger, successful strategy that has been in place for more than a decade to grow and solidify Sugar Land’s reputation as an economic powerhouse and destination location - as well as increase the city’s financial resilience through the development of unique destination venues. The project is planned to be located on cityowned property adjacent to the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land and plaza near U.S. Highway 59 and University Boulevard. The city has a long history of partnering with industry leaders to develop destination venues, as it did on the first two venues recommended by the citizen-led Visioning Task Force in 2007 and confirmed

Tel: 713-774-5140

Houston Methodist SL Hospital is now using Heartflow advanced 3D imaging to better diagnose coronary artery disease

UGAR LAND - Patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) are benefiting from an advanced technology available at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital that can accurately model blood flow to the heart and reduce the need for invasive procedures.

Mayor Leonard Scarcella a project that will transform Stafford and make the city into a point of destination. It will be difficult to achieve those lofty goals, but we all very much look forward to the improvements and enhancements it will bring. “Then there is the Revitalization of the FM1092 Corridor project moving forward in conjunction with TxDoT which will materially elevate the appearance, mobility and commercialization of this span of highway modeled after Westheimer in Houston,” he said.

ohammed Nehad Abdulhameed is running for Fort Bend County Constable Office Precinct 3. The Precinct 3 Constable Office covers the entire Sugar Creek neighborhood community. Abdulhameed supports proactive policing for Sugar Creek. He has five years of law enforcement, a Texas resident of 21 years and a has been living in Fort Bend for three of those years. A kickoff party will be held at La Finca Mexican Restaurant, 23930 Westheimer Pkwy, Katy at 7 p.m. on Feb. 1. RSVP to mo@nehad2020.com.

City to request partner for new hotel, convention/conference center project UGAR LAND, TX - The city of Sugar Land released a Request for Statements of Interest (RSI) on Jan. 18 to begin selection of a private-sector partner for a future hotel and convention (conference) center project - the next step in fulfilling the vision for five specific destination venues outlined by a citizen-led task force in 2007.

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by voters in 2008 - Constellation Field, home of the Atlantic League Champion Skeeters, and Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land. Similar to these two successful projects, no general property tax dollars will support the development or operation of the new hotel and convention (conference) center project.

the creation of an exciting office and entertainment-centric, mixed-use regional activity center, the city continues to expand its economy, adding jobs and generating new revenue that ensures Sugar Land is able to fund the high level of services expected by residents while maintaining one of the state’s lowest tax rates.

The hotel and convention (conference) center project is seen as a key component of an arts and entertainment district and is intended to complement the Smart Financial Centre, a 6,400-seat live entertainment venue that has annually attracted more than 350,000 paid attendees during its first two years of operation, earning continued global recognition as one of the world’s top 10 theatre venues and providing a projected annual benefit to the community of $26.1 million over 30 years.

“Several years ago, citizens developed a vision for the future that included this project, and we are now at the brink of adding an asset that will improve the quality of life and financial well-being of our city,” said Director of Economic Development Elizabeth Huff.

The proposed hotel and convention (conference) center site is also located in a major primary employment center that includes Texas Instruments, Fluor Corporation’s planned new campus and the University of Houston - Sugar Land. With these commitments for

“Just like the other projects we are continuing to pursue and support - such as a world-class light industrial business park on the former Central Unit prison property and the transformation of the Imperial Sugar refinery site into a thriving regional activity center - we fully expect this venue will spur additional commercial and retail growth that further establishes Sugar Land as one of the strongest economies in the region.” Consistent with the established practice of protecting

Serial burglar caught on camera breaking into multiple vehicles in Cinco Ranch

ATY - Fort Bend County sheriff’s deputies are investigating what appears to be a series of car break-ins in Katy. Neighbors in the Cinco Ranch area woke up Sunday morning to several broken car windows. The person caught on surveillance video was seen scoping the inside of multiple cars on this block. Residents are now determined to spread the word and hopefully get more information out to investigators. Fort Bend County sheriff’s deputies said there have been several reports of break-ins over the weekend in Stafford. They are investigating. - KPRC

Video shows the man walking from one car to another around 2 a.m. Sunday. (Image: KPRC)

The HeartFlow Analysis uses data gathered during a routine CT scan to create a computerized, color-coded, 3D model of the patient’s heart and associated blood flow, giving physicians a detailed look at both the location of artery blockages and their exact impact on the heart. In the past, patients with chest pain were given a cardiac stress test followed by a traditional CT scan that might indicate coronary artery disease but could not conclusively prove that there were significant blockages. That required an invasive angiogram, in which a catheter is threaded through the groin to administer a contrast agent that can be seen by X-ray, allowing physicians to observe the patient’s blood flow. “The new imaging technology is extremely valuable in helping us to more accurately diagnose patients with clinically significant coronary artery disease and thus determine the most appropriate course of treatment based on their unique needs,” said Eric Longo, M.D., board-certified radiologist and Chair of the Department of Radiology at Houston Methodist Sugar Land. “With the HeartFlow 3D analysis, we can examine each point in the coronary anatomy to identify and locate lesions that are likely to cause ischemia, or inadequate blood flow, without the need for an invasive diagnostic coronary angiogram.” the city’s business and financial interests, the city envisions the selection of a private development partner who will bring financial resources and construction expertise to build and operate a 350-room nationally branded hotel and a convention (conference) center of up to 50,000 square feet as recommended by a previously completed feasibility study.

The Heartflow Analysis provides physicians with a color-coded 3D model to better understand how a blockage may impact blood flow. Image not representative of actual product. (Photo: HMSLH)

Coronary heart disease is the most common form of heart disease in the U.S., affecting more than 15 million Americans. Blockages in the blood vessels that supply blood to the heart increase a patient’s risk of heart attack, and common symptoms include chest pain or tightness, shortness of breath and heart palpitations. A recent study of nearly 400,000 patients at 650 U.S. hospitals found that 55 percent of patients who underwent an invasive angiogram had nonobstructive coronary artery disease, meaning there were no Adjacent structured parking is anticipated, as well as the reservation of space within the overall site for a community cultural arts venue - the fifth venue recommended by citizens in 2007. Any city support of the project will be limited to capital investment from project-generated revenues and funds re-

significant blockages requiring intervention. “HeartFlow 3D analysis aims to decrease unnecessary invasive diagnostic angiograms so other forms of treatment in patients with non-obstructive coronary artery disease can be expedited and the inherent risks associated with conventional angiography may be avoided,” said Dr. Longo. To learn more about Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, visit houstonmethodist.org/sugarland or our Facebook page at fb.com/methodistsugarland for the latest news, events and information.

stricted by state law for tourism and economic development purposes - further offsetting the demand on property taxes for residents through the resulting economic growth. For more information on this project or to download the RSI, visit www.sugarlandtx.gov/hotelcc. The deadline for submittals is March 15 at noon.

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Shyamalan’s ‘Glass’ dominates N. American box office

Oscars: the show must go on... without a host? Oscars night is Hollywood’s biggest night -- this year, it looks like it will go forward without a host after comedian Kevin Hart pulled out of the gig. Samuel L Jackson, M. Night Shyamalan, Sarah Paulson and James McAvoy pose on arrival for the European premiere of Glass. (Photo © Tolga AKMEN / AFP)

he Universal film, a sequel to Shyamalan’s “Unbreakable” (2000) and “Split” (2016), stars Bruce Willis as the superhuman known as “The Overseer” locked in a psychiatric ward with nemesis and mass murderer Samuel L. Jackson, AKA “Mr. Glass.” Its estimated three-day take -- at the start of the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in the US -- saw it vault past the previous weekend’s leader, “The Upside” from STX Films, which took in $15.7 million for second spot. “The Upside” features Bryan Cranston as a wealthy quadriplegic who hires

ex-convict Kevin Hart as his caretaker. Critics have called the script, a remake of a 2011 French film, “corny” but praised the two lead actors. In third was Warner Bros.’s superhero film “Aquaman,” down one spot from last weekend, with a take of $10.3 million. The film, starring Jason Momoa as the Atlantean king, has generated more than $1 billion in box office revenues worldwide. Fourth spot went to a surprise entry -- anime film “Dragon Ball Super: Broly” from Funimation Films, with $9 million. The fantasy martial arts movie is the 20th “Dragon Ball” film and appears to be having one of the

best showings of any in the series. And in fifth was “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” still performing well in its sixth week out at $7.3 million. The Sony movie won the Best Animated Movie award at the recent Golden Globe ceremony. Rounding out the weekend’s top 10 were: “A Dog’s Way Home” ($7.1 million) “Escape Room” ($5.3 million) “Mary Poppins Returns” ($5.2 million) “Bumblebee” ($4.7 million) -AFP

by Jocelyne Zablit

OS ANGELES | AFP | Saturday 1/19/2019 - Hollywood’s biggest night -- the Oscars -is set to take place next month without a host for the first time in 30 years, after comedian Kevin Hart pulled out of the gig and no suitable replacement was found. Though organizers have yet to confirm the plans, entertainment insiders say the show’s producers are forging ahead with preparations for the 91st Academy Awards on February 24 with no emcee. If all goes ahead, it would be the first ceremony without a host since the 1989 gala -- one widely seen as one of the most embarrassing ever, featuring an infamous duet between actor Rob Lowe and... Snow White. As gala organizers struggle to overcome a steady decline in viewership, many say the failure to find a host is actually good news.

‘Total Dhamaal’: The must-see trailer

“It’s a blessing in disguise,” Tim Gray, awards editor at entertainment magazine Variety, told AFP. “People have been saying for years that the format -- the same since 1953 -- needs to change and they’re trying

to cut down on running time. So personally, I think it’s a great idea not to have a host.” Hart, who is currently starring opposite Bryan Cranston in “The Upside,” was named to host the Oscars in early December. But the backlash was swift -- homophobic tweets he made several years ago reemerged, prompting an outcry on social media, and he withdrew just a few days later. “I have made the choice to step down from hosting this year’s Oscar’s (sic)....this is because I do not want to be a distraction on a night that should be celebrated by so many amazing talented artists,” he tweeted. “I sincerely apologize to the LGBTQ community for my insensitive words from my past.” So why can’t the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences find someone else? The previous two shows have been hosted by late night funnyman Jimmy Kimmel. Comedian Chris Rock emceed in 2005 and 2016 and TV talk show host Ellen DeGeneres hosted in 2007 and 2014.

First Thai cave rescue film due out on mission anniversary by Joe Freeman

ANGKOK, Thailand | AFP | A Thai-born director who took just weeks to shoot the first film about the dramatic cave rescue of the “Wild Boars” football team says his focus is on authenticity and the mission’s “unsung” heroes, with book publishers and Hollywood studios jostling to make their versions of the saga. Total Dhamal trailer poster: Apart from Ajay Devgn and Madhuri Dixit, Total Dhamaal will also see Anil Kapoor, Arshad Warsi, Riteish Deshmukh, Johnny Lever, Javed Jaffery and Sanjay Mishra in important roles.

EW DELHI - Total Dhamaal trailer has Ajay Devgn, Madhuri Dixit, Anil Kapoor are caught in a jungle of weird characters The first trailer for Total Dhamaal is out and it is one big, chaotic ride in CGI settings with CGI animals. The film, starring Ajay Devgn, Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit, Arshad Warsi, Javed Jaffery and Jackie Shroff, is the third part in the comedy franchise. The trailer begins with Manoj Pah-

wa’s character declaring in death that he has hidden Rs 50 crore somewhere. The characters then all form tiny teams and set out for an adventure to find the hidden treasure. On their way, they meet several CGI animals. Johnny Lever makes an aeroplane out of an auto, Arshad gets trapped in quicksand, a tiger attacks Madhuri and Anil and Ajay is irritated by a GPS system. The trailer is extremely loud and goes all out to bring in the laughs. The CGI and visual effects are shoddy

and comical but the performances are along the same vein of what we have previously seen in the franchise.

Tom Waller says “The Cave”, which is aiming for Thai release for the July anniversary of the operation, will be a “genuine” retelling of the gripping mission to extract the 12 boys and their coach from the waterlogged Tham Luang cave. Its cast features more than a dozen of the real-life rescue heroes as well as extras such as the cooks who provided food round-the-clock food as officials and the world’s media massed at the

cave entrance. The “Wild Boars” spent more than a fortnight trapped in the dark before divers rescued them in an mission of unprecedented complexity -- diving the boys out through twisting passageways while they were heavily sedated. Waller, a Thai citizen with an Irish father and whose work includes “The Last Executioner”, said he did not immediately think he would take on the project despite its real-life dramatic arc. “I thought it was going to be just a magnet for vultures who wanted to cash-in, A lot of people just wanted to buy life rights or exclusivity, and waving a contract at you and not really focusing on the story before giving you a big lump of cash,” said Warny.

Total Dhamaal is the third in“That was something Tom didn’t stallment of successful franchise do.” Dhamaal which originally starred Arshad Warsi, Javed Jaffrey and RitSRI SHIRDI SAI BABA KRIPA eish Deshmukh. It also stars Madhuri SRI DURGA MATHA ASTROLOGER Dixit Nene, Anil Kapoor and Boman Irani.

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The IRS will accept tax returns even if the partial government shutdown continues, and you can file as early as January 28 • Tax Day 2019 is Monday, April 15. • Even if the partial government shutdown continues, the IRS says it will accept and provide refunds to taxpayers starting January 28. • You can't file your taxes until you receive your W-2 form from your employer, which must be filed and postmarked on or before January 31. by Hillary Hoffower

espite the partial government shutdown, the IRS plans to accept returns and provide refunds to taxpayers as scheduled.

• Name, address, Social Se-

his will be first year taxpayers will see how the tax law passed in December 2017 will affect their federal returns. The most significant changes are to the standard deduction, the state and local tax (SALT) deduction, and the child tax credit. Bigger standard deduction: The standard deduction will nearly double for every filer from 2017: $12,000 for single and married taxpayers filing separately, up from $6,350; $18,000 for heads of households, up from $9,350; and $24,000 for married couples filing jointly, up from $12,700.

Employers must file and postmark W-2 forms by January 31. (Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) curity number, and phone number • Your employer's name, address, and phone number • Dates you worked for your employer • An estimate of your paid wages and federal income tax withheld during 2018

If you still don't have your W-2 by April 15, you can use the W-2 substitute, Form 4852, and estimate your wages and withheld taxes. Note that the IRS could delay your refund while verifying the information. You can also file for a sixmonth extension using the IRS Free File. If you receive your W-2 af-

ter filing and the information is different than what you claimed, you'll need to file an amended tax return using Form 1040X. Once you file your taxes, you should receive your tax refund within 21 days of filing. Courtesy:Business Insider,

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3 big changes this year

More credit for children: Another substantial change is the doubling of the child tax credit to $2,000 per child from $1,000. Taxpayers also can claim a new $500 credit for adult dependents. These credits phase out when a married couple’s income exceeds $400,000, up from $110,000 before.

In order to submit your tax return, you first need a W-2 form, or Wage and Tax statement, from every employer you had during 2018. If you're a freelancer, you'll need 1099 forms.

If you haven't received your form by mid-February, you should first contact your employer and request a copy or ask that it be resent, according to the IRS. If that doesn't work, you can then contact the IRS at 800-829-1040. You'll need to provide the following information:

Capped SALT deduction: The new tax law limits how much you can deduct in state and local taxes to $10,000. Before, taxpayers could deduct all income, property and sales taxes they paid during the tax year to their state or municipality.

Typically, employers must file and postmark tax-related documents by January 31. Therefore, you should receive your forms by early February. But if you receive all your forms before then, you can file your tax return as early as January 28.

The deadline for filing your 2018 tax returns is Monday, April 15, 2019.

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

3 ways to get ready Gather documents: Print out a tax checklist and gather the documents as you receive them, such as W-2s from your employer and 1099s from your bank. Collect any receipts you plan to use to claim deductions for charitable contributions. Pull out old returns: Take out a copy of last year’s tax return

to help jog your memory on what credits you claimed and deductions you made. This will help you note key changes in your life that may affect your taxes, such as marriage, divorce, a new house, a new baby or retirement. Anticipate changes: Use online calculators to help you anticipate your tax situation posttax reform law. If you estimate you may owe Uncle Sam, you can still fund your IRA — until April 15 — to lower your 2018 taxable income.

Key tax dates The tax deadline for filing will return to the traditional April 15 after falling on later dates in the past three years because of weekends and local holidays. Because of state holidays, Maine and Massachusetts taxpayers have until April 17 to file their returns. Here are other important tax dates: Jan. 15: If you’re self-employed, fourth-quarter 2018 estimated tax payments are due. Jan. 31: Deadline for employers to mail out W-2 forms and for businesses to send 1099 statements, which report non-employee compensation, bank interest, dividends and distributions from a retirement plan, and help calculate your total taxable income. March 15: Heads up, incorporated gig workers! Tax returns for LLCs and S-corporations are due. April 15: This is the last day you can file your taxes electronically or postmark your paper taxes. - Courtesy: USA Today

Young Life

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A smooth opportunity! These young entrepreneurs are shaking up the food industry with a celebrity-favorite vegan smoothie

here’s a plant-based replacement for just about everything these days: milk, cheese, even burgers. But until Maya French developed her line of almond- and coconut-milk-based smoothies called Koia, there wasn’t much in the way of a tasty, vegan protein drink. “There were different vitamin blends that weren’t easy to digest, so I’d always feel bloated after drinking those, or

tantl y , did not have the mealy taste found in competing beverages. That 5-to-1 ratio of proteins to sugars particularly made Koia stand out. Koia took off thanks to Whole Foods. Convenient access to the grocery giant’s Midwest regional office led to a two-store test to see how Koia would sell. The results were so good that, in 2016, the grocer signed Koia to a nationwide distribu-

The bottles are brightly colored, styled perfectly for the Instagram generation

Two years after Koia’s launch, the drink company makes 11 varieties, flavors like coconut almond and caramel creme. The bottles are brightly colored, styled perfectly for the Instagram generation. Koia is already a popular refreshment for pop stars—it’s been spotted recently in the hands of such superstars as Ariana Grande and Charlie Puth—and has expanded nationwide distribution, including to shelves at Whole Foods, Publix and Walmart. Their next idea: Koia, the name a nod to Nicoya, Costa Rica, a town known for its long-lived people. French had been hunting for alternative post-workout shakes after becoming lactose intolerant—and wasn’t impressed with what she had found.

tion deal. That year, Koia relocated its headquarters to Los Angeles so the team could be closer to its contract manufacturer to the south. It’s paid off: Koia drove more than $25,000 in weekly retail sales this summer, becoming Whole Foods’ most profitable protein product during the period, according to Nielsen data. Koia expects retail sales to increase 150% in 2019 with the addition of two new lines. It’ll be the first full year of selling the Fruit Infusions brand, which was launched with three flavors (mango creme, strawberry crème and chocolate banana) in September 2018. And earlier this month, Koia launched a much-anticipated series of drinks that fit into the high-fat, low-carb keto diet and are sold exclusively at Whole Foods. “Koia was already a highperforming brand at Whole Foods Market that saw tripledigit growth within our stores,”

says Amy Moncrief, a global grocery category manager at Whole Foods. “Our customers were looking for high-protein, low-sugar, plant-based options, and their core line of products delivered. When Koia approached our team about a keto-friendly option that was filling a gap in the market, we worked together to create three unique flavor profiles.” - Forbes

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new study published in PLOS One reveals that prolonged cellphone use, and in particular text messaging, can cause neck pain and have an impact on soft tissue that surrounds the spine. When we receive text messages, we bend our necks to read and respond to them. This movement, which some users repeat up to several hundred times a day, can be damaging to physical health. Researchers at the University of Khon Kaen in Thailand aiming to elucidate the cause of a syndrome known as “text neck” have highlighted the risks associated with this type of posture.

Every sms that we send puts an added strain on our necks. (Photo © Delmaine Donson / IStock.com) “Smartphone users typically bend their necks slightly forward when reading and writing text messages. They also sometimes bend or twist their necks sideways and put their upper body and legs in awkward positions,” explains physiotherapist Dr. Boucaut, who also worked on the study. “These postures put uneven pressure on the soft tissues

around the spine that can lead to discomfort.” These latest findings come hot on the heels of another study by the same research team, which has also been published this month in the journal Work. When questioned, a panel of 779 smartphone-using students admitted to experiencing aches and pains: 32%

complained of neck pain, 26% had sore shoulders, 20% were bothered by their backs, and 19% by their wrists and hands. Musculoskeletal disorders were more prevalent among students who spent the most time on their smartphones (more than five hours a day), and among those who smoked and did not exercise. - Relaxnews

Around half of parents give kids vitamins to prevent a cold despite lack of evidence that they work A new national US poll has found that around half of parents still give their children vitamins and supplements to help prevent a cold despite no scientific evidence that they actually work.

arried out by researchers at University of Michigan, the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health asked a national sample of 1,119 of parents with children age 5 to 12 about which methods they used for cold prevention. Despite minimal or even a complete lack of scientific evidence, 51 percent of parents still gave their kids vitamin or supplements to prevent a cold, and even more (71 percent) believed in old-fashioned ways of cold prevention such as not going outside with wet hair or staying indoors. The most popular product given to children was vitamin C, used by 47 percent of parents, followed by zinc (15%) or Echinacea (11%). Around 25 percent of parents had also given their child a product advertised to boost their immune system.

Koia’s drinks were an immediate improvement over Raw Nature 5. “It was something that was so much easier to produce,” French says. “We took everything we knew from juice, like putting the ingredients on the front of the label because it’s a quicker decision for the consumer. We just applied it to protein drinks.” The drinks contained 18 grams of protein and 4 grams of sugar, and impor-

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Your smartphone might be the cause of your neck pain

The team at Khon Kaen filmed 30 smartphone users aged between 18 and 25, who spent up to eight hours a day on their phones. Their ergonomic risk levels were evaluated with a Rapid Upper Limb Assessment tool (RULA), which is often used to analyze the posture of desktop and portable computer users. Participants in the study had an average score of 6 points, well in excess of an acceptable score of one or two points. “The results identified issues with unsuitable neck, trunk and leg postures which lead to musculoskeletal disorders,” points out lead researcher Suwalee Namwongsa.

Maya French have an upset stomach,” says French, 28. “And there were other plant-based milks, but they didn’t have exactly what we were looking for.”

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

However, the good news is a huge 99 percent of parents included in the survey reported encouraging good personal hygiene to prevent a cold, including teaching children to wash hands frequently, teaching them not to put their hands near their mouth or nose, and discouraging them from sharing utensils or drinks with others, all methods backed up by science. Moreover, 84 percent of parents also practice good cleanliness to prevent a cold, such as keeping household surfaces clean and sanitized and cleaning toys. In addition, 87 percent of parents keep their children

Despite little or no evidence around half of parents still use vitamin supplement to prevent a cold, according to new research. (Photo © Artfoliophoto / Istock.com) away from people who are already sick, with 64 percent reporting that they ask relatives with colds not to hug or kiss their child and 60 percent skip playdates or other similar activities if children with colds are attending. “The positive news is that the majority of parents do follow evidence-based recommendations to avoid catching or spreading the common cold and other illnesses,” says Gary Freed, M.D., M.P.H., co-director of the poll and a pediatrician at Mott. “However, many parents are also using supplements and vitamins not proven to be ef-

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fective in preventing colds and that are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. These are products that may be heavily advertised and commonly used but none have been independently shown to have any definitive effect on cold prevention.”

weeks.

The researchers add that colds are caused by viruses and most often spread from one person to person, not through going outdoors with wet hair or other commonly believed causes.

“It’s important for parents to understand which cold prevention strategies are evidencebased. While some methods are very effective in preventing children from catching the cold, others have not been shown to actually make any difference.”

According to the researchers, school kids catch three to six colds a year on average, and some can last as long as two

“When children are sick with a cold, it affects the whole family,” Freed says. “Colds can lead to lack of sleep, being uncomfortable and missing school and other obligations. All parents want to keep families as healthy as possible.”

- Relaxnews

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FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

January is Tamil Heritage Month

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January is National Mentoring Month

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Hong Kong scientists claim ‘broad-spectrum’ antiviral breakthrough

ong Kong scientists claim they have made a potential breakthrough discovery in the fight against infectious diseases -a chemical that could slow the spread of deadly viral illnesses.

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A team from the University of Hong Kong described the newly discovered chemical as “highly potent in interrupting the life cycle of diverse viruses” in a study published this month in the journal Nature Communications.

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The scientists told AFP Monday that it could one day be used as a broadspectrum antiviral for a host of infectious diseases -- and even for viruses that have yet to emerge -- if it passes clinical trials. The spread in recent decades of sometimes deadly bird flu strains, the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) have underscored the need for new drugs that can work more quickly than vaccines. Broad-spectrum antivirals are seen as the holy grail because they can be used against multiple pathogens. In contrast, vaccines usually only protect against one strain, and by the time they are produced the virus may have mutated. The HKU team tested their chemical “AM580” on mice in a two-year study and found it stopped the replication of a host of flu strains -- including H1N1, H5N1 and H7N9 -- as well as the viruses that cause SARS and MERS. It also stopped the replication of the mosquito-borne Zika virus and Enterovirus 71 which causes hand, foot and mouth disease. “This is what we call a broad-spectrum antiviral drug, which means it can kill a number of viruses,” microbiologist Yuen Kwok-yung, who led the team, told AFP. “This is quite important in the early control of an epidemic.” - Starving the virus -

Broad-spectrum antivirals are seen as the holy grail because they can be used against multiple pathogens. (Photo © Satirus / Istock.com) The study is part of a growing body of research by virologists to find drugs that avoid targeting a virus directly -- something which could lead to resistance. Instead they look for compounds that interrupt the way viruses use crucial fatty acids, known as lipids, within a host’s cells to replicate. “This study is science in progress -- an early step in an exciting new direction,” said Benjamin Neuman, an expert on viruses at Texas A&M University-Texarkana who has published his own studies on starving viruses of lipids. “Viruses are totally dependent on supplies stolen from their hosts, and a number of recent studies have shown that treatments that interrupt the steady flow of lipids in an infected cell are highly effective at blocking a wide range of viruses,” he told AFP. The next step is to test the drug on a wider variety of animals, including pigs and primates, before pushing to clinical trials, a process Yuen said

could take up to eight years. The HKU team have applied for a patent in the United States. A derivative of AM580 is already being used in Japan to treat cancer, raising hopes that it will show low toxicity for humans. But Neuman warns there are drawbacks. Like many chemotherapy methods used to fight cancer, antivirals such as AM580 damage a person’s cells to starve a virus. While cells can heal, much research still needs to be done on how and when to use such techniques. “Unless the treatment is targeted very carefully, the potential for side effects would be very worrying,” he said. Densely populated Hong Kong has first-hand experience of deadly viral outbreaks. In 2003, nearly 300 people died from SARS and the city’s densely packed apartment blocks are considered hugely vulnerable to future outbreaks. - AFP

Your dental floss might be exposing you to toxic chemicals

ew US research has found that flossing your teeth -and certain other behaviors -- may increase exposure to the toxic chemicals linked with a variety of health problems.

The findings, published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology (JESEE), showed that women who flossed their teeth tended to have higher levels of a type of PFAS called PFHxS (perfluorohexanesulfonic acid) in their body compared with those who didn’t, in particular when flossing with Oral-B Glide, one of 18 flosses included in the study. In addition, all three of the Oral B Glide products included, plus three store brands, also tested positive for fluorine -- a marker of PFAS -- a find-

• Medicare is our country’s health insurance program for people age 65 or older. People younger than age 65 with certain disabilities or permanent kidney failure can also qualify for Medicare. The program helps with the cost of health care, but it doesn’t cover all medical expenses or the cost of most long-term care. • Social Security pays a monthly benefit to older Americans, workers who become disabled, and families in which a spouse or parent dies. When you retire, your Social Security payment is based on your average earnings over your working career. If you are determined to be disabled, your benefit is based on the amount of income on which you’ve paid Social Security taxes. • Supplemental Security Income (SSI) pays monthly benefits to people with limited income and resources who are disabled, blind, or age 65 or older. Some of your income and your resources are not counted when deciding whether you’re eligible for SSI. Your house and your car, for example, usually don’t count as resources. Almost 12 percent of Texans – 3.2 million people – are 65 and older and the number is growing. By 2050 that figure is expected to increase to almost 20 percent. This increase of the older adult population will likely mean an increase in the need for all types of health and human services such as health care, home care, personal care and long-term care. Texas Health and Human Services provides a range of services for older Texans that help ensure their well-being, dignity and choice. Programs also are in place to support family caregivers. Experienced HHS staff and paid contractors can help eligible older Texans access services that:

Led by Silent Spring Institute in collaboration with the Public Health Institute in Berkeley, the new study looked at blood samples taken from 178 middle-aged women to measure the levels of 11 different PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) chemicals in the body. The women, half of whom were non-Hispanic-white and the other half African-American, were also interviewed about nine behaviors that could potentially also lead to higher exposures.

Federal Programs for Older Texans

Sudhir Mathuria HEALTHLIFE 360 713-771-2900 • Create opportunities to live independently in their own homes • Provide information about state and federal benefits and legal rights • Give family caregivers the tools to do their job • Provide access to meals at home or in group settings • Identify assisted-living facility care, daytime programs or nursing home services they may qualify for. • Advocate for people who live in assisted-living facilities or nursing homes • Guide people to the right long-term care services Some programs, such as those provided by local area agencies on aging, are available to everyone who is 60 or older. However, other services, such as in home or a nursing home care, are based on income and resources. Review the list of all HHS long-term programs and services, then access the easy-to-use search engine to find your local HHS office, aging and disability resource center, area agency on aging, or local authority to learn more, or visit the Your Texas Benefits website to find out about available services and to apply for benefits. If you are unsure how HHS can help, call 855-937-2372 to talk to a trained professional who will guide you to the right service options to help meet your needs. For suitable Medicare Plan, Medicare and Medicaid Plan and Medicare Supplement Plan or Prescription Drug Plan contact Sudhir Mathuria at

713-771-2900.

Swine flu kills 40 in western India Flossing your teeth with certain types of floss could expose you to higher levels of toxic chemicals according to new research. (© PeopleImages / IStock.com) ing also in line with previous reports that Glide is made using Teflon-like compounds. The researchers also found that having stain-resistant carpet or furniture and living in a city with PFAScontaminated drinking water supply were also behaviors linked to higher PFAS levels. Among the African-American participants, those who frequently ate

pre-prepared food that came in coated cardboard containers, such as French fries or takeout, also had elevated blood levels of four PFAS chemicals compared to women who rarely ate this type of food. However, the same relationship was not found among non-Hispanic whites, although the researchers are unable to explain why. PFAS are water- and grease-proof substances that are used in a wide a range of consumer products, including fast food packaging, non-stick pans, waterproof clothing and stainresistant carpets. They have been linked with numerous health problems, including kidney and testicular cancer, thyroid disease, high cholesterol, low birth weight, decreased fertility, and effects on the immune system. Exposure to the chemicals occurs through using products which contain PFAS, eating food that

AIPUR, India | AFP | At least 40 people have died and more than 1,000 have tested positive for swine flu since the beginning of this year in a western Indian state popular with foreigners, authorities said Friday. Last year around 1,100 people died and 15,000 were infected across India by the highly contagious A H1N1 virus that spreads from human-to-human. Cases spike in the winter months of December and January in the west and north of the country including in Rajasthan and in New Delhi. Authorities in Rajasthan, famous for its deserts and palaces, have told doctors they must seek permission before going on leave and plan a door-to-door campaign to detect infected patients. Health officials have also launched

has been in contact with these products, exposure to indoor air and dust, and through drinking contaminated drinking water. “This is the first study to show that using dental floss containing PFAS is associated with a higher body burden of these toxic chemicals,” says lead author Katie Boronow, “The good news is, based on our findings, consumers can choose flosses that don’t contain PFAS.”

an awareness campaign to sensitise people about symptoms, precautions and treatment, and have screened more than 5,100 people. “Total deaths are 40 and positive cases are 1,036 as from January 1 to 17 in Rajasthan. One of the deaths occurred on Thursday,” according to a statement by the Rajasthan health department. One high-profile victim in Delhi this week was Amit Shah, a top aide to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was admitted to hospital with the virus. Rajasthan’s Jodhpur district recorded the highest death toll with 16 fatalities and 225 people testing positive. No travel advisory has been issued however.

“Overall, this study strengthens the evidence that consumer products are an important source of PFAS exposure,” adds Boronow. “Restricting these chemicals from products should be a priority to reduce levels in people’s bodies.” Consumers can also reduce their exposure to the chemicals by modifying their behavior. - Relaxnews

DIET & EXERCISE

VOICE OF ASIA 18

5 ways to boost your mental health this year We all know eating right and keeping fit is important, but here are some simple ways to also look after your mental health in 2019.

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

Lentils with a side of rice: the save-the-world diet?

ARIS, France | AFP | Coming to dining tables everywhere by 2050: porridge for breakfast, rice for lunch, a dinner of lentils and vegetables, and a single hamburger every few weeks, as a treat. Here is a rundown of the daily meal plan that dozens of health and environment experts are urging the world to adopt in order to sustain a global population of 10 billion by mid-century, while reining in climate change and preventing millions of premature deaths each year. - Meat is (almost) out The team behind a landmark food study published Thursday in The Lancet say intake of some foods such as meat and sugar needs to fall by half by 2050 to reduce the global burden posed by the three billion people on Earth who are either over- or underfed.

Visiting art exhibitions could be one way to help reduce your risk of depression this year.(Photo © KatarzynaBialasiewicz / IStock.com)

Make time for cultural events Research published just last month found that seniors could lower their chances of depression in old age by making regular trips out to the cinema, theater or museums. After looking at 2,148 people over the age of 50, the team from University College London found that those who head out to events such as films, plays or exhibitions every few months had a 32 percent lower risk of developing depression, with those attending once a month or more having a 48 percent lower risk.

Eat raw veggies If you’re struggling to add more fruits and vegetables into your diet this year then changing the way you eat them could be enough to give you a health boost. A study that looked at 422 participants aged 18 to 25 found that raw fruit and vegetables appeared to be more beneficial for mental health than cooked, canned and processed options and were associated with fewer depressive symptoms, a more positive mood, higher life satisfaction, and higher flourishing, which is a feeling of being engaged in your work and daily life and having a sense of purpose.

Top up your vitamin D A recent Irish study found that adults over the age of 50 with a low level of vitamin D, defined as lower than 30 nanograms per milliliter (nmol/L), have a 75 percent increased risk of developing depression compared to those with a sufficient level over 50 nmol/L. The researchers suggest that boosting vitamin D levels with supplements or by including vitamin-D rich foods in the diet, such as fatty fish, eggs, fortified dairy products, calf’s

liver, and portobello mushrooms, could be an easy and inexpensive way to help prevent the development of depression. A lack of daylight, which is also a main source of vitamin D, has also been linked to an increased risk of depression.

Get your hearing checked A study published at the beginning of the year found that hearing loss as we age could be linked to an increased risk of depression. After looking at a group of adults over 50, the US researchers found that those with mild hearing loss were almost twice as likely to have symptoms of depression than those with normal hearing, and those with severe hearing loss had over four times the odds of having depressive symptoms. The team added that as hearing loss is easy to diagnose and treat, looking after hearing could be a simple way to ease or prevent depression.

Try to spend less time on your phone A team of researchers at San Diego State University and the University of Georgia, USA have carried out various studies on how the rise in screen time is affecting our mental health, finding in one study that teens who spent more than seven hours a day on screens were twice as likely as those spending just one hour to have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression, and in another that teens who spent more time in front of screens were less happy than those who spent more time partaking in non-screen activities such as sports and reading. However, to make it easier for us to put down our phones they don’t suggest cutting out screen time altogether, saying that limiting use is the key to better mental health and greater happiness. - Relaxnews

Taiwan’s traditional medicine stores struggle on life support

While richer nations must drastically slash their meat consumption, regions such as South Asia currently experience a dearth of calories and protein from a lack of red meat. Livestock farming is catastrophic for the environment, producing up to 18 percent of global greenhouse gases and contributing to deforestation and water shortages. Under the new regimen, adults would be limited to 14 grammes of red meat a day -- equivalent to half a rasher of bacon -- and get no more than 30 calories from it.

More wholegrain foods such as barley and brown rice are needed, but starchy vegetables like potatoes and cassava are limited to 50 grammes a day.

A quarter-pounder burger patty contains roughly 450 calories and North Americans alone consume more than six times the current daily recommended red meat intake of between 50-70 grammes.

The authors of the report noted that the ideal diet would vary from region to region, stressing that their menu was designed to show how everyone could get their 2,500 daily calories, keep healthy and aid the planet.

The diet recommends no more than 29 grammes of daily poultry -around one and a half chicken nuggets -- and 13 grammes of eggs, or just 1.5 a week.

“Eating less red meat –- which is mostly a challenge in changing human behaviour –- is crucial,” Johan Rockstrom, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Change Impact

At the back of her shop in New Taipei City, Gu tips a plate of freshly cut Chinese liquorice roots into a wok of boiling honey, the first step in preparing one of her many traditional remedies. “Chinese herbal medicine stores are a unique cultural icon,” the 36-yearold explains. “They are not just a place where you come when you are sick to pick up medicine.” But shops like hers are dying out -- with some 200 closing their doors every year -- even though traditional

medicine remains wildly popular in Taiwan. Authorities have not issued any new licenses since 1998 and those that exist cannot be passed down to younger generations. Gu’s father-in-law is the license owner but he recently suffered a stroke and she now fears the worst. “If I am forced to close shop, the biggest regret for me other than losing our livelihood, is losing our tradition,” she laments. - Red tape The license shortage stems from an attempt by authorities in the 1990s to better regulate the largely artisanal industry and bring traditional remedies into the purview of the professional medical community.

Research and one of the authors, told AFP. “But something equally dramatic that is less talked about is the reduction in conventional cereal and tubers, and the transition to nuts, fruits, vegetables and beans as a principal source of nutrition.” - Good news for nut lovers The authors estimate their diet would improve intakes of most vital nutrients while slashing consumption of unhealthy saturated fats. Healthy sources of fat such as nuts and seeds receive a boost: You could eat up to 75 grammes a day of peanuts, but would need to cut back on other unsaturated fats such as oily fish on those days. Ultimately the new diet could globally prevent up to 11.6 million premature deaths per year, according to its creators.

MEDICINE

Majority of shop receipts contain hormone disruptor BPA finds new study

n international study has found that 90 percent of the store and supermarket receipts made from thermal paper that were analyzed in the new research contain bisphenol A (BPA), a known endocrine disruptor which can change an individual’s hormonal balance and has previously been linked with infertility, obesity and cancer. Led by researchers at the University of Granada (UGR) along with Spanish and Brazilian researchers, the new study looked at 112 thermal paper receipts and tickets from Brazil, Spain and France to analyze the presence of BPA and bisphenol S (BPS). Thermal paper is “easily identified” say the researchers as “they are those receipts that, after some time, lose what they have printed on them and, when you are going to return the trousers you bought, the cashiers tell you that they cannot see anything.”

By refusing to issue new licenses, authorities hoped professional doctors would offer traditional medicine options in a more regulated and scientific capacity.

raditional medicine store owner Gu Cheng-pu knows her dispensary can only stay open as long as her ailing father-inlaw lives, their careers hostage to a quirk in Taiwanese law that is killing off the industry.

- Fruit and veg up The team said consumption of fruits, vegetables, and legumes such as chickpeas and lentils must increase more than two fold, particularly in poorer nations where more than 800 million people get insufficient calories.

“We can recognize this kind of paper because it instantly turns black if we put it close to a heat source like, for example, a match,” added lead authors Nicolás Olea and José Manuel Molina.

Lee Ching-chang (L) with his wife Huang Pi-huang working at their Chinese herbal medicine shop in New Taipei City. (Photo © HSU Tsun-hsu / AFP)

The diet to save the planet and yourself, according the Lancet medical journal (AFP Photo/Jonathan Walter)

“In Taiwan the simultaneous use of Western and Chinese medicine among the public is very prevalent and we need trained medical personnel to make sure they don’t interact with harmful consequences,” Chen Pinchi, division chief of Chinese Medicine and Pharmacy at the Health and Welfare Ministry, told AFP. “We initially hoped that professionally trained Chinese medicine doctors or pharmacists might slowly take over the running of Chinese herbal stores,” she added. But things did not turn out as planned. The lower pay and profits struggled to attract young doctors and pharmacists while patients kept going to the mom-and-pop dispensaries they trusted. The average age of a traditional medicine store license holder is now 61 while the number of remaining stores has halved in the last 20 years to just 7,900. Taiwan’s approach contrasts with that of the China and Hong Kong where authorities have pushed poli-

New study has found that many shop receipts contain the endocrine disruptor BPA. (Photo © Image Source / IStock.com) The findings, published in the journal Environmental Research, showed that more than 90 percent of the receipts analyzed in Brazil and Spain had BPA and presented hormone‑like activity. “Very often, the only thing you find cies to boost and export traditional medicine. According to the Compendium of Materia Medica, the sixteenth-century text that is the lodestar for traditional practitioners, there are more than 1,500 different kinds of herbs used in Chinese medicine. The average store might stock between 200 and 500 herbs, roots, animal parts and minerals -- 355 of which are classified as medicine in Taiwan. Traditional medicine also permeates Taiwan’s cooking -- the island’s signature beef noodle soup dish usually contains at least eight herbal ingredients -- meaning ingredients are just as likely to go in the cooking pot as they are a tincture. Lee Chia-ling, 42, has worked alongside her father in their family shop for more than 10 years, learning remedies from him. “It was very hard work in the beginning,” she said. “You need to get your hands dirty. Sorting, washing, chopping and slicing, lots of work goes into processing raw herbs and roots ready for use.” she said. “And even now, I am still learning new things from my father,” she added. - Relaxnews

is a fine white powder that comes off when taking them out of the handbag or purse. BPA is, precisely, that white powder that sticks to your fingers,” explained Olea and Molina. Only around half of the receipts collected in France showed BPA, which may be due to the French Government first proposing a ban on BPA in 2014 in an effort to reduce consumers’ exposure to the chemical, with the EU now set to implement a new restriction for BPA present in thermal paper from 2020. However, the team commented that the alternative being used in France, BPS, also comes with health risks. “What’s bad about the French alternative is that it seems to use BPS, since we have found it mostly in samples from that country and seldom have we found it in Brazilian or Spanish samples. Unfortunately, BPS is also an endocrine disruptor, and its environmental persistence is greater than that of BPA, so it’s not a valid option,” warns Olea. The researchers are also concerned that BPS use may increase in years to come, as it is currently not regulated as rigorously as BPA. The team also warn that thermal receipts should not get in contact with food, for example, meat or fish, and consumers should take care not to play with them, crumple them to throw them in the trash, write notes on them, or store them in cars, purses or handbags. “In short, we should manipulate this kind of tickets as little as possible,” says Olea. - Relaxnews

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

VOICE OF ASIA 19

New app gives throat cancer patients their voice back

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

Nissan unveils electric van concept that doubles as a woodworker’s workshop On the first day of the Brussels Motor Show in Belgium, Nissan unveiled the NV300 Concept-van, a model designed to demonstrate how the company’s LCV range can be tailored to satisfy the needs of professionals working in any sector or trade.

Vlastimil Gular, who lost his larynx and his voice, speaks in his own voice via a mobile phone using the special app to type in what he wants to say. (Photo © Michal Cizek / AFP)

lastimil Gular’s life took an unwelcome turn a year ago: minor surgery on his vocal cords revealed throat cancer, which led to the loss of his larynx and with it, his voice. But the 51-year-old father of four is still chatting away using his own voice rather than the tinny timbre of a robot, thanks to an innovative app developed by two Czech universities. “I find this very useful,” Gular told AFP, using the app to type in what he wanted to say, in his own voice, via a mobile phone. “I’m not very good at using the voice prosthesis,” he added, pointing at the hole the size of a large coin in his throat. This small silicon device implanted in the throat allows people to speak by pressing the hole with their fingers to regulate airflow through the prosthesis and so create sound. But Gular prefers the new hitech voice app. It was developed for patients set to lose their voice due to a laryngectomy, or removal of the larynx, a typical procedure for advanced stages of throat cancer. The joint project of the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen, Prague’s Charles University and two private companies -- CertiCon and SpeechTech -- kicked off nearly two years ago. The technology uses recordings of a patient’s voice to create synthetic speech that can be played on their mobile phones, tablets or laptops via the app. Ideally, patients need to record more than 10,000 sentences to provide scientists with enough material to produce their synthetic voice. “We edit together individual sounds of speech so we need a lot of sentences,” said Jindrich Matousek, an expert on textto-speech synthesis, speech modelling and acoustics who heads the project at the Pilsen university. - ‘A matter of weeks’ But there are drawbacks: pa-

tients facing laryngectomies usually have little time or energy to do the recordings in the wake of a diagnosis that requires swift treatment. “It’s usually a matter of weeks,” said Barbora Repova, a doctor at the Motol University Hospital, working on the project for Charles University. “The patients also have to tackle issues like their economic situation, their lives are turned upside down, and the last thing they want to do is to make the recording,” she told AFP. To address these difficulties, scientists came up with a more streamlined method for the app, which is supported by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. Working with fewer sentences -- ideally 3,500 but as few as 300 -- this method uses advanced statistical models such as artificial neural networks. “You use speech models with certain parameters to generate synthesised speech,” said Matousek. “Having more data is still better, but you can achieve decent quality with less data of a given voice.” The sentences are carefully selected and individual sounds have to be recorded several times as they are pronounced differently next to different sounds or at the beginning and end of a word or sentence, he added. So far, the Pilsen university has recorded 10 to 15 patients, according to Matousek. Besides Czech, the Pilsen scientists have also created synthesised speech samples in English, Russian and Slovak. - ‘Baby dinosaurs’ Gular -- an upholsterer who lost his job due to his handicap -- managed to record 477 sentences over the three weeks between his diagnosis and the operation. But he was stressed and less than satisfied with the quality of his voice. “Throat cancer patients of-

ten suffer from some form of dysphonia (hoarseness) before the surgery, so in combination with a limited speech sample it makes the voice sound unnatural,” said Repova. In a studio at the Pilsen university meanwhile, entrepreneur Jana Huttova is recording outlandish phrases. The 34-year-old mother of three faces the risk of losing her voice to minor throat surgery -- an operation on her parathyroid gland. “The Chechens have always preferred a dagger-like Kalashnikov,” she says, reading from the text before her. “I have small kids and I want them to hear my own voice, not a robot,” Huttova said. Then she moved on to her next sentence: “We were attacked by a tyrannosaur’s baby dinosaurs.” - Connected to the brain Matousek believes that in the future, patients will be able to use the app to record their voice at home using a specialised website to guide them through the process. And he hopes that one day it will go even further. “The ultimate vision is a miniature device connected to the brain, to the nerves linked to speech -- then patients could control the device with their thoughts,” he said. This kind of advanced solution is a very long way off, said Repova. “But look at cochlear implants -- 40 years ago when they started, we had no idea how it would develop, how widely they would end up being used,” she said, referring to the inner-ear implants used to tackle severe deafness. “A happy end would be a device implanted in the throat that could talk with the patient’s own voice,” she told AFP. “It’s realistic: it may not come in a year or even in 10 years, but it’s realistic and we’re on the way.” - AFP

n Friday, the day before the Brussels Motor Show opened up to the public, Nissan unveiled what could easily become the best friend of a woodworker -or a professional in any trade. The van, called the NV300 concept, has a cargo space that has been completely redesigned in collaboration with British design studio Studio Hardie as a “mobile workshop for a creative woodworking professional.” Nissan Energy ROAM, the integrated battery system powered by recycled LEAF batteries that the workshop is equipped with, has the capacity to power “tools and tablets,” including power saws and other materials that rely on a generator. This portable power tech was built upon that used in the brand’s Navara Dark Sky -- a mobile observatory -- and Navara EnGuard -- an all-terrain rescue pick-up, concepts that have been on display at the Hannover Motor Show over the past couple years. To make the vehicle even more eco-friendly, this versatile 700Wh battery can be recharged with a solar panel

In case you’re wondering just how much time you spend on your phone or perhaps just on particular applications, there’s now an app for that -- and this one is for all Android users according to The Verge.

mounted atop the vehicle. Among the woodworking tools in the cargo space that are kept in space-saving bespoke storage, you’ll also find an integrated touch-screen computer, swivel seating on floor rails and LED ceiling lighting. The model, as well as the

previously concepts on display, is basically marketing for how versatile and customizable the Nissan LCV range can be, bridging the gap between leisure and professional activities. Nissan Energy ROAM will launch in spring of this year for European markets in various heights and lengths.

Kylie Jenner’s Instagram record battered... by an egg!

S social media star and makeup mogul Kylie Jenner has had her world record for the mostliked image on Instagram swiped -- by a photo of an ordinary brown egg. Jenner’s birth announcement of daughter Stormi Webster

New Android app tells you how long you spend on Facebook, Instagram oogle’s Digital Wellbeing, a feature on Pixel and Android One devices that can tell users how much time they spend on various apps, is coming to Android is the form of a new app called ActionDash.

@NissanEurope Discover the pioneering #Nissan #NV300 Concept-van designed with @studiohardie at the #BrusselsMotorShow. Featuring the Nissan Energy ROAM portable battery pack, transform and transport your workspace with sustainable energy technology. You’ve got the power.

applications are almost identical (apart from basic user interface), though the Android version doesn’t allow you to set usage limits; However, ActionDash’s developer Chris Lacy confirmed that he’s exploring ways to add that feature to the app.

ActionDash Essentially, ActionDash is currently provides Android owners available on with the same informathe Google tion that Pixel and An- Now, all Android users can track their app usage. (Photo © Prykhodov/ iStock) Play for free droid One owners have with an inthrough the feature Digiapp purchase tal Wellbeing. phone activity right down to applications like WhatsApp, option to remove ads and get Like the Google version, the minute. You can track your Instagram, YouTube and the some extra minor features like dark mode. ActionDash offers a complete overall smartphone screen time like. breakdown of a user’s daily or just the time spent on various According to The Verge, the - Relaxnews

World_Record_Egg Instagram 2019. (Screen grab: Instagram) on February 6 last year was the most popular post on the photosharing platform with 18.3 million likes but the egg, posted only 10 days ago, has already amassed 29.9 million. “Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this,” urged the account, named “world_record_egg.” Jenner, 21 -- the youngest of the Kardashian-Jenner clan that includes Kim Kardashian and Caitlyn Jenner -- was magnanimous in her response, posting a

video of her frying an egg on hot concrete. “Take that little egg,” read the caption posted by the entrepreneur and socialite, whose net worth was estimated by Forbes magazine at $900 million, due in large part to her Kylie Cosmetics brand. The identity of the individual behind the new record remains a mystery, although they told AFP they live in London. “I thought it would be an interesting experiment to try and beat the record with something as basic as possible. Which led to me deciding on the egg.”

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VOICE OF ASIA 20

Singapore’s ‘kiasu’ culture makes FOMO look like child’s play by David Pierson

ong before Americans discovered FOMO — the fear of missing out —Singaporeans were fixated with its more excessive forebear, kiasu. Taken from the Chinese dialect Hokkien, kiasu translates to a fear of losing out, but encompasses any sort of competitive, stingy or selfish behavior commonly witnessed in this highflying city-state.

ART & CULTURE

Kuik, the former member of parliament, said Singaporeans today need to be inspired and not cowered. “There’s a stronger desire to move beyond” Singapore’s origin story, she said, “and really try to explore a larger story, not driven by fear, but ambition.” There are modest signs of a kiasu backlash, including last year when a small group of parents formed “Life

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

India, Pakistan and the Gulf: a relationship told through art The Ishara Art Foundation is set to open in Dubai in March

new non-profit foundation focusing on South Asian art will open in March in Dubai’s Alserkal Avenue. The Ishara Art Foundation will host exhibitions of emerging and established South Asian artists, celebrating the long-standing ties between India and Pakistan and the Gulf. The foundation is established by the Dubai entrepreneur Smita Prabhakar, a major collector of South Asian art. She has tapped Nada Raza, a well-respected curator formerly at Tate Modern, as artistic director. “My desire for brilliant work by South Asian artists to be more widely recognised is at the heart of this project,” Prabhakar said in a statement. “I hope the UAE’s cosmopolitan audiences will appreciate and absorb these artists and their works through our permanent space and dedicated programme, allowing cultural voices to enrich our understanding of each

generation apart: Zarina Hashmi, who worked across abstraction, minimalism and feminism, and Shilpa Gupta, a post-Conceptual artist who explores identity, the nation-state, and notions of the public sphere. Hashmi has also supplied the logo for Ishara: it is an ideogram for the word “aasman,” or sky, taken from the beautiful Home Is a Foreign Place (1999), an edition of which in the Ishara collection.

Artist Zarina Hashmi and a print (below) from the series ‘Atlas of My World IV’, woodcut with Urdu text printed on Indian handmade paper, 2001.

The foundation will be a substantial addition to the art landscape in Dubai, which is pivoting away from its traditional focus on commercial galleries towards non-profit endeavours, with Jameel Arts Centre, the Jean-Paul Najar Foundation, and the increased activities of Alserkal Avenue. Though South Asian artists and art professionals are inte-

Singaporeans commonly use personal articles such as tissue packets to reserve tables in the city’s crowded food courts before purchasing a meal. The practice is considered quintessential “kiasu.” (Photo: David Pierson / Los Angeles Times)

— exists across a range of languages in the Gulf/South Asian region: Hindi, Urdu, Arabic, Persian and Swahili.

If you stand in line for hours just because there’s a gift at the end, then you’re kiasu.

The word itself “Ishara” might be familiar to followers of Dubai shows: it was also used last year for the title of a show by UAE Unlimited at Concrete in Alserkal Avenue, which ex-

If you claim a spot at a table at a busy food court with a packet of tissues while you wander off in search of grub, you’re kiasu. If you’re a parent who volunteers hours of your free time at a school just so your offspring has a better chance of enrolling there one day, then you’re most definitely kiasu. It’s a survival instinct born out of Singapore’s dominant Chinese culture and deep-rooted insecurity as a blip on the map, one that’s only slightly bigger than the San Fernando Valley. Letting opportunity pass is tantamount to failure, the thinking goes. And if you do, you have no one to blame but yourself. “The national narrative is that we are a small country in a very large world,” said Shiao-yin Kuik, a former nominated member of Parliament, an honorary position. “We have very limited resources. If we don’t fight for our own future, no one else will.” Kiasu (pronounced kee-ah-sue) embodies a sort of unofficial national character, not unlike Japan’s harmonious wa or Britian’s stoic stiff upper lip. It’s an inescapable aspect of life in this country of 5.6 million that drives people to try and outdo one another. “It was inculcated in me since I was young,” said Rachel Yeo, 24, a senior studying journalism at the National University of Singapore. “Nothing short of the best was expected of me.” Yeo’s neighborhood growing up boasted one of the top primary schools in Singapore, Rosyth School. To ensure a place there, Yeo’s mother had to compile hours of volunteer work. At least twice a week, she read to students at the school before heading to work. Doing anything less risked losing her daughter’s place to someone else. “She’s a tiger mom,” said Yeo, who was also enrolled in rigorous afterschool tutoring programs, a private industry that has grown into a $1-billion business here because of the parental arms race. The volunteer system in schools breeds another layer of competition. Parents complain about other parents who have exceeded their quota for hours, but continue to hog opportunities to volunteer. “People feel like others have to lose in order to win,” said Donald Low, a closely-followed economist and former public official. Foreign policy in Singapore isn’t immune to kiasu either. The feeling of vulnerability it engenders helps explain Singapore’s outsize spending on defense, which at over $10 billion, is more than that of any other country in Southeast Asia. The dread of having someone steal your lunch could also be driving Singapore’s hardening stance against Malaysia in a territorial dispute over a sliver of airspace and sea between the two countries. “Politicians were openly calling for people to stand up and defend the nation over what seems to be technical differences,” said Ja Ian Chong, a political scientist at the National University of Singapore. “That the state and Singaporeans were ready to treat the issue as existential suggested a deep sense of fear,” he added. For an earlier generation, that fear propelled Singapore’s improbable success after it broke away from Malaysia in 1965 to later become one of the richest countries in the world on a per capita basis. But a fear of losing can also trigger paralysis when it comes to risk-taking.

Beyond Grades,” an organization that seeks to relieve academic pressure on children to focus on their wider wellbeing. It’s an uphill struggle. Singaporeans are exceptionally self-aware of their reputation — even without reminding from their traditional Malaysian rivals, who are prone to calling the country Kiasuland. A survey released last year by the Institute of Policy Studies, a local think tank, found that Singaporeans perceived their society to be kiasu more than any other trait. One of the country’s most famous comic strips was centered on a bespectacled character named Mr. Kiasu. The 1990s series featured titles such as “Everything Also Must Grab” and “Everything Also Number One.” Giant, a local supermarket chain, ran a contest in 2017 to determine which neighborhood was the most kiasu. The winner, an eastern town called Tampines, impressed with a high percentages of residents admitting to excessively pressing the crosswalk button. They also fessed up in large numbers to reserving tables at busy coffee shops with a tissue packet or umbrella rather than more considerately ordering their food first and then finding a place to sit — a widespread practice known in Singlish as chope (You can also chope a parking space by having someone stand in it). Giant reportedly rewarded Tampines residents with free drinks, ice cream and more tissue packets for choping. There’s “an ambivalence about being kiasu,” said Chong, the political scientist. “On one hand, there are Singaporeans who wear it like a mark of national character, even pride. Others laugh at it, and still others see being kiasu as being a bit of an embarrassment due to the over-the-top behavior it can encourage.” Nowhere is that more obvious than in Singapore’s queuing culture. The fear of losing out has created a herd mentality when it comes to lines, especially at the city’s famous open-air food courts, known as hawker centers. “When you see a queue snaking, it means the food must be good, that it’s something you should try,” said Yeo, the journalism student. “I just returned from visiting Taiwan and saw long lines for food. Half the people were Singaporean.” Some lines are still talked about today, like the time when thousands of Singaporeans thronged outside McDonald’s restaurants in a kiasu-crazed bid to score free Hello Kitty toys. The pull to line up has even inspired a business, iQueue. The service, which is similar to errand apps such as TaskRabbit, gets up to 50 requests a month to stand in line for things such as boba tea or concert tickets to see the band BTS. Justin Zheng, a manager at the company, said he queued in line for 12 hours outside a prestigious art class last month for parents who wanted to register their elementary-school-aged child. Zheng arrived at 7 p.m. the night before the doors opened and still found someone ahead of him in line. By midnight, there were 100 in line. By the next morning, he estimates there were twice as many people. The parents next to him weren’t even taken aback that Zheng didn’t have any kids and was hired to be there. Instead, they took down his number. Anything to gain an edge, they told him. “It’s in our blood,” said Zheng, who was paid $110 to line up for half a day. “You realize you have to work harder to be earlier than the next guy.” - LA Times

Shilpa Gupta (right), installation view at YARAT Contemporary Art Centre, Baku, 2018 (above). (Image courtesy of the artist. Photo: Fakhriyya Mammadova) other.” Prabhakar’s art collection will form the backbone of the foundation, which will be spread out across two floors and operate like a kunsthalle with temporary exhibitions on rotation. The inaugural show, Altered Inheritances: Home is a Foreign Place, pairs work by two Indian artists a

gral to the Dubai art scene, this is the first non-profit centre giving a specific platform to this history of exchange. Indeed the idea of Dubai as a global hub is implicit in the foundation’s title, as the word “ishara” — meaning a gesture

plored the idea of communication in the Gulf — a remit that is now being broadened further. - The National (Dubai, UAE)

Kyrgyzstan to decide on national hat’s status

ISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan | AFP | Monday 1/21/2019 - Kyrgyzstan is gearing up to introduce legislation that would oblige its president to wear a national pointed hat on diplomatic trips following a national uproar. On Monday a parliamentary committee supported the proposal -which will also see fines levied for insults to the felt hat -- the first step towards the legislation’s introduction for a general parliamentary vote. The bill is a result of a furore that erupted in late 2017 when a dog was photographed wearing an Ak-Kalpak hat at a dog show. The headpiece, which is usually white, has a special place in the Central Asian country, revered so much that it has its own national day. The four-panelled hat symbolises “the peaks of the magnificent Kyrgyz mountains, forever snow-capped,” a former presidential advisor, Topchubek Turgunaliyev, told AFP last year. Patriots called for the dog’s owners to be punished for insulting the hat, triggering heated debate in the parliament, which passed a law to give the Ak-Kalpak hat its own honorary date in the calendar -- March 5 -- in 2016.

The hat is so revered in Kyrgyzstan that it has its own national day The hat is so revered in Kyrgyzstan that it has its own national day. (AFP Photo) One of the initiators of the legislation, Ekmat Baibakpayev, on Monday cited the dog’s “defilement” of the hat as a key justification for drafting the bill. “I aspire to the Ak-Kalpak having the same status and immunity as the coat of arms and flag of the Kyrgyz Republic,” Baibakpayev said in parliament. Since a popular uprising in 2010, politicians in the Muslim majority country have focused keen attention

Naoshima : Japan’s arty-pelago Among shrines, rice fields and abandoned buildings, contemporary art has transformed 12 rural islands into a creative paradise – the setting for the 2019 Setouchi Triennale

on matters of national identity and culture. In 2011, a statue of a woman holding aloft the symbolic “tunduk”, the criss-crossed centrepiece of a yurt, was torn down amid arguments that it was a bad omen for a female to do so. Critics say officials devote too much time to populist initiatives rather than fighting graft and pushing through reforms in one of the poorest nations of the former Soviet Union. museum signalled the scale of Fukutake’s vision, which went beyond economic reboot to create a utopia showcasing not only world-class art but also a simpler, slower way of life, far removed from “monstrous cities”.

n this small-ish Japanese island, there are 18 museums, galleries, installations and projects across three islands that together form a unique rural art paradise. The story behind the Benesse Art Site Naoshima, to give the project its full name, is intriguing too. It started in the late 1980s when billionaire businessman Soichiro Fukutake began exploring the smaller islands of the Seto Inland Sea, the body of water that separates three of Japan’s four main islands. Fukutake wanted to transform three islands that had borne more than their fair share of the country’s rapid industrialisation – refineries were built on Naoshima and Inujima, and illegal waste was dumped on Teshima – and had then been forgotten.

The iconic giant pumpkin by Yayoi Kusama, a surreal beacon jutting out into the sea. (Photograph: Alamy) He decided to do it through contemporary art, and persuaded architect Tadao Ando, AKA “the king of concrete”, to collaborate on Benesse House Museum on Naoshima. The

High on a hill overlooking the sea, the museum is filled with modern art greats: Andy Warhol, David Hockney, Continued on page 23

VOICE OF ASIA 21

FRIDAY, January 25, 2019

Home&Real Estate ‘Truly great’ plans unveiled for new London concert hall

This hip Hong Kong apartment building nails small space living by Michele Koh Morollo

ong Kong-based, Australian architect Ben McCarthy of Charlie & Rose is well known for his creatively designed hospitality and food and beverage projects. His design sensibilities caught the attention of Hong Kong–based property developer District 15, who commissioned McCarthy to design a serviced studio apartment complex named The Nate.

Charlie & Rose turn a Hong Kong building into The Nate—a mixed-use apartment complex with chic studios, communal living areas, and a rooftop garden.

The Nate is located on Nathan Road in the heart of the bustling Tsim Sha Tsui area in Kowloon, Hong Kong. McCarthy was asked to distill the needs of urban living and create a fun environment where residents can enjoy the best elements of a home condensed into cleverly designed studio units. The Nate’s program includes: a retail podium from the ground to the fourth floor, 71 ultra-compact studio apartments with en-suite bathrooms spread across the upper eight levels, and a communal liv-

A guest room bathroom. (Photos: Michele Koh Morollo)

Concept Design: Centre for Music Exterior View, by Diller Scofidio + Renfro design studio. (Photo: © Courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro)

ONDON - Renowned British conductor Simon Rattle on Monday unveiled ambitious designs for a new £288 million ($370 million, 326 million euros) concert hall in the heart of London. The London Symphony Orchestra music director said it was “wonderful” to finally present the plans for a new hall. “The idea that there can be a new cultural centre in Lon-

don... is very exciting,” he said. “A sign of London as a dynamic cultural city, at a time when we are going to need this more and more.” The plans will see the current site of the Museum of London, which is relocating nearby, transformed into an ultra-modern concert space encased in glass, reflecting the orchestra’s mantra of “transparency and access”.

Houston’s Aliana masterplanned community ranked top 30 in sales nationally by prestigious real estate firms

The 2,000 seat, in-the-round hall will echo a geological formation, with the lines of steps and seating mimicking rock strata. Huge transparent pods at the top will allow visiting children to watch rehearsals, at the request of Rattle. Elizabeth Diller, founding partner of the Diller Scofidio + Renfro design studio tasked with the plans, said the space would be “informal by day and very glamorous by night”. The building will also house commercial space, workshops, public areas and eating places. The pinnacle of the wedgeshaped building will be another performance space to host jazz, with St Pauls providing a spectacular backdrop through a huge window. There will be “no hierarchy” in seating, according to Diller, with all seats meant to offer clear views. The project has the enthusiastic backing of the City of London Corporation, the local governing body, and the Barbican Centre, which will run the venue. The main stumbling block now remains “putting a business plan together and a private fundraising contribution,” Barbican manging director Nicholas Kenyon told AFP.

Photo: Aliana Homeowner’s Association

OUSTON - Aliana, a 2,000-acre masterplanned community located in Richmond, TX announced today it has been ranked in the Top 30 in sales nationally for master-planned communities (MPCs) by real estate consulting firms RCLCo and John Burns. Aliana sold 430 new homes in 2018, ranking it fifth in the state in new home sales. “With its prime location, diverse selection of new-home styles and amenities, and homes by premier Houston builders, Aliana has continued to earn national recognition for its performance and growth.” The ranking of RCLCo’s and John Burns’ top-selling communities is based on total net new home sales as reported by each individual community. To be included, MPCs must be developed with a strong vision and comprehensive plan that guide development and unify the community. This is accomplished through distinctive signage, wayfinding, entry features, landscaping, and architectural/design standards that foster an environment of community. Aliana is one of the largest master-planned communi-

ties in Fort Bend County. The award-winning community features new homes priced from the $280s to more than $1 million, with homes for first-time buyers, low-maintenance luxury homes and custom homes. Aliana is home to nearly 3,200 households with approximately 4,200 planned at build-out. Builders in Aliana include Ashton Woods, Coventry Homes, Highland Homes, J. Patrick Homes, Lennar, Meritage Homes, Partners in Building, Perry Homes, Plantation Homes, Sitterle Homes and Village Builders. Aliana is located west of Houston, in Richmond, TX on the Grand Parkway between U.S. Highway 59 and Interstate 10. Just minutes from home, Aliana residents enjoy on-site retail including the Market Center at Aliana which features the H-E-B Aliana Market and the nation’s first Next Generation Target store. The new Grand at Aliana, which is currently under development, will bring even more sought-after retail and services to the area. Aliana students attend schools in the highly rated Fort Bend Independent School District. - Business Wire

“This is a big ask, it’s an ambitious project, we think it’s absolutely great with a visionary design, but we are not saying at this moment that all the resources are there. We’ve got another year to plan that.” The concert hall would take four years to build, once the occupants of the current site have moved out, he added.

A relaxing spot near the window in the communal lounge. ing and kitchen area on the top floor with a rooftop garden above it. “The floor plan of the original building had only two apartments per floor, so creating ten well-appointed apartments that did not feel too cramped, and that had enough storage, was a challenge,” says McCarthy. The apartments are available in eight different layouts, and most have bunk or niche beds to free up floor space. Charlie & Rose left building elements like concrete columns and soffits raw and untouched, giving the interiors an industrial vibe. Walnut timber cabinetry and millwork add warmth to the interiors, while terrazzo, brass fittings, and pastel ceramic tiles give the bathrooms a touch of glamour.

The rooftop deck looks out to city views. Despite the tight urban site and small floor area, the communal and private spaces within The Nate transport residents out of the bustle of the city, and

into a comfortable and inspiring oasis for living, rest, work, and play. - Dwell.com

Rattle has complained that the Barbican Centre concert hall where the LSO is currently based only allowed him to put on 80 percent of the works he would like to play. The project for a new concert hall has suffered a series of setbacks, including the withdrawal of government funding. - AFP

3 hottest Houston neighborhoods for 2019 predicted by real estate authority

t’s no secret that Houston is one of the hottest real estate markets in the country. And while white-hot areas such as The Heights, Crestwood, and West University are all the buzz, the Bayou City boasts myriad neighborhoods that are perfect for discerning and value-minded prospective buyers. Just where are these hot spots? For its Hottest Neighborhoods of 2019 list, real estate website Redfin featured three neighborhoods each in many of the largest metro ar-

eas in the U.S., compiled with Redfin user data and agent insights from November 2018. The neighborhoods below are poised to become “some of the most desirable places in the country in the coming year,” according to Redfin. The site measured metrics such as median sale price in the area compared to metro median, number of days on market, and percent that sold above list price. In Houston, Redfin spotlighted MacGregor, South Acres-

Crestmont Park, and Second Ward as the hottest in the city. In MacGregor, the median price of a home is $310,000, compared to a Houston average of $235,000. Homes here are on the market an average of 64 days; 10.3 percent sold above list price. Buyers in South AcresCrestmont Park find one of the best values in the city, with homes averaging a mere $150,000 and (not surprisingly) lasting on the market just 22 days. In South-AcresCrestmont, an impressive 22.4

percent sold above list price. Meanwhile, homes in Second Ward sell for $299,900 and are on the market for 59 days. Here, 16 percent of homes sold above list price. The nation’s overall hottest neighborhoods are mostly located in coastal cities, with Bridle Trails outside of Seattle; Merriewood in Oakland, California; and Mission Terrace in San Francisco taking the top three spots. - KTRK/CultureMap

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This week looks lively, and Friday brings the promise of fresh adventures. Much as you may want results, there could be delays to your plans. Trying to force things might only frustrate you more. Cool it and go with the flow.

21 April to 20 May Love advice: You’re on a health kick at the end of the week, and you may find your perfect match on the quest for making life improvements. The best place to meet other singles is at the gym or health food store.

21 May to 20 June Learn as much as you can about everyone you work with. The more you know about a person, the better your chances are of establishing positive working relationships. Look for ways to express appreciation or gratitude on the job. A simple, written thank-you note can have a powerful impact.

21 June to 22 July You would probably prefer not to have to worry about money, especially this week. But since it’s a necessary part of life, you prefer to worry about broader things - that which you can’t control. At this time, your money life is more ideas than reality.

23 July to 22 August You might be more sensitive than usual now, so be aware of this. Keep your personal boundaries intact or you might find that others irritate you, even unintentionally. You need your vitality to ward off colds and infections, especially now. Keep your immune system strong.

23 August to 22 Sept Inviting someone special to your place for a meal could see you getting a lot closer and enjoying each other’s company. And there could be good news regarding funding for a household project or move, too. Free up some time; you might have more opportunities to relax and recharge.

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astrology.com

23 September to 22 Oct Why can’t love be easy? If you’re wondering why things have to be so complicated at the beginning of the week, you’re not alone. Misery loves company, Libra, so it’s not hard to find other singles who have the same complaints you do.

23 October to 21 Nov It’s important to be very honest and clear about anything concerning work and money. Small things can become big and unpleasant. Stay on top of things and making sure problems are taken care of as soon as they arise. Success is based upon a complex network of other people and organizations.

22 November to 21 Dec Most of us know you as the warm-hearted, generous guy/girl in our lives. At this time, though, the cosmic energy may leave you feeling as though you’re pulling away from your dreams and goals, not toward or for them. Take stock of your money life.

22 December to 20 Jan If you have a lot of activities that require you to be alert, do them early in the week when you have more energy. The end of the week could be frustrating, and you don’t always deal gracefully with such things. You could be so edgy that you’re a walking accident waiting to happen.

21 January to 19 Feb Looking for romance? The coming week brings plenty of opportunities. Whether you’re solo or spoken for, a beautiful aspect in your social sector could see you coming up a winner. It’s also a great time to network and make new friends. This weekend (Jan 26-27) is prime time!

20 February to 20 Mar You can make a big impression and find people to support your interests. Ask what you can do for others and then do it. Treat difficult people with respect. You will be most successful if you stem your tendency to say exactly what you think. Your natural optimism is appreciated.

ACROSS 1. Bird hangout 6. Loquacious person’s gift? 9. Columbus launcher 13. Nebraska’s largest city 14. Not a thing 15. Hispaniola republic 16. Shmear holder 17. Brouhaha 18. Court call 19. *Gaga and Cooper hit 21. *The Recording ____ 23. *Drake’s “Nice ____ What” 24. Doe’s mate 25. *Best New Artist, 1983: ____ at Work 28. Aquarium show star 30. *”Why don’t you just meet me in the ____” 35. Line of symmetry 37. Itty-bitty bit 39. Unwelcome message on computer screen 40. Roll call call 41. *”Reputation” artist 43. “The Bridges of Madison County” state 44. Implant 46. Delhi wrap 47. Politicians, for short 48. Isaac of science fiction fame 50. *Grammy Hall of Fame’s “Sixteen ____” 52. Sodium solution 53. French Riviera city 55. Trigonometry abbr. 57. Danced to Miami Sound Machine in 1985 61. *____ Center 65. Bay window 66. Poor man’s caviar 68. Home to BYU 69. Dished out 70. Three strikes 71. Like yesterday’s meal 72. ‘80s sitcom “Who’s the ____?” 73. *”____ Robinson,” 1968 74. Giving up the ghost

DOWN 1. Ugly crowds 2. Wet nurse 3. Indian music 4. Elf’s perch 5. Inciting call to a hunting hound 6. Bite like a beaver 7. A hand 8. Swell up 9. Persian backgammon 10. Adjutant 11. Type of cell 12. Well-ventilated 15. Deli offering 20. Florentine iris 22. Tucker of “Modern Family” 24. Fill to satisfaction 25. *Fall Out boy’s album 26. End-of-semester events 27. Nimbus, pl. 29. Hang out till these come home? 31. Type of coffee maker 32. Salivate 33. Humble 34. Make blank 36. Appear to be 38. Bushy do 42. Color lightly 45. *Childish Gambino’s name 49. *What nominees do 51. Like lathered hands 54. Read-only memory device 56. Aerosol can emanation 57. Toothy groomer 58. Three-ply dunker 59. Lice eggs 60. *Bee ____, multiple awards winner 61. Series of reps, pl. 62. “Laughing on the inside” text 63. Fifty-fifty 64. *____ of the Year 67. Partaker’s pronoun

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Naoshima : Japan’s arty-pelago...

Theme: GRAMMY AWARDS from Page 22 Continued from page 20 Jean-Michel Basquiat and Cy Twombly, but its most iconic piece is on the beach below: a giant yellow pumpkin by Japanese pop artist Yayoi Kusama, a surreal beacon jutting out into the sea. Another, red, pumpkin greets visitors as they disembark at the harbour, smart phone cameras at the ready – even the Naoshima ferry bears Kusama’s signature motif of dots. It’s close to the wacky I Love Yu public bathhouse, a collage of junkyard scrap and neon signs. Forgot your towel? You can buy one from the vending machine outside. Ando went on to create more architectural masterpieces, including Chichu Art Museum, a set of interlinked, half-buried buildings that house Fukutake’s personal collection of five Monet water lily paintings. For me, the most striking work at Chichu is the Walter de Maria room, a temple-like space with golden pillars mounted on the walls and steps leading up to a giant granite sphere. Here, as in other museums, the rever-

ence for art – among both the young staff and visitors – is palpable. And after a while I’m relieved to step onto the cafe terrace and reconnect with simpler pleasures – the view of sea and distant land that looks like it’s been painted onto the horizon in shades of grey – and to choose between a coffee or a bright blue Sora-Iro Cola. There is enough art on Naoshima alone to fill two days. Yet most visitors tick it off on a day trip as they whiz between Osaka, to the east, and Hiroshima, to the west. But it’s madness to make the epic journey and not see Teshima and Inujima, too. It may take a bit of planning to reach all the islands by ferry (see setouchiartfest.jp for tips) but the reward is huge. And this year there is even more reason to linger. The 2019 Setouchi Triennale art festival will ramp up the creativity with an astonishing array of artworks – 200 in total, around half of them permanent – across 12 islands and two ports, Takamatsu and Uno. Unlike some art fairs, where

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glamour and wealth are on display as much as art and design, the Setouchi Triennale is firmly rooted in the history and character of the region. Projects will transform abandoned buildings, highlight artisanship and involve locals, including children. In an “art paradise” you are never far from a creative project – and a short walk from Kiyomamu is Teshima Yokoo House, combining galleries of artist Tadanori Yokoo’s bold, colourful paintings and a riotous sculpture garden dotted with red boulders, within an 80-year-old cedarwood house. A modern addition, an ominous looking black brick tower, is lined inside with 9,000 postcards of waterfalls. The sheer volume of art on offer in the area is overwhelming, yet while Naoshima, Teshima and Inujima islands are the main draw, the Setouchi Triennale, first held in 2010, has helped other islands foster connections with artists. - The Guardian

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