Voice of Asia e newspaper August 26 2016

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FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

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Vol. 29 No. 35 Friday, August 26, 2016 • Published Weekly from Houston • 713-774-5140 24 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com

Team U.S.A. Gold Medalist, Simone Biles, Returns Home

ICC Commemorates India’s 70th Independence Day at its signature event India Fest

by Shobana Muratee ATFFORD, TX – A record turnout of elected officials, dignitaries and 3600 plus members of Indian American community was witnessed at the India Fest 2016, celebrating India’s 70th Independence Day on Saturday, August 20 hosted by the India Culture Center (ICC), Houston in association with the City of Stafford and major Indo-American organizations at the Stafford Center.

Houston Mayor, Sylvester Turner said the 100,000 Indian Americans that live in Houston region contribute to its diversity and to its economy with their businesses. He presented a proclamation paying high tribute to India and recognizing ICC and the Indian community for their contributions.

It was the first Indian Independence Day celebration in Houston for the newly appointed Consul General, Anupam Ray who said that it was “very uplifting” to see such a gathering. Referring to India’s PM, Narender Modi’s addressing Joint Meeting of Congress last month, Ray said that India –US relations continue to grow strong and as President Obama put it, “The defining relationship of the 21st Century,” he quoted.

Event Chair and ICC Director Pramod Bengani welcomed the gathering to “Incredible India’ with inspiring quotes and paying tribute to India’s arduous journey in attaining its Independence. He recognized a host of dignitaries and

S

4-time Olympic gold medalist and 1-time bronze medalist, Simone Biles. Photo credit Getty Image.

“On behalf of all Houstonians, I want to welcome home Simone Biles and all of the returning Houston area Olympians,” said Mayor Sylvester Turner. “Our chests collectively swelled with admiration and pride as we watched this little powerhouse of an athlete perform her way to four golds and one bronze medal at the Rio games. As the most decorated American gymnast, she stands as an inspiration to all. We won’t hesitate to boast that she calls the Houston area home.”

Return of the Houston Olympians Team U.S.A, Olympians from Houston returned home to George Bush Intercontinental early Tuesday morning.

Abner Fletcher | August 23, 2016, Houston Public Media.

S

ix Olympians from the Houston area returned home to Bush Intercontinental Airport early Tuesday morning .

Many of them were greeted by the Woodlands High School Drum line and Cheerleaders.

Kassidy Cook – a graduate of

the school – says she was proud to compete for Team USA as a diver. ” I feel like I didn’t do my best, but it was definitely good for my first time Olympics, it was a real great experience, and I didn’t feel like any of the hard work was put.”

Cook says she’s already looking toward 2020, where she hopes to compete in Tokyo.

Continued on page 8

Houston Mayor, Sylvester Turner presenting a proclamation to ICC president Rajiv Bhavsar (far right) and Consul General Anupam Ray (center) at ICC’s I-Fest on Saturday, August 20, 2016.

Dance performance by local talent at the I-Fest portraying ‘Incredible India’. Photos by Image and Motion Photography and Videography.

Teen Indian acid survivor to grace NY catwalk

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EW YORK, United States | AFP | Wednesday 8/24/2016 - A 19year-old Indian woman whose face was brutally disfigured in an acid attack will walk the cat-

walk in New York next month in her first trip overseas.

down by his friends who doused her face in acid in 2014.

determined to build a life for herself.

Reshma Qureshi, who lives in Mumbai, was attacked by her brother-in-law and pinned

Her features were horribly damaged and she lost sight in one eye, but Qureshi has been

She is the face of a campaign to end the open sale of acid in Continued on page 10

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OP-ED/COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS

VOICE OF ASIA 2

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THE STORY OF MAHATMA GANDHI

Visit, programs of Prince of Wales are boycotted During the latter part of 1920 Gandhi advocated a triple boycott. He wanted an absolute boycott of the Government and all government institutions, including schools, colleges, and courts. If the people were free of these they could easily have their own schools, colleges, and courts, and the power of the British would collapse at once.

Gandhi’s activities made the British government panicky.

They issued a warning that anyone who overstepped the bounds of law would be arrested and imprisoned. Gandhi thought that this warning was a victory for the campaign. He issued instructions which the people were to follow if he were arrested.

Gandhi felt that the complete boycott of all government organizations would give a chance to the Congress to set up a parallel organization, a State within a State which would lead India to Swaraj.

The Duke of Connaught was sent to India in 1921 to try to pacify the Indians. He came to open the four legislatures in the country which had been introduced as a result of the reforms announced by the King.

His coming and going passed off without any material change in the attitude of Indians towards Britain.

Gandhi travelled far and

D

elta had a particularly bad Monday morning last week. If you haven’t heard, a power failure knocked out its production systems in Atlanta, a problem that reverberated around the world, leading to an estimated 2,100 canceled flights, customer angst, and a scramble to get the system up and working again.

Delta still hadn’t returned to normal service three days later.

It’s clear this was a power failure, and Delta’s secondary systems should have come up for operation in a matter of hours, worst case. The systems and applications in question are considered business critical, which means Recovery Time Objectives (RTOs) of two hours or less would be expected even in extreme circumstances.

While the root cause of why the failover to secondary systems did not work as expected still needs to be determined, this situation highlights the need for robust business continuity and disaster recovery (DR) planning.

How can you avoid the same customer frustration and reputation damage, not to mention the loss of time and revenue?

Here are some insights into what went wrong and questions to ask yourself to ensure your own plan is honed and ready for whatever might come your way.

Ensure your data is backed up properly. Recent media coverage about Delta highlights the importance of data backups, and it’s important to have a copy of the data offsite, especially in the event of a disaster where local copies of data at a production data center may not be available You need to ensure that all your data is properly backed up and procedures are in place to recover your data, systems and applications. The classic question, “How confident are you in your ability to recover successfully?” is what you should ask when you see events like this.

Consider your data protection and recovery technology requirements. One article noted that Delta was likely running routine testing or maintenance on the switchgear. Ultimately, the power failover didn’t occur and sent Delta (and presumably many other clients in that facility) into an outage. From there, it was a ripple effect; it

said. “Do they believe that parades for the Prince will make us forget atrocities in the Punjab or the perpetual delay in granting us Home Rule?”

Fearing that there would be disorder when the Prince of Wales visited various places, the government began severe acts of suppression. Thousands of people were arrested.

wide, propagating the ideals of nonviolence and noncooperation. Day by day the Indians were getting more and more excited over carrying out Gandhi’s program. Many students left their institutions, many officers resigned their posts.

The boycott movement gained momentum. As the people’s morale grew, the morale of the government went down. Repression started.

Gandhi advised the people to have patience, and he insisted on nonviolence. He saw the weaknesses of Indians and he urged them to improve. He wanted social reforms and constructive work to be intensively followed. It was announced that the Prince of Wales was to visit India. Functions were arranged at many places to enable him to meet his loyal subjects.

Gandhi was indignant when he read the announcement in the newspapers. “Do the British think we are children?” he

Could the Delta Outage Happen to You? Here’s How to Find Out appears that Delta was not able to successfully execute its DR plan to fail over to a secondary location in a timely manner. Services resumed within about six hours, and Delta was eventually able to partially run its business in recovery mode.

The lesson learned is the importance of ensuring the appropriate failover technology and plans are in place.

Understand the importance of application tiering. Especially in terms of the impact of downtime. The impact of business downtime cannot be underestimated. For Delta, these applications should have almost instant failover and highavailability systems. This is the realm of production resiliency, and that has to be Plan A for these types of business-critical applications and systems. With data center power, you typically have dual feeds and generator backups. In this case, it looks like they all failed and/or there were single points of failure causing this outage.

Plan B is a DR plan and recovery execution. When production is not resilient to a power interruption, you need an effective Plan B. What is surprising is the length of the outage — six hours — which puts it firmly in the territory of DR. Did Delta have a proper DR approach and were they already executing down that path in parallel? What if that outage had been longer than six hours?

Did it have a Plan B firmly in place and being executed? Further, did it have a Plan C? More importantly, was Delta consistently testing those plans? Even the best plan is only as good as your last test. A lot can change between when a plan is initially created and when it’s needed, so test consistently and frequently.

There’s more to recovery than bits and bytes. We saw pictures of hand-printed boarding passes with rubber stamps for each airport. Was that part of the business continuity plan?

Did Delta have all gates globally prepared to go into paper mode? Was the process for paper tickets universally documented and kept in an offline location? If not, these are the kind of things should be integrated into your business continuity planning. Think about the

Image SUNGARD As BLOG business processes: checking in customers, re-routing personnel, and so on. The plan should be as much about people as technology. Further, the people, process and governance elements for successfully executing a recovery cannot be underestimated.

Questions to ask yourself about your own DR strategy How likely are you to experience the kind of outage Delta did, and how prepared are you to respond? Here are several considerations that could help you prevent this kind of downtime at your own organization: What standards does your data center provider adhere to around facility redundancy, testing, maintenance, certifications, and notifications?

Are you working with a provider that can manage the lifecycle of your production environment and map that properly to your recovery needs? One has to assume in Delta’s case that there were issues in effectively executing a timely recovery Is your recovery environment sized and resourced correctly for the event of an outage?

Are the changes in the production environment captured and mapped regularly to the recovery environment?

How often do you test the recovery environment to ensure recoverability?

What SLAs are provided around RTO or Recovery Point Objective (RPO) and/or have these metrics been measured regularly against your environment?

What is the criticality of your varying applications? In the event of a disaster, do you have your business impact analysis completed and your application dependencies mapped to know the order of importance and link between each application?

Who is managing your recovery? Do you have the expertise to manage a recovery event (and the regular lifecycle that goes into it)?

Search the answers for any weaknesses in your production environment and disaster recovery strategy. Learning from the Delta outage and taking action now could help you keep your systems up and your customers happy the next time something goes awry.

Great Summer Project For children! Enter Mahatma Gandhi Week 2016 Essay, I-Tribute, Poster and Speech contests.

Visit gandhilibrary.org for registration and more information. All school going children can participate! These contests are being organized to create higher awareness of the inspiring life and work of Mahatma Gandhi to promote universal values of Truth, Non-Violence, Love and Service. Call 713-785-3900 or visit www.mahatmagandhilibrary.org

On Gandhi’s advice the Congress declared that all parades, receptions, and celebrations in honor of the Prince were to be strictly boycotted. “We have no grudge against His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales,” said Gandhi, “but our ideas are against him as a symbol of oppression. We can show the world that such noncooperation is just the reverse of the European doctrine of the sword. Let us act in accordance with the holy prophets of old. Noncooperation without violence is the battle of the brave.”

There was much laughter and ridicule from the moderates and the supporters of British rule. But Gandhi paid no attention. Now read on:

On December 26, the Congress session was held in Nagpur. Though there were signs of opposition to Gandhi’s policies, his resolution was passed with an overwhelming majority. The adoption of the new program at Nagpur was the signal to start the mass movement.

Joseph George SUNGARD As BLOG 17th August 2016

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

The Indian people were so agitated that in city after city bonfires burned and the bonfires were made with foreign cloth, especially British cloth.

On November 17, 1921, the Prince of Wales landed in Bombay. Loyal stooges of Britain went to greet the royal visitor. Those who were observing nonviolent noncooperation did not molest them. However, passion suddenly blazed out.

Religious and political hatreds fanned the flames. Riots started, many were killed, much property was destroyed. There was panic in the city.

Gandhi was in Bombay, and he rushed to the scene of disorder to stop the rioting. Order was finally restored.

“Every man has the right to his religion and his own political opinion. Satyagraha will never succeed until man understands that,” Gandhi announced bitterly. In other cities the boycott of the Prince’s visit was peaceful. As the unfortunate Prince of Wales visited city after city, he- was greeted with empty streets. Not a shop was open.

The people remained behind closed doors and drawn curtains. This infuriated the British and they called upon the government of India to act.

Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal, and other leaders were arrested and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. Yet the determined courage of the people did not abate. They were ready to suffer any penalty for the cause of Home Rule.

Demands had been made to Gandhi that he should start a mass movement for the attainment of Swaraj. Gandhi decided to act. Preparations were made to start satyagraha in Bardoli. But Gandhi had to stop the campaign suddenly because of what had happened ill Bombay and other places.

In Chauri Chaura, near Gorakhpur in U.P., some policemen fired on a crowd which was holding a demonstration against the government. This

annoyed the demonstrators so much that they became very violent. They chased the police. The police took refuge in the city hall. The angry mob surrounded the hall and set it on fire. Some policemen were burned to death. Others, trying to escape, were killed by the furious mob outside.

Gandhi was very upset.

He thought that it was clear that the people were still not prepared for satyagraha. He stopped the intended satyagraha at Bardoli. His co-workers did not agree with him, but he was adamant. He wanted his followers to start constructive programs.

Many Indians were sorry for Gandhi’s action. They thought that Swaraj was now within their reach and the movement should therefore continue.

The Government was playing a waiting game. Instead of thanking Gandhi for stopping

the mass movement, they arrested him on charges of sedition and sentenced him to six years’ imprisonment. He was removed to Yeravda Central Jail in Poona.

In prison Gandhi settled down to a regime of spinning, writing, and meditation. The people were disappointed and the government tightened its hold. Almost all the leaders were put in jail.

Then, in 1924, Gandhi fell ill. He was suffering from appendicitis and was in great pain. The government was alarmed. What would happen if Gandhi died in prison? An urgent operation was arranged, and Gandhi agreed. The operation was successful, but his recovery was very slow. The government thought it best to release him, so he was set free.

He went to Juhu, near Bombay, for recovery.

— To be continued

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VOICE OF ASIA 3

C OMMUNITY VOICE OF ASIA

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

Second Front Page

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

H

OUSTON, TEXAS — The Indo-American Charity Foundation (IACF) will hold its annual gala on Friday, September 30, 2016, at the Stafford Civic Center. The theme for this year’s gala is ‘After the Monsoon, Charity Blossoms’. The event will showcase IACF’s supporting charities, individuals and organizations that share its mission to serve communities in the Greater Houston area.

Tel: 713-774-5140

www.voiceofasiaonline.com

IACF Annual Gala September 30, 2016 various sponsorship levels, and Memorial Hermann Hospital is graciously serving as the grand sponsor of the event at the Lotus Level.

The non-profit organization is excited to involve the local community and will have its first Angels of Charity fashion show with local celebrities walking the ramp.

The evening will highlight new collaborations and initiatives accompanied with great food, drinks, and dancing.

Active volunteers and supporters of IACF will be spotlighted as Friends of Charity during the evening.

To incorporate the After the Monsoon, Charity Blossoms theme, IACF has introduced

Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in a silent auction featuring artwork from local talent.

Indo American Charity Foundation Board members with partnering Charities. File photo .

Prema’s first day at Goswami Academy

H

OUSTON - Now entering its third year of teaching, Goswami Academy, a school at Hare Krishna Dham under the auspieces of ISKCON (International Society for Krishna Consciousness) admitted students pre-kindergarten through Grade V (ages 3-9). As with traditional Gurukuls, Goswami Academy nurtures both creative academics and spiritual values in formative stage of education.

iar with the public education system as well as being a Vaishnava scholar. She is be advised in curriculum, teaching methods and organization by leading ISKCON educators such as HH Hanumat Presaka Swami, HG Urmila Mataji, Australia’s Prana Dasa, and Mumbai’s RamaGiridhara Dasa, among others.

For more information, call 713-714-2250 or visit http://goswamiacademy.org

Funds raised during the 2016 Gala will support IACF’s programs and services and will support thousands of Houstonians. Our major sponsors

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Prema (daughter of Sri Radha and Jiva Goswami Parker) is excited on her first day of Pre-K at Goswami Academy in the Garden Oaks area of Houston.

Right: Heritage Rose Elementary School kindergartener Donovan Mullone joined his mom, Melissa for a back-to-school photo.

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To partner with IACF as a sponsor for the Gala, please contact Shweta Arora at (832)483-4442.

ABOUT IACF The Indo-American Charity Foundation (IACF) is a nonprofit charitable organization that helps the underprivileged and needy with monetary contributions and volunteer work through established and emerging organizations [501(c)3] in the Greater Houston Area.

IACF was founded in 1988 by a group of Houstonians of Indian origin (Indo- American) compelled by an altruistic desire to give back to their local community. Their mission to help the underprivileged originated with the effort to fight hunger, and has now developed into a multi-faceted philanthropic endeavor to help those in need of health, education and human services in the Greater Houston Area.

ORT BEND ISD (August 22, 2016) – The 2016-17 school year has officially begun with Fort Bend ISD welcoming nearly 74,000 students back to school after a restful summer vacation.

Superintendent of Schools Dr. Charles Dupre and members of his executive team joined principals and school staff in greeting students and their families as they arrived to school. With lunches, backpacks and jackets in hand, students entered their classrooms anticipating an eventful first day of school.

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Different aspects of Goswami Academy provide the extra curriculum in this type of school, allowing students to cope with learning which gives an added advantage over students of public or private schools. This is exemplified by the education they received in such home study or special schools as advocated by Swami Prabhupada, the founder-acharya of ISKCON. For the past two years, Houston parents have been able to give their children a spirituallycentered education at Goswamy Academy. The school includes solid academics, Sanskrit, devotional music and vegetarian meals. A brand new school building is in the planning stage for 2017.

Principal of Goswami Academy, Subra Devi Dasi is famil-

For the past 28 years IACF has raised funds to help support local organizations that are new and/or in need of aid to provide services to thousands of Houstonians. IACF invites you to come support their mission of “We live here.

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VOICE OF ASIA 4

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

“NextGen Networking The People’s Lawyer Mixer” by IACCGH www.peopleslawyer.net Richard M. Alderman Interim Dean of the Law Center

You don’t owe your parent’s debts Q. My mother recently died. At the time of her death she had very little property and no money. I am now getting numerous calls from a debt collector who says that because I am her sole heir I owe her debts. The debt collector has offered fair payment terms, but I was wondering whether I really am responsible for her bills. I am becoming very upset because of all of the phone calls.

A. Unless you have agreed to be responsible for her debts, you have no liability for your mother’s bills. Under the law, a deceased person’s estate is responsible for the debts.

If there is not enough money in the estate to pay the bills, they do not get paid.

Relatives or heirs are not responsible.

Based on what you say, the debt collector may also be violating federal law. Federal law prohibits a debt collector from contacting anyone other than the debtor, or making any misrepresentations about your liability. In my opinion, the debt collector has violated the federal law by contacting you, and by representing that you owe your mother’s debts because you are her sole heir.

I suggest you let the debt collector know your mother’s estate was virtually worthless, and he can file a claim against her estate if he wants to try and col-

lect. You also should inform him you believe he is violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and you expect he will stop all communication with you. If he does not, speak with a consumer attorney about your rights under this law.

Q. I jog several miles a day.

A policeman recently told me that I had to jog on the sidewalk. He said it was illegal to jog in the street. This can’t be the law. Is it?

A. As far as the law is concerned, sidewalks are made for walking, and jogging.

Under the law, when you jog you are a pedestrian. You are subject to the same laws as a person who is walking. This means you must jog on the sidewalk unless there is not one. In that case, you may jog in the street, facing traffic. You actually may receive a ticket if you do not comply with the law.

Q. Is there any law stating that after a tenant lives in an apartment for a long time and requests a change of the carpet in the apartment, the management has to change it? I have lived here for more than six years and the carpet does not look good.

A. Sorry, there is no such law. That does not mean, however, that you should not request a change before signing a new lease. Generally, the relationship between a landlord and tenant is a matter of private contract. Every time you negotiate a new

lease, or every month if you are on a month-to-month tenancy, you or the landlord may propose new terms. If you think you are entitled to new carpet, you should ask the landlord to replace it.

If he refuses to install new carpet, you have the option of moving somewhere else or staying put with your old carpet.

Q. I was sexually assaulted in the laundry room of my apartment. I am very scared to live there and asked the landlord if I could terminate my lease. He said if I left early I would be breaking the lease and would continue to owe rent. Do I have the right to leave?

A. Until recently, you generally did not have the right to terminate your lease early due to a sexual assault. Effective with leases entered into after January 2010, however, a tenant who is the victim of a sexual assault, or the parent of the victim, may terminate a lease with no further liability. To take advantage of this law, you must provide the landlord with documentation of the assault, for example, documentation of the assault from a licensed health care services provider or a licensed mental health services provider who examined you .

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Darel D’Souza and Narayan Bhargava present Keynote Speaker Michael Cordúa a plaque of appreciation at the NextGen Networking Mixer. Photo credit: Bijay Dixit, Unique Photo Images.

by Manu Shah How do you engage and involve the next generation of professionals in a cause you believe in?

Twenty eight year old Narayan Bhargava – IACCGH Board member and NextGen Committee founder and Darel D’Souza, President, Pratham Young Professionals (PYP) had an idea.

The two organizations teamed up to host the first “NextGen Networking Mixer” at the upscale Americas restaurant in River Oaks on 17th August. Not only did the evening offer attendees an opportunity to connect with other professionals in an informal environment but the chance to listen to an inspiring story of entrepreneurship and the importance of people for success – a lesson driven home

by Michael Cordua - founder and CEO of Cordua Restaurants, which includes familiar Houston establishments like Americas, Amazon Grill, and Churrascos.

In his welcome remarks, Darel D’souza gave a brief outline about PYP, which he described as “a small group that makes a big difference.”

The organization funds 10 schools to increase the literacy

rates among the underprivileged sections in India.

Narayan Bhargava offered an overview of the Chamber and its mission in promoting the economic growth of the Greater Houston region. He also explained the NextGen initiative and its intent to engage and involve college students and young professionals in the Chamber.

Narayan went on to introduce Americas entrepreneurial owner – Michael Cordua who described his early struggles in the shipping business and observed that “most entrepreneurs are born when they are thrown out of their comfort zone.” A chef himself, Cordua decided to start an authentic South American restaurant in “Tex-mex dominated Houston”. Despite some initial setbacks, the restaurant took off and expanded to many more.

In conclusion, Cordua advised the gathering “that it is people who will make your business.”

This point was further elaborated by Narayan who drew a sharp connection between networking, optimizing connections and professional growth. According to him “the NextGen Networking event at America’s Restaurant was a great success because people

were able to genuinely network and also take some wisdom back home from Michael Cordua - a successful Houston entrepreneur. Moreover, doing the event with PYP allowed us to take another step towards building a younger base for the Chamber and also further developing our relationship with a peer group.”

Over the last two years, IACCGH has rolled out two new initiatives aimed at the younger generation. An International Student Internship program sends select business students to intern in Corporate India as well as a company in Houston. The objective is to offer interns a dual perspective of how business is conducted in two different countries. Ankit Bhowmick and Akash Dhingra were the two students selected for internships in Shell India and JSW Steel, respectively this year.

In addition, IACCGH started an internal internship program. Three business students from the C.T. Bauer of Business were selected to intern at the Chamber to offer them the experience of working with a nonprofit.

(For more information about “NextGen Networking”, please write to info@iaccgh. com)

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FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 6

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

Amritaa Sreeram’s Arangetram - Exemplary Display of Dedication and Discipline

by Sanchali Basu

A

mritaa Sreeram, an immensely dedicated dancer, passionate about her dancing, gave an outstanding performance at her Arangetram on Saturday, August 6, 2016 at the Jewish Community Center in Houston. Her guru, Smt. Padmini Chari, a renowned Bharatnatyam, classical dance exponent hailed Amritaa’s Arangetram as a testament to her dedication and discipline.

It was an auspicious beginning with Amritaa taking the blessings of God, guru, family and parents Subhas and Shonali Sreeram before welcoming the guests. Dr. Surabi Veeraraghavan was introduced as the Mistress of Ceremonies. The program commenced with a prayer by the musicians. Vocalist Smt. Pusthakam Ramaa immediately struck a chord with the audience with her very first notes in her divine voice and she kept them enthralled throughout. Flautist Sri K. S. Jayaram was equally adept and his accompaniment made the music even more mellifluous. Sri Bharghava Halambi, kicked the music up a notch and was able to create sounds on the rhythm pad, that were unique and outstanding. The mridangam, played by Sri P. Janardhana Rao and the nattuvangam by Guru Padmini Chari made the orchestra complete and a well rounded unit.

Amritaa made her entrance with the Natarajanjali, an invocation to the Lord of dance Nataraja and Ganapathi Vandana, as is the custom with any auspicious occasion, a tribute to the remover of all obstacles, Lord Ganesha. The second piece in any Bharatnatyam Arangetram is the Jatiswaram and Amritaa wove different types of rhythmic patterns with the help of basic Adavus (steps) in this dance.

Varnam, which is usually the central piece of any Bharatnatyam performance, highlights the strength of the dancer since it is a very comprehensive and strenuous dance and brings out every aspect of the dance form including abhinaya (facial expressions) and intricate footwork (Jathis). Amritaa with the able guidance of emcee Surabi, conveyed the essence of the dance with a very short demonstration of the different aspects of this long 30 minute dance depicting the heroine’s love and deep devotion for Lord Nataraja.

Pahimam, a dance glorifying Goddess Devi was very well executed

by Amritaa, and her very caring and compassionate nature reflected so

Smt. Padmini Chari, Amritta’s guru presenting her with her diploma certificate.

Amritaa performing one of intricate steps of dance during her Arangetram beautifully throughout the dance, it almost seemed like the dance was choreographed just for her. The way she switched between the characters of the fierce goddess and the frightened demon was truly flawless. Another dance glorifying Lord Shiva, Bho Shambho brought out the best in Amritaa and her difficult poses reminded one of South Indian temple sculptures. This piece was one to be remembered by all.

Amritaa’s friends and family members all touched upon her tremendous shy nature when she first started to dance at the tender age of 8 and how she had blossomed into this beautiful confident dancer and how much stronger dance had made her. Besides dancing, her passion for the arts extends to singing, as was expressed by chief guests Chandrakantha and David Courtney. She also loves to do Bolly-

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wood dance and played the violin in her school orchestra.

The next dance item that followed was Chinna Chinna Padam where mother Yashoda pleads with child Krishna to come to her and Krishna plays pranks on her. Amritaa’s abhinaya of the playful interaction between mother and child and in the second part the fiery aggression of Krishna when he subjugated the evil snake Kaliya and danced on its hood were impeccable.

Thillana, the penultimate dance of the recital was very fast paced and vibrant and showcased Amritaa’s joy and exuberance when she dances. The jugalbandi during the dance attested to her ability to grasp the beats played on the mridangam and was appreciated by resounding applause from the crowd. The performance ended with

Amritaa’s abhinaya was precise throughout her performance.

Photo credit: Navin Mediwala the Mangalam, a final salutation to God, Guru and the audience. She then came out to thank her guru, the musicians, her parents, the audience and everyone who helped.

Guru Smt. Padmini Chari was all praise about her deserving pupil and presented her with her diploma certificate. Shonali, Amritaa’s mother was very emotional with her vote of thanks and thanked photographer Navin Mediwala, Lee Snyder with the lights

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VOICE OF ASIA 7

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

Creator of ‘American Dream’ for Indian Nurses Honored

by Jeemon Ranny.

J

oseph Chacko, CEO of TRAVISA Tours & Travels who was instrumental in starting the enblock migration of Indian Nurses to the United States in 1970 when he joined Air France in Calcutta (now Kolkata), and learned about Green Card Visas being issued at U.S. Consulates in India on mere production of their GNM certificates (B.Sc. Nursing was unheard of then except in CMC, Vellore) to meet the acute shortage of Nurses in American Hospitals during the peak of Vietnam War and helped most of the Malayalee Nurses all over North East India to migrate to USA in a couple of years, was honored by the Overseas Kerala Chamber of Commerce Inc. of Greater Houston at a grand function at the Ghazal India Care Banquette Hall, Stafford, with a Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Honorable Ken Mathews, Mayor Pro Tem, City of Stafford, on Friday, August 12th, 2016, in the presence of Ms. Aley Samuel, Indian Nurses’ Association, and many heads of Organizations and Associations and other leaders of Malayalee Community of Houston felicitated him for his yeomen services in originating the ‘American Dream’ and then fulfilling it for two generations of Malayalee Nurses and passing on that American Dream to the third generation: the I.T. Experts of the 21st century!

By creating the ‘American Dream’ in the 1970s, Joseph Chacko claims that he only brought the nobility and respectability to the profession of Nursing. Though Kerala was far ahead in literacy and level of education of women, till the 1950s the man was considered to be the bread winner of the family and women stayed home. A few became Lady Teachers or Lady Doctors or Advocates but nobody from the upper strata of the society in Kerala sent their daughters for Nursing. He recalls the remark of the older brother of his Sunday School Head Master who sent his daughter to CMC, Vellore for Nursing: “it would have been better that he sent his daughter to ………(a word he heard for the first time as a child and later

Joseph Chacko, CEO of Travisa Tours & Travels receiving the plaque from Ken Mathews, Pro Tem, City of Stafford. understood to be very vulgar)” After the universal icon of mercy and kindness, Florence Nightingale became a part of school curriculum in Kerala as “Lady with the Lamp” girls, mostly from the economically weaker, Reformed Christian families went for Nursing and by the end of 1960s most of the Railways and Private Hospitals all over North India had majority of their Nurses from Kerala. After Joseph Chacko started sending Nurses to America en bloc from Calcutta, the news spread far and wide and Nursing Schools mushroomed in Kerala and Karnataka and Nurses who used to get spouses mostly from the uniformed men forces (that was the job open to most men till then) suddenly became the most sought-after in the marriage market, even Engineers and Doctors vied with each other to marry a Nurse and go to America, girls even from the aristocratic families started selecting Nursing as their first choice of a profession!

As an airline staff with travel facilities, Joseph Chacko traveled to every nook and corner of the USA where he sent the nurses to enquire after their wellbeing. They stayed in clusters of 4 or 5 in an Apartment and saved money for 6 months to one year before they could take an Apartment alone and bring their husbands and children to USA. The airline baggage contained

mostly household effects and kitchen utensils and the airlines started the 2-piece baggage allowance system in and to U.S. & Canada.

By the time he was transferred to Madras from 01JAN1981, the first generation Nurses had become U.S. Citizens and filed Immigrant Visa Petitions for their siblings in India and their Parents started visiting the U.S., with the outbreak of AIDS many left the medical field in USA and Hospitals became deserted and needed more Nurses. This led to many cases of touts

and crooks manipulating the situation and Visa Cheating, Job Cheating cases became rampant. As the only Malayalee in the field in Madras and as he offered free services, Joseph Chacko became the pivot of American Visa and crowds thronged to him. When he left AIR FRANCE in 1989 he was forced to continue the services and he started a proprietory firm ‘American Passages’ and worked from his Madras home, doing everything singlehanded from meeting the families at the Madras Central Station, putting them up in Lodges, taking them to the Labs for Blood tests, X-Rays, collecting the Reports and taking them for final Medical Report from the Consulate Physician Dr. Rao, fillin up all the Visa Application documents by manual typewriters, arranging all documentations in order and accompanying them to the U.S. Consulate for Visa interview. (All the restricrtions at the Consulates came only after 9/11).

Finally when the going became tough he started the present TRAVISA Tours & Travels and the first office was inaugurated at Kottayam, Kerala, by his schoolmate and then Puthuppally MLA, Mr. Oommen Chandy on 01APR1992, followed by the Head Office in Madras and other branches at Pathanamthitta, Thiruvalla, Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram over the years. The magical name “TRAVISA” coined by joining TRAvel + VISA is now a big fat Brand Name all over India and America wherever the

Malayalee set foot!

After processing 150,000 visas, Joseph Chacko was honored with the NEHRU AWARD for Excellence in the Field of Travel and Tourism in 2014 on the 50th Death Anniversary of the First Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Recently a Headquarters Back Office was opened near his home in Anchery, Puthuppally, Kottayam and today TRAVISA is processing annually about 3000 immigrant and 2000 Visitor Visas to USA, 2000 other country visas to U.K., Canada, Australia, Italy, Austria, Germany, France, Denmark, Spain, Singapore, Malaysia, New Zealand, Dubai and Saudi Arabia, etc., and U.S. Passport renewals, OCI Cards, Attestations, Travel Insurance, Indian Passports, PCC and allied services and issues over 1500 air tickets yearly. When you lost a Greencard in India, your U.S. Passport expired while in India, visas sponsored by you were refused several times, your son got married in India and a petition is to be filed for the girl, you fell sick and need an emergency visa for your siblings in India, any and every need, Joseph Chacko is the first person you turn to; he is a real friend and guide of the American Malayalee in its true meaning.

Joseph Chacko can be contacted: www.travisatt.com. Email: visas@ travisatt.com.

Joseph Chacko being honored by Aley Samuel, Indian Nurses’ Association, heads of organizations, community leaders of the Malayalee community in Houston.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 8

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

ICC Commemorates India’s 70th Independence Day.......

The Essay Competition participants were over 28 contestants in age group 6 to 21years.

The VIP section of the audience at the I-Fest in Stafford City. Photo by Shobana Muratee, VOA. Continued from page 1

elected officials that included: Houston Mayor, Sylvester Turner; Stafford Mayor Leonard Scarcella; Missouri City Mayor Allen Owen; Sugar Land Protem Mayor Himesh Gandhi and Councilman Harish Jajoo; Consul General of India Anupam Ray. Rajiv Bhavsar, ICC president in his address thanked ICC Board and Trustees and its partnering organizations for their support to its signature event I-Fest. He later received proclamations from the Mayors and from Rep. of Senator John Cornyn’s office, Al Green’s Office, City Controller Chris Brown Office and Fort Bend Trustee’s Office.

Formal program began with National Anthem by Paarth Maniar and was emceed by Pratik Mirani and Neera Patel.

ICC’s ‘Community Service Award’ was given to SEWA International for their exemplary service. “Recognition Award” was given to Ms. Rebecca Hathorn from Stafford Center.

The Safety Officers of City of Houston, Stafford, Sugar Land and Missouri City were recognized and felicitated with Awards. The highlight of the celebrations was the elaborate cultural program that incorporated 26 dances, two skits and one Choir. Two hundred and eighty plus, children, teens and adults performed on stage.

“It was the highest diversity and number so far of participation,” said Swapan Dhairyawan, ICC Chief Trustee.

Participating groups included: Bollywood Dancing Stars, Sunanda Performing Arts, Anjali Center, Laaya Dance Group, Kalakriti Performing Arts, TAAL Group, TYAGI Group, Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh Group, Kathak Kala Kendra, skit from Indian Muslims Association of Greater Houston and JVB Preksha Center, Houston Brethren, Bollywood Shake, Kala Kunj, VVM, Woodlands Garba Group, Infused Performing Arts, Bollywood Shake, US Desi Galz, HH Creationz, Sparsh Group, Telugu Dance Group and a choir from Tagore Society of Houston. The jam packed cultural program was very colorful, enthralling and inclusive of kids from various age groups. Its Coordinators were Swapan Dhairyawan, Nisha Mirani and Sapna Shah. The Musical Segment of Bollywood from local young artist Serene Kaggal was an instant hit.

Fresh and interesting segments were the Mom, Dad & Me Talent contest sponsored

by Xfinity Comcast and Coordinated by Keka Kar had the family display its dance, music or instrumental skills. Top cash prize winner was Ms. Soma Ghosh and family. The Essay Competition had over 28 contestants in age group 6 to 21years and was coordinated by Parul Fernandes.

ICC Quiz was conducted at the front ICC Booth by Sanjay Sohoni was swamped with kids who were excited to answer Geography and History questions to win cookies and chocolates.

Another interesting item was ‘Weaves of India’ that showcased saree wrapping styles from different ten States of India displayed. It was sponsored by Sling TV and coordinated by Sangeeta Pasrija and Sangita Dua. ICC extended its thanks to volunteers, vendors, Darshak Thacker for PA &

Sound System, Raghu Thakkar for photography.

The program concluded on highly charged, upbeat note around 9:15 pm that day.

Winners of Mom, Dad & Me Talent contest sponsored by Xfinity Comcast

‘Weaves of India’ - Saree draping styles of India. Ten women depicted Indian states styles adding vibrancy to the event.

Sugar Land Protem Mayor Himesh Gandhi (right) HPD Office Muzzafar Siddiqi (center) being honored by ICC at the I-Fest 2016. presenting a proclamation to Rajiv Bhavsar.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 9

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

Spectacular Janmashtami celebrations USPS issues forever stamp to honor Diwali by the Hindus of Greater Houston

H

OUSTON - The new academic year in Houston begins with the 27th grand annual Janmashtami celebrations by the Hindus of Greater Houston.

We invite all Houston families, friends and neighbors to celebrate Krishna Janmashtami (birthday of Lord Krishna) at the Hall B3, George R. Brown Convention Center on Saturday, September 10, 2016 from 6 pm until midnight. HGH has planned special programs for all ages to make this event a grand success and the event is free and open to all.

Meet Dr. David Frowley, popularly known as Pt. Vamdev Shastry a Padma Bhushan Awardee for his work on Yoga and Vedanta, and listen to his inspiring speech and interactive session on Hinduism and the modern world, an extract from his best seller “Arise with Arjuna”.

As a tribute to Pramukh Swamiji, who led the BAPS Sanstha and took it to greater heights and prominence in the world, the BAPS Swaminarayan Mandir organization

T

he US Postal Service on Tuesday said it will issue a Diwali postage stamp, meeting one of the long pending demands of IndianAmerican community. The Diwali stamp is being issued as a “Forever” stamp, the US Postal Service said in a statement. The stamp design, unveiled by the US Postal Service (USPS), is a photograph featuring a traditional diya oil lamp lit in a sparkling gold background. Sally Andersen-Bruce of New Milford, Connecticut, photographed the diya.

will present a video presentation and an exhibition on the contribution of Swamiji An eye-catching Rangoli (art work) will be displayed at the entrance to captivate the visitors. The hall will be adorned with specially decorated booths, temples and will also hold some commercial booths for those who wish to shop while you celebrate.

The evening will commence with the children’s costume contest which is the biggest participation in the whole of Houston. Other children activities such as art contest, Matki Phod, etc will keep the children enthused. A cultural program of colorful Indian dances presented by professional dance schools and groups in Houston will be an audio visual treat.

Wear your Indian costumes and dance all night to the foot tapping Garba music performed live by the best singer Kashmira Nayak with Darshak Thakkar on the drums. Dance till you are tired and we expect to increase the pace of the

Chief guest Dr. David Frawley. music this year so that we can keep up with the high energy level in Houston. Other items such as, booths by various organizations, beautiful decorations, mouth-watering Indian Snack Food and more will make for a special evening.

This celebration is brought to you by the Hindus of Greater Houston whose mission is….

“To bring Hindus Together”.

Please visit www.hindusofhouston.org for more information. OR contact Chairperson Partha Krishnaswamy (713-962-8523) for event details, Sheetal Rathi (281-5978794) for costume contest, or Sharad Amin (713-854-0633) for booth information.

For more information, see www.hindusofhouston.org

Free Community Health Fair in Pearland area, with Screenings, Consultations and Vaccines

M

ANVEL, TX – The sixth annual ‘Life and Soul’ free health fair will be held on Sep 10th from 8 am to 12 pm at New Life Plaza (Sai Primary Care) located at 3945 CR 58, Manvel. The event will be kicked off by Honorable Mayor Delores Martin of Manvel as well as Honorable Mayor Tom Reid of Pearland.

Organized by Love to Share Foundation America, a nonprofit community-based charity organization, along with Global Organization for Divinity, the event is completely free and open to all. And except for screening mammograms, no prior registration is required.

Life and Soul 2016 is supported by Texas Medical Association, UTMB - Project Pink Warrior (Susan Komen Grant), Pearland Medical Center, HEB Plus, Walmart, Internal Medicine Associates of Houston, Texas ENT Specialists, Walgreens, Alvin Community College, Southeast Cardiovascular Associates, Texas Eye Institute, Genesis Hearing Clinic, Third Coast Terminals, US Imaging, Sleep Center of Kirby, Kroger, Shipley’s Donuts, Dominos, Cooling Tower & Solutions and Bandy & Associates, Inc. Over 50 volunteers, including physicians, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, high school students and others work selflessly to make this event a reality!

The screenings for this year include Body Mass Index, Blood Pressure, Blood Glucose, Lung Function Test, Bone Density, Pulse Oximetry, Lung Function Test, Carotid Doppler, Vision and Glaucoma screening, Free Otoscopy and Hearing evaluations. Free Mammogram Screenings will be conducted

by UTMB. If you are a female, a Brazoria County resident and over 40 years of age, you may be eligible for a free mammogram. Please come to 3945 CR 58, Manvel, TX 77578 and fill out the registration forms that will be sent to UTMB for eligibility screening. 8-10 hours fasting is required for the blood tests. General practitioners and specialists will be available to provide free consultations.

Free vaccines (flu shots and shingles shot) will also be made available to eligible candidates while supplies last, thanks to the grant awarded by Texas Medical Association’s Be WiseImmunize program. A Diabetes Education session will also be held. Interested persons should call 281.412.6606 to register.

Hard Hats for Little Heads initiative of Texas Medical Association will be supporting free helmet giveaways to prevent head injury.

Love to Share Foundation America thanks its sponsors, volunteers and the community for their overwhelming support and welcomes the community to take advantage of the free screenings and vaccinations this year as well.

Volunteers at Love to Share Foundation America and Global Organization for Divinity also work at grass roots levels to lend a helping hand to the under privileged, to empower individuals with accessible healthcare, education, leadership skills and

clean environment, thus enhancing the quality of life and paving the way for sustainable communities.

For more information about Love to Share Foundation, please visit www.lovetoshare-

foundation.org, email contact@ lovetosharefoundation.org, or call 281-402-6585. For information about Global Organization for Divinity, please visit www. godivinity.org, email houston. god@godivinity.org or call 281402-6585.

Greg Breeding of Charlottesville, Virginia, designed the stamp and William J Gicker from Washington postal service was the project’s art director, a statement said. The first-day-ofissue dedication ceremony will take place at the Indian Consulate in New York City on October 5, the USPS said. Hinduism was the only major world religion, for which the USPS had not issued a postage stamp.

Also known as Deepavali, Diwali celebrates the triumph of good over evil. Spanning five days each autumn, it is considered by some to be the start of the new year.

On the Hindu calendar, Diwali falls on the eve of, or on, the new moon that occurs between mid-October and mid-November. In 2016, the main day of the festival will be celebrated Oct. 29 for South Indians and Oct 30 for North Indians.

Diwali is a shortened version of the Sanskrit word Deepavali, which roughly translates as “a necklace of lights.” During Diwali, the flickering oil-wick diyas sprinkle the homes of observers around the world.

Before the festival, many Hindus traditionally go shopping, clean their homes, open their doors and windows, create intricate rangoli — a vibrant floor pattern traditionally made from materials such as rice powder, colored sand and flower petals — and light diyas with hopes that Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, will visit.

In some regions of India, people play games, just as Hindu lore says that the god Shiva did. On the festive main day of the holiday, families pray for Lakshmi, dress up in their best clothes, enjoy lavish feasts and sweets, exchange gifts and light fireworks.

Diwali also marks the new year for people in Gujarat and a few other states of India.

“This is a dream come true,” said New York-based Ranju Batra chair, Diwali Stamp Project, who had led campaign to send thousands of letters to the US Postal Service in the past and had campaigned before the US Congress.

“It has taken seven years for me, thanks to Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney,” – said Batra.

Courtesy: Spotlife Asia, Aug 23, 2016

SOUTH ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 10

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

2 Indian-American Women Named White House Fellows

Anjali Tripathi and Tina R Shah (right) are among the 16 White House Fellows appointed.

W

ASHINGTON, PTI - Two IndianAmerican women have been selected for the prestigious White House Fellow programme that offers firsthand experience of working at the highest levels of the US federal government.

Astrophysicist Anjali Tripathi from California and physician Tina R Shah from Chicago are among the 16 White House Fellows appointed from across the nation for the year 2016-17, officials said.

Shah is a Pulmonary and Critical Care physician-scientist focused on transforming healthcare delivery for patients with chronic diseases.

She recently completed her clinical fellowship at the University of Chicago (UC), where she redesigned the care cycle for patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), dramatically reducing hospital re-admissions.

As the recipient of the inaugural UC Innovations Grant, Shah also led an inter-professional research team to evaluate this value-based care deliv-

ery programme.

Shah was a trustee for the Chicago Medical Society and has held leadership positions in other medical societies to advocate for her patients and for a sustainable medical workforce.

She received a BS and an MD from the Pennsylvania State University/Jefferson Medical College accelerated six- year medical program and MPH from Harvard.

Tripathi, an astrophysicist recently at Harvard University, focuses on the formation and evolution of planets. She has pioneered the characterisation of planet forming environments and developed the first 3D simulations of planets evaporating due to extreme atmospheric heating.

Tripathi has also been involved in modelling the Milky Way and the search for dark matter. Previously, she has conducted particle physics, seismology and engineering research at Fermilab, Caltech, MIT, and NASA JPL, as part of the mission operations team for the Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity.

Her commitment to improving her community has been recognised by Harvard, MIT, and the American Red Cross.

Tripathi will receive her Ph.D. in Astronomy from Harvard, where she earned an AM in Astronomy as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. She received M Phil in Astronomy from Cambridge University as a Marshall Scholar and SB in Physics, with a minor in Applied International Studies, from MIT. The White House Fellows Program was created in 1964

by President Lyndon B Johnson to give promising American leaders “first hand, high-level experience with the workings of the Federal government and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs”.

Selection as a White House Fellow is highly competitive and based on a record of professional achievement, evidence of leadership potential and a proven commitment to public service. Each Fellow must possess the knowledge and skills necessary to contribute meaningfully at senior levels of the Federal government.

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Africa, the West Indies and the Middle East.

The overwhelming number of victims are women and children.

FTL Moda is committed to challenging norms of beauty in the fashion world and last year invited Madeline Stuart, an Australian teenager with Down syndrome, to walk the runway, garnering rave reviews.

Indian acid attack survivor Reshma at her home in Mumbai in 2014 ©Indranil Mukherjee (AFP/File).

Continued from page 1 India and appears in videos on YouTube offering beauty tips and make-up advice.

FTL Moda, a fashion production company, invited her to take part in New York Fashion Week, the bi-annual style frenzy that brings together models, fashion editors, buyers and designers from across the world.

She is scheduled to walk the runway on September 8 in two shows during New York Fashion Week, FTL Moda told AFP. The daughter of a taxi driver, she was filmed wiping away tears and smiling when told by the charity Make Love Not Scars that she would be flying to New York.

The London-based charity Acid Survivors Trust International estimates there are 500 to 1,000 acid attacks each year in India.

Acid attacks rarely kill but leave severe physical, psychological and social scars. They are a particular problem in Southeast Asia, sub-Saharan

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VOICE OF ASIA 11

Attack on Kabul’s American University ends as attackers killed

by Mushtaq MOJADDIDI

K

ABUL, Afghanistan | AFP | Thursday 8/24/2016 - An attack at the American University in Kabul ended after two attackers were killed, police said early Thursday, nearly 10 hours after militants stormed the complex, prompting desperate pleas for help from trapped students.

The attack triggered explosions and gunfire, killing at least one person and wounding 26 others in an assault which comes just weeks after two university professors -- an American and an Australian -- were kidnapped at gunpoint near the school.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack, but it comes as Taliban insurgents step up their summer fighting season against the Westernbacked Kabul government.

“We have ended our cleanup operation. Two attackers were gunned down,” Fraidoon Obaidi, chief of Kabul police’s Criminal Investigation Department, told AFP without offering any details.

Local media reported that hundreds of students had been rescued during the overnight operation, many of whom tweeted desperate messages for help, with some using classroom furniture to barricade the doors.

Among them was Associated Press photojournalist Massoud Hossaini, who was said to be wounded and later managed to escape with some fellow students.

The attack started on Wednesday evening, when the private

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

US urges Americans to leave Gaza ‘as soon as possible’ WASHINGTON, United States | AFP | 8/23/2016 - The United States on Tuesday reiterated its recommendation that Americans in Gaza leave the territory controlled by Hamas, which Washington calls a terrorist group, “as soon as possible.”

Bank, a wave of violence there since October 2015 has left Americans dead and wounded, the department said.

The warning came after the Israeli army said it bombed dozens of targets in Gaza from Sunday to Monday, in response to rocket fire from the strip. Palestinian medical officials said four people were wounded.

The violence has eased in recent weeks, but an AFP count shows 220 Palestinians and 34 Israelis killed since October 1, 2015 in the Palestinian territories, Jerusalem and Israel.

Washington regularly updates warning notices to Americans traveling to and living in countries around the world.

The attack started on Wednesday evening, when the private university is usually packed with students. AP Photo. university is usually packed ministry said late Wednesday the conflict-torn country. with students, many of them that at least one person had been The Afghan capital is infested working professionals doing killed and 26 others wounded, with organised criminal gangs part-time courses. many of them critically. who stage kidnappings for ran“I heard explosions and gunfire is going on close by... our classroom is filled with smoke and dust,” an anxious student told AFP by telephone, before managing to escape.

Authorities refused to confirm whether any hostages had been taken.

NATO military advisers were helping Afghan forces to respond to the attack, a US official said, without specifying how many troops were involved.

Many of the wounded were rushed into waiting ambulances outside the university on stretchers, as erratic gunshots rang out from inside the campus.

Obaidi declined to confirm details on casualties but the health

The American University of Afghanistan, which opened in 2006 and enrolls more than 1,700 students, is seen as a highprofile target for militants partly because it attracts foreign faculty members.

The two foreign professors at the university were seized from their vehicle on August 7, as the kidnappers smashed the passenger window and hauled them away at gunpoint.

It appeared to be the first reported abduction related to a private university in Afghanistan.

Their whereabouts are still unknown and no group so far has publicly claimed responsibility for the abductions, the latest in a series of kidnappings in

som, often targeting foreigners and wealthy Afghans, and sometimes handing them over to insurgent groups.

The uptick in violence comes as the Taliban escalate nationwide attacks, underscoring the worsening security situation in Afghanistan.

Afghan forces backed by US troops are seeking to head off a potential Taliban takeover of Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern opium-rich province of Helmand.

The turmoil convulsing Helmand, blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency, has left thousands of people displaced, sparking a humanitarian crisis as officials report food and water shortages.

In the case of Gaza, the State Department warned against “all travel” to the territory and “urges those present to depart as soon as possible when border crossings are open.”

It had issued a similar warning in December 2015.

Since January, 14 rockets fired from Gaza have hit Israeli territory, the military said.

The border area has remained tense since the July-August 2014 war between Israel and Gaza militants that killed more than 2,200 Palestinians and 73 people on the Israeli side.

“Gaza is under the control of Hamas, a foreign terrorist organization. The security environment within Gaza and on its borders is dangerous and volatile,” the State Department said in its warning Tuesday.

As for Israel and the West

However, “there is no indication that US citizens were specifically targeted based on nationality.”

Most of the Palestinians killed were attackers or suspected attackers. A number were killed in clashes with the Israeli army.

The State Department on Tuesday also condemned plans, reported by Israeli media, to expand a Jewish military compound in the West Bank city of Hebron by building homes for settlers.

“If these reports are true... that would represent a deeply concerning step of settlement expansion on land that is at least partially owned by Palestinians,” department spokesman Mark Toner said at a press briefing.

“We strongly oppose all settlement activity, which is corrosive to the cause of peace.

And we’ve said repeatedly such moves are not consistent with Israel’s stated desire to achieve a two-state solution,” Toner added.

Washington regularly condemns its ally Israel for “illegitimate” settlements in the Palestinian territories.

VOICE OF ASIA 12

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

ONLINE .COM voiceofasiaonline.com

Vol. 29 No. 35

Lifestyle VOICE OF ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 13

Section 2

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

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Indian ‘oldest man ever’ says yoga, celibacy key to age

Indian monk Swami Sivananda, who claims to be 120 years old, is applying to Guinness World Records to verify his claim to be oldest man to have ever lived (AFP Photo/Dibyangshu Sarkar).

Indian monk Swami Sivananda (C), who claims to be 120 years old, is watched by one of his followers while practicing yoga in Kolkata on August 2, 2016 (AFP Photo/Dibyangshu Sarkar)

K

OLKATA, India | AFP | Looking remarkably unlined for his claimed 120 years, an Indian monk who says he is the oldest man to have ever lived puts his longevity down to no sex or spices, and daily yoga.

Hindu monk Swami Sivananda was born on August 8, 1896, according to his passport. If true, his life would have spanned three centuries, but despite his apparent age he remains

In my childhood I slept many days on an empty stomach,” he said.

strong enough to perform yoga for hours at a time.

He is now applying to Guinness World Records to verify his claim.

It currently lists Japan’s Jiroemon Kimura, who died in June 2013 aged 116 years and 54 days, as the oldest man to have ever lived.

India’s passport authorities confirmed Sivananda’s age from a temple register, the only record many Indians

even decades younger have of their date of birth.

However it would be extremely difficult to independently verify his age.

Being overweight linked to eight more kinds of cancer

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Sivananda, from the holy city of Varanasi, grew up in extreme poverty and chose to become a monk, saying he owed his age to “yoga, discipline, and celibacy”.

The elderly man lost both parents before he was six and was given away by his relatives to a spiritual guru, whom he travelled with around India before settling in Varanasi.

“I lead a simple and disciplined life.

I eat very simply -- only boiled food without oil or spices, rice and boiled daal (lentil stew) with a couple of green chillies,” he told AFP after a two-hour yoga session in Kolkata, the eastern Indian city where he had come for a short visit.

Fit and without any medical complications, he lives independently and even travels alone on trains.

Standing 1.58 metres (five feet two inches) tall, Sivananda sleeps on a mat on the floor and uses a wooden slab as a pillow.

has been assumed,” said IARC Working Group chair Graham Colditz of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

“Many of the newly identified cancers linked to excess weight haven’t been on people’s radar screens as having a weight component.”

A report in the New England Journal of Medicine adds eight more kinds of cancer to the list of those already known to be more likely among overweight people.

Cancer often arises with no explanation. Its causes can include viruses, pollutants, genetic factors and radiation.

In 2002, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Cancer on Research (IARC), based in France, said excess pounds could raise the risk of colon, esophagus, kidney, breast and uterine cancer.

Researchers reviewed more than

Sivananda said he had not previously come forward to claim the record because he did not seek publicity, but was eventually persuaded by his followers to apply.

“I avoid taking milk or fruits because I think these are fancy foods. In my childhood I slept many days on an empty stomach,” he said.

IAMI, United States | AFP | 8/24/2016 - Being overweight can raise the likelihood of being diagnosed with cancers of the stomach and digestive tract, as well as certain brain and reproductive tumors, international researchers said Wednesday.

Now, it has added stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, ovary and thyroid cancers, as well as a type of brain tumor known as meningioma and the blood cancer multiple myeloma, the report said.

Sivananda was featured by local media earlier this summer, with the Times of India noting he looked 50 years younger than his apparent age but taking his claims at face value.

A report adds eight more kinds of cancer to the list of those already known to be more likely among overweight people.PHOTO: AFP 1,000 studies of excess weight and cancer risks, saying that limiting weight gain over decades can help to reduce the risk of those cancers.

“The burden of cancer due to being overweight or obese is more extensive than what

Sivananda, who was born in colonial-era India without electricity, cars or telephones, says he is not enthused by new technology and prefers being on his own.

“Earlier people were happy with fewer things. Nowadays people are unhappy, unhealthy and have become dishonest, which pains me a lot,” he said.

“I just want people to be happy, healthy and peaceful.” to be linked to obesity, the report said.

Extra fat can promote inflammation and lead to an overproduction of estrogen, testosterone and insulin -- all of which can drive cancer growth, the study added.

Some 640 million adults and 110 million children around the world are obese.

Certain lifestyle factors such as smoking and being overweight can also make a person more likely to get cancer.

“Lifestyle factors such as eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising, in addition to not smoking, can have a significant impact on reducing cancer risk,” Colditz said.

Around nine percent of cancers among women in North America, Europe and the Middle East are believed

“This is another wake-up call. It’s time to take our health and our diets seriously.”

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VOICE OF ASIA 14

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

China opens longest glass bottom bridge in world

Z

HANGJIAJIE, China | AFP - Tourists who suffer from vertigo need not apply. The world’s highest and longest glassbottomed bridge opened Saturday in China’s spectacular Zhangjiajie mountains -- the inspiration for American blockbuster Avatar.

tain in northern Henan in 2015, authorities in Zhangjiajie were eager to demonstrate the safety of the structure.

They organised a string of media events, including one where people were encouraged to try and smash the bridge’s glass panels with a sledge hammer, and another where they drove a car across it.

Some 430 metres (1,400 feet) long and suspended 300 metres above the earth, the bridge spans the canyon between two mountain cliffs in Zhangjiajie park in China’s central Hunan province.

“It’s crowded today and a bit of a mess. But to be suspended 300 metres in the air, it’s a unique experience,” said Lin Chenglu, who had come to see the bridge with his colleagues.

Six metres wide and made of some 99 panels of clear glass, the bridge can carry up to 800 people at the same time, an official in Zhangjiajie -- a popular tourist destination -- told the Xinhua news agency.

Only 8,000 people each day will be allowed to cross the bridge, Xinhua said, and tourists will have to book their tickets a day in advance, at a cost of 138 yuan ($20).

Tourists can walk across the bridge, designed by Israeli architect Haim Dotan, and the more adventurous will be able to bungee jump or ride a zip line.

“I wanted to feel awe-inspired by this bridge. But I’m not afraid -- it seems safe!” Wang Min, who was visiting the new structure with her husband and children, told AFP Saturday.

Following an alarming glass bridge cracking incident at the Yuntai moun-

People wearing stilettos will be banned, it added.

Local authorities have said that one of the summits in Zhangjiajie Park inspired the floating mountain which appears in the American blockbuster Avatar.

Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon’s Glass-bottom Bridge Opens To Tourists - A tourist poses on the glass-bottom bridge at Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon on August 20, 2016 in Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province of China. (Photo: by Fred Dufour

Giant cruise ship heads to Arctic on pioneering journey

L

OS ANGELES, - It is a voyage explorers only dreamed of not so long

ago.

But thanks to climate change, a luxury cruise ship has undertaken a pioneering journey that will see it sail through the once impassable Northwest Passage during a month-long trip that is drawing much excitement but also criticism from environmentalists.

The Crystal Serenity, which set off from Seward, Alaska on August 16 with nearly 1,000 passengers, is scheduled to dock in New York on September 17.

The ship made its last Alaska port call on Sunday, stopping in the remote town of Nome before heading farther north, accompanied by the RRS Ernest

G

Shackleton, a British supply and icebreaking vessel.

creasingly becoming a popular route for shipping.

The voyage marks the first time a passenger ship this size sails the storied Northwest Passage where warmer temperatures and melting ice are opening the Arctic -- one of the most pristine places on Earth -- for business.

The Crystal Serenity is expected to reach the northwest territories on Friday and complete the Arctic leg of its journey by September 4 before heading to Greenland and finally New York.

Passengers on board the $350 million vessel paid between $22,000 and $120,000 for the journey, which took three years of planning and preparation to avoid any mishaps, including a repeat of the Titanic.

Guests were also required to purchase $50,000 in emergency evacuation insurance in order to cruise through the Northwest Passage -- a once unnavigable shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans that is in-

“Every aspect of this voyage is literally unparalleled in the luxury cruise industry, and nearly the entire travel industry as well,” Crystal’s CEO and president, Edie Rodriguez, said in a statement.

“It is a tremendous undertaking to embark on such a historic journey, but also an honor for us to be able to offer the world’s most discerning travelers the opportunity to experience a region of the world that so few others have or ever will.”

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A Hollywood photographer visited the area in 2008, taking images which were used for the film, according to media reports.

Texas company launches private air service between Houston and Dallas — no membership required

by Sofia Sokolove Houston Culture Map

H

oustonians headed to Dallas will have another option for traveling in style with the launch of Envi, a private luxury air travel service that will offer flights between the two major Texas cities starting November 14.

The private luxury airline based out of Austin hopes to go beyond saving people time (with no crowded terminals or Envi Airways launches flights between Houston and Dallas in November. security lines), ex- Envi Airways/Facebook. plains Envi’s president and founder Star State — in fact, Rise and sider them colleagues.”

Corey Rust.

Texas Air Shuttle are already Service from Dallas Love “What we hope we’ve creat- catering to frequent business travelers with private flying Field to Houston’s William P. ed is an experience that makes flying for business more enjoy- membership services start- Hobby Airport depart at 9:15 able,” he says. Guests can ex- ing around $1,895 per month. am Monday through Thursday, pect complimentary food and Envi, on the other hand, is de- and return flights are scheduled drinks, no luggage fees, and signed to be more accessible for 4:30 pm. Flights from Auscomfortable first-class seating. without required memberships tin Executive Airport to Dallas or monthly fees. Tickets, on Love Field will take off at 7:30 “As we become busier and sale now, have an introductory am Monday through Thursday; return flights depart at 6:15 busier in our society,” he says. sale price of $249 each way. pm.

“We are looking for ways to “I think we add to the option maximize on our time, and priFlights are operated by vate or near private travel helps list and complement the others with a different type of serAustin-based Tower Aviation, with that.” vice,” Rust says of the grow- which will use a fleet of King Envi isn’t the first private air ing luxury airline business. “I Air executive aircraft. Envi incompany to launch in the Lone don’t really consider them as tends to expand the schedule competitors as much as I con- based on demand.

VOICE OF ASIA 15

HEALTH, SC & TECH

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

HMSL Hospital Offering Free Flu Now, get your email address in Hindi Shots to benefit Santa’s Exchange

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EW DELHI, Aug 23 (PTI) Startup Data Xgen Technologies has started a paid email address service in Hindi characters or Devanagari script, and plans to roll out free registration of such IDs on the lines of Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo soon.

“A few hundred IDs have been created till now on .bharat domain, which is available in Devanagari script. Anyone interested in Hindi script ID can visit our website and buy email package as per their need,” Data Xgen Technologies Founder Ajay Data told PTI. Email sent from these addresses is supported by leading service providers like Gmail and Microsoft.

“Besides communicating in Hindi, people can send emails from addresses created in Hindi script to Gmail, Outlook and some of the other addresses.

Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital, in collaboration with the Exchange Club of Sugar Land, Fort Bend Exchange Club, Rotary Club of Sugar Land, Rotary Club of Fort Bend and Toys for Tots Fort Bend, is offering free flu shots on Saturday, October 22 to community members who participate in Santa’s Gift Exchange. Fort Bend and surrounding area residents can bring a new, unwrapped toy or clothing item to Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital from 8 a.m. to noon in exchange for a free flu shot. The toys and clothing will benefit local children in the Fort Bend area.

To bring more people on Internet, government is pushing website and email addresses in Hindi or Devanagari scripts.

The National Internet Exchange of India (NIXI) has asked domain or website name sellers to provide free .bharat (in Devanagari script) to everyone who buys a “.in” domain name.

In a meeting held at the Ministry of Electronics and IT, Google and Microsoft said that their email services accept and can send messages to email addresses created in Hindi or Devanagari script but they do not have immediate plans to provide such email addresses.

When

contacted,

Google

shared a blog post in which it said, “Language should never be a barrier when it comes to connecting with others and with this step forward, truly global email is now even closer to becoming a reality.”

The blog mentioned that it has added 13 languages for Gmail services which includes Afrikaans, Chinese (Hong Kong), Georgian, Khmer, Lao, Mongolian, Nepali, Sinhala, and Zulu.

Microsoft said that it continues to enhance capabilities and make it easy for users to use and adopt local languages using its technology and this includes domain names in local languages.

“The current versions of Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Edge and MS Outlook 2016 all support Indian languages including Hindi and internationalised email addresses,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.

Grandpa astronaut breaks US space record

2015 Flu Shot Toy Drive.

SUGAR LAND—(August 19, 2016)—With fall around the corner and the holiday season not far behind, Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital is once again offering Fort Bend residents the opportunity to “give a gift and beat the flu.”

We wish to start a free email id on .bharat domain soon just like Gmail of India for Hindi domains and soon we will work with government to do that,” Data said.

“We are proud to partner again with the local exchange and rotary clubs and Toys for Tots to provide this community offering,” said Chris Siebenaler, CEO of Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. “This is a great way for the community to stay healthy while also putting smiles on children’s faces during the holiday season.”

back to the children in your community,” said Cole, a 14 year member of the Exchange Club of Sugar Land.

In 2015, Santa’s Gift Exchange provided toys and clothing to more than 5,000 economically disadvantaged children in Fort Bend County. “Everyone’s assistance is needed to meet the challenge of providing toys for children who will not have toys this year without our help,” said Jenn Cole, cochairman of Santa’s Exchange 2016.

If you would like to participate in this community event, please bring a new, unwrapped toy or clothing item to the Main Pavilion lobby of Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital between 8:00 a.m. and noon on Saturday, October 22. For more information, please call 281.274.7910.

“We are looking forward to partnering with Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital for a seventh year. This is a great collaboration; get a flu shot and in return you are able to give

“Our community is well known for its philanthropic values, so we encourage you to participate by dropping off toys or clothing even if you have already had your flu shot,” Siebenaler said.

The flu vaccine is indicated for active immunization for the prevention of influenza disease caused by influenza virus subtypes A and B. Vaccination with the flu vaccine may not protect all people who receive the vaccine. Houston Method-

M

IAMI, United States | AFP | Wednesday 8/24/2016 - American astronaut Jeff Williams, 58, broke his retired NASA colleague Scott Kelly’s record for the most cumulative days in space Wednesday, the US space agency said.

Williams, an accomplished spacewalker, surpassed Kelly’s record of 520 days on August 24.

By the time Williams returns to Earth on September 6, he will have tallied 534 days in space over his career, more than any

American astronaut.

Russia’s Gennady Padalka still holds the record for the person with the most cumulative days in space, with 879.

Williams first blasted to space aboard the shuttle Atlantis in 2000.

He returned to the International Space Station in 2006 when the space station was far smaller, with just two modules and three crew members. Today it is staffed by six astronauts and cosmonauts and spans the size of a football field.

“In 2009 and 2010, he served as a flight engineer on Expedition 21 and commanded Expedition 22, when the Tranquility module and cupola were added to the station,” NASA said.

On his current mission, Williams is making use of his spacewalking expertise.

He stepped out on his fourth career spacewalk August 19 to help install a parking spot for future space taxis, along with NASA flight engineer Kate Rubins.

He and Rubins will do one more spacewalk together on September 1 to move a piece of equipment outside the International Space Station, which orbits the Earth.

ist Sugar Land Hospital will be distributing a limited supply of the influenza vaccine to persons age 18 and over with no history of Guillain-Barre Syndrome

or rubber latex allergy. If you are pregnant, please visit your obstetrician-gynecologist or primary care physician to have your vaccine administered.

Williams is a native of Wisconsin and is married with two grown sons and three grandchildren, according to his NASA bio.

VOICE OF ASIA 16

Section 2

Young Life

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Tel: 713-774-5140

Don’t let studying strain your eyes Neha’s Awe Inspiring Arangetram! she says to look at least 20 feet away for 20 seconds. She also advises: • Keeping the cell phone at arms length and enlarge the font size so you aren’t straining.

• Diming the light on the screen so there isn’t a big contrast between the screen and your surroundings, especially at night.

Use of anti-glare antireflective computer screens is advised. BCM.

H

OUSTON – (Aug. 16, 2016) – Summer has come to an end, which means students will spend most of their day in classrooms and at home learning and studying on laptops or tablets. This can cause strain on the eyes but a Baylor College of Medicine ophthalmologist offers advice for parents on how their child can maintain good eye health throughout the school year.

Symptoms of computer vision syndrome include headaches, blurred vision, neck pain, eye redness and dry eyes.

Al-Mohtaseb says that based on a recent study, this syndrome affects 90 percent of people who spend three hours or more a day at a computer. “In reality, people spend around 12 hours a day either looking at their phone or their computers,” she said.

“There are many problems that can result from students spending a lot of time on their tablets, smart phones or laptops,” said Dr. Zaina AlMohtaseb, assistant professor of ophthalmology at Baylor.

“The term ‘computer vision syndrome’ was coined in the 1990s to describe symptoms resulting from spending too much time on these display devices.”

Dry eyes and eye strain are treatable but it is unknown what the long-term effect of the LED light from increased technology use will be. To avoid eye strain, Al-Mohtaseb says that it is important to relax your eyes and take breaks while you are using tablets.

She suggests a great rule to follow is the 20/20/20 rule. For every 20 minutes while working on the computer or tablet,

• Using anti-glare antireflective computer screens.

To maintain good eye health she recommends that students should spend time outdoors and off their screens.

“The new generation of kids spends so much more time on screens than they do outside.

Good eye health for kids includes getting them outdoors and off their screens. Exercise and a healthy diet are also important, as well as limiting screen time to avoid the issues like eye strain,” said AlMohtaseb.

“If there is any concern with the eyes, kids and adults should see an ophthalmologist,” she said. “The best way to protect your eyes is to take good care of your health since many diseases can affect the eyes and to get yearly eye exams.”

Source: Baylor College of Medicine.

Teaching Our Children Our Language, Culture and More: My Recent Experience

by Hardeep Singh, MD

A

bout a year ago, I got an email from Mr. Arun Prakash ji, a long time Hindi teacher who had recently retired from Bellaire High School. He asked if my older daughter would be interested in joining Hindi classes for teenagers that he was starting at India House. My daughter had just entered 10th grade at a tough and rather academically challenging high school in Houston. Thus, I hesitated.

Jasmine had taken Hindi classes as a child and knew several words well. But I hadn’t done a good job of speaking to her in Hindi all these years. So after much internal deliberation and perhaps more out of my own guilt, I asked her and to my surprise she agreed quite willingly. Classes were in school year on Sunday mornings at India House from 10am-noon and those of you who have teenagers would understand my surprise. And thus started a year-long delightful experience, which was such a treat but not just for my daughter.

Arun ji asked me to stay for a class so I could see what he was teaching. There were 15 students, mostly high-schoolers from around Houston. My first class was very refreshing because his style was so different from anything I had seen for past two decades I have been in US. I really liked the sense of responsibility and rigor that he was trying to in-

still in the students. It was like I was transformed back to my boarding school in India and learning from my most memorable teacher. So I decided to return the following week and really started to enjoy the conversations.

Being in the same class as your teenage daughter wasn’t something either of us was looking forward to. But it kept getting better so I thought instead of working at home to catch up with work, I could take my lap top to the class, sit at the back and listen in while doing work. I noticed a couple of other parents doing the same. While Jasmine was learning and actively participating, I was observing and just enjoying listening in the background.

Passion is what drives teachers to perform at their best, and there was an abundance of it in these classes. Moreover, the class was not just about Hindi language but about Indian culture. Often, Arun ji would teach through narratives and stories, which is a unique way to convey powerful messages that our mind retains. And sometimes the teaching was not just about language or culture, it was about life lessons.

Sprinkled in-between was additional advice for college or college years that best comes from someone else but the parent. The year passed by quickly, the only class we missed was a weekend when Jasmine

Call Ramesh Cherivirala Ph.D, LUTCF Financial Adviser

was sick. All the other children also had so much enthusiasm for Hindi, which was a welcome change from teenagers who these days seem to only like stuff if it’s on social media. We both loved his unique teaching style, which kept the kids engaged while having fun.

Connecting with teenagers to teach them not only about our language but also our culture is an art which Arun ji performs masterfully.

N

eha Bhat, a lively, sixteen year old gave Arangetram, her first formal solo of Bharatnatyam, (the Indian classical dance) performance at the Berry Center Theater, Cypress Texas on July 23rd, 2016 in the presence of an enthusiastic audience consisting of family and friends. Arangetram is performed by a student on completion of the basic training called a Margam or path. It is considered to be an important stepping stone in the study of this treasured art form.

Neha’s journey as a dancer began at the age of seven.

From learning her first adavus at Abhinaya School of Dance under the artistic guidance of her Guru, Mrs. Indrani Pathasarathy to graduating to her solo performance over nine years. Through those years Neha has performed at numerous events and venues such as the Houston International festival, India Independence Day festival at George R Brown Center, the local Hindu temples, Janmasthami celebrations and Abhinaya School’s Rasaanubhava recitals.

The Arangetram was inaugurated with Ananda Narthana Ganpathy, an invocatory dance in praise of Lord Ganesha. Neha performed Jathiswaram – a dance that combines complex rhythmic sequences of movements in groupings of jatis, which is per-formed to swara, passages in a particular raga (melodic scale) and tala.

Followed by a beautiful rendition of Keerthanam, a dance in praise of Parashakthi, the consort of Lord Shiva.

Neha elaborated on Mashisura, a demon who changes his form at will between human and buffalo. The dance concluded in a powerful enactment of Goddess Durga annihilating the demon.

Neha then performed centerpiece of the program sequence – Varnam. The most intricate and challenging of all dances in the Bharathanatyam repertoire. The audience was enthralled by Neha’s superb

Neha Bhat, performing at her Arangetram.

Photo credit: Amitava Sarkar, Photography Insight balance between Nritya, pure dance and Abhinaya, facial expressions.

In Krishna Nee Begane baaro, Neha showed her prowess in facial expressions and her grace through the various detailed movements. The dance was absolutely delightful.

Nuances of Neha’s expression and elegant movement in “Shree Ramachandra krupalu bhajaman” brought the scenes of Sita’s wedding to Lord Rama to life. Her depiction of the encounter between Surpanakha (the sister of the demons Khara and Dooshana) Laxmana was brilliant.

The highlight of theArangetram was Thilana. A lively item of pure nritya, in which specialized rhythmic syllables are sung to the melody, and repeated by the singer. Neha presented an expert elaboration of the music; and Bhoomi Mangalam by offering prayers and seeking blessings from Lord Nataraja and her Guru Indrani Parthasarthiy.

As Neha concluded her magnificent performance, the audience rose to their feet and the packed auditorium resonated with their clapping in heartfelt appreciation!

Neha’s interests: Neha is an accomplished musician and has been learning Hindustani music on harmonium for 5 years. She has performed her dance and music at the Jones Hall for the Performing Arts, India Music Society and several community musical events. She is passionate about Colorguard and has been a member of her varsity team from her freshman year.

Her team has won several contests and are current Regional Champions in the WGI circuit. Neha established the psychology club at her school with her teacher Mrs. Sandlin. She is a member of the National Honor Society and the National Society of High School Scholars. Neha aspires to pursue a career in the medical field.

At the closing ceremony, it was gratifying to see parents who were so happy with their children’s experiences. India house leadership wholeheartedly supported continuing these sessions the following year. And thus now we return for another year of delightful experiences. Jasmine will begin our journey to learn intermediate Hindi and I will continue to listen in. I invite you to join in. Let your children experience this language and culture diffusion, which is comes with a sprinkling of all sorts of memorable narratives and stories about life.

And sit in with your child to experience Arun Prakash ji, retd. Hindi teacher, Bellaire High School with his students from India House Hindi Class. it, it will be well worth your time.

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VOICE OF ASIA 17

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FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

Bollywood Masala

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Kareena Kapoor Khan on her pregnancy: Music Is The Best Storyteller ‘Whichever role I do, not going to camouflage it’ Arijit Singh, Monali Thakur, Anuradha Paudwal, Kumar Sanu, Palak Mucchal And Anu Malik Come Together For Mahesh Bhatt’s Naamkarann

Trust Kareena Kapoor Khan to absolutely unabashed, no matter which phase of life she’s in.

Recently, Kareena was spotted wearing an adorable off shoulder dress at a product launch, and she was rocking a cute little baby bump, and glowing skin.

She is expecting her first child with Saif Ali Khan, and has also said that she won’t camouflage her pregnancy on screen for any role. The mom-tobe said that her pregnancy does not affect her hectic work schedule or her career.

“Well, I will definitely go on with my normal life. I am a working woman and there is absolutely nothing wrong in that. I love my job and I’m passionate about my work. I have wanted to become an actress ever since I was in my mother’s womb. So I will continue acting all my life until I am 80,” Kareena said on Monday.

The actress will begin shooting for Shashanka Ghosh’s Veere Di Wedding in October. The film also stars Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania.

Barkh Bisht Ashreen Namdar and Mahesh Bhatt at the launch of Naamkarann.

Kareena Kapoor at the event. Image from Twitter.

Veere Di Wedding is a romantic comedy about four women who embark on a trip from Delhi to Europe.

Meanwhile, there have been reports about Kareena being a part of

Rohit Shetty’s Golmaal 4, but not as an actress in the film, but for a song cameo.

Let’s just say we are loving this version of Kareena Kapoor. Courtesy: First Post

Dream Team Tour Concludes in US

T

he Dream Team Tour featuring actors Katrina Kaif, Alia Bhatt, Parineeti Chopra, Varun Dhawan, Sidharth Malhotra and Aditya Roy Kapur, filmmaker Karan Johar and rapper Badshah ended with a bang in New Jersey on August 22.

The entourage shared the last few glimpses from the show and how they signed off with a lunch and a mega-cute crammed up booth picture.

Sidharth and Katrina resurrected the Kala Chashma magic.

M

UMBAI, 23rd Aug, 2016: Mahesh Bhatt introduces his leading lady of Star Plus’ Naamkarann, a 10-year-old tough, gritty and spunky Avni, with a musical journey at an event in Mumbai.

The showman behind musical extravaganzas like Hum Hai Rahe Pyar Ke, Ashiqui, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, Mahesh Bhatt’s music has struck a chord with audience’s hearts to create blockbuster melodies.

Creator of Naamkarann, Mahesh Bhatt says, “Naamkarann is my most thought provoking project and Avni is my strongest character. Music sensations like Arijit Singh, Monali Thakur, Anuradha Paudwal, Kumar Sanu, Pala, Jeet Ashreen Namdar at the launch of Music Naamkarann

On the left: A still from the video posted on Facebook by Katrina Kaif.

Deepika Padukone joins ranks of the world’s highest-paid actresses

by Natalie Robehmed he has already scored box office gold in Bollywood movies such as Bajirao Mastani and Piku.

Now Indian actress Deepika Padukone has notched a place among the world’s highest-paid actresses with a $10 million debut.

S

Padukone is the only newcomer to the World’s Highest-Paid Actresses ranking and the only Indian star to make the cut.

Of the 10 listmembers, 30% including Padukone hail from outside the U.S.; Chinese actress Fan Bingbing makes the cut for the second consecutive year, while Charlize Theron, a dual South African/American citizen, returns to the list for the first time since 2013.

The Bangalore-bred Padukone, who got her big break with 2007′s Om Shanti Om, has since starred in several films that have crossed the $150 million or 100 crore mark–a barometer for box office success in India. The 30-yearold has also become something of a style icon, launching her own label All About You for Indian online shopping site Myntra.

“I think it’s amazing that movies have that impact on people in the way people want to look,” Padukone told Vanity

Barkha Bisht Aaryan Tiwari Kumar Sanu Anuradha Paudwal Anu Malik Ashreen Ganguli and Anu Malik have come together to create the music for the show bringing alive the lyrical moments in Avni’s world..”

Deepika Padukone is the only newcomer on this year’s highest-paid actresses ranking. (Photo by IIFA – Pool/Getty Images).

Fair of her trend-setting influence.

While Padukone earns far less than her Hollywood counterparts for roles, she compensates with over a dozen lucrative endorsements for local brands including Tanishq jewelry and Vistara, a domestic airline.

These numerous high-paying shills have helped her hedge against a deep

pay gap in Bollywood. Though a top male star might earn close to $5 million a movie, prominent Indian actresses rarely clear $1 million a film. To wit, four Bollywood actors will appear on the Highest-Paid Actors ranking, scheduled to publish Thursday, compared to just one on the Highest-Paid Actresses list.

Courtesy: FORBES

Monali Thakur who is the voice behind the title track of Naamkarann says, “The lyrics of the title song, Naamkarann, will connect with any woman instantly. The thought ‘Don’t label me, Don’t name me’ in the song expresses the pursuit of every woman trying to find her own identity. Naamkarann is going to compel people to rethink the social structures and norms with Avni’s identity quest.”

The stumbling block of an absence of a ‘normal family’ in Avni ‘s life, propels her to develop strength which sets her apart from most kids of her age. Arsheen Naamdar who is a discovery of Mahesh Bhatt and was

selected from the 200 girls who auditioned for this role says “Avni is not at all like me or my friends. Mahesh Uncle has helped me understand Avni and her family.” Barkha Bisht who returns to Star Plus television after 5 years, playing the character of Avni’s mother, Asha, adds “Avni is an extremely perceptive and mature child. Being a mother in real life as well, witnessing Avni’s struggle to understand the absence of her father from her life and yearning for him is heart wrenching.”

It is said that stereotypes are incomplete stories. Avni endeavors to discover her story in Mahesh Bhatt’s Naamkarann coming soon on Star Plus. Mahesh Bhatt’s Naamkarann starting 12th September 9 pm from Monday to Saturday on STAR Plus!

VOICE OF ASIA 18

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

HEALTHY LIVING VOICE OF ASIA

Section 2

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India moves to ban booming New CMS initiative may commercial surrogacy business change the way senior citizens receive health care

N

EW DELHI, India | AFP | 8/24/2016 -India’s government Wednesday approved plans to ban the booming commercial surrogacy industry, a move that would block thousands of foreign couples who flock to centres to have a baby.

Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said cabinet cleared a bill to restrict surrogacy services to local married couples, following concerns about the exploitation of young, poor Indian women who bear babies for others.

“This is a comprehensive bill to completely ban commercial surrogacy,” Swaraj told reporters after the cabinet meeting.

“Childless couples, who are medically unfit to have children, can take help from a close relative, which is called altruistic surrogacy,” she said.

India’s cabinet approved a bill to restrict surrogacy services to local married couples, following concerns about the exploitation of young, poor women who bear babies for others (AFP Photo/Money Sharma).

Swaraj said foreign couples, along with all single or gay prospective parents, would be barred from surrogacy services in India if parliament passed the bill.

Some 2,000 infertile couples hire the wombs of Indian women to carry their embryos through to birth every year, according to the government.

The government last year flagged the shutdown of the multi-million dollar industry, sparking an outcry from fertility specialists at the country’s 2,000-odd centres.

Ranks of childless foreign couples have flocked to the country in recent years looking for a cheap, legal and simple route to parenthood.

But critics of the industry said a lack of legislation encouraged “rent-awomb” exploitation of impoverished Indian women who were denied rights in surrogacy arrangements.

Swaraj said the bill would also address concerns about the welfare of the child, following reports disabled babies have been rejected by couples.

India, with cheap technology, skilled doctors and a steady supply of local surrogates, is one of relatively few countries where women can be paid to carry another’s child.

Surrogacy for profit is illegal in many other countries.

Swaraj said the ban would be introduced 10 months after the bill was passed in parliament, to allow pregnant women already in arrangements with couples time to give birth.

The industry criticised the move as over the top, saying couples desperate to have children would be left with few options.

“While we need regulations to ensure that no women are forced into surrogacy, an outright ban isn’t logi-

cal,” Archana Dhawan Bajaj, fertility and IVF consultant at New Delhibased Nurture Clinic, told AFP. Surrogacy mothers last year held protests against the government’s plans, saying they would be denied an income, usually about $5,000 per pregnancy, a huge sum in India where millions live in grinding poverty.

After opening up to surrogacy in 2002, India has become one of the world’s leaders, generating between $500 million and $2.3 billion annually, according to various estimates.

Russia and some US states are among those that also allow commercial surrogacy. But India’s clinics charge couples between $20,000 and $30,000, a fraction of the price in the United States.

Thailand passed a law last year banning commercial surrogacy for foreigners after a series of high-profile scandals.

Long-term damage seen from brain injuries: large study Furthermore, the study’s median follow-up period was only eight years, so longer term effects of brain injury remain unknown, they added.

New initiative, designed to improve quality and cost, gives doctors and patients more control over health care delivery In a move that may drastically change the way senior citizens receive medical care from physicians, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) yesterday announced the the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) model. It is “designed to provide doctors the freedom to care for their patients the way they think will deliver the best outcomes and to pay them for achieving results and improving care,” says the CMS news release.

“Its largest-ever initiative to transform and improve how primary care is delivered and paid for in America,” according to CMS..

The effort, CPC+, will be implemented in up to 20 regions and can accommodate up to 5,000 practices, which would encompass more than 20,000 doctors and clinicians and the 25 million people they serve.

“Strengthening primary care is critical to an effective health care system,” said Dr. Patrick Conway, CMS deputy administrator and chief medical officer.

“By supporting primary care doctors and clinicians to spend time with patients, serve patients’ needs outside of the office visit, and better coordinate care with specialists we can continue to build a health care system that results in healthier people and smarter spending of our health care dollars. The Comprehensive Primary Care Plus model represents the future of health care that we’re striving towards.”

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to care and health information l Deliver preventive care l Engage patients and their families in their own care l Work together with hospitals and other clinicians, including specialists, to provide better coordinated care Primary care practices will participate in one of two tracks.

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CPC+ will help practices move away from one-size-fitsall, fee-for-service health care to a new system that will give doctors the freedom to deliver the care that best meets the needs of their patients.

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Nor could the study prove that brain injury caused the problems in later life, only that an association exists.

Another outside expert, Michael Swash, emeritus professor of neurology at the London School of Medicine, found fault with the “rather striking lack of detail about the head injuries” in the study.

by Kerry SHERIDAN

rence, and older age at first injury.”

M

TBI is the leading cause of injury and death among people under 45 around the globe, according to background information in the article.

IAMI, United States | AFP | 8/23/2016 - Youths who suffer traumatic brain injuries such as concussions are more likely than their unharmed siblings of experiencing long-term psychological and social problems, a major study said Tuesday.

The study in the journal PLOS Medicine included some 100,000 children and adolescents in Sweden who were born between 1973 and 1985 and had sustained at least one traumatic brain injury, or TBI, before the age of 25.

They compared this group to their unaffected siblings, and followed them into adulthood, until age 41.

“We found TBI consistently predicted later risk of premature mortality, psychiatric inpatient admission, psychiatric outpatient visits, disability pension, welfare recipiency, and low educational attainment,” said the study said the study, led by Seena Fazel of the University of Oxford.

“The effects were stronger for those with greater injury severity, recur-

About nine percent of youth are believed to suffer some sort of TBI in their lives, according the analysis which was based on Swedish health registries including more than one million people.

In an accompanying Perspective article, researchers Donald Redelmeier and Sheharyar Raza of the University of Toronto Department of Medicine cautioned that the relative risks described in the study are derived from comparing two groups of people.

This is not the same as absolute risk which reflects an individual’s lifetime chance of developing a given problem or disease, and is often a far smaller percentage.

“Most individuals seem to recover fully,” and “most individuals do not experience adverse outcomes,” they wrote.

Read latest reports on Health Log on for regular updates www.voiceofasiaonline.com

“For example, the nature of the head injury, the degree of brain abnormality as shown by imaging (at least in more recent cases), the socio-economic class of those injured and the family history with regard to psychiatric illness are all not described,” he said.

However, Huw Williams, associate professor of clinical neuropsychology at the University of Exeter described the research as “incredibly strong.”

“They’ve taken huge care to try to manage a whole range of covariates and confounders and the story is very consistent with what is emerging across various areas (sports, crime and mental health) that traumatic brain injury (TBI), of various levels of severity, is problematic in the long term,” he said.

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Traumatic Brain Injury is the leading cause of injury and death among people under 45 around the globe (AFP Photo/Boris Roessler).

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FOOD & BEVRAGE

VOICE OF ASIA 19

US kids eat 3x times too much added sugar: health group

M

IAMI, | AFP | US children eat three times as much added sugar as they should, a leading US health group said Monday, calling for stricter limits on sugar for kids.

Babies and tots under two should eat no added sugar at all and older children should have the equivalent of a maximum 100 calories per day, according to recommendations from the American Heart Association (AHA).

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said the study.

That would mean no cakes, cookies or ice cream for children until their second birthday, and fewer than six teaspoons (25 grams) per day of added sugar for those aged two to 18.

The new guidelines aim to offer a simpler recommendation than the previous AHA statement in 2009, which urged different limits according to various age groups.

It would also require most kids to eat about one-third of the added sugar they currently consume, often in the form of soda and sweetened cereal, according to the guidelines published in the journal Circulation.

“There has been a lack of clarity and consensus regarding how much added sugar is considered safe for children, so sugars remain a commonly added ingredient in foods and drinks, and overall consumption by children remains high,� said lead author Miriam Vos, nutrition scientist and associate professor of pediatrics at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia.

US kids and adolescents eat an average of 19 teaspoons of added sugar per day, said the AHA report, citing national survey research.

The guidelines were written by a panel of experts following a comprehensive review of scientific research on the effect of added sugars on children’s health. “Eating foods high in added sugars throughout childhood is linked to the development of risk factors for heart disease, such as an increased risk of obesity and elevated blood pressure in children and young adults,�

“The typical American child consumes about triple the recommended amount of added sugars,� she added.

Early years are particularly important because that is when children develop their taste preferences, and they may opt for healthier foods if they are not exposed to sweets at a young age, said the report.

Added sugars may be in-

corporated during processing -- such as high-fructose corn syrup -- or included at the table, in the form of honey or spoonfuls of sugar.

Beginning in July 2018, the amount of added sugars in packaged foods will be listed on US food labels. “Until then, the best way to avoid added sugars in your child’s diet is to serve mostly foods that are high in nutrition, such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean meat, poultry and fish, and to limit foods with little nutritional value,� said Vos. Children should not drink more than one eight-ounce (237-milliliter) sugar-sweetened drink per week, she added.

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Newspaper says it uncovered KFC’s secret recipe

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This undated photo provided by KFC shows an image from an ad campaign featuring actor George Hamilton portraying Colonel Sanders, as he holds a bottle of Extra Crispy Sunscreen. (KFC via AP)

I

s the secret KFC recipe a secret no more?

A US newspaper says it may have inadvertently stumbled upon the closely guarded blend of spices and herbs that coat the global restaurant chain’s signature fried chicken.

A key ingredient, according to the Chicago Tribune, is white pepper -- the aromatic kin of regular pepper, but without the dark skin.

The newspaper sent a reporter to write a story about Corbin, Kentucky -- a small lakeside town where the first KFC chicken was served more than 75 years ago, and the hometown of KFC founder Harland Sanders.

There he met Sanders’s 67year-old nephew Joe Ledington, who still lives in the town.

Sifting through a family scrapbook, Ledington displayed a handwritten recipe, the Tribune reported.

“Many people have made these claims over the years and no one has been accurate -- this one isn’t either,� it said in a statement.

It found its chicken “virtually indistinguishable from the batch bought at KFC.�

KFC heavily publicizes its secret recipe, insisting it’s kept safely in a vault and transported in an armored truck.

However, many recipes online claim to duplicate the KFC fried chicken taste.

And if the Tribune’s latest recipe claim is not accurate, it may be awfully close.

The newspaper said it tried out the recipe in its test kitchen and compared it to KFC Origi-

News of the mere possibility the newspaper may have stumbled on the long-sought recipe caught the attention of other US media.

But a newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky -- home to the headquarters of the KFC corporate giant, which oversees restaurants in more than 18,000 locations worldwide -- was skeptical. “Too much paprika,� a Courier-Journal reporter proclaimed. “So I’ll side with KFC on this.�

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The KFC company was not as coy, insisting the secret is

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“That is the original 11 herbs and spices that were supposed to be so secretive,� Ledington told the newspaper, which said that he appeared less sure about the recipe’s authenticity in a subsequent phone interview.

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Wells Fargo: Credit and reaching your dreams are more related than you

Coca-Cola halts India plant over pollution issue

Two Million Wells Fargo Customers Viewed their FICO® Credit Score

Lucknow, India | AFP | Coca-Cola has temporarily halted operations at a bottling plant in northern India over alleged environmental violations, an ongoing controversy which has dogged its factories in the country.

• Customers can view history of past FICO® Scores, learn factors that impacted their score, and see Wells Fargo’s personalized credit tips Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) announced today that two million customers have already viewed their FICO® Score through its launch of the FICO® Score Open Access program for consumer credit card customers in March. Since then, the company broadened free access to FICO® Scores under this program to its 30 million eligible consumer credit customers with a Wells Fargo mortgage or home equity line of credit, credit card, private student loan, direct auto loan, or a personal line or loan.

Customers can see their scores through Wells Fargo Mobile® banking.

“We want to support our customers’ financial health and help them see their credit in a whole new way because it can impact everything from obtaining a loan to renting an apartment,” said Shelley Freeman, head of Consumer Credit Solutions for Wells Fargo. “That’s why we integrated a customer’s

FICO® Score with their mobile banking experience so checking their credit health is as easy as checking their account balance.”

What the FICO® Credit Score experience offers: The FICO® Scores that customers see as part of this program are the ones Wells Fargo uses to manage consumers’ credit accounts and are provided for educational purposes.

Through the program, eligible customers receive: • Free access to their FICO® Score and what impacts the number.

• Personalized Wells Fargo credit tips based on their score factors.

• An interactive graph of their recent FICO® Score history.

• Credit education, answers to frequently asked questions, and more.

A link to “View Your FICO® Credit Score” will automatically appear on a customer’s account summary page when the service becomes available along with a reminder if they have a new score. Later this year, customers will be able to access their FICO® Score via desktop or laptop.

“Customers who have already opted in to view their scores are giving us positive feedback,” Freeman added.

“Perhaps what’s most satisfying is 45 percent say they’ve taken some action as a result of this new program. That tells us we’re truly helping our customers understand and manage their credit and lay a path for a financial future that works for them.”

Wells Fargo’s history of supporting financial health The FICO® Score experience is part of Wells Fargo’s long history of providing customers with information, tools and resources to help them succeed financially. For example: • In past promotional offers (such as Free Credit Score, which was held for the first time in 2012), the company provided free credit scores to more than a million customers and team members. The new FICO® Credit Score experience replaces the Free Credit Score promotion.

• The company launched Path to Good Credit in 2015. This series of interactive websites offers information about building and improving credit through quizzes, videos, tips and infographics.

• Also in 2015, the company enhanced the “Borrowing and Credit” section of wellsfargo.com. The redesign included a refresh of the Smarter Credit™ Center where consumers can find tips and guid-

ance to help them establish, improve, or rebuild their credit and stay on track with debt.

• For more information, visit www.wellsfargo.com/ ficoscore. FICO is a registered trademark of Fair Isaac Corporation in the United States and other countries.

About Wells Fargo Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,600 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo. com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 36 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 268,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 27 on Fortune’s 2016 rankings of America’s largest corporations.

Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. Wells Fargo perspectives are also available at Wells Fargo Blogs and Wells Fargo Stories.

Kindred to close another Houston-area hospital, cut more than 200 jobs In an additional statement emailed to the Houston Business Journal, a Kindred spokesperson said the company is “committed to working with our hospital’s employees in an effort to assist them in their efforts to seek new employment, including positions within Kindred. Our goal is to retain as many of our valuable employees as possible.”

So far, approximately 55 percent of full-time employees at the Holcombe hospital and about 50 percent of those at the Baytown hospital have accepted positions at other Kindred hospitals, and those figures are expected to grow, the spokesperson noted.

Kindred exterior. FILE PHOTO

by Olivia Pulsinelli Houston Business Journal Aug 22, 2016

K

entucky-based Kindred Healthcare Inc. (NYSE: KND) has announced its second Houston hospital closure within a month.

The latest facility to close is Kindred Hospital — Medical Center Holcombe, at 2130 W. Holcombe Blvd. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, 204 positions will be affected. However, about half of the affected employees have accepted positions at other Kindred locations, according to a spokesperson.

Kindred told the TWC in a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification letter that the company expects the job cuts to occur during the two weeks beginning Oct. 14, which is when the facility is expected to close.

The announcement was made less than two weeks after Kindred announced it would close its Baytown hospital, affecting 37 positions. In both announcements, the company cited a desire to consolidate services and said the decision would not affect other Kindred hospitals.

“We will be able to continue serving the community through Kindred’s other hospitals in the Houston area, including Kindred Hospital Houston Medical

Center at 6441 Main Street,” the company said in its Aug. 16 announcement of the Holcombe location’s closure.

The Holcombe location is no longer taking new admissions.

“If any patients need continued care after the hospital closes, please be assured that we will take every step necessary to help them in relocating, including arranging for requested transfers and paying for any expenses,” according to the company’s statement.

Affected employees are not represented by a union, and they do not have bumping rights, meaning workers with more seniority cannot take jobs from those with less seniority.

“Kindred remains committed to the Houston market,” the statement read. “Following the closure of Kindred Hospital – Medical Center Holcombe and Kindred Hospital Baytown, Kindred will continue to operate nine long-term acute care hospitals in the market. In addition, Kindred operates two inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and provides home health, hospice and nonmedical home care. The company also provides in-home physician care through Kindred House Calls.”

Olivia Pulsinelli is the senior web editor for the Houston Business Journal’s awardwinning website. Follow her on Twitter for more.

To Advertise in our Publications: Voice of Asia & HelathLine Magazine Call713-774-5140 Visit us online www. Voiceofasiaonline.com

t hours are Monday thru Friday 8am till 5pm.

The beverages giant told AFP it had voluntarily suspended manufacturing at its Dasna plant near New Delhi while the local environmental authority investigates.

Activists say the factory in Uttar Pradesh state contaminates groundwater meant for farmers and pollutes the soil, and that sewage is not properly treated.

“We received a communication from Uttar Pradesh State Pollution Control Board (UPPCB) and submitted a detailed response,” Hindustan CocaCola Beverages, which bottles drinks in India for the US giant, said in a statement Thursday.

“To show our commitment to compliance with regulatory norms, we decided to temporarily suspend manufacturing at Dasna plant,” it said.

Some 54 plants produce fizzy drinks in India for Coca-Cola, which has eyed expansion in the world’s second-most populous country where income levels are rising.

But the Atlanta-based company has met stiff opposition from activists who have waged a more than decade-long battle against it in India over alleged environmental offences.

“We conducted an inspection and based on the findings, the UPPCB has withheld the consent to operate this Coca-Cola Plant in Dasna for some valid reasons,” S.R. Sachan, chief environmental officer at the Uttar Pradesh environmental board said, without giving further details.

Amit Srivastava, who leads the India Resource Center, an activist group that has targeted Coca-Cola for years, said the company’s action did not go far enough.

“This is not really a victory because of all the pending issues such as the polluted groundwater and soil, as well as the loss of livelihood for the contract workers and farmers in the area,” Srivastava told AFP. “There is a lot more that needs to be done to remediate the problems caused by CocaCola in Dasna.”

Coca-Cola, which has said it plans to invest $5 billion in India by 2020, has faced a string of objections over the years from local communities over water use.

In 2004, it shut one of its plants in southern Kerala state over similar allegations. The company denies any wrongdoing.

Last year it dropped plans to open a new bottling plant in southern Tamil Nadu state over protests by locals who also claimed it would rob them of groundwater.

REAL ESTATE

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One of the factors new home lookers weigh in is stucco versus bricks: Here is something that may be of use: From a new owner’s perspective the beauty beholds in the eyes of the owner.

Both options create equally pleasing facades and can save money in the long run.

Brick and stucco, both, are durable materials commonly used to build energy-efficient homes in all types of climates including ones we find in Texas. There are factors you may want to consider if selecting between the two you are about to decide for your new home under construction. For instance, consider the neighborhood, its overall effect or aesthetic appearance trying to achieve, budget, and the energy savings. Since both brick and stucco have similar levels of durability and can last for several years, many upscale homeowners and builders choose stucco over brick because of its rustic appeal. Stucco creates a less formal effect and is often used to build Mediterranean or Southwest-style homes. It may be colored with dyes or polished and smoothed with a layer of plaster. Brick exudes a more traditional style and is often used to build classic European-style homes or modern, contemporary homes where the brick can be painted a certain color.

In the coming article, we will review the benefits and considerations of brick and stucco while offering some alternatives.

Continued..

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SPORTS

VOICE OF ASIA 21

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

Top US medical group blasts EpiPen’s ‘exorbitant’ costs Miami, United States | AFP | Wednesday 8/24/2016 - 13:29 GMT-6 | 509 words ADDS quotes from White House, Hillary Clinton

by Kerry SHERIDAN The American Medical Association urged the maker of the EpiPen, a life-saving device that counteracts severe allergies, to drop its price Wednesday as public outrage mounted over a soaring cost hike.

Mylan Pharmaceuticals has come under fire for raising the price of epinephrine injectors from $100 to $500 over the course of five years, a price tag critics say puts it out of reach for many parents.

EpiPens are used when those suffering severe allergies are stung by bees or accidentally ingest peanuts to ward off potentially deadly reactions.

“Although the product is unchanged since 2009, the cost has skyrocketed by more than 400 percent during that period,” AMA President Andrew Gurman said in a statement.

“The AMA has long urged the pharmaceutical industry to exercise reasonable restraint in drug pricing, and, with lives on the line, we urge the manufacturer to do all it can to rein in these exorbitant costs.”

A petition on MoveOn.org calling on Mylan CEO Heather Bresch to “stop price-gouging” has garnered more than 129,000 signatures.

A pair of EpiPens costs just $85 in France, the petition notes.

“Mylan, which has a near monopoly in the US, has seen its profits from the EpiPen alone skyrocket to $1.2 billion a year,” it says.

Mylan Pharmaceuticals has come under fire for raising the price of epinephrine injectors from $100 to $500 over the course of five years (AFP Photo/Lucas Trieb) - ‘Moral questions’ -Asked at a White House press briefing about the EpiPen price hike, spokesman Josh Earnest declined to comment specifically on the company’s strategy.

“I will observe, however, that pharmaceutical companies that often try to portray themselves as the inventors of lifesaving medication often do real damage to their reputation by being greedy and jacking up prices in a way that victimizes vulnerable Americans,” he told reporters.

“And I think it raises significant questions, even moral questions, in the minds of a lot of people.”

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also called for the EpiPen price to come down, noting that millions of people rely on the epinephrine injectors, which must be replaced every 12-18 months.

She called the price hike “outrageous -- and it’s just the latest troubling example of a company taking advantage of its consumers,” in a statement on Facebook.

tients, raising prices without justifying the value behind them,” added Clinton.

She said if elected, her plan would be to require pharmaceutical manufacturers “to explain significant price increases, and prove that any additional costs are linked to additional patient benefits and better value.

“Since there is no apparent justification in this case, I am calling on Mylan to immediately reduce the price of EpiPens.”

Members of Congress have also expressed concern about the price hike, and some have called for hearings on Capitol Hill to force Mylan executives to explain themselves.

Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, whose daughter relies on EpiPen to protect her from the effects of anaphylaxis, a life-threatening allergic reaction, has called on the Federal Trade Commission to launch an anti-trust investigation.

C

She also posted on twitter the pictures of sumptuous breakfast which she had in Rio. “A proper breakfast! How I have missed you!,” she tweeted.

Meanwhile, giving details of the grand reception planned for Sakshi, Jagdeep Singh said, “Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar will travel to Sakshi’s village in Rohtak tomorrow where a grand felicitation function, in which we are expecting a public gathering of over 30,000, has been kept. Over there Sakshi will be honoured with a cash award of Rs 2.5 crore for her bronze medal effort by the state government.”

Before she heads to Rohtak, Sakshi will be welcomed near the Delhi-Haryana border at Bahadurgarh where prominent sportspersons, senior officials of the state government, will receive her.

Along the way, Sakshi will make brief stopovers at a

Astrologer Hardik Vyas, a famous young face in Vedic Astrology from India is available in Houston. Call for guidance on Health, Wealth, Education, Career, Business, Property, Love & Passion, Marriage & Compatibility, HoroscopeMaking, Child Problem, Luck & Fortune, Peace & Prosperity, Karma & Economical Sources.

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When Sakshi touches down at Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi at around 3:50 a.m. tomorrow, as many as five ministers of the BJP Government in Haryana will be there to receive her.

“Aa rahi hoon main, apne des apne ghar! (I am coming back, to my country, to my home),” Sakshi tweeted earlier today.

“HARDIK VYAS”

“It’s wrong when drug companies put profits ahead of pa-

HANDIGARH, Aug 23 (PTI) A grand welcome awaits Rio Olympics bronze medallist wrestler Sakshi Malik when she arrives home tomorrow, with hectic preparations underway to give her a rousing reception at her village Mokhra Khas in Rohtak district.

Haryana’s Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Anil Vij, who was present in Rio as head of state delegation, will accompany Sakshi on the return flight.

Astrologer, Vaastu & Gem Stone Consultant

“There does not appear to be any justification for the continual price increases of EpiPen,” she said in a letter to the FTC.

Grand welcome awaits Olympics medaliist Sakshi

Among the ministers who will be there to receive her include Kavita Jain, Rao Narbir Singh, Manish Grover and Vipul Goel, Director of Sports and Youth Affairs Department, Haryana, Jagdeep Singh Sheoran told PTI here today.

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8 9R A large number of people had flocked the wrestler’s house in Rohtak to congratulate the family as Sakshi scripted history by winning a bronze medal-- the first by an Indian woman wrestler. – AP couple of villages in Rohtak district including Ismaila village where she will meet her maternal uncle.

the way requesting that Sakshi make a brief stopover, the wrestler may take hours before she manages to reach Rohtak.

With requests from several village Sarpanches along

She will travel in a bedecked vehicle.

For US Olympians, gold medals come with a hefty tax bill

By Zoe Thomas, BBC, New York, he has flipped, tumbled and leapt her way into the hearts of millions over the course of the Olympic games. But when Simone Biles returns home she will be in for not just a major celebration but also a hefty tax bill.

S

The 19-year-old has won five Olympic medals - four gold and one bronze. She has cemented her title as the world’s best gymnast by taking home the gold in the all-around after three successive world championship titles - a feat only accomplished by three others in history.

But all that winning will cost her. On 21 August, Biles could be slapped with a tax bill close to $43,560 (£33,479) That estimate is based on the $2m that she has accumulated in endorsement deals and assuming she is charged in the

highest income tax bracket in the US - 39.6%.

Biles is not alone, her fellow US medallists will be slapped with tax bills for their victories as well.

American Olympians are subject to a so-called “victory tax” - a tax on both the money they receive from the Olympic committee for winning and on the value of the Olympic medal.

What are they taxed on?

US athletes who win a medal at the Rio games will take home the hardware and a cash bonus from the US Olympic Committee.

Gold medallists will receive $25,000, silver medallists get $15,000, and bronze winners earn $10,000.

Those winnings are taxed as income, the same way Americans are taxed on other prize money, like lottery winnings.

Most countries exempt their

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bill could be much higher.

But there’s more, the medals are also given a value and taxed. The value is based on the value of the materials the medals are made of.

Some analysts believe Phelps, who’s worth an estimated $55m, could face a tax bill of $55,000.

Gold medals - which are mostly made of silver with a gold plating - are worth roughly $600 based on current commodity prices, silver medals are worth close to $300, bronze medals - which consist mostly of copper - have barely any monetary value, approximately $4.

How much is the tax?

Assuming the athlete was already a high-income earner, paying the top bracket of US taxes, they would be paying 39.6% on the combined value of the medal and cash payout.

Americans for Tax Reform calculated the bills to be: for a gold medallist $9,900, for silver $5,940, and for bronze $3,960.

That’s also assuming the athlete only won one medal.

For US athletes like Michael Phelps and Simone Biles, who have multiple victories, including multiple gold medals that

It’s worth noting athletes in a lower tax bracket would have to pay less and most athletes can deduct the cost of training from their tax bill.

Efforts to change For years politicians, athletes and fans have debated whether the tax is reasonable.

Why should an athlete who worked so hard to represent and win for their country be charged for their victory?

“This tax places a hardship on our athletes and unfairly taxes them for representing our country and reaching the pinnacle of their sport,” said Jim Leahy, the executive director of the US Olympic luge committee.

In July, a bill to stop taxation on Olympians and Paralympians, sponsored by Republican Senator John Thune and Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, passed a vote by the Senate.

A similar bill has been proposed in the House of Repre-

sentatives, but it has not come up for a vote.

“After a successful and hardfought victory, it’s just not right for the US to welcome these athletes home with a tax on that victory,” Senator Schumer said.

He noted that most countries subsidise the cost of training for the Olympics and don’t charge their athletes for winning.

Most US athletes must pay for their own training and few can sustain a professional living on their athletic winnings alone. The US Olympic committee pays for health insurance and stipends for only a small number of US athletes.

This is not the first attempt at changing the taxation rules around Olympic victories.

In 2012, Florida Senator Marco Rubio introduced a bill to prevent Olympic athletes from being subject to taxes on their winnings at the London games.

“We can all agree that these Olympians who dedicate their lives to athletic excellence should not be punished when they achieve it,” said Senator Rubio at the time.

HOROSCOPE

VOICE OF ASIA 22

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

Your Horoscope for the Week of August 26, 2016 READ YOUR COMPLETE HOROSCOPE

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

ONLINE WWW.VOICEOFASIAONLINE.COM

Libra (R,T) 23 Sept to 22 Oct

Aries (A,L,E) 21 March to 20 April Be flexible and patience, that will help you tolerate an insufferable situation. Being stubborn will only fan the flames. The reason for your anger will become apparent once you listen to your heart. Once your plans are firmly in place, progress will begin to happen. You’ll be given every opportunity to grow as a person. Stop looking ahead so far and try to lose yourself in the heat of the moment. Your imagination is highly amusing, but perhaps not very trustworthy.

Think clearly about all of your options and play the waiting game. You shouldn’t rush any big decisions, this week. Time will be on your side. The longer you wait to decide, the better. It will be hard for you to pass on some of the projects being offered, but if you set attainable goals, you will receive much greater rewards in the end. Social events will lead to romantic opportunities. Disagreements will erupt when discussing financial matters.

Taurus (B,V,U) 21 April to 20 May

Scorpio (N,Y) 23 Oct to 21 Nov

Meditation, plants and pets will reconnect you with your role in the physical world.

Try to organize you time to fit everything in without too much stress. Give a little, take a little. Compromise will become your theme. Once you have your priorities straight, you’ll be able to start to look at new perspectives & opinions. By week’s end, you may want to invite friends over or plan a little casual celebration. Find yourself a healthy regime of stress reducing exercise and healthier eating and you’ll be able to think and work more effectively.

The next few days will find you walking with a brisk stride and snapping your fingers. If whatever you’re experiencing isn’t quite reality, it’ll seem just as good as the real thing. No walls will be able to contain your excitement. No limitations will seem to apply. You can accomplish just about any goal you try, this week. A little humility wouldn’t hurt, although no one really minds if your hat size gets a little larger.

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

Gemini (K,CHH,GH) 21 May to 20 June The energy you feel will help you to reach your goals. It’s vital that you don’t promise the world to everyone. While this could help for the present, it may create complications for the future. Little mistakes are easier to correct before their consequences grow too big. You’re still at the stage where you can have fun with this. You’ll gain exceptional mental clarity & be able to learn concepts fast. The world is forever changing and so should you if you want to stay in control of your destiny.

It’s difficult to stay focused, your current fixation on details may have you spinning your wheels. Try to stay on course despite the temptation to run around in circles. The fact that you’re suddenly very popular does nothing to help with your focus. Other people’s tics and quirks might prove to be especially annoying to you. There is no polite way to explain what’s bothering you. This is not about being rude, this is about being professional in your relations with others.

Capricorn (KH,J) 22 Dec to 20 Jan

Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 July You’ll be everywhere at once, moving so quickly, that people might miss you, if they blink. It’s important for you to have your personal touch on everything. If you immerse yourself, your senses will take you for the ride of a lifetime. You still have a long way to go. Enjoy the trip as you move ahead tasting and experiencing everything from a new perspective. Try to include as many other people as possible in your plans. They’ll appreciate the security you offer in organizing projects.

You may feel angry, but patience is what will bring you results. You need to look at the situation from different perspectives. Interactions with others could be less than rewarding. Even well-intentioned people will seem as if they’re trying to interfere.

Mind your own business and advance in solitude. Even the quirky loner is not without some kind of support system. Heal your wounds by accepting the things that you cannot change & changing the things that you can.

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

Leo (M) 23 July to 22 August You’ll feel magnetized and ready to take on any professional or personal obstacles that stands in your way. Plan to do something special with the family. Obstacles may stand in your way. Ignore people who are trying to lead you astray. You can learn a lot if you are more open-minded. Give others the benefit of the doubt. You’ll be able to overcome anything if you stand tall and prepare to push ahead. The harder you strive for perfection, the better you will do. Trusting others may prove to be costly.

Virgo (P) 23 August to 22 September You’ll have plenty of ideas, but you must be careful not to take on too much. Less is best this week. Arguments will evolve if you are overly opinionated. Secret information will aid you and hard work will pay off. Your concern with financial security will prompt you to find out more about investments. You’ll meet interesting new people if you attend events. If you focus on what’s really important to you, success will follow. . If you recognize your limitations and ask for assistance, you will do much better than even you anticipated.

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Keep discussions on track, allow others to express their views. Listen to them very carefully. Try to create an atmosphere of trust. Someone else may get all the glory, but you’ll learn an invaluable lesson, that will take you on to even greater triumph. You’ll find ordinarily annoying people are surprisingly easy to get along with. Harmonic vibrations will mount to passionate trembles. By week’s end, you might find yourself in the arms of the most unlikely person imaginable.

Pisces (D,CH,Z) 20 Feb to 20 March Logic and magic have nothing to do with each other. Let events wash over you now, and explain it all later on in any way that makes sense. Don’t go around sticking out your neck if blame is waiting to fall. The walls have ears and possibly no sympathy.

Ordinarily you’re the first to help others, but you may not be able to do so now. You need to be treated with respect. Insist on receiving the whole story, rather than have something dumped on you without warning. Once feelings are realized, they are easier to accept. The emotional tap is open, so let it run freely.

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VOICE OF ASIA 23

Houston Community College Request for Qualifications/ Proposals (RFQ/RFP) Two-Step Process Food Services at Alief-Hayes Project No. RFP 17-01 Sealed proposals will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No. 11B01, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00PM (local time) on Thursday, September 8, 2016.

Documents can be obtained at: www.hccs.edu/procurement.

Houston Community College Invitation for Bid (IFB) LED Lighting Retrofit / HCC Administration Building Project No. 17-02 Loanstar No.1 Program Sealed bids will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No.11A06, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00 pm (local time) on Wednesday, September14, 2016.

A Pre-Bid Conference (Non-Mandatory) for IFB 17-02 will be held at HCCS Administration Building, 3100 Main, (2nd Floor) Houston, Texas 77002, on Thursday, August 25, 2016, at 9:00 a.m. (local time).

Houston Community College Invitation for Bid (IFB) LED Lighting Retrofit / Multi-Campuses Project No. 17-03 (LOANSTAR No. 1 PROGRAM) Project No. IFB 17-03 Sealed bids will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No. 11A06, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00PM (local time) on Tuesday, September 20, 2016.

A Pre-Bid Conference (Non-Mandatory) for IFB 17-03 will be held at HCCS Administration Building, 3100 Main, (2nd Floor) Houston, Texas 77002, on Friday, August 26, 2016, at 10:00 a.m. (local time).

Documents can be obtained at: www.hccs.edu/ district/departments/procurement.

Houston Community College Invitation for Bid (IFB) AHU-VFD (HVAC) and Control System Replacement – HCC Administration Building Project No. 17-06 Loanstar No.1 Program Sealed bids will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No.11A06, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00 pm (local time) on Thursday, September 15, 2016.

A Pre-Bid Conference (Non-Mandatory) for IFB 17-06 will be held at HCCS Administration Building, 3100 Main, (2nd Floor) Houston, Texas 77002, on Thursday, August 25, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. (local time).

FRIDAY, August 26, 2016

Houston Community College Invitation for Bid (IFB) HVAC System Replacement and Renovation West Loop Campus Project No. IFB 17-07 (LOANSTAR No. 1 PROGRAM)

Houston Community College Invitation for Bid (IFB) Chiller Replacement Project 2016 Stafford Fine Arts Building Project No. IFB 17-08 (LOANSTAR No. 1 PROGRAM)

Sealed bids will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No.11A06, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00 pm (local time) on Wednesday, September 21, 2016.

A Pre-Bid Conference (Non-Mandatory) for IFB 17-07 will be held at HCCS Administration Building, 3100 Main, (2nd Floor) Houston, Texas 77002, on Wednesday, August 31, 2016, at 9:00 p.m. (local time).

Documents can be obtained at: www.hccs.edu/district/departments/procurement.

Sealed bids will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No. 11A06, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00 pm (local time) on Thursday, September 22, 2016.

A Pre-Bid Conference (NonMandatory) for IFB 17-08 will be held at HCCS Administration Building, 3100 Main, (2nd Floor) Houston, Texas 77002, on Wednesday, August 31, 2016, at 2:00 p.m. (local time).

Documents can be obtained at: www.hccs.edu/district/departments/procurement.

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