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FRIDAY, June 3, 2016 Reporting income and household changes under Obama care: What you need to know
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Indian Business Journalists meet Indian American Entrepreneurs
Sri Lanka president evacuated from luxury hotel fire
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OLOMBO, Sri Lanka | AFP | Wednesday 6/1/2016 - Sri Lanka’s President Maithripala Sirisena was evacuated Wednesday night from a fire at a luxury beach hotel minutes after presiding over its opening ceremony, an official said. Sparks from fireworks hit a strawroofed beach hut at the 300-room Shangri-La following the ribbon-cutting and triggered the fire at the hotel in Hambantota in the country’s deep south, president’s spokesman Dharmasri Bandara said. “The president had just walked back to the hotel while the fireworks display was still on,” Bandara told AFP. “He immediately left the hotel, but a fire truck from the president’s convoy stayed back to put out the fire.” Local journalist Easwaran Rutnam, who was covering the hotel’s open-
From left to Right: Vijay Goradia, Kaushik, with Journalists: Avinash Nair, Indian Express, Summit Khanna, Daily News and Analysis, Varun Aggarwal, Hindu Business Line Consul General Hon. Anupam Ray, Syed Abrar Hussian Peerzada, The Hindu, and Dr. Durga Agrawal UH, Board of Regents. Picture taken at the Consul General’s residence on May 31, 2016. Photo by Shobana M.
by Shobana Muratee OUSTON, TX (May 31, 2016) – Five business journalists representing India’s leading newspapers who were here visiting, meet with the Indian American business community at a dinner reception hosted in their honor on Tuesday, May 31 by the Consul General of India, Houston, Dr. Anupam Ray at his residence on Briar Drive.
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In a rare gesture Dr. Ray facilitated the journalists: Avinash Nair, Indian Express, Summit Khanna, Daily News and Analysis, Varun Aggarwal, Hindu Business Line, Syed Abrar Hussian Peerzada, The Hindu and Richa Pinto, The Times of India to meet people of influence, particularly leading businesspersons. “I thought it was an opportunity for us to show them that India-US relations actually extends far beyond Washington and New York,” he said, introducing the journalists to guests. “It extends into ar-
eas which are real economic drivers of the United States and Texas is one of them.” It was also a way getting the journalists acquainted with the people I interact with on a daily, he said. It’s about a month and half since the new Consul General took charge in Houston.
ing, said the president was about 50 metres from the hut that was gutted by the fire. “It took about an hour for the fire to be extinguished, but it did not spread to the main hotel building,” Rutnam told AFP. He said the president was seen being escorted out of the premises. There was no immediate comment from the hotel located about 240 kilometres (150 miles) south of the capital Colombo. A local police officer said no one was injured during the incident, but an investigation had been launched. There had been several breaches of security at functions attended by President Sirisena who came to power in January last year. He has dispensed with much of the tight security accorded to his predecessors.
Indian American Nurses in Houston celebrate Nurse’s Day
Speaking of India – US economic relations he said, “We have Indian business companies doing business in Houston many of you may not be aware that we are actually creating jobs and contributing to the US economy here.” “There’s a popular notion that economy is one way, but it is both ways,” Dr. Ray assured. He also mentioned how closely Indian Americans worked with politicians. He then recognized guests: Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, Mr. Vijay Goradia, Dr. Durga Agrawal, and Mr. Ashok Mago among others. Continued from page 5
Members of the Indian American Nurses of Houston and Galveston at the celebration.
Report on Page 3
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VOICE OF ASIA Publisher: Associate Publisher: Editor-in-Chief: Austin Correspondent: Print & Media Marketing: Marketing: Office Manager:
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Columnists: Legal: Richard M. Alderman Legal: Sharlene Sharmila Richards Research: Prof. Meenakshi Bhattacharjee Health Insurance: Sudhir Mathuria Astrology: Hardik Vyas
VoiceofAsiaOnline.com Editor Online:
Shobana Muratee
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Voice of Asia (USPS 010-215) (ISSN#10705058) is published every Friday (for a subscription rate of $30 per year) by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713-774-5140. Fax: 713774-5143. Periodical postage paid at Houston, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Voice of Asia, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074
June 1, 2016 ll parents have had child-rearing moments that caused their heart to leap into their throat. And then there’s Michelle Gregg.
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The 32-year-old mother of four took her kids to the zoo last week, and one of the kids — a 4-year-old boy — dashed through protective barriers to get closer to the zoo’s gorilla exhibit. The rest of the story, captured on video, became the most talked-about story of Memorial Day weekend.
A gorilla, a boy, and a parental nightmare staff to rescue the boy. Immediately, his mother came under withering fire from animal activists and others who thought she was at fault for the entire incident. Over 300,000 people have signed a petition, demanding that the mother be brought up on charges.
The boy plunged 15 feet into a watery moat that was meant to prevent gorillas and humans from getting too close. The zoo’s 17-yearold male silverback gorilla, Harambe, leaped in after him. For several harrowing minutes, the 450-pound gorilla stayed in close contact with the boy, holding him close to his body, and at one point pulling him through the water by his ankle. People who witnessed it acted as you might expect — they gasped, screamed and shouted, which seemed to only add to the gorilla’s agitated state.
It is unfair to judge a parent by a single and spontaneous act of a young child. Gregg has already been exposed to worldwide humiliation. No doubt her job as director of an early childhood development center is also in jeopardy, let alone her career in the field. In short, in the course of a few hours, her life has been completely upended. Unless there is some substantial evidence that shows she was negligent, this mom shouldn’t face further humiliation in the court of law.
The bizarre incident ended in controversy. The western lowland silverback gorilla, one of the very few left in the world, was shot and killed by zoo staff. This allowed the
The evidence to support charges against her are thin at best. Gregg was close to her son when he dashed through a protective barrier, and called out to others to help her find him when she realized he had
It is the policy of Voice of Asia to publish letters to the editor which evidence a variety of viewpoints. The opinions expressed in any particular letter to the editor are not necessarily those of the management. Voice of Asia welcomes letters in reply to issues raised in letters to editor. In as much letters to the editor are not articles written or researched by members of Voice of Asia, it is not the policy of the Voice of Asia to perform any investigation or confirmation of any facts or allegations contained in letters to the editor. Moreover, Voice of Asia reserves the right to edit letters to the editor as necessary to correct errors of fact, punctuation, spelling and to comply with space constraints. Although paid advertisements may appear in Voice of Asia Group Publications in print, online, or in other electronic formats, the Voice of Asia Group does not endorse the advertised product, service, or company, nor any of the claims made by the advertisement.
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
disappeared. It all happened quickly, according to witnesses, and within a moment the boy had fallen over the 15-foot cliff. The gorilla appeared to be protecting the child, though who can be certain of what he was thinking? Zoo personnel felt their highest priority was to save the boy, which they did at the cost of the gorilla’s life. They too have faced withering criticism, though many of their fellow zoo professionals appear to be standing up for their actions. “A human being is alive today because of the decision the Cincinnati Zoo made,� said celebrity zookeeper Jack Hanna, director emeritus of the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium. “I’ve seen him take a green coconut, which you can’t bust open with a sledgehammer, and squish it like this. You’re dealing with either human life or animal life here. So what is the decision? I think it’s very simple to figure that out.� Michelle Gregg and the zoo have become the victims
of an all-too-familiar phenomenon on social media. They’ve been thoroughly thrashed and savaged, and in some cases threatened. Indeed, the social media monster has gotten so out of control, other women with the name Michelle Gregg have also been pilloried. One of them posted a response in bold letters on her Facebook page, “This Michelle has never even been to the Cincinnati Zoo! Neither has my 5-year-old son!� The incident at the Cincinnati zoo was a tragic one, but based on witness accounts it does not rise to the level of criminal charges. Both the zoo and the mom have been tried, convicted and hanged in the court of public opinion. Little doubt the mom’s career in child care has also been ruined. That enough.
is
punishment
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THE STORY OF MAHATMA GANDHI
Gandhi suffers racial insults in South Africa
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s the ship streamed into Bombay harbor, he saw his brother waiting to receive him. After exchanging pleasantries with the brother Gandhi noticed that his brother was very reticent. “Something wrong? Any bad news?� he asked. The brother nodded and told him of the death of their mother. “It was during your exams a few weeks ago. We did not want to disturb you,� said the brother. The news was a terrible shock for Gandhi who wanted to let Putlibai know of how he had kept his vows to not drink alcohol or eat meat. Gandhi started practice as a lawyer in Rajkot, but he was deeply disgusted at the greed and honesty of many of his fellow professionals. After some time, he got an offer to work in South Africa from Dada Abdulla & Co who owned big business concerns there. He was to be a legal adviser to the firm which had filed a lawsuit against another company seeking damages of 400,000 dollars. Gandhi was hired because he spoke English well and knew English law well. His services were required for one year and the company promised him a handsome salary and first class return fare.
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The opportunity to see a new country and new people was indeed very exciting and Gandhi accepted the offer. It was painful to part from Kasturbai and Harilal, but he was keen to go. In April 1893 he left Bombay for South Africa. He reached the port of Natal at the end of May 1893. In
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South Africa, he noticed that Indians were treated with little respect. They were called ‘Coolies’. Within a week of his arrival, he visited the court with Abdulla Seth of Dada Abdulla & Co. No sooner had he sat down that the magistrate pointed his plump finger at him. “You must remove your turban,� he said sternly. Gandhi was surprised. He looked around. There were several Muslim and Parsi men wearing turbans. He could not understand why he was being singled out. “Sir,� he replied. “I see no reason why I should remove my turban. I refuse to do so.� When the magistrate insisted that he remove his turban, Gandhi walked out of the court. Abdulla Seth ran after him and caught him by the arm. “You don’t understand,� he said. “These white people consider Indians inferior and address them as “coolie� or “sami.� Parsis and Muslims are allowed to wear turbans as the turban is thought to have religious significance.� “The magistrate insulted me,� Gandhi said angrily. “Any such rule is an insult to a free man. I shall write at once to the Durban Press to protest such insulting rules.� And Gandhi did write. The letter was published and it led to unexpected debate and discussion. At the same time, some other papers described Gandhi as a troublemaker and unwelcome visitor. After a week in Durban, he left for Pretoria to attend to the case for which he was engaged. With a first class ticket, he boarded the train. At the next stop, an Englishman got into the compartment. He was travelling in a train to Pretoria, in a first class compartment.
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He looked at Gandhi with contempt and called the conductor. “Take this coolie out and put him in a lower class!� he said. The conductor turned to gandhi and said, “Hey Sami, Come along with me to the next compartment.� “No I will not,� said Gandhi. “I was sold a first class ticket and I have every right to be here.� The conductor called a policeman who pushed him out with his bag and baggage. The train left. Gandhi spent the night shivering in the cold, but he did not touch his luggage. This incident changed the whole course of his life. He decided to fight all such injustices. He sent a note of protest to the general manager of the railways, but the official only supported the rail employees. More trouble was still in store for him. Next morning, he went to Charlestown by train. He had now to travel by a stagecoach to Johannesburg, but he was not allowed to sit inside the coach with white passengers. To avoid confrontation Gandhi sat outside on the coach-box behind the coachman. After some time the conductor asked him to sit on a dirty sack on the step below. Gandhi refused. The conductor began to pull him down and beat him
up. At this time, some of the passengers came to Gandhi’s rescue and he was allowed to sit with them. Gandhi reached Johannesburg the next night, quite shaken by the experiences on the way. He had the address of a Muslim merchant’s house, where he spent the night. The next day he bought a first class ticket and continued his train journey to Pretoria. The only other passenger in the compartment was a well-dressed Englishman. A little later, a conductor entered and Gandhi quickly showed him the ticket. “Your ticket does not matter,� growled the conductor. “Go to the third class at once.� Before Gandhi could reply, the Englishman flung down the newspaper and said, “Why are you harassing this gentleman? His ticket gives him a right to be here.� And then turning to Gandhi, he said, “Make yourself comfortable just where you are, young man.� Thanking him warmly, Gandhi settled down with a book. It was late in the evening when the train pulled into Pretoria. He stayed at a hotel that night and moved into a lodge the next day. There he began to study the Abdulla lawsuit. Even while he was working on it, he found time to call a meeting of the Indians in Pretoria. — To be Continued
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VOICE OF ASIA 3
C OMMUNITY VOICE OF ASIA
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Second Front Page
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Indian American Nurses in Houston celebrate Nurse’s Day for their contributions to nursing. Several award recipients from various hospitals for their dedicated work were admired and were given certificates of recognition. All the new graduates and retired nurses were also recognized and were complimented with roses. The scholarship committee chair, Mary Thomas distributed academic scholarship awards for five nursing students in India as well as in Houston, who met the eligibility criteria. The entertainment included melodious songs by Jobby Varghese, Sruthy, Sreya and a stunning dance performance by Alvina. Chemmannur Jewelers supported the nursing organization with their financial contribution towards the nursing scholarship fund. They also contributed three
Koshy Thomas, Voice of Asia Publisher presenting an Award.
www.voiceofasiaonline.com
AARP Honors Asian American & Pacific Islander Community Hero Award Winners WASHINGTON, D.C., June 1, 2016 – AARP is proud to announce the winners of its inaugural Asian American and Pacific Islander Community Hero Awards that were created to acknowledge the hardworking staff and volunteers of non-profit organizations serving AAPIs age 50-plus. “We’re proud to recognize Julie, Shiao-Lin, Dongwoo ‘Joe’ for their outstanding contributions and dedication to our seniors,” said Daphne Kwok, AARP Vice President of Multicultural Leadership, Asian American and Pacific Islander Audience Strategy. “They tirelessly devote their time, talents,
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UGAR LAND - The Indian American Nurses of Houston and Galveston celebrated Annual Nurse’s Day on Saturday, May 21st at the Madras Pavilion in Sugar Land, Texas. Along with Indian nurses, their families and friends took an active role in the celebration to give tribute to nurses. It started with an educational presentation on arrhythmia and stroke prevention by Dr. Afshar, a cardiologist from Michael E. DeBakey V.A. Medical Center. The educational presentation was sponsored by Boston Scientific who is a long-time supporter of Indian nurses. The audience was welcomed by Secretary, Lovely Ellankiyil following the nurse’s prayer and pledge by Mariamma Thomas and Sally Ramanujam. Sreya and Sruthy Varghese beautifully sang the American and Indian National Anthems. Dr. Mary Kelly, the peer view coordinator at Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center was the chief guest for the function, who talked about the theme of the day, “Culture of safety; it starts with YOU”.
Dongwoo “Joe” Pak, KoreanAmerican Seniors Association of Orange County in Garden Grove, CA. and passion to provide an invaluable service to our community. We hope that they inspire others to work or volunteer for our older adults.” The Indian American Nurses of Houston and Galveston with guest speaker.
She reminded the responsibilities of nurses towards their patients to maintain safety within their profession. Aley Samuel gave the opening presentation, providing an insight of the nursing profession. President of IANA, Sally Samuel, gave the presidential address in which she did a briefing of activities of 2016.
Bishop Noble Philip was a special guest who attended the program provided a brief message to appreciate all the nurses for their commitment and dedication. Accamma Kallel and Sally Ramanujam were the MC’s for the program and maintained the program with excitement. Nurse Excellence awards were given to Sally Samuel and Accamma Kallel
gold coins as door prizes by raffles which were an additional excitement to the event. All participants enjoyed the event as well as the delicious food from Madras Pavilion. The celebration concluded with the vote of thanks by Sheela Mathews to everyone who had contributed to the program in various levels.
The three AARP Asian American and Pacific Islander Community Hero Award winners and their organizations will each receive a $1,000 cash prize: Dongwoo “Joe” Pak, KoreanAmerican Seniors Association of Orange County in Garden Grove, CA Dongwoo “Joe” Pak has been volunteering for the KoreanAmerican Seniors Association
of Orange County (KASAOC) since 1999. Established in 1977 to provide leadership for Korean seniors, KASAOC fosters respect for elders, promotes the spirit of mutual assistance, and provides cultural events to enhance cross-cultural understanding among diverse residents of Orange County. Since many of its members are monolingual, it was very difficult and challenging to navigate the fixed route public transportation system run by the Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA). Led by Mr. Pak, KASAOC started a Senior Mobility Program with grants from OCTA and the City of Garden Grove in 2003 to help seniors get to markets, hospitals, pharmacies, ESL classes, and US Citizenship exam preparation classes. Mr. Pak also helps fundraise and garner support for KASAOC from major corporations and organizations, including California’s Office of Aging. Julie Kimiyo Hubbard, Yu-Ai Kai Japanese American Community Senior Service in San Jose, CA As Yu-Ai Kai’s Activities Coordinator for the past 12 years, Julie Kimiyo Hubbard is the hub of much of the planned events for its senior members. Yu-Ai Kai serves 3,000 seniors and their families annually and has two facilities to help the growing senior population in San Jose, CA maintain an independent lifestyle. Yu-Ai Kai offers caregiving and bereavement support groups, a nutritious lunch program, Senior Day Services, bilingual case management, and health screenings. Her commitment to keep seniors active in mind and body motivated her to recruit volunteer instructors and develop new programs. She Continued on page 9
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VOICE OF ASIA 4
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
‘Kavya Manch Houston’ to promote Hindi and culture of The People’s Lawyer India programs in Houston www.peopleslawyer.net Richard M. Alderman Interim Dean of the Law Center
Divorce does not change obligations on a car note Q. I had a divorce in January 2012. In the decree a 2012 Toyota Corolla was awarded to my ex-wife. When we bought the car it was in her name as the buyer and mine as the co buyer. My x wife had been doing very well, making all the payments on this car, until April of this year. I thought my attorney had sent Toyota finance the divorce decree to show she was liable for all future payments. The car finance company told me it wouldn’t matter if he had sent the decree, I would still be liable. They told me the only way my name could be removed was for my ex to refinance the car or pay it off and get me to sign the title. Can her late payments appear on my credit report? What are my rights to get my name off the car note? A. You won’t like the answer, but the divorce decree is between you and your wife. The finance company doesn’t have to follow it, and in fact won’t unless your wife refinances it and they accept her as a single borrower. Until she refinances, you still owe the money. I suggest you speak with the finance company about what happened to see if they will remove the negative entry from your report. Also, check the report, and if it does appear, enter your own explanation. If your credit is otherwise good, this should not hurt very much. Finally, get the account information and check monthly to see if the payment has been made. If not, you should make it
and demand your wife reimburse you, or take her to justice court, the new name for small claims court. Q. I did a small construction job and was paid with a check, after I completed the work. I deposited the check in my account, but it was returned because the person who gave me the check stopped payment. I went to his bank and they said it was not their problem. How do I get paid? Why doesn’t his bank owe me the money? A. The bank does not owe you the money because a bank generally has no liability when a check is written by one of its customers. A check is simply the customer’s order to the bank to pay money to someone else. The bank usually pays the check, and that is the end of the matter. But if there is not enough money in the account or the customer tells the bank not to pay (by issuing a stop payment order), the bank will promptly return the check and it has no further liability. You should always view a check as the customer’s promise to pay, not an obligation of the bank. Fortunately, however, you are not out of luck. When a check is not paid, the person who wrote the check remains responsible. I suggest you let the person know you expect him to promptly pay the check, with cash this time, and that if he doesn’t pay you will file a claim in justice court. If you do have to sue, you can collect the amount of the check plus and fees your bank may have charged and the costs of filing the lawsuit. Q. I have not been paid for a job. How long do I have to file
Call Ramesh Cherivirala Ph.D, LUTCF Financial Adviser
a claim in justice court? A. Your claim is for breach of contract. In Texas you have four years to file a lawsuit for breach of contract. Q. If a contractor does not finish a job, how long do I have to wait take him to justice court? Is there a certain amount of money I can sue for? It is a small job, and he stopped working a month ago. A. The answer is “a reasonable time,” and it depends on what the contract says and the nature of the work. First, read your contract. If it states period of time, that is how long you must wait. If the contract does not state a period of time, or you do not have any oral agreement about how long the contract has to complete the work, the time period is a “reasonable time.” In my opinion, a few weeks is usually a reasonable time for a small job, unless the contractor tells you when he will come back and what the problem is. I suggest you send him a certified letter and email and tell him you will give him one week to either complete the project or let you know when he will come to finish it. If he doesn’t respond, my opinion is you can get someone else to complete it, and sue for any additional costs or money paid for work not completed. Do you want to know more about your legal rights? Check out my website, www. peopleslawyer.net
Picture Participant names - Front row left to right: Neera Kumar, Anjana Pandey, Sangeeta Kataria, Kavita Vachaknavi, Abha Dwivedi, Pushpa Prakash, Harish Chandra Vachamnavi Back row left to right: Keshav Shukla, Vipin Kumar, Mr. Kataria, Nausha Asrar, Varun Dwivedi, L.K. Mehra and Arun Prakash
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here is a huge need and demand but very little is being done for the formal teaching and promotion of Hindi and culture of India for the youth of Indian origin growing up in Houston. A small group of Hindi lovers has started ‘Kavya Manch’ to work towards starting the centers where interested learners of all age groups can get the formal education of Hindi and Culture of India. Kawya Manch will organize Hindi poetry recital programs of local and invited poets. First meeting of ‘kavya Manch Houston’ was held at Arun and Pushpa Prakash’s home. Members enjoyed the
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Kavya Manch members will meet regularly and will work to help the Hindi and culture of India programs already running in Houston and will help establish the new programs so that anyone in Houston can learn Hindi
and the rich culture of India. Members of Kawya Manch will work to train anyone interested in teaching Hindi and culture of India, encourage the organization running the Hindi programs in Houston to adopt state curriculum at every level and follow it so that the credit can be given to students, It will work to get certification from the Texas Education Agency for the organizations following the state curriculum for Hindi language. Separate classes for children of different age group and adults will soon be launched. Public will be informed through the print and social media of all kinds.
Read more community stories online Visit: www. voiceofasiaonline.com
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VOICE OF ASIA 5
COMMUNITY
FRIDAY, June 3, 2016
Indian Business Journalists meet Indian American .....
Journalists from India from left to Right: Avinash Nair, Indian Express, Summit Khanna, Daily News and Analysis, Varun Aggarwal, Hindu Business Line Consul General Hon. Anupam Ray,Syed Abrar Hussian Peerzada, The Hindu, and Richa Pinto, The Times of India. Photo by Shobana Muratee. Continued from page 1 Speaking on the occasion, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett explained his role as the County Judge which is said was unique to Texas. “In another place it would be called county executive.” “My relationship with Indo American community goes way back to before I was County Judge,” he said. And speaking of Houston’s economy, he said, “We can get a little bit sensitive because people talk about New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles and they don’t think about Houston or Harris County. We are glad you are here and more importantly we look forward to coming there (India)”. He reiterated Consul General comments: “This is really a two way street, when Anand Mahindra, chairman and managing director of Mahindra Group, decided to expand his facilities here with Mahindra Tractors they moved to Texas in a
big way. And they are selling quite well,” he said. Dr. Durga Agrawal, Member, UH System Board of Regents, President and CEO Piping Technology & Products, Inc., stressed on the importance of connections. He mentioned that when he was in India with a delegation to connect MD Anderson, with All India Medical Sciences, or Tata Memorial Cancer Center or SVYASA (Swami Vivekananda Yoga Anusandhana Samsthana), people did not understand the purpose, he said. Further illustrating his point he said that connecting with SVYASA has gone a long way. Dr. Nagendra, SVYASA’s Director, connected with MD Anderson from there on to Stanford, Harvard and eventually Prime Minister Modi took Yoga to UN General Assembly promoting Yoga as an international theme. “In my opinion, if they had not signed an agreement with
SVYASA, back in 2002 or 2003, I don’t think this would have happened,” Dr. Agrawal said. He later praised CG scholarly attributes, “I’ve not seen too many people with such diversified interests.” Ashok Kumar Mago, Padma Shri recipient, Chairman of Greater Dallas Indo American Chamber and Regent, University of North Texas briefly highlighted why Texas was important for India’s trade and commerce. “Not too many people pay attention to Texas in India and the Texas economy as big as that of India, $2 trillion,” he said. Of which Dallas alone contributes $545 million. Focusing on his home town, Dallas, Mago pointed out that 60 -65 million passengers go through its airport and that 23 Fortune 500 companies were in Dallas. He also mentioned that Texas has the second largest congressional delegation, after California. “We have 36 con-
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Mr. Ashok Kumar Mago speaking at the dinner reception while Hon. cosul General Dr. Ray looks on. Phot by Shobana Muratee.
gressmen and pretty soon after the next census we will add another three to four more congressmen.” He also spoke of Texas strength in Congress. India is the only country which has a caucus in the US Senate. He recognized US Senator John Cornyn’s efforts as Senate India Caucus CoChair. He spoke of the crucial role Texas played in US-India Nuclear Deal. “For the Nuclear deal, Texas gave 40% of the co-sponsors for that bill, he said. “Without the support of Texas, this bill would have not gone anywhere,” was his comment. Mago urged the Indian jour-
nalists to write about Texas in their papers. He also assured support in education, medicine, agriculture, “You name it, we will provide you help to Government of India pro bono!” In his concluding remarks, Dr. Ray mentioned that the University of Houston’s Engineering building has a floor named after Dr. Durga Agrawal to be inaugurated later in the year, “This is how accomplished and successful and how invested the India community stays in being good Indians and good Americans.”
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COMMUNITY
VOICE OF ASIA 6
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
DAV Montessori School Scaling New Heights like Private Schools Interscholastic Association (PSIA) and North South Foundation (NSF) has been very encouraging and enriching.” Lamenting the prevailing environment in public schools, he continued: “Unlike public schools, you must have observed that in DAV, there is zero bullying and zero-bad language usage among students.” Parents and teachers of DAVM work in true and close partnership for the common goal of OUR Hindu children’s holistic development, as was
demonstrated by a video documenting the school’s all-round activities including Havan, Vedic recitation, Indian history and customs, Yoga, Hindi conversation, Indian music, dance, etc. The school leaves no opportunity to inculcate positive human values, be it Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas or Diwali, and India Republic Day. The children hone their public-speaking skills. The “chamak” and fun of the dances relayed the confidence and lack of stage-fear of the children.
Consul R. D. Joshi from the Indian Consulate and the school director ushered the graduating kindergartners to the next phase of their education. When children 2-1/2 years to 10 years light up the stage radiating self-confidence to the delight of the audience, the return on investment of time and money is evident. For more information on this indeed unique school, you may visit their website www.davmschool.com or call the school at (281) 759-3286.
Parents of the DAV Montessori School students at the celebration.
S
unday 22nd May was the 16th Annual Day of the DAV Montessori School (DAVM), run by Arya Samaj Greater Houston. As the first and only DAV school in North America, the school has grown from a Montessori only program to include traditional elementary classrooms with teacher to student ratios of under 1 to 10. DAVM students and teachers wowed the overflowing audience with performances starting with the
children as young as 2-1/2 reciting Vedic mantras flawlessly by heart. As the audience wondered if they had been transported to an ancient gurukul in India, the school director Arti Khanna attributed the successes of her school to her teachers, staff, and 50 parent volunteers. That the founding members and two original teachers are still involved in the school, speaks to both its success as well as the strength of conviction of those affiliated with the school.
Qualified teachers cater to the needs of pre-school, kindergarten, first grade, and elementary school students, also offering after-school care. A parent whose son has attended since he was four years old shared his perspective. “DAV children are performing much beyond their current grades on a nationwide set of standardized testing for private schools, as demonstrated by their “Iowa Tests of Basic Skills” scores. Their participation in competitions
Boys and girls of DAV Montessori School perform at the Annual Day.
DIASPORA
VOICE OF ASIA 7
FRIDAY, June 3, 2016
Dr. Dronamraju delivers More than Ryan Alam wins First Place Morgan Stanley’s WorldDarwin Lecture at 2,000 In- in Osmania University, India dians con- wide Competition
tract HIV after transfusions
N
EW DELHI, India | AFP | Wednesday 6/1/2016 More than 2,000 Indians contracted HIV over a 17-month period after receiving blood transfusions, data from the national AIDS body showed Wednesday.
Dr. Krishna Dronamraju HYDERABAD, India - President of the Houston-based Genetics Foundation, Dr. Krishna Dronamraju, recently delivered the Darwin Lecture at Osmania University in Hyderabad. The topic of the lecture is the relationship between disease and evolution. Darwin himself proposed how natural selection acts as a selective agent for maintaining certain diseases and disabilities in human populations. Prof. J.B.S. Haldane pointed out long time ago that resistance to infectious diseases played an important role in human evolution. Certain genomes have survived this selection process. For instance, in several populations, resistance to malarial infection selects certain type of genetic constitutions and these are passed on to future generations. Unfortunately, some of those who don’t die from malaria die from other diseases, such as thalassemia or the sickle cell disease. It has long been recognized that an important factor in human evolution is the struggle against infectious disease, and more recently, it has been revealed that complex genetic polymorphisms are the direct result of that struggle. As molecular biological techniques become more sophisticated, a number of breakthroughs in the area of host– pathogen evolution have led to an increased interest in this field. From the historical beginnings of J. B. S. Haldane’s original hypothesis to current research, this lecture evaluates infectious diseases from an evolutionary perspective. It provides a survey of the latest information regarding host– pathogen evolution related to major infectious diseases and parasitic infections, including malaria, influenza, and leishmaniasis. Searching for Patterns of Variation As genetic variants conferring resistance to infectious diseases spread through human populations over time through natural selection, they leave distinctive, detectable patterns of genetic variation in the human genome. These signals of selection can uncover novel resistance alleles or even novel evolutionary pressures. Also, as previously mentioned, as advantageous genes under positive selection rise in prevalence, variants at nearby locations in the genome also rise in prevalence. Such genetic hitchhiking leads to a “selective sweep” that alters the typical pattern of genetic variation in the region. Surveys of natural selection can not only identify new resistance variants for known selective pressures, but they can also potentially uncover previously unrecognized selective pressures.
For example, Lassa virus infects many millions of West Africans, and based on oral records and epidemiology, it is likely to be an ancient disease (Richmond & Baglole, 2003). Researchers have documented that in several affected West African populations, between 50% and 90% of individuals are resistant to the virus, suggesting that protective alleles emerged at some point. This finding could open new avenues for research and shine light on other important pathogens in human history. Searching for clues for Pathogen evolution The same tools that revolutionized the study of natural selection in humans are now making unprecedented studies of pathogens possible, allowing scientists to better understand how these organisms rapidly evolve to remain agents of human morbidity and mortality. Pathogens are perhaps the most intriguing of all the forces shaping humans. They have had a tremendous impact on our evolution, and they, themselves, evolve over time. The great effect that pathogens have exerted on the human genome is demonstrated by positive selection for traits such as sickle-cell hemoglobin. Natural human defenses have similarly exerted strong pressures on the genomes of pathogens, as has the use of drugs and vaccines. By studying genetic diversity in pathogens, researchers can examine how they have evolved to avoid human immune defenses and therapeutics. Furthermore, scientists can investigate in real time the evolutionary. Future Research Investigation of the links between natural selection and disease resistance has revealed some of the forces that have shaped our species, and the findings of these studies have consequences of new vaccines and drugs, with the goal of developing better intervention strategies. direct implications for human health. However, research thus far represents just a first glimpse of a vast new landscape. In the years to come, new technologies and analytic methods will enable researchers to learn even more about the genetic basis of evolutionary adaptations that have allowed humans to withstand a wide variety of complex and challenging selective agents. Dr. Krishna Dronamraju is President of the Foundation for Genetic Research in Houston and a Visiting Professor of the University of Paris, France. He has been an Advisor to the U.S. Government’s Department of Health & Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
In response to a Right to Information request filed by Mumbai-based activist Chetan Kothari, the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) said 2,234 people had been infected between October 2014 and March 2016. The reply, which was shared with AFP Wednesday, was sent to Kothari last month after he asked for data for that particular time period. “I wanted to know what is the government doing to ensure people have access to safe blood,” Kothari told AFP. “The data shows blood is not being screened for HIV despite so much awareness.” Access to safe blood is limited, especially in rural areas, because of a lack of proper screening devices, according to NACO’s website. The northern state of Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous, topped the list with 361 patients found infected with HIV due to contaminated blood in hospitals, followed by western states of Gujarat and Maharshtra with 292 and 276 respectively. A total of 264 cases were recorded in the capital New Delhi. The government estimates that about 2.5 million Indians are living with HIV/AIDS out of a population of 1.25 billion. A NACO official Wednesday said the data collected was “not scientific” as it was based on subjective responses from patients and reflected less than one percent of total HIVpositive cases.
Ryan Alam, Houstonian and a graduate of St. Thomas Episcopal School, in Meyerland.
R
yan Alam, while preparing for his Masters Degree from the University of Southern California (USC) participated with two of his classmates on a graduate level competition sponsored by Morgan Stanley. The objective of the competition was to design an investment proposal that would impact the world with positive and sustainable results. This was a worldwide competition, 341 prospectuses were submitted from 64 colleges in 21 countries. Ryan’s team developed a proposal to eradicate four decades of land mines from Angola, and establish an agricultural industry for the country. Angola currently imports 80% of its food supply, although they have some of the richest soil on the planet. During the first round of judging, Ryan’s team was selected as one of the top ten finalists. The ten teams were flown to Hong Kong last week, to present to a board of judges from the World Bank, Morgan Stanley, The Rockefeller Foundation, T. Rowe Price, Blackrock, and other prestigious investment firms. Incredible to say that Ryan’s team
was selected as top winners and won first place in this worldwide competition. The sheer idea of presenting at this level is far more than I can imagine. Ryan’s team worked, rehearsed, and researched extensively to prepare. The skills he initially tapped from St. Thomas Episcopal School mock trial, and debate were taken to a new level with this global competition. As the winning team, they now go on to present to the Milken Foundation for consideration and possible implementation of their plan. In addition to Ryan Alam winning this worldwide competition he was recently accepted to Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. Needless to say, my wife and I are totally enjoying the bragging rights. We thought, this might inspire other students to look forward to: (a) finding ways to improve the lives of others, and (b) enter into this Morgan Stanley’s competition when they seek graduate studies. A school/college type of story in your newspaper about worldwide achievement would be greatly appreciated.
Ponnu Pillai receives HCC’s Honorary Degree
“There are several occasions when patients do not declare the exact reason or means of transmission because of societal pressure or even lack of awareness and sometimes ignorance,” the Times of India newspaper quoted the unnamed official as saying. “Therefore, the data cannot be considered 100 percent accurate.” In a posting on its website, NACO -- which falls under the health ministry -- said the government was in the process of improving blood safety screenings and introducing technology to ensure zero HIV transmission. Under Indian law, hospitals must screen donors and their donated blood for any kind of infections including HIV, Hepatitis B and C as well as malaria.
Sugar Land Ballroom • Ample parking • Dance floor • Close to Highway 59 & 90 • Seating capacity: 350 people Ask for special package price! Ponnu Pillai, with Neeta Sane, Houston Community College Board of Trustees
Call Gopal Aggarwal: 832-539-1589 869 Dulles Ave. Stafford, TX 77477
Dear Devotees, Hari Om..
After the sudden demise of Bramhasri Udayakumar Gullapalli, I, Pandit Sridharkumar Ramayanam, as his torch bearer take the responsibility of serving the Houston community for any kind of Vedic/Hindu poojas at your door step or in the temple. Kindly contact me for all kind of poojas naming few as follows, Gruhapravesham, Sathyanarayana vratham, Namakaram, Upanayanam, marriage, all kinds of homas, new business or shop openings, Shradha karmas, etc.... Feel free to contact me on:
• 713-933-8821/9359 • 832-833-5662 • 720-421-6031 Kindly support the temple and family by giving me the opportunity to serve you all. Hari Om!
H
OUSTON - MAY 14, 2016 Ponnu Pillai, was among the four individuals that were awarded Honorary Degrees for their contributions to the Greater Houston Area. Other three who received the honors from Robert Glaser, HCC Board of Trustees vice chair, were Jesse A. Rodriguez, Gracie Saenz, and Linda Toyota at the NRG Stadium. A total of 2,650 graduates participated in the 2016 Houston Community College (HCC) Commencement Ceremony. Dr. Cesar Maldonado, HCC chancellor delivered his message to the crowd of about 19,000 family members and guests at NRG Stadium. “Whether you are a first time grad-
uate or coming back for another degree, if you focus on helping people you are going to have a great career and a great life,” he said. Additional words of encouragement came from Houston Texans President Jamey Rootes, who served as keynote speaker. Graduates also heard from the Honorable Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, representing the 18th District of Texas. A champion for education and for HCC, she pointed out that no matter where we come from, we all succeed together. She stated, “I don’t know the trials and tribulations that you have overcome, but I know that you have gone across the bridge and no one can turn you around.”
COMMUNITY
VOICE OF ASIA 8
REFLECTIONS
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
My Two Journeys – Meetings with Radhanath Swami by Amit Verma
More than simply a chance to meet a renowned guru, there was one more reason I was excited about attending both events, a more personal one. Even a casual perusal of my two works will make anyone reach the conclusion that I have a somewhat skeptical view of religion and spiritualism, to put it mildly. With regards to spiritualism, I have always felt that people casually call themselves spiritual without fully, or even partially, understanding what it means. It is done with a strong belief that the universe somehow has created a unique space and purpose for them, a destiny that was defined for them. This, in my opinion, is a very narcissistic view of the universe. It is as if the entire universe, a 15 billion year old entity, has the singular purpose of conferring a special status on a single person. It was with The Journey Home that I realized what spiritualism truly is. Spiritualism is one’s journey to find and define one’s own purpose and ability to be part of the whole. While the former definition is passive, the later, as exemplified by Swamiji, is
Dr. Venugopal K. Menon Reading as an asset comes with education; but pleasure from reading is a rare offering ordained to a chosen few who opt to cultivate that habit. The delight and contentment one derives from literary works can be as sublime and blissful as any other pursuit or concept of gratification. I just finished reading Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s ‘Before We Visit The Goddess’, a powerful new novel from the bestselling, award-winning author of creations such as Sister of My Heart, Mistress of Spices and Palace of Illusions.
HH. Radhanath Swamiji, author :The Journey Within”.
It was a few weeks ago that I received a phone call from none other than Ms. Shobana Muratee, the wellrecognized heart and soul behind Voice of Asia, inviting me to attend any one or both talks and book signing events by the renowned Swamiji. I had no hesitation in saying a big yes, with a big smile. What’s more, I said I’ll attend both events. Radhanath Swamiji is a world-famous spiritual leader and practitioner of bhakti-yoga. The world, however, owes him a deep respect for not just those qualities. He is a beacon of compassion, dedication, and activism and tireless work for the poor and the downtrodden. And he is a bestselling author of the book, “The Journey Home,” an autobiographical work that focuses on Swamiji’s journey towards spiritual enlightenment, a book that will help all those seeking a higher purpose in life, and even those who seek to live life day-by-day. It is a foregone conclusion that Swamiji’s new book, “The Journey Within,” will also be a bestseller. And it is a matter of great honor that he chose Houston as one of the three cities where he would launch his new book.
‘Before We Visit The Goddess’ by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
The book has been #1 Bestseller in India since it was published.
Cover of the Book “The Journey Within
active, and fulfilling. While the former asks, “what can the universe do for me,” the later asks, “what can I do for the universe?” At the first book signing event at the ISKCON Temple in Houston on the 20th of May, I was not disappointed. On the contrary, I felt a certain cheerfulness descend upon me simply hearing Swamiji talk about his life’s work, and describe his books. At the end of the presentations, I went up to him, and thanked him for clarifying for me what spiritualism actually means, and in turn, helping me better understand how I should lead my life. He gave me a broad genuine smile, one that only someone very modest, and very humble, can give. I am certain he did not understand what I was trying to say in that brief time I had with him! For me, it was simply important that I tell him what I needed to tell him, and I am glad I was given that opportunity. The second book signing event, held the next day at Unity of Houston, was far grander than the first, which was slightly more exclusive. The event at the church was attended by a big strata of the Houston community. The music and classical dance performance by The Mayapuris was breathtaking, and Swamiji’s words were once again enlightening. It was a festive atmosphere, one focused less on the book-launch, and more on celebrating the bonds that bring the whole world together. Now that the two breezy, fulfilling days have come to an end, I look forward to using this quite-time to read my signed copy of “The Journey Within,” and rereading the copy of “The Journey Home,” which Swamiji gave me as a gift. Amit Verma is the author of “The Lives and the Times” Link: http://www.amazon.com/Am-
it-Verma/e/B00JAG5JB0/ref=ntt_dp_ epwbk_0
It is the fascinating chronicle of three generations of women, each with their own distinct personalities yet facing dissimilar circumstances, adapting, succeeding or succumbing to the challenges and leaving the reader to evaluate and arrive at their own deductions. Spanning through several decades of life when the grandmother began her childhood in the bustling city of Kolkata, the daughter crossing over the seas to land in America, then transferring the legacy to the granddaughter who establishes a new beginning in the new land of opportunity. The tale weaves through an assortment of developments as if imposed by destiny, each character adopting their own approach to adjust to and accommodate the demands that she faces. The book is essentially a study in contrast of the three personalities facing their nemeses with the available emotional equipments they gained through their varied environments of upbringing.
The narration is unique, inviting and demanding the reader to be involved and stay focused as the story transcends generations, continents and chronological sequences. The author has intriguingly incorporated the grandmother’s future letters to the granddaughter who was not born yet and whom she will never see, as she contemplates on her own life. Chitra’s distinct little depictions, slight annotations and her imaginative, tiny intuitions are exclusively inimitable, making her one of the best writers of today. ‘Before humans came and pushed them to the edges; like cattle grazing in a parched field; darkness fell upon her blotting out all eloquence; patient as a heron by the water; the dark swayed around her like seaweed, choking’…as I said earlier, these are the delights of reading. Her books.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, author : ‘Before We Visit The Goddess’
This novel is special to me since the Goddess in the title is the one of Sri Meenakshi Temple, my temple. And there is a chapter in the book where one of the characters pays a visit there; the anecdotes creating cute reminiscences. Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, the prolific, award winning writer has been chosen by the Economic Times as one of the 20 most influential global Indian women. If you are familiar with her writings, you already know why. If not, get a copy of the ‘Before We Visit The Goddess’, enjoy reading it as you find out why. We all are fortunate to have her as one of our own, a Houstonian. http://www.chitradivakaruni.com/
Also read online
Dr. Venugopal K. Menon, Author, “My Mother Called Me UNNI, A Doctor’s Tale Of Migration” Link: https://migrantsmemoirs. com
But in spite of all the differences, the author, very deftly and charmingly seems to establish that the struggles of Sabitri, Bela and Tara continue to be similar to the familiar feminine intricacies of Panchaali of Mahabharata, the heroine of the epic that happened five millennia in the past. Growing up in a matrilineal Nair family of Kerala, I felt a sad lug that universal societies are still reluctant to offer mothers the splendor they amply deserve. T h e book is basically an account of Luxury home in Riverstone the lives of three 6 Beds 5.5 Baths / 6759 sq.ft women, their paswith pool and spa sions, addictions and adaptations with their men creating shadows of secondary significance.
Cover of the book ‘Before We Visit The Goddess’.
Visit: www. voiceofasiaonline.com
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COMMUNITY
VOICE OF ASIA 9
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Hanuman Jayanthi Celebrations at MTS AARP Honors ....... by M.K. Sriram
the priests did the alankaram behind the curtain. Finally Lord Hanuman appeared in all his resplendent glory, most beautifully decorated , with garlands made of his favorite vada (vada mala) round his neck, a crown made of betel leaves, his lotus feet covered with more vada mala’s and showered with flowers, it was a most divine sight that brought tears of joy to the eyes of the devotees.
P
EARLAND - The very name “Hanuman” or “Anjaneya” or “Pavana Putra” evokes a torrent of bhakthi and joy among all Hindus. And such was indeed the case at the Hanuman Jayanthi celebrations at Sri Meenkashi Temple on Saturday, May 28th. More than 200 devotees thronged the beautifully decorated Corner Mantap that houses the Hanuman shrine, so much so they overflowed into the tent placed outside. Hanuman is first and foremost the greatest bhakta of Sri Rama. His enormous strength, energy, courage, intelligence, and all other superlative qualities are derived from his extraordinary devotion to Sri Rama. Legend has it that he once appeared before Sri Rama covered from head to foot in sindoor (kumkum). When Sri Rama asked him why so, he replied that if the little sindoor on Goddess Seetha Devi’s forehead made Sri Rama so happy, he being a dasa covered himself entirely to give Him even a small fraction of the happiness Sri Sita Devi can give! Wherever there is the sound of Rama, and whenever there is pravachan (discourse) of Ramayana, there without being seen by us, Anjaneya stands and listens to it with tears of joy pouring down. The puja started with Sankalpam, then pujas to Sri Vishwaksena, followed by Kalasa puja which is the invocation of Hanuman in the kalasam. The devotees next joined with the priests in reciting the most powerful “Pancha Mukha Hanuman Moola Mantra”, with the help of handouts provided by the temple. The highlight of the event was the Abhishekam for Sri Anjaneya performed with the accompaniment of the recital of the most famous Hanuman Chalisa, originally composed by Tulsi Das. Devotees from the very young to the elderly all recited in unison, and there was an indescribable energy and devotion in the air. More bhajans followed as
Sri Anjaneya Gayathri mantram: “Sri Anjaneyaya Vidhmahe, Vayu Puthraya Dhi Mahe, Thanno Hanumath Prajodayaad.”
The MTS temple priests Sri Sreedharan Raghavan, Sri Pawan Kumar Sribhashyam, and Sri Sriman Narayana Charyalu performed the puja authentically and with great devotion. MTS Board of Directors, the Religious Activity Committee, the administrative staff and the artisans together organized the well-executed event. Many devotees rejoiced by offering prasadams, fruits and flowers to Lord Hanuman. Sri Anjaneya is the most perfect example of total and unconditional bhakti to the Supreme Lord, so the primary focus of this celebration was Bhakti and Bhakti alone. Sri Anjaneyaswami bestows on his devotees intellect, strength, fame, determination, fearless heart, health, alertness and the power of speech all with overarching humility. All in all, the devotees were utterly spellbound by partaking in this most wonderful and fulfilling puja.
Julie Kimiyo Hubbard, Yu-Ai Kai Japanese American Community Senior Service in San Jose, CA. Continued from Page 3 empowers and nurtures instructors to teach and often makes it a point to check in on classes to provide encouragement to everyone. “The seniors at Yu-Ai Kai are my family,” says Ms. Kimiyo Hubbard, and her current role is “the most fulfilling position I’ve ever had.” Shiao-Lin D. Hui, Chinese Community Center Free Clinic at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Chicago (CCBA) in Chicago, IL For 15 years, Shiao-Lin Hui
volunteer medical professionals for the community in the 1990s, it could not provide laboratory services and medications until Ms. Hui took charge of expanding its services. She partnered with the Chicago Mercy Hospital Medical Center (MHMC) to underwrite laboratory services and organized medical practitioners in the Chinese community to establish a clinic to provide free medical care for Chinatown’s seniors. As a nurse practitioner, she also cares for patients directly. Her tireless efforts have helped many seniors who otherwise would not have received acute or preventive care or be screened for cancer, hepatitis, and other diseases. Finalists were selected from 77 submissions AARP received from around the country including California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Washington, and Washington, DC. The stellar nominees included executive
Shiao-Lin D. Hui, Chinese Community Center Free Clinic at the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Chicago (CCBA) in Chicago, IL
Devotees partaking in the puja.
has dedicated her time and energy to running a free medical clinic every Sunday for seniors and the under-served population in Chicago’s Chinatown. Although the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association of Chicago (CCBA) provided basic medical advice through
directors, staff, and volunteers who work in healthcare, social services, education, technology, and the arts. The public visited facebook.com/AARPAAPICommunity to cast their vote during Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May.
US/ASIA
VOICE OF ASIA 10
Damning new ‘Trump University’ documents unsealed by Jeremy TORDJMAN
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ASHINGTON, AFP | 6/1/2016 - Newly unsealed court documents in a case against White House hopeful Donald Trump’s “university” reveal allegations that the now-defunct business preyed on the uneducated and misled consumers with aggressive marketing that amounted to fraud. The most damning revelations came from former staffers of the profit-driven operation that launched in 2004 and closed in 2010, triggering lawsuits that may well see the presumptive Republican presidential nominee dragged into court. “While Trump University claimed it wanted to help consumers make money in real estate, in fact Trump University was only interested in selling every person the most expensive seminars they possibly could,” former Trump University staffer Ronald Schnackenberg wrote in a statement unsealed Tuesday. The business offered several courses in entrepreneurship, under the famous Trump brand. But Schnackenberg described how he quit his sales manager job in 2007 after coming to believe that “Trump University was engaging in misleading, fraudulent, and dishonest conduct,” echoing arguments laid out by plaintiffs who are former “students” who claim they were scammed. Another former employee, Jason Nicholas, acknowledged that the seminars were taught by “unqualified people posing as Donald Trump’s ‘right-hand men.’” Nicholas said those staff “were teaching methods that were unethical, and they had had little to no experience flipping properties or doing real
estate deals.” “It was a facade, a total lie,” he testified. The court also unsealed internal company manuals, called “playbooks,” detailing sales techniques for steering prospective students to the most expensive courses and programs, which ran as high as $35,000 for supposedly revealing Trump’s wealth-generating secrets. “Let them know that you’ve found an answer to their problems and a way for them to change their lifestyle,” read the playbook, which even suggested the best chair arrangements and specified the ideal room temperature for luring customers. “Retention starts here,” the manual added. “Be sure to congratulate the buyer, shake hands, and make eye contact,” it explained, telling the marketers
that they are “not doing any favor by letting someone use lack of money as an excuse” not to sign up. A Trump spokeswoman told AFP that the newly released documents have “no bearing on the merits of Trump University’s case.” They instead demonstrate “the high level of satisfaction from students” who participated. - ‘Trying to scam America’ -The class action suit and fresh release of documents come as the 2016 presidential race shapes up to be a contest between Trump and his likely Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton. The two have already pivoted toward their election matchup, and the former secretary of state wasted no time Wednesday laying into Trump over the revelations.
India PM asks doctors to treat pregnant women for free New Delhi, India | AFP | 5/26/2016 - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on doctors Thursday to give up 12 days a year to treating poor, pregnant women free of charge, in a speech to mark the anniversary of his government’s second year in power. With India facing a shortage of doctors and public hospitals, the premier urged private practitioners to dedicate one day a month to helping pregnant women in rural areas, who often die in childbirth due to poor access to healthcare. “Can my doctor friends do one thing? On the 9th of every month, if poor, expectant mothers come to you, can you please treat them, care for them and provide medicines to them for free?” Modi told a cheering
Boxing: India’s Mary Kom seeks Olympic wildcard entry NEW DELHI, India | AFP | 6/1/2016 - India’s boxing star Mary Kom is seeking a wildcard entry to the Olympics after a loss last month during qualifying saw her dreams of competing in Rio shattered, an official said Wednesday. Kom, a former five-time world champion and a household name in India, was left devastated after losing a crucial bout at the Women’s World Boxing Championships in Kazakhstan. Kom needed to reach the semifinals to book an Olympic spot but lost in the second round to Germany’s Azize Nimani, triggering reports the 33-yearold was mulling retirement. India’s boxing committee has
now lodged a request with the sport’s world association for a wildcard spot for Kom, the senior boxing official said on condition of anonymity. “We... have this responsibility of trying to see whether Mary with all her accomplishments over the last 15 years can represent India at the Olympics,” the official told AFP. “We first took her consent and once she said yes, we decided to go ahead with our efforts.” But Kom, an 2012 Olympic bronze medallist in the 51 kilogram category, faces an uphill battle to secure a spot. Only one wildcard entry is on offer in Rio in August in each of the three women’s boxing categories, the official said.
FRIDAY, June 3, 2016
Wildcard entries are announced at the end of all boxing qualifying events, which wrap up at the end of this month with men’s events in Azerbaijan. Kom, a mother of three and one of the country’s most successful sports stars, has kept a low profile since losing the bout. Hailing from a poor family in the long-neglected and remote state of Manipur, her life inspired a Bollywood biopic in 2014 called “Mary Kom”. The International Boxing Association suspended India’s federation in 2012 due to election malpractices, but has approved a provisional committee to run the sport in India.
crowd at a mass rally in northern Uttar Pradesh state. Stark poverty and poor sanitary conditions are common in many villages in India, which recorded 45,000 maternal deaths in 2015, according to the World Health Organisation. About 174 women die of pregnancy-related causes in India for every 100,000 live births, compared with just 14 in the United States. Modi also boasted of his right-wing government’s graftfree record to date, in a jab at the previous Congress-led government that was embroiled in a string of corruption scandals during its decade in power. Separately, he also defended his record of reforming India’s stuttering economy in his two years in office, but conceded that his government faced “an enormous task ahead”. In a rare interview with the Wall Street Journal published Thursday, Modi said he had set a path for faster growth, including opening up the economy to foreign investment and curbing corruption. But Modi also said he needed India’s 29 states to take up the challenge of reforming land purchasing and rigid labour laws, which businesses have long complained hamper manufacturing and development.
ing March, sky-high inflation has dropped, the budget deficit has narrowed and foreign direct investment has soared. But some investors are disappointed with a lack of “big bang” reforms to overhaul the economy that would further help pull tens of millions of Indians out of poverty. Investors were left deflated after Modi’s government failed to push a bill through India’s gridlocked parliament to make it easier to buy land for infrastructure and other development. “When I came to the government, I used to sit down with all the experts and ask them to define for me what is the ‘big bang’ for them,” Modi said. “Nobody could tell me.” Modi, who has formed a close relationship with US President Barack Obama, is set to address a joint meeting of the US Congress next month during a trip to Washington. Modi said the invitation “is a matter of pride for me” adding that it was an “opportunity for me to address the American people”. Although ties between New Delhi and Washington have strengthened, Modi played down any friction with rival China, pointing to increasing trade and diplomatic exchanges between Beijing and India.
“I have actually undertaken the maximum reforms,” Modi said. But, he added, “I have an enormous task ahead for myself.” - ‘What is big bang?’ -The Hindu nationalist premier swept to power at elections in May 2014 with the biggest mandate in 30 years, promising to reform and revive the struggling economy. Growth is expected to have hit 7.6 percent in the year end-
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Vol. 29 No. 23
Lifestyle VOICE OF ASIA
VOICE OF ASIA 11
Section 2
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FRIDAY, June 3, 2016
Tel: 713-774-5140
More than 45 million trapped in modern slavery: study
The report said India had the highest number of people trapped in slavery at 18.35 million. (AFP Photo/Peter Parks).
Slavery today: Graphic on slave-like exploitative conditions that prevail for more than 45 million people worldwide, based on data released by the Australian group Walk Free Foundation (AFP Photo/John SAEKI).
ore than 45 million men, women and children globally are trapped in modern slavery, far more than previously thought, with two-thirds in the Asia-Pacific, a study showed Tuesday.
However, Forrest said more robust measures were needed.
we all can lead the world to end slavery.”
“We call on governments of the top 10 economies of the world to enact laws, at least as strong as the UK Modern Slavery Act 2015, with a budget and capability to ensure organisations are held to account for modern slavery in their supply chains, and to empower independent oversight,” he said.
In terms of absolute numbers, Asian countries occupy the top five for people trapped in slavery. Behind India was China (3.39 million), Pakistan (2.13 million), Bangladesh (1.53 million) and Uzbekistan (1.23 million).
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The details were revealed in the 2016 Global Slavery Index, a research report by the Walk Free Foundation, an initiative set up by Australian billionaire mining magnate and philanthropist Andrew Forrest in 2012 to draw attention to the issue. It compiled information from
167 countries with 42,000 interviews in 53 languages to determine the prevalence of the issue and government responses. It suggested that there were 28 percent more slaves than estimated two years ago, a revision reached through better data collection and research methods. The report said India had the highest number of people trapped in slavery at 18.35 million, while North Korea had the highest incidence (4.37 percent of the population) and the weakest government response.
Modern slavery refers to situations of exploitation that a person cannot leave because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power or deception. They may be held in debt bondage on fishing boats, against their will as domestic servants or trapped in brothels. Some 124 countries have criminalised human trafficking in line with the UN Trafficking Protocol and 96 have developed national action plans to coordinate the government response.
“I believe in the critical role of leaders in government, business and civil society. Through our responsible use of power, strength of conviction, determination and collective will,
As a percentage of the population, Uzbekistan (3.97 percent) and Cambodia (1.65 percent) trailed North Korea, which the study said was the only nation in the world that has not explicitly criminalised any form of modern slavery.
The report also tracked actions and responses to the problem, with governments at the forefront including the United States, Australia, and a host of European nations including Britain, Portugal and Norway. Those with the weakest action included Iran, Hong Kong and China. It cited Croatia, Brazil and the Philippines as countries to take positive steps since the last Global Slavery Index in 2014, while praising India for making significant progress in addressing the problem. AFP.
New rights, new challenges for US transgender community by Elodie CUZIN
another person.”
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“It was my own experience seeing and meeting folks who didn’t have the privilege that I had as a white person, as an educated person, as a male... I thought I can be of service to them and I can help them find their way.”
ASHINGTON Eight years ago, when Thomas Coughlin joined a Washington clinic’s small team devoted to transgender care, around 200 people came knocking at the door. This year, there were 1,200. Coughlin has witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of people coming out as transgender, bolstered as much by celebrity role models as by a shift in US public policies that now rank among the most progressive in the world -- to the point of triggering the backlash seen in the standoff over access to public bathrooms. For him, the matter hits very close to home. “I began my gender transition 16 years ago so it’s been a while. It was very different back them,” the 53-year-old, who was born female but identifies as male, told AFP in an interview. It was through word of mouth that Coughlin found doctors, support groups, and eventually a new profession as a mental health counselor for transgender people. “I didn’t know anybody that was trans until I reached out on the Internet to somebody and then they connected me with
A former videographer and editor in the TV production field, the New York native went back to school to become a therapist at Whitman-Walker Health, a non-profit focused on the needs of the LGBT community, whose health center in the heart of Washington has a department for transgender care. - Accessing surgery In his 30s when he transitioned from female to male, Coughlin says the challenge was made easier by his age and the fact he wasn’t financially dependent on his parents -- who in any case eventually supported his decision. His siblings showed some reluctance, unsure how to explain to their children that their aunt would become their uncle. But “16 years later, everybody is on the same page, I’m Uncle Tommy now,” said Coughlin, who sports glasses and a beard and has been married to a woman, a French teacher, for two years now. According to a study pub-
lished in 2011 by The Williams Institute, an LGBT think tank, an estimated 0.3 percent of the US population is transgender.
which captured headlines the world over -- undeniably raised awareness, and in doing so helped the progressive agenda.
Coughlin has seen a spectacular increase in the number of patients coming to WhitmanWalker Health for hormone therapy and mental health support since he arrived in 2008.
“It has tremendous impact on folks’ ability to accept themselves and for others to accept them,” he said.
Part of that is down to a 2014 change in healthcare policy in the US capital, where residents are now guaranteed either private or public insurance coverage for hormone treatment and gender reassignment surgery. “I think a lot of folks who are coming to the clinic now are seeking support in accessing those surgeries that are available now and which were never available. “These are expensive surgeries, it’s in the thousands to tens of thousands, and so to be able to get them covered by insurance is a big deal.” - ‘Confusion’ Since coming out a year ago, Caitlyn Jenner has ruffled more than a few feathers in the transgender community -- many of whom seen the Olympian and reality TV star as a poor spokesperson on trans issues. But in Coughlin’s view, the coming out of celebrities -- most spectacularly Bruce Jenner’s transition to Caitlyn
Because acceptance isn’t a given everywhere. This year Coughlin will not be visiting the in-laws in North Carolina because his wife does not want to go somewhere where he would face discrimination. In March, the state pushed back hard against moves to accommodate transgender people, with a law requiring them to use public restrooms matching the sex on their birth certificate -- triggering a national outcry and a legal showdown with the White House.
A number of conservative states and cities are mulling or have passed similar legislation such as Mississippi where a law allows religious groups and private businesses to deny services to same-sex couples and transgender people. President Barack Obama’s administration has thrown its weight behind the transgender community with a directive telling public schools to let youths access the restroom of their choice -- which 11 states are now challenging in court. Coughlin says the so-called “bathroom” battle is a source of anxiety. “For a lot of my clients, we have talked a lot about the emotional impact and the fear that these types of rulings have on individuals, and what that might look like for their future and their ability to move about
the country freely.” “There is this confusion, or conflating, of transgender folks with sexual predators and... to separate those two is going to be a very important distinction to be made.” But the national debate has also brought powerfully supportive voices to the fore, including that of Attorney General Loretta Lynch who defended the rights of transgender people in a passionate speech. “For so many years I just wanted people to acknowledge my existence,” Coughlin said. “To have somebody in the administration say ‘Yes, we see you, we’re here for you, we support you,’ was just amazing.” AFP.
LEISURE
VOICE OF ASIA 12
FRIDAY, June 3, 2016
Trump Tower becomes hot New York tourist magnet
by Brigitte DUSSEAU ew York is packed with some of the most iconic tourist attractions in the world but there’s a hot new ticket in town: Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue.
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Americans from out of state, Israeli teenagers, a tourist group from China and Europeans -- all have been seen stopping off at the place that is the nerve center of Donald Trump’s maverick campaign to win the White House.
He visited the afternoon that access to the next story up was restricted. Security guards wearing Trump buttons watched the crowd in the atrium like hawks as people got excited that the hold-up might mean Trump was coming.
The presumptive Republican nominee and real estate tycoon lives in a marble triplex at the top of the 68-story glass tower, ensconced in a miniVersailles of gold leaf, columns, moldings and crystal chandeliers with wife Melania.
But it was Ivanka who swept past, before quickly disappearing into the Trump Bar. Then a man stepped into the elevator. “It’s Trump’s son,” murmured some.
The rest of the building is home, not just to his campaign for the presidency, but also his Trump Organization business empire, shops and apartments.
“You are wasting your time, you will not see Mr Trump,” said one of the guards. Outside, tourists posed in front of the Trump Tower sign on the facade in huge gold capital letters or next to a liveried doorman.
It was here that the billionaire announced his candidacy in a scene straight out of Hollywood by sailing down the escalator with Melania on June 16, back when no one took him seriously. Thanks to an agreement that allowed Trump to build 20 stories higher, its massive marble atrium with a huge waterfall wall and dotted with mirrors is a public private space as stipulated by city hall like 500 others in New York. As a result, passers-by are free to wander in until 10 pm most days -- unless extra security is on hand because of events or high-profile visitors. It is a temple to its creator. There is a Trump bar, Trump cafe, Trump restaurant and counters just inside the door selling Trump souvenirs -- shirts, ties, cufflinks, scent and
“I am a fan of Berlusconi and I think Donald Trump is the American Berlusconi,” he told AFP. “If America wants to change, Donald Trump must be the next president of the United States because with Hillary Clinton nothing changes.”
“I always thought it was a joke that he was running for president, then it started to pick up speed, and I now I am just generally worried how much momentum he gained,” said Ray Fatto, raising his middle finger as he took a selfie. Americans from out of state, a tourist group from China and Europeans visitors have all stopped at Trump Tower in New York, the nerve center of Donald Trump’s campaign to win the White House (AFP Photo/Timothy A. Clary). his business books. Another boutique sells items from daughter Ivanka’s jewelry line. Air hostess Carmen Smith, originally from Colombia, was one of those who crossed the threshold, becoming at her 13-year-old son’s request, a “Trump fan.”
ARTS & CULTURE
Performing Asia: Shahid Parvez and Lalgudi Krishnan in Concert
A young couple from Michigan popped in especially to buy two trucker hats emblazed with Trump’s campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.” - ‘American Berlusconi’ -”There is no perfect candidate but for the situation we are currently in I do think he is the premier choice right now,” said
firefighter Steve Dela. “I think Mr Trump is an amazing guy, he is a very intelligent man.” Domenico Monteleone, an Italian fresh from a family weekend in Massachusetts, had only one day in New York but chose to swing by the Trump Tower, hoping to catch a glimpse of its celebrity occupant.
The building’s residents, some of them famous themselves, are protected from the crowd and have their own entrance around the corner on 56th Street. Among them is Jose Maria Marin, the former Brazilian Football Confederation president under house arrest as part of the FIFA corruption scandal. Accused of taking bribes worth millions of dollars, he has pleaded not guilty. AFP.
China’s richest man declares war on Disney with giant theme park
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EIJING, China | AFP | The Chinese conglomerate Wanda on Saturday opened its first theme park, with its billionaire boss declaring war on Disney weeks before the American entertainment giant launches a similar attraction in Shanghai. “Wanda City”, in southeastern Nanchang, comprises a giant mall set over two square kilometres (miles), as well as an 80-hectare theme park boasting “the highest and longest roller coaster and the highest drop tower in China”, according to a statement by the group.
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The project represents an investment of 22 billion yuan ($3.4 billion), the statement said. “We want to be a model... and highlight Chinese influence in the cultural domain,” Wanda founder Wang Jianlin said during an opening ceremony at the park as he referenced an “invasion” of foreign cultures, according to state television channel CCTV. A week before, Wang -- China’s richest man, according to Forbes magazine -- said he was setting his sights on Disney, which in June will open its first theme park on the mainland.
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“This craze for Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck is over, the period when we would blindly follow where Disney led has been gone for years,” he said during a long interview with CCTV. After the site in Nanchang, Wanda plans to open six more theme parks in China within three years and plans to have around 15 in the country by 2020. “We want to ensure that Disney will not be able to make a profit in this (theme park) sector in China for between 10 and 20 years,” he said. “A tiger cannot take on a pack of wolves,” he said during the same interview, in which he also accused Disney of “cloning past accomplishments without innovating”. But experts claim Wanda’s goals are ambi-
The Wanda City project represents an investment of 22 billion yuan ($3.4 billion) (AFP Photo/Str). tious, pointing to the group’s lack of experience in the market. Meanwhile Disney’s project in Shanghai -- a 5.5-billion-dollar investment -- will be its sixth theme park and its fourth outside the United States after Paris, Tokyo and Hong Kong. The American giant is hoping its popular franchises will appeal to a
booming Chinese middle class, in a country where it has been generating an increasing share of its box office revenue. But Wanda is not entirely new to entertainment, having bought US cinema chain AMC Entertainment Holdings in 2012 and has also been branching out into film production, print media and art investment.
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VOICE OF ASIA 13
HEALTH, SC & TECH
FRIDAY, June 3, 2016
Chai stirred into Silicon Valley coffee culture upbringing.”
by Glenn CHAPMAN
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AN FRANCISCO, | AFP | - In a Silicon Valley culture known for brilliant ideas boiling up in coffee shops, Gaurav Chawla is pouring his heart into chai.
A co-founder at Chime is a design engineer who ran product development at Williams-Sonoma, a retail chain specializing in kitchen and home items.
Chawla was on a break from his job as an engineering manager at San Francisco-based cloud-computing star Salesforce when he began lamenting how tough it was to find a cup of chai as good as he makes it at home.
- Chai carts -The popularity of chai has climbed in the United States over the past 20 years, with even major chain Starbucks adding it to the menu, according to Chai Cart founder Paawan Kothari.
That frustration, and echoed complaints by other natives of India, where the blend of spiced tea and simmered milk is woven into daily lifestyles, prompted him to start tinkering.
Kothari earned a masters degree in business from the INSEAD business school in France and spent more than a decade working with technology firms in Silicon Valley before turning a hobby started in 2009 into a startup that sells chai from carts on San Francisco streets.
“I took a rice cooker apart and reconfigured it to make chai,” Chawla told AFP.
“I wanted to give people a taste of what homemade chai tastes like,” said Kothari, who started out making the spiced tea in her home and peddling it in the Mission District from a bicycle trailer.
“It made good chai, and I realized this process could be automated.” While his background is in software
Pakistan closer to eliminating polio: officials
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SLAMABAD, Pakistan | AFP |
Pakistan is moving closer to eradicating polio, officials said Tuesday, with no fresh traces of the crippling childhood disease found in sewage samples taken from 40 highrisk sites across the country over April. “This is in line with our objective of eliminating polio by the end of the year,” said Rana Safdar, national coordinator of the Emergency Operation Centre tasked with eliminating the disease which is endemic to Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan. He said 11 new polio cases have been recorded in humans since the start of the year compared to 25 in the same period in 2015, a year which itself saw an overall decline in incidents of the disease. April was the first month since testing of sewage began that zero samples taken from 40 high-risk urban sites tested positive. “It does not mean that we have cleaned the country of polio, but we have a lot of confidence that the intensity of the virus transmission has decreased to an alltime low,” said Safdar, adding the result was particularly important because it comes at the onset of summer when the virus is most contagious. Attempts to eradicate polio in Pakistan have been hit by militant attacks on immunisation teams that have claimed more than 100 lives since December 2012. But Safdar said an improving security situation and efforts to educate communities who have traditionally been suspicious of vaccines has reduced the percentage of unvaccinated infants to “negligible”, against 5 percent in 2015 and 20 percent in 2014. In addition to their normal campaigns, polio vaccination teams are concentrating their efforts in higher-risk zones, for example the militancy-wracked Pakistan-Afghanistan border region and Afghan refugee camps. Pakistan hopes to be removed from the list of polio-endemic countries by 2018 by achieving its goal of no fresh cases for a year. Polio is a highly contagious disease caused by a virus that invades the nervous system and can cause total paralysis within hours. It mainly affects children under the age of five. There have been no fresh cases of wild polioviruses in Africa since August 2014, though the disease was endemic in 125 countries in 1988. Islamist opposition to all forms of inoculation grew after the CIA organised a fake vaccination drive to help track down Al-Qaeda’s former leader Osama Bin Laden in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad. He was killed there by US forces in 2011.
Jyothi Lakshmaiah (L) and Nithya Krishnan (R) take a break from their jobs to enjoy chai from a Chai Cart on Market Street in downtown San Francisco on May 26, 2016 (AFP Photo/Glenn Chapman). engineering, Chawla went to work developing a chai machine as simple to use as a coffee maker. He told of giving his second prototype a test run at Google offices, where it was used daily until it broke. Another prototype got a workout in offices of sound and image specialty firm Dolby, according to Chawla. Feedback from those and other tests led to a first-generation chai machine to be funded by pre-orders at a freshly launched www.brewchime.com website at a temporarily discounted price of $249. Chime machines aren’t slated to ship until March of next year.
- Chai is chai -
Valley, with coffee shops large and small adding it to menus.
Chime machines brew one cup of chai at a time, using tea and spices pre-mixed in caps sold by the startup.
Helping drive the trend are ranks of people drawn to the region from India by jobs at technology companies.
“Essentially, you want to brew black tea and spices, add milk then bring it to a boil again,” Chawla said of the chai brewing process.
Chawla said his friends at Microsoft have told him of the US software giant having people with chai-making skills come in to prepare the tea for employees.
“Because you are adding milk, you can’t just let it sit by itself or you get a big mess -- which I do almost every day.”
“The Silicon Valley influence of Indians moving here is huge,” Chawla said.
Chai has been growing in popularity in San Francisco and nearby Silicon
“Even if there is great coffee, chai is chai. It is one of the things of your
“I was surprised at how many people were looking to have good chai; not just in San Francisco but everywhere.” She quit her job as an IBM marketing strategist and launched Chai Cart, which she said has been growing steadily. Kothari estimated that while some 40 percent of her customers are hankering for a taste of chai that harkens back to native countries in South Asia, more than half grew up in households without chai. “It brings me great pleasure to share a part of my culture and give a taste of the traditional chai that’s enjoyed every day across India,” Kothari said in a post on the website thechaicart.com.
Young Life
VOICE OF ASIA 14
Section 2
by Nova Safo Derek Henkle
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ixteen-year-old Arthur Brown is finishing his second year in high school in a suburb of Chicago. While his peers are looking forward to summer days at the local mall, Brown knows navigating that simple ritual of American teenage life will be fraught with complexities.
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Trans teen in Chicago: from surviving to thriving
“You calculate when you’re going to be out, and you pray that you’re not going to have to be going to a bathroom when you’re in public,” said Brown, who is transgender -- born female but now identifying as male.
FRIDAY, June 3, 2016
Tel: 713-774-5140 systems in Alaska, Massachusetts, Oregon, Washington State, Kentucky and elsewhere. In Los Angeles, the school district does not require students to have a medical or mental health diagnosis in order to have their gender identity recognized. In New York City, transgender students can participate in “sex-segregated” sports classes “in a manner consistent with their gender identity,” according to the district. These efforts are not without pushback. Officials from 11 states are now suing the Obama administration over its school guidelines.
For transgender people, hodgepodge solutions to the lack of full access to public facilities are now giving way to discussions about basic rights. In many US public schools, those discussions -- and attempts to accommodate trans youth -- pre-date the controversies making headlines in North Carolina and elsewhere.
In another Chicago suburb, there is a lawsuit over an agreement to allow a transgender high school student who was born male but identifies as female to use a private changing area in the girls’ locker room.
To avoid using public, gender-specific bathrooms, transgender people have resorted to various coping mechanisms, including not eating or drinking while in public, or keeping note of single-person bathrooms in public areas.
Arthur Brown, who is transgender -- born female but now identifying as male, reads a comic book at his house in Chicago, Illinois on on May 17, 2016 (AFP Photo/Derek Henkle).
But these solutions are not ideal, at best.
is a genuine concern for his young patients.
“We see much higher instance of things like bladder infections, UTI’s, disorder eating,” among transgender young people, said Jennifer Leininger, program manager at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago’s gender and sex development program.
“Not infrequently I write what we call a ‘safe passage’ letter for my transgender patients, in case they get harassed by something like the police for entering a bathroom.”
Brown’s own solution for visiting the mall is to frequent a ‘family’ bathroom. “I’ve had people yell at me for going in the family bathroom,” he said.
“It all starts with school safety,” Garofalo said. “You can’t have a discussion about learning, and healthy growth and development, if a student has concerns about their safety and well-being.”
- ‘Safe passage’ -Robert Garofalo, who heads a clinic for transgender children at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, says the bathroom issue
Brown’s current high school has made significant efforts to accommodate him and other trans students. The school in Deerfield, Illinois -- a village
community seven square miles in size with a population of 18,000 -- created gender-neutral bathrooms on campus to allow Brown safe access to facilities and a place to change into exercise clothes. “I was able to focus on school, instead of just surviving. I was able to actually pay attention in class, instead of worrying about what I would do for gym class, where I would go to the bathroom at school,” he said. Deerfield may seem a far cry from the cultural battles taking place across the country over transgender people’s use of restrooms. But it is just one of many examples of US schools working to accommodate young trans people.
Just a few miles away, the public school system in Chicago, which serves 2.7 million residents, has written guidelines for its school principals. “What it looks like in our schools is that the principal along with the counselor, the student and their family will be making individualized plans to support the student, so that they feel comfortable in their school,” said Janice Jackson, the chief education officer at Chicago Public Schools. - Silver lining -In its recent guidance to US schools telling them to accommodate transgender students, the Justice Department cited Chicago’s efforts along with those of schools and school
Filed on behalf of 51 families, the lawsuit claims the agreement amounts to harassment and violates the “duty to protect the privacy, safety and dignity of all students,” said Jeremy Tedesco of Alliance Defending Freedom, one of two religious freedom groups that brought the complaint. For Garofalo, all this focus on trans people’s use of bathrooms risks distracting from the deeper issues at stake. “This is the civil rights battle of this generation to some extent,” he said. “The fact that we’re even talking about young people’s genitalia around bathroom use, has in some ways perverted a political discussion.” But Garofalo also sees a silver lining in the current debate. “I do think positive things are beginning to come out of it,” he said, including more pediatric programs addressing the needs of transgender children. AFP.
Pakistan teen burned Young users ‘guinea pigs’ for new alive for refusing wave of drugs: EU watchdog marriage proposal Principal of school where she worked attacked her for spurning his son’s hand
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SLAMABAD, Pakistan | AFP | Wednesday 6/1/2016 - A young Pakistani woman died Wednesday after she was tortured and set alight in the country’s conservative northeast for refusing a marriage proposal from the son of a former colleague, relatives and police said. Maria Sadaqat, 19, was attacked by a group of people on Monday in the village of Upper Dewal close to the summer hill resort of Murree, outside the capital Islamabad. “She was badly tortured and then burned alive. We brought her to hospital in Islamabad but she succumbed to her wounds today,” Abdul Basit, Sadaqat’s uncle, told AFP outside a burns centre at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in the capital. Grieving relatives outside the centre wept and protested at the teenager’s death as police moved her body to another hospital for a post-mortem. Basit said his niece had been attacked by the principal of the private school where she had formerly worked as a teacher, and by his accomplices after she refused a marriage proposal from his son.
“He was divorced and twice her age, so she refused the proposal and left her job when they pursued
The reason for the rise in overdoses was unclear, but the increased availability of heroin, high purity and ageing users might have contributed, the report said.
her time and again... eventually they attacked her,” Basit said.
An estimated 1.2 million people were treated for illicit drug use in the European Union in 2014 -- 1.5 million including Norway and Turkey.
Police said Sadaqat gave a statement before her death naming the principal and four others as her attackers.
An analysis of drugs seizures, surveys and wastewater in major cities indicated that cocaine use was higher in western and southern European countries, reflecting ports of entries and trafficking routes.
“We have arrested at least one of the accused and a hunt is on for the rest,” Mazhar Iqbal, the officer directing the murder investigation, told AFP. A doctor at the hospital said Sadaqat had succumbed to serious burns. “The poor woman was becoming better but then could not survive because most parts of her body had serious burn injuries,” said Ayesha Ihsani. It was the second time in just over a month that a Pakistani woman had been murdered over a marriage issue. A woman believed to be aged between 16-18 was drugged, strangled and her body burnt on the orders of a village jirga (council) in northwest Pakistan on April 29, allegedly for helping a friend to elope with her lover. Hundreds of women are murdered by their relatives in Pakistan each year on the pretext of defending what is seen as family honour.
Young drug users risk ending up as “human guinea pigs” for a new wave of sometimes highly-toxic recreational drugs, European Union’s drug monitoring body warned.PHOTO: THE NEW PAPER by Jonny JACOBSEN ARIS - Young drug users risk ending up as “human guinea pigs” for a new wave of sometimes highly-toxic recreational drugs, the EU’s drug monitoring body warned in a report released Tuesday.
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Europe faces a growing drugs problem fed by new, more powerful products, different production techniques and online sales, said the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Addiction. The agency said it had identified more than 560 new psychoactive substances (NPS), most of them synthetic versions of cannabis or of stimulants such as amphetamines or cocaine. “Young consumers may unwittingly be acting as human guinea pigs for substances for which the potential health risks are largely unknown,” said the report.
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One synthetic stimulant had been linked to nearly 200 serious cases of intoxication and more than 100 deaths since 2011. Some synthetic
cannabinoids, sold as legal alternatives to cannabis, had proved highly toxic, with one such drug linked to 13 deaths and 23 non-fatal overdoses across Europe since 2014. The report also noted a revival in the use of MDMA, better known as ecstasy. Over the last year, 2.1 million young adults aged between 15 and 24 -- 1.7 percent of that age group -- had reported using ecstasy, it said. “There are also signs that MDMA is no longer a niche or sub-cultural drug used in dance clubs, but is now being used by a wider range of young people in more mainstream nightlife settings, such as bars and parties,” it added. - 1.5 mn treated in 2014 -New production lines and online sales were feeding the ecstasy boom. Police raids in recent years have shut down major factories in Belgium and the Netherlands. The agency also reported 6,800 deaths by overdose in 2014, mainly due to heroin or other opioids. Although that figure was only slightly up on the previous year, it included sharp rises in countries including Britain, Ireland, Lithuania and Sweden.
Amphetamine use was more prominent in northern and eastern Europe, the report added. - Worrying hike in ‘slamming’ -While levels of drug injection were falling, the increased injection of stimulants, known as “slamming”, was worrying -- particularly among homosexual men, it said. “These so-called ‘slamming’ practices are associated with high levels of sexual risk-taking behaviours, pointing to the need for increased cooperation and a joined-up response from drug treatment and sexual health services,” said the report. Cannabis remained the main drug of choice, with 16.6 million young Europeans (aged 15 to 34) using it in the last 12 months. “For both resin and herbal cannabis, potency levels are high by historical standards and this is worrying, as it may increase the risks of users experiencing both acute and chronic health problems,” it said. Policymakers had to get to grip with the challenge posed by online sales threat, said the report. “The supply of drugs through online sources appears to be growing, albeit from a low base, and the potential for expansion of online drug supply appears considerable,” it warned.
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The team of Housefull 3 arrived on the most popular reality show ‘India’s Got Talent’
Bollywood stars Jacqueline Fernandez, Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan and Riteish Deshmukh promoted their film Housefull 3 on India’s Got Talent on May 30, 2016.
Sonam Kapoor Shocked With Overreaction On Tanmay Bhat’s Controversial Video MUMBAI -- Sonam Kapoor has supported comedian Tanmay Bhat’s video of a mock conversation between Lata Mangeshkar and Sachin Tendulkar, saying she is in “shock with this overreaction”.
The video has sparked a massive outrage with political parties and Bollywood celebrities, who reacted sharply to the comedian’s portrayal of the music legend and cricket icon. TweetSonam Kapoor @sonamakapoor
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Varun Dhawan’s Comic Timing Stands Out In ‘Dishoom’ Trailer
Dishoom poster. John and Varun, who will be seen doing many intense stunt scenes in the film, also shared how they went through injuries, pain and much more during the shooting.
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John Abraham, Varun Dhawan and Jacqueline Fernandez completed the shoot for their upcoming Film Dishoom. The team held an event to talk about the film. The trailer for Dishoom, directed by Rohit Dhawan (Desi Boyz) was unveiled on Wednesday evening. Starring John Abraham and Varun Dhawan as two law enforcement agents from India and the United Arab Emirates respectively, the multi-starrer looks like a slick, out-and-out commercial entertainer.
It also features Jacqueline Fernandez as a double agent, and there’s a glimpse of Nargis Fakhri in the trailer. The plot revolves around a star Indian cricketer named Viraj Sharma (no prizes for guessing who that’s a reference to), played by Saqib Saleem. On the eve of a crucial IndiaPakistan match, he gets kidnapped by a mysterious man
named Wagah, played by Akshaye Khanna, who returns to the big screen after a gap of four years (he was last seen in 2012’s Gali Gali Chor Hai). While not all jokes in the trailer will make you laugh out loud, Dhawan’s sincere comic timing and Khanna’s presence stand out. On the face of it, Dishoom looks like a fun, broad buddy cop comedy.
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‘Nightmare’ infection found in US for first time
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© Getty Images North America/AFP/File | The recently discovered antibiotic-resistant gene, known as mcr-1, has also been found in China and Europe.
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IAMI - A superbug resistant to all known medications has been found in the United States for the first time, raising new concern about the dwindling effectiveness of antibiotics, the top US public health official said on Thursday. The case involved a 49-year-old woman in Pennsylvania whose urinary tract infection tested positive for a strain of E. coli that is resistant to the antibiotic of last resort for such infections, known as colistin. “It was an old antibiotic, but it was the only one left for what I call nightmare bacteria,” a family of germs known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), said Thomas Frieden, chief of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The recently discovered antibioticresistant gene, known as mcr-1, has also been found in China and Europe.
Its emergence in the United States for the first time “heralds the emergence of truly pan-drug resistant bacteria,” said a report on the finding, published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology. The report gave no details about the outcome of the Pennsylvania woman’s case. Superbugs can be deadly, but not in all cases. The woman had not traveled outside the United States, so could not have acquired the resistant bacteria elsewhere, Frieden said. “We know now that the more we look, the more we are going to find,” he added. “We risk being in a postantibiotic world.” Colistin has been available since 1959 to treat infections caused by E.
coli, Salmonella, and Acinetobacter, which can cause pneumonia or serious blood and wound infections. It was abandoned for human use in the 1980s due to high kidney toxicity, but is widely used in livestock farming, especially in China. However, colistin has been brought back as a treatment of last resort in hospitals and clinics as bacteria have started developing resistance to other, more modern drugs. “We need to do a very comprehensive job of protecting antibiotics so we can have them and our children can have them,” Frieden said, calling for more research into new antibiotics and better stewardship of existing drugs. “The medicine cabinet is empty for some patients,” he added. “It is the end of the road for antibiotics unless we act urgently.”
Safe sex or no sex after visiting Zika-hit areas: WHO Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | - People who travel to Zika-hit areas should practice safe sex or have no sex at all for at least eight weeks after their return to avoid sexual transmission of the virus, WHO said Tuesday. That is double the one month of safe sexual practices previously recommended by the World Health Organization, which explained that new studies showed the Zika virus could survive in sperm longer than previously thought. The recommendation is only for men and women who present no symptoms of the virus, which experts agree is behind a surge in cases in Latin America of microcephaly -- a serious birth defect in which babies are born with unusually small heads and brains. If the male partner has shown symptoms of Zika, the couple should practice safe sex or abstain for six months, “to ensure that the infection has left the
body and the virus will not be passed to... the partner,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters. Women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant should avoid travelling to areas affected by Zika all together, and if their male partner has travelled to such an area, the couple should practice safe sex or abstain for the remainder of the pregnancy, it said. It remains unclear how long the virus can persist in body fluids, but a report issued this month showed the sperm of a man returning to Britain from Cook Island remained positive for the virus 62 days after he first detected symptoms, WHO said. Zika is mainly spread by two species of Aedes mosquito, but has also been shown to transmit through sexual contact.
For people living in areas where Zika is spreading, controlling the spread is obviously more complicated. WHO has recommended that women in these areas delay getting pregnant, and that women who have had unprotected sex and do not wish to become pregnant should have “ready access to emergency contraceptive services and counselling.”
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WHO last week rejected a call from 150 international doctors to change the timing or location of the Rio Games, saying shifting the Games would not substantially alter the risks of Zika spreading globally.
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US auto sales drop in May; GM hit hard
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EW YORK, AFP | 6/1/2016 - US auto sales fell in May, with the country’s leading automaker General Motors taking a particularly hard hit as consumers curbed spending ahead of the summer driving season. Analysts had expected softer May sales generally after an April surge as a seven-year boom in the auto industry shows signs of moderating. Though job growth has been solid and wages are inching up, consumers have recently turned a bit less optimistic about the health of the US economy. GM said it sold 240,450 vehicles last month, down 18 percent from a year ago. Industry researcher Edmunds. com had forecast 254,643 deliveries. GM said sales fell across brands, including Buick, down 22.1 percent, and Chevrolet, 18.6 percent. Ford reported sales fell 5.9 percent year-over year to 235,997 vehicles, missing Edmunds.com’s estimate of 242,771 units. Ford brand sales fell but luxury brand Lincoln posted a 5.9 percent rise. Over the first five months of the year, GM sales were down five percent from the same period in 2015, while US rival Ford sales rose 4.2 percent. On Wall Street, GM shares pared losses to trade at 3.0 percent in midday trade, while Ford shed 3.2 percent.
Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, said its US sales fell 9.6 percent but noted that the month of May this year has two fewer selling days than in 2015. Toyota brand sales dropped 9.5 percent and sales of the Japanese company’s luxury brand Lexus were down 10.1 percent. Sales of Toyota’s fuel-economy hybrid Prius plunged 36 percent from a year ago and were down about 25 percent since the beginning of 2016. Volkswagen, the German automaker mired in scandal after admitting using emissions-cheating software in 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide, reported US vehicle sales fell 17.2 percent in May, bringing the total decline over the first five months of the year to 13 percent. Audi, one of VW’s brands, separately reported a 1.6 percent rise in sales. Analysts expect that total US sales in May, fell 5.8 percent to an annual rate of 17.5 million vehicles.
An Indian fisherman sits among fluttering national flags in Chennai (AFP Photo/Arun Sankar). EW DELHI, India | AFP | 5/31/2016 - India’s economy grew 7.6 percent in 2015-16, official figures showed Tuesday, retaining its place as the world’s fastest-growing major economy and providing a boost to the right-wing government as it marks two years in power.
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Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded at a faster pace in the fourth quarter of the financial year, growing 7.9 percent year-on-year, the Central Statistics Office data showed. The figure beat the average forecast for 7.5 percent growth in the three months to March 31, according to a Bloomberg survey of 27 economists.
India has outpaced China in recent quarters, with the Chinese economy growing 6.7 percent in the first three months of 2016, its slowest quarterly expansion in seven years. “It is clearly a positive story, in terms of juxtaposing this data with (other) indicators, quite clearly we are seeing
Technician Edward Bonilla holds a recalled Takata airbag inflator after he removed it from a Honda Pilot at the AutoNation Honda dealership service department in Miami, Florida in this June 25, 2015, file photo. REUTERS/Joe Skipper/Files
All four said they are installing airbags with non-dessicated ammoniumnitrate inflators -- those whose malfunction are tied to a number of deaths and injuries -- in new cars even though they will have to be recalled and replaced by 2018, said the report from Senator Bill Nelson. Nelson, the top Democrat on the Senate Commerce Committee who has been pressing for tougher action to replace tens of millions of Takata airbags in US cars, said the use of the risky airbag inflators is legal, but that it is being done without consumers’ knowledge. “What’s troubling here is that con-
sumers are buying new cars not realizing they’re going to be recalled,” Nelson said in a statement. “These cars shouldn’t be sold until they’re fixed.” The airbag inflators have been tied to at least 13 deaths and 100 injuries worldwide. The inflators can over time degrade, especially in hot, humid conditions, and rupture sending shrapnel into a vehicle’s passengers. Airbags with dessicated inflators are considered much less risky. Nelson’s report identified several vehicles with the non-dessicated inflators Mitsubishi 2016 and 2017 i-MiEVs, 2016 Volkswagen CCs, 2016 Audi TTs and 2017 Audi R8s. Audi is part of the Volkswagen group. However, he said, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Toyota did not identify their new models with the risky airbags.
US home prices push higher in March
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ew York, | AFP | Tuesday 5/31/2016 - Steady buying and tight supplies pushed US home prices solidly higher in March, with the gains largest in the West, according to fresh data Tuesday. The S&P/Case-Shiller home price index showed prices for the leading 20 cities up 0.9 percent over February and up 5.4 percent year-on-year. The pace of gains appeared to be moderating from a pickup late last year, though not in markets like Seattle, Portland and Denver, where oneyear rises advanced at least 10 percent, and San Francisco and Dallas, where the one-year gain was 8.5 percent. Twelve-month gains were weakest
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India’s economy grew 7.6% in 2015-16: government
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government swept to power in a May 2014 general election promising to reform the economy and kick-start growth.
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Italian company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles reported its unit FCA US had a one percent rise in US sales in May, better than the market expected. Leading the gain was a 14 percent jump in Jeep brand vehicles; Chrysler brand sales fell 19 percent. FCA shares fell 2.4 percent.
Four automakers still installing risky Takata airbags
ASHINGTON, | AFP | 6/1/2016 - Four automakers -- Toyota, Fiat Chrysler, Volkswagen and Mitsubishi -- are still selling new cars equipped with dangerous Takata airbags, according to a report released by a leading US senator Wednesday.
FRIDAY, June 3, 2016
in New York, Washington and Chicago. “The economy is supporting the price increases with improving labor markets, falling unemployment rates and extremely low mortgage rates,” said David Blitzer of S&P Dow Jones Indices. He said another factor was the limited supply of homes on the market, even as new home construction picks up. “The number of homes currently on the market is less than two percent of the number of households in the US, the lowest percentage seen since the mid-1980s,” Blitzer said in a statement.
a turnaround, a point of inflection taking shape,” said Shubhada Rao, Chief Economist at Yes Bank in Mumbai. However, India is dogged by concerns over the reliability of its economic growth data, more than a year after the government introduced a revised formula for calculating GDP which some analysts have criticised. The government says the new method is closer to international standards. “These (GDP) figures are hard to align with other evidence on the economy’s health,” Shilan Shah of Capital Economics wrote in a note Tuesday. “We should take the official GDP data, and the rates of growth they are suggesting, with a pinch of salt.” Some measures have improved markedly in the past two years, including the inflation rate, which has come down from double-digit levels to 5.4 percent in April. But private investment is weak and industrial output sluggish, while exports have fallen for 17 months in a row. - Monsoon imminent Economists are now looking ahead
to the imminent monsoon, which has an outsize influence on the economy because of its impact on millions of farmers, whose crops are highly dependent on the annual rains. Households in rural areas -- about two-thirds of the 1.2 billion-strong population -- are suffering from a devastating drought after two consecutive weak monsoons. The Reserve Bank of India is expected to wait to assess the strength of the monsoon, which begins in June, before deciding whether to cut interest rates and provide a fresh boost to consumption. India’s central bank in April cut its key interest rate to a five-year low of 6.5 percent citing a dip in inflation, and signalled there could be further rate cuts to come. The bank is scheduled to hold its next policy meeting on June 7. Economists also say further increases in the price of oil could push up the inflation rate and curb growth. India, which imports most of its oil, has benefitted from sharply lower oil prices over the past year but crude has rallied recently to touch $50 a barrel.
Ad-blocking software use for mobile surges: study
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ASHINGTON, AFP | 5/31/2016 - The use of ad-blocking software for mobile devices has nearly doubled in the past year, raising questions about the viability of online media business models, a study showed Tuesday. Some 419 million people, or 22 percent of global smartphone users, are blocking ads on their mobile handsets as of March 2016, the study by the consulting firm PageFair with the analytics firm Priori Data found. Mobile ad-blocking grew by 90 percent globally in 2015, with most of the increase in Asia, the report says. Almost a third of smartphone users are blocking ads in China, while more than 60 percent do so in India and Indonesia.
veloping economies,” PageFair chief executive Sean Blanchfield said. “Ad-blocking now threatens all mobile channels,” he added. “Failure to address user concerns about mobile advertising in North America and Europe will lead to the same kind of widespread ad-block usage that we are seeing in the Asia Pacific region.” North America and Europe have seen less of an impact from mobile ad-blocking so far, the report said. The study found 14 million active users of ad-blocking browsers on smartphones in Europe and North America as of March. Users downloaded content-blocking and in-app ad-blocking apps 4.9 million times from the Apple and Android app stores in Europe and North America since September 2014, the study found.
Browsers that block ads are more than twice as popular in Europe than North America, with some 27 users per thousand smartphones. Content-blocking apps are three times more popular in North America than in Europe, with nine users per thousand smartphones. A study by Adobe and PageFair last year said the losses for websites that rely on advertising could be huge -$21.8 billion in 2015 and rising to $41 billion in 2016. Apple’s introduction of “content blocking” on iOS 9 has yet to have a significant impact, according to the report. Just two percent of US-based users of Apple devices have downloaded a content blocking app, it found.
Users are attracted to ad-blocking browsers and applications that block marketing messages, which can be seen as annoying or intrusive. Ads can also slow RETIREMENT INCOME PLANNING down connections for mobile users RETIREMENT PLANS and count for data INVESTMENT STRATEGIES allowances, which can become costly GROUP BENEFITS FOR BUSINESS OWNERS in some parts of the world. LIFE, DISABILITY AND LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE If ad-blocking becomes widespread, however, it could undercut the Internet’s economic model, especially for media organizations struggling to make transitions from print to digital. “This report tells a sobering story about the future viability of adfunded media and journalism in de-
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HOROSCOPE
VOICE OF ASIA 18
FRIDAY, June 3, 2016
Your Horoscope for the Week of June 3, 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 Rise up and take long, purposeful steps to achieve your goals. Intellectual disagreements or differences of opinion and viewpoints may appear. You may have to speak your mind in a way that challenges or unnerves someone else. However, your mind is very active and sharp and your reasoning power is good so this is a good time to do mental work. You have a lot of mental energy and are eager to “attack” intellectual or conceptual problems.
You need to choose a simple path rather than the more complex one that you’ve been on. You need to focus yourself on making the right. A festive, partying mood and you just want to play and share a good time with your friends. Community social events and fellowship are very rewarding now. Also, at this time it is hard for you to say no to food, drink, or extravagances in any form. You are also very generous and tolerant toward others.
Scorpio (N,Y) 23 Oct to 21 Nov
Taurus (B,V,U) 21 April to 20 May Dress appropriately but stick to your budget, because you’ll look great in whatever you wear. You need to test your strategy. Opportunities for friendship, cooperation, love and shared happiness. The warmth and goodwill you generate now is likely to be a benefit to you, both, now and later on. You feel especially friendly and sociable. You are motivated to work at resolving any ongoing problems you may be dealing with, but you’re apt to be rather irritable and edgy now also.
Your need there for love, companionship, friendship, sharing and you won’t want to be alone or go off to do solitary work. In fact, you feel like relaxing and enjoying the beautiful side of life rather than laboring or concentrating on difficult tasks. A significant development in a close relationship or strong feelings of attraction to someone you encounter are very likely at this time. Right now, you will be tempted to do something for pleasure which you ordinarily wouldn’t enjoy or even be interested in.
Sagittarius (BH,F,DH,TH) 22 Nov to 21 Dec
Gemini (K,CHH,GH) 21 May to 20 June Enthusiasm and creativity will lead you in the week ahead. There is little resistance to your creative, spontaneous inclinations. This is a wonderful time for creative work and expression of any kind like Dance, music, artistic creativity, and scientific work are all benefited. Originality is highlighted and you are able to compose, design, and create things with fresh insight and originality. You feel less constrained and hemmed in by circumstances and are able to enjoy activities with greater zest and spirit than usual.
Your desires and urges can be very strong now. In all of your relationships you feel quite warm and affectionate. You are less competitive, more interested in pleasing others and creating harmony. You may also feel compelled to do something creative or artistic, something to express your craving for art & beauty. You are in an eager, confident mood and this is a good time for any competitive endeavor or anything that requires a lot of energy.
Capricorn (KH,J) 22 Dec to 20 Jan
Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 July Positive feelings and inner harmony will create smooth and comfortable relations with others. Your intuition or gut feelings are apt to be right on the mark. This is an excellent time to take the initiative or to begin a project that you have been considering. ACTION is the theme for today. If you tend to be hot-tempered, this is aggravated now, and you can be quite ready. If you are a more relaxed, easy-going person, you will simply feel more energy and drive than usual.
Dreams & wishes, you may be infatuated with someone you meet at this time, only to be disappointed later when you discover this person does not fulfill all of your expectations. You are simply not seeing people objectively now. Your imagination is very active and creative, however ,and so is your yearning for something beautiful. The artist in you emerges, and your creations please and inspire you. Your mood very much colors your thinking right now.
Aquarius (G,S,SH) 21 Jan to 19 Feb
Leo (M) 23 July to 22 August Mental clarity, discrimination, and your ability to separate fact from fiction. Miscommunications and an inability to formulate your ideas differently, are likely. Your mind wanders, and this can be a time of creative reverie or daydreaming. Avoid making binding contracts at this time. However later this week you may find yourself involved with stimulating discussions about controversial topics, unusual or offbeat ideas, or “crazy” schemes. The tempo of your life increases and may leave you feeling frazzled.
Being at stressful time to balance needs for freedom and independence, with needs for love and co-operation. You will need to ask support from family members, you will feel isolated as everybody else is busy in their own business. But you need to develop understanding at your own, you need to see the things from different angle, then only you can feel reality. Spending time with elderly people will bring you blessings & good luck.
Pisces (D,CH,Z) 20 Feb to 20 March
Virgo (P) 23 August to 22 September Forceful, decisive action and you have the will to carry through on your intentions at this time. Physically, you feel good and your energy is flowing smoothly. Also, your interactions with others are feisty and spirited. You inspire others to take action, and group efforts or joint projects are favored. You are more clear and objective about personal matters and your relationships, so this is a favorable time to iron out differences or come to a decision.
Feeling sober and realistic at this time and are interested in being with people you respect and can depend upon - your oldest, true-blue friends. Also, reaching out to an older relative or another mature, experienced person can mean a lot to you and be mutually beneficial now. Relationships go awry or at least take an unexpected turn. The need for more freedom, independence, or novelty on your part, or on the part of someone close to you, may disrupt the status quo in an important relationship.
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hem. The most obvious is productivity. Almost nothing is more disruptive than an unplanned call when you’re trying to finish a task. It can also be hard to make good decisions in the moment if you’re surprised by a request. Should you accept that speaking engagement? What price should you quote? You may need time to reflect — or get your wording straight if you want to decline. To minimize disruptive calls, bundle them together and schedule them back-toback — on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, for instance. And just because someone wants to call you, you don’t have to agree. Instead, say: “The best way to reach me is through email.” That way, they know you’re happy to talk to them — but through your preferred channel, not theirs. Source: Adapted from “Stop Wasting Your Time on Work Calls,” by Dorie Clark WWW.HBR.ORG
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