VOICE OF ASIA 1
VOICE OF ASIA
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
28 years of dedicated service to the community
Vol. 29 No. 22 Friday, May 27, 2016 • Published Weekly from Houston • 713-774-5140 24 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com
VOICE OF ASIA 2
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
The Most Comprehensive Health Magazine Empowering families People live longer and better lives with proper healthcare New Technologies are making it more easier
He�l��L��� Delivers!
To send articles, email us at voiceasia@aol.com To place ads: ads@voiceofasiagroup.com For other information, call us at: 713-774-5140
Watch for our next Issue!
VOICE OF ASIA 3
Connect with us today! Visit us Online @ www.voiceofasiaonline.com
713-774-5140
VOICE OF ASIA
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016 Raising Medicare eligibility age may save Feds dollars but drive up total spending
28 years of dedicated service to the community
Read on Page 18 or Call 832-806-1000
Vol. 29 No. 22 Friday, May 27, 2016 • Published Weekly from Houston • 713-774-5140 24 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com
Dance, Music and Message Highlight Radhnath Swami’s Book Launch “I saw so much hatred, divisions and prejudice in the name of a loving God. So I was at a cross roads: either I had to totally reject the whole concept of the validity of religion or there must be a beautiful essence that is there at the heart and core of all spiritual traditions.” - His Holiness Radhanath Swami at the launch of his new book “The Journey Within - Exploring the Path of Bhakti” on Saturday, May 21, at the Unity of Houston. Photo by Tejas.
Report on Page 11
IACCGH Shell Distinguished Lecture Series Featuring Honorable Anupam Ray, Consul General of India in Houston HOUSTON - May 16, 2016
T
he Honorable Anupam Ray, Consul General of India in Houston delivered the IACCGH Shell Distinguished Lecture at the Hilton Skyline Ballroom to a sold out audience . IACCGH Founding Secretary and Executive Director Jagdip Ahluwalia talked about the long term relationship the Chamber has had with the Indian Consulate and invited Harris County Judge Ed Emmett to welcome the Consul General to Houston. IACCGH President Joya Shukla introduced the Consul General who has accepted the Chamber’s request to serve as an Advisor to IACCGH. A student of History Consul General Ray delivered a brilliant speech and reminded us that the bipartisan acceptance in the United States that its partnership with India will be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century. The Indian community here, the companies that are represented on this Chamber and the ever expanding network of ties – business, cultural, political, educational; the flow of ideas and experiences will be the building blocks of this partnership. The full text of the speech is published in this week’s newspaper and on the chamber website. Fred Whipple, VP, Shell joined Harris County Judge Emmett in presenting Consul General Harish with a token of appreciation on behalf of the Chamber. IACCGH invites you to the Seventeenth Annual Gala on September 9 2016 at the Hilton Americas. Shell USA President Bruce Culpepper will deliver the Gala Keynote. Contact info@iaccgh.com for sponsorship details.
The Honorable Anupam Ray ,India’s Consul General to Houston, delivered the IACCGH-Shell Distinguished Lecture at the Skyline Ballroom, Hilton Americas on May 16, 2016. Shell VP Fred Whipple presented a token of appreciation on behalf of the Chamber to the Consul General. Harris County Judge Ed Emmett welcomed the Consul General on behalf of the Chamber. Photography by Bijay Dixit
Read the lecture in its entirety on page 10
& Sugar Land
Med Spa & Laser Hair Removal Center
Tel: 281-903-7470 • www.PrimeLaserCenter.com 3 Locations to Serve you: 2121 Sage Rd, Suite: 228, Houston, TX 77056 2655 Cordes Dr, Suite: 120, Sugar Land, TX 77479 777 S. Fry Rd, Suite: 101, Katy TX 77450
$1,500 Full Body Laser Hair Removal Package & Lifetime Warranty
Prime Laser Center utilizes the state of the art most advanced ND; YAG Lasers which safely and effectively treat unwanted hair for permanent removal. Call us for a Free Consultation!
OP-ED/COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS
VOICE OF ASIA 4
VOICE OF ASIA Publisher: Associate Publisher: Editor-in-Chief: Austin Correspondent: Print & Media Marketing: Marketing: Office Manager:
Koshy Thomas Sherly Philip Shobana Muratee Sherine Thomas Jacob David Susan Pothanikat Priyan Mathew
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
All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the consent of the publisher. Voice of Asia assumes no liability resulting from action taken based on the information included herein. Published weekly by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713-774-5140. Fax: 713-774-5143. Email for editorial submissions: voiceasia@aol.com; Email for advertising inquiries and submissions: ads@ voiceofasiagroup.com
Voice of Asia (USPS 010-215) (ISSN#10705058) is published every Friday (for a subscription rate of $30 per year) by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713-774-5140. Fax: 713774-5143. Periodical postage paid at Houston, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Voice of Asia, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074
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. - The Publisher
THE STORY OF MAHATMA GANDHI Gandhi goes to England to study law
A
fter passing his high school examination, Mohandas joined the Samaldas College at Bhavnagar. He did not find the classes interesting and returned home after the first ten days. A big surprise awaited him at home. His eldest brother and a family friend suggested that Mohandas should go to England to study and become a barrister. Mohandas was thrilled. Here was a chance to see the world. But his mother did not like the idea. She did not want her youngest son to stay away from her. There was also the problem of money and she feared that Mohandas would lose his caste if he crossed the ocean (an age-old taboo against overseas travel among the high caste Hindus). The family friend assured her that there would be no such difficulty and everything would be all right. But his mother was still opposed to the idea. “I know many reasons why it is dangerous for a Hindu to leave India,� she explained to him. “You will have to eat meat. They drink alcohol there and you will be tempted to drink it. Then you might fall into bad company and there are many other temptations which may spoil you.� “No, mother,� said Mohandas. “I am no longer a child. I can look after myself.� He pleaded with her to allow him
Gandhi as a law student in London. to go, and he took a vow not to eat meat, not to drink, and not to touch a woman. Putlibai at last gave in and allowed him to go to England. Mohandas was sorrowful when he left Rajkot for Bombay, because he had to leave behind his mother, his wife, and son Harilal, who was only a few months old. On September 4, 1888, Mohandas left Bombay to set sail for England. Dressed in western style, he stood on the deck as the ship slowly steamed out of the harbor. Mohandas never forgot his first morning on board. He felt most uncomfortable in his black suit, a white shirt, a stiff collar and a necktie. The stiff collar pinched him. It was quite a job to knot his tie properly. The tight, short coat also made him ill at ease. He thought that
Proof
by Kaveh L. Afrasiabi Eurasia Review, May 23, 2016 fter a fifteen year hiatus, India’s Prime Minister Modi is visiting Tehran to bolster economic, security, and cultural ties with Iran, focusing first and foremost on the important transportation link from Iran’s Chahbahar through Afghanistan, a development nervously watched by both China and Pakistan, India’s traditional rivals in the region.
A
Considered, rightly or wrongly, as an alternative to the China-built Gwadar port in southwestern part of Pakistan, the trilateral Chahbahar project has a definite geostrategic dimension that affects a whole set of regional and geopolitical calculations on a long-term basis. This is a unique case where exaggerated perceptions of an emerging Iran-India-Afghanistan axis at Pakistan’s expense can have deleterious consequences for the future of both Iran and Afghanistan, scene to intense India-Pakistan competition. Unfortunately, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Iran transpires at an uneasy time in India-Pakistan relations, which might be headed for increased rather than decreased tensions, with Delhi and Islamabad trading accusations at each other and failing to resolve their outstanding issues, including Kashmir. Therefore, any improvement in Iran-India relations is bound to be viewed with some suspicion by Pakistan, which has moved pretty close to Saudi Arabia, which has locked horns with Iran with no end in sight. Of course, from India’s perspective, maintaining healthy relations with Saudi Arabia is a top priority for the energy-starving India, which explains the fact that Modi’s Tehran visit was preceded by a recent Riyadh visit; clearly, India is keen on cultivating ties with all the Persian Gulf oil states, instead of sacrificing one for the other.
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Iran’s Precarious Balancing Between India, Pakistan And China shocks.
India’s Narendra Damodardas Modi. Photo from Narendra Modi’s social networks, Wikipedia Commons. tions. Consequently, it is possible to fathom a tilt toward India in Iran’s foreign behavior, which veers between a tactical and a strategic move, i.e., as a tactical move it propels Islamabad to seek better, and more balanced, relations with Tehran, and as a strategic move shifts the regional tectonics in a way that is not conducive to Pakistan’s regional ambitions. Needless to say, this spells some trouble for the conduct of Iran’s foreign policy as well, given Iran’s robust relations with China, reflected in the January visit by China’s President Xi Jinping, yielding numerous trade and non-trade agreements worth billions of dollars. Given China’s tendency to count on Pakistan as a counterweight to India, the latter’s strategic cozying up to Iran will likely impact China’s strategic perceptions. As Iran’s largest trade partner, Iran and China have healthy economic relations that some-
Although Iran behaves similarly and is keen on maintaining a balanced neighborly relations with both Pakistan and India, unfortunately Pakistan’s bandwagoning with Saudi Arabia and its security spoiler role in Afghanistan do not bode well for a healthy Iran-Pakistan rela-
what lag behind in the security and strategic realms, which is one reason why China has not echoed Russia’s enthusiasm for Iran’s inclusion in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which has inducted Iran as an observer. Certain ambiguities surrounding Iran’s own strategic proclivities, reflected in the “pro-west� orientation of the Rouhani administration, contribute to regional flux in which Iran finds itself today, forced to consider the side-effects of its current warming with India in the new “post-sanctions era,� hailed by Mr. Modi upon arrival in Tehran. A win-win relationship with both India and Pakistan is, of course, Tehran’s ultimate objective, which is saddled with the uncomfortable reality of competing interests weighing in and, for now at least, creating the impression of a precarious balance, so brittle as not to withstand more than minor
Without doubt, much depends on the future evolution of India, as a regional superpower eying to extend its maritime reach through Iran and yet, simultaneously, playing subordinate junior partner in US’s game of strategy with China, putting a premium on India’s ability as an autonomous actor, reflected in Delhi’s sheepish obedience to US’s anti-Iran dictates during the past decade, e.g., forfeiting the gas pipeline project through Pakistan partly due to US’s opposition, which can now be heard over India’s plans to build Iran’s offshore gas reserves. But, irrespective of how benign the trilateral transportation link through Chahbahar, there is no doubt that it carries disproportionate geopolitical and even symbolic weight, all the more reason for Iran to work overtime in maintaining healthy relations with the bordering Pakistan, which is capable of considerable mischief given the long and porous borders with Iran. Yet, no matter what the Iranian assurances, the momentum for closer IranIndia relations, particularly with respect to the future of Afghanistan, has the elements of a ‘game-changer’ that has yet to be fully tabulated. Kaveh L. Afrasiabi, Ph.D. is an Iranian-American political scientist and author specializing in Iran’s foreign and nuclear affairs, and author of several books.
&45"5& 1-"//*/( 8JMM BOE 5SVTU GPSNBUJPO 1SPCBUJOH 8JMMT .FEJDBM 1PXFS PG "UUPSOFZ
$3*.*/"- -"8 %8*T %PNFTUJD "TTBVMU %SVH 1PTTFTTJPO "HHSBWBUFE "TTVBMUT 5IFGU -BSDFOZ #64*/&44 53"/4"$5*0/4 $POUSBDU 'PSNBUJPO #VTJOFTT 'PSNBUJPO #SFBDI PG $POUSBDU 3&"- &45"5& ."55&34 &WJDUJPOT -BOEMPSE 5FOBOU *TTVFT
Great Summer Project For children! Enter Mahatma Gandhi Week 2016 Essay, I-Tribute, Poster and Speech contests. Visit gandhilibrary.org for registration and more information. All school going children can participate! These contests are being organized to create higher awareness of the inspiring life and work of Mahatma Gandhi to promote universal values of Truth, Non-Violence, Love and Service Indian attire was much more comfortable. Yet a glance in the mirror made him feel proud of himself. He thought he looked very impressive. Mohandas was shy. He rarely left his cabin. He even ate by himself. He was not sure of all those unknown foods served on the ship. He thought they might contain meat and did not wish to break his vow to his mother never to eat meat. So he lived mainly on the snacks and sweets he had brought from home. On landing at Southampton he looked around and saw that all the people were in dark clothes, wearing bowler hats and carrying overcoats flung over their arms. Mohandas was embarrassed to find that he was the only one wearing white flannels. In London, he stayed at first at the Victoria Hotel. Dr. P. J. Mehta, a friend of the Gandhi family, was the first to meet him. Mohandas was impressed with Dr. Mehta’s silk top hat. Out of curiosity, he passed his hand over it and disturbed the pile of the silk. Dr. Mehta then gave him his first lesson in European manners. “Do not touch other people’s things,� he said. “Do not ask questions as we do in India when we meet someone for the first time. Do not talk loudly. Never address people as “sir� while speaking to them, as we do in India. Only servants and subordinates address their masters in that way.�
SHIBU PHILIP, MTax, CPA TAX & ACCOUNTING CPA with many years of accounting ďŹ rm experience • Preparation of Individual, Partnership, S corp and C corp returns. • Bookkeeping and Financial Statements, Business Tax Planning. • Multi-state Income tax returns & Franchise tax returns. • Payroll service & Sales tax returns • Foreign Bank Accounts. • Preparation of Trusts, Estates, Gifts and Tax-Exempt Orgs returns. Compilation and review services. Call us for other service details.
• Tel. 832 937 3054 • Cell 832 605 7492 • Fax 832 379 5180
E-mail: shibuphilipcpa@gmail.com • 810 Murphy Road Suite G , Stafford, TX 77477
Young Gandhi found everything around him strange. He was homesick. He almost starved until he discovered a vegetarian restaurant. Struggling to learn western manners and customs, he rented a suite of rooms. He bought well-tailored clothes and a top hat. He spent a lot of time before the mirror, parting his straight hair and fixing his tie. He took lessons in dancing, but soon gave it up as he had no sense of rhythm. He tried his hand at playing the violin, but failed. He took lessons in French and elocution, but went to sleep. His attempt to be an Englishman lasted about three months. Then he gave up the idea. He converted himself into a serious student. “I have changed my way of life,� he told a friend. “All this foolishness is at an end. I am living in one room and cooking my own food. Hereafter I shall devote all my time to study.�
He therefore decided to appear for the London matriculation examination. It meant hard work, but he liked hard work. He passed in French, English, and chemistry but failed in Latin. He tried again, and this time passed in Latin too.
the books to his room to study. “Gandhi,� said a student, “you are not really going through this stuff, are you?�
Meanwhile, he progressed in his study of law and in November 1888 was admitted to the Inner Temple.
The students laughed. One of them said, “Let me tell you, Gandhi, I passed the last examination in Roman law by spending two weeks on a printed summary. Why do you slave at it like this?�
His meals were simple. He avoided expenditure on transport and went on foot everywhere in London. He started to keep an account of every penny he spent. Mohandas joined the London Vegetarian Society and soon found himself in its executive council. He wrote articles for the magazine Vegetarian.
When Gandhi replied that he never touched wine, the boy shouted to his friends, ‘By Jove, fellows, we are in luck to have this chap sitting with us. That gives us an extra half bottle.�
The bar examination did not require much study and Gandhi had ample time to spare. Oxford or Cambridge was out of the question because it meant a long course and much expense.
It was the tradition of the Inns of Court for the students to dine together at least six times each year. The first time Gandhi dined with his fellow students, he was nervous. He was sure the boys would rib him for refusing meat and alcohol. When wine was offered, he said, “No, thank you.� The boy sitting next to him said, “I say, Gandhi, don’t you want your share? As a law student in London you pay for it, you know!�
“You can have my share of roast, too,� Gandhi told them, looking quite content with his bread, boiled potatoes and cabbage. He was pleasantly surprised to find that his strange habits did not make him unpopular. The next time he went for the dinner, he had a pile of law books with him. He was taking
He snatched up one of the fat volumes. “Look, you chaps,� he cried, “he is actually reading Roman law in Latin!�
Gandhi explained to his lighthearted friends that he worked so hard for sheer interest in the subject, and that he wanted to acquire knowledge for its own sake. After a short trip to France, he prepared for the final law examination. The results were soon declared. He had passed with high marks. On June 10, 1891, Gandhi was called to the bar. He was admitted as a barrister and the next day was formally enrolled in the High Court. The following day, June 12, he sailed for India. Gandhi’s three-year stay in England was eventful. Those were days of great intellectual activity, and there was tolerance for every school of thought. The country as a whole was a living university. As Gandhi sailed for home on the S.S. Assam, he felt that, next to India, he would rather live in England than any other place in the world. (To be continued)
VOICE OF ASIA 5
C OMMUNITY VOICE OF ASIA
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Second Front Page
Email: voiceasia@aol.com
Tel: 713-774-5140
www.voiceofasiaonline.com
Nrsimha Chaturdashi celebrated at ISKCON of Houston
Visvambhar Sheth enthralling the audience with his kirtans. Photo by Tejas. Following the celebrations was a brief book signing session with Radhanath Swami whose book “The Journey Within” was released earlier that week. Maha prasad followed the celebrations and devotees and visitors enjoyed the temple’s famous vegetarian
meal. The grandeur of the temple was in full view with the full moon shinning brightly that night. It was among the many auspicious things that happened on Nrsimha Chaturdashi that devotees would cherish for a long time to come.
ISKCON of Houston deities Sri Sri Radha Nilamadhava being offered aarti during the celebration. Photos by Tejas. by Shobana Muratee
O
n Friday, May 20 was celebrated Nrsimha Chaturdashi at the ISKCON Temple of Houston. This year’s celbrations were heightened by the presence of two visiting swamis HH Radhanath Swami and HH Giriraj Maharaj. This Vaisnava festival commemorates the appearance of Lord Nrsimhadeva who has an extraordinary form of half-lion and half-man. This form of Krishna is glorified, described and explained in the Vaisnava scripture SrimaBhagavatam. HH Radhanath Swami told the story on how Hiranyakasipu, a powerful enemy of the Lord, sought and gained benedictions tantamount to achieving immortality. He was not to be killed by any man, any animal, or any weapon. He could not be killed indoors or outdoors, in the air or water, or on the ground. He could not be slain during the day or the night and in this way he thought himself invincible. In a battle with Lord Nrsimha, Hi-
ranyakasipu, met his match. The Lord appeared in His most ferocious feature to defend His dear devotee Prahlada. Hiranyakasipu had been torturing and attempting to kill Prahlada despite him being his son! The Lord does not tolerate mistreatment of His devotee and thus He killed the demon by setting him on his lap, positioning Himself in the doorway at dusk and ripping apart his body with His claws, thus easily maintaining the benedictions given to Hiranyakasipu but effectively dispatching him. HH Giriraj Swami also spoke illustrating the core values of a devotee as upheld by Sri Srila Prabhupad, founding acharya of ISKCON. Devotees sang special prayers to Lord Nrsimha invoking His protection from unwanted influences, external and internal. They also enjoyed a kirtan featuring Florida-based Visvambhar Sheth and a narrative dance by Vrinda Devi Sheth. This husband and wife team are founding members of internationally-renowned kirtan group The Mayapuris.
HH Radhanath Swami and HH Giriraj Maharaj giving their discourse at the ISKCON of Houston on Friday, May 20.
ABLE MORTGAGE IN TEXAS
REFINANCE, PURCHASE & CASH OUT
13401 S.W.Freeway, # 201, Sugar Land, TX 77478
Over $400 Million Mortgage Financed. A low cost Broker - since 2001 TX, NJ, CA, CO, & FL Pre-approve your mortgage in minutes over phone or email. call for State Licenses updates California finance Lenders Law Lic. #603J747
We will pay your closing costs. Up to 3% of you New Home NMLS Mortgage Company ID: 264912 MLO James Joseph Oolut - NMLS ID: 307384 Price with combined Real Estate and Mortgage Services Web: www.ablemortgage.co Office: 281-242-8500 Cell: 281-733-4242 Email: james@ablehomeloans.com
Need Mortgage Loan Officers in all licensed states. • No experience needed. • Attractive compensation.
NATIONAL REALTY • 281-242-4005 TX Real Estate Lic # 397210
proof
K. V. Doraiswamy Bhattar 281-489-0464 or 281-948-8368
kvdoraiswamybhattar@yahoo.com | kvdoraiswamy60@gmail.com
More than 30 years of experience as Priest in major temples including Sri Meenakshi Temple Pearland, TX. Can speak 5 languages (Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, and English) Rituals Performed: Sreemantham, Punyahavachanam, Namakaranam, Annaprashanam, Vidyarambham, Choulam, Upanayanam, Wedding, Sathya narayana puja, and all kind of Homas (Havans) and more. I can drive to your place.
At Transamerica Agency Network, we invest in helping all of our Insurance Representatives through career changes. We’ll invest in you too.
Become a Tomorrow Maker by starting your career with us today.
Abha Dwivedi 281-650-3229
Making a difference, 1 family at a time Cash Value Life Insurance, LTC, Term Life, Annuities
Helping to protect life and retirement needs in our community.
Transamerica Agency Network is a marketing business unit with Transamerica Premier Life Insurance Company and affiliated Transamerica companies offering insurance and financial products. Life insurance issued by Transamerica Premier Life Insurance Company or Transamerica Life Insurance Company, Cedar Rapids, IA. Transamerica Premier Life Insurance Company is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Voice_of_Asia_Abha_Ad 0416
Malti Kumar 832-693-1639 7322 S.W. FRWY Suite 600 Houston, TX 77074
COMMUNITY
VOICE OF ASIA 6
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
YOUR IMMIGRATION LAWYER
The People’s Lawyer
Answers to your Immigration Questions by Sharlene Sharmila Richards, Immigration Lawyer:email at srichardslaw@aol.com
www.peopleslawyer.net
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ABOUT U VISAS
Richard M. Alderman Interim Dean of the Law Center
Sharlene Sharmila Richards Q:
Renter’s insurance is more important than ever Q. I recently had a small fire in my apartment. I think it was caused by the new clothes dryer I had installed. The landlord collected for the damage to his building from his insurance company. Now the insurance company is coming after me for $60,00 because of a clause in my lease. This fire was not my fault. How can I be sued? A. The insurance company has the right to sue you, because after it paid your landlord it gets his rights against you. Your lease contained a clause basically stating you were responsible for any damage caused by “conduct by you or your invitees, guests or occupants; or any other cause not due to [the landlord’s] negligence or fault.” In other words, unless it was the landlord’s fault, you are responsible. The Texas Supreme Court recently upheld the validity of this type of clause, holding it to be valid and enforceable. The bottom line for a tenant is that it is now more important than ever to have renter’s insurance, protecting you in the event that you are found responsible for damage to the landlord’s property. In the event there is an accidental fire in your apartment, caused by you, your guest, or anyone else, you could be responsible for the cost of repairing the entire building. Q. I have heard that in
Texas you cannot be appointed as executor in someone’s will if you have ever been convicted of a felony. Is this true? What if the family member wants you to be the executor? A. As a general rule, almost anyone can serve as an executor to a will. There are, however, a few exceptions. For example, minors, people who are incompetent, and people convicted of a felony cannot serve as an executor. What you heard is true. Q. How do I get a copy of my credit report? How much should it cost? A. Under federal law, you are entitled to a free copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus, once a year. I suggest you stagger your requests, and get one every four months. This way you will always get current information. To obtain information about your free report, call 1-877322-8228, or visit https://www. annualcreditreport.com/index. action. Be careful about other websites that advertise a “free credit report,” they can end up costing you money and being anything but free. Q. I am the custodial parent who just got a raise in child support for my son. The noncustodial parent is now threatening to sign over his rights so he does not have to pay. Can he do this and just walk away? A. I am surprised how often I get this question. A person cannot avoid child support by just
Call Ramesh Cherivirala Ph.D, LUTCF Financial Adviser
“signing away” his rights. A court can terminate parental rights and end support payments, but this usually is only done when someone else adopts the child and becomes liable for the child’s support. Q. How do you get collection agencies to stop calling for really old debts? They keep calling about a 10 year old debt. A. As I have said before, even if a debt is 10 years old, you still owe it and a collector can ask you to pay. After seven years, however, it should no longer appear on your credit report and after four years it is too late to sue. In other words, you still have a moral obligation to pay old debts, but you cannot be legally forced to pay. If you have decided that you are not going to pay the debt, federal law allows you to stop all further communication by sending a letter to the debt collector demanding it stop. I suggest you send the letter by certified mail. If the debt collector continues to harass you, it will be violating federal and state debt collection laws. To learn more about our debt collection laws, visit the debt collection section on my website below. To learn more about your legal rights, check out my website, www.peopleslawyer.net
Eagle Strategies LLC
For all your insurance and financial needs • Life Insurance • Managed Accounts • Long term care insurance IRA, 401k, 403b, 529 plans** • Disability insurance* • Roll over of 401k, 403b, TRS, • Fixed and variable annuities** TSA • Health insurance* • Defined Benefit plans
What is a U visa?
A: The U visa is a nonimmigrant visa granted to certain crime victims who are non-citizens who have assisted, are assisting, or are willing to assist in the investigation or prosecution of certain qualifying crimes which were committed against them. Q: Someone broke into my car and stole my belongings. I do not know who did it and I was not there when the crime occurred. Can apply for U status in such a circumstance? A: In order to apply for U status or U visa, the requirements for this visa must first be met. The requirements are as follows: The criminal activity occurred in the US or violated US law and you suffered “substantial physical or mental abuse” as a result of having been the victim of a qualifying crime. Qualifying crimes are rape, torture, trafficking, incest, domestic violence, sexual assault, abusive sexual contact, prostitution, sexual exploitation, female genital mutilation, being held hostage, peonage, involuntary servitude, slave trade, kidnapping, abduction, unlawful criminal restraint, false imprisonment, blackmail, extortion, manslaughter, murder, felonious assault, witness tampering, obstruction of justice, perjury and conspiracy, attempt or solicitation to commit any of these crimes. In addition to that, you must also demonstrate that you have information about the crime or that your parent, guardian or next friend has information about the crime if you are under the age of 16 years. You must also provide a certification from law enforcement authority that you have been, you are being or you are likely to be helpful in the investigation or prosecution of the crime. Lastly, you must be admissible to the United States. To answer your question regarding your situation, most likely it will be very difficult to try to justify a U visa application in this case as the crime appears to not be a qualifying crime. Further, if you merely suffered shock and upset from the incident, this will probably not be enough to amount to showing ‘‘substantial physical or mental abuse” which is
required for the application for a U visa. Q: My US Citizen child is a victim of a crime. I am undocumented or illegal. Can I apply for the U visa? A: Assuming the crime committed against your child is a qualifying crime, it is possible that you may be able to qualify for the U visa as an indirect victim of the crime. For U visa purposes, if the crime victim is under the age of 21 at the time when the crime was committed, the child’s parents and siblings under the age of 18 may be considered as indirect victims of the crime. You will still need to prove that you meet all the requirements of the U visa. Q: What is the law enforcement certification? How do I get one? Does it expire? A: Law Enforcement certification may be obtained from federal, state or local law enforcement agencies; prosecutor, judges or other authorities that are responsible for the investigation or prosecution of crime. It may also include Child Protective Services, the Department of Labor etc. This certification is only valid for 6 months from the date of certification. Q: I am the victim of domestic violence. My abuser is my long term partner and we are not married. Can I apply for the U visa and what do I need to do? A: You do not need to be married to your abuser in order to apply for a U visa. You will need to inform the authorities about the domestic violence. They will decide whether a crime has in fact taken place and if they wish to prosecute. If they decide that you will be useful in the investigation or prosecution of the crime, they will provide you with the law enforcement certification on Form I-918, Supplement B, U Nonimmigrant Status Certification. Apply using Form I-918, Petition for U Nonimmigrant Status and include a personal statement describing the criminal activity of which you were a victim; together with evidence that you suffered ‘substantial physical or mental abuse’ because of the crime. If you are inadmissible, you will also have to file Form I-192, Application for Advance Permission to Enter as a Nonimmigrant. It may be best to seek the
assistance of an immigration attorney to prepare the petition for you. Q: I heard that it takes a long time to get the U visa. A: Yes, there are only 10,000 visas available for each fiscal year. The current backlog appears to be severe as it looks like the Vermont Service Center at this time (May 2016) is processing U visa petitions filed on May 7th, 2014. Q: Can a U visa lead to permanent residence? A: Yes. The applicant must show three years of continuous physical presence in the US in valid U nonimmigrant status; and continue to have U visa status at the time of the application for permanent residence; not be inadmissible under Section 212(a)(3)(E) for participation in Nazi persecution or genocide or as someone who committed acts of torture or extra judicial killings; have not unreasonably refused to provide assistance in the investigation or prosecution of the crime; have been lawfully admitted to the US as a principal or derivative with U visa status and your continued presence in the US is justified on humanitarian grounds to ensure family unity, or is in the public interest. Disclaimer: Any advice provided in this article is general in nature and not intended to constitute legal advice for any specific case. Please consult with an immigration lawyer about the specific circumstances of your case. My Bio Sharlene Sharmila Richards is a licensed Immigration lawyer practicing in Houston, Texas. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2000 and is a member of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals and a member of the US Supreme Court. You may contact her at telephone number 713-623-8088 or by email at srichardslaw@aol.com to schedule a free consultation to discuss your case.
13135 Dairy Ashford Rd, # 550, Sugar Land, TX 77478 Visit: www.RCherryFinancial.com Bus: (281) 295-2726 Cell: (713) 875-4336 Email:
rcherivirala@ft.newyorklife.com
PLANNING SERVICES • Estate Planning • Business Planning • Retirement Planning • Investment Planning*** • Education Planning • Networth Analysis • Life Insurance Planning
Sharlene Sharmila Richards Attorney at Law
www.richardsimmigration.com
*** Financial Adviser offers advisory services through Eagle Strategies LLC, A Registered Investment Adviser; ** Registered representative offers securities through NYLIFE Securities, LLC (Member FINRA/SIPC) A licensed insurance agency Agent, New York Life Insurance Company, 3200 Southwest Freeway, # 1900, Houston, TX 77027; 713961-4545 *Products offered through one or more carriers not affiliated with New York Life or its subsidiaries. #Offered by New York Life Insurance and Annuity Corporation.
E-mail: srichardslaw@aol.com
• Relative Petitions: $300* • Citizenship: $500* • Green Card: $1000*
Like Us
CALL US today at: 713-623-8088 OUR OFFICE:
Brian Mertz, M.S. CEO “Helping India Caregivers Help Others” “We are a caregiver information and advocacy website that all Indian Americans could use”
IndiaCSS can provide information to India caregivers regarding the following topics: Caregiver Associations, Caregiver Support Groups, Caregiver Information & Publications, blogs, Caregiver Training, Online Caregiver Certification Programs, Training Centers, Institutes, Councils, Non-Profit Organizations, Medical Supply Companies, Assistive Technologies, Home Health Care Agencies, Caregiver Entrepreneur Assistance and Caregiver Cancer Support, Overseas Caregiver Opportunities and more.
• CAREGIVER ASSOCIATIONS • CAREGIVER CANCER SUPPORT • CAREGIVER INFORMATION & PUBLICATIONS • CAREGIVER SUPPORT GROUPS • CAREGIVER TRAINING • HOME HEALTHCARE AGENCIES • ONLINE CAREGIVER TRAINING CERTIFICATION PROGRAMS • OVERSEAS CAREGIVER OPPORTUNITIES • MEDICAL SUPPLY COMPANIES
IndiaCSS can assist India caregivers who are experiencing the following issues: • Dementia • Elder Care • Caregiver Burnout Visit us at: www.indiacaregiversupport.com support@indiacaregiversupport.com
4151 Southwest Freeway, Ste: 600, Houston, Texas 77027
*Subject to restrictions.
Other types of cases such as Removal of Condition, L, E, H-1B, O, P visas, PERM Labor, Appeals, Waivers etc, all are reasonably priced. Our business is rated A+ by the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU.
IMMIGRATION Call Now for Your FREE Consultation
DIASPORA
VOICE OF ASIA 7
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Lawsuit Seeks Transparency in Ramesh Maini: Silver Lining H-1B Visa Lottery Program in a Dark Cloud WASHINGTON, May 24, 2016, (PTI) — Two top American immigrationrelated advocacy groups have filed a lawsuit against the federal government seeking transparency into the lottery process of H-1B work visas, the most sought after for IT professionals, particularly those from India. The lawsuit has been filed by the American Immigration Council and American Immigration Lawyers Association against the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services seeking information about the government’s administration of the H-1B lottery. The two advocacy group alleged that USCIS has never been forthcoming in describing the selection process, a statement said. “When petitions are submitted to USCIS in April, it’s as if they disappear into a ‘black box’,” said Melissa Crow, legal director of the American Immigration Council.
by Pradeep Anand,
H
OUSTON - May 2016 - The Oil and Gas industry has never been an industry for the faint of heart, and it is harder for immigrants to be successful in it, especially with dark clouds of recession hovering over it. In this cloud of gloom, Ramesh Maini is an Indian American silver lining.
“This suit is intended to pry open that box and let the American public and those most directly affected see how the lottery system works from start to finish, and to learn whether the system is operating fairly and all the numbers are being used as the law provides,” Crow said. “Despite the Obama Administration’s public commitment to the values of transparency and accountability, frankly, our attempts to see into this process have been resisted,” said AILA
executive Johnson.
director
Benjamin
“Instead of responding to our requests for information about how the lottery is conducted, how cap-subject petitions are processed and how the numbers are estimated and tracked, USCIS has kept the process entirely opaque,” he alleged. “This litigation is intended to shine a necessary light on an important process in America’s business immigration system,” Johnson said.
Ramesh Maini is the Founder and CEO of Zentech Inc., a company that has been providing innovative engineering solutions for the upstream oil and gas industry for over 37 years. Through excellence in rig design and engineering, he has established himself as an innovative force, locally and globally. His reputation has been built through substantial experience in the design, construction, supervision, and rig moves of Jackup Drilling Rigs. He was the principal architect in the design and construction of the Jackups Dyvi Beta and Dyvi Gamma for Norwegian drilling contractor Dyvi A/S. In 1977, these Jackups were the largest
Ramesh Maini
ones capable of operating in the tumultuous waters of the North Sea.
ifications and enhancement of over 100 jackup drilling rigs, MOPUs and MSVs.
Maini was also responsible for the engineering and construction of two new mat-supported Jackup Drilling Rigs. Both are currently operatingone in the Gulf of Mexico and the other in offshore Angola. Additionally, he has been involved with major design mod-
His game changing, innovative Jackup Rig Design, the R-550 D was finally built in 2015. With its introduction, Maini is finally receiving the industry recognition he deserves.
The Houston Health Department celebrates Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month
T
he Cultural and Linguistic Competency (CLC) team at the Houston Health Department (HHD) celebrated the Asian Pacific Islander Heritage on Wednesday, May 18, 2016 with focus on South Asia. The CLC offers diverse linguistic and cultural experience to the health department’s staff. This year the South Asian event focused on literature. The South Asian event team led by Varsha Vakil made a grand success with the help of co-leads Valda Spence, Beverly Gor, Barbara Sudhoff and others. Event speakers Norma Atherton, Ninan Mathullah,
Left to Right: Norma Atherton, Nanette Tashnek, Avi Raju, Varsha Vakil and Kavitha Ganta
Avi Raju along with ISKCON Houston’s Nanette
Tashnek presented an insight on prominent authors
and Indian scriptures. The event captured the linguis-
tic and spiritual diversity of that region. The audience interaction on the topics was captivating with personal viewpoint. With strategic planning the CLC achieves it goal to offer a glimpse of Houston’s diversity to its employees. A year ago the South Asian celebration showcased music, dance, turban and saree wrapping demonstration along with yoga. The CLC team applauds the employees to help achieve the CLC goals to better serve the Houston community. An employee aptly stated that the lesson learned through this event was “Unity in Diversity”.
At the 2015 World Oil Awards, the innovator and the innovation were recognized. Ramesh Maini was a finalist among the Most Innovative Thinkers in the World; the R-550D was a finalist for Best Drilling Technology Innovation of the Year. At the recent Offshore Technology Conference (OTC 2016), the R-550D received the prestigious Hart’s Meritorious Engineering Award. Additionally, Ramesh Maini was selected to be one of only eight Fellows in 2016 of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) Ramesh Maini received his B.Tech from I.I.T Bombay and his Master’s Degree from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Ramesh Maini, with his work ethic and innovation excellence, is a superb example of how the Indian American community can contribute locally, in creating a better world.
COMMUNITY
VOICE OF ASIA 8
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Sri Vasavi Jayanthi Celebrations 2016 at Sri Meenakshi Temple by Seshagiri Pabbisetty
P
EARLAND - As is well recognized Sri Meenakshi Temple has been a place of miracles. Sunday May 22nd was another day of a miracle with a gloomy weather forecast of a day-long thunder showers turning out to be a bright cloudy day by the grace of Sri Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari, an incarnation of Goddess Parvathi in Kali Yuga. As aptly expressed by our coordinator, Sri Vinay Kumar, She blew the dark clouds away, so the devotees can be showered with Her blessings, rather than rain showers!! With Her blessings Her birthday was joyously celebrated with religious reverence by Her devotees as Sri Vasavi Jayanthi Celebrations. It is a Day, not only celebrating the birth day of Sri Vasavi but also celebrating Her life and Her teachings by refreshing our memories and seeking Her grace through worshipping Her for a virtuous and happy life. She was remembered for showing that violence can be prevented by non-violence and self-sacrifice, and for safeguarding the dignity and honor of womanhood by offering herself to the God of Fire, Agni – Atmarpanam or Atma
Grand procession around the temple with devotees.
Sri Vasavi Kanyaka Parameswari adorned for the celebrations. Balidaan, thus becoming an immortal. She preached three core values: Dharmam, Seelam and Ahimsa. She represented
the importance of Education, Art and Music, Dance and in particular, free will for women. She emphasized religious/spiri-
tual living, that assures freedom from temptations as well as the protection from disruption of family traditions. The celebrations got started with Homam, Kalasa procession from Ganapathi temple to Her Sannidhi followed by Abhishekam, Pushpa Alankaram and Ashtothara Pooja with silver coins with Her image (sponsored by the devotees and given later to the devotee families) – another new feature. Highlight of the Jayanthi celebrations is the Grand procession around the temple with all the devotees sharing their blissful joy with one another – a truly spectacular and spiritual sight to behold. Later devotees gathered at the Cafeteria for Mahaprasadam. As they were enjoying the delicious food the CTRP Fundraising team gave an excellent presentation about the Corner Temple Renovation project. It was very delightful to come to know the expansion of the Sannidhi giving more space for the
devotees. In fact, the devotees could have a samoohika Pooja in future! An appeal to funding the project was very generously supported by the devotees. Committee thanks the priests, Sri Pavan Kumar and Sri Parameswaran, for giving us a blissful experience especially with the Grand Pushpa Alankaram. Decorations were expertly done by RAC committee
under the leadership of Padmini Nathan. The cafeteria staff, under leadership Rani Chilukuri., were praised for their delicious food and expert service. MTS thanks all the coordinators for the event Dhani Kannan, Chandrakala Gupta, Vinay Kumar & Renuka, Ramesh Akarapu & Madhavi, ShankaraRao Pabba & Jyothi and Karunaka Chowdavarapu and Krishnaveni.
To Advertise or to Subscribe
VOICE OF ASIA
Subsc
Fax this form to: 713-77 Scan and E-mail us: ads@voiceo
Name: ________________________ The Most Comprehensive Health Magazine
Address: _______________________ Call 713-774-5140 Empowering families People live longer and better lives with proper healthcare
City: ______________ State:_______ New Technologies are making it more easier He�l��L��� Delivers!
To send articles, email us at voiceasia@aol.com Ph: ______________ E-mail:_______ To place ads: ads@voiceofasiagroup.com For other information, call us at: 713-774-5140
It’s still a Sellers Market !!!
Credit Card __________________ WatchNo: for our next Issue!
Name on the Card: ________________
CVV #: “If you are interested in __________ Exp Date:_______
Signature: ______________________ Selling Your Home
You MUST get a copy of We will mail 52 issues to your home or office my FREE Book 8303 SW Freeway, Suite 350, Houston, TX 770 15 Ways To Sell Any Home For More Money Fast.”
Call: Ron Aga 832 423-6973 I will even mail it to you free!
Or go to:
www.YourHomeSweetHomeValue.com
NATIONAL YOUTH CRICKET TOURNAMENT
COMMUNITY
VOICE OF ASIA 9
Saadhana Samvid: Another milestone for CICMH
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
OBITUARY
Sad Demise Varughese; Grandchildren -Tristan, Kenli, Emma, and Madison; Son-in-laws Tony Mathews and Victor Varughese; Siblings-Ammini Kunjumon and Thankamma Oommen.
by Sunanda Vashisht
I
n yet another milestone for the classical music scene in Houston, Center for Indian Classical Music of Houston (CICMH) presented short solo vocal recitals by more than eighty disciples of the Saadhana Pariwar, the Gurukul established by Houston’s own Pandit Suman Ghosh, one of the leading luminaries of Mewati Gharana and one of the foremost disciples of Padma Vibhushan, Sangeet Martand Pandit JasrajJi. This series of performances aptly named Saadhana Samvid was a bouquet of nine different sessions held over four consecutive weekends in three different locations in Houston. It felt like a festival and a celebration of India’s musical tradition that spans over multiple centuries. Quoting maestro Pandit Ghosh himself - ‘Samvid is a festival of music.” Samvid means realization. Saadhana Samvid, as conceptualized by Pandit Ghosh, is a process of realization for each student, of the depth of their involvement with this ancient form of music, strengthened by their devotion and resolve. From April 9th to April 30th, the disciples of Pandit Suman Ghosh and Smt. Shashikala Ghosh, shared the knowledge that they have received from their Gurus, their dedication and understanding of Hindustani Classical Music with the audience, in the form of mesmerizing solo recitals. Even the newest of the young disciples showed promise for the future as they charmed the audience with their group rendering. From 65 year-olds to 5 year-olds, all disciples of the Gurukul came together in this series to celebrate their journey and the milestones they have achieved in this challenging yet exciting and enjoyable journey of music.
Varughese Adichithara Chacko. Mr. Varughese Adichithara Chacko, 68 years old, son of late Mr. Geevarghese Chacko and late Mrs. Aleyamma Chacko, of Adichithara House, Mundamala, Pathanamthitta, Kerala, residing in Missouri City, TX, has passed away to be with the Lord, on May 23rd, 2016. He is survived by his wife Sosamma Varghese, Children- Leni Mathews, Jacob Labi Varughese, and Lovely
Wake will be held Thursday, May 26th, 2016 6pm to 9pm Immanuel Marthoma Church 12803 Sugar Ridge Blvd, Stafford, TX 77477 Funeral Service Friday, May 27th, 2016 9am Immanuel Marthoma Church 12803 Sugar Ridge Blvd, Stafford, TX 77477 Followed by Burial Forest Park Funeral Home and Cemetery 12800 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX 77077
OBITUARY Pandit Suman Ghosh, founder CICMH with his guru Samrat Pandit Jasraj and the Mewati Gharana many different moods and facets, from soothing Rageshree to delightful Jaijaiwanti, from mesmerizing Maru Bihag to captivating Darbari Kanada. Whether it was a 6 year-old rendering taans in Raag Yaman effortlessly, or a 60 yearold obsessing over every finer nuance of Megh Malhar, what they both had in common was a loving Guru who watched them with pride and immersed himself in every saadhak’s journey, while directing each perfor-
Besides training his disciples masterfully, Pandit Ghosh had skillfully arranged the series in a way that the audience got to hear many beautiful ragas, soulful bhajans and shlokas in
mance from the stage itself. The audience, spell bound by the mastery displayed by each performer, kept asking for more. One could see years of hard work put in by the disciples and Guru alike and the burning desire to keep the flag of Mewati Gharana flying high. At the end of month long Saadhana Samvid there was only one question on the lips of performers and audience alike – ‘What’s next from CICMH?’
Sad Demise
This year’s Saadhana Samvid has raised the bar significantly high for all performers and we can only wait with baited breath for CICMH’s next flagship event Saadhana Unmesh on October 15. The website for Pandit Ghosh/CICMH www. panditsumanghosh.com, which will be launched in June, carries more information on this and other unique events organized by Pandit Ghosh and CICMH.
Leelamma Chandy
Read these and other community stories. Visit www.voiceofasiaonline.com
Leelamma Chandy, mother of Lovely Keerikattu, Moncy P. Alexander, Manoje Chandy, mother-in-law of Mathew Keerikattu, Premu Alexander, Priya Chandy, passed away on May 22, 2016 in Missouri City, Texas. Wake service will be on May 25, 2016 at St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Cathedral Houston (2411 5th St, Stafford, TX 77477) 6:00-9:00PM. Funeral service will be held in Kerala, India per Leelamma Chandy’s wishes.
Saadhana Samvid The Musical Realization
Center for Indian Classical Music of Houston Spearheading the cause of Hindustani Classical Music and the Musicians
With
Pandit Suman Ghosh and Smt Shashikala Ghosh Congratulate Saadhana Pariwar members who presented their short solo performances through April 2016 across various locations in Houston AamaniShree Pillutla Aarohan Ghosh Aiishik Biswas Akul Saxena Amiya Ghosh Anil Mehta Anjali Dasgupta Anoop Mullur Apurva Ghosh Archna Tripathi Arpan Dutta Ashray Gurugunti Belu Allam Bhargav Vasavada Bhavi Pandya Chaitra Shenoy
Chetan Jhaveri Debayan Sarkar Deepshikha Karna Devangshu Goswami Diksha Rath Disha Udtha Divya Rath Geeta Kachalia Harini Vemulapati Hemang Thakkar Induja Gautam Jayanth Pratap Jaytirth Mahoorkar Khushi Bhakta Krisha Rath Krithi Pachipala
Madhu Goteti Manmeet Patil Meera Borle Meera Vashisht Namrata Sinha Noor Ali Momin Pallavi Potdar Parveen Udawala Pooja Anand Prahalad Uchila Prakash Rao Pramila Raval Prasad Natarajan Prasun Kolhe Pratham Uchila
Pratima Banik Pratima Painuly Prisha Kolhe Priti Parikh Puneet Shroff Raghav Baskar Rajyk Bhala Ram Seetharam Rama Biswas Reet Sinha Rhea Bhala Saarang Panchavati Sasi Raghavan Shashank Trivedi Shilpa Vaze Shivani Mundra
Shivani Potdar Shruti Mehta Sweta Bhattacharya Siya Mehta Sneha Kumar Sonali Mohanty Subhasree Tangirala Sucheta Roy Sujata Kulkarni Sujata Sinha Sunil Pangarkar Varil Thakkar Vineeta Sinha Vinita Mishra Vivek Sinha
Aarin Mehta, Adwita Mishra, Mahira Mathur, Manali T areque, Mehek Mathur, Kaushal Mahimkar, Riya Gupta, Siddharth Singh, Simran Shroff
www.panditsumanghosh.com / www.cicmh.org (To be launched in June 2016)
Center for Indian Classical Music of Houston: cicmh@outlook.com, 281-265-9437 Saadhana Pariwar: saadhanapariwar@live.com, 281-265-9437
COMMUNITY
VOICE OF ASIA 10
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
IACCGH SHELL DISTINGUISHED LECTURE by Hon. Anupam Ray, Consul General of India in Houston rise threatens no one. This is the indisputable peaceful rise. I made this stage pay tribute to the contributions of the Americans of Indian origin who have worked tirelessly to inform Congressmen about the India story. I must also say that it is one of the great pleasures of my job to interact with a diaspora that is as successful and as prosperous as the Indian community in the United States.
Hon. Anupam Ray, India’s Consul General to Houston, delivering the IACCGH-Shell Distinguished Lecture at the Skyline Ballroom, Hilton Americas on May 16, 2016. Photo by Bijay Dixit HOUSTON - May 16, 2016, Skyline Ballroom, Hilton Americas.
J
udge Emmett, Distinguished guests.
Thank you Jagdeep and Joya for giving me this opportunity. I would also like to thank the Chamber. And to thank all of you for being here. Delando Carthagea est – Destroy Carthage. This is a quote from classical Latin. It was invariably prefixed to speeches in the Roman Republic in the second century B.C. Rome was then the world’s superpower. Carthage was Rome’s mortal enemy. Its opponent - when it came to Rome’s effort for world domination. Roman orators repeatedly affirmed their ardent desire to destroy Carthage, elevating this prefix to the status of an article of faith. The wars between Rome and Carthage dominated world politics in that period of time. Epic battles were fought and legendary historical figures rose on each side – Hannibal, Scipio Africanus and more. I began by referring to a historical tradition because I am a student of history. Rome ultimately prevailed in the Punic Wars and destroyed Carthage. For me the rise of India is a similar article of faith. It will happen. And it has an epic quality about it. My talk to you is about the long term prospects of India. I talk to you not as a businessman. I do come from a family which has some businessmen – but that is not the basis of my talk today. I will not talk about doing business in India. You as members of this Chamber are all businessmen with an interest in India. You have skin in the game. Most of you know more than me about what it is like to do business in India. That is why this is probably the most important talk that I will give during my stay in Houston. People like you, who generate wealth, who oil the wheels of commerce, who transform knowledge into wealth, are the ones who are helping write the India story. I am speaking as a part of the policy making establishment of the Government of India. I will not talk about why India is a great investment destination. We all know that. We have all heard the good news. GDP growth rates are amongst the fastest in the world. We are on track to be one of the 3 largest economies in the world in the next 15 years and one of the 2 largest in the next 30 years. Per capita income, whether adjusted for purchasing power or not, is rising at historically unprecedented rates. An average Indian, and there are a billion of us, like me, has seen buying power grow between 5 to 10 times in our lifetimes. This increase means that we are buying more airplanes, more cars, more defense equipment, more solar
I have said this in the past and I will say it again. The United States relied on the Atlantic Alliance as its principal pillar of external support in the 20th century. There is however now a bipartisan acceptance in the United States that its partnership with India will be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century. The Indian community here, the compa-
how these issues now occupy political centre stage. A national debate on these issues is underway. Our system of making laws might appear to be painfully slow. But we are a Common Law system. For better or for worse we are democracy in which the Legislature has been empowered to make law and the judiciary to interpret it. The Indian process is inclusive. Everybody has been taken along and everybody must be taken along. We are a nation that aspires to have a rule of law. And a rule of law of nation does not appear overnight. We are trying to arrive at the destination without the lopping of heads associated with the English and French Revolutions. If the cost of that is slower growth and missed opportuni-
where the idea of a meritocracy has taken hold. This is a country that has consistently proved doomsday prophets wrong. It has consistently confounded critics. This is a country that believes in the rule of law. This is a country that is open. These are exactly the words that you would describe the United States. That is why the partnership between our two countries is bound to be enduring one. When you do business with India, you are doing business with a nation that is trying to be very similar to this. We have looked at some of the characteristics of India’s economy and its polity. What about its diplomacy? Does what I have about the simi-
panels, more windmills than ever before. If we don’t figure in the list of top buyers of any commodity and product, we are definitely in the list of the fastest growing buyers of that item. Inbound FDI numbers are rising constantly. Our stock markets are at levels which would have been in the realm of fantasy a decade ago. Indian outbound FDI is creating jobs and contributing to communities in multiple countries. Air traffic is rising. Our ports are busier than ever. We are building more roads, more buildings, more of everything. We are slowly, but steadily rising through indices that measure parameters as diverse as Human Development and the ease of doing business. We have a Fiscal Responsibility law; direct transfer of benefits has begun; livelihood security, pensions and medical insurance are beginning to go mainstream; a law for a real estate regulator has been adopted; a bankruptcy law has been passed. We all know the bad news too and the downsides. The fact that India houses some of the largest numbers of the poor in the world. That appalling things sometimes happen to the poor and the weak and the different. The legendary “red tape”. The arcane rules and regulations. The difficulty of doing business. The maddening complexities of daily life. Let us talk, instead about a few broad trends in the India story. Let us talk about the country that is asking you to Make in India, that aspires to be a Digital India and Clean India and aspires to Skill India. What kind of a country is India? More importantly, where is it headed? The only way we can hazard a prediction about the future is by analyzing the past. We have to heed the lessons of history. And the lessons of history, particularly contemporary history are quite striking when it comes to India. Seen over a 50 year perspective, we are looking at one of the most dramatic transformations in history. You are seeing the journey of a country to being a poor, if proud, colony to being the most likely candidate for great power status. If there is one country in the world that is certain to attain the imprimatur of great power, i.e. membership of the United Nations Security Council, it is India. It is not “if”; it is “when.” There is, as far as I know, no other nation that has undertaken such a dizzying ascent. We are all practical men and women here. We know that things like this don’t happen by accident. After all, India when it was created, was not supposed to do well. What did we do right? Let us look at recent history with a slighter shorter perspective. The working life of a person is usually reckoned to be about 35 years. I have been in my job for about 22 years. When I started work as a young diplomat, the Indian Finance Minister was still attending meetings of something
IACCGH Board with Consul General Anupam Ray, Harris County Judge Ed Emmett, Shell VP Fred Whipple, IACCGH President Joya Shukla, Executive Director Jagdip Ahluwalia and other dignitaries. Photo by Bijay Dixit called the Aid India Consortium. It was a collection of aid agencies that met regularly to coordinate aid that was being channeled to India. Aid India meetings were sometimes held to coincide with board meetings of the IMF and World Bank. The Finance Minister of India today still attends board meetings of the IMF and World Bank. But his priorities are very different. He attends as a member of the G20. He attends as a representative of the country that is amongst the most important players in world trade negotiations. He attends as a country that is a major source of outbound FDI. He attends as the representative of a country that has now begun to offer development assistance on its own. He attends as a representative one the most dynamic BRICS economies and as a country that is one of the founder members of the BRICS Bank or the New Development Bank. The Aid India Consortium is something that is disappearing from our memories. It is good that it no longer exists. But it is sometimes necessary to jog our memories to remind ourselves of how far we have travelled. Two days ago I met ten Congressmen in the span of a few hours – thanks to our good friend Ashok Mago – at the Republican State Convention in Dallas. They all had the same message – they see India as a partner, and a reliable partner. Most of them were aware of what the World Bank pointed out 2 years ago. That India, and China, have raised more people out of more poverty more rapidly than any other nation in human history. The Industrial Revolution improved the lives of millions. Indian and China have improved the lives of hundreds of millions, possibly billions. We helped ourselves. No amount of foreign aid, no amount of philanthropy could engineer this rise. If this is not an epic, I don’t know what is.
nies that are represented on this Chamber and the ever expanding network of ties – business, cultural, political, educational; the flow of ideas and experiences will be the building blocks of this partnership. What is the kind of country with which the United States expects to have a defining relationship? Let me look at something that was written about 10 years ago by 2 American academics: “Thirty years ago ….. it was a miracle if one was allotted a phone, and after that it took a further act of God and the benevolence of the P&T worker for the phone to work. Thirty years ago, there were only black-and-white TVs, and that too only in a few cities. Villagers did not have access to TV or the electricity to power it with. Soon thereafter…. the Indian economy became a veritable dynamo posting an average growth of nearly 6 per cent per year over the past 25 years. Despite the inevitable, unfavorable comparisons with China, very few countries have grown so fast over such a prolonged period of time, or reduced poverty so sharply. We should indeed be proud of what India has achieved, and clearly, many Indians are. There is a buzz today in India, a sense of limitless optimism. But is it justified?” The authors go on to list what could limit India’s growth: an absence of skilled workers; the absence of a common market; the educations system. One of the two economists who wrote this for the IMF is now the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Raghuram Rajan. The other is the Chief Economic Advisor of the Government of India. I give this example to submit it to you that we are an open country. We are open to external influence. It is possible for an American academic to become India’s central banker and have to opportunity to convert his vision into action.
The Congressmen all understand, and they were quite explicit in stating so, that our best years are ahead of us.
This brings me to the obvious. We still don’t have an unified market. We still have a shortage of skilled workers. So what are we talking about.
They also appreciate that our
What we are talking about is
ties for a few years. Well then, so be it. This is the cost of democracy and we are willing to pay it. There will be some who will say that we are missing an opportunity. To them, I will say that the weight of historical evidence is that India always manages to overcome In the 50s, the fitful rate of GDP growth was described derisively as the Hindu rate of growth. Decade after decade our economic growth rates have inched up. In the sixties, we were not expected to survive as a nation. Some of our neighbours, unfortunately, still believe that. We are stronger today than we have ever been before. We have survived terrorism, insurgency and violence that would have broken lesser nations. And our economic growth rates continue to increase. In the seventies, nobody expected us to remove poverty on the scale that followed. In the eighties, we were derided as the nation that is permanently on the runway; a nation that will never really take off. Well, we have taken off. In the nineties we were described as an illiberal democracy. The functioning of our democracy, with all its uplifting successes, its glorious failures, and its gut-wrenching problems plays out every day on prime time television and on social media on a spectacular scale. Just look at the percentages of people voting in our elections. It now sometimes exceeds 80%. This is not a sign of an illiberal democracy. We were described by some in the last decade as a country where crony capitalism saps our entrepreneurial talents. That is until the internet and mobile telephony driven ecommerce boom came along. It is interesting to note that more and more of India’s best and brightest – the graduates from the elite IITs and IIMs are going the entrepreneurial route. Another interesting point:The last 3 Prime Ministers in this land of Maharajahs, the hereditary caste system and hereditary political leadership do not have family members active in politics. This is a land
larities of outlook hold up when it comes to US-India diplomacy. In diplomatic studies there is a theory of democratic peace. It has been established that democracies do not attack each other. The major contribution of the United States to international relations is the creation of a liberal world order. Pax Americana was established with the creation of the United Nations, the IMF, the World Bank, global trade talks. Pax Americana is about the effort to expand the zone of democratic peace. What does India feel about this? Let us look at how it views the the world order and the multilateral institutions that underpin this order. This is a country that has contributed more United Nations peacekeepers to more peacekeeping operations than any other nation. Poor as we are, we have not shirked our share of any burden. No other developing country contributes, voluntarily, more than India to the development operations of the United Nations. Or its humanitarian operations. No refugee has ever been turned from India. We have had differences on major issues of international law. But we have, in the spirit of the democracies that we both are, contributed to the process of creating international law and international regimes. We have worked together to create concepts like the public health exceptions and Dispute Settlement Mechanisms in world trade. In concluding, I would like to make a reference to the American exceptionalism that is central to the identity of Americans. I am begin to believe that we Indians have our brand of exceptionalism. The India story is sui generis. I believe however that American and Indian exceptionalism complement and supplement each other. I believe that what we are living through now is the beginning of an exceptional partnership. Thank you for your time.
VOICE OF ASIA 11
Focus VOICE OF ASIA
Vol. 29 No. 22 Friday, May 27, 2016
• Published Weekly from Houston
• 713-774-5140
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
• E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com
Dance, Music and Message Highlight Radhnath Swami’s Book Launch
HH Radhanath Swami seen signing his book for a fan at the Unity of Houston. Photos by Tejas.
by Shobana Muratee promise to a dying friend and the time spend together sharing thoughts on the singular subject on how to bring each other closer to God, was the seed-premise to Radhanath Swami’s best seller, “The Journey Home - Autobiography of an American Swami” in 2010. It was different this time with his new book “The Journey Within - Exploring the Path of Bhakti” launched on May 17, in the United States. On the auspicious day of Nrsimha Chaturdasi, Friday, May 20, Radhanath Swami unveiled the book at the ISKCON of Houston. On Saturday, May 21, a book launch event was held at Unity of Houston church where over 500 Houstonians, devotees, and fans gathered for the book launch of “The Journey Within”. The event started with soulful kirtans led by Visvambhar Sheth the lead singer of the world-renowned kirtan group The Mayapuris, accompanied by his wife Vrinda Devi Sheth who did a narrative dance, and included ISKCON kirtan artists Nilamadava das and Bhagwan das. Patricia Gras, Emmy award winning journalist, founder of LoveSmartLivingMedia and blogger was the Mistress of Ceremonies. She invited Dr. Helen Rose Ebaugh, acclaimed author and professor of World Religions at University of Houston, to speak of Radhanath Swami and his work. Gras expressed her deep gratitude for the opportunity. Welcoming Radhanath Swami, Dr. Ebaugh spoke of his early book “The Journey Home,” that describes his boyhood in Chicago, his teenage years and his visit to India. “This is a book that will grip you,” she said. About his second book, the Journey Within, she praised his wonderful writing style in his stories where he tells experiences from his own life and people that he met throughout his journeys. “And from those experiences he draws the lessons that he discusses in the books. It is a very sublime book, a very deep book but one that’s readable. Having taught religion for 40 years and having read a lot of Eastern religions, they are very difficult sometimes to grasp for us Westerners. This book is written in very straightforward accessible English,” was her endorsement. A bhakti yoga practitioner for more than 40 years, Radhanath Swami is a spiritual teacher, community builder, activist and accomplished author. His spiritual quest stared when he was just 19, and was called Richard Slavin, a Jewish boy from the suburbs of Chicago, who went backpacking in Europe for two months and never came back! “I saw so much hatred, divisions and prejudice in the name of a loving God. So I was at a cross roads: either I had to totally reject the whole concept of the validity of religion or there must be a beautiful essence that is there at the heart and core of all spiritual traditions. And I believed within my heart that the essence was there. And there was no greater goal to life than to understand and connect to it.” Renowned author Bapsi Sidwa of Houston, on whose book “Cracking Earth” was made into the film ‘Earth’ by Deepa Mehta, was immensely touched by Radhanath Swami’s humility and simplicity. “He is so approachable and unintimidating,” she said when she introduced him at a small gathering on Friday at ISKCON of Houston. She also praised his fascinating style of storytelling which is so paramount for a good writer.
Guests at eh book signing event dance to the kirtans by the Mayapuris.
A
Cover of the book
When Amy Hertz, editor of a leading New York publishing company, had a strange request to write a book for a middle-class housewife from Minnesota, Radhanath Swami was perplexed. “I was thinking, ‘I’ve never met a housewife from Minnesota. How am I supposed to write this book?’ But she insisted and persisted, and was gracious. Then I wrote the book “The Journey Within.” Hertz who attended the event admitted that she had a knack of getting such great personalities to write and Radhanath Swami delivered beyond expectations. Radhanath Swami, one of the most prominent leaders of ISKCON (aka the Hare Krishna Movement), is the founder of the Radha Gopinath Ashram in Mumbai, India. Under his inspiration and spiritual guidance, the project has grown to include missionary hospitals and medical camps, orphanages, spiritually based ecofriendly farms and sanctuary, schools and temples as well as emergency relief and food distribution programs that feed more than 300,000 impoverished children in Mumbai every day. His latest book, “The Journey Within: Exploring the Path of Bhakti,” is about the beautiful universal teachings of Bhakti yoga that I discovered in my life,” he said. “Supreme religion is not about a sectarian concept. It is based on awakening of our love for the divine, for God in ourselves,” he explained and he took us on his personal journey of quest within. HH Giriraj Swami who also spoke on the occasion said, “It seems now more than ever, people are torn apart with differences and we are even trying to part within ourselves, there’s conflict within us between individuals, groups, and at this most critical time this most important book “The Journey Within” has come to us.” Rev. Greg Han, Director of Interfaith Relations at the Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston spoke eloquently quoting richly J.R.R. Tolkien - ‘Not all those who wander are lost.’ and Pascal’s “The heart has its reasons, of which reason knows nothing”. The event was concluded on a high note with more kirtans and dancing by the guests while Radhanath Swami tirelessly signed his book for a long line of enthusiasts, many of who were overwhelmed with his presence that day. His words of wisdom were resounding throughout the noisy hall. “The higher purpose is to love and help each other,” he had said. “No matter what profession we may be, to learn how to express that love - that is dharma!”
Visvambhar Sheth, accompanied by his wife Vrinda Devi Sheth, Anish and Bhagwan.
From L-R: Dr. Arun Verma, Vijay Pallod, Dr. Hansa Medley, Rev. Greg Han, Dr. Helen Ebaugh, Radhanath Swami, Giriraj Swami , Patricia Gras, Amy Hertz, Visvambhar Sheth, and his wife Vrinda Devi.
From Left: HH. Radhanath Swami gifting author Ms. Bapsi Sidwa a copy of his book. Also seated is HH Giriraj Swami. Seen standing is Kalasuda Devi Dasi, who was the MC for the book reading event hosted on Friday, May 20 at the ISKCON of Houston.
US/ASIA
VOICE OF ASIA 12
Trump denounces illegal immigrants as tensions flare by Ivan Couronne and Veronique Dupont
A
NAHEIM | AFP | 5/25/2016 - Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump stumped Wednesday in California, the US state with the largest Hispanic population, doubling down on his anti-immigration position but assuring that “Mexican people” will vote for him in November. The presumptive Republican nominee took the stage in Anaheim, outside Los Angeles, with police on high alert one day after violence marred a Trump rally in the southwestern state of New Mexico, where anti-Trump protesters hurled rocks and police fired smoke grenades in efforts to rein in the chaos.
invasion.”
cutting it as governor.
“Our cities are not the same,” said Lupe Morfin, 58, adding that an “illegal alien” killed her 13-year-old nephew in 1990.
Martinez’s office responded swiftly, saying the governor “will not be bullied into supporting a candidate until she is convinced that candidate will fight for New Mexicans.”
“Mr. Trump is the only one that would listen to us, and we love him.” Trump warned there would be “nothing but turmoil” and “four more years of Obama” if Clinton wins the White House. “Our system and our country can’t take it,” he said. Trump also insisted his “biggest strength” would be a robust national security, as he lambasted countries like Germany for allowing refugees to flood into Europe unchecked, increasing the terror threat. “All over Europe they’re taking these people and all over the United States they’re sending these people,” Trump said. “How stupid are we? This will come back to haunt us.”
The blunt response highlights the tensions within the party even as it prepares to crown Trump as its nominee. House Speaker Paul Ryan -- the nation’s top elected Republican -- said he was not yet prepared to endorse Trump for president. “I haven’t made a decision,” Ryan told reporters, two weeks after he met with Trump to discuss ways to unify the party behind his remarkable White House run. Former House majority leader Tom DeLay had choice words for the presumptive nominee, calling Trump’s criticism of a popular conservative Latina “stupid politics.”
Hot topics at the G7 summit in Japan
I
SE-SHIMA, Japan | AFP | Thursday 5/26/2016 Leaders of the Group of Seven industrial democracies meet in Japan Thursday for two days of talks. Here are the hot topics up for discussion at Ise-Shima, a resort 300 kilometres (200 miles) southwest of Tokyo, and what to expect from the talks. 1) The economyThe world economy has struggled to get back on a sure footing ever since the global financial crisis struck in 2008. The slowing of China’s oncedependable growth means G7 leaders now have to look elsewhere for a boost.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, left, shakes hands with his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Tokyo on May 24, 2016. (Toru Yamanaka / Pool Photo via AP)
But the group -- Japan, the US, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada -- is divided.
tute for Fiscal Studies warned Wednesday.
Dozens of security personnel including police on horseback maintained control in Anaheim, although some skirmishes broke out between Trump opponents and his backers as protesters chanted expletives about the brash billionaire. At least eight people were arrested.
Several Trump rallies have drawn protests, including one in Chicago in March when his supporters clashed with protesters.
“It blows my mind,” DeLay told MSNBC. “Where is he going to get his coalition to win?”
Inside, Trump attacked his likely Democratic general election rival Hillary Clinton and railed against undocumented immigrants stealing US jobs.
Trump described his Tuesday rally in Albuquerque as a “love fest,” even though the chaos outside left several officers injured.
Following his Washington state victory, Trump has now amassed 1,229 delegates, according to a CNN tally -- just eight shy of the 1,237 needed to clinch the nomination.
There are also cracks over currency. The US has Japan, amongst others, on a currency watch list for possible unfair practices, and warnings abound over “beggar-thy-neighbour” devaluations.
But he insisted legal immigrants would vote for him in large numbers, despite polls showing they would overwhelmingly favor Clinton.
In his speech in New Mexico, which has the highest percentage of Hispanic residents of any US state, Trump startled observers by criticizing Governor Susana Martinez, the nation’s only Hispanic governor and head of the Republican Governors Association.
He is expected to cross the threshold June 7, when California and four other states vote on the final day of the Republican primary contest.
Expect: a final statement that supports a bit of both stimulus and austerity, but offers a firm rebuke on currency manipulation.
“The Mexican people are great, they’re going to vote for me like crazy, the ones that are legally in this country,” Trump said, as a woman waived a “Latinas for Trump” sign behind him. - ‘Too many immigrants’ -Immigration is a flashpoint political topic in California. The state now has more Hispanic residents -- 39 percent -- than whites, according to the census. “We have too many immigrants here, Mexican immigrants,” Trump supporter Sharon Lombardi told AFP. “It’s an
“She’s got to do a better job, OK?” Trump told the crowd about Martinez, who has criticized Trump’s remarks on immigration and was absent from Tuesday’s event. - ‘Will not be bullied’ -It was the latest example of behavior that may compound Trump’s efforts to win over skeptical voters. Martinez is seen as someone who could help a Republican nominee win support from Hispanics and women -- on her home turf, saying she was not
Trump pivoted to the general election weeks ago, relentlessly criticizing his likely Democratic rival. The former secretary of state has returned fire, although she is still engaged in the final stages of her Democratic battle against Sanders. On Wednesday, the scandal over her use of a private email server while secretary of state resurfaced, with a starkly critical report by the State Department’s inspector general finding she had not sought permission to conduct official business on her personal account.
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
One side, led by Japan, favours spending -- government stimulus. The other, led by Germany, thinks the fiscal largesse of recent years needs to be brought under control.
2) BrexitBritain’s upcoming referendum on membership of the European Union will weigh heavily. Many economists warn that if one of the EU’s largest economies leaves -- a so-called Brexit -- the knock-on effect for the bloc and the wider world could be substantial. It could also add tens of billions of pounds (dollars) to British government borrowing and leave the country grappling with austerity into the next decade, the independent Insti-
Expect: the G7 to express their hope Britain will vote “remain”. 3) Islamist terrorismAfter jihadist attacks in Brussels and Paris, the subject of Islamist terrorism is never far from leaders’ lips. The gathering will be looking to present a united front and emphasise their determination to fight the scourge of extremism. Expect: strong statements and rock-solid agreement. 4) RefugeesWhile the march of the Islamic State group across Syria and Iraq has been slowed, refugees continue to pour out of the broken states of the Middle East, many heading for Europe. EU countries, notably Germany, have absorbed hundreds of thousands of people, but surging political populism -- a far-right candidate came within a hair’s breadth of winning the Austrian presidency this week -- has the continent’s mainstream politicians nervous. Many are recognising that their voters are not on the same page as they are, and they want
a solution to the tide of desperate people that does not involve taking in ever more of them. Expect: pledges of more money to support refugees. 5) ChinaBeijing isn’t at IseShima, but it will loom large over many of the discussions. As well as its economic leverage -- despite the slowing growth, its mighty GDP still makes it a force to be reckoned with -- there are growing concerns in Western capitals over Beijing’s perceived belligerence. That is particularly keenly felt by hosts Japan, who have butted diplomatic heads with their wartime enemy, notably over disputed territory in the East China Sea. But Beijing’s increasingly assertive stance in the South China Sea -- a stretch of water through which a huge chunk of global trade passes, but which China claims almost in its entirety -- is a worry for Washington and its allies. Expect: oblique references to the importance of “freedom of navigation” and “peaceful resolution of disputes”, even if no one mentions the words “China” or “Beijing”.v
Visit our Classic Locations near the Galleria
9411 Westheimer Rd, Houston TX 77063 (www.thediamondhillapts.com)
1370 Afton St, Houston TX 77055 (www.providenceatmemorial.com) 8600 Woodway, Houston TX 77063 (www.livevillageatpineypoint.com) 2151 S. Kirkwood Dr, Houston TX 77077 (www.steeplesapts.com)
Apply For A Career with Karya Management We are hiring for the following Positions: - Property Managers - Construction Managers - Assistant Managers (Book Keepers)
hr@karyamanagement.com
- Leasing Agents
Phone: 713-922-5509
ONLINE .COM voiceofasiaonline.com
Vol. 29 No. 22 by SARA PUIG
L
OS ANGELES - Sweat glistens on Brooke Carlucci’s brow as she drives home kicks and jabs. She and a dozen fellow Mixed Martial Arts students can crush anyone’s notion that extreme combat sports are a man’s thing.
Lifestyle VOICE OF ASIA
VOICE OF ASIA 13
Section 2
Email: voiceasia@aol.com
American women embrace mixed martial arts, crush stereotypes
Focused and with her body in combat position, the 20-year-old journalism student pounds the bag hanging in front of her: she’s here to learn how to defend herself, but also to keep fit, blow off steam and have fun.
Rousey is adamant about encouraging women not to shy away from MMA. “They’ve never had the idea that it was possible to be there before. She’s almost a superhero to them,” Gross added.
“It’s great to see more women get comfortable with it and want to learn a new skill and be confident doing that,” she said. “Some of them are a little intimidated by the contact. (But) that initial intimidation quickly melts away once they get in.” Abrey Martin, one of her students, is dead serious about her own training and progress.
Men ran the show for many years in the MMA world: a form of combat sport where anything goes -- meaning a dizzying flurry of techniques and moves from judo, wrestling, boxing, kickboxing, karate and other martial arts. The point is to maximize physical contact.
The beginning of the end of MMA as a boys’ club came eight years ago when Ronda Rousey, at the time an Olympic judo star who took a bronze medal in Beijing, found a new direction in the combat sport.
ior or brutality.”
She has been teaching MMA at different Los Angeles area gyms for a decade. And every day, she has more women students keen to hone combat skills and feel stronger.
“There is definitely the stereotype that it’s violent, bloody and gross. On TV it’s seen as bad, but girls can do it. And it doesn’t have to be violent,” she told AFP, exhausted but happy after a tough workout, rubbing the bandages that protect her hands.
- Enter Ronda -
Tel: 713-774-5140
Genevieve Soszynski can back that up.
“People think it’s just for boys, and it’s not. Girls can do it too,” she said at a gym in La Mirada, south of Los Angeles. “We can be strong, we can have fun and grow.”
Its popularity started growing in the United States in 1993 when the firm Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) turned it into a multi-million dollar moneymaker. It shows the fights on a pay cable channel that is seen by 800 million people around the world.
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Each blow to the bag, each lightning kick highlights her determination. She is clearly rushing on adrenaline as she pounds away looking for perfect hits. “I really wanted to do something that made me feel strong and not embarrassed to be strong.
Female students train in a Mixed Martial Arts class at the UFC Gym in La Mirada, California (AFP Photo/Mark Ralston) Now 29, she is the world’s most famous woman fighter. She is also the world’s eighth most highly paid sportsperson, with an annual income of around $6.5 million including $3.5 from advertising. Rousey’s powerful presence in the ring, her intelligent handling of her fame, her shrewd businesswoman’s
instincts, her wide appeal and her beauty all have helped turn her into one of the most influential figures in sports worldwide. - Strong, and proud of it The “Ronda Rousey effect” has gone a long way in recent years toward sparking the surge in women around the country stopping into gyms to give
Nepali woman beats own record for most Everest summits
MMA a go. “She has unquestionably brought an influx of young girls and women into MMA,” said Josh Gross who has been covering the sport for years “I don’t think there’s any question Rousey’s influence has made women look at MMA and see it as not so much a thing of violence or reckless behav-
“It can be passionate and fun, and something that gives you strength and growth and you can learn a lot from it. It’s not violent,” she said without catching a breath. Just like Martin, Carlucci is fine with her body showing her progress, and fine with her trim lines taking on fearsome new curves. “I think it’s cool that girls can have muscles and be really strong and not have that stereotype of ‘stick thin.’ It looks awesome,” she said. “You feel sexy.”
Boxing: India’s Mary Kom sees hopes of Rio dashed
of the month. “The team is descending at the moment and I am not sure if she will go back up this season,” Nujoom told AFP. Sherpa, who works as a part-time housekeeper in the United States, scaled the peak from its Tibetan side, unlike most climbers who begin their ascent from Everest base camp in Nepal, the easiest and most popular route. Sherpa has said she eventually wants to beat the record held by male climber Apa Sherpa which stands at 21 total summits. Her record caps a successful season for climbing on Everest, which has seen around 300 summits since last week, ending a years-long drought after two disasters.
Nepalese mountaineer Lhakpa Sherpa has made seven successful ascents of Mount Everest (AFP Photo/).
K
ATHMANDU, Nepal | AFP | A Nepali mountaineer broke her own world record for the maximum number of Everest summits by a woman after scaling the peak for the seventh time on Friday, her expedition company said. The daughter of a yak herder, 43year-old Lhakpa Sherpa worked as a porter and kitchen hand on trekking and mountaineering expeditions when she was young, before becoming a climber herself. The mother-of-three retired from climbing after her sixth summit of the
8,850-metre (29,035-foot) high Mount Everest in 2006 before deciding to make a comeback, 16 years after she first scaled the world’s tallest peak.
Nine Nepalis last week became the first group of climbers in three years to summit the peak, paving the way for others to follow. Hundreds of climbers abandoned their expeditions last year after an earthquake-triggered avalanche at Everest base camp killed 18 people.
“Lhakpa summited Everest at 5:00 am (2315 GMT) today for the seventh time,” said Svetlana Nujoom, program manager of 7 Summits Adventure, which organised her expedition.
Only one climber summited the peak in 2014, using a helicopter to transport tent equipment to higher camps after an avalanche killed 16 Nepali guides and prompted the cancellation of that year’s mountaineering season.
In an interview with AFP in March, Sherpa said she intended to summit Everest twice this season, although Nujoom was unable to confirm whether she still planned a second bid before weather conditions worsen by the end
Mountaineering is a major revenueearner for impoverished Nepal but last year’s earthquake, which killed almost 9,000 people, threatened the future of the Himalayan nation’s climbing and trekking industry.
Sugar Land Ballroom • Ample parking • Dance floor • Close to Highway 59 & 90 • Seating capacity: 350 people Ask for special package price!
Call Gopal Aggarwal: 832-539-1589 869 Dulles Ave. Stafford, TX 77477
India’s Mary Kom won a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics and is a sporting star in her home country (AFP Photo/Indranil Mukherjee).
N
EW DELHI, India - Indian sporting star and five-time world boxing champion Mary Kom Saturday saw her dream of qualifying for the Rio 2016 Olympics end after losing a crucial bout at AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships. Kom, who won a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics, lost 0-2 to Germany’s Azize Nimani in the second round of the tournament in the 51kg weight category in Kazakhstan. She needed to reach the semi-finals of the championship to qualify for her second successive appearance in Olympics. Kom took off aggressively against her German opponent, who kept her at bay by fighting from a distance, according to the Press Trust of India. The Indian boxer continued to throw
herself at Nimani who adopted defensive tactics to frustrate Kom, the news agency said, with the German declared the winner. “I am extremely happy after today’s bout,” said Nimani. “Mary Kom is a very strong boxer and a legend in our sport but I was concentrated and focused until the last seconds to accomplish my goal. I knew I could win if I followed my instructions and found my rhythm. Now I want to be world champion.” Kom secured a spot at the 2012 London Olympics at the same tournament before winning a bronze medal for her country at the Games that year. Nimani will now meet top seed Marzia Davide of Italy, who beat Hungary’s Katalin Ancsin in their second round fight.
LEISURE
VOICE OF ASIA 14
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Watch that temper! Americans turn to pros to curb anger by Veronique DUPONT
Management Association. With regular therapy sessions, “I’ve learned to better communicate with my team,” he said. “I tell them their work is very important, and that I rely on them.”
L
OS ANGELES - Bernard Minor spent 26 years behind bars for murdering a drug dealer who owed him $400. Now, the excon spends his days teaching others to keep their rage in check, one of the swelling ranks of America’s anger therapists. “I was a very angry person,” the 58-year-old told AFP. “I’d been living a violent life. Living in the streets since I was 11 years old. Now I want to help people.” Minor specializes in tackling domestic abuse -- working with “batterers,” in his own words -- in Los Angeles, a city seen by many as a hotbed of shortfused behavior and where the rage management industry is booming. “Our referrals grow by 20 percent per year,” said George Anderson, a 78-year-old therapist, who says he has treated 17,000 people throughout his long career. Famously tempestuous stars include Sean Penn and Kanye West, known for lashing out at paparazzi, or Justin Bieber, who egged his neighbor’s house after receiving complaints about loud parties and fast cars. Supermodel Naomi Campbell infamously threw her cell phone at a housekeeper. But in the City of Angels,
Anderson & Anderson Anger Management Training, material is pictured in Los Angeles, California (AFP Photo/Robyn Beck) where residents rage at the time wasted in traffic jams and homicide rates are among the highest nationwide, anger therapy is by no means limited to the rich and famous. - Blew up -The financial crisis and pressures of an increasingly fast-paced life, as well as constant connection to the outside world via mobile devices -- exacerbating stress levels -are all seen as driving the anger therapy trend. Truckers and gang members both make up large constituencies of clients, but they rub shoulders with surgeons or top executives sent by their employers to quiet their tempers. About 70 percent of course attendees are men. Around half are here by choice -- though often nudged into action by a
long-suffering spouse or relative. The rest are here on the orders of a judge. Eric, a 40-year-old stunt performer who did not want to be identified by his last name, opted in after finding himself in a bar fight, a clash with his brother, and an argument with his girlfriend that landed him in a jail cell.
- Identifying triggers -Nearly one in every 10 Americans have both a history of impulsive, angry behavior and access to guns, according to research by Harvard, Columbia and Duke Universities. Another Harvard study found that two-thirds of American teenagers suffer from bursts of irrepressible anger. Concerns about rage are by no means an American-only problem: in Britain, for instance, one in 10 people admit to having trouble controlling their anger. But in California, the demand for therapy is also rising because of the “very low tolerance” for violence, said therapist Anita Avedian, founder of the local chapter of the National Anger
“You give a tap on the hand of your child -- that’s abuse. You’re an angry person,” Avedian said. “You do anything to your pet; you’re in jail.” Both in group and individual sessions, clients learn how to identify their triggers. Many students cite trouble with their spouses, but others point to issues like feeling disrespected or harassed by a superior. Everyone gauges their anger levels on a scale of one to 10, with the goal of never letting the temperature rise above seven. It’s a lucrative business: a group session starts at just $20, but an individual meeting can set you back up to $350 per hour. With the help of discussion and visualization techniques, clients learn how to stop reacting defensively and feeling un-
der attack, how to stay rational and understand the viewpoints of others. Expressing emotions calmly is a top goal, as well as how to set boundaries -- before the anger bubbles over. Many anger issues, in their experience, are linked to childhood trauma, such as growing up with a particularly critical father or feeling abandoned by a parent. There are relapses, but both Anderson and Avedian estimate their success rate at between 70 and 80 percent. Arnold, a 51-year-old trucker and ex-convict with a history of gang membership, suffered from abuse throughout his youth. When he feels disrespected, his blood still boils, but he’s learned to rein it in. “If I touch anybody, I go to jail,” Arnold said. “I’m not gonna give you that satisfaction. I’m not getting handcuffed.”
Rick, an eye surgeon, signed up at the urging of his employer after he lost his temper at work. He blew up after a nurse overfilled a syringe, which could have caused severe damage had he injected it in his patient’s eye. “You rely on a lot of people, but you’re ultimately responsible,” he recalled, and the pressure on occasion became too much.
Myanmar’s poet freed after six months in jail for defaming former president A Myanmar man detained for publishing a poem on Facebook about having a tattoo of the former president on his penis said he was released Tuesday after serving a jail sentence for defamation. Maung Saungkha, 24, was arrested in November after he shared the short poem.
the hearing. The poem did not specify whether the tattoo was of thenpresident Then Sein, a former military general who ceded power to a civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi earlier this year. Maung Saungkha has denied actually sporting the tattoo.
Written in Burmese the ditty read: “A tattoo of the president is on my penis, my wife felt detestation when she married me.”
His girlfriend Shar Yamone confirmed to AFP that he had been freed and was “feeling well.”
On Tuesday he was convicted of online defamation charges under Myanmar’s telecommunications law by a Yangon court and sentenced to six months in prison -- time he had already served.
Maung Saungkha was arrested just before the landmark election that saw Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy win a massive victory, winding up nearly half a century of military domination.
“I was sentenced to six months, but have been released as I was already detained for six months and 19 days,” he wrote in a Facebook post after
The poet was one of several activists swept up by authorities ahead of the poll. Rights groups said his de-
tention was part of a last-ditch crackdown on free speech by Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government. Poetry has long been intertwined with politics in Myanmar, where direct dissent was forbidden by the country’s harsh military rulers. During the dark junta days, censors vetted every article, book manuscript, photograph and illustration before publication, eliminating anything considered inflammatory or damaging to the regime. Limits on free speech continued after pre-publication censorship was abolished under Thein Sein. The country’s new civilianled government is now expected to guide Myanmar into its freest era in decades, with a parliament packed full of former democracy activists, as well as a handful of poets.
More on Leisure and Lifestyle Log on for regular updates
www.voiceofasiaonline.com
Youngest Astrologer of North America Astrologer, Vaastu & Gem Stone Consultant
“HARDIK VYAS” Astrologer Hardik Vyas, a famous young face in Vedic Astrology from India is available in Houston. Call for guidance on Health, Wealth, Education, Career, Business, Property, Love & Passion, Marriage & Compatibility, HoroscopeMaking, Child Problem, Luck & Fortune, Peace & Prosperity, Karma & Economical Sources.
Vaastushastra, the ancient science of land. Fix and appointment for personal visit to your home, plot, business/office, shop, factory, and hotel. To gain peace of mind and prosperity, by doing little changes as per Vaastu Shastra. Simple, Easy, Scientific & Affordable solutions/remedies to overcome problems in your Horoscope and Vaastu.
5 4
6
3K 2
Mn, Gu
7
1
Shani
Su, Bu
10
8 9R
Mang
12V Kindly Note: Astrology & VaastuShastra are 11
Science of Nature, not related with any religion, caste, or community. It is an Occult Science and gift of nature for the welfare of people to get proper advice.
We Speak in English, Hindi, Gujarati and Marathi languages. Listen to me live on Sound Asia 10.50AM Radio
E-mail: askfuture@hotmail.com • Ph: 832-298-9950
www.toaskfuture.com
HEALTH, SC & TECH
VOICE OF ASIA 15
US biochemist wins award for rewriting DNA to mimic evolution
H
ELSINKI, Finland | AFP | Tuesday 5/24/2016 - US biochemical engineer Frances Arnold on Tuesday won a million-euro technology prize in Finland for her work on “directed evolution”, a method of rewriting DNA to improve medicines and develop green fuels. “Frances Arnold receives the 2016 Millennium Technology Prize in recognition of her discoveries that launched the field of ‘directed evolution’, which mimics natural evolution to create new and better proteins in the laboratory,” the Technology Academy Finland, which awards the prize at two-year intervals, said in a statement. Arnold, 59, who is a professor of chemical engineering at California Institute of Technology, said her work made it possible to “solve human problems”, such as replacing toxic chemicals like fossil fuels. Her method of creating new proteins with desired properties is being used to convert renewable resources like sugar cane into biofuels and to improve everyday products such as laundry and dishwashing detergents to enhance their performance in cold temperatures. “The microbes convert plants to fuels so the sugar that’s in the plant is the feedstock. Instead of pumping oil out of the ground for making gasoline, now we can use sunlight stored in plants,” she explained to AFP ahead of the ceremony. Other practical applications include creams, fragrances and industrial solvents or improving the drug industry’s previously wasteful chemical processes to make medication such as Januvia, used by millions of people to treat diabetes. The prize -- worth one million euros ($1.12 million) -was handed to Arnold by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto at the University of Helsinki. “This is a fabulous recognition and I’m very grateful for
US biochemical engineer Frances Arnold (R) receives her Millennium Technology Prize 2016 from Finnish President Sauli Niinisto in Helsinki, on May 24, 2016 (AFP Photo/Heikki Saukkomaa). it,” she said. Arnold, who has survived breast cancer and is also a single mother to three sons, said she would spend part of the prize money on her kids’ university education. Arnold is the first woman to win the prize, which was founded in 2004. It aims to be a technology equivalent of the
Nobel Prizes for the sciences, which have been criticised by some for focusing too much on traditional, decades-old scientific research.
Technology Prize singles out innovations that have practical applications and which “enhance the quality of people’s lives.”
In 2012, US President Barack Obama awarded Arnold the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, established by the US Congress in 1980.
Previous laureates include the creator of the World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Linux open source operating system creator Linus Torvalds and ethical stem cell pioneer Shinya Yamanaka.
The
Finnish
Millennium
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Violent young Sun may have seeded life on Earth: study PARIS - Life on Earth may have sprung from bombardment by a youthful Sun lashing out with flares as potent as a thousand trillion exploding atomic bombs, a study suggested on Monday.
The study was based on telescopic observations of other stars resembling our Sun in the first few hundred million years of life, as well as models of the chemistry of early Earth’s atmosphere.
Such violence may explain how Earth became hospitable to life about four billion years ago, when the planet, and its star, were much, much colder, a research team wrote in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Without an efficient greenhouse gas to trap the Sun’s heat, “Earth would be a snowball rather than a wet and warm planet supporting life four billion years ago,” study co-author Vladimir Airapetian explained.
While the Sun was about a third fainter than it is today, it was likely much more tempestuous, they found.
The new model “resolves the currently unresolved ‘Faint Young Sun’ paradox by efficient production of laughing gas in the lower Earth’s atmosphere” at the time.
Repeated super-flares would have smashed nitrogen (N2) molecules in the atmosphere to yield a planet-warming greenhouse gas called nitrous oxide (N2O or “laughing gas”), as well as hydrogen cyanide, which produces amino acids -the building blocks of proteins. While it is essential for all life, nitrogen in the form it would have existed in a young Earth’s atmosphere is not chemically reactive, and needs to be transformed into more accessible forms. Very high temperatures can achieve this.
Apple Opens Development Office in Hyderabad
H
YDERABAD, India — May 19, 2016 — Apple® today announced the opening of a new office in Hyderabad that will focus on development of Maps for Apple products, including iPhone®, iPad®, Mac® and Apple Watch®. This investment will accelerate Maps development and create up to 4,000 jobs. “Apple is focused on making the best products and services in the world and we are thrilled to open this new office in Hyderabad which will focus on Maps development,” said
Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “The talent here in the local area is incredible and we are looking forward to expanding our relationships and introducing more universities and partners to our platforms as we scale our operations.”
which is already available for more than 300 cities around the world.
Apple has been continually updating and adding new features to Maps, including 3D views, the Flyover® feature and tools to help customers find convenient places to shop, eat and explore nearby areas. With iOS 9 Apple added Transit, offering a combination of trains, subways, buses and walking,
“We are honored Apple chose Hyderabad as a home for its Maps development office,” said Telangana Chief Minister Kalvakuntla Chandrashekar Rao. “This will create thousands of jobs here and is a testament to our proactive approach, quality infrastructure and the excellent
The new facility, located on the Waverock campus, will provide a world-class, LEEDcertified home for the expanding Maps team.
talent base we have in the region.” “Apple is one of the most innovative companies in the world and we are very proud they chose us to partner with for this important project,” said Anup Jindal, RMSI’s CEO. “We are experts in geospatial data and we will be hiring thousands of people from the local area to support this effort.” Across India, Apple supports over 640,000 iOS app developer jobs and other positions related to the iOS ecosystem. Apple revolutionized person-
“Our model describes the ‘cosmic’ ingredient required to produce biological molecules of life,” Airapetian told AFP by email. And it suggested that other planets subjected to similar violence by their star may have had similar outcomes. “Geologic evidence suggests that Mars was also paradoxically warm and wet around the same time,” planetary scientist Ramses Ramirez of the Carl Sagan Institute in New York noted in a comment on the study. It may have experienced “similar solar-atmospheric interactions” than Earth.
al technology with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Today, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch and Apple TV. Apple’s four software platforms — iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS — provide seamless experiences across all Apple devices and empower people with breakthrough services including the App Store, Apple Music, Apple Pay and iCloud. Apple’s 100,000 employees are dedicated to making the best products on earth, and to leaving the world better than we found it.
Homes for Immediate Sale / Lease
Lakefront home in Grand Mission 5 Beds 3.5 Baths Both formals and Namaz Room
Luxury home in Riverstone 6 Beds 5.5 Baths / 6759 sq.ft with pool and spa
Gannaway Lakes Estate, Sugar Land, 5 Beds 4.5 Baths, with 2 beds down and large game room
Woodbridge, FBC, Sugar Land 5 Beds, 4 Baths, with 1 Bed down, both formals and large Game room
Telfair, Sugar Land, One Story 3 beds, 2 baths, Formal dining and Study
Condo in 7575 Kirby, Medical Center Area. 1 Bed, 1 Bath, with nice size Living / Dining combo
West University, Home for Lease 4 Beds, 3.5 Baths, Formal Dining and Game Room
Lake Lot in Alkire Lake, Sugar Land. 2.25 Acres with over 400 feet on the Lake. Ready to build Your Dream Home
Call Ron Aga 832 423-6973
Champions Real Estate Group 6117 Richmond Ave. Ste: 120, Houston, TX 77057
Young Life
VOICE OF ASIA 16
Section 2
Email: voiceasia@aol.com
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Tel: 713-774-5140
Hindi classes award ceremony at India House, Houston ne of the difficult, though most desirable, aspects of moving to a foreign country is motivating our kids to learn our native language and remain connected with our culture. While inspiring students to learn Hindi can be a difficult task, the rewards are more than worth it.
O
To meet the growing demand of students and to promote the language, India House started Hindi Language and Culture of India Classes in October 2015 at their premises. The class is taught by the most experienced Hindi and Culture of India instructor Mr. Arun Prakash who started and taught Hindi at Bellaire High School, Rice University and University of Houston. All 16 enrolled students were awarded certificates after clearing the final examination. A simple award ceremony was held at India House on May 15, 2016 to celebrate the achievement of these kids. Dr. Manish Rungta, President, India House and Jiten Agarwal, Vice President Finance, India House gave away the certificates. Views of some of the parents and students are the testimony of the success of the program.
“Our both sons absolutely enjoyed the Hindi class taught at India House. I had almost given up on them on learning Hindi, after trying various weekend classes for them in Houston for almost last 4 years. This is the first class where they felt engaged, & motivated to learn reading, writing & speaking Hindi & they did. We are very pleased with it”– Rachna Agarwal “Hindi classes by Arun Prakash Sir have been so engaging & fun. I am looking forward to the advanced classes now” – Varun, 7th Grader “Finally, I am not scared of Hindi language anymore. I picked up Hindi before by listening to our elders in India during my visits, but I was always goofing up. Thanks to our Hindi teacher Mr. Arun Prakash.” – Rahul, 9th Grader “I personally sat through many of Arun Ji’s classes and my daughter and I loved his unique teaching style. He combines teaching Hindi with discussions of many key life lessons and stories. This keeps the kids engaged and they have fun. Connecting with teenagers to teach them not only about our language but also our culture is an art which he performs
Arun Prakash with students who successfully completed the Hindi classes masterfully.”- Hardeep Singh father of Jasmine Singh, 10th Grader
Adults Batch: Starts on May 29th to July 31st 2016 every Sunday from 10:00 - 11:30 am
and Advanced Classes: Starts from August 14th 2016 to May 2017
Due to popular demand and interest shown towards learning Hindi and culture of India, India House is starting adults’ classes along with kids’ new batch per following details:
Children’s Beginner Classes
For more details please con-
Dr. Manish Rungta, President, India House and Jiten Agarwal, Vice President Finance, India House gave away the certificates as Col. Vipin Kumar looks on.
Teen Writing Contest at the Houston Public Library
T
eens are invited to showcase their creative writing skills for a chance to be recognized as one of Houston’s top teen writers or poets at the Houston Public Library’s (HPL) first Teen Writing Contest. Teens will have the opportunity to channel their imagination into an original short story or poem for a chance to win some amazing prizes. Entries will be judged on originality, use of language, and technical skill. Teens can submit to both categories – short story and poetry. The contest runs from June 1 thru July 30, 2016. All entries must be received by 5 PM on Saturday, July 30, 2016. This contest is free and open to the public. For more details visit www.houstonlibrary.org or contact a teen librarian 832-393-1521. Entry Judging: Teen writing contest entries will be judged on the following: originality, use of language, and technical skill. Prizes for Each Category: 1st Prize = $25 Barnes & No-
ble Gift Card 2nd Prize = $15 Barnes & Nobel Gift Card
typed on white paper with 1 entry form attached. Handwritten entries will be not accepted.
3rd Prize = $10 Barnes & Nobel Gift Card
Text and Formatting for Short Story or Poem:
How to Submit Entry: In person at any HPL Neighborhood Library location. By Mail: Houston Public Library | Attn: Rebecca Denham - Teen Room | 500 McKinney St., 77002
Title of work should appear at the top of the submission. The participants name should only appear on the entry form. Do not put names on the copies of the short story or poem attached to the entry form. Color – Black ink only
Online: Complete the PDF form at www.houstonlibrary. org. Don’t forget to upload your document file!
Font – Times New Roman
Contest Submission Rules:
No pictures are permitted
Participants must be a current student between grades 6-12. Fill out an entry form for each category. Forms can be found online or at an HPL location. A submission consists of 1 entry form attached to 3 copies of your entry. (If participating in two categories, two separate entry forms should be submitted.) Submit 3 copies of your entry
Size – 12pt Spacing - 1.5 line spacing All entries must adhere to the word count. Poetry must be 800 words or less. Short stories should be a minimum of 1,000 words and not exceed 5,000 words. All short stories must be stand-alone. Excerpts of larger works will not be considered. All entries must be original work! Fanfiction will not be accepted.
tact vipin@indiahouseinc.org or 713-929-1900 or visit www. indiahouseinc.org
VOICE OF ASIA 17
Section 2
Bollywood Masala
Email: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Tel: 713-774-5140
Actress Priyanka Chopra Pakistan’s Saba Qamar to star in Bollywood with Irrfan Khan wants to be James Bond Los Angeles, May 24 (PTI) “Quantico” star Priyanka Chopra, whose name was being thrown around as one of the candidates for the role of Bond girl, says she rather wants to play James Bond. “I get that all the time. But I wanna be Bond,” Priyanka said when asked whether she would be playing a future Bond girl. Fans are already starting to throw their support behind a handful of actors, including Tom Hiddleston and Idris Elba, to pick up Daniel Craig’s mantle. But recently, the idea of giving the part to a woman has been catching steam on social media, reported Complex magazine.
Priyanka Chopra However, the 33-year-old Indian actress is happy that she is getting a chance to play the villain before any Bond opportunities arise. She stars as villain Victoria
Leeds in the upcoming “Baywatch” film. “I wanted to play a bad guy for a really long time. And I’m doing that in Baywatch, so I’m excited.
Pakistan-born singer Salma Agha seeks OCI card
N
EW DELHI, May 23 (PTI) Pakistan-born Bollywood singer and actress Salma Agha has applied for Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card and her request is being examined by Home Ministry. Agha has applied for the card that gives multiple entry, multi-purpose life long visa to visit India and exemption from reporting to police authorities for any length of stay in the country, official sources said today. The Pakistan born artist is UK citizen. She had given her voice to few Bollywood films and acted in some of them. Agha had won Filmfare best female playback award in 1982 for her rendition “Dil Ke armaan aansuon me beh gaye” in movie ‘Nikaah’.
Saba Qamar and Irrfan Khan. Photo credit: Pakistan Drama Page.
A
fter establishing her mark in Pakistan’s Entertainment industry with several remarkable roles, Saba Qamar is all set to make her Bollywood debut opposite Irrfan Khan. The talented duo Saba Qamar and the Indian actor Irrfan Khan look adorable in their first look from the movie.
After establishing her mark in Pakistan’s Entertainment industry with several remarkable roles, Saba Qamar is all set to make her Bollywood debut opposite Irrfan Khan.
Saba Qamar’s Bollywood movie is a situational comedy highlighting the contemporary social issues. Directed by Sa-
The talented duo Saba Qamar and the Indian actor Irrfan Khan look adorable in their first look from the movie.
Hasya Hangama
Salma Agha cial, economic and educational fields except in the acquisition of agricultural or plantation properties.
“The Home Ministry is examining her request. A decision will be taken soon,” a source said.
As per rules, a foreign national who is a child, grandchild or a great grandchild of Indian citizen is eligible for registration as OCI card holder. There are few other conditions to get OCI card.
The OCI card gives parity to an individual with Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) in finan-
However, no person, who or either of whose parents, grandparents or great grandparents is
or had been a citizen of Pakistan and Bangladesh shall be eligible for registration as an Overseas Citizen of India card holder. Pakistani singer Adnan Sami was in January this year given Indian citizenship. Among others who have been staying in India and working on employment visa are Katrina Kaif (UK citizen), Deepti Naval (US citizen) and Yana Gupta (Czech citizen).
Paa liked my performance in ‘Sarbjit’: Aishwarya Rai
ket Chaudhary, of Pyar Ke Side Effects and Shaadi Ke Side Effects to his credit, the movie is expected to be light hearted yet a gripping flick.
Saba Qamar’s Bollywood movie is a situational comedy highlighting the contemporary social issues. Directed by Saket Chaudhary, of Pyar Ke Side Effectsand Shaadi Ke Side Effects to his credit, the movie is expected to be light hearted yet a gripping flick. Saba revealed that she is playing “the character of a wife who is a wee bit dominating and is looked after very tenderly by her husband (played by Irrfan Khan).” Courtesy: Brandsynario.
Manjit Singh
Mahendra Ajnabi
Ana Dehalvi
“Hasya Hangama” A presentation of Hindi & Culture of India School, India House. A poetry recital to promote learning of Hindi & Culture of India. Sponsor
Donation Entry
$50 Per Person $25 Per Person Refreshments during interval included.
Friday, June 17, 2016
7:00pm-11:00pm @ India House 8888 West Bellfort Avenue, Houston, TX 77031
FOR TICKETS: HUMTUMDESI.COM or CONTACT US 713.929.1900 | vipin@indiahouseinc.org Arun Prakash 281-890-8710 | Mrs. Usha Mehra 281-550-5877
M
UMBAI, May 24 (PTI) Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is happy with the way her family including father-in-law Amitabh Bachchan reacted to her performance in “Sarbjit”. In the biopic on Indian death row prisoner Sarabjit Singh, Aishwarya played the pivotal role of his sister Dalbir Kaur, who fought a spirited battle for her brother’s release from Pakistan. “Paa (Amitabh Bachchan) put his arm around me and said ‘acha kaam kiya. Bahut acha kaam kiya’. That’s invaluable. So, that’s family for you... My parents were tearing up, my brother teared up and there is lots communicated in that silence,” Aishwarya said during a Q&A session on Twitter. While replying to husband Abhishek Bachchan’s query “how did you manage to make such an emotionally draining film and
www.rnlawgroup.com
immigration LAW
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan still smile when you got home?”, Aishwarya credited her daughter Aaradhya for the balancing act. “Trust me asking you this question, Abhishek. Well that’s life... We are grateful to God that our life gives us enough reason to smile and the reasons are plenty. There is Aaradhya, our
little angel.” When asked by a fan, what she finds harder being an actress or a mother, Aishwarya said, “Not asking that question on a daily basis and being both to the optimum as and when required but somehow being a mom kind of tops my priority.”
H-1B, L, E, TN, Visas, PERM Labor, EB-2, I-140, Green Card, Appeals, F-1, OPT
713-953-7787
Houston Office: 11000 Richmond Ave., Ste: 600, Houston, TX 77042
Email us: info@rnlawgroup.com Reddy & Neumann is a premier boutique immigration law firm that has served individuals and companies from our Houston office since 1997. Our team of attorneys exceeds expectations by providing prompt, professional and practical legal representation.
214-281-8900
Dallas Office: 15950 N.Dallas Pkwy, Ste: 400, Dallas, TX 75248
VOICE OF ASIA 18
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
HEALTHY LIVING VOICE OF ASIA
Section 2
Email: voiceasia@aol.com
US: 1 in 8 swimming pools closed for health violations
M
IAMI | AFP | Thursday 5/19/2016 - One in eight swimming pools in five populous states are closed upon inspection due to dirty and potentially dangerous water, US health authorities said Thursday. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s report was based on data from nearly 50,000 pools, hot tubs and water parks in five states where such facilities are most popular -- Florida, New York, Arizona, California and Texas. “Most inspections of public aquatic venues (almost 80 percent) identified at least one violation,” said the report. “One in eight inspections resulted in immediate closure because of serious health and safety violations,” it added. The report, based on data from 2013, said the parasite Cryptosporidium -which can cause diarrhea and vomiting -- has emerged as the leading cul-
prit in water-related outbreaks. The highest number of closures came in kiddie pools, or wading pools, one in five of which were found to have serious violations. “The most common violations reported were related to improper pH (15 percent), safety equipment (13 percent), and disinfectant concentration (12 percent),” said the report. Water’s pH level indicates how acidic or basic it is. “Almost one third of local health departments do not regulate, inspect or license public pools, hot tubs and water playgrounds,” said Michele Hlavsa, chief of CDC’s Healthy Swimming Program. “We should all check for inspection results online or on site before using public pools, hot tubs or water playgrounds and do our own inspection before getting into the water,” she said. According to Robert Glatter, an
emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, the “results of the study clearly show that more work needs to be done to better safeguard the public at large.” Glatter, who was not involved in the report, said people should never swim if they have diarrhea. “When close to 80 percent of public swimming venues are cited for at least one violation, it’s time to wake up and pay attention,” said Glatter. “To protect yourself and your family, the best advice is to inquire about the inspection results online, or call ahead before using a specific water venue,” he added. “Consider bringing a test kit to check the pH and free chlorine or bromine concentration of the water if you are visiting a public or private pool or hot tub, since this is an important determinant of the general health of the water, and also reflects the ability to prevent the spread of infectious disease.”
Yellow fever outbreak ‘serious’ but not global health emergency: WHO by Nina LARSON
G
ENEVA, Switzerland | AFP | Thursday 5/19/2016 - A deadly yellow fever outbreak in Angola and Congo is of great concern but does not amount to a global health emergency, the World Health Organization said Thursday. The UN health body said an emergency meeting of experts had determined that “the urban yellow fever outbreaks in Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a serious public health event which warrants intensified national action and enhanced international support.” But the committee stopped short of declaring a so-called Public Health Emergency of International Concern, as it did during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and the current surge in birth defects and neurological disorders linked to the spread of Zika virus in the Americas. Yellow fever has been raging since last December in Angola, especially in the capital Luanda, killing 293 people to date and infecting another 2,267. Cases have been imported to Kinshasa in DR Congo, and there is some evidence the disease has been spreading locally in that city.
“Urban yellow fever is a particularly dangerous and concerning situation, because of both the potential for explosive spread in urban settings with high mortality and also the risk of international spread,” Bruce Aylward, WHO chief on outbreaks and health emergencies, told reporters. Cases have also been imported to Kenya, and the Angola outbreak has been proven to be the source of 11 infections in China. Earlier on Thursday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) warned that limited vaccine supplies, inadequate disease surveillance systems, poor sanitation and continuous movement across Angola’s borders “could turn a national outbreak into a global crisis”. - Vaccinate all travellers -Professor Oyewale Tomori, who chaired the WHO emergency meeting, said the committee agreed the outbreak could potentially evolve into a global crisis and had called for intensified surveillance in the affected countries and atrisk nations and mass vaccination. WHO also reiterated its call for the vaccination of all travellers, and especially migrant workers to and from Angola and DR Congo to keep the
outbreak from spreading internationally. There is no specific treatment for yellow fever, a viral haemorrhagic disease transmitted in urban settings mainly by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, which also spreads Zika, dengue and chikungunya. The percentage of people immunised against yellow fever remains low in many parts of Africa, even though the vaccine is nearly 100 percent effective and relatively cheap. WHO has sent 11.7 million doses to Angola and there are plans to vaccinate 2.2 million people in DR Congo. Aylward explained that one reason WHO had convened its emergency committee was over concern that a global stockpile of the vaccine might run dry if another urban area was affected. But he said the experts had determined there were currently about five million doses in the stockpile, which should swell to seven million by the end of May and 17 million by August. This, he said, “should be sufficient ... to stop the transmission that we currently know.”
ADHD may emerge in adulthood for some: studies by Kerry SHERIDAN IAMI - Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is widely considered a condition that affects children, but some people may not develop it until they become adults, international researchers said Wednesday.
M
Primary Care Physician
Two separate studies from Britain and Brazil, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Psychiatry, suggest that late-onset ADHD may be its own distinct disorder, since many young adults diagnosed with ADHD did not have the disorder as children. And when adults were diagnosed with
ADHD, often the symptoms of inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsive behaviors were more severe than those seen in children, and tended to be accompanied by more traffic accidents, incarceration and criminal behavior, researchers said. “Our research sheds new light on the development and onset of ADHD, but it also brings up many questions about ADHD that arises after childhood,” said co-author Louise Arseneault, a professor at Kings College London. “How similar or different is ‘lateonset’ ADHD compared with ADHD that begins in childhood? How and why does late-onset ADHD arise? What treatments are most effective for late-onset ADHD? These are the questions we should now be seeking to answer.”
Our current hours are Monday thru Friday 8am till 5pm.
Tel: 713-774-5140
Raising Medicare eligibility age may save feds dollars but drive up total spending
H
ealthcare spending for some services dropped by nearly a third when people turned 65 and switched from private insurance to Medicare, according to a recent study. The decline was driven by lower prices paid by the Medicare program to doctors and other providers rather than a dropoff in the volume of services seniors receive.
The study offers a preview of the potential impact of raising the Medicare eligibility age to 67 from the current 65, said Jacob Wallace, a doctoral candidate in health policy at Harvard University who coauthored the study, which was published in the May issue of Health Affairs. “What this study shows, pretty clearly, is that while the government may save money by increasing Medicare eligibility to 67, overall national health care spending will go up,” Wallace said. Using the claims data of 200,870 retired people who transitioned to traditional Medicare from private insurance at age 65, researchers tracked healthcare spending on a per member, per quarter basis for two types of services, outpatient imaging and procedures. The study looked at claims paid for people between the ages of 62 and 68. When people turned 65 and enrolled in Medicare, the amount that insurers and beneficiaries spent on those services dropped 32.4 percent on average, or $38.56. The spending decline wasn’t tied to a reduction in beneficiaries’ use of health care services, the study found. Rather, once seniors enrolled in Medicare, doctors continued to see these patients, but at reduced rates. “It crystallized for me that Medicare, due to its large market share, is able to extract larger discounts from providers than other payers,” Wallace said. “Medicare is able to pay physicians 30 percent less than other payers, without leading to a reduction in access.” The impact on individual patients is less clear, since the change in their spending upon enrolling in Medicare would depend on the generosity of the private coverage they had before. But since Medicare generally pays less for services than private insurance, it’s fair to say that seniors might expect to pay less as well for services when they’re responsible for paying a percentage of the cost in the form of coinsurance, Wallace said. As for raising the Medicare eligibility age to 67, the study’s findings are consistent with a 2011 analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, the study said. (KHN is an editorially independent program of the ADHD is believed to occur in about four percent of adults. It is defined in clinical terms when a child under 12 shows at least six inattentive or impulsive behaviors that interfere with functioning and development for six months straight. - Two syndromes -In the British study of more than 2,000 twins, a total of 166 individuals were found to have adult ADHD, and 68 percent of those “not meet criteria for ADHD at any assessment in childhood.” The study measured ADHD in children based on mother and teacher reports collected at ages 5, 7, 10 and 12. For adults, who were between 18 and 19 when studied, a diagnosis was derived following an interview in which subjects discussed their own symptoms and behaviors. Researchers at King’s College London found among adults “a smaller group with persistent ADHD.” that endured from childhood.
Sudhir Mathuria Contact: Sudhir Mathuria Licensed Professional Health Life 360 6650 Southwest Freeway Houston TX 77074 713-771-2900 www.MyMedicarePlanning.com
foundation.) That study estimated that raising the Medicare eligibility age would have saved the federal government $5.7 billion in 2014 but would also have increased the out-of-pocket costs of 65- and 66year-olds by $3.7 billion and employer retiree health care costs by $4.5 billion. In the absence of the health reform law, raising Medicare’s age of eligibility would result in an increase in the uninsured, according to other studies, as many older Americans would have difficulty finding affordable coverage in the individual market in the absence of Medicare. With health reform, virtually all 65- and 66-year-olds would be expected to obtain alternative sources of coverage. Despite the fact that roughly two-thirds of Americans think the President and Congress should act quickly to reduce the federal budget deficit, a much smaller share say that they would support reductions to Medicare spending in order to achieve this goal (10 percent support major reductions, 31 percent minor reductions).Reluctance to reduce Medicare spending may be related to the fact that the public is not necessarily convinced that such reductions are required to reduce the deficit. Three-quarters of Americans believe that policymakers “could reduce the federal budget deficit without major reductions in Medicare spending.” Further, about half say that significant spending cuts to the program could be made without increasing costs for Medicare beneficiaries. Given this public opinion climate, along with sustained public support for the Medicare program, those seeking to reduce Medicare spending by different means, including raising the age of eligibility, may face significant public resistance. For Medicare, Healthcare and Long Term Care planning contactSudhir Mathuria @ 713-771-2900. Perhaps childhood-onset and late-onset adult ADHD have different causes, which “has implications for genetic studies and treatment of ADHD,” said the study. Analyzing the twins’ data, researchers also found that adult ADHD was less likely to run in the family than childhood ADHD, and was almost as common in men as in women. Typically, childhood ADHD is far more common in boys. “We found that those with late-onset ADHD exhibit elevated rates of anxiety, depression, and marijuana and alcohol dependence,” added the study. The Brazil study, which followed more than 5,000 people beginning in 1993, found very few adults (12 percent) with ADHD had been diagnosed as children, and very few children diagnosed with ADHD (17 percent) continued to have the syndrome as adults. This suggests “the existence of two syndromes that have distinct developmental trajectories,” said the study.
“We are a caregiver information and advocacy website that all Texans could use” • SENIORS FOCUSED WEBSITE Brian Mertz • TXCSS RESOURCE DIRECTORY CEO • UPCOMING CAREGIVER EVENTS • ADVERTISE IN OUR RESOURCE DIRECTORY
support@texascaregiversupport.com
Visit us at: www.texascaregiversupport.com
BEAUTY & FASHION
VOICE OF ASIA 19
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Facebook apologises for banning 6 Ways To Maintain Your ‘undesirable’ plus-sized model Detox Program
S
YDNEY - Facebook has been forced to backtrack after it banned an Australian ad featuring a bikini-clad plus-sized model promoting positive body image, initially saying the photo’s depiction was “undesirable”. The social networking giant blocked the ad for Melbourne’s “Cherchez La Femme: Feminism and Fat” gathering, saying the image violated its advertising guidelines.
since they make viewers feel bad about themselves,” said the letter to organiser Jessamy Gleeson, who posted a screen-shot of it online.
conclusion that we’ve set out to make women feel bad about themselves by posting an image of a wonderful plussized woman.”
Gleeson said she was stunned that Facebook “seemingly has no idea that plus-sized, self-describing fat women can feel great about themselves”.
Gleeson said Facebook later apologised for its actions, sending her a note admitting it had incorrectly reviewed the ad.
She urged followers on the platform to “rage hard at anyone who tries to tell us that some bodies are more ‘desirable’ than others”.
“Our policies are in place to help protect the community from offensive ads that can damage their experience on our platform,” it said in a screenshot Gleeson posted on Twitter.
When organisers questioned the decision, the Facebook Ads Team wrote back saying the ad did not comply with their health and fitness policy because “the image depicts a body or body parts in an undesirable manner”.
“Facebook has ignored the fact that our event is going to be discussing body positivity (which comes in all shapes and sizes, but in the particular case of our event, fat bodies),” she wrote.
“Ads like these are not allowed
Facebook “has instead come to the
“This is not the case here and I’m sorry for our incorrect review. We evaluate millions of ads per week and there are instances that we incorrectly disapprove an image that does not violate our policies.”
Padded panties? Soup cubes? The 1001 ways to boost bottoms
Boosting business: Two young women at a market in Ivory Coast, where ‘big is beautiful’ bottom enhancers come in all shapes and sorts, and at any cost, inquire about a booty boosting cream. by Joris FIORITI
S
ome like creams, others pop pills or splash out on padded panties. In Ivory Coast where “big is beautiful” bottom enhancers come in all shapes and sorts, and at any cost. Emaciated catwalk queens are no role model in this West African nation which a few years ago wiggled its collective derriere to the tune of a smash hit titled Bobaraba -- meaning “big bottom” in a local language. “You need to have good hips to be dubbed a beauty in Ivory Coast,” said a saleswoman named Sarah. “Men like women with a bit of bottom best.” Round is beautiful because it symbolises wealth and health, said political scientist Jean Alabro. It also heralds “happy pregnancies” due to “the crucial role played by buttocks” in deliveries, he said. At Abidjan’s biggest market, Treichville, a shop-owner who gave her name only as Evelyne does a busy trade in “grossifesse” (butt booster) or “botcho” cream. In Ivorian slang, or “nouchi”, “botcho” means “vast rear end”. The cream, which pot labels variously say is made of cod-liver oil, honey or shea butter, sells like hotcakes, and a couple of boxes stacked high with the cream lie on the floor waiting to be dispatched to neighbouring Ghana. “It’s my best-seller”, said Evelyne, and does far better than her pots of “nice breast” cream or tubes of “bazooka” to “firm up and enhance men’s members.” Dozens fly off the shelves a day, she said, despite the fact that at 15,000 to 25,000 CFA francs (23 to 38 euros, $26 - 43) a shot, it remains expensive in a country where annual income was around 100 euros a month in 2014. - ‘Guaranteed results’ -” Not a single customer’s come back to complain,” she added, saying “you can guarantee a result after 30 days’ use.” “It’s not like those pills where you puff up and then deflate.” Other “enhancers” sold in more sophisticated packaging are also available at Treichville, mostly imported from English-speaking African nations, notably Nigeria. Often made from corticoids, they can cause diabetes, high blood pressure or infections that potentially can lead to coma, said Fatima Ly, a dermatologist and venereologist in the Senegalese capital, Dakar. In that city the miracle pills -- nore often than not counterfeit drugs -- are causing a huge public health problem involving thousands of people every year, she said. Padded panties and butt boosters on the other hand are less of a liability, and far cheaper at 9,000 CFA francs (13.7 euros) a piece at Kader Camara’s store. “They’re relatively new on the market,” he said. “In the old days, women used to sew several loin cloths together when they went dancing.” - Spices He also has thigh enhancers for women with skinny legs that are known as “pistols” because they slip on and off, he said, mimicking the way a cowboy moves his gun in and out of a holster.
Another technique involves Maggi instant broth cubes, that staple of African cuisine, but as a suppository rather than as food. In Democratic Republic of Congo,
A
where the practice is thought to have begun, a song has been written about the wonders of instant broth and bottoms. “Women think it will add volume because it’s greasy,” said a young woman called Francine, a notion panned by Peggy Diby, a Nestle/Maggi spokeswoman in West Africa. “The broth is only for cooking,” she said of a technique likely used by women on low budgets. Women with financial means have the option of booty-boosting surgery abroad, and Parisian plastic surgeon Robin Mookherjee, who flies to nearby Dakar every month, claims to have treated “hundreds of women patients” from west Africa, notably from Ivory Coast, for 3,000 to 4,000 euros an operation. He says that even in 2012, after the Malian city of Timbuktu had come under Islamist attack, he performed surgery on women from the fabled town, more concerned about the legendary butts of Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian or Nicki Minaj, than the jihadist threat.
fter a full-on detox, it can be tempting to hang up your sports gear and tuck straight into some fatty foods. But adopting a few good habits can help maintain the positive effects of a detox program for longer. These simple solutions can even be followed long-term as part of a healthy lifestyle! It can be hard to know how to ease a squeaky clean body back into a regular regime. These simple rules can help detoxers feel the benefits of their hard work for longer. EAT AT A FIXED TIME AND NEVER AFTER 10 PM Your body will thank you for laying down clear points of reference. Try to take lunch and dinner at the same times every day, don’t skip meals and avoid eating after 10 pm. An earlier dinner gives the body a mini fast until the next morning. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER A big glass of water first thing in the morning re hydrates the body and helps it flush out toxins. But don’t stop there — keep drinking all day long to reach the recommended 1.5 to 2 liters of water.
DITCH CARBS AT DINNER The body doesn’t need a big boost in energy before going to sleep! There’s no point loading up on carbohydrates (pasta, rice, potatoes, etc.) right before bed, as the body will tend to store the excess energy. DON’T EAT FRUIT WITH MEALS Fruit is great for breakfast or for snacks, but when eaten with a meal it raises the level of sugar in the blood, increasing a meal’s calorific load. Plus, the acidity can lead to digestive problems in the intestine for some people. GET 6½ TO 8 HOURS’ SLEEP PER NIGHT It’s important to get enough sleep — but not too much. Sleep is essential for keeping the body healthy and balanced, and for regulating metabolism and appetite. CHOOSE THE RIGHT OILS Opt for rapeseed oil or olive oil, which are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, known for their antioxidant properties. Avoid palm oil, which is high in saturated fat, and sunflower oil, which is mostly made up of omega-6. SOURCE: Brandsynario.com
“Look Good – Feel Good”
Skin Specialty Series Part II by Bessie M. David, Personal Beauty Consultant, msbessie.david@gmail.com
I
n Part I of the Skin Specialty Series we discussed three basic steps to healthy skin; Cleanse, Exfoliate and Moisturize. Between each step is the opportunity to improve the tone and texture of your skin, and prevent further damage.
lar issues. Acne – Caused by bacteria, increased oil, clogged pores Aging skin – Causes are natural such as loss of volume, fine lines. Other causes are preventable such as smoking, pollution, poor nutrition and sun exposure Dehydration – Caused by lack of moisture or decreased oil production
Bessie M. David, Beauty Consultant.
Depending on what kind of skin you have, you might have different exfoliating needs. — AFP photo. Know your skin type. Your skin is either normal, oily, dry or combination. As we age, our skin texture and tone change. During this transformation skin can benefit by adding additional products to a basic beauty regimen. Understanding the science behind your skin is the most effective approach in treating the effects of natural aging, environmental, chemical and genetic changes that take place. The skin consists of three layers. You can control the health of the top layer (epidermis) aka, the barrier, and the second layer of cells. Both ultimately protect the bottom layer. The barrier can be protected or replenished depending on the current needs of your skin. On that same note, if you do not protect the barrier, the cells underneath can become damaged. Step I – Understand your skin type: Oily skin – Over-production of oil glands Dry skin – Lack of moisture (sometimes caused by under-active oil glands) Normal skin – The ultimate goal Step II – Determine your skin needs: All skin types can have simi-
Sensitivity – Caused by allergens Rosacea – Caused by bacteria Pigment-damage – Caused by sun damage, environmental contaminates Genetics – Freckles, internal aging Step III – Choose your products: First choose a product to normalize your skin. Secondly, choose products to repair, rejuvenate, and prevent further damage. Look for ingredients essential to your particular skin type and needs. Ingredients to look for: • Wrinkle prevention – Look for antioxidants, collagen, elastin, vitamin C, copper peptide, ginger, grape seed oil and hyaluronic acid
Choose your products. AFP photo.
Step IV – Follow a regimen for your skin type and needs: Morning & Night 1.
PRE-CLEANSE
Oiliness – Look for salicylic
2.
CLEANSE
3.
TONE
• Acne – Look for benzoyl peroxide, retinol, salicylic acid, tea tree oil, zinc, and beta hydroxyl
4.
MOISTURIZE
5.
TREAT & PROTECT
6.
EXFOLIATE
• acid
• Brown spots – Look for skin lighteners containing retinoids, vitamin C, cucumber, hydroquinone, niacinamide and licorice • Sensitivity – Look for salicylic acid, aloe vera, arnica, green tea and red algae • Sun-damage/Prevention Look for vitamin C
–
The key to knowing how to care for your skin is to understand skin type and individual needs for improvement. The best results will depend on your choice of products, regimen, lifestyle, environment and personal commitment. Your skin is a result of what goes
in your body, and outside element exposure. Care and prevention are the best solution, however nature and technology work together to provide us with options to rejuvenate our skin and correct past damage. There are many resources available through retail outlets, personal consultants and professional physicians. The more knowledge and education you have on the basics of skin and the ingredients available, the more confident you will be in pursuing your skin care goals.
“Look Good – Feel Good” are talk series sponsored by IACAN Indian American Cancer Network.
VOICE OF ASIA 20
ONLINE .COM voiceofasiaonline.com
Section 2
Business
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
VOICE OF ASIA
Email: voiceasia@aol.com
Tel: 713-774-5140
Government will not ease Dollar rises in anticipasourcing norm for Apple tion of Fed rate hike soon in India N EW YORK - The dollar mostly strengthened Tuesday as the market increasingly priced in a Federal Reserve interest rate hike in the next couple of months, helped by hawkish comments from Fed officials. The British pound, meanwhile, pushed higher as opinion polls suggest that Britain will vote to remain in the European Union in the June 23 referendum and reject the option to exit the 28-nation bloc.
Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook by Deepshikha Sikarwar & laxation under new foreign diRuchika Chitravanshi, ET Bu- rect investment rules for companies bringing cuttingedge reau | 25 May, 2016, technology to India. The policy NEW DELHI: Apple Inc. allows the sourcing condition CEO Tim Cook’s visit to India to be waived for cutting-edge does not seem to have borne technology, a term that hasn’t much fruit, with the govern- been clearly spelt out. The govment deciding not to relax a ernment has set up a panel to local content sourcing norm for clear proposals seeking relaxthe iPhone maker, which wants ation of this norm. to set up stores in the world’s “There was no technical perfastestgrowing smartphone son in the cutting-edge panel, market. no substantial backing to the The US company’s proposal claim that there was cuttingto set up Apple Stores under the edge technology,” the second singlebrand policy has been ap- official said. “A broad policy proved without any relaxation needs to be in place to define in the sourcing conditions, two what is cutting edge. It has to officials privy to the develop- be there upfront in the policy. ment said. Apple can set up Otherwise it would be open to single-brand retail stores in In- discretion and charges of cordia but it will have to meet the ruption.” Apple declined to 30% local content sourcing re- comment on the matter. quirement, they said. “Apple’s According to revised norms proposal is acceptable to us but we cannot make an exception announced by the Department for it and forego the sourcing of Industrial Policy & Promorequirement if it wants to set up tion in November 2015, comits own stores here,” a senior panies that bring cutting-edge and state-of-the-art technology government official said. to India can open singlebrand Apple had applied for the re- outlets without meeting the local sourcing norm, subject to
The latest in a series of comments from Fed officials in recent days signaling the central bank could raise rates soon came from Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker, who in a speech late Monday said: “I can easily see the possibility of two or three rate hikes over the remainder of the year.” government approval. Other companies that have sought similar exemption include Chinese handset makers Xiaomi and LeEco. The threemember special panel that considers such applications had recommended Apple’s case to the Department of Economic Affairs, suggesting that the company be exempt from the sourcing conditions. The panel consisted of the secretary of the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion, a member of the Niti Aayog and a representative of the administrative ministry. Apple currently sells its products in India through a network of franchisee-owned stores and sales crossed the $1-billion mark in 2014-15. Cook on Saturday told Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the possibility of manufacturing and retailing of Apple products in India, which has emerged as a key growth market for the company after global iPhone sales fell in the January-March quarter, the first drop in 13 years.
Government working to make customs clearance for NRIs carrying gold hassle-free by Deepshikha Sikarwar
N
EW DELHI: Nonresident Indians visiting India loaded with jewellery to attend a wedding or function and citizens going overseas carrying gold for similar occasions may no longer get hassled at customs in the near future. The government is preparing a framework to ensure troublefree customs clearances for such travel into and out of India. Stringent norms that were put in place to curb gold smuggling through personal baggage had led to problems for those bringing in jewellery for personal use. The Central Board of Excise & Customs is readying a new set of guidelines that will make it easier at customs ports to bring in precious jewellery only for personal use under the baggage rules. “We are examining the
norms. We understand that some people get jewellery for weddings and take it back as well,” a senior finance ministry official told ET. The initiative is part of CBEC’s ease-of-doing-business plan aimed at removing unnecessary hurdles. It has already unveiled a series of measures to make customs clearances easier and less time-consuming, including riskbased checks by agencies like the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India for food imports. Gold smuggling through passenger traffic has increased after the government raised customs duty to 15 per cent in stages to discourage imports. Stringent checks have been put in place to curb smuggling. However, these measures hurt passengers who wanted to bring back jewellery taken out for weddings overseas or non-residents bringing it for
functions as they had to undergo cumbersome procedures at ports. They had to get the jewellery photographed and complete paperwork at separate counter. The problem the government is faced with is how to allow movement of such jewellery easily while ensuring that the route is not abused for smuggling. Various options such as paying duty through duty through cards or online are being considered. Essentially, this would mean that based on valuation of jewellery, duty could be paid on entry and refunded when the person returns. This would ensure that even if such jewellery is brought in and not taken back, customs duty would have been paid. Courtesy: ET Bureau A final call on the matter would be taken shortly, the official said.
RETIREMENT INCOME PLANNING RETIREMENT PLANS INVESTMENT STRATEGIES GROUP BENEFITS FOR BUSINESS OWNERS LIFE, DISABILITY AND LONG TERM CARE INSURANCE Serving the Houston Community since 1987
Paul Shah, RICP® Financial Services Representative Princor Registered Representative Financial Advisor 713-496-3174 shah.paul@principal.com www.principal.com/houston ©2015 Principal Financial Services, Inc. “The Principal,” “Principal Financial Group,” the Edge design, “We’ll Give You an Edge” and the illustrated character are registered service marks of Principal Financial Services,Inc. Insurance products from the Principal Financial Group® are issued by Principal National Life Insurance Company (except in New York) Principal Life Insurance Company and the companies available through the Preferred Product Network, Inc. Securities and advisory products offered through Princor Financial Services Corporation, 800/24-1737, member SIPC. Principal National and Principal Life, the Preferred Product Network, and Princor® are members of the Principal Financial Group®, Des Moines, IA 50392. AD2953 | t508210mv
The dollar jumped to $1.1141 per euro around 2100 GMT from $1.1219 at the same time
Monday. It rose to 109.99 yen and 0.9932 Swiss francs. Markets are raising their bets on a rate hike at the July meeting, with odds above 50 percent for the first time in two months, said Kathy Lien of BK Asset Management.
After raising the federal funds rate in December from near zero where it was for seven years, the Fed has kept its powder dry so far this year as the economy slowed in the first quarter. Since the data has improved. Official data Tuesday showed new-home sales surged in April to the highest level since January 2008. While that data is known for high volatility, the blockbuster surge prompted analysts to see a strengthening in the housing market, a key sector for US growth. The pound advanced against both the dollar and the euro
as British public sentiment seemed to be leaning away from a Brexit. “Opinion polls have shown a growing likelihood of the outcome siding with the camp that wants Britain to renew its membership in the club shared by more than two dozen European nations,” said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions. 2100 GMT Tuesday day
Mon-
EUR/USD 1.1141 1.1219 EUR/JPY 122.54 122.56 EUR/CHF 1.1065 1.1101 EUR/GBP 0.7613 0.7749 USD/JPY 109.99 109.25 USD/CHF 0.9932 0.9895 GBP/USD 1.4635 1.4480
Dubai presents ambitious Expo 2020 plans Dubai presented ambitious plans Tuesday for its hosting of the 2020 World Expo, the first in the Middle East, with organisers hoping to attract 25 million visitors.
tory of World Expos, each country will have an individual pavilion, enhancing the ability of nations to showcase themselves,” organisers said in a statement.
Representatives of more than 100 countries gathered in the Emirati city for talks on the event, which Dubai won the right to host in 2013.
The Expo site will cover 438 hectares (1,080 acres) next to Dubai’s smaller second airport, Al-Maktoum International, which opened in 2013.
“For the first time in the his-
Panel discussions and work-
shops were held during the twoday planning meeting aimed at providing potential participants with details on the Expo 2020 plan and highlighting “business opportunities in the UAE for innovation, trade and investment, and knowledge transfer,” the statement said. The fair will take place from October 2020 to April 2021.
Kerala NGT ban could impact 20% car sales According to sources, the major impact will be on Mahindra and Toyota, and on luxury cars T E Narasimhan | Chennai The National Green Tribunal’s order on banning diesel vehicles more than 10 years old and diesel vehicles with engines larger than 2,000cc will bring down vehicle sales in Kerala by 20 per cent. On Monday, the National Green Tribunal Circuit Bench in Kochi banned light and heavy diesel vehicles more than 10 years old in six cities, Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Kollam, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur. The Bench, comprising NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar and Expert Member Bikram Singh Sajwan, also directed the state government not
to register any diesel vehicle in with an engine capacity of 2,000 cc and more, except public transport and local authority vehicles. John K Paul, president, Kerala Automobile Dealers Association, said around 20 per cent of automobile sales would be impacted in Kerala by the NGT order. According to industry sources, the major impact will be on Mahindra and Toyota, and on luxury cars. Mahindra and Toyota did not respond immediately. The government and manufacturers must take up the issue, said Paul, adding the industry must get one or two years for planning.
Lorry owners in Tamil Nadu are also worried because 30,000-40,000 lorries plying between Tamil Nadu and Kerala are over 10 years old. M R Kumaraswamy, president, Lorry Owners Federation (Tamil Nadu), said this would have a huge impact on lorry owners in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. It would affect the movement of vegetables and infrastructure materials between the two states, he added. He said 50,000-60,000 lorries plied between Tamil Nadu and Kerala every day, of which 30,000-40,000 were over 10 years old owned by driverturned owners. Courtesy: Business Standard.
EVENTS
VOICE OF ASIA 21
Blessing of the new Syro Malabar Catholic Church in Pearland Celebrations to be held on May 29th
T
EXAS: The new Syro Malabar Church, St. Mary’s Syro Malabar Catholic Church, constructed recently in Pearland, is being consecrated at the end of May. Built under the St. Thomas Diocese of Chicago, the church is a part of Houston’s St. Joseph’s Syro Malabar Forane Church. The blessing ceremony will commence on Sunday, May 29, 2016 at 2:30pm. The honorable Bishop of St. Thomas Syro Malabar Diocese of Chicago, Mar Jacob Angadiath, and the first-ever Auxiliary Bishop of the St. Thomas Chicago Diocese, Mar Joy Alappat will be present at the event, along with various members of all the churches under the Chicago Diocese, many noble priests and nuns from the Diocese. The ceremony will be led by the current vicar of St. Mary’s Church, Fr. Kurian Neduvelichalumgal. The members of the church will instigate the ceremonies by welcoming the Bishops with a drum’s show (chendamelam), decorative umbrellas (muthukuda), and our traditional procession. At 3pm, the prayers for the blessing will begin, and continue with the Holy Mass. After the prayers, there will be a public gathering at 6pm, when some special guests will join the celebrations. Notable out of these are the Pearland City Mayor, Tom Reid, and Stafford City Council Member, Ken Matthew. They will be joined by many priests, nuns, believers, and representatives from around the nation. There will also be a traditional dinner to honor all the guests. The festivities will continue with a musical performance by St. Mary’s Sunday School students. The event is expected to conclude by 8:30pm. “Our honorable Bishop, Mar Jacob Angadiath, gave us the permission to build a church in Pearland so that the Syro Malabar Catholics residing in Pearland, Clear Lake, League City, Pasadena, and Galveston may have a place to practice their religion. We were originally part of St. Joseph’s Forane Church, Houston,” reminded the Vicar, Fr. Kurian Neduvelichalumgal. He also added that the church, whose cornerstone ceremony was performed by Mar Jacob Angadiath on April 11, 2015, was completed hastily. He gives credit for this accomplishment to God and to the marvelous teamwork of the church members. He gave his thanks to all involved in the making of this church, especially the priests, mission representatives, trustees, Mission Council members, Sunday School teachers, choir, and nuns.
More on City & Community News visit www. voiiceofasiaonline .com
Houston Super Bowl Host Committee Names Festival, Debuts Countdown Clock HOUSTON (May 24, 2016) – Super Bowl LIVE is now the official name of the 10-day fan festival in downtown Houston leading up to Super Bowl LI, the Houston Super Bowl Host Committee announced Tuesday. The festival, a free event with music, food, games and attractions, will be located in and around Discovery Green Park in downtown Houston. More than one million people are expected to attend Super Bowl LIVE over the 10 days leading up to Super Bowl LI. San Francisco’s festival, Super Bowl City, drew 1.1 million people in February before Super Bowl 50. The footprint for Super Bowl LIVE will be roughly twice the size of San Francisco’s event that was held at the Embarcadero.
Elevation to the church in Pearland
On behalf of the church committee, the trustees welcomed all believers to partake in the
sanctification ceremonies on May 29th.
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Host Committee President and CEO Sallie Sargent said, “Super Bowl LIVE is an oppor-
tunity for everyone in Houston, as well as from around the state, to enjoy a great Super Bowl experience and be a part of the excitement.” Super Bowl LIVE is scheduled to run Jan. 27 – Feb. 5, 2017. The Host Committee also debuted its final Countdown Clock today in Discovery Green on the Brown Promenade near Jones Lawn. The 15-foot tall footballshaped clock, now counting down from 257 days to Super Bowl LI on its LED screen, also features a Host Committee logo on top which lights up at night. It is the fourth clock installed by the Host Committee around Houston. Previous clocks are located at NRG Stadium, on JFK Boulevard near Bush Intercontinental Airport, and inside the main terminal at Hobby Airport.
Visit www.housuperbowl. com for more information on the Houston Super Bowl Host Committee or follow the Host Committee on Twitter @ HouSuperBowl. About the Houston Super Bowl Host Committee The Houston Super Bowl Host Committee is the centralized planning entity for Super Bowl LI and acts as the liaison between the NFL, City of Houston, Harris County and the local community. The Host Committee is a private non-profit 501(c) (6) Texas corporation, and is responsible for Super Bowl LI festivities and logistics, including Super Bowl LIVE, the Business Connect Program, and the Committee’s charitable arm - Touchdown Houston. Connect with the Host Committee on Twitter @HouSuperBowl or on Facebook at facebook.com/ HoustonSuperBowlLI.
New ecopark2 location at Bush Airport offering 50 percent discount over Memorial Day holiday weekend
H
OUSTON — Passengers looking for a way to save some money while traveling over this Memorial Day holiday weekend can save even more than usual at the new ecopark2 location at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. For the Memorial Day holiday week, through May 31, customers utilizing the new location at 5021 Will Clayton Boulevard can use a coupon for 50 percent off the normal rate (two-day minimum stay) at the low-cost, on-airport
parking provider. That coupon can be downloaded off the airport website. The new ecopark2 location, which had a limited opening earlier in May, will provide 2,300 covered parking spaces at an affordable rate and also has a limited number of spaces with charging stations for electric vehicles, as well as 30 ADA parking spaces. With the largest environmentally friendly shuttle fleet at Bush Intercontinental, both ecopark locations offer an affordable parking option that still con-
nects passengers to terminals quickly and efficiently. The shuttle service at both locations operates 24/7 both to and from the terminals. Combined with the spaces available at the ecopark location along John F. Kennedy Boulevard, nearly 11,000 parking spots will be available at the official on-airport value lots at Bush Intercontinental, with about 4,000 of those covered spaces. Add in the spaces available at the terminal garages, and Bush Intercontinental customers have more than
27,000 spaces to choose from at the airport. “Our customers want affordable and convenient parking options, and the new ecopark2 location offers just that,” said Walt Gray, the Houston Airport System Assistant Director for Parking Services. “Both ecopark locations provide customers a way to get to and from the terminals quickly for an affordable price, and delivers the kind of customer-focused options and service they want and deserve.” The JFK Boulevard ecopark
lot also can accommodate oversized vehicles such as campers, large trucks, etc. The entrance for these vehicles is at the north gate located off JFK Boulevard’s feeder road. Reserve an ecopark space online at this link. Otherwise, parking availability at ecopark is based on a first-come, firstserve basis. To learn about all the parking options at Bush Intercontinental, including valet parking service at the terminal garages, visit this link: http://fly2houston.com/iah/parking/
HOROSCOPE
VOICE OF ASIA 22
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
Your Horoscope for the Week of May 27, 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 Your cycle is high. You need to be cautious about who you trust with your personal & financial matters. Time is on your side, so don’t rush any big decisions. Remember that a relationship is as much about friendship as it is about obligation. If you and your partner aren’t having any gains, it’s time to ask why. If the two of you were too much alike, there’d be no spark. Use your imagination & you’ll come up the winner. You are a survivor. Try looking up in reference books or on the internet.
Exhibit the benefits of the new venture. Peers may try to question your motives, respond with positive financial data. Collect & study the facts, you may be tested to remember, later. Don’t be too ready to accuse someone without knowing the facts, but you probably shouldn’t trust everything you hear. If you are selling something, you are likely to close the deals and get top dollar. People are your life blood, as well as a source of your wonder.
Scorpio (N,Y) 23 Oct to 21 Nov
Taurus (B,V,U) 21 April to 20 May By removing money from the equation, you allow yourself new avenues of exploration and expression. New friends can lead you to new avenues of social & professional exposure. Be yourself & you’ll be accepted & loved by all. Encourage others to pursue their talents. Community spirit might be upstaged by individuals who lacks rational. Listen to them, but don’t put too much stock into their sad story. Push the positive flow that will keep you and your ideas floating.
A high level of confidence will announce to others that you’re ready to get down to business. Communicate your intentions clearly from the very beginning. The secret to your success will lie in finding a compatible partner to bounce off. If you continue to argue on every point, then you may need to look elsewhere. You need to know when you’re wrong and when to admit it. Accepting a defeat or a setback with grace will make a bad moment much shorter.
Sagittarius (BH,F,DH,TH) 22 Nov to 21 Dec
Gemini (K,CHH,GH) 21 May to 20 June Enjoy the learning and bring the light to those who share your ideas. Check security issues and viable solutions will come to you. Everything will seem to be going in the opposite direction from what you had anticipated. Instead of letting it get to you, look on the bright side and be dazzled by what you see. Quick thinking could save everything. Strategy will take over once you can no longer accept the way things are.
Your ability to transform information and data into a valuable opportunity. Take the time you need to streamline procedures and improve techniques. Once you do, you’ll be able to reap rewards beyond your expectations. Gather together with others who share your passion and want to succeed. Your ability to encourage them will pay off in many ways. Their gratitude will be overwhelming and surprising. Family members will try to bring you into their web.
Capricorn (KH,J) 22 Dec to 20 Jan
Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 July Don’t jump to any conclusions right away, allow some time to soften your overall view of things. You’ll need the time to digest your thoughts & emotions. Patience will be required in order to understand others perspective. Reconnect with what excites you and rejoin the life that’s going on outside your door. By week’s end, you should make time to enjoy some peace & quiet at home. You’ll feel more confident in who you are.
A chance meeting will be the start of a fresh new partnership. Spend some quality time & realize how special you feel. Your entire outlook will be transformed. Gatherings may be heated, refuse to take sides in family disagreements. It’ll only cause you to make bad feelings. Don’t allow negative comments you hear to discourage your progress. Watch for opportunities that could soon become available to you. Take a moment to study the situation from all angles.
Aquarius (G,S,SH) 21 Jan to 19 Feb
Leo (M) 23 July to 22 August Regrets have a way of softening the hard edges. An old wound may be slow to heal. No one ever said it was going to be easy, but you know it’ll be worth it. Open your eyes to the reality that exists not what you perceive through your rose colored glasses. Look deeper and you will be able to make needed changes. Family affairs will work out if you look at the situation through others eyes. Investigate all promising secondhand information for yourself.
Virgo (P) 23 August to 22 September Stress your independence, creativity and style. Your personality will be bubbling. Take on the leadership role & make sure you listen your own words. Relax and make yourself feel at home. Be aware of the limits to which a business relationship can be stretched. Be open to new experiences, and remember to say thank you. By week’s end you’ll have an extra burst of energy. You’re eager to ask questions and not afraid of the answers.
If possible, try to get an extension on your deadline. Hasty actions could be worse for you than not acting at all. If you have more time, try to devote it to getting it right. Someone close to you will disappoint you. There’s no point in pretending to be objective, but at least you can be fair with your feelings. Partners in an intense friendship have many ways to communicate. Once you’re able to express your pent up feelings, you’ll be able to forgive then move on.
Pisces (D,CH,Z) 20 Feb to 20 March Set the standards, keep the flow positive & don’t try to preach your morals to others. Keep your private life private and your social life social. Your excess energy might create some problem of saying or doing something inappropriate. Others may not be in a mood to have their limitations challenged. Romance your opponent until they are firmly in your camp. The closer you get to someone, the less your differences matter. Allow room for variation. Mutual literary interest could bond a relationship.
YOUR AD HERE Call 713-774-5140 To get this space!
You can advertise your services on our website too! Visit www.voiceofasiaonline.com or call 713-774-5140 for details
VOICE OF ASIA 23
CLASSIFIEDS
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
JOB POSTING – P/T Graphic Artist ABC-13/KTRK-TV, the ABC/Disney owned station in Houston, TX, has a part-time position for an experienced Graphic Artist. The ideal candidate will have a degree in graphic design, web, marketing or related field; demonstrable expertise in graphic design, and 2-3 years professional experience using Adobe Creative Suite, to create content and graphics for broadcast TV, interactive or multimedia projects, and social media. Experience producing broadcast graphics and 3-d experience is a plus. We offer a collaborative and creative work environment. To be considered for the position you must apply online at disneycareers.com, ref job #372222BR Please upload a cover letter, resume, link to online portfolio, and list of references. Female/Minority/Veteran/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity No Telephone Calls Please
MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE DAY Don’t Get Frustrated When a Colleague FlipFlops It can be exhausting to work with a colleague who keeps changing his mind. Just when we think something’s resolved, we get an email suggesting another direction. How should you respond when this happens? First, pick your battles. Is this a one-off situation or a recurring pattern? What’s the impact to the business, the team, and you? And what are the risks in addressing the behavior — or not? If you decide to address it, give your colleague the benefit of the doubt. Avoid phrases like, “I am so frustrated by…” and instead ask questions like, “Could you help me to understand what has changed in your thinking?” Through open dialogue to understand the assumptions at play, you can move on to suggestions to remedy the situation. Offer to help the process by saying something like, “I’m happy to document what we discussed to ensure that we have the same understanding and take-away messages.” by Amy Jen Su WWW.HBR.ORG
For Classified call 713-774-5140
READ OUR HEALTHLINE MAGAZINE ONLINE
healthlinemag.com
VOICE OF ASIA Subscription Renewal Form Fax this form to: 713-774-5143 Scan and E-mail us: ads@voiceofasiagroup.com
Name: __________________________________________ Address: ________________________________________ City: ______________ State:___________ Zip:___________ Ph: ______________ E-mail:_________________________ Credit Card No: ____________________________________ Name on the Card: _________________________________ CVV #: __________ Exp Date:___________ Amount: $______ Signature: __________________________ One Year $30 Two Years $55 Five Years $100 We will mail 52 issues to your home or office! 8303 SW Freeway, Suite 350, Houston, TX 77074
Best Value!!!
6213 Skyline Drive, Suite 2100 Houston, Texas 77057
sphilip@llppc-law.com
VOICE OF ASIA 24
FRIDAY, May 27, 2016
He�l��
L���
WELLNESS EXPO
Empowering families to live healthy lives through education This expo provides a great opportunity for families to get to know Healthcare and Insurance Providers one on one, discuss, and open a dialogue with them.
WHEN:
Saturday 10 AM - 4 PM September 17, 2016
WHERE: STAFFORD CENTRE - 20,000 sq.ft hall The most convenient place in Fort Bend County with easy access from major highways like 59, Main 90 and highway 6.
Mark your Calendars. Reserve your date. Come prepared with your questions for healthcare providers.
SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES & BOOTHS AVAILABLE
Become a Sponsor OR Book Your Booth Early! Call 713-774-5140
Booths are going fast. Book early to get the best spot. For more details, visit us online: www.healthlinemag.com CURRENT SPONSORS
Part of our proceeds will go to benefit H.O.P.E non-profit organization to help Autistic children live better lives.
The most comprehensive health magazine for your family To pick up your free copy call 713-774-5140 Get free copies for your family, business, organization, and community faith centers (Up to 300 copies per organization) Educate your Community and Better Health for Family Initiative by Voice of Asia News Group
Home Delivery for only $12
call: 713-774-5140
We will mail 4 copies a year to your office or home.
April 2016
Now on stands everywhere
We distribute to: • Medical Offices • Dental Clinics • Car Dealerships • Emergency and Urgent Care Units • Retail Outlets • Private Doctor Offices • Select Hotels • Mail Direct to Zipcodes • Business offices • Restaurants • Hospital Lounges *With sponsorship packages.
• FREE ENTRY & PARKING FOR EXPO • BOOTH INCLUDED*