Voice of Asia e paper November 25 2016

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FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

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The Democratic Congresswoman May Tech Worker Visas Get A Job In Trump’s Administration Face Uncertain Future

Under Trump, Sessions

by Kimberley Richards (Romper)

T

he world has been closely watching President-elect Donald Trump’s every move since his stunning election victory earlier this month. Whether it’s Cabinet appointments or his various scheduled meetings, citizens across the country are paying close attention as many people (considering Hillary Clinton’s growing 1 million lead in popular vote) are still concerned about how a Trump presidency will play out in the new year.

One of those scheduled meetings on Monday morning sparked exceptional curiosity. In what may seem surprising to many, Trump met with Democratic Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard to discuss a variety of issues — but, for those not in the know, who is Gabbard, and what is her track record in government like, exactly?

Gabbard is from Hawaii, has a history in public service and the military, and has long been an advocate for environmental issues. As the biography on her website reads, she co-founded an environmental nonprofit as a teenager. By age 21, Gabbard was elected to Hawaii’s state legislature in 2002, and joined Hawaii’s Army National Guard one year later. According to her biography, Gabbard voluntarily deployed in 2004, and again in 2009, to serve in the Middle East as a specialist in a field medical unit, and a primary trainer for the Kuwait National Guard respectively. She was later elected to the Honolulu City Council in 2010, and elected to Congress in 2012 – making her one of the first woman combat veterans to serve in Congress.

Gabbard memorably stepped down as vice chairwoman of the DNC back in February, to officially endorse Sen. Bernie Sanders for the Democratic nomination.

So what was the purpose behind Gabbard’s unlikely meeting with Trump?

Apparently, the focus was on Syria and other foreign policy issues. Gabbard released a statement following her meeting with Trump, in which she made clear that her meeting was not about politics. A clip of the statement read: President-elect Trump asked me to meet with him about our current policies regarding Syria, our fight against terrorist groups like al-Qaeda and ISIS, as well as other foreign policy chalContinued on Page 10

Donald Trump sits with U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) at Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, U.S., October 7, 2016. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo REUTERS.

US Representative Tulsi Gabbard (L), Democrat of Hawaii. TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images

T

he main U.S. visa program for technology workers could face renewed scrutiny under President-elect Donald Trump and his proposed Attorney General, Senator Jeff Sessions, a long-time critic of the

ASIE completes 2016 with great success Honors senior engineers and architects, young engineer of the year and students Read Report on Page 9

skilled-worker program.

H-1B visas admit 65,000 workers and another 20,000 graduate student workers each year. The tech industry, which has lobbied to expand the program, may now have to fight a rear-guard action to protect it, immigration attorneys and lobbyists said.

Trump sent mixed signals on the campaign trail, sometimes criticizing the visas but other times calling them an important way to retain foreign talent.

Sessions, however, has long sought to curtail the program and introduced legislation last year aiming to make the visas less available to large outsourcing companies such as Infosys. Such firms, by far the largest users of H-1B visas, provide foreign contractors to U.S. companies looking to slash information technology costs.

“Thousands of U.S. workers are being replaced by foreign labor,” Sessions said at a February hearing.

A spokesperson for Sessions did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Trump transition team spokesperson declined to comment.

Poolkeshi Patel (2nd from right) was the awarded ASIE 2017 Young Engineer/ Architect of the Year. Also seen are ASIE members.

The H-1B visa is intended for specialty occupations that typically require a college education. Companies Continued on Page 10

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by Bhamy V. Shenoy

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ovember 8, 2016 will go down in India’s history as a red-letter day when the nation started the long awaited war against corruption by scrapping high denomination notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000. This war can be compared to Mahabharat war.

On the ethical side there are the modern age Pandavas mostly consisting of the general public led by Modi. Kauravas led by corrupt politicians are those business men who have amassed crores of black money, terrorists who have printed or have access to fake currency, and bureaucrats and politicians who have ill-gotten wealth by using their official power or high level connections.

Kauravas are helped by a tiny minority of economists, political leaders and TV and print journalists who have managed to be critical of the way war is being fought. Arvind Kejriwal who came to power as Chief Minister of Delhi by promising to root out corruption has declared that supporting demonetization is an anti-national activity. What an irony!

It is not difficult to understand the reason for the political leaders belonging to opposition to have come together to fight against demonetization.They are likely to be the biggest losers. They will not have access to black money now to win elections. They have to start accumulating black money again with new currency notes and by that time they may lose power.

But the most amazing fact is that despite facing inconveniences, general public has lent full support to PM Modi in his fight against corruption.

India has thousands of economists and hundreds of universities teaching economics. Still there are hardly any credible studies analyzing the short and long term impact of demonetization. Even what little analysis has been done is based on western economic thinking and models which is not relevant to India’s cash driven economy.

Also analysis is often influenced by whether one likes PM Modi or not. Even a leader like Arun Shouri who has always been objective in his analysis of India’s developmental issues seem to have lost his objectivity.

This is India’s third attempt to demonetize to fight corruption. During the first in 1946 Rs 1000, Rs 5000 and Rs 10000 notes were demonetized. The second one was in 1978 by the Janata government. Both failed to achieve the desired goals.

Other countries like Zaire, Soviet Union, Myanmar, Ghana, Nigeria, etc have attempted to demonetize their currency to reduce black money. They have also failed. There are some countries like Turkey, Indonesia, and Mexico which have demonetized their currency because of the falling value of their currencies and not to reduce corruption like India.

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

Demonetization: Will India win the war against Corruption?

Out of Rs. 17.5 lakh crore worth of notes in circulation currently, Rs. 14.5 lakh crore were (84%) high denomination notes which have been demonetized now. In ten days about Rs. five lakh crores have been deposited. More than likely before the expiry of depositing the old notes by December 31st, only about 50 to 60% of demonetized notes may get deposited in the banks. That will result in a wiping out significant amount of black money which will result in reducing price for assets like real estate and gold.

On the other hand if most of the high denomination notes get deposited and there is no proper follow up of those who have deposited, then demonetization will be a total failure. Even while follow up is taken up aggressively, and selective prosecution is implemented then also demonetization should be considered as a failure. After all IT department itself is not well known for honesty. In the changed currency regime, IT department officials could be lured with new notes by the corrupt to avoid paying the penalty of 200% taxes owed.

Government has also declared that they will also go after benami real estate who had monetized their ill-gotten wealth and if they succeed as they seem to be with demonetization, ill-gotten real estate will also be taken over by the government. This requires tremendous improvement in governance which is not likely even under the leadership of Modi.

Even those who are complimenting the government for

the demonetization strategy are surprised by the replacement of Rs 1000 notes by a higher denomination note of Rs 2000.

The latest development now is that there will be Rs 1000 note in addition to Rs 2000 note.

Only if the government is able to implement the circulation of high denomination notes (Rs 500, Rs1000 and Rs 2000) to say less than 15% to 20% of total circulation (considerably less than current level of 84%) and promote cashless society then it makes some sense.

According to some published reports (one of them by BBC) India is overwhelmingly a cash economy with 90% of all transactions taking place that way.

Since smaller denomination notes are used for transactions and bigger denomination notes for storing value, government could have easily stopped the printing of Rs 1000 and Rs 2000 notes.

By restricting circulation of high denomination notes, government will compel people to use payment system like PayTM (even taxi drivers and small business people have started to accept such payments), credit/ debit cards, bank cheques, etc.

Such a cashless society will result in less generation of black money. Government besides the implementation of the bold move of demonetization should encourage the process of moving towards cashless society. In developed economies money supply accounts for less than 4% whereas in India, it accounts for more than 14%.

During wars, one cannot escape a lot of inconvenience and people learn to manage with

them. In fact if people had not rushed to the banks soon after the declaration of demonetization, there would have been no long lines. These lines started to disappear after few days.

Also during wars, media does not publish stories to frighten people. Media has self censorship to instill optimism in the public to support the government.

Unfortunately in this war against corruption, media has done just the opposite. They have tried to sensationalize the stories of the impact of demonetization and overstated the inconvenience. It is a miracle that when such a large change like demonetization was implemented in a complex economy, people have put up with the inconvenience and there has been relatively very little unrest in the banks. Instead of highlighting such a miracle , media has concentrated on trivial conveniences like families suffering while celebrating weddings, tourists not able to buy luxury goods, etc because of lack of notes.

On the other hand the media has not put enough pressure on the political system on how Janardhan Reddy could spend crores on the wedding of his daughter. How did he manage to get required amount of notes to spend lavishly?. If Modi government does not move against Janardhan Reddy and also does not question the former CM, Yeddyurappa for attending the wedding, it would certainly lose credibility in launching the war against corruption.

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So far no country seems to have succeeded in stopping black money generation by adapting the strategy of demonetization. More than likely India will also face a similar situation. This does not imply that what the government has done is wrong. India may not root out corruption totally, but it will lay out a strong foundation to reduce rampant corruption if it implements demonetization strategy followed by Modi’s determination to improve governance.

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VOICE OF ASIA 3

C OMMUNITY VOICE OF ASIA

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

Second Front Page

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Joyalukkas Opens its 1st showroom in USA in Houston

H

OUSTON, USA, 19th November 2016: The globally renowned jewelry retail chain expanded its presence in the USA by opening its first showroom Hillcroft, Houston on 19th November 2016 at 11:00 AM. The Showroom was inaugurated by Mr. Joe R. Zimmerman, Mayor of Sugarland in the presence of Mr. John Paul Alukkas, Executive Director, Joyalukkas Group, Mr. Aniyan George, Mr Abraham Joseph and many local dignitaries and VIP’s.

The opening of the new Joyalukkas showroom in Hillcroft, Houston is a sparkling example of a well planned and successful expansion drive that has now become the hallmark of the Joyalukkas Group. The expansion drive also includes the opening of two more showrooms in Edison, New Jersey and West Devon Avenue, Chicago.

“Opening in USA is a dream come true. Houston is a thriving, prosperous, and prestigious city and we are excited to serve the exciting cosmopolitan mix here. I am overwhelmed with

ellery, Money Exchange, Fashion & Silks, Luxury Air Charter, Malls and Realty. The world’s largest jewelry retail chain has presence in USA, UK, Singapore, UAE, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman & India and will soon open in 2 new countries. The jewelry retailer currently has a customer base of over 10 million customers worldwide and offers over 1 million choices in all types of jewelry at each of its showroom.

Ribbon cutting for showroom opening by Joe R. Zimmerman, Mayor of Sugar Land the great reception and following brand ‘Joyalukkas’ is got in Houston. Our Showroom houses over one million collections and choices from every corner of the world to make every jewelry lovers dream come true,” said Mr. Joy Alukkas, Chairman and Managing Director of Joyalukkas Group

“We are very grateful to the wonderful people of Houston and look forward to delivering more choices, better value and an even higher standard of customer service at our showroom,” said Mr. John Paul Alukkas, Executive Director, Joyalukkas Group.

exciting Inaugural offer in lieu of the Mega Opening. Customers Purchasing Diamond, Polki & Pearl worth $2000 and more will get 2Gram Gold Coin Free. Also Customers Purchasing Gold & Precious Jewelry worth $1000 and more will get Quarter Gram Gold Coin Free.

Joyalukkas has announced an

Joyalukkas Jewellery is cur-

This international jewelry retail chain is also one of few retail chains to be recognized with many awards and accolades for its exceptional standards in jewelry retailing. Joyalukkas has also been awarded the prestigious ‘Superbrand’ status 7 years in a row.

The 10th Annual Islamic Convention in Houston from Nov. 25-27, 2016

Hindu American Foundation Houston Chapter Hosts Comedy with a Cause: HAF’s Annual Fundraising Gala Dinner held on Sunday, November 13 at India House Featuring Keynote Speaker Rajiv Satyal is a Los Angeles-based comedian/host.

Other HAF Speakers included: Rishi Bhutada, Seetha Aiyar, and Sheetal Shah, Senior Director based in New York City.

The HAF also held its speaker series e on Monday, November 14th, hosted in partnership with the Hindus of Greater Houston, featuring two leaders - Sanjesh Dhanja and Kiran Kumari - from the esteemed organization Pakistan Hindu Seva Welfare Trust (PHS). More info at HAF - Houston Chapter members and HGH members with sSpeaker Rajiv Satyal. www.hafsite.org/houstongala!

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OUSTON - The Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), a national grassroots level organization since 1969 of the most diversified American Muslim Community, brings to Houston the 10th Annual US South Central Region Convention in collaboration with the Muslim American Society (MAS).

This the 10th Annual ICNAMAS Convention will be held at the Hilton Americas, located at 1600 Lamar, Houston, Texas 77010, over the Thanksgiving Weekend from Friday, November 25th (1:00pm) till Sunday, November 27th, 2016 (12:00 Noon).

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VOICE OF ASIA 4

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

YOUR IMMIGRATION LAWYER

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IMMIGRATION FILING FEE INCREASE EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 23RD, 2016 Sharlene Sharmila Richards

Richard M. Alderman Interim Dean of the Law Center

Do Not Call Registry let’s you stop telemarketing calls Q. I received eight phone calls in one day from the same business. I asked them on several calls to stop calling. All of them want to talk to me about insurance.

Would that be considered harassment? If I can get sufficient information, could I sue them? I have sent the info to the Attorney General’s office. If I don’t answer, they just call more often.

A. You may be able to sue, but in my opinion it would not be worth the time or trouble. The better approach is to stop the calls. The National Do Not Call Registry gives you a choice about whether to receive telemarketing calls at home. Most telemarketers should not call your number once it has been on the registry for 31 days.

If they do, you can file a complaint. You can register your home or mobile phone for free.

If you have not registered your phone number, do so now. If you have, you should file a complaint if you received an unwanted call after your number was on the National Registry for 31 days. For more information, check out, https://www.donotcall. gov/ Q. Do I have the right to change the locks on my apartment door? I think someone else has a key. If I change the lock, must I give the landlord a key?

A. Under Texas law, a landlord must change or rekey the locks on exterior doors whenever a new

tenant moves into the apartment. The landlord also must repair or replace any defective lock at his own expense.

Unless the lease provides otherwise, however, a tenant may not “remove, change, rekey, replace, or alter a security device or have it removed, changed, rekeyed, replaced, or altered without permission of the landlord.”

This does not mean, however, that you cannot have the locks changed. Texas law requires that a landlord must rekey or change the locks whenever requested to do so by the tenant. In such cases, however, the tenant must pay the reasonable costs of changing or rekeying the lock.

Q. We had our foundation repaired by a company that gave us a “lifetime warranty.” Now that it has cracked again they won’t even return our calls. We are not even sure if they are still in business. What are our legal rights? What kind of an attorney do we need?

A. First, a “lifetime” warranty is for the lifetime of the company. If the company was a corporation that has gone out of business, you are probably out of luck.

Assuming the company is still in business or was a sole proprietorship, however, Texas has a law that can help you. If a business does not live up to its warranty, it automatically violates our consumer protection law, called the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. If the business “knowingly” refuses to comply with its warranty obligations it may be responsible for up to three times your damages. If you

prevail in a lawsuit under this law, you also are entitled to recover your attorneys’ fees.

I suggest that you inform the company, or, if it was a sole proprietorship the individual running the company, you know about this law and try to resolve the matter. If you cannot, you should try to find a consumer attorney who handles claims under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. If the amount of your damages is less than $10,000, you also should consider small claims court.

Q. I am the sole shareholder and president of a small corporation. I was told my business couldn’t appear in court or file a lawsuit without an attorney. My business is being sued for a small amount of money in justice court.

Do I have to spend a lot of money and hire an attorney to represent my business?

A. In most cases, a corporation may file a lawsuit or appear in court only through an attorney. The corporation is considered a legal entity, and if someone besides an attorney tried to represent the corporation, he or she would be acted as its attorney without a license. In justice court, however, any authorized agent, such as the president, may represent a corporation.

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USCIS is increasing its Filing Fee for most applications and petitions effective December 23rd, 2016. Applications and petitions postmarked or filed on or after December 23rd, 2016, must include these new fees or USCIS will reject your filing. The complete list of Forms subject to the filing fee increase can be found online at the USCIS website at https://www. uscis.gov/forms/our-fees. Some of the most common applications and petitions which will be affected include the following: Form for Immigration Benefit

Old Fee ($) 365

I-102 Application for Replacement/Initial

445

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I-129/I-129CW Petition for a Nonimmigrant Worker

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I-130 Petition for Alien Relative

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420

I-131/I-131A Application for Travel Document

575

360

I-140 Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker

700

580

I-212 Application for Permission to Reapply for

930

585

I-290B Notice Of Appeal or Motion

675

630

I-360 Petition for Amerasian Widow(er) or

435

405

1,140

985

750

635

Nonimmigrant Arrival-Departure Document

Admission into U.S. After Deportation or Removal

Special Immigrant

I-485 Application To Register Permanent

Residence or Adjust Status

I-485 Application To Register Permanent Residence or

Adjust Status (for certain applicants under age of 14 years)

I-539 Application To Extend/Change Nonimmigrant

370

290

I-601 Application for Waiver of Ground of Excludability 930

585

I-601A Application for Provisional Unlawful Presence

630

585

I-751 Petition to Remove Conditions on Residence

595

505

I-765 Application for Employment Authorization

410

380

I-824 Application for Action on an Approved

465

405

700

650

N-400 Application for Naturalization

640

595

N-470 Application To Preserve Residence for

355

330

555

345

Status

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Application or Petition

N-336 Request for Hearing on a Decision in a

Naturalization Proceedings.

Naturalization Purposes.

N-565 Application for Replacement Naturalization/

Citizenship Document

N-600/N-600K Application for Certificate of Citizenship 1170

600/550

USCIS Immigrant Fee

220

165

Biometric Services Fee

85

85

Note: 1.

Certain low-income naturalization applicants may pay a filing fee of $320 plus the $85 biometric services fee. For eligibility details and filing instructions, see Form I-942, Request for Reduced Fee and Form N-400, Application for Naturalization.

2.

The old fee for N-600/N-600K applications filed on behalf of a biological child was $600 and on behalf of an adopted child was $550. There is no fee for a Form N-600 filed by a member or veteran of any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces filing on his or her behalf.

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.

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VOICE OF ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 5

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

FORT BEND VIEW Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Tel: 713-774-5140

Holiday celebrations planned for Fort Bend with families in mind Santa visits Sugar Land Town Square

Tree lighting event on Dec. 1st

Snowfest in Missouri City planned The free Snowfest Festival will begin with pre-festival entertainment at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 2 followed by the treelighting ceremony and fireworks. From 6-9 p.m., guests are invited to festivities including the 3-lane snowhill, camel rides, moonwalks and photos with Santa at the Missouri City City Hall Complex, 1522 Texas Parkway. Visit http://www.missouricitytx.gov/ for details.

Fort Bend ISD prepares for new state accountability system

F

ort Bend ISD is preparing for the new statewide accountability system that is set to go into effect in 2018, even as FBISD trustees and administrators ask legislators to implement a more meaningful accountability system.

The Board of Trustees conducted their November Board workshop at Bush High School on November 7, 2016, inviting parents and community members to speak to Board members and District leaders during the first half of the evening.

Following the dialogues, the workshop included an informational presentation on accountability from Dr. Megan Evans, FBISD Director of Innovation and Continuous Improve-

FBISD Board of Trustees names new principal for Lake Olympia Middle School FORT BEND ISD (November 17, 2016) – During a recent Called Meeting, the Fort Bend ISD Board of Trustees approved Janis Longmire as principal of Lake Olympia Middle School.

She will replace Deirdre Holloway who was appointed FBISD’s Director of State and Federal Programs. Longmire has served as Associate Principal of Austin High School since 2014.

Sugar Land Town Square, Texas 6 at U.S. 59, will feature a free holiday photo with Santa and MRs. Claus, sponsored by Wells Fargo, in the lobby at 16190 City Walk, from 1-5 p.m. Nov. 27. The square also is collecting toys for the Fort Bend Rainbow Room. Visit sugarlandtownsquare.com or call 281-242-2000.

The 14th annual City of Sugar Land Christmas tree lighting in Sugar Land Town Square will be 5-8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1. Along with lighting of the 40-foot Christmas Tree will be a special appearance by Santa Claus. Children and families will have the opportunity to take pictures with Santa and will also be able participate in various holiday games and activities. Food vendors will offer holiday refreshments throughout the evening for a nominal charge.

Parking will be available in the Texas and Lone Star garages located in Town Square. A free shuttle service will run continuously from Mercer Stadium, 16403 Lexington Blvd. to the Town Square from 4:30-8:30 p.m. For more information, contact the City of Sugar Land Parks and Recreation Department at 281-275-2885.

www.voiceofasiaonline.com

ment.

Beginning in 2018, the state will transition from a four index system to a five domain system, with each campus and the District receiving six A-F letter grades: one grade in the five domains, as well as an overall grade.

Although the state has not yet released exactly how the letter grades will be calculated, approximately 55 percent of the campus and Districts’ overall grade will be based on the first three domains, which Board members noted are largely based on standardized tests.

Trustee Jim Rice questioned the rationale for the new system, believing it may have an adverse effect.

“This will help make sure that we teach to the test,” said Rice. “I find that very disheartening and disturbing because I think, especially FBISD, as we are the most diverse district in the state of Texas, to say one letter grade is going to explain the whole story behind one of our schools is ridiculous,” said Board Member Grayle James. “If our students are making progress year to year, I think that is a better measure of how well we’re doing.”

The state is set to release the set of indicators that will be used to measure and evaluate school districts and campuses by December 1, 2016. School districts across the state will receive provisional grades in the new system in January 2017. These grades will be given to schools and the District, as if the system were already in place. The official start of the new accountability system will be the summer of 2018.

During the Board workshop, Dr.

With 10 years of experience in education, Longmire brings strong leadership skills to Lake Olympia Middle School. Her dedication to the students and staff of FBISD has allowed her to build relationships and create a positive learning environment.

“I believe all students can succeed.

As the proud daughter of a severely disabled Vietnam Veteran, it is my core belief that no obstacle is too big to overcome,” Longmire shared. “We are all born to be GREAT, and while each one of us may venture down a unique pathway, the journey is what equips us to enjoy our final destination.”

She began her career with FBISD in 2006 as a Special Education teacher for four years, then as a Campus ImMark Foust, FBISD Chief of Schools, explained that Fort Bend ISD has proactively identified fifteen Priority Schools that are receiving additional support and resources based on student performance data from the current accountability system. These schools are also at risk of receiving lower grades when preliminary letter grades are announced.

There are ten elementary Priority Schools: Briargate, Ridgemont, Armstrong, Burton, Jones, Blue Ridge, Goodman, Lantern Lane, Mission West and Hunters Glen. There are five secondary Priority Schools: McAuliffe, Missouri City, and Lake Olym-

Janis Longmire, Principal of Lake Olympia Middle School provement Specialist. She then served as Assistant Principal from 2012 to 2014. Her entire tenure with FBISD has been at Austin High School.

Longmire holds a Master’s of Education and a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. pia Middle Schools, and Willowridge and Marshall High Schools.

“For the priority campuses, we have focused our attention on providing significant additional resources that are intended to specifically support and improve classroom instructional practices and ensure positive campus climate and culture to meet the needs of each student,” said Dr. Foust.

“As 2016 comes to a close, we will know more about the specific data that will be used to calculate the ratings, marking a significant change for Fort Bend ISD and Districts across the state,” said Evans.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 6

S

UGAR LAND - On November 20, 2016 CRY (Child Rights & You) hosted its 13th Walkathon at Lost Creek Park in Sugar Land. CRY Walk was organized across 16 cities this year. CRY America supports organizations in India and the USA and has transformed the life of over 618,915 children across 3084 villages and slums so far.

Mousumi Banerjee, 2016 walk lead, asked Pandit Suman Ghosh to inaugurate the walk. Guddi Shah and Ravali Bhavaraju did a great job introducing the entertainers and keeping things on schedule.

Children from Tagore Society enthralled the audience with their singing and musical talents. Dance numbers choreographed by Ruchika Dias of Bollywood Shake kept the crowd entertained. A video showing CRY’s efforts in helping children in Sunderbans, West Bengal was played. US Desi Girls danced to the latest Bollywood songs. This was followed by a talk by esteemed guest Dr. Nik Nikam M.D Cardiologist, author & talk show host who also answered questions. Pawan Sonti, Mohan Kothapally & Arushi Banerjee were the top 3 finishers of the 5K run.

Great W’kana café, Madras Pavilion and Kurrywallah provided amazing food for the runners and walkers. Murali Santhana and Dr Nik Nikam helped

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

CRY’s 13th Annual Walkathon – A Step forward for Children

Team Ind. to expand corporate headquarters in Sugar Land

S

UGAR LAND - Team Industrial Services Inc. has announced plans to expand their current corporate headquarters in the city of Sugar Land as part of its recent acquisition of the Furmanite Corporation.

An incentive package was created by the City’s Office of Economic Development and was approved by the Sugar Land Development Corporation to secure the retention of 100 jobs and expansion of an additional 113 jobs in Sugar Land.

Pandit Suman Ghosh inaugurated the walk, cutting the start ribbon. with photography for social media and print. Indira Bhavaraju, a CRY volunteer and Dharam Bali, national advisor for CRY helped with the logistics of the event. Student volunteers helped with registration, face painting and other tasks at the event.

CRY America thanks all the sponsors, media and volunteers

who helped make this event a big success. People can donate by going to www.cryamerica. org and finding “CRY Walk for Child Rights” under the Events tab. Find Houston walk 2016 to donate for a great cause.

CRY(Child Rights & You) America Inc, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works towards ensur-

ing children their basic rights to live, learn, play and grow hosted the 13th CRY Walk across 16 cities this year. CRY America supports organizations in India and the USA and

I

The Sugar Land Legacy Award will honor outstanding individuals and organizations whose efforts have made a significant, lasting impact on economic development and the overall economic prosperity in the City of Sugar Land.

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Inaugural Sugar Land Legacy Award nominations sought n recognition of the continued growth and commitment by the Sugar Land business community, the City of Sugar Land - Office of Economic Development in partnership with the Sugar Land Legacy Foundation is seeking nominations for the Sugar Land Legacy Award.

Audience watching dance performances by Ruchika Dias.

has transformed the life of over 618,915 children across 3084 villages and slums so far.

The Sugar Land Legacy Foundation Board of Directors will select recipients from nominations based on their commitment, business experience, tenure, service and leadership in Sugar Land.

The Sugar Land Office of Economic Development is partnering with the Sugar Land Legacy Foundation to recognize individuals and businesses that have made a significant, lasting impact on economic development and overall prosperity in the city.

The nomination deadline for the first-ever Sugar Land Leg-

“The City of Sugar Land is proud to be the home of Team Industrial’s corporate headquarters,” said SLDC President Steve Porter. “Sugar Land continues to be an economic powerhouse in the region thanks to our pro-business climate and family-oriented quality of life.

We look forward to a continued partnership with Team.”

Team’s merger with Furmanite approximately doubles the size of Team’s mechanical services capabilities and establishes a deeper, broader talent and resource pool that better supports customers across standard and specialty mechanical services. With the recent acquisition, senior management explored options for consolidation of their corporate headquarters operations and decided to increase their existing footprint in Sugar Land.

acy Awards is Nov. 30. Recipients will be honored during a business appreciation luncheon on Dec. 16 at the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land, one of the first such events at the iconic live entertainment venue.

For more information on the event or to make a nomination, visit www.sugarlandecodev. com/legacy or contact the Office of Economic Development at 281-275-2229 or ecodev@ sugarlandtx.gov.

VOICE OF ASIA 7

COMMUNITY

Chinmaya Prabha rejoices in a unique dual celebration japa malas in their hands, eyes closed and minds harnessed, was an unforgettable moment. Almost 200 children did their own japa of “Om Namah Sivaya,” holding ever so preciously their own little japa malas with earnest reverence. After the intense japa, all the almost 2000 japa malas adorned the idol of Lord Siva as the devotees chanted the Siva Sahasranamavali in harmonious unison.

The japa malas were left overnight on the main Sivalinga in Saumyakasi Sivalaya, to accrue more auspiciousness.

On the next morning of Nov.13th (Sunday), the huge Chinmaya family gathered again to specially conduct the Bhima Ratha Santi homam for the 70th birthday milestone of their beloved Acaryas – Sri Gaurangbhai and Smt. Darshanaben Nanavaty – as celebrated Photos by Jayesh Mistry and Rajesh Thatte in the traditional Hindu way. Invoking God’s

by Padmashree Rao Grace and the blessings of the Chinmaya Guru UGAR LAND - The Hindu Parampara, several homas were performed in the way of life is marked by the very space that had been specially sanctified by constant remembrance of the the glorious Rudraksa puja done the previous day. ever present Divine through meaning- Sri Ganeshji , the priest of Saumyakasi Sivalaya, ful rituals such as japa, puja, and homa. and Sri Raghuram Bhatt of Sri Krishna VrundaHindu Dharma infuses the celebration vana masterfully led the rituals. As the homas of every stage of life with inspired prayers and incessant gratitude. With that as the thematic backdrop, the huge Chinmaya family of Houston came together on the weekend of November 12 -13, 2016, to invoke the auspicious and cherish the revered in a unique dual celebration.

S

The rare Sata Sahasra Rudraksa Puja that reverberated in the hall of Chinmaya Smriti will be etched in the memories of the almost thousand devotees who came on November 12 which marked Shani Trayodasi of the holy Karthika month in the Hindu calendar. After the Ganapati puja and kalasha sthapana, the abhisekam to the special idol of Lord Siva amid the chanting of Sri Rudram mesmerized everyone. Then it was time to do the japa, “Om Namah Sivaya” with the special Japa malas received for the occasion. To witness the hundreds of devotees chant with the

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

Denton Cooley, Cardiac Surgeon Texas Medical Center dies at 96

concluded and the holy waters from the kalashas were sprinkled on the Acaryas, adored as Gaurang Uncle and Darshana Aunty, prayers were offered for their well-being in their years ahead together.

What followed after the homas was a delightful ceremony where Uncle and Aunty were showered with joyful affection by their huge Chinmaya family. It was evident that their life together had touched hundreds of hearts in Houston. So, even when Chinmaya Smriti overflowed with music, dance, and all expressions of love for the Acaryas, it could still not express fully the gratitude and appreciation for their thirty-three years of dedication to Chinmaya Mission Houston. The ceremony was a touching thanksgiving offered for the decades of the guiding companionship of the Acaryas. Accepting that, Uncle and Aunty credited everything to the Grace and blessings of Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda and the good fortune of tireless team of Chinmaya volunteers.

For more information on Chinmaya Mission Houston and its activities visit www. chinmayahouston.org or Jay Deshmukh 832-541-0059 or Bharati Sutaria 281-9330233.

Devotees performing the Siva Sastra Naam Puja at Chinmaya Mission.

minutes later they were able to restore the blood pressure and the patient’s surgery was completed. the patient went home 10 days later. That’s the person, the noble surgeon, I remember, not all the certificates, accolades, or pictures with Presidents, etc. How a human being performs under pressure says more about the character of a human being, more so than all the certificates and accolades.

Dr. Denton Cooley

by Nik Nikam, MD. Cardiologist. t is a great loss to the entire medical community, especially, cardiovascular surgery, where Dr. Denton Cooley, pioneered many cardiac surgery miracles for more than five decades.

I

I had the distinct pleasure of working with Dr. Denton Cooley at the Texas Medical Center for more than 3 decades and I had watched him perform cardiac surgeries in the operating room.

He was not only one of the finest cardiac surgeons in the world, but also a fine human being.

Once, He was operating on one my patients in the hospital. As the patient was coming off the heart-lung machine, the patient’s blood pressure suddenly dropped. There was no explanation, except perhaps, the patient had a serious reaction to one of the medicines. A number of approaches failed. Given the situation and tension, most people would blame someone else, throw institutes, or have a fit. However, Dr. Denton Cooley was cool under the circumstances.

He put the patient back on heart-lung machine to maintain the circulation and methodically try to analyze the situation, considering various possible differential diagnoses and trying to address them. Forty-five

Well, Dr. Denton Cooley made many discoveries in cardiovascular techniques, which are routinely taught in the training programs all over the world.

He was also a great teacher. With his patience and passion for teaching, he was able to train future cardiovascular surgeon coming from all over the world.

In his prime years, Dr. Denton Cooley would have 35-50 cardiac surgeries on any given day and he would work 12-16 hours a day.

Heads of the states from many countries traveled to the Texas Medical Center to be operated by Dr. Denton Cooley.

Dr. Denton Cooley built the world Famous Cardiovascular Center at the Texas Medical Center. The other person is Dr. Michael Debakey, at the Methodist Hospital, with whom I had the pleasure of working at The Methodist Hospital in the medical Center.

Each year we used to visit his, “Cool Acre Ranch,” for the best BarB-Q and some baseball. It used to be an all-day event, including the famous hay-ride.

Dr. Denton Cooley will be remembered for his lifelong dedication to the cardiovascular surgery field, his passion for innovation, his bold and adventurous willingness to try something new, a love for teaching residents and fellows, humbleness, and for staying cool under pressure.

VOICE OF ASIA 8

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 9

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

ASIE completes 2016 with great success Honors senior engineers and architects, young engineer of the year and students

Senior engineers that were honored by ASIE n November 11 at India House, Houston

by Dinesh Shah, MBA, PE

bad, India.

H

• Ashesh Srivastava also from U of H is pursuing Masters in Subsea Engineering. He is an Indian native from Jhansi

OUSTON -American Society of Indian Engineers and Architects (ASIE) of Houston was established in 1994 with a vision of “Building the Future” of young engineers and architects of Indian Origin. The year 2016, under the leadership of young engineer and current ASIE President Naresh Kolli, was completed with a thunderous success and brought the organization to an even higher level. The year was completed with a long list of successful technical seminars and tours, and concluded in the presence of 250 people on November 11 at India House banquet hall with a spectacular annual event of holiday spirit, family gathering and social cheer including a consideration of giving back to the community.

The event started with networking and social hour, followed by welcome remarks from ASIE President Naresh Kolli.

He then introduced Raj Basavaraju, ASIE 2015 President as an Emcee for the evening.

The evening kicked off with a wonderful classical invocation dance by a group of talented young girls under the direction of Archana Sharma with Anjali Center of Performing Arts. The Emcee then proceeded with the award ceremony.

The first award ceremony was to honor the ASIE 2017 Young Engineer/Architect of the Year.

The selection committee Chair and ASIE Vice President Dinesh Shah announced Ms. Poolkeshi Patel. Poolkeshi has earned a Master’s degree in year 2011 in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering from University of Texas at Austin.

She is currently working as an Engineer at KIT Professionals.

She has experience in drinking water and wastewater planning and design and has worked on several high-profile projects with municipal and industrial clients. She has been actively involved with ASIE since 2014 as a Board Member and Membership Chair. Under her leadership the membership of ASIE increased from 197 in 2015 to 249 in 2016.

Every year ASIE awards Scholarships to Students pursuing degrees in Engineering or Architecture programs within the Greater Houston Area. This year, with an overwhelming response, ASIE received 27 applications. The selection committee under the Chairmanship of Ravi Arora has unanimously concluded to award scholarships in different amount to 7 students from U of H, UT and Rice University.

Starting with $750 scholarship awards were given to each of below four students • Nitesh Kumar Mishra from Mumbai is pursuing his Masters in Electrical Engineering at U of H. • Kalyani Bhatt born and raised in USA is working for her Masters in Architecture at Rice University.

• Nitya Mohan from Mumbai is working towards her Masters in Petroleum Engineering at U of H. • Bharat Thakur, an Indian native of Chandigarh is also from U of H pursuing his Masters in Petroleum Engineering.

For three students, the committee decided to award $1,000 to each due to their higher qualifications.

• Vikhyath Gattu, U of H student, MS in Civil Engineering, a resident of Hydera-

• Anika Tanwani, from Bayou City of Greater Houston is pursuing Bachelors in BioMedical Engineering from U of T. After entertaining song and dance sequences, Raj invited the current Board Member, Chetan Vyas with KIT Professionals to give a glimpse of exciting ASIE events during the year 2016. Just to mention a few topics in various disciplines included – Leadership for engineers and architects, Field trip for Green Building design, Sugar Land Ice Rink for MEP engineering, High Speed Rail Project between Houston and Dallas, Structural Health monitoring seminar, “Fun to be an Engineer” and Legal and Ethics seminar. Chetan also touched upon ASIE’s outreach efforts including MathCounts Science and Engineering Fair of Houston, and Eweek Celebration. ASIE also participated in Community activities such as Radio event for Rice University students, Farewell to Council General of India P. Harish and Welcome event for Council General of India Dr. Ray. The best above all, ASIE organizes one significant event every year, which is a fundraising event for ASIE. This year ASIE invited the newly elected Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner to share his perspectives on an important issue of Houston Infrastructure.

With the outpouring support from main stream engineering, architectural and construction firms, it was a remarkably successful event and ASIE received countless compliments. In an additional effort to give back to the community, ASIE donated $ 10,000 to the Greater Houston Storm Relief Fund to benefit flood victims.

The Emcee kept the audience engaged with live entertainment items and continued the program with the “best” of the evening. He said, “For the last several years, ASIE has started

to recognize Indo-American senior professionals in the Greater Houston Area who contributed significantly to the various discipline of Engineering and Architecture professions. Tonight, we are celebrating professional careers of such 5 individuals with their induction into ASIE Class of 2016.”

The committee Chair Ben Bansal led the selection of five inductees. These professionals deserved the honor for their illustrious careers, accomplishments, ingenuity, entrepreneurship and contributions to the Indo-American Society and the community as a whole. These Honorees come from different walks of the engineering and architectural fields, however they share one thing in common and that is their dedication to their disciplines. The enthusiasm and commitment has resulted in decades of creativity and thousands of projects not only in Houston, but all over the country and even the world. Today, the engineering students and young generation professionals look up to them as their role models and inspiration as they move forward in their professional careers.

Mr. Jatin Desai, a Registered Professional Civil Engineer with 40 plus years of varied experience on multiple projects.

He is licensed as registered Professional Engineer in 24 states. Mr. Desai is the President of Maverick Engineering, a multi-discipline civil Engineering Consulting firm.

Mr. Divyakant Parikh, a Professional Structural Engineer with over 50 years of experience has designed many iconic highrise buildings in Greater Houston, different parts of USA and around the world. Many of his prestigious projects of distinction include Wortham Theatre Center and Four Leaf Towers of Houston.

Mr. Dinesh Shah also known as Danny Shah, is a registered licensed Architect in Texas. He is a President of D. R. Associates Architects since 1993 and has been in the field of Architecture for over 50 years. He has a long established history to de-

ASIE student scholarship recipients: From Left to right at the front row:Anika Tanwani (Mother is accepting), Vikhyath Kumar Gattu, Bharat Thakur, Kalyani Bhatt, , Ashesh Srivastava, Niteshkumar Mishra, and Nitya Mohan with ASIE members. sign more than hundred popular Brand Name Motels/Hotels and Schools.

Onshore Oil & Gas Production and Gathering facility projects in USA & Russia.

Mr. Dinesh Patel, the fourth inductee in the ASIE Class of 2016 is from the Mechanical / Electrical /Chemical Category.

He has been a registered Electrical Engineer in Texas and several other states with 40 plus years of experience in the design of Electrical System for

Mr. Umesh Baliga, an inductee in the Construction/ Project Management Category, is a Chemical Engineer and currently the Chief Technology Engineer and a senior member of Process C Global Discipline Leadership Team at KBR, Houston. He has 40 years plus expe-

rience in Process Engineering, design, startup, restart/revamp / debottlenecking of facilities for Oil & Gas processing.

With delicious dinner catered

by Hyderabadi House Restaurant, a really good of India House, entertainment provided by young artists and tireless efforts by ASIE program team, the holiday event centered on a good cause was a great success!

ASIA/US

VOICE OF ASIA 10

Tech Worker Visas ...., Continued from Page 1 use them in two main ways to hire technology workers.

Tech firms such as Microsoft and Google typically hire highly skilled, well-paid foreign workers that are in short supply.

They help many of them secure so-called green cards that allow them to work in the U.S. permanently.

By contrast, firms such as Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services, both based in India, use the visas to deploy lowerpaid contractors that critics say rarely end up with green cards.

Infosys did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A Tata spokesman declined to comment.

H-1B visas are assigned through a lottery once a year by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. This year, companies filed 236,000 petitions for the 85,000 available visas, a cap set in U.S. law. They are awarded to employers - not employees - and tied to specific positions.

Both Democratic and Republican critics have argued that companies such as Walt Disney and Southern California Edison, a utility, have used the program to terminate in-house IT employees and replace them with cheaper contractors.

Related: Will Trump and Tech Be the ‘Disaster’ Some Predicted?

Sessions last year urged thenAttorney General Eric Holder to investigate Southern California Edison’s use of H-1B visas in a letter than was also signed by Democratic Sens. Bernie Sanders, Richard Durbin and Sherrod Brown.

Disney and Edison did not immediately respond to requests for comment but have said previously that they paid foreign contractors comparably with local staffers.

The Justice Department in 2013 settled a visa fraud case with Infosys for $34 million.

Federal investigators accused Infosys of using easier-to-obtain business travel visas to import foreign workers who were required to have H-1B visas.

Investigators also alleged that Infosys told foreign workers to lie to U.S. officials about the cities where they would work.

In the settlement, Infosys denied the allegations but agreed to retain a third-party auditor for two years and to provide the government with detailed descriptions of what its visa holders were supposed to be doing in the U.S. Tech industry groups also want changes. FWD.us - the immigration lobbying group backed by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg - supports setting higher minimum wages and giving priority to companies that sponsor H-1B workers for

The Democratic Congresswoman...

Continued from Page 1 lenges we face. I felt it important to take the opportunity to meet with the President-elect now before the drumbeats of war that neocons have been beating drag us into an escalation of the war to overthrow the Syrian government—a war which has already cost hundreds of thousands of lives and forced millions of refugees to flee their homes in search of safety for themselves and their families.

While the rules of political expediency would say I should have refused to meet with President-elect Trump, I never have and never will play politics with American and Syrian lives.

It’s unclear what will come out of Gabbard’s meeting with Trump. Since news of their meeting spread, there have been some reports speculating whethershe’ll be considered for a position in Trump’s administration. It certainly will be interesting to see how their exchange pans out considering she’s considered a more liberal elected official – though her stances on gun control, and her criticism towards President Barack Obama for not using the term “Islamic extremism” has separated her from certain typically-liberal stances.

In the meantime, the world will continue to pay close attention, I’m sure.

green cards.

“We’re going to advocate for expanding the program, but we’re also going to advocate for reforming the program,” FWD. us President Todd Shulte said in an interview.

The current program mainly benefits big companies at the expense of both U.S. and immigrant workers, said Gaurav Mehta, a 32-year-old H-1B holder from New Delhi who works for a cybersecurity firm in San Francisco.

H-1B workers struggle to switch jobs without risking deportation, he said, which allows employers to pay them less.

“The current system is not working for Americans, and it’s not working for immigrants,” he said.

The top 10 recipients of H-1B visas in 2015 were all outsourcing firms, according to government data compiled by the IEEE. Tata Consultancy Services topped the list by securing 8,333 H-1B visas.

Amazon, by contrast, ranked number 12 and was awarded just 826 H-1B visas. Google and Microsoft ranked No. 14 and 15, with Facebook at No. 24 and Apple at No. 34.

Courtesy: REUTERS.

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

23-year-old Indian-origin woman wins local election in US

W

ASHINGTON, PTI - A MuslimAmerican woman, whose parents are from India and Pakistan, has won a key local election in the US state of Maryland which was dominated by anti-immigrant and antiMuslim rhetoric.

Raaheela Ahmed, 23, won the school board race in Prince George’s county of Maryland by defeating a long-time system administrator by an impressive 15 per cent vote difference.

She had unsuccessfully run for this position four years ago in 2012. Her father is from India and mother from Pakistan.

Her victory gains significance as her district has 80 per cent of African-American population.

She was endorsed by the former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steel.

“It’s interesting that on the same day Donald Trump was elected as president of the US, I as a hijabi Muslim young woman was also elected to serve in a public office. I think that speaks

Raaheela Ahmed, 23. (Image: twitter/RaaheelaAhmed) volumes about the diversity of American opinion, and that American dream is still well and alive,” Ahmed said.

“I’d like to act as a form of inspiration for other minorities that they can achieve what they will, given prayer, circumstance and hard work. This win would not have been possible without the support and belief that other

people had in me,” she said.

“For my young minority women, please know that at the end of the day, you are worthy of your highest inspirations. You have to believe that you are able to achieve them, even if societal structures do not yet allow for that. Because one day, those glass ceilings will break. And who knows?” Ahmed said.

No Hindus will be left in Bangladesh after 30 years: professor

D

HAKA, Nov. 22 (PTI) - No Hindus will be left in Bangladesh 30 years from now if the current rate of “exodus” continues as on an average 632 people from the minority community leave the Muslim-majority country each day, according to an eminent economist.

From 1964 to 2013, around 11.3 million Hindus left Bangladesh due to religious persecution and discrimination which means on an average 632 Hindus left the country each day and 230,612 annually, he said at the book launch ceremony at the Dhaka University (DU).

“The rate of exodus over the past 49 years points to that direction,” Dhaka Tribune quoted Dr Abul Barkat, a Dhaka university professor, as saying.

From his 30-year-long research, Barkat said he found that the exodus mostly took place during military governments after independence in 1971, its said.

There will be no Hindus left in the country three decades from now, Barkat said in his book ‘Political economy of reforming agriculture-land-water bodies in Bangladesh’ which was published on November 19, the paper said.

Before the Liberation War, the daily rate of migration was 705 while it was 512 during 19711981 and 438 during 1981-1991.

The number increased to 767 persons each day during 19912001 while around 774 persons left the country during 2001-

2012, the book says.

DU professor Ajoy Roy said the government grabbed the properties of the Hindus during the Pakistan regime describing them as enemy property and the same properties were taken by the government after independence as vested property, the report said.

According to the book, these two measures made 60 per cent of the Hindus landless.

Retired Justice Kazi Ebadul Haque said the minorities and the poor were deprived of their land rights.

DU professor Farid Uddin Ahmed said the government has to ensure that the indigenous people would not be affected or harmed, the report said.

Former National Human Rights Commission chairman professor Mizanur Rahman said there was no accurate estimation of the indigenous peoples living in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Adivasi Forum President Santu Larma said, “we need a people-oriented government. But the reality of state mechanism does not allow this to happen”.

Larma, also the chairman of the CHT Regional Council, claimed that over 50 indigenous groups were on the verge of extinction, but they want to live with dignity with the remaining indigenous groups.

Barkat dedicated the book to his childhood friends who belonged to ‘Buno’ indigenous group, but now remain traceless.

Lifestyle VOICE OF ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 11

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‘Tis the season for minimalist travel

STILL IN VOGUE

I

t’s that time of year when an already tight space on a plane, train or automobile seems even tighter, thanks to those extra holiday presents or layers of bulky winter clothing you’re wearing. Maybe it just feels worse because of the airspace intrusion of an oversized seatmate or a yapping emotional-support poodle.

Too many passengers think the art of taking less begins and ends with the packing adage “roll, don’t fold.” Not true. It applies to every part of your trip, from selecting the right seat to bringing practical, space-saving clothes, luggage and electronics. And yes, anyone can do it.

The less-is-more philosophy extends to how much travelers consume, and that’s particularly true for people who embrace minimalism for environmental reasons, says Joshua Becker, author of the book The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own. For them, downsizing means fitting into a smaller, more fuel-efficient car or refusing to play the loyalty points game to score an elusive upgrade into an over-thetop business-class seat with all-you-can-drink wine and fawning service. Minimalists are content with a downsized travel experience.

“We need far less than we think,” Becker says.

Decluttering consultant Debora Levi told me there’s a reason minimalism is catching on among travelers. The idea that you have to take everything with you is a direct response to the reality of modern travel, where airlines charge for carry-on items and personal space is shrinking. Minimalist travelers take less with them, but the most committed declutterers discard their unnecessary belongings even before their trip ends. For example, one of Levi’s clients flies from Miami to New York, then donates her winter coat before returning

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Luxury magazines defy print market gloom

by Christopher Elliott

This may be the right moment to bring up travel minimalism, which can help you make it through even the most claustrophobia-inducing voyage.

“Being a minimalist traveler frees up mental capacity to enjoy the experience,” says Timo Way, who has taught classes on traveling with less.

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

Top glossy titles pull more readers and advertisers as fashion, arts and lifestyle content retains its shiny appeal

L

The art of traveling with less applies to every part of your trip, from packing to selecting the right seat. home.

“People are learning to let go,” she says.

Francine Jay, the author of The Joy of Less: A Minimalist Guide to Declutter, Organize, and Simplify, says there’s something about the time of year that makes people go minimal. Nothing stresses you out like holiday travel, but having to haul a lot of gifts with you is enough to trigger a nervous breakdown.

“Packing lightly makes for easier, more efficient travel,” she says. “When you don’t have to check your luggage, wait for it at the baggage carousel or worry the whole time about losing it, you have more time and energy to enjoy your trip.”

Beyond “roll, don’t fold” and avoid checking luggage, what else can you do to travel minimalist? It can be summed up into three little words: Less is more. Don’t bring something you can buy at your destination, such as large tubes of sunblock or toothpaste, and when you’re done with your trip, leave the items you don’t need at your destination or donate them. This encourages you to buy things in smaller amounts. (If you want really small quantities, try a site such as Minimus.biz, which sells trial-size toiletries in TSAapproved amounts.)

Do something about your clothes. I spoke with hard-core minimalists for this story who buy underwear at their destination, then discard it before returning home. Others swear by synthetic travel underwear by companies such as ExOfficio.

I own a few pairs myself, and they allow me to dramatically

reduce the size of my carry-on.

You can wash them in your hotel sink, and they dry quickly.

Oh, and lose those bulky electronics, too. The most accomplished declutterers leave the laptop or tablet computer at home and learn how to do everything on their smartphone.

This holiday season, the line separating the stressed travelers from the relaxed ones may also divide the minimalists from the rest. They’re easy to spot in their dark clothes, dictating emails into their smartphones, unworried about the fate of their checked baggage.

Sounds appealing to me.

Three ways to go minimal • Make your carry-on smaller. If you need a hard-sided carry-on, you can still get the benefits of expandable luggage with the new Briggs & Riley Sympatico CX international carry-on spinner (briggs-riley. com, $529). It expands by 25%, then compresses back to its original size.

ONDON - With 100year-old Vogue and design and lifestyle bible Wallpaper producing their biggest-ever issues – and “handbag” size pioneer Glamour seeking to bulk up to a bigger, glossier edition – the luxury magazines appear to be defying the advertiser and reader exodus rapidly eroding the rest of the magazine market.

page, the smell of money and desire that wafts off the page.

Readers move into a different mode when they engage with a glossy. Advertisers understand this.”

More than a million British consumers stopped buying print magazines, or gave up their subscription, in the year to the end of June. Titles such as Loaded, Zoo, Nuts, FHM, Company, InStyle and Reveal have closed or embarked on digital-only reimaginings, while the 64-year-old music bible NME has been forced to go free to find an audience as paying print fans dry up.

Vogue’s centenary issue in June, which featured the Duchess of Cambridge on the cover, was at 464 pages its biggest ever – and contained a record number of pages of advertising (264). Time UK’s Wallpaper – in its 20th year – put out a record 508-page edition in September with a bumper 230 pages of advertising.

This is in contrast to the fortunes of the luxury magazine market, which appears resilient to the wider change in consumer reading habits in the digital age.

Nicholas Coleridge, international president of Vogue to Tatler owner Condé Nast, said that content on a tablet or iPad cannot match the experience of that “magazine moment”.

“It is very hard to replicate the physical allure of a luxury magazine on other platforms,” he sid. “[It is] something to do with the sheen of the paper, the way that the ink sits on the

While WPP’s Group M media arm has forecast print ad spend on consumer magazines in total will fall 14% this year, to £320m, the luxury market is breaking records.

“Many people say that press advertising is dead or dying, but glossy magazines are holding their own,” said Jo Blake, head of publishing at Havas Media Group. “For many luxury [advertising] clients it is first and foremost the prime medium, more so than TV, because they know competitors will all be in there. [High-end] magazines are still number one for those advertisers.”

Earlier this year Coleridge, whose goddaughter Cara Delevingne’s appearance on September’s Vogue helped drive sales to 230,000, pointed out that a number of its luxury titles are doing better than in the

pre-internet days. Vogue sold 135,000 copies in 1989 but now sells about 200,000 on average; Tatler has grown from 25,000 to approximately 90,000 and GQ is up from 40,000 to over 100,000.

Condé Nast’s latest trendbucking move is to ditch the famous “handbag” size that revolutionised the market when Glamour launched 15 years ago.

In a seemingly costly, and counterintuitive, move the magazine is to get bigger, to the size of Wired, even though paper costs are expected to rise because of the weakness in the pound since the Brexit vote..

Publishing director Jamie Jouning says that the move is fuelled by a demand from premium advertisers, who felt that the smaller size “has not always done full justice to their creative”.

Rival Hearst UK – publisher of Harper’s Bazaar, Esquire, Elle and Good Housekeeping – has started to take a different approach with some of its titles. Elle is being given away in beauty boxes, while Harper’s Bazaar has been offered at events such as the Blenheim Palace horse trials. Such moves have helped boost total circulation figures and pushed the brand to new consumers.

Even so, there is a sense that the digital revolution is looming. (-The Guardian)

• Un-bulk your wallet. Check out zerOz, a minimalist wallet (zeroz.com, $35-105). This is your wallet on a diet. It’s slim but doesn’t give up any of the functionality of a traditional wallet. It has a cash strap and a quick-access tab for your driver’s license.

• Shrink your stuff. I’m a big fan of packing cubes such as the TravelWise Packing Cube System (eatsmartproducts. com, $24.95). These lightweight nylon cubes let you stuff your shirts, pants and dresses into small compartments for streamlined packing.

Best of all, you don’t have to unpack everything to access an item — just zip open the top.

(-National Geographic)

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VOICE OF ASIA 12

Paralympians join top label in a bid to break fashion barrier Athletes and designers aim to get range of clothing on high street and into everyday life

L

ONDON - At a memorable London fashion show in 1998, Alexander McQueen sent doubleamputee athlete Aimee Mullins down the catwalk wearing a pair of hand-carved wooden prosthetic legs. It was seen as a groundbreaking moment for an industry not renowned for being inclusive.

That was nearly 20 years ago.

Today, however, high-profile disabled models are still few and far between, and fashion brands – from high-end to high street – do little to communicate with disabled shoppers.

Now one well-known label is hoping to change that. Teatum Jones, which opened this year’s London Fashion Week with a collection inspired by the LBGT community, is setting its sights on people with disabilities and designing a new range specifically for them.

Over the next two months, Catherine Teatum and her codesigner Rob Jones will embed themselves with members of the British Paralympic team.

“We want to develop ablebodied and disabled ranges that will cross over,” Jones says.

They plan to film and talk to the athletes about the impact of their disabilities and how fabric makes their limbs feel. The aim is to showcase the collection in London next year, using models with disabilities.

“Our creative drive comes from wanting to tell people’s stories – the stuff that fashion doesn’t normally pay attention to,” says Teatum. “Why isn’t disability being catered for in fashion?”

That’s a question Sophie Mor-

around £20bn a year.

Cat Smith, an academic at the London College of Fashion, argues that the purple pound, as it’s known, is not only ignored by fashion brands but by most retailers and organisations. She puts it down to a wider “societal discomfort” with disabled people.

“I’m fairly cynical about how non-disabled people view us, but I’ve been disabled my whole life so I think that cynicism has merit,” she says.

The mannequal wheelchair, designed by TV presenter Sophie Morgan, being used in a shop display. (Photo: The Guardian) gan, the disabled TV presenter who co-hosted Channel 4’s Paralympics coverage in Rio, would like an answer to. She welcomes the Teatum Jones project but questions whether it will have any major impact.

“Putting people in fashion shows with disabilities feels good on one level, but it still isn’t everyday life,” says Morgan, who has modelled for Stella McCartney.

Morgan was paralysed from the chest down in a car crash when she was 18. Now 31, she has spent much of her adult life campaigning for the high street to try much harder to integrate people with disabilities. Five years ago, frustrated by feeling unwelcome in most mainstream clothes shops, she designed the “mannequal” – a wheelchair for mannequins – and set about trying to sell it to the UK’s biggest retailers.

“I had such a difficult time,” she recalls. “Trying to make

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Morgan said she did manage to get the mannequal accepted

by Debenhams and the Adidas flagship store in Oxford Street, but some of the other big chains would not even consider using it unless they were planning a campaign specifically about disability. “It couldn’t just be put in and integrated because it should be,” she says.

Her Paralympics co-host, former basketball player Ade Adepitan, is similarly baffled by the fashion industry’s lack of interest in disabled people. “I’ve always thought it’s a shame the fashion industry doesn’t really see us as customers – it’s weird because the disabled pound is so strong,” he said. According to the Business Development Forum, 16 million people in Britain have a disability, with a combined purchasing power of

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One person uniquely placed to comment on fashion and disability is the photographer and documentary maker Giles Duley, 45, who lost both legs and an arm in Afghanistan five years ago. Duley, now working on a photography project called Legacy of War, which looks at the long-term humanitarian effects of conflict, used to take pictures regularly for glossy magazines such as Vogue, Esquire and GQ. He believes the fashion industry has never been representative of society, but is more an “illusory vision” of what society sees as “perfect”.

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Creative Therapy Dance with a cause

by Ranjita Biswas

D

ance, as they say, is the oldest form of self expression. It is also being used today by many practitioners as a medium for social change.

Veteran dancer Alokananda Roy of Kolkata is one such performer. A trained bharatanatyam, rabindra nritya and odissi dancer, her philosophy and social commitment have seen her teach convicted criminals to dance and present dance dramas to the public.

of different folk forms etc.”

What about her western ballet?

“Even that. My footwork is Indian, but the flow of my hands as in ballet, also gets expression in the movements.”

However, she agrees that “One has to know how to blend the different movements. For that, the grammar has to be solid. Can you form a coherent sentence without the knowledge of basic grammar? It’s true of choreography, too. Otherwise, fusion efforts fall through.”

She also plans out every

“The fashion industry will always go for the common denominator,” Duley says.

“They’ve never catered for people who are tall, obese or with disabilities. They just see it in terms of market value.”

Teatum and Jones say they are determined it will, while acknowledging that to make disabled fashion more mainstream it will have to be available at accessible prices. Teatum says the label is about to sign a distribution deal with a major high-street retailer. “Definitely, we will want to get them on board with our disabled range,” she says.

Morgan, summing up the feelings of many in the disabled community, hopes they will be successful. “We get plus size, we get petite size. Why don’t we have seating size? I’d love that,” she says.

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Alokananda Roy (Photo: YouTube) The journey to this point for Roy, now in her senior years, has been long, she reminisces.

She started dancing as early as age three, “almost instinctively”, with her mother as her guide. She was a member of Kolkata’s well-known Children’s Little Theatre (CLT).

“It was the golden era of CLT, fortunately I was part of it. At four , I performed at Jorasanko Thakur Bari (Rabindranath Tagore’s family home).”

Her formal training started under Manjulika Das. It was followed by learning bharatanatyam under Maruthappa Pillai. But she found her métier in odissi under Sanjukta Panigrahi. “It was a relationship that transcended just teaching and learning,” she feels.

Roy also learnt Rabindra Sangeet, collected a diploma as a student of Calcutta School of Music, and even trained in classical ballet under its aegis. As if this was not enough, she competed in beauty pageants and won the Miss Calcutta title in 1969, and was Miss India first runner-up the same year.

As a dancer, Roy has performed extensively in the country and abroad. She was also part of a memorial performance for 9/11 victims at Boston Center for Performing Arts.

Her own dance school is called “Chandanaloke’.

As a lead dancer and choreographer, Roy has staged many of Tagore’s dance dramas, Shyama, Chandalika etc. On her choreography, she comments, “I try to infuse my training as a classical dancer, the influence

movement before the production, as if in a film script. “Not for me an impulsive decision on the stage. I visualise the movements, whether odissi, folk or bharatanatyam, according to the mood of the song,” she says.

Roy is weary of many dance productions these days which “seem to pay more attention to acrobatics than to dance as a lyrical movement. Dance should be understood, it’s a communication media with the audience. Unfortunately, I can’t relate to many of these plays where showing off the prowess in acrobatics take centre stage.”

Asked which of Tagore’s dance dramas is her favourite, Roy replies without hesitation, “Chandalika. Because of the subject matter, which is close to my heart.” Chandalika is the story of Prakriti, a Dalit girl, who lives in the fringe of society because of her lowly birth. When a Buddhist monk, Ananda, asks her for some water to quench his thirst, she is shocked at first and refuses, but later gets a new perspective of herself as a person when he insists that all human beings are equal.

Alokananda Roy is a deeply spiritual person but avoids overtly ritualistic display of faith. Her outlook is reflected in her work, social commitment and interpersonal relations.

“Whatever I can do in my limited capacity as a human being, as a performer, I am happy to do,” she says humbly.

(-TheHinduOnline)

HEALTH, SC & TECH

VOICE OF ASIA 13

The iPhone is becoming expensive for Apple to make Analysts are growing worried about Apple’s long-term profitability in the face of declining iPhone gross margins.

by Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

G

iven how much product Apple shifts in a quarter, and the dollars that the company brings in, you’d think analysts would be over the moon. But declining iPhone gross margins have some worried.

The problem is two-fold: it costs more for Apple to manufacture new iPhones, and it’s hard for the company to jack up the price without putting buyers off.

Bernstein Research analyst Toni Sacconaghi had this to say:

Essentially, the cost of manufacturing iPhones is only going to keep rising.

Additionally. Morgan Stanley’s Katy Huberty believes that part of the problem may be down to the iPhone’s popularity, as Apple underestimated demand for the iPhone 7: “10-K data suggests Apple underestimated demand creating a near-term margin headwind as supply ramps. We also see this as a sign Apple approached iPhone 7 forecasts with conservatism. Given better than expected initial demand, Apple has increased orders to suppliers and is incurring expenses to ramp additional production lines, which is creating a headwind in December.”

UBS analysts Steven Milunovich and Benjamin Wilson feel that Apple is going to be increasingly squeezed by rising production costs, where the gross margin gap between the iPhone and iPhone Plus will close (traditionally, the larger iPhone has pulled in more cash for Apple):

iPhone 7 Plus (Photo: AppleInsider.com) Back in 2009, the gross margin for the iPhone was 57.7 percent, but over the years it has seen an almost continual decline, and today stands at 40.8 percent, according to analysts at Bernstein Research.

By 2018 iPhone gross margins are expected to sink to 39 percent. While other players in the industry would kill for such healthy margins, analysts see this as a problem for Apple.

“We believe that GMs [gross margins] will potentially become a larger issue as we approach the iPhone 8’s release, as the devices’ new form factor, OLED screen and increased functionality (wireless charging) will invariably drive up iPhone’s BOM [bill of materials], either necessitating a further price increase in the device, or potentially pressuring gross margins in FY 18.

How bad is the radiation on Mars?

H

uman exploration of Mars has been ramping up in the past few decades. In addition to the eight active missions on or around the Red Planet, seven more robotic landers, rovers and orbiters are scheduled to be deployed there by the end of the decade. And by the 2030s and after, several space agencies are planning to mount crewed missions to the surface as well.

On top of that, there are even plenty of volunteers who are prepared to make a one-way journey to Mars, and people advocating that we turn it into a second home. All of these proposals have focused attention on the peculiar hazards that come with sending human beings to Mars. Aside from its cold, dry environment, lack of air, and huge sandstorms, there’s also the matter of its radiation.

Causes: Mars has no protective magnetosphere, as Earth does. Scientists believe that at one time, Mars also experienced convection currents in its core, creating a dynamo effect that powered a planetary magnetic field. However, roughly 4.2 billions year ago – either due to a massive impact from a large object, or rapid cooling in its core – this dynamo effect ceased.

As a result, over the course of the next 500 million years, Mars atmosphere was slowly stripped away by solar wind.

Between the loss of its magnetic field and its atmosphere, the surface of Mars is exposed to much higher levels of radiation than Earth. And in addition to regular exposure to cosmic rays and solar wind, it receives occasional lethal blasts that occur with strong solar flares.

Investigations: NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft was equipped with a special instrument called the Martian Radiation Experiment (or MARIE), which was designed to measure the radiation environment around Mars.

Since Mars has such a thin atmosphere, radiation detected

by Mars Odyssey would be roughly the same as on the surface.

Over the course of about 18 months, the Mars Odyssey probe detected ongoing radiation levels which are 2.5 times higher than what astronauts experience on the International Space Station – 22 millirads per day, which works out to 8000 millirads (8 rads) per year. The spacecraft also detected 2 solar proton events, where radiation levels peaked at about 2,000 millirads in a day, and a few other events that got up to about 100 millirads.

For comparison, human beings in developed nations are exposed to (on average) 0.62 rads per year. And while studies have shown that the human body can withstand a dose of up to 200 rads without permanent damage, prolonged exposure to the kinds of levels detected on Mars could lead to all kinds of health problems – like acute radiation sickness, increased risk of cancer, genetic damage, and even death.

And given that exposure to any amount of radiation carries with it some degree of risk, NASA and other space agencies maintain a strict policy of ALARA (As-Low-As-Reasonable-Achievable) when planning missions.

Possible Solutions: Human explorers to Mars

“Depending on price increases, larger screens could increase ASPs. However, margins might decline if build cost increases outstrip higher prices.

Apple could end up selling Plus phones at closer to regular size prices.”

A silver lining for Apple is the iPhone SE. Rumor has it that the company isn’t planning to make any updates to this device next year, so that will mean gross margins for this handset should rise.

Interesting times ahead.

will definitely need to deal with the increased radiation levels on the surface. What’s more, any attempts to colonize the Red Planet will also require measures to ensure that exposure to radiation is minimized.

Already, several solutions – both short term and long- have been proposed to address this problem.

For example, NASA maintains multiple satellites that study the sun, the space environment throughout the solar system, and monitor for galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), in the hopes of gaining a better understanding of solar and cosmic radiation. They’ve also been looking for ways to develop better shielding for astronauts and electronics.

In 2014, NASA launched the Reducing Galactic Cosmic Rays Challenge, an incentivebased competition that awarded a total of $12,000 to ideas on how to reduce astronauts’ exposure to galactic cosmic rays. After the initial challenge in April of 2014, a follow-up challenge took place in July that awarded a prize of $30,000 for ideas involving active and passive protection.

When it comes to long-term stays and colonization, several more ideas have been floated in the past. For instance, as Robert Zubrin and David Baker explained in their proposal for a low-cast “Mars Direct” mission, habitats built directly into the ground would be naturally shielded against radiation. Zubrin expanded on this in his 1996 book The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must.

Proposals have also been made to build habitats aboveground using inflatable modules encased in ceramics created using Martian soil. Similar to what has been proposed by both NASA and the ESA for a settlement on the Moon, this plan would rely heavily on

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

The fight for U.S. climate action is just getting started

by Abigail Dillen

A

s world leaders gathered earlier this week in Marrakech to figure out how to avoid the end of the world as we know it, a surprising plot twist upped the suspense. After this election, can we still save the planet? Or more precisely, will the U.S. choose to act in time?

On Wednesday, the Obama Administration released a blueprint for decarbonizing the U.S., which, for now, is still the world’s largest economy.

While the timing of the release is bittersweet, the Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization is a 111-page affirmation that we can achieve essential carbon reductions, specifically 80% reductions below 2005 levels by 2050.

How? By not rushing to gas as our new fuel of choice, by not cutting down forests and reforesting, and instead doubling investment in clean energy infrastructure, and investing in research and development of new technologies that have the potential to remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Decarbonizing is a long-term project, but it has to start now if we want to preserve a livable planet. So, understandably, the mood at the climate talks in Marrakech, while resolute, was anxious. There is nothing hopeful about the Presidentelect’s statements during the campaign or in his selection of climate skeptic Myron Ebell to head the transition at the Environmental Protection Agency.

But even if Donald Trump genuinely believes that climate change is a “hoax,” the rest of the world knows that climate change is real. And even if he follows through on his campaign promise to pull out of the Paris Accord or its underlying treaty framework, the agreement will stand, perhaps with even greater support from key players including China and the E.U. Repeatedly over the last week, Chinese officials have affirmed that China is not abandoning its commitments in Paris, and European officials are suggesting that the E.U. may have to ratchet up its commitments to make robots using 3-D printing technique known as “sintering”, where sand is turned into a molten material using x-rays.

MarsOne, the non-profit organization dedicated to colonizing Mars in the coming decades,

More than 100,000 people march through NYC as part of the People’s Climate March (John Minchillo/AP Images for AVAAZ) up for a U.S. failure to deliver.

This makes sense. Meeting and exceeding the Paris goals is a matter of profound selfinterest for every nation given the inconceivably high costs of temperature rise on the one hand and on the other, the extraordinary opportunity to create new wealth with a transition to clean energy.

That economic opportunity is not lost on the business community. Yesterday, more than 360 businesses and investors, including many Fortune 500 companies including General Mills, DuPont, Intel, and Hilton issued a joint statement warning that “Failure to build a lowcarbon economy puts American prosperity at risk.” Major players like Walmart and Microsoft are already making enormous investments in renewable energy to run their operations. Even Exxon has issued a statement supporting the Paris agreement as “an important step forward by world governments in addressing the serious risks of climate change.”

Addressing a standing-room only crowd in Marrakech, John Kerry offered assurances for the future “regardless of what policy might be chosen, because of the marketplace.” It’s absolutely correct that clean energy resources have arrived and they can and should outcompete fossil fuels. But it’s also essential to recognize that the market alone will not accomplish the imperative shift to clean energy in the U.S. It will be a fight to deploy clean energy on the scale and timeline that is required. also has proposals for how to shield Martian settlers. Addressing the issue of radiation, the organization has proposed building shielding into the mission’s spacecraft, transit vehicle, and habitation module. (Space.com)

Right now, low gas prices and a suite of overdue environmental standards are driving coal out of the power sector. With or without the Clean Power Plan, which Trump has promised to kill, that trend can continue.

But forward progress will entail hard-fought battles in the courts and in Congress to preserve our strong environmental laws. Fortunately, public support for clean air and clean water is strong, and we have powerful legal tools to prevent the weakening of health and environmental protections.

It will also be a fight to fend off a rush to gas and ramp up clean energy instead. Even now, clean energy is under constant attack by fossil fuel interests and utilities that are resisting change. The good news is that these fights are playing out in the states, and there is limited federal influence on their outcomes. It has become possible to make the case that clean energy — not coal or gas — is the best economic choice for electricity customers, and clean energy advocates are winning that case even in red states and swing states.

The federal system in the U.S. has proven to be essential at other moments in our history. If the new administration is as hostile to the environment as the Trump campaign would suggest, states can become the foil to the federal government.

And cities can too, because climate solutions begin at the scale of the city. With or without the support of the President, the majority of people in the U.S. who care about climate change can force progress. It will be a fight, but it’s winnable. As John Kerry implored climate leaders from around the world in a passionate invocation of Winston Churchill, this is the moment for us all not just to do our best but to do what is necessary.

Online harassment affects half of Americans: study

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A S H I N G TO N , AFP | 11/22/2016 - Almost half of US internet users say they have been a victim of online harassment or abuse ranging from name-calling to stalking to physical threats, a survey showed Monday.

Women, the under-30s, and people identifying as lesbian, gay, or bisexual were all more likely to experience such harassment -- and were also more likely to self-censor what they post online as a result, researchers found.

Forty-seven percent of people reported experiencing at least one form or online harassment or unwanted contact, according to the study by the Data & Society Research Institute and Center for Innovative Public Health Research.

More than a third (36 percent) had suffered “direct harassment,” including be-

ing called offensive names, threatened physically or stalked.

Three in 10 said they had been victims of “invasion of privacy,” including having sensitive data or photographs stolen or posted without their permission, or having their online activity tracked.

A large majority of people -- 72 percent -- also said they had witnessed such conduct online.

“This study shows that not everyone has the same kind of experiences online -- so if you don’t personally see or experience much harassment, that doesn’t mean that isn’t the case for many other Americans,” lead researcher Amanda Lenhart said.

“These findings show that the presence -- or threat -- of online harassment can have effects on the overall tone of online discourse, even be-

yond those who are directly targeted,” lead researcher Amanda Lenhart said.

Most of those who experienced harassment had taken steps to protect themselves.

Some 43 percent changed their email address or phone number, or created a new social media profile under a different name; 33 percent asked for help from a friend, family member, law enforcement, or domestic violence support organization.

One in four either reported or flagged unwelcome content or disconnected from online networks or social media altogether, the researchers found.

Social networks have been taking steps to curb online abuse and bullying. Most recently, Twitter began rolling out a tool that allows users to “mute” unwelcome comments from so-called “trolls.”

Young Life

VOICE OF ASIA 14

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Here’s what President Trump means for your student loans

by Molly Hensley-Clancy

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resident-elect Donald Trump has said he plans to make dramatic changes to the student loan system, handing control of federal loans back to big banks, and making it more difficult for students in degree programs, like liberal arts, to borrow money.

Here are a few changes borrowers could be looking at.

Income-based repayment programs are probably safe for now.

In the short term, the way borrowers pay back their loans isn’t likely to change much, if at all, under Trump. In October, he proposed a student loan repayment plan that looked surprisingly similar to the one already put in place by President Obama. It would allow borrowers to pay back their federal loans as a portion of their income — though at a slightly higher percentage, and for a shorter period of time, than the current plan calls for.

Trump’s plan would require borrowers to make repayments equal to 12.5% of their income, for 15 years, while the current system requires payments of 10% for 20 years. Some experts say Trump’s system would benefit borrowers with high loan balances, like graduate students, and do very little for low-income borrowers.

But several other government loan forgiveness programs aren’t guaranteed to stick around under the new administration. Trump has indicated he would consider getting rid of public service loan forgiveness, which wipes out the loans of those who work in publicsector jobs after 10 years of loan repayment.

And many have speculated that the Obama administration’s push to secure loan forgiveness for defrauded for-profit college students is likely to grind to a halt under a Trump administra-

tion. The efforts, which have required large amounts of man power and effort on the administration’s part, are unlikely to be prioritized by Trump’s team, many believe.

and hoping for policy changes like the one Trump’s administration might embrace.

Trump could hand federal student loans over to big banks.

Clovis also floated an even more radical idea: that it should be more difficult, or more costly, to borrow money from the federal government based on what you choose to study.

There are indications that the Trump administration could make moves to drastically alter the student loan landscape.

Sam Clovis, the campaign’s cochair, said in a May interview with Inside Higher Education that the Trump administration would look to make student lending “marketplace driven,” taking the role of creating student loans out of the hands of the federal government and giving it to banks, allowing them to essentially act as a middleman in student lending.

Such a change could be bad news for low-income students, because the federal government offers student loans with much lower interest rates than banks typically would. Privatizing student loans could make them substantially more expensive for borrowers. Alternately, in order to keep down costs for students, taxpayers could end up subsidizing banks with fees and guaranteed interest rates.

Privatization probably wouldn’t do much for borrowers, but it would be great for banks and private lenders.

Student loan giant Navient has been one of the best performing companies in the S&P 500 index since Trump’s victory, with its stock rising 26% as the prospect of the privatization of student lending tantalizes investors.

Before 2010, when private lenders had a role in creating federal loans, Navient — then part of Sallie Mae — was the biggest player. But when the government kicked private lenders out of the federal loan business, Navient was left floundering, servicing an evershrinking portfolio of old loans

I

“Scholarship money doesn’t have to be paid back, and it can significantly reduce outof-pocket college costs for families,” says Martha Holler, senior vice president at Sallie Mae, who also points out that scholarships are not just for star football players and valedictorians.

From scholarships for dart players and vegetarians to filmmakers and those fluent in Klingon, available awards run the gamut and extend well beyond academics or athletics to a wide range of activities, interests, and affiliations.

“Have a passion for designing greeting cards? There’s a scholarship for that! In-

With this in mind, Holler and the experts at Sallie Mae are offering the following scholarship tips.

• Be thorough. Don’t overlook smaller scholarships.

Even a few hundred dollars can help offset the cost of textbooks and supplies.

• Be proactive. Apply for scholarships every year. Approximately 50 percent of available scholarships are for students already enrolled in college.

• Be diligent. Pay attention to details. Follow instructions and proofread carefully.

• Be careful. Never pay for scholarships or for scholarship searches. School counselors and school financial aid offices can recommend reputable options. One such site is Scholarship Search by Sallie Mae, a free scholarship search tool that is home to five million scholarships

Smiling at the top of the world

The Trump administration would accomplish this by forcing colleges to share in some of the “risk” associated with their students’ loans, meaning they’ll bear a financial penalty if students can’t pay them back. “Risk-sharing,” Clovis said, would be passed along to students, meaning that colleges and banks could charge higher interest rates to students whose degrees were less likely to result in lucrative employment prospects.

“If you are going to study 16th-century French art, more power to you. I support the arts,” Clovis told Inside Higher Ed. “But you are not going to get a job.”

Trump said he would drive down the cost of college by easing regulations on schools.

Part of Trump’s bid to deal with the student debt crisis, he said in his October speech, is to cut back on federal regulations, which some conservatives have said create extra expenses that are partially responsible for rising tuition.

The slashing of regulations could apply especially to forprofit colleges, which have faced intense regulatory pressure under President Obama, including a set of strict rules that would cut off federal student aid to programs where too many students did not make enough money to pay back their loans.

The Trump transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

Photo credit: Antonioguillem - Fotolia.com

terested in helping people understand the perils of texting when driving? There’s a scholarship for that too,” says Holler.

Tel: 713-774-5140

Trump could make it harder to borrow money if you’re studying the liberal arts.

Tips to Land a College Scholarship

f you are college-bound or already enrolled, experts say it’s worth investing the time to investigate scholarship opportunities -- even if you think you may not be eligible for most opportunities. According to a recent study, more than a third of college costs in the U.S. were covered by scholarships and grants in the 2015-2016 academic year.

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

valued at $24 billion dollars. The tool responds with matches that identify relevant scholarships and their award amounts, application requirements, and deadlines, and it automatically sends updates when it identifies new matches. Those who register are automatically eligible to win the Plan for College Sweepstakes, which awards $1,000 each month to a winner selected at random.

• Be on time. Meet deadlines. If an application can’t be submitted electronically, use certified mail. Stay organized and ahead of deadlines by using automated calendar alerts.

For more scholarship tips, visit SallieMae.com/ScholarshipSearch.

College scholarships come in all shapes and sizes and billions of dollars are awarded each year. By applying to all the scholarships for which you are eligible, you can be sure you are not passing up any opportunity to reduce your potential debt down the line.

(Source: StatePoint)

A nomadic tribesboy reacts to having is photo taken in rural Tibet. (Photo: Sarawut Intarob)

Autistic teen chef launches first cookbook to fund charity

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utistic teen chef Chase Bailey, whose www. chasenyurface.com cooking show has become an online hit, is launching his first cookbook today with the aim of celebrating life as well as raising money to help other people with autism.

Featuring 75 simple, quick and easy recipes that 15-year old Chase has developed, all accompanied by mouthwatering photography, fun facts and anecdotes, The Official Chase ‘N Yur Face Cookbook (Chase ‘N Yur Face Media LLC, $24.95) includes an endorsement from Chef Mario Batali, who Chase cooked alongside on The Chew.

Young chef Chase Bailey in the kitchen . (Photo: YouTube) Chase’s mom, Mary, takes up the story:

15-year old Chase Bailey is an aspiring chef who also happens to be autistic. Chase has been hosting Chase ‘N Yur Face, his hugely successful YouTube cooking show, for over two years. He’s cooked with Roy Choi, Mario Batali, Becky Reams, and Choc-Chick Founder, Galia Orme. Restauranteur and Food Network personality, Guy Fieri, is also one of Chase’s many fans!

“When Chase was little, he had some serious food aversions, which is common among people with an autism diagnosis. He would only eat five different foods. Then one day I noticed how drawn he was to TV cooking programs. Long story short, food became his world— he started overcoming his aversions and even started trying exotic foods. He also decided he wanted to be a chef and have his own cooking show.”

Using part of the book’s proceeds, Chase has decided to set up his own foundation www. chaseyurdreams.org to provide grants to people with autism to help them with their dreams of living independently.

“It began simply enough with me filming Chase cooking at home and posting the results on YouTube. People loved it! Soon Chase started inviting chefs and other foodies to join him on the show.

Roy Choi, Becky Reams, Galia Orme, Anne Scioscia, and Fuschia Sumner are just some of the stars who have shared their recipes with him on Chase ‘N Yur Face.”

Chase was then asked to be a guest speaker and chef at the 2015 Autism Speaks Los Angeles Celebrity Chef Gala, followed by appearances on The Chew with Mario Batali, and the Meredith Vieira Show.

Recently, Chase decided he wanted to help people like him achieve their dreams and that’s when the idea of the cookbook and the Foundation came into being. It seemed to be the perfect combination to raise money to start the foundation as well as share his passion for life and good food with people too.

VOICE OF ASIA 15

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

Bollywood -Hollywood

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Email: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com

Icon Priyanka Chopra launches of film about reconnecting with roots

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new life in a new city isn’t just the theme of Bollywood icon Priyanka Chopra’s newest film — it’s an experience she can relate to firsthand.

And Toronto, she says, was the ideal place to debut the trailer.

“Toronto was very important to me because it has such a massive Punjabi community,” Chopra said at a press-conference Sunday. “I think the Punjabi community is an extremely proud and upheld community in Toronto and I really wanted to bring the film somewhere where it would be appreciated and looked at for what we were trying to make.”

The film, starring Punjabi star Amrinder Gill, shot in both Canada and the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, marks Chopra’s foray into Punjabi cinema. But she hopes the message will resonate with all audiences, especially at a time when she says so much emphasis is placed on what divides people.

“I think there are too many labels that promote xenophobia in the world, so many labels that people are always put into little boxes with. People are people. That’s the way I see it.

We all just move around and

Priyanka Chopra (File photo) do our best to survive: move countries, move homes, just to make sure that our families get a better life.

“And this is a story of an immigrant family in Canada and their son who’s lost his way and how he ends up after he find his roots.”

Carving out a life away from home an experience one that Chopra, who made the leap from Mumbai’s Bollywood scene — where she is already a megastar — to Hollywood, knows all too well.

“Yes, I have got the opportunity to not play the exotic sidekick in a big movie or I’ve got the opportunity to headline a TV show as the lead of a show, but that doesn’t usually happen to South Asian actors,” she said.

“For me it was a massive fight. I really had to stand my ground and put my foot down and demand the kind of role I

would want to play, otherwise I didn’t want to do it. And that’s scary, to come to another country and say, ‘I’m not going to settle.’”

Chopra doesn’t star in Sarvann herself. With nearly 50 Bollywood credits to her name, a busy schedule filming Quantico and a lead role in an upcoming production of Baywatch, the film puts Chopra on the other side of the camera.

And she’s using the opportunity to reflect on the reality of life away from home.

“There are so many of us who leave India and our cities and go away and travel and live in other parts of the world and lose touch with what is home,” she said.

“I really believe that for anyone who’s been displaced from their home, for whatever the reason might be, if you hold onto your roots, you always have a place in the world.”

(-CBS News)

Coldplay, Jay Z perform at India anti-poverty concert

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UMBAI (AFP) - Nearly 80,000 people in India’s financial capital Mumbai attended the Global Citizen Festival headlined by British rock band Coldplay Saturday as part of an anti-poverty campaign.

Coldplay’s Chris Martin is the concert’s creative director.

Top global megastars including rap megastar Jay Z, pop singer Demi Lovato and British band The Vamps performed at the event, alongside Bollywood names including superstar Shah Rukh Khan.

Martin ended the concert by singing India’s national anthem ‘Vande Mataram’ (Mother, I salute thee) with help from India’s Oscar-winning music director A.R Rahman.

The Global Citizen Festival is an annual music concert established in 2012 which is part of a broader campaign to end extreme poverty by 2030.

Concertgoers formed long queues early in the day outside the venue, causing major traffic congestion in Mumbai’s alreadycongested business district.

Nearly 80 percent of tickets to the event were given away to people who support organiser Global Poverty Project’s campaigns, including improving sanitation, gender equality, and

Balamuralikrishna, maestro of Carnatic music, passes away

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HENNAI - Nov. 22, 2016, (The Hindu) Carnatic vocalist, playback singer and composer Mangalamapalli Balamuralikrishna, who burst into the music world as a child prodigy, died on Tuesday. He was 86 and is survived by his wife, three sons and three daughters.

His music appealed to both the connoisseurs and the laymen alike. In classical music, he was able to give “play acting” to the essence of the lyrics in his song. In the film world, “Oru Naal Pothuma”, a ragamalika in Thiruvilayadal, “Chinna Kannan Azhaikiran”, a Reetigowlabased song in the film Kavikuil, “Mounathil Vilayadum Manasatichye” from the film Noolveli and the Abhogi song “Thanga Ratham Vanthathu” from the film Kalai Koil continue to enchant a generation of music lovers.

Chopra, who also stars in the ABC series Quantico, was in Mississauga, Ont. on Sunday for the international launch of her Punjabi feature film Sarvann. The film is the third to be produced by Chopra and tells the coming-of-age tale of a young man living in Canada who returns to India to reconnect with his roots.

education in India.

The event was attended by Hindi screen legend Amitabh Bachchan and Nelson Mandela’s grandson Kweku Mandela.

In a televised address, India’s Prime minister Narendra Modi, who had appeared at the festival in 2014, quoted lines from Bob Dylan’s famous songs to refer to changing political climate in the South Asian country.

But he kept his comments brief, saying “I know that I stand between you and Coldplay,” but heaped praise on India’s young population, saying they “bring an energy and idealism that is unparalleled.”

God gifted Psychic Neeti helps with all problems: love, marriage, business, stops divorce, removes bad luck and evil. Helps restore failing business. Can help with difficult children.

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Tel: 713-774-5140

A native of East Godavari district of the erstwhile Madras Presidency, his father Pattabiramaiah was a musician and his mother Sooryakanthamma was a veena player. He gave his first concert when he was nine and the quality of his music is explained by the fact that All India Radio (AIR), Chennai, included him, a child artist, in the list of A-grade artists.

He was also an accomplished

Balamuralikrishna was 86 years old. violinist and once accompanied Ariyakudi Ramanuja Iyengar, the pioneer of the modern-day Carnatic concert format.

Balamuralikrishna learnt violin by listening to his father playing the instrument.

“Since my father was against me playing violin, I created my own instrument. Once I summoned courage and played his instrument in his absence.

When questioned by my father I admitted and played Bhairavi ata thala varnam. My father was impressed and allowed me to play the instrument,” he had recalled in his biography San-

gita Perunkadal, penned by Ranimynthan.

“He had a magic voice. He is to Telugu keerthanas what M.M. Dhandapani Desikar was to Tamil music. Since Telugu was his mother tongue, he knew the meaning of Thiyagaraja’s keerthanas and would not maul them,” said clarinet maestro A.K.C. Natarajan, who also learnt many keerthana’s from him.

Balamuralikrishnaplayed the role of Narada in the film Bhakta Prahalada on the request of A.V. Meyappa Chettiar. His first song is also for a Telugu film Sati Savitri.

Shyamalan: ‘I definitely feel like an outsider’

by Frankie Taggart OS ANGELES | AFP It is an old joke in Hollywood that the biggest twist in M Night Shyamalan’s work is how badly his career nosedived after he arrived on a wave of acclaim.

The Indian-American filmmaker announced himself to the world in 1999 with “The Sixth Sense” -- a tense, supernatural thriller with a reveal so shocking he was talked up as the new Alfred Hitchcock.

Two follow-ups cemented his reputation as “king of the twist,” but years of poorly received work followed, prompting reviewers to wonder whether the twists weren’t just an attempt to paper over shoddy filmmaking.

Shyamalan has never let criticism jolt his vision, however, and the 46-year-old director has come full circle with rave reviews of his 2015 thriller “The Visit” and early acclaim for his new movie “Split.”

Arriving for a preview screening of the psychological horror tale at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles this week, he was at pains to point out that the twist was never a defining feature of his work anyway.

“I don’t think of it like that... like I’ve got to bust out the big dance move everybody wants.

It’s not like that,” said the father-of-three, known to friends as Night.

“It’s more about what is this story you’re telling and how are you telling that story.”

Born Manoj Shyamalan in southern India, he was raised in an affluent part of Philadelphia, where he was given a Super 8 camera as a young boy and, inspired by the work of Steven Spielberg, made 45 short films before the age of 16.

- ‘Welcome return to form’ -

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Indian-American filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan announced himself to the world in 1999 with “The Sixth Sense,” and two follow ups, but years of poorly received work followed ©Frazer Harrison (Getty/AFP/File) His parents were both doctors, but while his father wanted him to go to medical school his mother encouraged him to attend film school at New York University.

Shyamalan still lives in Philadelphia, and it is partly because of his insistence in remaining outside the Hollywood fold, coupled with an indifference to bad reviews, that he has at times come across as aloof.

A 2008 article in the Guardian newspaper bemoaned his “defensive arrogance” which, coupled with his proclivity for appearing in his own films, came off as “petulant at best.”

Yet in person he comes across as polite, affable, humble even, which points to a possibility that he often raises himself -- that he is just misunderstood.

“I definitely feel like an outsider but I guess it’s my natural geography,” he told AFP at the “Split” screening at the iconic Chinese Theatre, the beating heart of Tinseltown.

“I live 3,000 miles away, and so I’ve never even been in this theater. This is the first screen-

ing I’ve ever really done in Los Angeles.”

Shyamalan’s rehabilitation began when he moved into television last year, executive-producing Fox mystery sci-fi series “Wayward Pines” and directing the pilot.

His first critical success since big-screen thriller “Signs” in 2002, the show was described by review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes as “creepy and strange in the best way” and a “welcome return to form.”

“Split,” which Shyamalan also wrote and produced, delves into the fractured mind of Kevin (James McAvoy), who is suffering from dissociative identity disorder and manifests 23 distinct personalities.

Compelled to abduct three teenage girls led by the willful Casey (Anya Taylor-Joy), Kevin is the unwilling host of a war among all of the personalities contained within him -- and a darker one yet to emerge.

The movie has been widely praised, garnering an approval rating of 80 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

VOICE OF ASIA 16

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

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Company recalls baby food after customer reports rubber in product Baby Food manufacturer to ensure proper safety measures are in place, it said in the release.

The company encourages customers who have purchased affected products to return it to an HE-B store for a full refund.

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Texas-based baby food company has issued a precautionary recall of its entire H-E-B Baby Food 2 pack 4 oz. cups after a customer reported finding a small piece of rubber inside the product.

H-E-B removed the item from store shelves but has not received any reports of injury or illness related to the recall.

“Though we have only received one report of a foreign material in H-E-B Baby Food 2 pack 4 oz. cups, as a company, we are committed to absolute and complete food safety,” Winell Herron, H-E-B group vice president of public affairs, diversity and environmental affairs, said in a news release.

“As a result of that commitment, coupled with the fact that we are dealing with a children’s product, we have

H-E-B issued a recall for its entire store brand Baby Food 2 pack 4 oz. cups. (Photo: H-E-B) made the decision to pull all of our HE-B Baby Food 2 pack 4 oz cups from our shelves.”

The company has launched a full investigation and is working with H-E-B

Customers are encouraged to call H-E-B Customer Service at 1-855-432-4438 on Friday, Nov. 18 until 11 p.m. CST, Saturday, Nov. 19 and Sunday, Nov. 20 from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. CST and Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. CST thereafter with any concerns.

More than 18 million on HIV treatment, a million more than 2015: UNAIDS

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ONDON – More than 18 million people now have access to life-saving AIDS treatment, 1.2 million more than at the end of last year, the United Nations said on Monday.

“The progress we have made is remarkable, particularly around treatment, but it is also incredibly fragile,” UNAIDS’ executive director Michel Sidibe said as the report was published.

In a report on the AIDS pandemic, which has infected 78 million people and killed 35 million since it began in the 1980s, UNAIDS said the consistently strong scale-up of treatment has seen annual AIDS-related deaths drop by 45 percent to 1.1 million in 2015 from a peak of about 2 million in 2005.

With detailed data showing some of the many complexities of the HIV epidemic, the report found that people are particularly vulnerable to HIV at certain points in their lives.

But, as more HIV-positive people live longer, the challenges of caring for them as they get older, of preventing the virus spreading and of reducing new infections are tough, UNAIDS said, even though drugs can reduce virus levels in a patient’s blood to near zero and significantly reduce the risk of passing it on.

As people with HIV grow older, they are at risk of developing longterm side-effects from HIV treatment, developing drug resistance and requiring treatment for other illnesses such as tuberculosis and hepatitis C.

It called for “life-cycle” approach to offer help and prevention measures for everyone at every stage of life.

The report also cited data from South Africa showing that young women who become infected with HIV often

catch the virus from older men. It said prevention is vital to ending the epidemic in young women and the cycle of HIV infection needs to be broken.

“Young women are facing a triple threat,” said Sidibe. “They are at high risk of HIV infection, have low rates of HIV testing, and have poor adherence to treatment.”

The report, saying the number of people with HIV getting life-saving drugs was 18.2 million, also showed that the rapid progress in getting AIDS drugs to those who need them is having a significant life-extending impact.

In 2015, there were 5.8 million people aged over 50 living with HIV - more than ever before.

UNAIDS said that if treatment targets are reached - the U.N. is aiming to have 30 million HIV positive people on treatment by 2020 - that number will soar. (-FoxNews)

Cut hundreds of calories from Thanksgiving dinner without feeling deprived

by Lisa Lillien

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ike everyone else, I love Thanksgiving, but I don’t love this statistic: the average American consumes around 4,500 calories each turkey day! My personal strategy is to first fill my plate with lean protein and veggies, and then scoop up small portions of my decadent favorites.

Wondering which items are worth the calorie investment? I’ve got you covered!

Dark-meat turkey (4 oz. roasted, no skin): 180 calories

Breast meat is generally the lowest in calories. But no matter which part of the bird you go with, consider ditching the skin. Not only is that where much of the natural fat sits, but also many people slather the outside of the bird with butter or oil before roasting. Skipping the skin is an easy calorie saver!

Turkey toppings: Gravy vs. cranberry sauce Turkey gravy (1/4 cup): 30 calories Cranberry sauce (1/4 cup): 110 calories Let’s compare the store-bought standards: jarred turkey gravy and canned jellied cranberry sauce. You might be surprised to learn the fruity selection is much heavier. That cranin-a-can is full of added sugar. Just think about how tart plain cranberries are and how sweet that canned

Medicare Will Be Gone

By Next Thanksgiving, If Republicans Have Their Way This Thanksgiving, while we give thanks for our Medicare, Speaker Paul Ryan and his Republican Congress are actively working to dismantle it.

Medicare is government-provided health insurance for those aged 65 and over, as well as for those with disabilities so serious and permanent that they cannot earn enough to support themselves.

Those two groups total more than 55 million of us. Poll after poll shows that those of us who are covered by Medicare love it.

Other industrialized countries have what amounts to MedicareFor-All. Residents of those countries enjoy health care as a matter of right, from cradle to grave. But not here. And those of us who do have Medicare may not have it for long, if the Republicans just swept into power have their way.

President Franklin Roosevelt supported universal, governmentprovided health insurance — in essence, Medicare-For-All. He established an interagency working group to develop a universal health insurance proposal as part of his Social Security Act of 1935.

In the end, though, he feared that those who saw the world the way today’s Republicans do, and hated the idea of government providing health insurance, would use the proposal to bring down the entire Social Security bill. So, he did not push it. President Harry S. Truman also supported the idea. He pushed hard for what would have been Medicare-For-All, but never succeeded Learning from those earlier struggles, the pragmatic President Lyndon Johnson, perhaps the most effective lawmaker of all time, decided to take an incremental approach. His advisers debated whether to start with children, but chose seniors instead. Not only do seniors vote, there was already Social Security, a program designed to provide economic security in old age. Everyone recognized that true economic security did not exist, if retirees were one illness or accident away from bankruptcy.

And that concern of bankruptcy was real. Before Medicare, most seniors could not afford health insurance. Those who could, paid three times more than younger people, despite having, on average, half as much income.

The Affordable Care Act em-

Sudhir Mathuria Licensed Professional Health Life 360 6776 Southwest Freeway Suite # 178 Houston TX 77074 713-771-2900 www.MyMedicarePlanning.com

braced the same basic approach as Hillary-care. Like Hillary-care, Obamacare relies on private markets and competition. Unlike the expansion of Medicare, relying on for-profit health insurers is a flawed, Republican idea. Among its flaws, Obamacare is difficult to explain and understand —and Republican opponents have taken full advantage of that flaw. Republicans have used opposition to Obamacare to win election after election. Having now won control of both Congress and the White House, Republicans have announced their intention to repeal it.

But today’s Republicans are not just threatening to end Obamacare. Ironically, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan is threatening to convert Medicare into Obamacare. He is plotting to end government-provided health insurance and force those with Medicare to buy insurance on the private market, with only subsidies to offset the cost of what the private sector wants to charge. If the Republicans succeed, I and my fellow Medicare policy holders will be on our own, forced to negotiate on our own with for-profit companies, rather than enjoy the protections of our government. Thanks, but no thanks.

To select suitable 2017 Medicare or Obamacare Plan, contact Sudhir Mathuria @ 713-771-2900.

and boatload of added sugar sinks this ship. Pumpkin pie isn’t far behind. My little trick: Skip the crust, and enjoy the filling!

Turkey: Dark meat vs. white meat

White-meat turkey (4 oz. roasted, no skin): 165 calories

Tel: 713-774-5140

First fill my plate with lean protein and veggies, and then scoop up small portions of my decadent favorites. (Photo: People.com) sauce is!

Macaroni ‘n cheese (1 cup): 530 calories

Potato side dishes: Sweet potato pie vs. mashed potatoes Sweet potato pie (1 cup): 555 calories Mashed potatoes (1 cup): 350 calories Sugar strikes again! Despite all the heavy cream and butter that can go into mashed potatoes, the calorie count still comes in lower than sweet potato pie (no thanks to those marshmallows and sugary mix-ins!).

My advice? DIY. I’ve got calorieslashed recipes for sweet potato pie and mashed potatoes!

Proof

Bread stuffing (1 cup): 360 calories In this particular battle of the fatty carbs, stuffing wins for lower calorie count. Mac ‘n cheese is SO calorie dense. And since you’re more likely to encounter it year round vs. that seasonal stuffing, this is a good one to skip for now. (Unless it’s gonna ruin your mom’s day. In that case, have a little.)

Dessert: Pumpkin pie vs. apple pie Pumpkin pie (1 slice): 365 calories

Another fruity faker! Apples might seem innocent, but the buttery crust

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Don’t skip meals.

Eat a sensible breakfast and light lunch, or you might go overboard at dinner.

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Drink plenty of water during the day so you don’t mistake thirst for hunger.

Sounds odd, but it’s actually very common!

Apple pie (1 slice): 450 calories

Comfort-food side dishes: Mac ‘n cheese vs. stuffing

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Final thoughts:

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FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

Tel: 713-774-5140

Why combining real estate Wallis State expertise with financial planning Bank CEO to a winning combination serve as FDIC’s is

by Brent Gleeson (Forbes) “No one is saying that finan- or understand what a financial cial advisors need to develop advisor does. In a survey done Community lthough my articles a whole new area of expertise; this year by advisory firm Mcusually focus on that’s just not realistic. But put- Adam, it was found that one in Banking Advisor business leadership ting financial advisors and real three Americans do not know Members of the IndoAmerican Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH) congratulate Asif Dakri

Asif Dakri, Vice Chairman and CEO of Wallis State Bank

H

OUSTON, TX Asif Dakri, Vice Chairman and CEO, was one of eight new members chosen to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Advisory Committee on Community Banking. The announcement was made earlier this month. Committee members serve for two years and meet at least twice a year to address various matters that include current examination policies and procedures, credit and lending practices, deposit insurance assessments, insurance coverage

the FDIC on many significant issues facing community banks,” Gruenberg said.

About Wallis State Bank

and regulatory compliance.

Asif Dakri is the only member representing the Dallas FDIC Region which includes Texas, Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Tennessee.

“We are fortunate to have such talented and dedicated community banking leaders join our Advisory Committee, which has been a valuable resource for the FDIC over the last few years,” said FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg.

“The Advisory Committee has been proven to be a key source of information and input for

Wallis State Bank founded in 1906 is a full service community bank specializing in small business lending. The Bank provides quality financial products and services while maintaining the highest level of personal service and customer satisfaction.

Wallis State Bank has been the number one Small Business Administration Lender in the Houston region for two consecutive years. For more information about Wallis State Bank, please visit www. wallisbank.com or call (713) 580-9900.

Fed says govt spending can boost productivity

W

ASHINGTON | AFP - Properly directed government spending -- including infrastructure spending as President-elect Donald Trump has promised -- can boost the economy’s productive capacity, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Stanley Fischer said Monday.

Fischer said there is disagreement about what spending policies are most effective but “some combination of improved public infrastructure, better education, more encouragement for private investment, and more effective regulation all likely have a role to play in promoting faster growth of productivity and liv-

ing standards.”

Although details remain unclear, Trump’s economic plan includes the pledge for a massive infrastructure spending program, which he has said will create jobs.

Like Fed Chair Janet Yellen in her testimony in Congress last week, Fischer said fiscal policies that improve productivity can help address some of the disappointing aspects of the current recovery.

For too long, the Fed “has been the only game in town” addressing macroeconomic policy, and “along some dimensions this has not been a happy recovery,” he

New Pay Requirements Become Effective on December 1, 2016

Nitin Sud

E

arlier this year, the Department of Labor issued new overtime regulations that go into effect on December 1, 2016. Perhaps the most significant change is the minimum salary threshold for exempt, salaried employees.

Currently, in order to avoid paying overtime for working over 40 hours in a week, properly classified exempt employees must be paid a fixed salary of at least $455 per week, or $23,660 annually. However, beginning December 1, 2016, employers will be required to pay salaried exempt employees at least $913 per week, or $47,476 annually.

If this threshold is not met, then the employees will be considered non-exempt and be entitled to overtime pay for all hours worked over 40 per week (at a rate of timeand-a-half).

The failure to comply with

this change could be significant. For example, assume a current salaried exempt employee, who works on average about 50 hours per week, is paid $800 per week, or $41,600 annually; however, the employer does not increase this employee’s salary after December 1, 2016. Assume this pay practice continues for the next two years at which time the employee realizes the problem and hires a lawyer to sue the employer for overtime pay and other damages. This violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act could cost the employer $8,320 in unpaid overtime, plus another $8,320 in penalties, the fees and expenses for the employee’s attorneys, and its own attorney’s fees.

Therefore, it is essential that employers review its pay practices and make sure it is in full compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act. A safest option is to retain an experienced employment attorney to conduct a thorough audit.

Board Certified Labor and Employment Attorney Nitin Sud represents employees, executives, and small businesses in the following matters: Litigation in state and federal courts, Wrongful termination and employment discrimination claims, Overtime claims, Employment contracts, Severance agreements, Non-compete and non-solicitation matters. For more information, visit www. sudemploymentlaw.com

said in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

Productivity growth in the past decade has been half the rate of the long-run trend of 2.5 percent, and if this slow pace continues it “would have wide-ranging consequences for living standards, wage growth, and economic policy more broadly,” Fischer said.

A

and entrepreneurship, my experience in corporate America prior to joining the Navy SEAL teams and the master’s degree following my service are all in real estate finance, investment and development. As an entrepreneur and business owner, I also find it prudent to also stay apprised of the best ways to make your money work for you.

It is human nature to want to be right, particularly when it is your job to be the expert.

That is one reason why financial planners, individuals who have spent years studying and passing examinations to be allowed to consult people about their wealth, can be quick to minimize the role of real estate assets in a client’s portfolio.

The average CPA receives little to no advanced education about real estate, be that the market or how to manage real estate assets. Perhaps more importantly, such an advisor spends little to no time keeping up with the market or working in that space on a day-to-day basis. Real estate is not something that you can track casually; it is a fast-paced, highly nuanced industry.

That is why a new branch of financial planning called Integrated Asset Management (IAM) is gaining traction. The specialty of this sub sector is expertise across asset classes, to include real estate. But the way that is achieved is not by developing new advisors, it is by putting a variety of experts in the same office.

Weak demand and slow investment, including in the oil sector, may be factors in the slow productivity growth, he said, which in turn is keeping interest rates low.

I recently sat down with Andrew Canter, CEO of Canter Companies and a leader in IAM. In our discussion he said,

However, Fischer cautioned that there is a “justified concern”

about plans to increase spending in an economy that is very close to full employment.

Higher mortgage rates scuttle some sales

Many economists have warned that the spending Trump proposes would expand the deficit, requiring increased debt, and fuel inflation.

by Diane Olick (CNBC)

A

sharp rise in mortgage interest rates after the presidential election is starting to hit home — home sales.

The average contract rate on the popular 30-year fixed loan hit the highest level in more than a year on Friday and shows no sign of turning on its heels.

Buyers went from the prospect of 3.5 percent to 4.125 percent in barely a week.

For those with more of a financial cushion, the increase in monthly payments is just frustrating; for those on the edge of ownership, it can mean no deal.

“It’s kind of sad because you’re helping out a first-time buyer who is in need of these low rates and doesn’t have the personal liquidity to offset if the rates rise,” said one lender in New York City, who has two clients struggling to meet the new rates, and asked not to be identified. “One is on the bubble, but one is almost a dead deal.”

Mortgage rates are still historically low, but crossing over from the 3 percent range to the 4 percent range means more than just a $50-per-month difference in payments. It means some buyers will not qualify for the strict debt-to-income ratios lenders now require. It also means potential buyers are more nervous about taking the plunge at all.

Being defensive means staying off the edge of affordability.

Mortgage lenders cannot lock in a rate until there is a signed contract of sale on the home.

estate experts under the same roof is, and that is starting to happen.”

At an IAM company, financial planners share an office with the other side of the business, which does real estate investing and development. The out- come is a proximity of experts

w h o operate in two different industries that overlap at important junctures.

The need for a hybrid of expertise is growing. Real estate is an attractive investment right now, with interest rates still lingering near historic lows.

In fact, some estimates say there are as many as 30 million Americans who have invested in both commercial and residential real estate. And the Bankrate Financial Security Index Survey released earlier this year suggested that 54 million Americans preferred to put money they would not need for the next ten years into a real estate investment over stocks or bonds.

That means that there is a substantial sector of the market that needs both a financial planner and a real estate consultant to help them manage their assets. Getting two different advisors to agree on how money should be appropriated, which risks to take, and how to achieve the same financial goal is unrealistic. And yet the nuances of managing real estate assets and traditional financial investments demands that anyone with such a diversified portfolio needs both kinds of advisors. At the same time as real estate is factoring into the lives of more and more Americans, fewer Americans know

what a financial advisors does, and that number increases to 46% among millennials. That could in part be because the financial services industry has not modernized itself to meet the needs and priorities of people in today’s economy.

That is, until now.

IAM is following the tradition of many industries before it.

Consider the movie rental industry. When it began, Blockbuster was king.

S o much so that one of my core functions as a financial analyst with Trammell Crow Company in, where I worked in 1999 after college prior to joining the Navy, was the analysis of new potential store locations. I remember distinctly because I misspelled their brand name on the cover of the very first proposal I built for them! Not one of my better moments.

But that business model was shaken up in 2002 when Red Box started distributing its DVD vending machines. That model was quickly replaced

by Netflix’s DVD mailing business, which was actually able to pivot to today’s video streaming world quite successfully. Each step of the way, the market changed and an old model of business was phased out. Today, the market is arriving at a point where it demands more expertise of its financial advisors.

“This is a very real dilemma for people. I see it all the time,” says Canter. “Integrated Asset Management is a very simple idea: mingle real estate experts together with financial advisors in a mutually beneficial way.”

Whether IAM shakes up the entire financial services industry or just modernizes a piece of it, its emergence is an indicator of an industry in transition, which is good for all of us.

HOROSCOPE

VOICE OF ASIA 18

FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

Your Horoscope for the Week of November 25, 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 You may leave the company you had been working for a long time and join a start up. Some of you may be appearing for some kind of competitive exam to improve your prospects. People in business will continue to face stiff competition but will survive. You may be successful in recovering some money but only a part of the total amount. Take a chance with someone extending not only support but good company. You can make extra money if you put your talent to work. You may find it difficult to get job done from subordinates.

Try to stay away from involving yourself in unnecessary litigation and go for a settlement only. You will be spending more money on a child this year. Faith and self confidence will help you make it a better. Money wise you will continue to do well. Some of you may initiate a legal procedure to prove your point, decision will come in a few weeks and in your favor. There will be lots of conflict in your mind but you will end up making the right choice with the help of a matured person. You may also travel to a nice place with family.

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

Scorpio (N,Y) 23 Oct to 21 Nov

You will be slightly restless in the beginning but then after you will be completely charged. You will gain from overseas projects and may have to travel frequently to distant places this year. Confidence level will be on the peak and you will make more and will be able to save lot. Analyze your response carefully and you should not think of retaliation. It’s time to fine tune your talents as planets bring back the self confidence. Stars will get you the results for hard work and patience maintained in the past.

Any issues pending with government will also get cleared favorably. Lots of struggle of past will come to an end and projects not doing so well in the past will start making profit in current period. Money wise it will be a tight week and you will need to do lots of juggling in order to meet your commitments. Slow progress will cause slight frustration in your mind but you should continue as the success is not far off. People in business will need to respond to a query from a government agency. Be careful when signing any document.

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

Gemini (K,CHH,GH) 21 May to 20 June Your pending appeals will get accepted and you will be off the hook. There will be few positive changes in career and you will be moved at least couple of levels up. Business will be better. Obstacles will be followed by excellent solutions. You will achieve your professional goals without any difficulty. Chances of addition of a new member in the family become imminent. You will attend a big party and meet some politician this week. You will be extremely lucky in all money matters.

Half of your attention will be towards immediate family. You will be busy resolving one issue or another involving family members. Some money will need to be spend on getting some work done in and around the home you live in. Do not be nervous and stick to your guns, victory is all yours. Courageous actions will take you closer to your professional goals. Just handle all tools and machinery with care this week. People in business will definitely do better. Sale of a property can bring extra money in your pockets.

Capricorn (KH,J) 22 Dec to 20 Jan

Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 July The knowledge will come really handy when you apply for a better position. New addition in the family will bring lots of good luck for you too. All issues involving a child will get settled to every one’s satisfaction. Things will happen in second attempt only.

You may call a trusted friend to seek advice and guidance. Some of you may go on a short trip to a nice place with family this week. Have little more patience as the right opportunity will come after few weeks only. Your claim will be passed and the check can also arrive this week.

Your plans will get implemented successfully and results will make everybody at home happy. A child may plan to leave home or move away for educational purpose.

You will reap rich rewards for the efforts made in the past. A big contract will be in your hands finally. Someone will try to drag you into an unnecessary argument, watch out or their problem will become your problem. Prompt action will help you resolve an important issue with a government agency.

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

Leo (M) 23 July to 22 August You will need to be careful and listen to your instincts rather than believing any outsider too quick. Do not fall for too good to be true schemes. It will be better to compromise and settle rather than getting involved in litigation as the results will not be favorable. You will continue to enjoy a new relationship and wait for the right time to take it to the next level. Money wise you will stay comfortable and have more than enough left after meeting your commitments. You will make some very calculated move in career.

People who are self employed will see few of their major competition quitting making room for more progress in life. Planets will help resolve many issues in personal and professional life. Right eye may start to give some trouble and you may make an appointment to have it checked. Value of your stocks will appreciate and you will continue to hold on to them. You may travel to a nice place with family this week. A child will need your help in doing research about next step.

Pisces (D,CH,Z) 20 Feb to 20 March

Virgo (P) 23 August to 22 September This will be a very good period for people in banking & finance industry. You may also purchase a property for investment purpose and this deal will be profitable from day one. Things stuck in the past will start rolling in right direction. Some of you will be getting ready to move to a better location. Boss will call you to discuss an important project. You will be able to recover only a part of money stuck for long this week. It will be better to do your home work before committing to a venture in partnership.

QR

You may have to face some challenging situation during this period. You will also make some long term investment or put some money away in savings. Money will come in plenty and you may go out and do little shopping for yourself too. Your recent strategy will help overcome many hurdles and silence people causing you stress and pain for long time. This is the right time to approach the government agency for clearance. You may also visit a holy place with family this week and participate in special prayers.

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CLASSIFIEDS

VOICE OF ASIA 19

ONLINE BUSINESS FOR SALE Amazon retail business. 125K+ monthly sales, very profitable and growing daily, private label brand with repeat business and thousands of five star reviews, easy to operate and manage, will completely train, easily double and triple revenues in coming years, other ventures are forcing us to sell this wonderful business.

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Voice of Asia is Hiring LOOKING FOR REPORTERS

of Voice of Asia is Hiring LOOKING FOR REPORTERS Voice of Asia Newsweekly is looking for people with a air for writing to cover local events. This is a paid offer. You must have the following skills: 1. Write news reports in English by covering the event.

(300 - 500 words) required some evenings & weekends.

2. Take clear photographs of newsworthy people and places.

3. We are looking for reporters to cover events in different South Asian communities like Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil Hindi, and Malayalam.

Houston Community College Request for Proposals (RFP) System Applications and Products Processing (SAP) Training Project No. 17-29

Sealed proposals will be received in Procurement Operations (3100 Main Street, Room No. 11B01, Houston, Texas 77002) until 2:00PM (local time) on Tuesday, December 6, 2016.

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FRIDAY, November 25, 2016

Visit us Online www. voiceofasiaonline. com

Job Posting - Part-Time Web/Digital Content Producer KTRK-TV, the ABC owned station located in Houston, TX is looking for a part-time digital content producer for our web department.

The ideal candidate will have at least two years’ experience creating content in a fast-paced, ever-changing news environment and must be able to handle multiple projects simultaneously with a keen eye for detail.

We’re looking for someone who can produce content for all digital platforms, including mobile and social media. KTRK is a 24/7 operation and candidate must be available to work early mornings, late nights, weekends and/or holidays as scheduled.

To be considered interested applicants apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com E\ XSORDGLQJ D UHVXPH ¿OH FRYHU OHWWHU DQG OLVW RI UHIHUHQFHV 3OHDVH UHIHUHQFH Job Requisition # 413788BR. Equal Opportunity Employer –Female/Minority/Veteran/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity. No Telephone Calls

Voice of Asia Newsweekly looking peoplesavvy. with a air Owning a camera is a plus.is Must be for computer for writing to cover local events. This is a paid offer. You must have the following skills:

For Classified call 713-774-5140 Visit us online www.

Voiceofasiaonline.com

Voice of Asia Newsweekly has been in Houston since 1987 1. newsWe reports in Englishand by covering the event. forWrite 29 years. are expanding we are looking for (300 500 words) required some evenings & weekends. serious, dedicated people with a true air for covering 2. Take clear photographs of newsworthy people and newsworthy places. events. If you are the person, or you know someone would the perfect ďŹ t, give us aincall today.

3.

We are who looking for be reporters to cover events different South Asian communities like Gujarati, Telugu, Tamil Hindi, Calland us Malayalam. at 713-774-5140 to attend an interview.

Owning a camera is a plus. Must be computer savvy.

MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE WEEK When You Start Freelancing, Let People Know A robust network is a freelancer’s best friend. If you’re becoming your own boss, you’ll want to start off by securing a group of people who are ready to support you — and give you work — along the way. Reach out to the people closest to you to let them know what you’re doing, including coworkers, former colleagues, friends, and family. Don’t worry, it doesn’t have to feel like you’re begging for work.

Take people out to coffee or lunch and explain what you’re doing. Think of it as an informational interview, clarifying the kind of work you do and letting people know you’re available. Remember that network building isn’t just for the beginning of your freelance career — as you get busier, don’t forget to set aside time in your schedule to continue networking.

Source: Adapted from “How to Become a Successful Freelancer,� by Amy Gallo

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