Voice of Asia e paper October 28 2016

VOICE OF ASIA 1

VOICE OF ASIA

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

28years yearsofofdedicated dedicatedservice servicetotothe thecommunity community 29

Vol. 29 No. 43 Friday, October 28, 2016 • Published Weekly from Houston • 713-774-5140 28 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com

Wishing a very

Happy Diwali S I NC E 1 9 7 7

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VOICE OF ASIA 2

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

VOICE OF ASIA

HAPPY DIWALI!

VOICE OF ASIA 3

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

CMS Details Outreach Campaign Strategy for Open Enrollment 2017 Read on Page 18 or Call 832-806-1000

28 years of dedicated service to theCounties community Serving Harris County, Fort Bend County and Surrounding for 29 years

About the artist, page 5

Vol. 29 No. 43 Friday, October 28, 2016 • Published Weekly from Houston • 713-774-5140 28 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com

IACCGH hosts Power Lunch ‘Focusing Kerala for Business’ Featuring Speaker C. Balagopal, IAS Officer, entrepreneur and author of guests from Houston’s business community, Joya Shukla, President, IACCGH recognized the event sponsors D’Ambrosio & Menon PLLC and invited Hari Menon to introduce the

speaker. By featuring such dignitaries the Chamber has enabled people to get a clear insight into India, she mentioned.

Continued on Page 5

Mayor Turner’s greeting to Voice of Asia readers on Diwali

UH President Khator appointed to Homeland Security Academic Advisory Council

U

S Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson announced the appointment of Renu Khator to the United States Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Academic Advisory Council (HSAAC) Oct. 19, 2016. Khator, the president of the University of Houston, is one of eight new members.

Renu Khator is chancellor of the University of Houston System and president of the University of Houston (UH).

“Serving on this council is both an honor and a serious responsibility,” said Khator. “There can be no more important task than maintaining the safety of our country.

Through research, innovation and workforce development, higher education must continue to play a vital role in helping DHS meet that

C. Balagopal. Photo by Bijay Dixit.

by Shobana Muratee

H

OUSTON - The IndoAmerican Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston (IACCGH) hosted a Power Lunch on Thursday, October 13 at the Daily Grill featuring India’s visiting dignitary, former IAS Officer, Entrepreneur and author C. Balagopal to speak on Kerala as a place to do business.

Dr. Renu Khator

crucial objective.”

Citizenship Month in November Mayor Sylvester Turner invites the community to celebrate!

Kerala is India’s rainforest state; enchanting forestry with umpteen streams, it nestles in lower southeast India and attracts heavy tourists’ traffic throughout the year. In his talk, Balagopal had a refreshing spin on Kerala when he digressed from its well-known features (having 100% literacy) to include many unknown aspects that brought into focus the prospects of trade and commerce here.

“Some of you may have lost touch with India - one of the problems taking about India is its complexity and size,” he explained by giving an example of the Rs.500 having 15 different scripts!

H

OUSTON - Festivities promote “good citizenship” through inclusiveness, civic engagement and public service.

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner invites the community to celebrate the “Many Faces of Houston” during the eighth annual Houston Citizenship Month in November. The month’s festivities commemorate what it means to be a contributing citizen of Houston through civic leadership, community service and actions that embrace racial and ethnic diversity, inclusiveness and unity.

The public is invited to enjoy a vari-

Welcoming the small gathering

ety of programs and activities sponsored by community entities. The events include performances, exhibits, films, lectures, talks, children’s story hours, arts and crafts, festivals and charity events.

The event venues include city libraries, museums, university campuses, neighborhood centers and green spaces.

Houston Citizenship Month is an initiative of the Department of Neighborhoods Office of New Americans and International Communities. The celebration is organized under the leadership of the Mayor’s Advisory Council of International Communities.

For a calendar of events, visit http:// www.citizenshipmonth.org/.

Delightful Diwali celebrations with

‘Club 24’

by Shobana Muratee iwali, the grand Indian Festival of Lights, was celebrated by Club 24 on Saturday, October 22, hosted by its members Savita and Sanjay Rao with abundant fervor and fun at their palatial home in Palm Royale, Sugar Land.

Club 24 is a compact, nonprofit organization with members within the range of 60-65 by invitation only. Although few in number, its members are widely connected with

D

Members of Club 24 with their guests and host Savita Rao. Photo credit: Murali Sannthana

various other charities, local and national as well as international, where many of them serve on boards. ‘Quality over quantity,” says Pradeep Gupta, president of Club 24. “Also, when we have our signature events we can host it at a member’s house with 100-150 people,” he said, like this one for Diwali.

Started ten years ago by likeminded Indian Americans who believed in ‘giving back to the community’, Club 24 grew strong under stalwart leadership and continues to follow

its mission of building bridges with mainstream communities and also its members.

Addressing the guests, Gupta spoke a few words about the significance of Diwali and how Club 24 tries to promote culture and tradition through this signature events. He mentioned the cornerstones of the organization as being Philanthropy, Outreach and Fellowship/Mentorship.

Members are passionate about the different charities Continued on Page 11

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OP-ED/COMMENTARY/ANALYSIS

VOICE OF ASIA 4

VOICE OF ASIA Publisher:

Associate Publisher: Editor-in-Chief:

Austin Correspondent: Print & Media Marketing: Marketing:

Office Manager:

Koshy Thomas Sherly Philip Shobana Muratee Sherine Thomas Jacob David Susan Pothanikat Priyan Mathew

Columnists: Legal: Richard M. Alderman Legal: Sharlene Sharmila Richards Research: Prof. Meenakshi Bhattacharjee Health Insurance: Sudhir Mathuria Astrology: Hardik Vyas

VoiceofAsiaOnline.com Editor Online:

Shobana Muratee

All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the consent of the publisher.

Voice of Asia assumes no liability resulting from action taken based on the information included herein. Published weekly by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713-774-5140. Fax: 713-774-5143.

Email for editorial submissions: voiceasia@aol.com; Email for advertising inquiries and submissions: ads@ voiceofasiagroup.com

Voice of Asia (USPS 010-215) (ISSN#10705058) is published every Friday (for a subscription rate of $30 per year) by Free Press LLC, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074. Tel: 713-774-5140. Fax: 713774-5143. Periodical postage paid at Houston, Texas.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Voice of Asia, 8303 SW Freeway, Suite # 325, Houston, TX 77074

It is the policy of Voice of Asia to publish letters to the editor which evidence a variety of viewpoints. The opinions expressed in any particular letter to the editor are not necessarily those of the management. Voice of Asia welcomes letters in reply to issues raised in letters to editor. In as much letters to the editor are not articles written or researched by members of Voice of Asia, it is not the policy of the Voice of Asia to perform any investigation or confirmation of any facts or allegations contained in letters to the editor. Moreover, Voice of Asia reserves the right to edit letters to the editor as necessary to correct errors of fact, punctuation, spelling and to comply with space constraints.

Although paid advertisements may appear in Voice of Asia Group Publications in print, online, or in other electronic formats, the Voice of Asia Group does not endorse the advertised product, service, or company, nor any of the claims made by the advertisement.

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

The Power of a Dinner Table

by David Brooks

K

athy Fletcher and David Simpson have a son named Santi, who went to Washington, D.C., public schools. Santi had a friend who sometimes went to school hungry. So Santi invited him to occasionally eat and sleep at his house.

That friend had a friend and that friend had a friend, and now when you go to dinner at Kathy and David’s house on Thursday night there might be 15 to 20 teenagers crammed around the table, and later there will be groups of them crashing in the basement or in the few small bedrooms upstairs.

The kids who show up at Kathy and David’s have endured the ordeals of modern poverty: homelessness, hunger, abuse, sexual assault. Almost all have seen death firsthand — to a sibling, friend or parent.

It’s anomalous for them to have a bed at home. One 21year-old woman came to dinner last week and said this was the first time she’d been around a family table since

she was 11.

And yet by some miracle, hostile soil has produced charismatic flowers. Thursday dinner is the big social occasion of the week. Kids come from around the city. Spicy chicken and black rice are served.

Cellphones are banned (“Be in the now,” Kathy says).

The kids call Kathy and David “Momma” and “Dad,” are unfailingly polite, clear the dishes, turn toward one another’s love like plants toward the sun and burst with big glowing personalities. Birthdays and graduations are celebrated. Songs are performed.

I started going to dinner there about two years ago, hungry for something beyond food. Each meal we go around the table, and everybody has to say something nobody else knows about them.

Each meal we demonstrate our commitment to care for one another. I took my daughter once and on the way out she said, “That’s the warmest place I can ever imagine.”

During this election season of viciousness, vulgarity

didn’t want to admit that her father was dead, her mother was on drugs — how messed up her home life actually was.

and depravity, Thursdays at Kathy and David’s has been a weekly uplift, and their home a place to be reminded of what is beautiful about our country and what we can do to bring out its loveliness.

There’s no margin for error for these kids, and she would have lost her college dreams if not for a squad of adults ready to mobilize around her.

The adults in this community give the kids the chance to present their gifts. At my first dinner, Edd read a poem from his cracked flip phone that I first thought was from Langston Hughes, but it turned out to be his own. Kesari has a voice that somehow emerged from New Orleans jazz from the 1920s. Madeline and Thalya practice friendship as if it were the highest art form.

Jamel loses self-consciousness when he talks of engine repair.

The kids need what all adolescents need: bikes, laptops and a listening heart. “Thank you for seeing the light in me,” one young woman told Kathy after a cry on the couch.

David and Kathy have set up a charitable organization called AOK, for All Our Kids, to help each of the kids come into his or her own fullness.

Four started college this year, and one joined City Year, the national service organization.

Poverty up close is so much more intricate and unpredictable than the picture of poverty you get from the grand national debates. The kids can project total self-confidence one minute and then slide into utter lostness the next.

They give us a gift — complete intolerance of social distance. When I first met Edd, I held out my hand to shake his.

He looked at it and said, “We hug here,” and we’ve been hugging and hanging off each other since.

The college application process often seems like a shapeless fog to them; nobody’s taught them the concrete steps to move along the way. One young woman lied on her financial aid forms because she

Bill Milliken, a veteran youth activist, is often asked which programs turn around kids’ lives. “I still haven’t seen one program change one kid’s life,” he says. “What changes people is relationships. Somebody willing to walk through the shadow of the valley of adolescence with them.”

Letters to the Editor One of the major party candidates has resorted to unsubstantiated allegations, crude language, near-enmity with anyone who disagreed with him, etc. I think he has already talked himself out of contention and will not now be able to redeem himself.

What is really worrying to me, and should be to this whole country, is the other major party candidate - Hillary Clinton. From the time I lived in Arkansas, when he was governor of that state, I admired Bill Clinton’s in spite of his extramarital affairs. I always voted for him or subsequently the candidates he supported, that is till now. But to me, his wife appears to be untrustworthy. Her stint as a secretary

of state was disastrous. She, along with Obama, has gone out of her way, in handing over Egypt and Libya, in the name of ‘promoting democracy’, to known terrorists; following an incoherent policy in Syria, etc.

It is very difficult to reverse the effects of this US disastrous policy on just the US but the entire world. She would be a far worse President and what she would do to justify her earlier disastrous policies makes me shudder.

Her judgement has always been poor, whether as a watergate prosecutor, first lady, secretary of state, etc. Even in the selection of speakers at the recent democratic convention, she has used poor judgement. With such record, how

Souls are not saved in bundles. Love is the necessary force.

will her experience be of any help? Still this country seems destined to have her as the next president. With her background, she will be dictated by the likes of her Saudi and Middle Eastern handlers, who would like this country filled with people whom they want removed far away from their own lands. I am afraid, during her presidency, the people of this country and the world will feel very unsafe.

The problems facing this country are deeper than the labor participation rate and ISIS. It’s a crisis of solidarity, a crisis of segmentation, spiritual degradation and intimacy.

Throughout this ugly year, AOK has been my visit to a better future, more powerful than any political tract about what we need next.

Sometimes Kathy and David are asked how they ended up with so many kids flowing through their house. They look at how many kids are out there, and respond, “How is it possible you don’t?”

I therefore decided to waste my vote this time by voting for neither of the major party candidates. I keep hoping and praying this country will remain safe, even with the next president whoever it may be

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VOICE OF ASIA 5

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

Second Front Page

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Tel: 713-774-5140

“The Spirit of Diwali”

I

t is not often that talent and fame go hand-inhand, but Kartik Trivedi has always marched forward extolling his dedication to art, while fame has come behind, sometimes late but always in good time.

IACCGH Hosts Power Lunch .......

‘Kerala for Business’ Continued from page 3 A native of Kerala, Balagopal was the founding Managing Director Of Terumo Penpol Limited. He joined Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1977 and later resigned in 1983 to promote Peninsula Polymers Limited (PENPOL) to make innovative bio-medical devices in India using indigenous technology.

Trivedi’s art is spread far and wide, starting from his birth place in India to his home in Houston. His paintings and watercolors adorn the walls of world famous galleries and with world leaders: Late President Ronald Reagan, President Bill Clinton and Late French President Francoise Mitterrand and late Prime Ministers Mrs. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi of India, along with one in Buckingham Palace.

He traveled a long and winding road when he came to the U. S. from his native India in 1967. He resided in Cleveland, Santa Clara, Calif. and, for 16 years, in New York. He had numerous one-

www.voiceofasiaonline.com

In 1999 Penpol entered into a joint venture with Terumo Corporation Japan, a world leader in high-tech medical products. The blood bag factory of Terumo Penpol Ltd (TPL) is now the biggest of its kind in Asia outside Japan, employing 1000 skilled persons.

After selling his company to Terumo Corp about four years ago for over $50m, Balago- Speaker C. Balagopal, IAS Officer, entrepreneur and pal invested in startups and supported them author. through mentoring programs as well. He is on the technical committees of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology and double that of its GDP (two and half times) and four times more than India. member of various government committees.

“The Spirit of Diwali” painting by artist Kartik Trivedi Acrylic color on illustration board.

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Trivedi was the recipient of the Hind Rattan Award, India’s highest civilian award. The award is given by the NRI Welfare Society of India.

Very recently a DVD was produced on his life, called “Goraj - the Cosmic Dust.” It’s a short 30minute documentary which features scenes from his U. S. travels and ends in Houston.

His passion remains his paintings. He was accepted for membership by the prestigious Oil Painters of America and is constantly thinking about the next project.

“I am always composing my next painting,” he said. “Inside me there is a great fire burning all the time.”

Trivedi has four Master’s degrees in music, art and history.

Kartik Trivedi. Photo credit Leticia Alaniz

“The Lord has given me this talent and an education and I feel like sharing it with these wonderful students,” he said of his teachings.

Showing no signs of slowing down, he is ready to paint, teach and continues to play the piano.

Jagdip Ahluwalia, IACCGH, Executive DirecBalagopal’s talk focused primarily on small tor proposed a Vote of Thanks and later joined and medium enterprises He lauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Make in India” concept of Joya Shukla and Usha Menon in presenting a plaque to Balagopal. promoting manufacturing in India and said that it would be a ‘long haul’ because of the statues that are over a century old cannot be ‘whisked away easily.” India has a single window system which makes it more complex.

Nevertheless, he also mentioned corporate giants that were headquartered in Kerala like IBS, global leaders in transportation, valued at $1 billion which has its headquarters in Trivandrum, Kerala. “They are all a result of Joya Shukla and Usha Menon and Jagdip Ahluwalia seen presenting a startups initiated 15 plaque to C.Balagopal at the Power Lunch event. Photo credit: Bijay Dixit. years ago,” Balagopal said. Kerala is highly urbanized with 45% living urban area.

There was also a book reading by him on Sat“Many startups are under the radar and will beurday, October 15 from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM at come stories of tomorrow”, he added.

Barnes & Noble in Sugar Land of his second book “Manufacturing is no longer an option but a “The View From Kollam.” His first book “On a must – especially with the way the technology and Clear Day You Can See India” was an anecdotal IT industry is expanding. India is bring manufac- account of his experiences as a young IAS officer turing to center stage.” It is astonishing that less in Manipur, in India’s North East, when he exthan 16% of the its GDP is accounted for manu- plores questions of identity and nationhood that facturing compared to China, which is more than are relevant in today’s rapidly changing world.

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VOICE OF ASIA 6

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

DIWALI EVENTS

The People’s Lawyer www.peopleslawyer.net Richard M. Alderman Interim Dean of the Law Center

Wedding ring belongs to your wife Q. I have been married for three years. I’m now getting a divorce. There is no property or custody to fight over, but I would like the wedding ring I gave my wife. It belonged to my grandmother and is very special to me. Do I need to get a lawyer to have her turn over the ring?

out an acceptable payment plan to avoid garnishment.

A. In my opinion, you are not going to get the ring unless your wife agrees, with or without a lawyer.

Generally, the person who received the ring keeps it after a divorce. A wedding ring is considered a gift to the person who received it.

A. The answer depends on whether your friend has a lease for a specific period of time, and whether he has paid his rent. If your friend has a lease, he cannot be evicted until the end of the lease term.

Without a lease for a specific period of time, he would be considered a month-to-month tenant. With a lease, he gets the notice provided for in the lease, usually 30-60 days, before the end of the lease. If he is a month-to-month tenant he is entitled to 30 days notice.

A lawyer may be able to help arrange a better divorce settlement, but you should weigh the costs of a lawyer against the value of the ring. My advice is to discuss this with your wife, explain how important the ring is, and see if you can work out an agreement for it to be returned.

Q. I owe money for a student loan. A collector told me that if I did not promptly make arrangements to pay he would garnish my wages. I thought wage garnishment was illegal in Texas.

A. I am often asked this question. As a general rule, wage garnishment is prohibited in Texas. There are, however, a few exceptions to this rule. Wage garnishment is permitted for child support, certain taxes, and student loans. In other words, what you were told is true. I suggest you work

Q. My friend got a threeday eviction notice last week.

Doesn’t he have 30 days to vacate or can the landlord make him leave after the three days? He is afraid all his possessions will be put out on the street.

If he breaks the lease, however, for example by not paying rent, he can be immediately evicted with three-days notice. His property, however, may not be just put out on the street. If he doesn’t leave, the landlord can go to court and have him and his property removed from the apartment.

This process usually takes about two weeks. The landlord does not have the right to just throw him out or lock him out.

Look at the landlord tenant material on my website for much more information, www.peopleslawyer.net.

Q. What are my rights if I have a common law marriage?

If we get divorced, will I have any right to his property?

A. As I have said many times before, a common law marriage is no different than any other marriage.

You are married. To have a common law marriage you must agree to be married, hold yourself out as married, and live together as married. Once you establish a common law marriage, your right to share your husband’s property is the same as any other spouse. If you get divorce, you will share all “community property,” which basically is anything either of you obtain while you were married.

Diwali program at Hindu Worship Society

Diwali, Govardhan Puja at Sri Govindaji Gaudiya Matha

Hindu Worship Society of Houston will have Lakshmi Ji’s Puja on Diwali Day, 30 October 2016, Sunday at 11:00am. .

Puja will be performed by HWS Pandit Ji Shree Bhawani Shankar Shastri Ji at the Hindu Worship Society, the oldest temple in SE Texas, at 2223 Wirtcrest Road, Houston , Texas 77055.

As always the last couple of months of a year is full of spiritual (and not only) Festivals.

At Sri Govindaji Gaudiya Matha the “season” will begin this Sunday with the Diwali Celebration. Then we will have Govardhan Puja on Monday (next day, the actual Govardhan Puja day), 6 - 8:30pm.

However since Monday evenings are usually pretty busy for most of us, we will have Govardhan Puja grand celebration on the following Sunday, November 6th, 5 - 7pm.

For further information, please contact Bhawani Shankar Shastri Ji at 832- 278-0100 or 713-957-4608.

Q. How long does bad information stay on my credit report?

A. Negative information becomes “obsolete” after seven years and generally is no longer reported.

I should add that the time runs from when the information is first reported.

Even if the account is sold or transferred to a new debt collector, the information is not “re-aged” and the seven years does not begin again.

You have the right to review your credit reports for free, once a year. If you find any obsolete information you should demand it be removed. Visit www. annualcreditreport.com for more information.

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VOICE OF ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 7

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

FORT BEND VIEW Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Tel: 713-774-5140

www.SarahDeMerchant.com

Happy Diwali Sincerely,

L. Sarah DeMerchant for Texas State Representative District 26 VOTE FOR SARAH (Sugar Land, Richmond and SW Houston) Pol ad paid for by L. Sarah DeMerchant for State Rep, Harry Truong, Treasurer

Fort

Fort Bend View readers, Wishing you a very joyful Diwali

Light Up A Lamp

by C.S. George Kodukulanji Light up a lamp and shed light Upon the primitive corners of life Where darkness primitive

of

our

Ways directs our path of ignorance and hate.

Let us sing a song of harmony Where our melodies turn in to melancholy.

And divisions and deviations of our life Dominate with crime and violence Let us make a clay lamp Fill it with the oil of love, human love Where the Goddess Lakshmi invites lot of blessings of life Let the blue bird sing that song, Let the Lilies of the fields let dance As the breeze whistle through The hills and plains of our mother land.

Happy Diwali to all!

www.voiceofasiaonline.com

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 8

PET of the WEEK I need a loving home

Fort Bend County voters break record for ballots cast on first day of early voting nofficial results point to record-breaking voter turnout in Fort Bend County following the first day of early voting Monday.

U

HERBIE - ID#A005400 Shelter staff named me HERBIE. I am a male, gold Golden Retriever and Shetland Sheepdog. The shelter staff think I am about 2 years old. I have been at the shelter since Oct 08, 2016.

For more information about this pet, call: City of Sugar Land Animal Services at (281) 275-2364

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

According to an unofficial report from the Fort Bend County Elections and Voter Registration office, 18,182 ballots were cast Monday, not counting mail-in and limited ballots. The number surpassed the county’s previous high of 13,264 votes cast the first day of early voting in November 2012, the report said.

TAGH celebrates Bathukamma Festival with record crowds, colorful stages

Due to the high turnout, the Fort Bend County Commissioners Court approved extending early voting location hours for Thursday and Friday. All Fort Bend County early voting locations will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Oct. 27 and 28.

The originally scheduled hours were from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Here are the top five locations where the most early-voting ballots were cast in Fort Bend County. The county allows residents to vote from any voting center. For additional early voting information, visit the county’s website.

Cinco Ranch Branch, Fort Bend County Library: 1,851 votes

Missouri City Community Center: 1,525 votes Fort Bend County Rosenberg Annex building: 1,315 First Colony Center: 1,111

Conference

Sienna Branch, Fort Bend County Library: 1,047 More than 15 million Texas residents registered to vote this election, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office, a record figure and a 5 percent increase from the primaries earlier this year. In total, about 78 percent of voting-age Texans are eligible to vote between now and Nov. 8, Election Day.

Early voting extended on two dates in Fort Bend After a record turnout for the first day of early voting, Fort Bend County commissioners on Tuesday passed a motion to extend voting hours at all county early voting sites on Thursday and Friday. Thus, Oct. 27 and 28 are extended to 12-hour days. The early voting sites will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Consular Camp at Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple real success Devotees celebrate Bathukamma Sri Ashtalakshmi temple Photo Credit: Murali Santhana Photography.

by Rajender Aparasu

H

OUSTON - Bathukamma, a “flowerful” festival of Dassera, organized by the Telangana Association of Greater Houston (TAGH) attracted record crowds of over 3,500 people at Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple on October 8th, 2016.

The TAGH, a USA registered non-profit organization, was formed in 2014 by the Non Resident Indians in the greater Houston Area to preserve the cultural identity and to contribute to the development of new state of Telangana. The organizing committee with over 50 volunteers worked hard for the last several months to bring all Houstonians together and make this great outdoor event a grand success.

Bathukamma is the state festival of Telangana. It is gaining popularity because of its widespread support and participation of the Telugu people.

Although Bathukamma is primarily a women’s festival, it has become a community event for Telugu people all over the world. Bathuku in Telugu

means life and amma means mother. This celebration of life honors the Goddess Gauri, the life giver, for societal prosperity and good wishes. The festival begins on the 1st day of Aswiyuja (Ashwin) and ends on 9th day - maha navami.

Bathukamma is a beautiful flower arrangement in concentric layers of seasonal blossoms in the form of a cone.

The popular flowers used in the preparation of traditional Bathukamma include Gunuka, Tangedi, Lotus, Alli, Katla, Teku, and other local blooming flowers. This year Houstonians prepared over 150 Bathukammas for this occasion. It was delightful to see families bringing variety of colorful Bathukammas to Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple; these were placed on an intricately decorated stage outside the temple. Families took pride in showcasing their Bathukammas; some were small but colorful while others were large and imposing.

The event festivities started with a procession for Goddess Gauri, the life giver, from the temple to the center stage of

Bathukammas. The resident priest of the Sri Ashtalakshmi temple started the proceedings by invoking Goddess Gauri for societal prosperity and good wishes. People gathered around the Bathukamma stage to participate in this annual community event to receive the blessings of Goddess Gauri.

As the pre-recoded Bathukamma songs were played, women and girls in colorful and festive sarees and dresses danced with zest around the Bathukammas. As the evening progressed, the circular group dances expanded with synchronized dancing and hand claps. These are similar to Garba dances which are performed during the Navarathri festival, but they have a typical southern flavor and style. The songs praised Goddess Gauri¸ patron Goddess of womanhood, while describing stories of common woman, their dreams, and aspirations.

The festive songs and lively comments energized the participants for over two hours.

The event chairs for this year were Srinivas Mettu and

Karunakar Choudavarpu. The organizing committee thanked the volunteers and team leads for various activities including parking, stage and light arrangements, sound system, nimajjanam, and food set-up.

The committee also thanked generous donors and dedicated volunteers that contributed immensely to the grand success of this free event. Acknowledgements were also made for Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple, Voice of Asia, Indo-American news, Andhra Mirchi Radio, Radio Hungama, NNN media, and Fox News. Finally, nimajjanam (water immersion of the Bathukammas) was performed at a specially arranged pool at the Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple. The evening ended with a delicious traditional dinner for over 3,500 attendees exclusively prepared by Biryani Pot, Vishala, Universal Bakery, and Mayuri Restaurants.

For future TAGH events and volunteering, please contact the organizers at taghgroup@ gmail.com or visit www.tagh. org/

Consular Officers at Ashtalakshmi Temple helping applicants.

by Vijaya Rachapalli UGAR LAND - The Consulate General of India had a one day Consular Camp at Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple on October 22nd from 10 am to 4 pm. The consulate officers volunteered their weekend time for the community and offered their time to the people.

S

There was a very good turn out and the people were very happy with the services that our Consulate Officers provided. The people were allowed

to interact directly with the officers with their questions and also the officers approved their documents after going through the paper work for all the Visa, Passport, Renunciation and Conversion of PIO cards to OCI cards categories.

Applicants were very thankful for the thoughtful services that our Consulate General of India Consular Camp at Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple General Anupam Ray ji is rendering to the Indian Community in a big way.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 9

BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha Holds Nationwide Voter Education and Registration Drives

Volunteers at the BAPS voter registration drive

S

TAFFORD - Every vote matters,” noted Viral Desai, a BAPS volunteer. Desai was ending his remarks at the weekly assembly at the local BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Stafford, Texas, to encourage his fellow members to vote in the upcoming national elections.

As a Hindu organization with 95 mandirs across the United States, BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha conducted a nationwide voter education and registration drive this year to coincide with the U.S. Presidential election. “Our faith teaches us that all individuals have a duty to be active and contributing members of the communities we live in. One aspect of that duty is to participate in the democratic process by voting,” said Desai.

Krupa Shah, who volunteered her time to help register voters, noted that the response at her local BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Chino Hills, California, was overwhelming. “Visitors view the mandir as an exten-

sion of their homes, and so when the mandir encourages us to vote, it comes with a stamp of approval that really resonates,” Shah added. “Beyond this, simple things, like translators who could help individuals fill out voter registration forms encouraged people to register to vote.”

The voter registration and education drives were planned to maximize their reach. For example, they were often held on large Hindu holidays, which attract worshippers who only attend services on high holidays.

As part of BAPS’ voter education and registration drives, His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj, the spiritual leader of BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, shared a nonpartisan message with BAPS congregations across the United States asking them to exercise their civic responsibility and vote in the upcoming election. “[T]he United States has provided our community a new and welcoming home with incredible opportunities to grow and achieve success in all realms. Given these

great opportunities, it is our responsibility to complete our civic duty by voting in the national elections on Tuesday, November 8, 2016,” said His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj in a message that will reach hundreds of individuals who visit BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha mandirs for Diwali and the Hindu New Year, which fall on October 30th and 31st this year.

Under His Holiness Mahant Swami Maharaj’s leadership, BAPS is committed to exploring opportunities for encouraging civic participation. Jigar Amin, a BAPS volunteer, explained, “I was concerned that, even beyond the voter registration drive, the community may need even more signals to turn out and vote, so I thought, why not make the mandir a polling place?”

As a result, for the first time, BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, in Stafford, Texas will serve as a polling place in an official election. He added, “It’s difficult to overstate the importance of this step: it is a more direct means to encourage the South Asian community to vote.”

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

VOICE OF ASIA 10

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

VOICE OF ASIA 11

COMMUNITY

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

Delightful Diwali celebrations with Club 24

Pradeep Gupta , President of Club 24 addressing the gathering. Next to him is Dr. Asra Oberoi, Event Chair, flanked by Co-Chairs Vipra Bhasin and Dr. Aparna Kamat. Photo credit: Murli Santanam.

that they plan another this year. For fellowship, Club 24 supports organizations like the Youth Leadership City of Houston Controller Chris Brown and his wife Divya. On the left are Development Program (YLDP) and Kiran and Pradeep Gupta while on the right hosts Savita and Sanjay Rao. hopes to get the younger generation Photo (s) credit: Murali Sannthana. involved. Other events the Club holds are the Valentine’s Day and Continued from page 3 Christmas Party (brunch) where members’ children and causes with where they donate join in. a certain amount and club matches it (usually up to $1000), he exEarlier, Dr. Asra Oberoi, plained. They have a formal get Signature Events Chair weltogether at a member’s house and comed the guests, promidistribute checks. nent among who were City of Houston Controller Chris Ashok Garg, the only founder Brown and his wife Divya, member still serving on board says, City of Sugar Land Coun“This is the only organization that cilmember, Harish Jajoo allows the member to elect what and former City of Sugar charities they want to contribute Land Councilmember Tom to and the Club matches. We don’t Abraham and wife Sarah. take their money and redistribute She thanked the hosts Sanit. Club 24 has been doing this for jay and Savita and daughter ten years and never had a problem Monica, who lit the tradiso far.” Garg says his number one tional lamp. This was folpassion is charity and every year lowed by a melodious prayer he has raised $25,000 for the past song Dr. Aparna Kamat. ten years, to his Rotary Club and BAPS, and few others he said.

Music group ‘Kashish’ enthralled the audience with The Club also does outreach a variety of hit songs and programs through its members caterers Madras Pavilion who serve on several boards like served delicious Indian cuiLighthouse for the Blind, Pratham, sine. With the exception of and NPR, to name a few. The Club holds one outreach event a year and Ashok Garg, Founder member Club 24 with host fireworks, the hosts Savita and Sanjay Rao gave a delast year they went on a cruise on Sanjay Rao lightful treat of Diwali.

Keemah Bay, which was such a hit

L-R: Asheet Yagnik, Roy Joseph, Sam Abraham, Sanjay Rao and Ash Shah.

L-R: Tom Abraham, Jugal Malani, Harish Jajoo, Swatantra Jain and Dr Amitabh Shukla

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VOICE OF ASIA 12

COMMUNITY

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

VOICE OF ASIA 13

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

VOICE OF ASIA 14

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

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Lifestyle VOICE OF ASIA

VOICE OF ASIA 15

ONLINE .COM voiceofasiaonline.com

Vol. 29 No. 43

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Musings on mysticism Dancers Anita Ratnam and Madhu Natraj speak about the influence of female Bhakti poets Andal and Akka Mahadevi

by Srinivasa Ramanujam

That, and much more, was part of the discussion ‘Crazy words that swept away taboos’ that Arundhathi Subramaniam had with dancers Anita Ratnam and Madhu Natraj.

Excerpts from the discussion with The Hindu: Anita on Andal As someone born in the 1950s in a Tamil family, Andal was waiting for me. As a young Bharatanatyam dancer, I learnt Andal’s verses, as it was the norm to perform them during any recital. She was the epitome of beauty; I often heard people describe a beautiful girl as ‘Appadiye Andal maari irukka’.

My most special Andal moment was in 1965 when I

H

(Left to Right) Anita Ratnam, Arundhathi Subramniam and Madhu Natraj (Photo: B. Jothi Ramalingam) watched Vyjayanthimala performed at The Music Academy. Soon after, I also read a book on the Thiruppavai that had beautiful illustrations near every pasuram. Soon, I found myself being attracted

by Andal.

Having grown up in Delhi and then Bangalore, I was searching for a Kannada poet to portray at a programme.

That’s when Akka came cascading into my life.

Performing Andal today is different because she’s everywhere; she’s sung, she’s danced… and she’s on Tshirts as well! So, before performances, I meditate on her work. I usually sit down, enjoy her poetry and then proceed to the actual dancing. I consider Andal and her works radical; she was the torchbearer of all mystic poets. She was unique in her poetry; almost ferocious, at times. As a dancer, I will continue to engage with her.

There are several folk legends about Akka and the kind of life she led. One says that she walked out of a man’s palace in a huff. For a production on Akka, I made the first part contemporary. I also tried to showcase her constant wanderings; I wanted to show that she wished to be like the clouds.

Akka lived the way she wanted to, despite restrictions. I connect with her as an artiste. As a kathak and contemporary dancer, I’d like to explore her works.

elevated his character above Long Duk Dong, Leslie Chow, and Han Lee. He was fullyfleshed and multi-faceted. He had different shades, wrinkles, and nuances, resembling more

Glenn Rhee of “The Walking Dead,” Asian America’s favorite pizza delivery boy turned zombie apocalypse warrior, died the same way he lived — selflessly.

In a time of bleakness and cruelty, Glenn was our shining glimmer of hope; our moral compass who showed us that the goodness of humanity was something still worth fighting to preserve.

The mere existence of Glenn Rhee was revolutionary. Here was a bright, young AsianAmerican male character on a mainstream American television program who served a greater purpose than just existing solely to be a sidekick or a punch line to a second-rate joke. He was a loyal friend, a fearless leader, and a loving husband. The complexities behind the portrayal of Glenn

Bangladesh’s ‘Wedding Buster’ takes on illegal child marriage

A

a relatable human being rather than a cartoonish caricature.

This is largely in thanks to Robert Kirkman, the creator of “The Walking Dead” comic,

but it was Steven Yeun’s sensitive and dedicated performance for the last seven seasons of the television adaptation that propelled this character to new heights.

Glenn Rhee broke and rewrote all of the rules for what an AsianAmerican character could or couldn’t do.

He was a desirable romantic interest, a charismatic action hero, and a believable everyman all rolled into one. His influence was far and wide, and he left an important legacy for Asian Americans.

There will never be another one quite like him.

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s the UN marks the International Day of the Girl Child on Tuesday, activist Radha Rani Sarker is meeting with European leaders to highlight the plight of girls in her native Bangladesh, where 73% are illegally married off while still in childhood.

Madhu on Akka Mahadevi

“I’ll Find You, Glenn Rhee” - On my TV hero e only had a few words left before his brutal demise, and he chose to direct them toward the love of his life, Maggie. “I’ll find you”

Tel: 713-774-5140

by Sarah Leduc

B

hakti poetry has many facets, but the ones by 9th Century Tamil poet Andal and 12th Century Kannada poet Akka Mahadevi were radically different, mostly inspired by their fascinating personalities.

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Radha, 21, met French Women’s Rights Minister Laurence Rossignol and reporters in Paris on Monday as part of a tour that will also take her to Brussels. With her baby face and sparkling black eyes, she did not appear to be intimidated in the presence of the minister and her entourage, telling the story of her life with disarming calmness.

She added sugar to her coffee as she recalled how she fled a marriage arranged by a group of uncles, and backtracked to her father’s untimely death as she worked through a plate of grapes and dates. She was in no hurry, giving everyone in the room the impression that the meeting was being conducted on her terms and on her timeline.

Radha’s childhood is far from being unique. A girl under 15 is married every seven seconds, according to a report

by Save the Children released Tuesday. Girls as young as 10 are married off – often to much older men – in many countries, including Afghanistan, Yemen, India and Somalia.

Bangladesh’s ‘Wedding buster’ takes on illegal child marriageIn Radha’s own Bangladesh, up to 73 percent of girls are married off by their families before the age of 18, with 27 percent married between the ages of 12 and 14. The practice has been illegal since 1929, but nearly a century later it remains pervasive.

Radha is among the lucky few who have escaped a forced marriage and was able to continue her studies. She is now an advocate for girls in the region, fighting to give them the same opportunities she has discovered.

‘Girls don’t bring in any money’ Radha was born in 1995 to a poor family in the village

Radha Rani Sarker fled her own underage marriage at 14, now she fights for other Bangladeshi girls. (Photo: Bertrand Guay/AFP) of Khansama, in the northern region of Dinajpur. Her mother was married off at 12.

Her father, a bamboo weaver, also had little say in the marriage, which was agreed by the families.

“I decided I wouldn’t have the same life as my mother,” Radha said.

ture.”

The uncles eventually found her a husband, a man 10 years her senior. Her mother, newly widowed and with no income to sustain the household, had no choice but to agree to the marriage, despite Radha’s fervent protests.

- The wedding buster -

The couple had five daughters – a terrible fate in a country where girls are considered to be a financial burden. Her father worked tirelessly to raise the dowries needed for his daughters, hastening to marry one off after another.

He died unexpectedly of a heart attack in 2009, when Radha was 14. The youngest of the five daughters, she was the only one that remained unmarried and was the last to live in the family home.

All her sisters had left to live with their in-laws; all had abandoned going to school.

“I think my father would have liked for us to study, but he was poor,” Radha explained matter-of-factly. “Girls don’t bring in any money. And the older they get, the higher the dowry.”

Her father’s funeral had barely started when Radha’s uncles began figuring out how to marry her off. Their biggest concern was saving the family the embarrassment of having a pubescent unmarried girl to look after.

“They started organising my wedding even before they had finished organising my father’s funeral,” she fumed, becoming emotional for the first time. “I lost everything: My father, my rights, my fu-

Radha was forcibly taken to a sister’s house. “I wished I had died instead of my father. They locked me in a room. I spent my days crying on the floor. One day, when my brother-in-law came to pick up my plate of food, I sneaked past him and ran away. I jumped on a bus and went back to my mother,” she remembered.

Her sister beat her, but Radha would not yield. The teenager’s stubbornness eventually paid off, winning the sympathy of an educated cousin and her mother. “They finally left me alone,” she said.

Radha returned to school, which was paid for by loans from her teachers and an aid group. Today she studies social sciences at Dinajpur’s regional university and continues to fight against underage marriage.

She counts herself among a small group of “wedding busters”, volunteers who campaign against child marriage.

Radha has already saved 20 girls from forced marriages.

Continued on page 17

LEISURE

VOICE OF ASIA 16

Sony Pictures Networks Announces: American College Cricket clinches deal with SET Asia

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

Sonal Singh on India’s developing art landscape works by the leading artists of the modern and contemporary art movement sell just as well in India as they have done at the established sales in this category held in London and New York. As we look forward into 2014, we are already planning events for our clients keen to visit the India Art Fair this month and in discussions about our next auction in India.”

Is the future bright for contemporary artists in India and why?

Sonal Singh. Photo courtesy: Kirthika Prasad Photo credit: Sony Entertainment Televison Asia, www.setasia.tv EW YORK, NY; October 20, 2016 - Sony Entertainment Television Asia (SET Asia) has acquired Exclusive Media Rights for American College Cricket, and will be the Official Broadcast Partner beginning the season of 2016. SET Asia will broadcast major match-ups including regional and national semi-final and final matches.

N

Founder & President of American College Cricket Lloyd Jodah said, “It’s the right time, and Sony is the ideal Broadcast Partner for American College Cricket to go back on TV. Since March 2009 we’ve been setting the bar for cricket in America, and Sony’s experience in broadcasting major tournaments will ensure we take cricket in the USA to the next level.

America & Canada will get to see the young talent representing well-known universities, which in addition to their edu-

by Farah Palia

cational reputations, are major brands in sports such as football, basketball, baseball, soccer and more. American College Cricket has created a new platform which, together with SET Asia will raise the stature of the game in North America significantly higher.”

to the preferences of youth in the United States. We believe cricket, played locally, will be a driver for success. We are excited about the partnership with ACC, not just broadcast rights but also the key role we play in amplifying the game in North America.”

Across the US and Canada, there is a growing number of students who are ardent cricket fans. Many play at a local or regional level. ACC & SET Asia will provide opportunities for them to play the sport at a competitive, national level.

With an ever-increasing interest in the game and growth in available resources, cricket in North America is now poised to exponentially expand its player and viewership base.

American College Cricket has been the leading brand in cricket in the United States.

It has received national, regional and local press coverage for its efforts including the first web stream, and broadcast on ESPN in USA. It laid the groundwork for making cricket “the fastest growing sport in US colleges”. Thanks to ACC’s efforts, colleges are recognizing the popularity of the game. Many colleges now have cricket fields on campus (often multi-use) and students in other countries, particularly India have been researching American universities with strong cricket programs.

Talking about the role of SET Asia, Jaideep Janakiram, SVP International BusinessHead of the Americas said, “SET Asia is developing relevant, localized content to cater

Exhibit of rare Korans seeks to restore Islam in US eyes

by Shahzad ABDUL

W

ASHINGTON | A first US showing of rare old Korans opens Saturday in a Washington museum, highlighting a different side of Islam at a time when the religion’s image in America has been scarred by a divisive presidential campaign.

More than 60 Korans and Koranic texts, dating from as far back as the late seventh century and More than 60 Korans and Koranic texts will be featured in “The Art of the considered works of Qur’an,” running through February 20, 2017 ©Ashraf Shazly (AFP/File). art for their exceptionally fine calligraphy, “Today, when you look at will be featured in “The Art of Simon Retting told AFP during a Koran, it always looks the the Qur’an,” running through a news briefing Thursday.

February 20, 2017, at the Freer “So we come at it more from same -- it’s a printed copy with and Sackler museums, home to the angle of explaining how a green color, one basic size,” the Smithsonian Institution’s the Koran took the form of a Farhad told AFP. Asian art collection. book and how the arts of cal“What is remarkable here is These majestic holy books ligraphy and illumination” -- the incredible variety of them, were copied by hand for some the decoration and illustration the size, the scale, the scripts... of the richest and most powerful of manuscripts -- “developed Especially when you think that the Koran is the same identirulers of the Muslim world. Most around the book.” of them -- 47 of 63 -- were lent to “We wanted to really show cal text copied over and over Freer and Sackler from a single the variety of manuscripts,” and over again. So you can’t source: the Museum of Turkish said Massumeh Farhad, the do something different. It’s the same thing.” and Islamic Arts in Istanbul. show’s chief curator.

The rest were already part of The show’s opening comes The Korans on display, she the Smithsonian collection. just over two weeks before the noted, come from all parts of The exhibition, contained in the Muslim world, from Iraq to US presidential elections of November 8, amid a polarizing the intimate setting of a single Afghanistan and Turkey. campaign in which Republican room, tells the story of how Thus, there is a Koran on candidate Donald Trump often the words and teachings of the Koran, traditionally passed on parchment copied by a callig- stigmatized Muslims, saying at orally, came during the seventh rapher in Iraq or Iran between one point that he would ban all century to be inscribed in fixed the late eighth and early ninth Muslims from the United States, century. Another imposing at least for a time. and permanent texts.

Koran, measuring some six The exhibit, in the works for - Letters of gold feet by three feet (two meters six years, was originally set to The exhibit touches lightly by one meter) and dating from open in 2014 but was delayed on the messages of the Koran. 1599 in the Iranian city of Shi- by construction, museum offi“We are above all an art muse- raz, is done in colored ink with cials said. um,” the show’s deputy curator gold-encrusted letters.

s art takes centre stage in India’s booming economic and cultural vortex, Christie’s Associate Director and Head of Sale for Christie’s auctions in India waxes eloquent on art and artists in India, Christie’s role in India’s developing art landscape and more.

A

A former Director of Bodhi Art, Sonal Singh, Sonal studied design at Central Saint Martin’s College of Art & Design and Modern and Contemporary Art History at Christie’s Education in London. She holds a Master’s degree with distinction in Art Business from Sotheby’s Institute of Art, London, where she specialised in the Indian art market and has worked

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As the world’s leading fine art auctioneer since 1766, what does Christie’s hope to accomplish in India for the year ahead?

“Last month we held our first auction in India and it was incredibly successful, realising INR 96,59,37,500 and was 98% sold. It proved that there is a large appetite for great art here in India and showed that

What distinct change, in art appreciation in India, have you noted over the last few years?

“There is an ever growing awareness about Indian art both in India and from a more international group of collectors. Collectors in India are well informed and are passionate about the art they collect. I believe this will continue and their interests will expand over the years.”

(- Hello! India)

Life darker than art for Panama boxing hero in US film

by David Santacruz EXICO CITY, The night US forces invaded Panama, Roberto Duran ran home from a bar to get his gun. He was too drunk to defend his homeland.

He passed out instead.

It is one of many colorful episodes in the life of the Panamanian boxing champion -- now immortalized in a new film, “Hands of Stone” with US “Raging Bull” actor Robert De Niro.

But like many of the darker points in Duran’s life story, the grittiest details of the tale did not make into the movie.

To hear those bits, you have to talk to the man himself.

The film leaves out the part about him waking the next morning with his feet tied to the bed -- the only way his family could find to stop him doing something dangerous.

Legend had it that Duran -regarded as one of the all-time greats of the ring -- wanted to fist-fight the invaders who

M

The life of the Panamanian boxing champion is immortalized in a new film, “Hands of Stone” with US “Raging Bull” actor Robert De Niro, above. (Photo: AFP/File) deposed Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989.

With typical bravado, the stocky five-foot seven (170centimeter) fighter, now 65, set the record straight in an interview with AFP. “I didn’t want to punch them,” he said. “I wanted to shoot them!”

A friend dragged him from the bar, he recalled, into the

street, where he saw the sky lit up by the blasts of the invasion.

“Damn, what beautiful fireworks,” he said to a friend.

For a six-time world boxing champion, his plucky stand was characteristic.

Duran recently reportedly said he would like to fight US presidential candidate Donald Trump.

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closely with many of India’s leading artists such as Atul and Anju Dodiya, Subodh Gupta and N.S. Harsha, amongst others. Her recent essays include “Chindia” as Market Opportunity (co-authored with Iain Robertson and Victoria Tseng) in The Art Business and ‘India’ in The International Art Markets.

“Yes I think it is. There are a growing number of events that have begun being organised in India which help in raising the profile and that give more people access to art. As our office is in Colaba in Mumbai, I often spend time with many of the galleries in the vicinity and I can see how hard they work along with their artists to create awareness and educate a larger audience on contemporary art.

Galleries, along with art fairs, biennales, museum shows and auctions all play an important role.”

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HEALTH, SC & TECH

VOICE OF ASIA 17

Slippery slope: the more we lie, the easier it gets

by Marlowe Hood

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ARIS, France | AFP | Whether cheating on taxes or one’s lover, the little lies we tell can quickly escalate into big ones, according to a study released Monday that describes dishonesty as a “slippery slope”.

In the experiments, some 80 volunteers were asked to individually assess high-resolution photos of glass jars filled with different amounts of pennies.

Then, via a computer, they

to lie.

In one experiment, a deliberate falsehood resulted in gains for both advisor and advised.

In another, the volunteer understood that a self-interested lie

dissembling; they also ramped up the intensity of their lies over time.

Twenty-five of the participants underwent functional MRIs -- brain scans -- during the experiments.

The part of the brain that processes emotions, the amygdala, responded strongly when lying occurred.

Serial untruths, moreover, register a diminishing emotional response in the brain, researchers reported in Nature Neuroscience.

At least it did so at first.

Indeed, the biochemical link is so strong that scientists could accurately predict in experiments how big a lie someone was about to tell just by looking at the brain scan of their previous prevarications.

But even as the lies grew bolder, the amygdala lit up less and less, a process the researchers called “emotional adaptation.”

“This study is the first “The first time you empirical evidence that discheat on your taxes, honest behaviour escalates when it is repeated,” said Scientists can now predict whether someone will lie by looking at brain scans for example, you might feel quite bad about it,” lead author Neil Garret, a (AFP Photo/Jonathan Nackstrand) Sharot said. “That bad researcher in the Departfeeling curbs your disment of Experimental Psywere instructed to advise a re- would come at the expense of honesty.” chology at University College mote partner looking at a poor- the partner.

London. quality image of the same jar “But the next time you cheat, as to how much money it con- Practice makes perfect you have already adapted, and Understanding how people tained.

-”People lie the most when it is there is less of a negative reacgraduate from white lies to good for them and for the other tion to hold you back.” whoppers despite the social These partners were in fact person,” said Sharot. norms or morals that discour- actors working with the scienWhether the reduced activity age mendacity is of more than tists, but the volunteers did not “When it is only good for in the brain’s emotional comacademic interest, the authors know that. them, but hurts someone else, mand centre helped drive the argue. they lie less.” slide towards dishonesty, or In the first test, the volunteers was simply a reflection of it, Whether it is “infidelity, dop- were given an incentive to be Participants differed sharply remains unclear. ing in sports, making up data honest. on how far they wandered from in science, or financial fraud, the truth, and the rate at which But one conclusion from the the deceivers often recall “They were told that the their dishonesty escalated. study does seem inescapable: that small acts of dishonesty more accurate their partner’s the more you lie, the better you snowballed over time,” noted estimate, the more money they And those identified beforeco-author Tali Sharot, also of would both receive,” Garrett hand in questionnaires as less get at it.

University College London. explained in a press briefing. forthright were also more likely “If emotional arousal goes to lie during the experiment. down, it is possible that people “They suddenly found themThis set a benchmark for are less likely to catch you in a selves committing quite large other scenarios in which volBut most volunteers not only lie,” said Sharot. crimes.” unteers were given an incentive easily slipped into a pattern of

Politics and social media: Americans see overload ASHINGTON | AFP - The political debate on Facebook and Twitter is getting too mean for many Americans.

W

That is far more than the 20 percent who say they like seeing political information on these platforms.

The survey comes with Twitter and Facebook increasingly used in political campaigns and playing an important role in social movements, and with Re-

Some 59 percent of those surveyed described their online interactions with those they disagree with politically as “stressful and frustrating,” the report authors said.

It can be complicated to filter out unwanted content because many users see items shared from friends, acquaintances and public figures.

While social networks have become a key part of the political landscape in recent years, many users are getting fed up with the tone of the debate, according to a survey.

The Pew Research Center survey found 37 percent of social media users are “worn out” by the amount of political discussion they encounter.

devolve into flame wars or partisan bickering.”

publican presidential nominee Donald Trump making Twitter a key element in his campaign.

But many people have become frustrated by the acrimonious and partisan tone of the discussion, Pew found.

“A substantial share of social media users feel these platforms are uniquely angry and disrespectful venues for engaging in political debate.”

Many social media users get news and commentary in their

feeds even when they are not looking for it, the report noted.

“In these spaces, users can encounter statements they might consider highly contentious or extremely offensive -- even when they make no effort to actively seek out this material,” report authors Maeve Duggan and Aaron Smith wrote.

“Similarly, political arguments can encroach into users’ lives when comment streams on otherwise unrelated topics

“Most users try to ignore political arguments on social media as best they can; when that fails, they take steps to curate their feeds and avoid the most offensive types of content,” the report said.

Four-fifths said they steer clear of getting into online spats over politics while 15 percent with respond with their own comments. Nearly one-third of social media users -- 31 percent -- said they have changed their settings in order to see fewer posts from someone because of something related to politics, Pew found.

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

Spain’s ‘Napflix’ aims to bore viewers to sleep

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ADRID, SPAIN | AFP - Spanish video platform called Napflix, designed to put people to sleep with dull content, was launched this week and its founders are on the lookout for more “monotony and repetition.”

Napflix offers about 60 videos taken from YouTube, including footage of rain pattering on windowpanes, a documentary on pandas and quantum physics lectures, to help people doze off.

“The idea is to make entertainment boring,” Victor Gutierrez de Tena, one of Napflix’s two co-founders told AFP on Friday.

“We are looking for monotony and repetition,” the 31-yearold said of the service, which was launched on Monday.

“It could be the kind of things that remind us of our childhood, like post-lunch classes and TV serials we watched after meals which just went on and on, ones where you wouldn’t lose the plot if you fell asleep,” he said.

Other offerings include clips of petanque -- a traditional French game of boules -- and excerpts from Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake.

Although De Tena and his co-founder work in advertising, he said Napflix was not a paid publicity campaign, but rather an experiment in building up communities of fans on different online platforms.

Despite Spain’s reputation as the land of the afternoon siesta, the vast majority of Spaniards forgo that postprandial slumber, according to a survey by a bed manufacturer.

Big US banks unveil consumer payment app ASHINGTON, | AFP - Major US banking groups Monday announced they would join forces for a new person-toperson mobile payment application to counter services like PayPal’s Venmo and Square Cash.

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The new app called Zelle will launch in 2017 and give consumers the ability to instantly send and receive payments using a smartphone.

“Zelle will transform how people manage their financial lives, providing them faster, safer, and more convenient payment options with their friends and family,” said Paul Finch, chief executive officer of the banking technology firm Early Warning, which made the announcement.

“We are pleased to partner with the leading financial institutions and financial service organizations in the country to make our vision for faster payments a reality for millions of consumers nationwide.”

Zelle will be open to all banks and credit unions in the US and accessible to some 76 million mobile banking users.

To date, 19 financial institutions including eight of the largest US retail banks, have joined the Zelle Network, according to Early Warning.

The new service aims to woo consumers away from non-bank services that allow money transfers such as Venmo and Square Cash.

Because it involves the banks themselves, the service will allow recipients to instantly get use of the funds instead of waiting one or two business days.

Among the banks joining the service were Ally Bank, Bank of America, Bank of the West, BB&T, Capital One, Citi, Fifth Third Bank, FirstBank, Frost Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, PNC, US Bank and Wells Fargo.

Card networks Mastercard and Visa will also be partners in the service.

Weddings Continued from page 15 Her dream is to build a centre for girls trying to escape underage marriages, a place where they can find refuge until they are legally adults.

“The situation has improved a little in recent years, but underage marriage still enjoys impunity,” Radha said.

Asked if she plans on ever getting married, Radha said she is not opposed to the idea but felt no pressure to do so.

She has already turned down seven proposals. “Marriage?

Why not? But it’s not a goal in

itself. Maybe if I meet a man who understands who I am and doesn’t impose any limits,” she said with a chuckle.

Still chewing on a date, Radha started to leave and the meeting appeared to be suddenly over. But she returned to treat the room to an impromptu song, the languid notes hinting at it being a Bangladeshi love song.

But the translator said this impression was a false one: The song is an indictment of those who sacrifice their daughters’ futures on the altar of tradition.

VOICE OF ASIA 18

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

HEALTHY LIVING VOICE OF ASIA

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Babies should sleep in parents’ room first year: US doctors

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LK GROVE VILLAGE, ILLINOIS - AFP - To reduce the risk of sudden death, babies should sleep in the same room as their parents but in their own crib or

the same bed.

“Parents should never place the baby on a sofa, couch, or cushioned chair, either alone or sleeping with another person,” lead author Rachel

follows the A-B-Cs of safe sleep,” Colvin added by email. “Their infant should always be placed to sleep ‘A’ Alone, with no bed sharing or objects in the sleep area, ‘B’ on their back, and ‘C’ in a crib or bassinet only.”

Deaths from SIDS have plateaued in recent years, but it is still the leading killer of babies aged one month to one year.

Children may become entangled in bedding, or suffocate under bumpers or toys, get squeezed in the corner of a couch or armchair, get overheated, or simply stop breathing for no apparent reason.

“It is nothing but tragic,” said Peter Richel, chief of the department of pediatrics at Northern Westchester Hospital, who remembers losing two patients in the past 26 years to sudden infant death -- a four-month-old boy and a two-week-old girl.

Babies should sleep in the same room as their parents but in their own crib or bassinet for the first year of life, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics ©Scott Olson (Getty/AFP)

“Often there is nothing special to point to, other than they are just kind of taken away,” he said.

bassinet for the first year of life, US doctors said.

“It is something that one never forgets.”

Still, some 3,500 infants die each year in the United States from sleeprelated deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and accidental suffocation and strangulation.

The main change to the AAP guidelines, which were last issued in 2011, is the specific call for infants to stay in their parents’ room for six months to a year if possible -- but not sleep in

“We know that these surfaces are extremely hazardous.”

Experts say that urging parents to put babies to sleep on their backs instead of their bellies helped drive down the rate of sudden infant death from 120 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1992 to 56 deaths per 100,000 in 2001 -- a 53 percent reduction in one decade.

That advice still stands.

“Parents often assume that when other people take care of their infant, they also know about infant sleep safety. That is definitely not true,” said senior study author Dr. Jeffrey Colvin, a pediatrics researcher at Children’s Mercy Kansas City.

S

Analyzing data from the American Gut Project, they found that migraine sufferers harbored significantly more microbes in their mouths and guts with the ability to modify nitrates compared to people who do not get migraine headaches.

Their report, which is published this week in mSystems, an open-access journal of the American Society for Microbiology, will spur more research to find out which oral microorganisms are related to migraines and how they affect health.

“There is this idea out there that certain foods trigger migraines— chocolate, wine, and especially foods containing nitrates,” says Antonio Gonzalez, a programmer analyst in the laboratory of Rob Knight at UC San Diego, and lead author on the study. “We thought that perhaps there was a connection between someone’s microbiome and what they were eating.”

Many of the 38 million Americans who suffer from migraines have noticed an association between consuming nitrates and their severe headaches.

Nitrates, found in foods like processed meats, green leafy vegetables, and in

Richel said that the new policy means doctors will have to change some of their long-held advice.

“Many pediatricians will suggest that by two months of age, infants go to their own room, and with the use of a monitor so that you can hear them cry out for a feeding,” said Richel.

“This really goes against that kind of usual advice, which is fine, because if it saves lives we are all for it.”

- Latest data -

“Parents need to make sure that everyone taking care of their baby

Gut bacteria may trigger migraine AN DIEGO (NDTV) - Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine (UC San Diego) have found an association between migraines and microbes that reduce nitrates.

Other risk factors for SIDS include smoking in the home, and exposing babies to drugs or alcohol.

certain medicines, can be reduced to nitrites by bacteria found in the oral cavity. These nitrites, when circulating in the blood, can then be converted to nitric oxide (NO) under certain conditions, which is a powerful vasodilator that can aid cardiovascular health by improving blood flow and reducing blood pressure.

Using publicly available data from the American Gut Project run out of the Knight lab, Gonzalez and his colleague Embriette Hyde sequenced bacteria found in 172 oral samples and 1,996 fecal samples from healthy participants. The participants had previously filled out surveys indicating whether they suffered from migraines.

The sequencing first told them which bacterial species were found in different abundances between migraineurs and non-migraineurs. In terms of bacterial community composition, the team did not find huge differences in either fecal or oral samples from migraineurs compared to non-migraneurs.

Next, they used a bioinformatic tool called PICRUSt to analyze which genes were likely to be present in the two different sets of samples, given the bacterial species present. In fe-

The new policy is described in a paper called, “SIDS and Other SleepRelated Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment,” and will be presented Monday at the AAP National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco.

“The most important thing to remember is that the crib should be free of all loose objects that could lead to strangulation or suffocation,” said Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital, who was not involved in the research.

“This means that a bare environment is ultimately safest.”

The AAP policy also suggests placing newborn infants skin-to-skin with the mother “immediately following birth for at least an hour as soon as the mother is medically stable and awake.”

Breastfeeding is recommended, but mothers are urged to move the baby to a separate sleeping space afterward.

CMS Details Outreach Campaign Strategy for Open Enrollment 2017 Better targeting and new tactics will connect with consumers, drive Open Enrollment success Every year, the Administration gets better and more strategic in our efforts to help millions of Americans enroll in affordable coverage. While the uninsured rate has fallen to the lowest level on record, there are still too many Americans who remain uninsured and experience health and financial hardships resulting from lack of coverage. A key reason people remain uninsured is that they don’t know about the options that exist to help them obtain coverage. Experts continue to find that nearly half of uninsured adults are unaware of the financial assistance available to help pay for health insurance, even though about 85 percent of Marketplace-eligible uninsured Americans could qualify for financial help.

Outreach is a proven strategy to help Americans understand their health care options and enroll in coverage. Our outreach efforts in previous years have proven very successful in enrolling new consumers. This year, we expect to do even better, as we incorporate best practices from last open enrollment (OE) to make our outreach more efficient and effective.

“Americans deserve affordable coverage, and we are running a data-driven program to better connect eligible people with health insurance,” said Kevin Counihan, HealthCare.gov CEO. “This year, we’ll be putting that knowledge to work with smarter targeting and new tactics. I’m confident our outreach campaign will give more consumers the information they need and help us continue our historic progress in reducing the number of uninsured.”

Going into the fourth OE, we’ll draw on three years of lessons learned from building an enrollment outreach program from the ground up. Our prior-year testing, data, and analysis will make us better than ever at reaching people who need coverage, with the right messages, through the right channels, at the right time.

REACHING PEOPLE WHO NEED COVERAGE Mailings to Americans who need coverage: Last year, we sent approximately 800,000 pieces of direct mail. This year, we’ll send more than 10 million. What’s more, we’ll be targeting that mail to groups of people who were recently uninsured, recently lost coverage, or sought coverage in the past through HealthCare.gov or a state Medicaid program. That includes reaching people who started to sign up at HealthCare. gov last year, but didn’t complete

his or her own bed,” she said.

“If you are feeding your baby and think that there’s even the slightest possibility that you may fall asleep, feed your baby on your bed, rather than a sofa or cushioned chair,” said co-author Lori Feldman-Winter, a member of the Task Force on SIDS. “If you do fall asleep, as soon as you wake up be sure to move the baby to

The highest risk period for SIDS comes between the ages one to four months. SIDS is rare in babies older than eight months.

cal samples, they found a slight, but statistically significant increase in the abundance of genes that encoding nitrate, nitrite and nitric oxide reductases in migraineurs. In oral samples, these genes were significantly more abundant in migraineurs.

have a potential connection to migraines as well.”

“We know for a fact the nitrate-reducing bacteria are found in the oral cavity,” says Hyde, who is the project manager for the American Gut Project in the Knight laboratory. “We definitely think this pathway is advantageous to cardiovascular health, but now we

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Other strategies include offering a pacifier at nap time and bedtime, and making sure infants get all their recommended vaccines.

About 80% of cardiac patients who take nitrate-containing drugs for chest pain or congestive heart failure report severe headaches as a side effect. The researchers speculate that we may have a symbiotic relationship with our oral microbes, which aids our cardiovascular health. But for certain people, this research suggests, too many nitrate-reducing bacteria in the mouth may also lead to migraines.

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the process to sign up for coverage. It also includes sending mail to consumers who lost eligibility for Medicaid or CHIP coverage last year, or who applied for Medicaid or CHIP but had incomes too high to qualify. In addition, as previously announced, the Internal Revenue Service will conduct new outreach to uninsured people who paid the penalty or claimed an exemption, letting them know that tax credits are available for Marketplace coverage and providing information about their health coverage options.

Smarter Email: During OE 4, we’ll be able to reach more consumers by email than ever before.

That’s because HealthCare.gov’s email list has grown by over 30 percent since the start of OE 3.

We now have a list of more than 20 million people who’ve come to HealthCare.gov and signed up to receive more information, some of whom have started or completed an application or previously had Marketplace coverage.

Email is among the most efficient channels for reaching consumers, especially young people, who are about twice as likely to enroll in response to email outreach as older consumers.

Getting Ready for Open Enrollment Americans can sign up for affordable health plans that meet their needs and their budgets at HealthCare.gov beginning November 1. Open Enrollment runs through January 31, 2017. Health coverage can start as soon as January 1, 2017 for consumers who sign up by December 15, 2016.

Yes, we can help you with Medicare OR Obamacare enrollment choosing right plan. Contact Sudhir Mathuria @ 713-771-2900.

Parents are warned against using expensive home monitoring systems, as well as wedges or positioners that may be marketed as reducing the risk of SIDS. “We know that we can keep a baby safer without spending a lot of money on home monitoring gadgets but through simple precautionary measures,” Moon said.

Gonzalez and Hyde say that the next steps will be to look at more defined groups of patients, separated into the handful of different types of migraines.

Then, researchers can determine if their oral microbes really do express those nitrate-reducing genes, measure their levels of circulating NO and see how they correlate with migraine status.

Perhaps far into the future, Gonzalez says, “We will have a magical probiotic mouthwash for everyone that helps your cardiovascular health without giving you migraines.”

“We are a caregiver information and advocacy website that all Texans could use” Member, IACCGH

The new policy statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics says babies should sleep on their backs, on a clean surface free of toys and blankets, a guideline that has been in place since the 1990s and has reduced sudden infant deaths by about 50 percent.

Moon said on Monday.

Tel: 713-774-5140

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Young Life

VOICE OF ASIA 19

Section 2

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

UH receives $1.45 Million boost to prepare STEM teachers

Tel: 713-774-5140

HCC Interior Design students take top honors

NSF Award Supports New Mentoring Program and Scholarships

by Lisa Merkl

H

OUSTON - Answering the call for more high school math and science teachers, the University of Houston is using a $1.45 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to bolster its teachHOUSTON math and science teacher preparation program in a big way.

Now in its ninth year, teachHOUSTON was awarded the five-year grant from the NSF’s Robert Noyce Scholarship Program to further its mission of supporting future teachers in the STEM fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as promote long-term teacher retention. The funds are being used to introduce a new program that offers scholarships, professional development and mentoring.

A collaboration between the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics (NSM) and the College of Education, the teachHOUSTON program addresses the shortage of qualified STEM teachers in secondary education. Students enrolled in this track participate in field-based teaching experiences throughout the four years they are working on their bachelor’s degree, graduating not only with a math or science degree, but also a teaching certificate.

“This track, which acts as a students’ NSM capstone, offers hands-on teaching experience, develops effective communication skills and gives students the option of teaching after graduation,” said Paige Evans, a clinical associate professor with teachHOUSTON and principal investigator (PI) for the grant. “This grant will help us provide our pre-service teachers and graduates with the support they need to be successful.”

Together with her co-PIs – associate professor of physics Donna Stokes, assistant professor of biology and biochemistry Steven Bark and associate professor in the College of Education Catherine Horne – Evans will estab-

Students in the teachHOUSTON program from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics investigate force vectors and torque with professor Paige Evans. Pictured from left to right are Erik Chavarrieta, Kechi HansworthWatson, Andrew Mathews, Giovanny Sigaran, Alexis Clowtis, Paige Evans, Shruti Hariyani and Angie Persaud. lish UH-LIFE, which is short for University of Houston: Learning through Informal and Formal Experience, to augment existing teachHOUSTON activities. Specifically, this new program will provide scholarships for pre-service STEM teachers and support the creation of the Noyce Professional Development/Mentoring Institute, which will pair current students with teachHOUSTON graduates.

“This institute will connect graduates with undergraduates, so that when students graduate and start teaching, they will already have a mentor in place to help them,” Evans said.

As part of this institute, teachHOUSTON will host undergraduates for a week in the summer to spend time with UH alumni who are working as teachers. Professional development activities will include the exchange of lesson plans and techniques for managing classrooms. Current teachHOUSTON students also will be given the opportunity to work as camp counselors in a summer STEM camp

for middle school students. Facilitating STEM activities provides them with valuable hands-on experience, as well as teaches them how to pass along their own enthusiasm of STEM to their future students.

“The teachHOUSTON program is great, because it advocates handson learning for students,” said Jamie Lehnen, a current Noyce scholar with a major in biochemical and biophysical sciences and a minor in chemistry and education. “The program’s longterm goal is not just to improve test scores and help students graduate.

Rather, the program’s largest goal is to make science and mathematics enjoyable to students by showing them how applicable STEM is. We want students to learn by experimentation, by active collaboration and by thoughtful inquiry, which will help them retain the concepts.”

For more information on the teachHOUSTON program, visit http:// teachhouston.uh.edu/ or call 713-7438644.

HCC Interior Design student Rebeca Munoz - winner of Best of Residential Design.

H

OUSTON – The American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) has chosen two students from the Houston Community College (HCC) Interior Design program as winners of two categories at the Texas Gulf Coast Chapter Ruby Awards.

During the recent event at the Decorative Center of Houston, Tania Albin won Best of Commercial Design and Rebeca Munoz won the award for Best of Residential Design.

“This award is very important for me because is the first time in my life I feel that an organization and a school is supporting me in achieving my professional goals,” said a thrilled Munoz. “The HCC Interior Design program helped grow as an interior designer. Since I started the program, my design abilities have been constantly improving with the help of my experienced professors. They are constantly pushing you to do your absolute best.”

Those proud professors are Shasta Swift, associate chair, HCC Consumer Arts & Sciences Center of Excellence and Kevin Hamby, HCC Interior Design program coordinator.

“We provide a rigorous two years of intensive design classes which has produced some of the most refined and talented interior designers Houston has to offer,” said Hamby. “Shasta and I are so delighted when our students receive recognition from the professional interior design community for the hours of hard work and dedication it takes to get though the program.”

The Interior Design program is part of the HCC Consumer Arts & Sciences Center of Excellence.

For more information, visit hccs.edu/interiordesign.

Imaginations Run Wild at LEGO KidsFest

Mia gives a high five to a giant LEGO figure. Photos by Susan.

by Susan Pothanikat

Kids and parents worked together to assemble Star Wars action figures, create unique masterpieces for the Lego Art Gallery and test their speed in LEGO races.

heaven! From Star Wars to Superman, LEGO Batman and Cinderella, there was a LEGO figure favorite for all. LEGO Jurassic world featured 2 life size dinosaurs. Kids put their heads inside the dinosaurs for a funny picture. One can only imagine how many hours it takes to make such intricate figures. Most parents have a hard enough time putting together LEGO sets with instructions!

All the figures are carefully packaged and transported to the next location on the US tour.

It was like being in superhero

It seems like there are more

H

ouston - LEGO KidsFest stopped in Houston for a 3 day tour from October 21- 23. Families from all over came together, some even planned for the special day in LEGO themed coordinated outfits.

LEGO enthusiasts at NRG Center. A gaint LEGO cube hangs in the center of the stadium.

LEGO themes for boys than for girls. LEGO does make a few girl themed series called “LEGO friends” and “LEGO Elves.” LEGO also has a stationary product called “Santoki” which was introduced a year ago. These look like ordinary LEGOs, but once you take off one end, it exposes the writing tip. Different sets are sold for markers, pens, cases and rulers. When you’re done writ-

ing, you can build right on the Santoki. From writing to play, your creations will truly come to life.

Boys enjoyed playing in the Star Wars zone, having lightsaber battles with their friends.

They also enjoyed battling in the LEGO Ninjago zone, slicing and dicing their opponents.

This reminded me of the old wrestling action figures battling

Mia and Neil show off their Star Wars figures it out. Ever wanted to swim in a pool of LEGOs? This was your chance. Kids laid in the LEGO pile as if they were on the beach playing in the sand.

One thing is for sure, LEGOs will be around for a very long time as a family favorite, encouraging discovery and building imaginations.

VOICE OF ASIA 20

Section 2

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

Bollywood Masala

Email: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com

Tel: 713-774-5140

Here’s why Coca-Cola dropped Salman Khan as its brand ambassador

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EW DELHI (PTI) — Beverages major Coca-Cola India has dropped Bollywood superstar Salman Khan as the brand ambassador for its soft drink ‘Thums Up’ after four years of association, and the company is in talks with young star Ranveer Singh to replace him.

Anti-Pakistan sentiment is expected to impact Johar’s “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” (“This Heart is Complicated”), which stars former Miss World Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Fawad Khan, and other upcoming films.

Bollywood film set to screen after Pakistani actor ban

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top Bollywood movie mired in controversy for featuring a Pakistani actor will open as scheduled in India after an industry body agreed to ban actors from across the border in future.

A hardline Hindu nationalist party had threatened to attack cinemas that showed prominent Indian director Karan Johar’s film “Ae Dil Hai Mushkil”, as tensions run high between New Delhi and Islamabad.

But the Film and Television Producers Guild of India has now promised to bar Pakistani actors in future under a deal brokered between the sides on Saturday.

Bollywood is the latest battleground for heightened tensions between nuclear-armed archrivals India and Pakistan, sparked by a deadly attack last month on an Indian army base blamed on Pakistani-based militants.

The firebrand leader said protests against the film have now been called off, but it was unclear if agreement was reached on his wider demand for all moviemakers to pay a penance if they had cast a Pakistani actor previously.

In a series of tit-for-tat moves in the entertainment industry, Pakistan has suspended screening all Indian movies until tensions calm, while Hindu nationalists in India have threatened violence at cinemas showing films with Pakistani actors.

The deal was struck at a meeting between Johar, the guild and Thackeray and brokered by Devendra Fadnavis, chief minister of Maharashtra state. The state capital Mumbai is the home of Bollywood.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence in 1947.

The movie starring Pakistani heart-throb Fawad Khan is set for release next weekend, two days before the Diwali Hindu festival of lights, a major holiday in India.

Under the deal, Johar and his colleagues have agreed to contribute 50 million rupees ($747,220) to the Indian army as “penance” for using a Pakistan actor in the first place.

“In the larger interest of the sentiments of the people and the soldiers and the entire country, we will not work with any Pakistani artist in the future,” guild president Mukesh Bhatt told reporters after the meeting.

They have also agreed to run a tribute to the soldiers who were killed before the film starts, according to Raj Thackeray, head of the far-right regional party Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Vidya Baan as Durga Rani Singh in Kahaani 2

“Ae Dil Hai Mushkil” (“This Heart is Complicated”), which stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Ranbir Kapoor, will hit Indian theatres on October 28.

When contacted, Coca-Cola India declined to comment.

The company’s decision to not renew the contract with the 50-year-old actor has more to do with the image of CocaCola, which is seen as a young brand, a source said.

“That explains why Coca-Cola is talking to a much younger star like Ranveer Singh,” the source added.

Khan has been among the top celebrity endorsers reportedly charging Rs. 5 crore per year per brand. Recently, he had courted controversy when he supported Pakistani artists, saying “they were not terrorists” in the wake of a debate on whether they should be allowed to work in Indian movies after the Uri attack.

Khan has been among the top celebrity endorsers. (Image: CocaColaIndia.com) Coca-Cola India had roped in Khan as its brand ambassador for the second time to endorse its Thums Up brand in October 2012, replacing another Bollywood star, Akshay Kumar. He had earlier endorsed the brand in the early 2000s.

At that time, Coca-Cola India had also signed an agreement with Salman Khan’s foundation Being Human to jointly promote, conceive and execute charitable and social activities.

In light of these media reports, Coca-Cola India and Khan released a joint statement Oct. 19 clarifying why Khan’s contract was not renewed.

“There have been some media reports this evening that discuss the contractual agreements between brand Thums Up and Salman Khan.

“In light of the media interest and numerous inquiries that both parties have received, we find it prudent to clarify that: “1. Salman Khan was committed to an existing relationship with a daily TV show, which this year happens to be sponsored by a brand that competes with the Coca-Cola India product portfolio.

“2. In light of this, both parties have mutually decided not to renew the current contract,” Coca-Cola India said in a statement on its Web site.

&TV takes over Times Square

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EW YORK - A riot of bright colors, festive joy, energy soaring & 100K people hooked on to one thing, Diwali at Times Square presented by Zee Networks newly launched Hindi Channel in the US, &TV. October 16th, 2016 will go down in history as the day when the crossroads of the world, Times Square was enveloped with &TV branding & Zee TV superstars.

Some of the topmost superstars of Indian Television from Zee TV, Shabbir Ahluwalia, Sriti Jha & Karan Tacker (Host for &TV The Voice) were joined by some of the best entertainers like, Siddhesh Pai & Kanchi Shah (Dance India Dance fame), Sean Matthews (Dance India Dance North America Fame) & Jyotica Tangri & Kushal Paul (Finalist & winner of Saregamapa 2016).

Karan Tacker played a perfect host on stage that was smeared with &TV branding, to 50K people present at Times Square, eagerly waiting for the entertainment lined up for them for the evening. He took on the stage & had everyone hooked from the word go with his charm & persona. He got the crowd pumped up & the energy at Times Square was electrifying.

First teaser poster of Kahaani 2’ scheduled to release December 2, 2016.

The contract with Khan had expired last month, and the company has chosen not to renew it, according to industry sources.

Shabbir Ahluwalia’s & Sriti Jha’s popularity was witnessed live at the &TV booth at Times Square. To say that people waited anxiously & in anticipation to meet their favorite superstars is an understatement. The thousands patiently waiting in line to meet & click a picture with the most popular couple on Indian Television from Zee TV’s Kumkum Bhagya. The crowd were completely flabbergasted

when Shabbir & Sriti walked in, greeted & clicked pictures with thousands of fans. Later in the evening they won over a million hearts when they walked on stage for an interaction in front of thousands of fans who adore them. The interaction session with host Karan Tacker was the highlight of the evening & Shabbir & Sriti with they’re on stage chemistry once again justified why they are the most adored couple of Indian Television.

The crowd witnessed why Dance India Dance is the undisputed leader in dance shows.

Sean Matthews (Dance India Dance North America fame) kicked off the evening with a scintillating performance. He entertained & didn’t fail to impress the massive audience with his dance moves as he performed on one hit song after another. He was successfully succeeded by Kanchi Shah & Siddhesh Pai. Individually & together they set the stage on fire & gave a performance that made thousands chant “Once More”.

Foot tapping mode was easily switched on to heartwarming mode when Jyotica Tangri & Kushal Paul walked on stage. Jyotica Tangri’s performance was nothing short of extra-ordinary.

Her enigmatic voice won her a sea of hearts at Times Square.

The biggest event of the year had a fitting end when Kushal Paul walked in on the stage to deliver a performance that will be talked about for a longtime.

Kushal with his soulful voice completely had the crowd mesmerized & made the climax for the event a perfect one.

In regards to branding, Times Square had a complete makeover when it was completely

Massive projection screen for &TV in Times Square. branded with &TV. From booths, standees, cutouts, flags, banners and balloons, Times Square was turned Magenta with &TV branding. Another branding factor was executed in the form of &TV sweatshirts & tshirts. People wearing the &TV sweatshirts & t-shirts numbered in thousands & added to the humongous success of the event & &TV branding.

Sameer Targe, business head of ZEE TV North America was quoted, “Diwali is a festival of lights, togetherness & hap-

piness. With &TV’s Diwali at Times Square we wanted to unite people & have the world witness real &tertainment. With Diwali At Times Square &TV branding over-shadowed Times Square & proved to be a humongous hit amongst the people.”

To sum up, history was made by &TV at Times Square & October 16th is one day that’ll be engraved in everyone’s heart for years to come. &TV conquered every aspect, from Times Square, Social Media & most importantly people’s hearts.

VOICE OF ASIA 21

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Business VOICE OF ASIA

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Business giant Tata Sons removes chairman Mistry

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EW DELHI, (AFP) — India’s Tata Sons dumped Cyrus Mistry as its chairman in a surprise announcement Monday, almost four years after his appointment as the first chief of the conglomerate from outside the Tata family.

“Tata Sons today announced that its Board has replaced Mr. Cyrus P. Mistry as Chairman of Tata Sons. The decision was taken at a board meeting held here today,” the company said in a statement.

Tata Sons is the holding company of the sprawling tea-to-steel Tata Group, which spans more than 100 companies in as many countries.

The conglomerate said industrialist Ratan Tata, 78, had been appointed interim chairman until a successor was appointed. The search was likely to take four months, the statement said.

Tata Group is arguably India’s most famous family conglomerate.

Its companies include one of India’s largest IT firms, Tata Consultancy Services, the biggest vehicle maker, Tata Motors, and a ritzy hotel

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Chairman of Tata Group, Cyrus Mistry, spoke in Mumbai, India, June 17, 2016. ©Dibyangshu Sarkar (AFP) chain including Mumbai’s Taj Mahal palace hotel.

But the group’s revenue slipped 4.6 percent for the financial year ended March to about $103 billion, hurt by global economic uncertainty, a crash in commodity prices and volatility in currencies, according to Bloomberg News.

And it is currently trying to sell its loss-making British steel assets.

Mistry succeeded Ratan Tata in December 2012 after being announced as its heir more than a year earlier.

A string of deals since the turn of the millennium saw

the group snap up a clutch of famous names including Tetley Tea, luxury car maker Jaguar Land Rover and steelmaker Corus.

The Mumbai-based Tata brands factor daily in the lives of Indians, with products ranging from salt to trucks to watches.

The group founded under British colonial rule in 1868 has hit headwinds of late however, with lacklustre performances at several companies including Tata Motors, Tata Power and Tata Steel.

Ratan Tata, who took over as chairman of Tata Sons in 1991, is credited with building it into a global behemoth.

The social networking giant is confident you will never leave their app again with the new Facebook Marketplace.

M

Facebook Marketplace is an e-commerce platform that allows users to buy and sell products within a community. This functionality is already preadded in Facebook apps for iOS and Android, available to users in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand, and will be released to other countries soon.

How To Access Facebook Marketplace?

Anyone with a Facebook account can access this feature.

Facebook Marketplace has a shopping bag icon, which has replaced the Messenger. To access this feature, tap the button.

Then, the app will display a webpage with a wide array of items for sale within an area.

The items shown on the home page vary since Facebook has an algorithm on its own that chooses what items are shown on each user’s page.

How To Start Selling?

Putting an item up for sale in Facebook Marketplace is fairly easy. Simply take a photo of the product or upload it from the Camera Roll (iOS) or Gallery (Android), enter the product name, add the description, specify the price, include your location, and choose a category, then hit post. Anyone shopping in the area can find the items and contact sellers should they have inquiries. It is good to note, however, that Facebook does not facilitate payment and delivery of the products.

Facebook Marketplace has a system that records current and past transactions. Users may see this by tapping on ‘Your Items’ section in the main screen. The saved products, products for sale, and messages can also be found here.

Facebook Marketplace features a filtered homepage that shows items to buy within a community. Facebook’s algorithm including text analysis, previous page visits, and posts you like ensures that the listings seen in the home page are relevant.

Existing FB users do not have to sign up a new account to sell on Marketplace. Selling is made easier with its simple

Don’t let the flat market fool you

by Alex Rosenberg (CNBC)

T

he S&P 500 is almost utterly unchanged over the past three or so months, ending Friday just 0.2 percent above its closing price on July 11. But while large-cap stocks have been treading water, a host of important indicators have been on the move.

China’s HNA Group to acquire 25% stake in Hilton EW YORK (AFP) Chinese conglomerate HNA Group will acquire a 25 percent stake in international hotel operator Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc, the companies announced Monday, another move expanding HNA’s presence in the sector.

Facebook’s Newest Ambition: e-Commerce ENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA Facebook Inc, the leading social media network, recently launched Facebook Marketplace. With approximately 450 million people on average to visit “buy and sell” Facebook groups every month, it is not surprising that the $378 billion market cap company would want to go into e-commerce.

to changes in the macro environment. As Eddy Elfenbein of the Crossing Wall Street blog pointed out, the technology sector ETF (XLK) has surged 7 percent since July 11, while the utilities ETF (XLU) has slid by more than 8 percent.

“Even though the market is fairly placid on the surface, we’re seeing a changIn that same time period, ing tenor to the market,” oil has risen 12 percent, the wherein “risk-friendlier areas U.S. dollar index has climbed have done quite while” while more bond-like high-dividend t hoursabout are Monday thru Friday 5pm.

2.5 percent and 8am the till yield offered by the 10-year stocks have fallen, Elfenbein U.S. Treasury note has risen said Friday on CNBC’s “Tradby 25 percent. Notably, the ing Nation.” bond and dollar moves have “There are a lot of different come as expectations for a moving parts that are moving 2016 Federal Reserve rate different aspects of the marhike have increased. ket,” echoed Stacey Gilbert, To be sure, it’s not as if equi- head of derivative strategy ties have forgotten to respond at Susquehanna. “The S&P is

interface. Sellers can specify an asking price while buyers can make an offer.

With its geo-specific feature, Facebook Marketplace makes it possible for users to search for specific categories in the app within a certain location.

Seller’s exact address will still be kept private, unless they disclose it themselves.

Downsides Marketplace

of

Facebook

Buyers can’t place orders in the platform. Meaning, payment and delivery details will be arranged between the buyer and the seller.

False buyers will be common. Because Marketplace is open to ALL Facebook users, sellers are sure to encounter time-wasters, asking questions, making reservations, but not having any money at the time.

Facebook Marketplace requires a Facebook account which buyers and sellers alike can view each other’s profiles.

While it is a safer alternative to Craigslist, it is still peerto-peer transaction. For your safety, meet in an open, public, and well-lit place to avoid getting into dodgy transactions that will be hard to get out of.

(-WallStreetPit) flat, but the underlying components to it certainly are not.”

Gilbert pegs these changes on investors’ embrace of risk and shunning of big dividend payers, which occurred as the market’s (and with it, perhaps the Fed’s) post-Brexit vote fear faded.

And for her, the contrast between a placid market surface and swiftly shifting undercurrents holds important implications for investment strategy.

“This is not a market to just buy the S&P 500 and expect it to be up on the year. In a lot of ways, those days are over.

Now you have to be a lot more sophisticated in terms of picking your sectors, picking your stocks,” Gilbert said Friday on “Trading Nation.”

“This is where it becomes a lot more important to understand the stories” that are driving sector and singlestock moves, she added.

(-CNBC)

HNA, an aviation and shipping group, announced in April that it had agreed to acquire Carlson Hotels Inc, which owns the Radisson and Park Plaza brands.

“This investment is consistent with our strategy to enhance our global tourism business, and we look forward to working together on new initiatives that leverage our respective strengths,” Adam Tan, vice chairman and CEO of HNA Group, said in a statement.

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

Tel: 713-774-5140

Faster, Smarter, Better: The Next Chip Revolution Companies in semiconductors, medicine, and consumer electronics are building devices that will change our bodies, the environment, and transportation.

by Tiernan Ray

T

he world around us will soon be engulfed by machines that affect our living spaces, our bodies, and our experience of light and sound, powered by a novel combination of semiconductors and miniature engines.

Tasks as basic as charging a smartphone or cooking an egg—and as complex as scanning for colon cancer or pow-

do the reverse. They allow machines to simplify our world by converting those ones and zeros back into some form of force, such as light or magnetic waves, or even physical pressure that can push objects. The actuator, like the sensor before it, is part of technology’s relentless quest to make machines do more and more things with greater and greater efficiency, as epitomized by the microprocessor, the most efficient information device ever made.

HNA is purchasing the Hilton stake from the investment firm Blackstone in a deal valued at $6.5 billion, or $26.25 a share.

That will reduce Blackstone’s share in Hilton to 21 percent.

HNA also will hold a 25 percent stake in Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations after the two companies are spun off later this year.

Hilton CEO and President Christopher Nassetta said, “We believe this mutually beneficial relationship will open new opportunities for our brands and guests around the world, particularly in light of HNA’s strong position in the fast-growing Chinese travel and tourism market, the largest outbound travel and tourism market in the world.”

ering flying drones on long journeys—stand to be transformed.

Sensors gave machines the ability to perceive things like light, altitude, and moisture by converting stimuli into ones and zeros. The coming revolution will be filled with what are called “actuators,” which

“We’ve spent the last five decades building the brains of the computer,” says Paul Saffo, a Stanford University adjunct professor in the mechanical engineering department, referring to the perfecting of the microprocessor. Now it’s time to give those brains the corresponding brawn to affect our world.

(-Business Standard)

CULTURE

VOICE OF ASIA 22

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

The Festival of Lights: Diwali and why it is celebrated

by Mark Liebenow

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Prof. Meenakshi Bhattacharjee, Rice University, Houston

by Meenakshi Bhattacharjee

D

eepavali, also called Diwali or Divali, is a major Hindu festival that is very significant in Hinduism, Sikhism and Jainism. Known as the “Festival of Lights,� it symbolizes the victory of good over evil, and lamps are lit as a sign of celebration and hope for mankind.

Celebrations focus on lights and lamps, particularly traditional dÄŤpa or deeya (earthen lamp). Fireworks are associated with the festival. Diwali is a colloquial name used in North India, while the festival is formally called Deepavali in South India. Diwali has always been something empowering: a time to reflect on all of the positives within our lives our loving friends and family, our good health, and prosperity and realize what it is truly important.

Diwali is celebrated for five consecutive days at the end of Hindu month of Ashwayne. It usually occurs in October/November, and is one of the most popular and eagerly awaited festivals in India. Diwali comes exactly twenty days after Dussehra.

People of all sects’ alike regard it as a celebration of life and use the occasion to strengthen family and social relationships. For Hindus it is one of the most important festivals, and beginning of the year in some Hindu calendars. Most people clean their houses, throw out the junk and decorate it the way they can in order to welcome the Goddess of wealth Ma Lakshmi. Reasons to celebrate Diwali as known from times immemorial are many but the few prominent ones are as follows: The Victory of Lord Rama The most well-known story behind Diwali is in the Ramayana, the great Hindu epic. It was the new moon day of the month of Kartik when Lord Ram, Ma Sita and Lakshman returned

Devotees hold oil lamps as they celebrate Diwali in Allahabad on November 13, 2012. (Sanjay Kanojia/AFP/Getty Images). loved the Pandavas celebrated the day by lighting the earthen lamps. The tradition is believed to have been kept alive through the festival of Diwali, which many believe, is held in remembrance of the Pandava brothers’ homecoming.

Ma Lakshmi’s incarnation It is also believed that on this very Diwali day, the Goddess of wealth, Ma Lakshmi rose up from the ocean on the new moon day (amaavasyaa) of the Kartik month during the churning of the ocean (samudra-manthan), hence the association of Diwali with Lakshmi.

Lord Vishnu Rescued Goddess Lakshmi The origin of Diwali also refers to the stories narrated in the Hindu Puranas, the primary source of Hindu religious texts.

According to the Bhagavata Purana (the most sacred Hindu text), it was on a Kartik day that Lord Vishnu, took on the form of a dwarf (Vaman-avtaara) and defeated King Bali. Bali, or King Mahabali, was a powerful demon king who ruled the earth.

Once, Bali got a boon from Lord Brahma which he was unconquerable by anyone. Finding no way to defeat Bali, the Devas went to Lord Vishnu and insisted him to find a way to stop Bali.

Diwali celebrates this defeat of Mahabali by Lord Vishnu. He also rescued Lakshmi from the prison of King Bali and this is another reason of worshipping Ma Lakshmi on Diwali.

Lord Vishnu Killed Narakaasur The Bhagavata Purana also tells us about Narakasura, an evil demon king who somehow got great powers and conquered both the heavens and earth. It is believed that Lord Vishnu killed Narakasura on the day before Diwali and rescued many women whom the demon had locked in his palace. The people of heaven and earth were greatly relieved to have got freedom from the hands of the terrible Narakasura. They celebrated the occasion with much grandeur, a tradition that is believed to be alive through the annual observance of Diwali.

on a Diwali day in 56 BC King Vikramaditya, the legendary Hindu king of India famed for his wisdom, bravery and largeheartedness, was crowned and declared to be a king. This was marked by a grand celebration by the citizens of Vikramaditya’s kingdom. Many people and even some historians say that this event gave rise to the annual observance of Diwali.

Special Day for the Arya Samaj Diwali also marks the sacred occasion when on a new moon day of Kartik (Diwali day) Swami Dayananda Saraswati, one of the greatest reformers of Hinduism attained his nirvana (enlightenment) and became ‘Maharshi’ Dayananda, meaning the great sage Dayananda.

In 1875, Maharshi Dayananda founded the Arya Samaj, “Society of Nobles�, a Hindu reform movement to purify Hinduism of the many evils it became associated with at that era. Every Diwali, this great reformer is remembered by Hindus all over India.

Special Day for the Jains For Jains, Diwali commemorates the enlightenment of Vardhamana Mahavira(the twentyfourth and last Tirthankaras of the Jains and the founder of modern Jainism) which is said to have occurred on Oct. 15, 527 B.C. This is one more reason to engage in Diwali celebrations for pious Jains and other than the purpose of commemoration, the festival stands for the celebration of the emancipation of human spirit from earthly desires.

he calendar at this time of year fills up with observances in cultures and religions around the world.

In many of them, death is woven into the fabric.

Yet, even though we honor our dead and dress up in skeleton costumes, we don’t take advantage of the opening to talk to each other about death, dying, or grief.

In the northern hemisphere, harvest festivals celebrate the crops being brought in. There are celebrations of light with dancing and music.

Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is on Oct. 30th this year. Samhain, the ancient Celtic celebration of the harvest and preparation for the dark half of the year, is on Oct. 31st. On this night the Celts believed the barrier between worlds thinned, and the living and the dead could see and talk with each other.

On Nov. 1-2, Mexican cultures celebrate Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) to remember their loved ones and assist them on their spiritual journey. This observance has its roots in the Aztec culture.

Halloween (All Hallows’ Eve) starts the festivities for many people in North America and Europe on the 31st.

It’s the first of three days of observances in the Christian Church. All Saints Day is November 1st, and All Souls Day is on the 2nd.

Many celebrations also have roots in Nature as one season transitions to the next.

No matter what social rituals

you observe, go outdoors and observe the changing colors of the land.

But if you lost someone this year, you may not want to participate in any celebration. You don’t have to.

Focus on what you need.

Choose the celebrations that help you. Ignore the rest.

Or skip everything and go out of town for a few days.

Stay home and watch Netflix.

Read a long novel like Don Quixote.

If someone you loved has died, all the talk about death, often in flippant ways, can be brutal. Seeing zombies walking stiff-legged down your street, or bloody bodies with knives sticking out of them, can be too much, especially if your loved one died violently. If you need to turn your porch light off on Halloween night and not give out any candy, by all means, do that.

If you want to do something to honor your dead, there are a variety of ways to do this. You can create personal Rituals, like lighting candles on each night of the Halloween season. On the 31st, spend time thinking

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Special Day for the Sikhs For Sikhs, Diwali holds a special significance for it was on a Diwali day that the third Sikh Guru Amar Das institutionalized the festival of lights as an occasion when all Sikhs would gather to receive the Gurus blessings. It was also on a Diwali day in 1619 that their sixth religious leader, Guru Hargobind Ji, who was held by the Mughal Emperor Jahangir in the Gwalior fort, was freed from imprisonment along with 52 Hindu Kings (political prisoners) whom he had

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to Ayodhya after vanquishing Ravana and conquering Lanka.

The citizens of Ayodhya decorated the entire city with the earthen lamps and illuminated it like never before, burst crackers and decorated the entire city in the grandest manner. This is believed to have started the tradition of Diwali. Year after year this homecoming of Lord Rama is commemorated on Diwali with lights, fireworks, bursting of crackers and merriment. The festival gets its name Deepawali, or Diwali, from the rows (avali) of lamps (deepa) that the people of Ayodhya lit to welcome their King.

The Return of the Pandavas

Kali Puja

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Happy Diwali!

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Historically it is believed that

So go on, clean & decorate your home, light up the house and spend some quality time with your family!

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Coronation of Vikramaditya

It seems there are ample reasons to celebrate Diwali. As Diwali approaches, never lose faith in the fact that the Ramayana narrative will continue to play itself out that the good and virtuous shall always triumph over the evil and spiteful. Within ourselves, our best, virtuous self will defeat the impulses of ego and tyranny. And for each Diwali that passes by, with loud noises and flashy lights, we can never forget to celebrate this festival ever.

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According to another legend, long ago after the gods lost in a battle with the demons, Goddess Kali took birth from the forehead of Goddess Durga to save heaven and earth from the growing cruelty of the demons.

After killing all the devils, Kali lost her control and started killing anyone who came her way which stopped only when Lord Shiva intervened that is why Ma Kali has her tongue hanging out in pictures. That actually depicts the moment when she steps on Lord Shiva and stops in horror and repentance. This memorable event has been commemorated ever since by celebrating Kali Puja, which is observed mainly in Bengal and several parts of India at the time of and as Diwali.

arranged to be released as well.

And it was also on the same auspicious occasion of Diwali when the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar was laid in 1577.

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Another well-known story related to Diwali history is narrated in the other Hindu epic, ‘Mahabharata’. According to the great epic’, it was Kartik Amavashya’ when the Pandavas returned to their birthplace Hastinapura after their 12 years of banishment as a result of their defeat in the hands of the Kauravas at the game of dice (gambling). The people who

Indian Sikh devotees light candles during Diwali at the illuminated Golden Temple in Amritsar, India on October 23, 2014.

(Narinder Nanu/AFP/Getty Images).

about your loved one. On All Saints Day, honor the people who have been saints in your life, those who have stepped in and helped you at crucial times. On All Souls Day, remember all the family members and friends who have died over the years. Listen for their presence.

You can also visit their graves or the places where their ashes were scattered.

Do an activity that your loved one liked — movies, miniature golf, or hiking. Create an altar with items significant to the one who died. Talk to the departed as if they could hear you because, as the Celts believed, they might.

In this season of celebration, we are reminded that life is short, and death often comes unexpectedly. We have today to grieve, but we also only have today to live.

Quaff a flagon of apple cider, get your animal spirit on, and bay at the lonely, lovely beauty of the sliver moon.

Mark Liebenow is the author of four books, twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize, notable essay Best American Essays 2012. http://widowersgrief.blogspot.com.

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Islamist militants kill 61 in Pakistan police attack

Q

UETTA, PAKISTAN (AFP) - Pakistan on Tuesday mourned the killing of at least 61 people in a brutal gun and suicide bomb assault on a police academy, the deadliest attack on a security installation in the country’s history.

An emailed claim from the Pakistani Taliban, which shares close operational ties with LeJ, backed that assertion.

“This attack was carried (out on the

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

Cricket hero’s raunchy TV ad banned

“In the Quetta attack, Lashkar-eJhangvi’s claim seems to carry more weightage but IS has released photographs of the militants and this link between LeJ and IS will be determined in the coming days,” said

Three masked gunmen burst into the sprawling academy in the southwest, pretending to be soldiers as they targeted sleeping quarters home to some 700 recruits in a strike that sent terrified young men fleeing.

Bangladesh cricket have pulled a raunchy advert starring new Test star Sabbir Rahman and a model, following widespread outrage in the religiously conservative country. (Photo: AFP/YouTube)

“They... knocked at the locked rooms and told the cadets that they were from the army, and when they opened the doors, they fired at them,” a 22-year-old cadet called Hikmatullah told AFP from his hospital bed where he was recovering from a gunshot wound to the left shoulder.

D

HAKA (AFP) - The advert has been airing on television since August but drew fresh attention this week after Sabbir’s superb batting brought the nation agonisingly close to its first-ever victory over England.

“They came in by jumping over the walls of the academy which are very low. I ran away from my room and was hit by a bullet, I still managed to flee.”

Pakistan launches operation after militants storm police academy. (Photo: AFP) The attack on the Balochistan Police College, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of the provincial capital Quetta, began around 11:10 pm (1810 GMT) on Monday, with gunfire continuing to ring out at the site for several hours.

Sarfaraz Bugti, home minister of Balochistan province, told reporters the attackers first killed a tower sentry before accessing the grounds.

A morgue list seen by AFP listed 61 people people were killed in the attack, while 118 were injured, according to a government spokesman.

Major General Sher Afgan, chief of the paramilitary Frontier Corps in Balochistan which led the counteroperation, blamed the attack on the Pakistani Taliban-affiliated Lashkare-Jhangvi (LeJ) militant group, and said the counter-strike was over in three hours.

instructions of) Mullah Daud Mansour, close ally of Hakimullah Mehsud and head of Pakistani Taliban in Karachi,” it said, adding four fighters took part.

analyst Amir Rana, the director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, a thinktank.

“This was to avenge the killing of those of our Mujahideen who were killed indiscriminately (in fake encounters) outside jails in Punjab,” it said in an apparent reference to the recent surge in extrajudicial executions of LeJ fighters.

Pakistan’s top military and intelligence brass including army chief Raheel Sharif attended an official funeral ceremony for the victims, whose bodies were placed in coffins draped in white and borne by soldiers in dress uniform.

The Islamic State group also made a claim via Amaq, its affiliated news agency, and released a picture of what it said were the three attackers.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif later flew to Quetta to chair a high level security meeting.

LeJ officially pledges allegiance to Al-Qaeda, the IS group’s major rival.

But the dual claims could be evidence of new linkages that remain unofficial, analysts say.

‘Diabetes cure’ herbal medicine kills four in India

N

EW DELHI | AFP - A selfstyled doctor and three of his patients died in a south Indian village after drinking a poisonous herbal medicine which he claimed cured diabetes and hypertension, officials said Tuesday.

Another patient is in a critical condition at a government-run hospital after they drank the concoction prepared by the doctor at his makeshift clinic in Alagappuram village in Tamil Nadu on Sunday.

“They were unconscious and vomiting and were shifted to hospital where four of them died,” said local police officer Muthiah, who only uses one name.

The doctor, named by police as Muthupandi, first drank the herbal mix to prove its efficacy before giving it to five of his patients from the village, the police officer told AFP. Muthupandi claimed to run a clinic in the nearby town of Tenkasi and was visiting villages in the region to treat patients.

The officer said police suspect that Muthupandi was only posing as a doctor and had a criminal background.

Detectives have already ordered a thorough investigation into his credentials.

“There are few theft cases against him but nothing is conclusive. We are checking if he had any medical qualification” he said.

Government doctor Jasline Rajiah said viscera samples had been sent off for analysis at a laboratory to establish the cause of dead.

“It apparently looks like a case of poisoning,” Rajiah told AFP. Thousands of Indians mostly in rural areas fall prey to people posing as doctors in a country where public healthcare system remains dismal.

Many claim to be traditional practitioners of Indian traditional medical systems like Ayurvedic and Siddha which rely heavily on herbal medicines.

- Funeral honours -

It was the third deadliest attack of the year in Pakistan, which has been racked by a homegrown Islamist insurgency since shortly after the USled invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

The compound remained sealed to journalists but mobile video footage shot by an intelligence official showed the hollowed remains of a large dormitory hall covered in thick soot.

Weeping relatives were sent to the main hospital, where citizens rushed to donate blood.

Mineral-rich but impoverished Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province, is beset by sectarian strife, Islamist violence and an on-off separatist insurgency that has lasted for decades.

In August, a suicide bombing at a Quetta hospital claimed by the Islamic State group and the Jamaat-ulAhrar faction of the Pakistani Taliban killed 73 people, including many of the city’s legal community which had gone there to mourn the fatal shooting of a colleague.

Easier to do business in Nepal and Bhutan than in India: World Bank

S

WITZERLAND - India was placed 130th in World Bank’s ‘Doing Business 2017’ report, while Pakistan was ranked 144th.

Nepal and Bhutan fare better than both India and Pakistan.

Around 190 countries have been based on ten parameters: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency.

In the latest report, New Zealand tops the chart, with Singapore coming second. Denmark, Hong Kong, South Korea, Norway, the UK, the US and Sweden come next.

Countries which have shown vast improvement include Brunei Darussalam, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Belarus, Indonesia, Serbia, Georgia,

Pakistan, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

“What we have seen is a remarkable effort on the part of the government to implement business reforms. It looks like we are going to have to wait for another year or so. But the direction of change is fundamentally a very significant one,” Augusto Lopez-Claros, Global Indicators Group Director told PTI in an interview.

In the latest report, India improved its place by one spot from its last year’s ranking.

The Indian government is trying to improve the conditions for carrying out business in the country. It was disappointed that the report did not consider 12 important reforms started by them.

(-WION Online)

“Absolute nonsense! I wonder why would Sabbir act in such a sexually tickling ad with Naila!” said Facebook user Rahat Khan.

The model seductively handcuffs the 24-year-old batsman before he responds that drinking Oscar means “a little privacy is indeed needed”.

Bangladeshi cricketers are feted like rockstars by millions in the socially conservative Muslim-majority country and are in huge demand to promote everything from noodles to mobile phones.

“Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has circulated a directive to stop broadcasting of the ad,” a Bangladesh cricket board official said on condition of anonymity.

Sabbir was thrust into the national spotlight after hitting an unbeaten 64 runs in his first Test, which saw Bangladesh almost pull off an upset against England.

“It does not fit with the image of Bangladesh cricket,” he told AFP.

There was no immediate comment from Sabbir or Nayem.

Strike in Sri Lanka’s north over police killings OLOMBO | AFP - Sri Lankans went on strike across the island’s north on Tuesday as anger mounted over the police killing of two Tamil university students at a checkpoint.

C

Shops, banks and other offices were closed across the war-ravaged Jaffna peninsula and public transport was halted in protest against the shootings

last week.

“The entire province is paralysed by the 12-hour work stoppage which started this morning,” Tamil politician Eswarapatham Saravanapavan, who represents Jaffna district, told AFP. “Only a few private vehicles and security services are on the road.”

Consul General hosts High Tea reception in honor of Justice Santosh Hegde

India’s Consul General, Anupam Ray gave a High Tea Reception in honor of visiting Justice Santosh Hegde and his wife, Sharda, along with some Board members of the Foundation for India Studies (FIS) and their spouses. at his residence in Houston.

(L-R) : Jyoti Kulkarni, Lakshmi Vavilala, Pramod Kulkarni, Usha Sarma, Mrinal Chowdhury, FIS Chair Krishna Vavilala, Korivi Mahendra, Parul Fernandes, Ponnada Narayana, Hon.Consul .General Anupam Ray, Sharda Hegde, Justice Santosh Hegde, Col.Dr. Raj Bhalla, Hiren Sarma, Ashhet Yagnik, Kulwant Singh Bhatia and Saptaswa Basu.

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The annual report scrutinises the feasibility of conducting businesses around.

In South Asia, Bhutan tops the list with a ranking of 73, followed by Nepal at 107 and Sri Lanka at 110. Afghanistan was placed at 183rd spot.

The advert shows Sabbir holed up inside his house drinking a nonalcoholic malt beverage called Oscar before being discovered by the model who is dressed as a policewoman.

The advert has drawn sharp reaction online, mostly from those opposed to 34-year-old model Naila Nayem whose previous promotion of breast cancer screenings was seen by some as sexually suggestive.

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VOICE OF ASIA 24

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

US/WORLD

VOICE OF ASIA 25

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

Moscow confirms ministry website ‘Caliphate’ survivors recount fleeing clutches of IS attack after US hacker claim

by Thibauld Malterre, Safa Majeed

M

OSCOW (AFP) - Russia’s foreign ministry on Sunday said an old version of its website had been attacked after a US hacker claimed he broke in and posted a mocking message.

Q

AYYARAH, IRAQ | AFP -Their escape from jihadist rule was gruelling and their new living conditions hardly better, but the Iraqis fleeing south of Mosul are only the first of a feared massive exodus.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook that the hacker targeted “an old site that has not been used for a long time,” adding that “specialists are working out what happened.”

Qayyarah is not only the main staging base for the huge offensive Iraqi forces launched to retake Mosul on October 17 -- it is also where displaced families in the area are converging.

The attack came after Washington earlier this week formally accused the Russian government of trying to “interfere” in the 2016 White House race by hacking, charges the Kremlin has repeatedly dismissed.

“If they establish there was hacking

by Americans, even of a resource that wasn’t working, this is far from pleasant,” Zakharova wrote.

She said that this could be an indication that a “cyber machine of destruction has started acting” after US Vice President Joe Biden told NBC television that President Vladimir Putin would get a “message” from Washington in response to the hacking blamed on Russia.

Alternatively, the latest hack simply shows that the “US elections have wound up people to such a state that they start smashing everything,” Zakharova wrote.

The foreign ministry’s main website was apparently working normally on Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, a hacker who calls himself the Jester tweeted: “I’m Jester & I approve this message via the Russian Foreign Affairs Website.”

The hacker, who has previously attacked WikiLeaks website, posted a link to a page which had content replaced with a message and an image of a jester.

“We walked all night to escape the jihadists and just before arriving here, our neighbours were killed in a bomb blast,” said Umm Mahmud, a woman from Hawijah.

Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Facebook that the hacker targeted “an old site that has not been used for a long time” (AFP Photo/ Alexander Nemenov) “Comrades! We interrupt regular scheduled Russian Foreign Affairs Website programming to bring you the following important message,” he wrote.

sian Ambassador to US to post some mildly amusing quips over Twitter.”

“But let’s get real, I know it’s you, even if by-proxy, and you know it’s you,” the hacker wrote.

- ‘This is America’ “Knock it off. You may be able to push around nations around you, but this is America. Nobody is impressed,” he added.

CNN reported that the jester’s attack overnight Moscow time included the piercing sound used for civil alert messages about extreme weather.

On Sunday, after the Zakharova’s Facebook message, Jester tweeted, “#OutPropagandered - Getting Russia to admit they got ‘dinged’. Priceless.

They’ve already started tweaking the story,” with a link to a somewhat dismissive article on the pro-Putin Russia Today website.

The mass DDoS attack on Friday could have been meant as a message from a foreign power, cyber security analysts told AFP at the time.

The hacker said he was writing on the ministry site to complain after waves of distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks pounded Twitter, Netflix and other major websites on Friday, accusing Russia of being behind this.

The onslaught commanded the attention of top US security agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security.

“Now, you can do the usual, shrug, smirk and say ‘there’s no evidence’ that points to Russia being behind any of this stuff, and you can get the Rus-

“DHS and the FBI are aware and are investigating all potential causes” of the outages, a spokeswoman said.

Southwestern National Bank 19th Anniversary

S

outhwestern National Bank, headquartered in Houston, Texas was established in November 1997 in the heart of a flourishing international business community. The Bank started with a little over $10 million in total assets and 12 employees. Over the past 19 years, Southwestern National Bank has strived to reach every sector of the community it serves to provide the appropriate financial services to meet their customer needs and high quality customer service.

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Bank has grown steadily with branches in the Sugar Land, Richardson, Plano, and Austin markets. In addition to the Texas region, a Loan Production Office in Southern California was established in 2016 to provide commercial lending services to customers in California. Despite the uncertainty of the U.S. economy, Southwestern National Bank continues to be profitable with net income of $2.7 million through the 3rd quarter of 2016 and total assets of over $368 million.

Southwestern National Bank is a proud supporter of numer-

ous community events. The Bank also provides monthly seminars to the community, free of charge, on a variety of valuable information. Southwestern National Bank is also proud of its annual scholarship award program that provides deserving students in the community financial assistance for college.

Southwestern National Bank will hold its 19th anniversary celebration on Thursday, November 3, 2016, at the main office located at 6901 Corporate Dr., Houston, TX at 1:30 p.m. We invite everyone to join us. Member FDIC.

Her town lies in an area near Kirkuk on the other bank of the Tigris river and is one of the last bastions of the Islamic State group that took over swathes of Iraq in 2014 and declared an Islamic “caliphate”.

She and her family fled to Qayyarah, an area recaptured from the jihadists a few weeks ago and which is now the main hub behind the southern lines of the Mosul battlefield.

There she joined the growing number of people who are fleeing the fighting and two years of brutal jihadist rule, travelling in the opposite direction to thousands of forces battling their way northward to Mosul.

“An IS member helped us flee. He asked for $100 per person to take us to a nearby village,” said the woman.

When Iraqi forces get closer to the boundaries of the city, aid groups expect a huge outflow of civilians which they fear existing infrastructure simply will not be able to handle.

The Jedaah camp in Qayyarah is run by the authorities of Nineveh province, of which Mosul is the capital.

It opened on October 19 and is supported by aid groups and the UN’s Children Fund.

A few kilometres (miles) north, the fleeing families are screened at a checkpoint manned by the Iraqi security forces who were herding the newly displaced residents towards Qayyarah.

They left their homes for various reasons, some of them to avoid being caught in clashes between advancing federal forces and die-hard IS fighters.

Others left because of dwindling food supplies.“If you’re with IS you get everything you need. But the others have nothing to eat because of the blockade,” one of the recently arrived told AFP. Dozens of civilians huddled together near the camp which was littered with trash, as wind blew in clouds of smoke from burning oil wells and a fire at a nearby sulphur plant.

Most of them escaped the “caliphate” with just one or two bags containing some clothes and other essentials.

They were then left alone to trek through a minefield planted by the jihadists, she said.

“The jihadists fled our village south of Mosul four days ago, slipping out from the Iraqi forces’ siege under the cover of night,” said Abu Jowaher, 27.

Only slightly more than 5,000 people are believed to have fled their homes since the start of the offensive a week ago, but the United Nations believes that more than a million people are still trapped inside Mosul.

“We were left there alone, with no water or food,” he said. “Some of us decided to leave too and others stayed back to look after the sheep,” he said, as an ambulance returned from the front line to the north.

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US Obamacare insurance costs to jump 25 percent this year

W

ASHINGTON - Americans will see Obamacare health insurance costs jump an average of 25 percent next year, adding fuel to the US political firestorm over the system that Republicans have repeatedly tried to overturn.

The big increase will be seen in the 38 states with federally-managed health care exchanges, according to a report released late Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services.

Despite the sharp increase, far higher than in previous years, the report said “most consumers are experiencing below average increases,” and face lower costs than insurance plans outside the system.

Those with low incomes will have their premiums capped and more than eight in 10 are eligible for government subsidies to reduce the cost.

The Affordable Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare, has allowed millions of uninsured people to get health

insurance, with no limits based on their current health, the dreaded “pre-existing conditions,” reducing the number of individuals across the country without insurance to 8.5 percent.

level.

But the influx of sick people into the insurance exchanges and not enough healthy young people as expected has raised the costs of the insurance.

4. As painful as this is, all that’s happening is that after being underpriced for years, Obamacare premiums are finally catching up to the original estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.

Here are four things to keep in mind: 1. The biggest increase is 145 percent in Phoenix. I have no idea why. However, you can be sure that Donald Trump and others will be bleating about Obamacare premiums going up “as much as 145 percent.” (For the record, the lowest increase is -12 percent in Indianapolis. See Table 13 here for a full list.)

2. The vast majority of people on Obamacare have incomes under 400 percent of the poverty level. All of them are shielded from ever paying more than a cap set by income

3. The 25 percent number assumes that you keep the same policy that you have in 2016.

You can do better if you shop around.

The increasing premiums will provide more ammunition for opponents of outgoing President Barack Obama’s signature health sector reform, now entering its fourth year, including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has said he intends to scrap the system.

Polling has consistently found the public to be narrowly divided over Obamacare.

Health care is the fourth most important issue for voters in the current election cycle, according to the Pew Research Center.

HOROSCOPE

VOICE OF ASIA 26

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

Your Horoscope for the Week of October 28, 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 Feeling affectionate now about your work and the company of your close friends is important to you. This is not a time for solitary activity. Sharing, harmonizing are the themes now. However, if you are not happy in your personal life, your problems may seem especially pressing at this time. Children’s education drive is quite strong, and you may be more concerned with satisfying your caring desires being sensitive parent.

Stimulating conversations and sharing plans and ideas with others are very fruitful now. You understand what others are telling you, and you make yourself clearly understood also. This is a favorable time for getting your message across to others via writing, speaking, or advertising. Your mental processes are speeded up now. You grasp new concepts very easily, but you tend to be impatient with slower minds or the usual, predictable routine.

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

Scorpio (N,Y) 23 Oct to 21 Nov

Greater dedication and commitment toward your work and occupation. If you balance this with your personal goals in life, you can achieve an enormous sense of satisfaction and higher prestige at work. This can be a time when career matters take major precedence over your personal affairs. However, no matter how strong your ambitions are there may be a price to pay in your primary relationships. Caution should be exercised if loved ones are feeling alienated and ignored.

Pleasant interactions with anyone you meet this time . This helps strengthen bonds of affection at this time. Others will like to talk & listen to you. You will be able to pour sweetness in your wordings, not for your selfish motive but for happiness of others. You may be doing a lot of thinking about your relationship and may even feel inclined to discuss issues of commitment and trustworthiness with your mate.

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

Gemini (K,CHH,GH) 21 May to 20 June You being more sympathetic and understanding of others now & You are willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, and you are not as strong as usual. Even if you are normally very understanding and tolerant of other people’s foibles, you are able to reach a better rapport with others and be less resistant and defensive when others disagree with you or act in ways that are not agreeable with you. This is an excellent time to openly talk with anyone that you do not feel comfortable with and do not have a good rapport with.

Feeling less competitive and ambitious about practical matters. The world of art, music, or mysticism is very appealing to you now, and if you have talent in any of these areas, this can be a creative and fruitful time for you. However, the negative possibilities for you now are being undisciplined, slack, indefinite, or wasting time and energy. This is a time for getting a little wild with friends, going dancing, or doing something out of the ordinary that is fun.

Capricorn (KH,J) 22 Dec to 20 Jan

Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 July Your imagination will be dynamic and you are able to find picturesque words and images to convey your thoughts. This is an excellent time for creative writing. It is also a good time for receiving counseling or consultation for issues of personal concern.

This is also a good time for any work of an artistic kind because your imagination and sensitivity are high. Philosophical, spiritual, psychic, and religious topics also appeal to you now, and you can become much clearer about matters of a very broad, encompassing nature now.

Clear away any imperfections in your work routines and endeavors. You may need a work environment free of distractions and chaos in order to work with more productivity and efficiency. If your creative energy and imagination is given room to flourish, then you will truly feel dedicated to your job responsibilities and duties. You may envision greater possibilities or yearn for idyllic work conditions where your dreams are automatically fulfilled.

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

Leo (M) 23 July to 22 August Inspiration from seniors will key issues for this time period. You are likely to feel the urge to do something completely out of character now. Don’t fight the urge. Let yourself be a little “crazy”; this is a good time to break out of your accustomed ways of acting and be more humorous or eccentric. Your imagination is charged now. Any artistic endeavors are imbued with a new spirit of originality and inspiration. You can tap intuitive and creative resources that will surprise even yourself.

Virgo (P) 23 August to 22 September An enthusiastic or wholehearted approach to your partnership is one way in which you will express your feelings to a mate or lover. You may give the impression now that you are seeking more fulfillment, commitment, stability, and teamwork in love relationships. You will go that extra mile to insure that you can be relied upon to deliver any promises, pledges, or obligations in the partnership. If you are unattached at the present time, you may attract a new love interest or search earnestly for a meaningful relationship.

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This is a good time to brainstorm with others, share ideas, and come to a group consensus. Thoughts turn to parenting, nurturing, and providing assistance to those you love and care about. You may have a great deal of contact and communication with family members, relatives, and siblings at this time, in greater part because they need guidance, advice, or help. This is a good period to make schedules or arrangements with those who live with you as to the handling of domestic or personal responsibilities.

Pisces (D,CH,Z) 20 Feb to 20 March Your intuition will be heightened, which benefits any creative or artistic work you may do. However, your practical reasoning ability and your ability to focus on the here and now are diminished. Your judgment regarding concrete matters is a bit fuzzy at this time, so you may wish to delay making important decisions. Your desire for love and affection, as well as beauty and pleasure, is strong now and you act on feelings and creative impulses more readily than usual. If you are not happy with some aspect of your personal life, these issues arise at this time and there may be disagreements or tension in a close relationship.

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Call us at: 713-774-5140

For more information

Amazing Opportunity!

If you invest a little over $2 a day (Less than the price of a cup of coffee) in VOICE OF ASIA, you can reach over 2 million potential customers!

VOICE OF ASIA NEWS GROUP

www.voiceofasiaonline.com • www.healthlinemag.com

To advertise, call: Phone: 713-774-5140 ads@voiceofasiagroup.com

VOICE OF ASIA 27

CLASSIFIEDS

PRIME BUSINESS LOCATION

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016

October is

FOR LEASE (Hillcroft Next to Shiv Sagar)

Breast

Facing Southwest Freeway 59/69

FOR SALE: Two huge Safe and Antique Showcases

Cancer

CONTACT: 832-279-8103

Awareness

THE OLYMPIC CENTER

6654 SOUTHWEST FRWY, HOUSTON, TX 77074

Month

Motel Help - Front Desk / Manager Needed • 18 Rooms independent Motel located in Pearsall, Texas need couple for Front Desk.

• 42 Rooms Days Inn Motel - Kerrville,Texas need Manager.

Minimum 2 years experience, Fluent English and Legal must. Accommodation provided.

Call: (210) 363 7387 Send resume: Jobapp0123@gmail.com

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

Voiceofasiaonline.com

Saturdays, S undays, and Thanksgiving Friday

2

O ctober 8 th through November 7 th Tickets available at

or at TexRenFest.com

MANAGEMENT TIP OF THE WEEK Reward Your Team for Learning Many jobs require people to continually develop new skills. As a manager, you should be less worried with what people know and more concerned about whether they’re able to learn. But it’s not enough to hire curious, adaptable people; you also have to reward them for learning. When your employees have increased their knowledge and their value to the company, provide them with new and challenging opportunities.

Promote people only when they’ve acquired sufficient expertise in other jobs in the organization, not just their own. Or you could give awards for individuals who organize events or activities to promote learnability in the company (running internal conferences, bringing external speakers, or circulating information that nurtures people’s curiosity). Reward simpler habits, too, like writing a blog, sharing articles on social media, or recommending books and movies.

Source: Adapted from “It’s the Company’s Job to Help Employees Learn,”

by Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Mara Swan WWW.HBR.ORG

VOICE OF ASIA 28

FRIDAY, October 28, 2016