Voice of Asia Nov 8 2013

VOICE OF ASIA 1

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VOICE OF ASIA

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

Learn More Medicare Terms Read on Page 18 OR Call 832-415-3180

Commemorating 25 years of dedicated service to the community

Vol. 26 No. 45 Friday, November 8, 2013 Published Weekly from Houston 713-774-5140 24 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: voiceasia@aol.com

Neeta Sane Reelected India Press Club of NA honors Koshy and Moani Thomas as HCC Trustee Dist. 7

Neeta Sane HOUSTON - Neeta Sane was declared winner with 52.2% and was reelected as HCC Trustee Dist. 7. She defeated her opponent Ann Williams who secured 45.8%.

Earlier endorsing her candidacy, Houston chronicle wrote: Incumbent Neeta Sane would bring energy, ideas and integrity to a second term representing a rapidly growing service area in the Fort Bend communities of Alief, Stafford and Missouri City.

On her blog, Sane thanked her supporters for reelecting her and ‘in moving HCC forward.’

“I will continue to represent all the constituents of HCC District VII for Student Success.

Also, I am looking forward to maintaining the positive momentum and partnerships that we have built with the area school districts, industry partners and community members,” she wrote.

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EW JERSEY - The India Press Club of North America (IPC) convened its 5th National conference in New Jersy from November 1-3 2013 at the Holiday Inn Somerset New. IPC is an organization of publishers of Malayalm Language newspapers, web masters, online publishers, Malayalam TV producers and magazine publishers in both Malayalam and English.

The two-day Conference was very productive and the discussions were based on the future of newspaper publication, especially Malayalam publications in the U.S and Canada. The general consensus was that digital media and social media are going to lead in the future.

A standing ovation: Koshy and Moani Thomas being honored by placing “Ponnada” (Shawl) by K.N Continued on Page 4 Balagopalan MP, V.D. Satheesan MLA and V.T Balram MLA f36or their service to the community

Sreepadam Celebrates its 10th Anniversary with Aaradhana HOUSTON – On November 2th, a full-capacity audience at the Stafford Civic Center celebrated the 10th anniversary of Sreepadam School of Arts with “Aaradhana – The Festivals of India.” The proceeds of the charitable program benefitted “Embracing the World – Education for Everyone” – a U.N.-endorsed, Indian-based nonprofit organization that provides educational services for the impoverished.

The acclaimed film & dance artist - Divya Unni - led over 170 students from Sreepadam School of Arts in beautifully-colored groups representing India’s rivers. Using music, dance, and digital visual media, “Aaradhana” explored the diverse array of Indian festivals by focusing on the theme of religious devotion. The dances covered festivals, including Bhogi & Pongal, Makara Vilakku, Shiva Rathri, Vishu. Guru Purnima, Thai Pooyam, Onam, Karthikai Deepam, Krishna Janmashtami, Navarathri, Diwali, Eid, Holi, and Christmas.

Continued on Page 9 Divaya Unni, Founder and Director Sreepadam School of Arts (center) with her students in one of the many items present. Photo Credit: Aswathy Talison (Reflection Media, Houston).

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OP-ED/OPIONS/VIEWS

VOICE OF ASIA 2

Publisher: Associate Publisher: Editor-in-Chief: Austin Correspondent: Marketing: Marketing: Production: Office Manager:

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

Voice of Asia TV News Online Editor:

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: 713-7745143. Email for editorial submissions: voiceasia@aol.com; Email for advertising inquiries and submissions: advertisingvoa@aol.com

LETTERS

India’s Mars mission Our Diwali celebrations have been enhanced manifold with the successful launch of the Mars Orbiter. November 5, 2013 will surely be remembered as a red letter day in ISRO’s illustrious history. Let us all wish and pray that the mission is accomplished without any hitch.

Shahabuddin Nadeem, Bangalore The successful launch of the Mars Orbiter mission is an outstanding achievement and a step in the right direction. Scientists and engineers of ISRO should be congratulated on completing the project at record speed and budget.

Geethu Issac, Thiruvananthapuram At a time when we read and hear only bad news of political blame game, charges and counter-charges of corruption and exploitation of the weaker sections of society, the news of the successful launch of the PSLV carrying a satellite to the red planet is soothing and encouraging. We hope and pray that the various milestones of the mission will be accomplished proving to the world that although we may lag behind in many social and economic standards, we are next to none in scientific talent.

C.K. Saseendran, Bangalore This refers to the letter that a person should not apply oil to his moustache when there is no grain in the house (Nov. 5).

Had ISRO not undertaken the Mars mission, would food grains have been distributed to all the needy? Tamil poet Avvayar said: … pichai puginum karkai nandre — one should pursue learning even if he begs to meet his needs. Poverty should not be a hindrance to enlightenment.

G. Sridharan, New Delhi The criticism of the Mars Mission is unwarranted. We have just spent crores this Diwali on rockets. Can’t we spend Rs. 460 crore on a real rocket? The quest to understand space in India is as old as the Vedas. ISRO has revived the legacy by investing in and inventing advanced technology to explore space. The Mars Mission is not a show-off, but a step towards understanding the universe — a small step, but promising.

Ikbal Ahmed, Delhi (The Hindu)

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.

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he Statue of Unity, a gigantic statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel coming up in Gujarat, is many things at once — a monument to a great Gujarati figure of the freedom struggle era, a rebellion against the gradual marginalisation of founding fathers who don’t belong to the Nehru-Gandhi pantheon and also the biggest branding exercise yet by Narendra Modi. Here’s what Modi could be hoping to capitalise on by hitching his wagons to Patel.

Hitching on to Sardar Patel’s legacy: Decoding Narendra Modi’s appropriation strategy

Claiming Political Centre The appropriation of Patel’s legacy will help Modi claim the political centre, while retaining his rightist constituency. Patel was not a secularist in the Nehru mould and opposed preferential treatment to minority communities Unity Project Modi’s call for all villages in India to contribute iron for the statue borrows an element from the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, for which bricks were sought from all over India. But the Statue of Unity is not a divisive project unlike the Ayodhya movement. Could help Modi reach more people in the political centre Chotta Sardar Patel’s brand values — earthy, decisive, strong and no-nonsense — are those that sit well with Modi’s own, and are the polar opposite of Nehru’s image — a privileged, foreign-educated anglophile.

While Congress can protest Modi’s appropriation of a Congress leader, a party run by the Nehru-Gandhis can’t offer too

by Srivatsa Krishna

C

onsider a powerful and astonishing fact.

Bangalore today is the world’s second largest IT/ ITeS cluster in the world, second only to Silicon Valley. According to the KIG 2020 study carried out by the Karnataka ICT Group, by 2020 it will become the largest collection of talent in a single location on the planet, with 20 lakh IT professionals , about 60 lakh indirect employment and exports worth Rs 4 lakh crore.

The corresponding numbers today are 9 lakh, 27 lakh and Rs 1.35 lakh crore. This is more than the combined numbers of Chennai and Hyderabad, by a wide margin.

What should one do to nourish and strengthen India’s foremost IT cluster, namely Bangalore?

Plus, how are the IT industry’s dynamics changing and what are its new needs? How can one be best positioned to take advantage of the huge opportunities that these produce? The objective should be to move Bangalore up the value chain to become a global innovation centre by creating the best entrepreneurial ecosystem in the world, over the next decade.

Of the Fortune 500 companies , Nasscom’s estimate is that around 105 have a direct presence in India for their IT/ ITeS/ BT Back office operations. These 105 companies are estimated to employ around 5,30,000 people in the country.

Nearly half of these companies have a direct presence in Karnataka, employing around 1,60,000 people . Of these 105 companies, around 51 have their origin in the US, 25 in the UK and 88 companies are from China.

An artist’s rendering of a statue of Sardar Patel, to be built in the western Indian state of Gujarat, in this handout provided by the Gujarat government on October 31, 2013. Officials say the statue is expected to be ready in 42 months. Photo courtesy: Reuters. much space for another leader Right Turn The move will also help Modi to pitch his economic philosophy as opposed to Nehruvian socialism and Indira Gandhi’s subsequent nationalisation of industry Questioning Nehru The identification with Patel will help reinforce Modi’s own image as a tough decision maker on national security and internal security. Patel united the divided princely states of

India, while Nehru’s handling of Kashmir is faulted by BJP Battling Rahul As Modi battles Nehru’s great grandson politically, it benefits him to project Rahul Gandhi as the inheritor of Nehru’s legacy and himself as the political legatee of Patel. The counterfactual narrative that India would have been a better place had Patel been its first PM is linked to the question of India’s future as well Pitfalls of the Strategy Identification of right wing

Our Credentials:

leaders with Patel is neither new nor unique. LK Advani’s branding as ‘Loh Purush’ ( iron man) was after the sobriquet used for Patel.

Patel was a Congress leader and had little sympathy for the Hindutva movement represented by RSS. He banned the RSS after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi and agreed to lift the ban only after the organisation undertook to stay away from politics. Congress can endlessly remind everyone about this. (Source: ET Bureau, 1 Nov., 2013)

India’s own silicon valley: Bangalore 3.0 could shape the country’s IT future According to the KIG 2020 study carried out by the Karnataka ICT Group, by 2020 it will become the largest collection of talent in a single location on the planet, with 20 lakh IT professionals , about 60 lakh indirect employment and exports worth Rs 4 lakh crore. the world’s electricity); 100 million plus tablets get sold every year and 50 million plus vehicles are fitted with in-car networks; Facebook has more than a billion active users and over 50 billion devices would be connected by 2020, with the cost of chips plummeting dramatically.

Each one of these represents either a design or a software or a service or a back office or a product or a support opportunity for India, which must be seized. This apart, everything is moving to the cloud. That presents a huge opportunity for governments which can design and push applications from a centralised platform to even remote tehsils and panchayats, wherever connectivity exists.

It’s imperative to understand that competition is not just among Indian states but between India and the US, UK, China and even Philippines and Vietnam. Against this landscape, Karnataka - nay every state with a significant IT talent pool and political resolve to shape this industry - needs to do the following.

First, reposition itself as the preferred global investment destination for IT/ITeS/BPO sectors . Most multinationals find India’s land laws perplexingly complex and don’t wish

to deal with the bureaucracy and attendant rent-seeking .

Land is not necessarily a constraint to development of industry, but dealing in land is a hassle for the uninitiated . To make it easier for them to deal in land and to incentivise employment generation, it’s imperative to come up with new ‘smart regulation’ . This essentially involves giving incentives for employment creation, which can be set off against the cost of lease of land.

Further, for any new regions or satellite townships coming ground up, one way of developing world-class trunk infrastructure is to set up special purpose vehicles with leading global development companies where government equity will be as per valuation of the land, with the private sector developing it professionally .

In addition, additional tradable higher floor space index should be given in tandem with the development of mass transit systems, so as to ensure that vehicular choking of ingress and exit from such regions doesn’t happen, as is the case today.

Second, giving preferential treatment in terms of stamp duty and registration charges, electricity tariffs, exemption from Acts that were written for another era such as Standing Orders of Labour etc is critical

The IT/ITeS industry stands at a crossroads in India today.

From generating mass employment via IT and software services and back office jobs over the last two decades, it has to move up the value chain to capture a greater share of the proverbial pie. Today IT pervades every aspect of your life. There are about 8 million servers housed in 5,00,000 data centres around the world (consuming about 1-2 % of

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to the success of the knowledge industry and should be given to end-users only.

Third, create many transformational e-governance and mobile governance projects so that IT/ITeS/Innovation permeate the day-to-day lives of citizens.

This includes galvanising the spread of IT into other adjacent sectors such as IT-enabled education , IT-enabled healthcare, IT in textiles design and apparel sector, to name just a few.

Just as Apple has its own dedicated app store, government can catalyse the creation of a government app store that can house the best G2B and G2C apps. The role of government, through a committee comprising some of the finest tech minds, would be to ensure quality control and to ensure that apps address the direct needs of citizens.

India and Karnataka stand at the cusp of history. They can, with some imaginative policy and strong positive steps from industry, create history and arrest the secular decline of India’s global image as an investment destination. Or they can let go and slip away silently into the womb of time, unsung.

The choice is entirely theirs.

(Source: TNN | 22 Oct, 2013) The writer is an IAS officer.

Views are personal.

VOICE OF ASIA 4

25th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

FROM OUR ARCHIVES

Orthodox Syrian Christians Celebration

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

Liability for stolen credit card limited to $50 Q. My wallet was stolen and the thief used my credit cards. I heard that I am not responsible for these charges. Is this true?

A. Under federal law, the owner of a credit card that is lost or stolen has a maximum liability of $50 per card. If you report the card missing before it is used you have no liability. I suggest you promptly let your credit card companies know the card was stolen. You may be surprised to find some companies do charge even the $50.

I also should point out that the rule is different for a debit or bank card. For that type of card, your liability is limited only if you promptly report the loss within three days. After that your liability substantially increases.

Q. My husband does not have a will and has two kids by his first marriage. In the event that he passes would the house he owned prior to us getting married be left to me?

A. Without a will naming you as a beneficiary, the house will pass to his children. You will have the right to continue to live in the house, but the children will own it. If that is not the result he wants he must prepare a will.

Q. My boyfriend of more than 10 years has me listed as his beneficiary on his life insurance policy.

He and his ex-wife have been divorced for more than 15 years. His mother says that if something were to happen to him, his ex would receive the money from that policy. Is this true?

A. I don’t know why his mother would say this. Based on what you say, if you are the beneficiary you will receive the money from the life insurance policy. His ex-wife does not have a claim to the proceeds of the policy.

Q. I was recently contacted by a collection agency concerning a ten year-old credit card debt. Isn’t there some time period after which they can no longer try to collect?

A. This has become a very common question. It seems that more and more collection agencies are trying to collect very old debts. Under the law, there are time periods within which a lawsuit must be brought. If you delay beyond this period, the suit may be dismissed as time-barred. In most cases, a lawsuit for a credit card debt must be brought within four years of when you defaulted. Obviously, it has been much longer than that. This means that if the debt collector filed a lawsuit, you could have it dismissed. It does not mean, however, that it may not contact you to ask that you pay.

Even though the company may no longer sue, you still owe the money. Until it is paid, it can try to collect. In my opinion, as long as the company does not harass, threaten, or abuse you, it may request that you pay a time-barred obligation. Under federal law, however, you may stop all contact by sending a letter demanding they stop all future communication. That should end the matter.

This article is reproduced from the Voice of Asia newsweekly archives in commemorations of its 25th anniversary. Published date: December 1, 1988 ov. 11th was an auspicious occasion for the Orthodox Syrian Christians in Houston. The occasion was the Patron Saints Day Celebration remembering Parimala Thirumeni, the only Indian born recognized saint.

There was a day-long celebration which started in the morning and ended at 8:30 p.m. His Grace, Dr. Thomas Mar Markarios, bishop for North American diocese and his Grace, Mathews Mar Epipanos, assistant bishop of Quilon diocese were present for the celebration.

The day also marked the anniversary of Sunday school. The anniversary celebrations started at 4 p.m. and lasted for approximately 2 hours. Children displayed their talents in singing and acting. It was a breathtaking 2 hours for the people who assembled there.

Another important event of the day was the ordination of deacon James William Pike, an American born Anglo-Sax-

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on. Now there are 2 American priests in the Orthodox Syrian Church. Fr. Michale Hatcher, who is a full-time vicar in Spokane, Washington, with 30 American families, and James William Pike.

Rev. Fr. Zachariah, the vicar of St. Gregorious Church, who

conducted the celebration has a BA in theology and consulted in the U.S. When he became the vicar of his parish, there were only 28 families. Now there are 42 and still growing.

The parish under his leadership is deďŹ nitely a model for other parishes in the states.

India Press Club of NA honors Koshy and Moani Thomas

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A. This is what the law calls a tort, and you have two years to file suit.

Q. I want to get a divorce. What do I have to prove to obtain a divorce?

A. I assume you are referring to whether you must prove things like adultery, cruelty, or abandonment in order to get a divorce. In the past, some standard of fault such as these was required to obtain a divorce. Today, however, Texas is what is commonly called a “no-fault� divorce state. To obtain a divorce, you must show the marriage is “insupportable� You may do this by simply showing that you do not get along and do not want to be married. It is no longer necessary to prove either party did something wrong, or explain why you cannot remain married.

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The IPC was efďŹ ciently administered by a young group of professionals namely: Madhu Varghese, President, Madhu Kottarakara, General Secretary, Sunil Thymattam Treasurer, Joby George Vice President, George Cherayil, Joint Secretary and Biju Kizhakekutt, Manu Thuruthikkadan as auditors and numerous volunteers.

Elected ofďŹ cials, leading reporters, TV producers, TV anchors, other executives came all the way from India to lead and be a part of the discussion.

Among the prominent personalities who lent their leadership were: K.N. Balagopal M.P, V.D Sathesan MLA and V.T Balram MLA, Jose Panachipuram of Malayala Manorama the leading Malayalam newspaper in

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Kerala, Vinu John Executive Anchor for Asianet TV, TV producer Sreekantan Nair, acclaimed journalist and Special Correspondent, The Pioneer, J. Gopikrishnan who investigated and made public the multibillion dollar Spectrum 2G scam that made headlines in India were all in attendance at the Convention.

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COMMUNITY

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Houston Hosts Traditional Diwali Celebration

TAFFORD - This past weekend flags were flying high and bright lights surrounded the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir reflecting this year’s Diwali program “Dhaja Farkavo”. Many of us have heard our parents and grandparents reminisce about their joyous experiences of Diwali. Most of them will tell us how homes and neighborhoods are lit with candles as well as the aroma of sweets being prepared and shared. Our parents also reflect upon stories of the many types of fireworks they enjoyed, the beautifully decorated homes and mandirs, and the days of celebration. Many of from the community experienced the festive ambiance as they attended the Diwali and New Year celebrations at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir.

While celebrating traditional festivals within one’s homeland is fairly commonplace, maintaining the practice in a distant land can be difficult but remains essential in passing on culture, meaning, importance, and traditions to future generations. For Hindus, Diwali presents one such opportunity to renew the rich traditions of their roots with great fanfare as well as a chance to reflect and introspect. Realizing these important facts, His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the spiritual leader of BAPS, inspires programs to celebrate Hindu festivals, such as Diwali, at BAPS centers worldwide.

The musical outdoor Diwali program incorporated fireworks and lasers while displaying the story of Bhakta Prahald.

By the end of the program everyone was energized from the fireworks and enlightened from the message that came out the story; God will prevail evil which reflects the foundation of Diwali, dispelling darkness with light.

Mrs. Smita Trivedi from Sugarland said “it’s amazing to see this here in the US.” She added, “Every Diwali takes me back to my childhood in India but this is great because my own children get to experience the festivities.”

On the Hindu New Year, Monday, November 4th, many of all ages were welcomed to take in the scene of the bright colors of the Rangoli and traditional colorful saris and salwar. Inside the Mandir, people witnessed Annakut, a diverse offering of vegetarian food before the murtis or sacred images. Ex-

citedly, they pointed at the dishes they liked and expressed curiosity about the ones less familiar. The dedication and tireless efforts of the volunteers was evident in every aspect of the celebration. They offered prayer, expressed their wishes for the year ahead, and even had the opportunity to partake in the offerings.

Mrs. Trivedi’s son, Ankur commented, “This past weekend has been memorable and educational. This Mandir, the celebration allows me to experience India here!”

Many left the premises of the mandir with immense pride for their rich heritage and impressions of the bright flames from the candles that marked the removal of darkness in the form of inner vices. The celebrations had served their intended purpose – to help the youth imbibe the true meaning behind Hindu festivals and create a sense of pride and belonging to their heritage.

About BAPS

TOP: Annakut, a mountain food before the murtis.

BOTTOM: Laser show and Fireworks were among the highlights of the Diwali celebrations at the BAPS Temple on Saturday November 2, 2013.

The BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS), a worldwide socio-spiritual organization is dedicated to community service, peace and harmony. Motivated

by Hindu principles, BAPS strives to care for the world by caring for societies, families and individuals. Through social and spiritual activities, BAPS endeavors to produce better citizens of tomorrow who have a high esteem for their roots. Its 3,300 international centers support these character-building activities. Under the guidance and leadership of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, BAPS aspires to build a community that is morally, ethically and spiritually pure, and free of addictions.

About Pramukh Swami Maharaj His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, the fifth spiritual successor of Bhagwan Swaminarayan, has inspired millions of people across the world to lead a God-centered, morally pure life.

As the present leader of BAPS, Pramukh Swami Maharaj has traveled extensively, emphasizing the importance of family harmony, community service and spiritual progress. He embodies the essence of Hindu life. His compassion for humanity, universal wisdom and striking simplicity has touched many world religious and national leaders.

For more details, please visit www. baps.org

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 6

ICC members bid farewell to Consul Mr. Anil Matta

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

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Houston Takes A Step To End Global Poverty At Partnership Walk / Run

Members of the India Culture Center with Mr. Matta at the dinner reception.

by Shobana Muratee OUSTON – At a very short notice, members of the India Culture Center (ICC), Houston’s oldest Indian American organization gathered on Tuesday, November 5th at the Ashiana restaurant to bid adieu to Consul, Mr. Anil K. Matta of Indian Consulate in Houston. Mr. Matta who completed his three years tenure here in Houston will be taking charge as the Director, Gurudev Tagore India Culture Center (GTICC) in Mexico City.

Mr. Matta spoke of activities of the Center that it offers classes in Yoga, Indian classical dance forms and mainly promotes Indian culture. He expressed his fondness for the Indian American community in Houston and appreciated their warmth and hospitality. The mem-

H

ories of Houston Indians will be long cherished he said.

PV Patel, President, ICC Houston, in turn spoke of Mr. Matta’s support and service to the community. Mr. Matta, he said never once turned away from extending help when it was needed, that he raised the bar of community cooperation by being a true friend. Rajiv Bhavsar, past president ICC told Mr. Matta’s that he would never forget what he had said early on ‘C’ stands for Consulate and Community. Although there were very few ICC representatives, they all shared the same sentiments and wished him well in his new position and endeavor.

The dinner was exceptionally good and well appreciated by the Guest of Honor.

Patel presented Mr. Matta with a memento as a token of remembrance.

Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital breaks ground in Missouri City

Emre Ozcan, General Manager Linbeck Group, LLC; Mike Smith, Houston Methodist Director of Facility Planning; Lowell Stanton, Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital CFO; Scott Stover, Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital Emergency Department Director; Scott Rivenes, M.D., Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital Emergency Department Medical Director; Chris Siebenaler, Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital CEO; Janet Leatherwood, Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital CNO and Craig Fredrickson, Vice President Linbeck Group, LLC.

S

UGAR LAND—(Nov. 5, 2013) — Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital began groundbreaking on a new 9,600square-foot emergency care center on Highway 6 in Missouri City, between the Sienna Plantation and Riverstone communities—signifying their first development in Missouri City. The facility is scheduled to open in summer 2014, and will house 10 treatment rooms and the latest technology in diagnostic imaging equipment.

The opening of the emergency care center will improve access to emergent care for Missouri City resi-

dents while also offering the latest and most sophisticated services and technology possible. The new center will also offer residents faster access to inpatient care at the main hospital campus, if needed.

“This is an exciting development because it gives us a physical presence in the heart of the fast-growing Missouri City community,” said Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital CEO Chris Siebenaler. “The new emergency care center will give Missouri City residents a first-class medical facility within minutes of their homes.”

Ribbon cutting by Mayor Annise Parker, First Lady Kathy Hubbard, Consul General of France Sujiro Seam, Honorable Marty McVey, Sharron Melton, Council Member Amy Mitchell, Dr.William Flores - UHD, Ashraf Ramji - VP AKF USA, Dr. Suleman Lalani - Chairman AKF Southwest Region, Dr. Noel Bezette-Flore and Claudia Ortega Hogue - Citizenship Month Co-Chairs

H

OUSTON - November 2, 2013. Today, 7,000 participants demonstrated their commitment to end global poverty in the annual Houston Partnership Walk / Run at Sam Houston Park.

The Houston Partnership Walk is an initiative of Aga Khan Foundation U.S.A. (AKF USA) to raise awareness and funds that reduce poverty, hunger, illiteracy and poor health in Africa and Asia.

Today’s event raised over $1.4 million for AKF USA programs worldwide. 100% of the funds raised at Partnership Walk go directly to projects supported by the Foundation; not a cent is spent on administration.

The event featured a 5K competitive iRun and a 100-yard Youth Fun Run (for children ages 6-13), along with the 3K family Walk. The event was a day of fun for the whole family and one that Houston residents look forward to every year. The Walk featured lively entertainment and activities for all ages celebrating a rich diversity of cultures. One of the most inspiring features of Partnership Walk is the Village in Action, where participants enjoyed interactive exhibits spotlighting the Foundation’s practical solutions for alleviating poverty from Afghanistan to Zanzibar.

Sujiro Seam, Consul General of France; Dr. William Flores, President, University of Houston-Downtown; Dr. Noel Bezette-Flores, Co-chair, Citizenship Month Houston; Claudia Ortega Hogue, Co-chair, Citizenship Month Houston; and Terence O’Neill, Mayor’s Office of International Communities.

To learn more about the event, volunteer, become a sponsor or make a donation, visit http://www.partnershipsinaction.org/houston.

Partnership Walk events were held in 10 major U.S. cities this year. Since 1995, PartnershipsInAction activities – including the annual Partnership Walk and Golf events – have attracted over 410,000 participants and raised $54 million for poverty alleviation projects supported by AKF USA. Participants help communities in some of the poorest areas of Africa and Asia to create long-term, selfhelp solutions to lift themselves out of poverty. These contributions make a tremendous impact in creating opportunities for girls in Afghanistan to go to school, for farmers in Mali to feed their families, and mothers in India to

Special guests and keynote speakers included the Honorable Annise Parker, Mayor of Houston; First Lady Kathy Hubbard; the Honorable Marty McVey, Member of the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Board for International Food and Agricultural Development and President of McVey & Co. ments,

InvestLLC;

Fatally shot Sugar Land man had cash, was followed

by Dale Lezon

H

OUSTON (November 1, 2013) - A 54-yearold Sugar Land man was shot to death Thursday outside his store in northeast Houston after police said it appeared he had been followed when he left a bank and was carrying a large amount of cash.

Farooq Khanani died in the shooting, which happened about noon at 7000 South Hall near Homestead, according to the Houston Police Department.

Police said Khanani pulled into the parking lot outside

his store when a car, possibly a black or dark-colored older model Chrysler 300, drove in after him. A short time later, Khanani drove out of the parking lot after he had been shot more than once.

Police said Khanani crashed his vehicle a short distance away from his store. He died at the scene.

Police said witnesses told investigators the car that pulled into the parking lot after Khanani had been seen driving behind him along Homestead moments before the shooting.

Investigators said it appeared Khanani had been followed

from his bank on the southwest side of Houston and had a large sum of money.

Police did not disclose if any money was found in Khanani’s vehicle. They also did not release information about the car that pulled into the parking lot after Khanani or who may have been inside it.

So far, investigators have no suspects in the case.

Anyone with information about the case is urged to contact the HPD Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS. Source: Houston Chronicle

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lead healthy lives.

AKF USA, established in 1981, is a private, non-denominational, notfor-profit international development organization committed to alleviating poverty, hunger, illiteracy and poor health. AKF USA works to address the root causes of poverty by supporting and sharing innovative solutions in the areas of health, education, rural development, civil society, and the environment. AKF USA is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service code.

AKF USA is part of the Aga Khan Development Network (www.akdn. org), a network of private, nondenominational, development agencies around the world, established by His Highness the Aga Khan to empower communities and individuals, often in disadvantaged circumstances, improve living conditions and opportunities. The Network’s agencies work for the common good of all citizens, regardless of their gender, origin or religion and its underlying impulse is the ethic of compassion for the vulnerable in society.

DIASPORA

VOICE OF ASIA 7

India-US relationship is a perfect 2020 vision: Nirupama Rao

dia and the US in particular the service sector and the contribution that the software industry professional make to this relationship is not in any way endangered or affected adversely by what comes out of this reform.

Echoing Rao, Banga called for “adjusting” the immigration reforms bill in the interest of India-US relationship and to keep the knowledge economy going between the two countries.

Nirupama Rao, India’s Ambassador to US.

W

ASHINGTON: Observing that the landscape of IndiaUS bilateral ties has been “revolutionized” over the past one decade, outgoing Indian envoy Nirupama Rao has said that it is a perfect relationship with a perfect 2020 vision.

on what we have achieved in strategic partnership over the years,” Rao said in her farewell address at a reception hosted by the US-India Business Council, which among others was attended by its chairman and the Master Card CEO Ajay Banga.

“Look at the way the landscape of this relationship has been revolutionized over the last few years. Look at the work that we have done, the expansion of trade, look at the content, look at the range of business and economic contact. It is a relationship with big heart and great soul and perfect, I would say, 2020 vision,” Rao said.

“I would like all of you to believe in India. India deserves to succeed. 1.2 billion people in the world, the largest democracy deserves to succeed,’ she said, adding that the US must stay invested in its relationship with India.

“We have to ensure that we keep that vision focused and that we must build

“I request all of you to declare your faith in India.” Rao said there is certain small aspect of the immigration reform which needs to be fixed to ensure that the business relationship between In-

“1.34 lakh Indians have already come back from Saudi Arabia,” Ravi said.

He said India is closely watching the situation and in touch with various associations as well. The embassy is very actively assisting in case of any problem, he added.

Saudi Arabia has launched a strict

They will be honoured at Kerala Centre’s annual banquet Nov 9 at Leonards of Great Neck in Long Island, New York.

Rao said the United States Congress has been the greatest championship of US-India Strategic Partnership.

“Every year we invite nominations and the committee has to make a unanimous choice for a candidate in a category to be selected to receive the award and this year is no different from previous years in terms of their achievements,” said selection committee chief Thomas Abraham, Kerala Centre Board member and trustee.

“They do a great deal to keep the flag aloft to make people realise how important this relationship between two of our democracies is -- shared values, shared issues and shared concerns,” she said.

Retiring from public service after spending 40 years as a diplomat, Rao praised Indian diplomats for their phenomenal success, despite that they are far less in number given the size of the country.

“Let me say, now that I am leaving the (Indian Foreign) Service, I can say with confidence that the diplomats in the Indian Foreign Service are among the best in the world. They are the best in the world in terms of the diligence, in terms of their professionalism, in terms of what they give to fulfilling the national interest. That should be acknowledged,” she said. (Source: PTI)

N

He said those Indians who are coming back as they are unable to stay there, are also given assistance by the ministry.

W

ASHINGTON (30 Oct, 2013): The Indian American Kerala Cultural and Civic Centre will honour eight Indian American Malayalees for their outstanding achievements in their field of specialisation or for their service to the society.

Chief guest Vijay K. Nambiar, under-secretary general and special adviser of the UN secretary-general on Myanmar, will also be honoured for his service to the UN.

EW DELHI: With 1.34 lakh Indian workers already returning to the homeland, Government is closely watching the situation in Saudi Arabia which is targeting illegal foreigners under its new labour policy, Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi said on Tuesday.

“The issue in Saudi Arabia has already been taken up. So far they have not entered into any house for checking. Saudi Arabian government has given specific instructions not to harass people but to check properly and not enter any house,” Ravi told reporters at the sidelines of an event.

Indian American Kerala centre to honor eight Malayalees

“That bill is an excellent bill in many ways. It is one aspect that we are concerned with,” Banga said, adding that Rao is the “real champion” in driving thinking in that space.

1.34 lakh Indians return, Govt watching situation in Saudi: Ravi

Asked about the drive in Saudi Arabia under which foreigners who have not corrected labour and residency status under its new labour policy - Nitaqat - are being deported, Ravi said that till now no incident of harassment of Indian nationals has been reported.

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

This year’s honourees are: Jose Maliekal, dean of the School of Science and Mathematics, the College at

Five Indian-Americans charged for $10 million bank fraud scheme WASHINGTON: Five Indian-Americans have been formally charged with fraud over a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than USD 10 million in loan proceeds and could face up to 30 years in prison if found guilty.

ment seeks forfeiture of approximately USD 10 million from Ghuman and Khan, as well as USD 198,180 in proceeds from the sale of Ghuman’s luxury car, which was allegedly purchased with fraud proceeds.

Two of the men co-owned gas stations spread across the US states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska and Wisconsin and sold them to purchasers financed by bank loans obtained with false financial representations.

Brahmbhatt, 39, from Texas and Mehta, 47, from Illinois, were each charged with one count of bank fraud and will be presented on a date to be determined in the US District Court, the Justice Department said.

The 23-count indictment by a federal grand jury was unsealed yesterday in a Chicago court after the arrest of 34year-old Charanpal Ghuman. The others who were indicted are Aga Khan, his brother Shabbir Khan, Akash Brahmbhatt and Shital Mehta.

Ghuman and Khan recruited purchasers who did not qualify for loans from the Small Business Administration and arranged for loans in the name of the purchaser’s relative or friend who had acceptable credit.

The men could face a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a million dollar fine for the charges.

Ghuman and Khan co-owned the gas stations and sold them to purchasers who got bank loans guaranteed in part by the Small Business Administration.

Minister of Overseas Indian Affiars Vayalar Ravi addresses journalists during the announcement for the forthcoming Pravasi Bhartiya Divas. inspection campaign to target illegal foreign workers after the sevenmonth grace period ended on Sunday.

The campaign is expected to continue throughout the year and there is no time limit set for it.

Asked if the move will adversely effect India’s remittances, Ravi said that a delegation from the ministry has already gone to Saudi Arabia and has discussed the issue.

“I was in touch with them. They went in April and also gave suggestions. That is why there are no complaints of harassment to Indians being made. They are checking, listing and people are coming back. This is going on,” said

Ravi.

He said the number of Indians there has gone up from 2.4 million to 2.8 million. “But there are some people without proper documents and they will send them back. My ministry is in touch with the ambassador and we are providing all the help they want.”

Brockport, State University of New York (SUNY) for his contribution in education; Raghu Menon, head of business development for North & South America for Linde Industrial Gas for business leadership; Mahadevan Padmanabhan, technical advisor at Alden Research Laboratory (Holden MA) and adjunct professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Worcester Polytech Institute for Engineering; Rockland County legislature and paediatric nurse practitioner Aney Paul for political involvement; Mariam Paul, director of nursing at New York City’s Isabella Geriatric Care for Nursing; Arun Seraphin, principal assistant director for national security and international affairs at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for service to government; Freemu K. Varghese, a practicing nephrologist and immediate past president of Association of Kerala Medical Graduates (AKMG) for achievement in medicine and community service; and Gurukulam, the Indian School of Culture, Language and Arts and its founder/principal Joseph Mathew for community service.

(Source: IANS)

They allegedly recruited purchasers and arranged the loans through Brahmbhatt, a bank loan officer, based on false financial representations, including fake tax returns prepared by Mehta, an accountant, the Justice Department said.

They allegedly engaged in the scheme during 2006-09. The indict-

Khan, Ghuman and Brahmbhatt knew this straw purchaser would have no role in the gas station or repayment of the loans. In addition, they provided false information and documents to be submitted to the bank, including fake information about employment, income, assets, and liabilities; false tax returns allegedly and false information about the purchasers’ contributions of equity.

Ghuman and Khan allegedly gave gifts like cars to Brahmbhatt for his alleged assistance in processing the loans. The proceeds were paid to Ghuman and Khan as payment for gas stations owned by various business entities they controlled, federal prosecutors said. (Source:PTI).

Asked whether Indians are being targeted abroad, Ravi said, “One cannot make such a general statement.

Read latest on South Asia and

“There will be some issues here and there, some in the Gulf countries as the employment question comes in. Indians are not targeted and that is why no such serious complains have come to us.”

(Manormaonline).

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VOICE OF ASIA 11

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

VOICE OF ASIA 12

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

LIFESTYLE

VOICE OF ASIA 13

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

Vol. 26

No. 45

Friday, November 8, 2013

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

It’s complicated: The many women in JFK’s life

Tel: 713-774-5140

Priyanka Chopra is the new Guess girl

But, while the Kennedys projected a public image of the quintessential modern American family, the president privately surrounded himself with paramours aplenty.

Best-known was Marilyn Monroe, the Hollywood sex goddess who got tongues wagging with her sultry rendition of “Happy Birthday” at a 1962 Democratic Party fundraising soirée.

The presidential birthday boy made no effort to conceal his delight.

Jackie not only knew of the liaison, but told Monroe she was welcome to have her man, according to journalist Christopher Andersen’s recent book “These Precious Few Days: The Final Year of Jack with Jackie,” published in August.

File photo dated December 29, 1962 shows former US President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy greeting members of the 2506 Cuban Invasion Brigade at Orange Bowl Stadium in Miami, Florida. (AFP)

by Robert MACPHERSON

tication for millions around the world.

W

ASHINGTON (AFP) There was glamorous Jackie, of course. And mother Rose, who nurtured his White House ambitions. And all the others: a movie star, a teenaged intern, a mistress with Mafia ties and more.

Without a doubt, John F. Kennedy -whose assassination 50 years ago this month still looms large in the American consciousness -- had a complicated relationship with women, many women.

Either he embraced them as pillars of strength on his journey to the US presidency, or he toyed with them to satisfy a unfathomable libido, in a “Mad Men” era when alpha males called the shots.

“It depended on the woman,” said Larry Sabato, author of the just-published bestseller “The Kennedy HalfCentury: The Presidency, Assassination and Lasting Legacy of John F. Kennedy.”

“He could be gracious and respectful of those with power and influence,” Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, told AFP. “But JFK had a nearly insatiable sexual appetite -- and in our terms today, he treated young and beautiful women as sexual objects.”

Central to the Kennedy narrative was Jackie, the former Jacqueline Bouvier, born into affluence in July 1929, who personified style, elegance and sophis-

The couple married in 1953 when she was a 24-year-old journalist and he was a 36-year-old rookie US senator.

She encouraged him to write the Pulitzer-winning “Profiles in Courage” while recovering from back surgery, and she campaigned alongside him in his hard-fought presidential race against Richard Nixon.

In the White House, she championed the arts and culture, and presided over lavish state functions, while tending to the couple’s young children Caroline and his son, John Jr, also known as John-John.

In the hours after Kennedy was killed, Jackie -- who was sitting next to him in the open-top presidential limousine in Dallas -- famously refused to change out of the pink Chanel suit spattered with his blood.

“I want them to see what they have done to Jack,” she said.

Jackie later married Greek shipping mogul Aristotle Onassis.

She died in 1994 at the age of 64, with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston remembering her as a selfless woman of duty.

“With a deep sense of devotion to her family and country, she dedicated herself to raising her children and to making the world a better place through art, literature, and a respect for history and public service,” reads her profile on its website.

ASIANET

“And you’ll move into the White House and you’ll assume the responsibilities of first lady, and I’ll move out and you’ve have all the problems,” she reportedly told Monroe, who died of a drug overdose later in 1962.

Those “problems” might have included Judith Campbell Exner, whose claim of a steamy two-year affair with Kennedy -- coinciding with a relationship with a Chicago underworld kingpin -- is deemed credible by historians.

She died in 1999 at the age of 65.

Or Mimi Beardsley, a 19-year-old White House intern when Kennedy wooed her into an affair that lasted 18 months. She was a virgin, she said, when they first made love on Jackie’s bed; later the two would race rubber duckies in the presidential bath tub.

“I do not regret what I did. I was young and I was swept away, and I cannot change that fact,” said the future Mimi Alford in her 2012 memoir, “Once Upon a Secret: My Affair with President John F. Kennedy and its Aftermath.”

No-one knows how many prostitutes Kennedy hired, but there were enough for his bodyguards to worry that he might fall victim to espionage or blackmail, at a time when the United States and the Soviet Union stood on the brink of nuclear war.

“He had a tendency to surround himself with ladies sometimes who were a little worrisome,” said one Secret Service agent, Anthony Sherman, in an ABC television documentary in 1997.

“These women were of questionable character,” added another, William McIntyre.

“This was reckless to the extreme,” Sabato told AFP. “JFK risked his presidency and fam-

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Bryan Admas also posted a photo of Priyanka Chopra’s photoshoot on Twitter: “My photo of Indian beauty Priyanka for Guess 2013.” (This image was posted on Twitter by Bryan Adams )

F

ormer Miss World (2000) and Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra has achieved a feat no Indian actress has done in the past.

The 30-year-old model-turned-actress has been signed by international fashion brand ‘Guess’ for its Holiday 2013 campaign, and in doing so she has become the first Indian Guess girl.

Priyanka Chopra tweeted: “I’m so proud to be the next #GuessGirl. It’s a legacy of beauty for 30 years.T hank u @bryanadams and @GUESS for making this such a fab shoot.”

Priyanka Choppra was dressed in ily over and over... Almost certainly, foreign intelligence agencies had some knowledge of this pattern of behavior.”

No doubt his mother did. Rose Kennedy is credited with infusing a strong sense of history and public service into all her children. Fascinated by politics, she actively took part in JFK’s election campaigns, stumping the hustings, soliciting votes.

Guess’ signature hair, cat eyeliner and sexy clothes in a Mediterranean villa.

The photo shoot was orchestrated by singer-photographer Bryan Adams.

Priyanka Chopra joins the league of Guess fashion models which includes names like Claudia Schiffer, Anna Nicole Smith, Eva Herzigova, Valeria Mazza, Kate Upton, Julia Lescova, and Laetitia Casta. Looks like Priyanka Chopra is all set to be the name flashing everywhere this December, as this is the time when her Guess campaign breaks in fashion magazines.

Like Jackie, she tolerated the promiscuous conduct of the family patriarch, business tycoon and ambassador Joseph Kennedy, whose three-year affair with screen idol Gloria Swanson in the 1920s presaged the MarilynJFK fling.

A devout Roman Catholic, Rose Kennedy died in 1995 at the age of 104, outliving four of her nine children.

Young Life

VOICE OF ASIA 14

Friday, November 8, 2013

by Carola SOLE

M

exico City - Mexico has found a new heroine: A 12-year-old math whiz from a state plagued by drug violence who was dubbed “The Next Steve Jobs” by a US magazine.

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

Tel: 713-774-5140

Girl dubbed ‘The Next Steve Jobs’ captivates Mexico

The school lacks basic services such as running water, drainage or a telephone line -- an all-too-common problem in Mexican classrooms.

She has appeared in national newspapers and on cable news, redubbed “La Nina Jobs” -- “The Jobs Girl” -- with photographers and cameramen chasing the girl nicknamed after Apple’s late founder.

“If Paloma had the same opportunities or open doors as Steve Jobs, she probably would be a genius in this subject,” Juarez told AFP.

This week, she traveled from her hometown of Matamoros, in the northeastern state of Tamaulipas, to the hustle and bustle of Mexico City for a mental math competition.

Two of Noyola’s classmates disappeared midway through the school year without anybody knowing why.

“The Mexican education system is like a bus with broken seats, wheels in bad shape and a broken engine that must climb a hill,” Juarez said.

“I’m very happy. If you want it, you can do it,” said Noyola.

With so much attention on the girl, Tamaulipas state officials who flew in with her shielded Noyola from the press pack.

Last year, the girl whose school lies next to a dump across the US border wowed the country when she scored the maximum 921 in the national standardized exam, the best in Mexico.

Her father died of lung cancer last year and her family earns an income

L

ONDON - A 14-year-old Indian boy camped out overnight on the banks of the Chambal river in Madhya Pradesh to click the winning shot of a crocodile that bagged him this year’s Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award.

Udayan Rao Pawar shot the fresh water crocodile or gharial with hatchlings on its head by creeping up on the nestling colony.

The education system of Latin America’s second economy ranks last among the 34 nations of the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development.

Twelve years old Paloma Noyola (L-back) listens to instructions during a two-day National Mental MatH Calculation Championship. from selling scrap metal and food in Matamoros, a city tormented for years by a turf war between the Zetas and Gulf drug cartels.

Minimally invasive education While Noyola made the cover of

Wired, it was her teacher’s radical methods that featured prominently in the magazine’s story.

mented a new approach, allowing students to tap into their own curiosity and self-learning to solve problems.

Sergio Juarez Correa, 32, saw his entire class’s Spanish and math scores dramatically improve after he imple-

Juarez Correa took inspiration from the “minimally invasive education” concept of Sugata Mitra, a professor

Indian teenager Udayan Rao Pawar bags photography award with Chambal crocodile

Juarez lamented that the government’s reform lacks plans to improve school infrastructure. The Wired article noted how his school lacked computers.

seems directed at you, appealing to you to let her live and thrive in peace.

This image is beautiful and thoughtprovoking, but at the same time wonderfully playful.”

The awards are one of the most prestigious competitions in world photography, held annually by Natural History Museum and BBC ‘Wildlife Magazine’ in London.

The winning portrait has been 10 years in the making, as Du Toit has been photographing elephants for a decade in search of the perfect shot.

“I could hear them making little grunting sounds. Very soon a large female surfaced near the shore, checking on her charges. Some of the hatchlings swam to her and climbed onto her head. Perhaps it made them feel safe,” he added.

“I chose elephants because I feel a very special energy and connection when I’m around them,” he told BBC News. Images for the contest, now in its 49th year, are submitted anonymously by professional and amateur photographers alike.

Despite conservation efforts, the fresh water gharial is on the verge of extinction with an estimated 200 mating pairs remaining as a result of illegal sand-mining and fishing.

They are selected for their creativity, artistry and technical complexity and must be submitted as a raw file with no manipulations.

Udayan Rao Pawar and his award winning photograph.

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President Enrique Pena Nieto, who took office in December, pushed through an education reform in a country where less than half of high school students are expected to graduate.

This year’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year is South African artist Gred du Toit, who won over the judges with his photograph of an African elephant from Botswana.

“When the dawn broke early in the morning I hid myself behind a rock, and when the morning light came I took those images,” he explained.

Judge Tui De Roy, a naturalist and wildlife photographer, said in reference to Pawar’s image: “The composition and timing of Udayan’s photograph is perfect. The mother’s gaze

While Noyola garnered attention for acing the national exam last year, nine other students scored more than 900 in the math test.

The school is located in a “punishment zone” for education, dubbed that way because no professor wants to be there due to the high level of crime and dismal infrastructure.

The youngest of eight children from a modest family, Paloma Noyola was thrown under the media spotlight since Wired magazine featured the black-haired girl on its cover two weeks ago.

She sat alone at a large table and was whisked away after the contest organized by the Tecnologico de Monterrey university ended. But she did not win the contest.

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The 2013 winners beat 43,000 entries submitted from 96 countries.

Source Daily News Analysis)

VOICE OF ASIA 15

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

VOICE OF ASIA 16

BOLLYWOOD MASALA

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

Friday, November 8, 2013

Section 2

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

Tel: 713-774-5140

Richard Gere joining cast Introducing Aaliya (Katrina for ‘Marigold Hotel’ sequel Kaif) from ‘Dhoom: 3’

The film which is set to release on December 20 will indeed set the curtains on 2013 with a bang.

Richard Gere will join stars like Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton in the upcoming ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ sequel. (AP Photo)

A

ctor Richard Gere will join stars like Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton in the upcoming ‘The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel’ sequel.

It is currently unknown

which new character Gere will play, reported Contactmusic.

The same production team will be on board, with the second film once again being written by Ol Parker. Another returnee is Penelope Wilton, who played Jean in the origi-

nal film.

“We had a wonderful time shooting this film the first time and I am thrilled we will be going back in January to do another one. As far as I know everybody will be returning,” Wilton said. (PTI).

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Bollywood’s Barbie doll Katrina Kaif is out of her comfort zone in the film and is set for some thrilling action

too showed Katrina flaunting some acrobatic moves, which will make her an interesting watch.

SET Asia HD launches on DISH and DishWorld IPTV

N

ew York, Oct. 31, 2013 – Sony Entertainment Television Asia is proud to announce that it is now available in 1080i high definition on DISH and DishWorld IPTV.

committed to offering the best programming options to our nation’s South Asian communities interested in high-definition entertainment from their home countries.”

Jaideep Janakiram, SVP of International Business – Head of North America, “Sony Entertainment Network has always embraced excellence in content and quality, going HD is another step in that direction. SET Asia will continue to keep its viewers in the entertainment forefront, and I am sure that our consumers will enjoy the enhanced viewer experience.”

Viewers can enjoy their favorite SET Asia programming in true HD, including Kaun Banega Crorepati, Desh Ki Beti Nandini, Sanjeev Kapoor Ke Kitchen Khiladi, Bharat Ka Veer Putra – Maharana and World Television Premier blockbusters.

Sruta Vootukuru, Director of Programming – DISH, “DISH is the leading provider of HD international content to viewers in the U.S., and we are pleased to add SET Asia HD to this impressive lineup. We remain

TexRen Fest.com

sequences. Katrina is Aaliya – the acrobat diva.

The teaser trailer of the film

SET Asia HD is available on both platforms at no additional cost to subscribers. Satellite customers can tune in on HD channel 9663; subscribers who do not have an HD receiver can only access SET Asia in standard definition on channel 695.

About Sony Entertainment Television Asia:

Since its launch on the Indian subcontinent in 1995, Sony Entertainment Television (SET) has enjoyed rapid success, leading to the establishment of European, North American and African feeds known as SET Asia. SET and SET Asia are now available in over 150 countries. The channels offer their viewers a distinctive blend of entertainment programs twenty four hours a day, including, soap operas, dramas, sitcoms, concerts, movies, and game shows. Besides SET Asia, SEN also has four other leading channels, as part of its bouquet: MAX, India’s #1 premier movies and special events channel, SAB, the only dedicated comedy channel, MIX, the recently launched Hindi Film Music channel and Aath, the only dedicated Bengali Movie channel. www.setasia.tv

‘Dark is Beautiful’ movement takes on unfair India

by Rachel O’BRIEN

“Parents, relatives, they all keep saying you should do something to lighten your skin tone,” she said.

M

UMBAI - Looking to find a husband, make friends, and get ahead at work? Then you need to have lighter skin.

That’s the all-pervasive message in India, and it’s something that one actress is fighting to overturn.

India’s mass market whitening pioneer was “Fair & Lovely”, launched in 1975 by Hindustan Unilever and now selling in a range of other countries where pale skin is desirable, across Africa and the Middle East as well as Asia.

The new poster girl of the “Dark is Beautiful” campaign, Nandita Das, has called out India’s obsession with fair skin -- a prejudice she says has driven some young women to the brink of suicide.

Indian consumer group Emami later came up with “Fair and Teen” for girls and “Fair and Handsome” for men.

Promoted by Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, the latest advert shows him tossing a tube of the cream from the red carpet to a young male fan.

“Magazines, TV, cinema -everywhere being fair is synonymous with being beautiful,” Das told AFP. Described as having “dusky” skin as opposed to a fair complexion, the 43-year-old is well used to Indian preoccupations with colour, and not just in the film industry, where she has refused requests to lighten her skin for roles.

“How can you be so confident despite being so dark?” is a question regularly asked of Das, who has preferred to star in unconventional, issue-based films but says she would struggle to get ahead in mainstream

In May, Nandita Das became the face of the Dark is Beautiful campaign, launched in 2009 by activist group Women of Worth to celebrate “beauty beyond colour”. — Photo by AFP Bollywood movies.

‘Beauty beyond colour’ In May, Das became the face of the Dark is Beautiful campaign, launched in 2009 by activist group Women of Worth to celebrate “beauty beyond colour”.

Her backing has helped to generate increasing debate in

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the media, but the response has underlined just how ingrained the preference is for fairer skin, which has long been associated with higher social classes and castes.

“I started getting tonnes of emails from young women pouring their heart out about how they were discriminated against. Some wanted to commit suicide because they couldn’t be fair,” she said.

Das found her own photograph had been lightened by a newspaper even for a feature on the campaign. When looking for a nanny, she was told one candidate was “good, but quite dark”.

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Amid such pressures to be pale, India’s whitening cream market swelled from $397 million in 2008 to $638 million over four years, according to market researchers at Euromonitor International.

Skin-lightening products accounted for 84 percent of the country’s facial moisturiser market last year, their report shows.

The bias facing darkerskinned women was raised again in September when an Indian-origin woman, Nina Davuluri, won the “Miss America” contest in the United States.

“Had she been in India, far from entering a beauty contest, it is more likely that Ms Davuluri would have grown up hearing mostly disparaging remarks about the colour of her skin,” said an editorial in The Hindu newspaper.

“She would have been -- going by the storyline of most ‘fairness’ cream advertisements -- a person with low self-esteem and few friends.”

Vaginal whitening cream Last year, a commercial for an “intimate wash” to whiten vaginas emerged, showing a young Indian woman who uses the product to successfully regain her boyfriend’s attention.

The advert was widely panned, but a glance through matrimonial websites and newspaper columns suggests that fair skin, at least on a woman’s face, remains key to attaining an Indian husband.

Aspiring grooms often state in their adverts their preference for a fair bride, while nearly all women’s profiles describe their complexion as fair or so-called “wheatish”.

Ekta Ghosh, a fashion designer in Mumbai who specialises in wedding wear, said the message that only fair is beautiful had been passed down to Indian girls for generations.

Dark is Beautiful has launched a petition against the “irresponsible” video and its message that “fair skin is a prerequisite for success”.

So far more than 15,000 people have signed up in protest, but Khan has not responded.

“You’re telling people they’re just not good enough,” said Das, who describes whitening cream adverts in general as “so regressive and derogatory”.

Fairness cream producers suggest they help to boost users’ confidence, although both Emami and Hindustan Unilever declined to comment for this article.

Not everyone, however, is convinced such creams are even effective.

Receptionist Prachi Chawan, 28, said she had been using Fair & Lovely products for three years “out of habit”, but was yet to see noticeable results.

“There have been no side effects but no change either,” she said.

Das believes whitening cream developers did not create Indians’ colour bias and insecurities, but have “cashed in” on it, creating a “vicious circle”.

While men’s fairness products are gaining ground, the actress says women and girls still face far more pressure over their skin tone, which she puts down to a general lack of respect and inequality.

“Until we let women have the same space as men and treat them as human beings, all this will carry on.”

HEALTHY LIVING HEALTH

VOICE OF ASIA 18

Friday, November 8, 2013

Section 2

Learn More Medicare Terms Coverage determination (Part D)

dial care.

The first decision made by your Medicare drug plan (not the pharmacy) about your drug benefits, including:

The amount you must pay for health care or prescriptions before Original Medicare, your prescription drug plan, or your other insurance begins to pay.

• Whether a particular drug is covered • Whether you have met all the requirements for getting a requested drug • How much you’re required to pay for a drug • Whether to make an exception to a plan rule when you request it The drug plan must give you a prompt decision (72 hours for standard requests, 24 hours for expedited requests). If you disagree with the plan’s coverage determination, the next step is an appeal.

Creditable prescription drug coverage Prescription drug coverage (for example, from an employer or union) that’s expected to pay,on average, at least as much as Medicare’s standard prescription drug coverage. People who have this kind of coverage when they become eligible for Medicare can generally keep that coverage without paying a penalty, if they decide to enroll in Medicare prescription drug coverage later.

Custodial care Non-skilled personal care, like help with activities of daily living like bathing, dressing, eating, getting in or out of a bed or chair, moving around, and using the bathroom. It may also include the kind of health-related care that most people do themselves, like using eye drops. In most cases, Medicare doesn’t pay for custo-

Deductible

Deemed status A provider or supplier earns this when they have been accredited by a national accreditation program (approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) that they demonstrate compliance with certain conditions.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) The federal agency that oversees CMS, which administers programs for protecting the health of all Americans, including Medicare, the Marketplace, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

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Dr. Sharda joins Houston Methodist Primary Care Group

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UGAR LAND— (November 1, 2013) — Houston Methodist Primary Care Group is pleased to announce that board certified family medicine physician, Dr. Deepshikha Sharda, has joined the practice to serve the Fort Bend community.

Dr. Sharda has extensive experience in family medicine and is fluent in English and Hindi. She has a special interest in preventive medicine, and she is experienced with a wide range of common medical issues, including diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol, allergies, asthma and related

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“I enjoy building relationships with my patients and collaborating with them to ensure a healthy lifestyle,” says Dr. Sharda. “Being affiliated with Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital enables me to provide the best possible care to my patients who need specialized services. Having access to the excellent staff and leading edge technology of Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital is a valuable asset for me and for my patients.”

Dr. Sharda is a graduate of the University of North Texas Health Science Center and she completed the Baylor Family Medicine Residency program in Garland, Texas.

Dr. Sharda is currently accepting new patients at Houston Methodist Primary Care Group’s Missouri City clinic, located at 3424 FM 1092, Suite 220. To make an appointment, call 281-208-3322 or visit methodistsugarlanddocs.com.

developmental problems

W

ASHINGTON, November 5, 2013 (AFP) - Older men treated with testosterone run a higher risk of death, heart attacks and strokes, according to a study out Tuesday suggesting the hormone therapy may need to be reconsidered.

The researchers followed more than 8,700 men who had low levels of the hormone, of whom 1,223 took a testosterone supplement for a median period of around two years.

Three years later, nearly one in five of the men who had not taken a supplement had suffered a heart attack or stroke, or had died.

That figure jumped to one in four among the group who had been treated with testosterone -- an overall increased risk of nearly 30 percent.

The men receiving testosterone also tended to be younger -- they had an average age of 61, compared to an average age of 64 for the untreated men.

“These findings raise concerns about the potential safety of testosterone therapy,” the authors, including lead researcher Rebecca Vigan of the University of Texas, wrote in the study, published in the

P

ARIS, November 6, 2013 (AFP) - Scientists said Wednesday they had found an “invisibility cloak” that allows the AIDS virus to lurk unnoticed in human cells after infection and replicate without triggering the immune system.

And they managed to “uncloak” the virus with an experimental drug in lab-grown cells -a feat that may lead to new and better HIV treatments, the team wrote in the journal Nature.

“The hope is that one day we may be able to develop a treatment that helps the body to clear the virus before the infection is able to take hold,” the study’s lead author Greg Towers of the University College London said in a statement by the Wellcome Trust, which co-funded the study.

The body’s immune system is the first line of defence against infection, with an “alarm system” in each cell for detecting invading bacteria or viruses.

When the alarm is triggered, the cell activates an anti-viral response and alerts surrounding cells, which do the same.

But the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infects vital white blood cells of the immune system and replicates undetected for a while before triggering the alarm system -- a trait that scientists have battled to under-

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• Women who have undergone early menopause

They said further studies were needed “to properly characterize the potential risks,” especially among older men or men with other risk factors.

The number of annual prescriptions for testosterone therapy increased five-fold between 2000 and 2011 in the United States, reaching 5.3 million prescriptions worth about $1.6 billion, the authors emphasized.

The therapy is recommended for those with below-normal levels of the hormone whose symptoms include diminished sex drive, low energy, and worsening memory.

In addition to improving sex drive and bone density, the hormone has been shown to increase muscle mass and strength.

It is not clear from this research whether the increased risk of death, heart attack and stroke existed among patients prescribed testosterone therapy for “low T syndrome” or younger men taking it for physical enhancement, Cappola said.

An ongoing randomized trial of more than 800 men over the age of 65 receiving testosterone or a placebo could help provide guidance for older men considering testosterone therapy.

Until more is known, however, “prescribers and patients should be wary,” she said.

• Women with extremely poor egg quality • Women over 40 years of age Women whose ovaries fail to respond to fertility medication

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• Women who have undergone chemotherapy or surgery affecting fertility

ere in the United States there is a great shortage of egg donors of Indian origin.

Many couples travel to India to seek egg donors due to this need. Scientific innovations have made it possible to do egg freezing as a standard of care, which previously was considered only for experimental purposes.

Benefits of Receiving Donor Eggs • Egg donor recipients have an optimal chance of pregnancy.

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• Medical evaluation of general health and of your potential as an egg donor (also called ovarian reserve testing) • Giving the gift of a child, for couples who may otherwise not have that option

Dr. Chauhan is Board Certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology and Reproductive Endocrinology. He is Clinical Assistant Professor with Baylor College of Medicine in the dept of Obstetrics and Gynecology. He is the former medical director and Assistant Professor at West Virginia University, Charleston Division.

• Compensation for your time and effort (approximately $5000 per cycle) Qualifications to Be an Egg Donor • Females 21 to 30 years of age • Non-smoker • No known medical conditions

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• No family history of depression, genetic defects or

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Testosterone therapy Giving The Gift Of Life ups risk of bad out- Through Egg Donation comes in older men

The increased risk of catastrophic events was especially notable, said researcher Anne Cappola of the University of Pennsylvania, because “the men who were taking testosterone in this study were slightly healthier to begin with.”

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HEALTH, SC & TECH

VOICE OF ASIA 19

Shakuntala Devi, ‘The Human Computer,’ Honored in Google Doodle

Indian mission to Mars blasts off successfully

by Adam PLOWRIGHT

N

Google Doodle paid homage to Shakuntala Devi, also known as “the human computer.” on Nov. 4, 2013. Google

by JON M. CHANG

H

igh school memories of math class may come flooding back to people who visit the Google homepage. Today’s Google Doodle features a familiar olive green calculator screen, with the search engine’s name written as upside down numbers.

The reason for the doodle? The birth of a calculator, though not the one that you punched numbers into to get through trigonometry.

Instead, today honors the birth of Shakuntala Devi, pictured to the left of Google’s logo. Though Devi lacked a

formal education growing up, she astounded people with her ability to crunch large numbers. “At the age of 6, I gave my first major show at the University of Mysore,” she once said, according to The New York Times. “This was the beginning of my marathon of public performances.”

It may be that during one of those performances that Devi got the nickname, “the human computer.” In 1977, at Southern Methodist University in Texas, Devi raced a computer to figure out the 23rd root of a 201-digit number. The computer took 62 seconds to find the answer,

while Devi found the solution in 50 seconds.

Unlike the old computer, Devi’s abilities are still astounding to this day. An old clipping from The New York Times archives shows other arithmetic problems that she solved in under 20 seconds. In addition, she earned an entry into the 1982 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records for needing less than half a minute to both calculate and say aloud the product of two 13-digit numbers.

Devi died earlier this year from both cardiac and respiratory problems. She was 83 years old.

Amazon campus in Hyderabad soon, Google likely to follow

L

eading companies Amazon and Google will have their campuses in Hyderabad in three years time, providing employment to nearly one lakh people, said IT minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah.

APIIC, which had approved and forwarded it to GHMC officials.

By December, 5,000 jobs would be created by the company,” he said.

opment, he added.

Speaking to mediapersons here Thursday, he said both the companies have already started business in Hyderabad and showed interest in expanding operations.

However, legal tangles pertaining to the land allocated to them pushed them into second thoughts, he said.

Google, which had started its business operations in Hyderabad with 7,500 people and paid total amount for the land and permissions is yet to get possession of the land even after many years.

The case is with the Supreme Court now. Meanwhile, the state government had approached the company and offered to provide alternative land.

The IT minister expressed happiness over Mee Seva completing three crore transactions in 44 months since its inception.

“It is a record and now we are planning to increase the Mee Seva centres from 7,000 to 8,000 and the services from 177 to 300 plus by December,” he said. Mee Seva was praised at the recent meeting of the World Bank officials, Planning Commission members, and other states were suggested to emulate the programme, he added.

“But, we were able to convince them that Hyderabad is the best option they have in the country. Legal problems pertaining to the land given to Amazon have been resolved and its project report has been submitted to

“We are hopeful of a positive outcome. If everything goes well, Hyderabad will have the Google’s first campus outside USA,” Ponnala explained. Political movements and issues will not be an obstacle for IT devel-

Ponnala was also happy that Friends2Support.com, a voluntary organisation whose mobile application launched by him in May, bagging World Summit Youth Award. (Source: Express News Service)

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FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

EW DELHI, November 5, 2013 (AFP) India’s first mission to Mars blasted off successfully on Tuesday, completing the first stage of an 11-month journey that could see New Delhi’s low-cost space programme win Asia’s race to the Red Planet.

Manmohan Singh, shortly after China’s attempt flopped.

The timing and place of the announcement -- in an Independence Day speech -- led to speculation that India was seeking to make a point to its militarily and economically superior neighbour, despite denials from ISRO.

A 350-tonne rocket carrying an unmanned probe soared into a slightly overcast sky on schedule at 2:38 pm (0908 GMT), monitored by dozens of scientists at the southern spaceport of Sriharikota.

The gold-coloured probe, the size of a small car, will aim to detect methane in the Martian atmosphere, which could provide evidence of some sort of life form on the fourth planet from the sun.

After 44 minutes, applause broke out in the tense control room as navigation ships in the South Pacific reported that the spacecraft had successfully entered orbit around Earth.

President Pranab Mukherjee called Tuesday’s launch “a significant milestone”, while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sent his best wishes “for the delicate next steps.”

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Radhakrishnan allowed himself a smile, slapped a colleague on the back and announced he was “extremely happy” that the first objective had been reached.

The mission has been hurriedly assembled, and was carried into orbit by a rocket much smaller than rival launch vehicles which can blast out of Earth’s gravitational pull and head directly for Mars.

At the end of this month, once enough velocity has been built up to break free from Earth’s gravitational pull, “the great, long, difficult voyage will start” to Mars, he announced.

The cost of the project, at 4.5 billion rupees ($73 million), is less than a sixth of the $455 million earmarked for a Mars probe by NASA which will launch later this month.

“In September 2014, we expect this spacecraft to be around Mars and the challenge then is to precisely reduce the velocity and get it into an orbit,” he explained in comments broadcast by state television.

“We didn’t believe they’d be able to launch this early,” project scientist for the NASA Mars probe, Joe Grebowsky, told AFP before blastoff. “If it’s successful, it’s fantastic.”

The country has never before attempted inter-planetary travel, and more than half of all missions to Mars have ended in failure, including China’s in 2011 and Japan’s in 2003.

Only the United States, Russia and the European Space Agency have been successful.

The Mars Orbiter Mission, known as “Mangalyaan” in India, was revealed only 15 months ago by Prime Minister

He stressed that journeying to Mars, which has an elliptical orbit -- meaning it is between 50-400 million kilometres from Earth -- was a far more complex prospect than the Moon, which India reached in 2008.

“When you shoot a rocket at Mars you have to take into account that Mars is going to move a good deal before you get there. The Moon is fairly close,” he said.

There have been recent set-

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backs for India too, including when its Moon probe Chandrayaan lost contact with its controllers in 2009. Another, larger launch vehicle blew up after take-off in 2010.

The programme also has to contend with critics who say a country that struggles to feed its people adequately and where more than half have no toilets should not be splurging on space travel.

“Had they spent that money on us we could have had better houses, better clothes, sent our kids to good schools,” said Goribai, a labourer in a slum in the diplomatic area of the capital.

“But no, the country wants to find aliens,” she told AFP. ISRO counters that its technology has helped economic development through satellites which monitor weather and water resources and enable communication in remote areas.

The Bangalore-based organisation and its 16,000 staff also share their rocket technology with the state-run defence body responsible for India’s missile programme.

The United States is the only nation that has successfully sent robotic explorers to land on Mars, the most recent being Curiosity which touched down in August 2012.

One of its discoveries appeared to undercut the purpose of the Indian mission to find methane.

A study of data from Curiosity, published in September, found the rover had detected only trace elements of the gas in the atmosphere.

“Remember that it (Curiosity’s methane reading) is for a single spot. One point doesn’t make it a story for the whole planet,” top Indian space scientist Jitendra Nath Goswami told AFP.

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Friday, November 8, 2013

BUSINESS Section 2

How you can get shares of the Twitter IPO

by Matt Krantz, (USA TODAY)

I

f there’s one burning question investors have about the Twitter IPO it’s this: How can I get shares?

Normally, investment bankers’ process of selling shares of initial public offerings is a mundane one that few people pay attention to. But when the IPO is of a company that garners great media attention, as Twitter has, many investors who normally would have no interest in stocks, much less risky ones, say they want to get in line.

The process of selling shares of Twitter will follow the same procedure that must IPOs follow. And that means there will be three ways for investors to possibility get a shot at owning shares of the online messaging service, Twitter, including: Working with a full-service brokerage firm involved in bringing the IPO to market. The investment banking operations running the Twitter IPO include Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank. Each of these investment banking operations also have brokerage operations, which have clients that are often given access to IPOs. Typically, a vast majority of the shares are sold to large clients of these firms, including pension funds and mutual funds. But there might be some shares made available to longstanding individual customers of these firms, which is typically high net worth investors. And don’t think you can just run out and open an account with Morgan Stanley and expect your broker to sell you Twitter shares. Shares of popular deals are typically given to long-standing customers.

Checking with your online brokerage firm. If you have an account with an online brokerage, and you’d like to invest in Twitter at the IPO price, call and ask.

TD Ameritrade is allowing investors to express interest in the owning Twitter shares, although, at this time it cannot disclose how many shares it will get. If

you’re a customer of Fidelity, the brokerage firm was allowing customers to express interest in investing in Twitter up through the cutoff on Monday.

Buying through a mutual fund. Many large technology mutual funds will probably be offered Twitter shares at the IPO price. Since the shares haven’t been sold yet, mutual fund companies have not yet disclosed their plans, so it’s more of less a guessing game.

Waiting for the stock to start trading.

Investors often think if they don’t get in at the so-called offering price, they missed out. The offering price is the price that the very first investors buy shares of an IPO at, currently expected to be between $23 and $25 a share.

But remember that most of these initial investors are free to sell the next day once regular trading starts, and at that point, anyone can buy. Often, the best course of action is to wait for the stock to trade. There’s no guarantee the stock will trade higher, and at least in the case of several recent social media IPOs, the stocks actually dropped.

There are two rules of thumbs when it comes to regular investors and IPOs. First of all, if you don’t know how to buy shares of IPOs, you probably shouldn’t start now, especially with a deal that’s as widely publicized as Twitter. Investing in stocks with longtrading histories and stable earnings is tricky enough, and IPOs are even more difficult to buy and sell profitably.

The second rule of thumb is this: if you’re a regular investors and you can buy shares in an IPO, you should probably pass. IPOs are doled out on a supply-and-demand basis, and if the large, wealthy investors are snapping up the shares, you should ask why not.

Facebook’s IPO last year was a classic example. After the company increased the deal size and offering price, large institutions dropped out, and individual investors wound up buying at the over-inflated price and watching half their money vanish until the stock finally recovered in 2013.

Email: voiceasia@aol.com

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

Tel: 713-774-5140

IBM says will ‘aggressively’ contest India tax demand

N

EW DELHI (AFP) - The local unit of US technology services giant IBM said Wednesday it will “aggressively defend itself” through legal means against an Indian tax demand for a reported $865 million.

The Indian unit of IBM declined to say how much tax authorities were seeking, but local media have said the company has been told to pay 54 billion rupees ($865 million) in arrears for allegedly under-reporting its 20082009 earnings.

“IBM does not agree with the tax department’s claims and will aggressively defend itself through the appropriate judicial process,” an IBM India spokeswoman told AFP. The case is the latest pitting a multinational against Indian income tax authorities, and comes as the country has been seeking to portray itself as more investor-friendly to draw much-needed foreign investment.

India is locked in tax battles with Vodafone, Nokia and Royal Dutch Shell, among other international companies.

The tax department alleges that New York-based IBM did not fully report its Indian export earnings, according to media reports. A spokesman for the tax department would not immediately comment.

IBM, whose operations in India span global business services, technology and software, denied any wrongdoing.

“Fundamental to IBM’s culture and business model is that we act with integrity wherever we do business,” the spokeswoman said in an emailed statement.

The Mumbai newspaper DNA reported that tax authorities were combing IBM India’s tax returns back to the financial year 2000-2001 for possible irregularities.

Information technology services companies in India normally receive

tax exemptions on profits earned from the export of software and related services from facilities in so-called software technology parks and special economic zones.

But due to differences in the way tax rules have been interpreted, there has been a string of disputes. The tax department in many instances has denied claims by the IT companies for exemptions.

IBM, one of the biggest technology employers in India with an estimated workforce of around 150,000 people, uses the country as a base for its global services delivery.

India is also a vast market for the company, which generates around $3 billion in annual revenue from the country. Nearly half comes from domestic operations and the other half from exports and other sources, according to industry estimates.

IBM does not give country breakdowns of its revenues.

Obama surprises visitors as White House tours resume

W

ASHINGTON, November 5, 2013 (AFP) - Barack Obama and his wife Michelle surprised visitors at the White House Tuesday, as tours of the US presidential residence resumed after an eight-month break sparked by government budget woes.

“How are you! So good to see you,” the president said, welcoming visitors to the state rooms of the mansion in the heart of Washington.

He and the first lady, accompanied by their dogs Bo and Sunny, shook hands and chatted for several minutes with tourists who appeared shocked and thrilled, according to a video posted on

the White House web site.

White House tours, suspended since March 9 due to deep US budget cuts known as the “sequester,” will be offered three days a week, down from five days a week before the break.

In March, the White House visitors office had said the tours would be halted until further notice due to personnel reductions amid budget cuts.

About $85 billion in across-the-board cuts in domestic and defense spending went into effect in March after Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on a deal to cut the deficit.

However, under the budget extension

passed in mid-October, the Secret Service said White House tours could resume, albeit on a reduced schedule, at least through January 15, when the current funding for the government is due to run out.

The tours, which are managed by the National Park Service, require reservations, usually at least two months in advance.

Tours, which are self-guided, allow visitors to see some parts of the White House basement as well as the state rooms on the ground floor.

The second floor, where the Obama family lives, is off-limits, as is the West Wing, where the Oval Office is located.

Yunus flays Bangladesh’s ‘de- Vir joins Dean’s Advisory struction’ of Grameen Bank Council at Business School

Atul Vir (7th from lft) with the members of the Dean’s Advisory Council, UHV.

V

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus

D

HAKA, (AFP) - Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday blasted the Bangladesh government after it passed a law he said would pave the way for the “ultimate destruction” of Grameen Bank, the pioneering microlender he founded.

The bill passed by parliament late Tuesday tightens the government’s grip on the bank set up to fight poverty, and brings it under ever closer control of the central bank.

Yunus, who was ousted from the lender in 2011 in what was seen as a politically engineered move, condemned the new law and said it “created the opportunity for the government to take 100 percent control of the bank”, with which he shared the Nobel.

“Grameen Bank was created as a bank owned by poor women, and managed by poor women. Its legal structure did not allow any government interference of any kind, except for regulatory oversight,” he said in a statement.

“These amendments fundamentally change the character of the bank. With these amendments, the government has opened the door for its ultimate destruction. What a shame for the nation, and the whole world!”

“I feel extremely sorry that

the nation has to go through the unnecessary traumatic experience of seeing a great global iconic institution, created by this nation, be brutally harmed by a group of irresponsible and thoughtless people,” he added.

Finance Minister A.M.A. Muhith defended the new law, saying it was a constitutional requirement because the original ordinance that created the bank in 1983 during military rule must be passed by parliament.

“The Supreme Court has outlawed all ordinances that were enacted by the military regime,” he said on Tuesday.

The new law replaced the Grameen Bank Ordinance but also made some amendments, bringing its finances under close supervision of the central bank and raising its authorised capital level.

From now on the bank’s new branches must also be approved by the central bank and it cannot run any business beyond its mandated area of lending to landless entrepreneurs in rural

areas.

The government has progressively moved to control the bank, raising its stake to 25 percent from around three percent.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Grameen is a state-owned bank no matter what the government’s stake is.

It ordered a commission on the future status of the bank and has launched a tax probe against Yunus, who has been at odds with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina since 2007 when he made a brief foray into politics.

ICTORIA (November, 3, 2013) - Atul Vir has been invited to join the Dean’s Advisory Council at the School of Business Administration at the University of Houston-Victoria (UHV).

The School of Business Administration campus located in Sugar Land is included among Princeton Reviews Best Business Schools, offering BBA as well as Strategic MBA and Global MBA programs.

UHV offers courses leading to approximately 60 bachelors and master’s degree programs and concentrations in the schools of Art and Science, Business Administration, Education and Human Development. Classes are held in Sugar Land, Katy, Victoria and online.

The role of the Deans Advisory Council is much like that of a Board of Directors. Members will advise the Dean as to the strategic direction of the School, and provide input regarding the curriculum in order to ensure the School’s programs are meeting the needs of the business community. In addition, the Coun-

cil members will bring a “real world” perspective to the table; helping to ensure the the school is producing highly knowledgeable and well-trained graduates with appropriate skill sets.

Vir is a serial entrepreneur and inventor. He is the President of Equator Advanced Appliances, a manufacturer of innovative household products with interests in the US, Canada, Europe, China and India. He is also the Principal of Shangri-La Contemporary Art Foundation, an organization that promotes international art.

Houston’s Businessman Rajender meets with India’s high official Iqbal Singh

The 73-year-old economist, who won a Nobel prize in 2006, was branded a “bloodsucker” by Hasina and has recently been the subject of a hate campaign by state-funded Islamic clerics.

Yunus set up the bank to make small loans to rural women entrepreneurs which helped lift millions out of poverty. Microcredit was then adopted in other parts of the world, earning him global fame and celebrity status.

Visit us on voiceofasiatvnews.com Rajender Singh with Mr. Iqbal Singh (Joint Secretory, Ministry of Home Affairs, JS (UT). Ajit Singh (Aviation Minister of India) lunch at Mr. Ajit Singh’s residence.

FEATURE

VOICE OF ASIA 21

Tourists invited to live like Gandhi in his ashram

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

Your Horoscope (For week beginning Friday, November 8, 2013)

Hardik Vyas, Astrologer Cell : 832-298-9950

As per Indian Vedic Astrology the Moon sign is considered, in which every Rashi has control over certain letters, which are initials of your name. Whereas in Western system of Sun Sign, all the people born in one month belong to the same sign. For example, every year approximately around 21 of March to 20th April, the Sun is moving in the Aries Constellation. So all the people born in that month belong to the Sign of Aries. If you were born in between those two dates then you are a Aries born.

Aries (A,L,E) 21 March to 20 April Excellent results are likely early in the week and upgrades to new employment or opportunities are likely. ANY one who travel for a living, especially driving jobs, must be very careful as they may encounter ‘dangerous situations’ or be delayed or effected by ‘accidents’. Power people may be talking ‘all about money’ and every ‘bottom line’ may fall ‘under scrutiny’.

Be ready with explanations, proof or ‘pitches’. Take the responsibility for your actions. You’ll have many options from which to pick from.

Taurus(B,V,U)21 April to 20 May Ashram co-ordinator Rameshbhai Trivedi walks through the kitchen area at Kochrab Ashram. — Photo by AFP The “Live with Gandhi” programme was launched on October 2 to coincide with the 144th anniversary of the birth of Gandhi. Tourists have not yet made bookings, but Barot stressed there were lots of inquiries.

India has plenty of museums and monuments to honour the country’s independence icon, whose personal philosophy and ideas are considered outdated by many in rapidly modernising India.

Known as Mahatma or Great Soul, Gandhi spearheaded a non-violent campaign against the British Raj that finally saw India gain its freedom from colonial rule in 1947. He was shot dead by a Hindu hardliner in New Delhi just months later in 1948.

Despite the many commemorations for Gandhi, Barot, who developed the programme with the university, said he hoped the ashram offered something different.

Ashram co-ordinator Rameshbhai Trivedi shows the rest area.

by Rajesh Joshi

A

HMEDABAD, (AFP) - Tourists searching for peace and simplicity can for the first time check in to Mahatma Gandhi’s most famous ashram in India. But don’t expect modern comforts. And chastity is required.

For 1,000 rupees ($16) a night, tourists can sample the lifestyle of India’s famously ascetic independence leader by staying at the first ashram he established, set up in 1915 in the western state of Gujarat.

Guests at the ashram, which opened to holidaymakers earlier this month, can try their hand at spinning, visit local communities, pray and meditate, all while wearing khadi -- hand-woven cloth -- during their stay.

But they must adhere to Gandhi’s 11 vows that he promoted including non-violence, no possessions, use of local goods, working for daily food, self restraint, including chastity, and control of diet.

And they are also encouraged to follow Gandhi’s austere daily routine, such as waking at 5am and undertaking domestic chores.

“The objective of this programme is to allow people to experience a sustainable life-

style, to enjoy the simplicity of Gandhi, experience the virtue of Mahatma,” said Nischalavalamb Barot, a travel agent who helped develop the programme called “Live Gandhi for a While”.

“This might change perceptions of tourists towards life, society and our natural resources. This might also help tourists find peace and satisfaction within,” Barot told AFP. Gandhi went to stay at the bungalow, now called Kochrab Ashram and then owned by a lawyer friend, after he returned to India from South Africa in 1915.

From this base, in a village on the outskirts of the city of Ahmedabad, he rejected material wealth and developed some of the ideas for which he became famous.

In one incident, he upset neighbours by inviting a lowcaste man, a so-called “untouchable”, to come and live at the ashram as part of his campaign against India’s rigid and deeply ingrained caste system.

The ashram is managed by a nearby university called Gujarat Vidyapith, which Gandhi himself founded in 1920 to “liberate the Indian youths from the shackles of British colonial rule”.

“This is the first time that we are attempting to understand the value and principles of a sustainable life, which Gandhi believed in and practised,” said Barot, who operates a sustainable tourism agency.

However he stressed a stay at the ashram would not be an easy one.

“They will have to follow the vows that Gandhi himself followed in the ashram.... They will also wear the khadi throughout the programme.”

Gandhi spun his own cloth and encouraged others to follow suit. He considered this an important part of his anti-colonial philosophy of self-reliance, known as “swadeshi”.

Khadi also became a symbol of how then India should base its economy -- on village-based craft instead of industriallyproduced cotton often imported from mills in Britain.

The idea is a far cry from modern-day India, which dismantled government control over its economy in the 1990s, and opened up India, a member of the G20, to foreign investment.

Sudarshan Iyengar, vice-chancellor of the Gujarat Vidyapith university that manages the ashram, said he was confident that opening it to tourists would help promote Gandhi’s ideals.

“This is a unique programme, which will actually bring change in society gradually at an individual level and hopefully we will witness a sustainable future.”

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Gemini (K,CHH,GH) 21 May to 20 June Your stars show you to be rather vulnerable to misunderstandings, minor accidents and clashes or frustrations. Once we clear the emotions and you have ‘processed them well’ you appears enjoyable and a ‘big relief’ in a variety of ways. Elders, pets and ‘dependent youth’ may need special attention. Be in a personal relationship or a business dealing, you will reach a very positive goal. Focus your energy full force. You’ll seem to have a keener understanding of how things work. Look behind the scene & you’ll see all of your options.

Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 July Take the time to read, write & express your thoughts on paper. By doing so, you may feel an awakening of ideas, you shared with someone, long ago. That person may remind you of something very important that you forgot. Stress that seemed so intense, lately, may lessen, as the week goes by. Take the time to enjoy all of those favorite things that you really like to do. Don’t be afraid to express yourself. You need to open your mind & your heart to someone who shares your goals. There are no restrictions for you, this week.

Leo (M) 23 July to 22 August Rediscovery of higher education & using reliable ideas to accomplish your goals. Miscommunications or misunderstandings may occur, if you don’t choose your words carefully. What solution that had long gone by the wayside, may now become a viable one.

Listen to others with expertise to overcome distance & language problems. Your ability to communicate on many levels will help others to understand your motivations. Be sensitive to those who are affected by your acts.

Virgo(P) 23 August to 22 September Keep, keen understanding of how effective team work can be. You can enhance business, career & prestige in the community. Higher ups may request your time. Listen to other’s ideas on how to handle the situation & plan your strategy, accordingly. Sometimes you may feel as if you can conquer anything and maybe you can, but remember to thank those who have helped you on your way. They need to feel your respect & your love. They’ll feel it best if you show it through your actions, not just your words.

Libra(R,T)23 Sept to 22 Oct Passion, excitement and the start of new adventures. Negative energy will have no power over the positive flow that you are rolling on, but remember, you need to learn to walk first before you can run. The warmth you feel inside will spark your passion for life. Get out there and enjoy all that life has to give. Look past others misgivings in order to take advantage of their expertise. You may not understand all the workings of a new technology, but you can figure out how to use it for your own purpose.

Scorpio(N,Y)23 Oct to 21 Nov Motivation and positive reinforcement. Recent events have put you in a position of power.

You’ll feel moved into proclaiming an alliance between yourself and your peers. Your message will come across in a way that encourages others want to join in. You know just which emotions to draw out of others and when to do it. You could combine valid points of view to provide a dynamic effort. Supporters will rally for your cause. Look upward and forward. Doubts should not be considered an option. Teamwork is easy for you and it could prove to be very profitable, in the long run.

Sagittarius(BH,F,DH,TH)22 Nov to 21 Dec Bide your time. You need to continue to play the waiting game. Others want answers right away, but you should take some time to analyze the whole picture. If you try to push the process faster, something will hit the fan. Unfounded suspicions and accusations will only make others more uncomfortable. It’s better to keep quiet than to be negative. A surprise will shake things up and provide you with some answers. Try to be as discreet as possible. You’re ready to accept the news but not everybody is.

Capricorn(KH,J)22 Dec to 20 Jan Find new ways to succeed. Past performance will not carry much weight and will not have any bearing on the current situation. You need to find your voice and figure out how to use it to your best advantage. Before moving ahead on your own, think about ways to unite others. Human emotions cannot rule you, this time. You must try to look at things on and a more intellectual plane. Try your best to stay clear of those who try to bring you down to their level.

You need to look beyond the immediate to understand how the bigger picture works.

Aquarius (G,S,SH) 21 Jan to 19 Feb The week end’s activities will provide you with food, friends and good conversations. The rest you get will help you to replenish your energy and improve your perspective. Having to ‘rescue’ is likely. It appears especially ‘needy’ and there may be the need for both armchair shrinking and refereeing! Emotional ‘tantrums’ are also likely and your calm and constant inter session may be required, especially at big events or gatherings a ‘distance away’.

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

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Your stars show fatigue, irritation and multiple ‘annoyances’ are likely and you may need delegate out duty and ‘make the most/best’ of more than one situation, especially IF you are entertaining visitors or have ‘big events’ planned for days. Facts, figures and ‘the bottom line’ must be taken seriously and their weight ‘considered first’. Your investment of time, effort, money and ‘heart and soul’ are key and your reputation stands to either be beefed up and/or expanded OR ‘toasted though impatience’.

Get yourself back on track to the road to success. Recent events have put your emotional and physical well being out of whack. Static energy will only cause you to short out your mental battery. Simple pleasures will be needed in order to help you to relax.

Strong words will only bring strong re-actions. Realize that tempers may be short. You need a break from away from extreme solutions to dealing with simple problems. Stay confident in who you are and you’ll be ensured a smoother ride. Being in between jobs or relationships can make you feel very isolated.

COMMUNITY EVENTS

VOICE OF ASIA 22

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013

RELIGIOUS INSTITUTES & ORGANIZATIONS OF HOUSTON - call Voice of Asia 713-774-5140 Hare Krishna Dham (ISKCON)

Hindu Temple of The Woodlands

Prog: Diwali Celebrations Drama & Cultural Events: Sun. Nov 10th 5:00 PM Everyday, 7 Aratis and bhoga offerings daily. Sunday Festival: 5.30 p.m. to 7.30 p.m.

Location: 1320 West 34th St, Houston, TX 77018.

Contact:281-433-1635/E-mail harekrishnadham@gmail.com Website: www.iskconhouston. org

Prog: Location: 7601 S. Forest Gate Drive at Woodlands Parkway, Spring, TX 77382.

Contact: info@woodlandshindutemple.org, 832-585-0001 Website: www. woodlandshindutemple.org.

BAPS Prog: Shakotsav, Nov. 13 Location: 1150 Brand Rd. Stafford, TX. Contact: 281-765-2277 Web:

VPSS Houston Location VPSS Vallabh Hall, 11715 Belfort Village Dr. Houston 77031.

Contact:713-530-2900 Website:www.vpsshaveli.org

Sri Meenakshi Temple

Shri Radha Krishna Temple Prog: Annakoot and Goverdhan Pooja will be on Sunday November 10th 2013 starting 5:30PM. Maha Arti at 7:00PM. Prasaad will be served after Maha Aarti..

Prasaad will be served after Maha Aarti.Location:11625 Beechnut, Houston, TX 77072 Phone: 281-933-8100 Website: www.SRKT.org.

India House Prog: Diwali Bazaar on Nov. 2 from 11 AM to 8PM Location: India House 8888 West Bellfort Avenue Houston, Texas 77031

Chinmaya Mission Prog: Location:10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX77498.

Phone: 832.541.0059.

Website:www.chinmayahouston.org.

Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya Temple Hrs: 9 am to noon and 5 to 9 pm.

Sri Astalaksmi puja: 7 pm.

Sri Laksmi Archana will be performed on request all day.

Location:same as Chinmaya Mission.

Website: www.saumyakasi. org;

QR

Prog: November 29th, Friday Grand Ganesh Temple Kumbabhishekam, a grand event.

Location: 17130 McLean Road Pearland, TX 77584 Contact: (281) 489-0358 Web: www.meenakshi. org Arsha Vidya

Bharati

Prog.:Sanskrit classes and special worship sessions for all ages Location: 2918 Renoir, Sugar Land, TX 77479 Contact: 281-606-5607 or AVB.Houston@gmail.com Web-site: https://sites.google. com/site/avbtexas/classes

Vedanta Society of Greater Houston Prog: Vedanta teachings Sundays at 10:30 AM Location: at 14809 Lindita Dr. Houston, TX -77083.

Website: www.vedantahouston. org

ISSO Prog: Darshan daily from 7.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 8.30 p.m.; Aarti daily from 7.45 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Location: 10080 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX 77478 Phone: 281-530-2565 Web:

Shri Satyanarayan Sai Puja Darshan Prog: Daily from 10:00 a.m. to 1:p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Every Thursday Abhishek Location: 16338 Kensington Dr, Ste 110, Sugar Land 77479.

Phone: 713-933-8821 / 9359.

Gurdwara Sahib of SW Houston Prog: Sundays Dewan 10:00 11:00 a.m. 1:00 p.m. Langar Location:14811 Lindita Drive, Houston, TX 77083 Phone: 281-498-5200 Website: www.gurdwaraswh. com

Ahmadiyya Muslim Sri Ashtalakshmi Community Baitus Temple Samee Mosque Prog: Sri Vishnu Sahasranama Prog: Friday Prayer - 1:30 PM Children’s Classes | Interfaith meeting | Location: 1333 Spears Rd, Houston, TX 77067 Imam - Mohammed Zafarullah Contact : Work: 281-875-3400 | Cell: 713-874-4363 Zafarullah_Hanjra@hotmail. com www.Alislam.org

Ashirwad - A Blessing Temple Prog: Regular prog :Sloka Classes for kids and teens.

Location: Katy, Hwy 249 & Sugar Land.

Contact: 281.995.0930/ 281.808.2159

Stotra Parayanam: daily 6.30 p.m. Location:10098 Synott Road. Sugar Land, TX 77478 Phone: 281- 498-2344 Website: www.ashtalakshmi. org

Hindu Worship Society Prog: Open all days except Thursdays (by appt). Regular Puja and Prasad. Sunday Service 11:30 AM to 1:30 Location: 2223 Wirtcrest Lane Houston TX 77055.

Barsana Dham Houston Chapter

Prog: Satsang every Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Location: India House, 8888 West Belfort 77031 Phone: (713) 855-9818 for details Website: www.jkphouston.org Weekly Radio Program-1460 AM Saturdays 10-11 a.m.

Lakshmi Narayan Mandir Prog: Every Friday Satsangh from 7:30 pm to 9 pm. Bhajans and Devi Puja, Discourses.

Location: 12530 Ann Louise Road, Houston, 77086.

Phone: Contact Vishnu at (832) 309- 7181.

JVB Preksha Meditation Center Prog: Annual Family Camp “Understanding Joy & Sorrow” on March 29 - 31, 2013 (Good Friday Weekend) Bellville, TX. Location: 14102 Schiller Road, Houston TX 77082 Phone: 281.596.9642 Website: www.jvbhouston.org

Patanjali Yogpeeth Center Prog: Free Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun from 8 am to 9:30 am Location: Arya Samaj @Schiller Road.

Contact: 281-579-9433.

Websites: www.pyptusa.org

Jain Center of Houston Prog: Location: 3905 Arc St. Houston, TX 77063 Contact: 281-606-JAIN; Email: ecjsh@jain-houston.org Website:www.jain-houston.org

Durga Bari Society Prog: Sandhya Arati at 6:30 p.m.; Sunday: 9:00 a.m.- 7:00 p.m.

Location: 13944 Schiller Road.

Contact: 281-597-8100 Website:www.houstondurgabari.org

Gayatri Pariwar of Houston Prog: Sundays Satsang, BalSanskar Shala, from 11am to 1pm.

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5700A Hillcroft Ave. Houston, TX 77036

713-785-1212 www.houstonhotbreads.com

EGGLESS cakes Available

Computer Repair & Networking Home & Business, Microsoft & A+ certified, low flat rates, free estimates, pickup & delivery.

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Sri Guruvayurappan Temple Prog: Bhajans: Sat.7:00 -8:00 p.m.; Sundays 9:00 a.m.-1:00 a.m.Location: 1620 Ormandy Street, Houston, TX 77035 Contact: 713-729-8994

Govindaji Gaudiya Math Prog:Satsang every Sunday evening from 5 - 7 p.m. Vedic heritage classes for kids 5-14.

Location: 16628 Kieth Harrow blvd. Houston, TX 77084 Contact: 281-499-3347/281491-4114.

Sathya Sai Baba Centers Prog: Sundays from 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at two locations Locations: Contact: (North) 832-418-3842 or (South) 281-788-4786.

Website:www.saicenterofhouston.org

Telugu Christian Fellowship Prog; Every third Saturday 6:30 PM. Worship is in English Location: The Triumph Church, 10555 West Airport Boulevard, Stafford, TX 77477.

Contact:713-301-6444 Website:

Brahma Kumaris Meditation Center Prog: Daily classes in Raja Yoga Meditation To register call or email.

Contact:832-379-8888/ Email: houston@bktexas.com Website: bktexas.com

Bethesda Houston Tamil Church Prog: Prog: Sundays Tamil Worship: 5 – 7pm Sunday school : in English. Bethesda Family Fellowship: in English 10.30 am-12.30 pm Free Tutorial for all children Mondays & Wednesdays 5-6 pm. Ladies Bible Study: Thur

9 am. Location: 1092, Suite F&G, Stafford. Tex 77477 Tel:281-317-7331 Contact: 281-317-7331 Website:bethesdahoustontamil church.org

Our Redeemer Church Prog: Sundays worship at 4:30 pm, Location: All Saints Lutheran Church 1211 West Belfort Avenue, Stafford, TX 77477.

Contact: 281-686-4135 / Email: pastorvj@linchouston. org

Trinity Mar Thoma Church Prog: Sundays Malyalam service at 9:45 a.m. Every alternate weeks in English at 10:30a.m. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m.

Location: 5810 Almeda Genoa Road.

Contact: 713-9771-1557/ 281261-4603.

Rekindle The Fire Ministries Prog: Houston Revival Meetings Every second Saturday of the Month.

Location: New Song Christian Community Church near 59S and Wilcrest. Every fourth Saturday of the month join a lively youth revival meeting at Pasadena. Website:t www. rekindlethefire.org

Indian Catholics of Houston Location: Claridge Drive Houston, TX 77031 Contact:: (713) 995-6811

Islamic Society of Greater Houston Location: Eastside Drive Houston, TX 77098 Contact: (713) 524-6615

BAPS Clear Lake Prog: Location: 520, W.NASA Parkway, Webster, TX - 77598

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VOICE OF ASIA 23

Houston Community College Notice of Procurement Opportunities REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Project: RFP 1408 HCC Systemwide Salary Survey Services

Houston Community College Notice of Procurement Opportunities REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Project: RFP 14-04 Bond Construction Manager at Risk Services Sealed responses to the above solicitation will be received in Procurement Operations, 3100 Main Street (11th Floor), Houston, Texas 77002, and are due by the submittal date, December 10, 2013 at 1:00 PM (local time). A non-mandatory pre-proposal meeting will be held by Procurement Operations, HCC Administration Building, 3100 Main Street (2nd Floor, Auditorium) Houston, Texas 77002 on November 18, 2013 at 10:00 AM (local time). To obtain a copy of the solicitation documents go to our website at: www.hccs. edu (Click on: Business & Community / Doing Business with HCC / Procurement / Current Bids and RFPs). For assistance call: 713.718.2777. HCC is an equal opportunity/ educational institution, which does not discriminate based on race, color religion, national origin, gender age or disability.

Sealed responses to the above solicitation will be received in Procurement Operations, 3100 Main Street (11th Floor), Houston, Texas 77002, and are due by the submittal date, November 19, 2013 at 3:00 p.m. (local time). To obtain a copy of the solicitation documents go to our website at: www.hccs.edu (Click on: Business & Community / Doing Business with HCC / Procurement / Current Bids and RFPs).

For assistance call: 713.718.2777. HCC is an equal opportunity/educational institution, which does not discriminate based on race, color religion, national origin, gender age or disability.

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VOICE OF ASIA 24

FRIDAY, November 8, 2013