Voice of Asia Oct 31 2014 by VoiceOf Asia

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FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

id You Know That Your Enrollment Plan Changes for 2015? Read on Page 18 or call Sudhir Mathuria 713-771-2900.

Vol. 27 No. 44 Friday, October 31, 2014 • Published Weekly from Houston • 713-774-5140 24 Pages ( 2 sections) 50 cents E-mail: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com

United Nations Day Awards Dinner Gala 2014 in Houston by Shobana Muratee

OUSTON - The United Nations Association-Houston Chapter (UNA-HOU) held the UN Day Awards Dinner Gala on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2014 at The Junior League of Houston to celebrate the 69th Anniversary of chartering of the UN when 50 nations came together on Oct.24 in 1945. At the outset, Special Guest U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson, Hon. Stephane Dujarric de la Riviere expressed his concern to Houston’s Marc and Debra Tice, parents of the kidnapped the American journalist Austin Tice kidnapped in Syria (and missing for 801 days), saying that the UN would do everything they can to bring Austin home. He then congratulated Hon. Teta V Banks, President UNA-Houston for the work that the Houston Chapter was doing. “The UNA-HOU network was an integral part of the UN family.” Secretary-General Ki-moon appointed Mr. Dujarric of France as his Spokesman, in March 2014. He had previously served as a spokesman for the UN Secretary General Koﬁ Annan for 2005-2006 and then as Deputy Communications Director for Mr. Ki-moon from 2006 to 2007. This year, when the General Assembly met in September, issues of Ebola, terrorism, Syria, Iraq, the Central African Republic and South Sudan were deliberated, Dujarric mentioned. Climate change and developing sustainable goals were other pressing topics that were discussed. “And that is only a partial list. It is a daunt-

ing list but it is the one we deal with every day as we go into the UN. When we look at all the challenges they are all different, but the one thing they do have in common is the fact that none of these challenges can be solved by one country alone,” Dujarric stated. Further, he said that if these challenges were not solved they or dealt with, all of them will go beyond their borders and will have a global impact. “Today more than ever we need global solutions and effective global institutions,” Dujarric stressed. Stating that there are 193 members in the UN and that it would be perfect if they worked together, but unfortunately he said that unity doesn’t always occur; there is conﬂict, especially in the Security Council when members are unable to agree on neighboring solutions. “And that has an impact on the UN’s ability to meet the challenges. We see that in the situation in Ukraine and Syria. One little hope we had in the Security Council last year was when we had to remove Syria’s chemical weapons and the UN was able to do that in under a year.” But it had a dead lock on other issues and according to Dujarric that does not stop the UN body from doing its work. He went on to speak of UN’s current goals and its mission. Ms. Banks gave an outline of the history and the activities of UNA-HOU which is among the oldest of UN Chapters. As history goes, in 1955, Eleanor Roosevelt traveled to Houston to speak on behalf of the U.N. to the newly-formed chapter. She also presented the UN ﬂag to the City of Houston. The organization has since been dedicated to enhancing, understanding and support

Special Guest U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Spokesperson, Hon. Stephane Dujarric de la Riviere (4th from left) with Honoree and other dignitaries. UNA-Houston’s President Hon. Teta Banks is seen 2nd from right. Photos by NewsWireHouston.com for the ideals and works of the United Nations among the greater Houston community. “The UN informs, educates and advocates,” Banks said, and referencing to the international peace apostles like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and more recently the young Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai, she said, “We need people to speak out.” The UN Day in Houston also commemorated “Partnerships for Global Progress’. On the occasion, Houston’s ﬁrst female mayor Kathy Whitmire presented a proclamation from the ofﬁce of Mayor Annise Parker. “The UN Declaration of Human Rights is one of the

most inspiring documents, and I keep a copy of it,” she said. She spoke of Houston’s diversity and that it was an International capital for the oil and gas, space and medical industries. The Honorees for Lifetime Achievement Awardee were Mr. Vincent Maggio and Ambassador Edward Djerejian, Founding Director of the Baker Institute at Rice University, as the 2014 Global Impact Awardee. Mr. Maggio is a Social Justice Advocate and a WWII veteran. He began a 42-year career as an engineer with the Shell Oil Company. Vince has been a member of the UNA for thirty years and has served on the Board of Directors as well as

Celebrations of Diwali and Govardhan Puja at ISKCON of Houston

Roopa Gir seen presenting a plaque to one of the dignitaries at the event as Teta Banks and Stephane Dujarric look on. President. He is the recipient of many awards. Ambassador Edward Djerejian served eight presidents from John F Kennedy to Bill Clinton in his career in the US Foreign Service and is a leading expert on national security, foreign policy and complex political, security, economic religious and ethnic issues of Middle East and South Asia. Earlier, Roopa Gir, Event Co-Chair did the honors of introducing him. Among the dignitaries were the Consular Corps members, Dr. William Flores and Dr. Noel

Bezetter-Flores, 2014 Presidential Sponsors, Ambassador Cynthia Perry, Consular Corps, Mr. Preston Johnson, Jr., President, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas to name a few. The event was emceed by Mr. Laurence J. Payne, HCCTV Producer and Host. A delightful cultural segment included performances by the UNA International Choir, BECA Organization, Impande Ye Africa and Dr. Yung-Chiu Wang. . Young students of Harmony School added the diverse element to the event with each in their ethnic attire and speaking their ethnic language.

Sutra Dance Theater reinvents love with “Krishna” “Director and choreographer, Datuk Ramli Ibrahim to this purely Hindu temple dance form Odissi was par excellence.” Read on Page 10

A section of the devotees assembled at the ISKCON of Houston Temple for the Diwali and Govardhan Puja.

“Every color imaginable was visible either on the ﬂower decor, the deities, the changing back drop lighting or the sea of colorful sparkling saris in the temple room.” Read on Page 3

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by Keith Bradsher, (Oct 28, 2014, INYT: Deccan Herald) enior officials in China and India have been scrambling to prepare their medical systems to cope with possible cases. With hundreds of advanced infection-control hospital rooms left over from the fight against SARS, and with some medical professionals suggesting that the Ebola virus was inherently fragile and unlikely to spread in places with modern medical facilities, many doctors in Asia paid little attention to the disease until very recently. But that confidence, some say complacency, was punctured two weeks ago when two nurses in Dallas and another in Madrid fell ill while treating patients who had contracted the Ebola virus in West Africa. Governments and doctors around Asia are now much more worried that the region’s densely populated cities and towns could be vulnerable if infected people start flying here from Africa. An analysis published online last week by The Lancet, a medical journal, reviewed International Air Transport Association data for flights from September 1 to December 31 this year, as well as data from 2013, out of the three countries in West Africa with the biggest outbreaks of Ebola virus: Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. It found that six of the top nine estimated destinations for travelers from these countries were elsewhere in Africa. But the 10th-largest destination was China. India was 13th. No other Asian countries appeared in the top 20, and there have been no publicly confirmed cases of Ebola yet in Asia. Senior officials in China and India have been scrambling to prepare their countries’ medical systems to cope with possible cases. In India, top officials overseeing policy on health, civil aviation, shipping and other related issues met on October 16 to coordinate plans. In China, the National Health and Family Planning Commission has called for medical institutions across the country to upgrade infectioncontrol precautions by the end of this month. Cities at the frontline Malik Peiris, director of the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong, who is best known as a leader in the

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

Vulnerability grips Asia as Ebola spreads

A woman at a factory in Anqiu, China, sewed protective suits last week for medical workers. Credit Johannes Eisele/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images fight against severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), in 2003, said that flight and trade patterns between Asia and West Africa meant that five cities in the region would be at the front line in preventing Ebola from spreading: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in mainland China; Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese territory; and Mumbai in India. Mainland China and Hong Kong have one unusual advantage in dealing with Ebola: their experience with the 2003 outbreak of SARS and their subsequent experience in coping with a series of outbreaks of rare strains of human and avian influenza viruses. Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing have all responded with lavish investments in hospitals equipped with the latest infection control equipment, much of which is made in China. Hong Kong, for example, only had several dozen hospital beds at the start of SARS, that were designed for patients with highly infectious diseases. That total has expanded to 1,400 beds in a construction frenzy over the past decade. The special biocontainment hospital rooms in Hong Kong, with one or two beds apiece,

were built with features like negative air pressure and outdoor venting in case of another severe outbreak of a highly infectious respiratory ailment – features of little value in dealing with a disease like Ebola that is spread by contact with bodily ﬂuids. But each special room also has an anteroom that is designed for the safe donning and removal of personal protection equipment, making them well-suited for coping with Ebola. Guangzhou, the commercial hub of southeastern China, has been a particular concern for an Ebola virus outbreak because it is the host of the Canton Fair, which is held twice a year and is the world’s largest trade exposition. It attracts 200,000 foreign buyers to each session, with up to a 10th of them from Africa. At the current session of the Canton Fair, which began on October 15, ofﬁcials have been screening everyone arriving at the site for fevers. The Lunar New Year, which falls in the middle of February next year is the main season when tens of thousands of Chinese workers in Africa will come home for annual vacations. And, while the biggest mainland Chinese cities have advanced hos-

pitals, health facilities are far less sophisticated elsewhere in China. The SARS and influenza outbreaks that prompted China’s heavy investment in infectioncontrol facilities largely bypassed India. But if the Ebola virus reaches India, it could pose an even greater challenge to manage there than it would in China, Peiris said. India is already struggling to manage an outbreak of dengue fever that is reaching epidemic proportions. The analysis of flight information showed that India has less than one-fifth of China’s health care spending per person. India also has less than a fifth as many hospital beds per 1,000 people as China. Any widespread transmission of Ebola in Asia would be a humanitarian disaster. But even a handful of cases could also bring economic disruption to a region that is heavily dependent on trade. Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist who has specialised in China’s trade ties with the Middle East and Africa, warned that Asia was vulnerable to outbreaks of disease. “This region is particularly vulnerable to pandemics,” he said, “because of the number of people flying to here and from here.”

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C OMMUNITY VOICE OF ASIA

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

Second Front Page

Friday, October 31, 2014 • www.voiceofasiaonline.com • Page 3 • Email: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com • Tel: 713-774-5140

Celebrations of Diwali and Govardhan New Anticancer Drug Begins Clinical Trials Puja at ISKCON of Houston Around the U.S.

SKCON of Houston held jubilant festivals of Diwali, “Festival of Lights” on Oct. 23rd and Govardhan Puja on Oct. 24th. The temple was bustling with numerous volunteers performing a multitude of services in preparation for these special occasions. Devotees engaged in cleaning, decor of ﬂower strands and arrangements, setting up lights, and preparing candles. This inevitably showed the result of how much detail and care every single volunteer placed into making the newly opened temple wonderfully enchanting.

UH’s Bose Discovered a New Class of Drug Before Taking a Leadership Role at the University

Colorful flowers hugged the pillars of the altar and strands hung over with twinkles of light. Every color imaginable was visible either on the flower decor, the deities, the changing back drop lighting or the sea of colorful sparkling saris in the temple room. Diwali signifies victory of light over darkness, good will over maliciousness and love over hate. HH Giriraj Swami enlightened the crowd with a lecture from Bhagavad Gita. The anticipated moment of candlelight aarti approached as the lights dimmed and the temple room grew quiet. Seconds later, the curtains unveiled spiritual glamour taking everyone’s breath away as hundreds of small floating white and red candles, set in rows, covered the altar floor. The two pillars installed on each side of Sri Sri Radha Nila Madhava displayed tall white candles framing the transcendental couple. The deities, stunning in their special outfits, glowed so brilliantly illuminating everyone’s heart in their presence. The next day, celebration continued for Govardhan puja which celebrates the day Lord Krishna defeated Indra by lifting the Govardhan hill. Govardhan hill is also worshipped as Krishna’s incarnation. Devotees prepare foodstuff, which are offered to the deities. HH Giriraj Swami blessed all with his presence as he performed abhishek for Sri Giri Govardhan. HH Giriraj Swami attentively bathed the deity and then shared a pastime of Krishna and Govardhan hill from the Nava-Vraja Mahima. He mentioned how Krishna went in through a cave to the center of Govardhan hill and lifted it up with his small finger.

Rathindra Bose, vice president for research and technology transfer, discovered a new class of anticancer drug. by Jeannie Kever (October 24, 2014)

linical trials are underway for an anticancer drug developed by Rathindra Bose, vice president for research and technology transfer at the University of Houston and vice chancellor at the University of Houston system.

HH Giriraj Swami seen performing the abhishek to Sri Giri Govardhan. He later shared a pastime of Krishna and Govardhan hill from the Nava-Vraja Mahima. Photo by Tejas.

The drug is a next-generation platinum antitumor agent targeting solid tumors. Bose, who also holds faculty appointments in the UH departments of Biology and Biochemistry, Chemistry and Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, spent years working on platinum-based cancer drugs, which have been in the frontier of treatment with or without a combination of other drugs.

Hundreds of devotees make their offering during Annakut to Sri Giri Govardhan. Seen in picture are the numerous delicacies offered at the alter.

The altar was ﬁlled at every inch with preparations during maha aarti. Silver tins & pans contained an array of items from gulab jamun, cupcakes, peanut butter burﬁ, pies, cakes, cookies, chapatis, coconut sweets and all kinds of treats. The melodious mantra tunes had devotees immersed in ecstatic dancing and singing. Sri Giri Govardhan in the center

of the temple allowed guests & devotees the opportunity to circumambulate the hill a very auspicious activity. It was quite an emotional scene to view so many circumambulating with such loving expression and gratitude. There is no doubt that these two days of festivities will remain as a signiﬁcant memorable experience to everyone that attended. It is said that love is displayed by great ac-

tivities and gestures. The best way for one to feel and see such phenomenon of beauty based on love for Krishna, is to experience it for yourself. Krishna’s door is always open for everyone. Happy New Year to all of our friends. Come visit us: Iskcon of Houston at 1320 West 34th Street, Houston, TX 77018 | www.iskconofhouston.org

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Bose also continues to maintain his own lab at UH, and in 2013, he was elected as a fellow with the National Academy of Inventors. He holds six issued and four pending U.S. patents on cancer therapeutics and fuel cell electrocatalysts. Unlike traditional cancer therapies, which target speciﬁc organs, these compounds work on all three major pathways that can be used to control cancer: killing only the undesired cancer cells, activating tumor suppression genes and cutting the blood supply to the cancer cells. The lead compounds were shown to be effective against nearly all cell lines of the National Cancer Institute. The clinical trials will focus on lung, gastrointestinal and ovarian cancers, although Bose said early enrollment is open to anyone with cancer for whom standard treatment has been unsuccessful.

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The compounds have been licensed to a biotechnology company, Phosplatin Therapeutics. The Phase 1 clinical trials – held at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, the University of Colorado Cancer Center in Aurora, Colo., and the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center in Nashville, Tenn. – are designed to test the drug for safety and tolerability, adverse effects and to ﬁnd the best dosage for patients. Later phases, if it advances, will test

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FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

Club 65 Celebrates Diwali The People’s Lawyer www.peopleslawyer.net Richard M. Alderman Interim Dean of the Law Center

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Members of Club 65 deliberating at their monthly meeting held on Oct. 11, 2014. by Dr. Jaseem Pasha

he day was Sunday, October 11, the Senior Houstonians of Club 65 had their monthly ‘Lunch and Learn’ function at the Bay land Community Center in Houston. The Conference room was thronged with seniors of diverse professional background, including engineers, physicians, attorney, real estate brokers, poets, architects and you name it. Although Club 65 is only about two years old, founded under the aegis of Indian Muslim Association of Greater Houston (IMAGH), this nonproﬁt organization has already won the hearts of Senior Houstonians and the membership is increasing by the month. After announcing the whole years’ program of Club 65, Mr. Latafath Hussain, the President of Indian Muslims Association of Greater Houston (IMAGH), then introduced the new President of Club 65, Mrs. Paru McGuire to the members. Mrs. Paru McGuire, who is one of the few founding members of Club 65, then introduced the two speakers of the day to

the audience. The theme for the October meeting was ‘Diwali’, the ancient triumph of good over evil, India’s most important festival, making it an opportunity to know and learn a little about the celebration of the festival of twinkling lights, which was excellently explained and presented by Ms. Hema Chandrashekar. Not only did she talk about the Festival of Lights, which is Diwali, but linked it to Sanatan Dharma, which is commonly known as Hinduism. The next presentation was “How to heal yourself” by Mr. M. Sadiq Ali, M.S., Certiﬁed Nutrition & Wellness Consultant, et al., of “The Transformation Studio”. His lecture was very informative about the beneﬁts of eating whole raw foods and minimally processed meals that could prevent chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes, cardiac disease, stroke arthritis, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, depression, autism, ADHD, depression and many more. Mr. Sadiq Ali and his staff also provided a guide for cooking and eating foods, which des-

toxify the body, mind and spirit. He and his team brought along a variety of delicious herbal and organic food items to sample. As expected, the presentation triggered a lot of queries from the members. Lunch was sponsored and made possible by the generosity of an anonymous donor. It was served in accordance to the Diwali theme of the month consisting of a traditional vegetarian menu including Shrikhand and Puri, which is regarded as a specialty of Diwali. Everyone enjoyed the experience of tasting the different variety of food and the healthy lifestyle sampling. As usual, it was a great success, receiving lots of positive feedback from the large gathering of seniors The meeting ended with happy faces thanking the new elected ofﬁcers of the Club 65, including Mrs. Paru McGuire (President), Mrs. Rahat Kalle (First Vice President), Hatim Kanorwala (Second Vice President ) and Noorjahan Upadhya ( Jt.Secretary), Sudhir Mathuria ( Secretary) and Farida Jinnah (Treasurer).

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FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

Hindu Sacred Kumbh for Eye Foundation Hosts First Biodiversity Arrives in South Korea Sankara Banquet In Houston on Nov. 8th 2014

Kusum Vyas presents the Green Kumbh (urn) to Mr. Braulio Ferreirade Souza Dias, Executive Secretary, UN Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD). Photo Credit: Polina Shulbaeva.

Abbot Jeong Nyeom welcomes the Green Kumbh to Woljeong Temple. Photo Credit: Yukiko Aoki

PYEONGCHANG, REPUBLIC OF KOREA: The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (COP12) got a spiritual sprinkling with the arrival of a unique environmental pilgrimage (Yatra) featuring one especially sacred metal urn (Kumbh) symbolizing the “web of life” that is being carried across numerous countries to promote the importance of environment and biodiversity conservation. The Yatra has no modern precedent, it is an international initiative of Houston-based Living Planet Foundation dubbed by many as the Olympic Torch for Biodiversity. It was formally launched in October 2012 at COP11 in Hyderabad, India.

During its two-year journey it been greeted in numerous cities and sacred sites across India – including a visit to the famous Maha Kumbh Mela, held just once every twelve years – as well as in Nepal, Israel, East Africa, Britain and United States. From South Korea, the Yatra will continue its journey across various countries to ultimately arrive in Mexico City in 2016 for COP13. In a special ceremony featuring the sacred Kumbh, the Yatra was welcomed by Mr. Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD). He was pleased that the Yatra had reached COP12 and welcomed

the achievements of the Green Kumbh initiative. “I want to acknowledge the signiﬁcance of this Yatra and thank our Hindu and Buddhist friends for helping us all to understand further the spiritual and cultural values of biodiversity. We look forward to receiving the Green Kumbh Yatra in Mexico City in 2016”, said Mr. Dias, Executive Secretary of SCBD. “CBD’s endorsement and support have enabled us to create synergies, draw attention and mobilize the masses at grassroots to raise public and political awareness of environment and biodiversity conservation. We are pleased to see cleaning and greening campaigns being initiated in places where none existed before,” said Kusum Vyas, founder of the Green Kumbh Yatra. Earlier, the Green Kumbh Yatra was invited to Woljeong Temple of Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism founded in 643. Abbot Jeong Nyeom welcomed the Green Kumbh and accepted the invitation to join the Green Kumbh initiative. Others present at the event were representatives from CBD, UNESCO, several international delegates and ofﬁcials of the Woljeong Temple. “We support your endeavor to conserve the environment and biodiversity. The Green Kumbh, which symbolizes the ecosystem encompassing the entire web of life is also connected with how the Hwaeom philosophy of Buddhism views the world,” said Abbot Jeong Nyeom as he blessed the sacred Kumbh. Vyas feels that spiritual leaders and those associated with any religious organization should come forward to help solve the practical problems of climate change and biodiversity loss. “Our main aim is to highlight the profound connection between the collective wisdom and resources of the religious traditions and their role in biodiversity conservation and sustainable use” says Vyas.

Patient are being checked by doctors at the Sankara Eye Foundation in India. SEF photo.

OUSTON - Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF) is proud to announce it ﬁrst ever Banquet in Houston, Texas on Nov. 8, in celebration of the inauguration of its ninth eye care hospital in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh and performing over 1.2 million free eye surgeries. Established in 1998, Sankara Eye Foundation (SEF), a non-proﬁt 501(c)(3) organization, has been working tirelessly for the past sixteen years with Sankara Eye Care Institutes in India to eradicate curable blindness. Driven by the truly inspirational vision of “Vision 20/20 by the year 2020,” Sankara has established eight community hospitals throughout India. It recently inaugurated its ninth hospital in Uttar Pradesh, and will launch its tenth hospital in Rajasthan next year. In India, over 55 million people are visually impaired and 8 million are

blind. Over 80% of the blindness such as Cataract and Glaucoma are considered curable. Sankara’s efforts based on robust infrastructure and aggressive outreach programs have enabled over 3 million patient screenings and over one million free eye surgeries with a network of state of the art hospitals across India. SEF is today the largest totally free eye care provider in the world, performing about 150,000 free eye surgeries per year. With over 300 volunteers in several cities including Houston, SEF’s mission is to strengthen and expand the infrastructure and outreach programs to all parts of India through its fundraising efforts. America’s largest charity rating agency, Charity Navigator, has accorded SEF a prestigious four-star rating (out of four stars) for its accountability and transparency for two consecutive years, a feat achieved by only 19% of the charities in the United States.

SEF is hosting its ﬁrst ever Banquet in Houston on Saturday, November 8th, at the India House. With banquet dinner and multilingual musical entertainment by Swaramadhuri Group, the goal of the banquet is to raise SEF awareness in Houston while raising funds to support free eye surgeries, screenings, and capital expansion projects in India. The event will be attended by eminent personalities such as the Consul General of India, Mr. P. Harish, Dr. Ramani and Dr. Radha Ramani, Sankara Eye Care Institution Founders, and Mr. Murali and Mr. Sridharan Krishnamurthy, SEF Founders. Please visit www.giftofvision.org or contact the SEF Houston Team via email sefhouston@giftofvision.org to receive more information about the banquet. This festival season give the “Gift of Vision”!

VOICE OF ASIA 6

Special Supplement

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

Guru Nanak - An Enlightened Soul, Founder of Sikhism By Dr. Tejendra Singh Gill The founder of Sikhism, first of the ten Gurus of Sikhs, Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, was born to Kalyan Das Mehta (aka Mehta Kalu) and Mata Tripta Ji, on Saturday, April 15, 1469, in the village Rai Bhoe-ki Talwandi (now known as Nankana Sahib, near Lahore, Pakistan). Although, Guru Nanak Dev Ji’s parents were Kshatri (Khatri), he himself did not believe in or practice Hindu rituals. That he was an enlightened soul was recognized early on by the people around him, especially by his older sister, Bebe Nanki. There are several stories associated with his early childhood, all of which reflect that he was endowed with divine powers and was, in fact, a messenger of God. His mission was to spread God’s word for the benefit of communities, regardless of people’s own religious beliefs. Guru Nanak Dev Ji achieved mastery in Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic, and composed hymns

Guru Nanak Dev Ji ﬂanked by Mardana (left with rebab) and Bala (right) (gurbani), which his two closest disciples, Bala and Mardana (who played the rebab), recited at community gatherings to educate the masses about the virtues of GOD. According to him, all humans are creations of God, and so, there is no Hindu and no Muslim. He traveled extensively to as far away as Iraq, spreading the message of

truthfulness, compassion, honest living, sharing, asking the people to dispel superstition, and exercise restraint against anger, greed, lust, ego and attachment to worldly possessions. His message was for all mankind, not limited to any religion, nation, race, creed, color, or gender. Guru Nanak Dev Ji was mar-

ried to Sulakhni Ji at Batala in Punjab, and had two sons, Sri Chand and Lakshmi Das. He also had a stint as the manager of a grainary in Sultanpur, but his heart and soul were not into worldly affairs. According to the history, Guru Nanak once went to the river to take bath and meditate as usual but did not return for three days, and when he did come back, he was completely changed. He gave away his worldly possessions to the poor and set forth on a mission - exuding the spirit of GOD and spreading His message wherever he went. The gist of Guru Nanak’s teachings lies in three basic principles on which the Sikhism was founded; (i) Naam Japna: Thoughtprovoking meditation and recitation of Gurbani – praise and appreciation of “WaheGuru” - the Creator and Eternal God, (ii) Kirat Karni: earn living honestly and through hard work taking everything in the stride (pain or bliss) as if it

Sikh Flag

VOICE OF ASIA wishes the community of Sikhs a Safe, Happy Prakash Purab, commemorating the birth Anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. We thank everyone for their support in encouraging the spirit of community. A free meal for 50,000 pilgrims daily at the Golden Temple Amritsar, Punjab. Photo Courtesy: Golden Temple, Amristar. were His command, and lead a life that is based on strong spirituality as well as social and moral values, and (iii) Vand Chhakna: sharing one’s wealth and food with the sadh sangat (community), including the important concept of ‘dasvandh’, i.e. contributing to the pool of resources by donating 1/10th of one’s earnings to help the poor and needy. These are the three pillars of Sikhism, and every Sikh ﬁrmly believes in these doctrines, and the beneﬁts of these practices are all too obvious across the world. The tradition of langar (community kitchen), which goes back to Sikh Guru’s time, is unique to

Sikhism, and millions of people all over the world are offered modest meal at the Gurdwaras, regardless of one’s faith or beliefs. The Sikh religion is strictly monotheistic, believing in one supreme Creator, free of gender, absolute, all-pervading, and eternal. The word “Sikh” means student. The almost 25 million Sikhs worldwide constitute the ﬁfth largest religion in the world with over a million living in North America – USA and Canada. (Dr.Tejendra Singh Gill is the Secretary, Gurdwara Sahib of SW Houston, and Professor, Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Houston)

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VOICE OF ASIA 7

Special Supplement

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

“God dwells in each one of His creations, and His dwelling constitutes the eternal truth.” Guru Nanak

Our Best Wishes on This Auspicious Prakash Utsav Of Guru Nanak Dev Ji – An Apostle of Universal Religion who Preached Salvation Through Disciplined Meditation on The Divine Name: Total Manifestation Of God, A Single Being Immanent Both In The Created World And within The Human Spirit.

We Pray For Sarbat Ka Bhala (Well Being Of All)

International Names Of Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Congratulations & best wishes from

Dr. & Mrs H. S. Bedi

Nanakacharya Nanak Lama Guru Rimpochea Nanak Peer & Baba Nanak Vali Hind Nanak Vali Nanak Kadamdar Peer Balagdaan Baba Foosa

In Sri Lanka In Tibet In Sikkim & Bhutan In Iraq In Mecca In Misar (Egypt) In Russia In Mazahar Sharif In China

From: Col. & Mrs. R. P. S. Bhalla Source for International Names of Guru Nanak Dev Ji Posted by Punjabi Translation Services at https://www.facebook.com/ permalink.php?id=111005828990940&story_fbid=449335958491257

On the occasion of 545th Prakash Purab of the Founder of Sikh Religion Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji

With compliments and congratulations from Prithvipal and Manmeet Likhari and Family

VOICE OF ASIA 8

COMMUNITY

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

Bring the Kiddos to Meet Namadwaar to Celebrate a Real Life ‘Superhero’ Bhoomi Pooja with Music and Mass Prayer on Nov. 8th Come dressed as your favorite superhero and enjoy a fun-filled afternoon with music, games, prizes, food, and entertainment. Meet real life superheroes such as firefighters, emergency medical personnel, police officers, military service members, and the Memorial Hermann Life Flight® team at Pearland’s Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center’s free ‘Superhero’ Day on Saturday, Nov. 8, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Kids of all ages are encouraged to come dressed as their favorite superheroes and hang out with Children’s Memorial Hermann giraffe mascot Topper, H-E-Buddy, and many other characters. Enjoy a fun-filled afternoon with music, games, prizes, food, entertainment, and special performances by Precision Dance Academy. Cohosted by H-E-B Plus and the YMCA, admission is free and the event is open to the entire community. WHEN:

Saturday, Nov. 8, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.

WHERE: Memorial Hermann Convenient Care Center in Pearland 10905 Memorial Hermann Dr., Pearland, TX 77584

The newly constructed Divinity’s Namadwaar Prayer House at Manvel, Pearland

ANVEL, TX – Global Organization for Divinity’s Namadwaar Prayer House will perform bhoomi pooja (groundbreaking ceremony) for its new prayer house building on November 8, Saturday at its current location, 3642 Bailey Ave, Manvel TX (Pearland area).

The bhoomi pooja, followed by prayers by Houston temples and organizations, will be conducted from 7:30 to 9 AM. In the evening, celebrations for the auspicious occasion will begin at 4 pm with “Pibare Nama Rasam” a musical offering of songs on the greatness of the Divine Name composed by various saints, by Swara Raga Laya music ensemble led by Vidushi Smt. Rajarajeshwary Bhat. This performance will be followed at 5 pm by a Mass Prayer led by Sri Ramanujamji, disciple of His Holiness Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji. Prayers with the Name of God are extremely powerful, as experienced by thousands of people across the world. During the Mass Prayer, Ramanujamji will share his Guru’s vision of calling attention to the power of the Divine Names to all those in need of prayer. His inspiring talk will be followed by group chanting of the Mahamantra for the heartfelt prayers of all those present. The event is free and open to all. A simple dinner will be provided after the evening program. His Holiness Sri Sri Muralidhara Swamiji constantly advocates the efﬁcacy of prayers with the Divine Names and emphasizes that divinity manifests itself where the Divine Names are chanted, thus making congregational chanting very effective and fulﬁlling. Moreover it is universal across faiths, brings people together, spreads the

fragrance of love and brings about inner transformation. This is the basis on which the global Namadwaar initiative was started by Sri Swamiji in 2006. There are over 20 Namadwaars across the world now, which reverberate with the “Hare Rama….Hare Krishna…” Mahamantra. The Houston Namadwaar was the first Namadwaar to be established outside India, in Feb 2010, and is currently the only one in the USA. Global Organization for Divinity is a nonprofit charity organization serving the Houston area since 2007. With the support of the community we have grown every year by giving back to the community through - umpteen number of prayers, regular children/youth enrichment programs and camps, 6 major cultural events, numerous folk puppet shows and other smaller cultural programs, 3 completely free health fairs with about 300 people attending every year (next one is on Nov 15th from 8 am till 1pm in Manvel), several other community events such as food drives, clothes drives, educational supplies’ drives, special-need school supplies, donations to other charity organizations such as Pearland Neighborhood Center, Forgotten Angels, Adult Reading Center, Search Homeless Services, Houston Area Parkinson Society and others. It is only natural that with this immense growth in our service, we are now in need of a bigger building to serve the community even better. For more information about the event, about GOD activities or Namadwaar, or if you are interested in supporting this noble and divine cause financially or in kind, please contact 281-402-6585 or houston.god@godivinity. org. To view the event invitation, visit www.godivinity. org.

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 9

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

Arya Samaj Greater Diwali & Govardhan Puja Houston Celebrates Diwali at Gaudiya Matha Temple by Sanjana Kapoor & Yash Bindal

rya Samaj celebrated Diwali on Saturday, the 25th of October. This event was enjoyed by all, and the evening’s festivities were filled with good humor, friends, laughter and light. Diwali or Deepavali is the festival of lights, and one of the biggest Hindu festivals of the year. It marks the victory of Lord Rama over the evil Ravana, and celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. Lights are lit, prayers are said and sweets are eaten. It’s a wonderful festival when Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity is honored and venerated. Diwali is a time when we get together with friends and spread the merriment and bonhomie. And as per tradition, Arya Samaj hosted its very own Diwali festivities. The event was jam-packed. The main hall where the puja and cultural events were held, filled to the brim. The parking lot overflowed, cars lined the streets, and food tickets were sold by the dozen. Kids ran everywhere and

A young performed dressed as Lord Rama The beautifully adorned deities of Sri Govinda Gaudiya Math temple

Young students of the DAV and Sanskriti schools were part of the cultural program for Diwali. adults stood by chatting with friends – some old, some new, and some who had attended previous Diwali festivals.

wishes of Diwali. Some sat at the thoughtfully provided chairs and tables eating the delicious food or sipping on hot tea.

Arya Samaj’s Diwali celebrations started Saturday evening with beautiful performances in the main hall. Parents, guests and other children were entertained with lovely cultural songs and dances by the young students of the DAV and Sanskriti schools. Next came the puja and havan. Again in the main hall, Arya Samajis and friends prayed and honored the heavenly powers who have blessed us with the life we have today.

There were games for the children, such as the ring toss, with prizes for the winners. There were chances to win big prizes through the rafﬂe tickets. Additionally, there were mehendi (henna) and face paint stalls, which attracted young and old alike.

For the ﬁnal portion of the event, everyone went outside. And what a sight it was to see! Spread throughout the school grounds, were rows of twinkling lights among which were stalls of games and delicious ethnic food. The air was bright, laughter rang through the air and the sweet smell of sweets enticed everyone. People milled around seeking out friends and acquaintances and spreading the good

Next came one of the most favorite parts of Diwali celebrations: glorious fireworks. The fireworks were launched into the sky, and went out with loud bangs, scattering across the sky in a multitude of sparkling hues. The colors were bright, blazing and fiery – it truly was a spectacular festival of lights. The firework show picked up pace towards the end, as many of the spectators oohed and aahed over the glorious show of lights. Soon after people with firework tickets were given their own personal firework packages. You could hear the snap and

crackle of the fireworks sizzling all around. Kids shouted with delight at the bright colors and everyone could feel the excitement in the air. It was absolutely wonderful. Like it is always, even this glorious, fun-filled evening had to come to an end. Slowly but surely people began trickling out until there were no more guests left. Then the Arya Yuvak Mandal (AYM) volunteers sprung into action and helped cleanup the grounds. This Diwali festival was definitely a memorable event that everyone enjoyed. Thanks to the selfless Arya Samaj volunteers and youth from the AYM, all the planned activities went of without a hitch, and the events were conducted in a timely manner. Everyone who came to celebrate, went with with happy memories of the event. Arya Samaj Greater Houston wishes everyone a very Happy Diwali, and a very prosperous year to come!

he Sri Govinda Gaudiya Math temple celebrated Diwali last Thursday with celebrations that began soon after the partial Solar eclipse of the sun – an auspicious sign for the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil. Several volunteers had worked tirelessly for two weeks to decorate the temple with lights, ﬂowers, rangoli, and streamers. On Diwali, several devotees participated in the Mangal Aarti at 5:30 AM. The Deities were offered a new, gorgeous blue-colored dress. Their transcendental beauty in this new dress captivated the hearts of all who came for darshans throughout the day. In the evening, the altar was lit with hundreds of multi-colored lights. Several hundred devotees, wearing new beautiful clothes, participated enthusiastically in the aarti ﬁlling the temple room with chants of the Holy Names. The next evening on Friday, hundreds of devotees gathered again to celebrate Govardhan Pooja and Annakut. The program included bhajans, kirtan, aarti, offering of ghee lamps to Lord Damodar and Tulasi Pooja. There was an added treat to the evening: Annakut – the mountain of food. The devotees each brought many different dishes, to offer to Sri Sri Radha Govindaji. Over 1008 different food preparations, representing tastes from Punjab to Tamil Nadu and from Bengal to Gujarat, were offered to Sri Giriraja Govardhan. Everyone circumambulated the Govardhan Hill, singing the glories of the Lord and remembering the pastime of Lord Krishna lifting the Govardhan Hill and saving His dear devotees from the wrath of Indra.

Sri Sri Radha Govindaji were offered many dishes prepared by the devotees. As described in Srimad Bhagavatam, Indra was upset because upon the advice of Lord Krishna, the Brajavasis (the residents of Vrindavan) had decided to worship Giriraj Govardhan instead of the annual ritual of worshipping Indra. Indra had no idea that this cowherd boy Krishna was in fact the Supreme Lord. Deluded by his false sense of power, Indra decided to lash out at the Brajavasis by pouring heavy rains and flooding and destroying them. The helpless villagers went to Krishna, and surrendered to Him as they had completed faith in Him. Lord Krishna then lifted the Govardhan Hill on the pinky finger of His left hand. All the villagers and the animals took shelter underneath Govardhan Hill which protected them from the heavy rains. This lasted for seven days until Indra finally gave up, bowed down to the Lord, and restored peace. Giriraj Govardhan is Krishna Himself in one form as well as Krishna’s best devotee in another form. He takes the form of a mountain to serve the Lord. He is extremely

merciful and famous for fulﬁlling all the desires. More than that he can give pure love and devotion unto the lotus feet of Lord Krishna for sincere seekers. It is a verdict of the scriptures that even if one offers one grain of rice to Giriraj Govardhan, that person will never be poor in life. After the aarti, Shri Ravi Puri sang several melodious Krishna bhajans making everyone swoon in ecstasy. The program was concluded with a huge feast that enchanted everyone. Sri Govinda Gaudiya Math temple (www.sggm.org) is located at 16628 Kieth Harrow Blvd. The temple is located just off Hwy 6 between I-10 and 290, near the Energy Corridor and Katy. The temple is open every day from 5:30 AM – 8:30 PM. The main service is on Sunday evenings from 5 – 7 PM. It includes: kirtan and Hari Katha followed by Aarati and parasadam. Hindi classes as well as Vedic education classes are held for children aged four through eighteen (all classes are conducted in English).

COMMUNITY

VOICE OF ASIA 10

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

Sutra Dance Theater Houston Methodist Sugar Land reinvents love with “Krishna” Hospital Announces American Nurses Credentialing Center Pathway to Excellence® Designation A by Sanchali Basu

Malaysian dance troupe with a pure Odissi repertoire – what are the odds? That was what was made possible by the Sutra Dance Theater, which traveled from Malaysia to commence their US and Canada tour in Houston on Oct 26 at the Wortham Center with their production, “Krishna, Love Reinvented”, at the invitation of Samskriti. It would be an understatement to say that the devotion and dedication demonstrated by a non Hindu dancer, founder/ artistic director and choreographer, Datuk Ramli Ibrahim to this purely Hindu temple dance form Odissi was par excellence. Trained in classical ballet, modern dance, and Indian classical dance he put Malaysia on the dance map and is now one of its most prominent dance ﬁgures. He has almost single-handedly established Odissi as a widely appreciated dance form in Malaysia. The performance brought to focus that in a world torn apart by religious strife,

Director and choreographer, Datuk Ramli Ibrahim is seen being presented with a plaque by Smt. Nandita P. Harish (Consul General P. Harish’s wife). The work explored the total identiﬁcation of the devotee couple (poet Jayadeva and wife Padmavati) with the pastoral god Krishna and his consort Radha. The program started with a Mangala Charanam, an invocatory homage to Lord Krishna. As the group of 8 dancers went through the entire repertoire, the moods, feelings and emotions of the love affair,

ance of the production. The Sthayi depicted Krishna’s springtime dalliance with the gopis, who were then intoxicated by the scintillating vision of the lord in the Krishna Tandava, and mesmerized by his divine ﬂute playing in the abhinaya piece “Mohane Deli Chahi.” The exact precision of movements, picture perfect coordination and pursuit to perfection of

Team of Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital nurses with Pathway to Excellence award.

UGAR LAND— (October 23, 2014) — Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital is pleased to announce it has achieved Pathway to Excellence® designation by the American Nurses ful statuesque pictures. As they froze and held the beautiful formations to the photographer’s delight, the audience seemed to fall more and more in love with the dancers’ interpretations.

Sthayi depicted Krishna’s springtime dalliance with the gopis. Photos by: Amitava Sarkar, Photography InSight art can bring people together. It transcended all barriers of religion, geography and language and embodied the liberation of the human spirit with complete abandon, sheerly through love.

Rasa (highest emotional state) became a sublime allegory expressing and afﬁrming the highest love the individual soul has for God. The colorful costumes, gorgeous set and well thought out lighting added to the ambi-

the dancers, are the qualities that place the Sutra Dance theater way above the rest. The dances seemed like poetry in motion as the ethereal movements of the dancers ﬂowed effortlessly and ﬂawlessly to create beauti-

The second half saw the serenading of the gopis by Krishna in Nachante range Sri Hari and a pure dance Pallavi where Krishna replicates himself and is surrounded by gopis. The evening ended with a standing ovation for the dancers and recognition of Ramli Ibrahim by the mayor of Houston, Annise Parker with the presentation of a plaque by Smt. Nandita P. Harish (Consul General P. Harish’s wife). The day was proclaimed as Ramli Ibrahim day and the proclamation was read by Sanjay Ramabhadran. Rathna Kumar, the Artistic director of Samskriti thanked the audience for its support. This program marked the culmination of the wonderful series of programs hosted by Samskriti in its 20th year.

Credentialing Center (ANCC) for the third time. The Pathway to Excellence® designation identifies the elements of work environments where nurses can flourish. The designation substantiates the professional satisfaction of nurses at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital and identifies it as one of the best places to work in the country. “This designation represents a great deal of hard work and a true commitment to nursing excellence,” said Janet Leatherwood, chief nursing officer at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital. “Our nurses are at the heart of everything we do, and they deserve to be honored for their unrelenting compassion and care for our patients.” The Pathway to Excellence® designation is granted based on the confirmed presence of characteristics known as “The Pathway to Excellence® Criteria.” For an organization to earn the Pathway to Excellence® distinction, it must successfully undergo a thorough review process that documents foundational quality initiatives in creating a positive work environment — as defined by nurses and supported by research. These initiatives must be present in the facility’s practices, policies and culture.

Nurses in the organization verify the presence of the criteria in the organization through participation in a completely conﬁdential online survey. As a Pathway to Excellence® designated organization, Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital is committed to nurses, to what nurses identify as important to their practice and to valuing nurses’ contributions in the workplace. This designation conﬁrms to the public that nurses working at Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital know their efforts are supported. The honor encourages other nurses to join their colleagues in this desirable and nurturing environment. The Pathway to Excellence® designation is perfectly suited to small and medium-sized health care organizations, but is attainable by all health care facilities around the world. Become a part of the Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital team. View job opportunities and apply online at houstonmethodist.org/careers. Learn more about Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital at houstonmethodist.org/sugarland or visit us on Facebook at FB.com/methodistsugarland for the latest news, events and information.

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FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

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FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

VOICE OF ASIA 13

LIFESTYLE

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

ONLINE .COM voiceofasiaonline.com

Vol. 27 No. 44 Friday, October 31, 2014 Section 2 Page 13

Email: editor@voiceofasiaonline.com Tel: 713-774-5140

Kolkata’s gold panners reap rewards at India festival time

mally jump during the festival season, further widening the trade deficit.

Female power dressing on show in London from October 29 to April 26, 2015.

Gold traders and importers had been hoping that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government would lift stiff 10 percent import duties slapped on the metal last year by the previous administration to rein in imports. Although the duties have remained, India’s central bank has lifted restrictions on importing gold, allowing more private agencies to bring in shipments.

In this picture taken on October 21, 2014, Indian shoppers browse gold jewellery for sale during Dhanteras, ahead of Diwali, in Agartala, the capital of India northeastern state of Tripura. by Trudy HARRIS

OLKATA, (AFP) - As 40year-old Mohammed Iqbal sifts through sludge in the back alleys of Kolkata’s jewellery market for gold dust, his weathered face brightens slightly at the recent uptick in work. For generations, the city’s group of “newaras” -- gold dust scavengers -- have been scratching a living by panning for fine particles swept from the 2,000-odd jewellery workshops operating in the alleys. Iqbal estimates he normally earns just 150 to 200 rupees ($2.40 to $3.20) a day from selling flecks of the precious metal that he painstakingly finds on the ground and in the drains of the grimy alleys. But the onset of India’s raucous festival season, especially the biggest Hindu celebration of Diwali on Thursday, brings a relative bonanza for Iqbal, with his income more than doubling. “There is a lot of work during Durga Puja and Diwali. We make more money then,” Iqbal told AFP as he hunched over his pans filled with thick, black muck early one morning. “We never got an education. This is the work that my grandfather and my father did and this is what I do now. My two sons do this too. We have no other work,” he said of his boys aged 18 and 16. Over the several days of Diwali, known as the festival of lights, middle-

class families throng Kolkata’s Bowbazar and other markets throughout the country to buy gold jewellery. The Hindu goddess of wealth is worshipped on Diwali, which is considered an auspicious time to buy gold, especially as gifts for family members. The festival coincides with India’s wedding season, which runs from October to February, with gold a crucial part of a bride’s dowry. In the lead up, jewellery workshops, including in the former British colonial capital, go into overdrive, with hundreds of craftsmen spending hours at their benches to produce intricate necklaces, bracelets and earrings on sale in showrooms. Yellow particles are swept outside, while some are washed into drains, surfacing in the alleys where the newaras sift through the sludge to find them. - Prayers and gold Jewellery traders predict a prosperous Diwali this year, with world and local gold prices lower, making resulting ornaments more affordable. “We are expecting a very good Diwali compared to previous years,” All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation director Bachhraj Bamalwa told AFP. “The mood is upbeat and there have been incremental increases in sales of gold jewellery,” he said this week. India is the world’s biggest buyer of gold alongside China, and imports nor-

Bamalwa said that has pushed down the local price of the commodity this year, lifting consumer spirits. In New Delhi, shoppers crowded the capital’s old quarter searching for gold and other bargains for Diwali. “It doesn’t really matter that the price keeps going up and down. Buying gold is a tradition, it’s a custom ... you cannot offer prayers without also offering some gold,” housewife Aswani Puja said. - Newaras play key role Some jewellery manufacturers in Kolkata are grateful for the newaras, who help keep production costs down for the industry, which was formed in the 1800s and employs some 20,000 people. “If they are not doing this then we have to buy gold and the only gold source is Western countries,” said Nabin Kumar Chanbar in his shop which opened in 1883. “They are very ... helpful for us because ...the wastage of gold is converted to the industry,” Chanbar said, rows of jewellery glittering behind him. On the main street of Bowbazar shortly after dawn, Mohammed Ashu, 25, and his two younger brothers are pouring over some soft polystyrene packaging found dumped outside a workshop. The youngest, teenager Mohammed Amir, who is unsure of his exact age and has never been to school, is convinced the packaging contains flecks of silver. The brothers consider the find a stroke of luck, and good timing for Ashu, whose wife had a baby 10 days ago and struggles to put enough food on the table. “This is very good but we will have to share,” Ashu said with a smile, pointing to his brothers.

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“Women Fashion Power” runs from October 29 to April 26, 2015.

ONDON - Jettisoning the corset, donning a designer gown, wearing a punk wedding dress or even trainers -- the various ways women take control of their lives through fashion are the subject of a new exhibition opening in London on Wednesday. “Women Fashion Power” at the Design Museum traces key moments in the development of women’s clothing since 1850, culminating in a collection of modern outfits contributed by some of the most influential women of the 21st century. The exhibition comprises items from underwear to red carpet gowns, interspersed with photographs, memorabilia and a pair of Reebok Freestyle Hi Tops trainers, revealing how women adopt fashion trends to create a style that suits their lives. “It’s about clothes and how women can use them to empower themselves to intimidate people and to make themselves feel sexy,” said co-curator Colin McDowell. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo opened the exhibition as one of 26 powerful women from around the world who contributed an outfit -- in her case, slimfitting black trousers, a black jacket, a silk blouse and a wool scarf. “The clothes you wear, particularly as a woman in politics, are inevitably the first statement you make to people who come to meet you, before they even hear you speak,” she told AFP. Wearing a black dress and black leather jacket, Hidalgo said she dresses primarily “for comfort, something in which I feel good”. A Prada cape worn by architect Zaha Hadid -- who designed the exhibition -- a red Dior crocodile jacket worn by Hong-Kong-born gallery owner Pearl

Super model Naomi Campbell. Lam and an Akris Dove evening dress from Princess Charlene of Monaco are also on display. Going back 150 years, the exhibition traces how women’s outfits have evolved from the constraints of the corset through to flapper dresses, miniskirts, female tuxedos, power-dresses, sportswear, grunge and eco fashion. The exhibition includes the blue Mansfield skirt suit worn by former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher when she was elected leader of the Conservative Party in 1975. The black Jacques Azagury dress worn by Diana, Princess of Wales on her 36th birthday also features, as does a striking Zandra Rhodes-designed wedding dress from 1977. “Women Fashion Power” runs from October 29 to April 26, 2015.

VOICE OF ASIA 14

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LEISURE

VOICE OF ASIA 15

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

Israel, the promised land for vegans Archie set to make a

A cook prepares skewers with vegetable-based meat, during the ‘Vegan Fest’ fair in the Israeli city of Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, on October 13, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jack Guez) by Daphne ROUSSEAU EL AVIV, (AFP) - Israelis are flocking to veganism, to the point where even the army now has options for vegan soldiers and vegan militants woo converts by comparing meat eating to an animals’ “Holocaust”. “Four percent of Israelis define themselves as vegans, it’s the most vegan country in the world,” according to Omri Paz, organiser of the “Vegan Fest” fair, where stands offered peabased hot dogs, tofu doner kebabs and wheat gluten goulash. Like vegetarians, vegans do not eat meat but they also eschew all animal products -- including milk, eggs and honey -- with some refusing to wear leather or use cosmetics tested on animals. The Vegan Fest in trendsetting Tel Aviv, where veganism has the most acolytes, attracted 15,000 people in a day. The most-visited stand at the specialised food fair was that of US pizza giant Domino’s, which last year launched in Israel a vegan vegetable pizza topped with soy cheese, a global first for the company which has reportedly sold 300,000 of them so far. In Tel Aviv, one of the city’s best known restaurants, Nanushka, renowned for its vodka-laced grills and party atmosphere, announced its conversion in February and completely rewrote its menu. - Vegan Big Brother And TV’s Big Brother show became a platform for animal rights when vegan activist Tal Gilboa took part and won. Even the army, in which most Israeli young men and women have to serve, now offers soldiers leather-free boots and a small allowance to buy themselves alternatives to the food in mess halls. Facebook is full of dedicated Israeli vegan communities and is divided into sub-groups, such as “Vegays” for gay vegans and “vegan teenagers” who want

Called gastric organoids, the lab-dish tissue comprises buds of cells that are “a miniature version of the stomach”, the researchers said. They were made from pluripotent stem cells which were coaxed into developing into gastric cells, according to the study, published in the journal Nature. Youthful and versatile, pluripotent stem cells have excited huge interest as a dreamed-of source for transplant tissue grown in a lab. Sources for them include stem cells derived from early-stage embryos and adult cells reprogrammed to their juvenile state, called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). But the field has encountered many problems, led by the challenge of getting cells to “differentiate”, or become cells for specific organs. The exploit entailed identifying the chemical steps that oc-

small screen appearance in one-hour long show

Archie and gang to be in a new television ﬁlm.

OS ANGELES: Archie will be coming to the small screen as FOX has picked up the TV series rights to Archie Comics, developing it as a one-hour drama titled “Riverdale”. The live-action series is written by former Glee scribe Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and produced by Greg Berlanti, reported Ace Showbiz. “This is a historic moment for Archie Comics, and we couldn’t be happier to partner with Fox, Warner Bros and Greg Berlanti to bring our characters to televi-

sion,” said Archie Comics publisher/co-CEO Jon Goldwater. “Greg and Roberto are experts when it comes to making great, compelling television and bringing beloved comic book creations to life on the screen. They’re the perfect team to welcome viewers to Riverdale,” Goldwater added. “Riverdale” follows Archie, Betty, Veronica and their friends as they explore the surrealistic twists of small-town life, in addition to the darkness and weirdness bubbling beneath Riverdale’s wholesome facade.

Twisted perceptions: KamaSutra ‘not a dirty little book’

A visitor holds a plate with a vegan hamburger during the ‘Vegan Fest’ fair in the Israeli city of Ramat Gan, near Tel Aviv, on October 13, 2014 (AFP Photo/Jack Guez) special menus in school canteens. Israel seems predisposed to veganism. Fruit and vegetables are an important part of most people’s diet, with staples such as humus and felafel made from chick peas. The Koshur Jewish dietary code, which forbids the mixing of meat and dairy products, has led to widespread acceptance of substitutes, particularly nondairy toppings and desserts. Sitting on the lawn at Vegan Fest were Adi, Oﬁr, Tamar and Ofek, four smiling teenage girls who met on Facebook.

Their T-shirts carried slogans such as “meat = murder” and “tofu doesn’t scream with pain”. “My parents took three years to understand that it wasn’t a fad and eventually accept that as a matter of principle I would not be coming to any more traditional family barbecues,” said Tamar, 16. She was recruited to the cause by watching a video of vegan guru Gary Yourofsky, who compares eating meat to the Nazi Holocaust. - Animal Holocaust “As an Israeli, I cannot close my eyes. I don’t want to be like

by Fran BLANDY

ARIS, (AFP) - In the West, India’s Kama Sutra most often evokes an exotic bible of sexual positions regularly consulted for blush-inducing tips in glossy magazines. However a new exhibition in Paris hopes to flip these misconceptions on their head.

The aim, says Indian curator Alka Pande, is to show “it is not a dirty little book and that it is not (just) a book on sexual positions.”

cur during embryonic development, when cells differentiate into the specific types that form the stomach. These steps were then replicated in a Petri dish so that pluripotent stem cells developed into endoderm cells, the building blocks of the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts.

A visitor looks at a painting displayed during the exhibition The Kama Sutra: Spirituality and erotism in Indian art, at the Paris’ pinacotheque on October 1, 2014 in Paris. The exhibition takes place from October 2 2014 until January 11, 2015. AFP PHOTO/Lionel Bonaventure

For the first time, the Hindu text dating to roughly the fourth century is examined in an exhibition of some 350 sculptures, paintings and everyday items.

Scientists build ‘ministomachs’ in lab PARIS, October 29, 2014 (AFP) - Scientists using stem cells said on Wednesday they had built the world’s first “ministomachs” -- tiny clusters of human gastric tissue that could spur research into cancer, ulcers and diabetes.

those people during the Holocaust who said they did not know,” she said. In Israel, to speak of a “Holocaust of the animals” touches a very raw nerve. “But it is precisely in this provocation that the power of persuasion which is so important to us lies,” said Raﬁ Grosglik, food sociologist at Tel Aviv University. “It’s also interesting to note that Israeli vegans are often at odds with the Hindu or hippy vegan culture and instead employ a rhetoric of force which favours violent activism,” he said. In 2012, a small group of radical vegan activists, calling themselves “Life269” after the number branded on the ear of a calf they freed from the abattoir on an Israeli farm, emerged from the shadows. In Tel Aviv’s central Rabin Square in front of horriﬁed passers-by, they branded the same number on their own bodies with a hot iron. Since then they have left the bloodied heads of sheep in a public fountain in the city and released herds of cows from factory farms in nighttime raids. The activists, whose actions have been widely seen on the Internet, spent several days in custody. They have also spawned copies, with Life269 now operating in about 40 countries.

Whole mount immunoﬂuorecent image of e10.5 mouse gut tube stained with Sox2(green), Pdx1 (red) and Cdx2 (blue). Credit: Katie Sinagoga

These were then biochemically nudged into becoming cells of the antrum, the stomach region that secretes mucus and hormones. Still at a preliminary stage, the organoids are a long way from being replacement tissue or a fully-fledged stomach. Early tests on mice, though, suggest they could one day be a “patch” for holes caused by peptic ulcers. The organoids also mark an important step forward in how to tease stem cells into becoming 3-D structure, the scientists said. And, as “mini-stomachs,” they also provide a testbed for studying diseases such as cancer, diabetes and obesity, the team said in a press release.

“I want them to see it as a book of life, as a book of pleasure, as a book of celebrating the finer nuances of a great style of living and aesthetics,” she told AFP. The exhibit, at the Pinacotheque art gallery through January, “is not only erotic, it’s about sensuality, it’s about pleasure, it’s all about music, dance, how to live a good life,” she said.

“Up until now, there’s been no good way to study stomach diseases in humans,” said Jim Wells, a researcher in developmental biology at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio.

With the City of Love in a saucy mood this season, the exhibit coincides with one on the infamous master of debauchery, the 18th-century Marquis de Sade, at the Musee d’Orsay, whose trailer shocked with its staged orgy of writhing naked bodies.

“The human stomach is very different than the stomach of other animals. The different cells and their structure and arrangement in our stomach tissues in a dish were virtually identical to that that we would find in the stomach normally.”

Some Parisians also got hot under the collar over a huge inflatable outdoor sculpture by American artist Paul McCarthy which, not unintentionally, resembled a sex toy.

In a first experiment, the researchers have used the organoids to see how the notorious ulcer-causing germ Helicobacter pylori infects cells lining the stomach, the Cincinnati facility said.

And the Pinacotheque itself will open a new show next month, “The Art of Love in the Time of the Geishas”, which like the Kama Sutra carries a warning that content may not be suitable for all. One of the gallery’s security guards told AFP that a few people, scandalised at images

of acrobatic intercourse, orgies and even bestiality in the current show, had stormed out. “They didn’t take time to read the explanations,” she shrugged. - ‘A boring little book’ In reality, the better-known erotic side of the Kama Sutra is only one of seven tomes in a compilation by Vatsyayana, a member of the highest priestly class of Hindu society. The Kama Sutra looks at the third of four pillars of Hinduism which correspond to the different stages of life. Having learned morals and ethics, and attained professional success, one can focus on Kama, or desire, not just sexually, but in drawing pleasure from the arts, music and the enjoyment of life. “It’s actually a boring little book otherwise, but I think when people wanted to illustrate it, it became like a pleasure book and ... nothing sells better than sex,” said Pande. “People don’t know that it is seven books they just think: ‘Oh my God, does a man stand on his head and have sex with six women at the same time’?”

examination of the state of a woman’s mind. Images and sculptures of the gods Shiva and Parvati -- the idealised couple -- scenes of childbirth, and erotic reliefs often seen on ancient temples take their place beside objects of devotion, such as the phallic lingam. Sculptures of women sneakily having sex with a man other than her husband, or a man with a courtesan, show the forwardthinking parts of a book that even mentions techniques of homosexual lovemaking. - ‘In India god makes love’ Of course the famous depiction of yogic sexual positions abound, alongside pictures of sex with animals. “In ancient Hinduism, the difference between man and animal was not as marked as in our culture. This is explained by the fact that a man could have been an animal in a previous life,” read a note alongside the exhibit. “There are some curious things here,” said 92-year-old visitor Michelle. “In one of the cases... a woman and an elephant. Of course that makes you smile. The thing about the horse is quite curious too. But I suppose for them it was fun, religion aside.”

Bathed in warm colours of saffron, green and purple, the exhibit takes viewers on a journey through the 36 chapters of the work, which looks at society and social concepts, how to find and woo a wife, even how to arrange household furniture.

Pande explains that in traditional India, sexuality was a way to view the world, and the Western guilt around eroticism made a work like the Kama-Sutra hard to understand.

The book suggests both men and women study the 64 arts, anything from how to make a bed to the art of war, magic, and teaching parrots to speak.

“It has no concept of sin, it has no concept that you have sex only for procreation, it is really about celebrating the good life,” she said.

And in keeping with the propensity at the time for taking child brides, lists a girl who has “fully arrived at puberty” among those to be avoided in choosing a wife.

This is also seen in the mythology surrounding Hindu’s pantheon of gods, each of whom has a consort.

The book also details how to seduce the wives of others, and that most mysterious of pursuits:

“If in Christianity God is love, in India god makes love. The better lover a god is, the better god he is,” said Pinacotheque director Marc Restellini.

Young Life

VOICE OF ASIA 16

Friday, October 31, 2014

Section 2

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FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

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Online harassment seen as REFLECTIONS: Diwali Celebrations With Hindu major problem: US survey Students Association, UT, Austin by Rob Lever

ally harassed online.

ASHINGTON Some 40 percent of US Internet users say they have been harassed online, and nearly three-fourths have witnessed this type of problem, a survey showed Wednesday.

In terms of being aware of harassment of others, 53 percent had seen efforts to purposefully embarrass someone. One in four knew of physical threats and nearly one in five reported being aware of someone being sexually harassed or stalked.

Harassment ranged from mild -- such as name-calling -- to stalking or physical threats, according to the Pew Research Center survey.

Those in the 18-19 age group were the most likely to both witness and experience online harassment. Some 65 percent of these young Internet users reported being a target of online harassment and 92 percent had witnessed it, the report said.

“We know from previous research that people see both kindness and cruelty online,” said Pew lead researcher Maeve Duggan. “It was striking to see how different varieties of harassment impacted different groups on different platforms, and the range of reactions online harassment elicited.” Among the Internet users surveyed, 27 percent said they had been called offensive names, 22 percent had someone try to purposefully embarrass them and eight percent had been either stalked or physically threatened. Six percent reported being sexu-

Men were more likely to experience name-calling and embarrassment, and young women more frequently victims of sexual harassment and stalking. Among women aged 18-24, one in four said they had been stalked online or were the target of online sexual harassment. Many of the offensive actions came through social media -- two-third of incidents were said to occur on these platforms -- with the comments sections of website cited in 22 percent of

cases and online gaming communities in 16 percent.

so blessed to actually meet the man of the hour, and receive his blessings. Bhaiya and I might be a tad bit bitter about missing out on this opportunity, but the “other NaMo” probably couldn’t have faced meeting me, so we’ll let it go.

Of those who had experienced online harassment, 60 percent decided to ignore their most recent incident, with 40 percent taking steps to respond. Some of the steps including “unfriending” or blocking, while others changed their user name or withdrew from the forum or social network. Five percent reported the matter to law enforcement.

Papaji suffered from some a pinched nerve that lead to a lot of pain in his neck this year for 3 months. Now he knows what pain in the neck really means! Thanks to physical therapy and Swami Ramdev’s pranayama, he is feeling a lot better!

The harassment took an emotional toll on its victims, according to the researchers: one-third of victims said the actions were “extremely” or “somewhat” upsetting, and 15 percent said it impacted their reputation.

The tradition of camp director continued with Bhaiya taking on the reins this year at Hindu Heritage Youth Camp. For the first time ever, there were two camps. With the assistance of his co-director, camp managed to be a huge success despite some initial obstacles.

An overwhelming 92 percent said the online environment allows people to be more critical compared with the offline world, but 68 percent said the Internet helped people be more supportive of one another. The research was the first by Pew on this subject, and was based on an online and mail survey of 3,217 US adults, including 2,849 Internet users. The margin of error was estimated at 2.4 percentage points. Pallod family University of Texas, Austin Namaste and Happy Diwali

nother eventful year has passed, and it is time for the annual Pallod Parivar Diwali letter! We can’t wait to tell you of all the joy and news that 2014 brought, and to hear about your year! The biggest news of the year is probably that Bhaiya (Bharat) finally succumbed to the inner romantic within him (who knew it existed?!) and asked Sheeba Aggarwal to marry him at the Statue of Liberty! We had a lot of fun embarrassing the two at the sagai (engagement) ceremony, and can’t wait for all the wedding shenanigans to start! We love Sheeba Bhabhi already, way more than we like Bhaiya (just kidding!) This past August, Didi also moved to New Jersey to attend

Rutgers University to get her doctorate in psychology! Being the nerd that she is, Didi is loving being back at school. Although New Jersey doesn’t even compare to good ol’ Texas, we are very glad to see her following her dream to become a psychologist! Well, as long as she doesn’t start trying to diagnose me! She’ll never get her degree if she tries to tackle the Pallod Parivar’s psychoses. Narendra Modi, or the other Namo as I like to refer to him, also played quite a role in the Pallod family activities this year! Papaji went to India to campaign in April, and called it one of the best experiences in his life! Papaji, Mummy, and Didi were also able to attend Modiji’s speech at Madison Square Garden in September! Mummy and Didi were even

Mummy Pallod managed to stay the busiest of all of us this year, as she continued to serve as Chairperson for the Maheshwari Mahasabha of North America. This past August, we all went to MMNA convention in Detroit, and as always, had a great time celebrating our Marwari heritage! Although there were many new additions to our family this year, we lost a few treasured members. Mummy’s cousin brother (Ramkumar Lohiya) and eldest uncle (Harish Bajaj) passed away in August. Although we will greatly miss them, I am very glad that Didi and I were able to see and spend time with them in January when we went to India. We hope that you all had a wonderful and prosperous year, and that the coming year brings even more joy and light into your lives. Once again, Happy Diwali! Namita, Co-chair of Hindu Students Assn Diwali celebration. Joining me are my family Vijay (dad), Sushma (mom), Kavita (sister), and Bharat (brother). Houston Texas.

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FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

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Happy New Year smashes all boxoffice records

UMBAI_ (Filmfare) Happy New Year opened to earth shattering numbers at the box-ofﬁce on Friday. Having released in around 5000 screens worldwide, the ﬁlm received a phenomenal response from nearly all circuits of the domestic as well as the international market. The film created history on Friday by recording a collection of Rs. 44.97 crore, the highest ever opening in the history of Bollywood. The multi-starrer took off on a powerful note over the weekend and became the fastest film to join the 100 crore club. In three days, it banked, Rs. 108.86 crore ripping apart the record of Rs. 107 crore set by Aamir Khan’s Dhoom 3. While the film continued its strong hold over metros like Mumbai, circuits of Gujarat and Rajasthan saw a slight drop in the occupancy due to the festivities. Nevertheless it did not hinder Happy New Year’s record-breaking spree. Meanwhile the film also enjoyed a smashing response on the international waters as well. It has manages to garner Rs. 29.50 crore approx over the weekend.

The star cast of Happy New Year The week to come will play a crucial role in order to come out with a good lifetime number. According to early Monday trends, the film will do good business today too. A collection of Rs. 15 to 20 crore looks possible. King Khan has yet again proved that when it comes to breaking records, no one can spell magic at the box office the way he does. And Happy New

Year is testimony to that legacy. Following is a detailed report of the collections made by Happy New Year Friday – Rs. 44.97 crore approx Saturday- Rs. 31.60 crore approx Sunday - Rs. 32.29 crore approx Total domestic collection – Rs. 108.86 crore approx Total overseas collection - Rs. 29.50 crore approx Total worldwide collection - Rs. 138.36 crore approx

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Shah Rukh Khan’s Youngest Son AbRam is the Cutest Santa Claus? By Prarthna Sarkar October 26, After debuting in Farah Khan’s blockbuster “Happy New Year”, Shah Rukh Khan’s youngest son AbRam has become quite a rage on social networking sites. And, a photo of SRK’s bundle of joy sporting a Santa Claus outfit has been doing the rounds on web. “It was only recently that papa SRK Jr. AbRam debuts on social media SRK and AbRam had done a fun phopointed with the kind of news to-shoot together and released his then new born baby was AbRam’s picture officially. making, decided to open up Infact, this particular photo on the issue. Miffed with the revealed striking resemblances reports, he said the headlines between the father and son,” were all in bad taste and that stated a Bollywood Life report. he doesn’t appreciate the media Prior to the toddler’s debut in writing articles on a child who “HNY”, King Khan had said was sick for a considerable he wouldn’t introduce AbRam amount of time since birth. to the world until the right time “It is one of the only things arrives. Keeping his promise, that has made me uncomfortthe charming actor uploaded a able in my career is you take photo of him with his baby boy on a child who is sick when he on Twitter on the eve of Eid- was born and make it an issue... al-Adha. I find it very disgraceful. I am a However, his decision to ex- movie star, disgrace me but not tend his family with wife Gauri my kids,” the actor was quoted Khan came under the scanner as saying. for all the wrong reasons. After Shah Rukh will be next seen accusing him of carrying out in Maneesh Sharma’s “Fan”, sex-determination test, the cou- which he reportedly calls “inple was also heavily criticised tense, and commercially viable for not adopting a child. film”. Courtesy: International SRK, who was very disap- Business Times.

Black buck case: 2nd witness identifies Sonali, Neelam, Tabu

econd prosecution witness in the 1996 black buck hunting case today identiﬁed actresses Sonali Bendre, Neelam and Tabu in a court here. “The next prosecution witness, Mangilal, also recognised Sonali Bendre, Tabu and Neelam in the court today during examination,” Assistant Public Prosecutor Praveen Verma said.

begin in the poaching case, in which the arms with expired licence had allegedly been used by Khan. “Our plea was that to stay the trial of the Arms Act case, which had begun on January 29 in the CJM court until the

Yesterday, prosecution witness Sheraram had recognised them in the court. Both the villagers had claimed to have chased the vehicle in which the actors were going to hunt the antelope. The actresses appeared in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (Rural) today for the identification. “Mangilal narrated the same description as that of Sheraram on Tuesday,” said Verma. Mangilal told the court that both he and Sheraram had chased the vehicle, with Salman Khan, Saif Ali Khan and the three actresses were on board for hunting the black buck. “His statements matched with those given by him to the forest officials during

Bollywood stars Sonali Bendre and Tabu

investigation in 1998,” Verma said. After the examination of Mangilal, cross examination of the previous witness, Sehraram, was resumed by the counsel of Salman Khan.

counsel of Khan withdrew the application moved in the High Court seeking permission to club the two cases against the actor, one under Wildlife Act and other under Arms Act.

“We will continue the cross examination on Thursday,” said H M Saraswat, Khan’s counsel. Meanwhile, the

In his application, Khan had said that since the trial in the Arms Act case has neared conclusion while it is yet to

Amitabh Bachchan’s next with Farhan Akhtar titled ‘Wazir’

ollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s upcoming ﬁlm with Farhan Akhtar, which was earlier named ‘Do’, has been ofﬁcially titled ‘Wazir’. The film, which also stars Aditi Rao Hyadri in a prominent role, is being directed by Bejoy Nambiar, and is written and produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra. Farhan took to Twitter to announce the change in the film’s title. “The Vidhu Vinod Chopra/ Bejoy Nambiar film is now officially titled Wazir,” he wrote on his Twitter page. Bachchan, 72, reportedly plays a paralysed chess grandmaster in the movie and Farhan, 40, plays an ATS officer in the film.

Amitabh Bachchan

case under Wildlife Act also reached the stage of trial. “So that the trial of both the cases could go simultaneously, thereby doing away with any chance of judgement in the former case affecting the trial of the later one,” said his

counsel Hasti Mal Saraswat. The same plea of clubbing the two cases has been rejected by a lower court and the District & Session Court earlier. The ground for this plea was that both the cases were linked to each other. PTI

HEALTHY LIVING HEALTH

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Delhi chokes on toxic smog after festival of lights

by Annie BANERJI

EW DELHI, October 26, 2014 (AFP) - Thick smoke hung over New Delhi this week as millions of Indians lit ﬁrecrackers to mark the Diwali festival, but calls for a boycott highlighted growing concerns over air quality in one of the world’s most polluted cities. Pollution in the Indian capital reached “severe” levels on Friday, the day after Diwali, according to a new air quality index launched earlier this month as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “Clean India” mission. That means the concentration of airborne particles known as PM2.5, which are considered the most harmful, was more than 250 -- 10 times the upper limit recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Indian authorities regularly appeal to the public to restrict their use of firecrackers, which every year cause injuries as well as letting off the acrid smoke that chokes the capital. But this year the calls had particular resonance after a WHO study of 1,600 cities across 91 countries in May found the Indian capital had the dirtiest atmosphere in the world -- a claim Indian authorities fiercely denied. Despite this week’s spike, Gufran Beig, chief scientist at India’s state-run System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), said Delhi’s air was generally better than Beijing’s.

A sweeper cleans a ﬂyover as smog covers the capital’s skyline, morning after celebrations for the Diwali festival, in New Delhi, on October 24, 2014 (AFP Photo/Prakash Singh)

24 hours before it gets better,” he added. New Delhi’s air quality has steadily worsened over the years, a consequence of rapid urbanisation that brings pollution from diesel engines, coalfired power plants and industrial emissions. The Indian capital also suffers from atmospheric dust blown in from the deserts of the western state of Rajasthan, as well as pollution from open fires lit by the urban poor to keep warm in winter or to cook food. The WHO study showed Delhi had the world’s highest annual average concentration of PM2.5, at 153.

“A majority of the time, Delhi air is quite bad, but it is still better than Beijing,” Beig told AFP, while conceding that the post-Diwali air likely rivalled the Chinese capital’s infamous smog.

Experts says these extremely fine particles of less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter are linked with high rates of respiratory and cardiac disease. In the long run they can cause cancer as they settle deep into the lungs and pass into the bloodstream.

“It’s going to be that way for

“Delhi has a serious prob-

lem since its pollution level is anyway very high throughout the year due to rapidly growing number of vehicles,” Anumita Roychowdhury, head of the air pollution team at the Delhibased Centre for Science and Environment, told AFP. The top priority remains creating more public transport, added Roychowdhury, who is a member of a government panel responsible for drafting an action plan to control pollution. - ‘Inhaling poison’ Modi has made public health one of the main priorities of his new administration, stressing the importance of cleanliness in almost all of his public speeches since his May electoral victory. But 29-year-old Delhi resident Riddhima Gill said even the prime minister was powerless to stop the noxious Diwali celebrations. “Modi can ask but nobody listens on Diwali. When you find your car with a layer of

grime the next day, you know you’re inhaling poison,” she told AFP, adding that it was a “yearly nightmare” for her asthmatic father. “Bursting crackers, the noise, the smog is all part of the socalled Diwali tradition. Modi’s ‘Clean India’ can’t change mindsets overnight.” In a sign of the growing concern about the impact of air pollution, a video campaign for a “green Diwali” featuring local children carrying signs asking people not to light crackers went viral on Indian social media ahead of the festival. “The call has to come from within, no one should have to tell us ‘do this, don’t do this’,” said Gurmeet Sapal, the Delhibased independent film-maker behind the video, which can be seen at www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Y2zEYglMocM. “We know things won’t change overnight,” he told AFP. “At least we have made a positive start.”

Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital First in Greater Houston Area to Offer New Technology to Breast Cancer Patients

MarginProbe System May Reduce Need for Repeat Surgery After Initial Lumpectomy

ATY, TEXAS (September 24, 2014) – For breast surgeons, there are critical questions with every lumpectomy performed: Did I remove the right amount of tissue? Are the margins clean? Will I be able to tell my patient we’ve removed all of the cancer? At Memorial Hermann Katy Hospital, these questions just got easier to answer thanks to the deployment of the MarginProbe® System, a new FDA-approved intraoperative tissue-assessment tool for breast cancer surgery. During a lumpectomy, the cancerous breast tumor and a small

amount of tissue surrounding the tumor are removed. The purpose of removing normal tissue surrounding the tumor is to ensure “clear margins” so that no cancer cells remain. Prior to the development of MarginProbe, surgeons would have to send off the excised tissue to a pathology lab to see if any cancer cells remained along the edges. This could take a week or more. Now, using MarginProbe, breast surgeons like Liz Lee, M.D. at Memorial Hermann Katy can test the margins in real time. How? Research has shown

that cancer cells have a distinctive electromagnetic signature, which is different from that of healthy cells. The MarginProbe gathers this electromagnetic signature and significantly improves surgeons’ ability to identify “cancer on the margins” at the time of breast cancer surgery. If the margins are not clear, the surgeon can take more tissue while the patient is still sedated, potentially reducing the need for a patient to undergo additional lumpectomies. Ultimately, the pathology lab still clears the final tissue.

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“This is a real advancement in breast cancer treatment,” said Dr. Lee. “MarginProbe acts as an additional adjunct to help us determine if we have removed all the cancerous cells. The technology gives me and my patients peace of mind knowing we are utilizing all the tools available to us to reach the best outcome possible – elimination of the cancer.” Memorial Hermann Katy is the first and only Hospital in the greater Houston area with MarginProbe. For more information on Memorial Hermann Katy, call 281-644-7000 or visit www. memorialhermann.org.

Tel: 713-774-5140

Open Enrollment is Here! Do You Know Your Plan Changes for 2015? Open Enrollment is upon us. Technically referred to as the Annual Election Period (AEP), this enrollment period runs from October 15 through December 7, and is one of the few times you can change, enroll into or dis-enroll from a Medicare Advantage or Part D plan. Change is effective January 1, 2015. (Note: Medicare beneficiaries who have retiree health benefits from their union or former employer may have a different period for changing plans. Similarly, people who are covered by an employer plan based on their current employment or their spouse’s employment may have a different open enrollment period Have you reviewed your plan’s changes for 2015? If you are in a Medicare Advantage (MA) or Part D plan, make sure you review your plan’s changes for 2015. Each year plans can choose whether or not to renew their Medicare contract. If your plan is renewing, it should have already mailed you an Annual Notice of Change. This notice tells you how your plan will alter in the coming year, such as changes in the premium, copayments, deductibles and benefits. Medicare announced in September that the average premium for MA plans was projected to increase by $2.94 to $33.90 and that the average premium for Medicare Part D plans was projected to increase $1 to $32. Yet, the average may not be true for your plan. Beneficiaries who take time to review their plan’s changes and their other coverage options are more likely to save money and find a plan best suited for their needs, compared to beneficiaries who do not review and stay with their same plan. If your plan is not renewing If your MA or Part D plan is not renewing its contract with Medicare, you should have received notice by October 2nd. The notice informs you of your Special Election Period, from December 8, 2014 to February 28, 2015 to enroll in another MA or Part D plan offered in your area next year. You don’t have to wait until December 8 to choose your new plan; you can choose a new MA or Part D plan during the Annual Election Period. For more information, see When Medicare Advantage Plans Terminate Coverage

Sudhir Mathuria Contact: Sudhir Mathuria Licensed Professional Health Life 360 6650 Southwest Freeway Houston TX 77074 713-771-2900 www.MyMedicarePlanning.com

As for Medicare Advantage, there will be many counties with HMOs (Health Maintenance Organizations) and with PPOs (Preferred Provider Organizations). These PPOs are all local PPOs offered by few different companies (Blue Cross, Memorial Herman, Aetna, Coventry, and Humana and Care Improvement Plus). There will continue to be regional PPOs in 2015. Three types of Special Needs Plans (SNPs) will be offered in 2015 as well, for people with chronic conditions and with I-SNPs for beneﬁciaries needing institutionalized care or D-SNP for those who are Medicare and Medicaid eligible. Part D updates The Part D prescription drug “donut hole” (or coverage gap) continues to shrink. For brand name drugs, your coinsurance is 45% (down slightly from 47.5% in 2014). For generic drugs, the beneﬁciary coinsurance will decrease 7%, from 72% this year to 65% in 2015. (See our past article for more information on how the coverage gap discount program works and what costs are counted to one’s true out-ofpocket (TROOP) costs.) Contact your Sudhir Mathuria for information on the plans available in your area and/ or other ways to supplement your Medicare coverage and to choose right plan. Sudhir Mathuria for your Health and Wealth Planning at 713-771-2900.

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month We would like you to participate! Voice of Asia is dedicating each issue in October for Breast Cancer Awareness. Send in your tributes to loved ones you lost to Cancer, share your personal stories of challenges and success, stories of how you or your loved one conquered cancer. Deadline for each week’s issue is Monday by 5 PM. Send us 250 - 500 words, photos, your contact details.

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ARE YOU ELECTION READY? We’re counting on you to vote this year! Your VOTE will determine who is our next Senator or Representative, Governor, state and local ofﬁcials. Make your plans today to vote!

Your Vote is Your Voice

Use it at the polls on TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

If you need help voting, call

1-888-API-VOTE (1-888-274-8683)

Bilingual assistance is available in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Urdu, Hindi & Bengali. For speciﬁc voting information or ID requirements in your state visit: http://www.866ourvote.org/state or www.vote411.org

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BUSINESS

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

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Lowe’s Hiring Bilingual Robots YouTube to Boost Customer Interactions considers

Tel: 713-774-5140

Japan’s SoftBank to invest $10 billion in India

offering adfree subscription

SAN FRANCISCO, October 28, 2014 (AFP) - YouTube viewers might get the option of paid subscriptions for ad-free access to the popular online videosharing service.

Uncredited

owe’s is looking to bring the future into their stores. The company is currently reviewing a pilot program at their Orchard Supply Hardware store in California. The robots, called OSHbots, will assist customers with various services when they enter the stores. The robots will be able to review inventory for customers, and even respond to a customer looking for a speciﬁc item. The assistant on wheels will lead the customer to their aisle where they can ﬁnd the item they were searching for. The costs of the robots or how it may later affect store pricing has remained sealed. Fellow Robots, located in Silicon Valley, started working with Lowe’s to determine the development of the robots this past winter. The company is looking to move into the tech-

As the OSHbot walks the customer to their requested aisle, they can check out the screen equipped on the electronic assistant displays ads and specials around the store.

nological age by instilling tools and devices to boost customer interactions. How will a normal working day be for the OSHbots? Much like their human counterparts, the robots will greet customers as they enter the store. Customers who need to get a price on an item, can turn to the OSHbot assistant, and scan the item for pricing. Lowe’s knows the concept of e-commerce is a successful one, but they wanted to bring some of those benefits into the physical stores for products consumers cannot or do not want to order online.

The company has much bigger plans when it comes to the robots and incorporating 3D technology. The Wall Street Journal penned Lowe’s and Fellow Robots are considering a massive change to how to find an item. Once a customer requests what they want, the OSHbot will one day print the item using the 3D printing technology. The robot is currently programmed to speak both English and Spanish, but the developers advised additional languages will soon be uploaded to make it a multilingual robotic assistant. What do you think of the newest robot testing program by Lowe’s?

Subscriptions and even a streaming music service are among new options that YouTube is considering offering its more than one billion users, YouTube chief Susan Wojcicki said at a technology conference in California late Monday. “YouTube right now is adsupported, which is really great in the sense that it has enabled us to scale to a billion users; anyone can access the content,” Wojcicki said in an online video clip of her on-stage conference chat. “But there are going to be cases where people will say, ‘I don’t want to see the ads,’ or, ‘I want to have a different experience.’” Wojcicki also confirmed rumors that YouTube is working on a streaming music and video service that could compete with the likes of Pandora and Spotify. She did not provide many details, but Wojcicki said she is optimistic the music service will debut soon. “We are thinking about how to give users options,” Wojcicki said.

New Delhi: Telecom giant SoftBank has pledged an investment of USD 10 billion (over Rs 60,000 crore) in India’s IT and communications space, one of the biggest investment commitments from a Japanese firm after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to that country. Softbank -- one of the major telecom and internet corporations of Japan -- will look for opportunities in telecom and the fast-growing e-commerce sectors in India. The proposed investment was committed by Softbank Chairman and CEO Masayoshi Son in a meeting with Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, an official statement said on Monday.

media and marketing. SoftBank already has made investments in Indian companies including InMobi and Hike. “He (Son) further expressed immense faith in the great eCommerce potential of India. He estimated it to become a USD 0.5 trillion business in the next 10 years,” the statement said. Sources said that SoftBank has plans to invest in ecommerce firm Snapdeal. However, Softbank and Snapdeal did not immediately respond to queries on the matter. SoftBank Chairman also asked Prasad to develop a robust mobile phone infrastructure and resolve spectrum issues.

“Mr Son today assured the Minister that SoftBank would like to invest approximately USD 10 billion in India in the coming years. He placed it on record that India is the top most priority for SoftBank,” the Telecom Ministry statement said.

Prasad shared the Prime Minister’s ideas and informed Son about the incentives such as Electronic Manufacturing Clusters and package scheme that the government is providing to boost electronic manufacturing in India, the statement said.

Son told Prasad that the visit of Prime Minister to Japan has created a climate of hope and optimism about greater economic cooperation between the two countries, it added.

“The Minister also informed Son about the vision of the Government to transform India into an IT product nation,” it added.

With a market cap of USD 92 billion, SoftBank has operations in broadband, fixed line telecom, e-Commerce, finance,

Besides, Prasad discussed the smart city project of new government for which Rs 7,060 crore has been earmarked in the current year’s Budget. PTI

BUSINESS

VOICE OF ASIA 21

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

Credit-card hacking is MassMutual Honors Diwali and Business Tradition of Chopda Pujan Americans’ top crime worry: poll

No-Cost Seminars Help Business Owners Secure Their Futures and Protect the Next Generation

PRINGFIELD, MASS., OCT. XX, 2014-- Almost three million Asian Indians in the United States are preparing to celebrate Diwali, the festival of lights, on Oct. 23. For the more than 300,000 AsianIndian owned ﬁrms* in the U.S., the holiday takes on an added dimension, as the celebration marks the beginning of a new business year. To help business owners prepare for the New Year ahead, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) is offering a series of free, noobligation business seminars in ﬁve cities across the country this Diwali. In a special Diwali ritual for businesses known as Chopda Pujan, new account books are opened and blessed. Business owners use this time to reflect on the past year while looking ahead to new opportunities for prosperity and wealth. It is said the goddess of wealth, known as Lakshmi, visits the homes of devotees on this day, and lamps light the way to welcome her.

L to R Nimesh Trivedi, Lalit Jallan, Adam Segal and Vikesh Amin. MassMutual sponsored Houston Diwali Event.

dividends to eligible participating policyowners consistently since the 1860s. With whole life insurance as its foundation, MassMutual provides products to help meet the financial needs of clients, such as life insurance, disability income insurance, long term care insurance, retirement/401(k) plan services, and annuities. In addition, the company’s strong and growing network of financial professionals helps clients make good financial decisions for the long-term.

WASHINGTON, October 27, 2014 (AFP) - Credit-card hacking is the number one crime on Americans’ worry list, far above getting mugged or murdered, according to a Gallup survey released Monday.

MassMutual Financial Group is a marketing name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and its affiliated companies and sales representatives. MassMutual is headquartered in Springfield, Massachusetts and its major affiliates include: Babson Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cor-

“Americans today are more worried about their credit card information being hacked from stores than about any other crimes they are asked about, and a relatively high percentage say they have been victims of this hacking,” Gallup said.

To help Asian Indian business owners open their new books this Diwali and plan for a prosperous new year, MassMutual is offering a series of free video-based seminars featuring stories shared by real business owners. The vignettes explore critical business planning topics, such as passing ownership on from one generation to the next, preparing for the unexpected, the death of an owner, retaining key employees, and proper estate and retirement planning. Seminars addressing these topics critical to Asian Indian business owners will be presented in the following cities across the country this Diwali:

Sixty-nine percent of Americans said they frequently or occasionally worry about computer hackers stealing the creditcard information they have used at stores. The only other crime that worries the majority of Americans -- 62 percent -- is hacking and data theft of a computer or smartphone.

A MassMutual study** found that although 77 percent of Asian Indian business owners believe financial planning for their business is very important, only 43 percent are concerned about who will run their businesses if they or another owner leaves, becomes disabled or dies; only 46 percent have a formal retirement plan. “Entrepreneurial businesses are vital to our growing economic recovery, so it is concerning that so many business owners seem to be sacrificing their own and their family’s financial future,” says Nimesh Trivedi, Asian-Indian Market lead at MassMutual. “With help, business owners can look past the seemingly overwhelming day-to-day demands of running their businesses and establish and meet their longterm financial goals.”

As the number of major retailers reporting cyber breaches grows, with thieves stealing credit card data belonging to tens of millions of their customers, awareness of the hacking threat has taken off.

The next most-worrying crime, at 45 percent, was a home burglarized when no one was home, while 42 percent fretted about having their car stolen or broken into. Tied at 31 percent were the

number of people worrying about having a school-aged child physically harmed while attending school and about getting mugged. Lesser concerns were worry about being the victim of terrorism (28 percent), getting murdered (18 percent) and, at the bottom of the list, being assaulted or killed by a coworker on the job (7.0 percent). Gallup said that 27 percent of Americans said they or another household member had information from a credit card used at a store stolen by computer hackers during the past year, the most frequently experienced crime on a list of nine crimes. Similarly, 11 percent of respondents said they or someone else in their household have had their computer or smartphone hacked in the last year, putting that in the top half of crimes on the list. High-profile hacking at big retail chains, such as discounter Target and home improvement giant Home Depot, is clearly shaking consumer confidence, Gallup said. “It may affect their shopping habits as they take measures to protect their identities and finances. Consumers may avoid stores that have been hacked, and begin paying more frequently with cash or prepaid cards to protect their identities.”

L-R: Adam Segal, Nimesh Trivedi, Nadya Amin, Zaheda, Mitesh Patel. MassMutual sponsored Atlanta Diwali Event •

Houston, Oct. 14

•

Atlanta: Oct. 18

•

San Jose, Calif.: Oct. 24

•

Edison, N.J.: Oct. 29

•

Chicago: Nov. 6

For more information on the multi-city business owner seminar tour, contact Nimesh Trivedi, 413.744.1244. For more information on planning for your businesses’ and families’ financial futures, visit massmutual.com/ asianindian *2007 Survey of Business Owners Summaries of Findings, U.S. Census Bureau. This information is the most current data available. **MassMutual’s Business Owner Perspectives: 2011 Insights in an Uncertain Economy,

conducted by GfK Custom Research North America for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), 2011. About MassMutual Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a leading mutual life insurance company that is run for the benefit of its members and participating policyowners. The company has a long history of financial strength and strong performance, and although dividends are not guaranteed, MassMutual has paid

nerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; The First Mercantile Trust Company; MassMutual International LLC; MML Investors Services, LLC, Member FINRA and SIPC; OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB. For more information, visit www.massmutual.com or find MassMutual on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google+ and Pinterest. CRN201610-187217

India reveals names in quest for hidden foreign assets by Penelope MACRAE NEW DELHI, October 27, 2014 (AFP) - India’s government revealed Monday new names of seven people accused of illegally stashing funds in foreign bank accounts as it seeks to recover billions of untaxed dollars parked abroad. The right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, which took power in May, had accused the previous Congress government of failing to get tough on the issue that has become a political lightning rod. The government filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on Monday naming seven business people, men and women, including Pradip Burman -- a former director of the wellknown Dabur food group -- for

allegedly hiding money abroad, along with a Goa mining company, Timblo Private Ltd.

of the end for those who illegally stashed money abroad,” Patra told reporters.

The government has been under pressure to identify offenders following petitions from activists including prominent lawyer Subramanian Swamy, who has waged an aggressive campaign to prosecute wealthy people with undeclared funds offshore.

But opposition Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh accused the BJP of “selective revelation” of names and said the drip-feed process smacked of “blackmail, not black money”.

The government said in its affidavit it was “committed to disclose the names of persons holding illegal money... following due process of law”.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley last week said Congress could face “some embarrassment” when names of people holding illicit foreign accounts was made public.

BJP spokesman Sambit Patra called disclosure of the names an “historic day”.

Lawyer Swamy said he did not understand why the government had not disclosed the identities of all alleged offenders.

“Names are gradually being declared. Today is the beginning

“I do not see any legal issues in releasing all 700 names,”

he told CNN-IBN television network. - ‘Black money’ scandal Indian rumour mills have been in overdrive about who may be on the government’s so-called “black money list”. In 2011 French authorities informed India of around 700 Indians with Swiss accounts. The information came from a data leak by a bank employee. Other funds are believed to be stashed in tax havens such as Lichtenstein. The Indian government said Monday that Swiss authorities had agreed to “provide information” to help India investigate leaked accounts after earlier saying such assistance would break Swiss law.

The political importance attached to the issue was underscored when, a day after taking office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi set up a team of regulators and ex-judges to identify illicit fund-holders and repatriate money. The BJP while campaigning had vowed to “bring back black money within 100 days” of being elected. But it has found obtaining details about account-holders from foreign nations difficult due to financial confidentiality issues. The latest names had been revealed because “prosecution has been launched under the income tax law”, the government said. Global Financial Integrity, a Washington-based group that tracks money transfers, said

Indians surreptitiously shifted $344 billion overseas between 2002 and 2011, depriving India of vital tax revenues. But that money abroad is a fraction of illicit funds and assets concealed in India, experts say. The Dabur group said in a statement that Burman opened his “legally allowed” foreign account while he was a nonresident Indian. Another person named in Monday’s affidavit, Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhiya, chairman of western Indian jewellery-andreal estate firm Shreeji Trading, told reporters he had complied with tax laws and had no foreign account. One other person named, Goan mine operator Radha

HOROSCOPE

VOICE OF ASIA 22

FRIDAY, October 31, 2014

Your Horoscope for the Week of October 31 2014 by Hardik Vyas, Astrologer Cell : 832-298-9950

READ YOUR COMPLETE HOROSCOPE ONLINE WWW.VOICEOFASIAONLINE.COM

Libra (R,T) 23 Sept to 22 Oct

Aries (A,L,E) 21 March to 20 April Get back on the horse that threw you off. You and only you know why you feel so pressured. Try to be a good host at home or a helpful guest while visiting. Don’t allow pettiness turn into hasty words or rash decisions. The extra stress you feel may cause you to be more bull headed than usual. That could really cause someone close to you to get their feelings hurt. Emotional turmoil will result in more stress. Use your strong personality as a social anchor.

Understand, the fact that if you are honest in your deeds, strong backing will come from higher ups. When you believe in yourself, you are highly believable to others, as well. Your professional air will inﬂuence others to your way of thinking. Communicate your thoughts and listen for new ways to achieve those goals. Kindred spirits will bond in a ﬂurry of ideas and proposals. You have your special moments, even when others don’t understand, they still follow your lead.

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

Scorpio (N,Y)23 Oct to 21 Nov

Pull ahead of everyone else in the race. Be true to your own feelings. Your purpose is to make other’s lives more interesting. Take the time you need to analyze all of your options before closing a deal or proposing a new scheme. Seek out the advice of an understanding mentor who understands your strengths and can help you to clear the path. You’ll be able to regain your comfort zone, once you decide which path you’re going to take.

You need to feel more secure. Your insecurities stem from other’s lack of responsibility. You can share joint responsibilities without feeling all the stress on your shoulders. You just have to remember what your real priorities are. A vital relationship will thrive with a burst of fresh energy. Start from the beginning and see what you can build from there. Your presence will be required to complete the cycle. If you want true peace of mind, the only choice you have is to be patient. By week’s end, you’ll be able to change things that were previously stuck in time.

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

Gemini (K,CHH,GH) 21 May to 20 June Put a positive spin on everything you do. Strong physical sensations could hamper your judgment. Be honest about your emotions but don’t be too explicit. Not everyone will understand your feelings. It’s amazing how effective you can be when given free rein. Your role feels well established in the community. Good luck will smooth over any of the rough spots you hit, this week. Your energy is far too electric to spend on routine everyday business.

Opportunities to expand your horizons and your income will arrive on the scene this week from nowhere. Someone who had taught you lessons in the past will now help you to show your worth. Get out there and prove yourself to the real world. Use your past experiences to build your conﬁdence and overcome any obstacle put in your way. A good relationship will provide you with a solid anchor, as your success also depends on your loved ones. Communication will help you to be more objective in your thinking.

Capricorn (KH,J) 22 Dec to 20 Jan

Cancer (D,H) 21 June to 22 July You need to work out details on your own. A new chapter of your life is about to begin. Someone new may appear on the scene, looking for attention and admiration. Be realistic and don’t make promise that you can’t deliver. Make plans to do something special with friends or family. They’ll appreciate the gesture and treasure it forever. You may be wearing your emotions on your sleeve, so react only if you are ready to listen to others feelings, as well.

Use your imagination in a more practical way. Normal is for people who lack creative imagination. Despite all of your troubles, you’ll manage to impress someone who thinks that you are special. A little stress is sometimes a good motivator for you. You’d feel empty if you weren’t learning something new all the time. You have your own ideas about how the world should evolve. A sudden change of course won’t throw you off the track. Your reach will become more ﬂuid and less structured.

Leo (M) 23 July to 22 August

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

Very important realization that you only give your heart to those who take you at face value. Others will try to be part of the judging committee but you need to make your own decisions. Create a diversion to keep them busy, while you work alone. Once you get lost in the details, you won’t be able to hear anything else. Brilliant ideas will have a way of arriving out of necessity. You’ll be right on target and nothing will cause you to lose your aim. Your talents and achievements will be well noted in the record.

Slow down the pace and concentrate on one thing at a time. Emotional logic is nonexistent, but with a more strategic plan, you’ll be able to reach new areas of understanding. If challenged, you’ll be glad to oblige. Is it you or them? One way or another, someone is going to get hurt. Rumors or secrets can be very harmful to other’s reputations. Focus on the truth rather than passing along misinformation. Hold your head high, knowing that you have not caused the damage. Someone may be trying to confuse the issues.

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

Virgo (P) 23 August to 22 September Your ability to sense that there may be something missing from the mix. Your intuitive feelings may cause you to want to scream. Hold your tongue, as negative displays of emotion will only hurt your reputation. Others may try to introduce themselves as friends, but they are not sincere. Only you know if you’re walking into their trap. Independent thinkers will ﬁnd different ways to get their ideas across. If the time is right, the magic will happen. Try your best to separate your personal and professional lives. By week’s end, you’ll be able to collect on an offer that’s you thought you missed.

Face your fear of being alone. You may feel overwhelmed, but you’ll still be able to stand up for your beliefs. You’d prefer to delegate orders to others but if you must, you’ll put your time in the trenches. Whatever it takes to feel part of the team. You’ve done very well with what you have to work with, but now it’s time to do even better. Use your sense of humor rather than trying to make a serious point. You have to keep them interested or they’ll look elsewhere. Past experience has shown you that you have to be careful in relationships.

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Office Operations Associate Wanted Office Operations Associate Wanted for IT Services Company! (Houston, TX) We are looking for staffs who are US Citizens or Green card holders with a bachelor’s degree in any major along with 0- 1 years of office management experience. Should be able to perform general clerical functions, running errands and following day to day routine operations.

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Assignment Desk Intern KTRK-TV, the ABC Owned station located in Houston, TX is accepting applications for an assignment desk intern for the upcoming semester. Internships are available to undergrads currently enrolled college students in their junior or senior year pursuing careers in the television/media ﬁeld and must receive college credit for the internship. The successful applicant will be responsible for assisting the assignment desk, which includes but is not limited to making beat-checks, answering phones, monitoring police and ﬁre radios, getting information and developing stories. The candidate should be detail-oriented and able to handle many different responsibilities at the same time. The ideal intern knows how to multi-task and set priorities. Good news judgment and strong communication skills are essential, along with strong writing skills. The candidate should have a good working knowledge with the use of social media for news gathering. Must be willing to work evenings and weekends. All interested applicants must apply online at www.disneycareers.com, Job Req 220642BR. Please upload a cover letter, your resume outlining other internships, degrees earned, work experience, related clubs and organizations, current major course of study, expected graduation date and extracurricular activities. Equal Opportunity Employer – Female/ Minority/ Veteran/ Disability. No Telephone Calls.

Community Affairs Intern

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KTRK-TV, the ABC Owned station located in Houston, TX is accepting applications for a paid COMMUNITY AFFAIRS INTERNSHIP for the upcoming semester. Internships are available to currently enrolled undergraduate college students in their junior or senior year pursuing careers in the television/media field and must receive college credit for the internship. The internship program is designed to provide students with an on-site educational experience that complements their academic studies. Interns will have an opportunity to observe and participate in the daily work and operations of a major market, television station. As an intern you will attend help in the production of community affairs shows, including scheduling of guests, help gathering and editing video, assist with community drives, forums and outreach. Each area requires significant planning, scheduling and execution. Applicants must be currently enrolled in college and supply written verification of eligibility to receive academic credit for the internship at the start of the internship. Additionally, applicants must be able to work at least one day per week and the hours may vary depending on scheduling and may include some weekend and early morning and evening hours. All interested applicants must apply online at www.disneycareers.com, Job Req #220644BR. Please upload a cover letter, your resume outlining other internships, degrees earned, work experience, related clubs and organizations, current major course of study, expected graduation date and extracurricular activities. Equal Opportunity Employer – Female/ Minority/ Veteran/ Disability. No Telephone Calls.

Digital Content/ Web Intern KTRK-TV, the ABC Owned station located in Houston, TX is accepting applications for a paid DIGITAL CONTENT/WEB INTERNSHIP for the upcoming semester. Internships are available to currently enrolled college students in their junior or senior year pursuing careers in the television/media ﬁeld and must receive college credit for the internship. The internship program is designed to provide students with an on-site educational experience that complements their academic studies. Interns will have an opportunity to observe and participate in the daily work and operations of a major market, television station. As an intern, you will turn content generated from multiple sources into comprehensive stories formatted for digital display in a fast-paced environment. The intern will interact with newsroom personnel to get text, video and images onto multiple digital platforms. Intern will have a hand in keeping station’s various social media platforms active. Applicants must be currently enrolled in college and supply written veriﬁcation of eligibility to receive academic credit for the internship at the start of the internship. Additionally, applicants must be able to work a set weekday schedule that may include some weekend, early morning or evening hours. All interested applicants must apply online at www.disneycareers.com, Job Req 221247BR. Please upload a cover letter, your resume outlining other internships, degrees earned, work experience, related clubs and organizations, current major course of study, expected graduation date and extracurricular activities. Equal Opportunity Employer – Female/ Minority/ Veteran/ Disability. No Telephone Calls.

News Editing Internship

• Degree in Accounting or Business preferred. • Must have good working knowledge of Quickbooks and Excel. • Experience in generating ﬁnancial reports & bookkeeping. • Other duties as assigned. Good compensation for an experienced person

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Full time property manager Wanted Need full time property manager for C class Apartment complex over 250 units. Minimum 3 years experience, need to be goal oriented, Good pay with bonus. Send your resume in strict conﬁdence to : jobhiringpm@gmail.com

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KTRK-TV, the ABC Owned station located in Houston, TX is accepting applications for a paid NEWS EDITING INTERNSHIP for the upcoming semester. Internships are available to currently-enrolled college students in their junior or senior year who are pursuing careers in the television/ media ﬁeld and must receive college credit for the internship. The internship program is designed to provide students with an on-site educational experience that complements their academic studies by using a “real world” hands-on environment. News Editing Interns will have an opportunity to observe, participate, and contribute in the daily work and operations of a major market, television station. As a News/Technical Intern you will primarily assist in editing for air-- being creative and precise, while also learning the ins and outs of working behind the scenes for live newscasts. Interns will work under the direct supervision of the Digital Media Coordinator and other staff members. Additionally, applicants must be able to work at least two days per week between the hours of 2PM and 10PM. Applicants must be currently enrolled in college and supply written veriﬁcation of eligibility to receive academic credit for the internship at the start of the internship. All interested applicants must apply online at www.disneycareers.com, Job Req 260641BR. Please upload a cover letter, your resume outlining other internships, degrees earned, work experience, related clubs and organizations, current major course of study, expected graduation date and extracurricular activities. Equal Opportunity Employer – Female/ Minority/ Veteran/ Disability. No Telephone Calls.

Job Opportunity Soil and Concrete Technician wanted. No experience Required. Call 281-407-6335 or email resume to: info@texasgeotechnical.com

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