The South Asian Times

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Vol.8 No. 50 April 23-29, 2016 80 Cents

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New York Edition

Growth needed to end

poverty in India: Jaitley
By SATimes team
New York: Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley was in the US for a week to
attend the Spring Meetings of the
World Bank and IMF and bilateral
annual financial and partnership
meeting with the US secretary of
treasury. He also gave presenta
tions at leading fora presenting
Indias case and highlighting its
growth story. But his countering
the "oneeyed king" comment by
RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan
about the country's economy
dominated the headlines in India.
Jaitley argued that a 7.5 % growth
rate for any other nation would
be a "celebration". "Compared to

Continued on page 4

LIFESTYLE 15

Trump 2.0
to rejig his
campaign and persona

Dipa Karmakar
seals Olympic berth
After cruising to primary victories in
New York State this week, Trump and
Hillary are sure to get nominated by
their respective parties. (Photo: AP)

US to remain vigilant against

Iran, says the President

Continued on page 4

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Union Minister for Finance, Corporate Affairs and I&B Arun Jaitley
with Ambassador of India to US Arun Kumar Singh speaking at a
New York event hosted by Rajiv Khanna (middle), President of IACC,
on April 19. (Photo: Mohammed Jaffer/SnapsIndia).

Obama reassures
allies in the Gulf
Cairo/Riyadh: President Barack
Obama met on T hursday in
Riyadh with leaders of the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) states
to mend strained ties, with no
major announcements coming
out of the summit.
Obama pledged to remain vigi
lant against Iran's destabilizing
activities in the Middle East, as
he tried to comfort his Gulf allies
after bilateral relations were
strained by the nuclear deal
reached with Iran last year.
Obama also tried to soothe
strained ties with Saudi Arabia
when he met with King Salman
bin Abdulaziz alSaud. Some
progress was made, but the two

Follow us on

Dipa Karmakar is India's first

woman gymnast to qualify for
Olympics. (Photo: IANS)

President Obama with King

Salman of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh
on April 20. Saudis have threat
ened to dump US assets if US
passes a bill that could make the
kingdom liable for damages for
having allegedly financed some of
the 911 attackers. (Photo : AP)

SPORTS 22

BOOKS 25

Rio de Janeiro: Dipa Karmakar has

become India's first woman gym
nast to qualify for Rio Olympics.
Dipa, who is an Asian
Championship bronze medallist,
qualified in the artistic gymnastics
event for Rio Olympics after col
lecting 52.698 points in the test
event Monday. The 22yearold
Agartala girl has been listed as the
79th gymnast among individual
qualifiers in the list of women's
artistic gymnasts who have quali
fied for the Olympic Games to be
held between August 521.
More on Dipa on page 23.

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30

Hollywood, Fla. Having received a

big boost by sweeping New York
primaries, both Hillary Clinton and
Donald J. Trump can now start
focusing on the November presi
dential election rather than win
ning their respective parties nomi
nation.
In the case of Trump, the dele
gates math is still tricky, but the
many of the antiTrump elements
within the GOP seem to be easing
off, and even warming to him. The
new respectability and w ider
acceptance within the party are
having a salubrious effect on the
frontrunner, who has forced his
way in by bamboozling all and
annoying many.
Trumps newly installed cam

paign chief sought to assure mem

bers of the Republican National
Committee (RNC) on Thursday that
the candidate recognized the need
to reshape his persona and that his
campaign would begin working
with the political establishment
that he has scorned to great effect,
New York Times reported.
Addressing about 100 commit
tee members at the spring meeting
here, many of them deeply skepti
cal about Trumps candidacy, the
campaign chief, Paul Manafort,
bluntly suggested the candidates
incendiary style amounted to an
act. Thats whats important for
you to understand: That he gets it,
and that the part hes been playing

Continued on page 4

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April 23-29, 2016

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US lawmakers want Modi

to address US Congress
Washington: The leaders of the
U.S. House of Representatives
Foreign Af fairs Committee called
on Tuesday for Indian Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to address
a joint meeting of Congress during
a visit to Washington in June.
"Given the depth of our relation
ship with India across a range of
areas defense, humanitarian and
disaster relief, space cooperation,
conservation and innovation we
believe this is an ideal opportunity
for the Congress to hear directly
from the prime minister,"
Representatives Ed Royce, the
Republican committee chairman,
and Eliot Engel, the panel's rank
ing Democrat, wrote to House
Speaker Paul Ryan.
The invitation would be a sharp
turnaround for a leader who was
once barred from the United States
over allegations of killings of
Muslims.
A spokeswoman for Ryan said
she had no announcement at this
time about whether Ryan would
extend the invitation.
Invitations to address the Senate
and House are considered a great
honor. There have been only two

April 23-29, 2016

TRISTATE COMMUNITY

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

in the past year: Pope Francis, on
Sept. 24, and Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe, on April 29,
2015.
Washington sees its relationship
with India as critical, partly to
counterbalance China's rising
power. Obama has called it "one of
the dening partnerships of the
21st century."
T he letter to Ryan was also
signed
by
Republican
Representative George Holding
and Democrat Ami Bera, the co
chairmen of the Congress Caucus
on India and Indian Americans.
(Reuters)

IndianAmerican group
campaigns for 'a friend of
India in the White House'
Washington: Democratic front
runner Hillary Clinton's Indian
American supporters have
launched a nationwide group to
back her bid for White House.
Describing itself as a nationwide
grassroots volunteer organization,
the IndianAmericans for Hillary
(IAFH) said on Monday that it will
hold its inaugural event in
Gaithersburg, Maryland on 24
April.
"It is important to mobilize sup
port of millions of Indian
Americans living here in the US
for electing Hillary Clinton as our
next President," their website said.
The inaugural event and rally by
the group would be addressed by
John Podesta, national campaign
chair for the Clinton Campaign,
and Neera Tandon, president and
COO of Center for American
Progress. Tandon is one of the
close condants of Clinton.
Noting that Clinton has thou
sands of IndianAmerican friends

Hillary Clinton
across the US, IAFH said that she
had been to India four times as
rst lady, senator, and Secretary
of State. "Having traveled exten
sively in India, she has a much
deeper level of familiarity with
India than any other candidate in
the race," the group said. It also

serves as a vehicle to demonstrate

coalition support for Hillary and
move the conversation forward on
issues important to the Indian
American community. In a rally
earlier this year, Clinton had
acknow ledged that Indian
Americans were the nat ion's
fastest growing racial minority.
As Secretary of State her focus
on rebalancing US foreign policy
toward Asia contained a strong
emphasis on expanding ties with
India, the group said, adding that
during her tenure the US and
India worked to ensure closer
cooperation in high technology
areas, particularly in defense and
space.
IAFH said Clinton had promised
that she will x the nation's bro
ken immigration system, improve
access to higher education and
increase wages all issues are
extreme ly important for the
IndianAmerican electorate.
(PTI )

UN SECRETARY GENERAL HOPEFULS VIE FOR

GLOBAL SUPPORT AND INDIAS
By Arul Louis
United Nations: With the shroud of secrecy
partially lifted for the rst time from the
process of electing the next UN secretary
general, the nine candidates are taking their
case to the world and seeking out inu
encers like India.
Each of the nine candidates presented
their vision for the UN before the 193mem
ber General Assembly last week and subject
ed themselves to a grilling from not only
diplomats but also from ordinary citizens
picked by civil society organizations.
Under the spotlight of democracy, the can
didates vying to succeed Ban Kimoon are
reaching beyond the Security Council's ve
permanent members to meeting with diplo
mats individually and in groups.
According to diplomatic sources, six of
them have so far met with India's Permanent
Representative, Syed Akbaruddin, some of

them visiting him at the Indian mission in

New York. They have also been in touch with
ofcials in New Delhi because they think
India is a "signicant inuencer" of opinion
at the UN. The UNSC is to begin considering
the nominations in July.
In the 70 years of the UN, all the eight sec
retaries general were essentially picked by
the P5 Britain, China, France, Russia and
the US and the General Assembly merely
rubberstamped the choice. Although the
vetowielding P5 will continue to have the
ultimate say, it could still be different this
time.
"The Security Council will now have the
public to answer to if it fails to put merit
before political convenience in its decision
later this year," said Natalie Samarasinghe,
the executive director of United Nations
Association UK and the cofounder of 1 for
7 Billion, a campaign for opening up the
election process. "It was easy to select the

lowestdenominator candidate when meet

ings were taking place behind closed doors,
but the element of public scrutiny that has
now emerged ...has thrown a spotlight on to
the proceedings," Samarasinghe added.
"The General Assembly will no longer be
simply a rubber stamp for the P5 govern
ments' very, very awed selection process,"
explained William R. Pace, the executive
director of the Institute for Global Policy.
At the General Assembly candidates meet
ings, the members of the G4 Brazil,
Germany, India and Japan which campaign
together for Security Council reforms and
mutually support each other for permanent
Council seats rotated questioning the can
didates.
Akbaruddin raised the terrorism issue with
two of the candidates when it was his turn.
Antonio Guterres, a former prime minister of
Portugal and UN High Commissioner for
Refugees, said that terrorism is a major issue

on his agenda. The UN has to focus more on

terrorism, he said, particularly preventing
violent extremism before it metamorphosis
es into terrorism.
The nine candidates four of them women
represent a wide range of experience. In
the overlapping ofces that they hold or
have held at various times, two have been
prime ministers, three have headed or now
head UN organizations, six have been or are
now foreign ministers and one has been the
president of the General Assembly.
Seven of them are from Eastern Europe.
Under the tradition of geographic rotation of
the secretary general's ofce, it is now the
turn of Europe and East Europeans have
staked their claim because all the three pre
vious Europeans have been from the West.
There is also a groundswell of public opin
ion for electing a woman to the ofce and
for the rst time women are contesting.
(IANS)

April 23-29, 2016

India to need
$1 trillion in energy
sector by 2030: Goyal
New York: India will need $250 bil
lion in the next five to six years and
$1 trillion by 2030, a scale of
investment "unparalleled anywhere
in the world," to fuel its race to pro
vide energy for its people and help
lift masses out of poverty, according
to Piyush Goyal, the Minister for
Coal, Power and New and
Renewable Energy.
Goyal, who is on a mission to
drum up investments in the energy
sector, told reporters India will be
the largest market for energy with
its goal of quadrupling by 2030 the
current consumption of 1,050 units
per person. Savvy investors will see
the opportunities India has to offer
them in the energy as the United
States, Europe and Japan are seeing
an economic slowdown coupled
with a lowering of demand because
of greater efficiencies in consump
tion, he said. Goyal also met with
the local media in the Consulate on
April 21 where he briefed them
about various steps undertaken by
Government to improve energy
access, rapid scale up of renewable
energy, enhancing grid reliability,
integration of renewable in the grid
and the massive opportunity pre
sented by the untapped demand in
the Indian market.

Swamy & Mary Kom

nominated to Rajya Sabha
New Delhi: The central government
has decided to fill six of seven
vacancies in the nominated member
category with people close to the
BJP. T he nominations are BJP
leader Subramanian Swamy, former
journalist and BJP ideologue
Swapan Dasgupta, Malayalam actor
and BJP star campaigner in Kerala
Suresh Gopi, economist and former
member of National Advisory
Council Narendra Jadhav and boxer
Mary Kom, government sources and
the BJP confirmed independently.

Trump 2.0 to rejig his

campaign and persona
Continued from page 1
is evolving, Mr. Manafort said,
suggesting that Trump was about
to begin a more professional phase
of his campaign.
T he neg at ives are going to
come down, the image is going to
change, but Clinton is still going to
be crooked Hillary, he added.
Manaforts comments, which
included a PowerPoint presenta
tion, came during a happyhour
reception at the beachside hotel
resort here. T hey were made
behind closed doors, which were
guarded by security. But a person
in attendance taped the speech
and shared the recording with The
New York Times.
Manafort, a longtime Republican
strategist and lobbyist who in
recent weeks has taken over con
trol of much of the organization
from Mr. Trumps campaign man
ager, of fered an olive branch to
the party of ficials at the start of
his remarks.
Is Donald Trump running
ag ainst the RNC? asked Mr.
Manafort, referring to the candi
dates unrelenting assault on what
he calls the crooked nominating
process. The answer is he is not.
Manafort went further than sim
ply placating committee members:
He also openly said that. Trump
wanted to coordinate with the very
forces he has spent much of his
campaign attacking. Obviously,
Trump needs and now seeks the
partys full support behind his can
didacy.
Manafort large ly ignored
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas,
Trumps most formidable remain
ing Republican opponent, alluding
to him only to echo some remarks
Cruz made earlier this wee k.
Manafort said he agreed with
Cruz. I dont want a fractured con
vention, we want this thing to be
put to bed early, he said, adding,
We dont want to be in Cleveland

fighting for a nomination thats

already been decided.

Growth needed to end

poverty in India: Jaitley
Continued from page 1
the rest of the world we are grow
ing much faster, in fact the fastest.
Compared to our own potential,
we can do better. So at 7.5 percent
growth, any other country in the
world would be celebrating," the
finance minister said in an inter
view to CNBC TV18.
But Jaitley is acutely aware of
and is not glossing over the chal
lenges of festering poverty and
inequality in India, as is evident
from his remarks at an event
organized in a Manhattan restau
rant on April 19 by Rajiv Khanna,
President of India America
Chamber of Commerce (IACC) and
Partner of BakerHostetler.
Said Jaitley at the event, No one
can ignore the fact that we have a
large population and significant
part of that population still suffers
from poverty. However, the
growth does not necessarily mean
af fluence for some, growth in
India is necessary because the
benefits of that growth have to
first move towards poverty eradi
cation, growth generates wealth
and that in turn gets used for all
segments of the society.
Jaitely stressed that without
growth, we will only have empty
slogans, the kind we had in 1970s
where we had very progressive
slogans but were growing only by
about 2.5%. And the world used to
ridicule our growth by calling it
the Hindu rate of growth.
The minister also underlined the
geographically skewed growth and
development in India. The bulk of
the economic activity is in the
western part of the country. If you
go to east, whether its Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Bengal, northeast
parts of Orissa, significant growth
is yet to touch these areas.
Therefore, geographically we have

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a region which has a huge poten

tial. It can grow in agriculture, it
can grow in services, it is also a
mineral rich area, and when you
exploit these potential, these areas
have a tremendous opportunities.
He added that women in India
have been mostly home makers
and therefore their potential con
tribution to the GDP in terms of an
evolving work force is very signifi
cant and you can see social, gen
der and geographical instruments
available to us to grow.

Obama reassures allies in

the Gulf
Continued from page 1
leaders glossed over some of the
thorniest matters, including a
Saudi threat to dump US assets if
Obama signs into law a bill that
could make the kingdom liable for
damages stemming from the alle
gation that Saudi Arabia financed
some of the 911 attackers.
On the Iran deal, Obama said in
the Saudi capital in a brief press
conference after meeting with
leaders of the GCC countries:
When we entered into negotia
tions with Iran on the nuclear deal,
there was concern that in the
interest of getting a deal done we
would somehow look the other
way with respect to other destabi
lizing activities."
In April 2015, Iran and six world
powers, including the US, Russia,
China, Britain, France and
Germany, reached an initial agree
ment to limit Iran's nuclear activi
ties for a specific period in return
for relieving the economic sanc
tions imposed on Iran over its
nuclear program.
The US president said the deal
has "cut of f every single one of
Iran's pathways to a nuclear
weapon," but his country contin
ues to have "serious concerns"
about Iran's behavior in the
region.
A day earlier, the GCC defense
ministers and their U.S. counter

part, Ashton Carter, discussed in

Riyadh military cooperation and
the latest developments in the
Middle East, agreeing to carry out
joint patrols to stop any Iranian
arms shipments reaching Yemen.
The Persian Gulf nations, Saudi
Arabia in particular, have repeat
edly raised concerns that the
nuclear deal reached with Iran last
year will further empower the
Islamic Republic to interfere in
Arab affairs.
The tensions between Iran and
the Gulf nations reached a new
high in January when Riyadh and
a number of its Sunni Arab allies
cut diplomatic ties with Tehran,
after mobs ransacked the Saudi
embassy in response to the execu
tion of a prominent Shiite cleric in
Saudi Arabia.
At the summit, Obama and the
GCC leaders also committed to
urgently undertake steps to inten
sify the campaign to defeat the
Islamic State militant group and
the AlQaeda, and reduce regional
and sectarian tensions that fuel
instability, said a White House
statement.
It is Obama's fourth visit to the
oilrich Gulf nat ion, one of
Washington's most strategic allies
in the Middle East, since taking
office in 2009.
However, no major announce
ments came out of the summit as
Obama is already a lameduck
president, said Saeed alLawindi,
political researcher and expert of
international relations at Cairo
based AlAhram Centre for
Political and Strategic Studies.
The summit came on the heels of
Obama's crit icism of Saudi
Arabia's reg ional role, which
prompted a strong rebuke from
the Saudi royal family. In a recent
interview w ith T he Atlant ic,
Obama described Saudi Arabia and
other allies as "free riders" on US
foreign policy, and criticized what
he saw as Riyadh's funding of reli
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Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info

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arun.kumar@ians,in

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TRISTATE COMMUNITY

Indian-Americans join antideportation rally in Washington

Washington, DC: A large number
of Indian Americans and people
from the South Asian community
joined a massive rally in front of
the US Supreme Court in support
of Obama Administrations plans
to defer deportation of four mil
lion illegal immigrants whose chil
dren are US citizens.
The Supreme Court, which is
hearing the case, is now split on
the Obama Administrations plans
to defer deportation called
Deferred Actions for Parents of
Americans (DAPA).
It has been challenged by some
26 States. During the hearing on
Monday, four conservatives
judges appeared to be critical of
DAPA and Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals (DACA), while
another liberal justice suggested
that the case had no business
being before the courts at all.
Supporters of DAPA, including a
large number of Indian Americans
he ld a rally outside Supreme
Court calling for these programs
to move forward swiftly and keep

families together. This is a mis

guided and unnecessary challenge
to eminently commonsense immi
gration programs that allow some
aspiring Americans to remain
with their families, continue con
tributing to the American econo
my, and pursue their dreams, the
South Asian Americans Leading
Together (SAALT) said in a state
ment. An estimated 5.2 million
immigrants, including at least
200,000 undocumented Indian
Americans and countless more
South Asians, are eligible for
DAPA and expanded DACA
announced under President
Obamas executive action on
immigration in 2014, SAALT
said. DAPA and the expanded
DACA programs are the latest in
the long struggle for immigrant
rights in this country that should
have ended with comprehensive
immigration reform legislation in
Congress, which the Senate
passed with bipartisan support in
2013, said Suman Raghunathan,
executive director of SAALT.

April 23-29, 2016

Columbia engineer develops

technology to double WiFi speed
New York: An Indianorigin engi
neer has developed a novel technol
ogy that doubles WiFi speeds with
a single antenna an achievement
with potential to transform the
telecommunications field in future.
Columbia University's Harish
Krishnaswamy, an electrical engi
neering graduate from the Indian
Institute of Technology Madras,
has for the first time integrated a
nonreciprocal circulator and a full
duplex radio on a nanoscale silicon
chip to create the breakthrough sys
tem.
"This technology could revolu
tionize the field of telecommunica
tions," said Krishnaswamy, director
of the Columbia HighSpeed and
Mmwave IC (CoSMIC) Lab.
"Our circulator is the first to be
put on a silicon chip, and we get lit
erally orders of magnitude better
performance than prior work," he
noted.
Last year, Columbia researchers
invented a technology fullduplex
radio integrated circuits (ICs) that
can be implemented in nanoscale

Harish Krishnaswamy, director,

Columbia HighSpeed and
Mmwave IC (CoSMIC) Lab
(Image: Columbia.edu)
CMOS to enable simultaneous trans
mission and reception at the same
frequency in a wireless radio. That
system required two antennas.
"Fullduplex communications,
where the transmitter and the
receiver operate at the same time
and at the same frequency, has
become a critical research area and

now we've shown that WiFi capacity

can be doubled on a nanoscale sili
con chip with a single antenna. This
has enormous implications for
devices like smartphones and
tablets," Krishnaswamy explained.
"Being able to put the circulator
on the same chip as the rest of the
radio has the potential to signifi
cantly reduce the size of the system,
enhance its performance, and intro
duce new functionalities critical to
full duplex," added coresearcher
Jin Zhou.
Krishnaswamy's team had to
"break" Lorentz Reciprocity a fun
damental physical characteristic of
most electronic structures that
requires electromagnetic waves
travel in the same manner in for
ward and reverse directions to
develop the technology.
The research was published in the
journal Nature Communications
and the paper was presented at the
"2016 IEEE International SolidState
Circuits Conference" in San
Francisco, California, recently.
(IANS)

Sikh fervor grips Times Square Indian-American scientist engineers

T-cells to treat pancreatic cancer
on Turban Day
New York: The iconic Times Square was seeped in col
ors of Sikh culture as thousands of community mem
bers gathered in New York to celebrate Turban Day,
an annual Vaisakhi celebration and a day to educate
fellow Americans about Sikhism in the wake of grow
ing incidents of hate crimes and discrimination
against them. Legendary Indian sportsman Milkha
Singh addressed one of the largest such celebrations
in the US, calling on the Sikh community to educate
the new generation about the significance of the Sikh
culture.
Hundreds of excited tourists and children queued
up at the popular city destination to get turbans tied
on their heads in bright colours by members of the
Sikh community and took pictures and selfies wear
ing them as 'Turban Day' was also celebrated at the
event.The participants jostled to get a picture clicked
with the elderly 'Flying Sikh', who had traveled from
Canada for the event. "Today if the Sikhs have a name,
are known around the world, it is because of the tur
ban. Milkha Singh is called a 'Flying Sikh' because I
have the turban on my head and the beard on my
face. My beard and turban are the reasons for the
respect and recognition that I have across the world,"
Singh told PTI. Nonprofit organization, Sikhs of New
York and New Jersey and the event's organisers
Bobby Sidana, Kawaldeep Sahni, Chanpreet Singh and
Gurmeet Sodhi said the event aimed at not only cele

Along with celebrating Vaisakhi the event aimed at

educating Americans about Sikh
culture. (Image: Facebook/Keertan.org)
brating the festival marking the spring harvest but
also educating Americans and thousands of tourists
about the Sikh culture.
They said it would also make them aware of the sig
nificance of the Sikh articles of faith like turban and
beard and to address the misinformation about
Sikhism that leads to profiling and backlash against
members of the community, particularly after the
9/11 attack. "People here should know that Sikhs are
warriors, they have fought for other people and will
do everything to help others. The event will inspire
people here and educate them about the Sikh culture,
they will get to know who Sikhs are," Mikha Singh
said lauding the organizers for putting together the
(PTI)
event.

New York: In
neered to attack
groundbreaking
those. In the tests
research,
an
conducted on mice
IndianAmerican
w ith pancreat ic
scientist has engi
tumors, the engi
neered Tcells a
neered Tce lls
type of immune
killed those cells
cells to break the
over a 10day
pancreatic cancer's
period.
physical
and
Additionally,
immunological
Hingorani and his
walls
using
team have worked
immunotherapy.
to deve lop an
Dr
Sunil
enzyme that can
Dr Sunil Hingorani
Hingorani, mem
he lp de feat the
(Image: fredhutch.org)
ber of the clinical
tumor's
hig h
research and public health sci interstitial pressures and poten
ences divisions at Fred Hutchinson tially open the door for greater
Cancer Research Center, and col penetration and effectiveness of T
leagues created Tcells with a high cells and other types of agents.
affinity to a relatively tumorspe
By the end of the year, Dr
cific antigen.
Hingorani hopes to have the
Dr Hingorani looked for proteins human version of the Tcell in clin
also found in the linings of the ical trials.
heart and lungs that are
The findings were recently pre
expressed in unusually large sented
at
the
American
amounts in the tumor cells and Association for Cancer Research
minimally expressed elsewhere.
Annual Meeting 2016 in New
(IANS)
T he Tce lls then were eng i Orleans, US.

April 23-29, 2016

TRISTATE COMMUNITY

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

First Presbyterian Church hosts

event on Mahatma Gandhis life
New Jersey: A program celebrating life of
Mahatma Gandhi titled My Life is My Mes
sage was hosted by the First Presbyterian
Church of Rutherford, NJ, in its Interfaith Ed
ucation series on April 17 in cooperation
with the church, the EduCare Foundation in
New Jersey and the Shanti (Peace) Fund of
Long Island, N.Y. First Presbyterians Inter
faith Education series is designed to promote
respect and mutual understanding between
all faiths and cultures by focusing on what
we have common rather than on our differ
ences. The program held in the chapel in
cluded presentations on Mahatma Gandhis
life and lessons, singing and dancing on his
favorite prayers, a question answer session
and vegan refreshments.
Arvind Vora of Shanti Fund from Long Is
land as well as the Chairman of the Long Is
land Multifaith Forum was the keynote
speaker. Shanti (Peace) Fund celebrates Oc
tober 2, the actual birth day of Mahatma
Gandhi every year on Long Island. Its mis
sion is to promote peace and nonviolence
through a variety of activities in collabora
tion with schools and community organiza
tions.
Pastor Rev. Peter Wilkinson welcomed the
guests on behalf of the First Presbyterian
Church of Rutherford, NJ. Naresh Jain gave

(L to R): Monika Gajiwala, Arvind Vora,

Naresh Jain and Ameya Athalye in Gandhi
attire. Vora spoke on the life of Mahatma
Gandhi and lessons learnt.
the welcome address.
Arvind Vora in his keynote address de
scribed the life of Mahatma Gandhi, key
events and influences including play on Har
ishchandra, train ride in South Africa and the
Salt March.
He also described Mahatmas faith in the
power of prayers; and his belief in truth,

ahimsa, anekantwad and aparigraha. He said

that the application of his approach and tac
tics created a worldwide revolution to uplift
humanity and free them from imperialism
and colonialism prevalent at that time. His
life was emulated by many powerful leaders
like Martin Luther King, Jr., Nelson Mandela,
Lech Walesa and many others who changed
the history for the betterment of humanity.
Neha Shah, a dancer since the age of 5 and
a high school senior at the Middlesex Coun
ty Academy of Science, Mathematics and En
gineering Technologies, gave a dance per
formance on Vaishnav Jan to taynay kahy
eey, a favorite hymn of Mahatma Gandhi
that describes the virtues of an ideal person.
Seven year old Ameya Athalye dressed as
Mahatma Gandhi along with the walking
stick impressed the audience. Ameya, a stu
dent of Indian Culture and Hindi in the Kul
ture Kool Center of Rutherford, displayed a
poster board prepared by him for this event
on the life of Gandhi and also spoke on in
spirations from his life.
Monika Gajiwala, a professional singer and
a practitioner of Chinese medicine sang
Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram a song very
dear to Mahatma Gandhi and often sung in
his prayer meetings. She also sang Vaishnav
Jan live in the earlier dance by Neha.

NY Consulate
event marks
Dr Ambedkars
125th
anniversary
New York: Consulate General
of India, New York hosted a
function to mark the 125th
birth anniversary of Babasaheb
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar
on April 14, which was well at
tended by members of the
community. The event was or
ganized by Foundation For Hu
man Horizon headed by Deelip
Mhaske.
L. T. Ngaihte, Consul (Head of
Chancery) while welcoming
the audience, read out the
Prime Minister's message on
the occasion. Padma Shree
Kalpana Saroj of Kalpana Saroj
Foundation spoke about Dr.
Ambedkar's life, vision and
achievements.
She also distributed awards
to those who have carried out
Dr. Ambedkar's work across
the world through established
social
organizations
and
unions. Other members from
various organizations from
various countries like the Unit
ed Kingdom, Canada and India
attended the event and encour
aged their members to contin
ue working on the cause of so
cial upliftment.

I earned Social Security

and Medicare, and when I
couldnt afford healthy food,

SNAP HELPED.
- ANDRES, RETIRED BUSINESS OWNER
East Harlem
WATCH MY STORY AT FoodHelp.nyc

IndiaAmerica Chamber of Commerce (IACC) welcomed the new Consul General,

Ambassador Riva Ganguly Das in New York City at an event on April 12th. In the pic
ture Rajiv Khanna, President, IACC (second from left) and Riva Ganguly Das (center).

Padma Bhushan Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International,

was profusely honored last week in NYC. The New York Mayor declared April 14 as
'Bindeshwar Pathak Day'. Dr Pathak was conferred Humanitarian Award by NY Global
leaders Dialogue at Harvard Club. And the South Asians 4 Better New York (SA4BNY),
founded and chaired by Pam Kwatra (standing next to Dr Pathak), presented him
'Man Of The Year' award.

online at
a
itss easier to apply
Now it
Now

dHelp.nyc
Food
FoodHelp.nyc

Call 311 for more info

ACCESSNYC

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

Geeta Pasi nominated US

envoy to Chad
Washington: US President Barack
Obama has nominated Indian
American Geeta Pasi, a career for
eign service ofcer, as the country's
next envoy to Chad.
Pasi, who served as US
Ambassador to Djibouti from 2011
to 2014, is a career member of the
Foreign Service, Class of Minister
Counsellor. She is at present the
Director of the Ofce of Career
Development and Assignments in
the Bureau of Human Resources at
the Department of State.
Announcement for Pasi's nomina
tion as the next US envoy to the
central African nation of Chad came
along with several other appoint
ments to key administration post.
"I am pleased to announce that
these experienced and committed
individuals have decided to serve
our country. I look forward to work
ing with them," President Obama
said in a statement issued by the
White House.
Pasi was also the Director of the
Ofce of East African Affairs in the
Bureau of African Af fairs from
2009 to 2011, Deputy Chief of

Geeta Pasi
(Image: Wikimedia.org)
Mission at the US Embassy in
Dhaka, from 2006 to 2009, and
Deputy Principal Ofcer at the US
Consulate in Frankfurt, Germany
from 2003 to 2006.
Since joining the Foreign Service
in 1988, Pasi has also served at
posts in Cameroon, Ghana, India
and Romania.
Pasi received her BA from Duke
University and a MA in French
Studies from New York University.
(PTI)

Karanveer Singh Pannu

(Photo courtesy: compute.info)
after going through the metal
detector at the airport, he was
asked to do a selfpat down of
his turban and a chemical swab
test for explosive material.
After a positive swab test, he
was taken to a secondary
screening room to be given a full
pat down and was asked to
remove his turban to be further

Obama appoints Ajay Banga

to cybersecurity commission
Washington, DC: President
Barack Obama today appointed
Indian American MasterCard CEO
Ajay Banga as a member of the
Commission on Enhancing
National Cybersecurity, a key
administration post tasked with
working towards internet safety.
Banga is one of the nine mem
bers of the Commission on
Enhancing National Cybersecurity
appointed by Obama, a White
House announcement said.
"I have charged the Commission
on
Enhancing
Nat ional
Cybersecurity with the critically
important task of identifying the
steps that our nation must take to
ensure our cybersecurity in an
increasing ly dig ital world,"
Obama said.
"These dedicated individuals
bring a wealth of experience and
talent to this important role, and I
look forward to receiving the
Commission's recommendations,"
he said.
Banga, in his midfties, has

Teen author of book on bullying

forced to remove turban at US airport
New York: A Sikh
American teenager who
authored a book about
bullying that the com
munity faces in the US
was forced to remove his
turban at the Meadows
Fie ld
Airport
in
Bakerseld, California, a
media report has said.
Karanveer
Sing h
Pannu was heading for
the annual Sikh Youth
Symposium a public
speaking competition
held in Bakerseld but
was forced to remove
his turban by Transportation
Security Administration (TSA)
personnel, NBC News reported
this week.
"I had gone to talk about my
book as an inspirational speaker
to address all the kids participat
ing in the annual Sikh Youth
Symposium," Pannu was quoted
as saying. According to him,

April 23-29, 2016

scanned, the report added.

"I re fused at rst but
when they threatened me
that I could not y, I
agreed, provided they gave
me a mirror to retie my
turban," said Pannu who
wrote the book t itled
"Bullying of Sikh American
Children: Through the Eyes
of a Sikh American High
School Student."
"Be fore I removed my
turban, Agent Hernandez
asked the dreaded asinine
question, 'Is there any
thing we need to be aware
of before you remove your tur
ban?' I politely answered that
there is a lot of long hair and
something called the brain
underneath," he was quoted as
saying in the report.
Meanwhile, the TSA declined
to comment on the specics of
any individual passenger's
(IANS)
screening experience.

MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga (Image courtesy: thenational.ae)

been president and CEO of
MasterCard since 2010. He joined
MasterCard in 2009 as President
and COO.
Banga has served as a member
of the Advisory Committee for
Trade Policy and Negotiations
since 2015.
An alumnus of the Indian
Inst itute of Management,

Ahmedabad, he is also a member

of the Board of Directors of the
Dow Chemical Company, the
Board of Governors of the
American Red Cross, the Council
of Foreign Relations, and serves
as Chairman of the Financial
Services Roundtable and cochair
of the American India Foundation.
(PTI)

Cox & Kings replaces BLS for

Indian passport services
Washington, DC: The existing India
Passport Application Center in
Washington DC, which is operated
by M/s BLS International Services
Limited will close operations May 6
according to an Embassy of India
press release.
Embassy of India, Washington DC
will accept passport applications
through the new India Passport
Application Center (IPAC) (Suite
10090, 1250 23rd St NW
Washington, DC 20037)
in Washington DC, which will be
operated by M/s Cox and Kings
Global Services with ef fect from
May 9. A service fee of US$ 19.95
(inclusive of all taxes) per applica
tion will be charged at the IPAC in
addition to applicable passport fees.
During the transition of outsourc
ing services from M/s BLS
International Services Limited (BLS)
to M/s Cox and Kings Global
Services (CKGS), acceptance of pass
port applications and return of
processed passports will be handled
as follows: BLS will not accept any

postal application after 22 April

2016 (Friday). Only postal applica
tions postmarked on or before 22
April 2016 will be accepted by BLS;
BLS will not accept regular walkin /
appointment applications after 29
April 2016 (Friday); BLS will only
accept Tatkal walkin / appointment
applications from 2 May 2016
(Monday) to 6 May 2016 (Friday).
Renewed passports for all pass
port applications accepted by BLS
will be returned to applicants by
BLS through walkin collection or
through postal dispatch, where the
applicant has chosen for postal
delivery. For passport applications
under processing at the Embassy
during the transition period,
renewed passports will be returned
to the applicants by Embassy of
India, Washington DC. Applicants
are advised to check tracking status
of their applications on BLS website.
BLS will also inform all those appli
cants by email whose renewed pass
ports will be returned directly by
the Embassy.

April 23-29 2016

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

PHYSICIAN JAILED
FOR $3 MILLION
HEALTHCARE FRAUD
Washington, DC: A 60yearold
IndianAmerican physician and
a we llknown supporter of
Khalistan movement has been
sentenced to 9 years in prison
for a $3 million healthcare
fraud scheme in the US in
which he filed claims for proce
dures that were never per
formed. Paramjit Singh Ajrawat,
was ordered to forfeit and pay
restitution of $3 million in fed
eral court in Greenbelt.
The US Attorney's Office said
in a news release that Paramjit
and his wife, Sukhveen Kaur
Ajrawat, owned and operated
Washington Pain Management
Center in Greenbelt.
In September 2015, a federal
jury convicted Paramjit and his
57yearold wife. His wife died
on February 1, and the charges
against her were dismissed.

During trial, evidence was

presented that showed how the
couple defrauded federal health
benefit programs, including
Medicare and Medicaid. The
defrauding ef forts happened
from January 2011 to May
2014.
T hey were convicted in
September of numerous
offences, including health care
and wire fraud, obstruction of
justice, and aggravated identity
theft.
At the peak of the Khalistan
movement, Paramjit was black
listed
by
the
Indian
Government. In May 2011, he
along with 138 others includ
ing Gurmit Singh Aulakh, presi
dent of the Council of Khalistan,
were removed from the black
list, which prevents their entry
into India.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Sangay Mishras book spotlights

Indian Americans shift in voting
New Jersey: A new book about vot
ing patterns in the United States
authored by Sangay K. Mishra
seeks to explain how the Indian
American community has switched
its party support over the past
decade and a half.
Mishras book, Desis Divided:
The Political Lives of South Asian
Americans, delves into how the
Republican Partys antiimmigrant
stance follow ing the Sept. 11
attacks on the U.S. has leaned the
Indian American community
towards Democrats.
Post 9/11 the whole racial hos
t ility has really pushed them
towards the Democratic Party,
because the Republican Party has
the consistently taken antiimmi
grant position, Mishra said in a
recent interview. Post 2001, they
have moved away from the
Republican Party, which is seen
more as a party which is opposed
to immigrants, which is opposed to
immigrant integration.
The author added, The second
factor is that the Republican Party

Sangay Mishra
(Image credit: drew.edu)
has moved much closer to an evan
gelical Christianity kind of outlook
where Christianity is as the center
of their mobilization. And so any
one who is not Christian is feeling
little bit more uncomfortable with
their rhetoric.
Even though as a party they are
open to everyone, but when you
look at their rhetoric during the
elections and hear some of the can
didates, there is much more
Christianity rhetoric. This also
pushes Indian Americans towards
the Democratic Party, Mishra

argued. At a time, when candidates

are fighting for each delegate in
closelycontested primary elections
in both the part ies, Indian
Americans in some of the key
states like New York, New Jersey,
Maryland and California, where
they have a sizeable presence, can
tilt the equation one way or the
other, the author said.
Indian Americans are over
whe lming ly supporters of the
Demo crat ic Party. But unlike
African Americans these groups
are open to persuasion, Mishra
said. Referring to a survey, Mishra,
an assistant professor of political
science at Drew University in New
Jersey said, So more than 80 per
cent of Indian Americans who
voted, voted for Democrats. That
goes against the idea that Indian
Americans since they are affluent
they tend to vote more
Republican.
Mishra specializes in immigrant
political incorporation, Indian dias
pora, global immigration and racial
(PTI)
and ethnic politics.

ATA hosts pepup banquet in Los Angeles American sex abuse survivor

to sue Indian priest, diocese

ATA members at the banquet

Los Angeles: America Telugu
Association [ATA] hosted an evening
of pepup celebrations in connec
tion with the forthcoming silver
jubilee ATA Convention in Los
Angeles, California recently with
South Indian movie star Regina
Cassandra as the chief guest that
attracted over 600 guests.
The evening celebrations began
with KK Reddy, Convention Director,
Ravinder Reddy, ATA exTrustee and
actress Regina Cassandra making a
joint appearance to welcome the
guests. KK Reddy, Convention
Director in his address to the guests
highlighted the significant strides

being made towards the much

awaited ATA Convention in July 13
in Chicago and added ATA
Convention is beginning to evoke
wider interest from Telugu families
across major countries in North
American, Europe and Asia.
Narasimha Reddy Dhysani,ATA
Trustee thanked the guests and
pledged that Telugu families from
California will come out in large
numbers as participants at the ATA
Convention and added that they
would mobilize pledges of over one
hundred thousand dollars towards
hosting the convention.
Some wellknown Telugu leaders

who attended the celebrations

include Ravindar Reddy, Venkat
Yiramalla, Anil Boddireddy, Rinda
Sama, Praveen Nayani, Yugandhar
Reddy Mothey, Kishore Budaraju,
Ravi Dyapa, Vijay Stotrabhashyam,
Abhi Pagadala, Saradhi Goli, Bharat
Akunapuram, Sunil Tokala, Ravi
Talanki, Sudheer Surasani, Ramesh
Kurella, Ravi Jangala, Surendra
Marisela, Anoop Goud and ATA
Regional Coordinator Kumar
Talanki who proposed a vote of
thanks. The evening celebrations
continued with the Rhythm Music
Melody group performing music
and singing led by Rahul Sipligunj.

Washington, DC: A 26yearold

American woman will file a lawsuit
against a Catholic Indian priest and
his church in India for allegedly sex
ually abusing her during his posting
in the US between 2004 and 2005.
The move comes in protest against
the recent Vatican decision which
announced Diocese of Ootacamund
located in Mylapore is reinstating
Joseph Jeyapaul to ministry.
Minnesota attorney Jeff Anderson
will file suit on behalf of the victim in
federal court that claims the Diocese
of Ootacamund endangered children
by reinstating Jeyapaul.
Jeyapaul who served as a priest in
Crookston township of Minnesota in
2004 and 2005 was arrested in
India in 2012 and extradited to the
US on charges of sexually abusing
two girls in a congregation.
He was later deported to India last
year, after serving his sentence of
one year and one day.
In a statement, advocacy group
SNAP (Survivors Network of those
Abused by Priests) announced that

one of the sexual abuse survivors

would sue the priest and the diocese.
"It may be the most irresponsible
Vatican move we've ever seen:
Catholic officials in Rome have lifted
the suspension of a recently convict
ed predator priest. We are stunned
and saddened by such blatant reck
lessness and callousness," Barbara
Dorris of St Louis, Outreach Director
of SNAP, said in a statement.
A letter sent to Anderson and
Roseau County Attorney Lisa
Hanson and signed by over 500
Jeyapaul supporters in India will also
be released as evidence of the public
danger (nuisance) permitted by
Indian Bishop and Vatican, it said.
"On January 16, 2016, with the
permission of Pope Francis, Bishop
Amalraj lifted the suspension of
Father Joseph Jeyapaul," the firm
said.
"Catholic officials refuse to keep
this admitted sex of fender away
from kids, so our only hope of stop
ping him is to get him charged and
convicted again," Dorris said. (PTI)

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

US AFFAIRS

April 23-29, 2016

Trump, Clinton cruise to wins in New York

New York: Donald Trump and Hillary
Clinton regained their stride in the presi
dential race Tuesday night, winning their
respective primaries in New York and
sending a message to their rivals that
their campaigns are back on track after
recent stumbles.
Trump, in his home state, notched what
appeared to be his biggest victory yet.
Speaking to cheering supporters Tuesday
night at Trump Tower, he declared: We
dont have much of a race anymore.
Senator [Ted] Cruz is just about mathe
matically eliminated, Trump claimed.
Were really, really rockin. Indeed,
Cruz's poor showing left him with no
mathematical chance of clinching the
nomination before the Republican conven
tion in July, though Trump could still end
up short of the 1,237 needed to seal victo
ry before the gathering.
With 94 percent of precincts reporting,
Trump had garnered 60 percent of the
vote, his highest total in any state. He had
claimed at least 89 of New York's 95
Republican delegates.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich finished second in
the state with 25 percent of the vote, leav
ing Cruz to finish third with 15 percent.
Kasich was awarded at least three dele

Making victory speeches in New York: Donald Trump

and Hillary Clinton. (Photo: Reuters; EPA)
gates, leaving Cruz in danger of getting
shut out.
As of Tuesday night, Trump had 845
delegates. Cruz had 559, and Kasich had
147. Cruz, who infamously panned
Trump's "New York values" earlier in the
primary, had been bracing for a tough

showing in the Empire State and showed

no signs of throwing in the towel.
In the Democratic race, Clinton soundly
defeated Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders in
her adopted home state, which she repre
sented in the Senate for eight years.
Despite the Brooklynborn Sanders hard

fought attempt at an upset, the former

secretary of state successfully staved of f
that possibility Tuesday night. With 94
percent of precincts reporting, Clinton had
58 percent to Sanders 42 percent.
Clinton claimed the race for the
Democratic nomination is now entering
the home stretch and victory is in
sight. In an apparent bid to bridge divides
in the party amid an increasingly bitter
primary, she directed a message to
Sanders voters: There is much more that
unites us than divides us.
Clinton and Trump both were seeking
rebound victories Tuesday after recent
setbacks. Cruz had complicated Trump's
path to the nomination by winning recent
contests like Wisconsin and getting allies
elected to state delegate slates. On the
Democratic side, Sanders had been on a
winning streak up until Tuesday win
ning seven of the eight prior contests.
Whether Trump and Clinton's perform
ance Tuesday will help either wrap up the
race in the coming weeks remains an open
question. The campaigns head next to five
Eastern states that vote next Tuesday:
Pennsylvania, Maryland, Connecticut,
Rhode Island and Delaware.
IANS

Tubman to be first African

DELEGATES BOUND TO
American on U.S. currency
RUBIO, KASICH BEGIN
WARMING TO THE DONALD
Washington: Republican Nat ional
Convention delegates from the District of
Columbia who are bound to or support
ive of Sen. Marco Rubio (RFL), te ll
Breitbart News that they are open to sup
porting Donald Trump instead. Some are
making the pitch that they want Trump
to pick Rubio as his vice presidential can
didate, but nonetheless the warm com
ments many of these Rubio delegates are
making about Trumpinstead of about
Sen. Ted Cruz (RTX)is perhaps a sign
of a turning tide in the delegate game
after Trump captured at least 89 dele
gates in New York Tuesday night.
I think him choosing Marco [as vice
president] would make me more inclined
to support him, in a more positive way, a
more active role in campaigning because
I really love Marco, said Teri Galvez, a
bound delegate from D.C. who the D.C.
GOP says is bound to Ohio Gov. John
Kasich, in an interview with Breitbart
News this week.
I am going to support whoever the
nominee is because Im Republican first
and foremost, and it would be very hard
for me to ever support a Democrat, she
said. When I was single I never even
dated one. I dont get excited about
Trump. He is the one candidate that I get
excited the least about. Again, if Marco
was chosen as VP I would warm up to the
idea more. Even though shes bound to
Kasich according to the D.C. primary
results, Galvez is much more of a Rubio
supporter. And shes hardly the only

D.C. delegate and Rubio supporter open

to backing Trump at the convention.
W hen asked if she would support
Trump at the convention, Maureen Blum,
another D.C. delegate who is bound to
Rubio, also made a pitch for Trump to
select Rubio as his vice president:
One D.C. alternate delegate who sup
ports Rubio told Breitbart News on con
dition of anonymity that: If Trump
becomes the nominee, asking Marco
Rubio to be the V.P. candidate would
unite the convention and the Party.
Additionally, it will help to balance a New
York, very mo derate to liberal
Republican with a Christian conservative
V.P. If the convention and Party do not
unify and come together, I do not see
how we can win in November.
That alternate delegate and Rubio sup
porter also suggested that Trump bring
in Dr. Ben Carsonwhos already
endorsed himas the leading figure to
undo Obamacare, and that Trump place
Cruz on the US Supreme Court.
Whatever happens, its important we
have a unity ticket at the convention and
leave Cleveland united and energized,
the alternate delegate and Rubio backer
said. Whatever combination emerges,
w ith Cruz or w ithout, a unified
Republican front is the goal.
In recent interviews, Trump has sug
gested that he may pick Rubio,
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, or Ohios
Kasich as his vice president.
Breitbart News

Washington: Anti
slavery crusader
Harriet Tubman
w ill become the
first
African
American to be fea
tured on the face of
U.S. paper currency
when she replaces
President Andrew
Jackson on the $20
bill,
the
U.S.
T r e a s u r y
D e p a r t m e n t
Harriet Tubman was born a slave and helped hundreds of slaves
announced
on
escape using the network of safehouses.
Wednesday.
She will also be the first woman on U.S. hundreds of slaves escape using the net
work of safehouses known as the
paper currency in more than a century.
T he redesigned $20 bill w ill move Underground Railroad, followed public
Jackson to the back of the bill alongside outreach by the Treasury Department
an image of the White House, Treasury regarding which woman should be fea
tured on a bill after they announced plans
officials said.
A new $10 bill will keep founding father in June to feature one on the $10 note.
W hile no depict ions of African
Alexander Hamilton on the front, while
adding images of five women, all leaders Americans have appeared on U.S. curren
of the women's suffrage movement, to the cy, the signatures of five African
Americans have been on it. Four were
back.
The reverse of a new $5 note will honor Registers of the Treasury and included
events held at the Lincoln Memorial in Blanche K. Bruce, Judson W. Lyons,
Washington D.C., including former first William T. Vernon and James C. Napier,
lady Eleanor Roosevelt and Martin Luther and one was U.S. Treasurer Azie Taylor
Morton.
King, Jr., officials said.
Native American Sacagawea has been
The slew of changes give the Treasury "a
featured
on the gold dollar coin since
chance to open the aperture to reflect
1999,
and
suffragist Susan B. Anthony has
more of America's history," Treasury
appeared
on
the silver dollar coin since
Secretary Jacob Lew told reporters on a
1979.
Deafblind
author and activist
conference call.
Helen
Keller
is
on
the
back of the Alabama
The decision to replace the seventh
president of the United States w ith quarter, which was first issued in 2003.
Reuters
Tubman, who was born a slave and helped

10

April 23-29, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

OP-ED

Demonizing Muslims is not American

By Dr. Chandra Mittal
o sooner had the news of
terrorist attacks in Brussels
begun to spread in the early
hours of March 22 than the US
politicians began providing quick
fixes to prevent such happenings
on the homeland. One such solu
tion came from the Republican
Presidential candidate Senator Ted
Cruz who proposed that US
authorities should surveil the
neig hborhoo ds inhabited by
Muslims. Sometime ago another
idea had come from Donald Trump
that United States should ban
Muslims from entering into US.
Of course, both of these pre
scriptions were so outlandish and
unAmerican that they got
nowhere and were rejected by
most Americans. Such political
statements were not serious policy
proposals but a kneejerk reac
tions in an election season to capi
talize on the fear of Americans to
gain in the current Primary elec
tions. Such rhetoric is divisive and
destructive as it promotes anti
Muslim sent iments. It is also
af fecting the morale of other
migrant communities especially
from India, Pakistan and the
Middle East.
It is true that terrorist incidence
around the globe in the name of
Islam is the source of genuine anx
iety and apprehension about peo
ple who are committed to such
ghastly acts. Many in US believe
that ISIS in the Middle East with its
record of atrocities, antiAmerican
rhetoric, and modern technology

Since its birth

America has dealt
with many tough
challenges and
brought them
to positive
conclusion. The
current situation
visvis
antiMuslim
rhetoric will be
no exception.
intends to mount another lethal
attack on the US soil. The memory
of 911 is still alive in peoples
minds and weig hs heavily on
American psyche because almost
3000 innocent lives were lost in
New York.
Such developments are not set
tling for any country. But for
politicians to exploit the public
fear by demonizing a particular
minority group for political gain is
not constructive. These are law
andorder matters not to be politi
cized. No wonder some are equat
ing Trump and Cruz ideas to
Nazism of the 1940s. Such politi
cal statements can only exacerbate
the problem, not solve it. Most
American Muslims and other
minorities are highly successful
professionals and productive US
citizens. Associating them with
acts of terrorism is alienating and
demoralizing.

Violent incidences in the name

of faith are a relatively new phe
nomenon for the US unlike Asian
countries that have had a long his
tory with such situations and have
learned to adjust with religious
diversity and differences through
the centuries. Until 1965 USA was
predominantly a Christianmajori
ty country with most migrants
from European countries. So, there
was little valuebased conflict
among the people. Today, howev
er, halfacentury later with almost
59 million new migrants from
Asia, Africa and other countries
with nonChristian believers has
created a new circumstance for
US. It is perhaps this reality that
has prevented President Obama
from publicly using qualifiers like
radical or fundamentalist to
describe the faith of those associ
ated with violent acts. Qualifiers
used by a President have serious

implications for the domestic poli

cy. And that is the responsible
position for a national leader to
take. This has been, of course,
much to the consternation of his
detractors. But the same was prac
ticed by President George W. Bush
who after 911 described Islam as
a peaceful religion to prevent any
backlash ag ainst American
Muslims.
United States undoubtedly con
fronts a tricky challenge of main
taining internal security, societal
peace, and constitutional protec
tion. While American leaders and
policy wonks engage in crafting
new strategies and action plans to
meet these challenges, it may be
worthwhile to look at the experi
ences of other societies who have
dealt with religious diversity and
worked successfully with them
through the history.
Development of tolerance, inte

gration and acceptance of reli

gious diversity in a society are a
long, jerky, generational, evolu
tionary process. Minds cannot be
changed overnight. This is best
illustrated by India, which had its
first Muslim ruler in 12th Century.
Today, through tough challenges
over eight centuries, Islam has
become part of Indias religious,
social and cultural heritage with
significant HinduMuslim integra
tion as reflected in Indian arts,
music, architecture, literature, etc.
Politically provocative and divi
sive rhetoric of politicians against
any minority has no place in pub
lic discourse in US. It is not
responsible to destroy the soul of
America or its Constitutional sanc
tity. Demonizing a religious faith
cannot bring peace, unity or cohe
siveness in society. It will create
the opposite outcome. There is
need for tolerance, acceptance of
all religious beliefs within the lim
its of the US Constitution.
Since its birth America has dealt
with many tough challenges and
brought them to positive conclu
sion. The current situation will be
no exception. Once it evolves to
that point, the Trumps and the
Cruzs of this world will become an
irrelevant footnote in American
history, and will be remembered
only for Not Making America
Great Again to put it rhetorically.
Dr. Chandra Mittal is Professor
at Houston Community College,
and CoFounder of IndoAmerican
Association, Houston.
He can be contacted at drckmit
tal@yahoo.com.

Jain academic education spreads wings in America

By Dr. Sulekh C. Jain

ainism is one of the oldest and

6th largest re lig ion of the
world. More than 125,000
Jains now live in USA and Canada.
They have put down strong roots
here in the form of a national
organization of all Jains (JAINA ),
many places of worship (more than
70) and a sizeable number of insti
tutions and organizations (more
than 100). A significant number of
Jain youths is now studying in
some of the top universities of USA
and Canada.
Starting practically from ground
zero, during the last 12 years, the
Jain community in North America
(with the support of a few commit
ted donors) has been striving to
establish studies, teaching and
research in Jainism at universities
and colleges in North America. As a
result some progress has been
achieved. Below is a brief summary
of some of the accomplishments.

International School for Jain

Studies (www.isjs.in). Since its
inception in 2005, nearly 600 fac
ulty, scholars, postdoctorates,
graduate and undergraduate stu
dents and high school teachers
(from more than 25 universities
and 10 countries) have gone to
India during summers to learn
about Jainism and ahimsa. This
year alone a record 95 scholars
from 6 countries will be going to do
the same.
A unique feature of this program
is that India becomes a classroom
for students. There they have a
chance to see, touch, taste, smell
and experience living Jainism. They
experience Jain and Indian hospi
tality, see some beautiful sights,
meet scores of saints/ascetics,
scholars, Jain professionals, leaders
and businessmen. They also have a
chance to interact and share knowl
edge of mutual interest with many.
In the class rooms, students are
exposed to some broad aspects of

Jain philosophy, history, culture

and society. In India, they get an
insiders view of Jainism, which
could not be replicated in America
or anywhere else in the world.
What they learn, how they learn
and where they learn makes the
India experience unforgettable to
most. Another unique feature is
that it is integrated within many
university systems and as a result,
quite a few students after they
return from this program actually
earn credits from their home insti
tutions.
Upon their return from India,
some of the scholars started offer
ing classes in Jainism at their own
institutes and some others pursued
their studies. As a result, 14 have
already completed their PhDs and
more are working for their PhDs.
Just recently, this school organ
ized 3 highly successful seminars at
3 prestigious universities in India
on Jain practice of Santhara or
Sanlekhana (end of life the Jain

way) in which more than 70 Indian

and international experts partici
pated.
The Jain School is also complet
ing its massive research project in
six volumes covering everything
about Jainism from Antiquity to
Society, Philosophy, Literature and
languages, Material Culture and
Relevance.
T he school was also recently
awarded a research contract by
Government of Indias Indian
Council on Philosophical Research
for study and research on Jain
Yoga. As we started educating and
training new and young faculty and
scholars in Jainism, the Jain com
munity and the academics started
realizing the need for the perma
nent presence of Jain studies at
many colleges and universities in
North America.
The first funded Chair in Jainism
was established by the Jain commu
nity at Florida Internat ional
University in Miami Florida in

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.

200910. In August 2015, the Jain

community established another
Chair (Parshwanath Presidential
Chair in Jainism) at the University
of California at Irvine, CA. In
January 2016, the community also
established Bhagwan Mahavir Post
Doctoral Fellowship in Jain Studies
at Rice University in Houston,
Texas.
Currently we also have centers /
programs for Jain studies at several
other universities. These include
Emory University, Atlanta,
University of Texas in Aust in,
University of North Texas in
Denton, Loyola Marymount
University, LA, San Diego State
University, San Diego, Claremont
School of Theology, Claremont, CA,
and Graduate Theological Union,
Berkeley, CA.
Dr. Jain is the Founder and
Chairman of the Governing Council
of International School for Jain
Studies USA (www.jainstudies.org)
and Secretary

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

US AFFAIRS

Congressman
Gibson in Iraq
in 2007 on
one of his
four deploy
ments to the
country.

By Robert Golomb

f I decide to run ag ainst

Andrew Cuomo in 2018, I am
condent that I will beat him,
19th Cong ressional District
(which covers areas near Albany
and surrounding its eastern, west
ern and southern sides)
Republican Congressman Chris
Gibson stated, as we began our
interview in midtown Manhattan
last week. Gibsons use of the con
ditional conjunction if, though,
could fairly be described as ques
tionable: In February he formed
what is now a wellstaffed guber
natorial exploratory committee.
That exploratory committee, which
launched
a
we bsite
GibsonforNY.com, is already pro
ducing a broad range of position
papers and reaching out for sup
port to state Republican officials,
has convinced many w ithin
Republican and Democratic camps
throughout the state that Gibson is
all but assured to enter the race.
However, if, as expected, he
decides to run, his prediction of
victory would seem to be chal
lenged by the political realities of
New York State, which has regis
tered Democrats holding a 21
advantage over reg istered
Republicans. Such an advantage in
voter party registration has been
credited with the Democrats con
trol of the two NYS United States
Senator positions, with former
Senator Al DAmatos reelection in
1994 to a seat he had held for two
previous terms being the last time
a Republican has been elected to
that position.
Still, what would seem at first
glance to put Gibsons optimism
even more to the test would be the
past three governors races in the
state. After three terms of
Republican Governor George
Pataki, a moderate known for his
alliances on key economic issues
with Democrats in the state assem
bly and senate, the Democratic
candidates have glided to easy vic
tories over their Republican oppo
nents in the past three elections,
with Eliot Spitzer (who was to

resign in March 2008 in the wake

of a prostitution scandal) garner
ing 69% of the vote in 2006
against then former state assem
bly leader John Faso; current
Governor Andrew Cuomo collect
ing 62% in his first term victory in
2010 against upstate businessman
Carl Paladino and winning 54% in
his 2014 reelection to a second
term against Westchester County
Executive Robert Astorino.
Gibson, 51, the married father of
three teenage children, told me,
however, that the fact that
Democrats have dominated state
elections over the past 20 years is
not a predictor for the governors
race in 2018. He contended that
his victories in the 19th CD, a left
leaning district, can be replicated
on a state wide scale, segueing into
a victory in 2018.
Pressed, thoug h, Gibson
acknowledged, that if he does
decide to run against Governor
Cuomo, he will still be running an
uphill battle. Cuomo will come
into the campaign as a two term
incumbent with a tremendous
political war chest collected from
the New York State Democratic
machine and liberal interest
groups, he stated.
It is, in fact, because of that
Cuomo war chest, which con
tained more than 45 million dol
lars in 2014 and is expected to be
filled with even more cash in
2018, that requires Gibson,
according to a source with close
ties to his exploratory committee,
to formally announce his candida
cy by early next year, giving him
almost two years before the elec
tion to raise the 20 million dollars
said to be required to wage a com
petitive campaign.
While still declining to provide
the specific date he plans to
announce his expected decision to
enter the 2018 race, Gibson told
me he fully understands that his
ability to reach the electorate is
conditioned in large part by his
campaigns financial resources
and thus understands the impor
tance of early fund raising.
It will require money to, among

April 23-29, 2016

11

The Gibson
family
outside their
home in
Kinderhook,
NY; from left
Connor, Mary
Jo, Chris,
Maggie, and
Katie.
(Photo: Jason
Meath)

other expenses associated with

running a statewide campaign, pay
for television and radio time to
communicate my positions on the
critical issues facing the state and
explain my plans to address them
to the voters, he acknowledged.
So I understand the importance of
raising campaign funds as early as
possible.
The issues he would address,
Gibson told me, include the econo
my, education, political corruption
and public safety. Beginning with
his plans to improve the economy,
Gibson stated, Under Governor
Cuomo New York State has the
highest local and state taxes in the
nation on both businesses and
individual families. Reducing this
tax burden would encourage busi
nesses already here to stay and
attract new businesses to set up
shop in our state. This would cre
ate more well paying private sec
tor jobs and provide more goods
and services to all New Yorkers.
Lowering the tax burden on indi
viduals and their families will lead
to all New Yorkers enjoy ing
greater spending power.
Gibson continued his criticism of
Governor Cuomo, as he discussed
his plans on education. Governor
Cuomo, he stated, has been a
champion of Common Core, which
takes power away from parents,
students, teachers and administra
tors and gives it all to bureaucrats
in Washington DC. It is little won
der that it has failed miserably
here in New York and throughout
the nation. My education plan is
predicated upon returning power
to all the real stakeholders in the
education process parents, stu
dents, teachers and administrators
the same stakeholders Common
Core has disenfranchised.
Gibsons plan on political reform
is based on the premise that the
political culture in Albany is filled
w ith corrupt ion that must be
cleaned up. We have to concede,
he contended, that while the
majority of elected of ficials in
Albany are personally honest and
decent women and men, there is a
culture of corruption that perme

ates throughout the state capital. I

think we need to re form the
process with term limits for the
governor, and I will lead by exam
ple by imposing a twoterm limit
on myself. I will also initiate
tough, nononsense legislation that
will finally put an end to all gov
ernmental misconduct in the state
capital.
Lastly, Gibson discussed public
safety, which, he said, is the most
fundamental responsibility that
government has to fulfill for its cit
izens. It is the most important job
of government to make certain
that its citizens feel and are safe in
their homes, neighborhoods and
streets without taking away their
rights, he stated. To secure this
safety, it is essential that the police
realize they have the support of
both the public and elected of fi
cials.
I believe, Gibson added, that
these will be winning positions
with the voters simply because
they are the right positions for our
state.
While whether or not those are
in fact the winning and right
positions might be weighed heavi
ly on a political scale, there might
be one item found in Gibsons per
sonal narrative that could prove to
be as appealing to Democrats as it
is to Republicans: During his three
terms in Congress, Gibson has
each year voluntarily returned his
military pension for his 29 years
of service in the US Army to the
Treasury Department.
Those 29 years of military serv
ice, which ended in his retirement
with the rank of colonel in 2010,
cover five in the National Guard
followed by twenty four in the reg
ular United States Army which
included four combat tours to Iraq,
one during the Gulf War and three
during the height of the most
recent war in Iraq.
Those three Congressional terms
span from his first election to the
20th CD in 2010, when he defeat
ed an incumbent by 10%, to 2012
when he scored a victory in the
redistricted Democratic leaning
19th CD, to 2014 when he was re

elected to the 19th CD by just

under a 30% margin currently his
last term due to his honoring the
pledge he made to a three term
limit during the 2010 campaign
another item that could possibly
resonate with voters.
Explaining those decisions,
Gibson stated, It is imperative we
follow through on the commit
ments we make to the voters who
elect us to serve, and I have strived
every day to do just that leading
by example, honoring my pledges,
and putting my constituents first
in everything I do.
There still remains, however,
one obstacle that could stand in
the way of a Gibson Cuomo race:
Robert Astorino, who remains very
popular in both Westchester and
upstate New York and won a great
deal of praise across the state for
running a straight issue oriented
campaign in his loss to Cuomo in
2012 in which he was outspent by
nearly ten to one, is sending sig
nals that he is considering a sec
ond run against the governor. And
thus there could emerge a sce
nario in which Astorino and
Gibson wind up engaged in a pri
mary battle to win the Republican
nomination.
Gibson did not directly answer
my question about that possibility,
stating instead, I have nothing but
respect for Rob, whom I strongly
supported in his race against
Cuomo in 2014, and I look for
ward to supporting for his reelec
t ion to County Execut ive in
Westchester in 2017. But Rob is
my friend and Cuomo is my oppo
nent. My sole focus is on beating
Andrew Cuomo. To do that we
need to start now not in the year
of the election and Im traveling
across the state to get us ready to
win. Note the absence of the
word if. Take a sure bet: Gibson
will be running for governor of
New York State in 2018.

Robert Golomb is a nationally

and internationally published
columnist. Mail him at
MrBob347@aol.com and follow
him on Twitter@RobertGolomb

12

April 23-29, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

INDIA

High Court axes

President's Rule in
Uttarakhand

Dehradun: In a major
blow to the central gov
ernment, the Uttarakhand
High Court on Thursday
set aside President's Rule
imposed in the hill state
last month.
After two consecutive
days of hearing on a mat
ter filed by ousted
Congress chief minister
Harish Rawat, the court
said the proclamation of
central rule in the state
stood null and void.
The court said central
Ousted chief minister Harish Rawat at a
rule should be clamped in
press meet in Dehradun. (Photo: IANS)
a state as a last resort,
suggesting this did not
the Congress said.
happen in Uttarakhand. It fixed
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
April 29 for a floor test in the Kejriwal also hailed the court
state assembly.
decision.
The ruling triggered noisy cele
"This is a huge embarrassment
brations outside Rawat's resi to the (Narendra) Modi govern
dence by Congress leaders and ment. He should stop interfering
activists who shouted slogans with elected governments and
against the Bharatiya Janata respect democracy," the Aam
Party (BJP).
Aadmi Party (AAP) leader tweet
Congress leader and former ed. President's Rule was imposed
Uttarakhand finance minister in Uttarakhand on March 27
Indira Hridayesh said her party after nine Congress legislators
"saluted the judiciary for uphold defected, depriving majority sup
ing truth and law".
port in the assembly to the Rawat
"It is a victory for democracy," government.

Fresh claims on Bachchan in

'Panama Papers'
New Delhi: Even as a fresh report
on the "Panama Papers" alleged
Amitabh Bachchan "participated"
in board meetings of two of f
shore companies "by telephone
conference", the actor himself has
said his name was "misused" and
that nothing illegal has been
attributed to him.
The Indian Express reported on
Thursday that Sea Bulk Shipping
and Tramp Shipping had passed a
resolution each on December 12,
1994, in connection with a loan
of $1.75 million from Dallah
Albaraka Investment Company.
The loan was for Constellation
Ship Management for the pur
chase of all the shares issued by
Tramp Shipping and held by Sea
Bulk Shipping. Besides Tramp and
Sea Bulk, the paper had said
Bachchan was managing director
for two other offshore entities
Lady Shipping and Treasure
Shipping.
"Both resolut ions recorded
Bachchans participation in board
meetings 'by telephone confer
ence'. In their cert ificate of
incumbency issued the same day,
both companies also recorded
Bachchan as director. The compa
nies had the same directors,
including Bachchan, and officers,"
it said.
In response, Bachchan's of fice

Amitabh Bachchan has denied

the charges. (Photo: IANS)
sent a rejoinder, which was also
posted on his twitter account.
"On Panama disclosures, I wish
to state that queries continue to
be sent to me by the media. I
would humbly request them to
kindly direct these to the GOI
(Government of India) where I, as
a law abiding cit izen, have
already sent, and shall continue
to send, my responses," the post
said.
"I stand by my earlier statement
on the misuse of my name in the
matter and in any event the press
reports do not disclose any illegal
act committed by me."
The Indian Express, based on

Mossack Fonseca records, said

Umesh Sahai of Jerseybased cor
porate service provider City
Management (now Minerva Trust)
was one of the founderdirectors
of the four shipping companies
and that he had appointed
Bachchan as director and manag
ing director in 1993.
"He (Sahai) also signed the
board resolutions that recorded
Bachchans participation in the
December 12, 1994, meetings.
Sahai did not respond to emails
and phone calls seeking his com
ment on Bachchans statement
denying any knowledge of the
companies," the newspaper said.
Bachchan's name cropped up in
the reports as part of a global
expose
of
Internat ional
Consort ium of Invest ig at ive
Journalists (ICIJ) and over 100
global media organisations, based
on millions of leaked documents
of the Panama law firm Mossak
Fonseca.
A highlevel probe team has
been constituted, with members
drawn from the various agencies
of the finance ministry and the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) based
on the orders issued by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi. Indian
authorities have already said not
all offshore funds need be illegit
imate.

ONE DEAD, 57 PERCENT VOTE IN BENGAL ELECTIONS

Kolkata: Amid incidents of violence that
left one person dead and several others
injured, over 57 percent votes were cast in
62 constituencies on Thursday in the third
phase of the West Bengal assembly elec
tions.
Election Commission officials have so far
received over 1,500 complaints, including
those of violence, voter intimidation and
disruption of the poll process. At least 47
people were held in the metropolis itself.
The constituencies that went to polls on
Thursday included 22 in Murshidabad, 17
in Nadia, 16 in Burdwan districts and
seven in north Kolkata. Thursday's ballot
ing marked the second and final round of
voting in Burdwan, where nine constituen
cies went to polls on April 11.
"Till 1 p.m., overall 57.21 percent polling
was recorded. The turnout in Murshidabad
was 58.06 percent, Nadia 60.07 percent,
Burdwan 58.74 percent and Kolkata 44.14
percent," an EC official said.
Amid sweltering heat, incidents of vio
lence were reported in Murshidabad, Nadia
and Burdwan districts, leaving one dead
and several others injured.
Tahidul Islam, a Communist Party of
IndiaMarxist activist, was killed when
crude bombs were hurled at him in Domkal
in Murshidabad district.
While the EC sought a report on the inci
dent, CP IM leader Anisur Rahaman

Women after casting their vote at a polling station in Kolkata. (Photo: IANS)
blamed the Trinamool Congress for the
killing, but the ruling party denied it.
Trinamool's Domkal nominee Soumik
Hossain claimed the death was a result of a
clash between the CPIM and the Congress
supporters. Besides, at least four others
were attacked in Domkal allegedly for cast
ing their votes.
"Last night, some people threatened me
not to vote but I chose to ignore that.
When I was returning after casting my
vote, I was attacked," said one of the
injured who was admitted to a hospital.
Whistleblower former Indian Police

Service of ficer Nazrul Islam, who too is

contesting from Domkal, accused the EC of
being "intentionally incompetent".
"The EC has chosen to be intentionally
incompetent; the reason being a tacit
understanding between the ruling parties
at the Centre (BJP) and the state
(Trinamool)," added Islam, a candidate of
the Mulnibasi Party floated by him.
Congress state president Adhir Ranjan
Chowdhury alleged that central security
forces were "absent" in many places in
Murshidabad and said complaints to the EC
have been made about the "district admin

istrat ion's biased role towards the

Trinamool".
Reports of violence were also received
from Ketugram in Burdwan district where
three people were injured after crude
bombs were thrown near a polling booth.
Several crude bombs were also seized
from near a booth at Saguna in Nadia dis
trict.
Voters in Chakdaha in Nadia district
alleged they were "prevented from voting
by Trinamool goons".
At least four people were injured in
Mangalkote of Burdwan with Trinamool's
Siddiqullah Chowdhury accusing the CPIM
for the attack.
"CPIM goons are behind this attack. Four
of our party activists have been hospi
talised with serious injuries. We demand
immediate arrests of all the culprits,"
Chowdhury said and threatened protest
until his demands were met.
Complaints of voter intimidation and
scuf fles between rival political activists
were also received from several booths in
city, including Beliaghta and Entally. A
mediaperson was among the injured.
At least 47 people have been arrested
from the city," said a Kolkata police officer.
Polling in the fourth, fifth and sixth phas
es will be held on April 25, 30 and May 5
for 49, 53 and 25 constituencies respec
tively.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Modi says Mamata

regime 'darker than Left'
Basirhat (West Bengal): Ridiculing West
Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee
and her Trinamool Cong ress over
corruption, Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Thursday batted for develop
ment, terming it the solution to all
problems.
Addressing a poll rally here in North
24 Parganas district, Modi described the
Banerjee regime as a "dark night" and
also hit out at the Congress and the Left
Front which have entered into an alliance
for the polls.
"In 2011, when Didi (Banerjee) came to
power, everybody hoped she will bring a
new dawn, driving away the 34 years of
darkness under the Left Front. But
instead of a new sun, people of Bengal
were given nights darker than those
under the Left," he said.
Modi also took a jibe at Banerjee's call
for "parivartan" (change) during the

2011 assembly polls.

"There was a time when Didi would
crusade against corruption, always ready
to fight against it. But Mamata, who
came to power calling for change, has
herself changed.
"The Vivekananda flyover, the Saradha
scam and the Narada tapes are all glar
ing examples of corruption but she says
nothing," said Modi referring, to the fly
over collapse in the city which killed 26
people and the multicrorerupee Sardha
scam.
He also mocked the Trinamool over the
Narada tapes a sting operation in
which many Trinamool leaders including
its parliamentarians and state legislators
were purportedly caught taking bribe.
Charging the successive Congress, Left
Front and the Trinamool regimes with
"destroying Bengal", Modi called upon
people to vote for the BJP.

Priyanka in Time's list of

100 Most Influential
People

Actor Priyanka Chopra.

(Photo: IANS)
Mumbai: Bollywood actor
Priyanka Chopra has made India
proud once again. Her name has
been featured in Time magazine's
100 Most Influential People in the
World list alongside Oscarwinner
Leonardo DiCaprio, Facebook
founder
and
CEO
Mark
Zuckerberg, and singer Nicki
Minaj, among others.
Priyanka, who came into the
limelight in the West playing the
lead role in popular American TV
series "Quantico", has also graced
one of the six cover pages of the
magazine. Apart from Priyanka,
other Indians included in the list
are tennis ace Sania Mirza,
Google's IndianAmerican chief
executive Sundar Pichai, and
Reserve Bank of India Governor
Raghuram Rajan.
Other big names from the enter
tainment industry whose names
have been featured in the list
include British singer Adele, come

April 23-29, 2016

INDIA

dian Aziz Ansari, actor Gael Garca

Bernal, actor Idris Elba, singer
Ariana Grande, actress Taraji P.
Henson, filmmaker Alejandro
Gonzalez Inarritu, actor Oscar
Isaac, reality TV star Caitlyn
Jenner, actor Dwayne Johnson,
mode l Karlie Kloss, rapper
Kendrick Lamar, actor Julia Louis
Dreyfus,
actress
Me lissa
McCarthy, actress Gina Rodriguez,
actor Mark Rylance, and actress
Charlize Theron.
Speaking about Priyanka, her
"Baywatch" costar Dwayne
Johnson said: "Before ever meet
ing Priyanka Chopra, I had heard
her name coming out of
Bollywood and was impressed: she
was beautiful, talented, had made
nearly 50 movies, earned multiple
awards a massive star.
"When we connected around the
time she started 'Quantico', we
immediately hit it of f. She has
drive, ambition, selfrespect, and
she knows theres no substitute
for hard work.
Johnson further shared that he
feels himself lucky enough to be
working with Priyanka in
Baywatch.
Its an amazing time to watch
as she pierces the US market. She
has an ability to inspire people to
do more and achieve more. When
I look at her success from the
50,000 feet view and see every
thing that Priyanka has already
done, is currently doing and has
the desire and the bandwidth to
do, I can see that her impact is
going to be invaluable, Johnson
said.

13

Islamic State rebuffs

Ravi Shankar

Agartala: Spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

said on Thursday that he tried to open a dia
logue with the Islamic State group but it
rebuffed him by sending him a photograph of
a beheaded man.
"I tried to initiate peace talks with the ISIS
(Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) recently but
they sent me a photograph of a beheaded
body of a man. Thus, my effort for a peace
dialogue with the ISIS ended," he said.
"I think the ISIS does not want any peace
talks," he told the media here. "Hence, they
should be dealt with militarily."
Ravi Shankar left here on Thursday for
Kolkata after a threeday visit to Tripura.
Holding a series of meetings across the
state, he stressed on the need to bring peace
to India's northeastern region.
Ravi Shankar urged the militant outfits of
the region to hold peace talks with the gov
ernment.
The 59yearold said his aim was to unite
all cultures, religions, faith and ideologies.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. (Photo: IANS)

He said the National Greet Tribunal's deci
sion to fine the Art of Living Foundation Rs.5
crore for allegedly causing environmental
damage to the Yamuna flood plains in Delhi
"was politically motivated".

BJP set Delhi dumps on fire to

fail oddeven: AAP
New Delhi: The ruling Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) accused the BJP of set
ting Delhi's dump yards on fire to
sabotage the city government's
flagship oddeven restrictions on
plying fourwheelers for reducing
pollution in the national capital.
The AAP said the fires at various
dump yards in Delhi may cause
health hazards and alleged that

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was

"playing with the lives" of people in
Delhi.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
is stooping to the lowest in Delhi to
fail oddeven. MCD burning dump
yards, creating health hazard. BJP
pollutes Delhi," senior Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) leader Dilip Pandey
tweeted.

"Such a hatred against Delhiites

is not good, Modi ji. You got the
dump yards set on fire just to fail
the oddeven scheme in De lhi.
Don't kill Delhi like this," he added.
"You (Prime Minister Narendra
Modi) are playing with the lives of
Delhiites through MCD. It's not
only wrong, but also inhuman.
Please stop this."

Acharya Lokesh to donate his

body for research
New Delhi: Dr. Lokesh
Muni, founder of Ahimsa
Vishwa Bhartia and emi
nent
Jainacharya
Acharya has announced
to donate his body for
scientific research. It is
for the first time that any
Jain Acharya has made
such announcement.
He created history in
the Jain community by
announcing this at a pro
g ram org anised in
Vig yan Bhawan to
observe Mahavir Jayanti
and Dr Munis 56th
birthday and 11th
Foundat ion day of
Ahimsa Vishwa Bharti,
attended by External
Dr. Lokesh Muni being honored at Vigyan Bhawan in New Delhi.
Af fairs Minister of
India Sushma Swaraj as the chief and bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi used for scientific and medical
g raced the event as Guest of research.
guest.
Jain followers from India and
Minority Af fairs Minister Dr Honour.
Dr Muni said that after he abroad, Ambassadors of over 12
Najma Heptulla presided over the
program while Communication & leaves this world, his body should countries and others welcomed
IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad be handed over to the youth to be the announcement with applause.

14

April 23-29, 2016

Modi is still the best

bet for India

Naremdra Modi has picked up from

where the gentle sardar had left off and,
ironically, facing resistance from none
other than Sonia Gandhi. (Photo: IANS)

By Amulya Ganguli

ven if Narendra Modi hasn't lived up

to the expectations which he aroused
two years ago, he is still the best per
son for turning India into a modern and
economically advanced country.
The claim about modernity may seem
odd considering that the medievalists of
the saf fron brotherhood constitute an
influential section of the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP), the Rashtriya Swayamsevak
Sangh (RSS) and their af filiates like the
Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) not to men
tion the abusive Internet Hindus.
Moreover, the hope that Modi will
restrain them hasn't been fulfilled. There
are still elements who call for beheading
those who do not chant a slogan which is
used by the saffronites to check a person's
patriotism.
Besides, the Sangh Parivar's familiar
aversion to beef is still in place, although
the unavoidable modernistic trends have
compelled some of the BJPrun state gov
ernments like Goa to allow the consump
tion of the forbidden meat.
If, notwithstanding these negative points,
Modi is ahead of other leaders in the popu
larity stakes, as seen in an Economic
TimesTNSA survey, the reason is his out
look, which is in sync with the 21st centu
ry. Fortunately for the BJP, this evidence of
belonging to the present times cannot be
found in some of the others.
Consider, for instance, the credentials of
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who
wants to lead an antiBJP combine at the
national level to replicate the success of
the 'mahagathbandhan' (grand alliance) in
his state.
Yet, the retrogressive nature of his ideas
shows that he cannot look beyond the
familiar obsession of the Hindibelt politi
cians with caste. Not only does he want his
caste brethren to find employment in the
private sector through quotas, thereby
reducing this sole successful segment of
the economy to another version of the loss
making public sector, Nitish Kumar is also

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

OP-ED

in favour of expanding the ambit of reser

vations beyond the 50 percent limit set by
the Supreme Court.
Inextricably related to this desire to
boost the quota system is the Janata Dal
United chief's conviction that catering for
the backward castes on the plea of social
justice is a surefire way to enable his party
to win elections and for him to gain popu
larity.
He is not bothered about job creation via
industrial expansion, but wants only to
enable the backward castes, the main sup
port base of the mahagathbandhan, to
secure government employment via the
reservation system which looks at birth
and not educational certificates.
If Nitish Kumar's ideas are implemented,
India can say farewell to economic or edu
cational progress. While the quotabased
entries into official service will squeeze out
the meritorious, the educational system
will see a preponderance of those for
whom caste is the route to a degree and
not a devotion to studies.
There is not a word, therefore, from him
on industries, infrastructure, educational
advancement, health facilities and so on. It
is only about caste.
This is where Modi is different. Though
he belongs to a backward caste himself he
is a ghanchi or teli Modi almost never
talks in terms of caste.
Nor of Hindus like others in the Hindutva
brigade who want to give the community a
status above all others in the country.
Indeed, Modi has distanced himself from
the saffronites to such an extent that he is
the only one among them to have
described Islam as a religion of peace, a
concept which is anathema to the Sangh
parivar.
There is little doubt that Modi has shown
greater interest than any other politician in
recent years in India's industrial develop
ment. Hence his emphasis on projects like
Make in India and entrepreneurial endeav
ors like Start Up India, Stand Up India, Skill
India, Digital India and so on.
His predecessor, Manmohan Singh, also
favored marketoriented economic reforms
and succeeded in effecting the fastest ever
reduction in overall poverty between 2005
06 and 201112, according to the Modi
government's chief economic adviser,
Arvind Subramanian.
But Manmohan Singh was stopped in his
tracks by Congress president Sonia Gandhi,
who feared that the "accidental" prime min
ister's economic success will make him a
hero and put her son Rahul Gandhi in the
shade.
Modi has picked up from where the gen
tle sardar had left off and, ironically, facing
resistance from none other than Sonia
Gandhi, who has threatened to stall the
goods and services tax, one of the key com
ponents of the economic reforms.
But the middle class, one of Modi's major
bases of support, is aware that only he can
make the growth rate cross eight per cent,
as Subramanian expects, and ensure a sig
nificant erosion in the levels of poverty.

Indias biggest farm

reform 91.6 percent
behind target

Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised to link 200 markets over the next five
months.(Photo: oxfamblogs.org)

By Abhishek Waghmare

ndias biggest reform to transform

the life of a crisisridden farmer is
91.6 percent behind schedule this
year, prompt ing Prime Minister
Narendra Mo di to promise in five
months what could not be done over
the last 10.
As many as 250 agricultural markets
nationwide (of 585 selected) were sup
posed to have been linked by 201516
to a common nationwide electronic
platform, but only 21 markets in eights
states have been linkedas of March
2016to what is called the National
Agricultural Market (NAM) platform.
On average, a farmer gets no more
than 10 percent to 30 percent of the
cost you pay for his pro duce, as
IndiaSpend has reported, primarily
because the farmer cannot sell directly
to consumers and large companies,
thanks to an archaic law that delivers
commissions to layers of agents, usually
linked to politicians.
Despite the slow progress, the target
of linking 585 markets to the NAM by
2018 stays unchanged, according to a
statement issued on April 14, 2016, by
the Ministry of Agriculture. This means
that 564 markets must be linked in two
years, 26 times the number (21) linked
over the last 10 months.
Last week Prime Minister Narendra
Modi promised to link 200 markets
over the next five months.
The NAM platform will allow anyone
from any part of India to buy agricultur
al produce from any farmer from any
part of the country.
There are 2,477 principal agricultural
markets and 4,843 submarkets (small

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.

er than principal markets) that buy and

sell agricultural produce in India.
The NAM target of 585 thus covers
only 25 percent of the Indias principal
agricultural markets.
The law that helps agents and politi
cians
The Agricultural Produce Marketing
Committee (APMC) Act of a state regu
lates the purchase of agricultural prod
ucts, such as cereals, pulses, fruits and
vegetables for that region.
It hobbles farmers, imposing multiple
levies on produce and disallows direct
sales to private companies.
The continued presence of regula
tions of APMC Acts in most commodi
ties in most states has compelled the
farmer to sell produce only in the gov
ernmentcontrolled marketing yards,
said a December 2015 NITI Aayog
report,
Raising
Ag ricultural
Pro duct ivity and Making Farming
Remunerative for Farmers. The APMC
market yards are subject to vast techni
cal as well as marketing inef ficiencies
that undermine the prices that farmers
receive.
Bihar is the only state to have
repealed the APMC Act in 2006. Kerala
never enacted APMC legislation, but it
did not develop marketing infrastruc
ture either.
APMCs levy multiple fees, of substan
tial magnitude, that are nontransparent
and hence a source of political power,
said the Economic Survey of 201516
(Volume 1, Chapter 8).
The southern state of Karnataka has
pioneered modern agriculture market
ing by unifying 51 of 155 principal
markets statewide in collaboration with
the National Commodity Exchange, a
trading platform for commodities.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

LIFESTYLE

April 23-29, 2016

15

TIPS BY THE LEGENDARY SHAHNAZ HUSAIN

Its important to protect your skin and hair from the harsh summer sun,
so here are some excellent tips to help with your regimen.
lthough long hair is in fash
leansing is of great impor
ion, avoid keeping it loose
tance for the working woman
while you are at work. This
who leaves home to get to
is
more
so in summer. Fussing
work, battling traffic and exposing
with
the
hair is most distracting.
herself to the grime and pollutants
Put
it
up
in
a roll or pin it up. It can
in the air. Always cleanse the skin at
also
be
tied
back in a pony tail.
night, before going to bed, so that you
Actually,
pony
tails are in fashion.
can remove makeup, stale sweat and
You
can
have
a
high
or low pony tail,
oil deposits, as well as dirt and pollu
tied
back
with
ribbons.
In fact, match
tants. A tulsi neem face wash would be
the
ribbon
with
the
color
of your out
ideal for summer. It would help to
fit.
remove impurities and soothe and pro
Or, use a hair accessory. Many
tect the skin from eruptions and rashes.
kinds of clips and other attractive
After cleansing, tone the skin with
hair accessories are available. But
ng
di
oi
av
,
ce
chilled rose water or a rosebased skin
y it on the fa
pl
Ap
k.
as
m
ce
they should not be too decorative
e a fa
n dry.
tonic. It not only refreshes and cools the
Twice a week us
. Wash it of f whe
es
ey
nd
ou
for work. You can even curl the
ar
skin, but also helps to stimulate blood cir
the lips & area
ends
of the hair with curlers and then
culation to the skin surface and add a
tie
them
in a pony tail, or pin then up
glow. A matte moisturizer is ideal if the weather is hot and humid. For dry skins, spray on a mois
with
a
clip.
ture mist. If your work entails traveling, apply a sunscreen. For oily skin, oilfree sunscreen is
Braids (plaits) may also look nice for
available. Use a facial scrub two or three times a week. A facial scrub helps to remove dead cells
work,
although it may take time. Braids
and provides deep cleansing of the skin. It brightens and refines the skin.
for
work
hairstyle can be done on long
If your skin is dry, nourish it at night, after cleansing. Apply a nourishing cream and massage it
and
medium
length hair.
into the skin, using circular strokes. The pressure should be more as you go upwards and slightly
Divide
your
hair into three parts and
outwards. Wipe it off after three to four minutes of massage.
intertwine
it
like
a rope. Towards the end
Twice a week use a face mask. Apply it on the face, avoiding the lips and area around eyes.
of
the
braid,
use
elastic band or a ribbon
Wash it off when it is dry. To refresh your makeup, you need to carry a few items in your hand
to
tie
it
up.
Braids
look neat on young
Although long hair is in fashion, avoid
bag. During summer, fragrant wet tissues can be most refreshing. They are easily available. Use
working
women.
As
far
as the new trends keeping it loose while you are at work,
them to cleanse the skin and remove grease and sweat.
particularly in summer.
A powder compact of pressed powder is also handy. It helps to get rid of that oily look in sum are concerned, the more natural look in
mer. First wipe with the tissues and then dab the powder. You also need a lipstick to touchup hair is making its way in, with a look of
after lunch. Apply powder on the lips and then apply lipstick. Remember to carry a small bottle of ease. Keep the hair away from the face. If you have short hair, wear it softly and natural
IANS
ly layered. Even in hair color, use subtle colors with natural ingredients.
cologne, or your favorite deodorant.

SKIN

hen it comes to successful springtime entertain

ing, think light and refreshing food and drink.
Keeping flavors and colors cool will infuse your
gettogether with energy and zest.

Food

When the weather warms, let your guests plates cool

with fresh salads and cold soups like gazpacho or chilled
pea soup.
Get fresh produce in season at your farmers market or
grocer. Serving up big helpings of colorful vegetables will
bring seasonal freshness directly to your
table.
Great appetizers for spring
include shrimp cocktail
and fresh tomato
bruschetta. Serve
dips like hummus
and guacamole
w ith
freshly
chopped vegeta
bles like bell pep
pers and carrots. All of
these are easily prepared and refreshing starters in warm
weather.
For main dishes, rely on cold proteins: chilled roasted
chicken or poached fish can be paired with a pasta salad

g
n
i
h
s
e
g
r
n
f
i
e
n
i
R
rta
e
t
n
e
g
n
i
s
a
spr
e
d
i

and topped with mozzarella or goat

cheese.
These ideas are great for serving fam
ilystyle, giving you more time to mingle.
Remember, simplicity should extend to your
hosting duties!

Drinks

Wine and cocktails are the stars of the show at any good
gettogether. This spring, think about going beyond tradi
tional warm weather drinks. A delicious, unexpected
choice is Port wine. With all its diverse styles (ruby, tawny,
ros, and white), Port should not be reserved for the cold

HAIR

er months. Certain types work perfectly in warm weather,

such as Croft Pink Port, a crisp, ripe and fruity wine. Serve
chilled with a squeeze of lime or in a ros sangria; its a
great pairing for lighter meals.
Warmer days also call for lighter cocktails that are
lower in alcohol. Try Fonseca Siroco, a dry white Port, that
is delicious served over ice, topped with tonic, and gar
nished with a lemon peel. Its a simple and refreshing
spring sipper.
Some Tawny Port wines are great served chilled, such as
Croft Reserve Tawny or Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Old
Tawny. They are light, nutty, and have good acidity, mak
ing them a naturally refreshing choice for an excellent
aperitif on their own or paired with hard, nutty cheeses or
pat. A glass of Port also offers a lighter, warm weather
alternative to end a meal, satisfying sweet cravings with
out eating an entire heavy dessert.
Port, which was once thought of as a classic winter
drink, is now lightened up to be enjoyed any time of the
year. Its also one of the few wines that keeps in the refrig
erator for weeks after being opened; ready to go for those
impromptu spring sipping moments. Taylor Fladgate,
Fonseca and Croft are all famed Port producers to try.
Above all, have fun with your food and drinks this
spring entertaining season, keeping everything light and
StatePoint
easy for you and your guests.

16

April 23-29, 2016

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Sonam, Aish to
represent
L'Oral Paris at
Cannes 2016
Internationally acclaimed
actor Irrfan Khan

Common for men

to shy away from
home duties: Irrfan
New Delhi: Internationally acclaimed
actor Irrfan Khan, who has been married
to writer Sutapa Sikdar for over two
decades now, feels all men have a com
mon habit of running away from doing
household work. He says men should
help their wives in sharing their work
load.
Its common for men to shy away
from responsibilities at home. However,
it is even more important to make the
effort to share the load. If not for our
partners, then at least for our kids, who
we need to ensure are raised in a world
of equal opportunities both outside and
within the home, Irrfan, who was here
on Monday with his wife to launch
detergent brand Ariel Matic's
ShareTheLoad pack, said in a state
ment.
Something as simple as doing the
laundry can go a long way in making a
difference. Its okay to struggle with the
tasks at first. As did I, Irrfan said.
The brand has come up with a first of
its kind OddEven laundry calendar,
which encourages men to do laundry on
odd days and women on even days. I
encourage dads, husbands and men
across the country to join the
#ShareTheLoad movement, Irrfan said.
Speaking at the event, Sutapa said: We
need to address this deep rooted preju
dice, and ensure the next generation
leaves with the right message of quality
within the household.
I am proud that Irrfan has joined this
important cause of promoting equality
within the household and we are excited
to support this innovative idea of laun
dry going OddEven with the launch of
the ShareTheLoad pack. (Photos: IANS)

ctresses Sonam Kapoor

and Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan, who are
brand ambassadors of LOral
Paris, will represent the cos
metic giant at the upcoming
69th Cannes International
Film Festival.
Sonam completed five years
of walking the red carpet at
the film festival for the brand
last year, read a statement.
It is still not confirmed on

which date the duo will walk

the red carpet.
T he
2016
Cannes
International Film Festival is
scheduled to take place from
May 11 till May 22.
Sonam was last seen on
screen playing the title role in
Ram Madhvani's biographical
thriller film Neerja.
Aishwarya, meanwhile, can
next be seen in Sarbjit, which
is slated to release on May 20.

Sonam Kapoor.

Drastic weight change tough on body: Hooda's doctor

New Delhi: Anjali Hooda, sister and
doctor of Randeep Hooda who col
lapsed on the sets of superstar
Salman Khanstarrer "Sultan", says
drastic weight change is difficult
"mentally and physically".
Randeep collapsed following a
severe attack of appendicitis. He
underwent surgery at Fortis Hospital
here on Monday.
Asked how difficult it is for an
actor to mould his body for a charac
ter which needs a drastic weight
change, Anjali, a specialist in metabo
lism, told IANS: "For an actor, it may
not be difficult because he is very
motivated. But for his body it is very
difficult because it doesn't under
stand starvation. It is very difficult
mentally and physically".
Anjali also added that the "motiva
tion is so high for these people
(actors) that they don't realise the
implications" of fluctuating weight
change. Asked if sudden fluctuation

Actor Randeep
Hooda.

Big
B happy on
Dilip Kumar's
improving
health

egastar Amitabh Bachchan

says it is a moment of joy
and pride to know that the
health of legendary actor Dilip
Kumar, who was hospitalized after
suffering from high fever and nau
sea, is improving and becoming
better. Amitabh, who worked with
Dilip Kumar in the 1982 film
Shakti, took to Twitter to share a

of body weight was the reason for

Randeep's health problem, she explained:
"It's (appendicitis) not directly related to
fluctuation of weight. But yeah, weight loss
of extreme type can cause faeces becoming
hard because there is no fibre. This is mini
mal of a problem that can happen and this
is a good example for people to know..."
Anjali also mentioned that this is a
minute problem, but such major weight
loss programmes can cause other "unfore
seen problems" in the body.
Randeep's ailment could be related to the
"extreme makeover" he had for Omung
Kumar's "Sarjbit", for which he "put his life
on the line", she said.
"Sarbjit" is a biopic on Sarabjit Singh, an
Indian farmer who was convicted of terror
ism and spying in Pakistan and was sen
tenced to death. He was attacked by
inmates at a prison in Lahore in April 2013
and died a few days later.
Randeep will be seen essaying the title
role of Sarabjit and had to undergo major
weight loss for the character.

photograph of the thespian from

the hospital, which was sent to
him by Dilip Kumar's wife Saira
Banu. Moment of joy and pride...
Saira ji sends me this: 'from Dilip
saab to you with love from the
hospital', Amitabh wrote along
side the image. The same image
was shared by Dilip Kumar on the
microblogging site.

Actor Dilip Kumar.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 23-29, 2016

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

17

Meera wants special screening

of '1920 London' for Priyanka
Shah Rukh Khan lauds
gymnast Dipa Karmakar
uperstar Shah Rukh Khan has praised Indian gym
nast Dipa Karmakar, who has won a gold medal in
the women's vaults finals at the Olympic test event
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 50yearold, who is current
ly riding high on the
success of the film
"Fan", has labelled
Karmakar as the "pride
of the nation" and
added that her
achievements inspire
him.
"Finally our own
Nadia Comaneci (a for
mer Romanian gym
nast). Dipa Karmakar
Indian gymnast Dipa Karmakar. you are the pride of
our Nation. Your
achievements inspire us. Thanks little one," the "Dilwale"
star wrote on the photograph of the gymnast.
Karmakar became the first Indian woman gymnast to
win a gold in a world gymnastics event. The 22yearold
scored 14.833 points in her first attempt, which was
enough to secure her the top spot. Dipa scored 14.566 in
her second and last tries, respectively.
The 22yearold has already created history by winning
bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Review:

n a starstruck country, where hero wor

shipping is a norm, "Fan" is an insightful
film looking into the obsessive, delusional
behavior of a star admirer and his love for
his matinee idol. It is a reality check for both,
stars and their fans.
Basically, the film is a battle of wills
between Gaurav Chandna, the fan, and Aryan
Khanna, the star.
Delhibased Gaurav is the reigning heart
throb Aryan's doppelganger and a diehard
fan. It is his dream to meet his idol. So crazy
is he that he follows the same trail as his idol
to Mumbai and goes to any lengths to pro
tect his star.
How he meets his star and the disillusion
ment that follows, forms crux of the tale.
The story written and directed by Maneesh
Sharma, is uncomplicated, but of course
exaggerated and zooms into a noire zone,
pushing the boundaries of acceptability. The
first half of the film is wellbalanced and
taut. It is the second half that is farfetched,

Meera is
actress
Priyanka
Chopras
cousin.

ctress Meera Chopra, who is

making her Bollywood debut as
a lead in forthcoming horror
film 1920 London, wants to hold a
special screening of the film for her
cousin and actress Priyanka
Chopra.
Meera is said to have spoken to
Priyanka the day she landed in
India to receive her Padma Shri
honor earlier this month about her
film and immediately Priyanka
made it a point to see the trailer.
I am waiting for Priyanka to
come back so that I can show her
the movie. She loved the trailer. She's a
great emotional and physical support I
have here in this industry and because
I completely look up to her, it makes it
even more special for me to show her

something I am very proud of, Meera

said in a statement. Priyanka is cur
rently shooting for American TV series
Quantico abroad, and is also doing

"Baywatch" movie. Directed by Tinu

Suresh Desai, 1920 London, which
also stars Sharman Joshi, is slated to
release on May 6.

Anurag Kashyap's 'Raman Raghav 2.0' to be screened at Cannes

ilmmaker Anurag Kashyaps
Raman Raghav 2.0, a film
based on notorious serial killer
Raman Raghav, who went on murder
spree in Mumbai in the 1960s, will
premiere at the upcoming 69th
Cannes International Film Festival.
Kashyap took to Twitter to
announce the news. 'Raman Raghav

2.0' to premiere at Cannes Directors

Fortnight. Congratulations team, he
tweeted.
The film stars actor Nawazuddin
Siddiqui in the title role alongside
Masaan fame actor Vicky Kaushal.
However this is not the first time that
a film directed Kashyap is going to be
aired at Cannes.

Previously films like Gangs of

Wasseypur, Peddlers, and Bombay
Talkies have been premiered at the
awards gala.
The 2016 Cannes International
Film Festival is scheduled to take
place from May 11 till May 22.
Raman Raghav 2.0 is slated to
release in India on May 27.

'Fan': Insightful and thrilling

and though thrilling, strains.
Although treated as a dramatic thriller, the
film is more of drama than a thriller.
Narrated from Gaurav's point of view, the
film brings to fore, the pragmatic issues
of stardom and how stars deal with
their crazy fans. Your heart bleeds for
Gaurav, but at the same time makes you
realize that one needs to be rational.
The pace of the film though racy,
drags in parts, especially in the
stretched action sequences,
which is we llchoreo
graphed.
With welletched char
acters, the performance
of each actor is note
worthy. T he film
belongs to Shah Rukh
Khan, who in a dual
role, is a treat for his
fans. In both his
characters, Gaurav

and Aryan, he is distinct in his sartorial style,

speech and mannerisms. With his
overt histrionics, sincerity and
simplicity, his obsession is
palpable. He steals the show
as Gaurav. As Aryan, Shah
Rukh Khan is mere ly an
extension of himself.
Of the rest of the supporting
cast, Deepika Amin and
Yogendra Tiku, as
Gaurav's parents are
fairly competent.
Waluscha
de
Sousa as Aryan's
wife and Shriya
Pilgaonkar as
Gaurav's love
interest Neha,
in small roles
make their

presence felt.
With great production values, the sets are
realistic and the locales impressive.
Visually, Director of Photograohy (DOP)
Manu Anand's images are impressive. He
captures the hysteria of the fans and their
gawking at their star, with precise acuteness.
His frames seamless mesh with the computer
generated images. It is in the initial scenes
where the shots with grainy images are
chaotic and thus, disorienting, but once the
narration settles, the visuals are realistic and
appealing.
Namrata Rao's razor sharp edits are crisp
and noteworthy. She aptly layers the visuals
and Andrea Guerra's background score to
make the film a sound and visual delight.
Interestingly, despite with no songs in the
narration, "Fan" keeps you entertained with
Shah Rukh's gusty performance.
(Photos: IANS)

SRK in a still from the movie.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 23-29, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 23-29, 2016

DIASPORA

19

Baisakhi celebrated at Ontario assembly in Canada

Toronto: Top leaders in Canada's Ontario
province led by Premier Kathleen Wynne
joined the Sikh community in celebrating
Baisakhi at the Ontario legislative assembly.
For the first time, the Sikh holy book Guru
Granth Sahib was brought to the assembly
here on Monday to celebrate Baisakhi and
the Sikh Heritage Month.
Wynne and her cabinet ministers joined
the Sikhs as 'kirtan' was performed and
prayers recited to mark the birthday of the
Khalsa in April 1699.
The Sikh community's saffron flag Nishan
Sahib was also hoisted outside the assembly
building to mark the day.
"It is the first time in the history
"It is the first time in the history of Ontario
that the holy Guru Granth Sahib has been
brought inside the legislative assembly
building, and the Sikh flag Nishan Sahib
installed to mark Baisakhi day.
"It is a proud day for Sikhs in Canada," said
IndianCanadian politician and former

Premier Kathleen Wynne paying obeisance during the Baisakhi celebrations in the
Ontario legislative assembly. (Photo:IANS)
Ontario transportation minister Harinder
Takhar at the Baisakhi reception at the

assembly building Queen's Park.

Baisakhi is the harvest festival of Punjab,

which also marks the Punjabi new year.

Dressed in salwarkameez and with her
head covered, Premier Wynne praised the
Sikh community for integ rat ing into
Canada's multicultural society while still
maintaining its rich heritage.
She said she was very happy that the Sikh
holy scripture was brought to the assembly
for the first time and it created an atmos
phere of peace inside the house.
Such events "should happen more often" to
create an atmosphere of peace and harmony
so that more productive work can be done
by assembly members.
The Ontario premier praised the decision
of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
to apologise for the Komagata Maru event of
1914 to rectify past mistakes.
She said her own party legislator Vic
Dhillon will move a motion in the Ontario
assembly on the Komagata Maru apology
and ensure that no future immigrants are
ever discriminated against in Canada. (IANS)

EXPLOSION IN GERMANY UK parliament panel opens inquiry

GURUDWARA, 3 INJURED into treatment of Indian students
Berlin: At least three
persons, including a
priest, have been
injured in a "violent"
explosion at Nanaksar
gurudwara
in
Germany's western
city of Essen.
Eyewitnesses have
spoken of "a kind of
bomb" that exploded
at the entrance of the
(Image courtesy: dailysikhupdates.com)
gurudwara around 7
pm local time April 16 where a g lass had fallen due to the
impact. A police spokesman
wedding had taken place.
External Af fairs Ministry said that the explosion was
spokesperson Vikas Swarup probably caused deliberately.
A masked man wearing dark
said the Indian Mission is fol
clothes
fled in an SUV, accord
lowing it up with the authori
ing to several witnesses from
ties.
"Distressed to hear of an the scene.
A part of the wedding party
explosion in a Gurudwara in
Essen in Germany. Our Mission was still in the building, the
is follow ing up w ith lo cal other part in the adjacent ball
authorities on ground situa room. The explosion was so vio
lent that windowpanes of adja
tion," he tweeted.
A 60yearold suf fered seri cent buildings were broken.
ous injuries and had to be hos The building was heavily dam
pitalised while two 47 and 56 aged, the report said.
Three men were arrested fol
yearold men had minor
lowing
the explosion and are
injuries, the Bild newspaper
being
suspected
to have been in
reported but did not specify if
the black SUV, which had previ
all of them were Sikhs.
The injured included a priest ously been seen in the vicinity
on whom the whole pane of of the crime scene. (PTI)

London: A British parliamentary

pane l has launched a formal
inquiry into the treatment of inter
national students, majority of them
Indian, who were accused of cheat
ing on English language tests and
forced to leave the UK.
The House of Commons' home
af fairs select committee, chaired
by Indianorigin Labour MP Keith
Vaz, launched the inquiry into the
UK home of fice response to the
cheating scandal at a hearing on
Tuesday.
"This is a devastating verdict on
ministers and officials at the home
of fice. It is clear that there are
many innocent people who speak

impeccable English who have been

denied their right to remain in the
UK because of the (over) reaction
of the home office," Vaz said.
The hearing this week followed a
ruling last month by the UK's
upper tribunal (immigration and
asylum chamber) allowing a test
appeal by two of the students
accused of cheating in their TOEIC
conducted by a subsidiary of US
based ETS.
The cheating scam was uncov
ered by a "BBC Panorama" investi
g at ion in Fe bruary 2014. It
revealed that immigration consul
tancies and international educa
tion agencies were charging fees to

help international students with

poor English get around English
language tests (TOEIC) required
for student visas and visa exten
sions.
An ensuing investigation by the
home of fice claimed widespread
problems with the test system and
the National Union of Students
(NUS) believes around 100 educa
tional institutions were subse
quently closed.
The scandal also prompted hun
dreds of dawn raids by Border
Agency officers and resulted in the
deportation of around 48,000
international students, nearly 70
per cent of whom were Indian.

3 Indians among 100 most

connected men in UK
London: T hree Indianorigin
professionals have been featured
in the list of '100 Most
Connected Men' in the UK in
2016. Mumbaiborn lawyer
Sarosh Zaiwalla; Rishi Saha, the
head of public policy at
Facebook UK, and Samir Desai,
director at Funding Circle, have
made it to GQ UK's '100 Most
Connected Men in 2016' list.
The magazine has collaborated
with Hobsbawn's networking
business and editorial intelli
(PTI)
gence to compile the list.

Hindi poetry recital by the Surinamese school children during Hindi

Honorarium Distribution Ceremony at Embassy of India,
Paramaribo, Suriname.

20

April 23-29, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SUBCONTINENT

Kirpal's body reaches India; family alleges foul play

Amritsar: The body of Indian prisoner Kirpal
Singh, who died under suspicious circum
stances in a Lahore jail last week, arrived in
India this week. His family members alleged
that his body bore injury marks and foul play
led to his death, but doctors who conducted
an autopsy denied this.
Alleging foul play in his death, Kirpal's fam
ily members said the body bore injury and
blood marks.
Contrary to the claims, the medical board
which conducted the postmortem examina
tion here after his body was brought back to
India on Tuesday, said there were no external
or internal injury marks on the body.
Ashok Sharma, head of the threemember
medical board, however, told the media after
the postmortem examination that the cause
of death has not been established yet.
The doctor said some organs from his body
were missing, as an autopsy has already been
done (in Pakistan).
"In the postmortem examination, it was
found that there was no external or internal
injury on the body. Postmortem of this body
has already been done (in Pakistan) because
stitches were present on the body and the
head.
"When we opened the body, we found that
some of the organs were missing because
when postmortem is done, some organs are

The coffin of Kirpal Singh arrives in India via AttariWagha border. (Photo: IANS)
taken to test to find out whether there is any
disease or not," Sharma said.
"... rest of the organs which were present,
we took out portions of those organs and we
sent them for testing (to know) about dis
eases as well as poisoning. I can say with 100
percent accuracy that the wound marks
which are inflicted during life, they cannot be

Sharif calls for

coordinated terror
fight after Kabul attack
Islamabad:
Pakistan Prime
Minister Nawaz
Sharif condemned
the deadliest sui
cide attack in
Kabul and called
for coordinated
approach with
Afghanistan to
counter the com
mon threat.
Taliban claimed
the responsibility
for the attack on a
sub of fice of the
Afghan inte lli
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
gence agency, the
(Photo: IANS)
N a t i o n a l
remains a major threat to peace
Directorate of Security.
Kabul Police Chief Abdul and stability of the two countries,
Rahman Rahimi told reporters societies and the region.
"It serves as a tool for perpetua
that death toll has risen to 28
tion of senseless violence in our
while 327 others wounded.
Nawaz Sharif sent condolences societies inflicting immense pain
to President Ashraf Ghani over the and suf fering to the people.
human losses in what he called as Eliminating this menace requires
the "heinous terrorist attack in firm resolve as we ll as
coordinated approach on our
Kabul".
"On behalf of the people and the part," the Pakistan prime minister
Government of Pakistan and my said.
Afghan officials say the power
own behalf, I strongly condemn
this brutal act and offer my heart ful blast also destroyed several
fe lt condolences to Your buildings around the site. It
Excellency and the bereaved fami shattered windows of dozens of
lies, " Sharif said. He said such buildings and smashed the glasses
incidents continue to remind us of the buildings at the nearby
that the scourge of terrorism business district.

removed. The cause of death has not been

established yet," the doctor added.
After being handed over to the Border
Security Force at the AttariWagah joint
check post, Kirpal's body was immediately
taken for postmortem examination in
Amritsar after which it was taken to
Gurdaspur district for cremation in his native

village. His family members alleged that he

was murdered either by fellow prisoners or
prison officials in Pakistan.
Close relatives and residents from Kirpal
Singh's village were present at Attari, 30 km
from here, when the body was brought back
to India.
T he body, in a cof fin, was carried by
porters on the Indian side even as family
members showered flowers on the coffin.
Close family members were allowed to see
the body to identify Kirpal Singh's mortal
remains.
Pakistani authorities have attributed his
death to heart attack, but his family has
alleged he was murdered in prison.
"He has been murdered by the Pakistanis
under a conspiracy. He was the sole witness
to the murder of Sarabjit Singh in the Lahore
prison. We want a thorough inquiry and post
mortem to know the truth of his death,"
Kirpal's nephew told the media outside the
hospital mortuary.
Kirpal Singh, a former serviceman, was
lodged in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat prison since
1992. He died on April 11.
Pakistani authorities had labelled him a spy
and got him convicted for terror attacks
inside Pakistan. He was initially sentenced to
death which was later converted to 20 years'
imprisonment.

Sharif's party prepares for

Panama papers' probe
Islamabad: While attention was
focused on Pakistani Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif's activi
ties in London, Finance Minister
Ishaq Dar spearheaded PMLN
e f forts here to prepare the
ground for a judicial commis
sion to investigate the Panama
Papers leaks.
The Pakistan Muslim League
Nawaz persisted in its efforts to
reach out to political players
and contact retired judges to
head the commission, Dawn
online reported.
Mushahidullah Khan, a PMLN
senator,
said
he
and

Information Minister Pervaiz

Rashid had met Mahmoud
Achakzai,
chie f
of
the
Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party
(PkMAP), for consultations on
the matter.
The media reported on Friday
that Sarmad Jalal Osmany, a
retired judge, will head a com
mission that would investigate
the scandal. However, no one
from the government confirmed
the reports.
A PMLN leg islator said
Osmany's name was on the list
prepared by the government.
T he list consists of ret ired

judges who could, and have

been, approached to head the
commission.
Pakistani government's legal
experts will meet Ishaq Dar on
Saturday to discuss the issue.
Sharif is in London on a
sevendays visit for long pend
ing medical checkups.
Pakistani polit icians have
been keeping an eye on the
prime minister's movements in
the Britain after he landed in
controversy following his chil
dren being named in the mas
sive leaks dubbed as "Panama
Papers".

MADESHIS, JANAJATIS ANNOUNCE

PACT IN NEPAL FOR NEW STIR
Kathmandu: The political parties
representing the Madhesis in
Nepal on Monday announced an
alliance with certain organiza
tions of the Janajatis for a com
bined Kathmandufocused agita
tion over their demands.
The new alliance Sanghiya
Samabeshi Gathabandan (SSG)
has prepared a fresh list of 26
demands and will announce the
details of its agitation.
Since numerous rounds of talks
with the government had pro

duced no results, the alliance

said, they were compelled to take
to the streets.
Both the Madhesis and the
Janajatis are unhappy over cer
tain provisions of the new consti
tut ion of Nepal, which was
enforced in September last year.
"This alliance is sure to take
the identity movement to new
heights. Our fight will not stop
unt il the Nepal government
agrees to rewrite the constitution
in accordance with the agree

ments signed with the Madhesis,

Janajatis, Dalits, Khas, Muslims
and other communities in the
past," Sang hiya Samajwadi
Forum Nepal chairman Upendra
Yadav said here.
Various leaders said the collab
orat ion between the g roups
claiming to represent the
Madhesis and Janajatis would
prove e f fect ive in mount ing
more pressure on the Nepalese
government reg arding their
demands.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

INTERNATIONAL

Obama to arrive in Saudi

Arabia for GCC summit

Riyadh: US President Barack Obama

was scheduled to arrive in the Saudi
capital Riyadh to attend a summit
with leaders from the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) coun
tries. This is Obama's fourth visit to
the oilrich kingdom since taking
office in 2009.
The US president is scheduled to
meet King Salman bin Abdulaziz
and the Saudi royal court on
Wednesday.
The White House said the USGCC
summit, scheduled for Thursday,
will be an opportunity for leaders to
discuss issues such as the fight
against the Islamic State terrorist
group, regional conflicts, and sec
tarian tensions.
T he GCC comprises Bahrain,
Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,
and the United Arab Emirates.
The summit comes on the heels of
Obama's criticism of Saudi Arabia's
regional role, which prompted a
strong rebuke from the Saudi royal
family. In a recent interview with
T he Atlantic, Obama described
Saudi Arabia and other allies as
"free riders" on American foreign
policy, and criticized what he saw as

This is Obama's fourth visit to the oilrich kingdom

since taking office in 2009. (Photo: IANS)
Riyadh's funding of religious intol
erance. Almost a year ago, in May
2015, Obama hosted leaders of Gulf
nations at the White House and the
Camp David retreat, the first meet
ing of the Gulf countries after a

framework agreement on limiting

Iran's nuclear program.
Except for Kuwait and Qatar, top
leaders from four of the sixmember
GCC countries were absent from the
2015 summit.

Drug traffickers, terrorists should

be fought collectively: Jaitley
United Nations: Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley has called for a tough international
ght against the nexus of terrorist net
works and drug trafckers that is respon
sible for decades of attacks on India.
Speaking at a General Assembly Special
Session on the drug problem, Jaitley said
India has "been a victim of crossborder
terrorism funded partly by drug trafck
ing for the last several decades."
"The growing nexus of Drug trafcking
and terrorist networks endangers peace,
security and stability across regions," he
said. "We have to continue and toughen
our collective ght against these evils."
"National ef forts, however intense and
sincere, cannot adequately deal with the
drug problem," Jaitley said. "Bilateral,
regional and international cooperation is
essential in this area. Our domestic laws
contain adequate provisions for such
cooperation among judicial and law
enforcement authorities."
He said that India is setting up a region
al organisation, South Asia Regional
Intelligence and Coordination Centre
(SARICC) w ith India, Nepal, Bhutan,
Myanmar, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and
Maldives as founding members, to jointly
ght the drug menace.
"India is bordered by two of the major
illicit opium and heroin producing regions
of the world," he said, without naming
Pakistan or Myanmar, to bring home the
magnitude of the problem faced by India.
T hat and the drugterror nexus "has
dened our approach to the world drug

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. (Photo: IANS)

problem," he added. "The problems of illic
it cultivation of poppy, cannabis and coca
crops, multifaceted challenges faced by
transit countries and those af fected by
drug related terrorism should receive par
ticular attention," he said.
He prescribed alternative development
as an important aspect of drug control
and called for "international cooperation
and increased technical assistance and
provisions of addit ional nancial
resources for developing countries in
their ght against the drug menace."
Jaitley warned that recreational use of
drugs would only aggravate the problem.
There is a trend in some places to legalise
use of drugs, but he did not directly men
tion it.

April 23-29, 2016

21

Jaitley counters
Rajan's 'oneeyed
king' comment
New York: It was the turn of
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
now to counter the "oneeyed
king" comment of Reserve Bank
of India Governor Raghuram
Rajan about the country's econ
omy, say ing a 7.5 percent
growth for any other nation
would be a "celebration".
"Compared to the rest of the
world we are growing much
faster, in fact the fastest.
Compared to our own potential,
we can do better.
So at 7.5 percent growth, any
other country in the world
would be ce le brat ing," the
finance minister said.
"It is a tribute to India's
growth story that at 7.5 per
cent, we are still impatient
because we know our potential
is to do distinctively better and
I see, as a couple of variables
if they work to our advantage,
we can do much better," he said

in an interview to CNBC TV18.

Jaitley was asked to comment
on a statement made by
Governor Rajan in Washington
last week. Rajan was posed a
query over the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) calling
India a "bright spot" in an oth
erwise gloomy global economy.
"I think we have still to get to
a place where we feel satisfied.
We have this saying 'in the
land of the blind, the oneeyed
man is king'. We're a little bit
that way," the central bank gov
ernor had said.
T he comment from Rajan,
who often shoots some eye
browraising oneliners, did not
go down well with Indian minis
ters. First Commerce Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman said she
did not approve of his use of
words followed by a response
from Minister of State for
Finance Jayant Sinha.

22 April 23-29, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SPORTS

IPL 2020

Bombay High Court

allows Pune to host
May 1 IPL tie

Mumbai Indians thrash

Bangalore by six wickets
Mumbai: Leading from the front, skipper
Rohit Sharma smashed 62 of f just 44
balls to guide Mumbai Indians to a com
fortable sixwicket victory over Royal
Challengers Bangalore in an Indian
Premier League (IPL) match at the
Wankhede Stadium here.
Batting first, Bangalore managed
170/7 in 20 overs. Travis Head (37) was
the top scorer for the side.
In reply, riding on Rohit's innings and
Kieron Pollard's quickfire unbeaten 19
ball 39, defending champions Mumbai
chased down the total easily as they post
ed 171/4 in 18 overs to bag their second
win of the season.
Iqbal Abdulla (340) was the pick of the
bowlers for Bangalore.
Chasing a challenging target of 171,
Mumbai got of f to a poor start, losing
opener Parthiv Patel (5) in the second
over itself.
But his opening partner Rohit Sharma
and incoming Ambati Rayudu (31) held
on to score at a good pace without losing
any further wickets to score 51/1 after
the completion of the powerplay.
As Rayudu was looking set after strik
ing five boundaries, of fspinner Iqbal
Abdulla scripted the muchneeded break
through for the visitors, removing the
righthanded batsman to put Mumbai at
82/2 in the 11th over. The duo struck a
76run partnership for the second wick
et. Despite the fall of wicket at the other
end, skipper Rohit used his experience to
best effect to bring up his half century in

Mumbai Indians celebrate after winning the IPL match against Royal Challengers
Bangalore. (Photo: IANS)
38 balls and keep the hosts on course
towards the run chase.
But Abdulla struck for the second time
to dismiss Rohit in the 13th over to put
Bangalore back into the game. Mumbai
were 109/3 at his point of the game.
New batsmen Kieron Pollard and Jos
Buttler (13) held on for a couple of overs
before the latter gave his wicket away in
the 16th over.
But Pollard, who failed to impress in
earlier matches, came up with a quick
fire knock, smashing four boundaries
and three sixes to steer his team to sec

ond victory in the IPL9. Earlier put into

bat, the visitors got off to a flying start,
scoring 49 for the loss of one wicket
after the completion of powerplay.
K.L. Rahul took the initiative at the
start, smashing two fours and two sixes
for his 14ball 23, but the righthanded
batsman fell in the fourth over to the
bowling of Mitchell McClenaghan to give
Mumbai their first breakthrough.
But the wicket did not stop incoming
batsman AB de Villiers (29) and opener
Virat Kohli (33) from playing their natu
ral game.

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court has allowed the

Indian Premier League (IPL) match between
Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiants to be
held in Pune on May 1 as scheduled, despite having
earlier ordered that all IPL matches scheduled to be
held in Maharashtra after April 30 be shifted out of
the state.
The decision was given by a division bench com
prising Justice V.M. Kanade and Justice M.S. Karnik
after hearing an application filed by the Board of
Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) general manager
(games development) Ratnakar Shetty, urging the
court to allow the match to be held as scheduled, cit
ing logistical and other difficulties in shifting it to
another venue.
"As an exception, due to logistical reasons men
tioned by BCCI in the application we are allowing
the match to be held in Pune on May 1," the bench
said. In his plea before the court, Shetty pointed out
that the Pune team is scheduled to play against
Gujarat Lions on April 29 in their home ground,
which would have made it difficult to shift the May
1 match outside Maharashtra and "make all
arrangements for the same in just a single day".
Shetty further stated that shifting the the May 1
match to another venue outside Maharashtra will
mean that the Pune players and support staff can
travel only in the afternoon of April 30 as the match
on April 29 will carry on till late in the night.
The court had passed an order on April 13, direct
ing all IPL matches to be held in Maharashtra after
April 30 to be shifted to different venues due to the
prevalent water shortage in the state. The court's
decision meant that a total of 13 IPL matches,
including two playoffs and the final would have to
shifted.

KKR grab convincing sixwicket victory over Kings XI

Mohali: Robin Uthappa and
Gautam Gambhir's 82run open
ing stand paved the way for
Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to
grab a sixwicket victory against
Kings XI Punjab in an Indian
Premier League (IPL) encounter
at the Punjab Cricket Association
Stadium here.
Uthappa scored a quickfire 28
ball 53, while Gambhir got to a
runaball 34. For Kings XI, Axar
Patel and Pardeep Sahu bagged
two wickets each.
Earlier, the Knights led by mys
tery spinner Sunil Narine's 222
once again put up a brilliant per
formance with the ball to restrict
Kings XI Punjab to 138/8.
Besides Narine, South African
speedster
Morne
Morke l
returned 227. For Kings XI,
Shaun Marsh topscored with an
unbeaten 41ball 56.
In pursuit of 139, KKR started
of f on a canter with Uthappa
being the aggressor. He smacked
Sandeep Sharma first and then

Kings XI Punjab celebrate fall of a wicket during an IPL match between

Kings XI Punjab and Kolkata Knight Riders in Mohali. (Photo: IANS)
took on South African pacer Kyle
Abbott.
Skipper Gambhir, meanwhile,
concentrated on running hard
between the wickets. Kings XI
could have got him run out in the
fifth over but David Miller failed

to hit the stumps with Gambhir

stranded in the middle of the
strip.
After six overs, KKR had raced
to 65/0, with Uthappa going
strong. The Karnatakaborn bats
man managed to get to his fifty

but then was adjudged leg

beforewicket off a Sahu legspin
ner.
But the dismissal could not cur
tail the scoring rate. A few overs
later against the run of play,
Gambhir skied one in the air and
was brilliantly caught by Glen
Maxwell in the deep.
With only 29 runs left, Manish
Pandey (12) who was looking
good, missed a straighter one
from Axar Patel which crashed
onto his citadel. He was followed
by Shakib Al Hasan (11) who
holed out at third man.
Yusuf Pathan (12) and
Suryakumar Yadav (11) then took
their side across the line with 17
balls to spare.
In the first innings, the hosts
had a steady beginning even
though they lost Manan Vohra (8)
early. Murali Vijay and Marsh
then got together to stitch togeth
er a 26run partnership and at
the end of the powerplay, the
Kings had put on a decent 41/1.

However, Vijay (26) failed to

pick a Piyush Chawla googly and
was cleaned up in the eighth
over.
Wriddhiman Saha (8) followed
soon after knicking one through
to the wicketkeeper.
Next to edge one to keeper
Uthappa was captain David Miller
who went back to the dugout
after scoring just 6 runs. At that
stage, Kings XI were struggling at
72/4 in the 13th over.
The dangerous Maxwell (4),
who played a key role in Kings
XI's win last game, threw his
wicket away picking out Chawla
at cover with a reversesweep.
The hundred finally came up in
the 16th over with Axar accom
panying Marsh, but the former
did not last long either.
But Marsh stayed till the end to
ensure his team scraped through
to a decent total. The last over
from Andre Russell produced 18
runs as the Kings signed off with
some momentum.

SPORTS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 23-29, 2016

23

Dipa first Indian woman gymnast to

seal Olympic berth
Rio de Janeiro: Dipa Karmakar has entered
into history books becoming India's first
woman gymnast to qualify for Olympics
after putting up a strong show at the final
qualifying and test event for the Rio Games.
Dipa, who is an Asian Championship
bronze medallist, qualified in the artistic
gymnastics event for Rio Olympics after col
lecting 52.698 points in the test event,
according to the world gymnastics govern
ing body, FIG's website on Monday.
The 22yearold recovered from a poor
performance in the uneven bars on Sunday
to finish strongly in the beam and floor
exercises and earn 52.698 points.
Dipa was originally placed on India's
reserve list for the test event before being
told last month that she had been promoted
to India's main squad.
The Agartala girl has been listed as the
79th gymnast among individual qualifiers
in the list of women's artistic gymnasts who
have qualified for the quadrennial Games, to
be held between August 521.

Dipa will receive the sports ministry's

funding of up to Rs.30 lakh under the
Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), the
Sports Authority of India (SAI) announced
on Monday.
Besides being the first Indian woman, she
will also be the first Indian gymnast qualify
ing for the quadrennial extravaganza after a
gap of 52 long years.
The last time Indians participated in gym
nastics at Olympics was way back in 1964,
but during that time there was no qualifica
tion system in place. Six men competed at
Tokyo 1964 in the artistic individual all
around category.
Till date, 11 Indian men gymnasts have
competed in the Olympics two in 1952,
three in 1956 and six in 1964.
Dipa will also get a chance in the vault,
the event in which she picked up two
bronze medals in the 2015 Asian
Championships and 2014 Commonwealth
Games. She also had finished a creditable
fifth in the World Championships.

Dipa wins gold

at Olympic
test event
Rio de Janeiro: Having created history by
becoming the first Indian woman gymnast
to qualify for the Olympics, Dipa Karmakar
added another feather to her cap by winning
gold in the women's vaults finals at the
Olympic test event here.
The Tripura girl thus became the first
Indian woman gymnast to win gold in a
world gymnastics event. The 22yearold
scored 14.833 points in her first attempt
which was enough to secure the top spot.
Dipa scored 14.566 in her second and last
tries, respectively.
However, Dipa's gold medal winning feat
in the women's vaults event has nothing to
do with her Olympic qualification in the
artistic event, which is an allround competi
tion.
Dipa had qualified for the Olympics when
she finished ninth in the first of the four
subdivisions of the women's artistic catego
ry. She had missed out on an Olympic berth
during the World Championships in
November where she was fifth as she was
not able to garner a podium finish.
The 22yearold already created history by
winning bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth
Games in Glasgow.
Since independence, a total of 11 Indian
male gymnasts have taken part in the
Olympics. Of these, two had qualified for the
Helsinki Games in 1952, three featured in
the 1956 Melbourne Olympics and six com
peted at the 1964edition in Tokyo.
But the Rio Olympics will be the first time
that an Indian woman gymnast will feature
at the 'greatest show on earth'.

Gymnast Dipa Karmakar at Tripura after returning from World Gymnastics

Championships in Glasgow where she finishes fifth last year. (File Photo: IANS)

A saga of talent and hard work

Rio De Janeiro: Dipa Karmakar has creat
ed history by becoming the first Indian
woman g ymnast to qualify for the
Olympics. She booked her place at the
Rio Games after putting up a strong
show in the final qualifying and test
event here.
Her journey from humble beginnings
in her hometown of Agartala is testimo
ny to her hard work and determination.
The daughter of a weightlifting coach at
the SAI centre in Agartala, Dipa started
gymnastics from the early age of six. She
is trained by coach Bisbeshwar Nandi.
But Dipa's tryst with gymnastics was
not a case of love at first sight. She did
not enter the sport by choice, but was
initiated into it by her father. In fact,
Dipa's fear of falling coupled with her
flat feet made her intial days in the sport
quite tough. Dipa's flat feet used to affect
the spring in her jump and Nandi had to
work hard to bring the arch in her feet.
With time, she also managed to over
come her fear of falling and started to
improve quite rapidly.
Dipa won the Junior Nat ionals at
Jalpaiguri in 2007, which increased her
interest and passion for the sport. The
22yearold first came into the limelight
in 2011, when she bagged five gold
medals in the National Games, represent
ing Tripura. She won the golds in floor,
vault, allaround, balance beam and
uneven bars.
In 2010, she was part of the Indian
gymnastic team in the Commonwealth
Games held in Delhi, where she saw
Ashish Kumar create history by winning
India's first ever gymnastic medal. Dipa
later said Kumar was an inspiration for
her. Four years later in the 2014

Dipa Karmakar in practice session. (File Photo: IANS)

Commonwealth Games (CWG), Dipa
g rabbed the bronze medal in the
women's vault final. She received an
overall score of 14.366. The medal made
her the first Indian woman to win in a
Commonwealth Games gymnastic event.
Dipa attempted the Produnova vault
a move that consists of a front hand
spring and two front somersaults
which is one of the most dif ficult and
dangerous moves in g ymnast ics.
However, Dipa's attempt did not come
off clean as her bottom touched the mat
before she bounced back onto her feet,
which earned her a penalty of 0.1 point.
But Dipa earned the distinction of
being the highest scorer in the world to
have accomplished the move. Among the

contemporary gymnasts, only Yamilet

Pena of Dominican Republic and Fadwa
Mahmoud of Egypt have attempted the
Produnova vault and neither managed to
score as much as Dipa.
At a felicitation for the CWG athletes
on August 8 in New Delhi, Dipa's efforts
were praised by cricket legend Sachin
Tendulkar.
Later that year in the Asian Games,
Dipa finished fourth in the vault final
with a score of 14.200.
In October 2015, the Agartala girl also
became the first ever Indian to qualify
for the final stage of the 2015 World
Artistic Gymnastics Championships. In
the final she scored 14.683 to grab the
fifth position.

24

April 23-29, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

BUSINESS

Government withdraws new PF withdrawal rules

New Delhi/Bengaluru: Under fire
from political opponents and
bowing to pressure from trade
unions, including from RSSaffili
ated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh
(BMS), the government withdrew
its new rules of provident fund
withdrawal.
Within hours after announcing
the decision to withhold the rules
till July 31, Labour Minister
Bandaru Dattatreya declared that
the proposed move has been
rolled back.
"We are canceling the notifica
tion issued on February 10. The
old system will continue," he told
a press conference in Hyderabad
on Tuesday night his second
there in the issue in less than five
hours.
Dattatreya said the employees,
whenever they want, can with
draw employer's contribution of
12 percent.
The minister said the Central

Buses torched during protests against amendment in Employees

Provident Funds, in Bengaluru. (Photo: IANS)
Board of Trustees (CBT ) of
Employees' Provident Fund
Organisation (EPFO) will meet to
ratify this decision.
He had earlier told reporters in

New Delhi that the final decision

on withdrawal of employer's con
tribution to the provident fund
corpus until the employee attains
the age of 58 years will be taken

'INDIA SECOND FASTEST

GROWING SERVICES
ECONOMY IN THE WORLD'
New Delhi: India is the second fastest
growing services economy in the world at
10 percent per annum, increasing ly
becoming critical to the development tra
jectory of the country, the CII and KPMG
said in a joint report.
"India has pride of place as the fastest
growing services sector nation globally.
To keep the momentum going, it is critical
that stakeholders, investors and policy
makers are best equipped in strategising
for the future and tapping the best mar
kets globally," said KPMG consumer mar
kets head Rajat Wahi in a statement.
According to the report, 'The Indian
Services Sector: Poised for global ascen
dancy' launched on Wednesday at the sec
ond edit ion of Global Exhibit ion on
Services (GES), the services sector con
tributed 61 percent to India's GDP in fis
cal 201415.
"India's share in global services exports
was 3.2 percent in 201415, double that
of its merchandise exports in global mer
chandise exports at 1.7 percent, placing
India in the eig hth place currently
amongst the top ten exporters of service
in the world," said the statement.
Providing a wide ranging view of the

state of services in India, the report shed

light on performance, exports, govern
ment initiatives, future and expectations
of key services sectors like IT, telecom,
tourism, media and entertainment, health
care, management consulting, logistics
and professional services.
Employing more than 3.7 million peo
ple, Information Technology Business
Process Management (IT BPM) is the
largest private sector employer. Excluding
ecommerce, it is projected to grow at 8.5
percent in 201516 from $132 billion to
$143 billion, said the statement.
Interestingly, tourism sector is expected
to contribute $259 billion to India's GDP
by 2025 while healthcare sector is fore
cast to chip in with $160 billion by 2017.
"With the launch of the 'Digital India'
initiative, the government is stepping
towards digital empowerment. India is
expected to be a leader in IT use in
healthcare (ehealth) by 2019.
Indian telemedicine, though in its nas
cent stage, is showing robust growth at
approximately 20 percent, and is project
ed to grow from $8 million in 2012 to
approximately $19 million by 2017," said
the statement.

only after July 31. He said the

notification will not be imple
mented from May 1 as
announced earlier and he would
hold talks with all stakeholders
and call a meeting of the CBT,
which will take a final decision.
The minister, who is CBT chair
man, assured that they will take
a decision for the betterment of
employees and to make the sys
tem foolproof. He had said as a
result of this decision, the earlier
scheme for withdrawal of PF will
cont inue t ill July 31 and
Employees' Provident Fund
Organisation (EPFO) subscribers
can file for full and final settle
ment. Dattatreya clarified that
the notification restricted with
drawal of only 3.67 percent of
the employer's share out of his
total contribution of 12 percent,
until after retirement, but during
an earlier review it was also
decided to allow an employee to

withdraw even this amount for

four purposes treatment, pur
chase of house, marriage and
education of children.
He said the decision to keep
the move in abeyance was taken
follow ing
representat ions
received from trade unions and
workers.
The government decision came
in wake of protests by garment
workers in Bengaluru to press
for removal of such curbs.
Workers of a garment factory
took to the streets and blocked
traf fic on the busy Mysuru
Bengaluru highway and set many
vehicles ablaze on Tuesday to
protest amendments to the provi
dent fund rules, police and eye
twinesses said.
Some 20 people were arrested
and police fired warning shots as
stonepelting protestors attacked
the Hebbagodi police station, a
police officer said.

US wants to invest more in

India: Nisha Biswal
New Delhi: Appreciat ing the
Narendra Modi government's ini
tiatives to make India investor
friendly, US Assistant Secretary of
State for South and Central Asian
Affairs Nisha Desai Biswal said US
investment in India would be dou
bled if policies were liberalized
further.
Delivering a talk on "USIndia
Economic Relations" here, Biswal
said the Barack Obama adminis
tration supports the Modi govern
ment's programmes such as 'Make
in India' and 'Start Up India'.
"The Indian government is work
ing hard to make it (India) more
investorfriendly," she remarked,
saying that the country would
need "huge foreign investment" as
urbanisation was taking place very
fast. "When we talk about India's eco
nomic growth, we essentially talk about
its urbanisation," she said.
Biswal, an IndianAmerican who was
born in Gujarat and later shifted to the
US, also expressed satisfaction on the
overall re lat ions between the two
nations, and said both were "large vocal
democracies".
"US' direct investment in India has
already surpassed what we invested in

US Assistant Secretary of State for

South and Central Asian Affairs
Nisha Desai Biswal. (File Photo)
China," she said, adding that the two
countries were capable enough to work
out dif ferences to ensure better eco
nomic growth for their people.
Biswal said India's economy has the
potential to drive the economy of the
entire world.
She praised the heads of both the gov
ernments, saying meetings between
Modi and Obama have helped both the
nations come closer.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 23-29, 2015

BOOKS

25

John Masters & his 'Savage' view of Indian history

By Vikas Datta

hat do we make of the Raj's story

tellers? Should we simply view
them through anticolonialism's
uncompromising prism and unceremonious
ly dismiss them as standardbearers of dis
credited imperialism? Or should we give
them a hearing (or reading) for a historical
perspective of the rulers' experiences and
contact with the ruled? Like John Masters
and his unforgettable tales of the British
engagement with India from the 17th centu
ry onward.
And don't think John Masters' stories are
dated or boring two became wellregarded
films: one starring Ava Gardner and Stewart
Granger, and the second, a MerchantIvory
production, had Pierce Brosnan in the lead
and Shashi Kapoor and Saeed Jaffrey figur
ing prominently.
Masters (191483) followed in Rudyard
Kipling's trail but, as Khushwant Singh once
said, while both understood India well, it
was Masters who understood Indians too.
And with good reason, for he had served in
one of the Raj's most abiding and effective
institutions the British Indian Army.

Masters penned over two dozen books after

leaving the army in 1948 and settling in the
US. Apart from his threevolume memoirs,

A VERSATILE
WRITER PROFILES
GEMINI STUDIOS
By M.R. Narayan Swamy
or decades Gemini Studios was one of the best
known names in India. Its owner was the selfmade
and legendary
S.S. Vasan, who once
hawked watches on
railway platforms
but finally went on
to win the Padma
Bhushan for his con
tribution to Indian
cinema.
"Fourteen Years
with Boss" (Penguin)
is a fascinating, at
times funny, account
of how Ashokamitran, who would emerge as a leading
light in Tamil literature, found work at Gemini Studios
when he was financially distressed.
Ashokamitran began writing in the 1950s and has to
his credit over 250 short stories and more than 20 novels
and novellas besides a lot more, earning him a key place
in modern Tamil literature. His work has been translated
into many Indian and foreign languages. But he was a
nobody when Vasan's large heart for those in trouble
fetched the young man a much needed job in the iconic
Gemini Studios.
Vasan was known to his employees as the Boss. It was
in February 1952 that Ashokamitran became the assis
tant to the studio's PR officer. From that vantage point, it
was easy for Ashokamitran to see how and why Gemini
Studios grew and grew, producing some great hits and
nurturing a lot of talent in the film industry.
Ashokamitran resigned in 1966, and Vasan died of cancer
three years later. By then, Gemini Studios was on the slide
though it continued to make films.. In 1975 it shut down,
ending a chapter in Indian cinema.

all are fiction and nearly 10 of them com

prise his "family history" of India featuring
members of the Savage family.
As per chronological order of events
described, they run from "Coromandel"
(1955) about Jason Savage, who runs away
from his rural English home and ends up in
17th century India as the East India
Company had just set up shop to "To the
Coral Strand" (1962) where Rodney Savage,
who has chosen to stay back in independent
India, tries to find some meaning in his life
while juggling between a variety of jobs.
"Nightrunners of Bengal" (1951) is set in
the fictional central Indian town of Bhowani,
representing Jhansi, while nearby is a
princely state where young rani Sumitra
Devi is regent after death of her elderly hus
band, it deals with the 1857 revolt. After
many British (including his wife) are slaugh
tered, Rodney Savage, a captain in the
Bengal Native Infantry, vows revenge even
murdering in cold blood an innocent youth
in the village he and some survivors find
refuge and fights hard against the rebels,
though it is the presence of other loyal
nat ive soldiers, especially a cavalry
squadron whose charge led by grizzled vet

eran, Risaldar Rikirao Purohit, turns the

tables in a crucial battle against the rebels
where the rani is killed.
"The Deceivers" (1952) features Rodney's
father William Savage, the collector of
'Madhia' district, who finds a mass grave of
slain travelers and finds out about the
Thugs and their ritual murders. When his
superiors dismiss his reports, he, in disguise,
infiltrates one of their bands and even takes
part in killings.
But it was "Bhowani Junction" (1954) that
became Masters most famous work, with its
depiction of the uncertainty in the runup to
Independence, and the dilemmas facing the
British and the Indians as well as the Anglo
Indians while Col Rodney Savage tries to
maintain order in the area and in his life.
The novel became an Ava Gardner film.
Masters is often criticized for his imperial
viewpoint without appreciating that it was
the prevailing milieu in his formative years
but his depiction is nuanced frictions
between British and Indian characters
reflect those in the Raj itself, while Indian
nationalists are presented fairly. But he is a
spellbinding storyteller which can excuse
much.

By Vikas Datta

Shammi
Kapoor:
The
YAHOO
man

f Shammi Kapoor's life

was presented on
celluloid, it would
quite be like one of his
iconic films a youth
out to live on his own
terms,
attracting
many women except
the one he wants, pur
suing and serenading
this one till she consents,
lots of energetic jiving, misun
derstandings, heartbreaks and
finally, a happy ending but not entire
ly.
For life doesn't always imitate art, but
can sometimes be much strange than
appears evident and that of Shamsher
Raj 'Shammi' Kapoor is proof enough.
His landmark films made him the
most soughtafter star, but his rebel
lious, playboylike persona came as late
as in his 19th film and that too with a
role rejected by the top star it was con
ceived for. Initially girlshy, he became
the Indian embodiment of a restless
Casanovalike figure, both in reel and
(to some extent) in real life, but a loyal
and devoted husband once married.
And in an industry where most stars
were more known for their high living
than learning, he was wellread enough
to catch out people on books they
claimed to have gone through as
Sharmila Tagore found out. Filled with
exuberant highs and depressing lows,
both influencing and portraying a para
digmatic shift in the Indian film hero,
his was a life that demanded to be told
and veteran film journalist Rauf Ahmed
does it justice in this biography the
first fulllength account of this most
contradictory man and actor.
And the author presents his story in a
typical Bollywood style. Thus the narra
tive doesn't begin directly with Shammi
but in two years before his birth in

Shammi Kapoor The Game Changer

by Rauf Ahmed; Om
Books International;
Pages: 299;
Price: Rs.595
1931, when his redoubtable father,
Prithviraj, arrived in Bombay and set
out to carve his film career. This lays
well the ground for understanding his
early life and formative influences and
his eventual choice of career. There is
much here that will be interesting a
young Shammi literally putting the bite
on a rival at a girl's birthday party, his
first, uproarious (to us) dates, and how
he once managed gifts for his many
'Rakhi' sisters one Rakshabandhan
when he was stone broke.
Shortly, we see him beginning his film
career, but despite his best efforts, not
making much of a impact or niche

before he met Geeta Bali, with

whom he had a whirlwind romance
and impetuous marriage, who set
him on the road to become the
Shammi we know. Then there are
set pieces of some prominent points
his relationship with his various
female
costars,
especially
Madhubala, whose beauty and art
he continued to extol throughout
his life, the story of the filming of
the iconic "Yahoo..." song from
"Jung lee" (it was not shot in
Kashmir and it was neither Shammi
nor Mohd. Rafi who shouted
"Yahoo"), his relation with "his
voice" Rafi and music composers
ShankarJaikishan, and how his
keen interest in music developed (it
involves Nargis and a reneged
promise of a kiss).
The narrative then picks to the
tragic loss of Geeta Bali and his
unstable existence as he made
numerous attempts to find someone
to share his life with while in parallel
began his descent from the heady
heights of stardom in a new era, and
a struggle to reinvent himself. But it
ended happily with Neila Devi coming
into his life before further twists the
hardliving dandy turning religious
minded, but also helping to popular
ize the internet.
Though the book could have given
more about his later career, and the
simultaneous translations of any
Hindustani word are irksome, the
account, based much on the author's
interactions with the actor himself, and
many others close to him or otherwise
figuring in his life, goes a long way in
telling the whole Shammi story, and
revealing how the "beyond the boister
ous, singing, dancing, clowning image
he used to project on screen" was an
"intellectuallyinclined, sensitive and
wellread guy with a wide range of
interests".

26

April 23-29, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

HEALTH

BE WARNED, SMARTPHONE APPS CAN

NEVER DIAGNOSE ILLNESSES
Right now, apps almost feels like the Wild West of health care, says one expert.
By Nishant Arora
New Delhi: With a barrage of
smartphone health apps being
launched globally claiming to go
beyond fitness or calorie checkers
and spot mental illnesses or respira
tory diseases health experts stress
that such digital applications can
never be a replacement for a quali
fied, welltrained health service
provider. An Australiabased digital
health solution provider recently
launched an app called ResApp that
claims to diagnose respiratory dis
eases like pneumonia, croup and
asthma with high accuracy through
a cough into a smartphone.
Go to Apple App Store and you
will find a plethora of apps claiming
to diagnose depression, anxiety,
schizophrenia and even posttrau
matic stress disorder (PTSD). There
are nearly 1,500 depressioncheck
ing apps out there but according to
experts, apps can at best give infor
mation or help monitor diet and
health parameters but if these claim
to diagnose an illness, there are
serious medicolegal issues in mak
ing such a claim.
"Apps may guide a patient to con
sult an appropriate doctor.
However, an app by itself is not ade
quate to make a diagnosis.
Diagnosis of a medical condition is
made by detailed history and exami
nation followed by investigations.

This expertise is gained after sever

al years of training and a digital app
is not a replacement at all," empha
sizes Dr. Vipul Gupta, head (neu
rovascular intervention centre) at
MedantaThe Medicity.
Gupta is soon going to launch an
app
called
"Stroke
and
Neurointervention" being devel
oped with the nonprofit Stroke and
Neurovascular
Intervention
Foundation where he is one of the
founder members. The app will pro
vide information to people about
stroke awareness, prevention and
treatment options. "The app will
also have an emergency number to
call. It will regularly update doctors
about current treatments, latest
advances and protocols and provide
expert opinion on medical cases,"
Dr Gupta told IANS.
When it comes to health apps,
experts say that trust in health care

cannot be created by answering

merely a set of questions and get
ting an instant diagnosis as the vari
ables are too high to be included in
a single app.
The key questions are: Is the app
accredited by an agency or has the
process been standardized by any
council? Have doubleblind clinical
trials been performed on these apps
for approval and do these prepare
users for emergency situations? Are
the people behind the apps health
care providers or mere IT geeks
who wish to monetize their efforts?
"There is not enough evidence
that such queries have been
addressed when it comes to health
apps. On the contrary, there is
always an agreement clause which
the user is made to click prior to
use, absolving the app creator of
any medical mishaps," Dr Amitabh
Parti, unit head (internal medicine)

at Fortis Medical research Institute

in Gurgaon, told IANS.
Dr Parti has come across many
such tall claiming apps and found
those misleading.
"The efficacy of an app needs to
be subjected to multicentric clinical
trials and be assessed in varying
clinical settings including individu
als with many comorbidities (more
than one disease). We must realize
there is no room for a redo in
healthcare when it is a human life
we are interfering with," emphasizes
Dr Parti.
Dr Rajeev Rathi, cardiologist at
Max Super Specialty Hospital in the
capital, recently devised and
launched an app to help a person
find if he or she is suffering from a
heart disease or not. "Heart App"
seeks answers to a set of seven
basic questions which a physician
will ask in case of chest discomfort.
An analysis of answers indicates the
possibility of a heart attack via app
which is available in Google Play
Store and Apple App Store. But the
app limits itself to this and does not
claim to go into deeper clinical diag
nosis like a doctor will do.
Diagnosis in the field of mental
health is largely clinical and ques
tionnaires and apps at best can help
with screening to help provide sug
gestions but not diagnosis.
"It is important that applications
are used for education and screen

ing purpose and should aid in

reaching experts to a larger popula
tion and make accessibility easier,"
elaborates Dr Samir Parikh, direc
tor, department of mental health
and behavioral sciences, at Fortis
Healthcare.
According to Dr Aditya Ingle, con
sultant pathologist at telehealth
venture LiveHealth, an app which is
associated with a healthcare
provider such as pathology labs can
store and provide past results to
you and your doctor with just a
click of a button.
"If it can remind to perform cer
tain tests depending on your clini
cal condition, then such apps will be
of great help to the people," Dr
Ingle said.
According to experts, health start
ups must get their apps accredited
by a certified healthcare agency.
"The health ministry must include
these and other guidelines prior to
permitting such apps to be
launched for fear of an adverse
event. Remember that the doctor
learns by experience and app earns
by experience," stresses Dr Parti.
In a recent report in the scientific
journal Nature, psychiatrist John
Torous who chairs the American
Psychiatric
Association's
Smartphone App Evaluation Task
Force, said: "Right now, it [apps]
almost feels like the Wild West of
health care."

SPF30 sunscreens may

Steroids for muscle growth cause
delay onset of skin cancer
joint problems in youths
New Delhi: The spurt in usage
knees, shoulders, and ankles.
of steroids and muscle building
You may have osteonecrosis
supplements is leading to sev
in one or more bones.
eral types of joints related ail
Explaining
Avascular
ments in youngsters, including
Necrosis, the commonest type
Gout and Avascular Necrosis,
of joint problem among
according to orthopedics.
steroid using youths, Sharma
According to the doctors, the
said: "In this condition, the
disorders, if not treated by
ball of the hip joint loses its
competent surgeon in time,
blood supply, shrinks and
Use of steroids and muscles
can lead to lifetime disabilities
thus loses its shape and
building supplements is on
that are difficult to rectify at
smoothness. T his causes
the rise among young men.
later age. "This is emerging as
immense pain, and the per
a major health problem for the youngsters. Joint son may even find difficulty in walking."
related issues caused due to steroids and mus
"If diagnosed early with the help of MRI scan,
cles building supplements are on rise. In such one may be able to save the hip and be able to
issues if the surgeries are not performed prop treat it with medicines. But once the ball with
erly then instead of relieving pain and disability, ers, the only possible treatment is surgery; in
the situation worsens," said Manoj Sharma, the form of either resurfacing it or replace
head of orthopedics at Jaipur Golden Hospital.
ment." According to the doctors, 25 per cent of
Doctors have said the excess use of steroids the youngsters using steroids for muscle growth
and muscle supplements causes osteonecrosis, are on the verge of suf fering from Avascular
loss of blood supply to the bones in the joints. Necrosis, because of its consumption without
With too little blood, the bone starts to die and doctors' advice.
may break down. The types of joint related
Nirad S Vengsarkar, orthopedic surgeon at
problems it causes are Avascular necrosis, Mumbaibased Lilavati Hospital, said the prob
Aseptic necrosis and Ischemic necrosis. lem starts with crippling bone pain, which
Osteonecrosis is most often found in the hips, becomes severe with time.

New York: Application of

sunscreen with a sun pro
tection factor of 30 (SPF30)
prior to exposure to sun
light is likely to delay the
onset of skin cancer, finds a
new research.
The study, conducted on
mice, showed that sun
screens are known to prevent skin from
burning when exposed to UV sunlight,
which is a major risk factor for melanoma
most serious form of skin cancer.
However, it has not been possible to test
whether sunscreens prevent melanoma
because these are generally manufactured
as cosmetics and tested in human volun
teers or synthetic skin models.
"We have developed a mouse model that
allows us to test the ability of a sunscreen
to not only prevent burns but also to pre
vent melanoma," said lead researcher
Christin Burd, assistant professor at the
Ohio State University.
"This is a remarkable accomplishment.
We hope that this model will lead to break
throughs in melanoma prevention," he
added.

Burd and colleagues previ

ously reported in Cancer
Discovery, a journal of the
AACR, the development of
this mouse melanoma model.
The researchers genetically
engineered mice and found
that if they exposed these to
a single dose of ultravioletB
(UVB) light one day after applying the
SPF30 chemical 4hydroxytamoxifen
(4OHT) to the skin, melanomas appeared
much more rapidly, and there were many
more tumors. The researchers then used
the mouse model to test the ability of a
number of sunscreens labeled SPF30 to
prevent melanoma.
The sunscreens, which contained a range
of UVblocking agents, were applied to the
mice prior to exposure to the UVB light. All
the sunscreens delayed melanoma onset
and reduced tumor incidence.
"Melanomafree survival was reduced by
80 percent, to about five weeks," said Burd.
The initial findings were recently pre
sented at the American Association for
Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting
2016 in the US.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 23-29, 2016

LIFESTYLE

27

Are you a believer or an atheist? It's all in your brain

By Nishant Arora

hile scientists and faithfuls will

ensure that the debate on the exis
tence of a universal spirit call it
God or a supernatural force goes on, a
research study has revealed that the con
flict between science and religion has its
roots in your brain.
According to the researchers, human
brain is divided in two parts one given to
analytical or critical think and the other
comprising an empathetic network.
When it comes to choosing between faith
or science, this is how the brain works.
In order to believe in a supernatural
power or a universal spirit, people appear
to suppress the brain network used for ana
lytical or critical thinking and engage the
empathetic network.
On the other hand, when thinking analyti
cally about the physical and material world,
people just appear to do the opposite, say
researchers from Ohiobased Case Western
Reserve University and Massachusetts
based Babson College in the US.
The brain has a role to play in everything
that happens to and by the human body
and mind.
"You cannot do anything without the
brain. So the faithfuls suppress
analytical/critical part of their brain while

they are enjoying their faith or praying. It,

however, does not mean that they cannot
be nerds and analytical at other times,"
Richard E Boyatzis, professor of organiza
tional behavior at Case Western and a co
author of the research study, told IANS in
an email interview.
In a series of eight experiments, the
researchers found the more empathetic the
person is, the more likely he or she is to be
religious.
The research is based on the hypothesis
that the human brain's two opposing
domains are in constant tensio.
"Because of the tension between these
two networks, pushing aside a naturalistic
world view enables you to delve deeper
into the social or emotional side," says asso
ciate professor of philosophy Tony Jack
from Case Western in a paper published in
the journal PLOS ONE.
The US researchers also examined the
relationship between belief in God with
measures of analytic thinking and moral
concerns, in eight different experiments
each involving 159 to 527 adults.
Consistently through all experiments, the
team found that both spiritual belief and
empathetic concerns were positively asso
ciated with frequency of prayer, meditation
and other spiritual or religious practices.
Experts feel that for the human mind, the

Human brain has two parts one for analytical or critical thinking, other for
empathetic network. (Image courtesy: socialnews.xyz)
uncertainty that surrounds a state of "not
knowing" is a source of anxiety, fear and
depression.
"Surrendering to a 'higher power' allevi
ates that state of 'not knowing' as it is easi
er to believe that things are happening as
per will of God or destiny rather than not
being able to put an explanation for those
acts or phenomenon," emphasizes Dr Sunil
Mittal, senior psychiatrist from Cosmos
Institute of Mental Health and Behavioral

People judge brands on

how they sound
Canada: Our feelings and
intuitions play a key role
in our liking or disliking
a s p ec i f i c b r a n d a n d
brand managers should
name a product keeping
in mind that people asso
ciate certain sounds with
nearness and some with
distance, says a recent
study.
According
to
researchers, the study is
a significant addition to
t h e e x i s t i n g b o d y of
knowledge about sound
symbolism the intu
itive understanding of
(Image courtesy: stylus.com)
the meaning of specific
added in the paper published online in the journal
sounds.
The findings showed that people intuitively asso Cognition.
The findings are based on a series of five experi
ciate front vowel sounds those produced with
the tongue relatively far forward in the mouth ments conducted in New York City, including one
such as the "ee" in feet with things that are close in which participants were told that they would be
given names of cities in New York State and asked
by.
Conversely, they relate back vowel sounds to estimate their distance from NYC.
The names of these nonexistent cities were
those produced with the tongue far back in the
mouth, such as "oo" in food to things that are far crafted so that one city called Fleen contained a
front vowel and the other, Floon, contained a back
ther away.
"Our feelings and intuitions about sounds influ vowel and were randomly asked to estimate the
ence what we feel is okay for names of specific distance between NYC and one of the two cities.
The findings showed that the participants regu
items or brands," said Cristina Rabaglia from
larly predicted that Floon was much farther from
University of Toronto Mississauga.
"If you name something in a way that isn't intu NYC than Fleen, demonstrating that people associ
itive, it could decrease the likelihood that people ated back vowels with distance and front vowels
will want to interact with that product," Rabaglia with nearness. (IANS)

Sciences in New Delhi.

Religious beliefs, however, can help cope
with dif ficult events like death of a loved
one, loss, disability and calamities.
"The human mind does feel conflicted
about believing in something that it has
never seen or cannot define. However, the
'power of belief' itself is essential to help
find answers and cope with difficulties in
life, be it belief in God, in destiny or any
other higher power," Dr Mittal told IANS.

CUT 71MINUTE
SITTING TIME
IN OFFICE AND
LIVE LONGER
London: Workers please take
note! Taking frequent breaks to
reduce sitting time at work
place can help you cut extra
body fat, thus lowering the risk
of heart disease, diabetes and
early death.
The results which were fol
lowed up for three months
showed a reduction of 0.61 per
cent in body fat in study partici
pants.
This was as a result of 71
minute shorter sitting time per
day during working hours after
one month.
"A reduction in sitting time by
71 minutes per day could have
positive ef fect in the long run
as this could be associated with
reduced risk of heart diseases,
diabetes and allcause mortali
ty, especially among those who
are inactive," said professor
Janne Tolstrup from National
Inst itute of Public Health,
Denmark.
Researchers from University
of Southern Denmark, the
National Research Centre for
Prevention and Health and the
University of Sydney conducted

a multicomponent workbased
intervention to reduce sitting
time and prolonged sitting peri
ods.
The team analyzed 317 office
workers in 19 of fices across
Denmark and Greenland ran
domly put into the intervention
or control groups.
T he intervention included
environmental of fice changes
and a lecture and workshop,
where workers were encour
aged to use their sitstand
desks.
By wearing an accelerometer
device, the researchers were
able to measure results across a
fiveday working week.
After one month, participants
in the intervention group sat
down for 71 minutes less in an
eighthour work day than the
control group. This reduced to
48 minutes after three months.
"T he number of steps per
workday hour was seven per
cent higher at one month and
eight percent higher at three
months," said the study pub
lished in the Internat ional
Journal of Epidemiology. (IANS)

28

April 23-29, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

HUMOR

Funny Side by Nury Vittachi

MONDAY MOANING BLUES:

THOUGHTS ABOUT SILENCE

TOLD MY CHILDREN THE HORRIFIC

TRUTH about life in the old days: And at
about 11.30 every night, they would play
the national anthem and we would pretend to
stand up and every screen went blank. And all
screens in the land remained dead until the
next afternoon.
They were shocked. But what did people
do? asked one.
Many committed suicide while others were
driven insane by the silence.
(Dads are good at getting the sympathy
vote.)
***
The conversation put me in mind of how lit
tle silence we have these days.
Reader Josefina Cavallero sent in a news
report about an apartment in the UK which
was identified in so many noise complaints
that police got a warrant to break in.
They found 34 audio speakers in the small
flat and confiscated the lot. They left only a
CD player plus a pair of headphones, she
said.
I remarked that this was kind of them, but a

youngish colleague who loves heavy rock,

metal and punk shook his head.
The only purpose of putting on loud music
like that is to annoy other people, he said.
You dont think anyone actually enjoys it, do
you?
Good point.
***

But its funny how young people dont real

ize that IT WAS US, the adult generation, who
actually INVENTED rock music and its accom
panying misbehavior.
W hen I lived in London, I was such a
naughty kid that The Who would come to my
house to get tips on how to smash up stuff.
***
Anyway, this colleague, who clearly has a
Mission to Annoy, forwarded me a recent
news report of a case where the problem was
the person complaining rather than the noise
maker.
Reagan National Airport in Washington,

D.C., revealed recently that it received 8,670

noise complaints in 2015, of which 6,500
came from ONE PERSON.
I did the math. Since there are only 8,760
hours in a year, the guy must have com
plained every hour, night and day, five days a
week.
WIFE: Why are you getting up? Its 3 a.m.
HUSBAND: I havent called the airport com
plaints line for nearly an hour. A man has to
follow his dreams, Janice.
***
Yet the best way to deal with noise com
plaints is to use cunning.
I remember some years ago reporting on
the case of a myna bird in Nanjing, China.
His owner, a Mr Jiang, decided to invest in a
pair of noisy parrots as well, who squawked
night and day.
The myna bird soon noticed that the new
comers shut up whenever a cat passed the
window, so it started miaowing whenever it
wanted to a bit of peace.
I'm sure I can't be the only person who
learns stuff from household pets. Or maybe I
am.
***
Whatever. In honor of the memories of the
adult generation, I will now bring this column
to a close by singing the national anthem.
Kindly pretend to stand up.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
New York Head Quarter
422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801

5168271010

by Mahendra Shah
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and
humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the
immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat,
he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

ASTROLOGY

April 23-29, 2016

29

Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874

Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com

By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma

APRIL 2329, 2016

ARIES: A firm commitment will not only
enable to achieve professional targets
but also to realise your dreams.
Misunderstandings with near ones in the fami
ly will get cleared. A promising week to earn
profits in real estate and financial transac
tions. Your wit & charm would help in catch
ing the attention of opposite sex. Creative hob
bies are likely to keep you relaxed. Time to
relax and enjoy your visit to a relatives place.
Investing on properties which are under
developed will be profitable. You get a great
respect in friends circle.
TAURUS: Cooperative nature brings
desired results at professional front.
Children would do their best to keep
you happy. An improvement in monetary posi
tion makes it convenient to purchase essential
items. Love partner would be extremely sup
portive and in a loving mood. With a positive
outlook & confidence, you succeed in impress
ing people around you. Journey to some
famous historical place sounds exciting to
your kids. Whether young or old, now is the
time to start investing. Perfect planning would
enable to get rhythm back.
GEMINI: For some change of job would
bring mental satisfaction. You are like
ly to be benefited as family members
positively respond. This week longterm
investment would enable to make substantial
gains. A romantic week as you receive all
praises from partner. Mental alertness would
enable to solve a tricky problem. Romance is
in full bloom, a journey full of pleasure is your
crave.
Looking for good long term investments, then
go for a property which is under construction.
You strive to make accolades a regular feature
of life.

CANCER: Your inner values coupled

with a positive attitude will bring suc
cess at work. Parents and friends will
do their best to keep you happy. Financial has
sles will be eased out with the help of your
friends.
You find pleasure and enjoy ecstasies of love
in the arms of partner. A cheerful state of
mind brings mental peace. Its time to travel
with innovative imagination. Value the proper
ty at right price to attract buyers for it.
Devoting quality time to correct behavioural
flaws would benefit.
LEO: Responding positively & quickly
to new ideas in business will go in your
favour. A promising week to plan
things for your progeny. Certain important
plans will be executed, bringing fresh financial
gains.
You enjoy a lovely time as Cupid is on your
side this week. Good time to divert attention
to spirituality to enhance mental toughness.
Are you longing to go on a vacation then be
ready for it? It always is exciting to begin
looking at homes for sale in your area. Success
in creating welldefined and mature set of
values.
VIRGO: Calculated risks at professional
front will be rewarded with success.
You would be the center of attraction
at a social gathering that you attend
especially with family. Speculations are likely
to bring monetary profits. A special message
from beloved/lover lifts spirits. A pleasure trip
gives the muchneeded tonic to health. Be
ready to hang out with your friends. Buying
cheap property in the right location can pro
vide you triple gain annually. Developing new
contacts with influential persons would help
in the long run.

LIBRA: You will be successful in regain

ing your professional touch. You would
prefer to relax and enjoy the company
of family members in the evening. Monetary
position is likely to improve later in the week.
Love companion will be eager to meet you this
week. Cutting down the number of parties and
pleasure jaunts would help in keeping in good
mood. By traveling you will learn about new
places, ultimately its a great deal for yourself.
Investing in property business sounds very
appealing. You are likely to help someone in
distress this week.
SCORPIO : Selfconfidence helps in mak
ing an impact at professional front this
week. this week you move with new
excitement & confidence as you receive support
from family and friends. Hard work of previous
weeks brings good fortune enabling to fulfill
monetary promises. Proposing might benefit,
as chances of succeeding in love are high. A
beneficial week to work on things that will
improve your health. Pack your bags and some
eatables and go out for a picnic. Banks love to
finance those, who invest in properties which
are underdevelopment. Shifting focus from per
sonal to social life would immensely benefit.
SAGITTARIUS : Valuable support from a
colleague would help in professional
matters. Family front seems to go
smoothly as you receive their full support to
your plans. You succeed in making some extra
cash on playing your cards well. Search for a
true romantic friend might end this week. Your
confidence and energy will be high this week.
Many people want to fly international and you
are one of them.
A good deal on commercial property might
occur. You try to motivate others for charitable
work.

CAPRICORN: Good week for computer

professionals as they realise their
dreams. You find relief, comfort and
affection in the company of family members.
An auspicious week to invest money on items
that would grow in value. Blossoming love life
brings happiness. A week when smile will per
petually be on your face and strangers will
seem familiar. By traveling youll learn about
new places and cultures, which is ultimately a
great deal about yourself. Their might be a
chance of acquiring a plot from your closed rel
ative. You impress others by your knowledge.
AQUARIUS: An excellent time for
developing professional contacts. Time
spent with relatives will be to your
advantage. Investment on longterm plans
would pave the way for earning financial gains.
Romance is likely to intensify through recre
ational activities & entertainment. Your energy
level will be high. Better to channelise it in a
positive direction. You and your loved ones
been busy for quite sometimes and have finally
decided to go on a vacation. You might deal in
some ancestral property or any other parental
property.
PISCES: Senior colleagues cooperation
brings success at professional front.
Family members will be very positive &
supportive to your plans. Improvement in
finances makes it convenient in clearing long
pending dues & bills. Romantic opportunity
comes your way as your sparkling sunshine
smile injures a lively & tender heart. Positive
outlook impresses those around you besides
keeping you fit & fine. Your next journey is to a
place which is full of natural beauty and ravish
ing. A deal regarding residential property can
start moving on its right path. You succeed in
maintaining a distance from gossips &rumours.

ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

23rd April, 2016
Ruled planet: Mercury Ruled by no: 5
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Mercury makes
you an active, practical, sensible, systematic and
highly diplomatic person. You need to be a bit
careful and remove stubbornness from your
nature.
Health this year: If you are a chronic patient, you
have to take extra care for your health to avoid
grievances in future.
Finance this year: You might sell your property in
a good price, which would help you enhance your
financial stance. You may schedule your travel to
maintain distant relationships and gain some
financial support. Some of you may get the oppor
tunity to travel abroad for business purpose. You
should avoid lending and borrowing money to
stay financially stable.
Career this year: You love music and literature
and want to pursue your career in those fields.
You will be able to improve your confidence level
as you may find a lot of opportunities to be
grabbed.
Romance this year: Some of you also may get
your marriage fixed this year. Your romance life
would get to its peak.
Lucky month: June , July and September
24th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: Your planet Venus makes you kind,
realistic, helpful, and adaptable. You are very sim
ple as a person who believes in high thinking. You
are hardworking and sincere, which helps you get
appreciation from others. However, you need to
check your nature of being rude and interfering
in the af fairs of others. If you do not work on
your behavior, you may end up criticized badly.
Health this year: You will enjoy a better health
this year as compared to last year. You may suf
fer from some minor health issues such as joint
aches, back pain, headache and so on.
Finance this year: You will enjoy financial pros
perity and a good health throughout this year. If
you are a businessman, you will get ample oppor
tunities to expand your business by investing in
more profitable areas.
Career this year: If your profession is associated
with creativity, such as artists, media profession
als, and advertising professionals, you may gain
popularity, appreciation, and fame. If you want to

create professional and social contacts, you have

to achieve it through frequent gettogethers and
travelling. You may receive some help from your
near and dear ones, which may prove to be
instrumental in improving your confidence in
your professional life.
Romance this year: You will find your spouse to
be very cooperative this year. You will find your
required emotional support from your spouse
through love, care and concern even if you find it
dif ficult to understand your partner. If you are
unmarried, you may find your romance interest
this year.
Lucky month: August , Sep.,October, November
25th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Neptune Ruled by no: 7
Traits in you: Being dominated by Neptune, you
are adorned with characteristics such as responsi
bility, af fection, creativity, simplicity and emo
tions.
Health this year: I Your spouse may suffer from
stress related health issues, which may lead to
roaming in the premises of a hospital.
Finance this year: You are supposed to be benefit
ed financially from your assumptions while
investing money. However, that does not mean
you will invest blindly.
Career this year: As you are committed towards
your undertaken works, you are appreciated and
awarded consistently. However, you have to work
on your nature of being fickle minded and care
less always. You may realize your ideas and plans
this year. You will be able to execute your plans
ef ficiently. You will get plenty of support from
your partners and colleagues to improve your
morale and confidence.
Romance this year: You will be in a blissful
romantic relationship with your partner this year.
Lucky month: July , August and November
26th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Saturn Ruled by no: 8
Traits in you: Under the influence of Neptune you
will develop your characteristics to be a dynamic,
reliable, organized, sober and disciplined person.
You are a born fighter.
Health this year: IYou will have few minor health
issues this year, which can be cured by regular
medication.
Finance this year: If you have made any invest

ments in real estate or stocks, you will be hugely

benefited this year. You may have a foreign trip
for business purpose.
Career this year: You would never fidget in
adverse situations and fight back all the problems
in your life. However, your stubbornness may
make you lag behind others so it will be better for
you to take others opinion.
Romance this year: You will find lot of love and
care from your spouse. You may think the last
quarter of the year to be idle for you wedding.
Some of you may get involved in romantic rela
tionships, which you help you enjoy your life the
most.
Lucky month: May, August and November
27th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: The vigor of you ruling planet, Mars
blesses you with energy. You are charismatic,
courageous, enthusiastic, and intellectual. You will
be a crowd puller as you have the characteristics
of intellectuality. You will impress people with
your personality and talks. However, you should
not behave aggressive and short tempered. This
may ruin your image in front of others.
Health this year: I The last quarter of the year will
make you seek help from a spiritual person to
attain peace of mind. You may go through minor
health related problems due to stress.
Finance this year: You will earn excellent returns
if you had invested in past. Your legal issues will
be settled in your favor this year. You may receive
money unexpectedly from friends and relatives
throughout the year. Your business trips will be
successful this year and you will receive earning
opportunities from your trips.
Career this year: This year is the best time to go
back to your old contacts and create new contacts
to receive help to make yourself better in profes
sional life.
Romance this year: You may get involved in a
romantic relationship this year, which may get
converted to marriage later on.
Lucky month: July , August and September
28th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Being ruled by Sun, you will be cre
ative by nature. Your other characteristics include
smartness, intelligence, and dignity and so on.

Health this year: Your younger siblings may have

some health issues, which w ill put you in
immense pressure.
Finance this year: You may go ahead creating new
contacts and casual relationships this year. If you
are a businessperson, there are huge opportuni
ties for you to start new ventures and earn lot of
money as you will be successful whatever initia
tive you take this year. Your assumptions of
investing will prove to be highly beneficial.
Career this year: Art and literature are your area
of interest and you want to contribute to these
fields. However, you need to be sober and down
to earth to create a good impression. If you are a
scientist or a lawyer, you may find this year to be
rewarding for you. Women professionals in
advertising and media will also be rewarded for
their good work.
Romance this year: If you are unmarried, this
year may bring romance in your lonely life.
Lucky month: September , October and
November
29th April, 2016
Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: The influence of your ruling planet
Moon enhances your imagination power. You are
honest, sensitive and creative by nature. You are
helpful by heart and you help people in need with
money and physical support. However, you
should not behave introvert or shy. You should let
your personality grow.
Health this year: I The drip in the health of your
parents might cause concern for you.
Finance this year: Your assumptions on invest
ments would prove to be correct and you will
earn a handsome amount of money from your
investments. There is a healthy chance of over
seas travel regarding business meeting this year.
The travel would be successful and you may get
new projects. You should avoid financial transac
tions with casual friends as it may result in loss
and complications in relationships.
Career this year: This year may bring new oppor
tunities for you. You may get promotions and
transfer orders.
Romance this year: Your partner will be support
ive enough and help you in every respect. If you
are eligible and unmarried, you may get marriage
proposals this year.
Lucky month: June, August and November

30

April 23-29, 2016

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Finding Fulfillment in this World

By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
ost people are trying to
fulfill their desires. We
might have a desire to buy
a car; we might have a desire to
buy a house; we might have a
desire to study history or the sci
ences, or we might desire any
objects of this world. Our emphasis
is on being able to fulfill those
desires.
Life goes on in a way in which we

are always trying to fulfill one

desire after another after another.
What happens is that desires do
not end. When one is fulfilled, then
we have another desire. As we try
to fulfill that one, then we have
another desire, then another.
Life just keeps on passing by. We
are searching for happiness all
over the world.Little do we realise
that the true wealth,true happi
ness,and true love are waiting with
in us.We think that happiness is
outside ourselves.We think it lies in
wealth,name and fame,possessions
and relationships.
Since our human system is set up
to focus on fulfilling our desires,
what is needed is the right kind of
desire. First, we need to choose a
goal. And the right goal is to
choose God, to have the merger of
our soul in the Lord.God lies within
us.God's love is within.There is
nothing in the outer world
that can compare to that. We

spend our precious life breaths

pursuing the fulfillment of our
every wish in the worldly sphere.
In the end we find that none of
those wishes brings us the happi
ness, love, and contentment we

really want.Instead of seeking the

true treasures outside ourselves
,we should sit in meditation and
find the true wealth within. If we
would stick to being conscious of
our true self, as soul, we would

find more love and happiness

than we can have
from the fulfillment of any desire
in the world. Then we will find our
lives filled with love,bliss,and eter
nal peace and happiness.

The Current of Light and Sound

By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj

he beginning of our souls journey is

the contact with the Light and Sound
of God, the two primary manifestations
of the power of God. It is said that when God
desired to bring about creation, that thought
resulted in a current emanating from God.
That current was manifested as Light and

By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj

Sound. It was a divine stream that brought

all creation into being. As it moved further
from its source, the vibratory rate changed.
Thus, different regions of varying vibrations
were brought into being and sustain all
creation.
The Light and Sound principle ultimately
brought the physical universe into being.
Our physical universe is operating at the
densest vibratory rate, so dense that it mani
fests as matter. It is only in the last few

decades that scientists have begun to under

stand that what we thought was solid matter
are really dancing packets of energy. At the
core of matter is an energy, which is light
and sound. We know that when we split an
atom, there is a tremendous burst of light
and sound. This light and sound energy
within our physical universe is the densest
vibration of the current of Light and Sound
emanating from the Creator.
The Light and Sound current flows out

from God. It also flows back to God. We can

catch this current at the point known as the
third or single eye, or the sixth chakra. That
is the connecting point between our soul (or
attention in the body) and the Light and
Sound current. If we can concentrate our
attention at that point, we can contact the
Light and Sound current and soar on it back
through the higher regions of existence. The
Light and Sound will ultimately lead us to
the Source, back to God.

BENEFITS OF A VEGETARIAN DIET

W
ith the opening of Veggie Fest
this wee k at Benedict ine
University in Lisle, Illinois on
August 15 and 16, we are discovering how
many people from all walks of life, locally
and from out of town, are showing an
interest in attending to learn more about
the vegetarian diet.
Vegetarianism is more popular now than
it was decades ago due to the many bene
fits proven by doctors and researchers.
Vegetarian food has been shown to cut
ones risk of many diseases such as cancer
and heart disease, and digestive and circu
latory problems, among others. As infor
mation about the benefits spreads, more
restaurants and supermarkets are offering
more
vegetarian
choices
for
consumers.

Along with a vegetarian diet, meditation

can also improve our health by reducing
stress. The combination of a vegetarian
diet and meditation can help reduce our
risk of stressrelated ailments.
People are trying out vegetarianism and
meditation as preventive measures to stay
healthy. Through experimentation one
can discover for ones self and ones fami
ly their value in having a healthier life.

Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj is an

internationally recognized spiritual leader
and Master of Jyoti Meditation who
affirms the transcendent oneness at the
heart of all religions and mystic traditions, emphasizing ethical living and meditation as building blocks for achieving
inner and outer peace. www.sos.org.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 23-29, 2016