Vol. 9 - No. 5 May 28 - June 3, 2016

The South Asian Times
e x c e l l e n c e
Vol.9 No. 5 May 28-June 3, 2016 80 Cents
i n
j o u r n a l i s m
New York Edition
Follow us on
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Trump reaches delegates

number to seal GOP ticket
Obama says world
leaders rattled by Trump
Prime Minister Narendra Modi being greeted by his cabinet colleagues and party bigwigs at the swearing
in ceremony of Sarbananda Sonowal as Assam Chief Minster in Guwahati on May 24. (Photo: IANS)
Pleased with state poll results
Modi govt celebrates

two years in ofce
By SATimes Team
New Delhi: On May 26, the BJP
government under Prime Minister
Narendra Modi completed two suc
cessful years in office. The celebra
tions had a special edge coming
within days of the good showing
by the party in state elections, par

ticularly snatching Assam from
Congress.
The 2nd anniversary of the gov
ernment was marked with a rally
in Saharanpur, UP, which saw the
participation of a number of minis
ters and senior party leaders who
took aim at rivals in the state with

eye on the UP assembly elections
next year.
"The Congress is vanishing fast.
It has already been finished in the
Continued on page 4
More on two years of
Modi govt on pg 11 and 24.
An ecstatic admirer of the presumptive Republican nominee,

Donald Trump. (Photo courtesy Washington Post)
Washington: Realestate mogul
Donald Trump has exceeded the
minimum number of delegates
needed to secure the Republican
nomination, media reports said
on Thursday. By securing 1,238
delegates, one more than the
magic number required, Trump

has wrapped up victory in the
Republican primary season and
avoided a contested convention
Continued on page 4
More on US election on pages 9-10.
Indian kids Spell Bee

champions again!
Community celebrates 2 years of Modi govt
Nihar Janga
of Austin
and Jairam
Hathwar of
New York are
cochampions
of the Scripps
National
Spelling Bee.
(Photo courtesy:
Reuters)
(from right) Nagendra Gupta, Kamlesh C. Mehta, Bobby K Kalotee, Jagdish Sewhani,
Sardar Dhillon, Dr Bhupi Patel and Indu Jaiswal. (Photo: Ken Epstein)
Hicksville, NY: Over 200 communi
ty leaders gathered at Apna Ghar,
Hicksville Thursday to celebrate
the shining two years of Modi gov
US ELECTIONS 9
ernment. The wellattended event

was organized by BJP leader
Jagdish Sewhani and community
leader Bobby K. Kalotee. It was
FEATURES 18
SPORTS 22
addressed by over 20 leaders who

congratulated and admired the
India today under PM Modis
administration.
By SATimes Team
New York: It is becoming pre
dictable the National Spelling
Bee has been dominated by Indian
American boys and girls for nine
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
years now. And the Bee ending in a

tie has also occurred for the third
time in a row. On Thursday night,
Nihar Janga, 11, of Austin, TX, and
Jairam Hathwar, 13, of Corning,
Continued on page 4
excellence in journalism
May 28-June 3, 2016
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
is widespread, AACE and the join

ing organizations are bringing this
complaint against the three named
Ivies
because Brown and
Dartmouth have maintained the
lowest admission rates for Asian
American students, while Yale not
only maintains a relatively low
admission rate for AsianAmerican
applicants, but also engages in
destroying admissions records at
its law school," the complaint said.
In May last year, a similar com
plaint was led against Harvard on
behalf of AsianAmerican students
by a coalition of 64 groups alleg
ing that it discriminated against
AsianAmerican applicants in its
admissions process and "unfairly"
rejected wellqualied students
because of their race.
United Nations: Bemoaning lack of international

support for its cause, Pakistan has tried to rake up
the Kashmir issue at the UN by protesting against a
draft Indian maps bill that seeks to punish "wrong
or false" depictions of India's boundaries.
In a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Kimoon
and UNSC President Abdellatif Aboulatta of Egypt,
Pakistan's Permanent Representative Maleeha Lodhi
wrote that India's draft Geospatial Information
Regulation Bill was "contrary to Security Council
resolutions" and asked for UN intervention.
"Sadly, the international community and the UN
have failed to take notice of this action of India" in
depicting all of Kashmir as Indian territory, she said
in the letter released to the media by the UN on
Tuesday.
Earlier reacting to a Pakistani Foreign Ofce press
release on the maps bill, Indian external affairs min
istry said the matter "is an entirely internal legisla
tive matter of India, since the whole of the state of
J&K is an integral part of India. Pakistan or any
other party has no locus standi in the matter."
India "rmly rejects Pakistan's repeated and
increasing attempts to impose on the international
community matters that India has always been open
to address bilaterally with Pakistan," said the state
ment issued last week.
The draft of Geospatial Information Regulation
Bill, which has not been introduced in Parliament
but only circulated for feedback, proposes nes and
imprisonment for "any wrong or false topographic
information of India including international bound
aries".
While Lodhi asserted that Pakistan's position of
showing Kashmir as disputed territory "is also
reected in the ofcial maps of the United Nations",
Ashwani reaches out for Joe

Bidens Cancer Moonshot Summit
By SATimes Team
New York: The White House mass
mail titled Im a cancer survivor is
signed off by Ashwani Jain in his
capacity as Director of Outreach
Cancer Moonshot Summit, Vice
President Joe Bidens initiative fol
lowing a personal tragedy.
Jain serves as the Deputy White
House Liaison at the Department
of
Housing
and
Urban
Development. A survivor of child
hood cancer, he serves the commu
nity at large by performing charity
magic shows for the MakeaWish
Foundation and the American
Cancer Society.
In the mail dated May 25, Jain
writes, When I was 13 years old, I
Ashwani Jain,
White House
staffer &
cancer
survivor, has
been tasked to
head Outreach
for the Cancer
Moonshot
Summit.
was diagnosed with nonHodgkin's
Lymphoma, a cancer that is rarely
found in children. Fast forward 13
years to this afternoon, when I
found myself getting on a confer
ence call with Vice President Joe
Biden and asking hundreds of
Americans around the country if
Pak rakes up Kashmir issue

at UN with maps bill protest
Yale, 2 more Ivies

accused of bias
against Asians
New York: A coalition of more than
130 AsianAmerican organizations,
including two IndianAmerican
groups, have sought an investiga
tion into admission practices of the
prestigious Yale University and
two other Ivy League institutions,
alleging that they discriminate
against students from the commu
nity on racial grounds. Indian
American groups the American
Society of Engineers of National
Capital Chapter and the Global
Org anizat ion of Los Ange les
Chapter have joined over 130
AsianAmerican groups and got the
complaint led last week by Asian
American Coalition for Education
(AACE) group against Yale, Brown
University and Dartmouth College
w ith the US Departments of
Education and Justice.
The complaint alleges that the
three institutions are "engaged in
unlawful discrimination against
AsianAmerican applicants to their
colleges" and part icipate in a
"covert and insidious scheme to
enforce racebased quotas in col
lege admissions" in violation of the
US Constitution. "Although dis
criminat ion by e lite colleges
against AsianAmerican students
May 28-June 3, 2016
they'd be willing to host conversa

tions in their communities about
how we can expedite the pace of
cancer progress.
Jain recounts how with the sup
port of family and friends, he beat
his illness and rediscovered the
hope that he had once lost. But
not everyone has the support I
had. And no one should feel alone
in a ght for their lives. I decided
to dedicate my life to helping those
affected by this terrible disease.
On June 29, the Vice President is
convening in Washington DC a
National Cancer Moonshot Summit
bringing together patients, sur
vivors, researchers, oncologists,
business leaders, philanthropists
and more.
The UN and its organizations are inconsistent in

how they show Kashmir in maps. This UNICEF
map shows all of Kashmir as a part of India.
a random check by IANS showed that maps by the
UN and international agencies are inconsistent in
how the state is displayed.
A UN map of the physical features of India tried to
skirt controversy by framing it without the top por
tion where Kashmir would appear.
The UN Military Observer Group in India and
Pakistan shows Jammu and Kashmir with the "LoC
as promulgated in the 1972 Simla Agreement".
One UNICEF map showed all of Kashmir as a part
of India, another displayed Kashmir separately, and
yet another had the PoK outside India.
UNIDO left out the Pakistancontrolled Kashmir
from India, while UNDP India page shows all of
Kashmir as a part of India on the page logo.
USINPAC to host Capitol Hill

reception during Modi visit
Washington: Against the back
drop of Prime Minister
Narendra Modis June visit to
the capital, USINPAC is organiz
ing a reception to celebrate and
recognize the tireless efforts of
Indian Americans and friends of
India who have contributed
towards taking USIndia bilater
al re lat ions to a new and
dynamic phase that promises
increased collaboration in the
eld of economy, energy, envi
ronment, defense and security.
Mo dis June 78 visit w ill
include a urry of high prole
exchanges: meeting President
Obama at the W hite House,
addressing a joint session of the
Congress, meetings with leaders
of the Democrat and Republican

parties, public reception and
lunch with House Speaker Paul
Ryan and other lawmakers.
T he two day visit w ill be
marked by heightened IndoUS
bonhomie.
Sanjay
Puri,
Chairman of the US India
Polit ical Act ion Committee
(USINPAC) commented, We will
be commemorating the achieve
ments of a decade of advocacy.
To honor those involved in this
advocacy, USINPAC will host a
reception on Capitol Hill. USIN
PAC supports candidates for
local, state and federal ofce
and encourages political partici
pation by the IndianAmerican
community.
May 28-June 3, 2016
Trump to revive controversial pipeline,

rejects Paris climate agreement
Washington: Republican Party's
presidential nominee Donald Trump
outlined his energy and environmen
tal policy, which involves reviving
the controversial Keystone XL
pipeline project and rejecting the
2015 Paris climate agreements.
Speaking on T hursday, before
addressing a petroleum conference
in Bismarck, North Dakota, Trump
was open to approve the construc
tion of Keystone XL, which was
rejected by President Barack

Obama's government in November
2015 due to its environmental
impact, EFE news reported.
"I want it built, I want a piece of
the profits for the US. That's how we
make our country rich again," Trump
said, adding "a better deal" is neces
sary for making America great again.
According to Trump, the US
deserves a part of the profits since
"the country is making it possible".
The pipeline would cross the coun

try from oil we lls in Canada to
refineries in the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump also said he was in favor of
"cance lling" the environmental
agreements of the Paris Convention
held last year, which were signed by
more than 170 countries on April 22
in New York. He also said that he
would "withdraw" all US funds for
the United Nations which have to do
with climate change.
Obamas' post-White House address: Nine-bedroom mansion in Washington

Washington, DC: The Obamas will
be shifting to an 8,200squarefoot
ninebedroom luxurious mansion in
the upscale Kalorama neighbor
hood of Washington after the fami
ly leaves the W hite House in
January. According to the New York
Times, the house is a short distance
away from the White House and is
owned by Joe Lockhart, a former
press secretary and senior adviser
to former president Bill Clinton.
T he New York Times, cit ing
unnamed people familiar w ith
President Obama's plans, said the
family would rent the home as they
plan to stay in the capital until

daughter Sasha completes high
school in 2018.
The house is valued around $6
million and the monthly rent is esti
mated at some $22,000.
The home, as per photographs
posted by Washington Fine
Properties, has spacious rooms with
hardwood floors, white marble
countertops, hisandher master
bathrooms and a terrace with for
mal gardens. It also has an "au pair
suite", suitable for Marian
Robinson, Michelle Obama's moth
er, who has lived with the family in
the White House during Obama's

twoterm presidency that ends in
January. The house can also accom
modate the Secret Service contin
gent that remains with a president
after leaving office. A gated court
yard on the side has space for sev
eral vehicles and the addition of a
guardhouse.
"The move will put the Obamas in
one of Washington's wealthiest ZIP
codes, in a secluded precinct back
ing up to Rock Creek Park that is
home to diplomats and a focal point
of the capital's cocktailparty cir
IANS
cuit," the NYT said.
The newlyweds Sahil

and Pavneet Mehra
with parents Homa &
Parvesh Mehra and
Dimpy & Mohinder
Taneja. Mr Taneja is a
community leader
based in Long Island
and the wedding was
graced by whos who
of the area.
Chairman and Co-Founder

Kamlesh C. Mehta
Associate Editors:
Hiral Dholakia-Dave
Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull
Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Ashok Ojha
President: Arjit Mehta
TURN PAGE
Modi govt celebrates 2

years in office
Continued from page 1
plains, and remains only in the
hilly areas. There too, it will
soon disappear," said Union
Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
"The 14 years of vanvaas (exile)
have come to an end for the BJP
in Uttar Pradesh," he added.
Modi himself, however, took a
softer line on the election. His
speech focused more on what
his government has achieved
over the past two years. "Before
we came to power, the newspa
pers were filled with stories of
one scam or the other every
day. Big people were caught in
these scams. Since we came to
power, have there been any
scams against the government?
Have our opponent even leveled
allegations against us?" Modi
asked the enthusiastic crowd.
Modi also said every move of
his government was being
watched with eagle eyes. "I wel
come that. Every second and
every rupee of the government
should be accountable," he said.
T he NDA government was
also set to hold a massive event
in New Delhi, by the India Gate
on May 29.
Earlier, speaking to Wall
Street Journal, Modi boasted
the maximum reforms he has
undertaken in India. He also
talked of a path he has set for
accelerated growth that the
states now need to help navi
gate.
Trump reaches delegates

number to seal GOP tick
et
that some of his political ene
mies within the Grand Old Party
had been seeking. The candi
date was pushed over the top
when a small group of unbound
delegates said they would sup
port him at the Republican
Nat ional
Convent ion
in
Cleveland in July, according to
media reports.
Trump is expected to further
add to his delegate count after
June 7 primaries in California,
Montana, New Jersey, New
Mexico and South Dakota.
Meanwhile, President Barack
Obama, while attending the G7
summit in Japan, slammed
Trumps ignorance about world
af fairs and stated that foreign
leaders were "rattled" by him.
"They are rattled by it and for
goo d reason," Obama said.
"Because a lot of the proposals
he has made display either
ignorance of world affairs, or a
cavalier attitude, or an interest
in getting tweets and head
lines."
Indian kids Spell Bee

champions again!
NY, were declared cochampi
ons after neither got eliminated
and the maximum number of
rounds was reached.
T he championship words
were "feldenkrais and ges
sellschaft in the event held in
Maryland. T he final rounds
were te lecast live on ESPN.
T hey champions get a cash
prize of $40,000. Jairam had
also contested last year and his
brother Sriram Hathwar was a
cochampion in 2014. Nihar
met with success in his first
attempt.
The two were among seven
Indian American kids in the 10
finalists. T he Bee beg an
Tuesday with 284 contestants
but was pared to 45 Wednesday
evening after a written test and
two rounds of onstage spelling.
For the first time, competitors
included a firstgrader 6
yearold Akash Vukoti of San
Angelo, Texas, who made it to
the third round, and stole
hearts.
Jaipur (India) Bureau

Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
IANS Washington Bureau

Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

masalajunction.com.
Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com
Printing: Five Star Printing, NY
Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra

Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah
Chief Operating Officer:

Ginsmon P. Zacharia
P: 516 776 7061
ginsmon@hotmail.com
West Coast Correspondent

Pooja Jain,
Pooja@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Bhagwati Creations,
Dhiraj Kumar
Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

P : 516.710.0508
Editor@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
New Delhi Bureau

Meenakshi Iyer
Delhi@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Web Editor: B.B.Chopra

News Service: HT Media Ltd.
IANS Newswire Services
Contacts
Editor@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Subscribe@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Advertisements
Advertise@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
P : 516.390.7847, F : 516.465.1343
Website:
www.TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Printed Every Saturday by: Forsythe Media Group, LLC, ISSN 1941-9333, 76 N Broadway, Suite 2004, Hicksville, NY 11801 P: 516.390.7847
Website: TheSouthAsianTimes.info Updated Daily
Notice: The South Asian Times is published weekly by The Forsythe Media Group, LLC. POSTMASTER: Send all address notices, subscription orders/payments and other inquiries to The South Asian
Times, 76 N Broadway, Suite 2004, Hicksville, NY 11801, USA. Copyright and all other rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be reprinted without the consent of the publisher. The
views expressed on the opinion pages and in the letters to the editor pages are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of The South Asian Times. The editor/publisher does not warrant accuracy
and cannot be held responsible for the content of the advertisements placed in the publication and/or inaccurate claims, if any, made by the advertisers. Advertisements of business or facilities included in this
publication do not imply connection or endorsement of these businesses. All rights reserved.
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Obama has high approval rating

among IndianAmericans
Washington, DC: President Barack Obama,
who has the distinction of appointing the
largest number of IndianAmericans in any
presidential administration, has the highest
approval rating in the community among
Asian Americans.
Among all AsianAmerican ethnic communi
ties, Obama has the highest (84 per cent) job
approval ratings among Indian Americans
and has the lowest (56 per cent) among
Chinese Americans. This is also reflected in
the support that Indian Americans give to
Obama's Democratic party.
According to a report commissioned by
nonpartisan Asian American and Pacific
Islander advocacy groups, the Republican
Party has a high (58 per cent) unfavourability
rating among IndianAmericans, while it is
just 19 per cent for the Democratic party.
According to the report, Obama has a low
nine per cent unfavourability rating among
Indian Americans while for Donald Trump,
the presumptive Republican presidential
nominee, it is high 62 per cent. On the other
hand, the two Democratic party's presidential
candidates Hillary Clinton and Bernie
Sanders are equally popular among Indian
Americans. Both have a favourability of 63
and 64 per cent respectively. For the 42 per
cent of the registered IndianAmerican voters,

Clinton is the first choice, followed by Sanders
with 30 per cent. Only seven per cent of the
IndianAmericans want Trump as the presi
dent. This is probably because of a strong
reaction by IndianAmericans against his anti
Muslim rhetoric.
As many as 59 per cent of the Indian
American registered voters said they would
support someone else. The report said 55 per
cent of registered IndianAmerican voters
said they were Democrats, while only 15 per
cent said they were Republicans with 37 per
cent independent. Majority of Indian
Americans (67 per cent) said they prefer to
vote on the election day, while 14 per cent do
early voting. During the primary season, as
many as 40 per cent IndianAmericans voted
for Clinton, and 30 per cent to Sanders. Only
eight per cent Indian Americans voted for
Trump during the primary season. When
asked which presidential candidate they
would vote for during November presidential
elections, 44 per cent said Clinton, 31 per
cent opted for Sanders and just six per cent
said they will vote for Trump. The report has
been prepared by Asian and Pacific Islander
American Vote, Asian American Advancing
Justice and AAPI Data.
(PTI)
May 28- June 3, 2016
IndianAmerican students
sweep National
Geographic Bee contest
Washington, DC: IndianAmerican students
have swept the prestigious national bee
competitions, securing the first three posi
tions for this year's National Geographic
Bee championship finals.
Rishi Nair, 12, a sixth grader from
Florida took top honours at the 28th annu
al National Geographic Bee held at the
National Geographic headquarters in
Washington.
As National Geographic Bee champion,
Rishi received a $50,000 college scholar
ship and a lifetime membership in the
National Geographic Society. This is the
fifth consecutive year that an Indian
American has won the prestigious national
tournament.
Eighthgrader Saketh Jonnalagadda, 14,
from Massachusetts was the runner up
and recipient of the $25,000 college schol
arship. Third place and a $10,000 college
scholarship was grabbed by Kapil Nathan,
a 12yearold sixthgrader from Alabama.
The final question, which clinched the
win for Rishi, was: "A new marine sanctu
ary will protect sharks and other wildlife
around Isla Wolf in which archipelago in
the Pacific Ocean?" T he answer was:
Rishi Nair of Florida, second from right,

after winning the 2016 National
Geographic Bee on May 25th. (PTI Photo)
"Galapagos Islands." Rishi is the second
Florida student to w in the Nat ional
Geographic Bee. In 2010, eighthgrader
Aadith Moorthy of Palm Harbor was the
national champion.
In fact it was a nailbiting, sevenques
tion final round between Rishi and Saketh.
Seven of the 10 finalists were Indian
Americans. The seven other finalists, who
each won $500, were Grace Rembert of
Montana, Rishi Kumar of Maryland,
Pranay Varada of Texas, Lucas Eggers of
Minnesota, Samanyu Dixit of North
Carolina, Thomas Wright of Wisconsin
and Ashwin Sivakumar of Oregon.
BAPS Charities joins hands with The Nature

Conservancy to plant over 1 billion trees
New Jersey: Eightyear old Vishnu
of Robbinsville, NJ had his laces
tied and was ready to go on an
early Sunday morning. Vishnu
was on a mission to fundraise for
a cause close to her heart: saving
the environment. Vishnu person
ally raised over $851.59 by going
door to door in his neighborhood.
Similarly, sixteenyearold Sweta
Patel of Edison, inspired by the
motto think globally, act locally,
reached out to her teachers and
neighbors by proudly sharing not
only the cause for which she was
fundraising, but also her personal
excitement for being able to make
a dif ference in face of, perhaps
one of the biggest challenges
faced by our planet today, global
warming.
Reversing the impact of global
warming seems like a daunting
task; however, children like
Vishnu, Brahma and Sweta were
Hundreds of community members participate in the opening ceremo

ny of the BAPS Charities Walk held in Edison, NJ on May 22nd, benefit
ting the Nature Conservancy and the JFK Medical Center.
determined to take action and
help bring awareness to his local
community. For the last couple of
months, children, teenagers,
adults and seniors have been rais
ing funds to support BAPS
Charities Walk Green held on May
22nd, in Robbinsville, NJ, Edison,
NJ, New York, NY, Parsippany, NJ,

Philadelphia, PA, Jersey City, NJ,
Warrington, PA and Boston, MA.
Similar walks have been planned
at over 50 cities in North America
to support the planting of 70,000
trees in 2016. Recognizing the
need to promote environment
awareness, this year BAPS

Charities Walk supported The
Nature Conservancys ef forts to
plant and restore over 1.6 million
acres of land by planting one bil
lion trees by 2025 through their
Plant a Billion Trees initiative.
All together, the various walks
in Northeast reg ion broug ht
together over 2500 participants
and residents between the ages of
2 and 80.
Speaking at the walk in
Robbinsville, Jane Miller, Deputy
Director of Philanthropy at The
Nature Conservancy in New
Jersey said, I am blown away that
an allvolunteer organization like
BAPS Charities can put together
such huge even, and do so much
good and involve so many people.
I want to thank BAPS Charities,
not only for raising the funds to
plant a billion trees but also bring
awareness about this important
issue. Nanette Le Van, the

Asso ciate
Director
of
Philanthropy for T he Nature
Conservancy, New Jersey, who
joined the
walk in Edison, NJ and
expressed her thoughts on the
national collaboration, This was
a g reat event and I'm really
impressed to see such a wonder
ful turnout. It is so nice to see
people of all ages come together
for one cause, helping The Nature
Conservancy in their environmen
tal efforts.
Freeholder Charles E. Tomaro,
Chair
of
Infrastructure
Management Committee for
Middlesex County stressed, We
must protect our environment
and support such init iat ives
wholeheartedly. I am very proud
to see BAPS Charities leading this
walk to raise awareness in the
community.
May 28- June 3, 2016
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
BI Excellence Awards for

NY Mayor De Blasio,
contributing to USA
TLC Commissioner Joshi
announce proposed
driver fatigue rules
Mafatbhai Patel, founder of Patel Brothers,

received Building India Excellence Award
for Excellence in Food Industry.
Dr Uma Mysorekar,President of Hindu

Temple Society of North America, was
honored for Community Leadership.
Edison, NJ: Radius Developers presented a

gala dinner called the Building India Excel
lence Awards, 2016 to recognize the contri
butions made by over 20 South Asian indi
viduals and organizations which have
worked relentlessly in the last five decades to
build the name and image of India here in
United States. The event was attended by
over 300 guests in the presence of Consul
General of India, Riva Ganguly Das, and San
jay Chhabria, MD of Radius, on May 13 at the
Royal Albert Palace in Edison.
Radius is spearheaded by Chhabria, a well
known member of Mumbais real estate fra
ternity. Sunil Hali, producer of the event,
commented, India is growing vertically and

we need strong leaders. It is about a growing
vision and I see that in Sanjay Chhabria. Ra
dius is an amalgamation of transparency, af
fordability and trust.
Those honored at the event included: BAPS
Charities, Uma Mysorekar, Dr. Bharat Barai,
Pam Kwatra, H.R. Shah, Dr. P. Jayraman, Late
Dr. B. Viswanath, Dr. Hetal Gor, Sneh and
Satish Mehtani, Mafatbhai and Mahindra Pa
tel, India West, Kamal Arora, Sharanjeet
Thind and Jasbir (Jay) Singh, IBA, Harshad K.
Shah, Sukanya Krishnan, Sree Srinivasan, Dr.
Navin Mehta, AAHOA, Piyush Patel and Al
bert Jasani.
New Jersey Thiruvalluvar Tamil

School celebrates sixth annual day
New Jersey: Thiruvalluvar Tamil School in
Edison celebrated its 6th Annual Day with
much fanfare on May 15. Dr. Palanisamy
Sundaram, a renowned pediatrician and
the founder of New Jersey Tamil Sangam
(NJTS), a longtime promoter of Tamil lan
guage and supporter of New Jersey Tamil
community, presided over the function.
Current office bearers of New Jersey
Tamil Sangam, Mrs. Usha Krishnakumar,
President and Kalyan Muthusamy, Vice
President, in their speech, heartily ap
plauded the eagerness of students in
learning the Tamil language and encour
aged them. Founded in 2010, Thiruvallu
var Tamil School, a nonprofit organiza
tion, has continually provided Tamil edu
cation to hundreds of Tamil families that
live in New Jersey and has been a cham Over 300 students, between the ages of 3 &15,
performed in various programs on stage.
pion and bulwark of Tamil culture and
traditions. While the school began with 12 vol spoke about the achievements of the
unteers and 65 students, its strength has school.Senthilnathan Muthusamy, Treasurer
grown over 500%, and today, more than 325 introduced the chief guest, Dr. Palanisamy Sun
students are taught to speak, read, and write daram. Commending his long service to Tamil
Tamil language with the help of 60 teachers. language and Tamil people living in New Jer
The students are grouped at various grade lev sey, Mrs. Shanthi Thangaraj, Principal, award
ed a plaque to the chief guest while Laksh
els based on their age and caliber.
The annual day festivities at Thiruvalluvar mikanthan Sundararajan, Vice Principal, hon
school is an occasion for celebrating the Tamil ored him on stage with a ponnaadai (meaning,
language, promoting the arts, the culture and gold cloth). Volunteer teachers, Sridhar Ku
the heritage of the Tamil people, and showcas maravelu, Mrs. Srilakshmi Premkumar, Karup
ing the various talents of the Tamil school stu paiah Ganesan and Mrs. Senthilnayaki Sel
dents. On Sunday at 2 PM, the annual day cel vakumar compred the event. Over 300 stu
ebrations began with a moving rendition of dents, between the ages of 3 and 15, per
Tamizhthai vazhtthu (Praise of Mother Tamil) formed in various programs on stage while
by select students in the J.P. Stevens high more than 500 people in the auditorium,
school auditorium, Edison. Volunteer teacher, clapped, whistled and whooped in joy cheering
Mrs. Sathya Paul welcomed the guests and them up.
New York: Mayor Bill de Blasio and Taxi

and Limousine Commissioner Meera Joshi
announced the culmination of an exten
sive Taxi and Limousine Commission re
view of the science and best practices of
professional driver fatigue. A public hear
ing on a proposed rule that reflects the
TLCs findings is scheduled for June 23.
We add new elements to our Vision
Zero plan all the time, said Mayor Bill de
Blasio, and I believe that TLCs analysis of
the science and best practices of combat
ing professional driver fatigue, and the re
sulting proposed rule, are a practical and
prudent approach. This would help keep
all roadusers safer today, and bring us a
bit closer to Vision Zeros ultimate goal to
morrow.
Every day more than a million New
Yorkers and visitors rely on our licensed
drivers to transport them, said TLC Com
missioner Meera Joshi. The work of TLC
licensed drivers is critical to the move
ment of the City. To minimize the risk of
a crash, drivers must be alert, which re

quires rest. But these crashes are prevent
able with a reasonable limit on the hours
during which a driver can pickup passen
gers. Todays proposal does that. It is tai
lored to the unique dynamics of New York
City, takes into consideration drivers
earning potential, is consistent with that
of comparable industries in cities across
the nation, and it is enforceable with data
that is available to the TLC today. Most im
portantly, today, the vast majority of TLC
licensed drivers are well under the pro
posed limits.
The proposed rule seeks to reduce the
serious safety risks of fatigued driving by:
4 Prohibiting all TLC drivers from pick
ing up passengers for more than 12 hours
in any 24hour period, and more than 72
hours in any sevenday period;
4 Allowing a driver who has gone eight
or more consecutive hours without pick
ups to reset his or her 12hour work
clock and begin making pickups again.
When times got tough and we

couldnt afford healthy food,
SNAP HELPED.
- KARIMA, GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Brooklyn
WATCH OUR STORY AT FoodHelp.nyc
online at
a
itss easier to apply
Now it
Now
dHelp.nyc
Food
FoodHelp.nyc
Call 311 for more info

ACCESSNYC
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
OPINION
English proficiency is key to

immigrant success
By
Melissa
MarkViverito
Speaker,
New York
City Council
n New York, providing sup

port for our immigrant com
munities is personal. Four out
of 10 City residents are immi
g rants and collect ive ly con
tributed close to $260 billion to
the Big Apples economy in 2015.
What is more, a majority of immi
grant New Yorkers belongs to
mixedstatus families composed
of U.S. citizens, legal permanent
residents and undocumented res
idents. They are integral to our
broader society, a fact too often
overlooked by many.
So it is unfortunate to see that
the Mayors Executive Budget
fails to provide adequate support
for the growing needs of our
immig rant communit ies. To
ensure we open the doors to
opportunity, my colleagues and I
are strong ly urg ing the
Administration to invest $16 mil
lion for English literacy, adult
education and GED preparation,
as outlined in our Response to
the Preliminary Budget.

Between 2000 and 2011,
neighborhoods with the highest
concentrations of immigrants
had stronger business growth
than the rest of the City.
Immigrants have helped revital
ize neighborhoods such as Coney
Island, Corona, Elmhurst,
Flushing, Jackson Heig hts,
Washington Heights and many
others.
Building capacity for immi
grant New Yorkers is critical, and
to do so, they need to have access
to adult literacy prog rams.
Gaining prociency in English is
essential to securing job opportu
nities and to participation in the
civic, social and economic life of
this City.
Nearly 25 percent of immi
grant residents speak little or no
English, yet at any given time,
over 14,000 individuals are on
waitlists for English literacy and
education programs. Low adult
literacy has an outsized impact
on parents, their children and
their communit ies. Limited
English prociency traps immi
grants into lowpaying jobs and
puts a strain on their ability to
support their families and move
ahead economically. Their chil
Court to hear Purvi Patels

appeal of feticide conviction
Indianapolis: Attorneys for an IndianAmerican woman found guilty of
killing the premature infant she delivered after ingesting abortioninduc
ing drugs will ask an appeals court to throw out the convictions that led
to her 20year prison sentence. At issue is Indiana's feticide law, which
the defence says was "passed to protect pregnant women from violence"
that could harm their developing fetus, not to prosecute women for their
own abortions. The state argues that the law "is not limited to thirdparty
actors" and can apply to pregnant women.
Attorneys for 35yearold Purvi Patel will urge the Indiana Court of
Appeals to reverse her 2015 convictions on charges of feticide and neg
lect of a dependent resulting in death.
The state's attorney general's ofce will defend the northern Indiana
jury's decision. Patel, of Granger, was arrested in July 2013 after she
sought treatment at a local hospital for profuse bleeding after delivering
a oneandahalfpound infant boy and putting his body in a trash bin
behind her family's restaurant. Court records show Patel purchased abor
tioninducing drugs online through a pharmacy in Hong Kong, took
those drugs and delivered a premature baby in her home bathroom.
dren reach school w ith an

Eng lishlanguage
decit.
Currently, of the 140,000 English
Language Learners in our public
schools, the majority are U.S. citi
zens born to immigrant parents.
Poor Englishlanguage procien
cy also affects parents ability to
get involved with and advocate
for their childrens education.
Although Englishlanguage pro
ciency is not a requirement to
apply for DACA and Expanded
DACA, there is an educational
requirement that can be met if
you are enrolled in an Adult
Literacy Program that meets cer
tain criteria. This can be signi
cant to the estimated 16,000 to
24,000 undocumented residents
in New York City, who may be eli
gible for these deportation relief
programs.
There are 1.8 million immi
grant New Yorkers who require
the tools necessary to ensure
they can thrive and, like previous
generations, contribute to keep
New York the great immigrant
city that it is today, and will con
tinue to be tomorrow. Their suc
cess, our success, rests on their
ability to take full advantage of
being New Yorkers. There is no
other option.
May 28-June 3, 2016
Sanjay Gupta second most

popular doctor in US: Twitter
Washington, DC: With over two
million followers, Indianorigin
neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta has
emerged as the second most pop
ular doctor in the US, a study that
analysed Twitter use by doctors
across the country has found. A
neurosurgeon at Emory Clinic in
Atlanta, Gupta is also a multiple
Emmyaward winning chief med
ical correspondent for CNN.
Gupta's popularity is surpassed
only by another TV personality
Drew Pinsky of HLN who has 3.18
million followers in Twitter.
For the study, students at
Augustana University analysed
Twitter use by doctors across the
US, going back to 2006. T he
researchers sorted through 4,500
users as part of their research.
"We just wanted to see how doc
tors are engaging with other peo
ple on Tw itter," one of the
researchers, Paige Schwitters, was
quoted as saying by Argus Leader,
part of the US Today network.
The researchers found that the
most followed Twitter accounts
belonged to celebrities, public g
ures or TV personalities.
With 1.03 million followers in
Twitter Asa Andrew, certied
internist and selfdeclared addic
tionologist, emerged as the third
most popular doctor in the US.
Gupta joined CNN in the sum
mer of 2001 and he has 2.03 mil
lion followers in Twitter.
"Gupta, a practicing neurosur
Dr Sanjay Gupta
(Photo: wikipedia.org)
geon, plays an integral role in
CNN's reporting on health and
medical news for all of CNN's
shows domestically and interna
t ionally, and contributes to
CNN.com," according to his biog
raphy mentioned in CNN.
"His medical training and public
health policy experience distin
guishes his reporting from war
zones and natural disasters, as
well as on a range of medical and
scientic topics, including the
recent Ebola outbreak, brain
injury, disaster recovery, health
care reform, tness, military medi
cine, and HIV/AIDS," it added.
Gupta uses his Twitter account
primarily for professional use, giv
ing his opinions and medical
advice, according to the study.
(IANS)
Tanishq Abraham, 12, plans to be a doctor by 18

Sacramento: A 12yearold
Sacramento student who already
has three community college
degrees and has been accepted to
two University of California cam
puses says he plans on studying
biomedical engineering and becom
ing a doctor and medical researcher
by the time he turns 18.
Tanishq Abraham has been
accepted to UC Davis and received a
regents scholarship to UC Santa
Cruz, but he has yet to decide which
university he'll attend, reported
Sacramento television station CBS
13 Sunday.
"I think I'll be 18 when I get my
MD," he said.
Tanishq started community col
lege at age 7 and last year he
Tanishq Abraham
(Photo courtesy: keyt.com)
received associate's degrees from
American River College, a communi
ty college in Sacramento, in general
science; math and physical science;
and foreign language studies.
He said some of the students at
the college "were intimidated" by
him but a lot of others "were really
happy" to have a kid in their classes.
He graduated with three associate

degrees from the college.
Professors at the college didn't
initially want him in their classes
because of his age. But nally a pro
fessor agreed to let him attend if his
mother, a doctor of veterinary medi
cine, also took the class. "There
were times when I had to explain
general relativity and special rela
tivity to my mom," he said.
Tanishq had rst asked his par
ents father Bijou Abraham, a soft
ware engineer and mother Taji who
is a veterinary doctor to allow him
to take a college course when he
was six years old. Later, he con
vinced his parents who then
enquired about him attending a
class at American River College.
May 28-June 3 2016
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Trump supporter calls Sikh councilor

'Terrorist'. He hits back
New York: A SikhAmerican councilman was
called a "terrorist" on Twitter by a Donald
Trump supporter but the Indianorigin
politician hit back at the troll, saying "you
clearly don't know what it means to be an
American."
Ravinder Bhalla, city council member at
large and council president of Hoboken,
New Jersey, posted a message on Twitter
about the Hoboken City Council approving a
waterfront multi use pathway.
After Bhalla sent out the tweet, Robert
Dubenezic an open supporter of
Republican presidential nominee Trump
expressed shock that Bhalla was a council
man.
"How the hell did Hoboken allow the guys
to be councilman? Shouldn't even be
allowed in the US #terrorist," Dubenezic
tweeted on Thursday.
Bhalla, was quick to answer, exclaiming,
Councilman Ravinder Bhalla

(Photo courtesy: nj.com)
"Sir, I am born and raised in America. You
clearly don't know what it means to be an
American...#ignorant." Dubenezic's Twitter

page contains several posts expressing his
support for presumptive Republican presi
dential nominee Trump.
"With a lot of the rhetoric we're hearing
from people like Donald Trump about
Muslim Americans and people who are per
ceived to be from a Muslim background, I
think the spread of Islamophobia from our
national leaders sends the wrong message,"
Bhalla told NBC News.
"I hope this episode shows people that
words can be hurtful and that discriminat
ing based on how someone looks shouldn't
just be ignored. People should be educated
on different faiths and backgrounds so that
diversity is celebrated," Bhalla said.
"America is, after all, a nation of immi
grants. And if we work together instead of
against each other, we'll accomplish so
much more," he said.
Many voiced their support of Bhalla,

including elected officials US Representative
Bonnie WatsonColeman and Hoboken
mayor Dawn Zimmer, members of the Sikh
American community, and his constituents.
"At the end of the day, I don't hold any
malice toward this person. I forgive him for
what he said and hope he will educate him
self about how his comments can be hurtful
and divisive," Bhalla said.
Bhalla is also an attorney and a founding
member of the national Sikh Bar
Association.
He earned national recognition for leading
a successful challenge to the New York
Police Department for restricting the reli
gious practice of a Sikh officer, and he suc
cessfully challenged the search policy of the
Federal Bureau of Prisons after he was
asked to remove his turban in order to see a
client.
14 Indians charged with Sadhguru to address delegates

US immigration fraud at AAPIs 34th annual meet in NY
New York: Fourteen people of
Indian descent are among 19
charged with involvement in visa
fraud through fake "green card"
marriages or by falsely making
claims of being crime victims,
according to officials.
Federal prosecutor Gregory K.
Davis said on Thursday that the
accused from eight states, "who
sought to undermine the integri
ty of our nation's immigration
system," have been charged in the
federal court in Jackson,
Mississippi. The charges resulted
from joint investigations by the
Home land
Security
Investigations, the Mississippi
Attorney General's Office, and the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
"The defendants allegedly cir
cumvented the laws and submit
ted fraudulent documents that
are critical to obtaining immigra
tion status," said Davis, the feder
al prosecutor for the Southern
District of Mississippi. The prose
cutor's office said that a lawyer,
Simpson Lloyd Goodman, submit
ted fake documents for some of
the Indians charged with him to
get "UVisas," which are issued to
crime victims who help investiga
tions or prosecutions. Some of
the false documents were crime

reports allegedly prepared by
Jackson police of ficer Ivory Lee
Harris, who has also been
charged.
Of the 11 charged in the fake
crime victim visa case, nine had
Indian names and could include
those with US citizenship.
Eleven people were charged
with of fences relating to sham
"green card" marriages with US
cit izens. Of them, seven had
Indian names.
"T hese marriages were not
entered into because of mutual
love and af fection between the
parties, but solely to create a
legal status that would provide a
basis for immigration status for
the alien partner and usually for
some economic benefit to the
United States citizen," the prose
cutor's office said.
Lawyer Goo dman, Sachin
Girishkumar Pate l, 33, of
Mississippi, and Tarunkumar
Purushottambhai Patel, 49, of
Missouri, face charges involving
phony marriages as well as fake
crime victim visa applications.
Five Indians and three others face
charges relating only to sham
marriages.
(IANS)
New York, NY: Understanding the

inherent humanity that unites all
nations, religions and cultures,
Sadhguru is recognized for his pio
neering ef forts to nurture global
harmony, Dr. Seema Jain, President
of American association of
Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI),
said while announcing the 1.5 hours
of CME to be led by Sadhguru dur
ing AAPIs 34th Convention in New
York.
AAPIs 34th annual convention
will be held at the Marriott Marquis,
Time Square in New York from June
30July 4. Expected to have a record
attendance of more than 2,000 dele
gates including physicians, academi
cians, researchers and medical stu
dents, the annual convention offers
extensive academic presentations,
recognition of achievements and
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

(Photo: Wikipedia.org)
achievers, and professional network
ing at the alumni and evening social
events, she added.
Having
Sadhguru at the Convention with his
unique ability to make the ancient

yogic sciences relevant to contem
porary minds, and acts as a bridge
to the deeper dimensions of life, will
make the convention and the dele
gates from across the nation richer,
in so many ways, said, Dr. Rita
Ahuja, Chairwoman of the
Convention.
His approach does not ascribe to
any belief system, but offers meth
ods for selftransformation that are
both proven and powerful, Dr.
Ahuja added. Named one of India's
50 most influential people,
Sadhguru is a realized Yogi and
mystic who works tirelessly towards
the physical, mental, and spiritual
wellbeing of all. Sadhgurus work
has deeply touched the lives of mil
lions worldwide through his trans
formational programs.
Boston University researchers find Hatha Yoga promising in treating anxiety

New York: Researchers at the
Department of Psychological and
Brain Sciences in Boston
University have concluded that
Hatha yog a is a promising
method for treating anxiety. An
abstract of the article Ef fect of
Hatha Yoga on Anxiety: A Meta
Analysis published online at
Journal of EvidenceBased
Medicine dated May 20, stated:
Treatment efficacy was positive
ly associated with the total num
ber of hours practiced. People
with elevated levels of anxiety
benefitted the most. To examine
the effect of Hatha yoga on anxi
ety, the researchers (Hofmann,
Andreoli, Carpenter & Curtiss)

conducted a metaanalysis of rel
evant studies.
According to US Nat ional
Institutes of Health, yoga may
help one to feel more relaxed, be
more flexible, improve posture,
breathe deeply, and get rid of
stress.
May 28-June 3, 2016
US AFFAIRS
Hillary criticized for email practices

in State Department
Washington: The US State Department's
inspector general has sharply criticized
Hillary Clinton's exclusive use of a private
email server while she was secretary of
state, saying she had not sought permis
sion to use it and would not have received
it if she had.
In a report delivered to members of
Congress on Wednesday, the inspector
general said that Clinton "had an obliga
tion to discuss using her personal email
account to conduct of ficial business" with
of ficials responsible for handling records
and security but that inspectors "found no
evidence" that she had requested or
received approval from anyone at the
department to conduct her state business
on a personal email.
The report, according to the New York
Times, also said that department of ficials
"did not and would not approve her
exclusive reliance on a personal email
account to conduct Department business."
It also added new detail about Clinton's

motivation for using the private server,
which she has said was set up for conven
ience. In November 2010, her deputy
chief of staf f for operations prodded her
about "putting you on state email or
releasing your email address to the
d e p a r t m e n t s o y o u a r e n o t go i n g t o
spam." Clinton, however, replied that she
would consider a separate address or
device "but I don't want any risk of the
personal being accessible."
The report, as well as an FBI investiga
tion and other legal challenges seeking
information about her use of the server, is
certain to keep alive a controversy that
has shadowed Clinton's campaign for the
presidency.
The events have all come to a climax
just as she was close to defeating Senator
Bernie Sanders for the Democratic presi
dential nomination. Clinton and her aides
have played down the inquiries, saying
that she would cooperate with investiga

tors to put the email issue behind her.
E ve n s o , t h r o u g h h e r l a w y e r s , sh e
declined to be interviewed by the State
Department's inspector general as part of
his review. So did several of her senior
aides.
The report also disclosed an attempt to
hack into Clinton's server in January
2011. It said a "nondepartmental adviser"
to Bill Clinton apparently Bryan
Pagliano, who installed the private server
informed the department that he had
shut down the system because "someone
was trying to hack us and while they did
not get in, I didn't want to let them have a
chance."
The attack continued later that day,
prompting another of ficial to write to two
of Clinton's top aides, Cheryl Mills and
Jake Sullivan, to warn them not to send
C l i n t o n " a ny t h i n g s e n s i t i ve. " S h e
explained that she would "explain more in
person." The report also criticized Clinton

for not adhering to the department's rules
for handling records under the Federal
Records Act once she stepped down in
January 2013.
"Secretary Clinton should have surren
dered all emails dealing with Department
business before leaving government serv
ice and, because she did not do so, she did
not comply with the Department's policies
that were implemented in accordance
with the Federal Records Act," the report
said.
S ec r e t a r y of S t a t e J oh n Ke r r y a l s o
acknowledged to the inspector general
that he had used a personal account at
times during his transition between leav
ing the Senate and joining the State
Department, but that after becoming sec
retary and discussing the issue with aides,
he "began primarily using his Department
email account to conduct of ficial busi
ness."
Hillary wont debate Sanders ahead

Police clash with
of California primary
antiTrump protesters
in New Mexico
Protesters
picket outside
the event site
before Donald
Trump begins a
rally with sup
porters in
Albuquerque,
New Mexico.
(Photo courtesy
Reuters)
Albuquerque, NM: Protesters lit
fires, smashed a door and threw
rocks outside a Donald Trump
rally on Tuesday night in the
state of New Mexico the latest
scuffle to follow the presumptive
Republican nominee's campaign.
The
scene
outside
Albuquerque's convention centre
was chaotic as police ushered
protesters away from Trump's
event and into the nearby streets,
CNN reported.
The protesters had broken a
glass door to the convention cen
tre. Some taunted police and
jumped on police vehicles as offi
cers in riot gear and on police
horses moved them away from
the convention centre's exits.
Trump had already le ft the
event.
The scene was reminiscent of
the violence between Trump sup
porters and protesters in Chicago
in March.
This time, though, police kept
protesters and Trump supporters

apart, and did not arrest or clash
with the protesters.
Despite initial word of gun
sh o t s , A l b u q u e r q u e ' s p o l i c e
department said on Twitter that
there was "no confirmation" of
gunshots.
"There is no confirmation that
any gunshots were fired, con
trary to reports. Possible damage
to Convention Centre Windows
by pellet gun," the department
tweeted.
Inside Trump's event, protest
ers disrupted him sporadically. At
l e a s t t h r ee w e r e f o r c e f u l l y
removed by police after they
refused to leave.
A group of a dozen protesters
in the grandstands around the
s t a ge w h e r e Tr u m p s p o k e
u n f u r l ed b a n n e r s t h a t r e a d
'Undocumented Unafraid' and
'We've heard enough'. Another
banner accused Trump of being a
fascist.
Washington: Democratic presiden

tial candidate Hillary Clinton has
declined an invitation to debate
rival Bernie Sanders ahead of the
California primary.
The Clinton campaign said that it
will not participate in a Fox News
debate that Sanders had agreed to,
saying that the focus has shifted to
battling the Republican nominee in
the general election, who is pre
sumed to be Donald Trump.
"As we have said previously, we
plan to compete hard in the remain
ing primary states, particularly
California, while turning our atten
tion to the threat a Donald Trump
presidency poses," Jennifer
Palmieri, Clinton's spokeswoman,
said. "We be lieve that Hillary
Clinton's time is best spent cam
paigning and meeting directly with
voters across California and prepar
ing for a general election campaign
that will ensure the White House
remains in Democratic hands."
T his seems to contradict the
agreement that Clinton and Sanders
Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders at an earlier

Democratic debate. (Photo courtesy CNN)
made in February to have four more
debates with one another. Only
three debates have been held so far,
with the latest being held in New
York in April.
"I am disappointed but not sur
prised by Secretary Clinton's unwill
ingness to debate before the largest
and most important primary in the
presidential nominating process,"
Sanders said in a statement. "I hope
Secretary Clinton reconsiders her
unfortunate decision to back away
from her commitment to debate,"

Sanders added. The Vermont sena
tor also said that Clinton shouldn't
be so presumptive about the status
as the Democratic nominee, noting
his string of recent victories in the
states of West Virginia, Indiana and
Oregon.
During a rally at a high school in
Santa Monica, California, Sanders
said that Clinton refusing to debate
was a snub to the people of
IANS
California.
Paul Ryan beats back rumors of readying to endorse Trump

Washington: House Speaker Paul
Ryan is tamping down speculation
he plans to imminently endorse
Donald Trump, revealing that his
senior aides are in touch daily with
the presumptive nominee's staff in
an effort to find common ground on
bedrock GOP issues. Speaking to
reporters on Capitol Hill, Ryan
would not say if he is moving any
closer to backing his party's stan
dard bearer, despite having "pro

ductive talks" with his campaign.
"I don't know where all this is
coming from," Ryan said at a brief
ing over his conference's election
year agenda. "I haven't made a deci
sion. ... and nothing's changed my
perspective. We're still having pro
ductive conversations." Ryan's said
that the Trump campaign is being
briefed on the House GOP election
year agenda focusing on big policy

ideas that Republicans largely agree
on, including repealing Obamacare
and overhauling federal regulations.
Ryan and senior GOP leaders hope
that the discussions will help Trump
align his views more closely to
Republicans on Capitol Hill. "This is
an agenda for the next president,"
Ryan said of the House Republican
effort.
10
May 28-June 3, 2016
US AFFAIRS
Hillarys weapon against Trump: Elizabeth Warren

Washington: Sen. Elizabeth
Warren delivered a fiery condem
nat ion of Donald Trump on
Tuesday, continuing her role as an
unflinching antagonist to the pre
sumptive Republican nominee and
leading both high profile politi
cians to sharply and publicly mock
each other.
In a speech at the Center for
Popular Democracy's annual gala,
the progressive stalwart took aim
at Trump's business record and
populist rhetoric during a 10
minute invect ive, and Trump
responded by calling Warren
"Pocahontas," reviving a 2012 con
troversy how the Massachusetts
senator described her Nat ive
American heritage.
Warren portrayed the billionaire
real estate mogul as uncaring and
dishonest picking up on Trump's
comments he made about the
2008 financial crisis.
"What kind of a man roots for
people to get thrown out of their
houses? What kind of a man roots
for people to get thrown out of
their jobs? To root for people to
Senator Elizabeth Warren. (Photo courtesy AP)

lose their pensions?" Warren
asked.
"I'll tell you exactly what kind of
a man does that," she continued. "It
is a man who cares about no one
but himself. A small, insecure,
moneygrubber who doesn't care
who gets hurt, so long as he makes
a profit off it."
Warren has frequently attacked
Trump using the real estate

mogul's trademark medium
Tw itter, but Tuesday's verbal
broadside
comes
as
the
Massachusetts Democrat contin
ues to stay uncommitted in her
party's presidential primary. An
oftspeculated vice presidential
pick, Warren has professed neu
trality between Hillary Clinton and
Miami U to set up world's

first chair of atheism studies
New York: The University of Miami will hire
the worlds first atheist studies chair after
receiving a $2.2 million donation from
ret ired Florida businessman Louis
Appignani.
Appignani, 83, is the former president of
the Barbizon International Modeling School
and has made large donations to humanist
and secular causes in the past.
Im trying to eliminate discrimination
against atheists, Appignani told The New
York Times. So this is a step in that direc
tion, to make atheism legitimate.
Richard Dawkins, an evolutionary biologist
and Appignanis friend, also praised the uni
versitys decision.
Thomas LeBlanc, the universitys executive
vice president and CEO, said that the college
is not taking an advocacy position.
"Our religion department isn't taking an
advocacy position when it teaches about
Catholicism or Islam, LeBlanc told The
Times. Similarly, we're not taking an advo
An atheist. Photo courtesy: iStock

cacy position when we teach about atheism
or secular ethics."
He said the university was at first hesitant
to use atheism in the name of the curricu
lum, but opted to reflect the growing climate
of Americans leaving re ligion behind.
According to the Pew Research Center, 23
percent of Americans do not identify with a
religious group, and 35 percent of millenni
als also identify with atheism, agnosticism
The Independent
or no religion at all.
Bill Cosby to stand trial for assault charges, judge rules

Norristown, PA: More than a decade after he was first accused of sexual misconduct, Bill
Cosby will go to trial. A Pennsylvania judge found enough evidence during a hearing
Tuesday to proceed with a criminal trial. It's not clear when his trial will start.
Cosby faces three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault from a 2004 case involv
ing Andrea Constand, an employee at his alma mater, Temple University. She was the first of
more than 50 women who have accused Cosby of sexual misconduct.
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, but the judge has the
option to have him serve the sentences concurrently, which means he could serve 10 years
in prison if convicted on all charges. Cosby's defense attorney slammed the decision to move
forward with a trial.
"The evidence presented today was evidence of nothing. They had 12 years to bring an
accuser to confront Mr. Cosby. They chose not to," defense attorney Brian McMonagle said.
"There was no evidence of a crime here. And the inconsistencies that plagued this investiga
tion from the beginning continue to plague it now. This case should end immediately."
Bernie Sanders though her will

ingness to hit Trump hard reflects
an eagerness among top
Democrats to pivot toward a gen
eral election footing.
Trump, for his part, has fired
back at Warren on Twitter, calling
her "goofy" and questioning her
Senate record.
Speaking at a rally in
Albuquerque, New Mexico,
Tuesday night, Trump also called
Warren "Pocahontas," a reference
to how her past description of her
native American heritage became a
divisive campaign issue during his
bid to become senator in 2012.
"Elizabeth Warren, she is going
out she is probably the senator
that is doing just about the least in
the United States senate," Trump
told his audience. "She is a total
failure."
During her speech, Warren
fiercely rejected Trump's effort to
portray himself as tough on Wall
Street, saying, "Now that he has
sewn up the Republican nomina
tion, Donald Trump has dropped
all pretense. He is kissing the fan
nies of the poor, misunderstood

Wall Street bankers."
The Massachusetts senator also
hit the presumptive Republican
nominee for his unwillingness to
release his tax returns, noting that
while every presidential candidate
since 1976 has done so, "he does
n't think that the rules that apply
to everyone else should apply to
him."
"Maybe he is just a lousy busi
nessman and he just doesn't want
everyone to know that he's not as
rich as he claims to be. But...the
last time that his taxes were made
public, Donald Trump paid noth
ing. Zero," she noted, referencing a
Washington Post report that
revealed Trump had paid no taxes
when his returns were made public
in 1981.
Warren then skewered Trump
for defending his desire to avoid
paying taxes: "Two weeks ago, he
said that he was more than happy
to dodge taxes because he doesn't
want to throw his money, quote,
'down the drain.'"
Source CNN
11 states file lawsuit challenging

Obama's transgender directive
Washington: Texas and 10
other states will sue the
Obama administration over
a direct ive that forces
states to adjust their policy
to allow transgender stu
dents to use bathrooms
that match their gender
identity.
Texas's act ion was
announced on Twitter by
Texas Gov. Greg Abbot (R)
on Wednesday, RT online
reported.
The other states that joined the lawsuit
as plaintiffs are Alabama, Wisconsin, West
Virginia, Utah, Louisiana, Oklahoma,
Georgia, Arizona and Maine.
The filing accuses the Obama adminis
tration of "running roughshod over com
monsense policies" that protect children
and asks a judge to declare the move
unlawful.
The Education Department's directive,
which was made earlier this month, orders
public schools to create policies allowing
transgender students to use bathrooms
based on their gender identity rather than
their biological sex.
"No student should ever have to go
through the experience of feeling unwel
come at school or on a college campus,"
said Education Secretary John King Jr.
The administration justifies its action on
the basis of Title IX, a federal statute that
prohibits gender discrimination at educa
tional institutions that receive public fund
ing. Abbot said that Paxton's lawsuit "chal
lenging the way that the Obama adminis
tration is trampling the United States
Constitution" during a stop

on a book tour, according
to The Texas Tribune.
"The president has no
authority to enact laws
whatsoever. Several times
Congress has taken up the
issue of whether to expand
the Civil Rights Act and
Title IX and whether or not
to include transgender.
Both t imes or mult iple
times, Congress has decid
ed against that," Abbot added.
The lawsuits are part of a national trans
gender bathroom usage controversy,
which erupted following the passage of a
bill in North Carolina that required that
people use the bathroom corresponding to
their biological gender.
Supporters of Obama's directive say that
it protects transgender students from
unjust discrimination, while opponents
argue that activists are asking for an
unprincipled exception to bathroom policy
that continues to segregate most people by
gender.
Texas has led the charge in dozens of
lawsuits against the Obama administra
tion. In 2015, the state brought a lawsuit
that halted Obama's executive action to
grant amnesty to four million illegal immi
grants.
The case, which named 25 other states
as plaintiffs, has so far been successful in
the courts and has prevented the order
from taking effect. The administration has
fought these rulings, and Supreme Court
will eventually make a final decision on the
IANS
matter.
May 28-June 3, 2016
INDIA
11
I have undertaken maximum reforms: Modi

New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has said in the
two years in of fice his govern
ment has made policy changes to
curb corruption and opened up
more of the economy to foreign
investment while filling gaps in
rural infrastructure.
"I have actually undertaken the
maximum reforms," Modi said in
an interview to the Wall Street
Journal on the eve of his second
anniversary in office.
But, he added, "I have an enor
mous task ahead for myself."
The prime minister said he has
set a path for accelerated growth
that the states now need to help
navigate.
Modi said that many of the
India not standing in the corner anymore, Modi said in an interview to

the Wall Street Journal. (Photo: IANS)
Swamy again urges Modi

to remove RBI Governor
Bharatiya
Janata
Party
(BJP) MP
Subramanian
Swamy.
(Photo: IANS)
New Delhi: Firing another salvo against

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor
Raghuram Rajan, Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy urged Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to remove Rajan
from the post.
In a letter to the prime minister, Swamy
raised six objections against Rajan and his
conduct as a "government official".
Swamy accused Rajan of raising interest
rates which, according to him, led to reces
sion; sending 'confidential and sensitive'
financial information to various persons
around the world; and being 'publicly dis
paraging of the BJP government', among
other things.
The other objections raised by Swamy are
Rajan holding a US green card despite hold
ing a sensitive and very high government of

India post; his insistence on setting up
shariah compliant financial institutions; and
Rajan being a member of the 'USdominated'
Group of 30.
After his nomination to the Rajya Sabha
last month, Swamy has been repeatedly
attacking Rajan.
On May 16, Swamy had written to Modi
for Rajan's removal, saying "he is mentally
not fully Indian".
On May 12 also, Swamy had blamed Rajan
for rising inflation and increasing unem
ployment in the country, and called for his
immediate removal.
Rajan's term ends on September 3. He was
appointed the RBI governor by the previous
United Progressive Alliance government.
changes he has put in place

would have been regarded in pre
vious administrations as difficult
to implement, but now that he
has done them, to his critics they
no longer qualify as "big bang".
He said he has "opened up more
of the economy to foreign invest
ment and made changes to curb
corruption, filled gaps in rural
infrastructure and made it easier
to do business".
The prime minister also said he
would look to states to further lib
eralize the country's rigid labor
laws.
"Labor reform should not just
mean in the interest of industry. It
should also be in the interest of
the laborer," Modi said.
He said he expects the long

pending Goo ds and Services
Tax (GST) Bill to be passed this
year.
The bill has been stuck in the
Rajya Sabha of parliament, where
the government is in a minority.
Modi said in the last two years,
India played a prominent role in
global affairs.
Today, unlike before, India is
not standing in a corner, he said.
Mo di w ill visit Washington
early next month where he is to
meet President Barack Obama
and address a joint session of the
US Congress.
He took office as prime minister
two years ago, pledg ing to
improve the nation's fortunes.
How Modi
government is
faring on Facebook
New Delhi: As Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's government completed two
years in power, social networking giant
Facebook has released an analysis on
how the NDAled government has been
using the social networking platform to
reach out to the masses.
Ministers across portfolios used the
platform mostly during the last one
year to connect with the public using
Facebook tools like Q&A, Live, Instant
Articles and Notes, the company said in
a statement.
Beginning with the prime minister,
his top posts between May 26, 2014
and May 23, 2016 included the one
where he is seen in a picture with his
mother. The caption reads: "My mother
returns to Gujarat. Spent quality time
with her after a long time & that too on
her 1st visit to RCR." The post received
34,047,024 likes.
Another post with 34,047,070 likes
r e l a t e s t o M o d i ' s m ee t i n g w i t h
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in
w h i ch h e t h a n k ed t h e F a c e b o o k
founder for his support for the 'Digital
India' initiative.
"Modi continues to be among the
most liked world leaders on the social
media platform, ranking second in pop
ularity after US President Barack
Obama and ahead of Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who occupies
the third position," the statement read.
Of the 50 cabinet ministers in the
government, 47 have verified Facebook
presence. Facebook also compiled a list
of the top 10 union ministers based on
their performance on the social media
platform.
The criteria include total likes,
shares, comments, average daily posts
and page size.
The list is topped by Modi, followed
b y H o m e M i n i s t e r R a j n a t h S i n g h,
Minister of Human Resource Smriti
Zubin Irani, Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley, Minister of Food Processing
Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Power Minister
Piyush Goyal, Communications Minister
Ravi Shankar Prasad, Road Transport
and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari,
U r b a n D e ve l o p m e n t M i n i s t e r M
Venkaiah Naidu and former sports min
ister and now Assam Chief Minister
Sarbananda Sonowal.
Wo m e n a n d C h i l d D e ve l o p m e n t
Minister Maneka Gandhi, Goyal and
Minister of State for Information and
Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore
have also been using features like
Facebook Q&A to connect with the
masses.
12
May 28-June 3, 2016
Sonowal begins
as Assam CM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi with BJP leader Sarbananda Sonowal

during his swearingin ceremony in Guwahati. (Photo: IANS)
Guwahati: The new Assam Chief
Minister Sarbananda Sonowal
has kept the home and political
department with him while he
has given important portfolios
like finance, planning and devel
opment, health & family welfare
as well as the education depart
ment to Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Sarma, who was a cabinet min
ister of the erstwhile Congress
government in Assam led by then
chief minister Tarun Gogoi, was
the minister for health & family
welfare and education depart
ments. It is only last year that
Sarma resigned from the cabinet
after dif ferences with Gogoi and
subsequently joined the BJP.
Besides, the Home and Political
departments, Sonowal has also
kept departments like GAD, SAD,
administrative reform and train

ing, border area development,
social welfare, I&PR, revenue and
disaster management, power,
implementation of Assam Accord
and any other departments not
allotted to any other ministers.
President of the Asom Gana
Parishad (AGP) Atul Bora, who
was also accommodated in the
cabinet, was given the charge of
Agriculture, Horticulture and
food processing, animal hus
bandry and veterinary, Urban
development department and
To w n a n d c o u n t r y p l a n n i n g
departments.
S e n i o r AG P l e a d e r, Ke sh a v
Mahanta was given the portfolios
of water resource, science and
technology, and information &
technology departments.
ITALIAN MARINE CAN

LEAVE INDIA: SC
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on
May 26 cleared the decks for the
return of Italian marine Sergeant
Major Salvatore Girone who
along with Chief Master Sergeant
Massimiliano Latorre is accused
of killing two Indian fishermen off
Kerala's coast in February 2012
to leave India as it relaxed its ear
lier bail conditions.
An apex court vacation bench of
Just ice Prafulla C. Pant and
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud modi
fied the bail condition paving the
way for Girone's return to Italy on
an application by the Italian gov
ernment backed by India.
The bench recorded the Indian
government's "no objection" to the
move.
Relaxing the earlier bail order,
the bench also added three more
conditions proposed by Additional
Solicitor General P.S.Narasimha on
behalf of the Indian government.
Besides this, the court said that
the Italian ambassador in New
Delhi will give a fresh undertaking
stating that Girone shall be made
to return to India in one month
after the decision of the
International Arbitral Tribunal
and if required by it.
Latorre is already on Italy on
health grounds.
The court order came in the
wake of April 29 order of the tri
bunal asking both India and Italy
to cooperate for Girone's return
till arbitration proceedings before
DAWOOD RUNNING
INTERNATIONAL DRUGS
RACKET VIA NEPAL?
Kathmandu: Police in Nepal are probing a
suspected link of underworld don Dawood
Ibrahim in cocaine smuggling in the interna
tional market via Nepal.
This follows the recent arrest by Nepal
Police of three Pakistani nationals linked to
the international drugs market and who are
believed to be close to Dawood.
After their involvement in fake currency,
and white and brown heroin smuggling, the
links of some Pakistani nationals in cocaine
smuggling in Europe through Asia have been
established by Nepal Police.
Nepal's Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)
seized more than two kg cocaine estimated
to be worth over NRs.53 million ($492,812)
from three foreigners and a Nepali on
Wednesday, which has established that some
influential drug lords are involved in the
racket, police sources here said.
NCB chief and Deputy Inspector General
(DIG) of Police Jay Bahadur Chand said
Ymeris Carmen Narvez of Venezue la,
Mohamad Lamine Dabo of Nigeria, Touhid
Khan of India, and Dil Bahadur Gurung of
INDIA
Nepal were caught with the cocaine in their

possession. The arrested persons had set up
links in Hong Kong with the he lp of
Pakistani nationals.
The Pakistani nationals have been identi
fied as Wahid Khan, Adbul Razzak aka
Chacha and his brother who are believed to
be close to Dawood, who is wanted in India
for masterminding the 1993 Mumbai blasts.
With a tip off from the Indian Intelligence
Bureau, Nepal Police have made the arrests
and found the linkages of Pakistani nationals
in the racket.
Chacha and two others identified as
Tiger and Raja Bhai are considered close to
Dawood and have been operating their rack
et from Dubai, Malaysia and Hong Kong,
sources said.
Nepal Police have not made the claim
openly but the way the drug smuggling rack
et is being handled and the names are com
ing forward, it shows that it is not the work
of petty criminals, but one whose names,
profession and links are well established, the
sources added.
Italian marines Massimiliano Latorre and Salvatore Girone are accused

of killing two Indian fishermen in 2012 during an antipiracy mission.
(File Photo: IANS)
it are going. Italy has invoked
international arbitration on the
issue of jurisdiction to try the two
Italian marines for killing the fish
ermen mistaking them as sea
pirates.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chie f
Minister Pinaray i Vijayan
expressed the state government's
displeasure and blamed the
Centre after the Supreme Court
cleared the decks for Italian
Marine Salvatore Girone to leave
India.
Girone, alongw ith Sergeant
Massimiliano Latorre, is accused
of killing two Indian fishermen off
Kerala's coast in February 2012.
Addressing reporters here in the
state capital, Vijayan said that
they "have always been unhappy"
with the way the case was han

dled by the Centre."We have made
our position clear right from the
time this incident occurred; things
never went the way it should have
gone. The Centre never pursued
the case in the way it should have
been taken up, and hence this has
happened," said Vijayan.
When the incident occurred the
Oommen Chandy government was
in of fice here, and the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) gov
ernment led by Manmohan Singh
was at the helm of affairs in Delhi.
The then Left opposition here
had used this case politically, and
time and again mentioned about
the Italian connection in the case
and the "soft corner" the then cen
tral government had.
Vijayan sworn in as
Kerala CM
Kerala Governor
Justice (Retd)
P Sathasivam
administers
oath to
CPIM leader
Pinarayi Vijayan
as chief minister
on May 25.
(Photo: IANS)
Thiruvananthapuram: PIM politburo mem

ber Pinarayi Vijayan has been sworn in as
the 22nd Chief Minister of Kerala at the
Central Stadium ground here.
Kerala Governor P. Sathasivam also
administered oaths of office to 18 cabinet
ministers 11 from the CPIM, four from
CPI, and one each from the CongressS,
Janata Dal (S) and the Nationalist Congress
Party. Departing from tradition, this was the
second time that the swearing in ceremony

was held outside the Raj Bhavan complex
the of ficial residence of the Kerala
Governor.
The CPIM led Left Democratic Front
swept the May 16 assembly polls, winning
91 seats in the 140member Kerala
Assembly and showing the door to Oommen
Chandy's Congressled government that was
in power since 2011.
May 28-June 3, 2016
OP-ED
13
White House contenders:

By Arun Kumar
BEND IT LIKE THEM!
andhi did not quite say it.

But that has not come in
the way of any of the three
remaining White House warriors
from Republican Donald Trump
to Democrats Bernie Sanders and
Hillary Clinton to purpose it in
their cause.
Capitalist Donald has done it to
plug "Make America Great Again,"
Socialist Bernie to show "A Future
to Believe in" and sophist "Hillary
for America" "Fighting for Us" to
simply suggest "Love trumps
hate."
But Trump trumps them all.
The pearl of wisdom misattrib
uted to the Mahatma by many,
according to fact checking site
Snopes.com "First they ignore
you, then they laugh at you, then
they fight you, then you win" fits
the Manhattan mogul to a T.
For the apostle of peace and
nonviolence there was "no god
higher than truth". But they have
no such qualms. No one can bend
it like them.
After demolishing "Low Energy"
Jeb Bush, "Little Marco" Rubio
and "Lyin' Ted" Cruz, the master
of monikers Trump has now
turned full blast on "Crooked
Republican Donald Trump. (Photo: IANS)

Hillary". First, he called Bill
Clinton "the worst abuser of
women in the history of politics"
and Hillary an "enabler" of her
husband's peccadilloes.
Now Trump aided and abetted
by a Fox News host has branded
an allegation of sexual assault
against the former president as
"rape".
Clinton, in turn, has called
Trump "divisive and dangerous",
"unmoored", and "a loose can
non".
And from her opponent's hurry
to call EgyptAir plane crash a
likely "terrorist attack" she "has
concluded he's not qualified to be

president".
She called his "suggestion" to
temporarily bar all Muslims from
entering the US "until we figure
out what's going on" a total ban
on Muslims.
It would keep even Nobel Prize
winners out and send a "message
of disrespect" to Muslim nations
and a message to terrorists.
Trump's willingness to meet
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
became praise for a repressive
regime and his criticism of British
Prime Minister David Cameron as
an attack on US allies.
Trump hit back, calling her

"absolutely dumb" and suggesting
the former secretary of state is
"illequipped" for the presidency.
He has also egged "Crazy
Bernie" to take on Hillary as an
independent,
say ing
the
Democratic system of picking
their nominee is as "rigged as the
Republicans".
Trump and Bernie may have a
lot to disagree, but they agree on
at least one thing: Hillary is
"unqualified" to be president.
She has shown poor judgment
in voting for the "disastrous" Iraq
war (ditto Trump), refused to
release transcripts of her speech
es to big banks for $225,000 dol
lars a pop and raised millions
from Wall Street.
Clinton, who thinks her being
the Democratic nominee is a done
deal in ef fect with her "insur
mountable" lead in pledged dele
gates, has returned the compli
ment questioning Sanders' quali
fications for not doing his "home
work" on his big promises.
She has also accused him of
backing gun manufacturers
despite his D minus grade from
the powerful gun lobby and criti
cized him for not releasing his tax
returns. Sanders' take on that is:
"My wife does the taxes and she

is busy campaigning."
But mathsde fy ing Sanders
dogged persistence to fight till
the very end, even as new polls
show an overwhelming majority
of Republican voters pushing
their party leaders to get behind
Trump, has the Democrats wor
ried.
Unlike India, there are literally
no writings on the walls, but with
more and more Trump lawn signs
popping up in "suburbs that had
been trending blue" Democratic,
as the Washington Post put it in a
report from Philade lphia, is
adding to their headache.
With choice limited to "widely
disliked" Trump and Clinton, as a
new NYT/CBS poll revealed, a
Virginia woman took the matter
in her own hands, or at least one
of her sons did after she died of
lung cancer at 68.
"Faced with the prospect of vot
ing for either Donald Trump or
Hillary Clinton, Mary Anne
Noland of Richmond chose
instead to pass into the eternal
love of Go d," the dut iful son
wrote in her obit to "carry on her
sense of humor."
Unfortunately that choice is not
widely available!
KASHMIR YET TO SEE 'ACHHE DIN'

By Sarwar Kashani
and Ruwa Shah
onths after taking over as

the prime minister two
years ago, Narendra Modi,
sporting a woollen capelike
Kashmiri garment called a pheran,
addressed a huge rally in Srinagar
promising "to give justice" to the
people caught in one of the longest
standing conflicts in the world for
decades now.
Nearly 18 months since the
December 2014 rally and after the
two years of the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP)led government in Delhi,
challenges remain abound in
Kashmir despite the issue finding a
special mention in Modi's agenda of
governance.
The rally ahead of the 2015 state
assembly elections came months
after the Indian Army, for the first
time in nearly three decades of
fighting the separatist conflict, had
convicted at least six soldiers for
their alleged involvement in a
staged 2010 gunfight in which
three civilians were killed and
Narendra Modi addressing a rally in Srinagar. (File photo: IANS)

passed off as foreign militants.
The conviction was "proof of my
intentions. I have come to give you
justice," Modi said at the public
meeting that was followed by fre
quent visits, more rallies, and, ulti
mately, the formation of a coalition
government in the state along with
the regional Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP).
T he prime minister visited
Srinagar again in November 2015
with a financial package of
Rs.80,000 crore ($12 billion) and
vowed to continue former BJP

prime minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee's principle of "jamhooriy
at", "insaniyat" and "Kashmiriyat".
However, little has changed on
the ground both politically and
developmentally in Jammu and
Kashmir that lies at the tipping
point of the nuclear rivalry between
India and Pakistan.
Vajpayee, famously hailed for his
peaceful initiatives with Pakistan to
solve the Kashmir dispute, had
approached the problem from mul
tiple dimensions. While engaging

with Pakistan's then military dicta
tor Pervez Musharraf, he also held
negotiations with Kashmiri sepa
ratists. Modi's tactic has been in
contrast to his predecessor. When it
came to Kashmir he made it clear
that he needed "no advice or analy
sis from anywhere in the world".
The prime minister not only chose
to keep Kashmiri separatists at bay
but also disengaged Pakistan as an
external dimension to what he says
is an internal problem to be solved
with jobs and inclusive develop
ment.
"This is an inwardlooking exer
cise. Vajpayee understood the issue.
Modi gives jingoistic postures. He
ignores the basic reality. It is a dis
pute (between India and Pakistan)
that not only previous central gov
ernments have accepted but is also
recognized by the Indian constitu
tion," Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a
professor at Central University,
Kashmir, told IANS.
Hussian said jobs and develop
ment could not be substitute for
resolving larger Kashmir problem
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
and bringing lasting peace in the

region.
Recent spells of unrest like vio
lent stir in a Srinagar college, and
deadly protests in Handwara that
left five people dead in firing by
security forces in March have
proved that peace in Kashmir has
always been too fragile that gets
disturbed even by a whiff of a scan
dal or a true or false report of
human rights violations by security
forces.
On the development front, Jammu
and Kashmir has not seen many
changes. Of ficials in the state
finance ministry told IANS that only
a portion of Rs.80,000crore finan
cial package has been released and
most of it has been spent on the
partial rehabilitation of the sur
vivors of the 2014 floods.
Joblessness remains a primary
concern for policymakers. The state,
according to official figures, has an
upward of a million jobless men and
women and the problem can't find a
solution in mere financial packages
unless backed by concrete initia
tives that guarantee employment.
14
May 28-June 3, 2016
OP-ED
A CRY AGAINST GENOCIDE IN PAKISTAN

By Robert Golomb
t was on one of the first days

of November 2014 that the
rumor spread throughout the
city of Kasur in Pakistans Punjab
province that Sajjad Maseeh and
his w ife Shama Bibi, both
Christians, had burned verses
from the Muslim holy book, the
Koran. The rumor was soon fol
lowed by formulation of a mob of
some 1,200 outraged Muslims
who trailed Sajjad and his wife to
the industrial building in which
they both worked.
Because the leaders of the mob
wanted to prevent Sajjad and
Shama, the mother of their four
young children who was four
months pregnant at the time, to
attempt to flee from them, they
broke their legs. And because
Shama was wearing an outfit that
didnt easily burn, she was
wrapped in flammable cotton.
The mob then held the couple
over a brick furnace until their
clothes caught fire, before throw
ing both of them into that same
brick furnace in which they were
both burned alive.
This atrocity was witnessed by
scores of onlookers, among them
was Javed Maseeh, Sajjads first
cousin. Javed, who had pleaded in
vain to the mob to spare the cou
ple, spoke these chilling words
over telephone to Americas NBC
News several days after the
attack: The bones are still being
found. Friends keep collecting
them and bringing them to us in
batches of two and three. We will
bury these bones when we have
{enough} for the bodies. But we
will not find all of them. Im sure.
In Pakistan, tragically, similar
and other acts of barbarity have
become common place against
Christians, who represent approx
imately 4% of that South Asian
nations estimated 200 million
Muslim population of which the
majority is Sunni and between 12
20% are Shia and also against
all other re ligious minorities
including Hindus, Sufis and the
Ahmadiyya (a technically Muslim
sect), who combined make up
about one percent.
In fact, so common place in
Pakistan both before and after
the murders of Sajjad and Shama
are these religiously motivated
crimes that even when the
Western media report them, such
news seems to be almost immedi
ately forgotten by the general
public and their respective lead
ers throughout the western world.
So there was little international
outcry when in April 2006 thirty
Hindus were murdered by Muslim
terrorists in the Pakistan city of
Pervez Rafique is a political refugee in the US who founded in 2014 the Bleeding for Belief organization to lobby for ending genocide of reli
gious minorities in Pakistan. He is pictured with his two slain friends (left) Governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, in Lahore, March
2009; and with minorities minister Shahbaz Bhatti in Faisalabad in June 2010. (Photos courtesy Pervez Rafique)
Duda. And there was little interna
tional public outcry when in May
2010 Sunni mobs launched simul
taneous attacks ag ainst two
Ahmadiyya mosques, killing 94
and injuring more than 120 inno
cent members of that Muslim
minority sect in Lahore. T hat
deafening sound of silence contin
ued when six months later in
Lahore again, fifty followers of
the Sufi religion were murdered
and more than 200 were injured
when suicide bombers detonated
bombs in their holy shrine.
Nor were there discernible voic
es of outrage when on September
23, 2013 a suicide bomber attack
killed 126 and injured more than
250 Pakistani Christians who
were attending church services in
the city of Peshawar, and the
unspeakable silence remained
still when on March 15, 2015 fif
teen more Pakistani Christians
were slaughtered and more than
70 others wounded by terrorists
who detonated their bombs while
the victims were engaged in their
religion of peace, once again in
the tragic city of Lahore.
All of these once living human
beings girls, boys, women, men
who once lived on our earth
have been reduced to just a num
ber among the toll of the dead.
One of the most significant politi
cal events leading to these atroci
ties occurred in 1973, although it
seemed to be benign at the time.
In that year then President
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto persuaded the
National Assembly (Pakistans
national legislative body) to adopt
a new constitution establishing a
parliamentary system of govern
ment. The new constitution, the
fourth since Pakistan secured its
independence in 1947 appeared
at the time to be a great gift to all
of Pakistans religious minorities.
The three prior constitutions,
which were constructed with provi
sions limiting the rights & free
doms of minorities, went against
the core principles of Pakistans
Sunni founding father Muhammad
Ali Jinnah, who championed the

idea that citizens of all religions
should be treated equally.
Of the three many in the region
today believe that it was the first
constitution, which changed the
name from the Democratic Nation
of Pakistan to the Islamic Nation
of Pakistan, which struck the ini
t ial leg al and symbolic blow
against the rights of minorities,
leading to the genocide that was
to follow.
With the passing in 1973 of the
then new fourth constitution,
which introduced a democratic
form of parliamentary gover
nance in which all citizens could
cast their vote, Jinnahs earlier
concept of a Pakistan that treated
all of its citizens humanely, fairly
and equally seemed at first glance
to becoming a reality.
But it didnt turn out that way.
While the fourth constitution
expanded the rights of all citizens
to vote in parliamentary elections,
it contained amendments that,
rather than expanding as first
hoped, severely restricted the civil
rights of minorities. The Koran
became the supreme law of the
nation, which, ominously, under
the new constitution, separated
its citizens into two categories
Muslim and NonMuslim .
The climate had been set for
worse to come in the following
decade. Between 1980 and 1986,
the military government of
General Ziaul Haq perfidiously
expanded the Blasphemy Laws,
making the alleged desecration of
the Koran a crime punishable by
life imprisonment and the alleged
blasphemy against the Prophet
Muhammad a crime punishable
by life in prison or death.
That hateful climate created
first by the fourth and three pre
ceding constitutions and then by
Zias application of the Blasphemy
Laws, adhered to by Pakistans
current ruler, Nawaz Sharif, is
what has directly led to the atroci
t ies perpetrated by g angs of
angry Muslim mobs like those in
Islamabad, Kasur, Lahore and in

countless other cities, towns and
provinces throughout Pakistan in
the past 35 years, according to
most journalists and scholars who
follow the region today.
oncurring fully with that
view is a very special man
named Pervez Rafique, a
Pakistani political refugee, who
came to my Long Island of fice
from his temporary residence in
Queens, New York late last week
to talk about the painful past and
tragic present of his native coun
try.
T he founder in 2014 of
Bleeding for Belief (www.bleed
ingforbelief.org), an American
based organization formed to
attempt to put an end to the geno
cide in Pakistan, Rafique, 45, pos
sesses a deep personal under
standing of the evil these laws
have spawned. In January 2011,
his close friend and political ally
Salman Taseer, the former Muslim
governor of Punjab, was assassi
nated by religious extremists. His
murderers grievance: Taseer was
a leading and highly respected
voice opposing the Blasphemy
laws. In March of that same year,
another close friend and ally of
Rafique, Shahbaz Bhatt i, the
Christian former federal minister
for minorities, was assassinated
by religious extremists for the
same reason that Taseer had been
murdered two month earlier.
It was a very sad and tragic
time for me and for all peace lov
ing people of Pakistan. I had lost
two friends, and the people had
lost two strong voices for human
rights for all people of Pakistan,
he told me.
Serving at the t ime in the
Punjab Parliament in one of the
few seats which minorities were
permitted to hold, Rafique,
despite numerous death threats,
continued the crusade that had
been begun by his two fallen
friends. However, when in early
2014, he received information
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
from his political allies that reli

gious extremists were planning
his imminent assassination, he
fled to America as a political
refugee.
Now married and the father of a
one year old daughter, Rafique
spends most of his waking hours
working through Bleeding for
Be lief to end the genocide in
Pakistan. That work includes fre
quent trips to Washingtons
Capitol Hill, where he often meets
with members of Congress. At
our urging, he stated, Congress
has passed resolutions calling for
the Government of Pakistan to
fight the militants who are com
mitting these crimes. It is my
hope that while pressure coming
from Congress has not worked
yet, the Pakistani Government will
finally ag ree to follow their
demands.
T hroug h his foundat ion,
Rafique has also met with both
secular and nonsecular leaders in
the American Christian, Hindu,
Muslim and Jewish communities.
He told me that he has been
encouraged by their words of sup
port: All the leaders I met prom
ised their total and unconditional
support to help end the genocide.
Rafique then led me to discuss
the genocide of Christians in par
ticular throughout the Middle
East. T he geno cide ag ainst
Christians in Pakistan is, as we
are speaking at this very moment,
also taking place ag ainst
Christians in Iran, Iraq, Syria,
Saudi Arabia and other Gulf
states, he stated. What is stop
ping the good and kind nations of
the world from using their influ
ence and power to put an end to
the suffering of all victims of reli
gious hatred in all places in the
world?
Two of these vict ims were
named Sajjad Maseeh and Shama
Bibi.
Robert Golomb is a nationally
published columnist. Mail him at
MrBob@aol.com and follow him
on Twitter.
May 28- June 3, 2016
EVENTS
15
By SATimes Team
New Delhi: Humanicy, an NGO with the
United Nations, in association with All
Stars Football Club (ASFC), Skill India
and Sports Authority of India are initi
ating a charity football match between
Indian MPs and Bollywood stars ASFC
team on June 11 at the Jawaharlal
Nehru Stadium here. Half of the pro
ceeds received from sale of tickets
would be donated to Skill India and
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and promot
ing football in India.
Rajiv Pratap Rudy, Minister of State
Skill Development & Parliamentary
Af fairs, and Prasoon Banerjee, MP
Howrah and Arjuna awardee foot
baller, have endorsed and will mentor
the match. Humanicy is also inviting
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
Ban Kimoon, UN SecretaryGeneral, to
grace the occasion.
Abhishek Bachchan, Ranbir Kapoor,
Arjun Kapoor and some other film
stars will play for the ASFC team, said film
producerdirector Bunty Walia, the events
coordinator.
The MPs side is starstudded too actor
MP Manoj Tiwari and signerturnedpoliti
cian Babul Supriyo are confirmed to play.
The oneofakind match shall be followed
by Gala Dinner with Whos Who in atten
dance at a leading 5 star hotel.
Dr Raj Bhayani, Long Island based CMD
of Pranira International Pvt Ltd, and
Bhasker Prakash, MD of Adhunik Art
Gallery, who are members of a committee
supporting PM Modis various abhiyans,
emphasized that, Its a nonpolitical pro
gram where MPs from all parties are par
ticipating to support initiatives such as
Swachh Bharat and Skill India. Dr Bhayani
and Bhasker Prakash have been involved in
bringing everyone together for the event.
Arvind Rajpoot, coordinator between
New Delhi: Union Minister Shripad

Yasso Naik on Wednesday said that yoga
should be kept out of politics as he
launched the new website of the AYUSH
ministry and we b portal for
International Day of Yoga (IDY) here.
"My request to all the people is to keep
yoga out of politics. Do yoga and stay
healthy," Naik said on the controversy
surrounding the International Day of
Yoga over 'Surya Namaskar' and the
chanting of 'Om' while doing yoga.
"Surya Namaskar and chanting Om are
not part of the protocol for yoga day. It
is people's choice whether they want to
chant Om or not," Naik said.
"The event would be the same as last
year. If nobody was forced to chant Om
last year, then why this controversy this
Eminent New York ENT specialist,

Dr Raj Bhayani, nominated for
Atal Mithila award, is associated
with the event promoting PM
Modis programs..
Abhishek Bachchan is the captain of the All Stars Football Club
Ranbir Kapoor showed up for the practice match before the showcase event.
MPs and film stars teams, confessed that
it was a humungous task to coordinate
between the two VIP sides, but finally we
made it. We are also trying to rope in
time around?" the minister for Ayurveda,

Yog a and Naturopathy,
Unani, Sidd ha and
Homoeopathy
(AYUSH) added.
He said that
close to 200 coun
tries would be
part icipat ing in
this year's Yog a
Day event on June
21. The main func
tion would be held
at Chandigarh in
which Prime
M i n i s t e r
Narendra Modi
is also set to
participate.
(From Left) Raj Kamble, Mack Ajani, Kimberley Trinidade

(Humanicy), Suneet Singh (Humanicy), Minister Rajiv Pratap
Rudy, Advocate Ameet Mehta, Bharat Ajwani, and Arvind
Rajpoot of Humanicy announcing the football match.
Sachin Tendulkar, Rajya Sabha MP.

Humanicy trustee, Suneet Singh, who is
coordinating between the Indian govern
ment and UN Humanicy (or human side of
diplomacy), has said that Hollywood star

Danial Craig is coming to see this match.
Ticket bookings for the exciting match
will start on 1st June, 2016.
AYUSH minister launches

Yoga Day portal
Last year, 192 countries par
ticipated in the event.
Naik said this time around
four new 'asanas' (postures)
have been included and the pro
tocol has been extended by 15
minutes as compared to the last
year and would now be of 45
minute duration.
"We are introducing four
new 'asanas' and extending
the event by 15 minutes as
compared to last year," he
said.
On the new lylaunched
website and Yoga Day portal, Naik said

that it has been developed as part of
Digital India program, using content
management
framework
(CMF)
approach.
The new portal for IDY has a provision
for news to provide all the updated and
re levant informat ion re lat ing to
International Day of Yoga 2016, the min
ister said.
"It has a social wall where all the social
media interactive platform shall be avail
able for the visitors to keep track on the
discussions and participate in them," he
added.
16
May 28-June 3, 2016
Anil Kapoor gives

showbiz wisdom to son
ith the aim to explain how

the industry works, actor
producer Anil Kapoor
keeps on sharing his personal expe
riences from showbiz
with
son
Harshvardhan,
who is making
his Bollywood
debut
with
R a k e y s h
Omprakash
Harshvardhans
M e h r a ' s
debut film is slated Mirzya. Anil
for an October 7
has made it a
release.
point to spend
some time with Harshvardhan to
narrate incidents from his younger
days as an actor. It is an extremely
special year for me as my son is
making his debut. There is a lot that
I have from my own experiences to
share with him, Anil said in a state
ment. Anil, who has garnered inter
national fame with his foreign films
like Slumdog Millionaire and
Mission: Impossible Ghost
Protocol, also shared that his son is
a quick learner.
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
ollywood star Ranbir

Kapoors
socalled
Dilliwalli girlfriend is
not amused. After days of
being targeted by the
paparazzi, makeup artist
Bharti Malhotra finally broke
her silence and said the
rumors of her dating the star
are completely untrue.
In fact, Delhi girl
Bharti Malhotra
said
she
n e v e r
even fol
lowed
Ranbir
as
a
fan and
t h e y
h a v e
never met,
a report in
the Hindustan
Times said.
Bharti, a makeup artist
from west Delhi, attracted the
attention of paparazzi after a
tabloid claimed that Ranbir
had started dating a Delhi girl
post his recent breakup with
Katrina Kaif.
Bharti was quoted as saying
friend by a news chan

nel, the English daily
quoted.
Rumor mills also
claimed that Ranbirs
sister Ridd hima
introduced Bharti
to the Bollywood
actor. She, howev
er, claims that she
hasnt met either.
My friends and
family
know
that I dont
even
know
Riddhima, for
get
about
meeting her
at a party
p with
u
e
and
her
k
o
br
.
egedly aif this year
ll
a
introducing
ir
b
K
Ran
rina
nd Kat
me to Ranbir, the
girlfrie
i n newspaper quoted her as say
news reports ing.
Bharti further said in the
that one of her friends
asked if she was dat ing report that she had no clue
Ranbir. Like any other girl who started this or how this
with no connection to Ranbir was reported without anyone
or even Bollywood, I thought trying to reach her.
Bharti also claimed she is in
someone was playing a prank
on me. Then I got to know a steady relationship with
that I was being tagged as her boyfriend, Pratee k
Ranbirs new Delhibased girl Chaudhary.
I am not
Ranbirs
girlfriend:
Bharti
The 63 yearold actor has actor has taken

Twitter by storm.
Rishi Kapoors
tweets spark
outcry
Sarbjit' immerses you emotionally V

Review
S
arbjit is a biopic of Sarabjit Singh
Aitwal, a farmer from Punjab's
Bhikhiw ind, arrested in
Pakistan for crossing the border
on August 28, 1990. But in
reality, it is the 23yearold
journey of his sister, Dalbir
Kaur, depicting her trials
and tribulat ions in the
course of her endeavor to
bring back, from Pakistan,
her brother, who is convict
ed for a series of bomb
blasts and charges of ter
rorism.
Aishwarya Rai
Bachchan
as
Dalbir Kaur
puts
her
heart and
soul into
her char
acter. She
delivers a
fairly
robust
p e r
f o r
mance
a n d
evokes
sympathy, not merely on the

strength of her performance,
but because of the powerful
character she depicts.
Unfortunately, even after
modulating her voice and
emulat ing
the
man
ner
isms of a Punjabi, by no stretch of imagi

nation, can she pass of as a "Sikhni" one is
made to believe she is.
Randeep Hooda as Sarbjit steals the
show. His transition, physically and men
tally from a happygolucky man to an
anguished imprisoned soul, is palpable.
Richa Chadda, in a fairly restrained
manner, manages to make her presence
felt as Sarbjit's wife Sukhpreet, whom he
fondly called "Sukhia.
Director Omang Kumar who had earlier
delivered "Mary Kom", has handled the
film fairly adroitly. Scripted in a nonlin
ear fashion, the film starts of f on an
uneven note and gradually as the narra
tion progresses, it settles on an even
keel to unravel the compelling drama.
The film is emotionally draining. It
brings tears to your eyes. The
dialogues are everyday
speech, but there are
instances when the
lines are dramatic and
uplift the scenes.
Aishwarya plays
Dalbir Kaur (right)
in the film.
eteran film actor Rishi Kapoor

sparked off a Congress outcry after
he launched a scathing attack
against the grand old party of India for
naming Indian assets and government
projects after its icons from the Nehru
Gandhi family.
In a series of tweets, Rishi Kapoor urged
the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) govern
ment to rename the assets that the
Congress has named after the Gandhis
Indira and Rajiv.
We must name important assets of the
country (after those) who have con
tributed to society. Har cheez Gandhi ke
naam? (Everything is in the name of the
Gandhis?) I don't agree. Sochna log!
(Think people!)," Rishi Kapoor tweeted.
"Change Gandhi family assets named by
(the) Congress. Bandra/Worli Sea Link to
Lata Mangeshkar or J.R.D. Tata Link road.
Baap ka maal samajh rakha tha."
If (names of ) roads in Delhi can be
changed, why not Congress assets/prop
erty ke naam? Was in Chandigarh, wahan
bhi Rajeev Gandhi assets. Socho! Why,
the actor said.
Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari
said the actor had no role to play in the
public life.
Last time I heard of him was in the
movie Bobby. It is not worth to comment
on, Tewari told reporters in Delhi.
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
May 28-June 3, 2016
17
I'll tweet when I'm getting married: Salman

ollywood
superstar
Salman Khan says
he will 'tweet' the news when he
decides to get married and has urged
the media to stop hounding him and his
family members with the question.
For years, Salman and his family members
have been questioned about his wedding plans.
His latest linkup is with Romanian beauty Iulia
Vantur, with whom he was seen at Preity Zinta's
party too. At an event, when Salman was asked to
comment on his wedding plans, he said: "That's my
thing! When I want to get married, I will get mar
ried. I don't need to tell you when I am getting mar
ried. When I am getting married, I will tweet it.
"That is something I will keep it to me and my
fans." The Prem Ratan Dhan Paayo actor
seemed fed up of the query more so after
he was asked to comment on a recent spat
that his brother Sohail Khan ended up
having with a mediaperson for
being pushed to answer ques
tions on Salman's wed
ding plans.
Salman has earlier famously dated

actors Aishwarya Rai, Sangeeta
Bijlani, Somy Ali and Katrina Kaif.
I was avoided by all on

'Udta Punjab' set: Alia
ctress Alia Bhatt, who plays a
migrant Bihari laborer in
Abhishek Chaubey's lm Udta
Punjab, says she was avoided on the
sets of the lm as she
was unrecognizable
in her look. "When
we started shoot
ing, I walked on to
the sets and I was
avoided by all.
Nobody realized
that it was me.
Alia Bhatt
Suddenly when I
spoke to Chaubey, everybody realized
and took ve steps back. They felt they
had made a blunder," said Alia at the
launch of the song Ikk Kudi from the
lm. Composed by Amit Trivedi, Ikk
Kudi is a slow Punjabi song that direct
ly touches the heart. The video of the
track shows Alia, who plays an aspiring
hockey player, striving to get her rst
chance to display her talent and how
she eventually gets one.
I learnt so
much from you:
Gauri Shinde to
Sridevi
irector Gauri
Shinde, who is
currently work
ing on her second film
with superstar Shah
Rukh Khan, has credit
ed actress Sridevi
for it.
Shinde ventured into
Bollywoo d in 2012
with her first directorial
English Vinglish starring
Sridevi, who made her
comeback after 15 years on
the silver screen through
the film.
T he director took to
Twitter to share that Sridevi
will always be her first love.
"You w ill always be my
first..love.
Sridevi B Kapoor. I learnt
so much from you. You
Director Gauri Shinde said Sridevi is the

one who made her believe in herself.
made me believe in myself
and you are the reason I
made my second (film).
Thank you," Shinde tweet
ed. Sridevi, who portrayed a
taken for granted home
maker in the comedydrama
film, thanked Shinde for
making her feel good about
herself and also wished her
good luck for her second

film, which also features
actress Alia Bhatt.
"T hank you so much
Gauri Shinde for making me
fee l goo d about myse lf
again. I am sure your sec
ond one will be better than
the first. All the best,"
Sridevi tweeted.
Abhishek will soon be seen in Housefull 3.
Criticism hurts
terribly:
Abhishek
ctor Abhishe k Bachchan has a
strong fan following, but sometimes
he gets criticized on the public plat
form for his work. The son of megastar
Amitabh Bachchan says he gets bothered
by criticism. Be it his acting skills or his
flop films, Abhishe k, at t imes, gets
slammed on social networking sites. Does
it bother him?
"It does bother me. We are human
beings. It hurts terribly. The sad thing is
that you can get 100 compliments but
that one criticism will ruin your day. As
actors, when there is such a huge volume
of love coming your way, we hold on to
that one negative thought.
"...We want to entertain everyone, we
want everybody to enjoy our work,"
Abhishek, who has starred in flop movies
like Dum Maaro Dum and Players, said.
He shared that even if one percent of
the audience says they don't like it, it
"hurts you. It's very upsetting".
"Actors would be lying if they say criti
cism doesn't bother them. I have never
looked upon criticism as negativity. I take
it as an advice," he added. T he Bol
Bachchan star considers his father his
biggest critic. He said: "He (Amitabh)
shares his thoughts honestly with me and
has always pointed out that I could have
done it differently." Abhishek will soon be
seen in SajidFarhad's Housefull 3, which
also stars Akshay Kumar and Riteish
Deshmukh.
18
May 28-June 3, 2016
FEATURES
By Vikas Datta
ndia and Iran's friendship is as "old as

history", said Prime Minister Narendra
Modi in Tehran on Monday, emphasizing
the social connections "through art and
architecture, ideas and traditions, and cul
ture and commerce". A more wider and
abiding testimony to the long and close
relation is through language. Ever wonder
from where words like 'seb', 'sabzi', 'mez',
'dehati', 'kulfi', paneer', 'barfi', 'shaadi' and
so on came?
These and several others most color and
fruit names for instance have no 'indige
nous' alternatives while many of these
words are as current in Farsi (Persian) even
today. 'Dehati' is as strong a term of con
tempt in Iran as it is in India.
And then what about words so imbued in
Indian history like Peshwa (literally 'fore
most' in Persian) and Nihang (crocodile)?
These cannot be dismissed as just curiosi
ties in our language due to the influence of
Urdu, which draws a large part of vocabu
lary from Farsi, but also due to a common
cultural descent way back in history. Both
nations take pride in their Aryan heritage
the prevalence of 'Aryaputras' as terms of
address for royal princes in Indian epics,
and Iran renaming itself so from the com
monlyused Persia (in the 1930s) to stress
this.
But there might have been some discord
between the Aryans in India and Iran at
some point or why does 'deva' connote a
good celestial being in Indian mythology
and a demon in Persian, and the 'asura'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi releasing

the rare manuscript, Persian translation of
the Panchatantra (Kalileh WaDimneh), at
an event in Tehran on May 23 during his
visit there.
have the opposite meaning (the supreme
being in Zoroastrianism is 'Ahura Mazda').
Persian pervaded India from the medieval
ages with some of Amir Khusrau's most
famous poetry in the language. And these
are still heard today, be it "Nami Danam
Che Manzil Bud" (made most famous by
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) or "ZehaleMikeen"
which is an early example of composite
poetry with Hindi and Persian alternating:
eg. "Shabane hijran daraz chun zulf wa roz
e waslat cho umr kotah, Sakhi piya ko jo
main na dekhun to kaise kaatun andheri
ratiyan..."
The use of Persian became official during
the reign of Akbar the Great (15561605)
and it must have held some appeal for a
Thousands of monuments in India have

inscriptions in Persian calligraphy.
monarch, just a generation or so down from
a pure MongolTurkish heritage, to make it
a court language.
India had some prominent Persian poets
like Mirza AbdulQadir 'Bedil' (16421720),
and the use was so ingrained that a popular
phrase till fairly recently was "Hathkangan
ko arsi kya/Pade likhe ko Farsi kya" (the
first line means roughly that you dont need
a mirror to see the beauty of an ornament).
Its use continued well into the 20th century
Allama Iqbal chose Persian to write
"JavedNama", his long epic of celestial trav
el inspired by Dante's "The Divine Comedy".
While even Guru Gobind Singh used the
language to pen his fierce condemnation of
Aurangzeb and his policies ('Zafarnama'), it
Guru Gobind Singh wrote 'Zafarnama'

(Epistle of Victory) in Persian to condemn
Aurangzeb and his policies.
is also not much known that Mirza
Asadullah Khan 'Ghalib', the most famous
Urdu poet ever, initially used to write in
Persian and only switched to Urdu at the
urging of Emperor Bahadur Shah 'Zafar'.
Musha'irahs were held for both Persian and
Urdu poetry till 1857. Even after Persian
was replaced by Urdu as the language of
administration, it continued to be needed
basic proficiency in Persian was once need
ed to qualify for Uttar Pradesh's Provincial
Civil Service (Judicial) and it still is a sub
ject for the state PCS exam.
And the IndiaIran cultural exchange was
not only one way. 'Pehlwan', that embodi
ment of masculine strength, is held to
IANS
derive from the Hindi 'Balwan!
This summer, design an outdoor room for all to enjoy

By Melinda Myers
o matter your budget,

space or gardening experi
ence, you can design an
outdoor entertainment area for
you, your family and friends to
enjoy. Start by gathering ideas
from magazines, the internet and
websites like Gardeners Supply
Company for examples of out
door garden spaces.
Next, select an area that is con
venient and suitable for your out
door entertaining. Define the
space using outdoor rugs and
furniture or tall planters to serve
as the walls for your garden
room. A bistro set and a couple of
chairs makes for an intimate
space on a balcony. Those with
more room may want to include
an outdoor wicker and teak din
ing set. Fill the planters with
ornamental grasses, papyrus,
cannas and other flowering
plants to create a living screen.
Add a splash of color and flavor
to the space by growing herbs
and vegetables combined with
flowers in these and additional

planters in your garden space.
Include ingredients for your
favorite drinks, appetizers and
meals. Your guests will enjoy
plucking a few mint leaves for
their iced tea or mojito, harvest
ing fresh greens from a Salad
Garden Bar and dressing up the
meal with a few pesticidefree
edible flowers like nasturtiums,
calendula and daylilies.
Busy gardeners and those that
travel may want to try selfwater
ing pots. These containers have
builtin water reservoirs to pro
vide a constant flow of water to
the plants. This means you need
to water less often, while still
enjoying healthy and productive
plants. Add some height and
focal points with topiaries.
Purchase a sculpted evergreen or
train vines up a twist topiary
frame to create a bit of living art.
And dont forget to add some
garden art and statuary. Extend
your enjoyment with outdoor
lighting. A few votive candles in
old punch cups are perfect for
Creating an outdoor garden

room can be accomplished even
with limited space and budget.
(Photo: Gardeners Supply Company)
intimate gatherings in small

spaces. Add a bit more illumina
tion with the help of solar illumi
nated planters, solar deck lights,
post caps, and solar cubes and
spheres. No buried electric lines
or extension cords needed. Use
these lights to lead you down the
path to your garden space or
brighten the space for an
evening of fun.
So get busy creating the gar
den room of your dreams. Once
you get started, you will be look
ing for more opportunities for
that quiet getaway, outdoor
kitchen and more ways to enjoy
your garden.
Melinda Myers is a gardening
expert, TV/radio host, author &
columnist. She wrote this article
for Gardeners Supply Company.
Myers web site, www.melin
damyers. com, offers gardening
videos and tips.
Majority of Indianorigin
voters against Brexit: Study
London: Indianorigin voters are
largely in favor of Britain remain
ing in the European Union (EU),
with a significant chunk still unde
cided ahead of the June 23 refer
endum, which has been described
as a knifeedge vote.
According to the British Election
Survey (BES) released this week,
51.7 per cent of Indianorigin vot
ers were against Brexit, compared
to 27.74 per cent in favor of leav
ing the 28member economic bloc.
However, there is a significant
percentage (16.85 per cent) of
those who "Don't Know", who are
likely to hold the key in the refer
endum, described as a knifeedge
vote so far.
BES surveyed a large sample of
22,000 voters, which found that
Remain has a narrow lead of 43
per cent as against 40.5 per cent
in favor of Leave.
"The new data indicates that eth
nic minority voters could hold the

balance of power. While white vot
ers are split evenly, all ethnic
minority groups are far more like
ly to back Remain. However, the
data also suggests that turnout
could be 20 to 25 per cent lower
among ethnic minority voters," the
report found.
The figures are similar across
the board among South Asians,
with Pakistaniorigin voters back
ing remain 56 to 26 per cent and
Bangladeshis 42 to 17.
With just a month to go for the
re ferendum, both Leave and
Remain camps have been cam
paigning hard to win over the
"Dont Knows".
Highprofile Indianorigin politi
cians in the UK, like UK employ
ment minister Priti Pate l and
Infosys chief Narayan Murthys
soninlaw Rishi Sunak, have spo
ken out in favor of Brexit to create
May 28- June 3, 2016
DIASPORA
a "fairer immigration system" that

does not discriminate against non
EU migrants.
However, this rhetoric has been
countered by the remain camp
which has stressed that Brexit
would not provide any guarantees
for a change in the dynamics of
the UKs relationship outside the
EU.
"Our membership of the EU does
not prevent us from allowing peo
ple in from Commonwealth coun
tries. It is not a binary decision,
either EU or Commonwealth... if
you fulfill the criteria, you can
come here with a work visa," said
UK Foreign Of fice minister in
charge of India, Hugo Swire.
"Anyone suggest ing that it
would be any dif ferent or easier
[in the event of Brexit], is suggest
ing we would water down that cri
teria. T hat is misleading and
(PTI)
unhelpful."
19
Anushka Gaikwad tops

worldwide in 2016
CBSE exams
Singapore: Anushka Gaikwad
from Global Indian International
School (GIIS), Queenstown
Campus in Singapore topped the
ASEAN region in the 2016 CBSE
Class 12 exams scoring 491 out
of 500 marks or 98.2%.
Shubham Saraf came in at the
second position scoring 490 out
of 500 marks or 98%.
Nearly half the batch from GIIS
scored 90% and above and a
quarter of the batch scored 95%
and above
Kamal Gupta, COO & Regional
Director, shared, We are proud
of our students. Their determina
tion and able guidance from
teachers have echoed in giving
GIIS its best result ever.
Students from GIIS scored per
fect (100 marks) or nearperfect
scores (99 marks) in various sub
jects. Shubham Saraf scored 100
marks in Chemistry and Anushka
Anushka Gaikwad from

Singapore topped the ASEAN
region in the 2016 CBSE Class 12
exams. (Photo: Businesswire.com)
Gaikwad scored 100 in Physics.
Ramiah Arunachalam scored 99
marks in Economics, Shubham
topped Computer Science with
99 marks, while both Anushka
and Shubham aced Mathematics
with 99 marks.
Indianorigin worker tells court

Indianorigin student wins
architecture award In South Africa his proISIS post was 'sarcastic'
been picked out by the
Johannesburg: An Indian
judges, such as innovation
origin student has won a
and technical excellence
prestigious award in South
expressed with a keen
Africa for developing a safe
understanding of the com
water purification infrastruc
bined social, economic and
ture mode l to clean the
environmental context that
Ganga River using Varanasi's
is changing the approach to
architectural principles.
the built environment today,
Vedhant Maharaj from the
the statement said.
University
of
the
Maharaj's of fering illus
Witwatersrand won the
trated how creativity could
2015 Architectural Student
make an exceptional and
of the Year Award for his
architectural
thesis, Vedhant Maharaj developed a meaningful contribution to
South Africa's diverse and
"Yantra." Maharaj from Wits
safe water purification
University became the 29th infrastructure model to clean multicultural landscape,
said Corobrik managing
architectural student to take
Ganga river using Varanasi's
director, Dirk Meyer.
first prize at the Corobrik
architectural principles.
Maharaj's cosupervisor,
Architectural Awards on
(Photo courtesy: visi.co.za)
said that Yantra explored
May 11, the organisers of
water infrastructure which provided water
the competition said in a statement.
For nearly three decades, this prestigious that was safe for human consumption while
award has been presented to a young gradu respecting the rich architectural heritage of
ate who is on the brink of making a name for Varanasi in India. Matsipa said, "I would
themselves in the extremely competitive advise him to continue working and thinking
across dif ferent scales and locations. I
architectural profession, it said.
Maharaj's winning dissertation, entitled believe that he could become a leader in the
Yantra, Infrastructure of the Sacred and field, specifically in terms of thinking about
Profane, exhibited critical elements that had water architecture from the Global South."
Melbourne: An Indianorigin aviation worker

in Australia who was sacked last year for
posting pro ISIS messages on Facebook has
told a court that his comments were "sarcas
tic." Nirmal Singh was facing the 'Fair Work
Commission' to argue that his dismissal was
'unfair' by his previous employer Aerocare
and was seeking $7,000 in lost wages.
The Commission heard Singh had written
"We All Support ISIS" above a shared post
from HT (Hizb utTahrir) Australia about the
shooting of police account Curtis Cheng by
Islamic young man Farhad Khalil
Mohammad Jabar in Sydney. There were five
posts in total that concerned Aerocare, two
of which included pictures of Prime Minister
Malcolm Turnbull.
Under crossexamination by solicitor
Stephen Hughes for Aerocare, Singh said he
made the posts on Facebook under a differ
ent name and believed he was conversing
with a "secret group."
However, two Aerocare employees who
were Facebook friends with Singh, independ
ently raised concerns about the posts with a
manager.
Australian Federal Police, Perth Airport
and the "client airline" of Aerocare were also
made aware of the posts, and the airline
requested Singh no longer be allowed to
Nirmal Singh (Photo courtesy: abplive.in)

work around its planes.
After three meetings held over four days
last October, Singh was told that Aerocare
was terminating his employment for breach
of their social media policy, and demanded
he return his airside security pass to Perth
Airport for cancellation.
At the Fair Work Commission hearing,
Singh argued the posts were "sarcastic" in
nature and he did not support ISIS.
He said he de leted the posts and his
Facebook "alias" profile after meeting with
his manager. "There were concerns I under
stood and I addressed those concerns by
offering to delete the posts and the profile
but how they breached the social media poli
cy, I don't understand," Singh told the
Brisbane hearing, from a video link in Perth.
20
May 28-June 3, 2016
SUBCONTINENT
Taliban supreme leader Mullah

Mansour killed in Pak
Islamabad/Kabul: Taliban supreme leader
Mullah Akhtar Mansour has been killed in
a US drone strike in Pakistan, Afghan and
Pakistani officials as well as the militant
group confirmed.
Afghanistan Chief Executive Abdullah
Abdullah and Afghan intelligence agency
besides Pakistani of ficials and Taliban
militants said Mullah Mansour was killed
in a US drone strike in Balo chistan
province of Pakistan.
Afghanistan's National Directorate of
Security (NDS) said Mansour was killed in
a US drone strike at Ahmad Wal town of
Balochistan province, Khamaa Press
reported.
It was the first of ficial confirmation
regarding the supreme leader's death.
Following the NDS statement, Abdullah
and defense ministry spokesman Daulat
Waziri confirmed that Mansour was killed
in the strike.
Earlier, the Pentagon said Mansour was
"likely" killed in a US drone strike author
Mansours successor announced

Islamabad: The Afghan Taliban announced a new leader to replace former chief
Mullah Akhtar Mansour who was killed in a US drone strike in Pakistan.
In an online statement, the Taliban acknowledged Mansour's death for the first
time and named Mawlawi Haibatullah Akhundzada as his successor after he was
unanimously voted by the leadership council members, Khaama Press reported.
The statement further added that leader of Haqqani terrorist network, Sirajuddin
Haqqani and late Taliban chief Mullah Omars son Mullah Yaqoob were appointed
as deputy supreme leader of the group.
Mansours death is a
big blow for the Taliban.
ized by President Barack Obama in
Pakistan near the PakistanAfghanistan
border town of Ahmad Wal.
The US had targeted a vehicle Mansour
was travelling in, a Pentagon statement
said. US Secretary of State John Kerry said
Mansour had posed "a continuing, immi
nent threat to US personnel", Xinhua news
agency reported.
He said the air strike sent "a clear mes
sage to the world that we will continue to
stand with our Afghan partners".
Their bodies were brought to a hospital
in Nushki, a district close to Ahmad Wal,
Samaa said.
After conflicting statements about
Mansour's death, Pakistani of ficials and
Taliban militants later confirmed the
leader's death. Mansour took control of
US approves bill to block

$300 million aid to Pak
Senate panel has approved a
leg islat ion which blo cks
$300 million US military aid
to Pakistan unless the defense sec
retary certifies to the Congress
that Islamabad is taking demon
strable steps against the Haqqani
terror network.
T he Senate Armed Services
Committee, which renewed block
age of $300 million coalition sup
port fund to Pakistan subject to
action against the Haqqani net
work like previous year when it
passed the Nat ional De fence
Authorisation Act (NDAA)2017
last week, has however argued in
favor of continuing security assis
tance to Pakistan.
NDAA2017 is scheduled to
come up before the Senate for vot
US Secretary of Defense
Ash Carter.
ing, during which several Senators
are expected to bring in amend
ments to this bill.
Senate version of the NDAA dif
fered with that of the House on
many issues, including Pakistan.
The House version of the bill,

which was passed last week, calls
for blocking $450 million of the
$900 million US aid to Pakistan in
coalition support fund.
The Senate version has reduced
both the figures to $300 million
and $800 million, respectively.
However, for release of this fund,
both seek certification from the
defense secretary that Pakistan is
taking demonstrable act ion
against the Haqqani network.
NDAA 2016, which ends on
September 30 this year, makes it
mandatory for the defense secre
tary to certify that Islamabad is
taking action against the Haqqani
network for the release of last
$300 million of the coalition sup
port fund to Pakistan.
Toll from Sri Lanka floods, landslides rises to 92

Colombo: Rescue troops recovered at least seven
more bodies from a landslide site in Sri Lanka's cen
tral Kegalle district, bringing the deaths from flash
floo ds and landslides to 92, the Disaster
Management Centre here said.
Kegalle district has recorded the highest number
of deaths as 57 people were killed when two massive
landslides struck Aranayake and Bulathkohupitiya
last week, caused by heavy rains and strong winds.
The military said that search efforts were continu
ing in Aranayake as over 135 bodies were still
buried under the mud and rock.
While downpours have ceased in several areas on
Monday, the Disaster Management Centre said that
people had to remain vigilant due to continuing
monsoon showers. So far 500,000 people have been
Military personnel and members of rescue teams

search for survivors in Kegalle.
affected by severe floods and landslides across the
island country and over 250,000 have been shifted
to temporary shelters.
(Photos: IANS)
the group in July last year after the

announcement of the death of Taliban's
former leader Mullah Omar two years ear
lier. His death would be a big blow for the
Taliban as Mansour was gradually tight
ening his grip on the movement by bring
ing into his fold other leading Taliban
members, including a son and a brother of
his predecessor Mullah Omar, and by
launching large scale attacks on Afghan
security forces.
Madhesbased parties
boycott PMs allparty meet
The Madhesbased parties and fringe ethnic groups claim that the
constitution is discriminatory.
Kathmandu: Nepal's Madhes
based parties, which have been
agitating for nearly a year
demanding better representation
in parliament and the administra
tive divisions envisaged in the
new constitution, boycotted an all
party meeting called by Prime
Minister K.P. Sharma Oli.
The prime minister called the
allparty meeting to negotiate a
settlement of all the contempo
rary as well as constitutional
issues, the prime minister's press
adviser Pramod Dahal told
Xinhua.
"The Madhesbased parties did
not join... meeting, but the govern
ment still hopes that the agitating
parties will sit for the dialogue,"
he said. Noting that the prime
minister wrote a sixpoint letter to
the Madhesbased parties calling
them to sit down for talks, the
advisor said the prime minister
was making all efforts to address
the genuine demands of Madhes
based parties through political

peaceful means.
During the meeting, Prime
Minister Oli said he is sincere
about addressing the genuine con
cerns raised by the Madhesbased
parties and finding a way out
from the ongoing political
impasse in the country, according
to Dahal.
"The government is flexible and
positive about addressing the gen
uine demands of the Madhes
based parties. The prime minister
wrote a letter to Madhesbased
parties on Monday requesting
them to have a fresh round of dia
logue. We hope the agitating par
ties will soon join the negotia
tions," said Agni Kharel, law min
ister and the government
spokesperson.
The opposition party urged the
prime minister to create a con
ducive environment to sort out
pending issues raised by the
Madhesbased parties.
India, Iran, Afghanistan sign

Chabahar port agreement
(From left), Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President of Iran Hassan Rouhani and the President of
Afghanistan, Dr Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, witness the signing of trilateral agreements between India,
Afghanistan and Iran, in Tehran.
Tehran:
India,
Iran
and
Afghanistan inked an agreement
on the Chabahar port on the Gulf
of Oman that will make it a trans
port and transit hub to boost
trade.
A corridor of connectivity. The
leaders witness the signing if the
Chabahar agreement, external
af fairs ministry spokesperson
Vikas Swarup tweeted.
The agreement was signed fol
low ing a trilateral summit
between Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, Iranian President Hassan

Rouhani and Afghan President
Ashraf Ghani.
Union Minister for Road
Transport and Shipping Nitin
Gadkari signed the agreement on
India's behalf.
India and Iran also signed three
bilateral ag reements for the
development of Chabahar port.
T he ag reement to deve lop
Phase I of Chabahar port is seen
as India's counter to the develop
ment of the deepsea port of
IS urges Ramadan attacks in US,

Europe in new audio broadcast
London: A new mes
sage from an Islamic
State spokesman has
called on the groups
followers to carry out
attacks in the US and
Europe during the
Islamic month of
Ramadan beginning
early June. T he 31
minute audio clip was
distributed on Twitter
The IS is notorious for its online audiovisual
via accounts that usu
propaganda.
ally post the terrorists
updates, but it has not been con led strikes on IS forces in Iraq
rmed whether the message was and Syria, with the message say
ing that the military aircraft
authentic.
It. according to RT online, calls dont distinguish between civil
to be ready to make June the ian and combatants, men and
month of calamity all over the women.
Over the past year, IS claimed
world for those who are not
believers. Terrorists urged sup attacks on France and Belgium,
porters of Islamic State caliphate with hundreds dead.
T he latest audio clip also
in Europe and the US to conduct
attacks on military and civilian comes a day after yers appar
targets. Abu Muhammad al ently dropped by the coalition
Adnani, the IS spokesman, did on Raqqa in northern Syria
not mention the latest EgyptAir called on residents to ee the
city, possibly ahead of an offen
crash in the Mediterranean.
The attacks should apparently sive by antiIS forces to recap
come also as revenge for the US ture it.
May 28-June 3, 2016
INTERNATIONAL
Gwadar, in Balo chistan in

Pakistan, lo cated just 72 km
away.
The development of Chabahar
port will allow India to circum
vent Pakistan and open up an
alternative landsea route for its
trade w ith Afg hanistan and
beyond to Central Asia.
India has already spent $100
million in building the 220km
ZaranjDe laram hig hway in
Afghanistan, also known as Route
606, which connects to Chabahar.
21
Pranab invites Chinese

to 'Make in India'
Guangzhou: President
Pranab Mukherjee invited
Chinese entrepreneurs to
participate in the 'Make in
India' initiative and said
India was committed to
providing "conducive
atmosphere" for invest
ment from China.
The president, who is on
a fourday visit to China,
said India believes that
there is "great potential
for economic and com
mercial
cooperation
among our nations, which
face similar opportunities
and challenges".
"To realize the full ViceGovernor of Guangdong Province,
He Zhongyou welcomes President
potential of our economic
Pranab Mukherjee on his arrival at
partnership, it is impor
Guangzhou
in China. (Photo: IANS/RB)
tant to bridge the infor
mation gap between our
tions between the two countries.
business communities. India is
"India invites investors from
committed to providing a con China to be partners in India's
ducive environment for more growth story," he said.
investments from China,"
Mukherjee also stressed that
Mukherjee said.
India is a "young nation" and "our
"We believe that stepping up primary goal is to build a modern
our twoway trade and investment economy that puts a premium on
ows will be of mutual benet to sustainable development".
both our nations. We welcome
"We are steadily moving
Chinese investments and entre towards this objective and a pro
preneurs to participate in 'Make found socioeconomic transforma
in India' and other agship initia tion is taking place in our country.
tives of Government of India," he China's economic achievements
said. The president said India is are a source of inspiration for us,"
ready to facilitate more collabora he said.
Irregularities in petition to oust Venezuelan president

Caracas: Venezuelan authorities
reported irregularities in signatures
handed over by the opposition
Democratic Unity Roundtable
(MUD) in a petition to hold a refer
endum to oust President Nicolas
Maduro. Of the 200,197 signatures
that have been analyzed, 21,560
were found incomplete, Tania
D'Amelio, one of the directors of the
country's National Electoral Council
(CNE), said. She therefore urged
MUD leaders to "tell the truth...to
maintain peace" in Venezuela.
In an interview with the private
TV station Venevision, another CNE
Director Socorro Elizabeth
Hernandez said that the council is
Venezuelan President
Nicolas Maduro
analyzing the legitimacy of the
MUD's petition.
"Following the norms that have
been law since 2007, we are cur
rently digitizing the signatures and
scanning each one," Hernandez
said. The move aims to create a
database which will determine if the

MUD signatures have reached 1
percent of the electorate needed to
launch a recall referendum.
"Once the database is complete,
the signatures will be matched with
people's fingerprints," Hernandez
said.
She said elements such as the
information about the entity to
which a signature belongs and the
first and last names of a person
should be complete to ensure the
petition is legal and valid.
"Certain information must be
present. If this information is incor
rect or incomplete, this invalidates a
signature," said Hernandez.
Britain, Germany split over NATOs military training role in Libya

London: NATO powers Britain and
Germany are at odds over how to
help Libya's new "unity govern
ment" push back against the grow
ing threat of Islamic State.
Days after world powers met in
Vienna to offer aid to the UNbro
kered "unity government" in Tripoli,
according to RT online, NATO for
eign ministers were considering
their role in stabilizing the country.
"NATO has a clear mandate that we
should stand ready to support the

new government in Libya if so
requested," NATO SecretaryGeneral
Jens Stoltenberg said before the
meeting. "We are not addressing
any potential combat operation."
Areas of NATO support are likely to
include the settingup of a Libyan
defence ministry in the lawless
country, and to work with the
European Union to train police and
coastguards. Britain would like to
see the training of personnel take

place in Libya itself, whereas
Germany is adamant training
should be conducted over the bor
der in Tunisia. Allies are also divid
ed over whether NATO should be
training a new Libyan military, tar
geting arms smugglers or stopping
flows of migrants across the
Mediterranean as calmer summer
weather approaches, something
Italy and Spain support.
22 May 28-June 3, 2016
SPORTS
Rio medalists to be considered

for Khel Ratna, Arjuna awards
New Delhi: To ensure immediate recogni
tion to the Olympic medalists, the Sports
Ministry announced that the Rio Games'
medal winners will be considered for this
year's Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna
Awards.
The ministry said the decision has been
taken so that athletes need not wait for
one full year after their medalwinning
performances at the Olympic Games to be
held between August 521.
The medal winners in individual events
who have not been conferred with Khel
Ratna in the past will be considered for
the highest sporting honor.
"Medal winners in team events, who
have played stellar roles in the medal won
by the team for the country in Rio
Olympics 2016 such as number of goals
scored, number of goals saved etc., and
who have already not been conferred with
Arjuna Award in the past will be consid
The ministry said the decision has been taken so that athletes need not wait for one
full year after their medalwinning performances. (File photo)
ered for Arjuna Awards," the ministry said
in a statement. As per the existing provi
sions of the schemes of Khel Ratna and
Arjuna Awards, sports achievements of
India's disappointing
campaign at shooting
World Cup
Jitu Rai.
(File photo)
Munich: Continuing their poor

show at the ongoing shooting
World Cup, India's best Rio
Olympics hopes of Jitu Rai,
Gurpreet Sing h, Prakash
Nanjappa failed to impress in 10
metres Air Pistol, while the
women Anjum Moudgil and
Lajja Gauswami missed out on
making the final round of Rifle 3
Positions here.
Jitu, who finished eighth in his
qualification relay, eventually
ended in 22nd place w ith a
score of 579 while Gurpreet
shot 578 to finish in 32nd spot
at Munich's Olympic Shooting
Centre.
Omkar Singh, another Indian
in the fray, shot 574 to finish
52nd. Prakash, who shot in the
minimum qualification score
(MQS) section, shot a score of
576. Oleh Omelchuk of Ukraine
won the gold in the event while

the silver and bronze went to
Ismail Keles of Turkey and Xuan
Vinh Hoang of Vietnam.
On the other hand, Anjum and
Lajja shot identical scores of
582 in their qualification round
to eventually finish on 15th and
17th spots respectively.
It was a closely fought qualifi
cation round where four out of
the eight women who made it to
the finals had scores of 583, just
one point ahead of the Indian
pair.
Snjezana Pejcic of Croatia won
the gold while Anzela Voronova
of Estonia and Petra Zublasing
of Italy settled for the silver and
bronze medals respectively.
On Wednesday, there are two
medal events in the womens
10m Air Pistol and the Mens
50m Rifle 3 Positions finals.
the sportspersons for the last four years

preceding the year of award, ie, sports
achievements during the period 2011 to
2015 are to be considered.
Tickets go on
sale for Olympic
tennis, handball
Rio de Janeiro: A new round of tickets for
Olympic tennis and handball have been made
available to the public, Rio 2016 organizers have
said.
Brazilian citizens can buy tickets via the official
Rio 2016 website while residents of other coun
tries and regions must go through official ticket
resellers in their respective countries and
regions, reports Xinhua.
Last week, Rio 2016 organisers said 67% of the
7.4 million Olympic tickets on offer were already
sold.
The first batch of tickets for the Rio Olympics
went on sale in March last year. Prices range
from around $12 to $1,300 for the best seats at
the opening ceremony. The Rio 2016 Games, the
first Olympics to be held in South America, will
be held from August 5 to 21.
Sania, Paes, Bopanna enter

French Open second round
Paris: India's tennis stars Sania
Mirza, Leander Paes and Rohan
Bopanna got their French Open
campaign off to a winning start as
the trio won their respect ive
women's doubles and men's dou
bles matches to enter the second
round here.
World No.1 women's doubles pair
of Sania and her Swiss partner
Mart ina Hing is de feated the
Russian pair of Darya Kasatkina
and Alexandra Panova 76 (4), 62
in one hour and 31 minutes.
India's Bopanna and his
Romanian partner Florin Mergea
outclassed Frenchmen Stephane
Robert and Alexandre Sidorenko 6
2, 62 in a onesided encounter in
56 minutes.
India's Paes and his Polish part
ner Marcin Matkowski defeated
Belarusian and Uzbekistani pair of
Alexander Bury and Denis Istomin
76 (3), 76 (6) in one hour 46 min
utes.
The top seeds IndoSwiss pair
SaniaMartina began the match on
a positive note, taking a vital 50
lead over the Russian pair in the
first set.
But a couple of unforced errors
and losing two successive serves
handed DaryaAlexandra the advan
tage as they staged a remarkable
comeback to make it 55 in the first
set.
From there on it came down to 6
6 and the reigning Wimbledon, US
Open, Australian Open champions
pair held their nerves to win the
tiebreaker 74 to grab the first set.
The first set win proved a confi
dence booster for the top seeds as
SaniaMartina, courtesy of a couple
Rohan Bopanna and Sania Mirza. (File Photo: IANS)

of aces and powerful forehand
shots, took an important 42 lead in
the second set.
There was no looking back for
them as they went on to win the
next two games and the second set
62 and enter the second round in
style.
On the other hand, the sixth seed
ed pair BopannaMergea started
the first set on a good note, taking a
comfortable 52 lead over the
French pair. From there on it was
an easy task for the IndoRomanian
duo to clinch the first set 62.
The second set was a replay of
the first as BopannaMergea took a

41 lead and then grabbed the sec
ond set 62.
Later on the 16th seeded pair of
Paes and Matkowski were on the
back foot in the first set standing at
35 but came back strongly to level
things at 66 and then eventually
win the tiebreaker 73 in a one
sided contest to grab the first set.
In the second set too, despite
being 43 down, the IndoPolish
pair levelled things once again
making it 66 and won the tie
breaker yet again by 86 to march
into the second round.
SPORTS
May 28-June 3, 2016
23
IPL: KKR eliminated, SRH to face Lions

New Delhi: Two time champions Kolkata
Knight Riders' campaign in Indian Premier
League 9 ended after going down to
Sunrisers Hyderabad by 22 runs in the elim
inator here.
Famed Hyderabad's bowling lineup led by
Bhuvneshwar Kumar with three wickets,
proved too good for the KKR batsmen, who
failed to put up a fight to finish at 140/8 in
their 20 overs.
Chasing 163, KKR were of f an identical
start as Hyderabad losing inform opener
Robin Uthappa (11) cheaply before skipper
Gautam Gambhir (28) and allrounder Colin
Munroe (16) took the team to 46/1 in the
powerplay.
Gambhir and Munroe batted sensibly to
put on 38 runs for the second wicket before
the New Zealander perished to a silly run
out of f a sensational throw from Yuvraj
Singh. Playing at his home ground, Gambhir
failed to read the bounce of the Kotla track
as he miscued a short delivery from Ben
Cutting.
With KKR needing 99 from the last 10
overs, the team landed in further trouble as
incoming batsman Yusuf Pathan (2) fell to a
beautiful running catch from Bhuvneshwar
Kumar of f Moises Henriques. Next in
Sunrisers Hyderabad celebrate after winning the IPL 2016 Eliminator match against
Kolkata Knight Riders in New Delhi. (Photo: IANS)
Manish Pandey (36) and Suryakumar Yadav
(23) batted sensibly to take the team past
the 100run mark by the 14th over.
Yadav, who survived a scare on 15, when
pacer Mustafizur Rahman dropped him at
the third man boundary, could add only
eight runs before a brilliant running catch
from Shikhar Dhawan off Henriques ended
Is youth BCCI's
newfound mantra?
By Tridib Baparnash
New Delhi: From administration to

selection of uncapped players in the
national team, the Board of Control
for Cricket in India (BCCI) of late
seems to have found 'youth' as its
new mantra. On Sunday, while the
board witnessed the election of 41
yearold Anurag Thakur as its sec
ond youngest president after
Fatehsingh Rao Gaekwad, Monday
saw the Sandeep Patilled selection
committee name as many as five
fresh faces for the limited overs tour
to Zimbabwe and the West Indies
bound Test squad.
Thakur, a threetime Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) MP from
Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, has
been active in sports administration
for more than a decade now. He
found himself elevated to the top
post of the world's richest cricket
board during its Special General
meeting on Sunday.
Thakur, who was elected Himachal
Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA)
president at the age of 26, was also
the youngest to head a state cricket
association affiliated to the BCCI.
According to some seasoned BCCI
of ficials, Thakur worked hard to
turn around a "backward state" like
Himachal and establish one of the
most impressive venues on the
world's cricket map. Thakur created
modern cricket facilities not just in
picturesque Dharamsala but also in
smaller towns like Bilaspur and Una.
Cut to the players. The selection
BCCI president Anurag Thakur

(right) during a press conference
in Mumbai. (Photo: IANS)
committee named two young squads
for the upcoming tours of Zimbabwe
and the West Indies.
While the OneDay International
(ODI) and Twenty20 International
(T20I) squads witnessed the inclu
sion of Vidarbha opener Faiz Faisal,
Karnataka batsman Karun Nair,
Punjab batsman Mandeep Singh and
Haryana spin duo of Jayant Yadav
and Yuzvendra Chahal for the
Zimbabwe tour, the Test squad
found its lone new face in Mumbai
seamer Shardul Thakur. These inclu
sions meant that senior pros Suresh
Raina, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj
Singh and Amit Mishra found them
selves out of the reckoning despite
being among the surestarters in
their respective Indian Premier
League (IPL) franchises. Raina, who
despite being amongst runs in the
IPL, failed to impress the selectors,
who decided to opt for the rookies.
But Mumbai's Rohit Sharma's inclu
sion in the Test squad hasn't cut
much ice as the 29yearold has
found the going tough in the longest
format.
the 46run fifth wicket stand. Requiring 39

from the last three, Pandey, in his attempt to
cope with the growing runrate fell to a mis
cued shot of f Bhuvneshwar after adding
only 10 runs with Rajagopal Sathish (8).
With hopes of reaching the second qualifi
er fading, West Indian Jason Holder (6)
joined Sathish but the duo could do little as
Bhuvneshwar packed them of f in the last

over. Tailenders Sunil Narine and Morne
Morkel failed to trouble the scores as the
side fell short by 22 runs to bow out of the
cashrich tournament.
For Hyderabad, Bhuvneshwar was the
wreckerinchief with three wickets while
Henriques took two. Cutting and Barinder
Sran chipped in with a wicket each.
Earlier, KKR restricted Sunrisers to 162/8
after sending them to bat.
Kuldeep Yadav put up yet another impres
sive show with three wickets to break the
backbone of the Sunrisers batting, who were
off to a disappointing start.
Yuvraj (44) and Henriques (31) topscored
for Hyderabad after the side lost the key
wicket of inform opener Dhawan (10)
cheaply.
After losing Dhawan, skipper David
Warner (28), who was dropped by Pathan in
the fifth over, resurrected the innings with
incoming batsman Henriques to take the
team to 43/1 in the powerplay.
Both the Australians pounced on the easy
of ferings from the KKR bowlers to raise a
59run stand for the second wicket before
Henriques was brilliantly caug ht and
bowled by Yadav.
24
May 28-June 3 2016
BUSINESS
TWO YEARS OF MODI GOVERNMENT
'Work in progress but a lot more required'

New Delhi: As the BJPled NDA government
completes two years in of fice, an industry
chamber described it as "work in progress"
but said that "a lot more is required" to be
done on the issue of tax disputes, while con
cerns remain on the huge bad loans
incurred by the banking system.
Here's how key economic ministries have

fared in the last two years:
Finance and corporate affairs
(Arun Jaitley):
Through the instrument of two full union
budgets and more, Jaitley has helped the
economy achieve a fair degree of macroeco
nomic stability and a GDP growth rate of
over seven percent, which surpassed
China's, prompting the IMF to tag India as
the fastest growing major economy.
The government's other achievements
include controlling the current account and
fiscal deficits, while inflation has also
declined, with a little help and nudging by
the RBI, from 11 percent to below five per
cent, making room for interest rates to be
cut.
However, private investment has been
quite slow to revive and job creation has
remained low in a situation of stymied
industrial growth.
Crucial to the situation is the high levels of
bad loans of public sector banks that have
choked up credit flow to industry.
Finance and corporate affairs minister

Arun Jaitley.
Commerce and industry
(Nirmala Sitharaman):
This has been directly hit the most by the
global economic slowdown, with exports
being in decline from
around
the
t ime
Commerce Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman
took office. Official data
earlier this month
showed India's merchan
dise exports in April were val
ued at $20.57 billion down 6.74 percent in
dollar terms against $22.05 billion in the
like month of last year, signalling a decline
for the 17th straight month.
Power, coal and renewable energy

(Piyush Goyal):
Taken as a whole, one of the few areas of
high performance. In his first year, his team
conducted the first success
ful coal mine auctions,
while other e f forts
yielded higher coal out
put.
The ministry also man
aged to reduce solar
power tariffs through competi
tive bidding and reviving stranded gas
based power plants. During the second year,
Goyal launched the Ujwal Discom Assurance
Yojana (UDAY) to revive the hugely indebted
state distribution companies. The power
ministry also brought in a new National
Tariff Policy.
Civil aviation
(Ashok Gajapathi Raju):
The central government's ambitious plans
on making flying more
af fordable and prof
itable
remained
grounded, as the sector
waited in the wings for
the Nat ional Civil
Aviation Policy, widely
debated and appreciated but is
still to get the green signal. The draft policy,
nonetheless, has some farreaching implica
tions. Among the proposals is one to scrap
the 5/20 norm, which stipulates a minimum
five years of operations and a fleet of 20 air

craft for overseas flying rights, and to peg a
minimum tarif f of no more than Rs.2,500
per ticket for each flyinghour. However, the
real thrust behind the industry's turnaround
were lower fuel prices, uptick in economic
activity and a stellar rise in passenger traf
fic. All the major listed players reported
robust earnings. Nevertheless, the central
government did manage to include the sec
tor in the list of 15 industries in which for
eign equity norms were eased.
Communications
(Ravi Shankar Prasad):
Aiming to provide better service to the cus
tomers the government successfully auc
tioned spectrum in 2015,
mopping up Rs.1.10 lakh
crore ($17.6 billion) to
licence 380.75 MHz of
airwaves in the 900
MHz, 1,800 MHz and
800 MHz and 2100 MHz
bands across 17 out of 22 tele
com circles. It also allowed spectrum trading
and sharing so that the telecom service
providers can of fer seamless network con
nectivity. Mobile number portability across
the country was made operational. The serv
ice providers are gearing up for nationwide
4G telephony launch. The government has
also planned for another mega spectrum auc
tion this year, from which it expects to garner
a whopping Rs.560,000 crore ($83 billion).
13 cities win fasttrack Smart City competition

New Delhi: The Urban Development
Ministry announced 13 winners of
the fasttrack Smart City competi
tion, with Lucknow topping the list.
These cities can now compete to be
a "Smart City" in the next cycle of
"India Smart Cities Challenge".
Announcing the list, Union Urban
Development Minister M. Venkaiah
Naidu said Lucknow, which could
not make it to the first list of 20
mission cit ies last year, had
improved the quality of its Smart
City plan. Twentythree cities par
ticipated in the fasttrack competi
tion. The other cities that made it to
the next round are Warang al
( Telangana), Shimla, (Himachal
Pradesh), Chandig arh, Raipur
(Chhattisgarh), New Town Kolkata
(West Bengal), Bhagalpur (Bihar),
Panaji (Goa), Port Blair (Andaman &
Union Minister for Urban DevelopmentM Venkaiah Naidu releases a publication at a press conference to
announce the results of Fast Track Smart City Competition in New Delhi. (Photo: IANS/PIB)
Nicobar Islands), Imphal (Manipur),
Ranchi ( Jharkhand), Ag artala
(Tripura) and Faridabad (Haryana).
The minister said these 13 cities

were selected on the basis of marks
scored by them in the fasttrack
competition and the benchmarks

set by the top performers in the
first cycle of the challenge.
Naidu said these 13 cities have

substantially improved their Smart
City plans by addressing the defi
ciencies identified in the first round
of the competition. This ensured a
better profiling of the cities in
terms of infrastructure gaps and
base line service leve ls, which
ef fected consistency between the
citizens' aspirations and action
plans, more feasible resource
mobilisation plans, and coordinated
and integrated picture of how indi
vidual projects will contribute to
arealevel changes.
Only 12 states and UTs were rep
resented in the first list of 20 mis
sion cities announced in the first
cycle of "India Smart Cit ies
Challenge" on January 28.
The first 20 cities were selected
from 98 mission cities.
May 28- June 3, 2016
BOOKS
25
A rookie who has stirred up Indian politics

By M.R. Narayan Swamy
wo things stand out in the
book. One, author Pran Kurup
does not hide his adoration
for Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi Chief
Minister and head of India's
youngest political outfit, the Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP). Kurup also
admits that he is no bystander but
an active participant in the AAP
growth story.
Two, on account of the authors
own friendship with Kejriwal, the
book helps us to know more about
a political rookie who has stirred
Indian politics like few have done
in recent times.
Kurup and Kejriwal were batch
mates at IIT Kharagpur and shared
the same hostel during the four
year course. For one who would
take Indian politics by storm years
later, "Kejri", as he was known
among friends, was "a simple, unas
suming teetotaler" who stayed
away from student politics. He did
win one election as the hostel's
Mess Secretary. But Kejriwal the
author refers to him throughout by
his first name Arvind was, howev
er, part of the Technology Drama
Society and acted in several plays.
And when he was ragged on admis
Arvind Kejriwal
and the Aam
Aadmi Party:
An Inside Look
by Pran Kurup;
Bloomsbury
Pages: 133
Price: Rs. 399
sion, Kejriwal enacted the role of

Sholay's Gabbar Singh. Post
Kharagpur, Kurup and Kejriwal
parted ways; when they reconnect
ed a decade later, Kejriwal was an
activist. Kurup began to assist him.
If AAP clicked, Kurup says, it was
because of Kejriwal's leadership
"the quintessential entrepreneur
no money, no backing, plenty of
ideas, dreams, vision and an incred
ible ability to articulate, communi
cate and connect". The dedication
of AAP volunteers was another fac

tor. "Never before in the history of
Indian politics have IT profession
als been inspired to act politically."
As a former President of the Silicon
Valley India Professionals
Association, Kurup coordinated
many of the efforts of the AAP NRI
community. The Indian diaspora
was extremely critical to AAP's IT
activities but the party leadership
"was probably not even fully aware
of the extent of the support and
efforts of dedicated NRIs".
Although Kurup is sympathetic to
Kejriwal, he admits that many who
supported AAP and swore by

Arvind felt deeply betrayed and
viewed his sudden resignation after
49 days in power in Delhi as a
squandered opportunity. It also
reinforced Kejriwal's "activist iden
tity". Worse was to come in the Lok
Sabha battle of 2014 in which AAP
was virtually washed out, leaving
many within devastated. Kurup
reiterates what is generally known
by now that it was never Kejriwal's
idea to contest the Lok Sabha polls
the way AAP did; nevertheless, had
it not attempted it, the party would
have
never
realized
the
groundswell of support for it in
Punjab.
But the Lok Sabha disaster was
more than made up when Kejriwal
led AAP to a historic win in Delhi in
February 2015.
The AAP, Kurup says, maintains
an open door policy that allows
anyone to join and to leave at any
time of ones choice. This may not
be the most ideal situation for a
political party. The author also
admits that Kejriwal's picks have
not always turned out to be right,
with "some opportunists with dubi
ous credentials" getting on board
the AAP. And he blames both
Kejriwal and advocate Prashant
INDIAN SAMURAI REVEALS WHY

BRITISH FEARED BOSE
By Shudip Talukdar
s an iconic figure, Netaji
Subhash Chandra Bose has
few parallels or peers any
where. He continues to exercise
such a mesmeric hold on the col
lective psyche of the nation that
the air crash which allegedly killed
him might have never happened.
But the latest take on the popu
lar leader, "Bose: An Indian
Samurai," authored by Maj Gen
G.D. Bakshi, debunks the theory
and assesses his role as a military
leader, based on 10 years of
exhaustive research.
Enough has been said and writ
ten about Bose as a political stal
wart and as a radical. But it is only
in the fitness of things that an
experienced military commander
like Gen Bakshi undertakes the
task of highlighting the strategic
role played by the Indian National
Army (INA) in our independence.
In bitterly fought campaigns
across Burma, Imphal and Kohima,
the INA performed creditably and
under tremendous odds with their
Japanese counterparts. These two
theatres have been described as
the most significant of the historic
World War II battles fought by the
In Bose: An Indian Samurai, Maj Gen G.D. Bakshi assesses

Netajis role as a military leader and the strategic role
played by INA in Indias independence.
British, matching Stalingrad in
sheer scale and ferocity.
Gen Bakshi attributes Bose's
exemplary leadership with inspir
ing a fierce loyalty and patriotic
fervor among his military cadres;
so much so that they rose above
their religious and linguistic iden
tities to act as a single entity, moti
vated by national pride and a spir
it of sacrifice.
A contention seconded by none
other than one of Bose's closest
military aides and later envoy to
Canada, the late Colonel Mahboob
Ahmed, in an interview with "The
Illustrated Weekly of India". He
emphatically declared that if he
had 100 lives, he would have will

ingly sacrificed each of them for
the sake of his beloved leader.
"An Indian Samurai" makes a
number of startling revelations.
Even w ith the stakes heavily
loaded against the JapaneseINA
forces in terms of numbers, fire
power, logistics and supplies, they
mounted attack after attack on the
British, which unnerved them.
T hese format ions displayed
extraordinary levels of battlefield
resilience and morale. Though vir
tually decimated, these units suf
fered "no mass surrenders . . . no
crumbling of morale," the author
observes.
What is more, they retained

their combat cohesion and man
aged to retreat to the Chindwin,
only to undergo a twin assault
from disease and starvation, which
took a heavy toll.
In the viciously fought cam
paigns with the British, the INA
lost 26,000 men out of its
strength of 60,000. These martyrs
became the role models for more
than two million conscripts, who
practically hailed from the same
villages and formed the backbone
of the British Army. Their loyalty
could now no longer be taken for
granted and became a decisive
factor in the British quitting India.
Even thoug h the Japanese
reported that Bose had died in an
air crash on August 18, 1945, the
latest lot of declassified files
released in March 2016 indicate
that he had indeed made three
radio broadcasts long after the
date of his alleged crash, namely,
on December 26, 1945, January 1,
1946 and in February 1946.
"The air crash theory is full of
gaping holes, yet the Nehruvian
government went to inordinate
lengths to prove that Bose had
indeed died in that air crash,"
writes Gen Bakshi.
Bhushan for not sitting together

and resolving their dif ferences,
leading to Bhushan's and Yogendra
Yadav's ugly departure from AAP.
He says, "Arvind and AAP could
draw a leaf out of Modi's playbook
and learn from the manner in
which he phased out the veterans
in his party with utmost panache
and minimum damage." In contrast,
he adds, "the internal strife within
the AAP did immeasurable damage
to the morale and psyche of its vast
volunteer force".
Kurup is among those who find it
mysterious that a longtime atheist
like Kejriwal invoked God at his
inaugural speech after becoming
the chief minister. Yes, he does reg
ular meditation and 'vipasana', but
God? And why does Kejriwal speak
always in Hindi? "He has confessed
that when he speaks in Hindi, the
intent and the emotion are con
veyed accurate ly." T he book
reveals that PR agencies wanted to
give Kejriwal an image makeover
after he took power but were gen
tly shown the door.
Kurup's book is a must read for
all those wanting to understand the
AAP phenomenon it does not mat
ter whether you like Kejriwal or
not.
A soulful
poetry
book
ebut author Punam
ChadhaJoseph launched
her maiden book of poems
titled The Soulful Seeker pub
lished by Om
Books
International
recently in
Delhi. The
book was
unveiled in
the presence
of celebs like
Anil Kapoor
and Kabir Bedi, who also read
from the book.
Said the author, I always had a
flair for writing, especially
poems, but I just needed time to
pen down my thoughts. My
poems are inspired by real life
experiences, so every person will
surely relate to it.
While some poems are light
and joyful, others are more
intense and soulsearching.
The book is illustrated with
Punams sketches. Punam has
worked for ad agencies like
Lintas and Mudra. She is married
to Sabbas Joseph, the Founder
Director of Wizcraft, Indias pio
neer Event Management agency.
26
May 28-June 3, 2016
US mulling plan to infect mosquitoes

with bacteria to curb Zika virus
he US may soon become the first nation

to approve the commercial use of a com
mon bacterium to fight the spread of dis
eases such as the Zika virus. The strategy
would involve infecting mosquitoes with the
bacteria and releasing the males into the
environment.
The idea, currently being reviewed by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
comes from MosquitoMate, a biotechnology
startup which hopes to use the Wolbachia pip
ientis bacteria as a tool against the Asian tiger
mosquito (Aedes albopictus), Nature reported.
The company's plan involves rearing mos
quitoes infected with a particular strain of the
bacteria and releasing the males into the envi
ronment. If the males mate with females who
do not carry the same strain of Wolbachia, any
fertilized eggs would not hatch because the
paternal chromosomes would not form prop
erly. This, according to MosquitoMate a
company started by researchers at the
University of Kentucky would result in a
dwindling mosquito population and conse
quently less spread of diseases.
The current proposal being reviewed by the
EPA comes after three years of testing by
MosquitoMate, in three different states. The
strategy has so far reduced the wild mosquito
population by more than 70 percent in those
areas, according to Stephen Dobson, an ento
mologist at the University of Kentucky and
founder of the company.
In addition to using Wolbachia to target the
Asian tiger mosquito, MosquitoMate is also
using it to target the Aedes aegypti mosquito,
thought to be the main vector for the Zika
virus. The company began field trials of infect
ed A. aegypti mosquitos in Clovis, California

earlier this month, and has applied to conduct
similar tests in Florida and Orange County,
California. Researchers hope that targeting
mosquitoes with Wolbachia will lead to less
spread of Zika, dengue, and Chikungunya,
among other viruses.
The EPAs decision on MosquitoMate's appli
cation will come after a public comment peri
od that ends on May 31.
Meanwhile, other groups are also investigat
ing how to defeat the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
Researchers from Sun Yatsen University in
Guangzhou, China, and Michigan State
University began field trials of Wolbachia
infected mosquitos last year in Guangzhou.
The researchers are releasing 1.5 million male
Aedes aegypti per week, and plan to increase
that number to five million per week by the
end of August.
Our mosquito factory is currently the
largest one in the world, said Zhiyong Xi, a
medical entomologist and microbiologist at
Michigan State University, who oversees the
project.
It comes just weeks after a Brazilian study
found that Wolbachia significantly reduced
the ability of mosquitoes to transmit the Zika
virus, a close relative of dengue, which has
been linked to the birth defect microcephaly.
T he virus has swept through South and
Central America and the Caribbean, making its
way north to the US.
On Tuesday, the World Health Organization
(WHO) admitted that it is partially responsible
for the outbreak of the Zika virus, saying it
had failed to introduce mosquito control poli
cies over the last few decades.
Drink spiking a problem on

U.S. campuses
rink spiking may be

prevalent on U.S. col
lege campuses, and
women are at much greater
risk than men, new research
finds.
Women were also more
likely than men to cite sexual
assault as a motive for drink
spiking where someone
secretly adds alcohol or
drugs to another persons
drink.
Men were more likely to
say the motive was to have
fun, according to the study
of more than 6,000 students
at three U.S. universities.
These findings show it is
more than simply an urban
legend, said study leader
Suzanne Swan, an associate
professor in the department
of psychology at the
University of South Carolina.
The researchers found that
almost 8 percent of the stu
dents said theyd had drugs
put into their drinks. Also,
1.4 percent said they had
either spiked another per
sons drink or knew someone
who had.
While spiking drinks is
often linked to date rape,
some students said it was
EXERCISE MAY BECOME

ANTICANCER THERAPY IN FUTURE
Women are more likely to cite sexual assault as a motive

for drink spiking (Photo courtesy: dailymail.co.uk)
done for amusement, to calm
someone down or to make
them go to sleep.
T he study results were
published May 23 in the
journal Psychology of
Violence.
Even if a person is drug
ging someone else simply
for fun with no intent of tak
ing advantage of the drugged
person, the drugger is still
putting a drug in someone
elses body without their
consent and this is coer
cive and controlling behav
ior, said Swan in a journal
news release.
About four out of five vic
tims were women, the study
found.
However, the researchers
emphasized there were limi
tations to the study.
We have no way of know
ing if the drugging victims
were actually drugged or not,
and many of the victims were
not certain either, they
wrote. It is possible that
some respondents drank too
much, or drank a more
potent kind of alcohol than
they were accustomed to.
Nearly half of all heart

attacks may be 'silent'
firstever international clini

cal trial evaluating the effect
of intense physical exercise
to improve survival of men with
advanced prostate cancer is now
under way.
Dr Fred Saad, urologistoncolo
gist and researcher at the
University of Montreal Hospital
Research Centre (CRCHUM)
believes that physical exercise has
a direct effect on cancer as effec
tive as drugs for treating
patients with prostate cancer even
in advanced stages of the disease.
"Typical patients with metas
tases often become sedentary. It is
thought that this af fects cancer
progression," he said.
Together with Robert Newton,
professor at the Edith Cowan
University Exercise Medicine
Research Institute in Australia, Dr
Saad is leading the first interna
tional study which aims to demon
strate that exercise literally
extends the life of patients with
metastatic prostate cancer.
Normally, patients at this stage
have a life expectancy of two to
three years.
"We want to reduce mortality by
at least 22 percent, which repre
HEALTH
sents about six months of longer

survival. This is the equivalent
benefit of a new drug. Exercise
could therefore supplement avail
able treatments, inexpensively,"
said Dr Saad.
The study has already started in
Ireland and Australia. In the com
ing weeks, some 60 hospitals
across the world will begin recruit
ing patients. In total, nearly 900
men with advanced prostate can
cer will participate.
"We will study exercise as if it
were a drug added to standard
treatments. All patients will be
treated within the latest scientific
knowledge for this type of cancer,"
he explained.
The team has designed a specific
strength and cardiovascular train
ing program for patients in the

"exercise" group.
They will have an hour of aero
bic and resistance training three
times a week. An exercise special
ist will supervise them for the first
12 months, and then they will con
tinue without direct supervision.
They will be evaluated for quality
of life, appetite, and treatment tol
erance in re lation to their
improved physical condition.
The hypothesis is that exercise
has a direct impact on cancer pro
gression in addition to helping
patients better tolerate therapy.
Dr Saad is set to present an
overview of the Phase 3 clinical
trial at the American Society of
Clinical Oncology (ASCO) annual
meeting in Chicago from June 37.
early half
of
all
h e a r t
attacks may not
have classic
symptoms, such
as chest pain,
shortness of
breath and cold
sweats but are
like ly to be
silent , reveals
new research. A silent heart attack
occurs when blood flow to the heart
muscle is severely reduced or cut
off completely.
"The outcome of a silent heart
attack is as bad as a heart attack
that is recognized while it is hap
pening," said Elsayed Z. Soliman,
director of the epidemiological car
diology research centre at Wake
Forest Baptist Medical Centre, in the
US The findings showed that silent
heart attacks are made up 45 per
cent of all heart attacks.
Also, these are more commonly
found in men but are more likely to
cause death in women.
Further, the risk of dying from
heart disease increases by three
times in case of a silent heart
attack.
T he chance of dying from all
other causes rises by 34 percent.

Silent heart attacks are usually
detected when patients undergo an
e lectrocardiogram (ECG) a
process to check heart's electrical
activity.
"Doctors need to help patients
who have had a silent heart attack
quit smoking, reduce their weight,
control cholesterol and blood pres
sure and get more exercise," the
researchers noted in the paper pub
lished in the journal Circulation.
For the study, the team analyzed
the records of 9,498 middleage
adults.
For over an average of nine years
after the start of the study, 317 par
ticipants had silent heart attacks
while 386 had heart attacks with
clinical symptoms.
IANS
May 28-June 3, 2016
LIFESTYLE
27
HEALTHY LIFESTYLE CAN HELP YOU LIVE CANCERFREE

New York: Just adopting a healthy lifestyle
by refraining from drinking alcohol and
smoking, maintaining a healthy bo dy
weight and exercising regularly can help
you keep deadly cancer at bay, new
research reaffirms.
About 2040 percent of cancer cases
could potentially be prevented through
modifications to adopt a healthy lifestyle,
the study found.
A large proportion of cancer cases and
deaths can be prevented if people quit
smoking, avoided heavy drinking, main
tained a body mass index (BMI) between
18.5 and 27.5, and got moderate weekly
exercise for at least 150 minutes or vigor
ous exercise for at least 75 minutes, the
study said.
The research, published online in the jour
nal JAMA Oncology, analysed data from two
study groups of White individuals to exam
ine the associations between a "healthy
lifestyle pattern" and cancer incidence and
death.
Mingyang Song and Edward Giovannucci
from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public
Health, Boston, conducted the study that
included 89,571 women and 46,399 men.
A "healthy lifestyle pattern" was defined
A "healthy lifestyle pattern"

was defined as never or
past smoking; no or moderate drinking of alcohol -one or less drink a day for
women, two or less drinks a
day for men; BMI of at least
18.5 but lower than 27.5;
and weekly aerobic
physical activity of at least
150 minutes moderate
intensity or 75 minutes
vigorous intensity.
(Image courtesy: madisonhealthexpo.com)

as never or past smoking; no or moderate
drinking of alcohol one or less drink a day
for women, two or less drinks a day for
men; BMI of at least 18.5 but lower than
27.5; and weekly aerobic physical activity
of at least 150 minutes moderate intensity
or 75 minutes vigorous intensity.

Individuals who met all four criteria were
considered low risk and everyone else was
high risk, the researchers advised.
The results revealed that 16,531 women
and 11,731 had a healthy lifestyle pattern
Gifting in India: Moving

online, towards registries
New Delhi: Whether it is personal
ized products or the mundane flow
ers and chocolates, experiential
pampering or innovative surprises,
the world of gifting has undergone
a metamorphosis in India over the
years, courtesy the booming online
space. Now, gift registries are
poised to become the next big
thing, says an industry expert.
Indians, says Nischint Sanghavi,
cofounder of Wrapp'd a oneof
itskind online gift registry and
curated shopping website are
moving away from gifting what
they like to give people and are
increasingly taking a step forward
to present what the host desires.
And this is where registries can
play an important role.
Asked about the changes he
sensed in the Indian market when
it comes to gifting, Sanghavi said
the "entire consumer market in year, was inundated with presents

India has gone through this transi out of which only a few were of use
tion of moving online during the to her. She says using a gift registry
last two years." "Even tra
could have been a blessing. For
dit ional companies,
now, she is waiting
which were reluctant ini
for some of her
tially, have embraced
friends to get mar
this move. In the gift
ried soon to pass on
ing space, this has
some of the gifts.
happened with
In another case,
m o r e
Shweta Goswami had
casual
to attend a wedding
g ifts
like
but had no time to
flowers and
buy a gift, cour
(Image : isabellwedding.com)
cho colates
tesy her long
moving online. A lot of gift card of fice hours. The dotcom world
companies are also offering prod came in handy! Indians might still
ucts online now," Sanghavi told have time to get used to the con
IANS.
cept where guests can pick up gifts
The concept is already seeping in. from a preset list of items, it is a
From having endless number of widely popular concept abroad
artefacts to culinary items, Ria especially for weddings. So, what's
Malhotra, who got married last the next step in India?
Parents' lack of technical skills affects kids' achievements

New York: If you want your kids to
shine in life, better brush up your
own technical skills and start
using online learning tools and
games to help your children per
form better, suggests new
research.
An American study shows that
lowincome parents are less likely
to use these extra resources or,
when they do, they do it less effec
tively because of dif ferences in
motivation and parenting prac
tices. "A key goal for lowincome
parents is making sure their chil
dren stay in school, so often they

are more focused on monitoring
whether their kids are doing
homework and going to class,"
said lead study author Betsy
DiSalvo from Georgia Institute of
Technology in the US.
"T heir attent ion is directed
towards school and not what could
happen outside the classroom,"
DiSalvo added.
The team interviewed 63 par
ents across socioeconomic groups
and conducted an online survey of
997 parents. T he researchers
found that higherincome parents

are more likely to act as resource
providers by searching for oppor
tunities outside of school, whether
it be a book, online g ame or
extracurricular activities. There
were also dif ferences between
how hig hincome and lower
income parents use social net
works for education. The results
revealed that when lowincome
parents turn to online resources
they face greater challenges and
some of them also seem to experi
ence greater facesaving concerns.
(lowrisk group) and the remaining 73,040

women and 34,608 men were high risk.
The researchers estimated that about 20
percent to 40 percent of cancer cases and
about half of cancer deaths could potential
ly be prevented through modifications to
adopt the healthy lifestyle pattern of the
lowrisk group.
"These findings reinforce the predomi
nate importance of lifestyle factors in deter
mining cancer risk. Therefore, primary pre
vention should remain a priority for cancer
control," the authors noted.
'KIDS GETTING
HOOKED TO
SMARTPHONES
AT AGE 10 IN US'
(Image courtesy: dailyfinance.com)

Washington, DC: The average
age at which a child can get his
or her first smartphone has
now come down to 10.3 years,
media said on Friday.
While the usage of tablets has
surged from 26 percent to 55
percent as the kids' device of
choice, smartphones are trailing
at 45 percent but rising from
39 percent in 2012, technology
website TechCrunch reported.
The report is based on data
from Influence Central a US
based marketing agency which
revealed the way children are
using technology in the present
times.
The findings also showed that
kids' access to internet via their

own laptop or tablet has
increased by 64 percent com
pared to just 42 percent in
2012. At 11.4 years, 39 percent
of kids were found to have a
social media account, while 11
percent got a so cial media
account when they were
younger than 10.
In 2012, 85 percent children
used to access the internet from
a room shared with the family
however, the number has
dropped to 76 percent today.
Currently, 24 percent have
"private" access from their bed
rooms as compared to 15 per
cent in 2012.
28
May 28-June 3, 2016
HUMOR
Funny Side by Nury Vittachi
4 TRUE STORIES ABOUT TAKING RISKS

N
EVER USED TO be a risktaker but then I had chil

dren who would play in the dirt and say things like:
Daddy, close your eyes and open your mouth.
Parents soon learn what true courage is.
Ive been thinking about brave decisions after reading a
news item: a couple who got top score on a farmthemed
mobile phone game took home A LIVE COW as their prize.
Gamemaker Digital Media gives winners the option of
taking their award in the form of steaks, but the latest win
ners, from Tunisia, took the entire cow as is.
That way they get the cow as a pet, but also have the
option of turning it in steaks later, said reader Bernard
Betts, who sent me the news item.
***
Reading it reminded me of a solo sailor I once met who
went on long sea voyages with a dog called Emergency
Rations.
He assured me that the pooch had no idea what his
name meant, but it kept making worried eyes at me.
***
Anyway, I like that the cowwinners chose the brave
option. The same could be said for UK university students
who this month elected a cat as honorary president, I
heard from reader Sara Padilla.
I added that to my list of unbelievablebuttrue election
results.
In 1967 a tin of itchy foot powder was elected mayor of
a town in Ecuador;
in 1988, a chimpanzee stood for election in Rio de
Janeiro under the slogan Vote monkey, get monkey (pos
sibly the only honest political slogan in the his

tory of the world);
and in 2004 the US public reelected George
W Bush, when it was clear to everyone else in
the world that a tin of itchy foot powder would
make better decisions.
***
Of course, you can also make life interesting
by making original decisions on a smaller scale.
Reader Rajiva Singhe forwarded me a news
items about a US business traveler who noticed
a box on his hotel booking form form labeled
additional requests.
So Sean Fitzsimons wrote something silly on
it: If it's not too much trouble could you build
a fort out of pillows?
Hotel staff did.
Now he always puts in of fbeat requests (I
would like a photo of a dog dressed as a sea
captain) purely to challenge hoteliers and
increase the amount of fun in the world.
***
I immediate ly thoug ht of addit ional
requests I could make for some of the hotels I stay in
around Asia:
1) A bed that doesnt collapse in the night;
2) Edible food;
3) Staff which speak at least one of the top ten human
languages, etc.
That should challenge them!
***
Anyway, if I ever win a mobile phone farmthemed game,

Im definitely going for the live cow option, whatever trou
ble I get into.
WIFE: You said you wouldnt bring home any more
large useless items.
ME (covering ears of cow): Shhh! She can hear you,
darling.
Laughter is the Best Medicine
BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN
New York Head Quarter
422S Broadway
Mahendra
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.
ASTROLOGY
May 28-June 3, 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
MAY 28JUNE 3, 2016

ARIES: Timely and swift action would
give an edge over others at professional
front. Family members will be very posi
tive & supportive to your plans. You are likely
to earn monetary gains through various
sources. You find pleasure and enjoy ecstasies
of love in the arms of partner. Meditation and
yoga prove beneficial for spiritual as well as
physical gains. Enjoy your holiday with love of
your life. Time to make investments on farm
lands. With past ef forts you are likely to
become more effective and positive.
TAURUS: Colleagues and subordinates
will lend a helping hand enabling to
complete the work on time. Relatives
will be willing to lend a helping hand at the
time of need. Increase in income from past
investment is foreseen. You enjoy a lovely time
as Cupid is on your side this week. A very
healthy week when your cheerfulness gives
the desired tonic and confidence. Romantic
destinations seems appealing to you. Your
investment plans are at full boom and you
might succeed in them.
You find time and an inclination to help
others.
GEMINI: Success in completing difficult
assignments brings a lot of laurels at
work. New relationship at family front
will be long lasting & highly beneficial.
Monetary gains from unplanned sources will
brighten your week. A special message from
beloved/lover lifts spirits. You are likely to
maintain good health that would also give you
success.
Travel for fun and pleasure is what you
demand. Your girlfriends desire for an apart
ment might lead to its destination. Senses of
humour immensely helps in tackling difficult
situations.
CANCER: Selfconfident would enable

to convey your point of view with ease
a workplace. Guests visit would make
it a pleasant & wonderful week. New money
making opportunities will be lucrative. Love
companion will be eager to meet you this
week. A continuous positive thinking gets
rewarded as you succeed in whatever you do
this week. Small journey with your office col
leagues will be interesting. Time to plan a gift
for your parents may be their dream home.
Looking at the brighter side of problems
would enable taking many personal decisions.
LEO: Mental clarity gives a decisive
edge over all competitors at profession
al front. You will be in the mood to cel
ebrate with family and friends this week. You
get some financial rewards as dedication &
hard work gets noticed. Proposing might bene
fit, as chances of succeeding in love are high.
Creative hobbies are like ly to keep you
relaxed. Your boss may ask you for your com
pany to a friends party. Its high time to think
of purchasing a new of fice. You find friends
easy going and willing to fall in line with your
plans.
VIRGO: Calculated risks would enables
to complete the project on time. Good
advice from family members brings
gains. Monetary gains are likely to be from
more than one source.
Search for a true romantic friend might end
this week. With a positive outlook & confi
dence, you succeed in impressing people
around you. Travel plan with a colleague
might lead to a new relationship. It might be
the right time to sale your empty plot as prop
erty rates are at peak. Hobbies and extra cur
ricular activities are likely to gain extra
momentum.
LIBRA: A firm commitment will not

only enable to achieve professional
targets but also to realise your
dreams. The company of family friends will
keep you in a happy & relaxed mood. A new
financial deal gets finalized paving the way for
fresh money.
Blossoming love life brings happiness. Mental
alertness would enable to solve a tricky prob
lem. Small picnic organized by your company
is good to change your mood. Your plan for a
new house will be in process very soon. Lot of
recognition and fame is on the cards at per
sonal front.
SCORPIO : Cooperative nature brings
desired results at professional front.
Parental guidance in your decision
would immensely help. Financial position will
improve later in the week. Romance is likely to
intensify through recreational activities &
entertainment. A cheerful state of mind brings
mental peace. Of ficial journeys prove to be
more fruitful for you. Your loan procedures for
pursuing a plot will be in process. With priori
tising things, you find more time for leisure
and social activities.
SAGITTARIUS: For some change of job
would bring mental satisfaction. A
week when misunderstandings at fam
ily front are sorted out with ease. Real estate
investment would be lucrative. Romantic
opportunity comes your way as your sparkling
sunshine smile injures a lively & tender heart.
Good time to divert attention to spirituality to
enhance mental toughness. Fly away with your
dreams, new business horizons are ready to
explore. Investment in hotel industry can be
the right choice to be made. You shine in
unfamiliar surroundings with hard work and
dedication.
CAPRICORN : Your inner values coupled

with a positive attitude will bring success
at work. Believe it or not someone in the
family is watching you closely and considers you
a role model. Investment in stocks & mutual
funds would help in earning profits. Romance
touches new heights, as partner positively
responds. A pleasure trip gives the muchneeded
tonic to health. A fun filled holiday at an amuse
ment and theme park with your family is there.
Investment on construction business might give
fruitful results. Being articulate and appreciating
others point of view would highly benefit.
AQUARIUS : Responding positively &
quickly to new ideas in business will
go in your favour. An important devel
opment at personal front brings jubilation for
entire family. Longterm investment in stocks
& mutual funds will enable to earn profits. You
are likely to find someone with whom you will
enjoy the ecstasies of love. Cutting down the
number of parties and pleasure jaunts would
help in keeping in good mood. An interesting
cruise ship is next place for your vacation.
Investing on a ship or a cruise is an exciting
venture to be made. You succeed in persuad
ing others without asserting yourself too
strongly or bullying anyone.
PISCES: Calculated risks at profession
al front will be rewarded with success.
A happy time in the company of friends
and relatives as they do many favours to you.
Improvement in finances is certain. Love
comes your way as friendship turns into
romance. A beneficial week to work on things
that will improve your health. Breathtaking
beautiful site scenes are your lovers desire.
The best ideas for investment are to on invest
on real estate business. The week is filled with
surprises to surprise you.
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

28th May, 2016
Ruling planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: As you are governed by the power of the
Sun, your ruling planet, you are unique, dynamic, fear
less, honorable, responsible and downtoearth. You do
dare to accept any challenge that has been offered to
you as you trust your intelligence and ef ficiency.
However, you should have a control of your dominant
and destructive attitude.
Health this year: Your health will be absolutely fine this
year. You may feel very tired if you do some physical
work. So you need to go for regular jogging to enhance
your stamina.
Finance this year: You may face some financial difficul
ties during the initial months of the year but later you
will be able to solve your problems and you will
become stable. You should create new contacts and go
back to old ones as this year you may require friends to
support you during critical financial conditions. You
should not put your money in joint venture by partner
ing someone in their business.
Career this year: If you have been waiting for a long
time to get a promotion or hike in your salary, this year
will end your wait.
Romance this year: If you think you are eligible to
marry during the end of this year, it may happen.
Lucky month: September , October and November
29th May, 2016
Ruling planet: 2 Ruled by no: Moon
Traits in you: You possess all the characteristics of a
perfect personality as you are highly energetic, depend
able, disciplined, inventive, honest and warmhearted.
You believe in helping others and you do not show
reluctance in spending your time and money for others.
Being highly social, you love making new friends and
new relationships. However, you need to work on your
nature of becoming impatient, careless, and stubborn.
Health this year: Your parents may suffer few health
related issues. That may increase your medical expens
es and tensions.
Finance this year: You may find it very rewarding to
invest your money in real estate business. You should
research on the market vividly before investing on any
thing. The legal disputes that have been disturbing you
for a long time may get solved this year and you will
find it satisfactory enough.
Career this year: You will get your expected rewards
and awards in your professional career this year for
your efficiency and achievements. Promotion may be
round the corner.
Romance this year: You will share a very good relation

ship with your spouse this year.
Lucky month: August , March and April
30th May, 2016
Ruling planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Jupiter makes you cre
ative, humble, daring, honorable and unique. Your pow
erful characteristics make you very helpful, energetic
and enthusiastic. You are a vivid follower of love, peace
and harmony. You detest arguments and confronta
tions. However, you should not behave according to
your mood swings. You should learn to control your
attitude towards others.
Health this year: You would not suffer from any major
health issues. However, some of your family members
may fall sick for a long time.
Finance this year: If you have past investments at
place, you will be financially benefited from those.
However, you should not try to invest on uncertain
investment plans. You may carry out construction or
renovation work in your property towards the end of
the year.
Career this year: You need to be a bit proactive if you
want to improve as a professional. Your quick decision
making capability will help you receive appreciations
from your seniors and colleagues this year. You will
have a positive and practical approach towards every
work to take on. You may get new tasks and assign
ments to show your efficiency and you will succeed in
bringing out excellent results if you work hard. You
should embrace every new idea coming across you as
that would help you perform better in your profession.
Romance this year: You will be deeply involved with
your romantic interest this year and may think to con
vert your relationship to marriage
Lucky month: October , November and March
31st May, 2016
Ruling planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: Being guided by Uranus, you are the
owner of the characteristics such as creativity, reliabili
ty, and discipline. You are honorable and a bit emotional
in nature. You have high expectations for yourself in
your life. You like to be a wellknown person in your sur
roundings or locality. However, you become stubborn at
times and you need to have a control over this nature.
Health this year: You should concentrate on taking a
good care of your health to avoid future health issues.
You should spend some more time in sports and out
door activities to remain fit and fine.
Finance this year: You may be gained financially if you

travel this year. Travelling will also help you gain
important and useful information for your use in busi
ness. If you are into business, you may go for an over
seas trip this year.
Career this year: You may face various professional
huddles this year. However, you have the ability to deal
with those problems with maturity and solve efficiently.
To solve any problem arising in your life this year, you
need to apply your intelligence and diplomacy.
Romance this year: You may get engaged if you are in
love.
Lucky month: December , February and April
1st June, 2016
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no: 1
Traits in you: Your ruling planet, the Sun makes you con
fident, intellectual, religious, creative, and inventive. You
have exceptional speaking capacity and you like to be
among high society people. Among all your positive char
acteristics, you have stubbornness as a negative aspect in
your nature. You need to eradicate the negatives from
your nature to tend to perfection as a human being.
Health this year: You may have to celebrate religious
functions very frequently at your place to find peace of
mind.
Finance this year: Your confidence level will go up as a
result of developing new partnerships. Your financial
status may not take a huge leap, but you can expect sta
bility in future. You may get more than expected at
times provided you put your best ef forts to achieve
your goals.
Career this year: You will get support from each and
every one in your professional circle and that will allow
to learn a lot of things and become successful.
Romance this year: You will be successful in providing
emotional support to your spouse and children the best
way you can. Your spouse may come good on all your
expectations and make you feel happy and satisfied.
Lucky month: July , August , October and february
2nd June, 2016
Ruled planet: 2 Ruled by no: Moon
Traits in you: Your guiding planet Moon blesses you
with unbelievable creativity, emotions, and simplicity.
You are the master of a very sharp memory and an
innovative mind. Though you are very trustworthy and
dependable, you are pretty fickleminded and shy. You
should work on your nature to become more successful
in your life. You may go through various positive
changes in your personal and professional life.
Health this year: You would not suffer from any health
issues provided you take proper medication and go for
periodic checkups. You may start practicing meditation
and yoga to stay physically and spiritually sound.
Finance this year: Your promotion may solve your
financial crisis and help you become stable. If you have
some previous property disputes, it will be solved
according to your satisfaction and you will be highly
benefited.
Career this year: You will come across various lucrative
opportunities to grow as a professional. This year you
may get various new projects to work and prove your
worth as an excellent resource. You may get a promo
tion as well
Romance this year: You may get involved in a new
romantic relationship though it will be for a short peri
od of time.
Lucky month: September, October and January
3rd June, 2016
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: As you are influenced by the planet
Jupiter, you are full with energy and ambitions. By
nature you are admirable, distinguished and intelligent.
You are blessed with the capability of working hard and
you possess an extra ordinary memory.
Health this year: You will be going through various
minor health issues throughout the year. It is advisable
that you take your prescribed medicines regularly on
time and see a doctor when necessary.
Finance this year: Your financial status will be
improved as you will get new job opportunities. You
may invest on real estate business this year.
Career this year: Your determination to overtake oth
ers makes you distinguished among your friends and
colleagues. You should be careful about your behavior
as you may let many brilliant opportunities go away
because of your stubbornness. You might go through
crucial times this year and you will be the only respon
sible person your situations. You need not lose your
confidence on yourself as you are capable of doing any
thing. You need to grab every opportunity you get to
prove yourself. You should go for the job of your inter
est area and you will definitely find success.
Romance this year: You should create new contacts and
revive old ones as this year is the best time to make
romantic relationship stronger. You may convert your
romantic relationship to marriage this year. You may
carry on with your relationship if you are not prepared
to marry this year.
Lucky month: October, December, March and April
30
May 28-June 3, 2016
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
SHARING THE DIVINE HONEY
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
here is a story of a beautiful

queen who loved to sit under
the trees and enjoy the beau
ty of nature. One day, as she looked
up, she noticed a bee flying around
a honeycomb. As she sat there,
some liquid dripped onto her face.
When some dripped onto her lips,
she accidentally licked them and
was surprised by its sweetness.
She thought, This liquid drip
ping out is sweet. This would be
great to add to tea and give it a
sweeter flavor.
She asked her attendants to col
lect some of this liquid and bring it
to the palace. She took this sweet
substance and experimented by fla
voring different foods with it. She
had discovered honey for the first
time and learned how the bees
made it. She continued to experi
ment with it to learn how it could
improve the taste of food and bev
erages.
Over time, she taught the people
in her kingdom how to cook with
honey. This new type of flavoring
became popular throughout her
kingdom. No other country had
ever seen it or heard of it before.
Over the years, word spread about
this special flavoring that was
being made in her kingdom. The
queen told the people of her king
dom to keep the information on
how honey was made a secret.
Although people heard of the
honey, no one from her kingdom
would divulge the method of how it
was made.
Years later, the queens daughter,
the princess, was invited to visit
another country to visit the emper
or. It was traditional to bring a gift
when visiting the emperor of
another country. She thought
deeply about what would be special
to bring to him. She asked her
father, the king, what to bring.
Whenever one had a problem, one
would ask the wise men for a solu
tion. The king sent for the wisest
men in the land to find out what
would be the most special gift that
the princess could bring with her
for the emperor.
The princess asked, What do
you think would be the most valu
able gift that I could bring the
emperor?
The wise men thought about it
for a while and told her, T he

secret of making honey is the most
valuable gift you could bring him.
The princess did not know what
to do. It was forbidden to share the
secret of making honey with any
one outside of her kingdom. How
could she bring the gift without her
mother, the queen, finding out?
She decided the best way to bring
this gift was to bring to the emper
or some of the bees that made the
honey. The princess asked one of
her attendants to put her hair up
into an elaborate hair style. She hid
the eggs of the bees in the folds of
her hair. Then she set of f for the
physical honey, but the sweet nec

tar of the Divine. They share with
suf fering humanity the secret of
how to find the sweet nectar of the
Divine that leads the soul back to
God.
Throughout the ages, saints and
Masters have blessed this earth
with their spiritual teachings.
Through their grace, suf fering
souls are able to find a way to
reunite with God.
Just like the queen who wanted
to keep knowledge of honey a
secret, so does Kal, the sustaining
power, want to keep it secret that
God exists and that we can reunite
and they open our inner ear to

hear the Celestial Music, or Sound
of God. They teach us a method of
meditation by which we can
become absorbed into the inner
Light and inner Sound within. Once
we connect with the inner Light,
we see inner vistas unfold for us.
We think that honey is delicious.
But tastier than outer honey is the
honey within. This inner nectar
also radiates with divine Light and
sings with divine Music. We see
Light of various colors and radiant
inner stars, moon, and sun. We
come to the most beautiful mani
festation of all, the ethereal or radi
The best way we can share the gift of what we receive

with others is to be a model to inspire others to
want to partake of this divine honey.
other country. Since no one could
see the eggs in her hair she was
able to transport them from her
kingdom.
When she reached the distant
kingdom, she took care of the eggs
until they hatched. She then let
them grow into bees that produced
the honey. She presented the honey
to the emperor. He greatly appreci
ated the valuable gift she had
brought. She then taught the
emperor the secret of how bees
make honey.
The emperor took care of the
bees which laid more eggs. Over
time they multiplied. They contin
ued to thrive in his country. Soon
there were thousands of bees. The
honey they produced was used by
the people of his land. Unlike the
queen who discovered the honey,
the emperor did not keep the infor
mation on how honey was made a
secret. As a result, not only people
of his country, but people through
out the world were taught the
secret of honey. Before long, every
one around the world knew the
secret of honey.
This imaginary tale is a beautiful
analogy to describe the role of the
Masters and saints. The secret they
share with the whole world is not
with God. We are kept in ignorance

of the most valuable gift of all,
experiencing our soul and God. We
are in the dark about the fact that
there is God, the soul is a part of
God, and we can reunite the soul
with God. The honeyed divine nec
tar that connects us with God is
called the holy Naam, Shabd, or the
Light and Sound of God. We have
forgotten who we are as soul and
are ignorant of reuniting our soul
with the Creator.
The Masters are like the princess
who was able to bring the honey
out of the kingdom to impart it to
the whole world. Just as the
princess was able to find a way to
bring the honey out of her country
even though the queen tried to
keep it there, so do Masters find a
way to bring us knowledge of the
divine honey. They are able to put
people in touch with the divine
nectar that reconnects our soul
with God.
How do they do it? They teach
people through the process of initi
ation how to find the spiritual
honey within. At the time of holy
initiation, they open our third or
single eye so we can contact the
holy Naam within. They open our
inner eye to see the Light of God,
ant form of the Master. This form

serves as our inner guide on the
further journey within.
T he Master takes us to even
more beautiful realms, from the
astral to the causal and supra
causal realms until we reach the
souls eternal Home, Sach Khand.
There, our soul merges back in
God.
There is no more valuable gift
that can be brought to humanity
than contact with the inner Light
and Sound. Just as the princess
brought the most valuable gift her
kingdom had to of fer, which was
the secret of making honey, the
Masters bring from God to humani
ty the most valuable gift, the secret
of contacting the inner nectar of
the Light and Sound within us.
T he Masters are selfless and
sharing. Unlike the queen who
wanted to keep the secret for her
self, the Masters want to share
their gift with all humanity. They
are generous and want to make
sure the whole world avails itself of
this blessing. They make their gift
known to all sincere seekers after
truth. They bring this gift to people
of all countries. They share the gift
with people of all religions. They
share it with people of all walks of
life, from the rich to the poor, from

those who are highly literate to
those who are illiterate. They share
it with people of all cultures. Just
as the princess gave the honey to
the emperor freely, and he, in turn,
freely shared the knowledge of it
with the rest of the world, so do the
Masters share the gift of Naam
with the world. They do not hold
back the secret from anyone.
How can we share the divine
honey within? How can we be like
the princess who shared the
secrets so the whole world can ben
efit?
The best way we can share the
gift of what we receive with others
is to be a model to inspire others to
want to partake of this divine
honey. How can we be a model to
others? Mahatma Gandhi once said,
Be the change that you want to see
in others. This profound statement
holds the key to how we can
inspire others to taste of the divine
Nectar that has transformed our
lives. Rather than telling other peo
ple what they should and should
not do, we can become an example
of what we want others to try.
When they see us living up to that
example, they, on their own, will be
inspired to undergo the same
transformation.
There are several ways in which
we can be the change we want oth
ers to undergo. It is a process of
three steps: step one is meditation;
step two is ethical living; and step
three is leading a life of intoxica
tion, joy, and bliss. If we can stop
telling others how to live, but start
leading a life of ethical living, medi
tation, and bliss ourselves, then
others, on their own, will want to
follow our lead.
T here are many people who
preach leading an ethical life. But
on closer examination, many of
them are hypocrites who profess
one way of living but do not follow
it themselves. The end result is that
when others see the mismatch
between what the hypocrites say
and what they do, others feel the
hypocrites are not honest. Others
see through them. This gives a bad
name to leading an ethical life
because others see such people
teaching it but not living it. If we
want to inspire others to lead an
ethical life, then we need to first do
so ourselves.
(To be continued...)
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.
May 28-June 3, 2016

Vol. 9 - No. 5 May 28 - June 3, 2016

Transféré par

Informations du document

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

Vol. 9 - No. 5 May 28 - June 3, 2016

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

The South Asian Times

Vol.9 No. 5 May 28-June 3, 2016 80 Cents

New York Edition

Trump reaches delegates

Pleased with state poll results

Modi govt celebrates

by the party in state elections, par

took aim at rivals in the state with

An ecstatic admirer of the presumptive Republican nominee,

magic number required, Trump

More on US election on pages 9-10.

Indian kids Spell Bee

Community celebrates 2 years of Modi govt

ernment. The wellattended event

addressed by over 20 leaders who

years now. And the Bee ending in a

May 28-June 3, 2016

is widespread, AACE and the join

United Nations: Bemoaning lack of international

Ashwani reaches out for Joe

Pak rakes up Kashmir issue

Yale, 2 more Ivies

May 28-June 3, 2016

they'd be willing to host conversa

The UN and its organizations are inconsistent in

USINPAC to host Capitol Hill

of the Democrat and Republican

May 28-June 3, 2016

Trump to revive controversial pipeline,

rejected by President Barack

The pipeline would cross the coun

Obamas' post-White House address: Nine-bedroom mansion in Washington

plan to stay in the capital until

the White House during Obama's

The newlyweds Sahil

Chairman and Co-Founder

Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

President: Arjit Mehta

Modi govt celebrates 2

Trump reaches delegates

Indian kids Spell Bee

Jaipur (India) Bureau

IANS Washington Bureau

Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

Printing: Five Star Printing, NY

Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra

Chief Operating Officer:

West Coast Correspondent

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

New Delhi Bureau

Web Editor: B.B.Chopra

Obama has high approval rating

cent of the registered IndianAmerican voters,

May 28- June 3, 2016

Rishi Nair of Florida, second from right,

BAPS Charities joins hands with The Nature

Hundreds of community members participate in the opening ceremo

NJ, New York, NY, Parsippany, NJ,

awareness, this year BAPS

issue. Nanette Le Van, the

May 28- June 3, 2016

BI Excellence Awards for