The South Asian Times

e x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m
Vol.9 No. 40 February 4-10, 2017 80 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Trump's travel ban causes mass Pro-poor Budget

protests in US & outrage abroad
New York: Even some Republican
leaders agreed that even if the
January 27 executive order of
brightens BJPs
chances in
President Trump blocking citi
zens from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan,
Syria, and Yemen from entering
the US for 90 days and suspend
ing admissions of all refugees for
120 days was wellintentioned, its
rollout was chaotic and created
bad optics. It led to spontaneous
protests at airports where many
Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi
state polls
travelers, some green card hold
ers, were detained. At least 4
protesting Trumps travel ban Highlights of Finance
judges stayed the order or parts Minister Jaitleys
of it. Protests spread to public Pakistan may be next on travel ban budget for year 2017
squares in New York, California

and other states.
Democratic leaders, of course,
joined the protests and resolved
to take on Trump in every which
way, and oppose his cabinet nom
inees and agenda.
Acting Attorney General Sally
Yates refused to defend the travel
ban, afte which she was sacked.
British Prime Minister Theresa
Continued on page 4
Trump in war of
P
akistan must do more to combat homegrown terrorism or risk
joining the Muslimmajority nations on President Trump's trav
include lower taxes,
e l ban, political risk consultancy Eurasia has warned spending on infrastruc-
"Pakistan's continuing loss of influence with the [U.S.] executive
branch and Congress could result in some form of economic and
ture and rural sector to spur growth, &
travel sanctions," said analysts Sasha RiserKositsky and Shailesh curbs on cash donations to political
Kumar in a Thursday note, CNBC reported.
"A senior White House of ficial already suggested that Pakistan parties to fight black money.
could be included on a list of terrorismwracked countries whose cit
izens are now temporarily banned from entering the U.S." Some poli New Delhi: T he Elect ion reduced the tax liability of next
Commission objected to Budget income group annually earning
cy experts were surprised that Pakistan Continued on page 4
presentation ahead of elections in upto Rs 5 lakh by half from 10 per
five states of Uttar Pradesh, cent to 5 per cent.
Trump hasnt signed any Punjab, Uttarakhand, Manipur and
Goa saying this might give the BJP
Given the fact that with nearly
16 per cent population of the

words with Iraq
Confrontational
calls with
Mexico and
Australian
leaders also.
Washington: US President Donald Trump stepped up
his war of words against many countries this week,
friend and foe alike even as his new top diplomat
arrived for work. Trumps spokesman insisted that
"nothing is off the table" when asked about options for
a military response to Tehran's latest missile test.
The White House is drawing up expanded sanctions
against Iran, hours after National Security Adviser
Michael Flynn put Tehran "on notice" over the missile
and support for Yemeni rebels. Continued on page 4
order on H1-B visas yet: India
IT CEOs are heading to Washington
to argue against tightening rules.
New Delhi: Asserting that no executive order has been
passed by the Trump administration for overhauling of
H1B visas so far, India on Thursday said it will not pre
judge the outcome of the three private bills raised in
this regard when they go through the full
Congressional process.
Said external af fairs ministry spokesperson Vikas
Swarup, Lets not prejudge the outcome because we
have seen what has happened to the similar bills in the
past also. If and when the executive order is passed, we
will certainly give a reaction.
He also said India remains in dialogue with the
Trump administration. They are fully aware of our
position in this particular matter i.e Indian software
exports and Indian software technical professionals
add to the competitiveness of the Continued on page 4
undue advantage in assembly
polls. But, after Supreme Court's
green signal, Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley presented the Budget
in Parliament on Fe b 1 and
announced several measures that
the BJP would love to encash in
the assembly polls, analyzed India
Today
While income up to Rs 2.5 lakh
remains untaxed, an additional
rebate of Rs 2,500 will go to peo
ple earning between Rs 2.5 lakhRs
3 lakh.
The measure is expected to give
BJP a rallying point in states like
Uttar Pradesh and Manipur, which
are among the bottomthree states
having lowest per capita income in
the country. These two rank just
above Bihar. Further, Jaitley
country, Uttar Pradesh pays a little
less than 4 per cent of total direct
tax collection, the Finance Minister
has benefited a wider section of
population (read voters) in the
state.
The BJP is likely to take the mes
sage to people in all the states
about working for the lower
income group people.
Cheaper rail tickets
Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are
among the states witnessing maxi
mum sale of railway tickets. These
are also the states to dominate
booking of Et ickets throug h
IRCTC. T he Finance Minister
Continued on page 4
SEE MORE BUDGET STORIES
ON PAGES 3, 12 AND 23.

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TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY February 4-10, 2017 3

As UN envoy, Nikki Haley hits Super Bowl is

Russia hard on Ukraine
United Nations: The US Ambassador
to the United Nations offered a strong
condemnation of Russia in her first
appearance at the UN Security
Council on T hursday, calling on
Moscow to deescalate violence in
eastern Ukraine and saying that US
sanctions against Moscow will remain
in place unt il it w ithdraws from
Crimea.
"The United States continues to con
demn and call for an immediate end
to the Russian occupation of Crimea,"
said Nikki Haley, President Trump's
envoy to the world body. "Crimea is a
part of Ukraine. Our Crimearelated
sanctions will remain in place until
Russia returns control over the penin
sula to Ukraine."
Haley was speaking at an emer
gency UN meeting about a sudden
upsurge in violence in eastern
Ukraine, where Russianbacked sepa
rat ists have been fig ht ing the
Ukrainian army. Her remarks were
notable for the stark dif ference
between her rhetoric and Trump's.
On the campaign trail, the President
Nikki Haley made her first appear
ance at UNSC on Thursday
hinted he might recognize Russia's
annexation of Crimea. In the weeks
before and after his inauguration,
Trump's refusal to condemn Russian
hacking during the election and his
attacks on the intelligence community
for investigating those hacks raised
questions about his ties to Moscow.
Questions only deepened after CNN
reported that the intelligence commu
nity was looking into reports that
Moscow may have compromising
financial and personal information
about the President.
Trump has insisted that he would
simply like better re lations with
Moscow. At a news conference with
British Prime Minister Theresa May
last week, he said it was "too early" to
discuss sanctions.
Haley was much more definitive. "I
consider it unfortunate that the occa
sion of my first appearance here is
one in which I must condemn the
aggressive actions of Russia," she said.
"We do want to better our relations
with Russia. However, the dire situa
tion in eastern Ukraine is one that
demands clear and strong condemna
tion of Russian actions."
"The sudden increase in fighting in
eastern Ukraine has trapped thou
sands of civilians and destroyed vital
infrastructure and the crisis is spread
ing, endangering many thousands
more," Haley added. "This escalation
of violence must stop."
on this Sunday
New York: For many people, Super Bowl LI will be a wel
come distraction from the political controversies. The
Nat ional Football
League (NFL) champi
onship game this time
is between the
American Football
Conference (AFC)
champion New
England Patriots and
the National Football
Conference (NFC) champion Atlanta Falcons.
Super Bowl LI is scheduled to be played at NRG
Stadium in Houston, Texas on Sunday, February 5,
2017. The event will mark the 50th anniversary year
of the first Super Bowl, which was played on January
15, 1967. Super Bowl LI is the Patriots' ninth Super
Bowl appearance, the most Super Bowl appearances of
any team. It is also their second appearance in three
years and their seventh under the leadership of head
coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady. The
Falcons are making their second appearance as a fran
chise and will have the chance to win their first Super
Bowl, having lost in their only previous Super Bowl
appearance in Super Bowl XXXIII.
The Super Bowl LI halftime show will be headlined by
Lady Gaga. The Atlanta Falcons are going to win Super
Bowl LI, 5:4. That is, of course, according to SB Nations
NFL experts.

Electionfocused budget has little for NRIs

Special to The
South Asian Times
New York: The 2017 budget of
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley,
tabled for the first time on
February 1 in the Lok Sabha, was
presented under the shadow of the
ongoing elections in five states. But
NRIs, a vast majority of whom
always support the ruling dispen
sation in New Delhi, received very
little attention in the annual exer
cise.
Among the measures aimed at
the polls is the drastic reduction on
cash donations given by individuals
to political parties. This affects all
the parties, especially those in the
opposition, as they cannot raise
money indiscriminately as they
used to.
Political parties are supposed to
file tax returns like all individual
taxpayers and account for each
contribution, but the difference is
that they do not need to pay
income tax on such donations. All
the donations above Rs 2,000
(whose of ficial upper limit so far
has been Rs 20,000) have to be
paid through checks or electroni
cally.
When the government is expect
ed to examine such transactions, it
becomes that much dif ficult for
politicians to cheat the system.
Though they are expected to face
hurdles, opposition politicos even
the ruling partys can urge
prospective donors to take care of
for instance expenses on trans
portation (of voters to polling
booths). They can ask supporters
to dish out gifts to women, children
and other vulnerable groups in
society. And here, too, is the advan
tage for the ruling class.
VILLAGE UPLIFT
Rural development is another
area of the budget focus. There is a
20% rise in spending in villages,
largely through a steep increase in
the massive rural works program
(known as MNREGA). Greater allo
cations for sanitation (part of the
Clean India campaign), infrastruc
ture improvements and rural elec Indians with leftover cash during
trification are other positive meas
ures. There is at least a 10% expen land have no plans to return to
diture increase on waterways, rail
ways and roads all that are
expected to help the rural popu
lace, which totals 70% in India.
Pledges were made to construct
at least 10 million dwellings, espe
cially in rural areas, and make a
minimum of 50,000 villages free of
poverty before 2020.
It is highly unlikely that follow
ing these hefty incentives which
include cutting taxes for smallbusi
ness owners and low and middle
income earners that the budget
deficit could be reduced to the tar
geted percentage of 3.2 of the
gross domestic product from the
current 3.5 in the fiscal year that
begins April.
NRIs, from the platform of
GOPIO, have demanded that the
deadline to exchange the canceled
500 and 1,000rupee bills be
extended till at least the yearend.
Even that deadline might not be
suf ficient as many expatriate
Democratic Alliance. However, the
their previous visits to the mother
NDA as the opposition parties have
India in the near future. The gov
ernment apparently paid no heed
to that genuine plea. NRIs also
want voting rights and full scale
dual citizenship wherever that is
applicable. They also seem to ask
for a representative each in the Lok
Sabha and the Rajya Sabha.
MASALA BONDS
The only ray of hope, as seen by
this writer in the budget, is that
NRIs need not pay the capital gains
tax on rupeedenominated bonds.
The decision to have a low TDS (tax
deduction at source) rate on
Masala Bonds (as the expatriates
focused bonds are known informal
ly) was made following requests
made from different quarters. The
low rate of 5% will continue till
2020; the transfer of the bonds
among NRIs also attracts no tax.
Overall, the budget that came at a
time of the elections is advanta
geous to the BJPled National
outcome wont be a shooin for the
strengthened themselves in view of
late last years demonetization, fol
lowing which millions of people,
especially the poor and the under
privileged, have undergone myriad
miseries.
 4 February 4-10, 2017 TURN PAGE TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Propoor Budget brightens 1 million signatures. In France, Trump hasnt signed any

TLCA celebrated BJPs chances in state polls

Continued from page 1
foreign Minister JeanMarc
Ayrault said that we lcoming
refugees was "a duty of solidarity."
order on H1B visas yet:
India
proposed in his Budget to with Continued from page 1

Sankranthi Festival draw surcharge on ticket booking

and Republic Day
In the audience were about 600 people and the entertaining and
enlightening program lasted for almost 10 hours.
Flushing, NY: On February 28,
the Telugu Literary and Cultural
Association (TLCA) celebrated
Sankranthi and Indias 68th
Republic day under the new
President Srinivas Guduru in
Ganesh Temple Auditorium here.
In the audience were about 600
people and the function lasted
almost 10 hours.
Organization Secretary Ashok
Chintakunta opened the days
events. Executive Members
Prasad Koyi, Rama Vanama, Uma
Polireddi and Jt. Secretary
Jayaprakash Enjapuri had
designed the cultural program.
Choreog raphers Mad havi
Korukonda, Shabari Vanama,
Uma Putane presented post din
ner prayer songs, Sankranthi
theme song and Republic day
dance respectively.
A special program on Robotics
(organized by the treasurer Babu
Kudaravalli) was the highlight of
the evening.
Eminent film lyricist
Chandrabose presented
MAATAKU PAATA with the help
via IRCTC. In e f fect, he has
reduced railway ticket fare. Even
though the reduction is not signifi
cant, the BJP has definitely got
some talking points in elections.
Jaitley increased the allocation
for rural employment scheme
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural
Employment Guarantee Act (MGN
REGA) to highest ever Rs 48,000
crore.
This move becomes significant
in view of the fact that the elec
tionbound states of Uttar Pradesh,
Uttarakhand and Punjab have
recorded massive increase in jobs
under MNREGA. These three have
surpassed the projections for the
financial year. MNREGA provides
100 days of wage employment in a
of singers Vinod Babu, Sarada
year in rural areas.
Akunuri, Sruthi Nanduri, Sindhu
The small traders and business
Bud havarapu, and Adithi
men are understood to be the core
Bhavaraju.
supporters of the BJP. The Finance
Comedians from a famous show
Minster reduced the tax rate for
named JABARDAST came from
small and medium enterprises
India and presented short skits
having annual turnover upto Rs
along with organization Secretary
Ashok Chintakunta and EC
50 crore to 25 per cent from earli
Member Prasad Koyi.
er 30 per cent.
Jaitley said that this move would
Telugu Film Actress Laya made
benefit 96 per cent of the small
a special appearance at the event.
and medium enterprises a move
TLCA paid a special tribute to
that will stregthen BJP's support
late music maestro Dr M. Bala
base further.
Muralikrishna who passed away
recently in India. This presenta
t ion was formulated by
Trump's travel ban causes
Raghuram Ponnala.
mass protests in US &
President Srinivas Guduru
outrage abroad
Continued from page 1
explained the new programs
May, who was the first world
introduced during his tenure:
leader to meet President Trump,
recognit ion of the unique
called the controversial travel ban
achievements by members of the
divisive and wrong on
Te lugu community across
Wednesday, a delayed response to
America, bringing the profession
the backlash she faced at home for
als and corporates closer to the
failing to criticize the executive
community. Also, giving back
order. A pet it ion on the UK
concrete benefits to the commu
Government and Parliament web
nity will be his primary drive dur
site to prevent Trump from mak
ing this year.
ing a state visit to the UK amassed
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
said, "The necessary and decisive
fight against terrorism in no way
just ifies a general suspicion
against people of certain beliefs, in
this case people of the Muslim
faith or from a certain origin."
At least one US state
Washington is getting a lawsuit
ready to challenge Trumps execu
tive order.
Pakistan may be next on
travel ban
Continued from page 1
wasn't included on Trump's Jan.
27 executive order because it has
long been a hotbed for various
militant groups and those motivat
ed by sectarianism, antiIndia sen
timents, the Taliban, AlQaeda and
the Islamic State, or ISIS, are
among the most prolific.
But because the White House is
committed to fighting Islamic ter
rorism, bilateral ties will worsen if
Sharif doesn't reign in local radical
cells, particularly the Haqqani net
work that's closely associated with
the state intelligence agency. If
individuals related to Pakistan are
blamed for another terrorist attack
on American soil, Trump would
likely to punish Islamabad.
"Indeed, it was after the late
2015 San Bernadino shootings,
perpetrated by a couple with deep
links to Pakistan, that then candi
date Trump announced his sup
port for a ban on Muslims enter
ing the US."
The capture of Hafiz Saeed, the
accused mastermind of the 2008
Mumbai attacks, is a recent exam
ple of poor governance.
This week, Islamabad placed
Saeed under house arrest but the
government won't pursue him
given the popularity of his Islamic
charity, the JamaatudDawa,
Eurasia warned.
US industry. Indian IT companies
such as Infosys, Wipro and TCS
avail a large number of H1B visas
to send Indian professionals to the
US.
White House spokesperson Sean
Spicer had earlier told reporters
that H1Bs and other visas were a
part of larger immigration reform
effort that Trump will continue to
talk about through executive order
and through working with
Congress.
Meanwhile, Indias largest tech
nology companies are heading to
Washington this month to argue
against President Trumps envi
sioned tightening of visa programs.
The CEOs of the countrys biggest
IT services companies will meet
with administration of ficials and
lawmakers from 20 February to try
and dissuade Trumps team from
raising requirements under the H
1B visa program, said R.
Chandrashekhar, the president of
industry group Nasscom.
Trump in war of words with
Iraq
Continued from page 1
Trump himself said many countries
are "really terribly taking advan
tage of us" and even accused
Australia of trying to foist more
than a thousand "illegal immi
grants" on the United States. And,
not content with bashing one close
ally, he repeated his claim that the
23yearold NAFTA trade agree
ment with Mexico and Canada had
been a "catastrophe" for the US
economy.
But the new Secretary of State
Rex Tillerson has tried to soothe
nerves. On his first day he spoke by
phone to his Canadian and Mexican
counterparts and met with
Germany's Foreign Minister Sigmar
Gabriel, eager for assurances on
European security.

Jaipur (India) Bureau IANS Newswire Services

Prakash Bhandari IANS Washington Bureau
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info Arun Kumar
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Indian-American who H1B visa issue not a sticking point
inspired Swades questioned in IndiaUS ties: Shalabh Kumar
on immigration status
Aravinda Pillalamarri (Image: manoramaonline.com)
New York: An IndianAmerican
woman, who along with her hus
band had been the inspiration
behind Shahrukh Khan's film
Swades, was stopped and asked
by police if she was in the US
"illegally", an incident which
comes amid rising fears over
President Donald Trump's immi
gration policies. Ms Pillalamarri,
has lived in Bel Air for more
than 30 years and is a US citi
zen.
Aravinda Pillalamarri, 47 was
walking in her Bel Air neighbor
hood in Maryland on the morn
ing of December 21, a routine
with her, when she said she was
stopped by a Be l Air Police
Department of ficer, T he
Baltimore Sun reported.
Pillalamarri, who was born in
India but moved with her par
ents to the US when she was
young, was asked by the police
of ficer about what she was
doing and she replied that she
was walking.
The of ficer continued to ask
several questions. When she
asked why the of ficer was ask
ing her so many questions, he
replied because someone had
called police. "Walking while
brown?" Pillalamarri then asked
the of ficer. The report said a
police supervisor arrived at the
scene and began to question
Pillalamarri more aggressively.
The supervisor told her she was
n't free to leave because she
"was under criminal investiga
tion." He asked why she didn't
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
have a proof of identification
with her. "Why don't you have
ID?" she said the supervisor
asked her. "Are you here illegal
ly?" Once the of ficers had run
her name through their comput
er system, Pillalamarri said, she
was allowed to leave and walked
to her home, just a few doors
away.
Pillalamarri's parents came to
the US from India when she was
a baby. She went to Bel Air High
School.
"Only when the supervisor
asked 'are you here illegally' did
my sense of color, and of being
unequal, come forth and my
interest in my civil rights took a
back seat to get out of the situa
tion safely," she was quoted as
saying.
"Public safety does not need to
come at the cost of civil rights,"
she added. "I am sharing this
incident here not to ask anyone
here to find fault or take sides.
We are all on the same side and
can use this as an opportunity to
learn and improve. The responsi
bility to uphold civil rights is one
that all of us share, and we need
to do our part and also expect
the police to do their part."
Be l Air Police Department
Chief Charles Moore, who's led
the agency since September
2015, said he is not sure if his
department has a policy specifi
cally dealing with questioning a
person's immigration status, but
added, "If there isn't one, there
will be." (PTI)
Washington: Asserting that artifi
cial trade barriers between India
and the US would "evaporate"
quickly, an IndianAmerican
donor and supporter of President
Donald Trump has said fears
about the H1B overhauling is
"overblown" and the issue is
unlikely to cause trouble in bilat
eral ties.
"President Trump first and fore
most is a businessman. He knows
how to grow US as a business. He
is pretty clear on the position of
US Chambers of Commerce that
in order to grow the American
economy, you need a lot of IT
experts and professionals,"
Chicagobased Shalabh 'Shalli'
Kumar said.
"My expectation is that there
would be a good monitoring of
abuse and fraud in H1B system.
There is a little bit of that, not
much. Otherwise when the US
economy grows 45 per cent per
year, there is going to be a very
big need of IT workers and IT
International fashion designer
Mac Duggal makes NYFW debut
Mac Duggals first NYFW show to be presented in
association with Arts Hearts Fashion
New York: Mac Duggal, LLC will
stage its first ever New York
Fashion Wee k show w ith its
Fall/Winter 2017 collection. This
premiere showing will happen at
The Angel Orensanz Event Space
located at 172 Norfolk Street in
New York City on Saturday,
February 11, 2017 from 4 6 pm.
Sponsored by Arts Hearts
Fashion, the runway show and
cocktail reception will feature the
work of internat ional fashion
designer Mac Duggal.
Attendees will get a firsthand
look at the Fall/Winter 2017 col
lections. Mac Duggals designs
have been previously covered by
prestigious publications including
WWD, Elle, and Seventeen, coveted
by Alist celebrities such as Eva
Longoria, Khloe Kardashian, Carrie
Underwood, Kelly Clarkson, Mary
J. Blige and Carrie Ann Inaba and
February 4-10, 2017 5
work, which will still be
primarily be going to
India and Indians,"
he added in
response to a ques
tion on the series
Shalabh
of leg islat ions
Kumar
pending in the US
Congress and if
this could be a
major point of
f r i c t i o n
between India and
the US.
During his cam
paign, Trump
promised to
increase
oversight
of our H1B and L1 visa pro in the system. "The fear of H1B,
grams, said Kumar. "People in immig rat ion, g reen card is
India need not be necessarily be overblown. I would like to assure
worried about twist of words in the industry, Indian IT industry as
orders. There should be no con well as Indians on H1B visas
cern about H1B visas in India," here that things are actually
Kumar assured and said the going to get better for them in the
Trump administration is deter coming months rather than get
mined to remove abuse and fraud ting worse," Kumar said. (PTI)
is the most represented designer
on the world pageant stage.
Among the distinguished designs
that Mac will be showing is the cel
ebrated Fabulouss! line. Macs
vision for Fabulouss was to create
a prom collection for plussized
teens, who often go unrepresented
in the fashion industry. Since its
beginning the Fabulouss line has
become the gold standard in plus
size clothing for those seeking a
fullfigured option.
Mac Duggals enthusiasm for
womens fashion began with the
merging of the colorfully rich
designs of India's royal history and Mac
opulent traditions. Duggal
His early creations, mixing a
classic silhouette and design aes by expanding his collection to 12
thetic with a contemporary sophis distinct social occasion lines.
tication, have made Mac Duggal Macs success is highlighted by the
the leader in the Prom industry. many awards throughout his cele
Mac continued his success story brated career.
 6 February 4-10, 2017 TRISTATE COMMUNITY TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Trump appoints attorney Uttam Padma Lakshmi to catwalk for

Dhillon to key White House post Tarun Tahiliani at LFW
Washington, DC: US Presi served as chief of the De
dent Donald Trump has ap partment of Homeland Se Mumbai: Supermodel, TV to be part of this wonderful
pointed IndianAmerican curity's Office of Coun host and cookbook au event," Padma Lakshmi,
attorney Uttam Dhillon to a ternarcotics Enforcement. thor Padma Lakshmi will who has Indian origins,
key White House position He previously worked as catwalk on the Lakme said in a statement.
on ethics and compliance an Associate Deputy Attor Fashion Week (LFW) She will be at the JioGar
matters. ney General for the De Summer/Resort 2017 den here on February 4 as
Dhillon, who served as partment of Justice, Chief ramp, where she will be a showstopper for a collec
Chief Oversight Counsel Counsel for the House Se showstopper for veteran tion that will be inspired by
for the House of Represen lect Committee on Home designer Tarun Tahiliani. Mughal gardens and archi
tatives Financial Services Uttam Dhillon land Security, Policy Direc She is excited about the tecture.
Committee, has been ap (Image : nationallawjournal.com) tor for the US House of opportunity. Tahiliani's line 'Chashme
pointed as Special Assistant Representatives Policy "I'm so excited that I Shahi' will reveal clothes
Padma Lakshmi
to the President. In this position, he would be Committee, and as an Assistant United States will be walking the ramp (Image courtesy: popsugar.com) that transform into an aria
part of the legal team to serve under White Attorney in Los Angeles. for my dear friend Tarun of fantasy and romance,
House Counsel Donald F McGahn with re Dhillon graduated from Boalt Hall School of Tahiliani. While I have attended Lakme presented in an array of elegant and cool
spect to compliance and ethics matters. Law at the University of California, Berkeley Fashion Week, I have never had the pleas garments to create an offering reminiscent
Prior to joining Financial Services, Dhillon in 1987. (PTI) ure of walking the ramp and I'm so honored of summer and all that it brings. (IANS)

Bipin Patel holds free medical

camp in Gujarat
By SATimes Team

New Jersey: Former FIA President

and New Jersey entrepreneur Bipin
Patel helped almost 1,000 needy pa
tients with medical checks ups and
required medications at a free med
Members of Rotary Club of Hicksville South at the Soup Kitchen ical camp in late January in Vadgam,
in Banaskantha district of Gujarat,
about 100 km from Ahmedabad.
Hicksville Rotary members Patients were checked by 10
doctors including gynecologists and

serve those in need pediatricians, and were given

Hicksville, NY: Members of the
Rotary Club of Hicksville South
(RCHS) along with the United
Methodist Church of Hempstead
served food to the needy at the
Soup Kitchen in Hempstead, NY,
on Jan. 28. In a newly formed
partnership, the two entities will
serve food for families in need
on the 4th Saturday every
month as well as special meals
around the holidays.
As part of the Food for the
Hungry project, our aim is to en
ter in partnership with several
local soup kitchens across Long
island, said Kamlesh Mehta,
Charter President of Hicksville
South Club and Past Rotary Dis
trict Governor.
Thanking the donors and
members, Dave Sharma, Presi
dent of the RCHS, said, It was re
ally an amazing eyeopening ex
perience as it creates an oppor
tunity to bond with people.
Everyone should try and know
what compassion is worth. The
Assistant District Governor, Qud
dus Mohammed is the project
chair with a fivemember team of
Dr Urmilesh Arya, Roopam Mai
ni, Kalpana Patel, Nilima Madan
and Ashok Varshney. Its not
just about food, but it is about
getting people involved in the is
sue of hunger, he added.
As part of their local mission
this year alone, RCHS has dis
tributed over 600 backpacks
filled with school supplies, T
shirts and winter coats for chil
dren in foster homes on Long Is
land.
medicines, even free spectacles, at
the oneday camp. Poverty is
rampant in the area known for salt
making.
Speaking to The South Asian
Times, Bipin Patel, a native of Nadi
ad in Gujarat, said that this is the
second year in a row that he funded
No homework on Diwali for Mineola School District kids
New York: Mineola Union Free
School District (MUFSD) in New
York has announced that no home
work or examinations will be given
on the day of Hindu festival of Di
wali.
MUFSD Superintendent Dr.
Michael P. Nagler, in an email to
Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, wrote:
Diwali will be listed on the school
calendar as a day of worship. As
such no homework or exams will be
Locals were appreciative of the humanitarian spirit of
Bipin Patel (standing behind the woman patient).
a medical camp. Last year it was in people do not have access to health
Bakrol village, also in Gujarat. About checkup, so this is my small contri
his effort, he said, In India so many bution to the dire need.
given on that day. Children that York state public school districts,
wish to take the day off may do private/independent schools and
so Zed, who is President of Uni charter schools also to adopt Diwali
versal Society of Hinduism, wel as an official holiday on their 2017
coming this announcement, in a 2018 school year calendars.
statement in Nevada, urged the Zed pointed out that it would be a
MUFSD to seriously consider de positive thing to do in view of pres
claring official holiday on Diwali ence of a substantial number of
the way the neighboring Syosset Hindu students at schools around
Central School District and East the state, as it was important to
Meadow School District has. meet the religious and spiritual
Rajan Zed also urged all the New needs of these pupils.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY February 4-10, 2017 7

Indian Americans launch communitywide effort against ban

Washington, DC: Two Indian
American lawmakers along with
two former top Obama
Administrat ion diplomats
launched a communityw ide
effort to oppose the "unconstitu
t ional, unlawful and un
American" executive orders that
impacts the immigrant communi
ty in the US imposed by President
Donald Trump on seven Muslim
nations. The lawmakers Pramila
Jayapal and Raja Krishnamoorthi
joined by former Obama
Administration ofcial and top
Indian Americas leaders urged
the community to stand united
and ght jointly against these
executive orders.
Jayapal has emerged as one of
the nat ional gures in g ht
against executive orders that
impacts the immigrant communi
ty in the US.
"Last weeks executive orders
on immigration has thrown the
country to chaos," she said,
adding that Trumps attack on
immigrant and refugees commu
nity ignored everything that is
great about this country.
"This is not normal and it is not
constitutional. It also makes us
far less safe as a country," she
said, noting that the executive
orders gives fodder to those who
do want to harm America.
"It undermines our place in the
world as global compassionate
democratic leader," she said as
she lashed out at Republican
Hindu Coalition for supporting
the executive orders.
"Today a group calling itself as
Republican Hindu Coalition will
announce its support for un
American executive orders. And
to them I would say, shame.
Shame for trying to divide the
IndianAmerican community. As a
Hindu, I can tell you that this
group does not represent the
much much larger Indian
American community that honor
our birth countries commitment
to religious freedom and democ
racy," Jayapal said.
IndianAmericans, she said,
"w ill not be bullied" by this
President or any g roup that
seems to divide the community.
The executive order issued by
Trump is "an assault on the
United States constitution. It
hurts economy and working fami
lies and it divides Americana and
not unify them," said
Krishnamoorthi, the lawmaker
from Illinois.
"I am here today not only as
former State Department ofcial,
but also as an Indian American,
as Hindu, an immigrant and most
importantly as a proud American
to speak out against this execu
tive order that was issued by
President Trump which imposes
an unjust, un American and we
believe unconstitutional ban on
immigrants and refugees from
certain nationalities and certain
faiths," said Nisha Desai Biswal,
the former Assistant Secretary of
State for South and Central Asia.
(PTI)

Novelist Bharati
Sundar Pichai criticizes
Mukherjee passes
Kal Penn raises $745,000
Trump's immigration order away at 76 for Syrian refugees
San Francisco: create barriers to Washington, DC: IndianAmerican Washington, DC: "We are better
Google's Indiaborn bringing great talent writer Bharati Mukherjee passed Popular Indian than the hate ful
CEO Sundar Pichai to the US," the Wall away on January 28. Her death was American actor people who tell us
has criticized US Street Journal quot conrmed in a Facebook post on and former Obama we don't belong in
President Donald ed Pichai as saying February 1 by the Taraknath Das Administration our own country,
Trump's controver in the email. Foundation of which Mukherjee was ofcial Kal Penn that America can't
sial immigration "It is painful to see a trustee. has raised more be a beacon of
order against people the personal cost of Kolkataborn Mukherjee was than $745,000 for freedom and hope
from seven Muslim this executive order Professor Emerita in the department the help of Syrian for refugees from
majority countries, on our colleagues," of English at the University of re fugees. Penn around the world.
saying it will create he said. Google has California, Berkeley. She went to the raised the amount We will turn their
"barriers" to bringing
Sundar Pichai recalled around 100 in less than 50 bigotry, along with
(Image : livemint.com)
US in 1963 to pursue an MFA at the Kal Penn
great talent to the of its af fected staf f Iowa Writers Workshop. There she hours after he was the President's,
US, as the Internet search giant from overseas, the BBC reported. met and fell in love with fellow stu asked to leave the country by a into love," the home page of the
ordered its traveling staff to return In his message to employees, 44 dent and CanadianAmerican author hate monger on Twitter. fund raising campaign reads.
to America. In an email to staf f, yearold Pichai, who grew up in Clark Blaise. She published her rst Soon after getting trolled Penn On Sunday Penn thanked the
Pichai said that the ban on foreign India, suggested that at least 187 novel The Tigers Daughter in 1971. launched a fund raising drive for donors. "This is such a testament
nationals from seven Muslim employees hailed from countries Best known for her 1989 novel the Syrian refugees. "To the dude to how proud we are of our beau
majority countries will hit at least included in the ban. Jasmine, Mukherjee wrote eight nov who said I don't be long in tiful country and how red up we
187 Google employees. "We're "Our rst order of business is to els, four short story collections, three America, I started a fundraising are to #resist our new President's
upset about the impact of this help Googlers who are af fected," works of nonction and a memoir page for Syrian Refugees in your dangerous policies with solidarity
order and any proposals that could he said. "If you're abroad and need (cowritten with her husband). She is name," Penn said. T he funds and love. Thank you! The donor
impose restrictions on Googlers help please reach out to our global survived by her husband and their raised would go to International page remains open, so keep it up!"
and their families, or that could security team." (PTI) son. Rescue Committee. (PTI)

Texas colleges urge immigrant staff, students to avoid foreign travel

Houston: Universities in Texas have
urged its staf f and students from
the seven Muslimmajority coun
tries af fected by US President
Donald Trumps controversial
immigration ban to avoid overseas
travel. The University of Houston
currently has 280 students from
the impacted countries as well as
many faculty and staf f. Anyone
who could be affected should avoid
international travel, President and
Chance llor Renu Khator said,
adding that advisers and attorneys
at the immigration law clinic at the
University of Houston Law Center
are on hand to offer guidance.
As a diverse and inclusive com
munity that believes in the power
of education, the University of
Houston (UH) stands with our stu
dents, faculty and staf f from all
countries, races, religions and back
grounds. We understand the anxi
ety of the members of our campus
community who may be affected by
this and of fer support to them,
Khator, a top IndianAmerican
woman academician, said in an
email to staf f and students. As of
Monday, at least one student was
currently outside the US and unable
to return, according to UH.
In addition, UH has more than
300 faculty members who are for
eign nationals; two of them may be
impacted by the new travel restric
tions. The University of Texas at
Austin has told immigrant faculty
and students to avoid the Mexican
border and overseas travel. I am
proud to say we have 110 students,
faculty members and scholars who
are citizens of the seven af fected
countries Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria,
Yemen, Somalia and Sudan. The tal
ents that brought them to UT are
deeply valued, and their perspec
tives represent an essential part of
the university, UT President
Gregory L Fenvis said in a message.
Many of the UT community
members from the af fected coun
tries are currently in the US and we
strongly encourage them to refrain
from international travel at this
time. To those who are abroad,
please exercise caution and know
that we are doing everything we
can regarding your return to UT.
At Texas A&M University, President
Michael Young said that people
from the seven countries should
stay in the US until they nish their
programs.
 8 February 4-10, 2017 NATIONAL COMMUNITY TheSouthAsianTimes.info

IndianAmerican to build 8 Sikh-Americans hire

cricket stadiums in US
Washington, DC: An Indian
American cricket enthusiast has
announced plans to build as many
as eight cricket stadiums across
the US at an estimated cost of
$2.4 billion to professionalize the
game in the country.
The eight proposed stadiums,
each having a capacity of 26,000
people in New York, New Jersey,
Washington DC, Georgia, Florida,
Texas, Illinois and California,
would create as many as 17,800
new jobs in the US, said Jignesh
(Jay) Pandya, chairman of Global
Sports Ventures. Gujaratborn
Pandya is a real estate developer
in the US and had been traveling
across the globe with his two sons
to watch popular international
cricket matches.
At most of these venues, me
and my sons found the audience
mostly from either India or the
United States. So there is a great
market and readymade audience
for cricket in the US," Pandya said.
Americans, he said are the
biggest sports lovers in the world.
Sports economy in the US itself is
to the tune of $87 billion as com
pared to $ 6 billion in India.
All these cricket stadiums in the
US, Pandya said would be part of
what he described as lifestyle cen
ters which would comprise of
highrise residential complex,
shopping centers, entertainment
centers and ofce complexes.
Pandya said the objective is to
professionalize cricket in the
Jay Pandya,
chairman,
Global Sports
Ventures
(Image :
cricktracker.com)
United States by creating a league
that allows athletes to compete at
the highest level while providing
fans and audiences the ability to
enjoy the game at all these world
class facilities.
"This will be a strong founda
t ion when the Internat ional
Cricket Council (ICC) hosts any
tournaments in line w ith its
strateg ic framework for USA
cricket, potentially hosting the
ICC World Twenty20 in 2024,"
Pandya said. (PTI)
marketing rm for
Sikhism awareness in US
Washington, DC: In ef forts to
reduce the hate crimes and vio
lence that the Sikhs have faced
since 9/11, the SikhAmerican
community have hired a we ll
know marketing rm to generate
a nationwide awareness about
Sikhism. It has become increasing
ly important in todays political
and so cial environment, the
National Sikh Campaign (NSC)
said in a statement as it
announced to hire the services of
FP1, a conservat iveleaning
Washingtonbased marketing rm
which has an impressive clientele
which includes Facebook and
Ford. Through research conduct
ed in early 2015, it has been veri
ed that when Americans learn
about the key tenets of the Sikh
religion, their feelings become far
more positive, a media release
said.
Engaging FP1 was a crucial
decision in making our entire
strateg y complete, and their
expertise in reaching conservative
Americans will be valuable in
expanding our reach beyond our
target audience of millennials and
progressives, said Dr Rajwant
Singh, Cofounder and senior advi
sor of NSC. This is perhaps the
rst time that any US Sikh com
munity has undertaken a major,
proactive ef fort to reach out to
Americans nationwide, he added.
Every step in our plan has been
tested to have maximum effective
ness in shifting the perception
and driving positive awareness of
Sikh Americans, said Shawn
Singh Ghuman, communications
director of NSC. We plan to use
every tool, channel, and capability
in the marketing communications
industry to engage our society
with the values Sikhism extolls,
he said.

Dallas teacher Award winning comedy Growing

suspended for 'Mock
Trump Assassination'
Dallas: An Indian American
teacher in Texas has been
suspended after a video of a
controversial classroom
stunt that shows her ring
a water gun at an image of
President Donald Trump
went viral online.
Payal Modi, an art
teacher at Adamson High
School in Dallas, Texas, was
caught on camera shooting a
squirt gun as a video of Trump at
his inauguration ceremony was
projected onto a whiteboard.
An eightsecond video of the inci
dent was posted to a personal
Instagram account Jan. 20, the
date of Trump's inauguration.
As Modi shot the water gun at
the image of Trump, she shouted
Die! the video unveiled.
Tens of thousands of people have
seen the video since it was posted
online Jan. 25, prompting an inves
tigation from ofcials at the Dallas
Independent School District. School
Up Smith to release Feb 3
New York: Roni Akurati, 14year
old IndianAmerican actor from
Illinois makes his feature lm
debut playing the title role in the
awardw inning new comedy
Growing Up Smith which releases
in select theaters February 3rd.
The young actor sat down to talk
about his new role which nds him
starring opposite Jason Lee,
Poorna Jag annathan and
actor/writer/pro ducer Anjul
Video grab of Payal Modi
Nigam.
which went viral
How did you land the role of
district spokeswoman Robyn
Smith in this lm?
Harris was quoted by the Dallas
I was actually in India at the time
Morning News as saying that Modi
Smith was being cast, so I had to do
was placed on leave. However, she
Skype calls with the producers and Actor Roni Akurati plays the central character
said DISD would not comment as it
the director. After several times of
investigates the incident. lms are made. The set was always a fun set. We
auditioning through Skype, I went
Today, we were made aware of a How did your stage work in would always be making jokes and
to L.A. for a screen test w ith
social media posting being circulat Chicago prepare you for acting in a making each other laugh all the
Brighton Sharbino who plays Amy.
ed involving a teacher at W.H. feature lm? time.
That was the last audition before I
Adamson High School. Yes it did prepare me. My stage What kind of acting projects
found out I got the role.
The teacher has been placed on work in Chicago is when I rst would you like to tackle in the
What was it like working on set
administrative leave and the dis started act ing and is where I future?
and performing with the other cast
trict has opened an investigation. learned acting, and so it helped me Any acting project would be ne
members?
This is a personnel matter and, as a lot. by me. But I really like comedies
It was a great experience work
such, we cannot comment, the Any funny moments during pro and I would like to do more of
ing on the lm. I had lots of fun,
statement said. duction that youd like to share? those.
and I also learned a lot about how
TheSouthAsianTimes.info OP-ED February 4-10, 2017 9

Defending NYC values Helping you to sign up

against Trump order for health insurance
l By Mayor Bill de Blasio l By Mayor Bill de Blasio this year may be Tuesday, January 31.
When people have insurance they can see a

A
resident Trump recently signed an executive order that undermines public safety, few weeks ago I met a man from the doctor and deal with small problems before

P makes our neighborhoods less safe and runs contrary to our citys values. But the
stroke of a pen in Washington does not change the people of New York City.
We are a city of immigrants. It is woven into our DNA, into our history and into the very
South Bronx named Wellington. He
was diagnosed with cancer and lost
his health insurance. The City of New York
concrete that binds our buildings. When you look at the skyline, think about the people who fought for him and discovered he was enti
built it: working people who came here from every corner of the earth and made this a bet tled to free health coverage.
ter, stronger place. Within a few days Wellington
To those who argue immigrants are bad for cities, I ask them to visit New York City. Over was in the hospital, getting
two years from 2014 to 2015, we gained more jobs than 46 other states. Who is creating care. Today he is cancer free.
so many of those jobs? More than half of all businesses in New York City are owned by This is a frightening time.
foreignborn residents. People tell me theyre worried
To those who demonize immigrants, I ask them to visit New York City. Almost one about losing affordable health
in four New Yorkers was born in a foreign country. Students in our public care and dont know what
schools speak more than 170 languages. And New York is the safest big to do. My answer:
city in America. Crime is at record lows and falling year by Tell everyone you
year because there is trust between police and those they know to sign up
serve. for health insur
We will defend our people, regardless of where they ance under the
come from or their documentation status. If Muslims Af fordable Care
are required to register, we will take legal action to Act or as
block it. If the federal government wants our police some people
of ficers to tear immigrant families apart, we will call it,
refuse to do it. If they try to deport lawabiding New Obamacare.
Yorkers who dont have a lawyer, we will step in. And do it now,
I want to be clear: This executive order will not change how we because for
enforce the law in New York City. Come to New York and you will see many of us
the American Dream right here, unfolding before your eyes. We will the last day
not allow it to be undermined for any reason. to enroll for
they become big ones. When people have
insurance they know that an illness wont
leave them owing lots of money. Thats
why we launched GetCoveredNYC, a team
that works to get New Yorkers insured all
year long.
There is free coverage available for some
people. Others can find plans for as little as
$20 a month. Call 9292528912 and we
will put you in touch with someone who
can he lp. Enroll online at
nystateof health.ny.gov or dial 311 or text
coverednyc to 877877 to find a location to
enroll in person.
You may have heard President Trump or
Republicans in Congress say they are going
to end Obamacare. I cant promise they
wont, but the best way for you to stop it is
to sign up for insurance. Think of what it
will do for you and your family. If you need
insurance now, then youll have it for the
rest of this year, maybe longer. T he
Af fordable Care Act has already changed
the lives of 1.6 million New Yorkers, so talk
to your friends, neighbors, and relatives
and make sure everyone you know gets
covered before Tuesday, January 31.

PRESIDENT TRUMP TAKES OFF HIS GLOVES

l By Shivaji Sengupta
How best to channel the outrage and frustration over the
T
he liberal newspapers and magazines
are awash with criticizing Donald
whirlwind of just his first week in office.
Trump's Executive Order suspending ilous prevarications, has just blown the lid Affordable Care Act, and his Executive Order (none of which, incidentally, have ever sent
visas, or even honoring previously given of f the liberal commentators. Thus, when to stop the entry of the citizens of the seven successful terrorists into this country. Those
visas, to people from seven predominantly you read David Barstow's article, "Up is Muslim countries as an act to "protect came from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and
Muslim countries in the Middle East and Down," in The New York Times you sense America" from terrorists. The ACA was not Lebanon). He reserves the right to bully
Africa. This bombshell of a decision on the frustration and not just from him, but from only not turning out to be af fordable, Congress to tear down healthcare law.
part of the president has come at the many who, like me, are outraged by the Americans resented being "forced" to have In some ways, it is too late for us liberals.
the heels of many distor prevarications of President Donald Trump. medical insurance (those uninsured were The Democratic Party practically ignored the
tions of facts, so that The frustration comes from the fact fine with going to emergency wards, getting poor whites, calling them despicable. Those
even though many that his supporters almost unani treated and leaving with never paying never "despicables" went to vote like never before,
can say, Trump is mously agree with the execu to pay the bills: in itself an uncivic act). And and, guess what, they didn't vote for Hillary
just following up tive actions he took in his stopping people from the Muslim countries Clinton! Now the federal government is
with what he first week in of fice, and what can I say! an overwhelming number of stacked with Republicans in all three branch
promised during they don't even seem to care at all Trump supporters absolutely believe that es legislative, judiciary and the executive.
the campaign, whether he lies or not. "He won, this is the right step to take; that preceding We have to brace ourselves to live through
such presidential didn't he? And we voted for presidents didn't have the guts to take this some radically rightwing laws and regula
executive orders him!" They announce proudly. In action, Trump has shown he has. So, so much tions, hoping that the Republicans may have
in the light other words what his supporters for whether he te lls the truth or lies. been given a long enough rope to hang them
of so admired in Trump throughout the Trumpians don't care. selves with come the Mid Term elections,
many elections, they support in him now As an educator and journalist, I am serious although this may not come to happen.
per that he is President. ly worried. Where have we arrived in this What can happen and will is a reeduca
The two most controversial of his decisions country that so many people have come to tion of our citizens again. We have to work at
are, obviously, his "order" this level of apathy about politics, and anger the grassroots level again, spreading human
to the legislators at common decency that they dismiss as istic values to our fellow citizens. However,
to repeal The "politically correct"? What frustrates me not in the spirit of we know better, we know
even more is that liberals (like me), academic what is right, we, the selfrighteous! Almost a
intellectuals, and writers from progressive century ago, the Indian poet Rabindranath
newspapers, radio and television stations Tagore had said to fellowIndians: if you
lament what I lament, quote Abraham want to right the ills of your own people, love
Lincoln in defense, put down our pens and them first; do not make them feel wrong or
wring our hands. small. Embrace them, work with them,
Meanwhile, President Trump reserves the amongst them, always holding up your core
right to extend the ban on Muslim entry into values through your actions, not preaching.
the United States beyond the seven countries It's time for us to act, starting now.

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
 10 February 4-10, 2017
US diplomats warn travel
ban makes America less
safe
Washington: Hundreds of US
diplomats are warning that Presi-
dent Trumps ban on refugees and citizens
from seven predominantly Muslim coun-
tries makes the US less safe -- not more,
media report said.
Under the EO signed by Trump on last Fri-
day, refugees from all over the world will be
denied US entry for 120 days while all immi-
gration from so-called countries with terror-
ism concerns will be suspended for 90 days.
The countries included in the ban are Iraq,
Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.
Former CIA Director David Petraeus told
Congress on Wednesday that the unprec-
edented uprising of dissent within the State
Department over Trumps immigration and
refugee order cannot be ignored, CBS news
Protesters in downtown Manhattan two days after President Trumps
travel ban from seven Muslim-majority countries.
Trump on combative calls
with foreign leaders:
Dont worry about it
Washington: President Donald Trump
on Thursday dismissed reports of conten-
tious phone calls hes had with foreign
leaders, telling Americans not to fret over
his tough talk.
The world is in trouble, but were gonna
straighten it out, OK? Thats what I do, I fix
things, Trump said Thursday morning at
the National Prayer Breakfast. Were gonna
straighten it out. Believe me. When you hear
about the tough phone calls Im having, dont
Alt right activists Berkeley
event cancelled after protests
Berkeley, CA: The University of Califor-
nia, Berkeley has cancelled a speech by
right wing internet troll Milo Yiannopou-
los after thousands of students gathered
in protest and a group of black-clad anti-
fascist activists let off fireworks at the
speech venue.
The Martin Luther King Jr student
union was heavily fortified behind sev-
eral layers of police barricades when pro-
testers began gathering on Wednesday,
US Affairs
reported.
More than 800 career diplomats
have signed a dissent cable that Rex Til-
lerson, confirmed as Secretary of State on
Wednesday, will find waiting for him at the
State Department.
The cable said Trumps order will have
little practical effect in improving public
safety because a vanishingly small num-
ber of immigrants to the US have commit-
ted acts of terrorism.
The net result... will not be a drop in ter-
ror attacks in the US, it said, rather it will
be a drop in international goodwill toward
Americans.
The dissent process began during the Viet-
nam War and allows diplomats to protest gov-
ernment policy without fear of retribution.
worry about it. Just dont worry about it.
On Wednesday, news broke that Trump
told Australias prime minister during a call
Saturday that a refugee agreement with Aus-
tralia, a close ally, is the worst deal ever be-
fore ending the phone call abruptly.
The president also threatened to send
U.S. troops to Mexico to stop bad hom-
bres, during a phone call with Mexican
President Enrique Pena Nieto, according to
an Associated Press report.
three hours before the event was sched-
uled to start, The Guardian reported on
Thursday.
A police officer eventually announced
that the event was cancelled.
Later, Yiannopoulos posted a statement
on Facebook claiming that the Left is ab-
solutely terrified of free speech and will
do literally anything to shut it down.
President Trump also criticized the uni-
versity for cancelling the event.
From a corporate oil head
to State Department
Secretary of State Rex Tillersons close ties with Russia cast doubt
on continuing sanctions on the regime under Putin.
Washington: Rex Tillerson has taken
the charge of a State Department that
is distressed and anxious about Donald
Trumps turbulent first days in office.
The 64-year-old Texas-born head of
Exxon Mobil worked for the oil and gas
company in the US, Yemen and Russia. He
is known for his close ties with Russian
President Vladimir Putin, which came up
during his confirmation hearings.
He has no experience in the public sec-
tor, a first in modern history for a Secre-
tary of State.
The lifelong Exxon employee beat a
long list of seasoned candidates in the
running for the post, including former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney,
Senator Bob Corker, the Chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and
former NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani.
President Donald Trump said Tillerson
will bring a clear-eyed focus to foreign
affairs as was confirmed in the Senate by
a vote of 56 to 43, with all Republicans
in support and most Democrats voting
against him.
Tillerson was widely known for oppos-
ing sanctions against Russia in his Exxon-
Mobil corporate life. He refused to label
Russian President Vladimir Putin a war
criminal as he had known him since the
1990s and was awarded Order of Friend-
ship in 2013 by Putin.
During his time at Exxon, Tillerson re-
US puts Iran on notice
over missile launch
Washington: The United States offi-
cially put Iran on notice over Tehrans US and allied vessels transiting the Red Sea.
recent missile launch and an attack
against a Saudi vessel by Iran-supported
Houthi militants.
These actions underscore what should
have been clear to the international com-
munity all along about Irans destabiliz-
ing behavior across the Middle East,
National Security Advisor Michael Flynn
said in a statement on Wednesday.
Flynn said Irans recent ballistic mis-
sile launch is in defiance of UN Security
Council Resolution 2231, which calls
upon Iran not to undertake any activity
related to ballistic missiles, Xinhua news
agency reported.
He also noted that the Houthi forces that
Iran has trained and armed have struck
portedly forged multibillion-dollar deals
with Russias state oil company, Rosneft,
including an agreement to explore under-
ground resources in Siberia that could be
worth billions of dollars.
Tillerson had also publicly spoken out
against international sanctions placed on
Russia over its annexation of Crimea.
Republican Senators Marco Rubio and
John McCain expressed serious concerns
about Tillersons Russian connections but
came round. At the confirmation hearing,
Tillerson called Russia a danger to the
US and said he favored maintaining US
sanctions against Moscow.
He also recommended a full review of
the nuclear deal with Iran, but he did not
call for an outright rejection of the accord.
Tillerson also takes responsibility for
US policy in one of the worlds biggest
flashpoints: the South China Sea.
Tillerson said China should be blocked
from accessing the artificial islands it has
built, setting the stage for a potential show-
down. He said that China should stop island
building in the South China Sea and be de-
nied access to these islands, which China
regards as an integral part of its territory.
Although Tillerson has acknowledged cli-
mate change is a problem, ExxonMobil was
the subject of controversy at its sharehold-
ers meeting last year for rejecting resolu-
tions that would have pushed the compa-
nys resources towards renewable energy.
Emirati and Saudi vessels, and threatened
In the statement, the senior official also
cited Trump to assail the Obama Admin-
istration for reaching various agreements
with Tehran and the UN for being weak
and ineffective.
Instead of being thankful to the United
States for these agreements, Iran is now
feeling emboldened, he said.
Irans Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan
on Wednesday confirmed the recent ballis-
tic missile test by his country, saying the
launches are part of Tehrans defense plans
aimed at fulfilling its national interests.
The recent (missile) test was in line
with our programs, and we will not allow
any outsider to interfere in our defense
affairs, Dehqan said.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
A cherished power & a solemn duty
Comment
By Ravi Batra
T
he 2016 election was can
didly special, when a year
ago the late great Justice
Antonin "Nino" Scalia died too
early and President Obama quick
ly nominated Chief Judge Merrick
Garland as his successor, because
the electorate knew that the win
ner would have the awesome and
cherished power to nominate an
Associate Justice to fill the Scalia
seat.
Donald J. Trump won, and
thanks to Mitch McConnell who
blocked President Obama's "cen
trist" choice, itself the result of
selflimitation in deference to
Republican control of the Senate,
the seat stayed empty for the
2016 winner. T he McConne ll
g amble paid of f. So, now
President Trump has nominated
during prime time to satisfy the
winning electorate's appetite for
homage to Justice Scalia Judge
Neil Gorsuch. The nominee is com
fortably in the mold of Nino Scalia
who died less than a month before
his 80th birthday on March 11
last year. J. Gorsuch is 49 years
old and well credentialed to grace
the highest court.
The politics of the Scalia seat,
however, has affected the nomina
tion and confirmation. Normally, a
nominating president sees if he
can get 60 votes in the Senate
before he does a "full throated"
nominat ion, or as President
Obama, aware of the Senate stand
ing, didn't nominate a leftmost
leaning judge but a "centrist."
President Trump, however, stuck
with a similar Senate problem, has
not gone "centrist" in his nomina
tion to attract the Democrats, but
suggested to Mitch McConnell to
go "nuclear" and picked a hard
right nominee.
So, it falls on Senate leader the
fate of the Senate systemic
change to promote hyperparti
sanship forever or retain some
collegiality by keeping 60votes
necessity for a supreme nominee.
Enter, stage right last Friday's
"Travel Ban," "Muslim Ban," or
US AFFAIRS
President Trump made a hardright choice in picking
Judge Neil Gorsuch for Supreme Court.
"Extreme Vetting." Take your
pick. The most solemn duty of the
executive is "public safety," and if
you are president, that includes
National Security. The problem is
that the draft of the Executive
Order, properly crafted by Rudy
Giuliani and former Attorney
General Mike Mukasey, was lard
ed up by Steve Bannon, a man
who towers over America, domes
tically and geopolitically, and the
White House as Mount Rushmore,
to include Green Card holders and
February 4-10, 2017
even those who helped our mili
tary by risking their life. That the
Executive Order was not vetted by
the 4star General Kelly, Secretary
of DHS, before it was issued at the
Pentagon is Bannon's definition of
humility. The chaos and personal
pain this EO caused with federal
suits filed and federal court orders
has in the main poisoned the
nonTrump voters while embold
ening and satisfying Trumpvot
ers. When the public comes out
to the public square, governments
11
fall. See Tahir Square and in Seoul.
The Democratic Senate leader
Chuck Schumer was viscerally
moved by the EO, and called it
"UnAmerican." He has now said,
to satisfy the Democratic base and
his own moral compass, that he
will block it.
So, J. Neil Gorsuch is not getting
confirmed; not without removing
the last shred of gentility, deco
rum and collegiality that former
Senate Majority Leader Harry
Reid left behind, as he reduced it
by limiting the use of 60votes.
Now, Majority Leader McConnell
has to go "nuclear" to confirm
Gorsuch.
As for the Travel Ban, when
politically and judicially pruned,
America w ill have gone to a
heightened level of border control
and public safety, even at the cost
of of fending many across the
world.
T he 2016 electoral volcanic
eruption has hot lava flowing
from President Trump's pen as he
signs EOs and nominates. There
will be destruction by fire in its
direct path, domestically and
geopolitically, and a rich rebirth
after the lavacooling.
The writer is a New York based
eminent attorney.
 12 February 4-10, 2017 INDIA TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Railways gets Rs 1.31 lakh crore for development

New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
proposed to allocate Rs 131,000 crore as
capital and development expenditure for the
Indian railways during fiscal 201718.
The Union budget emphasized on provid
ing railway passengers with better ameni
ties and more safety, as Jaitley announced a
special 'Rail Safety Fund' of Rs one lakh
crore, which was earlier announced in 2002
by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
This is the first time that expenditure, fis
cal support and various sectorspecific
schemes for the railways was announced in
the Union Budget.
The decision to merge the standalone
Railway Budget with the general Budget was
taken by the Union Cabinet last year.
"For 201718, the total capital and devel
opment expenditure of railways has been
pegged at Rs 131,000 crore. This includes
Rs 55,000 crore provided by the govern
ment," Jaitley said, presenting the Union
Budget 201718.
"Among other things, the railways will
focus on four major areas passenger safe
ty, capital and development works, cleanli
ness and finance and accounting reforms."
He said the "Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha
Kosh (Railway Safety Fund) will be created
with a corpus of Rs one lakh crore over a
The Union budget emphasized on providing railway passengers
with better amenities and more safety.
period of five years".
"Besides seed capital from the govern
ment, the railways will arrange the balance
resources from their own revenues and
other sources."
The minister elaborated that railways will
eliminate all the unmanned level crossings
by 2020 one of the major reasons for train
accidents in India.
"Expert international assistance will be
harnessed to improve safety preparedness
and maintenance practices," Jaitley said.
The minister informed the Parliament that
new railway lines of 3,500 km will be com
missioned in 201718, as against 2,800 km
in 201617.
"Steps will be taken to launch dedicated
trains for tourism and pilgrimage," he said.
Emphasising on the station redevelop
ment, Jaitely said that at least 25 stations
were expected to be awarded during 2017
18 for station redevelopment.
"(Some) 500 stations will be made differ
ently abled friendly by providing lifts and
escalators."
The Finance Minister proposed to feed
about 7,000 stations with solar power in the
medium term to save energy.
"A beginning has already been made in
300 stations. Works will be taken up for
2,000 railway stations as part of 1,000 MW
solar mission."
He is proposed to introduce 'Coach Mitra'
facility a single window complaint system
to maintain railway cleanliness.
"By 2019, all coaches of Indian railways
will be fitted with bio toilets," he said.
"Pilot plants for environment friendly dis
posal of solid waste and conversion of
biodegradable waste to energy are being set
up at New Delhi and Jaipur railway sta
tions."
Besides, five more such solid waste man
agement plants are now being taken up.
In addition, the service charge on railway
tickets booked through IRCTC (Indian
Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation)
will be withdrawn.
"Railways will of fer competitive ticket
booking facility to the public at large.
Service charge on etickets booked through
IRCTC has been withdrawn," he said.

In Focus Lambi to be Punjab's mother of

Kuwaiti visa ban all electoral battles
on 5 Muslim By Jaideep Sarin

majority nations,
Lambi (Punjab): It couldn't have gotten
bigger than this. For the first time in
Punjab's political history, two stalwarts of

including Pak two mainline political parties are headed

for a faceoff in the February 4 assembly
e lections. Fivetime Chief Minister
Kuwait City: Kuwait has suspended the issuance of
Parkash Singh Badal is facing perhaps the
visas for nationals of Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Afghanistan
toughest political challenge of his seven
and Iran. After US President Donald Trump's executive
decadelong career as Punjab Congress
order banning seven Muslimmajority countries last
President and former Chief Minister
Friday, the Kuwaiti government has told wouldbe
Amarinder Singh takes him on from the
migrants from the five banned nations to not apply for
Lambi assembly constituency in Muktsar
visas, as it is worried about the possible migration of
district of southwest Punjab.
radical Islamic terrorists, Sputnik International report
Add to this the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP),
ed. Under the executive order signed by Trump,
the newest challenger to the Congress The Lambi seat had seen 87.23 per cent polling in 2012.
refugees from all over the world will be denied US
and the Akali DalBJP combine in Punjab, It had over 140,000 voters then.
entry for 120 days while all immigration from so
which has fielded Delhi lawmaker Jarnail
called "countries with terrorism concerns" will be sus Chief Minister. Amarinder Singh, who remains intact. "I will win very comfort
Singh from this seat. Jarnail, a former
pended for 90 days. The countries included in the US turns 75 next month, has taken the risk ably. They (Amarinder and Jarnail) can
journalist, came into limelight in 2009
ban are Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and of contesting from this seat even though try their luck here but they will not
when he threw a shoe at then Union
Yemen. he is also in the fray from his traditional achieve anything. This is not a personal
Home Minister P. Chidambaram in Delhi,
Kuwait was the only nation to prohibit the entry of home seat of PatialaUrban and looks but a political fight," said Badal, who is
upset over the long delay in justice for
Syrian nationals prior to Trump's executive action. confident about taking on Badal. more restrained in his comments about
victims of the 1984 antiSikh riots in the
Kuwait City previously issued a suspension of visas for "I will thrash him here. I have come his political opponents.
national capital and elsewhere following
all Syrians in 2011. here (to contest) as I want to teach him a In the 2014 parliamentary polls, the
the assassination of Prime Minister Indira
A group of militants bombed a Shia mosque in 2015, lesson for ruining Punjab," said an Akali Dal, of which Badal is the patron,
Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards.
killing 27 Kuwaiti nationals. A 2016 survey conducted aggressive Amarinder, who has been maintained a lead of 34,219 votes in
"All eyes are on what happens in Lambi.
by Expat Insider ranked Kuwait one of the worst indulging in noholdsbarred talk in Lambi. Badal's daughterinlaw Harsimrat
It is the most interesting contest ever for
nations in the world for expatriates, primarily due to recent days. AAP candidate Jarnail Singh Kaur Badal, who is the Union Minister for
this seat and even in Punjab. No two big
its strict cultural laws. is focusing more on personal contact and Food Processing, had contested the
ger leaders have come facetoface like
As a member of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), small gatherings during his campaign. Bathinda Lok Sabha seat, of which Lambi
this before. It is the mother of all battles,"
Kuwait has become embroiled in escalated tensions "I am getting a very good response is a part. The Chief Minister's estranged
Sarabjit Singh, a farmer from the con
between the GCC and Iran. Washington has been a from the people. They are fed up with the nephew, former Punjab Finance Minister
stituency, told IANS.
guarantor of GCC security since the early 1990s, Akali Dal leadership because of their Manpreet Singh Badal, lost the Lok Sabha
For Badal, 89, Lambi has been his tradi
according to a Congressional Research Service brief. excesses, and the Congress. Our victory is election by less than 20,000 votes.
tional seat since 1997. In the 2012
Observers have pointed out that most of the nations definite," a confident Jarnail said. The Lambi seat had seen 87.23 per
assembly elections, he was reelected by
on Trump's list have substantial Muslim populations The highprofile contest has forced cent polling in 2012. It had over 140,000
a margin of 24,739 votes against his
and are experiencing some form of economic or mili Badal to spend more time in Lambi this voters then. The number of voters this
Congress opponent, which was seen as a
tary conflict. time to ensure that his hold on the seat time is nearly 156,000.
relatively small margin for an incumbent
TheSouthAsianTimes.info INDIA February 4-10, 2017 13

Congress moves EC, demands Mayawati rubbishes

stern action against BJP poll surveys, calls
New Delhi: The Congress moved
the Election Commission (EC)
alleging that BJP leaders Keshav
Prasad Maurya and Subramanian
Swamy had made remarks
amounting to soliciting votes in
the name of re lig ion and
demanded "stern action" against
the party.
In a complaint to the poll panel
K.C. Mittal, Secretary, Legal and
Human Rights Department of
Congress, said that Uttar Pradesh
BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya
and BJP MP Subraminan Swamy
had violated the model code of
conduct ahead of elections in the
five states.
The party alleged that Maurya
raked up the "contentious issue"
of Ram temple last month and
talked about its construction
after assembly elections in Uttar
Pradesh. It said that after
Maurya's remarks, BJP MP
Subramanian Swamy had made
remarks "welcoming the state
ment of Shri Maurya".
"The statements made by Shri
Maurya as we ll as Dr.
Subramanian Swamy are in utter
de fiance of the instruct ions
issued by the Commission and
amount to soliciting votes in the
name of religion," the party said.
It said the statements were also
in violation of the observations
made by the Supreme Court and
the BJP or its leaders cannot
place any reliance on its 2014
BJP MP Subraminan Swamy.
manifesto "nor under the garb of
manifesto rake up religious card
to solicit votes in the name of
religion".
"As such, the Commission may
be pleased to take stern action
against BJP and their leaders and
be restrained from addressing
any rally, public or corner meet
ings or hold conferences during
the operation of MCC (model
them sponsored
Bulandshahr: Bahujan Samaj Party
(BSP) supremo Mayawati trashed
the surveys ahead of the Uttar
Pradesh assembly polls and said
these are "sponsored" and hence
not to be taken seriously.
Addressing an election rally
here, the Dalit leader said these
poll surveys were conducted at
the behest of political parties and
warned her supporters not to be
swayed. "W hen the e lection
results are out, all these polls and
projections will fall flat on their
face," she said.
She slammed the state govern
ment and said law and order was
at its worst under Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav and promised to
bring back normalcy if her party
code of conduct)," the party said.
The Congress had earlier com
plained to the Elect ion
Commission on January 25
against Maurya for his remarks
concerning construction of Ram
temple at Ayodhya.
Elections will be held for the
Punjab, Goa, Manipur,
Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati.
assemblies in FebruaryMarch.
was voted back to power.
The fourtime Chief Minister
tore into the Bharatiya Janata
Party and said its claims of bring
ing back the rule of law in Uttar
Pradesh were an eyewash.
"Whenever the BJP has come to
power (in the state), there is simi
lar anarchy," she said while accus
ing the BJP of trying to end reser
vation and also harboring illwill
towards the Muslims. Taking on
Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
she accused him of not fulfilling
promises made during the 2014
Lok Sabha polls. "Nothing has
been done for the poor and this
(central) government does every
thing for the rich and the industri
alists," she claimed.

Rahul shares Thousands attend last rites Aircel-Maxis: Court

discharges Maran
'dalsubzi' meal with of exminister Ahamed brothers, others
villagers in Punjab Kannur (Kerala): De lhi. Besides the New Delhi: A court here dis
Thousands of people national and state polit charged all accused in the
Chandigarh: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi took part in the funer ical leaders from vari
shared a meal of 'dalsubzi' with villagers and interacted AircelMaxis deal case, includ
al service of senior ous part ies, people ing former Communications
with them in Sangrur district, on the last day of cam Kerala parliamentarian from every walk of life
paigning for the Punjab assembly polls. Minister Dayanidhi Maran.
E. Ahamed at a attended the last rites. Special Judge O.P. Saini dis
Dressed in blue denims, white kurta and a half jacket, mosque here. Ahamed's remains
Gandhi sat on a wooden cot, flanked by the village head charged Maran, his brother
A sitting Lok Sabha were first brought to Kalanithi Maran, Kalanithi's
man and council members, and interacted with the resi member, Ahamed Kozhikode from Delhi
dents of Baliyan village, 145 km from here. wife Kavery Kalanithi, South
passed away in a Delhi on Wednesday evening Asia FM Ltd (SAFL) Managing
He later shared a traditional meal with commoners and hospital, and was laid and were taken to his
party leaders at the 'Sanjha Chulha' (common kitchen) put Director K. Shanmugam and
to rest with full state ancestral home late at two companies SAFL and Sun
up by the villagers. honours. night. The funeral serv
The Congress Vice President sat on the floor and was Direct TV Pvt Ltd (SDTPL) in
T he former Union ice was led by Indian two different cases.
served the lentils and vegetables from steel buckets along Minister from Union Muslim League
with rotis (flat bread). The court was hearing two
Malappuram fe ll chief Pankkad Sayyid dif ferent matters related to
A number of village elders, women, youth, including unconscious in the Late Kerala parliamentarian Hyderali Shihab
girls, sat down to share the meal with Gandhi. AircelMaxis deal lodged by the
Central Hall of E. Ahamed. Thangal. Ahamed was a Central Bureau of Investigation
As the villagers highlighted the problems they were fac Parliament during the leading member of the
ing, Gandhi also took the opportunity to urge them to (CBI) and the Enforcement
President's address that marked the IUML. Directorate (ED).
vote for the party to form the next government in the start of then Budget session. The 78yearold former UPA minis
state saying the Congress cared for their needs and prob T he CBI had alleged that
Ahamed was put on life support at ter was regularly elected to the Lok Dayanidhi Maran, as Minister in
lems. "Do not fall into the trap of parties which are allied the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital Sabha since 1991. The IUML is the
with radical elements," he said. the UPAI government, used his
where he passed away at 2.15 a.m. second biggest constituent of the influence to help Malaysian
Campaigning in Punjab ends at 5 p.m. Polls for the 117 Ahamed's last rites were conducted Congressled United Democratic Front
assembly seats are scheduled for Saturday. businessman T.A. Ananda
at his native Kannur City Juma Masjid, (UDF) in Kerala. Krishnan buy Aircel by coercing
The main contest is among the ruling Shiromani Akali very close to his ancestral home. His A law graduate, Ahamed joined poli
DalBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine, Congress and its owner Sivasankaran to part
political activities were centered most tics as a student, and was first elected with his stake.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). ly around Malappuram district and at to the Kerala assembly in 1967.
14 February 4-10, 2017 OP-ED TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Will Trump era provide respite to destroyed countries?

By Saeed Naqvi in the British Parliament. Prime Minister sapling will have to be nurtured everywhere.
David Cameron had a series of skirmishes Like these moral values, wealth too would

T
he procession of breastbeating "liber
als" doesn't seem to end, not since
Donald Trump eclipsed their most
shining star Hillary Clinton.
True, Hillary would be graceful at the
Inaugural Ball.
"Favors to none, to all/she smiles
extends/Oft she rejects but/never once
offends." Melania would be a novice by com
parison. But here we are talking about aes
thetics and class. Why then pull out John
Stuart Mill to measure the order just ushered
in?
The argument that Hillary would have
made a better President because she knew
every nook and corner of Washington, White
House and Foggy Bottom is precisely why
she lost. It set her up as the Establishment
which was remote from the people who
found solace in a person who did not even
look like a politician.
On the "Liberal" yardstick, both falter.
Two images of Hillary are etched on my
mind. I had just returned from Syria in early
2012. I wrote a paper for the Observer
Research Foundation explaining why Bashar
al Assad was nowhere near falling.
In fact, regime change was simply not pos
sible by crossborder terrorism supporting
Muslim Brotherhood and Al Qaedainspired
restiveness in places like Hama, Homs and
Daraa, all being amplified by the western
media as a fullblown civil war. This was in
201112. I can never forget some frames.
with his army chief Gen. David Richard on
the Libyan misadventure.
Americans entered the Libyan drama late,
but, being Americans, they chose to take the
credit. A front page cartoon in a European
newspaper shows a fire in the distance. In
the foreground is Uncle Sam, looking like a
butler, waiting outside a garden umbrella
where some European grandees are sipping
campari. One of them snaps his fingers: "Go
put out that fire." That is when Hillary
embarked on the mission. The indelible
image she left on my mind was a split TV
screen. One half of the screen is Qaddafi
being sodomized by a knife; on the other is a
triumphant Hillary shrugging her shoulders:
"I came; I saw and he died." Never will there
be a more macabre play on "Vini, Vidi, Vici".
Where is the great "liberal" spirit peering
through all of this?
Protests against Donald Trump's executive
Why then are the "liberals" everywhere
order temporarily barring refugees from
beating their breasts at her defeat? Do they
seven Muslimmajority countries seen on
Capitol Hill. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu/IANS) see Trump as "illiberal" by comparison?
The two images of Hillary's involvement
Hillary Clinton comes into focus, repeatedly, with Syria and Libya would probably be justi
with an imperious wave of the hand: "Get out fied by falling back on the classical
of the way Assad" and "Stop butchering your Wilsonian approach. After the victory in the
own people". First World War, neither Britain, France nor
The second image of Hillary concerns other allies quite envisioned the peace settle
Libya. Anybody with even an elementary ment the way US President Woodrow Wilson
knowledge of ground realities in Libya knew did. After the armistice, he began to draft in
how the British and other western intelli his mind a plan for a "just democracy
gence had with great diligence stoked an throughout the world". For democracy and
insurgency. The matter had been discussed freedom to be secure in the United States, the
accompany good governance and enterprise
as part of God's plan.
Liberal ideals would spread gradually
almost by imitation. It can be argued that the
fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was also, in
large part, by imitation. But in both Syria and
Libya, the Liberal argument would have to be
contrived, that it was important to defeat the
two tyrants who were brutalizing their own
people. Wilson envisioned the expansion of
the Liberal ideal by example and gentle per
suasion. He never envisaged a postWorld
War II American preeminence on a scale
where judge, jury, executioner and the dis
penser of information would all be one and
the same.
Now consider the casualty figures in
Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and Yemen a
total of over a million dead and 15 million
displaced. The wars begun by George W.
Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfe ld,
Condoleezza Rice and Paul Wolfowitz were
continued by Barack Obama. He simply could
not dismount. What liberal ideal is involved
in these unspeakable horrors?
Remember Obama had promised to shut
Guantanamo Bay as soon as he entered the
Oval of fice. Every time he tried, he found
himself glaring at an Eyes Only intelligence
file. An unnerved Obama backed away.
That is the kind of turf the intelligence
community is obstinately holding on to in its
continuing battle with the Trump White
House.

Elections 2017: UP spends least on health

By Oommen C Kurian Rural Health Mission (NRHM),
UP's overall rankings are likely to

W
ith 200 million people,
Uttar Pradesh (UP) has
about the same popula
tion as Brazil; an economy the size
of Qatars which has 2.4 million
people, the same as the UP town
of Bijnore; per capita gross domes
tic product (GDP) comparable to
Kenyas; and an infant mortality
rate that rivals The Gambia, a
povertyridden, peanutgrowing
westAfrican nation.
With 75 districts, 814 blocks
and 97,607 villages, UP is larger,
by population, than all but five
countries. It holds the key to polit
ical dominion over India, but, in
terms of health and nutritional
outcomes, infrastructure and cov
erage indicators, it is widely con
sidered a laggard, improving slow
ly, with wide disparities within.
The per capita public expendi
ture on health (by both Centre and
states) is the lowest in UP among
the five states with 169 million
voters going to polls between
February 4 and March 8, 2017,
our analysis shows.
Goa, a state with less than 1 per
cent of UP's population, spends
more than five times more, per
capita, on its citizens' health. UP's
The per capita public expenditure on health (by both Centre and states) is the lowest in UP.
average spending is 70 per cent of
the Indian average. As we will see,
this low spending leads to fewer
doctors, nurses and paramedics in
healthcare institutions, leaves one
in two children without full immu
nisation, 14 per cent of the state's
households faced w ith "cata
strophic" health expenditure, high
er than 25 per cent of total house
hold spending, and a health insur
ance coverage of 4.2 per cent
compared to the Indian average of
15.2 per cent.
In Uttar Pradesh, do ctors
accounted for more than half of
all health workers, the highest
such proportion in the country,
according to a 2016 World Health
Organisation study, probably a
result of not having enough other
health workers in the first place.
UP also had the lowest share of
female health workers, 19.9 per
cent, compared to the Indian aver
age of 38 per cent.
For example, most of the 30
Indian districts ranked lowest in
terms of density of nurses were
located in UP, with some also
located in Bihar and Jharkhand.
UP, which had 16.16 per cent of
the country's population, had only
10.81 per cemt of overall health
workers. Although numbers based
on the latest census data as yet
unanalysed may have improved
partly because of improvement
due to the 11yearold National
be unchanged, given that UP still
has a 50 per cent shortfall of the
nursing staf f at primary health
centres (PHCs) and community
health centres (CHCs).
The CHCs in UP are 84 per cent
short of specialists, according to
the Rural Health Statistics, 2016.
The PHCs and CHCs, taken togeth
er, have only half the staf f they
should have. Although all PHCs
have doctors, one in three PHCs
does not have a lab technician.
Of 36 Indian states and union
territories, UP was third from the
bottom in terms of infant mortali
ty rate (IMR, deaths per 1,000 live
births) across rural and urban
areas, the latest Sample
Registration System bulletin for
2015, re leased in December
2016, showed. Many relatively
poor states do much better than
Uttar Pradesh.
UP has India's secondhighest
maternal mortality rate (MMR,
deaths per 100,000 births),
according to government data. UP
also has the lowest sex ratio at
birth among bigger Indian states,
barring Haryana, according to
2014 SRS data, the latest avail
able.

The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.

New Delhi: American social entrepreneur
and Prince Organization CEO Sunil Tolani
has been honored with the prestigious Hind
Rattan Award (Jewel of India), one of the
highest Indian diaspora awards presented
annually to distinguished and eminent NRIs
by the NRI Welfare Society of India for their
outstanding achievements and contributions.
The glittering award ceremony and gala
was held in New Delhi in January end in the
presence of top dignitaries from the Prime
Ministers office, senior government officials
and judges. The awards are presented at the
Societys annual congress on the eve of In-
dias Republic Day, in conjunction with na-
tional Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations.
Congratulating the awardees, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said, NRIs have been our
brand ambassadors since decades. They are
showcasing the image of India by culture, tra-
dition, skills and style of life while dwelling in
foreign countries. It will be our duty to keep
Hind Rattan (Jewel of India) awardee Sunil Tolani, American social entrepreneur and
CEO of Prince Organization, believes that the purpose of life is a life of purpose.
IAPC expands to Atlanta
with R-Day celebration
Atlanta: The Indo American Press Club
(IAPC) launched its Atlanta chapter by or-
ganizing Indias Republic Day celebrations
on January 28 at the Global Mall.
The rare such event brought together
top community leaders of different faiths,
and ethnic groups on a single platform as
Indians to celebrate the Republic Day.
We normally have gatherings in our reli-
gious or language based groups. But this was
on a wider and higher level platform, where
we symbolically expressed our unity in diver-
sity as sons and daughters of the great Na-
tion of Bharat, said Mustafa Ajmeri, social
activist who was honored at the event.
Nagesh Singh, Hon. Consul General of In-
dia in Atlanta, was the Chief Guest. Charlotte
National Community
them sentimentally and emotionally linked
for enabling them to make substantial con-
tributions towards the progress of the moth-
erland. NRIs have now become the strength
of an economically and financially powerful
India. Praising PM Modi, Tolani said, Under
his esteemed leadership the corruption level
is already much lower in India and the ac-
complishment level is much higher.
Upon getting the written confirmation,
Mr Tolani wrote that I credit my mother for
teaching me the importance of promoting
ethical and kind behavior. Doing my best
to continue to build Prince Organization
as a Gibraltar of a successful and respect-
ed American business being recognized as
an institution that reflects kindness and
spreads love as I aspire to balance capital-
ism and compassion. At the center of our
history is a timeless message: with faith,
hard work and a dream, the sky is the limit!
I hope to inspire the young and next genera-
val season of Diwali and Navratri.
Nash, chair of Commissioners of Gwinnet
County, was the Guest of Honor. After the
Presidential address by Dominic Chackonal,
IAPC President of Atlanta Chapter, promi-
nent Indian Americans such as Antony Thal-
iath, Executive Director Gandhi Foundation
USA, Narender Reddy, Political Activist and
Community leader, and Veena Rao, Editor of
NRI Pulse newspaper spoke on the occasion.
Honoring and recognizing prominent
Indo Americans in different fields was ap-
preciated by one and all. Life Achievement
award was given to Dr. Sujatha Reddy.
Humanitarian Award went to Dr. Jay Sam-
path. Businessman of the year was Satwant
Singh, CEO of Doaba Consulting. Entrepre-
neur Award was bagged by Joy PI, CEO of
Sunil Tolani conferred
Hind Rattan Award on
R-Day eve
tion of hospitality CEOs to keep dreaming
and continue building world-class organi-
zations making a truly remarkable story in
the next chapter of their history enriching
lives. This honor is my biggest trophy and
it feels like---I have won the Super bowl,
the World Series, the Stanley Cup and the
World Cup all at once, he added.
Tolani was born in 1968 in Mumbai and
arrived in the USA in 1993. After initial strug-
gles doing menial jobs, he strived to become
owner of a semiconductor company Memory
Card International in Irvine, CA. Now his
Prince Organization, founded in 2007, has
become a top hospitality company owning
and operating scores of award winning life-
style hotels franchised by the worlds larg-
est hotel brands throughout the Americas.
The Prince Organization is one of Ameri-
cas most honored businesses. Prince Hotels
ethos is a Benefit Corporation focusing on
social responsibility while creating thou-
sands of jobs and growing the economy,
creating a positive impact in the communi-
ties in which it operates as making a profit
is not its sole primary goal but the social
purpose is some of the monies going to char-
ity and social causes making a difference to
other peoples lives. The company focuses
on employees, treats people with respect
and provides opportunities for growth and
development for employees who can go as
far as their skills and desires take them. This
ethos has earned Prince accolades as a Top
Workplace by numerous organizations. The
American Registry has added Prince Organi-
zation to the Registry of Business Excellence.
Not only is his a minority owned business,
Tolani has been lauded for employing minor-
ities, Latinos, African Americans and women
in the highest management positions.
One unique aspect of Prince is that
they offer free rooms and meals at their
hotels through a program called Room
Seva, which is available to those who have
friends or family hospitalized in hospitals,
nursing homes, or treatment centers dur-
ing Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year
holidays, as well as during the Indian festi-
Joy TV. Award of Honor was given to social
activists Mustafa Ajmeri and Sabu Chem-
malakuzhy. Media Excellence Award went
to Parthiv N Parekh of Khabar Magazine.
Winner of Photography contest was Siby
Karikkampally and Essay writing competi-
tion was Joshua Mathew.
Nagesh Singh, Consul General of India in Atlanta, dignitaries
and IAPC office-bearers on the dais.
February 4-10, 2017 15
Tolani shares his simple formula for suc-
cess thus: If you are successful at what you
do daily, it naturally accumulates and you be-
come successful. Those who endeavor, pre-
serve, work hard with honesty and integrity
every single day, focusing on what is impor-
tant with discipline and energy are success-
ful, no matter at what level or what job they
are doing. I have been fortunate and success-
ful as Ive taken the road less traveled, being
a risk taker. We walk the talk with genuine
kindness, benevolence and purpose in many
shapes and forms. We believe that the pur-
pose of life is a life of purpose.
Besides the Hind Rattan, Tolani has re-
ceived numerous other awards, to name a
couple: Los Angeles County honored him
as Social Entrepreneur and Humanitarian
in 2012 and the 1South Asian Business
Alliance Network presented him the Best
South Asian Entrepreneur Award the same
year; and in 2011, the Orange County hon-
ored him as Businessman of the Year. He
is arguably the most awarded and honored
businessman in the Americas.
For the Hind Rattan, Mr Tolani was
nominated by Mohammed Islam, founder
of the South Asian Biz Network (SABAN),
who said, We are very impressed with his
exceptional professionalism and commit-
ments as a social entrepreneur.
Sunil is the pride of the world Sindhi
community, wrote Dilip Butani, Chairman,
Federation of the Indian American Com-
munity of Southern California (FICSC) and
President of GOPIO-OC Chapter.
Mr Deepak wrote in a memo to the Hind
Rattan selection committee that Tolani
has the highest values, greatest interests
and deepest passion for living a life full of
giving and always willing to donate time
and money to philanthropy. He is turning
into an icon of kindness and compassion.
Consul General of India in San Francisco,
Ashok Venkatesan, congratulated Mr To-
lani in an email for receiving Hind Rattan.
Tolani lives in Orange County, California,
with his wife, Neelam, and two sons. After
being honored in India, he stated, I dont
think the American Dream is restricted to
America. If you go for it, you can do any-
thing anywhere in the world.
A book written by poet Subini Lawrence
was released on the occasion. The paint-
ings by the famous artist Vinod Sharma
added color to the event.
The meeting ended with a banquet din-
ner. IAPC is New York based with several
chapters in USA and Canada.
 16 February 4-10, 2017
Raees : An immersive
SRK entertainer
The film is largely elevated by Shah Rukh Khans performance.
Raees is a typical Bollywood
blockbuster designed
like films of the early 1980s, with over-the-
top yet thrilling action, drama and a tinge of
romance. It is a biography of a disciplined
businessman, albeit with ragged edges.
Set in the late 80s and early 90s and
inspired from true events, Raees is a
fictionalized story of the rise and fall of a
bootlegger-turned-gangster, in the alcohol
prohibited state of Gujarat.
Told entirely from within the closed un-
derbelly of Fatehpur in Gujarat, the script
attributed to four writers does a brilliant
conjuring act of inviting us into the life
of Raees (Shah Rukh Khan) who at a very
early stage in life is inspired by his mother,
a ragpicker who quotes, Koi dhanda chota
ya bada nahin hota hai, aur koi dharam
dhanda se badkar nahin hai. which liter-
ally means, no occupation is small and no
religion is bigger than ones business.
Pakistan to screen
*Bollywood films
The ban on Bollywood films was lifted by PM Nawaz Sharif.
T wo days after Pakistan agreed to lift a
ban on Indian films after months of sus-
pension, the Information and Broadcasting
Ministry issued a gazette notification out-
lining the rules for import and screening of
popular Bollywood films.
The gazette notification, issued by Paki-
stans Ministry of Information and Broad-
casting and National Heritage, said that the
importer has to inform the Information and
Broadcasting Division of the name and cast
of the Indian film to be imported, which re-
quest will be forwarded to the Commerce
ULTIMATE BOLLYwOOD
So with this as his mantra and philosophy
he sets out in the world on his own terms.
With complex scenes, the plot offers
nothing that you have not seen before. Nar-
rated in a linear manner, the script is taut
and the narrative moves at a rapid pace.
The first half is promising and the second
half which begins with Inspector Majum-
dars point of view holds your attention
with equal gusto, but unfortunately, the
climax tilts into a predictable zone of bad
things happen to bad people, making the
film a clichd fare.
The film is largely elevated by Shah Rukh
Khans performance and a few dramatic dia-
logues that are used to churn the emotions.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the incorrupt-
ible IPS officer, Jaideep Majumdar is equal-
ly competent. His cat-and-mouse chase
with Raees, punctuated with vibrant dia-
logues often elicit a chuckle. Together they
keep you hooked.
Ministry. The importer has to submit the
documents to the Censor Board, which
has to give its nod before the film can be
screened, it said.
Minister of State for Information Marriyum
Aurangzeb said in a statement that the gov-
ernment has decided to maintain the pres-
ent policy regarding import of Indian films.
She said the decision has been taken af-
ter reviewing the benefits Pakistani cinema
trade can derive from exhibition of Indian
films and to develop, strengthen and en-
hance the indigenous productions.
Im Hindu and Muslim both
Salman Khan tells court
B ollywood actor Salman Khan, who ap- cated, Salman told the court.
peared before a court in connection with The next hearing in the blackbucks
an 18-year-old blackbuck poaching case, poaching case is slated to be held on Feb-
pleaded not guilty. The 51-year-old actor, to ruary 15 in the court of Chief Judicial Mag-
a question on religion posed by the court, said istrate here when Salman Khans counsel is
Im Hindu and Muslim both. Im Bharatiya. expected to produce defense witnesses to
Salman and his Hum Saath-Saath Hain counter the prosecution.
co-stars Saif Ali Khan, Neelam Kothari, Son- We will produce defense witnesses
ali Bendre and Tabu, pleaded not guilty in to counter the prosecution as all the al-
the case in a Jodhpur court. legations are untrue, Hastimal Saraswat,
The actors were present in the court to Salmans advocate, said. All charges against
get their statements recorded before the my client are false, Saraswat said.
court of Chief Judicial Magistrate
(CJM) Dalpat Singh Rajpurohit.
During the course of hearing,
Salman replied to as many as 65
questions posed by the court with
regard to the allegations leveled by
the prosecution witnesses.
Salman and the other actors also
replied to a few general questions
like names, fathers name, age, res-
idential address and religion.
To a question with regard to his
religion, Salman, the son of popular
screenwriter Salim Khan and Sushila
Charak, said: Im Hindu and Muslim
both. Im Bharatiya. He subsequent-
ly said in English that Im an Indian.
Asked about the allegations lev-
eled by the prosecution, the stars
pleaded not guilty.
Salman in his reply said that he
couldnt have gone out for poach-
ing due to security reasons, espe-
cially in the evenings or night.
I used to be busy in the shoot-
ing in the and in the night I used
to go to sleep as I was tired. In the
night because of security reasons, I
never used to go out. I deny all the Salman appears before Jodhpur court
charges. I have been falsely impli- in connection with black buck case.
B ollywood superstar Aamir Khan,
whose sports drama film Dangal is
running successfully in theatres and has Dangal
raked in over Rs 385 crore at the box of-
fice, says he is touched and humbled by
the films success.
crosses Rs 385
Directed by Nitesh Tiwari, Dangal
collected Rs 1.19 crore in its sixth week-
crore in India
end, thus taking its cumulative total to Rs Aamir said in a statement.
385.06 crore, said a statement issued on As a creative person, I am infused with
behalf of the makers. enthusiasm and encouragement! This kind
I am touched and humbled by the of support and love gives me so much
warmth and love that our film has got. The strength to always follow my creative in-
reaction to Dangal has been very moving, stincts, he added.
The film released on December 23 last year.
 ULTIMATE BOLLYwOOD February 4-10, 2017 17

Manveer Gurjar wins Om Puris Rambhajjan

Bigg Boss Season 10 Zindabad rejected by
CBFC? The Central Board of
Film Certification has
denied a certificate to late actor Om Puris
Rambhajjan Zindabad citing abuses and
absurd language as the reason, says Khalid
Kidwai, who has co-produced the film along
with Vinod Shah. Rambhajjan Zindabad
was the last film which was shot by Om
Puri-ji. The film was expected to release by
February. Censor board has not approved it
yet due to inclusion of abuses and absurd
language, Kidwai said in a statement.
The language in the film is very similar
to Paan Singh Tomar, he added. The vet-
eran actor passed away on January 6.
Directed by Ranjeet Gupta, the story of the
film revolves around Chiraunji village in Ut-
tar Pradesh and shows how lower caste daily
wager Ram Bhajan, who wants to earn more
money, tries to misuse a government scheme
and faces caste politics and corruption.
I applied for certificate of Rambhajjan
Zindabad on December 10 (last year) and
they gave me time on January 10 for the
first screening. After watching the film for
20 minutes, they rejected it and called me
on January 20. The film was again rejected
on that date, Kidwai said.

Despite being a common man, Manveer won over celebrities.

N oida boy Manveer Gurjar was announced

the victor of reality show Bigg Boss
Season 10.
Being a commoner, I did not expect to
win the show as the house was full of ce-
lebs and influential people. However, my
strategy was not to get afraid or influenced
by them but to build up my image. So to-
day if the audience voted me and made me
a winner, it is because of my honesty and
the real face that I projected in the show,
Manveer said just after winning the show. Veteran actor Om Puri passed away last year.

Padmavati filmmaker Bhansali on the sets of Padmavati as a direct attack

on freedom of expression in Indias democra-
cy. The film industry has become the softest

assaulted, shooting canceled target for any fringe group looking for media
attention, and we need the strongest possi-
ble intervention from the concerned authori-

T he attack on ace filmmaker Sanjay Lee-

la Bhansali on the sets of his upcoming
film Padmavati in Jaipur by activists of a
Sanjay sir is one of the most accom-
plished and authentic filmmakers we have in
India, and he wont ever do anything to hurt
acceptable. This incident has shocked me.
We need to look deep within as a society, as
a country, as people...where are we headed.
ties to end this and to end it now, he said.
Other Bollywood celebrities like Priyanka
Chopra, Shabana Azmi, Rishi Kapoor, Karan
Rajput organization has left many fraterni- anyones feelings, Ranveer tweeted, while Siddharth Roy Kapur, President of The Film Johar, Mahesh Bhatt, Raza Murad, Ashutosh
ty members appalled. They have demand- Shahid posted: Words do fall short and feel & Television Producers Guild of India Ltd., Gowariker, Alia Bhatt and Hrithik Roshan
ed for a strong action by the government. too little to express feelings. Violence is un- strongly condemned the acts of vandalism have also lent support to Bhansali.
The Karni Sena activists entered the Jai-
garh Fort and assaulted Bhansali, accord-
ing to the police. They even misbehaved
with the crew and criticized the National
Award-winning director for distorting
history in the film about the medieval-era
Delhi ruler Alauddin Khilji, who fell in love
with Rajput queen Padmavati.
He (Bhansali) has packed up and has
said he will never shoot again in Jaipur, a
source said, while adding that now he has
decided to have sets here.
Speaking about the incident, Vivek
Singh of Karni Sena said: We had earlier
requested him (Bhansali) to show us the
script which he did not do. We are against
distorting of historical facts and we know
that he has distorted historical facts.
Karni Sena claimed they have got a big
library. In no book is it written that Alaud-
din Khilji fell in love with Padmavati or he
was her lover, a senior leader from the or-
ganization said. The films lead actors stars
Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Sha-
hid Kapoor have condemned the attack by
tweeting that they are in a state of shock
and are disheartened. Sanjay Leela Bhansali was assaulted by Karni Sena activists.
 18 February 4-10, 2017
FIA celebrates R-Day with
Dance Pe Chance
Plainfield, NJ: AThe Federation of Indian
Associations (FIA-NY, NJ & CT) celebrated
the Republic Day of India on January 28
with its annual signature show, the Dance
Pe Chance, a dance competition for chil-
dren held at Plainfield High School. This
year the competition was attended by 450
kids from 11 dance schools.
Like any Bollywood extravaganza, the
high-octane show featured the glitz and
glamour associated with the songs and
dances of Bollywood.
Different themes including patriotism,
worship of Lord Ganesha, and life at an
American school were featured with techni-
cal perfection and grace. The teachers were
revered for their hard work and dedication
for training their students with much love
and affection. Every performance present-
ed a unique blend of art and culture, high-
lighting a unique dance pattern and form.
The electrifying performance enthralled
Two performances at FIAs annual dance competition for children.
R-Day Celebrations
one and all in the auditorium.
The contest was held in three categories,
minor, junior, and senior. It was astound-
ing to see the teams in minor and junior
categories, performing with utmost poise
and grace, very much like a profession-
al dancer. Arya Dance Academy walked
away with Best of the Best prize, as well as
topping in Minors and Seniors categories.
In Juniors category, Dancing Shiva was ad-
judged No 1. Mamta Narula was the MC for
the evening and Chhavi Dharayan Chair of
Dance Pe Chance.
As per tradition, the new officials of FIA
took the oath of office during the event.
Andy Bhatia (President); Srujal Parikh (Ex-
ecutive Vice President); Alok Kumar (Vice
President); Chhavi Dharayan (Secretary); Ja-
tin Patel (Joint Secretary); Himanshu Bhatia
(Treasurer) and Anand Patel (Immediate Past
President). Deputy Consul General Dr. Manoj
Kumar Mohapatra administered the oath.
President Pranab Mukherjee witnesses Beating Retreat ceremony at Vijay
Chowk in New Delhi on Jan 29, 2017. (Photos: IANS)
R-Day celebrations
end with magical
music at dusk
New Delhi: An ecstatic mix of performanc-
es, dominated primarily by Indian composi-
tions of patriotic fervor and marked by foot-
tapping drumbeats and calming chimes, was
seen on Sunday evening at Beating Retreat
Ceremony that marks the culmination of the
annual Republic Day celebrations.
There were exhilarating performances
like Mera Mulq, Mera Desh, Mera yeh
Vatan, performed by an army band. Jai
Bharati was another spectacular rendition
which surfaced during a well co-ordinated
march past. The drum rolls that set the on-
set of Call of the Heart saw the audience
cheering in their best spirits.
The re-creation of Admirals Ensignia
was again a change from the traditional
performances. Displaying a dash of late
pop star Michael Jackson, the contingent
moon-walked backwards and ended in a
symbolic sword-fighting pageant. They
returned back to foot-tapping with drum
rolls, swaying their heads right and left to
create a fervor never seen before.
The arrival of the flute players after Jai
Bharati performance was a high-point of the
evening as the crowds resumed to a throbbing
silence to witness the magic that they created.
Even as the Call of the Heart took centre-
stage, the healing sound of the flute continued
to mesmerize the visitors in the background.
A view of illuminated Raisina Hill during Beating
Retreat ceremony in New Delhi.
While these changes from the traditional
practices may have created an atmosphere
of euphoria immediately, the evergreen
Abide with Me was a nostalgic ride down
the memory lane.
The soulful hymn brought the proceed-
ings to an end before the Retreat was sound-
ed, the tricolor lowered and the massed
bands marched up Raisina Hill to the strains
of Sare Jahan Se Aachha. And as its strains
fades in the distance, thousands of light
bulbs came alight on Rashtrapati Bhavan,
the North and South Blocks, the Parliament
House complex and adjacent buildings.
Earlier in the day, the arrival of the pres-
ident in the traditional buggy, escorted
by his 46 bodyguards and the ceremonial
contingent from Rashtrapati Bhavan to Vi-
jay Chowk was a sight to behold, one that
resonated perfectly with the atmosphere
of anticipation in the hundreds of visitors.
The president was welcomed by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and the chiefs of
the three wings of armed forces.
A total of Military Bands, 16 Pipes and
Drums Bands from various Army Regimen-
tal Centres and Battalions participated in
Beating the Retreat ceremony. Besides one
each of Indian Navy and Indian Air Force, a
band of the BSF, CRPF and Delhi Police too
participated in the magical musical evening.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Trump's 'Buy American',
Modi's 'Make in India'
can boost each other
By Arul Louis
New York: Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
'Make in India' and Trumps Buy American
are not mutually exclusive because trade
need not be a zerosum game, according to
Shalabh Kumar, founder of the Republican
Hindu Coalition (RHC).
A harder line by Trump to stem the huge
trade surplus with China and correct Beijing's
unequal terms of trade will provide India with
an opportunity to fill the void by exporting
more manufactured goods, Kumar told IANS.
"Increasing trade between the United States
and India is my passion," he said and asserted
that balanced trade can help both countries
increase their exports to each other and cre
ate jobs and boost investments.
He said that he expects the trade between
India and the US that is over $100 billion
now to rise to at least $300 billion by the end
of Trump's current term and to $1 trillion in
the four years after that in "Trump's second
term".
The policies of Trump and Modi to give pri
ority to their respective country's job growth
and investment does not mean a freeze or a
shutout of trade with the other nation, Kumar
said. Both countries have mutual needs and
the US can increase exports of equipment in
the defense, energy, nuclear and technology
areas and India can grow its exports of servic
Jugaad is but a small, first step towards innovation
By Saket Suman
New Delhi: India has done much to create
innovative business models and processes but
needs to increasingly focus on social issues
like health, education and sanitation, says
Kiran Karnik, widely recognized for promot
ing Brand India, especially by showcasing
India's technological strength to the world,
adding that the key lies in finding longterm
solutions.
"We have seen great progress in innovative
business models and processes, especially in
technologyrelated areas. We need to focus
more on the social areas, where innovation is
direly needed: education, health and sanita
tion, in particular," Karnik, a former Nasscom
president, told IANS in an interview.
"Innovations in urban management includ
ing water, sanitation, public transport and
housing are also necessary as urbanization
accelerates and with the expected huge
growth in cities in the coming decades,"
added Karnik, who served for two decades in
ISRO followed by a decade at the Discovery
TV channel. At the same time, he noted that
much of the focus is on immediate problems.
"This is not a bad thing, but we do need to
focus on longrun issues too. Investment in
R&D and institutional support structures are
necessary for this. Both the government and
INDIA FEATURES
es and manufactured products. If trade
increases bilaterally, it will create more jobs
in the US and in India, he said. A big donor,
Kumar personally gave $898,000 to the
Trump Victory fund, a joint program of the
Trump campaign, the Republican National
Committee and state organizations to help his
election effort. He is on Trump's transition
committee for finance and the inaugural com
mittee.
At the Candlelight Dinner held on the eve of
the presidential inauguration for major
donors and VIPs, Trump spent 20 minutes
with the Kumar family and RHC members,
Kumar said. The highlevel event was the
main inaugural eve event and took place at
the same time as the more general Asian
Kiran Karnik, a former Nasscom presidents
latest book "Crooked Minds: Creating an
Innovative Society" (Rupa) looks at the
idea of innovation and its relevance for
companies in today's day and age.,
the private sector need to invest far more in
research. Also, useful institutional mecha
nisms like the National Innovation Council
need to be revived," said Karnik, who has
served on many key and high level govern
ment committees, including the Scientific
Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and
the National Innovation Council, and these
days is mostly involved with educational and
civilsociety organizations.
"Despite our innate innovative DNA (where
else do you see the scale of diversity+adversi
ty that you see in India?), we have not wit
Pacific American Presidential Inaugural Gala.
Anika Arora, a cofounder of the RHC, said
that when Trump met them at the dinner, he
thanked the organization for mobilizing vot
ers, especially in the crucial swing states,
resulting in the "great culmination" of the
campaign with his election. "He acknowl
edged our efforts in getting the community to
turn out in large numbers to vote for him,"
she said.
Trump also introduced the RHC to his cabi
net nominees and told them about the role of
its leadership to get the vote out for him, she
added. For the Inauguration We lcome
Concert held earlier, RHC arranged for a
Bollywood performance led by the actress
and supermodel Manasvi Mamgai at which
nessed too many innovations in India.
However, this is fast changing, as societal
norms change. Today, young people are more
willing to follow their passions, to take risks
and to confront possible failure all neces
sary ingredients for an innovative society.
This is aided by easier availability of capital,
mentorship and guidance, as well as the
opportunities to begin innovative ventures
with little cash and much intellectual capital,"
added Karnik.
His latest book "Crooked Minds" (Rupa)
looks at the idea of innovation, its relevance
for companies in today's day and age,
whether innovation leads to concrete benefits
or not, and why it is necessary for organiza
tions, governments and even individuals to
constantly innovate. Putting forward his
mantra for the success of Indian startups like
their global counterparts, Karnik said: "We
need to do a lot to make our environment
(beginning with school education) more inno
vationfriendly. This includes both the broad
er societal environment as well as within
organizations." Karnik is fascinated by Indian
jugaad, which finds sufficient mention in his
book. Yet, jugaad and innovation are not the
same. "Innovation is something that marks a
radical departure: essentially, something very
new or dif ferent. Importantly, it provides a
better (cheaper/quicker/higherquality) solu
February 4-10, 2017 19
Trump's three high-level
appointments of Indian
Americans and Hindus to
the administration and
two to the senior White
House positions showed
his commitment to
keeping his word that the
community would have
a friend in him in the
White House, says
Shalabh Kumar,
founder of RHC.
Mika Singh made a special appearance.
Trump's three highlevel appointments of
Indian Americans and Hindus to the adminis
tration and two to the senior White House
positions showed his commitment to keeping
his word that the community would have a
friend in him in the White House, Kumar said.
For the first time, an Indian American, UN
Ambassador Nikki Haley, was appointed to a
cabinetlevel position. Ajit Pai was made the
chairman of the Federal Communication
Commission and Seema Verma the head of
the government health insurance programs,
Medicare and Medicaid. Trump has appointed
lawyer Uttam Dhillon as his special assistant
and associate counsel, and Raj Shah as his
deputy assistant and research director.
Kumar said that Trump's transition team
had asked the RHC for resumes of suitable
candidates for it to review as it goes about
filling the hundreds of jobs in the new admin
istration.
He said that he is scouting for talent and
with better organization and resumematch
ing many more Indian Americans can find
positions in an administration that is open to
the community.
tion to an existing or potential problem, or
opens up altogether new dimensions. Yet, this
has meaning only if it is sustainable, viable
and scalable. It is these elements that differ
entiate innovation from jugaad or improvisa
tion, which are often nonscalable, bandaid
solutions.
"T he mantra of more (good) for less
(resources) for more (people), or MLM is not
necessarily the same as jugaad. MLM gives
rise to such innovations as lowcost portable
ECG and ultrasound machines; process inno
vation for heart operations or eyecare. These
and many other examples are way beyond the
mere improvisation which jugaad implies.
Jugaad requires an innovative and creative
mind, but is only a forerunner of true innova
tion a small first step, one might say," he
said. Karnik quipped that adversity and neces
sity stimulate innovation.
"Many factors stimulate innovation.
Undoubtedly, necessity ("the mother of inven
tion") is a major one often brought about by
adversity. Diversity is, to me, another major
driver. "For, diversity of any kind (be it gen
der, race, caste, culture, language, economic
status, etc.) accustoms us to dif ferences (in
cuisine, dress, appearance, etc.) and, there
fore, "different" thinking too becomes more
acceptable and is not trampled upon or shut
out," he said.
20 February 4-10, 2017 DIASPORA TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Indian-origin mother told to prove lactation at Frankfurt airport

Berlin: A 33yearold Indianorig in
Singaporean woman has said that she was
"humiliated" by airport security in Frankfurt
when was told to squeeze her breast at
Frankfurt airport to prove she was lactating,
a media report said. The woman, a manager
at a transport company who has a three
yearold child and a sevenmonthold baby,
added that she has filed a complaint with
German police.
She told the BBC she was "humiliated" and
"very traumatized" by the experience and
would explore formal legal action.
She said police at Frankfurt Airport were
suspicious because she was carrying a
breast pump but traveling without her baby.
German police declined to comment on the
specific allegations, the report said. But they
said such measures were "clearly" not part
of routine procedure.
The woman, who was traveling alone, said
she was on her way to board a flight to Paris
last Thursday when she was stopped at the
security screening station. She said that
after her carryon bag, which contained her
breast pump, went throug h the Xray
machine, she was taken aside for question
ing. "[They had] an incredulous tone. 'You
are breastfeeding? Then where is your
baby? Your baby is in Singapore?'," she said
about the 45minutue episode.
They kept her passport and she was then
led to a room by a female police officer for
further questioning, she said. Inside the
room, "She asked me to open up my blouse
and show her my breast... She wanted me to
show her by handexpressing a little." The
woman said she complied and squeezed her
breast.
"I was just in shock, I was going through
the motions. I was all by myself as well, and
wasn't sure what would happen to me if they
decided to make trouble for me."
"It was only when I came out of the room
that I began to slowly understand what had
just happened. I just started to cry, I was ter
ribly upset."
She said officials then tested and cleared
the pump before returning her passport, and
she was allowed to board her plane to Paris.
"When they finally cleared me of the mat
ter, I told them that this is not the way to
treat someone. I said 'Do you know what you
just did to me, you made me show my
breast.'
"The officer just said, 'Okay it is over now,
please go.'
Christian Altenhofen, spokesman for the
German federal police unit at Frankfurt
Airport, told the BBC that he could not com
ment on the incident "for reasons of data
protection."
He added: "If a suspected explosive is
detected at an air safety control point, the
baggage and the person must be searched.
The measures you have described for a
breastfeeding mother are clearly not includ
ed." (PTI)

Oxford University faces Jeweler to spend $1 million to

trial over Indian student's
'boring' teaching lawsuit
London: Oxford University has
been directed to face trial after an
Indianorigin student sued the var
sity for "hopelessly bad" and "bor
ing" teaching which allegedly
resulted in him getting a second
class degree and in turn led to loss
of earnings in his career as a
lawyer. The worldfamous univer
sity had applied to the High Court
in London to dismiss the claim by
Faiz Siddiqui but in an 18page
judgement by Justice Kerr last
week the court ruled that Oxford
does have a case to answer, 'The
Sunday Times' reported.
Siddiqui, who studied modern
history at Brasenose College at the
university, accuses its staf f of
"negligent" teaching of his special
ist subject course on Indian impe
rial history, which led to him get
ting a 2:1 back in 2000.
T he 38yearold's barrister
Roger Mallalieu had told the court
that the problem came down to
four of the seven staf f teaching
Asian history being on sabbatical
leave at the same time during the
19992000 academic year.
Siddiqui believes he could have
had a highflying career as an
international commercial lawyer if
he had not got lower grades and
decided to take the legal route,
which came to light last month.
His legal team had singled out
the "boring" standard of tuition
that Siddiqui had received from
David Washbrook, an expert on
Faiz Siddiqui sued the varsity for
hopelessly bad teaching
(Image courtesy: mirchi9.com)
the history of southern India
between the 18th and 20th cen
turies.
Mallalieu claimed that the emi
nent historian's teaching had suf
fered from the "intolerable" pres
sure of the staff shortages on the
course.
"There is no personal criticism of
Dr Washbrook. Our target is on
the university's back for allowing
this to happen,"Mallalieu told the
court. Professor Alan Smithers, an
education expert at Buckingham
University, told the newspaper:
"This is a test case and in future
universities will have to ensure
that what they do stands up to crit
ical inspection in the courts. In the
past, universities have been quite
cavalier about the quality of their
teaching.
"If Mr Siddiqui wins, this will
open the door to a flood of other
students who do not think they got
the degree they deserved because
of issues about the teaching they
received." (PTI)
help prisoners in Dubai
Dubai: A Dubaibased Indian
businessman has pledged to
spend $1 million (3.8 million
dirhams) to help free prisoners,
including Indians, who are
behind the bars in the UAE due
to nonpayment of debts.
As the first step in this initia
tive, Firoz Merchant, founder and
chairman of Pure Gold Jewelers,
paid 150,000 dirhams for the
release of 132 prisoners from
Ajman Central jail.
The fund will be used to help
those who are behind the bars
due to nonpayment of debt or
overstaying in the jail despite
completing their terms as they
do not have money to return
Mauritius PM steps
down, son to take over
Port Louis: Mauritius is set to
have a new Prime Minister on
Monday, two days after the 86
yearold Indianorigin Anerood
Jugnauth resigned and handed
over the post to his son.
Pravind Jugnauth, 50, leader of
the main political party Militant
Socialist Movement (MSM), has
already formed his ministerial
cabinet after receiving an
appointment letter from
President Ameenah GuribFakim,
reported news channe l
Africanews. In a te levised
address, Anerood Jugnauth said
he was resigning in favor of a
"younger and more dynamic
leader." His son is currently the
Finance Minister.
Firoz Merchant
home. These prisoners are from
India, Indonesia, Pakistan,
Philippines, Uzbe kistan,
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal,
Ethiopia, Syria, Yemen, Oman
and Ghana.
"These people are unfortunate
Indian-origin journalist becomes
chancellor of UK university
London: An Indianorigin broadcast
journalist has been appointed as the
new Chancellor of the University of
Central Lancashire (UCLan) in
northwest England at a special cer
emony.
Ranvir Singh, 39, becomes the
third Chancellor of the university in
Preston, the city she grew up in and
completed a postgraduate Diploma
in Broadcast Journalism from in
2000. "I am immensely proud to
accept the University's of fer of
becoming its new Chancellor. I am
Preston born and bred, I studied for
my postgraduate degree in journal
ism in London and the experience
helped to shape me and my career,"
victims of circumstances and are
not real criminals. They have
ended up in jail because of debt
related cases and I want to do my
best to send them back to their
families," Merchant said.
Besides air tickets, Merchant's
office is also giving 100 dirhams
equivalent of local currency so
that the released inmate reaches
home safely.
"Most of these prisoners told us
that once they land in their home
countries, they will need public
transport to reach their villages.
It only made sense to give them
some petty cash so that they
manage the last leg of their jour
ney," he said. (IANS)
Ranvir Singh
(Image : asian
image.co.uk)
Singh said in a statement after tak
ing charge. "In fact, had this cere
mony been on any other day I'd
have been covering Donald Trump's
inauguration in Washington," Singh
said. Singh is a wellknown broad
cast journalist in the UK, with a reg
ular on ITV channel's news shows.
She also presents her own prime
time series for ITV, 'Real Stories
with Ranvir Singh.' (PTI)
TheSouthAsianTimes.info SUBCONTINENT February 4-10, 2017 21

Afghanistan govt open to Massive protests in Pak

talks with Taliban: Envoy
Islamabad: Afghanistan's top envoy to Pakistan Omar Zakhilwal said his
government was open to unconditional peace negotiations with the
over Haz Saeed's arrest
Taliban group. "We are in contact with the Lahore: Hundreds of supporters
Qatar office and also a number of influential of arrested JamatudDawah
individual Taliban leaders and commanders founder Hafiz Saeed staged
but there are no formal negotiations," the protests across major cities of
Afghan ambassador told Xinhua in Pakistan, including Lahore and
Islamabad. The remarks came after foreign Islamabad, against the govern
and Afghan media reported senior Afghan ment's decision to place the
officials had met the Taliban political repre 2008 Mumbai terror attacks
Zakhilwal said Afghan sentatives in Qatar. The Afghan government alleged mastermind under house
govt is trying to pave and the Taliban have not of ficially com arrest.
the way for talks. mented on the reports. "Taliban could bring Following the Pakistan govern
any proposal to the negotiating table but we ment's crackdown against the
have ruled out preconditions for talks," Zakhilwal said, when asked JuD, Saeed was detained by the
about the Taliban's certain conditions ahead of the talks. Punjab police at his residence in
Lahore's Johar Town. His organi
Standoff between Prachanda, zat ion took out protests in
almost all major cities, and raised
Madhesis continues in Nepal slogans against India and the US.
T he act ion comes as the
The Pakistan Army termed Saeed's arrest a policy decision.
Kathmandu: Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' Donald Trump administration
held another round of inconclusive talks with the Nepali Congress and has announced visa curbs on national conspiracy aimed at sab taining to listing and proscrip
the Madhesi Morcha as the Morcha said a seven Muslimmajority countries otaging the Kashmir struggle," he tion of known terrorist entities
firm no to local body polls before broad and placed Pakistan under said. and individuals must be ef fec
based constitutional amendments. "extreme vetting". "This is the wish of (Indian PM tively and sincerely enforced by
T he Morcha alleges that the Prime In a video message issued Narendra) Modi, at the prompt all member states," Swarup said
Minister has repeatedly failed to keep his before his arrest, Saeed blamed ing of (US President Donald) in a statement in New Delhi.
promises made to them while assuming the bonhomie between Prime Trump, and the government's In 2012, the US placed a $10
of fice in August last year. "It has been Minister Narendra Modi and US helplessness." million bounty for information
almost six months that he has been in President Donald Trump for the The Indian Ministry of External leading to the arrest and convic
Consultations held at PM power, but he has not been able to amend latest action, and slammed the Affairs, however, did not appear tion of Saeed, who is also the
Prachanda's residence the Constitution to address the demands of Nawaz Sharif government for its very convinced at Saeed's deten founder of the terror g roup
were inconclusive. various groups and communities, including "helplessness". tion. MEA spokesperson Vikas LashkareTaiba.
those based on federal demarcation, lan Saeed also asked his followers Swarup urged the Nawaz Sharif The United Nations and the
guage and citizenship, among others, to make the constitution more to raise the issue of Kashmir dur government for a "credible crack United States have listed the JuD
broadbased," a Morcha leader charged. The parties could not reach an ing Kashmir Solidarity Day, down on the mastermind of the as a front for the Le T. Both
agreement in the nearly twohour consultations held at Prachanda's res observed every year in Pakistan Mumbai terrorist attack and ter organizations, as well as Saeed as
idence. Several rounds of talks have taken place since Prachanda came on February 5, and said that he rorist organizations involved in an individual, are under interna
to power, but progress has always eluded such deliberations. In the was not afraid of being arrested. cross border terrorism". tional sanctions. The Pakistan
meeting, Prachanda proposed to take forward the issues of constitution "I believe that this (arrest) is "India has long maintained that Army termed Saeed's arrest "a
al amendment and elections to the local bodies, simultaneously. not aimed at me, but is an inter the UNSC 1267 provisions per policy decision".

US feared Pak may give China access to its weapons

New Delhi: The United States has for long
Pakistan purchased 45 F-16 multi-role feared that Pakistan, its cold war ally, will
breach the trust and pass on its defense
fighter aircraft, considered one of the technology and weapons to China, a
declassified CIA report said.
best in the world, from the US in the 80s. This betrays the common perception
that Pakistan betrayed United States and
hosted Osama bin Laden, who was killed
by US marines in Abottabad in Pakistan
in 2011.
Even at the peak of bilateral relations
during the 80s, the United States was cer
tain that Pakistan will give China unau
thorized access to American weapons and
technology, the 1983 report declassified
by the Directorate of Intelligence, Central
Intelligence Agency (CIA), said.
"Major strains in relations with the
United States over the nuclear issue or
new disputes on arms agreement could
undermine Islamabad's confidence in the
United States and threaten the security
relationship, possibly causing Pakistan to
share US weapons or technology with
China," the report said.
Realizing the transactional nature of
the USPakistan relationship, the report
The USPakistan relation was at its peak in 80s. says: "We believe Pakistan will probably
safeguard the new US arms it receives to
protect the arms supply relationship
unless major strains develop in relations
with the United States."
"Even if USPakistani relations remain
strong, however, there is a risk that China
at some point w ill g ain access to
Pakistan's US arm given the intimacy of
Pakistan's ties to China."
Accepting the strength and depth of the
ChinaPakistan relationship, the report
notes: "Pakistan still considers its rela
tions with China more durable than those
with the US."
"The resolution last winter of the ALR
69 radar warning receiver issue to Zia's
satisfaction and the delivery of the first F
16 has strengthened Islamabad's faith in
the US security relationship," the report
added.
Pakistan purchased 45 F16 multirole
fighter aircraft, considered one of the
best in the world, from the US in the 80s.
The USPakistan relation was at its
peak in 80s and Pakistan was at the fore
front of the USled war ag ainst the
Russian forces in Afghanistan. Pakistan
played an instrumental role in normaliz
ing the diplomatic relations between
China and the US.
22 February 4-10, 2017 INTERNATIONAL TheSouthAsianTimes.info

British Parliament to Will welcome those fleeing

debate Trump's visit
British Prime Minister Theresa May with Donald Trump.
London: Britain's Parliament said
it would debate whether to revoke
US President Donald Trump's invi
tation to a State visit after a peti
tion calling for it to be canceled
garnered almost 1.7 million signa
tures. The debate was scheduled
to take place on February 20,
after the petition, created by
Briton Graham Guest, received
almost seventeen times the num
ber of signatures it needed to
qualify as a topic for parliamen
tary consideration.
"Donald Trump should be
allowed to enter the UK in his
capacity as head of the US
Government, but he should not be
invited to make an of ficial State
visit because it would cause
embarrassment to Her Majesty
the Queen," said the petition state
ment, referring to Elizabeth II.
The petition was launched in
response to Trump's controversial
executive order to withhold US
visas from the citizens of seven
Muslimmajority nations.
Another petition in favor of
Trump's State visit also surpassed
100,000 signatories.
British Prime Minister Theresa
May invited the newlyappointed
US president to visit Britain fol
lowing a visit to the White House.
She was the first foreign leader
to visit Trump since he took office
on January 20.
terror, war: Canadian PM
Ottawa: Canadian Prime Minister
Justin Trudeau has extended his
country's welcome to refugees
after US President Donald Trump
issued an executive order banning
people from seven countries from
entering the US.
"To those fleeing persecution,
terror and war, Canadians will wel
come you, regardless of your faith.
Diversity is our strength," Trudeau
tweeted on Saturday.
He followed it up by tweeting a
photo of himself greeting a young
Syrian refugee.
Trump signed an executive order
which prohibits citizens of Iran,
Iraq, Sudan, Somalia, Syria, Yemen
and Libya from entering the US in
the coming three months, and also
bans refugees from Syria indefi
nitely.
Trump said the order would help
protect Americans from terrorist
attacks.
Canada was caught up in the
executive order because of some
Canadian dual citizens.
The Canadian government didn't
immediately offer any direct com
ment after the US State
Department confirmed that dual
citizens of the af fected countries
would not be allowed to enter the WestJet has been informed by
US over the next several months. US Customs and Border Protection
Bijan Ahmadi, president of the (CBP) that the ban did not apply to
Iranian Canadian Congress, said dual citizens who had passports
he's outraged by the new policy. from countries other than those
"It's unacceptable. It's very covered by the ban against the
unreasonable," he said. "It's very seven countries.
discriminatory to target people "US CBP has confirmed it is the
based on their race, their religion, citizenship document they present
the country of their origin and the to enter the country, not the coun
country of their birth. And the try of where they were
community has that same born," the TV quot
outrage." ed a spokesper
Canada's WestJet son of WestJet
Airlines said it turned as saying.
back a passenger bound Air Canada,
for the US on Saturday in the country's
order to comply with the other major air
Trump executive order, line, said it was
adding that it will give complying with the
full refunds to anyone order.
affected by the US execu
tive order, according to
Canada TV.
Canadian PM Justin Trudeau avoided directly criticizing Trump.

New Zealand criticizes Will never use ballistic missiles

Trump's immigration ban
Wellington: New
on another nation: Iran
Zealand's Prime Tehran: Iran's Foreign Minister The Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Minister Bill English Mohammad Javad Zarif said that Action signed in 2015, saw the
voiced his opposition Iran will never use ballistic mis Islamic Republic agree to down
to the US President siles to attack other nations, nor scale its nuclear program in
Donald Trump's immi will it produce nuclear warheads, exchange for the alleviation of
gration ban, while his but it reserves the right to self international sanctions.
Australian counter defense. That deal was struck between
part Malcolm Giving a press conference, along Iran, the European Union and the
Turnbull declined to side his French counterpart Jean P5+1 group (the permanent mem
speak publicly on the Marc Ayrault, Zarif said that the bers of the United Nations Security
issue. missiles aren't part of the nuclear Council the United States,
accords. Zarif said Iran reserves the right Britain, Russia, France and China
"We disagree with
"Iran will never use missiles pro to self defense. plus Germany).
it, and we wouldn't
implement it," English duced in Iran to attack any other quoted him as saying. Responding earlier, NATO
told New Zealand's country. No Iranian missiles have Zarif was responding to interna SecretaryGeneral Jens Stoltenberg
TVNZ network, New Zealand's Prime Minister Bill English. been produced to carry nuclear tional reports that Iran had recent said the Alliance was investigating
adding that he hopes warheads," Xinhua news agency ly carried out ballistic missile tests. the incident.
to have the opportunity to talk have frank advice to give to an
about the issue with Trump. American President, I give it Mexico, US to play protest football Trump's decisions pose 'serious
"We're not scared of anything. private ly, as goo d friends
What I'm concerned about is should, as wise prime ministers
tourney against border wall risk' to world trade order: France
Mexico City: Mexican and US football teams will play Paris: The decisions of US President Donald Trump's
the reassurance to people in do." Turnbull also announced
a tournament in protest of the wall that US President administration "pose a serious risk to the world trade
New Zealand mig rants, that Australians w ith dual
Donald Trump plans to build along the border of the order", a French minister has said. French Minister of
refugees that this is not a nationality Australia and one
two nations, a media report said. Mexican sports Economy and Finance Michel Sapin made the remarks
track we are going to go down of the seven countries will not
daily Medio Tiempo said on its website that no date here on Tuesday on the subject of commercial openness.
and we do not want them to be affected by the controversial
has yet been fixed for the aptlynamed 'The Bridge When the future of international trade is increasingly
feel agitated, upset or worried immigration ban.
Tournament'. However, it added that "the invitations being questioned and trade openness causes dissatisfac
that we could in any way follow "What is important for me to
have already been sent out" to the participating tion, "we are facing today a new wind of contestation of
this kind of policy." do as Australian prime minister
teams from the countries' frontier regions. The event the benefits of commercial openness", Sapin said. He said
Australian Prime Minister is to deliver for Australians,"
would pit three teams from each nation, including this challenge leads in particular the US "to take unilateral
Malcolm Turnbull declined to said Turnbull, who has been
Tamaulipas Autonomous University (UAT) team protectionist decisions that could destabilize the global
speak out publicly against the criticized for not emulating
Correcaminos, Tampico Madero FC and Reynosa FC economy as a whole". "Unexpectedly, it is China who
ban and said only in a brief other world leaders regarding
from Mexico, against US sides Houston Dynamo, FC poses as a defender of free trade on the international
press conference that "when I the immigration ban.
Dallas and Rio Grande Valley FC Toros. scene against the American withdrawal," Sapin said.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Tax sops, more money for welfare: Jaitley
New Delhi: Hoping for a 17per cent
growth in taxes revenues, Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget
201718, offering more money for welfare
schemes, minor tax sops for individuals
and small firms, with a fiscal deficit of 3.2
per cent of GDP.
In his fourth budget as Finance Minister
presented in the Lok Sabha, Jaitley also
made some farreaching changes in politi
cal funding, placing a cap of Rs 2,000 on
the donation which any party can receive
from one source in cash.
The budget, which pegs the total expen
diture for 201718 at Rs 21.47 lakh crore
with a 25.4 per cent jump in capitalside
outlay continued with the government's
fo cus on curbing black money by
limiting cash transactions to less than
Rs 300,000.
In his 110minute budget presentation,
Jaitley also assured a law to confiscate the
assets of fugitive economic offenders.
On demonetization, he said, it will have
substantial longterm benefits and spur
growth, and added that with the current
pace of remonetization, the impact will not
spill over to the next year.
Apart from the sops and substantial
increase in allocation on affordable hous
ing, jobguarantee scheme, agriculture sec
tor, and the rural economy in general,
Jaitley also sought to hike the defense
budget for the next fiscal by 10 per cent to
Rs 2.74 lakh crore.
Opposition slams budget, Modi terms it historic
New Delhi: Opposition parties slammed the
Union Budget as a "damp squib", "procor
porate" and "hopeless" while the ruling
party leaders, including Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, hailed it as "historic" and
reflective of the government's aim to boost
investment and employment.
T he Cong ress, Samajwadi Party,
Trinamool Congress, Janata DalUnited and
Communist Party of IndiaMarxist were
among the parties which criticized the
budget presented by Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley in the Lok Sabha.
In his reaction to the budget, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi said that maxi
mum emphasis has been given to farmers,
villages, poor, dalit and the underprivileged
sections of the society.
"This budget is associated with our aspi
rations, our dreams and in a way depicts
our future. This is the future of our new
generation, the future of our farmers.
When I say future, it has a meaning in each
of its letters," Modi said. He said the budget
BUSINESS
Federal Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on way to Parliament to present the
General Budget 201718. (Photo: Amlan Paliwal/IANS)
Finance Miniser said the
budget has 10 distinct themes:
Farmers, rural populat ion,
youth, the poor, infrastructure,
financial Sector, digital econo
my, delivery of public service,
prudent fiscal management and
a tax administration that honors
the honest.
will give new strength to the economy and
reflects commitment to eliminate corrup
tion and black money.
Congress VicePresident Rahul Gandhi
told reporters outside Parliament that the
budget did not address key issues like job
creation and agrarian distress.
"We were expecting fireworks, instead
got a damp squib. T he budget lacked
vision," Gandhi said.
West Beng al Chie f Minister and
Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata
Banerjee said the budget lacked any direc
tion.
"The budget is clueless, useless, baseless,
missionless, actionless and heartless. No
roadmap for the country or the future from
a government that has lost all its credibili
ty," she said in a tweet.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in
Patna that the budget has disappointed the
people. Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu
Prasad said the budget was antipoor, anti
farmer and antiyouth.
He said the budget has 10 dist inct
themes: Farmers, rural population, youth,
the poor, infrastructure, financial Sector,
digital economy, delivery of public service,
prudent fiscal management and a tax
administration that honors the honest.
The total allocation for the rural, agricul
ture and allied sectors has been hiked by
24 per cent to Rs 1,87,223 crore, and
infrastructure status has been accorded to
af fordable housing so that it can avail of
"We were expecting fireworks, instead got a damp squib," said Rahul Gandhi.
February 4-10, 2017 23
the associated benefits such as lowcost
project loans.
The latest exercise was the first time the
date of presentation was advanced by
nearly a month, even as it coopted the
Railway Budget into it, abandoning the
practice that was started in 1924. The allo
cation for Railways was hiked by 20 per
cent.
For individual tax payers, the tax rate for
the slab between Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 5 lakh
has been cut to 5 per cent from 10 per
cent, while a 10 per cent surcharge has
been kept for those with annual income of
between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore.
For those with higher income, the 15 per
cent surcharge remains.
As regards small and medium enterpris
es, those with a turnover of less than Rs 50
crore will have to pay a tax of 25 per cent,
against 30 percent. The tax rates for larger
corporates have been le ft large ly
untouched.
The Finance Minister also did not tinker
much with indirect taxes, though items like
cashew nuts, cigarettes, bidis, pan masala
and even mobile phones could become
dearer.
He extended the concession on interest
earned by entities in external commercial
borrowings or in bonds by two years and
included rupee bonds in this category.
Much to the relief of investors, he left the
capital gains, securities transaction tax and
other market levies also unchanged.
24 February 4-10, 2017
Leggie Chahal's 6/25 derails England in third T20
Bengaluru: Legspinner
Yuzvendra Chahal's maiden five
w icket haul turned things
around for India as the hosts
beat England by 75 runs in the
third and final Twenty20
International to clinch the series
21 at the M.Chinnaswamy
Stadium here.
Chasing a mammoth 203,
England were on track till the
13th over, scoring 119/2 before
Chahal's magical spell (6/25) put
the visitors on the backfoot as
they surrendered meekly to lose
their last eight wickets for just
eight runs and end on 127.
Eng land started we ll w ith
opener Jason Roy (32) and Joe
Root (42) putting on 47 runs for
the second wicket before Root
combined w ith skipper Eoin
Morgan (40) and added 64 runs
for the third wicket to put them
in a commanding position.
But thereafter it was Chahal all
the way, who triggered a collapse
by sending back Morgan and
Root of f consecutive deliveries
before pacer Jasprit Bumrah
(3/14) added to their woes by
striking in the very next over to
dismiss wicketkeeperbatsman
Vinod Rai
& Co meet
BCCI
officials on
IPL 2017
Mumbai: The Supreme Court
appointed Committee of
Administrators (CoA) met
Indian cricket board BCCI offi
cials to take sto ck of the
urgent and important matters
mainly concerning the suc
cessful conduct of the Indian
Premier League (IPL).
"The CoA has issued direc
tions that the existing process
es for availing the services and
the appointment of the ven
dors for IPL will continue for
this season," BCCI said in a
statement.
The CoA, comprising former
Comptroller and Auditor
General (CAG) Vino d Rai,
Ramachandra Guha, Vikram
Limaye and Diana Edulji,
assured the franchisees and all
the stakeholders that all the
IPL preparat ions w ill be
promptly dealt with under the
supervision and directions of
the CoA by the BCCI/IPL man
agement team, according to
the release. The IPL opera
tional timelines for the 2017
season will be communicated
shortly by the BCCI/IPL man
agement team.
India has taken an unassailable 20 lead in the series.
Jos Buttler (0). England's bats
men were in such a hurry that it
hardly took Chahal another over
to take three more wickets of
Ben Stokes (6), Moeen Ali (2) and
Chris Jordan (0) and dash any
Federer overcomes Nadal to reign
in Australian Open
Melbourne: Roger Federer has won
his fifth Australian Open title and
18th overall major crown, defeating
Rafael Nadal 64, 36, 61, 36, 63 Australian Open.
at the Rod Laver Arena here.
Federer extended his lead over
Nadal in the alltime major wins list
to four with his first Melbourne
Park crown since 2010, and his
first major singles title win since
Wimbledon 2012, reports
ausopen.com.
The Swiss, who will rise to No.10
in the world with the victory,
earned his first win over Nadal in
four meetings at the Australian
Open, and won just his third major
final over the Spaniard in nine
attempts. The win snapped a six
match losing streak to Nadal in
Grand Slam play. Before Sunday
night, Federer's most recent major
win over his great rival came in the
Wimbledon final of 2007.
Federer has become the first man
in history to win five or more titles
at three dif ferent Grand Slam
events.
Federer hit 73 winners, including
20 aces, and won 76 per cent of his
first service points for victory in
three hours and 37 minutes. Nadal
committed 28 unforced errors
29 fewer than Federer.
T he Swiss, who returned
this year after a sixmonth
injury layoff, is now 1223
in their head to head
SPORTS
hopes of a recovery.
Tottering at 127/9, Bumrah
packed back tailender Tymal
Mills (0) to seal the deal in
favour of India. As many as six
English batsmen were dismissed
matches. Allout aggression from
Federer proved decisive in the
match, his 100th match at the
taking advantage of shock week
It was an iconic contest and it
deserved five sets as Federer pre
vailed in three hours and 37 min
utes in an electric atmosphere, ral
lying from a break down in the fifth
set to win the last five games.
The tears of joy flowed freely for
scripted history when she
Federer as the e lectronic eye
reviewed his forehand winner on
match point, ruling it in.
final to become the first
At the age of 35, Federer has
woman to capture 23 Grand
made history by winning his 100th
Australian Open match, and by
Open era here. Serena pre
becoming the second oldest Grand
Slam singles male champion after
the Australian Ken Rosewall, who
won the 1972
Australian
Open at
37.
Roger Federer with his fifth Australian Open title.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Bangladesh eye strong
showing in first-ever Test
Dhaka: Ahead of their oneoff Test against India starting February
9 in Hyderabad, Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim wants to put
up a strong show so as to get frequent invitations for bilateral
series from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Back from a 02 thrashing in Tests against New Zealand, the
Bangladesh captain, played down the importance of match against
India referred to by some as "historic" and wanted his team to
treat it as just another Test.
This is the first time Bangladesh will play a Test in India since
gaining Test status. They played their firstever Test against India
in Dhaka in November 2000.
"I'm a little surprised, I don't believe that this is a historic Test,"
Rahim was quoted as saying by espncricinfo on Thursday, ahead of
the team's departure to India.
"We want to tell world cricket what we can do in India. I don't
think about how many years later we are going to play in India. We
want to play in such a way that India invites (us) again and again.
This to me is just another Test match."
for a duck while only three man Raina's 45ball 63 helped the
aged to reach double figures. hosts set the tone for the mas
Earlier, seasoned campaigners sive total be fore southpaw
Suresh Raina and Mahendra Yuvraj Singh (27) and former
Singh Dhoni struck brilliant half skipper Dhoni (56) finished
centuries to help India post a things off in style as India recov
mammoth 202/6 after being ered from the early loss of cap
sent into bat. tain Virat Kohli (2).
Sheer will and hard work saw
them both find their best level and
bring about a nostalgic final for ten
nis enthusiasts. For Nadal, he has
rise to the occasion in Melbourne, come a long way from crying in the
car on the way back to the hotel
one defeats for No.2 Novak after injury forced him out of the
Djokovic and No.1 Andy Murray to 2016 French Open.
Serena clinches record 23rd Grand Slam title
Melbourne: American tennis
legend Serena Williams
defeated her e lder sister
Venus in the Australian Open
Slam singles titles in the
vailed 64, 64 over Venus to
clinch her seventh Serena Williams with her sister Venus
Australian Open sing les Williams during the award ceremony.
crown at Melbourne Park.
With the victory, Serena moved back to being the World No.1, deposing
Angelique Kerber. She now has won 23 of 29 Grand Slam singles finals.
Coming into the final, Serena was tied with
German icon Steffi Graf for most number
(22) of Grand Slam singles titles in the
Open era. Australian Margaret Court
has the highest number of titles with 24
across the amateur and Open eras. The
Open era began in 1968 when the Grand
Slam tournaments agreed to allow professional
players to compete with amateurs. Before that only
amateurs were allowed to compete in the Grand
Slams.
With this win, 35yearold Serena took a 17
11 lead in career headtohead meetings against
the 36yearold Venus.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Nikoloz A heroic Georgian patriot
Chkheidze
l By Robert Golomb
T
he day April the 9th, 1989
will always remain fixed in
the mind of Nikoloz
Chkheidze. On that day in his native
nation of Georgia, 50,000 peaceful
protesters from this eastern
European country of almost four
and a half million assembled in the
capital city of Tbilisi, calling for
their independence from the Union
of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR /
Soviet Union). Soldiers from that
communist nation, which had held
an iron fist rule over Georgia since
1921, used brute force to disperse
the crowd; the result was the
deaths of 20 protesters and the
injuries of hundreds of others.
Chkheidze, 46, whom I inter
viewed last week, was there that
day witnessing the slaughter. I will
never forget the faces of those mar
tyrs who were killed and the hun
dreds of others who were injured,
he told me. It was through the lens
of a video camera that Chkheidze,
then a 19yearold sophomore in a
sixyear medical school program,
had covertly taken with him to
Tbilisi that was to put a face on
those victims for the world to see.
Chkheidze, who had volunteered for
this mission through a Georgian
resistance group to which he
belonged, chillingly described the
events of the day.
I was standing on a truck provid
ed by the resistance group looking
down at the crowds and soldiers on
the avenue. My goal was to take
videos without being spotted by
Russian soldiers, he explained. But
it didnt turn out as he had planned.
Recalling what happened, he told
me, A soldier placed a machine gun
to my head and another grabbed
the camera from my hand. I was
full of shock and disappointment as
I realized the video was gone.
The story might have ended there,
with the video, about four reels and
nine minutes in all, lost to the
world. But something of a miracle
was to occur. As Chkheidze was to
later learn, the video somehow
wound up in the hands of a Soviet
appointed Georgian intelligence
officer whose sympathies remained
with his native land. That intelli
gence officer, whose identity still
remains unknown, smuggled the
reels to legislators in the Georgia
delegation of the Soviet Parliament
in June of that year.
While that delegation was but a
token body which could have been
dissolved at any time at the will of
the Soviet Union, several of its
members took a courageous action.
Defying the country which had so
unjustly ruled their beloved nation
for 70 years, they reached out to
their Western media contacts and
arranged to have Chkheidzes videos
broadcast on television throughout
the western world.
These videos, playing throughout
the summer of 1989, were consid
ered by many experts in the region
to be an enormous public relations
disaster for the Soviets, whose com
munist system was beginning to
crumble at the time. Reflecting on
the role he and his video played
exposing the events of April 9th,
1989, Chkheidze stated, Those
videos turned out to be a huge
awakening to the world. But videos
can only accomplish so much. There
was much more that still had to be
done.
Much more was, in fact, still to be
done. One day later, citizens
throughout the entire nation went
out on strike, followed by the decla
ration of a 40day period of mourn
ing. In the ensuing days, months
and couple of years there were to
be more strikes as well as days of
national protests.
With their backs now to the wind,
1991 was to be a big year for the
people of Georgia. In a referendum
held on March 31, 99% of its citi
zens voted to become an independ
ent state. Nine days later, on April 9,
the second anniversary of the
slaughter (today universally known
as the Tbilisi Massacre or the Tbilisi
Tragedy), the newly formed
Supreme Council of Georgia pro
claimed the nations sovereignty
and independence from the Soviet
Union. Its citizens soon thereafter
elected their first democratically
chosen president, Zviad
Gamasahurdia. And on December
26, Georgias historical nemesis,
the USSR, formally dissolved, and
every one of the 15 Soviet
Republics became independent
nations. Seeing this new reality, the
United States began to develop key
political ties and important econom
ic influence in Georgia. And there
was to be another sign that Georgia
was on the way to becoming a true
democracy: in 1995, thanks to a
national radio and television station
founded by Chkheidze, Georgians
were receiving their news from a
free press for the first time in the
countrys history. All seemed to be
going in the right direction Our
citizens were filled with euphoria
and optimism, Chkheidze recalled.
When, however, Vladamir Putin
came to power in Russia in 2000,
that euphoria and optimism were to
soon end. Alarmed at the close
INTERNATIONAL
Dr. Chkheidze
leading
Georgian
Parade in
New York.
relationship developing between
Georgia and the West, Putin began
to view Georgia as a threat to
Russian interests in the area. As a
result, over the next eight years the
Russian and Georgian relationship
steadily worsened, eventually dete
riorating into an actual cold war
type struggle.
It was his wish to assist Georgia in
this struggle which later that year
motivated Chkheidze, who had
graduated from medical school in
1995, to immigrate to America and
settle in NYC. I had a great fear
that the Russians under Putin might
sometime in the future decide to
take military action against my
homeland. I became convinced
that I would have greater ability to
work on behalf of Georgia by living
and being based in the most free
country in the world, he explained.
Eight years were to pass before
his great fear became a harsh real
ity. On August 1, 2008, Russia
launched an invasion of Georgia.
Their goal was not to seize control
of the entire nation, but rather to
annex the large provinces of South
Ossetia and Abkhazia; that goal was
accomplished within a few days of
battle, leaving Russia with 20% of
the landmass of Georgia with a
combined population of 400,000.
The annexation was not recognized
by any nation. So I was convinced
that America and the west would
apply pressure to coerce Russia to
allow our two stolen provinces to be
reunited with Georgia, stated
Chkheidze.
That pressure was never to come.
Today, eight years later, Russia,
whose dominance of Georgia
appeared to have ended forever on
December 26th, 1991, controls two
great provinces. All of which leaves
Chkheidze wrestling with a numeri
cally modified form of the prover
bial question Is the glass half full
or half empty? Are we far better
off than we were before we gained
our independence in 1991? Of
course, we are. But with Russia now
controlling two of our historic
provinces, we have suffered a terri
ble setback, he bemoaned.
February 4-10, 2017 25
As a 19-year-old medical
student in 1989, Nikoloz
stealthily shot a video of
soldiers of the then
Soviet Union killing and
maiming Georgians seek-
ing independence. Now
living in New York, he
has continued to be part
of the resistance to the
new threat to his country
from Russia under Putin.
Dr. Chkheidze & Irakli Shikhiashvili, a Georgia politician,
meeting with Rep Dan Donovan.
Referring to Russias 2014 annexa ened the Russians to invade in 2008
tion of Ukrainian Crimea and the that made it imperative to replace
current bloody, albeit undeclared him, he asserted. And there was
and largely unreported war it is another reason for Chkheidze to
waging to gain control of the entire oppose Saakashvilli: in 2007, the
Ukraine, Chkheidze added, When latter deployed the Georgian mili
Putin saw what he could get away tary to break up a series of peaceful
with in Georgia, he became confi protests directed against his gov
dent that he could do the same with ernment. During one of these
Crimea and the entire Ukraine. protests several people were killed
Much has changed in the life of and scores of others were injured.
Chkheidze since coming to America. Blood on the streets. Murder.
He is now married with two young Mayhem. It was like the Russians all
children and, while not currently over again, he lamented. It was a
practicing medicine in the US, he great victory for the people of
works in a high level position in the Georgia to be able to, in a democrat
health care industry. But much has ic election, replace him and his
also remained the same for him. In regime with Margvelashvili.
2003, he founded and became pres If you assumed, though, that
ident of Tvistomi Association, a Chkheidze was fully satisfied with
Georgian /American tristate com that new president, you would be
munity organization. As its presi wrong. There is still much more his
dent, he has kept a careful eye and administration needs to do on the
at times been directly involved with international political front to con
the political development of the cur vince the west to use their influence
rent 80% independent sphere of to coerce Russia to return South
Georgia. Since electing its first pres Ossetia and Abhhazia to Georgia.
ident, Zviad Gamsakhurdia (1991 T here is one thing of which
1992), Georgia has changed presi President Margvelashvilli can be
dents three times: Eduard assured: A video maker/doctor/
Shevardnadze (1992 20003); patriot will be in New York City
Mikhal Saakashvili (2004 2013); carefully monitoring the events in
Giorgi Margvelashvili (2013 pres Georgia from 5,500 miles away.
ent). It was to be a leader in the
campaign to replace the former Robert Golomb is a nationally and
with the latter that brought internationally published columnist.
Chkheidze temporarily back to Email him at MrBob347@aol.com
Georgia he stated, in 2013. It was and follow him on Twitter@Robert
his weak leadership that embold Golomb
26 February 4-10, 2017 FEATURES TheSouthAsianTimes.info

India a civilization with a future, Pakistan

an abstract idea: Writer Tarek Fatah
By Mohd Asim Khan
New Delhi: Pakistanborn
Canadian writer Tarek Fatah (he
objects to being called a
Pakistani) is offending and enter
taining in equal measure.
From Partition to the interpre
tation of Islam, he has views that
verge on the extreme, and even
when speaking on serious topics
he glides from the somber to the
ludicrous, blurting out profanities
now and breaking into a childlike
giggle the next moment. At times
he contradicts himself.
Such is the charm of the man
that you may disagree with him
on all that he is saying, but you
just can't dislike him. T his is
because whatever he says has
that tinge of sincerity you can't
ignore, even if it is outright con
troversial.
For example, he said communal
riots in India would not happen if
Indian Muslims forgo their per
sonal law, and objects to names
like Taimur (as Bollywood actor
Saif Ali Khan has named his son)
and Aurangzeb.
Fatah is proud of his roots in
India and his Hindu ancestry. He
eulogizes the great Indian civiliza
t ion and calls Pakistan an
"abstract idea". But his snide
Pakistan born Canadian author
remarks are not reserved only for
Pakistanis or Muslims; he also
takes India's Hindu right to task
over love jihad and their per
ceived fondness for Hitler.
"India is a civilization that has a
past and a future, the only one to
have that. In spite of being
assaulted and attacked and plun
dered over a thousand years, it
has risen up again," Fatah, whose
books include "Chasing a Mirage:
The Tragic Illusion of an Islamic
State" (2008) and "The Jew Is Not
My Enemy: Unveiling the Myths
that Fuel Muslim AntiSemitism"
(2010), told IANS in an interview.
"On the other hand, Pakistan is
not a nation, it's just a state of
mind. There is no such people as
'Pak', like we have Afghans in
Afg hanistan, Kazakhs in India. "W hy should Pakistan
Kazakhstan and Balo chs in merge with India. Bhutan is an
Balochistan. Where are the Pak independent country; so why not
people?" he asked. Balochsitan or Sindh? What is this
Fatah insisted that the idea of obsession with territories? It's a
Pakistan ended in 1971 when the very feudal concept," he said.
"majority of its people said we do Althoug h he be lieves that
not want Pakistan and created Balochistan and Sindh should be
Bangladesh". independent countries, he dis
Asked why he doesn't like to be misses separatist movements
called a Pakistani, Fatah said: within India such as that for
"India is a republic rooted in Khalistan or Azad Kashmir or
5,000 years of Indus Valley civi Bodoland as "ideas drawn up in
lization, the other (Pakistan) is a Pakistan's boardrooms".
concoction of hatred. Pakistan is On Kashmir, he said that
merely a military enterprise for although the Kashmiris fit his def
the jihadis." init ion of a nat ion, like the
Fatah went on to say that all the Balochs, they can't be given inde
proponents of Pakistan were pendence as "Kashmiris them
"Hindu hate mongers", including se lves opted to join India in
the celebrated Urdu poet Allama 1947".Fatah also has an objection
Iqbal. to Indian Muslims naming their
"Iqbal's ancestors were Hindus children after kings and Sultans
but he was a Hindu hater. He such as Aurangzeb and Taimur.
went to the extent of plagiarizing "Indian Muslims have made
his own poetry to attack the people like Aurangze b their
Hindus. I would call people in heroes. That's why Saif Ali Khan
India who are still celebrating has named his son Taimur. His
Iqbal and singing his tarana (Sare wife says my husband is a histori
jahan se achcha anthem) as an. Is this what they got in histo
idiots," Fatah said. ry?" Fatah asked.
However, despite calling So what should have been the
Partition a tragedy, Fatah has lit baby's name, in his opinion?
tle tolerance for the idea of Pat came the reply: "Hitler rakh
Pakistan or any of its compo lete jee, toh Hinduon ko bhi thand
nent territories merging with par jaati. Because the (right
w ing) Hindus are so fond of
Hitler. It's only in India that
Hitler's books sell like hot cakes."
The Canadabased writer has no
love lost for Indian Muslims who
flaunt surnames which show their
Arab lineage. "By flaunting sur
names like Hashmi and Qureshi,
they are say ing 'we are not
Indians, we are Arabs'. Only the
Muslims who have converted
from Hindus are Indians," he said.
"But this phenomenon plagues
all Indians. Even Hindus who have
made money take fancy names.
So Nimrata Randhawa becomes
Nikki Haley and Piyush becomes
Bobby Jindal. They are all liars,"
Fatah said.
While slamming the mullahs for
stopping interreligious marriages
which he said happened quite
frequently in undivided India
Fatah does not spare the Hindus.
"The mindless Hindus are talk
ing of love jihad. What nonsense
is this? It is the fundamental
human right of a man or woman
who they choose to marry," he
said. Fatah said that Indian
Muslims are to be blamed for
communal riots in India. "You end
Muslim personal law, the commu
nal riots would end. Muslims
want communal riots and blame
Hindus," he said.

Sufism can counter negative image of Islam:

Pakistani writer Reema Abbasi
By Saket Suman
New Delhi: At a time when Islamophobia
is riding high with President Donald
Trump's ban on citizens of seven Muslim
majority countries, Pakistani journalist
writer Reema Abbasi believes Sufism can
counter the very negative message about
Islam that is going out to the world.
"T his is a t ime when there is an
absolute need for somebody like Khwaja
Moinuddin Chisti and the teachings of
Sufism. It counters the whole hardliner
Islamist acts, those kind of fundamental
ist elements and the very severe message
that is going out to the world.
"I think Sufism gives a very beautiful
and allencompassing message, which is
generally not perceived of Islam," Abbasi
told IANS in an interview.
Abbasi, who has worked with The News
International, The Herald Magazine and
as Assistant Editor at Dawn newspaper,
was in the capital to launch her second
book "Ajmer Sharif: Awakening of Sufism
in South Asia".
Her wellresearched work traces the
spiritual journey and mystical influence
Reema Abbasi, Pakistanbased journalist,
with actress Sharmila Tagore at the
launch of her book Ajmer Sharif:
Awakening of Sufism in South Asia
of Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti. Describing
his life and times, the Mughal emperors
who were his devotees, and his enduring
legacy, the book highlights the special
features of his dargah at Ajmer Sharif.
"The message of Khwaja ji is very dif
ferent from what is generally perceived
of Islam these days. T he dif ference
between Sufism and the rest of Islam is
the message of inclusiveness and plurali
ty, which the hardliners do not believe
in," she said.
Abbasi, the recipient of the 2003
Gender in Journalism Award from Unesco
and the 2014 Rajiv Gandhi Award for
Literary Personality of the Year, said she
believed that terrorism in Pakistan and
elsewhere has a lot to do with poverty.
Even madrasas are exploiting the poor.
Parents are often given money to send
their children to madrasas, where they
are indoctrinated.
With this book, she aims to spark a dis
course that dispels intolerance towards
any faith and shuns the concept of reli
gious power.
Abbasi said that India is like a second
home to her and she has not faced any
instance of discrimination based on her
nationality here.
The only problem she did face was the
dearth of information about the subject
of her research. On women being barred
from entering many of the shrines, the
author said that these saints were shaped
by the women in their lives their moth
ers, sisters or wives and there is no evi
dence to suggest that they would have
segregated men and women.
"Those who are segregating and not
allowing women to enter the shrines are
doing so not to follow the teachings of
saints but to exhibit their dominance.
These are sensibilities of today and not
the teachings of our saints," she said.
Her first book, "Historic Temples in
Pakistan: A Call to Conscience", was an
attempt to record the history of an
Islamic country's Hindu past, particularly
as extremist activity increases against
Pakistan's religious and ethnic minori
ties. The book received critical acclaim
internationally.
"In both the books I am not talking
about faith at all. I am talking about our
heritage, unity, pluralism and roots. We
are far too ancient and far too diverse to
lose these values," noted the author.
Born a Pakistani in the Netherlands, she
went to school in England, college in
Karachi and has been involved with the
mainstream media for about two decades.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info LIFESTYLE February 4-10, 2017 27

Satirical news may 60% women unaware about age

to begin heart screenings: Study
impact your political New York: Sixty per
cent of women in US

attitudes, efficacy think of heart

New York: Love to watch satirical news
programs? It may have a serious impact
on your political attitudes and efficacy, a
new research has suggested.
The finding showed that people chose
satirical news often dismissed as mere
entertainment that matched their pre
existing attitudes such as liberal or con
servative.
"Satirical news matters. It is not just
entertaining it has a reallife impact on
viewers as serious news and it reinforces
your polit ical att itudes," said Silvia
KnoblochWesterwick, professor at The
Ohio State University.
Watching satirical news also af fects
feelings of political ef ficacy people's
belief that they can influence political
processes as much as watching serious
news. The study further showed that peo
ple with little interest in politics were
more likely to select satirical over serious
news. "Satirical news can engage people
who otherwise would avoid political news
and could act as a gateway into more seri
ous news use for people who aren't cur
rently engaged in politics," Knobloch
Westerwick added in a paper published in
the Journal of Communication.
For the study, the team involved 146
college students who selected news clips
that were liberal, conservative, satirical
and serious to watch concerning climate
change, gun control and immigration.
The results showed that regardless of
whether they viewed the serious or the
satirical news clips, participants' political
views were strengthened if they viewed
videos that agreed with their original
beliefs.
screenings as neces
sary only after age
40, whereas health
experts recommend
that screenings
should begin in the
20s, a study has
found.
According to the
American Heart
Association recom
mendations, screen
ings should start at 20, as the age may statement. "Therefore, it is vital to under
cause the onset of various heartrelated stand risk factors and make appropriate
disease. life changes as early as possible," Demori
"Women cannot wait until they're 40 to added. Screenings beginning at age 20
start paying attention to their risk factors. should include weight and body mass
They can begin developing atherosclero index (BMI), blood pressure, cholesterol
sis, plaque in their arteries, in their levels, glucose levels and waist circumfer
teenage and early twenties," Carolina ence, all of which are directly associated
Demori, cardiologist at the Orlando Health with heart health and can be controlled to
Heart Institute in Florida, US, said in a minimize risks.

One-third of people communicate Highaltitude living cuts diabetes risk

less face-to-face: Study
London: With social media substi
tuting reallife communication,
onethird of people communicate
less facetoface with their loved
ones, a key factor for damaging
relationships, a study has found.
The findings showed that a sig
constantly compare their lives to
those of others.
The hunt for "likes" and social
validation leads people to share
increasing amounts of private
information on social media plat
forms, putting not only them
London: A major risk factor for
development of heart diseases,
strokes and diabetes is lower in
people who live at higher altitudes,
says a new study that suggests
that something as simple as the
geographic area in which you live
contribute to your risk of develop
ing these diseases.
"We found that those people liv
ing between 457 to 2,297 metres,
had a lower risk of developing
Metabolic Syndrome than those
living at sea level (zero to 121
metres)," said Amaya Lopez
Pascual, who conducted this
research as part of her PhD thesis
Acupuncture can help reduce chronic pain, depression
London: Acupuncture treatment can
boost the effectiveness of standard
medical care, reducing the severity
While the reported increase in
(Image : healthcare.utah.edu)
the metabolic syndrome is princi
pally blamed on higher obesity
rates, smoking and increasingly
inactive lifestyles, less is known
about the effect our environment
may have on us.
"Living or training at high alti
tudes or under a simulated hypox
at University of Navarra, Spain. ic (oxygen deficient) environment
Metabolic syndrome is the med seems to help with heart and lung
ical term for the combination of funct ion, losing weig ht, and
high blood pressure, sugar and improves insulin sensitivity," co
cholesterol levels, as well as excess senior author of this study Pedro
body fat around the waist, and GonzalezMuniesa, Asso ciate
contributes to serious health prob Professor at University of Navarra,
lems. noted.
back, head, and knee.
The report showed that the addi
tion of acupuncture compared to
(Image : herbalshop.com)

nificant third of people communi
cate less with their parents (31
per cent), children (33 per cent),
partners (23 per cent) and friends
(35 per cent) because they can see
and communicate with them via
social media.
"Digital communication is an
opportunity to bridge the gaps in
our modern lives caused by living
in dif ferent cities or countries.
However, it cannot replace face
toface communication at least
not always and not completely,"
said Astrid Carolus, media psy
chologist at the University of
Wurzburg in Germany.
Although social media can help
ease communication channels and
bridge time zones and distance
barriers, it does not always make
people happy. It can strain rela
tionships as well as leaving people
feeling down and upset, as they
selves but also their friends, fami
ly and colleagues at risk.
Further, 21 per cent of parents
admitted that relationships with
their children have been damaged
as a result of them being seen in a
compromising situation on social
media.
In contrast, only 14 per cent of
parents said they were annoyed
by their children's online behav
ior. In addition, around oneinfive
(16 per cent) people also said that
their re lationship with their
spouse or partner has been dam
aged as a result of them being
seen in a compromising situation
on social media.
However, many people believe
that the quality of their relation
ships does not suffer at all and is
even better as a result of being
connected with their loved ones
online.
of chronic pain and depression, new
research has found.
T he research showed that
acupuncture provides more than a
placebo effect.
"Our new data provides a signifi
cant step forward in treating chron
ic pain and managing depression,
because patients and health profes
sionals can now make decisions on
acupuncture with more confidence,"
said Hugh MacPherson, Professor
of Acupuncture Research at
University of York in Britain.
"Not only is it more cost effective,
but it reduces pain leve ls and
improves mood levels, which could
reduce over reliance on drugs that
can sometimes result in unwanted
side effects," MacPherson noted.
T he finding, published in the
National Institute for Health
Research (NIHR) Journals Library, is
based on results of 29 clinical trials
focused on patients treated with
acupuncture and standard medical
care.
In the majority of these trials,
patients with chronic pain treated
with acupuncture and standard
medical care were tested against
those who were provided with stan
dard medical care alone, such as
antiinflammatory drugs and phys
iotherapy.
The trials involved approximately
18,000 patients diagnosed with
chronic pain of the neck, lower
standard medical care alone signifi
cantly reduced the number of
headaches and migraine attacks
and reduced the severity of neck
and lower back pain.
It also showed that acupuncture
reduced the pain and disability of
osteoarthritis, which led to patients
being less reliant on antiinflamma
tory tablets to control pain.
The team also conducted a new
clinical trial for depression, where
acupuncture or counseling was pro
vided and compared to the ef fec
tiveness of medication, such as anti
depressants.
In a study of 755 patients with
depression in the North of England,
researchers showed that both
acupuncture and counseling signifi
cantly reduced the severity of
depressions and that these benefits
were largely sustained for up to 12
months after treatment.
 28 February 4-10, 2017 HUMOR TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Humor with Melvin Durai

Alternative facts Something we all could use

onald Trump wasnt happy Whenever I argue with my wife, For every fact, there are at least two

D when the media showed pho

tographic evidence that his
presidential inauguration attracted
far fewer people than Barack
Obamas inauguration eight years
ago. Trump is all about size its
important for him to be bigger than
other people, whether its bigger
bank account, bigger hands, and, of
course, bigger lawsuits settled.
He also likes to have the biggest
crowds, so the idea that more people
attended Obamas inauguration
irked him to no end. He was fuming
in the Oval Of fice, saying to his
assistants, How can anyone say I
didnt have a bigger crowd than
Obama? I saw them with my own
eyes. It was like half of China turned
out for me.
That was just the Chao family
from Manhattan, a brave assistant
said. We put them all in the front
row just so we could have some
diversity.
Oh, we had plenty of diversity,
Trump said. It looked like half of
India was there too.
Yes, Nikki Haley brought her
extended family.
Trump wasnt pleased. He ordered
White House press secretary Sean
Spicer to make a statement to the
media, accusing them of misrepre
senting the truth and asserting that
this was the largest audience to
ever witness an inauguration, peri
od. Spicer put such an emphasis on
the word period that even male
journalists shuddered.
For most members of the media,
Spicers statement seemed like noth
ing more than a blatant lie. But
Trumps senior adviser Kellyanne
Conway defended Spicer during a
TV interview, insisting that he was
nt lying but merely putting forth
alternative facts.
And thats when millions of men
around the world started cheering.
We love the idea of alternative
facts. We will forever be indebted
to Conway for
reminding every
one that alter
native facts do
in fact exist.
she assumes that shes right and Im
wrong. We ll, she may have the
facts on her side, but I almost
always have the alternative facts
on my side.
Just the other day, I got in trouble
for leaving the garage door open all
night. I was the last person to come
home, so the facts indicated that I
was the one who forgot to close the
garage door. But my wife should
have considered the alternative
facts. Here are just two of them:
1. Our garage door operates on
wireless remote technology that
uses highfrequency radio signals
and, as such, is extremely suscepti
ble to Russian hacking.
2. Our dog often walks around the
house at night. While she isnt nor
mally tall enough to reach the
garage door opener, I have long sus
pected that she walks on her hind
legs at night when we arent looking, were Melania Trumps friends
allowing her to reach all the food
scraps on the kitchen counters. After
completing her misdeeds, she opens
the garage door to make us believe
that an intruder was responsible.
We need to start taking alterna
tive facts a little more seriously
because theyre going to be a main
stay of the Trump Administration.
alternative facts. For example:
FACT: Hillary Clinton won almost
three million votes more than
Donald Trump in the presidential
election.
ALTERNATIVE FACTS: (1) Donald
Trump would have easily won the
popular vote if three to five million
illegal voters hadnt cast their bal
lots for Clinton. (2) Donald Trump
would have won the popular vote if
animal lovers had not made a big
deal out of an Access Hollywood
tape in which Trump admitted, jok
ingly of course, that he likes to grab
womens cats.
FACT: Aerial photographs indicat
ed that far more people turned out
for President Obamas inauguration
than for Trumps.
ALTERNATIVE FACTS: (1) More
people actually attended Trumps
inauguration, but many of them
skinny fashion models who occu
pied only one blade of grass each.
Meanwhile, Obama handed out invi
tations at Old Country Buf fet. (2)
Weather was a major factor, as mil
lions of Trump supporters left the
inauguration early because they
couldnt weather the cold stare from
Michelle Obama.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN

New York Head Quarter

422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
by Mahendra Shah
5168271010
Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist and
humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight of the
immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons. Hailing from Gujarat,
he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
FEBRUARY 410, 2017
Aries:
Concentrate on your ef forts and
rewards will follow by themselves. A
stable period of growth and prosperity.
This is also the right time for establishing
new contacts, participating in charity and
social work.
Affairs of the heart would be pleasant and
highly enjoyable. Work with people who
are creative and enterprising. Friends will
understand your problems and your
needs.
Taurus:
This is going to be a highly reward
ing period for women. An unex
pected achievement or news would bring
in happiness for you and the entire fami
ly. Also prepare yourself for favourable
changes at your work front. Children
would look forward to some of your time.
Some situation might be blown out of pro
portion, which might bring tensions at
home.
Gemini:
This week travel would promote
new romant ic connect ions.
Important people around you would
appreciate your ideas. Relationship with
the opposite sex would be highly cordial
and pleasant. Spend some exciting time
with family members and relatives. Your
ability to converse intelligently would
help you seek favours. You can easily
double your financial gains if you play
your cards well.
Cancer:
T his is an excellent period to
show your knowledge and skills.
You should go ahead with new plans and
finalize important deals. Children would
give you happiness and comfort. This is
also the perfect time for romance, pil
g rimage and even see king favors.
Financial gains from past investments
would roll in, but not at the rate you
might expect.
Leo:
Travel and learning should be on
your agenda this week. For some, a
change in residence would prove highly
lucky. Your income would rise and you
would spend lavishly on family members
and friends. Be cautious while handling
sophisticated equipment or entering a
new alliance. Your ideas would bring you
rewards.
Virgo:
T his week you are likely to be
asked to handle additional respon
sibilities. Your outgoing nature would
work to your advantage as you gain
favours from others. Business trip might
prove unproductive. Exercise caution
while dealing with colleagues and impor
tant clients.
Not a favorable period for romantic
alliance. Speculation will prove highly
beneficial. Spiritual gains for some.
ASTROLOGY
Libra:
This week your partner expects a
lot from you, which seems to add
pressure on your mind. Do not sign any
legal documents or any other papers per
taining to property. You need to take
some time off and go for little recreation
towards the weekend. This period is also
not very good for romance or those seek
ing a matrimonial alliance. A close friend
will try to do the unexpected.
Scorpio:
Discuss your objectives with expe
rienced people to benefit this week.
Your intellectual charms would win heart
and bring you opportunities that you
least expected.
Visiting a place of worship would bring
peace of mind. Businessmen and those
starting a new venture stand to gain.
Residential moves would prove to be
highly hectic and expensive.
Sagittarius:
This week money matters would
take high priority and new ven
tures would be highly alluring. Students
need to concentrate on their career and
plan for the year ahead. Be at your best
behaviour and precise in your communi
cation when meeting influential and
important people.
Take firm decisions regarding office mat
ters. Be careful not to say anything that
will offend others.
Capricorn:
Colleagues would appreciate you
because of your skills and talents.
Good period for materializing real estate
and financial transactions. Unexpected
gains on the money front are quite likely.
A long journey concerning work is on the
cards for some of you.
Renovation or purchases made for your
home would pay of f in the long run. Be
careful while driving.
Aquarius:
This week support from friends
and family members would gen
erate new confidence into you. Pending
correspondence should be completed
immediately, but be precise and honest
when writ ing to the one you love.
Personal needs and requirements would
increase but gains from unexpected
sources would take care of the financial
obligations. Close relatives might try to
force their opinion on you.
Pisces:
Do not trust others with important
information. Matters related to
property, partnerships and new ventures
would work to your advantage. Maintain
a positive approach to reap maximum
benefits during this period. Children and
youngsters would demand attention. A
new romantic affair is likely for some of
you.
Go out with friend, as you need to relax
towards the weekend.
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874
Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK
4th February, 2017
Influenced by number 4 and the planet
Uranus, you are a responsible, methodical,
friendly, intelligent, systematic and a creative
person. You are highly religious and philo
sophical, but you need to check your tendency
to behave jealous, stubborn and self centered
at times.
This year you would make few important
decisions regarding your business, which
would give you better productivity and also
increase your income. Your earnings would be
good but would keep fluctuating throughout
the year. You need to be very conservative in
your spending and avoid risky investments.
You would have a very romantic personal life
this year and you and your beloved would
share some truly memorable moments togeth
er. Pilgrimage or a distant journey cannot be
ruled out. Despite your best efforts health will
pose some problems for you later in the year.
The months of July, October and January will
be result oriented.
5th February, 2017
Ruled by number 5 and the planet Mercury,
you are strong, practical, active, business
minded and a diplomatic person. You are a
born leader and you easily inspire others to do
an excellent job. You are hardworking and sin
cere, but your tendency to be moody, timid
and jealous attracts enormous criticism at
times.
The year ahead promises to be a blend of
both the good and the bad. Some exciting
changes would take place in the organization
that you work for. Your colleagues would be a
support and a source of enjoyment, but sen
iors would be demanding and their erratic
behaviour would add pressure to your mind.
Financial gains are likely from more than one
source. You would also gain if you invest in
property and bonds. New friendships might
seem promising but would ultimately live
short of expectations. You are likely to be
more inclined towards religious as well as
spiritual activities. The months of May, August,
December and March will be highly eventful.
6th February, 2017
Ruled by number 6 and the planet Venus,
you are simple, sober, original, philosophical,
cooperative, and a talented person. You are
very ambit ious and you leave no stone
unturned to reach your goals, but you need to
curb your tendency to behave erratic, vindic
tive and stubborn at times.
Your good money management skills would
do wonders for you this year. Financial gains
would beyond expectations but you would
hardly save, as there would be a significant
rise in your expenses as well. Rise in income
would raise your confidence and many of your
long cherished dreams would be fulfilled.
Health, subordinates and legal matters would
trouble you, but financial stability, a caring
partner and improved living comfort would
keep you happy. Avoid lending or borrowing
money during this period. The months of July,
September, November and February will be
significant.
7th February, 2017
Ruled by number 7 and the planet Neptune.
You are intelligent, sensitive, adaptable, inde
pendent and kindhearted person. You can easi
ly charm others with your words and actions.
You enjoy a special respect in your group, but
you need to control your tendency to behave
spendthrift, reckless and stubborn at times.
February 4-10, 2017 29
This year you are asked to handle addition
al responsibilities at work. This would put you
in good books of your employer and go a long
way in bringing you rewards. You would work
on new ideas, which would help you increase
your income. Spouse is expected to bring in
some thrilling news later this year. Distant
journeys, maybe overseas for some would be
highly pleasurable and rewarding. The months
of July, September, December and February
seem to be highly beneficial.
8th February, 2017
Influenced by number 8 and the planet
Saturn. You are authoritative, practical, sys
tematic, friendly and sober person. You are
fond of adventure and you have no problems
in accepting challenges, but you need to check
your tendency to behave impatient, spend
thrift and jealous at times.
This year you can expect excellent rewards
for your work. You would celebrate your suc
cess in a special way, and spend more on com
forts and entertainment. Your income would
rise, and you would make some good long
term investments. You would establish a better
understanding with your beloved, which
would make every moment that you spend
together a truly memorable one. Health of
your parents might cause concern and anxiety.
Spiritual gains for some later in the year. The
months of May, August and February will be
highly result oriented.
9th February, 2017
Ruled by number 9 and the planet Mars. You
are energetic, dashing, courageous, enthusias
tic and remarkably brilliant. You have high
tastes and people who are intelligent and
sophisticated appeal to you. You are very fond
of cleanliness and hygiene, but you need to
control your tendency to behave dictatorial,
aggressive and moody at times.
This year there would be a steady rise in
your career graph. Your earnings would
exceed your expectations and keep you very
satisfied. Later in the year, you are likely to get
involved in construction or renovation for
yourself or for others. Matrimonial alliances
for some around the yearend. Judicial matters
might not bring in the desired results, there
fore avoid getting involved in legal complica
tions. Children will be supportive and bring in
some good news later in the year. The months
of July, October and January will especially
prove to be significant.
10th February, 2017
Governed by number 1 and the planet Sun,
you are creative, hard working, warm hearted
and sincere by nature. You are admired by
people around you for your ability to take
quick and courageous decisions, but you need
to check your tendency to behave reckless,
impatient and shorttempered at times.
This year improvement in your work atmos
phere would be there, giving you lot of job sat
isfaction. You would interact with important
people who would also help you in your
career. Your contacts with the public will be
lively and challenging. Your earnings would
improve but it would be essential for you to
save. Your beloved would be in a highly
romantic mood and the two of you would have
good time together. Renovation, construction
and pilgrimage would also interest you later
this year. The months of April, September,
November and February would be highly
eventful.
30 February 4-10, 2017
By Sant Rajinder Singh
Ji Maharaj
T
o be truly happy in life, we
want to be filled with a
love that is lasting. T he
only permanent love is the love
of God, which is divine or spiritu
al love. Why? When we love oth
ers in this physical world, we
focus on the outer form of the
person, and forget the inner love
of the Divine that connects us.
The real love we experience is
the hearttoheart and soulto They boiled it down to one
soul love. The outer form is but a
vehicle or outer packaging that
shrouds that true love that is at
the core of that person.
Suppose you had some cereal
to eat. T he cereal can be
wrapped in a plastic baggie, or it
can be in a box. It is not the bag
or the box that we want to eat,
but the cereal w ithin them.
Similarly, when we say "I love
you" to a person, we are direct
ing that love to the essence of
that person. The outer wrapper
or physical form is not who we
are really loving; we are really
loving the persons essence with
in that form. How do we know
this? Look at how many changes
a person goes through in life.
They morph from a tiny infant, to
a toddler, to a schoolage child, to
a teenager, to an adult, to an
adult in his or her thirties, for
ties, fifties, sixties, seventies,
eighties, nineties, and over a
hundred. We can love someone
through that entire span of time,
although the outer packaging is
growing and aging. It is the per
son within that outer form who
we love.
The secret is that when we tap
into loving the essence of that
person, we are tapping into that
persons true nature, and that
nature is love itself. That love is
like the genetic code for all life.
Just as 99.9 percent of all
human genes are said by scien
tists to be the same, the genetic
spiritual heart of all life is love,
and that is the same for every
one. At the core of everyone is
love. That love is within you and
that love is within me, and that
love is within everyone. When we
connect with that love, we are in
bliss.
Sant Mat is the path of love.
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Part two of the discourse 'Illumine your self with love'
God is the power of
love
Sant Mat translates
into "teachings of
the Masters or
saints." Study any of
the worlds religions
and we find that the
founder of each reli
gion taught the same
exact message, which is
that God is love, our soul
is love, and the way back
to God is through love.
How simple and clear this
message is, but we lose
sight of it.
Thousands of books are
written to speculate about
God, but the founders of
every religion had it correct.
word, and that is love. God is
the power of love. It is love
that blossomed forth into
expression as creat ion.
Whether we poetically describe
Go d as a parent whose love
wanted to create children, or God
as an artist whose love to create
burst forth into song, paintings,
poetry, or sculpture, the essence
of that creation is love.
If we look at nature we find at
the core of all the physical sci
ences is the law of attraction.
T his whole universe is he ld
together by the law of love
expressed as physics. Gravity is
the law of attraction that keeps
objects within the atmosphere of
the planet, or we would all float
off into space. The dance of neu
trons, electrons, and protons is a
pull of attraction that keeps them
tied together as molecules of
matter, or we would be just one
loose universe of floating energy
with no matter. Electricity is the
flow of charged particles from
the positive part of a circuit to
the negative part. Magnetism is
based on the flow of energ y
between positive and negative
poles. Physics is just an expres
sion of the law of love.
As Gods love flows out, cre
ation comes into being. Love lies
at the heart of all Gods expres
sions, from the spiritual realms
of creation, to the physical realm,
and all matter and energy that
exists within these realms.
Love is at the heart of all forms
of life in creation as well. It exists
within every living thing from
the plants, to the animals, to
humans. We name that love with
in us as the soul. The soul is a
spark of God, and as God is love,
our soul is also lovepure and
simple.
As long as we think we
are the body and mind
and not the soul, it is
easy to forget love.
What we call love in this
world is really a
manifestation of
desire.
All problems that exist in cre
ation are due to forgetting the
love of God within us. If we were
to remember Go ds love, we
would be one with God, from
whom we were created. If we are
here on this planet today, it is
because we have forgotten that
love. Our separation from God is
due to forgetting this love.
This outer shell of the body we
wear is formed from the actions
and reactions of a long stream of
lifetimes in which we cycled
away from Gods love. We may
have been sent out for one expe
rience, but if we became enam
ored by Gods universes instead
of Go d, we ended up being
attracted to living in the realms
of creation instead of returning
to God. How few returned to God.
It is said that only ten percent
wanted to go back to God, but
they had already accumulated
karma in their sojourn away
from God, and that had to be
paid off before they could return.
Think of the ninety percent who
have not yet remembered they
came from God, and how much
karma they are accumulating in
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
the
way to illumine
each ourselves with that love. Once we
successive life away find the love within ourselves, we
from God. have found God.
We think finding God is so
As long as we think we are the
complex and technical. We think
body and mind and not the soul,
it is easy to forget love. What we
that it is something that only a
lucky few throughout history
call love in this world is really a
have done.
manifestation of desire. How
Finding love is so easy it can be
many of us really love the
done by a child or person of any
essence of other people for the
pure love within them? How
age, whether literate or illiterate.
many love others conditionally
It is like digging for a treasure
hidden under your house. Just
because we want something?
dig and you will find it. Instead
Some people claim to love others
we are looking for the treasure
but really want something from
everywhere else instead of where
them, like money, possessions,
it waits for us.
control, power, favors, and the
Imagine there is a treasure. Yet
like. When we love someone for
we are ignorant of it. How can we
who they are at their core, that is
find it? We need someone with
love. When we just love someone
the map to show us the right
for the sake of loving them, and
place to dig for the treasure. That
do not care to gain anything
person can show us the right
from them, that is love. But most
tools we need, the right place to
people call something love when
dig, and the technique for dig
it is nothing more than filling a
ging.
desire for money, belongings,
Similarly, the treasure of Gods
security, attachment, control, or
love is within us. We have forgot
power. These reasons for loving
ten it is there, forgotten how to
end up dragging us through the
dig for it, and forgotten the tech
mud of anger, greed, attachment,
nique.
and ego. Thus, the socalled love
Masters are the catalyst by
only adds to our karmic load.
which we can find and reawaken
True love frees us from karma
that love within.
because we do not want anything
for ourselves.
(to be continued....)
So long as we have forgotten
love, we are in separation from
God. To end the separation from Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
God, we need to illumine our is an internationally recognized
selves with love, the expression spiritual leader and Master of
of God. That love is innate within Jyoti Meditation who affirms the
all of us. When we are illumined transcendent oneness at the heart
with that love within, we connect of all religions and mystic tradi-
back to God. tions, emphasizing ethical living
Every religion stressed this key and meditation as building blocks
purpose of life. Each religion has for achieving inner and outer
love at its core. Each saint taught peace. www.sos.org.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info February 4-10, 2017