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The South Asian Times

e x c e l l e n c e

Vol.7 No. 49 April 11-17, 2015 60 Cents

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MSG like welcome awaits Modi in Toronto

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived


Thursday in Paris on the first leg of his three-nation visit
of France, Germany and Canada all G-7 countries -- that
will focus on boosting trade and economic ties, including
in defense and railways, keeping in mind his government's Make in India initiative. He was received at the
Paris airport by French Minister Sergolene Royal and
other senior French officials.
Many members of the Indian community were gathered
at the airport to greet him.
The prime minister flies to Germany on April 12 and
later travels to Canada. In Canadas main city of
Toronto, over 10,000 people of Indian origin, are hoping
that Narendra Modi repeats his Madison Square Garden
performance when he addresses them at the Ricoh
Coliseum on April 15. Canadian Continued on page 4
Prime Minister Narendra Modi departing New
Delhi April 9 for his 3-nation trip to France,
Germany and Canada.

Detailed story on page 10.

Math genius Manjul Bhargava receives Padma Bhushan


Manjul Bhargava,
Professor of
Mathematics at
Princeton University
in New Jersey,
receiving the Padma
Bhushan award
from President
Pranab Mukherjee at
Rashtrapati Bhavan
in New Delhi on April
8. 40-year-old
Bhargava was
awarded the Fields
Medal, called the
Math Nobel,
last year.

Six weeks on, India wonders where Rahul might be


New Delhi: India's opposition
Congress party is finding it hard to
defend a long holiday taken by its
vice-president Rahul Gandhi, and
some seniors in the party are questioning whether the scion of the
country's most famous family is
interested in politics.
Gandhi, a 44-year-old bachelor
parliamentarian, took a leave of
absence starting in late February,
and is now said to be returning to
work later this month. There is no

OP ED 13

word where he might be. His vanishing act has spawned a series of
tongue-in-cheek comments about
his choice of holiday spot and what
he might be doing, and "missing"
posters have been pasted on walls
in his constituency, report Reuters.
Jokes aside, Gandhi's decision to
go on a holiday around this time
has senior Congress leaders beginning to openly express frustration.
He's entitled to have a leave for
Continued on page 4

PERSONALITY 15

SCI-TECH 25

A Rahul Gandhi missing poster

Evacuated persons wait as they make their way back


to India from war-torn Yemen.

India ends
evacuation in
Yemen, 5,600
pulled out
New Delhi : India has ended its
massive evacuation efforts of its
nationals in war-torn Yemen,
pulling out 5,600 people, including
4,640 Indians and 960 nationals
from 41 countries, the government
said. External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj tweeted: The
evacuation operation from Yemen
is over. General V.K. Singh is
returning tonight. We are closing
our Embassy there.
Earlier the external affairs ministry
spokesperson
Syed
Akbaruddin tweeted that India concluded its evacuation efforts in
Sanaa by airlifting over 630 people by three special Air India

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30

flights from the Yemeni capital.


He said the security situation in
Yemen has deteriorated further
with a bomb blast at Aden port on
Thursday.
The total number of Indians
evacuated from Sanaa by air has
crossed 2,900 by 18 special flights
since the beginning of the air operations, Akbaruddin tweeted.
Indian naval vessels have also
evacuated over 1,670 Indians from
Aden, Al Hudaydah and Al
Mukalla ports in Yemen since 31
March, he wrote.
Saudi Arabia led countries are
striking Houthi rebels who have
control of most of the country.

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April 11-17, 2015

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Indian American committee formed for


economic progress of Nassau county

By SATimes Team

Mineola: In another first for the Indian


community, Nassau County is
installing an Indian American
Economic Advisory Committee on
April 13. The committee consisting of
accomplished business and community
leaders has been formed by the County
Executive Edward P. Mangano to
establish a bridge between his government and the growing Indian American
business community in the area.
The committee chaired by Shudh
Parkash Singh will strive to bring new
investments to Nassau County from
Indian Americans and from corporate
India. It will also to bring to the attention of County officials the issues and
problems faced by Indian American
business owners. Working with
Kamlesh Mehta, Director of Nassau
County Office of Economic &
Business Development, the committee
will advise the county on how to create
business opportunities in one of the
biggest and richest counties of
America. The committee is Hon.
Mangano's creation for public-private
partnership for progress of Nassau

County, says Mehta.


On the genesis of the committee,
Shudh Parkash, former INOC
President, told The South Asian Times,
We met CE Mangano last year to discuss the issues of the Indian community, in particular of our business community. So he himself suggested formation of a committee of business
owners. We will meet the county executive on a monthly basis. Other members of the committee that will work
pro bono are: Arun Govil (Vice Chair),
Ashok Sapra, Jaspreet Mayall, Esq,
Kanwal Sra CPA, Kiran Mandrekar,
Manoj Narang, Mohan Wanchoo, Ravi
Chopra, Shaker Nelanuthala, Sunil
Modi, Sunil Shah and Vaijnath
Chakote, MD.
Shudh Parkash invites our business
community to interact with us for any
problems they have. I'd make sure it's
brought to the attention of the head of
the department concerned to resolve
the problem faster.
To get Indian corporates to invest in
our county, adds Shudh, a visit to
India will be useful. But we will spend
our own money for travel and not taxpayer money.

Nassau County Executive Ed Mangnao


has conceived
and appointed the committee.

April 11-17, 2015

Rajasthan Mahotsav
on April 19 at SUNY
Old Westbury
Hicksville, NY: The Rajasthan Association of
North America, USA (RANA) is holding
Rajasthan Mahotsav - Festival of Festivals on
Sunday, April 19, noon onwards, at SUNY Old
Westbury, on Long Island. The Home Minister of
Rajasthan, Gulab Chand Kothari, will be the Chief
Guest and Grand Marshal of the Parade.
The Mahotsav celebrates 3 key festivals of India
Gangaur, Holi & Teej. These colorful festivals are
celebrated by the people of Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Punjab, Marwar and Sekhawati regions with great
enthusiasm and devotion during the spring season
and are an integration of regional cultures and communities.
RANA aims to bring about harmony and celebrating the festivals of India jointly with other communities to foster the spirit of brotherhood and camaraderie. We expect people from all communities
Rajasthanis, Gujaratis, Punjabis and all so on to
attend the days events and partake of the celebrations.
The program includes a grand traditional parade
featuring elephants, horses and camels, folk music
recitals & artist performances, multi-cultural cuisine, gala musical & comedy evening and much
more. Tickets cost $20 each and include lunch, participation in the parade & cultural & entertainment
events, afternoon tea & snacks and dinner.
For more details, www.ranausa.org.

Fund raises $20,000 for Purvi Patels family & legal defense
Groundswell of support for the Indiana woman convicted with contradictory charges for feticide and child neglect
By SATimes Team
New York: RH Reality Check, a pro-choice
non-profit news media organization, and
Apna Ghar, a Chicago based immigrant
advocacy group, have collected about
$20,000 in contributions for Purvi Patel, the
Indiana woman who last week was sentenced to 36 years jail on two counts feticide and child neglect.
We're currently at $20,000 raised for the
family and the legal defense fund, said
Neha Gill, executive director at Apna Ghar.
Patel, 33, was arrested in July 2013 after
she went to the emergency room, bleeding
heavily, at a hospital in Mishawaka, Indiana.
Initially denying the pregnancy, she eventually admitted that she had a miscarriage and
threw the stillborn fetus in a dumpster.
Patel is the first woman in the US to be
charged, convicted and sentenced on a feticide charge. Reproductive rights activists are
outraged.
Patel, who lived with her parents and
grandparents and helped to build up Moes

Purvi Patel

Southwest Grill, a family run restaurant, is


the sole breadwinner. The sentence has in a
way jeopardized her familys ability to take
care of itself. The Purvi Patel Family
Fund, an online fundraising campaign,

established soon after Patels sentencing on


March 30 will help the family.
Apna Ghar is supporting Purvi through a
fundraising effort. We're also working with a
national coalition on next steps regarding her
legal defense, overturning the conviction and
also asking for the law itself to be repealed
in Indiana. As we can see from this case,
these types of laws have devastating consequences, said Neha Gill of Apna Ghar.
Apna Ghar conducts advocacy across
immigrant communities to end gender violence and empowers women to be self-sufficient through a full spectrum of services,
from education to emergency housing to
counseling and legal services.
RH Reality Check also started an online
petition to push the state to overturn Patels
conviction and eliminate criminal liability
for ones own pregnancy outcomes. The
petition saw close to 32,000 signatures.
Another petition created by a Minneapolis
resident to issue a full and immediate pardon
for Patel saw 12,102 signatures up till April
9. Patel also received an overwhelming

groundswell of support on social media


especially on a Facebook page Justice for
Purvi Patel.
Activist and writer Deepa Iyer outlined
four ways one can help Patel and her family
in her blog post: Outraged about Purvi Patel
Case? Four Things to Do Now. Other than
signing petition and donating funds, Iyer
urged to raise awareness about the implications of this case on the rights of all women:
tweet using #justice4Purvi and send a note
for support to Patel.
Nationwide, womens health groups
including National Asian Pacific American
Womens Forum, the National Advocates for
Pregnant Women, South Asian American
Policy and Research Institute and the
Religious Coalition of Reproductive Justice
have expressed concern that Indianas law
will discourage pregnant women from seeking medical help fearing that the penalty for
miscarrying could be decades behind bars.
For women who are not US citizens and who
have limited English language proficiency,
the risk is high.

TURN PAGE

April 11-17, 2015

Nirbhaya, a play on sexual abuse, premieres in New York


The testimonial theater comes on the heels of India's Daughter screened in the US last month.
New York: It started with a conversation
between two women outraged at the horrible rape on a Delhi bus in 2012.
Mumbai actor-producer Poorna
Jagannathan reached out to writer-director Yael Farber in Montreal via a social
networking site. Both felt the need to
break the silence around violence against
women. What followed was a powerful
piece of testimonial theater and they
named it Nirbhaya.
The play premiered in August 2013 at
the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the largest
arts festival in the world, has had a profound impact on audiences. And now it is
all set to premiere in New York City
from April 16 to May 17 at Culture
Project.
Nirbhaya (fearless in Hindi) was the
name initially given to Jyoti Singh
Pandey, the 23-year-old medical student
who was brutally gang-raped, and later
died from her injuries.
The play uses a dramatization of that
rape as a catalyst for five of the seven
performers to speak publically about the
sexual abuse they themselves suffered.
The play comes on the heels of the US
screening of Indias Daughter, the film
banned in India that caught attention the
world over for an interview with Mukesh
Singh in jail, one of the six convicts in
the gang rape. In a promotional video for

A scene form the play

the play, Farber recalls how she collaborated with Jagannathan, a victim of sexual abuse, but you might know her as the
actress from the film Delhi Belly.
Farber has written and directed the 2012
hit play Mies Julie.
In India we began to workshop
around the idea of creating a work culled
from the experiences of the survivors of
sexual violence themselves, Farber
says.
The 7-member cast includes Japjit
Kaur who plays Nirbhaya. Her presence
is felt through song and its her testimony that ends the play. Ankur Vikal

(from Slumdog Millionaire) plays many


roles throughout the play. Using the rape
as the inciting incident, the actors including Jagannathan break their silence and
share their testimonies.
Through these shows, Farber hopes to
collect funds to reach out to societies
which at this point in time need to witness the play and reflect.
Farber believes it is important that this
theater reaches audiences who have no
access to the show.
'Nirbhaya is presented by American
India Foundation with support from
Apne Aap Women Worldwide.

Gas prices to stay low into the summer


New York: This summer looks bright
in terms of predicted gas prices.
Right now, national gas prices average around $2.40 per gallon. And gas
prices for the summer a time when
drivers take to the roads a bit more
than in the winter are projected to
stay at about those same levels.
Gas prices this year did not go skyrocketing like they have in past years

in part because the US is producing


more oil than it has in the past and
automakers are making cars lighter and
more efficient.
At the same time, Chinas red-hot
economy is producing less demand,
thereby causing a pile-up of oil inventories. And thats not all.
The U.S. is producing more and
more, the situation in the Middle East

is easing. Libya crude oil which was


all but gone from the market in 2011
is now returning in full force.
Canadas ramping up output and of
course, we are producing more than
we have in the last 35 years here in the
US.
Its all of these different pieces added
together that will likely maintain these
low prices into the summer months

TheSouthAsianTimes.info
MSG like welcome awaits Modi in Toronto
Continued from page 1
Prime Minister Stephen Harper may give introductory
remarks ahead of Modi's address. In New York, Modi
was given a rock star welcome by the Indian American
community last year. Over one million Canadians trace
their roots to India with several of them holding key
positions there. The Indo-Canadian community has had
many members involved in entertainment, academia and
politics, including representations in Parliament.
Six weeks on, India wonders where...
Continued from page 1
a holiday, but the timing was wrong, because we had the
budget session going on, and the issue of land acquisition was to be debated, he could have gone when there
was a recess," party leader Digvijaya Singh said.
Singh, who this week said Gandhi would be back in
time to lead a farmers' rally on April 19, was referring to
Modi's attempt to make it easier for industry to acquire
land, a policy that Congress has called anti-farmer.
While Gandhi has been away, his mother, party president Sonia Gandhi, has taken full-time charge, leading a
rally and visiting villages to protest against the land law.
In February, Congress said Rahul Gandhi needed time
off to reflect on electoral defeats and plot the future of
the party.
Many Congress party members want Gandhi to take
over from his mother, despite having led the party to its
worst ever election defeat last year when he was chief
campaigner against Modi.
Gandhi's laid-back approach contrasts with the relentless work schedule of Modi, who claims never to take
days off work. One political cartoon published on
Thursday showed a Congress member at an airport
holding a placard bearing Rahul Gandhi's name, and
saying he'd forgotten what he looked like.
"It is very embarrassing for me as a Congress politician to justify Rahul's leave," said a senior leader who
served as a minister in the Congress government voted
out in May. "I did not join politics to defend his presence or absence."
His supporters say he will return fresh, and will modernize Congress when he takes over from his Italianborn mother.
Critics say the mystery vacation reinforces the image
of a political lightweight, who makes periodic public
appearances and retreats into a elite lifestyle. Even
when he is officially at work, Gandhi is more often spotted at an exclusive gym than in parliament. Singh said
Gandhi needed to become a full time politician.
"He has to be. Politics...is not half time," Singh told
Reuters. He said he did not know where Gandhi
might be.

New Delhi Bureau


Meenakshi Iyer
Delhi@TheSouthAsianTimes.info

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Yoga is secular, rules US court

Washington, DC: Ruling that


yoga taught in elementary schools
is not a gateway to Hinduism and
does not violate religious freedoms, a California appeals court
has allowed it to continue.
"We conclude that the program
is secular. (and) does not have the
primary effect of advancing or inhibiting religion and does not excessively entangle the school district in religion," the three-member appeals court ruled Friday.
The decision by California's 4th
District Court of Appeal upheld a
lower-court ruling in support of
the Encinitas Union Elementary
School District in San Diego, utsandiego.com reported.
The school had been sued by
parents who argued the school
yoga program was inherently spiritual and therefore unconstitutional. Attorney Dean Broyles, who
represented the parents in the lawsuit, was quoted as saying he and
his clients "are disappointed with
the decision and we are carefully
considering our options."
"No other court in the past 50
years has allowed public schools
to lead children in formal religious rituals like the Hindu liturgy
of praying to, bowing to, and worshipping the sun god," Broyles
said in an email to U-T San Diego.
Yoga has been a health and wellness activity in the school district
since 2012, when the Encinitasbased Sonima Foundation gave

April 11-17, 2015

Excellent Business
Opportunity
No Investment
Required

Participants at Summer Solstice Yoga event in NYC

the district $2 million to add yoga


to all physical education classes.
Broyles sued the district on behalf of a couple and their two children, saying the program violated
the separation of church and state
by endorsing Hindu religious beliefs promoted in Ashtanga yoga.
The state Superior Court sided
with the district in 2013, finding
that the school program had been
stripped of religious overtones, utsandiego.com said.
The trial court noted in its decision that the district's yoga classes
"consist of instruction in performing yoga poses, breathing, and relaxation, combined with lessons
in positive character traits, such as
respect and empathy."
District Superintendent Tim

Baird said school district officials


had always anticipated a favorable
ruling and are pleased now that it's
happened.
All students in the district,
which includes kindergarten
through sixth-grade, get two yoga
classes of 30 minutes or more per
week.
"We are seeing tremendous results," Baird said. "Kids are more
flexible, stronger, and have more
ability to focus. We think this is a
key to the 21st century."
Baird said he was surprised at
the flap over the lawsuit as "Yoga
has become ubiquitous in the
United States."
"The argument that it turns
somebody into a Hindu is a
stretch."

Plainsboro Visa Camp inaugurated by women


Plainsboro, NJ: The
Federation of Indian Associations (FIA) along
with New York Consulate, Indus American
Bank (IAB) and CGKS
(the Indian Visa Processing agency) commemorated the recent International Womens Day by
having the visa camp inaugurated on April 4 by
the women of FIA,
women staff of IAB and
CKGS. Executive Chairman of Indus American
Bank Anil Bansal, Consul Dhirendra Singh of
At the inauguration (L to R) Executive Chairman of Indus
CGI-NY, Chief of HR for American Bank Anil Bansal, Consul Dhirendra Singh, Chief of
CKGS Mercedes Turner
HR for CKGS Mercedes Turner, COO of EBC Radio Alka
were present at the cereAggrawal, Karishma Vaidya, Krina Parikh, Chhavi Singh,
mony, which was supArti Rai, Daxa Amin from FIA.
(Photo: Dipak Ghadiyali)
ported and sponsored by
FIA-Tristate along with
come and own 1% of the resented women's rights issues.
Chairman Ramesh Patel and worlds properties. It is high
We will contribute towards
FIA
President
Ankur time that we unite as one to more causes that empower our
Vaidya.The South Asian Times work collectively in empower- women, said Ramesh Patel.
is media sponsor in promoting ing our mothers, sisters, wives
At the visa camp over 100
this event since its inception. and daughters for a better and applications were processed.
This event is to empower our equal tomorrow, said Ankur The visa camps in three states
women who are 70% of the 1.2 Vaidya.
(NY, NJ, and MA) jointly orbillion population around the
Swayam (from India) and ganized by FIA, Indus Ameriworld living in poverty, who Manavi (from NJ) were the can Bank, CKGS and CGI-NY
contribute to 67% of the work two charities cited at the event have been a success with a
hours performed and yet get and contributed towards. thousand
applications
paid 10% of the worlds in- These organizations have rep- processed.

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Ref: PP Fabrics

2 Indians shot dead in robbery attempts


New York: Two Indians
have been gunned down during apparent robbery attempts in two separate incidents at gas stations in the
US within 24 hours, sending
shockwaves among the local
population.
Sanjay Patel, 39, who
worked as a clerk at the gas
station in New Haven in
Connecticut, was shot three
times in the chest and once in
the hand by two masked men
on Monday night during an
apparent robbery attempt.
Patel was rushed to a nearby hospital where he died an
hour later. Police said they
were searching for the two
men as the investigation continued.
Patel's wife was pregnant
with their first child. A report
in NBC Connecticut said
quoted New Haven Police as
saying that a gunfire broke
out at the gas station around
7:30pm local time during the
apparent robbery.
Gas station-owner Raj Ali
told NBC that the robbers
took Patel's life "for a couple
hundred dollars. It's not
worth it. It's bad."

Sanjay Patel and Rajesh Madala (TV screen grab)


were fatally shot in separate incidents

Witnesses said they saw


two masked men running
from the scene after the incident.
"We are looking for two
people that may be involved.
We don't necessarily believe
that two were firing guns. We
know at least one was," New
Haven police spokesman Officer David Hartman said.
The second incident took
place in the state of Illinois,
where Rajesh Madala, 35,
who worked at an auto gas
station in a small town in
Peoria was shot and killed by
an unidentified man during

an apparent robbery, who


was later tracked down by
the police and killed in exchange of gunfire with the
cops in a remote area near the
town of Lowpoint.
A report in the Peoria Journal Star said the suspect in
the killing of Madala was a
white male.
Residents expressed shock
at the news of the killing and
described Madala, known as
'Raj' to customers, as an
"awesome guy" who was
inviting and conversational
to anyone who walked into
the station.

April 11-17, 2015

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NJ's Morris Museum to host Smithsonian traveling exhibition


Beyond Bollywood explores the history of Indian Americans
Indian Magic Art
Saturday, May 9, 1:30pm
Join world-class magical entertainer Shreeyash Palshikar for a
show featuring the mysterious
world of Indian magic. The performance will include the Indian
rope trick, a water suspension
mystery demonstration, and more.

Mandala Making

Morristown, NJ: From the


builders of some of America's earliest railroads and farms to Civil
Rights pioneers and digital technology entrepreneurs, Indian
Americans have long been an inextricable part of American life. The
Smithsonian traveling exhibition
Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation details the
history of Indian Americans and
their contributions to the United
States from the 1700s to the pres-

ent. The first-of-its-kind exhibition


from the Smithsonian will be on
view at the Morris Museum from
May 2 through July 12, 2015. The
Morristown presentation of Beyond Bollywood will be complimented by an installation featuring
twentieth century paintings by Indian American artists, a display
showcasing Indian textiles and costumes, and a variety of programs
and events.
Approximately 17 million people

in the United States are of Asian


and Pacific Islander descent, and
the number is expected to climb to
41 million by 2050. One in every
100 Americans has a family connection to India. Indian immigrants
helped build the nations railroads,
worked in lumber mills, toiled on
farms and established prosperous
trading routes that are still in use
today. Through a vibrant collection
of photographs and interactive
learning stations, visitors will ex-

perience the Indian American story


and explore the many dynamic
roles Indian Americans have
played in shaping America. Indian
Americans represent an important
and growing community here in
New Jersey, said Linda Moore,
Executive Director of the Morris
Museum. This wonderful exhibition offers the opportunity to deepen our awareness of the Asian Pacific American experience and foster cross cultural understanding.

Thursday, May 14, 2:00-3:30pm


Creating mandalas, a meditative process that has been practiced by Buddhist monks for
centuries using colored glass
sand, has become a mainstay in
the Western world thanks to
psychiatrist/ psychologist Carl
J. Jung. The mandala can be
used today as a method of
reducing stress, decreasing
anxiety, and an opportunity for
self-reflection, as the inner circle represents each individuals
personal universe.
Further program and ticket information is available by calling
973.971.3706 or online at morrismuseum.org.

Two Indian Americans charged with $1.1 mn fraud Free breast & cervical cancer screening

Washington, DC: Two Indian


American long-time friends have
been charged with making over $1.1
million in illegal profits from insider trading on news of a proposed acquisition of Cooper Tire and Rubber
Company by India-based Apollo
Tyres Ltd.
In a complaint filed in a US district court in Connecticut on Thursday, US market regulator charged
Massachusetts private equity investor Amit Kanodia, and Iftikar
Ahmed, a general partner at a venture capital firm in Connecticut,
with fraud.
The Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) named Rakitfi
Holdings LLC, a company owned
by Ahmed, and Lincoln Charitable
Foundation, a supposed charity operated by Kanodia, as relief defendants, according to an SEC release.
The SEC is seeking to have the

duo return their allegedly ill-gotten


gains with interest and pay civil
monetary penalties. The US Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts announced parallel criminal charges against Kanodia and
Ahmed. The SEC alleges that by
April 2013, India-based Apollo
Tyres was engaged in serious negotiations to acquire Cooper Tire, of
Findlay, Ohio.
Although the acquisition was never completed, the complaint alleges
that Cooper Tire's stock price
jumped 41 percent when the acquisition was announced in June 2013.
The SEC alleges that Kanodia
tipped Ahmed and another friend
prior to the acquisition announcement after learning of the deal from
his wife, then the general counsel at
Apollo who was intimately involved
in Apollo's efforts to acquire Cooper Tire.

According to the SEC's complaint,


Kanodia shared the highly confidential information with Ahmed who
began buying significant amounts of
Cooper Tire stock and options.
Once news of the deal was public,
Ahmed immediately liquidated his
Cooper Tire holdings, reaping more
than $1.1 million of ill-gotten profits, according to the complaint.
Ahmed later paid Kanodia a kickback by transferring $220,000 to
Lincoln Charitable Foundation, a
supposed charity that Kanodia controlled and used to mask the kickback, SEC alleged.
A second close friend of Kanodia,
identified in the complaint as Tippee
1, also profited by trading on the
confidential information provided
by Kanodia and paid a portion of his
illicit gains to Kanodia using the
same supposed charity, it further alleged.

camp in Trenton, NJ on April 18

New Jersey: After the overwhelming responses from the last two
years, NJ CEED in collaboration
with Indian Health Camp of New
Jersey (IHCNJ) and Durga Mandir
will be organizing free breast and
cervical cancer screenings for eligible uninsured or underinsured
women 40 and over at Shiloh
CDC/Mercer County NJ CEED
clinic, 416 Bellevue Avenue in
Trenton, NJ on April 18, from 8
a.m. to 4 p.m.
NJ CEED is organizing this event
as a part of their ongoing campaign
to increase awareness and detection
of these diseases. While most people are aware of screening for
breast and cervical cancer, many
forget to take the steps to have a
plan to detect these diseases in its

early stages. There has been a lot of


progress in screenings but still have
a long way to go especially in
South Asian community where
there is a stigma of breast exam and
screening and scare of detecting
cancer. However, the medical research suggested that the sooner a
woman is diagnosed with breast
and cervical cancer, the more likely she is to beat it and result in favorable disease outcome.
In recent years, diagnostic tools
and treatments have improved and
powerful new drugs have been introduced that increase women
chance of a long productive life. In
fact, the American Cancer Society
reports that breast cancer death
rates have decreased every year
since 1990.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

April 11-17, 2015

Museums begin returning Indian Bikram Yoga founder denies


artifacts in response to investigation sexual assault allegations
New York: Several American
museums have begun returning
possibly stolen artifacts to India in
response to a major federal investigation into the activities of
Subhash Kapoor, a dealer identied by authorities as having once
run the largest antiquities smuggling operation on American soil,
The New York Times reported.
Last week, museums in Hawaii
and Massachusetts handed federal
ofcials a total of eight items
bought from Kapoor s defunct
business, Art of the Past, which
was on Madison Avenue in
Manhattan.
In October, the Toledo Museum
of Art in Ohio returned a $245,000
statue that was bought from
Kapoor in 2006. The museums
director, Brian Kennedy, said the
institution was in talks with federal
investigators about giving up
another 63 objects.
He certainly conned a lot of
people, NYTimes quoted
Kennedy saying of Kapoor, who is

The Peabody Essex Museum in


Salem, Mass., handed over a
mid-19th-century Indian painting
that was bought in 2006. Credit
Peabody Essex Museum. Artwork
details: Maharaja Serfoji II of
Tanjavur and his son Shivaji
II,Tanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India

awaiting trial in India on charges of


trafcking in $100 million worth of
stolen artifacts.
Kapoor, 65, has pleaded not
guilty. Another 15 American museums have been identied as hold-

ing items obtained from Kapoor,


but many said in the interviews this
week that they had researched their
Kapoor holdings and were satised
that their items were not stolen or
that they wanted to see proof of
illegality before returning the 500
or so objects in question. Among
those museums are the Los
Angeles County Museum of Art,
the Asian Art Museum in San
Francisco, the Metropolitan
Museum of Art and the Art
Institute of Chicago.
The federal investigation,
Operation Hidden Idol, began in
2012 with raids on Kapoor s
gallery and on several warehouses
and other locations where he stored
Indian antiquities. Ofcials with
Immigration and Customs
Enforcement and Homeland
Security Investigations, which are
jointly directing the investigation,
said they had seized tens of millions of dollars worth of objects
that they believed were looted from
ancient temples in India.

Washington, DC: Bikram


Choudhury, the Indian-American
founder of the signature "hot
yoga" bearing his name with
celebrity followers around the
world, has denied accusations of
rape or sexual assault by six of
his former students.
"I want to show you, tell the
truth to the world, that I never
assaulted them," he told CNN last
week.
He would never resort to physical aggression to have sex
because he has so many offers, he
said.
"Women like me. Women love
me," Choudhury, 69, was quoted
as saying. "So, if I really wanted
to involve the women, I don't
have to assault the women."
He said he feels sorry for his
accusers, claiming they have been
manipulated by lawyers to lie.
However, Choudhury's accusers
say he was the one who has been
lying.
"This stuff that he's teaching is
really good stuff, but he's hurting

people and hiding behind this


good stuff so people don't believe
he's capable of hurting people,"
Sarah Baughn, a former student,
was quoted as saying.
"He's got to stop lying behind
it. And he's got to stop doing this
to people."
Founder of Bikram's Yoga
College of India, Choudhury is
featured prominently on its website, which details his system of
performing 26 unique yoga poses
while in a very hot room.
Besides Baughn's claim of sexual assault, ve other women
have come forward with civil
lawsuits led in Los Angeles
Superior
Court
claiming
Choudhury raped them.
These lawsuits describe
Choudhury as someone who
preyed on young women who
looked to him for guidance.
However, the Los Angeles
Police Department, without
explanation, declined to pursue
criminal charges in the cases,
according to CNN.

US lawmakers praise role of Mindy Kaling's brother got into medical school as black
Indian-American physicians
Washington,
DC:
The
Association
of American
Physicians of Indian Origin
(AAPI) welcomed the passage by
the US House of a bill that would
reformulate how physicians are
reimbursed for Medicare, a government health insurance for seniors over 65. If approved by the
Senate, the legislation would
repeal the sustainable growth rate
(SGR) formula currently in use.
The SGR formula places a cap on
spending for physicians services.
"We are extremely delighted and
grateful to the US Congress for
passing this historic measure,"
said AAPI President Dr. Ravi
Jahagirdar urging the US Senate to
take up the bill and pass it without
delay. Members of AAPI, the
largest ethnic organization of
physicians, representing over
100,000 physicians, fellows and
students of Indian origin in the
US, has been lobbying for the

repeal of SGR formula for years.


The passage of SGR bill came
March 26 as AAPI was holding its
Legislative Day on Capitol Hill to
advocate and raise their voices for
the larger physician community in
the US, according to a media
release.
In her keynote address Assistant
Secretary of State, Nisha Desai
Biswal, the Obama administration's point person for South Asia,
praised the Indian American
physicians and the broader diaspora community for their role in fostering India-US partnership.
"AAPI has been a tremendous
organization for what you do here
in the United States and for what
you do in India and for what you
do to improve and extend the USIndia relationship," she said.
She acknowledged that, AAPI
was one of the rst Indian groups
to recognize the need for outreach
on the Hill.

Washington,
DC;
Vijay
Chokalingam, the older brother of
Indian-American star of Fox sitcom
The Mindy Project, claims he pretended to be black to get admission
into a medical school back in 1998
and 1999.
Chokalingam, a self-professed
"Indian-American frat boy" with a
3.1 GPA, claims that when he initially applied to medical schools he
found himself wait-listed at
University of Pennsylvania,
Washington University and Mt.
Sinai. So he decided to try to apply
to schools while claiming to be
black because he believed the
admissions standards for "certain
minorities" were "less stringent."
"Would you rather accept racism
or defy those who want to discriminate against you? I chose the latter
and applied to medical school as
black," he posted on his website
Almost Black taking an anti-afrmative action stance.
Akin to reservation in India, afrmative action in the US is the policy
of favoring members of a disadvan-

Vijay Chokalingam

taged group. These include racial


quotas or gender quotas for collegiate admission.
"I shaved my head, trimmed my
long Indian eyelashes, and applied
to medical school as a black man,"
named Jojo, he wrote chronicling
his experience.
"My change in appearance was so
startling that my own fraternity
brothers didn't recognize me at rst.
I even joined the Organization of
Black Students," he wrote.
On March 31, Chokalingam, 38,
began posting screenshot proof to
his Almost Black Facebook page of
application paperwork, invitations
to interviews and acceptance letters
from medical programs.
These included Columbia
University, Cornell University,

George Washington University,


Vanderbilt University and several
others. "Let me clear about one
thing. I never lied about anything on
my application, except my race.
Everything else on my application
can be veried as correct. I didn't
even claim that I was 'disadvantaged,' "Chokalingam wrote on
Facebook.
Kaling's brother is also working
on a book detailing his anti-afrmative action stance.
"I love my sister to death,"
Chokalingam told the New York
Post of how he thinks she'll react to
his public campaign. "She says this
will bring shame on the family."
Chokalingam went on to attend St.
Louis University Medical School,
but dropped out after two years.
Mindy Kaling has not commented
on her brother's claims.
"Mindy has been estranged from
her brother for years. She was not
aware of his decision to apply to
medical school under a different
name and race," one of Kaling's reps
told the Daily News.

April 11-17, 2015

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

IN BRIEF

Indian-origin 'Bombshell Bandit' jailed for 66 months


n
Indian-origin
market, Kaur ended up in Las
woman from CaliVegas, acquiring a gambling
fornia, nicknamed
addiction and becoming inthe "Bombshell Bandit" and
debted to loan sharks, accordconvicted of robbing four
ing to the attorney.
banks in three US states, has
He told the court that Kaur
been sentenced to 66 months
was not a run-of-the-mill crimin prison.
inal, but rather a "good, wholeSandeep Kaur, 24, of
some person who made some
Union City, California, was
horrible decisions."
sentenced in the federal disKaur felt remorse, Winward
trict court in St. George in
said, and had been a model
the US state of Utah on Tuesprisoner; and she had turned
day, according to a St.
back to her religion. She was
Sandeep Kaur
George News report. Her atwilling and capable of paying
torney, Jay Winward, unsuccessfully re- back the money she had stolen in the bank
quested for a lesser sentence for Kaur.
robberies, and could become a useful memKaur pleaded guilty in January to four ber of society, he said.
felony charges of bank robberies that ocWinward also said that even though Kaur
curred during the summer of 2014.
threatened violence during the robberies,
Kaur's crime spree began in California and she was not a violent person and did not
ended after robbing the US Bank in the city have a firearm or explosives during the robof St. George, and leading police officers on beries.
a high-speed pursuit to Nevada, where she
However, prosecuting attorney Paul
was arrested after an hour-long stand-off.
Kohler said that during the robberies, the
Winward asked the court for a sentence of bank tellers did not know Kaur did not have
48 months. He told the court that Kaur was a weapon, and so were afraid for their lives.
young, well-educated, capable of paying The tellers were "trapped", as were the famrestitution, and had no prior criminal histo- ilies driving on the I-15 motorway during
ry.
the police chase, and the police officers who
She was raised in a traditional Indian fam- responded.
ily and grew up feeling "trapped" and bulBesides serving 66 months in prison, Kaur
lied, Winward said.
was ordered to repay the $40,000 taken in
She had run from an arranged marriage, to the four robberies.
her boyfriend, whom she subsequently marAccording to the US Federal Bureau of Inried. However, the relationship turned abu- vestigation (FBI), Kaur derives her nicksive, Winward said.
name of "Bombshell Bandit" from the bomb
After making some money in the stock threats she made during the robberies.

Indra Nooyi and Vijay Amritraj to headline


Chetnas 10th annual gala

ortune 50 companies are taking a vocal


stand against domestic violence by
supporting CHETNAS 10th annual
fundraising gala: The Power of 10, Celebrating a Decade of Community Service. PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is the events keynote
speaker and guest of honor; tennis champion
and philanthropist Vijay Amritraj will serve
as the chief guest; and Ann Mukherjee, PepsiCos President of Global Snacks, will emcee the gala, which will take place on April
25 at the InterContinental Hotel in Addison,
Texas. South Asians have a tendency to
turn a blind eye to controversial issues that
affect our community as a whole, said
CHETNA co-founder Anu Agarwal. When
such prolific and outspoken figures stand behind our cause and show their support, it
sheds a whole new light on domestic vio-

lence. It somehow makes it acceptable to address the epidemic and celebrate the strides
we have made in the last decade to provide
services to the hundreds of Dallas-Fort
Worth women and children who have been
suffering. In 2014, CHETNA, which means
consciousness in Sanskrit, provided lifesaving resources to more than 200 women
and children trying to escape their abusive
relationships. The non-profit organizations
services to the community include: Confidential helpline; Peer support; Emergency
shelter & transitional housing; Legal &
counseling referrals; Community outreach;
Financial assistance, such as interest-free
loans; Rental assistance; Advocacy;
Employment assistance.
For more information about CHETNA
visit www.chetna-dfw.org.

US studio picks up Patel brother-sister


team's romantic comedy
lchemy, an American movie studio,
has acquired all
North American rights to a
new true-life romantic comedy "Meet the Patels" from
an Indian-American brothersister team in the US.
Directed by the sibling
team of Geeta V. Patel and
Ravi V. Patel and produced
by Janet Eckholm and Geeta
V. Patel, "Meet the Patels"
will receive a theatrical release in the US later this
year.
Ravi (left) and Geeta (right) with their
It "is a hilarious and uniparents (Photo: Los Angeles Film Festival)
versal story about family,
cultural identity and the search for love," premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festisaid Alchemy CEO Bill Lee announcing val where it won the Audience Award and
the acquisition of rights in Los Angeles went on to win that same award at Hot
Docs and Michael Moore's Traverse City
Wednesday.
"We're thrilled to collaborate with the Film Festival where it also won the Best
Patel family to help this gem cross over Film Award. The laugh out loud, true-life
to the wide audience it deserves. It's a romantic comedy centers on the romantitrue crowd pleaser, and we expect cally inexperienced, first generation Indian-American Ravi Patel, who's suddenly
tremendous word of mouth."
"Festival screenings had been selling thrown into the deep end of the dating
out with lines around the block, and we pool when he reluctantly consents to letcouldn't keep up with the demand," added ting his parents find him a soulmate
Geeta and Ravi Patel. "Meet the Patels" through traditional cultural means.

Sikh leader visits Congressman Courtney's ofce


Invites to join Sikh caucus and Vaisakhi celebration
waranjit Singh Khalsa, Convener,
Sikh Sewak Society International
met Oliver Cutter, who is District
Scheduler in Congressman Joe Courtneys office to discuss issues concerning
Sikhs and make them aware about American Sikh Congressional Caucus. Khalsa
told them regarding importance of Sikh
Caucus and the key areas caucus is focused on.
Khalsa urged the Congressman to join
Sikh caucus and invited him to join
Vaisakhi celebration in Connecticut Sikh
temples.
In discussion Khalsa informed them Swaranjit Singh Khalsa, of Sikh Sewak
Society, met Oliver Cutter in the
about various Proclamations the Sikh
Connecticut Congressman's office
community has received and urged them
to pass the bill and consider making April year in April to educate people regarding
as Sikh Heritage Month the way the city of Sikh religion. Cutter assured Khalsa that
he will organize a special meeting between
Ontario has done.
Khalsa also informed regarding Vaisakhi the Congressman and Sikh community in
campaign that will be done in Norwich this May 2015 to discuss the matters in detail.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

US AFFAIRS

Boston bombing trial: Tsarnaev guilty


on all counts, faces death
Boston: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been
convicted for his role in the April 15,
2013 bombings of the Boston Marathon,
ending the rst phase of a terror trial that
will now continue with a penalty phase to
determine whether he will be executed.
A jury of seven women and ve men
delivered guilty verdicts Wednesday in
all 30 criminal counts against Tsarnaev,
who was 19 when twin blasts rocked the
race's nish line. Three people died and
260 were injured in the worst terror
attacks on American soil since 9/11.
As the verdict was being read out,
Tsarnaev appeared to have no emotion.
After the last "guilty," he sat with his
defense lawyers, looking straight ahead,
resting his chin on his hands. William
Richard, the father of 8-year-old bombing victim Martin Richard, put his arm
around his wife as they listened from the
gallery.
The jury could begin hearing arguments
in the penalty phase early next week.
The verdicts arrived a week before the
bombing's second anniversary, a coincidence that loomed over plans to mark the
event and the city's preparation for the
119th Boston Marathon, to be held April

The Boston Marathon bombing scene and (inset) Dzhokhar Tsarnaev

20. The trial began March 4 and included


weeks of graphic testimony that dragged
the city through painful memories of the
bombings and the four-day manhunt that
followed. While on the run, authorities
said, Tsarnaev and his brother, 26-yearold Tamerlan Tsarnaev, killed an MIT
police ofcer, carjacked a Mercedes SUV
and got into a shootout with police in
suburban Watertown, Massachusetts.
Tamerlan was killed, and Dzhokhar

escaped in the SUV, abandoning it to take


refuge in a boat parked behind a nearby
house. He was arrested a few hours later.
Prosecutors called dozens of witnesses
in an attempt to document Tsarnaev's
gradual radicalization into a full blown
jihadist, and his planting of one of two
pressure cooker bombs that exploded on
Boylston Street. They argued that he was
an equal partner with his brother in the
attack and the mayhem that followed.

April 11-17, 2015

US Senator Rand Paul joins


presidential race
Washington: US Senator Rand Paul, a
Republican, on Tuesday officially joined the
race for 2016
presidential race,
media reports
said.
"I am running
for president to
return our country
to the principles
of liberty and limited government,"
he said, according
to Xinhua. The
Kentucky senator
Senator Rand Paul
is so far the sec(R-Kentucky), whose
ond to join the father Ron Paul was a
2016 presidential
contender for GOP
candidacy race.
nomination in 2012.
Republican senator from Texas, Ted Cruz, a darling of the conservative Tea Party, did so on March 23.
Paul is scheduled to start his campaign with
a rally in the city of Louisville, in Kentucky,
followed by a five-day tour of five states -Kentucky, New Hampshire, South Carolina,
Iowa and Nevada.
Paul has been a Republican senator since
2011. His father, Ron Paul, a former Texan
Congressman, is an icon in the libertarian community who vied for Republican nomination in
2012 which went to Mitt Romney.
Analysts believe that Paul's left-libertarian
leanings may make him the candidate of
choice for disaffected free marketers.

Caught on camera, white cop charged


with murdering black man
North Charleston,
woods." He also told
SC: A white South
NBC's "Today Show"
Carolina police officer
that his son may have
who claimed he killed
tried to flee because he
a black man in selfowed child support and
defense was swiftly
didn't want to go back
charged with murder
to jail.
after a bystander's
The bystander who
video recorded him firshot the video is assisting eight shots at the
ing investigators.
man's back as he ran A grab from the video which showed
North Charleston
away. Government the officer firing 8 shots at the back of Mayor Keith Summey
authorities sought
announced the murder
the unarmed, running man.
Wednesday to contain
charge Tuesday, saying
the outrage as protests began. The video that "when you're wrong, you're wrong."
shows North Charleston Patrolman Michael "When you make a bad decision, don't care if
Thomas Slager dropping his stun gun, pulling you're behind the shield or a citizen on the
out his handgun and firing at Walter Lamer street, you have to live with that decision," the
Scott from a distance as the latter runs away. mayor said. Police initially released a stateThe 50-year-old man falls after the eighth ment that promised a full investigation but
shot, fired after a brief pause.
relied largely on the officer's description of the
The dead man's father, Walter Scott Sr. said confrontation, which began with a traffic stop
Wednesday that the officer "looked like he Saturday as Slager pulled Scott over for a
was trying to kill a deer running through the faulty brake light.

Hillary Clinton sets up campaign headquarters in Brooklyn


New York: Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has chosen the New York borough of
Brooklyn as the place to set up campaign headquarters for her 2016 run for president, the daily
Politico reported last week. According to the daily, which quotes people close to the campaign, the
Clinton team has signed a contract to lease offices at 1 Pierrepont Plaza in the Brooklyn Heights
neighborhood. Clinton's campaign headquarters will occupy two floors of this office building in
one of the Brooklyn areas best served by public transport.
The investment brokerage Morgan Stanley has a branch office in the same building, while the US
attorney for the Eastern District of New York is just across the street. It is currently accepted as a
fact that the former first lady of the US (1993-2001) will officially announce her candidacy for the
2016 presidential election in the coming weeks.

Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385


718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.com

10

INDIA

April 11-17, 2015

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Modi's three-nation tour to focus on Make in India

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra


Modi embarked on April 9 on on a
three-nation tour of France, Germany
and Canada that will focus on boosting
trade and economic ties, including in
defense and railways, keeping in mind
the government's Make in India initiative.
The prime minister earlier said that his
eight-day visit was focused on supporting India's national economic agenda,
especially job creation for the youth.
All three destinations are G-7 industrialized democracies, with an economic
interest, said Foreign Secretary S.
Jaishankar at a media briefing ahead of
the visit.
In France, Modi will be accorded a
ceremonial welcome and immediately
hold two back-to-back roundtables with
top French CEOs, one focused on infrastructure and the other on defense technology.
"Infrastructure is high priority for the
government, and the French companies
have expertise and capability. Defense
and nuclear energy are also important
facets," Jaishankar said, adding that the
cooperation will focus on the Make in
India initiative of the government.
Modi will visit the Unesco headquar-

ters and later attend a lunch at the


French National Assembly.
In the late afternoon, he will call on
President Francois Hollande, during
which both sides will hold talks.
The two leaders will be presented with
the report of the India-France CEOs
forum on ways to boost business ties.
Thereafter, Modi and Hollande are to
go on a boat ride on the Seine river, in a
"nav pe charcha" moment, the foreign
secretary announced.
Hollande will also host a banquet for
Modi.
On April 11, the prime minister visits
Toulouse, in southern France, where he
will go to the Airbus facility and discuss
ways of further cooperation, including
in transfer of technology and investments. He will also visit the French
space agency CNES.
Modi will drive down to Lille to visit
the Neuve Chapelle war memorial to
pay homage to the 10,000 Indian soldiers who were killed during World War
I, the foreign secretary added.
He will then return to Paris and attend
a reception by the Indian community
and also meet former French president
Nicolas Sarkozy. On April 12, the prime
minister will fly to Hannover in

Germany to attend the Hannover Messe


fair that has India as the partner country.
Modi would then unveil a bust of
Mahatma Gandhi at the City Hall in
Hannover.
Later, along with German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, Modi will attend the
fair opening in the evening.
On April 13, the two leaders are to
jointly inaugurate the Indian pavilion at
the fair and go around the fair and also
inaugurate an India-German business
summit.
Modi will leave for Berlin where he
will attend a science and technology
academy.
On April 14, he will arrive in Canada.
This will be the first visit by an Indian
prime minister to Canada since 1973.
Besides discussions on boosting energy and economic cooperation, Modi
will interact with the sizeable Indian
community in Canada, said Special
Secretary for the Americas R.
Swaminathan.
Modi will visit Ottawa, Vancouver
and Toronto during the Canada trip.
In Vancouver, Modi is to visit the
Lakshminarayan temple and also a gurdwara, said the official. He will leave
for home that night.

The tour of France, Germany and Canada will


focus on boosting trade and economic ties.

BJP distances itself from Yemen: Modi thanks Sharif for helping evacuate Indians
minister's 'presstitute' tweet
New Delhi: Minister of State for
External Affairs V.K. Singh's
"presstitute" tweet created a political uproar this week with the
Congress demanding his sacking.
The BJP, however, distanced
itself from his remarks.
Singh, who has been overseeing
evacuation of Indians from conflict-hit Yemen, reportedly commented that the evacuation operation in Yemen was looking less
exciting than going to the
Pakistan high commission for
Pakistan Day celebrations.
As a section of the media
reported on his remarks, Singh
tweeted: "Friends what do you
expect from presstitutes..."
With his remarks and tweet creating a controversy, Singh on
Wednesday took a veiled dig at
the media and said his comments
had been misinterpreted.
"If simple remark that media
finds Yemen less exciting than
my attending PAK day is contorted out of shape then SOS GOD
#Pressititutes," he said in a tweet.
Earlier, Bharatiya Janata Party
spokesperson Sambit Patra distanced the party from Singh's
purported remarks and "presstitute" tweet.
"Tweets are personal. The way
(words have been used is) best
deciphered by the person who has
tweeted," Patra told the media.
Patra sought to put a lid on the

Minister of State for External


Affairs V.K. Singh

controversy and said the media


was "the fourth pillar" in a
democracy. He said all the pillars
of democracy have to strengthen
the country together.
Congress leader Randeep
Surjewala criticized Singh for his
remarks and tweet.
He said Prime Minister
Narendra Modi should remove
him. "Is Mr Modi listening. Will
Mr Modi wake up from slumber
and sack him?" Surjewala said.
Congress
spokesperson
Khushboo said Singh's remarks
were "disgraceful".

New Delhi: Prime Minister


Narendra Modi thanked his
Pakistani counterpart Nawaz
Sharif for his country's assistance
in evacuating 11 Indians from
strife-torn Yemen. "I welcome
our 11 citizens who've returned
from Yemen with assistance from
Pakistan.
Thank you Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif for your humanitarian gesture," according to an
official statement from the Prime
Minister's Office. India also
evacuated 409 nationals of 32
countries, including Pakistan,
Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri
Lanka.
Meanwhile, Kerala Chief
Minister Oommen Chandy asked
Modi to ensure that air evacuation being carried out by the
Indian government in Yemen
continues till this weekend.
He also called up Minister of
State for External Affairs V.K.
Singh, who is overseeing the

Pakistan High Commissioner Abdul Basit (right) welcomes Indians


evacuated from Yemen in New Delhi.

operations in Djibouti, to ensure


that people who have some document to prove that they are

Indians be brought back. Over


1,700 people from Kerala have
returned from Yemen so far.

Shankracharya wants nationwide beef ban


Lucknow:
Shankracharya
Swaroopanand Saraswati has
sought a law on protecting cows
and asked Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to take initiatives
in this regard. He has also
demanded a nationwide beef ban.
The seer, who was in Allahabad
for a religious congregation, said

late on Wednesday that with a


pro-Hindu government at the
centre, this was the right time to
enact a law to protect cows.
He also slammed retired
Supreme Court (SC) judge
Justice Markandey Katju's statements which criticized beef ban
in Maharashtra and Haryana.

He, however, slammed the


Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and
other Hindu organizations over
'Ghar Wapsi', and added that the
process was wrong.
"Mere changing of the process
of following a religion does not
make much of a difference," he
added.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

CM Raje promised increased


investments from Japan in Rajasthan
By Prakash Bhandari
Jaipur: Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe has
assured Rajasthan Chief
Minister Vasundhara Raje
on increased Japanese
investment flow to her
state, saying his government and investors have
been closely watching
improvement in the investment climate of there.
Vasundhara Raje, on a
visit to Japan, met the PM Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara
Raje greeted by Japanese Prime
Abe at his office in Tokyo
Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo
on Monday.
Abe also mentioned the
She has also cleared the decks for
strengthening of ties between
a second Japanese industrial zone,
India and Japan and the efforts
which will focus on sectors such
made by Prime Minister Narendra
as Ceramics and Electronic
Modi in this regard. He said,
Systems Design & Manufacturing,
India and Japan are friends.
to come up in Neemrana area.
Japanese companies are being
She invited PM Abe to visit
encouraged to invest overseas and
India and Rajasthan and also
it is likely that Rajasthan too shall
made a request that Japan become
see increased investment flow
a partner country for the
from Japan.
Resurgent Rajasthan Partnership
The Chief Minister briefed the
Summit scheduled for November
Japanese Premier on the recent
this year.
initiatives in the state and
After her meeting with Yoichi
explained the growth in the
Miyazawa, Minister of Economy,
Neemrana region of Alwar
Trade and Industry, she signed an
where, in the countrys first excluMoU with Japan for mutual coopsive Japanese Industrial zone,
eration, especially in the areas of
over 200 Japanese live and work.
investment promotion.

INDIA

April 11-17, 2015

11

Big B, Dilip Kumar conferred Padma Vibhushan

New Delhi: Cinema icons Dilip Kumar and Amitabh


Bachchan were conferred the Padma Vibhushan - India's
second highest civilian honor - by President Pranab
Mukherjee at an investiture ceremony at Rashtrapati
Bhavan here this week. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and several union ministers attended the function.
The awards were announced on the eve of the
Republic Day. Besides Padma Vibhushan, the president
conferred honors in other categories of Padma awards,
namely Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri.
Assamese director Jahnu Barua was awarded the
Padma Bhushan for his contribution to art over the
years. Barua, who has made National Award-winning
films "And the River Flows" and "Aparoopa" in his
mother-tongue, has been doing social work in the northeast related to art and culture for the past six years.
While Amitabh Bachchan exuded elegance and
sophistication in a black bandhgala, Dilip Kumar couldn't make it to the ceremony to receive the honor in per-

India-Pak share same music heritage:


Pakistans ghazal maestero Ustad Ghulam Ali
performing at the Sankat Mochan Sangeet
Samaroh in Varanasi on April 8. (Photo: IANS)

President Pranab Mukherjee presents the


Padma Vibhushan award to veteran actor
Amitabh Bachchan.

son. The 72-year-old star, who is known as the


"Shahenshah" of the Hindi silver screen, has delivered
some exceptional performances in his over four-decadelong film career. With movies such as "Deewar",
"Agneepath", "Sholay", "Don", "Black" and "Paa", the
actor has carved a special place for himself.
The others who were conferred the Padma Vibhushan
included Dharamsthala Veerendra Heggade (social
work), Prince Karim Aga Khan (trade and industry),
Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan (science and engineering) and K.K. Venugopal (public affairs).
Those conferred the Padma Bhushan included former
Lok Sabha secretary general Subash C. Kashyap (public
affairs), math genius at Princeton in NJ Manjul
Bhargava (for science and engineering) and Ambrish
Mittal (medicine).
Bibek Debroy (literature and education), Saba Anjum
(sports) and Ravindra Jain (music) were among those
conferred the Padma Shri.

OSAP Loans NOW available to Ontario applicants !!!

May & Sept 2015

12

INDIA

April 11-17, 2015

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Satyam case: Raju, nine others found guilty

Hyderabad: A special CBI court


has found B. Ramalinga Raju, his
two brothers and seven others
guilty in the multi-crore Satyam
case, the biggest corporate fraud
which stunned the corporate world
in 2009.
Ramalinga Raju, Satyam
Computer Services Ltd's founder
and former chairman, and his
brother B. Rama Raju were found
guilty of criminal breach of trust, a
CBI lawyer said.
Eight others were declared guilty
of criminal conspiracy in the country's biggest accounting fraud.
Ramalinga was given seven
years in jail term.
These eight accused are
Ramalinga Raju's another brother,
B. Suryanarayana Raju, Satyam's
former chief financial officer
Vadlamani Srinivas, former
PricewaterhouseCoopers auditors
Subramani Gopalakrishnan and T.
Srinivas, former employees G.
Ramakrishna, D. Venkatpathi Raju
and Ch. Srisailam, and Satyam's
former internal chief auditor V.S.

Ramalinga Raju was given seven years in jail term.

Prabhakar Gupta.
Special
Judge
B.V.L.N.
Chakravarthi of the Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI) court pronounced the much awaited judgement in the packed court hall in the
presence of 60-year-old Ramalinga
Raju and all the other accused.
Lawyers said the convicts may

be sentenced for two to 10 years.


Venkateswara Rao, one of the
defence counsels, told reporters
that the judge wanted to know from
Ramalinga Raju and others if they
have to say anything. The accused
pleaded for minimum sentence on
grounds of health and the problems
faced by their families as they have

Moody's positive on India, Jaitley


promises more
New Delhi: Global ratings agency
Moody's has enhanced India's sovereign
rating to positive from stable, expecting
positive steps from policy-makers to spur
growth and put the country ahead of peers
-- a development that finance ministry said
was significant.
"Moody's decision to revise the ratings
outlook to positive from stable is based on
its view that there is an increasing probability that actions by policy-makers will
enhance the country's economic strength
and, in turn, the sovereign's financial
strength over coming years," Moody's
Investors Service said in a statement.
"India has grown faster than similarlyrated peers over the last decade due to
favourable demographics, economic diversity, as well as high savings and investment
rates," it said, adding these, along with
global developments, will keep India's
growth higher than that of its peers.
Reacting to the development, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley said: "Moody's has
changed rating outlook to positive from
stable and affirms bBaa3 rating. The
upgrade in outlook is significant, but we've
got to do more."
The Baa3 rating incorporates the risk that
higher levels of growth and infrastructure
development will be accompanied by higher leverage. Sovereign credit improvements over the next 12-18 months will
depend on the extent to which growth,
policies and buffers can contain risks, it
said.
The agency, however, did not raise the
sovereign credit rating due to some factors.
Some 16 months ago, when the United
Progressive Alliance (UPA) government

Global ratings agency Moody's has


enhanced India's sovereign rating to
positive from stable.

was at the helm, it had warned of a downgrade if government policies were seen as
harming growth.
"India's Baa3 government bond rating
incorporates credit strengths, such as its
diversified economy, robust growth
prospects, relatively high domestic savings
rate and high international reserve
buffers," it said.
"It also reflects India's weaker performance, relative to peers, on fiscal, inflation
and infrastructure-related metrics. And
while policies are beginning to address
each of these factors, the extent of likely
improvements is as yet unclear," it said.
"Moreover, India's banking system's
asset quality, loan loss coverage and capital ratios are relatively weak," it said, and
added this posed credit risks because of the
financial sector's role in financing growth
and the government's deficits.
"In the absence of any improvement in
banking-system metrics over the coming
months, India's sovereign credit profile
will remain constrained."

already spent more than two years


in jail.
"They told the honorable judge
that they and their families faced
lot of hardships due to the case.
They also brought to his notice that
there was no loss to people (due to
the fraud)," he said.
Media persons were barred from
the court room. The scam came to
light on January 7, 2009 when
Ramalinga Raju confessed that the
company's account books and profits were inflated over many years
to the tune of several crores of
rupees.
The police arrested him two days
later on a complaint by some shareholders.
The CBI, which took up investigations in February 2009, put the
loss to the shareholders at
Rs.14,000 crore. The investigating
agency also charged Raju with
gaining Rs.2,500 crore by selling
his family shares in Satyam.
Raju was charged with floating
several front companies to buy
land with the scam money. He was

arrested by the Andhra Pradesh


Police on January 9, 2009.
The CBI, which later took up the
investigation,
filed
three
chargesheets against Raju and the
other accused, charging them with
cheating, criminal conspiracy, forgery, falsification of accounts and
breach of trust.
The disgraced IT czar, who even
shared dais with then US President
Bill Clinton during the latter's visit
to Hyderabad, spent nearly 32
months in jail. Raju, who was
released on bail in 2011, later
retracted his confession and contended that all the charges leveled
against him were false.
After the scam, Tech Mahindra
took over Satyam Computers in a
government sponsored auction.
Mahindra Satyam later merged
with Tech Mahindra.
An economic offences court on
December 8 last year sentenced
Ramalinga Raju and three others to
six months imprisonment in six of
the seven cases filed by the Serious
Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO).

Sena protests outside


Shobhaa De home

Mumbai: The Shiv Sena


staged a noisy protest outside celebrity author
Shobhaa De's residence on
April 9, after she attacked a
move to force multiplexes
to show Marathi movies in
the prime time slot.
Carrying banners as well
as 'vada-pav' and 'misal',
the Sainkis shouted slogans
against De.
The protesters condemned De's comments
opposing the Bharatiya
Janata Party-Sena government's diktat to all multiplexes in Maharashtra to
daily exhibit Marathi
movies between 6 and 9
p.m.
Police
personnel
deployed in large numbers
outside De's residence in
the upmarket Cuffe Parade
in south Mumbai prevented
the Sainiks from entering
the building premises.
De told journalists that
she was overwhelmed by
the support she received for
her tweets on the social
media and elsewhere.
On the protests, she said
she was not at all worried.
"I have full faith in
Mumbai Police... Police
barricades are up... I am
feeling perfectly calm and
safe... Thank You, Mumbai

Celebrity author Shobhaa De attacked the move


to force multiplexes to show Marathi movies
in the prime time slot.

Police.
"I will not be a party to
this sort of politics. I will
take legal advice and take
action as per the law," she
later tweeted.
Shiv Sena legislator
Pratap Sarnaik has sought
an apology and moved a
notice for breach of privilege in the assembly.
Sarnaik accused De of
"insulting the chief minister
(Devendra Fadnavis) and
the people of the state".
De tweeted: "Now a privilege motion demanding an
apology from me? Come
on! I am a proud
Maharashtrian and love

Marathi films. Always


have. Always will!"
"No more pop corn at
multiplexes in Mumbai?
Dahi missal and vada pav
only. To go better with the
Marathi movies at prime
time," De later tweeted.
On April 7, De's tweets
were: "Devendra Fadnavis
is at it again!!! From beef to
movies.
This
is
not
the
Maharashtra we all love!
Nako! Nako! Yeh sab roko!
I love Marathi movies. Let
me decide when and where
to watch them, Devendra
Fadnavis. This is nothing
but Dadagiri."

OP-ED

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 11-17, 2015

13

India needs much more than air quality index


By Darryl D'Monte
ike the pall of dust that recently
enveloped parts of western India,
having wafted its way from the
Arabian Gulf, the rhetoric that the Prime
Minister indulged in at the state environment and forest ministers meet this week
obscured the real purpose of the conclave:
to announce how green laws are being diluted.
It is no secret that the NDA regime wants
to water down the six most crucial environmental laws, following the recommendations of the TSR Subramanian committee.
The catchphrase, as Environment Minister
Prakash Javadekar announced, is to facilitate "the ease of business". Already, as
many as a hundred modifications have been
made by executive orders.
Modi released the standard terms of reference for green appraisal of projects. The
time taken for granting sanctions is expected to decline from six-12 months to just 30
days now.
Among many of the dilutions, there is a
worrying tilt towards the builders lobby. In
the National Capital Region, forests which
have not been officially classified will be
open for development.
The Environment Ministry is also allowing the private sector to plant trees on government forests, which can hurt the rural
poor who depend on forest produce for their
sustenance.
Another law that is up for scrutiny is the
coastal regulation zone. A high level committee has already submitted its recommendations to dilute these, following pressure

from coastal states like Maharashtra and


Kerala.
In Mumbai, the Mahim coast has already
been redefined as a "bay", providing a
bonanza to builders who can now build just
100 metres from the high tide line as against
500 metres previously.
This has paved the way for the construction of two 55-storey towers, all sea-facing,
in some of the country's highest priced real
estate.
For the coastal road, from Nariman Point
at the southern tip of Mumbai to Kandivali
in the north, some 170-odd hectares are
being reclaimed, which will cause havoc to
the city's ecology.
Modi's eulogy of India's traditional
preservation of nature might appear harmless, if somewhat misplaced, except that it
should not be read with his previous
endorsement of ancient methods of plastic
surgery and in vitro fertilisation.
His call to India to become a global leader
in the fight against climate change amounts
to grandstanding. While he was correct in
pointing out to the double standards adopted
by the global North in not sufficiently
reducing its carbon emissions, India is hardly doing anything that would curb its own
pollution.
The irony that the ministers' meet was taking place in a city which the WHO has
declared the most polluted in the world didn't escape anybody.
As many as 13 out of the 20 most polluted
cities globally are in India. Recent media
reports show how there has been official
apathy about this crisis.
Will India harbor "the world's dirtiest

The National Air Quality Index that Narendra Modi launched is a long-overdue
first step but it needs to be followed up with many more...

cities", which will be shunned by foreigners


and well-to-do Indians alike?
Ahead of President Obama's visit to Delhi
this January, his aides installed 1,800 air
purifiers to insulate him and his entourage.
The US, German and Japanese embassies
have started issuing air quality warnings
and contemplate reducing the terms of their
staff stationed in the nation's capital from
three to two years. This is hardly a situation
which the NDA government can countenance.
The National Air Quality Index that the
PM launched is a long-overdue first step but

it needs to be followed up with many more.


Liberalizing green laws is exactly setting
the clock back. Polluters won't pay any
more.
To cite one instance, Mumbai's toll-free
coastal road, being pushed by the CM and
Javadekar, will add considerably to the air
pollution, not to mention further congesting
the metropolis.
(Darryl D'Monte is chairperson, Forum
of Environmental Journalists of India.
The views expressed by the author are
personal.)

Irani PeepingCam case: Why every woman must be wary


By Jyoti Sharma Bawa
hile on a shopping trip
with her husband to a
FabIndia store in Goa,
Union minister Smriti Irani spotted
a CCTV camera positioned to look
into the changing room. She alerted her husband, called BJP legislator Michael Lobo and got an FIR
registered. The store has been
sealed and four people arrested.
Last month, the manager of a Van
Heusen store in Delhi was arrested
for trying to make a video of an
unsuspecting customer while she
was in the trial room. He told
police he had placed his mobile
phone inside the room when he
saw the girl walking in alone. The
store was sealed.
How many times have you
walked into the changing room of a
fashion store and wondered if it is
all safe?
While in the gym or swimming
pool, have you wondered if the
mirror is two-way and if someone
looking at you or, worse, filming
you?
As these two incidents, and thousands like them which we have

Union Human Resource Minister Smriti Irani

been hearing of with an eerie regularity, it is a good idea to be wary,


very wary.
A hidden camera or a spy phone
may be pointed at you in hotel
rooms, bathrooms, malls, gyms,
workplace and swimming pools or
even in your home. Victims have

been filmed without their knowledge and when they are vulnerable.
This invasive and intimidating
crime has had victims of all ages,
and even genders.
The prime reason behind these
spiraling cases of invasion of privacy is omnipresent technology. In

this age of mobile phone cameras,


CCTVs, constant social media
updates, and those tiny, hard to
spot surveillance devices which are
available at laughably low prices,
the sex pests are everywhere.
From aghast girlfriends and
wives who found out that their

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

compromising pictures consensual or otherwise had suddenly


found their way online after a bad
break-up or divorce, to an oblivious girl filmed by an unscrupulous
peeping tom of a landlord to spycams filming you in that plush
mall, women are mostly the ones at
the receiving end.
Knee jerk drives, like the one
launched by Delhi Police after the
Van Heusen incident, where they
announced they would patrol all
malls and their washrooms, can go
only so far.
It is by being more astute and
more aware that women can stay
safe. If established brands cannot
promise you safety from peeping
toms, it is a good idea to be more
astute.
When inside the trial room,
check the walls and the floor for
any hidden devices. If there are any
CCTVs, check which way they are
pointed. Check those two-way mirrors. If it is a two-way mirror, you
can see across if you shine light
from your phone's torch.
And if you think anything is
amiss, don't be afraid to raise an
alarm.

14

OP-ED

April 11-17, 2015

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Nuclear fears in South Asia


Pakistan, having 120 nuclear weapons already, plans to triple that in a
decade. An increase of that size makes no sense, especially since
Indias nuclear arsenal, at about 110 weapons, is growing more slowly.

By the NYT Editorial Board


he worlds attention has
rightly been riveted on negotiations aimed at curbing
Irans nuclear program. If and when
that deal is made final, America and
the other major powers that worked
on it China, Russia, Britain,
France and Germany should turn
their attention to South Asia, a troubled region with growing nuclear
risks of its own.
Pakistan, with the worlds fastestgrowing nuclear arsenal, is unquestionably the biggest concern, one
reinforced by several recent developments. Last week, Pakistans

prime minister, Nawaz Sharif,


announced that he had approved a
new deal to purchase eight dieselelectric submarines from China,
which could be equipped with
nuclear missiles, for an estimated $5
billion. Last month, Pakistan testfired a ballistic missile that appears
capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to any part of India. And a senior adviser, Khalid Ahmed Kidwai,
reaffirmed Pakistans determination
to continue developing short-range
tactical nuclear weapons whose only
purpose is use on the battlefield in a
war against India.
These investments reflect the
Pakistani Armys continuing obses-

sion with India as the enemy, a


rationale that allows the generals to
maintain maximum power over the
government and demand maximum
national resources. Pakistan now
has an arsenal of as many as 120
nuclear weapons and is expected to
triple that in a decade. An increase
of that size makes no sense, especially since Indias nuclear arsenal,
estimated at about 110 weapons, is
growing more slowly.
The two countries have a troubled
history, having fought four wars
since independence in 1947, and
deep animosities persist. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi of India
has made it clear that Pakistan can
expect retaliation if Islamic militants carry out a terrorist attack in
India, as happened with the 2008
bombing in Mumbai. But the latest
major conflict was in 1999, and
since then India, a vibrant democra-

cy, has focused on becoming a


regional economic and political
power.
At the same time, Pakistan has
sunk deeper into chaos, threatened
by economic collapse, the weakening of political institutions and,
most of all, a Taliban insurgency
that aims to bring down the state.
Advanced military equipment
new submarines, the medium-range
Shaheen-III missile with a reported
range of up to 1,700 miles, shortrange tactical nuclear weapons
are of little use in defending against
such threats. The billions of dollars
wasted on these systems would be
better spent investing in health, education and jobs for Pakistans people.
Even more troubling, the
Pakistani Army has become increasingly dependent on the nuclear arsenal because Pakistan cannot match

the size and sophistication of Indias


conventional forces. Pakistan has
left open the possibility that it could
be the first to use nuclear weapons
in a confrontation, even one that
began with conventional arms.
Adding short-range tactical nuclear
weapons that can hit their targets
quickly compounds the danger.
Pakistan is hardly alone in its
potential to cause regional instability. China, which considers Pakistan
a close ally and India a potential
threat, is continuing to build up its
nuclear arsenal, now estimated at
250 weapons, while all three countries are moving ahead with plans to
deploy nuclear weapons at sea in the
Indian Ocean.
This is not a situation that can be
ignored by the major powers, however preoccupied they may be by
the long negotiations with Iran.
Courtesy The New York Times

Rediscovering Mahatma Gandhi in this globalized age


The spirit and legacy of Gandhi demand bold, courageous and connected initiatives which reach the last man
in society. The spiritual Gandhi has today become not only a national leader but a missionary of civilization
By Rajdeep Pathak
t's almost a month since British
Foreign Secretary Philip
Hammond visited India, a few
days before Mahatma Gandhi's statue was unveiled at Parliament
Square in London in the presence of
Indian Minister Arun Jaitley. Call it a
coincidence, the visit was appropriately timed on March 12, the day 85
years ago when Gandhi launched his
mass satyagraha movement from
Sabarmati in Gujarat to the banks of
the Dandi to break the unjust salt law
that, to a large extent, signaled the
beginning of the end of the British
Raj in India. It was at this point of
time Gandhi drew world sympathy
in this (non-violent) battle for 'right
against might'.
One could argue that though the
mass civil disobedience movements
- a term borrowed by Gandhi from
Henry David Thoreau, a 19th-century American writer and used as
'satyagraha' in the Indian context led by Gandhi to end the monopoly
of the British Empire upon the
Indians did not produce a constitutional change, it demonstrated that
ordinary Indians had the power to
drive events. In several parts of
India, nationalists succeeded in
weakening
the
forcefully
imposed/established structures.
Moreover, people began to defy - as
well as challenge - the injustices.
Peter Ackerman and Jack DuVall
write in their book, A Force More

Powerful: A Century of Nonviolent


Conflict: "While the campaign did
not wreck the raj, it did succeed in
shredding the legitimacy of British
rule. For over a century the regime
had represented itself as benign,
standing for sound economy and
gradual reform - and likely to bring
home rule in the long run. As long as
Indians went about their business
and cooperated with its laws and
institutions, the British could maintain this faade. But civil disobedience shattered it".
And the greatest example of this
was the Salt March that brought people from different classes and
regions - wherever Gandhi made his
presence and from further distance
too - and forged a durable link
among Indians who put aside their
personal interest to promote national
interest. Mahatma Gandhi became
the embodiment of national purpose
for millions of Indians who nonviolently fought for 'truth force' vis-vis 'brute force'.
And here was Philip Hammond
addressing the media on Britain's
growing relations with India.
Referring to the unveiling,
Hammond said: "That statue will be
a tribute to the inspiration Gandhi
provided not only to India but to the
people of the world", adding, "It is
fitting that the man (Mahatma
Gandhi) who founded the world's
largest democracy should look
across the Square at the world's oldest parliament (in Britain)".

This would be a befitting acknowledgement - rather than tribute - to a


man who as an 18-year-old touched
upon a land which threw before him
an entirely different world (19th century England). Never in his life, had
he seen something so splendid, so
ornate and so polished that made the
young Mohandas Karamchand
Gandhi abandon his habitual modesty to present himself as an English
gentleman, what author Robert
Payne in his book "The Life and
Death of Mahatma Gandhi" calls as
an 'infatuation', which ultimately
would pass.
It cannot altogether be denied that
the British recognized the good
points in a rebel and it was worthy.
As the English journalist, novelist
and educator Edmund Candler
recorded in 1922: "Gandhi's honesty
of purpose has been generally admitted by the Indian Government, by
the Viceroy, as well as by the
Secretary of State. The rage of a certain section of the British press with
Mr. Montagu, when he admitted that
Mahatma Gandhi was his friend, is
understandable".
In the 67 years - after Gandhi's
death - that separate us from him,
humanity has witnessed breathtaking
achievements in science and technology and even the texture and
rhythm of our life have been altered.
Some see it as a model of development; others perceive it as a race
against time.
As India celebrates the 100 years

It is fitting that the man (Mahatma Gandhi) who founded the


world's largest democracy should look across the square at the
world's oldest parliament (in London)".

of Gandhi's return from South Africa


(1915-2015) and gears up for the
centenary celebrations of the historic
'Champaran Satyagraha' in 2017, the
satyagrahi Gandhi seems to be little
awed by the dynamism of the events
that are to unfold as the clock progresses. For the Gandhi who
returned in 1915 saw India as a
whole and not in parts and fragmented, if not externally to the world, yet
too demanding.
The culture wars occurring in the
multicultural societies - and India is
an integral part - is just a microcosm
of the global conflict. No country
today seems to have been left
untouched by the phenomenon of
violence. The world - because of frequent confrontations and violent
eruptions despite the rapid and globalised progress - has become a one
physical unit, but not an integrated
entity.

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

While rediscovering - and more so


repackaging Mahatma Gandhi in this
globalised era - it will be apt to realize - and adhere - that the spirit and
legacy of Gandhi demand bold,
courageous and connected initiatives
which reach the last man in society.
The spiritual Gandhi has today
become not only a national leader
but a missionary of civilization. Or is
it that the repackaging has transformed this mass leader into a
faade, which only exists but dissipates? Also to the unimaginative - or
the disbelievers - the Mahatma
remains insincere or insignificant.
Can a remolded Gandhi be a guiding
force to the East and the West alike,
as the crisis of civilization sharpens
its edge and as Gandhi stands as a
significant figure at the world's
crossroads?
The author is program executive at New
Delhi's Gandhi Smriti & Darshan Samiti.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

PERSONALITY

April 11-17, 2015

15

Rashmee Sharma: A Woman on a Mission


After publishing two books profiling some successful and inspiring people of Indian origin in North America,
Dr Rashmee Sharma has partnered with Mani Kamboj to form Roshni Media Group,
which will be launched at an awards gala in New York on May 29

The first book Rashmee


Sharma, PhD, published was titled
Roshni: The Light of South Asia

By Robert Golomb
r. Rashmee Sharma knows better
than most that life comes filled with
the unexpected. In 1986 her future
seemed already to be laid out in a straight,
neat comfortable line. She was already widely known throughout her native country of
India as an award winning poet, journalist,
editor and television personality, and her
picture perfect private life revolved around
her husband, an officer in the Indian Army,
and their two young children. Tragically on
August 25th of the same year, all that
changed with her husbands death from a
sudden heart attack.
It was a very sad time for me and my
children, Rashmee told me in a recent interview. I had already achieved recognition
and fame, but I had lost the man I loved, and
my children were now living without a
father.
Wanting to provide her children with a
new environment and a new start in their
young lives, in 1989 Rashmee moved with
them to Seattle, Washington in the United
States. There she taught American Literature
in Washington State University while simultaneously pursuing a PhD in that same subject. She also began to resume her career in
journalism, serving as the Northwestern
American correspondent for several prestigious American and international news
organizations.
For the first time since I lost my husband, Sharma recalled, I possessed a sense
of comfort and tranquility. My children had
adjusted wonderfully to life in America. I
loved teaching, enjoyed my doctoral studies
and was thrilled to restart my career as a
journalist. I possessed the feeling that my
life was back on a steady, uncomplicated and
predictable course.
Rashmee, however, explained why that
feeling and outlook turned out to be
ephemeral. There was something very troubling that I had tried to keep out of my mind
for a while because I did not have the energy
at first to confront it, she told me. While
my students, mostly white and American
born, knew my background and were always
extremely respectful and very kind to me, I
nevertheless found that I often would overhear more than a few of them make pejorative comments about South Asians, suggesting that we are no more than cabdrivers and
attendants at gas stations.
Of the large number of South Asians living in Seattle and across America, Rashmee
continued, there are in fact a good number
who perform those necessary, productive
and very honorable jobs which enable them
to provide well for their families. However,
they represent only a small percentage of the

South Asian American community, which is


one of the most diverse and successful ethnic groups in America. With my platform
as a writer and an educator, I knew I had a
new important and challenging mission in
my life. It would be to combat these stereotypes and inform my students, the American
public and the entire world of the great contributions that our community has made to
the world.
But just as she was to begin on this mission Rashmee had an unexpected realization.
As I started to make plans about how to
present the accomplishments of our community to the public, I started to become aware
that I myself did not possess a thorough
knowledge about these accomplishments,
she stated. I found this embarrassing. But I
was told by some friends from other ethnic
groups, including my Jewish, Italian, Latino,

Rashmee stated. I got the pleasure to meet


and the honor to write about people I had
known before only through the television
set. Seeing the success of these people from
my nation of origin made me proud to be a
South Asian, and equally proud to now live
in a country that allows and in fact encourages people of all backgrounds to achieve
such great success.
Rashmees own success with these feature
stories evolved into a new endeavor in 2005.
From the many positive responses I was
receiving from my readers and editors I
wanted to begin a new project. I decided
to write a book containing the inspirational
stories of many of the hundreds of Indian
American leaders from all walks of life I had
met and interviewed in the past.
Winning critical acclaim, that first book,
which she titled, Roshni, the Light of South

Rashmee Sharma and her business partner


Mani Kamboj with Mira Nair.

Irish and African American peers, that they


themselves were not as informed of the
accomplishments and successes of people of
their own cultures as they should be.
So Rashmee spent countless hours in the
university library, immersing herself in
research about South Asians and making discoveries along the way that filled her with
pride. I never knew that two of the women
American astronauts have been of South
Asian background : Sunita Williams recently
and Kalpana Chawla who died in the
Columbia space disaster in 2003, she told
me. All this made me feel very proud of my
heritage, and I realized there was more I
wanted to learn and explore.
This exploration led Rashmee, during the
1990s, to take some time off from the university and travel across America.
Returning to her roots as a writer once again,
she interviewed and wrote feature stories on
more than one hundred well known South
Asian Americans, including New Age guru
Dr. Deepak Chopra, national columnist and
CNN anchor, Fareed Zakaria, and then
Secretary of the Louisiana Department of
Health, and later Governor and possible
2016 Republican presidential contender,
Bobby Jindal.
It was an incredible time for me,

raphy , Rashmee recalled, I became


incredibly impressed by her accomplishments. In 2000, at age 23, still only two
years after she came to America from India,
she founded a software company which had
by 2013 grown to be one of the most well
known and respected in the world. She was
also heavily involved in the Indian and
American film industry as a producer and
investor. And still she found time to sit on
several non- profit child education and
womans rights organizations. Yet, what
impressed me most about her was that she
was balancing her work with her responsibilities as a wife to an extremely successful
husband and as a mother of a young child. I
couldnt wait to meet her for our interview.
It was a meeting that would soon prove to
have a major impact upon them both, personally and professionally. There was a

Rashmee Sharma with Dr Deepak Chopra.


(Photos: Roshni Media Group)

Asia, spawned a second book Roshni: The


Light of South Asia - North America.
Seven years in the making, the latter features
stories of well known South Asians living in
both America and Canada. Rashmee
explained what motivated her to write the
second book. There were, she said, about
50 people not covered in the original book
that I wanted my readers to learn about,
including, most notably, Governor Nikki
Haley {Governor of South Carolina, elected
2010, reelected 2014}. And Canada, a
country with a South Asian presence as early
as the 18th Century, has many prominent
South Asians living there who I wanted my
readers to get to know. Those Canadians
Rashmee profiled in the book include film
director Deepa Mehta, film producer Ajay
Virmani, and real estate developer Bob
Dhillon.
There was soon to be a third book, Global
and Emerging Leaders, which Rashmee
began working on in 2013. As she was
studying the backgrounds and accomplishments of prospective subjects for this new
book, which is mainly about leaders in the
world of business and the arts, Rashmee
found herself focusing on one biography in
particular, that of a woman named Mani
Kamboj. As I read through Manis biog-

project, actually a next natural step in my


work, I had been thinking about for a while
and when Mani and I met and became
friends just about immediately and almost
instinctively, I realized she would be the perfect person to team up with.
That next step will be a major one. Two
years after they first met, Rashmee and
Mani, now Rashmees partner in the new
business they named Roshni Media Group,
will be launching on May 29th at the Pierre
Hotel in NYC an Awards Ceremony honoring many of the same people she has profiled in her three books. Among those
expected to attend and be honored that night
are South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley,
film director Mira Nair, and author Salman
Rushdie.
Rashmee told me she is counting the days
until May 29th: It was a great challenge to
get this started. Now I just cant wait for the
big day when I will be reacquainted with the
leaders who have been inspirational to me
and my readers and have made the world a
better place in so many ways for so many
people.
Just wondering what her next
challenge might be.
Robert Golomb is a nationally published
columnist. Mail him at MrBob347@aol.com
and follow him on Twitter@RobertGolomb.

16

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

April 11-17, 2015

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

'Detective Byomkesh': Baffling, bewitching and provocative


s layer after
layer
of
intrigue and
mystery are peeled
off this Chinese puzzle of a movie, you are
finally left staring wide-eyed and openmouthed at a work of wondrous art.
Exquisite in form, compelling and at times,
deeply impenetrable in content, "Detective
Byomkesh Bakshy (DBB)" is what a whodunit was meant to be all along.
Somehow Hindi cinema never got down
to doing a real murder mystery before this.
Maybe the genre waited to be cracked by
the deftly disingenuous Dibakar Bannerjee.
To get to the bottom of that mystery of why
the murder mystery never came to fruition
before this, we must wait for the film on
the desceration of the whodunit in
Bollywood.
But for now. Here it is. Ladies and gentleman, unveiling the smartest smoothest
and slickest and the most slippery whodunit in Hindi cinema's living memory.
"DBB" is a stubbornly placid tale of an
iconic detective who seems to know more
about Kolkata and its underworld than any
authority of or on the metropolis in the
1940s. The film's writers, and I do mean
Urmi Juvekar and Dibakar Bannerjee, and
not Sharadindu Badhopadhyay who

REVIEW

A scene from the film 'Detective Byomkesh Bakshy'

penned the original detective novels, lend a


gripping flow to the narrative by bending
the plot into shapes which are not recognizable or definable by the rules of the
genre. At least, not the way we've so far
perceived the murder mystery in
Bollywood so far.

Salman's driver lying about


accident: Prosecution
he prosecution in
the Salman Khan
hit-and-run case
has rejected the testimony
of the Bollywood actor's
driver that he was driving
the vehicle at the time of
the September 2002 accident, and termed him a
"self-condemned liar" who
could face perjury charges.
Public Prosecutor Pradeep
Gharat said Ashok Singh
had lied under oath and was
coached by the defense
counsel to lie in the court,
while continuing the arguments in the hit-and-run case
which left one pavement
dweller dead and four othSalman Khan with driver Ashok Singh
ers injured.
Last month, the driver's name cropped up (Singh) to own up and he owns up.. the confor the first time when Salman testified that duct of the driver is unnatural," Gharat
he was not driving the vehicle at the time argued. At the time of the accident, Gharat
and named Singh - who later confessed said witnesses heard a "big bang" and many
before Additional Sessions Judge D. W. had seen the actor stepping out of the right
side of the vehicle.
Deshpande.
"All witnesses said that he and his friend
Terming the timing of the driver's confession as "suspicious", Gharat rejected it and Kamaal Khan ran away from there after the
called him a "self-condemned liar" who accident," Gharat said, citing that witness
could be liable for perjury for falsely own- Francis had testified to this fact and this was
never challenged.
ing up to the accident.
"At that time, the witness (Singh) was not
He said there was no doubt that Salman
was driving the vehicle that night when it present. He is a liar. He has stepped forward
met with the accident outside American for the accused now, for whatever may be
Express Bakery in Bandra West suburb of the reasons," he said.
The prosecution has charged Salman with
Mumbai, close to the actor's seafront residrunken driving and not possessing a valid
dence in Galaxy Apartments.
"Salim Khan (father of Salman) asked him licence, both of which he has denied.

Smells, sights and specially sounds


emerge from the storytelling with a casual
flair for making the obvious look subtle
and the innocuous, dangerous.
Wickedly misleading and yet resolutely
clear-headed even as the detective-hero
(Sushant) and his reluctant assistant Ajit

Banerjee (Anand) gambol from one suspect to another to piece together a mystery
that has no reference point and certainly no
history, this is a film that requires us to
abandon all attempts to be one-up on the
narrative.
We have no choice but to go with the
writer's whimsical flow.
From the seeming ebbing and swelling of
the narrative tide, Dibakar seems to derive
a huge amount of unprecedented narrative
power. The film moves across a luscious
labyrinth of sensuous experiences.
Kolkata's grime and sweat is captured in
crumbling guest houses and rickety warehouses where crime is a desirable reality
only because the other option is ennui.
Particularly riveting are Sushant's scenes
with the extraordinarily brilliant Neeraj
Kabi. When they are together on screen we
are looking at neither actor as they both
take us to a distance far away from their
spoken words.
A scintillating synthesis of the cerebral
and the sensual, DBB is an enigmatic whodunit cooked on the slow burner at a tantalizing temperature. Dibakar Banerjee's
Kolkata pulsates with a heart, soul, body
and nerves of steel. This is a world whose
existence the makers of "Furious 7" could
never imagine.

eteran actor Anupam Kher, a Kashmiri


Pandit, is ecstatic about what he calls "a
holiday in 30 years". And he's more
excited as he's heading to "the most beautiful
place on earth", Kashmir.
The 60-year-old, who has been a part of the
film industry for over three decades, took to
Twitter to express his excitement over his
visit.
On my way to Gulmarg, my Kashmir. Have
not taken a holiday in 30 yrs. So what better
place to go but to The Most Beautiful Place On
Earth, Anupam posted.
Flight is full of tourists to Srinagar, Kashmir. I
have already started my photo sessions with
Fans, Followers & Countrymen. Jai Ho, he
added.
Veteran
Anupam was recently seen in films like
actor
Dirty Politics, Sharafat Gayi Tel Lene and
Anupam
Kher
Baby.

Kher holidays
after 30 years,
off to 'my
Kashmir'

Maharashtra to screen
Marathi movies on prime time
he Maharashtra government plans to
make it compulsory for multiplexes
in the state to show Marathi movies
6-9 p.m. daily, Culture Minister Vinod
Tawde said.
"We are in the process of enacting a law to
make it mandatory for multiplexes to screen
Marathi movies during the prime time slot,"
Tawde said in the assembly.
He also said that soon all cinema halls
would screen a short documentary on
Dadasaheb Phalke, the father of India cinema, to create awareness about his contribution to the film industry.
The potentially controversial move was
greeted with many 'likes' and an equal number of 'thumbs down' on various social networking sites.

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

forthcoming production venture Mr. X,


said that with the Pakistani film industry almost non-existent, the popularity of Bollywood films and stars
is what has motivated them to
revive their own exhibition
industry.
Pakistani people have
Indian actors figuring in their
lives like in India... when you
walk on the streets of Karachi,
you have advertisements of
Priyanka Chopra or Shah Rukh
Khan endorsing some product or
the other adorning the walls
there, Bhatt said.
Their movie halls exhibit films
starring Indian actors... because their
own film industry is almost non-existent.
Their film exhibition industry has been
revived because of Bollywood offerings.
They live with it... people there have got a
new lease of life because of Bollywood,
the National Award-winner added.
Indian movies were banned in Pakistan
in 1968 and as a result the film industry
across the border suffered recession.
While the ban was eased in 2006, most
theaters in the country couldn't survive the
self-imposed drought. In fact, just earlier

Cinema in Pak
revived due to
Bollywood:
Bhatt
eteran
filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, who
calls himself a facilitator of the
cultural dialogue between India and
Pakistan, says Bollywood is responsible
for reviving the interest in cinema in the
neighbouring country, where a play based
on his 1989 film "Daddy" was recently
staged.
In a tete-a-tete with IANS, the 66-yearold, who was in the capital to promote his

April 11-17, 2015

17

this year, the 66-year-old Taj Mahal cinema in the country's Abbottabad city was
shut down due to lack of clientle.
That said, there are filmmakers who
have come up in recent times, and got
noticed for their work. Be it Sharmeen
Obaid-Chinoy, who won the first Oscar
for her country with "Saving Face", or
names like Mehreen Jabbar ("Ramchand
Pakistani") and Shoaib Mansoor ("Khuda
Kay Liye") -- their differentiated filmmaking has struck a chord with global
audiences.
In India also, there is a heightened interest in Pakistani works ever since movies
from the other side of the border have
started releasing here. Then, there is also
accessibility to TV content from Pakistan
-- courtesy Zindagi channel.
Bhatt sampled Pakistan's love for Indian
art and culture when he was there to present "Daddy", which was staged at the
International Theatre Film Festival 2015,
organised by Karachi's National Academy
of Performing Arts.
All three shows went houseful and
"people really gave it a very powerful
response", he said.
Filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt

Bollywood-themed eateries trend pan-India

(left) Bhaijaanz restaurant and (above) 70 mm restaurant

magine gorging on 'Anda Apna


Apna' or 'Chicken Tussi Great
Ho" at a restaurant with walls
splashed with Bollywood posters,
dialogues and film memorabilia.
Special-themed eateries across
India are cashing in on the craze
for everything Bollywood - films,
songs and stars.
The owners may be professional
restaurateurs
or
diehard
Bollywood fans, but they've chosen their unique ways to showcase
their love for popular Hindi cinema through their joints.
Bollywood-inspired cafs are
definitely in vogue, says Delhi's
leading restaurateur Priyank
Sukhija, who will soon open the
doors of his pet project, Lights
Camera Action, in the capital's
trendy Hauz Khas Village. He
stresses on the universal love for
Bollywood music in the country,

proven by the success of special


Sufi nights and Bollywood
karaoke bars.
"We all are Hindustani, and love
the flavours of our movies. Lights
Camera Action will be a fun place.
With Bollywood themed interiors,
the place has funky artwork and
displays with popular dialogues
like 'Mere paas maa hai'," Sukhija
said, pointing out at how his
eatery will have room for all agegroups.
"It has displays from old classics
to all-time favourites and more,"
he added.
In the capital's suburb Gurgaon,
live entertainment destination
Kingdom of Dream's restaurant
IIFA Buzz Cafe has been planned
as a complete Bollywood experience with thematic dcor, props,
music, special effects and largerthan-life moments of reel life in

the form of posters, records, props


and star memorabilia.
There's also one in Jharkhand, a
chaat shop pioneered by Pappu
Singh, an ardent fan of
Bollywood's dancing queen
Madhuri Dixit. Jamshedpur-based
Pappu Singh, who has been in the
business since 1995, celebrates
Madhuri's birthday every year on
May 15.
How's that?
Pappu Singh met Madhuri once
and she tied to him a rakhi!
"As a fan of Madhuri Dixit, I
started celebrating her birthday in
1996. Every year a number of people are invited and her birthday is
celebrated with fanfare," Pappu
Singh said as he served up a
yummy dahi bhalla followed by a
kulfi faluda.
And in keeping with his intent,
every inch of the walls and roof is

papered over with posters of


Madhuri from a range of films.
"My chaat shop is the best way
to pay tribute to a Bollywood legend," Pappu Singh said, handing
out a jal jeera-filled gol gappa to
another customer. In Mumbai,
another such fan with a creative
mind showcased his love for the
'Bhai' of Bollywood, Salman
Khan, by opening a restaurant
named Bhaijaanz.
"Being Bandra-ites and Samlaniacs, since our childhood we wanted to do something dedicated to
him, with the right essence of his
taste (the fun he offers). We have
dedicated a culinary tribute to our
idol," Bhaijaanz owner Rahul
Narain Kanal said.
Bhaijaanz has a very quirky
menu with dishes like "Anda Apna
Apna", "Chicken Tussi Great Ho"
and "Machli No.1" -- all after

Salman's films -- and all at affordable rates.


South India, too, is not behind in
the trend.
In Hyderabad, multi-cuisine
restaurant 70mm has Bollywood
as the theme and was started six
years ago. 70mm has a red carpet,
film posters and mannequins of
Helen, Amitabh Bachchan and
Rajkumar.
The restaurant also has different
sections -- action and romantic -and also a live chaat counter. This
apart, they also entertain their
patrons with live Bollywood
music every evening.
Amar Ohri, the executive director of 70 mm, said the idea germinated "as a celebration of the big
screen".
Not a bad idea to get a taste of
Bollywood away from cinema
halls, and in a restaurant!

18

April 11-17, 2015

n a country that still favors sons, and where stories of girls being tormented, raped, or killed is a
daily news staple, trust India's village
republics to bring in some good news. Piplantri
village in Rajsamand district of Rajasthan not only
embraces daughters but has also created a tradition
that benefits both the local people and the planet.
This endearing village makes a conscious effort to
save girl children and the green cover at the same
time by planting 111 trees every time a girl is born.
This wonderful Eco-conscious tradition ensures
that an increase in human population will never
come at a cost to the environment.
Village residents, numbering about 8,000, collect
Rs. 21,000 between themselves and Rs.10,000 from
the girls parents. This sum of Rs. 31,000 is made
into a 20-year fixed deposit for the girl.
Parents sign an affidavit stating that their daughter
will receive proper education and should be married
only after she reaches legal age and the trees planted
after her birth have been well looked after.
The villagers dont just plant trees, they look after
them as well. To protect the trees from termites, the
residents plant aloe vera plants around them. These
trees, and especially the aloe vera plants, are now a
source of livelihood for several residents. This
unique tradition was first suggested by the villages
former sarpanch, Shyam Sundar Paliwal, in honour
of his daughter who passed away at a young age. In
the last 6 years, over a quarter of a million trees
have been planted.

SOCIETY

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

The villagers gather as a community and plant 111


fruit trees in honor of every newborn female child.

Parents sign an affidavit stating that their daughter will


receive proper education and should be married only
after she reaches legal age.

The villagers dont just plant trees, they look


after them as well.

The trees, and especially the aloe vera plants, are


now a source of livelihood for several residents.

INDIA FEATURES

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 11-17, 2015

19

Qutb Shahi tombs to regain lost grandeur


By Mohammed Shafeeq
f Charminar is the symbol of
Hyderabad, the Qutb Shahi
Tombs along with Golconda
Fort are an integral part of the
city's rich history and culture. A
unique royal necropolis, Qutb
Shahi Tombs are a must on the
itinerary of visitors to the city.
The Qutb Shahi Heritage Park
complex has 72 monuments
including mausoleums of rulers of
the Qutub Shahi dynasty (15181687) spread over 108 acres at the
foot of the majestic Golconda
Fort, 11 km from Hyderabad in
what is now the Telangana state.
Like many historic monuments
in this 425-year-old city, the tombs
have also been long neglected and
face threat from encroachers.
The 16th-17th century necropolis is now getting a new lease of
life thanks to the Aga Khan Trust
for Culture (AKTC), which began
the conservation work in
November 2013.
For AKTC, a not-for-profit
organization engaged in conservation of monuments in various
countries, this is the second conservation project in India after
Humayun's Tomb in Delhi.
"The scale of the Qutb Shahi
Tombs project is enormous.
Perhaps nowhere in the world
such a large-scale project was
undertaken," Ratish Nanda, project director of AKTC, said.
The complex has 40 mausoleums, 23 mosques, six 'baolis'
(step-wells), a 'hamam' (mortuary
bath), pavilions and garden struc-

The scale of the Qutb Shahi Tombs restoration project at the foot of Golconda fort is
enormous The complex has at least 10
monuments which are of the scale of the
Taj Mahal. All the structures have their
own grandeur and architectural styles.
tures, each with its striking
grandeur and a unique synthesis of
architectural styles.
"There is no site like this anywhere in the world. In one complex there is such a huge diversity
and architectural styles. There are
at least 10 monuments which are
of the scale of the Taj Mahal," said
Ratish.
The monuments in the complex
are a blend of Persian, Pathan and
Hindu architectural styles and
built with local granite and traditional materials.
AKTC had initially earmarked
Rs.100 crore for the project. But
Ratish said the cost may exceed if
there are more discoveries like a

16th century wall enclosure they


found during excavation at one of
the tombs.
"The trust is committed to
spending any amount of money by
raising the same from its donors or
its own money," said Ratish.
Given the magnitude of the project, he believes it may take 10
years to complete it.
Before launching the project, the
multi-disciplinary team of experts
in 2012 carried out exhaustive
recording, documentation, condition assessment, surveys and
research exercise to understand
how the entire complex would
have originally looked.
The project officials found that

the task to restore and retain the


authenticity of the monuments is
gigantic as plaster work of the
wall and dome surfaces had deteriorated due to dampness and water
seepage.
The inappropriate application of
20th century material like cement
during the earlier repair works disfigured the historical architectural
character.
"We are using only lime mortar
mix, stone, wood and other traditional materials originally used in
the construction," said Rajpal
Singh, chief engineer, AKTC.
Banking on its experience and
expertise, the trust is carrying out
the work in a phased manner. At

any given time, 75 percent of the


complex will remain open for
tourists.
Currently focusing on the southwestern corner, AKTC plans to
complete conservation and
restoration of 30 monuments by
2016.
Besides involving 30 experts
including historians, conservation
activists and architects, AKTC has
hired master craftsmen for the
works, which are expected to generate over 300,000 mandays of
employment. Project officials say
80 percent of the cost is being
spent on master craftsmen.
The project also involves landscape restoration of the core monuments zone as well as ecological
restoration to revive 'Baolis', aqueducts and planting native trees.
"Our principal objective is to
ensure that these monuments survive for another 500 years," said
Ratish.
"Once the work is finished it
will be like the Taj Mahal and
attract tourists from all over the
world and also improve the quality
of life in Hyderabad," he promised. The Telangana government is
also planning to tap Rs.85 crore
announced in the union budget for
restoration of the tombs. The government proposes to use it for
building site museum, landscape
garden and more.
"Our aim is to propose the tombs
along with Golconda Fort for
UNESCO world heritage site,"
said B.P. Acharya, principal secretary in the department of tourism
and culture in Telangana.

5,000-year-old astrological tradition thrives in a Punjab town


By Jaideep Sarin
ust asking for an address in the Railway
Mandi area of Hoshiarpur in Punjab elicits blank stares. But the moment I uttered
the word 'Bhrigu', I was not even allowed to
say anything more and the directions followed
to the T.
One particular street in the area is virtually
dedicated to the Brighu astrologers who are
keeping alive a 5,000-year-old tradition of
looking into the past and gazing at the future.
The "Bhrighuan di gali" (street of the
Bhrigu astrologers) is a destination for people
from all parts of the country and even from
abroad as they seek out the Brighu Shastris
who, despite facing stiff competition from
Internet-driven modern-day astrology, still
rely on the Bhrigu Samhita, a religious book
that, as per legend, was penned by Rishi
Bhrigu over 5,000 years ago.
"We continue to get a lot of people from all
over the country and from across the world.
Many of those coming here include foreigners
and NRIs," Bhrigu Shastri Ramanuj Sharma
told IANS.
"Foreigners are great believers in the Bhrigu
tradition. They are leaning towards traditional
concepts like Bhrigu astrology, meditation and

Rishi Bhrigu is credited with writing the


treatise that Hoshiarpur astrologers
like the one pictured use.

vegetarianism. Followers of the Brighu tradition come from all religions," said Sharma,
who has a doctorate in Sanskrit.
He said that the Bhrigu Samhita has been
safely kept in the common storehouse of three
families here.
"The granth lies in a strongroom and weighs
tonnes. An index has been devised for the
available pages of the granth so that only the
required portions are picked up when
required," said Sharma, 43, a third-generation
Bhrigu Shastri in his family.
Once an individual shares with the Bhrigu
Shastri his details like name, date and place of
birth, parents' name and the like, the search

begins for his details in the Bhrigu Samhita.


Since it is not physically possible to check all
documents, the Bhrigu families have indexed
them.
"If the name is found, the individual is
called and told about his past lives and future.
It is even mentioned in the documents whether
the person has to be physically present to
come and see his past and future. Everything
is read from the exact document concerning

that person and he is supposed to note it down.


Sometimes, if the person, living abroad or, for
some other reason, is unable to come, then our
staff writes down for them and the same is emailed to them or sent by post," Sharma pointed out about the process.
Politicians like former president Zail Singh,
former prime minister Indira Gandhi, union
minister Maneka Gandhi and former Haryana
chief minister Bhajan Lal and film stars
Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Sanjay Dutt and
Bollywood's famous Kapoor family, among
others, have come calling on the Bhrigu
Shastris. But not everyone's details may be
recovered from the granth.
The original Bhrigu Samhita, a massive
database of charts of millions of people, was
partially lost during various invasions of the
country in the 12th and 13th centuries. It was
a chance incident that a Brahmin family discovered a major part of the granth with a junk
dealer here in 1923.
However, not everyone is ready to believe in
the Bhrigu tradition.
"I have got my records checked. Some part
of it was true but all major happenings in my
life were not there. I cannot believe in it blindly. But some people believe in this a lot,"
Hoshiarpur resident Bhagwant Singh said.

20 April 11-17, 2015

DIASPORA

Top physics honor for


Indian-origin student in Britain

London: An Indian-origin
using just school physics
teenaged student in Britain
lab equipment, build an
has won a top prize and 500
apparatus to observe relapounds for his research on
tivistic time dilation,"
Albert Einstein's special relPratap said.
ativity theory.
Pratap will verify an
The project won Pratap
effect of special relativity
Singh the Institute of
to detect cosmic-ray muons
Physics (IOP) prize at the
- high-energy particles creNational Science and
ated high above the Earth.
Engineering Competition.
Using two Geiger-Muller
His research will now be
tubes, he created a mathepublished in international
matical model for their
journal Physics Education.
arrival rate and without
"I have always been very
time dilation.
interested in physics. So
He then used a Raspberry
when the time came for my
Pi computer and some staresearch project - a yeartistical analysis to show
Pratap Singh with
long opportunity we get at
they
followed the model
his award plaque.
our school to study any topic
predicted by Einstein's
of our choosing - I, of course, wanted to do 1905 theory of special relativity.
something in physics," the 15-year-old stu"He demonstrated remarkable creativity in
dent of The Perse School, Cambridge, was his approach to the problem, bringing
quoted as telling Cambridge News.
together theory grounded in robust science
"I am especially happy that over the course with practical ingenuity," said Johanna
of this project, I was able to bring together Kieniewicz, the IOP's head of outreach and
the theory, create a mathematical model, and engagement and one of the judges.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

UK launches crackdown on illegal


immigrants including Indians
London: Authorities in Britain have raided
several businesses, including Indian and
Chinese restaurants, across the country as
part of a crackdown on illegal immigrants
employed by them.
Around 40 illegal immigrants a day are
being arrested as enforcement squads also
target restaurants, petrol stations and car
washes. In the UK, all cuisine from the Indian
subcontinent is referred to as "Indian curry"
and many of the restaurants guilty of employing illegal workers would include those of
Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin as well. An
increase in raids on premises known for
employing people in the black economy has
helped to bolster the number of illegal immigrants being picked up by the authorities,
Daily Telegraph reported.
UK home office figures show outstanding
fines of more than 1 million pounds on
Indian, Pakistani and Sri Lankan restaurants
and almost 500,000 pounds on Chinese
restaurants and takeaways after illegal immigrants were discovered working there.
Among those detained by immigration
enforcement teams are visitors who have
overstayed their visas and migrants who

have been smuggled into Britain. The latest


figures show that the number of arrests for
illegal working has doubled over the past four
years, rising from about 20 a day in 2010 to
40 a day last year.
Overall the number of arrests has almost
doubled since 2010 to 14,338 last year,
according to Home office data released under
freedom of information laws.
Any business found to have employed a
worker without conducting the proper preemployment checks can be hit with a civil
penalty of up to 20,000 pounds per worker.
Claire Portlock, assistant director of West
Midlands home office immigration enforcement, said: "Illegal working cheats the treasury of vital funds, undercuts honest employers and often exploits some of society's most
vulnerable people. "When we receive information that employers are not playing by the
rules we will take action and they could end
up facing a heavy penalty. "We rely on information from the public and I would urge people to report suspected illegal working to us."
Statistics show that arrests fell from 7,920 in
2010 to 7,792 in 2011, then increased to
9,269 in 2012 and jumped to 15,098 in 2013.

Guinness recognizes largest music Lord Swraj Paul donates 1 million


therapy lesson by Indian guru
pounds to a UK university

Sydney: At a time when ailments are pervasive with cures sought from increasingly
strong medications, Dr. Sri Ganapathy
Sachchidananda Swamiji, pontiff of the
Avadhoota Datta Peetham of Mysore, India
led the largest music therapy lesson at a single location on 6th April at the iconic Sydney
Opera House here, for the well-being of not
just the participants, but also those suffering
around the world.
Notably, the Guinness World Records recognized Sri Swamiji for leading a four hour
marathon most people chanting from a single location for world peace - on January
31st in Tenali in the State of Andhra Pradesh,
India. Consul General of India in Sydney, Sri
Sunjay Sudhir, who witnessed the event,
thanked Sri Swamiji for the wonderful music
therapy session, and relayed his hope for
many more such sessions.
Leading the effort, Sri Swamiji explained
the synergistic role of music in improving the
outcome of cure for chronic ailments, when
complemented with medical treatment. Sri
Swamiji also explained the intricate relationship between nerves, sound vibrations,
human organs, and the impact of music in

Dr Sri Ganapathy Sachchidananda


Swamiji receiving the recognition

the related nerve centers.


At this world record event, Sri Swamiji was
accompanied by world-renowned violinist
Dr. L. Subramaniam, percussionists Sri
Ramadasu on tabla and Sri V Suresh on
Ghatam along with the Celestial Message
Troupe consisting of Vidwan Jaitra Varanasi
on Violin, Vidwan Mani Narasimham on
Keyboard, and Vidwan Shankar Ramesh on
Mrudangam. Sri Swamiji has honed his healing music over several decades, and his scientific approach to music therapy has benefited millions of people directly and indirectly
through many such music therapy lessons.

London: Industrialist Lord Swraj Paul has


made a mega donation of one million pounds
to the University of Wolverhampton, the "single biggest gift" received by the UK's leading
varsity. The donation for the university from
the Ambika Paul Foundation, a charitable trust
set up by Paul in memory of his daughter, will
go towards general upgrade of facilities at the
campus in the West Midlands region of
England. "It is part of my continued connection with the university, which is based in
Britain's industrial heartland. It is a university
which takes pride in training students from
ordinary backgrounds to create the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs for the
country and beyond," said Paul, who has been
Chancellor of the university since 1999.
"The Ambika Paul Foundation has one very
specific mission: to enhance the lives of the
next generation through education, culture and
health. What the University of Wolverhampton
stands for and its quest to provide opportunities for young people resonates with me and
where I have come from, to where I am today,"
said the founder- chairman of Caparo Group,
which employs an estimated 2,500 people in
the West Midlands region. Paul will also be

leading a delegation from the university to


India next week to further strengthen education and business ties between the two countries. Over the years, he has been instrumental
in strengthening the India link of the institution with honorary degrees for leaders such as
former President APJ Abdul Kalam, current
President Pranab Mukherjee and finance minister Arun Jaitley.
The university, which also has a regional
office in India, is investing 50 million pounds
over the next two years to redevelop its campuses in Wolverhampton city center, which
will include a new 22 million pounds science
facility and a new 18-million pounds
Wolverhampton Business School building.
"The BBC has described this university as
among the friendliest in the UK and it is also
among the most multi-ethnic. This expansion
plan will help enhance its role as an innovation
hub where new ideas and products can incubate. It has a more hands-on approach, which
appeals to me. I hope the large Indian-origin
population in the region can feel proud of my
association with it," said Paul, who had made a
similar donation to the London Zoo in 1994, a
place his daughter Ambika loved to visit.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SUBCONTINENT

April 11-17, 2015

21

US approves $952 mn sale of helicopters, missiles to Pak

Washington: The Obama administration has notied the US


Congress it's selling Pakistan
$952 million worth of attack helicopters, air-to-surface missiles
and other military assistance saying it will not alter the basic military balance in the region.
The State Department has
approved the sale saying the "helicopters and weapon systems will
provide Pakistan with military
capabilities in support of its
counter terrorism and counterinsurgency operations in South
Asia," the Pentagon's defense
sales arms said. The proposed sale
will include 15 AH-1Z Viper
Attack Helicopters and 1000
AGM-114R Hellre II Missiles
and associated equipment, parts,
training and logistical support for
an estimated cost of $952 million,

the Defence Security Cooperation


Agency said.
The package also includes 32 T700 GE 401C Engines (30
installed and 2 spares), 36 H-1
Technical Refresh Mission computers, 32 Helmet Mounted
Display/Optimized Top Owl, 17
AN/AAR-47 Missile Warning
Systems and system integration
and testing.
"This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and
national security of the United
States by helping to improve the
security of a country vital to US
foreign policy and national security goals in South Asia," the
announcement said.
It "will provide Pakistan with a
precision strike, enhanced survivability aircraft that it can operate
at high-altitudes." "By acquiring

Pak court releases 26/11


mastermind Lakhvi
from custody

Lahore: Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi,


the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks, must be released from
prison immediately, a court in
Pakistan said on Thursday.
The Lahore High Court declared
Lakhvi's detention illegal.
The Punjab government last
month detained Lakhvi before he
could be released from jail after a
court ordered his release.
Lakhvi is accused of planning
the terror siege in Mumbai that left
166 dead in 2008.
He was granted bail by an antiterror court in December, which
infuriated New Delhi. Amid outrage over the possible release of
the terror plotter, Pakistan quickly
slapped him with a detention order
under the "Maintenance of Public
Order" law.
The Islamabad High Court suspended that order, but the Supreme
Court restored it in January.
Last month, the high court again
set aside the detention order, saying government lawyers had failed

to provide evidence to justify


Lakhvi's detention.
India says it has provided
enough proof in about a dozen
dossiers submitted to Pakistan.
The evidence it has provided
includes voice samples and witness statements on his role in the
26/11 attacks.
Throughout the four-month back
and forth over Lakhvi's detention,
he has never been let out of
Adiyala Prison in Rawalpindi.
The original bail order in
December, days after at attack on a
school in Peshawar in which over
130 children were killed, prompted an angry response from India.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
said it came as "a shock to all
those who believe in humanity".
India has said that it is up to the
Pakistan government to ensure
that Lakhvi stays in jail.
Lakhvi and six other suspects
have been charged in Pakistan but
their cases have made virtually no
progress in more than ve years.

this capability, Pakistan will


enhance its ability to conduct
operations in North Waziristan
Agency (NWA), the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas
(FATA), and other remote and
mountainous areas in all-weather,
day-and-night environments,"
DSCA said.
Pakistan will have no difculty
absorbing these helicopters into
its armed forces,it said.
"The proposed sale of this
equipment and support will not
alter the basic military balance in
the region," DSCA said.
The principal contractors will be
Bell Helicopter, Textron in Fort
Worth, Texas; General Electric in
Lynn, Massachusetts; The Boeing
Company in Huntsville, Alabama;
and Lockheed Martin in Bethesda,
Maryland.

The proposed sale will include 15 AH-1Z Viper Attack


Helicopters and 1000 AGM-114R Hellfire II Missiles
and associated equipments.

Sri Lanka, Pak sign six MoUs


to enhance cooperation

Islamabad: Pakistan Prime


Minister Nawaz Sharif and visiting
Sri Lankan President Maithripala
Sirisena announced the signing of
six memorandums of understanding (MoUs) between the two countries.
Sirisena arrived in Islamabad at
the invitation of President
Mamnoon Hussain and Prime
Minister Sharif. This was his rst
visit to Pakistan.
Sharif said both the countries
signed six agreements to enhance
cooperation in the elds of sports,
shipping, tourism, economic development, anti-narcotics, defence
and disaster management, Radio
Pakistan reported. He said these
agreements will pave the way for
expanding bilateral ties further.
Moreover, an agreement signed

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif with Sri Lankan


President Maithripala Sirisena.

between the two countries is


expected to enhance bilateral trade
to $1 billion per annum. Sirisena
welcomed Pakistani investment in
his country and also urged Pakistan

International Airlines to recommence ights to Sri Lanka.


Sirisena invited Sharif to visit
Colombo for further cementing
Pakistan--Sri Lanka ties.

US Af-Pak head meets Doval, Jaishankar


New Delhi: US Special
Representative for Afghanistan
and Pakistan Dan Feldman held
talks here with National Security
Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign
Secretary S. Jaishankar as part of
high-level US-India consultations
on Afghanistan.
Feldman met Doval, Jaishankar
and other Indian government
counterparts.
The meeting came in the wake
of President Barack Obama's
visit in January, a US embassy
press release said.
Both sides discussed the outcome of President Ashraf Ghani
and CEO Abdullah Abdullah's
visit to Washington and discussed

Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar.

how best to support a sustainable,


inclusive, sovereign, and demo-

cratic political order in


Afghanistan, said the statement.

22

INTERNATIONAL

April 11-17, 2015

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Iran and US differ on N-deal 'framework agreement'

Tehran: Iran has some different


interpretations about the details of
the Joint Comprehensive Plan of
Action (JCPOA) outlined by the
US on Tehran's nuclear program.
Quoting a summary of the
JCPOA released earlier by the
Iranian foreign ministry, Iran
media reported sanctions related to
Iran's nuclear program "will be lifted immediately when a final deal is
implemented".
According to the detailed JCPOA
released by the US Department of
State, however, the US and EU
nuclear-related sanctions "will be
suspended only after International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
verification of Iran's performance
of its obligations. And these sanctions will "snap back into place if
at any time Iran fails to fulfill its
commitment." Iran and the US also
seem to have different ideas about
the nature of "solutions" reached in
Lausanne. Iranian Foreign Minister

Iran and the US also seem to have different ideas about the
nature of "solutions" reached in Lausanne.

Javad Zarif said repeatedly that


what was reached in Lausanne was
not legally binding and Iran has no
obligation at the moment.
But in the text of the US JCPOA,

expressions such as "Iran has


agreed that", "Iran will be required
to" and "Iran will not" are used
very frequently, suggesting that
Iran has already made specific

commitments. The Iranian summary of JCPOA also did not mention


some terms released in the US version, such as "Iran has agreed to
not build any new facilities for the
purpose of enriching uranium for
15 years" and "Iran will only
enrich uranium at the Natanz facility, with only 5,060 IR-1 first-generation centrifuges for 10 years".
However, Zarif and head of the
Atomic Energy Organisation of
Iran (AEOI) Ali Akbar Salehi told
the Majlis that the country would
keep its latest centrifuges running
even if a final deal was reached and
implemented. They say Iran will
inject UF6 gas into the latest generation of its centrifuges as soon as a
final nuclear deal goes into effect,
according to Fars news agency.
Earlier, Zarif said Iran would not
allow installation of online cameras in its nuclear centers.
Zarif told the parliament that
Tehran was not going to permit

online cameras for inspection purposes.


During the session, Salehi compared Iran's nuclear capabilities to
countries like Japan, Brazil and
Argentina and said Iran owed its
nuclear power totally to local scientists. Salehi also said Western
countries consented to enter into
negotiations with Iran because they
had no other choice.
Zarif said Iran was not going to
allow online cameras in its nuclear
facilities because of its past bitter
experience of assassination of a
nuclear scientist.
Representatives from Iran and
the P5+1 group of major world
powers -- the US, Britain, France,
Russia, China plus Germany
have concluded the nine-day Iran
nuclear talks in Lausanne,
Switzerland, and reached common
solutions to outstanding issues in a
run for a comprehensive deal by
June 30.

Blair slams Cameron's EU referendum pledge Obama reiterates support for

London: Former British Prime


Minister Tony Blair slammed
incumbent premier David
Cameron's policy on Europe,
warning that a referendum on
Britain's European Union (EU)
membership could lead to economic "chaos".
Cameron has pledged to hold an
"in or out" referendum on whether
Britain should withdraw from the
EU by 2017 if his Conservative
Party wins the 2015 general election, which is to be held on May 7.
"The referendum on Europe carries with it the same risk... I agree
that a vote in Europe would also

Former British Prime


Minister Tony Blair

be of importance. But that doesn't


mean it is sensible to have it,"

Blair said on Tuesday while


speaking in his previous
Sedgefield constituency in
England.
He voiced his concerns over the
rising "nationalism" behind
Britain's EU referendum debate.
In his speech, Blair also
expressed his solidarity with
Labor Party leader Ed Miliband.
The Labor Party leader also said
he was "100 percent happy" to
have Tony Blair's support.
In response, Cameron hit back at
Blair's arguments, stressing that
"the British people deserve a say
about Europe".

India as UNSC member

President Barack Obama

Celebrity Baron of Botox is dead


New York: Dr. Fredric Brandt, a
celebrity dermatologist once
called the Baron of Botox by
W magazine, died at his home in
Coconut Grove, Fla. He was 65.
Frederica Burden, a spokeswoman for the Miami police,
said the cause was suicide.
Susan Biegacz, a publicist for
Dr. Brandt, said he had been
dealing with depression for
some time and had recently been
devastated by what is widely
believed to be a parody of him
on the Tina Fey comedy series
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,
presented by Netflix.

On the show, Martin Short


portrays Dr. Sidney Grant, a
wispy-haired plastic surgeon
whose pneumatic features suggest experiments with Botox
and facial fillers run amok.
With his own wispy blond
locks and pneumatic features,
Dr. Brandt was a walking commentary on age-defying treatments and the products that
have flooded the market since
they were introduced as medical means of treating facial
wasting among AIDS patients,
and that he always tried first on
himself.

Former British Prime


Minister Tony Blair

Washington: President Barack


Obama has reiterated US support for India's membership of a
reformed UN Security Council
as he considers it a foreign policy priority to continue to
strengthen India-US relationship.
"What the President said was
that he said in the context of a
reformed Security Council that
the President would support the
inclusion of India in that
process," White House press
secretary Josh Earnest told
reporters.
"So that continues to be our
policy and one that we are certainly aware of," he said when
asked about Obama's declaration of US support for India's
membership of the Security
Council during his November
2010 visit to India.
"The President, as we've
talked about on a number of
occasions, genuinely enjoyed
the visit that he had to India
back in January," Earnest said

referring to Obama's historic


visit to be the guest of honor at
India's Republic Day this year.
He "takes very seriously the
kind of opportunities that exist
in that friendship between the
United States and the world's
largest democracy in India," he
said. "And this is a relationship
that continues to strengthen in a
way that has both national security benefits for both countries,
but also in a way that has
important economic benefits for
both countries," Earnest said.
"And the President certainly
considers it a foreign policy priority to continue to strengthen
that relationship," he said.
Asked about the future of the
illegal immigrants after a US
court stayed the operation of
Obama's executive action to
temporarily protect from deportation about five million illegal
immigrants, including thousands of Indians, Earnest said
they were working through the
legal system.

BUSINESS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Videocon d2h rings NASDAQ opening bell


New York: Videocon d2h rang the
opening bell at the prestigious
Nasdaq stock market here after
becoming the rst Indian private
company since the year 2000 to
list overseas, issuing ADR worth
$325 million to the public.
Rajkumar Dhoot, a member of
Indian parliament and Saurabh
Dhoot, managing director of
Videocon d2h, rang the symbolic
opening bell at the Nasdaq Market
Site at Times Square in New York.
One of India's leading Direct To
Home (DTH) companies,
Videocon d2h has achieved several milestones through this listing
like becoming the rst sizeable
Indian listing on US exchanges
since 2010 and the rst Indian
media company to be listed at
Nasdaq.
At an approx market cap of
$1.15 billion, Videocon d2h has
become the most valued Indian
company at NASDAQ, according
to a media release.
"Our listing on the NASDAQ
Stock Exchange is a major corporate milestone for the entire Indian
Media industry not just Videocon

Videocon d2h claims to have launched many firsts


in the Indian DTH industry.

d2h," Saurabh Dhoot said.


It was "a testament to the
tremendous progress we have
made under the Digital India
vision" of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, he said.
"This is the success of thousands of Videocon d2h employees
working tirelessly and our customers who believed in our brand,

Twitter stocks surge


on Google's rumored
takeover bid
Washington: Amid fresh rumors that Google
may launch a takeover bid for Twitter, the microblogging site added over $1 billion to its market
cap amid heavy buying. Two companies are
believed to have contacted Twitter with "serious"
interest, with Google identied as one of those
rms, media reports said. The micro-blogging site
has reportedly hired Goldman Sachs as an adviser
to spurn the advances.
Ten-year-old Twitter has a market capitalization
of more than $34 billion with 288 million monthly
active users. Google has a $60 billion cash pile
and according to analysts, it has struggled so far
in the social media arena against Facebook.
Like Microsoft was threatened by Google,
Google is threatened by Facebook which is doing
a better job than any other internet company of
competing with Google for user attention and ad
revenues. Google launched its own social network
Google+ in 2011 but it is nowhere near Facebook
in terms of user share and popularity.
Rumors that Google is interested in buying
Twitter are in the circulation for years and reports
suggested that executives of both companies had
held talks in 2011, Telegraph reported.

product and services. We have just


begun," Dhoot said. Videocon d2h
claims to have launched many
rsts in the Indian DTH industry
like the rst to launch the 4K
Ultra HD Channel, 1000 GB High
Denition Digital Video Recorder,
Radio Frequency Remote for
DTH, Wireless DTH Headphones,
500 channels & services.

April 11-17, 2015

23

Semi hi-speed EMUs set to zoom


past bullet train plans
New Delhi: As Prime Minister
Narendra Modi travels to France
and Germany, cooperation in
modernizing India's giant but
creaking railway system is to be a
key focus area.
With bullet trains in India likely
to take some years in the making,
the government is set to go ahead
with the purchase of a cheaper,
safer and smarter option - a la the
Metro trains - called train sets.
The prime minister's rst stop
will be in France on April 10
where the focus will be his Make
in India initiative, according to
diplomatic sources. While France
has its famous TGV high-speed
rail service, it is equally keen to
offer its expertise in semi-high
speed rail technology.
The railway ministry has
announced global tenders for purchase of train sets called
Electrical Multiple Units (EMU),
and is looking at European countries, especially Germany, France

and Spain, where such trains are


popular.
The purchase initially could be
off-the-shelf, with Transfer of
Technology clause included so
that manufacture could later be
done in India, an ofcial source
said. The train sets, running on
the existing broad gauge lines,
would zip at speeds of 130-150
km/hour.
The move, announced in the
Railway Budget by Minister
Suresh Prabhu, is expected to
"revolutionize" train travel in
India.
The train sets would have an
advantage over the Rajdhanis and
Shatabdis in that instead of having a locomotive to haul the
coaches, the carriages themselves
are mounted with electric traction
motors to power the trains. In
suburban trains, usually two carriages have the motors.
Further, these EMUs would
prove cheaper than bullet trains.

Modi launches bank for small firms with Rs.20,000 cr corpus

New Delhi: Prime Minister


Narendra Modi has launched a
bank with a corpus of Rs.20,000
crore to extend credit of up to
Rs.10 lakh to small businesses and
regulate micro-finance institutions, to promote their growth, add
to the country's output and create
jobs. The move is aimed at benefiting some 58 million small businesses in the country, who account
for a mere four percent of institutional funding, despite employing
over 120 million people, many
from unprivileged strata of society, the officials said.
"After 'banking the un-banked'
with the Jan Dhan Yojana, it's time
to 'fund the unfunded'," the prime
minister said at an event to launch
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and
what is called Micro Units
MoS Finance, Jayant Sinha at the launch of the Micro Units Development
Development and Refinance
and Refinance Agency Ltd (MUDRA) Bank.
Agency - Mudra.
"Mudra is our innovation of funding event, attended, among others by employment generation," the finance
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
ministry said. The initiative will also lay
the unfunded," the prime minister said.
"Providing access to institutional down the norms for responsible financ"Millions of common men and
women in this country, who run small finance to such micro and small busi- ing practices for micro-finance institubusinesses, have almost remained out- ness units and enterprises will not only tions so that the small businesses do not
side the net of formal institutional help in improving the quality of life of face hardship over indebtedness, while
finance, in spite of their large contribu- these entrepreneurs, but also turn them getting a fair environment for repaytions to the economy," he said at the into strong instruments of growth and ment.

24

SPORTS

April 11-17, 2015

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Bollywood, cricket ramp up IPL-8 opening


Kolkata: Reflecting the grandeur
and exuberance of Indian festivities,
the glitzy and technologically stunning opening gala of the eighth
Indian Premier League (IPL) saw
blockbuster Bollywood match steps
with international cricket camaraderie amid a replay of magical
moments of the previous editions of
the tournament.
However, there were also hiccups
aplenty.
A lackluster emcee in Saif Ali
Khan, a few non-functional LED
lights, Shahid Kapoor almost taking
a tumble and Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma stepping on a
light were the low points.
But Shahid's overall performance
and Hrithik Roshan's emotional but
fiery closing act spared the blushes
during the two-hour ceremony held
before a sparse 15,000 crowd at the
Salt Lake stadium.
The first dampener came early in
the evening in the form of heavy
thundershowers that pushed back
the ceremony by one and a half
hours, but the crowd stuck to their
seats waiting for the star acts.
As the audience waited for the star
performers -- Hrithik, Anushka
Sharma and Shahid -- to fire up the
show, captains of the seven of the
eight teams took the Marylebone
Cricket Club (MCC) Spirit of
Cricket pledge by signing a bat.
In the cool night air, Hrithik's
fiery act against the backdrop of
dazzling strobing lights and psyche-

Anushka Sharma and Shahid Kapoor perform during the IPL opening ceremony in Kolkata.

delic floor projections stole the


show.
The actor, who had his maiden
live act after his stellar debut in
"Kaho Naa Pyaar Hai" at the very
same venue, made sure the Kolkata
crowd got to see his best moves in
his second show here.
His emotional but electrifying performance mirrored the euphoria that
the masses have with regards to the
IPL.
Earlier, the show got going amid a
pitch black set, as dancers attired in
traditional Bengali white and red
sarees and holding clay lamps tore
through the darkness.
An aura of serenity prevailed as
composer Pritam led a choral tribute

to Nobel laureate Rabindranath


Tagore in an operatic rendition of
his famed song "Anandaloke
Mangalaloke".
The graceful choreography was
suitably balanced with an interlude
of Swahili which whetted spectators
appetite for more action.
They whistled, cheered and
clapped thunderously as the suave
Saif Ali Khan introduced the captains of the eight teams to the
sounds of their team's anthems.
The loudest cheers went up for
Chennai Super Kings skipper M.S.
Dhoni.
When defending champions
Kolkata Knight Riders' leading man
Gautam Gambhir came in holding

Indian-origin Bhullar
makes NBA history
Sacramento: Gursimran 'Sim'
Bhullar has become the first player
of Indian descent to play in the
National Basketball Association
(NBA) after making his debut for
Sacramento Kings.
The 22-year-old came on with 16
seconds remaining in the Kings'
116-111 victory over the
Minnesota Timberwolves.
The 7ft 5in Canada-born centre
said he hoped he could help popularise the game in India after join

the Kings'.
"It was a great feeling and I'm
happy to be kind of an ambassador," he was quoted as saying by
bbc.com.
Bhullar added: "Hopefully, more
kids growing up will see there's a
player of Indian descent on the
court and we can get a couple more
Indian NBA players."
The NBA is the men's professional basketball league in
America.

Sania Mirza and Martina


Hingis with their trophy.

boree. In between the live acts,


compere Saif made the audience
participate in polls on their favorite
IPL stars while the floor projections
changed and the multi-hued light
beams roved on the crowd.
The team captains then signed a
bat affirming their pledge to the
MCC's spirit of cricket campaign.
As Virat Kohli looked on eagerly,
his beau and "NH 10" actress
Anushka Sharma put up a captivating display of elegance with typical
Bollywood moves on "PK" tracks,
"Jiya Re", "Mundiya Nu" and
"Jasba". Clad in a black-white
jumpsuit, her flawless steps had a
classic appeal though she looked a
bit nervous.

SRK elated over KKR win in opener

Gursimran 'Sim' Bhullar of


the Sacramento Kings during
a game against the
Minnesota Timberwolves.

Mirza-Hingis win Miami Open doubles title

Miami: Sania Mirza claimed her


25th Women's Tennis Association
(WTA) doubles title and second
partnering Martina Hingis by winning the Miami Open trophy 7-5 6-1
against the Russian pair of Ekaterina
Makarova and Elena Vesnina here.
The No.2-seeded Makarova and
Vesnina came out strong, storming
out to a 5-2 lead, but the No.1-seeded Hingis and Mirza came alive
from there, reeling off eight games
in a row - even staving off a set
point - to surge ahead, 7-5, 3-0.

aloft the champions' trophy, they


went wild.
Gambhir put the trophy back in
play, in a symbolic gesture that set
the ball rolling for the one-and-ahalf-month competition on the 22yard strip.
A synergy of peppy modern
sounds, rhythms of traditional
Bengali instruments including the
dhaak (drum) and strong acoustics
gave a feel of world music and
calm.
Shahid's grand arrival on the
grounds in a bright orange sleeveless shirt and shiny golden dhoti
with a trendy pair of shades, atop a
bike jolted the audience back into
the promised "unforgettable" jam-

They barely looked back to close


out the match. "The most important
thing is that we never stopped
believing we're a great team,"
Hingis said of the early deficit after
winning. "They played a great set to
get us to that position, 5-2 down.
Then we just tried to stay in there
and get our chances. We just built
on every point, which is what we
did well last week too." The SwissIndian duo talked about how an oncourt coaching visit helped them
turn it around.

Kolkata: Superstar
Shah Rukh Khan is
gung-ho about his
Kolkata Knight
Riders winning the
eighth
Indian
Premier League
lung-opener on a
day his youngest
son AbRam had his
maiden
match
experience.
The Bollywood
Shah Rukh Khan with his youngest son
superstar said he is
AbRam during the opening match between
"extremely happy"
KKR and Mumbai Indians.
that his children
enjoy the matches and understand to be... all there were here," said
Shah Rukh Khan, who landed in
the value of losing and winning.
"Happy match was in our favour the city with his three children on
cos it was AbRam's 1st match. Wednesday to cheer for his team.
Son AbRam, youngest of the lot
Nerves...fielding on both sides as
brittle as Gauti's bat tonite...love u at less than two years, was seen
running around the pitch post the
Kolkata," he posted on Twitter.
Defending champions KKR game and attempted to hug KKR
sailed to a seven-wicket win over captain Gautam Gambhir after the
Mumbai Indians in the IPL opener win. This was AbRam's first IPL
here. "I want my children to enjoy match.
"You can't come with three kids
sports... this game and I love IPL.
It's very personal to me so I feel and let them down. Tonight is
extremely happy that my kids important because after a long
come and understand the value of time I am together with them. I
losing and winning. Tonight will come for all the matches," he
(Wednesday) was winning...it had said.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SCI-TECH

April 11-17, 2015

25

India's missile interceptor Samsung sets the benchmark


fails in 10th test
By Abhik Sen

colleague who doesn't


claim to be tech savvy
could identify the Galaxy
S6 as a Samsung product from
eight feet away. But at three feet,
we started having doubts. Err,
doesn't it look like the Apple
iPhone 6? Suggested someone
who'd said Apple had done a
Samsung after his first look at the
iPhone 6. Let's take a closer look at
Samsung's latest flagship.
Design : At first glance it's difficult
to believe that this glass and metal
unibody phone has come from the
same people who steadfastly stuck
to a plastic body, a removable battery and expandable memory for
their phones all these years. While
the phone is good to hold, the glass
back picks up fingerprints and feels
slippery.
Performance : Samsung's flagships never skimp on top-end hardware and this one's no different.
But what is different is the amazingly responsive TouchWiz interface, certainly the lightest we've
seen in some years. Devoid of
bloatware, the UI on top of Android
Lollipop feels zippy and isn't in
your face. The phone didn't heat up
at all, even while playing graphicheavy games or running multiple
apps in the background. Call quality, too, was as good or bad as the
network. The fingerprint reader is

Bhubaneswar: India's ballistic


missile interceptor failed on its
tenth test on Monday, being
unable to reach its target, a senior
defence official said.
The indigenous Advanced Air
Defence (AAD) interceptor missile was fired from Wheeler
Island off the coast in Odisha's
Bhadrak district, about 170 km
from here, but plummeted into
the Bay of Bengal seconds after
lift-off.
"It took off as planned but did
not reach the target. We are analyzing the data," test range director M.V.K.V. Prasad said.
The indigenous Advanced Air
Defence (AAD) interceptor mis-

sile was fired from Wheeler


Island off the coast in Odisha's
Bhadrak district.
Developed by the Defense
Research and Development
Organization (DRDO), the AAD
missile is 7.5 meters tall and
weighs around 1.2 tonnes.
The Monday test was against
an electronic target to validate the
missile capability. With the latest
mission, the DRDO has tested the
missile interceptor 10 times with
eight of the tests being successful.
The missile had last failed to hit
the target missile during a similar
test from the same defense base
on July 26, 2010.

Smartphones to produce
high-resolution 3D images
magine pulling smartphone out
of your pocket, taking a snapshot of an object with its integrated 3D imager, sending it to the
3D printer and within minutes you
have reproduced an accurate replica of the original object.
This feat may soon be possible
because of a new tiny high-resolution 3D imager developed by
researchers at California Institute
of Technology.
The cheap, compact yet highly
accurate new device known as a
nanophotonic coherent imager
(NCI) uses inexpensive silicon
chip less than a millimeter square
in size.
The NCI provides the highest
depth-measurement accuracy of
any such nanophotonic 3D imaging
device. "The small size and high
quality of this new chip-based
imager will result in significant
cost reductions, which will enable
thousands of new uses for such
systems by incorporating them into
personal devices such as smartphones," explained Ali Hajimiri,
Thomas G. Myers professor of
electrical engineering. The new

The snapshot of an object with its integrated 3D imager when


sent to the 3D printer can get a replica of the original object.

chip uses an established detection


and ranging technology called
LIDAR, in which a target object is
illuminated with scanning laser
beams. The first proof of concept
of the NCI has only 16 coherent
pixels, meaning that the 3D images
it produces can only be 16 pixels at
any given instance.
In the future, Hajimiri said, that
the current array of 16 pixels could

also be easily scaled up to hundreds of thousands.


The imager could be applied to a
broad range of applications from
very precise 3D scanning and
printing to helping driverless cars
avoid collisions to improving
motion sensitivity in superfine
human machine interfaces, said the
paper that appeared in the journal
Optics Express.

a
massive
improvement
over its predecessor - and
thankfully one
just needs to
put one's finger
over the home
button,
not
swipe it.
Screen and
camera : The
5.1-inch, Quad The Galaxy S6 definitely has all the right ingrediHD
Super ents to make smartphone users hold it with elan
A M O L E D
screen is brilliant, has great view- through the day with heavy usage.
ing angles and works well in sun- Verdict : The Samsung Galaxy S6
light, as do displays on most flag- (Rs 49,900 for 32GB), while not a
ships today. But what sets it apart is pathbreaking device like the
the pixel density, at 577 ppi, the Galaxy S3, has definitely set the
sharpest in the market. Such sharp- benchmark for flagship Android
ness, however, isn't quite dis- devices this year.
cernible to the human eye during
Courtesy: Business Standard
regular usage. But CNET notes that
it might come in handy while using
the phone with the Gear VR accessory from Oculus Rift.
The 16-megapixel (MP) rear
AW Mobile, leading T-mobile
camera is fast and captures true colretailer where customer care is
ors outdoors. The rear camera also
the key, with several stores in
captures videos in UHD. The 5MP
Long Island and Queens, is
front camera is great for selfies
offering readers of The South
though the skin tones might not be
Asian Times a $50 credit on
true.
purchase of S6 or S6 Edge.
Battery : The battery of the S6
should last through the day with
For details, contact any of
moderate usage. The S6 features
their stores. -- listed in their
wireless charging built-in and a
ad in this issue.
top-up charge lets the battery last

Special Offer from AW Mobile

World's most powerful


particle collider at work again

London: The Large Hadron


Collider (LHC) -- world's most
powerful particle collider that
found the long-awaited Higgs
boson in 2013 -- has kicked off its
second run after a two-year break.
Researchers at CERN, Europe's
particle physics laboratory near
Geneva, Switzerland, spent the
hiatus upgrading the collider to
run at a higher energy and with a
greater intensity of collisions, the
scientific journal Nature reported.
The second run does not have
an obvious target like it had earlier. Instead, physicists will scour
the data for signs of phenomena
that do not fit with the standard
model of particle physics in hopes
of solving mysteries such as the
origins of dark matter.
"Bringing the LHC back on,
from a complete shutdown to
doing physics, is not a question of
pushing a button and away you
go," said Paul Collier, head of
beams at CERN.
Collier and his team will spend
the next eight weeks bringing
more and more systems online,

allowing engineers to fine tune


and clean the beams.
CERN will also turn on the
LHC's acceleration system,
increasing the energy of each
beam and "squeezing" the beams
into narrower channels, in preparation for collisions.
Once the CERN scientists have
a good understanding of how
their machine is running, they
will increase the number of proton bunches zipping around the
ring.
Eventually, the revamped LHC
will smash together one billion
pairs of protons every second.
The Higgs boson (or Higgs particle) is a particle that gives mass
to other particles. Scientist Peter
Higgs was the first person to
think of it and the particle was
found in March 2013.
Higgs and another team member Francois Englert were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in
2013 for their work and prediction. Higgs boson is part of the
Standard Model in physics, which
means it is found everywhere.

26

SELF HELP

April 11-17, 2015

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Dont wait, vaccinate: Protect infants from deadly diseases


ou may assume that diseases like
polio, measles and whooping cough
are a thing of the past. But the 201415 measles outbreak is a stark reminder that
these viruses still circulate and children who
are not immunized are at risk.
During National Infant Immunization Week,
April 18-25, pediatricians are highlighting the
importance of protecting our most vulnerable
children from infectious diseases.
One of the most important decisions you
can make as a parent is to immunize your
child against disease, says Sandra G.
Hassink, MD, FAAP, president of the
American Academy of Pediatrics. Its best to
immunize your child on time, according to the
recommended vaccine schedule. These diseases are unpredictable, and we never know
where they will pop up next in our communities.

can also encourage their families to be vaccinated against flu and pertussis (also known as
whooping cough), to provide a cocoon of protection around the newborn.

Protection Begins Early


The American Academy of Pediatrics, the
American Academy of Family Physicians and
the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention all recommend children be immunized against 14 vaccine-preventable diseases

Follow the Schedule

Experts and authorities all recommend


children should be immunized against
14 vaccine-preventable diseases by the
time they are two years old.

by the time they are two years old. Mothers


can even begin protecting their infants before
theyre even born.
Protecting your newborn should start during pregnancy. Infants dont receive their first
dose of tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis vaccine until they are two months old, and they
cant receive a flu vaccine until six months.
When pregnant women are immunized with
these vaccines, that protection extends to their
newborns, says Hassink. Expectant parents

Tips to add design appeal to your home

With the right knowledge and imagination,


its easy to transform any room of your home
as well as the exterior.

ant to set your home apart? You


can add character and beauty to
your home by learning more
about your houses architectural style and
adding design elements to complement the
look.
With the right knowledge, its easy to
transform any room of your home as well
as the exterior, says Niki Decker, senior
product and marketing manager with
Fypon, which creates synthetic millwork
products.
Here are some tips and guidelines to
achieve an authentic, coordinated look
throughout your home -- inside and out.
* The higher the ceiling, the taller the
baseboard should be. Additionally, the
height of your baseboard molding should
always be larger than the casing, which is
the frame around a door or window.
* Make a room feel taller by placing a
chair rail -- the molding used to prevent the
backs of chairs from rubbing against the
wall -- one-third of the way up from the
floor. Chair rails should be 1/2 or one inch
narrower than casings.
* If you have a classic Georgian style
home, characterized by strict symmetry and
a centered and paneled front door, cap the
front door panel with an elaborate crown

supported by decorative pillars.


* Enhance your Victorian style home
with ornamental spindlework on the porches and patterned shingles on the roof.
Offset the complexity with simple surrounds for windows.
* For country style cottages, consider
clapboard shingles for siding, or wood
shake for siding and roofing, and wide
white trim or shutters around windows.
* Complete the look and feel of your
Mediterranean-style home, rich with such
decorative accents as round columns, tile
and stone, by planting lush gardens and
installing an ornate fountain.
* Maintain a traditional look with innovative, updated building material that lasts
longer and with less upkeep. For example,
polyurethane pieces are a lightweight alternative to wood. The pieces are easy to
install and resist insects, moisture and
weather conditions. Manufacturers like
Fypon, which creates thousands of millwork pieces, offer products that come both
textured and smooth.
To learn more about enhancing your
homes architectural style, you can download Fypons free Style Guide at
www.fypon.com/literature/catalog.asp.

Your pediatrician will outline the recommended schedule of vaccines. The first vaccine is Hepatitis B, which infants usually
receive a day or two after birth. Your childs
first year will also include immunizations
against influenza pertussis, diphtheria,
tetanus, rotavirus, pneumococcal, polio and
Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib).
The immunization schedule has been carefully designed so children receive each vaccine when it will produce the best response
from their immune systems, and when the
child is most vulnerable to a particular disease. Delaying vaccines means delaying protection from these diseases. Talk with your
pediatrician if you have questions about your
childs vaccines.

Ease Tears
While vaccinations can cause discomfort,
most babies calm down quickly after being

held by parents and hearing their reassuring


voices.
Breastfeeding during or immediately following the vaccination can provide significant
relief. Some pediatricians might offer remedies, such as a cooling spray or topical anesthetic cream.
Combination vaccines include up to five
vaccines in a single vial, so fewer needles are
needed. Remember, any discomfort your baby
feels is experienced as a single event, even if
he or she receives multiple vaccines in a visit.
Spreading vaccines over multiple visits will
only increase the number of times your baby
feels pain, and leave your baby unprotected
longer.
Infants are especially vulnerable to infectious diseases. Following the recommended
immunization schedule ensures your baby will
be protected as soon as possible, Dr. Hassink
said.
Learn more about infant and childhood
immunizations at www.healthychildren.org.
Just as you never leave home without buckling your baby into a car seat, you should
always protect your child from infectious diseases.

For kids, books make great gifts


T

he best way to treat


are safe for children. The
kids this Easter
Mommy & Me Bake cookmay not be with
book is designed to offer parthe typical sweets. While
ents and children the opportucandy is predictable, you
nity to work together as a
can really make a childs
team while teaching basic
day with a different
baking skills. From simple
approach.
kneading and mixing to creatThis Easter, think
ing whimsical and tasty
books, says Jaimie Cona,
treats, the book empowers
Associate Director of
kids to experiment in the
Marketing at DK, a pubkitchen.
lisher of adult and chil Frozen: For fans of the
drens books. Fill basmega hit film, fill up Easter
kets to the brim with
baskets with a great crop of
books, and consider
new picks, including
For fans of the mega hit
including them in your
Frozen: The Essential
film Frozen, fill up Easter
egg hunt.
Guide, a fact-filled reference
baskets with a great crop
Here are some titles
book about the characters,
of new picks.
that are fun enough to be
locations and themes of
a sugar substitute:
Disney's beloved princess tale. A sing-along
Super Heroes: Discover a thrilling, companion, Frozen: The Essential
action-packed world with LEGO DC Collection, features lyrics to the famous
Comics Super Heroes: Amazing Battles!, songs, as well as a full-color sticker book.
which features the bravest of heroes as they Ultimate Factivity Collection: Disney
foil yet another evil villains scheme. Frozen, a jam-packed activity book, comDynamic images and scenes will appeal to bines facts with games, challenges and stickreluctant readers.
er activities; and aspiring princesses everySuper hero fans may also love Ultimate where are sure to love the Ultimate Sticker
Factivity Collection: Marvel Avengers, Book: Frozen, which lets kids re-create
which combines facts about the Earths their favorite scenes from the movie with
mightiest super heroes the Avengers with reusable stickers.
fun activities and interesting puzzles.
Bedtime: Theres always time for a little
Pop-Out Surprises: Using flaps, touch- play before bedtime. Capture the attention of
and-feel textures and pop-out surprises, infants with Baby Touch & Feel Animals,
Pop-Up Peekaboo Farm, introduces young which features blankets, stars, sleepy stuffed
minds to sheepdogs, tractors, cows, horses animals and a range of novelty textures.
and more.
ABCs: Children around the world have
Creepy Crawlies: Eyewitness Explorer: fallen in love with Sophie, the popular
Bug Hunter includes more than 30 hands- giraffe teether toy from France. In the
on learning activities and step-by-step proj- Sophie la girafe book series, Sophie and
ect instructions. Enter the kingdom of creepy her friends teach new concepts, such as colcrawlies and learn everything there is to ors and basic vocabulary. Peekaboo ABC
know about beetles, bees, spiders and more. features every letter of the alphabet illustratExperiments that can be done at home ed by familiar objects found in Sophies
include raising a caterpillar.
world. With a few literary surprises, you can
Little Chefs: Encourage your budding indulge more than just your childs sweet
chefs aspirations with creative recipes that tooth on Easter.
-StatePoint

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

LIFESTYLE

Indian-American trio creates


system to monitor vital signs
New York: Indian-American researchers
from Rice University have created a touchfree system that uses a video camera to monitor the vital signs of patients just by looking
at their faces.
The team of graduate student Mayank
Kumar and professors Ashok Veeraraghavan
and Ashutosh Sabharwal created the system
that will let doctors diagnose patients from a
distance with special attention paid to those
in low-resource settings.
The technique, called DistancePPG, can
measure a patient's pulse and breathing just
by analyzing the changes in one's skin color
over time.
Where other camera-based systems have
been challenged by low-light conditions,
dark skin tones and movement, DistancePPG
relies on algorithms that correct for those
variables.
"DistancePPG will be particularly helpful
to monitor premature infants for whom blood
pressure cuffs or wired probes can pose a
threat," said Mayank Kumar, the project's
lead graduate researcher.
The wires monitor babies' pulses and heart
rate.
"The wires are not a problem. The problem
is that the babies would roll or their mothers
need to take care of them and the wires are
taken off and put back on," Mayank Kumar
said.
That could potentially damage the infants'
delicate skin. The existing techniques
worked fine in bright rooms but there were
three challenges.
The first was the technique's difficulty in
detecting color change in darker skin tones.
Second, the light was not always bright

The technique, called DistancePPG, can


measure a patient's pulse and breathing
just by analyzing the changes in one's
skin color over time. It will particularly
be helpful to monitor premature infants
for whom blood pressure cuffs or
wired probes can pose a threat.
enough. The third and perhaps hardest problem was that patients sometimes move.
The Rice team solved these challenges by
adding a method to average skin-color
change signals from different areas of the
face and an algorithm to track a subject's
nose, eyes, mouth and whole face.
"Our key finding was that the strength of
the skin-color change signal is different in
different regions of the face, so we developed
a weighted-averaging algorithm," Mayank
Kumar explained.
It improved the accuracy of derived vital
signs, rapidly expanding the scope, viability,
reach and utility of camera-based vital-sign
monitoring.
By incorporating tracking to compensate
for movement -- even a smile -DistancePPG perceived a pulse rate to within
one beat per minute, even for diverse skin
tones under varied lighting conditions.
According to researchers, they expect the
software to find its way to mobile phones,
tablets and computers so people can reliably
measure their own vital signs whenever and
wherever they choose.

Anxious, slow talkers often rejected for job

Toronto: You must exude warmth and be


assertive during a job interview if you
want to make a good impression, suggests a study.
People who are anxious going
into an interview often do not
get
hired,
found
the
researchers.
The study, published in
Springer's Journal of
Business
and
Psychology, found that
organizations often
reject potential candidates with interview jitters who are otherwise
quite capable of doing the
job.
Amanda Feiler and
Deborah Powell from the
University of Guelph, Canada, set
out to establish why anxious job
candidates receive lower performance ratings during an interview.
They videotaped and transcribed
the mock job interviews of 125 undergraduate students from a Canadian university.
Ratings were obtained from 18 interviewers who gauged the interviewees'
levels of anxiety and performance.
Trained raters also assessed how the

interviewees expressed their anxiety


through specific mannerisms, cues and
traits. This could be adjusting clothing,
fidgeting or averting their gaze.
Feiler and Powell found that
the speed at which someone
talks is the only cue that both
interviewers and interviewees rate as a sign of nervousness or not.
The fewer words per
minute people speak,
the more nervous
they are perceived to
be.
Also,
anxious
prospective job candidates are often rated as
being less assertive and
exuding less interpersonal
warmth.
This often leads to a rejection
from interviewers.
"Overall, the results indicated that
interviewees should focus less on their
nervous tics and more on the broader
impressions that they convey," said
Feiler.
"Anxious interviewees may want to
focus on how assertive and interpersonally warm they appear to interviewers,"
Feiler added.

April 11-17, 2015

27

Don't get jealous with Facebook


friends to avoid depression

New York: Are you feeling


depressed lately after spending
most of your time on Facebook?
Stop comparing yourself with successful peers and use the website
only for sharing memories and
information with new and old
friends.
According to a researcher from
University of Houston, social comparison paired with the amount of
time spent on Facebook may be
linked to depressive symptoms
among users.
"People afflicted with emotional
difficulties may be particularly susceptible to depressive symptoms
due to Facebook social comparison after
spending more time on the medium," said
Mai-Ly Steers, doctoral candidate in social
psychology.
For already distressed individuals, this
distorted view of their friends' lives may
make them feel alone in their internal struggles which may compound their feelings of
loneliness and isolation.
One danger is that Facebook often gives
us information about our friends that we are
not normally privy to which gives us even
more opportunities to socially compare.
"You cannot really control the impulse to
compare because you never know what
your friends are going to post," Steers said.
In addition, most of our Facebook friends
tend to post about the good things that
occur in their lives, while leaving out the
bad.
This may lead us to think their lives are
better than they actually are and conversely,

make us feel worse about our own lives. To


reach this conclusion, Steers conducted two
studies to investigate how social comparison to peers on Facebook might impact
users' psychological health.
Both studies provide evidence that
Facebook users felt depressed when comparing themselves to others.
"It does not mean Facebook causes
depression but that depressed feelings, lots
of time on Facebook and comparing oneself
to others tend to go hand in hand," Steers
noted.
The research indicates the act of socially
comparing oneself to others is related to
long-term destructive emotions. Steers
hopes the results of these studies will help
people understand that technological
advances often possess both intended and
unintended consequences.
The studies were published in the Journal
of Social and Clinical Psychology.

A little vigorous exercise can


help you live longer
Melbourne: If you are planning to join the
gym for years and always scheduling your
early morning jogging for tomorrow, make
up your mind fast as a large study has found
that even small amounts of vigorous activity could help reduce your risk of early
death.
Physical activity that makes you puff and
sweat is key to avoiding preventable early
death, the findings of the large Australian
study of middle-aged and older adults
showed.
"The benefits of vigorous activity applied
to men and women of all ages, and were
independent of the total amount of time
being spent active," said lead author Klaus
Gebel from James Cook University in
Queensland, Australia.
"The results indicate that whether or not
you are obese, and whether or not you have
heart disease or diabetes, if you can manage
some vigorous activity it could offer significant benefits for longevity," Gebel noted.
For the study, the researchers followed
204,542 people for more than six years, and
compared those who engaged in only moderate activity (such as gentle swimming,
social tennis, or household chores) with
those who included at least some vigorous

activity (such as jogging, aerobics or competitive tennis). The study classified participants into separate groups: those who
reported that none of their physical activity
was at a vigorous level, and those who
reported that up to 30 percent or more of
their activity was at a vigorous level.
The mortality rate for those who reported
upto 30 per cent vigorous activity, was nine
per cent lower than those who reported no
vigorous activity.
For those whose exercise routine was vigorous for more than 30 percent of the time,
the rate of mortality was reduced by 13 percent.
The findings appeared in the journal
JAMA Internal Medicine.

28

April 11-17, 2015

HUMOR

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Funny Side by Nury Vittachi

My greatest fashion embarrassments


mm. A sparrow just flew into my
window. Clearly the security guards
are playing Angry Birds with me.
But I refuse to let anything distract me
from delivering this crucial warning.
Mankind is sleepwalking towards a global
catastrophe. I am talking, of course, about
the worldwide epidemic of poor clothing
choices.
***
On the morning of writing this I saw a
huge number of people (two) wearing orange
and brown checked golf trousers in public.
This was in full view of delicate, impressionistic minds, such as those of small children and government ministers.
***
At work, a colleague showed me a news
report saying that an adult male wearing an
ankle-length leopard-print dress walked into
a bank in the US state of New Hampshire
and demanded a teller hand over the money.
He had no gun his only weapon was his
atrocious dress sense.
It was enough.
She handed over the cash, realizing that a
person with such bad clothing choices had to
be highly dangerous.
***

I used to work with a punk rock fashion


victim who once turned up with her buttons
fastened out of alignment.
When I pointed this out, she snarled: Its
fashion, look it up.
I did look it up.
It wasnt fashion.
***
But this line is incredibly useful for covering up all acts of sartorial stupidity.
ME: I think you sat on a two-kilo lemon
cheesecake and most of it is still attached to
your nether region.
HER: Its fashion, look it up.
IT IS NOT FASHION.
***
In London, the in thing for the rich is to
dress like homeless people.
This is tricky.
I meet someone and never know whether
to give them my business card or drop small
change into their mug.
Getting this wrong is so humiliating that
even half-remembering the times I did this
causes my entire head to reboot.
***
Over-dressing sucks too. I once turned up
at a function at a Grand Hyatt hotel wearing
a hand-made Nehru suit.

As I walked through the hotel restaurant,


everyone kept trying to press money and
credit cards into my hand, thinking I was a
waiter.
I seriously considered standing in the toilet
for half an hour to collect tips.
***
Thank God men dont have to think about
accessories. Ill never forget the time our
dentist told my daughter she needed a crown.
Big smile. I know, right, she grinned.
***
I might go and ask a particular non-heterosexual friend for clothing advice, as he genuinely dresses better than I do.
Must be something to do with all that time
he had to spend in the closet.
***

At least I have never bought the wrong


clothes in bulk, as one dude did.
A division of the Chinese army recently
appeared in public wearing a new uniform,
according to a news report sent to me by a
reader.
When the soldiers sat down, more than 100
pairs of trousers ripped simultaneously and
audibly.
Im SO glad I wasnt there, as I would
have laughed out loud: not a good idea when
facing angry men with guns.
***
What the commanding officer should have
done, of course, is to pretend that the split,
bottom-revealing trousers were intentional,
by explaining to onlookers:
Its fashion, look it up.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

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

ASTROLOGY

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 11-17, 2015

29

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


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

By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma

April 11-17, 2015


ARIES: Improvement in academic performance through your own efforts is
foreseen. Those working in shifts will be
able to manage some spare time for themselves.
You are likely to cultivate a new source of
income. Interacting with people you dont meet
occasionally promises to make the week interesting.
Those in love can plan an evening out with
lover. If you are travelling alone in your vehicle,
dont make it too late this week. Some dispute
may arise with regard to a property.
TAURUS: Financially, you will be in a
strong position and may even add more
to your wealth. Good dietary control and
remaining physically active will keep you fit
and energetic. Your performance can suffer due
to avoidable distractions. Hiding something
from parents should be avoided as it can put you
in a bad light later. Your gullibility can be
exploited on the romantic front by an unscrupulous person, so be careful. Feeling that you are
always right may keep you from imbibing good
advice.
GEMINI: A visit overseas is foreseen
for some and will provide a chance to
meet near and dear ones. Turning an
ancestral property into builder floors may be
contemplated by some. A beat up in the evening
with friends or office colleagues is possible this
week. Romance may distract some from the
academic front. You will need to be more
assertive on the professional front to get your
ideas through. Dont shell out your money without adequate guarantees. You will need to guard
against ailments.

CANCER: Positive thoughts will


make the week positive for you.
Displaying consistent performance on
the professional front promises to open the gates
to success for you. You will have enough to
indulge in a bit of splurging. Following a family
tradition will help strengthen familial ties. Some
of you may get motivated to achieve perfect
health. Impulsiveness on the romantic front may
prove counterproductive, so work to a plan.
Dont force anyone not interested in an outing to
save yourself from his or her whining later!
LEO: The week promises to prove professionally satisfying for doctors, engineers, architects and other professionals.
Some of you may get busy in arranging the marriage of an eligible member of the family.
Arrival of guests promises much excitement on
the home front. Stretching you budget threatens
to put your financial front in dire straits.
Excesses may have an adverse effect on your
health. It may prove difficult to make lover submit to your ideas, but persistence will pay. Some
of you may decide to shift houses.
VIRGO: Things getting out of hand on
the professional front will be brought
under control through your efforts.
Someone close may choose to spend the week
with you this week.
There will be enough signs to indicate that the
one you crave for is also interested in you, so go
ahead and take the next step. A good outing is
indicated for youngsters looking for some
adventure. Some of you may get reckless in
spending and adversely affect the bank balance.
Health remains satisfactory.

LIBRA: Returns from previous investments are likely to keep you in a


favourable financial situation. This is
an auspicious week for those on the verge of
booking a flat or an apartment. Argumentative
nature of a workplace colleague may get you
upset. Things not going your way at home may
become hard to digest and cause unnecessary
tensions. A tiff with lover is on the cards. Dont
take any risks on a highway as the consequences
may be disastrous. Precautions may save you
from seasonal ailments.
SCORPIO: This is clearly one of you
better weeks. Professionally, you may be
given the go ahead for implementing
something that you have so painstakingly put
together. An enhancement in earning is possible
for professionals. Attending a function or a party
with family this week will prove most exciting.
You may get the opportunity to express your
feelings for someone you love. Cutting down on
commuting time by adopting a different route
may become the achievement of the week!
Sports may become the key to your good health.
SAGITTARIUS: A solid breakthrough
on the business front can be expected by
some. Getting recognition for a particular performance at work is possible. You are
likely to enjoy the proximity of the family this
week. Sharing your innermost feelings with
lover will prove most satisfying. Some of you
may set out on a vacation to someplace exotic.
Possession of a property may come to you.
Health issues will need to be addressed to
remain fit. Someone can smooth talk you into
parting with your money.

CAPRICORN: You may not get the


kind of recognition you seek for achieving something that had been close to
your heart. Falling short of money for something important is possible, but help will be at
hand.
You may find it difficult to save money due to
current expenses. Being irregular in your daily
exercise routine may start telling on your body.
Lover may make you wait this week, but it will
be for a genuine reason. Include all family
members while making a travel plan to avoid
unnecessary heartburns.
AQUARIUS : Showing places around
in the city to someone who has arrived
from outside is possible this week. A
new household item is likely to be procured by
some.
Work pressure may compel you to put romance
on a low key. Parents or a family elder may be
insistent in making you do something that you
dont want to. So instead of rebelling, talk it out
with them. At work, you may be lagging behind
in an important job, so seek help from those
around.
PISCES: Some of you are likely to contribute to a social cause monetarily. You
will be able to take care of a previous
ailment that has been troubling you.
Confrontation with a subordinate is possible this
week, so be fair and just in delegating duties to
avoid it. Peace may elude you on the home front
and add to your stress. Lover may go back on a
promise, but things will set right by you on the
romantic front. Driving to a distant location can
prove tiring.

Annual Predictions: For those born in this week


11th April, 2015
Ruled planet: Moon Ruled by no: 2
Traits in you: Your ruler, the Moon makes you a very
friendly individual. You are simple, confident, realistic,
sincere, and optimistic. You are very innovative and try
to perform your work in a different and efficient way.
You need to work hard on your characteristics of being
jealous and insensitive at times.
Health this year: Your health will remain good
throughout the year. You need to take utmost care of
your health to maintain it and remain fit. The health of
your family members might be a concern for you this
year. Try and avoid your bad habits and start practicing
yoga for the betterment of your health.
Finance this year: You will be able to stabilize your financial condition by reaping profits from your past investments. You may also plan for new investments this
year. You will find enough new opportunities to start up
a new business that would yield money for you. You
should invest in real estate or stock market for better returns.
Career this year: Being friendly and quick in decision
making, you will create many admirers for yourself in
your professional circuit. Your juniors may seek your
advice in critical times to deliver efficient work. It is
advisable for you not to get involved in office politics.
You should handle official matters diplomatically.
Romance this year: If you are yet to be in a relationship, this year is the ideal time to find a partner. You
will get ample support from your spouse in any critical
decision you have to take. You should show your love
to your partner as it strengthens your relationship.
Lucky month: August, January and March
12th April, 2015
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: As you are ruled by Jupiter, you are
dynamic, realistic, affectionate, caring, religious and
very helpful. You are very much interested in a happening life. You welcome new ideas in your life and
take everything positively. However, you should work
on your nature of being jealous, selfish and rude at
times.
Health this year: Your health will remain good
throughout the year. You need to take utmost care of
your health to maintain it and remain fit. The health of
your family members might be a concern for you this
year. Try and avoid your bad habits and start practicing
yoga for the betterment of your health.
Finance this year: You will be among major financial
gains this year. You may go for a real estate transaction
later this year and this will bring you a lot of money to
cherish. You may start up a new business. If you are already into business, you may plan for expanding its territory this year.
Career this year: You need to focus on your profes-

sion and put your cent per cent effort to achieve your
expected goals. You will be appreciated by your peers
and seniors for your efficient output. You may be assigned extra responsibilities as you are very decisive
and capable of performing wonders.
Romance this year: The emotional attachment with
your spouse or partner may blossom this year with lot
of love, care, and concern. If you are not married, then
you may go for a romantic relationship. You will enjoy
a very blissful time with your beloved.
Lucky month: April, June, August and January
13th April, 2015
Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Uranus blesses you
with a charismatic character. You are able to impress
anyone in your surroundings with your nature and attitude. You are generous, peace loving, disciplined, and
creative in nature. Your hard work pays off every time
and you get success as a result.
Health this year: You will enjoy a moderate health this
year. You need to take preventive medicines for weather changes as it may hamper your health conditions. Do
not neglect your health if you feel uneasy. Consult doctor regularly and practice Yoga for better results.
Finance this year: You will be able to stabilize your financial condition by reaping profits from your past investments. You may also plan for new investments this
year. You will find enough new opportunities to start up
a new business that would yield money for you. You
should invest in real estate or stock market for better returns.
Career this year: You will be very impressive in your
professional circuit this year. However, you need to
work smart and perform well to grow as a perfectionist. You should take quick decisions to excel in your
field. You may have to help your ordinates to drive productivity.
Romance this year: If you are yet to be in a romantic
relationship, this is the ideal time to go for one. You
will enjoy a pleasurable relationship with your spouse
or partner.
Lucky month: June, October, February and April
14th April, 2015
Ruled planet: Mercury Ruled by no: 5
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Mercury makes you
realistic, reliable, sincere, and optimistic. You are the
master of an excellent memory power and charismatic
characteristics. You need not get nervous at tough time
as it may create a question mark on your capabilities.
Health this year: Your health will remain good
throughout the year. However, you need to go for regular fitness programs or practice yoga and meditation
for better results. Do not avoid your regular medication. Look out the health of your family members as

they may fall ill frequently.


Finance this year: Your new business alliances and
partnerships will help you earn financial stability this
year. You will receive all the pending payments and
money you gave away as loans in the past. You should
go for investing in real estates and share market.
Career this year: Being friendly and quick in decision
making, you will create many admirers for yourself in
your professional circuit. Your juniors may seek your
advice in critical times to deliver efficient work. It is
advisable for you not to get involved in office politics.
You should handle official matters diplomatically.
Romance this year: You will spend a peaceful life
with your love interest this year. You will lead a blissful life with your beloved with lots of love, care, concern, and support.
Lucky month: July, November and January
15th April, 2015
Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Venus makes optimistic, ambitious, caring, aspiring, and determined.
You are very social and love to make new friends and
get into new relationships. You are a huge follower of
intelligence and education.
Health this year: You need to stop your bad habits
such as smoking and consuming alcohol to remain
healthy. You should take expert advice from a doctor to
avoid health related issues. You should take your medicines at time to avoid further complicacy in your
health. Take care of the health of your spouse and parents as well.
Finance this year: As far as your financial status is
considered, you will enjoy a healthy run this year. You
may redirect yourself to more profitable business. You
may plan for few business trips this year for your
growth. You should not get involved in any kind of
partnerships as it may hamper your business.
Career this year: You will be establishing yourself as
a very efficient and important resource in your organization this year. Your performance will influence your
peers, seniors and higher management. It is the best
time to look out for a new job as it will help you grow
both professionally and financially.
Romance this year: You will share a blissful romantic
relationship with your spouse or partner. Your marriage
is on cards if you are yet to marry. You will find your
partner supportive enough in every crucial situation.
Lucky month: May, July, September and February
16th April, 2015
Ruled planet: Neptune Ruled by no: 7
Traits in you: As you are governed by planet Neptune,
you are blessed with various positive characters. You
are confident, decisive, generous, humorous, honest,
modest and optimistic. You are not an admirer of argu-

ments or silly fights. You should work on your nature


of being selfish, pessimistic, and arrogant.
Health this year: Your overall health would remain
fine this year. Some of the aged members in your family may fall sick frequently to add your woes. You need
to take care of your family members by providing them
better medical attention.
Finance this year: This year may bring you huge financial benefits. You will enjoy the returns of your investments. If you want to gain financial profits, you
have to work hard. You may invest in various profitable
businesses. However, you should not start new partnerships or trust new friends.
Career this year: Professionally you will enjoy a
smooth life. You may get recognition in your professional circuit as a result of your hard work and dedication. Your promotion is on cards. You should take help
of your seniors to learn quickly and perform exceptionally well as it would help you grow professionally.
Romance this year: For your marital relationship, this
year will be pretty fruitful for you. If you are still
single, you may get into a romantic alliance towards
the end of the year. If you are already in a relationship,
you may plan to convert your relationship into
marriage.
Lucky month: October, January and March
17th April, 2015
Ruled planet: Saturn Ruled by no: 8
Traits in you: Your ruling planet the Saturn makes you
highly dynamic, hardworking, courageous, trustworthy, reliable, courteous and friendly. You are very much
inclined to music and literature. You should work on
your impatience. You need to enhance your constructive ideas as well.
Health this year: Though you would not face any major health related issues, you should take extra care of
your health. Do not take unwanted risk of putting your
health in stake. Go for regular medical checkups.
Finance this year: You will be among major financial
gains this year. You may go for a real estate transaction
later this year and this will bring you a lot of money to
cherish. You may start up a new business. If you are already into business, you may plan for expanding its territory this year.
Career this year: Your confidence will convert you
into a winner. You will be capable enough to overcome
any challenge you need to face. The chances of your
promotion and transfer are high due to the organizational change.
Romance this year: You may try and convert your
long time romantic relationship to a married one. You
will be enjoying a great life with your spouse with lots
of understanding, love, and care. You need not get into
any kind of argument with your beloved this year.
Lucky month: August, December, January and April

30

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS

April 11-17, 2015

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Making Our Choice Now

By Sant Rajinder Singh


Ji Maharaj
man was once asked by a
saint if he would like to
find God. First the man
said that he wanted to wait until
he got married and settled down.
The saint returned after the man
married and settled down, and
again asked if he wanted to find
God. The man said, "When I am
rich and successful at my job I
will look for God." The saint
returned when the man had made
a lot of money and was successful
at his career. He again asked the
man if he wanted to find God yet.
Now the man wanted to wait to
find God until after he had married off his children.
When the children were settled,
the saint returned. Then the man
wanted to wait to find God until
after he had grandchildren.
Finally, on his deathbed he told
the saint he was ready to find
God.

By Sant Rajinder Singh Ji


Maharaj
arious scriptures from the
East tell us that we are
born into this world with a
limited number of breaths. When
our numbered breaths are up, our
soul leaves the body at the time of
death. What we do with those
breaths is up to us. We can consider our number of breaths like capital or a bank account given to us
by God. Every moment we make a
choice about how to spend our
breaths. We can choose to spend
our capital wisely or foolishly.
In this regard, there is a story
about a poor man who was given a
sandalwood forest by a rich man
for whom he did a favor. The poor
man did not realize the value of the
sandalwood and began chopping it
up for ordinary lumber to build
houses and sell for firewood. After
many years, the rich man returned
to see how the poor man was
doing, expecting that he would
now be rich from the sale of the
expensive sandalwood. He was
shocked to find the forest depleted
and the poor man still barely making ends meet. Not having realized
the high value he could have gotten for the sandalwood, he had
squandered his treasure away.

But by then his whole life had


passed and there was no time left.
Let us not be like that man. Let us
make a choice while still young
and vital and in our full senses.
Let us not wait until it is too late.
We have been allotted a number
of breaths in this lifetime. We can
either waste them away or make
full use of them to complete our
course in spirituality. That is why
the Masters exhort us to make the
best use of this current lifetime.
A spiritual Master undertakes
the responsibility of making sure
our soul will be reunited with the
Divine. This responsibility is as
that of a teacher making sure the
student is ready for the highest
degree for graduation. It is his job
to make sure we are prepared and
developed spiritually. If we are
not ready, he still has to guide us
until we are ready. Thus, even
while under the care of a Master,
he has to make sure we complete
our course in spirituality.
When someone is seeking, they
often are fired up with intensity to
find the right spiritual Master, or
the spiritual teaching that can
help solve the mystery of life and
death. Yet, after someone finds
and joins a spiritual path, some
become complacent. They may
feel that their quest has ended,
but, in reality, their work has just
begun.It is like applying for a
school, college, or university. We
intensely fill out applications and
submit admission papers, and are

Many of us read the


Commandments or
advice given by the
great saints in the
scriptures. Many of
us are happy even to
preach what our holy
books say. But how
many of us live up to
the teachings we
follow?
thrilled when
we receive our acceptance letter. Yet, their work is not ended
it has just begun. They must work
hard to complete their degree program to graduate. It is the same
on a spiritual path. Just finding
the right Master who can teach us
a meditation practice that provides proven results is the beginning; we have to then start putting
in the effort and commitment to

master the meditation techniques


to reach the goal of realization of
the Divine.
Once the great writer Mark
Twain was having a discussion
with a businessman who was
known for being aggressive and
ruthless in his dealings with others.The businessman said to the
writer, "Before I die I would like
to make a pilgrimage to the Holy
Land and climb to the top of
Mount Sinai to read the Ten
Commandments aloud at the top."
Mark Twain quickly replied, "I
have a better idea. Rather than go
to Mount Sinai where Moses was
given the Ten Commandments,
why dont you just stay home
here in Boston and practice the
Ten Commandments in your
life!"
This humorous comment carries
a significant meaning. Many of us
read the Commandments or
advice given by the great saints in
the scriptures. Many of us are
happy even to preach what our
holy books say. But how many of
us live up to the teachings we follow?
There is a big difference
between knowing the theory and
practicing it. It is not enough to
read the books or scriptures and
know the theory. We need to live
up to them in our own lives. If we
learn a method of meditation and
instructions for progress, that is
not enough; the true heart of the
spiritual teachings is in the prac-

tice. It is not enough to know


what others have said about it. It
is essential that we have our own
firsthand experience of spirituality. That can be accomplished
when we sit in meditation.
Progress is a matter of accuracy.
We can become accurate only by
practice. Practice makes perfect.
If we expect to sit in meditation
once or twice in our life and
accomplish spiritual progress, we
are being unrealistic. We need to
practice daily.
It is said that if we take one step
toward God, God will take a hundred steps toward us. The time we
spend in meditation will be richly
rewarded.
Instead of merely reading the
Ten Commandments, live them.
If we do our meditations and lead
ethical lives, observing the
virtues of nonviolence, truthfulness, purity, humility, selfless
service, and love for all, we will
be blessed with inner vision.
We will have the proof for ourselves of the existence of our soul
and God.

Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj


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

Every Breath is Important

By using our
breaths for our
spiritual evolution
and to help others
we will make the
world we live in a
better place.

Likewise, we have been given a


sandalwood forest or the gift of a
number of breaths to benefit ourselves, our family, and all creation.
Let us ask ourselves what we are
trading for each breath. Are we
using our breaths for something
that will be truly helpful? To
answer this question we need to
define our purpose and goal in life.
Whatever we decide will lay down
the tracks on which the train of our

life will go. Every person has the


ability to choose between going
towards God or away from God.
Every person has the choice of
working towards goals of a worldly nature or those of a spiritual
nature.
First of all, let us be grateful and
celebrate that we have been born
into this physical existence as a
human being. Recent scientific
studies estimate that there are anywhere from 7 to 9 million species
of life. This bears out what the
ancient Hindus spoke of when they
said that there were 8.4 million
species. This is where the terms
being on the wheel of 84 and the
cycle of births and rebirths come
from. Science is now confirming
what ancient sages told us thousands of years ago.
Whether the actual number is 7
million, 8.4 million or 9 million,
the fact remains that there are millions of life forms. Being in the
human form is a reason to celebrate and should not be taken for
granted. It is in the human form
that the faculty exists to know ourselves as soul and to know God.
Let us make the best of this opportunity and not squander our life

away.
Most people devote the entire
gift of the human form to feeding
it, reproducing it, and keeping it
alive. However, our lives are precious. Let us use the spiritual capital of this birth and our remaining
breaths to realize God. If we use
our breaths for our own spiritual
development and for the betterment of the lives of others, we will
amass the spiritual rewards of eternal love, bliss and peace. By using
our breaths for our spiritual evolution and to help others, we will
make the world we live in a better
place.
Each day let us take some time
to keep our priorities straight. We
can write out our plan for the day,
giving time to our spiritual priorities of meditation, selfless service,
and ethical living. In this way, the
sandalwood forest we have been
given by God can be invested to
bring more good for ourselves and
for others.
Let us be more aware of how we
use each moment of our lives. In
this way our spiritual success of
reuniting our soul with God can be
achieved in the shortest possible
time. The choice is ours.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

April 11-17, 2015

A Studio instead of a seat.


Thats ying reimagined.

Discover the difference between a conventional


seat and a studio in business class on the
new Etihad A380 and 787 Dreamliner. Both spacious and private,
our Business Studio provides a unique environment for all travellers to work,
rest and play. Its a do-anything space where you can enjoy a Dine Anytime
menu, with expert guidance from our onboard Food & Beverage Manager.
Or simply relax in the fully-at bed. When was business class ever like this? Never.
Flying Reimagined.
etihad.com #Reimagined
Etihad Airways new A380 - now ying Abu Dhabi to London
and from New York to Abu Dhabi in December.

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