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Vol.10 No. 6 June 10-16, 2017 80 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Theresa May likely Comey Testimony

to lose majority Trump fired

Exit polls in UK election project hung parliament
London: British Prime Minister
Theresa May is on course to lose
her overall majority in the British
general election, according to an
me to derail
exit poll released as soon as vot
ing finished Thursday night.
The poll, commissioned by
Britain's main broadcasters,
showed May's Conservatives
would have 314 seats, losing 17
Russia
inquiry
seats and the overall majority she
had before the election. She
needs to win at least 326 seats to
claim an overall majority in the
House of Commons, Xinhua
Prime Minister May and challenger Jaremy Corbyn
reported.
May's main rivals, Labour party, first clue about the likely out May. Liberal Democrats would
would have 266 seats, according come of the snap general election gain six seats to reach 14, the
to the exit poll, which gave the called just a few weeks ago by Continued on page 4

PM Modi to meet No frills visit as

India rebuffs
Trump claim in
Trump on June 27 climate speech
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is
set to meet US President Donald Trump on
June 27 in Washington DC, even as the gov Trumps lawyer says Comey confirmed President
ernment is still firming up the agenda cover not under investigation; denies Trump asked FBI
ing visas, trade and security issues.
Unlike the PMs first rock star visit to US, this director for loyalty or dropping Flynn probe
time it will be a lowkey affair. The program is
Washington: Former FBI director the Russia probe.
still evolving. Besides White House meet
James Comey on Thursday Asked at a US congressional
ings, Modi will be addressing a couple of
accused President Donald Trump hearing why he was fired, Comey
business meetings by USIndia Business
of firing him to try to undermine said, "I take the president's words.
Council and CEOs forum.
the bureau's investigation into I know I was fired because of
According to India media reports, the visit
possible collusion between his something about the way I was
is nofrills because of the growing bitterness
2016 presidential campaign team conducting the Russia investiga
in ties with the US coming down heavily on
and Russia. tion was in some way putting pres
India on issues ranging from high import duty
Trump dismissed Comey on May sure on him, in some way irritating
on the iconic American HarleyDavidson bikes to
9 and the administration gave dif him, and he decided to fire me
rising trade deficit and garnering funds for Indias
fering reasons for the action. because of that."
climate change initiatives.
Trump later contradicted his own Comey earlier told the Senate
With frequent visits by top officials to the US, New
staff and acknowledged on May Intelligence Committee in the most
Delhi too has kept up pressure Continued on page 4
11 that he fired Comey because of Continued on page 4

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TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY June 10-16, 2017 3

Meera Gandhi hosts

NYC launch of Zerbanoo
Giffords book
Writer Farida Master (left), Meera Gandhi, Zerbanoo Gifford and
Ajit G. Hutheesing,at the event. (Photo: Snaps India)
New York: A biographer and the
subject of the biography come
together on May 23 at the stately
home here of humanitarian and
social innovator Meera Gandhi.
Zerbanoo Gifford, UK based
human rights campaigner, womens
champion, former politician, and
founder of ASHA Centre in the
Forest of Dean in England, was
there. As was New Zealand based
Farida Master, who wrote
`Zerbanoo GiffordAn Uncensored
Life published by HarperCollins.
The biography which was
launched at the Times Litfest in
India and later in New Zealand and
Singapore and has been celebrated
in the US last month.
The testimonial by Meera Gandhi,
founder of Giving Back Foundation,
on the book reads as: A compelling
biography of a renowned human
Congressman Tom Suozzi
has joined India Caucus
Long Island: In April 2016, at a
reception for the incoming
Consul General of India, Riva
Ganguly Das, hosted by the
Indian American Voters Forum
(IAVC), Tom Suozzi, a
Democratic candidate for US
Congress, had announced that if
elected, he would join the
Congressional Caucus on India
and Indian Americans. On June 3
last week, the Forum honored
Congressman Suozzi at a recep
rights campaigner at the heart of Congressman Tom Suozzi with Varinder Bhalla and other supporters
tion held after he actually joined
the womens movement. Zerbanoo
the India Caucus. Pointed out Varinder Bhalla, to join the House Caucus on
has helped to empower women to
Suozzi, a member of the House founder of IAVC, Nearly 200 India and Indian Americans and
take their rightful place in the inter
Foreign Affairs Committee, members of Congress were part now we are proud to enlist
national arena. Her story reads as a
announced, As part of the India of the India Caucus when it was Congressman Suozzi.
modern tale of shakti power.
Caucus and as a Representative founded in 1992 to strengthen IAVF is a bipartisan commit
Zerbanoo and Farida have been
and friend of so many Indian ties between the worlds largest tee of community activists, not
reaching out to diverse audiences to
Americans, I hope to play a spe democracy and the worlds old beholden to any political party,
exchange stories that empower peo
cial role in enhancing the rela est democracy. Over the years, said Gunjan Rastogi, a member
ple, builds communities and hope.
tionship between our two coun membership declined. of the Forum and Vice President
From NASA to Goddard Space
tries. India and the US share a Unfortunately, in the intervening of IALI.
Centre, George Washington
special bond based on the years, there was no initiative by Nearly 60 prominent members
University to Turkish women in
shared values of democracy, the our community to connect with of the Indian community gath
Houston and the Zoroastrian com
rule of law and belief in the their representatives to join the ered at the reception to applaud
munities in LA, Chicago and New
intrinsic value of every human Caucus. So we started the cam Suozzi; among them, Padma Shri
Jersey, to the literary circle in New
being. It is essential that during paign to bring in congressional Dr. Dattatreyudu Nori, Dr. Ajay
York, everyone was captivated as
these times of globalization and leaders into the India Caucus. In Lodha, President of AAPI, H.K.
the central character of the book in
accelerating technology, as well 2010, we connected with US Shah, Founder of Vegetarian
her indomitable way came alive to
as threats from common ene Senator Kirsten Gillibrand to join Vision, Dr. Urmilesh Arya, Sunil
redefine success and pushed people
mies, that the US and India the Senate India Caucus. Last Modi and Rohit Vyas, all three
to stand up and make a difference
strengthen our bonds of friend year, we recruited former Presidents of the AIANY
even when the going gets really
ship and collaboration. Congresswoman Kathleen Rice Chapter.
tough.

2017 MoneyGram Cricket Saladino kicks off campaign for

Bee kicks off in July
New York: Cricket fans will soon test
their expertise of the game for a chance
to win $10,000 during the second annual
MoneyGram Cricket Bee competition.
The game includes trivia questions about
the history of cricket, key moments,
teams, players and other general knowl
edge.
"We are thrilled to sponsor the 2017
Cricket Bee and as always we enjoy being
a part of an initiative that our customers
are passionate about," says Ivy Wisco,
MoneyGram's global marketing strategy
leader. "Our South Asian consumers are
some of the top senders in the world and
we know how much cricket means to
them. Sponsoring the Cricket Bee allows
us to say thank you to our customers,
and build relationships with new cus
tomers as well."
The Cricket Bee was created by leading
multicultural firm, Touchdown Media
which strives to bring cricket enthusiasts
together from across North America.
"Cricket is a passion point for many
immigrants and whether one plays the
game or not, one always knows a lot of
trivia. We hope to bring all cricket lovers
together on this platform and encourage
the spirit of the game," said Rahul Walia,
CEO, Touchdown Media Inc.
Open to those 18 and older, the contest
will begin in July with regional rounds in
San Francisco, Dallas, Chicago, New
Jersey and Toronto. The top two finalists
in each regional round will move on to
the finals which will be held in New
Jersey on August 12.
Oyster Bay town supervisor
Hicksville, NY: Joe Saladino,
who was appointed earlier
this year as Oyster Bay Town
Supervisor, officially kicked
off last Saturday his cam
paign for the same post for
election this fall. The
Republican had served in New
York assembly since 2004
when he was called in to
replace John Venditto who
quit under a cloud.
Speaking from his new cam
paign office in Hicksville to
scores of supporters from
various communities includ
ing the Indian community, Joe Saladino speaking at the event
Saladino also introduced County. They included Jack Senator who ran for US
other Republican candidates Martins for County Executive, Congress unsuccessfully last
for positions in Nassau former New York State year.
 4 June 10-16, 2017
Salman, Katrina to perform
at IIFA Awards in New York
New York: Bollywood stars Salman
Khan, Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif are
among celebrities who will enter
tain around 40,000 people at the
mega 18th edition of IIFA Awards
New York 2017 slated for July 14
15 at the MetLife Stadium in East
Rutherford, New Jersey.
Other stars expected to storm the
IIFA stage include Shahid Kapoor,
Sushant Singh Rajput, Kriti Sanon,
and A.R. Rahman, according to the
organizers of the annual extravagan
za, Wizcraft International
Entertainment. The IIFA Awards
also known as the Bollywood
Oscars is an international event
bringing the biggest Bollywood
celebrities together with fans and
media in a different country each
year. It has all the celebrity and
pageantry of Hollywoods Oscars
ceremony, but with a decidedly
Bollywood film flavor. Andre
Timmins, Director, Wizcraft
International, said in a statement:
We are so pleased to announce this
spectacular line up of stars and per
formers for the 2017 IIFA Festival
New York. This is going to be one of
Modi meets Sharif
in Kazakhstan
Astana (Kazakhstan): Prime
Minister Narendra Modi met his
Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif
here on Thursday ahead of Friday's
Shanghai Cooperation Organisatipn
(SCO) Summit.
According to a source, Modi
enquired about Sharif's health after
an open heart surgery in London in
May last year.
"Both leaders greeted each other
at the Leaders' Lounge at the
Astana Opera on Thursday evening
before the SCO concert," the source
said.
Chairman and Co-Founder
Kamlesh C. Mehta
Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull
President: Arjit Mehta
Chief Operating Officer:
Ginsmon P. Zacharia
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Salman Khan
will lead the
tribute to
actress Reema
Lagoo, whose
son he played
onscreen
many times.
Karan Johar will host the
IIFA gala night
our biggest and greatest shows ever
being hosted at MetLife Stadium.
This announcement of performers is
just the beginning and we have
much more to come to share with
our fans and audiences around the
world. Filmmaker Karan Johar,
whose directorial "Ae Dil Hai
Mushkil" is the front runner in the
nomination pack of the 18th edition
of IIFA, will host the gala night in
New York.
India and Pakistan are expected
to be granted full membership of
the SCO at the summit in the
Kazakhstan capital, making them
the seventh and eighth members of
the Eurasian bloc that includes
China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.
This is the first time that the
Indian and Pakistani Prime
Ministers have met since Modi
made a surprise visit to Lahore on
December 25, 2015, on his way
back to India from Kabul because of
Sharif's birthday.
Associate Editors:
Hiral Dholakia-Dave
Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,
Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Ashok Ojha
West Coast Correspondent
Pooja Jain,
Pooja@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
New Delhi Bureau
Meenakshi Iyer
Delhi@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
TURN PAGE TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Trump fired me to derail satellite associates of his who did Emmanuel Macron and reset the
Russia inquiry something wrong.'"
In attacking Comey's testimony,
tone of Brexit negotiations as well
as working to guarantee the rights
Continued from page 1
eagerly anticipated US congres
sional hearing in years that he
Kasowitz said the exdirector
"admitted that he unilaterally and
of EU citizens based in the UK. He
is also not a great fan of US
surreptitiously made unauthorized President Trump.
believed Trump had directed him
disclosures to the press of privi
to drop an FBI probe into the
Republican president's former
leged communications with the PM Modi to meet
national security adviser Michael
president." Trump on June 27
Continued from page 1
Flynn as part of the Russia investi
gation.
Theresa May likely to on Washington to not take drastic
But Comey would not say
lose majority steps that might dent trade and
Continued from page 1 economic ties. This is particularly
whether he thought the president
Scottish Nationalists will lose a due to the Trump administrations
sought to obstruct justice.
third of their seats, getting 34, and repeated threats to tighten H1B
"I don't think it's for me to say
the Greens would hold on to their visa norms.
whether the conversation I had
single seat in Westminster. India has rubbished President
with the president was an effort to
It will be early hours Friday Trump's charge that it signed the
obstruct. I took it as a very disturb
before the result is confirmed, but Paris climate accord to get "bil
ing thing, very concerning," Comey
similar exit polls carried out at the lions and billions and billions" of
told the committee, Reuters
previous two general elections in dollars from developed nations.
reports. Trump critics say that any
Britain came very close to predict "This is completely not true,"
efforts by the president to hinder
ing the results correctly. External Affairs Minister Sushma
an FBI probe could amount to
Both May and her main rival, Swaraj commented. Earlier, she
obstruction of justice. Such an
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, will said India is concerned over the
offense potentially could lead to
be eagerly waiting to see which rhetoric thats going on in the US
Trump being impeached by
party, if any, crosses the 326seat over H1B visas. Any amendments
Congress, although the
threshold. That is the number of (on H1B visa regime) need
Republicans who control the
seats needed to guarantee a major Congressional approval, and I
Senate and House of
ity in the 650seat House of want to assure you that we are
Representatives have shown little
Commons. carefully following the develop
appetite to make such a move
Labour's Emily Thornberry, the ments.
against him.
shadow foreign secretary, said Modi has spoken to Trump over
In more than two hours of testi
Thursday night that May should the phone thrice since the latter
mony, Comey did not make any
quit. I think we're (Labour) on the became President, while Swaraj
major new revelations about
verge of a great result." has spoken to US Secretary of
alleged links between Trump or
his associates and Russia, an issue
that has dogged Trump's first
May's expected losses come after
the 100plus wins predicted early
State Rex W Tillerson. National
Security Adviser Ajit Doval,
months in office and distracted
from his policy goals such as over
on in the campaign. She called
snap election seeking more sup
port in her negotiations over the
Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar
and Commerce Secretary Rita
Teaotia have visited the US to
hauling the U.S. healthcare system
terms for Britain leaving the understand its policy stance
and making tax cuts.
European Union. Brexit, though, towards India. The US, on the
Trump, in a speech across town,
has not dominated the election other side, will be raising the issue
told supporters their movement
campaign which was overshad of strengthening defense ties with
was "under siege" and vowed to
owed by Britain's worst terrorist India. The Trump administration
fight on. Comeys testimony,
strikes since 2005. had been pushing India to procure
Trumps outside lawyer Marc
There is every likelihood that more armaments from America. In
Kasowitz said, "makes clear that
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will April, US National Security Adviser
the president never sought to
become the next prime minister. HR McMaster visited India and
impede the investigation into
He had opposed Brexit but not met Modi. He emphasised the
attempted Russian interference in
strongly and has said one of his importance of the USIndia strate
the 2016 election." "And in fact,
very first acts as PM would be to gic relationship and reaffirmed
the president told Mr. Comey 'it
call German Chancellor Angela Indias designation as a Major
would be good to find out in that
Merkel and French President Defense Partner.
investigation if there were some
Jaipur (India) Bureau IANS Newswire Services
Prakash Bhandari IANS Washington Bureau
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info TRISTATE COMMUNITY June 10-16, 2017 5

Indian-American Raja Chari among 12 new NASA astronauts

This is the largest group NASA has selected in almost two decades
Houston: NASA has chosen 12 new astro
nauts, including an IndianAmerican, from
a record number of over 18,000 applicants,
who will be trained for missions into Earth
orbit and to deep space.
The seven men and five women comprise
the 22nd class of American spaceflight
trainees since 1959. Lt Col Raja "Grinder"
Chari, 39, is a commander of the 461st
Flight Test Squadron and the director of the
F35 Integrated Test Force at Edwards Air
Force Base in California.
Hailing from Waterloo, Iowa, Chari
earned a Master's degree in aeronautics
and astronautics from MIT and graduated
from the US Naval Test Pilot School. His
father is from India. This is the largest
group NASA has selected in almost two
decades. It was selected from a record
18,300 applicants more than NASA has
Raja Grinder Chari (Image : nasa.gov)
ever had during an open astronaut call. To
get picked, people had to meet some physi
cal requirements as well as certain educa
tion and experience criteria such as hav
ing a bachelor's degree in a STEM field or
accumulating up to 1,000 hours of piloting
jets. But it's clear that this new class greatly
surpasses all the minimum skills that NASA
requires.
After completing two years of training,
the new astronaut candidates could be
assigned to missions performing research
on the International Space Station, launch
ing from American soil on spacecraft built
by commercial companies, and flying on
deep space missions on NASA's new Orion
spacecraft and Space Launch System rock
et. Vice President Mike Pence joined NASA
leaders, including acting administrator
Robert Lightfoot and director of flight oper
ations Brian Kelly, in Houston, Texas to
announce the new astronaut candidates, or
"ascans." Pence said that Donald Trump is
"firmly committed" to NASA's mission in
space and that "America will lead the way
in space once again."
He said that NASA would continue to
have the resources it needs to "make histo
ry" even though the president's budget
request cuts funding and cancels certain
programs at the agency.
He also mentioned that NASA would con
tinue to collaborate with the commercial
space industry in the future. While deliver
ing the speech, Pence touted the merits of
the new astronaut class.
"The courage of these men and women,
and all the astronauts who have gone
before, inspires me to this very day," he
said. The 12 new candidates include six
military officers, three scientists, two med
ical doctors, a lead engineer at SpaceX and
a NASA research pilot. (PTI)

Chawla Hotels partners Lokesh Muni inspired Labor Department to

with Trump Hotels to
launch 'American Idea'
New York: A leading Indian
American hotelier has partnered
with a company of President
Donald Trump's sons to launch
a new midscale hotel chain
under the name "American
IDEA" in the US.
Trump Hotels, part of Trump
founded Trump Organisation
and helmed by the president's
sons Donald Trump Jr and Eric
Trump, announced the tieup
with Mississippibased company
Chawla Hotels, led by Dinesh
Chawla. The partnership
includes three American IDEA
properties in the Mississippi
Delta area as well as the upscale
'SCION' hotel brand. The prop
erties will come up in Cleveland,
Clarksdale and Greenville in
Mississippi.
Chawla, CEO of Chawla
Hotels, told PTI in a telephonic
interview that under the tieup,
his company will develop the
SCION and the three American
Idea hotels in the Mississippi
area. He will put in an invest
ment of $20 million in addition
to borrowing money for more
financing. Chawla expects the
properties to be ready in six to
seven months. Describing the
Trump team as "very polished
people and sophisticated opera
tors" Chawla said among the
reasons that he wants to part
ner with them is that "they have
developed hotels at such a high
level." He said he has stayed at
Trump hotels before and "we
want to bring some of that pol
ish to our developments too."
Chawla, who was born in
Punjab, recalled that his late
father V K Chawla had first
interacted with Trump about 30
years ago as an immigrant who
had come to the US from India
by way of Canada. He was strug
gling financially and looking for
help to finance his first hotel.
Chawla said Trump had "in a
quick stroke" advised his father
about how he should go about
getting a loan. The senior
Chawla, who passed away two
years ago, built 17 hotels in the
region.
He said he may not agree or
"see eye to eye" with Trump on
political issues but he is very
proud of the professional tieup
with the Trump organization
that will help bring about 100
jobs and boost the economy in
the Mississippi area.
world peace seminar in NJ
New Delhi: Ahimsa Vishwa Bharti, founded
by Acharya Lokesh Muni, is organizing an
International
Seminar on World
Peace and
Harmony through
Interfaith
Dialogue on the
occasion of
International Yoga
Day on June 24th
at Vaikunth
Hindu Jain Temple in Atlantic City, NJ. The
seminar will be graced by, besides Lokesh
Muni, Yogrishi Baba Ramdev, BK Shivani,
Brahma Kumaris sadhvi, Sadhvi Bhagwati
from Parmarth Niketan, Ambassador of
Sikhism in USA Bhai Satpal Singh, and
many other eminent spiritual leaders. A
press release about the event said, As we
all know peace is necessary for develop
ment. But the world population is present
ly faced with adverse conditions from
Syria, Afghanistan to Russia and America
there is an atmosphere of terror and vio
lence. In such conditions worlds largest
organizations like United Nations and
Parliament of Worlds Religions is giving
importance to Interfaith Dialogue. We are
organising this seminar so that spiritual
Leaders of all faiths give the message of
Peace, Harmony and Brotherhood from
one platform and encourage people of dif
ferent counties to live with harmony.
Acharya Lokesh Muni is visiting America
from June 6 for about a month. He will
also participate in JAINA Convention 2017
in New Jersey from June 30 to July 4.
ramp up fraud probes of
foreign visa programs
Washington, DC: The U.S. Labor
Department said on Tuesday it is
stepping up efforts to root out
potential fraud in its visa programs
for foreign workers, a move that
will include increases in both civil
investigations as well as criminal
referrals. The announcement by
Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta
follows President Donald Trump in
April ordering a review of the U.S.
visa program as part of his
"America First" campaign pledge.
The April executive order specifi
cally entailed a review of the H1B
visa program, which is routinely
used by technology firms like Tata
Consultancy Services Ltd, Cognizant
Technology Solutions Corp and
Infosys Ltd to bring skilled foreign
workers, such as engineers, to jobs
in the United States.
Critics of the program, including
Trump senior adviser Stephen
Miller, have argued the laws gov
erning these visas are lax and make
it too easy for companies to replace
U.S. workers with lessexpensive
foreign labor.
The U.S. Labor Department and
Department of Homeland Security
each play a role in reviewing the
applications for foreign guest work
ers. In April, Homeland Security
said it was planning to take steps as
well to prevent fraud in the H1B
visa program. Labor Department
officials said Tuesday the increased
enforcement efforts will involve all
of the foreign visa worker pro
grams, including H2A and H2B
visas. Those steps include directing
the department's wage and hour
division to "use all its tools" to con
duct civil probes, ramping up crimi
nal referrals to the department's
inspector general and instructing
the employment and training office
to propose changes to the H1B
labor condition application that
companies file when they seek to
hire foreign skilled guest workers.
Entities who engage in visa pro
gram fraud and abuse are breaking
our laws and are harming American
workers," Acosta said in a state
ment. A senior Labor Department
official acknowledged there are
legal limitations in the department's
authority over H1B visas.
Exemptions in the law, for instance,
allow companies to skirt require
ments to protect American workers,
and the department's authority to
investigate is restricted. The official
said the department was looking
into whether to ask Congress to
amend the law. (Source: Reuters)
 6 June 10-16, 2017
Wells Fargo releases Get College Ready Tracker
San Francisco: Wells Fargo
launched its annual Get College
Ready campaign and website with
a new interactive tool that navi
gates collegebound high school
students and their families
through learning exercises on how
to pay for college, prepare for
school and manage money.
The Get College Ready Tracker is
a selfguided digital checklist expe
rience that educates students and
families on recommended actions
that should be considered for suc
cessful college preparedness. This
includes completion of FAFSA,
how to search for scholarships,
tips for reviewing college award
letters, and information about fed
eral and private student loans.
Studies continue to show that
among collegebound high school
graduates, the appetite for quality
BAPS Charities holds
Walk Green 2017
in Parsippany
Walkathon opening ceremony with Parsippany Mayor James Barberio
and other invited guests.
New Jersey: Eager to compare and
share his success with his friends,
Deep excitedly arrived early to sub
mit all the donations he had diligent
ly collected over the past month.
Along with his peers, Deep supported
his friends and family with encour
agement and reminders to raise
money and awareness about the com
munity involvement of BAPS
Charities. Deep is just one of 270
community members who supported
the annual BAPS Charities Walk
Green 2017 walkathon in
Parsippany, NJ on May 21. Building
off an existing relationship with The
Nature Conservancy, this years
walkathon had participants of all
ages come out and support the
Nature Conservancy and its Plant a
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
information on how to plan and
prepare for college remains high,
said Gary Korotzer, head of Mar
keting for Wells Fargos Communi
ty Bank. Creating Get College
Ready allows us to help students
Billion Trees campaign. The Nature
Conservancys efforts focus on pro
tecting habitats and preserving biodi
versity across the world. Its current
campaign aims to plant one billion
trees by 2025 to which BAPS
Charities contributed $100,000 to
plant 70,000 trees in 2016. In addi
tion to targeted conservation efforts,
The Nature Conservancy also invests
in research related to conservation
and climate change to drive interna
tional efforts. Additionally, this years
BAPS Charities Walkathon also sup
ported Police Parsippany TroyHills.
Police Parsippany TroyHills aims to
provide an exemplary level of service
and protection to the residents and
all who may visit, work in, or travel
through our community.
and families work through the
hurdles that come with the high
school to college transition, such
as how to search for scholarships,
important deadlines for financial
aid and what students can expect
Domestic Harmony 9th Annual Fundraising Luncheon
EKAL SUR EKAL TAAL A SPLENDOR
OF INDIAS RURALTRIBAL ARTISTRY
New Jersey: Nine artists from tribal
regions of India are currently tour
ing the U.S. for five months as part
of a dazzling stage presentation, ti
tled Ekal Sur, Ekal Taal for Ekal
Vidyalaya Foundation. It is a musi
cal splendor of rural culture depict
ing epic folklore, devotional songs,
and regional dances reflecting na
tional unity. For the first time in its
history, Ekal has brought the best
talent from Ekalschool alumni for
fundraising entertainment, in a se
ries of concert, all across U.S. The
main objective of this bold step is
to connect with the people here to
highlight the need for education in
tribal India. They are all traveling
by bus accompanied by Ekals glob
al coordinator, Ramesh Shah who
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
as college freshman.
Other sections in the Get College
Ready Tracker are tailored to in
form collegebound students on
what steps they can take to ensure
a successful firstday orientation,
advice on college course registra
tion, financial reminders for tu
ition and campus housing, budget
ing for miscellaneous expenses,
and how to build and manage
credit responsibly.
As collegebound students pre
pare to graduate from high school,
the Get College Ready Tracker of
fers the following three tips for
students to consider:
1. Notify schools: Give your
commitment and send your de
posit in before the deadline. Then,
let other schools know you won't
be coming so they can award your
spot to the next lucky student.
was recently felicitated by the
President of India for his communi
ty work. The trip is partially sup
ported by the Cultural Ministry of
India. Ekal Sur Ekal Taal concert
is on the East Coast in June (2017).
They have already completed al
most 50 shows out of 58 and they
all have been runaway smashhit,
with audiences crazily mobbing the
artistes. All the artists of this
years troupe are from very small
villages of Indias tribal belt. The
artists include Dileshwar Yadav,
Sumitra Kakodia, Sandip Yadav, Git
mala Boraik, Tilak Chandra, Neena
Pandey, Johan Singh Markam, Rad
heshyam Yadav, Sampa Shill and
they are being cared, stageman
aged by N.P. Amoli. They all hail
2. Request your final tran
scripts: Make sure to submit your
transcript request form, so your
school knows when and where to
send your final scores.
3. Thank those who helped you
get here: From family to recom
mendation writers, remember to
show your appreciation. It keeps
the door open for more help, and
ensures that the students who fol
low you get similar treatment.
In addition to Get College Ready,
Wells Fargo has developed other
free online resources to help stu
dents and families plan and pre
pare for college, including Wells
Fargo College Planning Blog,Wells
Fargo Student Center,Col
legeSTEPS, and How to Pay for
College in 5 Steps all which can
be found on the Get College Ready
site.
Hempstead Town Clerk Nasrin
Ahmad (3rd right) presents an
official Town of Hempstead
Certificate of Recognition during
the Domestic Harmony 9th Annual
Fundraising Luncheon held at the
Millerdge Inn located in Jericho.
Pictured (LR) are Consul General
of Pakistan Honorable Raja Ali Ejaz,
Habeeb Ahmed, Legislator Laura
Schaefer, Town Clerk Ahmad, Ishna
Chaudry and Dr. Qamar Zaman.
from remote areas of Madhya
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jhark
hand, Sikkim, and Assam and come
from economically disadvantage
background where basic suste
nance is a challenge. For this
tour, the artistes were trained,
groomed and molded by the best
professionals in stage performance
for 18 months in New Delhi. The
artists also received fasttrack
training in makeup and costume
designing to make them totally in
dependent at eventpreparedness
while on this U.S. tour. Ekal Sur
Ekal Taal tour finishes on the East
Coast with stops in Massachusetts,
New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. For
the tour and ticket information vis
it www.ekal.org
TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY June 10-16, 2017 7

40% decline in US visas for IndiaUN development

Pakistanis; 28% increase
for Indians: Report
Islamabad: Pakistan has had a signicant
40 per cent drop in the number of
American visas granted to its nationals
under the new Trump administration
despite not being on the list of the US
President's travel ban countries.
Interestingly, the number of nonimmi
grant US visas to Indians has increased
by 28 per cent in March and April this
year as compared to the monthly aver
age of the previous year, according to
the newlyreleased monthly ofcial data.
Nonimmigrant visas granted to
Pakistanis are down by 40 per cent in
March and April this year compared to
the 2016 monthly average, a Pakistani
media report said quoting data released
by the US State Department.
Pakistanis were issued 3,925 non
immigrant visas in April and 3,973 visas
in March 2017 under the Trump admin
istration. The Obama administration last
year issued a total of 78,637 nonimmi
grant visas to Pakistanis with a monthly
average of 6,553, which was 40 per cent
higher than the current average.
Before March this year, the State
Department did not release monthly
breakdowns of visas and only annual g
ures were available.
The report compared the March and
April 2017 gures with monthly aver
ages for 2016. Even in 2015, monthly
average remained 6,179 as a total of
74,150 Pakistanis had been granted
visas.
The data showed that Indian nationals
received 87,049 visas in April and
97,925 visas in March this year. Last
year, people from India received 72,082
nonimmigrant visas each month on
average with an annual total of 864,987
visas.
Pakistan is not the only Muslimmajori
ty country experiencing decline in non
immigrant US visas. A similar analysis of
50 Muslim majority countries reveals
that number of visas issued to their
nationals has also declined by 20 per
cent in April as compared to their month
ly country average last year, the report
said. (PTI)
partnership fund launched
New York: On June 8th, the Republic of India
and the United Nations Ofce for SouthSouth
Cooperation (UNOSSC) launched a new devel
opment partnership fund to implement coun
trylevel projects that are catalytic towards
achieving the 17 goals of the 2030 Agenda.
India will contribute towards this new collabo
rative initiative aimed at reducing poverty and
hunger, improving health, education and
equality, and expanding access to clean water,
energy and livelihoods. Managed by the United
Nations Ofce for SouthSouth Cooperation,
the IndiaUN Development Partnership Fund
will support Southernowned and led, Fund is a promising contribution to a strength
demanddriven, and transformational sustain
able development projects across the develop
ing world, with a focus on least developed
countries and small island developing States.
Numerous United Nations agencies will imple
ment its projects in close collaboration with
partnering governments.
The launch will take place on World Oceans
Day and will include an announcement of the
rst project to receive support: Climate Early
Warning System in Pacic Island Countries.
This project was formulated by India and the
United Nations Development Program in con
sultation with the Governments of the Cook
Jointly advancing the
Sustainable Development Goals
Islands, the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic
of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of
Micronesia, the Republic of Nauru, the
Solomon Islands and the Kingdom of Tonga. It
will increase the resilience to natural disasters
of these seven Pacic island countries.
At a time when a number of global players
are invigorating their commitments to sustain
able development and SouthSouth coopera
tion is increasing momentum around the
globe, the IndiaUN Development Partnership
ened multilateral system that will turn the
2030 vision into a reality.
The event took place at the Permanent
Mission of India to the United Nations (235
East 43rd Street, New York) in presence of M J
Akbar, Minister of State for External Affairs,
India; Syed Akbaruddin, Ambassador
Permanent Representative of India to the UN;
Jorge Chediek, Envoy of the SecretaryGeneral
on SouthSouth Cooperation and Director,
UNOSSC; ministers, ambassadors and high
level representatives from Pacic Island coun
tries and United Nations agency representa
tives.

Decline in H1B Visas to top 7 Nirupama Rao appointed

Indian outsourcing companies
Washington, DC: Top seven India
based outsourcing companies in
the US received fewer H1B visas in
2016 as compared to 2015, and as
a group their numbers dropped by
37 per cent, according to a new
report.
The companies experienced a
drop of 5,436 approved petitions
(37 per cent) in 2016 as compared
to previous year, a report by the
National Foundation for American
Policy a Washingtonbased non
prot thintank said.
It said, the 9,356 new H1B peti
tions for the top seven Indiabased
companies approved in scal 2016
represent only 0.006 per cent of
the US labor force.
"While the threat of job loss has
long been exaggerated by critics, it
reaches illogical proportions when
discussing fewer than 10,000
workers in an economy that
employs 160 million workers
nationwide," the National
Foundation for American Policy
Public Policy Fellow
said in a statement after releasing
the report.
According to the report, the num
ber of approved new H1B peti
tions for Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS) declined by 56 percent from
FY 2015 to FY 2016, from 4,674
to 2,040, a drop of 2,634.
For Wipro, the petitions declined
by 52 per cent between FY 2015
and FY 2016, a drop of 1,605,
going from 3,079 to 1,474
approved petitions for initial
employment during those years.
For Infosys, it declined by 16 per
cent (or 454 petitions), with 2,376
approved H1B petitions for initial
employment in FY 2016, compared
to 2,830 in FY 2015, said the
report, which based its research
from government data.
"The drop in new H1B visas for
Indiabased companies, which is
expected to continue when data
are released on cases led in April
2017 for FY 2018 start dates, is
due to industry trends toward digi
tal services such as cloud comput
ing and articial intelligence, which
to US Think-tank
Washington, DC: Former Indian
require fewer workers, and a
Ambassador to the US Nirupama
choice by companies to rely less on
Rao has been appointed public
visas and to build up their domes
policy fellow to a Washington
tic workforces in the US," the
based thinktank where she will
report said.
work on a project on the Sino
"H1B petitions approved for ini
India ties, a top American think
tial employment in FY 2016 were
tank has said.
led by employers in April 2016,
Rao will be afliated with the
which means the drop in HB visa
Wilson Center's Asia program and
use by these companies is not due
spend three months in residence
to Donald Trump's election." Nirupama Rao, former Indian
at the Wilson Center, a key non
"In the past, US policymakers Ambassador to the US
partisan policy forum for tackling
have used the number of visas the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
global issues, beginning in June
going to Indiabased companies as She also served as India's for
2017.
a political or policy reason to pro eign secretary from 2009 to
"She will be working on a book
pose new immigration restrictions 2011. Following her retirement
project on the IndoChina rela
and to not raise the low annual from public service, Rao received
tionship and will be contributing
supply of H1B visas, which has an appointment as Meera and
to the Wilson Center's activities
been exhausted every year for the Vikram Gandhi fellow at the India
on India, including its India in
past 15 scal years," said NFAP Initiative at the Brown University.
Asia Initiative," the Wilson Center
executive director Stuart Anderson, She has taught as an undergrad
said. The 66yearold former
former head of policy at the uate seminar at the Brown
Indian diplomat was India's rst
Immigration and Naturalization University called 'India in the
woman ambassador to China and
Service under President George W World'. PTI
its rst woman spokesperson for
Bush. (PTI)
 8 June 10-16, 2017 NATIONAL COMMUNITY TheSouthAsianTimes.info

US businessman admits to ISNAS HIGH PROFILE 54TH

making illegal exports to
Pakistani atomic, space agencies BE ROLLED OUT IN CHICAGO
New York: A 43year old busi
ness owner in the US has plead
ed guilty to exporting products
without a license to Pakistani
atomic and space agencies in
violation of US federal laws and
faces up to 20 years in prison.
Imran Khan, of North Haven,
Connecticut, waived his right to
be indicted and pleaded guilty on
Saturday in Hartford federal
court to violating US export law,
US Attorney for the District of
Connecticut Deirdre Daly said.
According to court documents
and statements made in court,
from at least 2012 to December
2016, Khan and others were
engaged in a scheme to purchase
goods that were controlled
under the Export Administration
Regulations (EAR) and export
those goods without a license to
Pakistan, in violation of the EAR.
Khan conducted business as
ANNUAL CONVENTION TO
Brush Locker Tools or as Kauser
EnterprisesUSA.
When asked by US manufac
turers about the enduser for a
product, Khan either informed
the manufacturer that the prod
uct would remain in the US, or
he completed an enduser certi
cation indicating that the prod
uct would not be exported. After
the products were purchased,
they were shipped by the manu
facturer to Khans North Haven
residence or to a business owned
by him.
The products were then
shipped to Pakistan on behalf of
either the Pakistan Atomic
Energy Commission (PAEC), the
Pakistan Space and Upper
Atmosphere Research
Commission (SUPARCO) or the
National Institute of Lasers and
Optronics (NILOP), all of which
were listed on the US
Department of Commerce Entity
List, the Justice Department said
in a statement. The illegal
exportation of sensitive technol
ogy to prohibited entities such as
PAEC, SUPARCO and NILOP,
poses a signicant threat to our
national security, said Leigh
Alistair Barzey, Special Agentin
Charge of the Defense Criminal
Investigative Service (DCIS),
Northeast Field Ofce.
Khan never obtained a license
to export any item to the desig
nated entity even though he
knew that a license was required
prior to export. Khan is sched
uled to be sentenced by US
District Judge Vanessa Bryant in
August 2017, at which time he
faces a maximum term of impris
onment of 20 years. He has been
released on a $100,000 bond
since he was arrested in
December last year.
Chicago: The Islamic Society of North
America (ISNA) will be holding its
54th Annual Convention from June
30 July 3, at the Donald E. Stephens
Convention Center in Rosemont,
Illinois.
ISNA Convention is one of the
largest Muslim gatherings in the
United States and Canada, where
Muslims and guests from other faith
communities have a platform to net
work, exchange ideas and listen to
renowned speakers. This years
theme, Hope and Guidance through
the Qur'an, will largely center on
how faith can inspire the community
to bring positive change in response
to challenges and injustices of all
forms.
The highlights of the Convention
are: 200 renowned speakers, round
table discussion, interfaith reception,
Qiraat competition, career fair & car
nival, community recognition lunch
eon, young professionals luncheon,
meet the author, largest bazaar in US
with 550 booths, lm festival,
enlightening entertainment, health
fair, art & photography exhibit, mat
rimonial banquets, basketball tourna
ment, childrens program & babysit
ting, etc
The threeday Convention will
unite both Muslim and interfaith indi
viduals, families, businesses and non
prot organizations for a full sched
ule of lectures, discussions, debates
and entertainment.
ISNAs Annual Convention is more
than simply a coming together of the
Muslim community, said Azhar
Azeez, ISNA President. Our goal is to
unite people across different faiths
and backgrounds in the spirit of
peace and better understanding.
We hope the convention will be
used as platform and catalyst for
social change, he added.

United Tamil Foundation launches Jallikattu Indian Embassy celebrates Baisakhi

feature film first look teaser & poster
New York: United Tamil
Foundation (Ma3) launched
Jallikattu feature lm rst look
teaser & poster on June 4th at
Wall Street, New York.
Jalllikattu 523rd Jan 2017 is a
tamil feature based on the recent
youngsters uprising at the Marina Vishnu V Raja of United Tamil founda
beach in Chennai, India.
In the history of over a century
this was the single largest peaceful, the PETA HQ in Norfolk Virginia and
nonpolitical, leaderless movement
of student gathering by youngsters.
This movement was about the
power of the youth, the pride of the
soil and most importantly harmony.
"As lm makers we felt there are sev and cherish." Its the rst experimen
eral stories that need to be told
around this and we decided to make
a lm on this uprising. During the
time of the marina protest, we com
menced lming the real crowd and
started increasing the quantum of
coverage with each day. There are
several aspects of the society that
can be seen through this movement," Singapore, Jayapal N from
the lmmakers said in a press
release. "We have several hours of
real footage from the marina site and they unveiled the rst look of this
also shot extensively with several
pioneers of this moment. Its with a
Washington DC:
Embassy of India,
Washington DC cele
brated Baisakhi on
June 3rd in the 350th
Birth Anniversary year
of Guru Gobind Singhji.
The event was attended
The first look poster was unveiled by by around 250 Indian
American community
tion (Ma3). He was the pioneer who members from various
initiated the pro Jallikattu protest at
parts of United States.
The celebration was
was greatly appreciated for the
marked by an auspi
peaceful protest organized here. Ambassador Navtej Sarna with guests at the Dr. Harbhajan Singh Ajrawat,
cious beginning by
sense of great pride that we say that 'Baisakhi' celebrations hosted at the Embassy Sikh scholar and prominent
Shabad Kirtan, wel Residence on June 3. community leader
we have made this into a tamil fea
come remarks by
ture lm for everyone to experience
Ambassador Navtej
Sarna and a cultural
tal Tamil feature in a style wherein
performance consisting
real footage is combined with the
of Punjabi traditional
lm and characters are all those
music and dance
were a part of the Marina uprising.
(Bhangra and Giddha).
This is directorial debut pf lmmaker
Sikh scholar Dr.
Santhosh, and produced by Ahimsa
Harbhajan Singh
Productions headed by
Ajrawat spoke on the
Nirupama.Guru Saravanan from
teachings of Sikhism
and highlighted the sig
Washington have coproduced this
nicance of Baisakhi.
project and joined the rest of team as
The fun and festivity Bhangra by Virginia School of Bhangra,
Gidda dance performance by
was enjoyed by all the a premier Punjabi folk dance
lm in New York, Wall Street on Virginia Diya Mutiyaran Group
guests. academy in Virginia.
June 4th.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info NATIONAL COMMUNITY June 10-16, 2017 9

NRIs to adopt US lawmakers flay CNN anchor over remarks

500 villages on IndianAmerican spelling bee champion
in India Washington, DC: Two US lawmakers have
criticized a CNN anchor for allegedly "oth
Washington,DC: Nonresident Indians
erising" IndianAmerican national spelling
(NRIs) living in the US will adopt 500 vil
champion Ananya Vinay by assuming that
lages in India as part of their ef fort to
the 12yearold is "used to using" Sanskrit
develop the rural areas of the county.
due to her heritage, saying the US needs
A formal announcement in this regard
to get educated about Hinduism and India.
would be made during the Big Ideas for
California resident Vinay was being
Better India conference in Silicon Valley
interviewed by CNN anchors Alisyn
on July 1.
Camerota and Chris Cuomo following her
Organized by the Overseas Volunteer
win last week at the prestigious Scripps
for Better India (OVBI), spiritual leader Sri
National Spelling Bee.
Sri Ravi Shankar will give keynote
Towards the end of the interview,
address at the event which is expected to
Camerota asked Vinay to spell 'covfefe,'
be attended by over 1,000 influential NRI
the word recently used by President
leaders, a statement said.
Donald Trump in one of his tweets that
These 500 villages have been selected
took the social media by storm with peo
based on the highest farmers suicide
ple guessing what the US leader could
rates, high unemployment rates and need
have meant by that word. Vinay spelled it
immediate support, said OVBI president Ananya Vinay was interviewed by CNN anchors Alisyn Camerota and Chris Cuomo
'cofefe'.
Satej Chaudhary.
Camerota then told Vinay the correct should have honored the accomplish America in general, and CNN in particular,
"We are bringing together geoscientists,
spelling was 'covfefe' and added, "It's a ments of Vinay instead otherised her and to get educated about Hinduism & India,"
agricultural experts and entrepreneurs to
nonsense word. the IndianAmerican community by play said Tulsi Gabbard, the Hindu
help double the income of farmers by
So, we're not sure that its root is actually ing into stereotypes," IndianAmerican Congresswoman from Hawaii.
2022," he said.
in Sanskrit, which is what you're probably, Cong ressman from Illinois "CNN should be embarrassed: Anchor
The event will address the most chal
uh, used to using, so, I don't know. Krishnamoorthi said. assumes American spelling bee champ
lenging problems being faced by India in
Anyway." "The hosts' treatment of Sanskrit is also must be "used to using" Sanskrit. Do
agriculture, governance and human traf
Criticism of Camerota's comment has insensitive to the language's rich, ongoing ItalianAmericans use Latin?" wrote emi
ficking.
since been circulating on social media. sacred tradition and continues a troubling nent journalist Indira Lakshmanan.
Last year OVBI had organized a water
IndianAmerican Congressman Raja trend in the network's treatment of The sixthgrader had correctly spelled
summit and successfully connected many
Krishnamoorthi and Hindu Congressman Hinduism which was also evident on the the word 'marocain' and became the 13th
specialists from USA with the Art of
Tulsi Gabbard lashed out at the anchors network's prog ram Be liever," consecutive winner from the Indian
Living ground team working on the river
for playing into stereotypes. Krishnamoorthi said. American community at the annual
rejuvenation projects. (PTI)
"It's disappointing that a segment which This is "Further evidence of the need for spelling bee championship.
 10 June 10-16, 2017
Russia tried to hack 2016
election, reveals NSA
Washington:
Intelligence officials
around the world on
Tuesday were jolted
by revelations in a
topsecret report
from the US National
Security Agency that
Russia made hacking
attacks to influence
the 2016 American
presidential election.
The NSA report
published on Monday
by online news organ
ization The Intercept
said that Russia's mili
tary intelligence con
ducted over 100
cyberattacks on vot
ing software
providers and local election offi
cials.
According to the leaked docu
ment, which was dated May 5,
Russia's Military Intelligence
Directorate (GRU) allegedly
launched an attack in August
2016 against a US company
"evidently to obtain information
Big business revolts after
Trump pulls out of Paris accord
New York: President Donald
Trump's announcement of with
drawal from the Paris Accord has
caused a firestorm at home and led
to big companies' revolt, analysts
said.
"It goes against smart, profitable
economics, smart international
policy, against American global
leadership, and against ethical and
moral stewardship of our planet,"
said Washington, D.C. political
insider David B. Richardson.
The withdrawal from the world's
preeminent climate control agree
ment signed in Paris in 2015 by
197 countries met with wide
spread and growing disdain from
American businesses, Xinhua
reported.
Leaving the Paris agreement
"has no benefit other than pander
ing to the conservative move
ment's ideological opposition to
multilateralism and environmental
regulat ion," wrote Ben Adler
Saturday in a Washington Post
article. US 45th president narrow
ly won the 2016 election with a
probusiness "Make America
Strong" theme. But when he
ignored even conservative, profos
sil fue l burning oil g iants
ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips,
who supported the Paris
Agreement, he walked into a mine
on electionsrelated software
and hardware solutions".
"The actors likely used data
obtained from that operation to
launch a voter registration
themed 'spearphishing' cam
paign targeting US local govern
ment organisations," reported
Efe news, citing the classified
field, political pundits said.
Since the president's announce
ment of withdrawal on Thursday, a
number of famous American busi
nesses jumped away from offering
support to his decision. On Friday,
Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank
wrote in the Baltimore Sun, "I dis
agree with the decision to exit the
Paris Accord." Last Thursday, it
was Elon Musk of Tesla and Disney
CEO Bob Iger who stepped down
from Trump's business advisory
councils to protest the decision to
withdraw from the Paris climate
deal. "Protecting our planet and
driving economic growth are criti ment, intended to take America's
cal to our future, and they aren't
mutually exclusive," Iger said on
Twitter.
"I deeply disagree with the deci
sion to withdraw from the Paris
Agreement," he added.
Musk, 45, whose net worth is
$15.2 billion, has founded and co
founded companies such as
SpaceX, Tesla, OpenAI, Neuralink,
and SolarCity.
"Climate change is real. Leaving
Paris is not good for America or
the world," said Musk. In addition,
CEO Tim Cook of Apple, Andrew
Liveris of Dow Chemical Co., and
Travis Kalanick of Uber
Technologies Inc. jumped ship in
the past few days. IANS
US AFFAIRS
NSA report.
Spearphishing is an
informationgathering
technique directed at
specific individuals or
companies, which often
uses fake emails as a
way to extract pass
words from unwitting
targets. A 25yearold
US government contrac
tor, Reality Leigh
Winner, was accused by
authorities of leaking
the NSA report and
charged with mishan
dling classified informa
tion.
Winner was arrested
last week and remains
in jail pending a deten
tion hearing this week, accord
ing to her attorney Titus T.
Nichols.
Winner worked for the
Pluribus International
Corporation consulting firm and
had top secret clearance, which
allowed her to handle classified
information.
A new US environmental alliance
is trying to take Trump's place
New York: President Trump's deci
sion to withdraw the U.S. from the
Paris Ag reement on climate
change put a nail in the coffin of
formal American leadership on
global warming. Once the move is
official, the U.S. will play no role in
the international process of setting
targets to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and reporting progress
to the global community.
Rather than let that happen, a
large coalition of American cities,
states, businesses and educational
institutions are launching some
thing akin to a shadow govern
That freedom to lead is partand
place on the global climate stage.
The group We Are Still In, which
was announced Monday, could
submit their own targets to the
United Nations and report on their
progress alongside the formal
commitment from the U.S. federal
government. "The current execu
tive branch... can, and will, speak
to its own willingness to move for
ward on climate action in the
United States," former New York
Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the UN
special envoy for cities and climate
change and an organizer of the
effort, wrote in a letter to the UN
climate change body announcing
the new group. "It cannot, howev
er, determine the pace of progress
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Nikki Haley warns
Russia of 'consequences'
for US poll meddling
New York: US Ambassador to the
UN Nikki Haley has said the
international community is "con
cerned" about Russian poll med
dling and that Moscow should
know there are "consequences"
for interfering in US elections.
"I can tell you, the internation
al community is concerned
about Russia's meddling within
all of their elections," Haley said
on CBS News' "Face the Nation"
in an interview on Sunday.
"But they're concerned about
Russia for a lot of reasons. And
so we'll continue to keep our eye
on them. And when we can work
with them, we want to try and
do that. But when we can't, we're
going to hold the line."
The IndianAmerican lawmak
er when asked why sanctions
aren't being imposed on Russia
emphasized the US isn't going
easy on Russia.
"Well, I think that, you know,
they're going through the
motions of the investigation,"
Former New York City Mayor and
billionaire Michael Bloomberg has
committed to paying the US con
tribution to the UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change
achieved by U.S. cities, states, the
private sector, and civil society.
lenges be fore it can formally
parcel of our federal system."
Bloomberg has also committed
to paying the U.S. contribution to
the U.N. Framework Convention on
Climate Change, the body that
oversees international talks on
global warming.
T he U.S. committed under
President Obama to reduce green
house gas emissions by as much as
28% by 2025, but researchers now
predict they will fall no more than
12.6% with Trump's rollback of
environmental regulat ions.
Of ficials from the more than
1,000 groups represented in the
new coalition believe they make
up a substantial portion of that dif
ference. Among the signatories are
Haley said. "I could tell you
we've taken actions against
Russia in the UN Security
Council. We've stood strong on
the sanctions in their situations
with Ukraine. We called them
out in their association with the
Assad regime."
"We're going to continue to
call them out as we need to,"
Haley continued. "At the same
time, we are trying to see if we
can have talks with them on how
to better come in line in the
Syrian conflict. We're working
with them on counterterrorism.
But if we see Russia doing any
thing wrong, we're going to tell
them." Haley said that she will
support whatever Congress
decides to do in terms of sanc
tions against Russia. Pressure
was mounting on US officials to
take a tougher stance on Russia,
even as Trump himself is reluc
tant to criticize the Kremlin and
Russian President Vladimir
Putin, said the report.
hundreds of cities, the most popu
lous states including New York and
California and Fortune 500 corpo
rations like Microsoft and Target.
Many of the group's members
sought to show their commitment
to g reenhouse g as emissions
reductions since the months lead
ing up to the Paris Agreement, but
those efforts tended not to involve
the full crosssection of local gov
ernments, corporations and non
profit institutions. The new coali
tion aims to advance that work on
a far larger scale.
The group faces significant chal
report on its progress to the U.N.
Such measurements can be dif fi
cult to tabulate, a challenge com
plicated by the overlapping nature
of many of the entities. It also
remains to be seen how the large
group will deal with competing
personalities all of whom may
want to be seen as the face of U.S.
efforts to address climate change.
Still, the ef fort has potential to
repair some of the nation's stand
ing among those fighting against
global warming around the world.
"I am so moved and enthused that
so many states and enterprises in
America want to travel this path
with us, said German Chancellor
Angela Merkel.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info US AFFAIRS June 10-16, 2017 11

Comey statement conrms what was leaked before

Former FBI chiefs prepared testimony, released by the US senate, is no bombshell producing
the smoking gun, nor is it complete vindication of the President as his lawyer has claimed.
Washington: The US Senate
Intelligence Committee on
Wednesday released a statement
from former FBI director James
Comey, which revealed five
exchanges between him and US
President Donald Trump since
election day.
The seven page statement,
which the former FBI director
was due to formally deliver in a
hearing on Thursday, offered the
accounts of three oneonone
meetings and two phone calls
Comey had with Trump since this
year, Xinhua reported.
The exchanges, which took
place on January 6, January 27,
February 14, March 30 and April
11, focused mainly on the FBI's
ongoing investigation into
alleged collusion between the
Trump campaign, in particular
former National Security Advisor
Michael Flynn, and Russia.
According to Comey's recollec
tion, Trump has asked the FBI to
stop its investigation on Flynn,
who resigned in February after
tion as a cloud that was impair
ing his ability to act on behalf of
the country," the statement said
of Trump in the March 30 phone
call, adding that Trump had
asked how to "lift the cloud".
During their dinner on January
27, Trump asked Comey for loy
alty, to which Comey pledged
honesty. The two men later
agreed that Comey would give
"honest loyalty" to Trump,
despite Comey admitting later
that "it is possible we understood
the phrase honest loyalty differ
ently."
Comey also said all of the
Fired FBI director James Comey has alleged inappropriate records were made immediately
contacts and requests from the President after each exchanges based on
Comey's memory, implying that
his inappropriate contacts with a good guy", but did not say that he there were no recordings on
Russian diplomat came to light. would "let this go." Comey's side. The White House
"I hope you can see your way Another request from Trump has said it would not exercise
clear to letting this go, to letting was for the FBI to clarify that he executive privilege to prevent
Flynn go. He is a good guy. I hope was not under investigation him Comey from testifying in front of
you can let this go," the state self, to which Comey voluntarily Congress. In the actual hearing
ment quoted Trump as saying in confirmed in the meetings but Thursday morning, Comey will of
the February 14 meeting. Comey was reluctant to make public. "He course have to answer questions
said he had replied that "he is a described the Russia investiga following his opening statement.
While TV commentators and
legal eagles were trying to ascer
tain if Comeys testimony proves
obstruction of justice by Trump,
the President Trump's outside
lawyer, Marc Kasowitz, had a dif
ferent take. He said in a state
ment that Mr. Trump "is pleased
that Mr. Comey has finally pub
licly confirmed his private
reports that the President was
not under investigation in any
Russia probe." His statement goes
on to say that the president "feels
completely and totally vindicat
ed," and that "he is eager to con
tinue to move forward with his
agenda."
Philip Allen Lacovara, a former
U.S. deputy solicitor general in
the Justice Department who
served as counsel to Watergate
special prosecutors Archibald
Cox and Leon Jaworski, wrote in
a Washington Post article, I
helped prosecute Watergate.
Comeys statement is sufficient
evidence for an obstruction of
justice case.

Trump to nominate Intel ofcials wont say if Trump

former Assistant AG asked about Russia probe
Washington: Two top US intelli

as FBI head gence officials on Wednesday

declined to offer specifics on any
conversations with President
Washington: President Donald
Donald Trump or to rebut media
Trump announced on
reports that he had asked them to
Wednesday he plans to nomi
intervene in investigations of his
nate Christopher A. Wray, a for
associates contact with Russia.
mer US Assistant Attorney
In the first half of a public hear
General under President George
ing before the Senate Intelligence
W. Bush, to be the next FBI direc
Committee on Wednesday, the
tor. Wray, currently a litigation
nations top intelligence officials
partner at DCbased law firm
refused to address allegations that
King & Spalding, would replace From right: NSA Director Adm. Mike Rogers and Director
President Trump had asked them
acting FBI Director Andrew of National Intelligence Daniel Coats
to publicly downplay the FBIs
McCabe, who took over when
Christopher A. Wray, a former US investigation into his campaigns Intelligence Daniel Coats and NSA asked him to convince former FBI
James Comey was fired by
Assistant Attorney General ties to Russia. Director Adm. Mike Rogers Director James Comey to back off
Trump in May, Fox News report
Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia declined to discuss their interac Flynn, who was fired in February
ed. "I will be nominating of Investigation boss James
asked the chiefs whether the presi tions with Trumpbut both insist after reports surfaced that hed
Christopher A. Wray, a man of Comey also was set to testify
dent had asked them to try to get ed theyd never felt pressured by misled Vice President Mike Pence
impeccable credentials, to be the before a Senate committee on
the FBI to back off its investigation Trump to do anything illegal or and other senior White House offi
new Director of the FBI. Details Thursday. Wray will need Senate
into former national security advi immoral. The Washington Post cials about the substance of his
to follow," Trump tweeted. confirmation to take over as the
sor Michael Flynn. reported Tuesday that Coats told phone conversations with Russian
The announcement comes FBI chief. Wray headed the
Both Director of National associates President Trump had Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
ahead of a Senate hearing where Justice Department's criminal
McCabe, among others, was set division from 2003 to 2005
to testify. Fired Federal Bureau under Bush.
Trump offers to mediate Qatar's diplomatic crisis
Ravi Batra commends Trumps choice Washington: In a call with are critical to defeating terror Maldives cut diplomatic ties
President Trump's selecting Christopher Wray to be FBI Director Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin ism and promoting regional sta Monday with Qatar, accusing it
is an ointment to our Republic, buffeted as we are by domestic Hamad AlThani, President bility," a readout of the call said. of supporting terrorism.
and foreign challenges to the very integrity of our sovereignty: Trump offered to mediate the "The president offered to help Earlier in the day, the president
untainted presidential electoral process. Chris Wray is a man cut country's diplomatic crisis with the parties resolve their differ entered the diplomatic spat
from the same impartial and independent cloth, that Bob Mueller its neighbors. "The president ences, including through a meet involving Qatar and major Arab
and Jim Comey are made of. Given the 10 year term, POTUS just reiterated that a united Gulf ing at the White House, if neces nations over Dohas alleged sup
made a durable gift to our cherished Republic, and insures that Cooperation Council and a sary." On Monday, Saudi Arabia, port of Iran and Islamist militant
Public Safety and Law Enforcement will remain top notch and strong United StatesGulf Egypt, Bahrain, the United Arab groups sponsoring terrorism in
politicsfree." Cooperation Council partnership Emirates, Yemen and the the region.
 12 June 10-16, 2017
Mandsaur burns, farmers say eight killed
Mandsaur/Indore (Madhya
Pradesh): Hundreds of angry
farmers blockaded roads this
week and attacked two top offi
cials at Mandsaur in Madhya
Pradesh as their leaders claimed
that eight people died in police
firing.
Mandsaur District Magistrate
Swatantra Kumar Sing h and
Indore Superintendent of Police
O.P. Tripathi were roughed up by
a mob when they reached
Barkheda Pant in Mandsaur
where farmers were squatting on
a road with the body of one of
those killed.
Singh and Tripathi wanted to
talk to the farmers in a bid to
persuade them to end their
protest but the attempt back
fired.
Singh was chased by the farm
ers, with some repeatedly hitting
him on the head. Tripathi had a
tough time too. Police reinforce
ments which rushed to the spot
rescued both the officials.
"T he situation is tense but
under control," a senior of ficial
said.
The farmers allege that the
Nawaz Sharif
could meet Modi
Islamabad/New
Delhi: Pakistan
Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif left
for Kazakhstan
to attend the
twoday
Shanghai
Cooperation
Organisation
(SCO) summit,
with a chance
meeting with
Indian Prime Minister
Narendra Modi not ruled out, a
media report said.
Pakistan and India are to
become full members of the
SCO at the 7th SCO summit
being held in the Kazakh capi
tal Astana.
Punjab Chief Minister
Shahbaz Sharif, Commerce
Minister Khurram Dastagir and
Foreign Affairs Adviser Sartaj
Aziz are accompanying Sharif,
Pakistan Today reported.
During his stay, Sharif will be
holding bilateral meetings with
the presidents of Kazakhstan
and Uzbekistan and the
Mongolian and Russian presi
dents on Friday.
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi is also attending the con
ference, as India too will be
granted full membership of the
Vehicles set on fire by agitating farmers in
Madhya Pradesh's Mandsaur.
Madhya Pradesh Police and the
Central Reserve Police Force
(CRPF) deliberately opened fire
at them when they were protest
ing on Tuesday. Seven farmers
were also wounded in the firing.
Police said that it were the
farmers who triggered the vio
lence.
T he farmers retaliated by
torching more than 30 vehicles.
SCO.
According to sources, there
may be a chance meeting
between Sharif and Modi on
the sidelines of the summit.
With the inclusion of Pakistan
and India, the SCO will have a
total of eight states as perma
nent members after China,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
The group will then represent
nearly half of the world's popu
lation after the inclusion of the
subcontinental neighbours.
Pakistan and India both cur
rently hold observer status at
SCO.
Sharif will also be attending
the inaugural ceremony of the
International Expo 2017, in
which more than 100 coun
tries, including Pakistan, are
participating.
INDIA
In a desperate bid to bring the
situation under control, authori
ties imposed curfew in parts of
Mandsaur district.
An of ficial said the curfew
would remain in force until fur
ther orders.
Leaders of three farmers'
organizations alleged at a press
conference in Indore that the
number of people killed in police
'Using human shield is
not Indian Army norm'
New Delhi: Undeterred by criticism
from politicians and commentators,
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat
says use of human shield by the
India Army is not a norm but indi
vidual officers are entitled to decide
the tactic depending on circum
stances.
He also dismisses criticism that
the Army is triggerhappy, but says
the level of violence in Jammu and
Kashmir needs to be brought down
for any meaningful dialogue with
stakeholders. "Dialogue and vio
lence cannot go together," General
Rawat told IANS in an interaction
here at his office.
The Army Chief maintains that
the situation in Jammu and Kashmir
is not as bad as it is portrayed in the
media and dismisses a perception
that people of the state are against
the Army. "It (human shield) is not a
general norm. As a practice it is not
supported. But situations would dic
tate. Under the circumstances he
(Major Leetul Gogoi) took a decision
independently. He can't look back at
that stage and wait for orders. I
think in his own wisdom he took
the action," General Rawat said.
"If somebody has any other ideas
as to how to tackle such a situation,
then he can pass it on to us. We will
take a look at it," he said. General
Rawat was asked to comment on a
string of criticisms about his earlier
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Rahul Gandhi detained
in Mandsaur
Mandsaur: Congress Vice
President Rahul Gandhi was
detained when he tried to defy
ban orders enforced in Madhya
Pradesh's Mandsaur district
where protesting farmers were
killed.
He was taken into preventive
custody by the police in Neemuch
district which borders Rajasthan.
Before his detention, Gandhi
charged the Narendra Modi gov
ernment with writing off the loans
of rich industrialists to the tune of
Rs 1,50,000 crore but did not
waive the loans of poor farmers.
"He (Modi) can't waive farmers'
loans, he can't give them rate. He
can't give them bonus. He can't
firing was eight and not five. One
of the dead was a college stu
dent. Representat ive of the
Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Sangh,
Aam Kisan Union and Bharatiya
Kisan Union accused the govern
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat
remarks defending Major Gogoi's
action of tying a civilian to the bon
net of an Army jeep when facing a
crowd of stone pelters in the valley.
He was then criticized for justifying
the Major's action that was
described as unprofessional and
damaging to the reputation of the
Indian Army and being violative of
the Geneva Convention that lays
down rules of warfare.
Replying to a question on the
comments by CPIM leader Prakash
Karat over his reported remarks
that stone pelters should rather use
guns as amounting to instigating
them to take to guns, General Rawat
maintained that he was misquoted
on the issue. "In a proxy war situa
tion like this the enemy cannot be
identified. He is not wearing a band
give them water. Kisan ko sirf goli
de sakhta hai (He can only give
bullets to farmers)," Gandhi said.
Asked who was responsible for
the farmers' plight, Gandhi said:
"Both. Narendra Modi and Chief
Minister (Shivraj Singh Chouhan)."
Earlier, in a series of tweets
Gandhi said: "Rajasthan and
Madhya Pradesh governments are
doing their best to prevent me
from entering Madhya Pradesh
and meeting the families of the
farmers killed in Mandsaur."
"Which law of the land says that
it is illegal to stand in solidarity
with farmers who were killed sim
ply for demanding what is their
right?" the Congress leader asked.
ment of spreading canards about
the farmers.
The Congress party extended
support to a shutdown called by
farmers in Madhya Pradesh to
denounce the firing.
or a uniform that can identify him
as a terrorist. Only when he fires
then you know what to do in such a
situation. The Army cannot throw
stones, that is not my pattern. I
can't throw stones."
Asked about the absence of any
dialogue with stakeholders in
Jammu and Kashmir and whether
there can be a military solution that
can be lasting, General Rawat said it
should be an "integrated" solution.
"Military has to bring the violence
level down. We have to bring peace
for the people of Jammu and
Kashmir. After all, it is the poor peo
ple like daily wagers, pony walas,
shikaras, and others who depend on
tourism like hotels. Students are
also af fected as schools and col
leges are shut.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
India, Kazakhstan
discuss ways to
expand bilateral ties
New Delhi: India and
Kazakhstan on Thursday dis
cussed ways to expand their ties
as Prime Minister Narendra
Modi held a bilateral meeting
w ith Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev here.
"Mr. Nursultan Nazarbayev,
President of Kazakhstan met PM
@narendramodi and discussed
ways to expand bilateral ties,"
the Prime Minister's Of fice
tweeted.
Modi arrived here earlier in
the day to attend the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation (SCO)
Summit on Friday, during which
India is expected to be granted
full membership of the group.
India has an observer status at
present.
Modi on Wednesday said full
membership of the SCO would
help India in terms of connectiv
ity and economic and counter
terror cooperation with the
Eurasian bloc. With Pakistan
Youth from
Telangana
shot, critically
injured in US
Hyderabad: A youth from
Telangana was critically injured
when unidentified assailants
fired at him in the United
States, his family said here on
June 8.
Mubeen Ahmed (26), a native
of Sangareddy district, was on
June 4 shot twice in the stom
ach at a California store where
he works, though the family
came to know about it only on
June 8.
He family said that some men
went to the store posing as cus
tomers and got into an argu
ment with Mubeen before fir
ing at him. An injured Mubeen
was rushed to a California hos
pital, where he underwent sur
gery. His relatives from Chicago
were attending on him at the
hospital. External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj called
for a report from the Indian
Embassy in the US.
also expected to be granted full
membership at the SCO Summit
here, the two South Asian neigh
bours are going to be the sev
enth and eighth members of the
org anisat ion after China,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia,
Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
On Friday, Modi is also expect
ed to hold a bilateral meeting
w ith Chinese President Xi
Jinping on the sidelines of the
summit.
However, according to
External Af fairs Ministry
spokesperson Gopal Bag lay,
there has been no request from
either side for a bilateral meet
ing between Modi and Pakistan
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif
who is also here for the summit.
After participating in the sum
mit on Friday, Modi will also
attend the World Exposition,
which Kazakhstan is hosting
this year, before returning to
India.
Presidential election on
July 17, counting on July 20
New Delhi: The election of the
next President will be held on July
17, the Elect ion Commission
announced on Wednesday setting
in motion the process to choose
the successor to Pranab
Mukherjee. Counting of votes will
take place on July 20.
Announcing the schedule at a
press conference, Chief Election
Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said
the filing of nomination will begin
on June 14 and the last date for
the purpose w ill be June 28.
Scrutiny will take place on June
29 and the last date for withdraw
al is July 1.
"The date on which polling will
be held, if required, is July 17.
Counting, if required, will be done
on July 20," he said. The term of
Mukherjee, the country's 13th
President, will end on July 24.
Zaidi said members of the elec
toral college comprising mem
INDIA
Paris climate deal: India
rubbishes Trump's claim
New Delhi: India has rubbished US
President Donald Trump's charge
that it signed the Paris climate
accord to get "billions and billions
and billions" of dollars from devel
oped nations.
"T his is completely not true,"
External Af fairs Minister Sushma
Swaraj said about Trump's claim
while announcing the US exit from
the Paris deal. Trump alleged that
India had made its participation in
the accord contingent on receiving
foreign aid from developed coun
tries.
Sushma Swaraj, however, said the
American move on the Paris climate
agreement had not changed India
US ties and the re lationship
between the two countries was pro
gressing as it did during Barack
Obama's presidency.
"India signed the Paris agreement
because of Indian culture and ethos
and not under duress or out of
greed (for monetary benefits). We
are committed to the environment
and this commitment is 5,000 years
old," she told reporters at a press
conference here to highlight the
President Pranab Mukherjee.
bers of the Lok Sabha and the
Rajya Sabha and state assemblies,
including Delhi and Puducherry the opposition parties for the
will be provided special pens to
cast their ballot and use of any
other pen will render the vote
invalid.
The poll announcement has set
the ball rolling for the declaration
External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj. (Photo: IANS)
achievements of Narendra Modi
government in the last three years.
She said that to accuse India of
signing the agreement because it
was pressurized by some countries
or out of greed for foreign aid is
completely baseless and unfortu
nate. "I would like to officially make
this clear. I clearly dismiss both
accusations."
The Minister said she has always
respected, even worshiped, nature
and would be "committed to the
Paris agreement, irrespective of
what the US decides".
On President Trump's executive
order for tightening the rules of the
of candidates by the ruling
National Democratic Alliance and
country's highest elected office.
T he ruling Bharatiya Janata
Partyled NDA, which is seen to
have a clear edge in the electoral
college, has so far not given any
indication about its choice.
June 10-16, 2017 13
H1B visa program that could affect
Indian professionals going to
America for better employment and
impact India's $150 billion IT
industry, the Minister said New
Delhi was in talks with US Congress
and Trump administration officials.
"Yes, the concern is there. We are
talking to members of the Congress.
Ef forts are on to make sure the
Trump administration's move does
n't impact Indians," she said and
added that no changes have been
made in the visa policy "as of now".
"There are amendments that can
not be made through executive
orders," she asserted and denied
that the proposed changes in the
policy had affected India's ties with
the US. The Minister said the rela
tionship between India and the US
since Trump took charge were
growing with the "same speed" as
was the case when Barack Obama
was President.
"There has been no change (in the
ties). We are moving forward as we
were moving."
She said India and US have a rela
tionship "of mutual benefit".
Several opposition parties have
since held parleys to find a con
sensus candidate but have decid
ed to wait for the ruling alliance
to reach out to them with the
name of its candidate.
The parties have said that if a
consensual candidate does not
emerge, they will field a candidate
"who will steadfastly defend the
constitutional values".
Cong ress President Sonia
Gandhi has initiated moves to
bring the opposition parties on a
common platform for the presi
dential and vicepresidential elec
tions.
T he term of Vice President
Hamid Ansari will end in August.
The total value of 4896 electors
for 2012 presidential elections
was 1098882. T his included
54,9408 as as the value of votes
of MPs and 549474 as the value
of votes of MLAs.
 14 June 10-16, 2017
Will US withdrawal stop India's
actions against climate change?
l By Ajay Mathur
W
ill the US withdrawal
from the Paris agreement
impact India's efforts to
tackle climate change? To a limited
extent, yes. Will it stop India's
actions against climate change?
No. President Trump's announce
ment of the US withdrawal from
the Paris agreement leaves a huge
void in the global efforts to stabi
lize our climate. The US is by far
the largest historical emitter of
greenhouse gases, and its actions
in reducing emissions are central
to global efforts to address climate
change. The Paris Agreement had
provided an innovative framework
for all the countries of the world to
pledge what they could do to
address climate change; it brought
all countries on board, with each
country pledging what it expected
to achieve.
The sum total of all the pledges
made at Paris are clearly not suffi
cient to ensure that global temper
ature rise remains well below 2
degrees Celsius, which scientists
believe is the maximum to prevent
irreversible climate change. The
absence of the US leadership
would delay actions to address cli
India's military mules: No road too treacherous
l By Anjali Ojha
T
he Indian Army honored its
longest serving mule
"Pedongi" by naming an
Army mess after it, but there was a
time when the Army had decided
to mark the end of the road for the
sturdy mule, that has walked miles
on some of the most treacherous
tracks providing logistics support
in difficult situations.
Just before the Kargil war, there
was a proposal to disband the
Animal Transport units that come
under Indian Army Service Corps,
consisting of sturdy mules.
But during the Kargil war,
Pakistani intruders came inside
Indian territory in the Drass and
Kargil mountainous areas.
National Highway 1, that connects
Srinagar with Leh and cuts
through Kargil, witnessed infiltra
tion and fighting along a 160km
long stretch of ridges overlooking
this only motorable road.
"The situation was such that it
appeared the line of communica
tion would be cut. At that time the
mules played an important role in
ensuring supplies reached," an
India is pushing ahead with a low carbon growth
strategy in the medium and long term.
mate change in that country itself,
as well as in other countries to
reduce global emissions and to
adapt to the adverse impacts of the
climate change that has already
occurred.
Climate action, whether to miti
gate emissions or adapt to adverse
impacts of climate change, requires
access to financial resources and
technology. New technologies that
would address these issues are
always more expensive that tech
nologies currently in use, and the
countries of the world have creat
The Indian Army at present has a 6,000strong force of mules, which
continue to be the reliable lastmile transport.
Army official, who did not want to
be named, told IANS. Availability of
local ponies had also gone down as
bombing started, and even helicop
ters could not operate because of
difficult weather. The Animal
Transport unit was used at that
time to provide logistics support to
Indian posts and troops fighting in
the sector. "Finally the Animal
Transport unit was the only avail
able resource that worked in the
face of intense shelling. The mules
could go through tracks on which
no vehicle could reach," the official
said. "The dauntless and loyal mili
tary mules of the Army Service
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
OP-ED
ed the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to
manage these costs.
The withdrawal of US support to
the GCF would substantially
reduce the resources available to
it, and so will inhibit acceleration
of climate actions in developing
countries, including India.
The US will now put out more
carbon dioxide into the atmos
phere than it would have had it
remained in the Agreement. This
will have adverse impacts for India
and many other vulnerable coun
tries. In any case we have to man
Corps have enabled lastmile logis
tics supply in the most inhos
pitable conditions along our fron
tiers in all past wars and opera
tions in the highest tradition of the
Indian Army."
The Indian Army at present has a
6,000strong force of mules, which
continue to be the reliable last
mile transport in difficult
Himalayan terrain along the Indian
borders in the western as well as
eastern sectors. At a smaller scale,
mules are also used in the central
sector. Pedongi, after whom a new
lounge at the Central Army Service
Corps (ASC) officers' mess on Polo
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
age the unavoidable climate
change that has occurred due to
the carbon dioxide already in the
atmosphere.
This would be further exacerbat
ed, implying that India would need
to enhance its adaptation actions
so that it can continue to manage
the impact of inaction or delayed
action in the US.
The good news is that the last
few years have seen a major down
ward trend in the prices of renew
able energy and energy efficiency,
the pillars for action to combat cli
mate change. These positive trends
suggest that climate mitigation is
becoming increasingly viable
across the world and, as a result,
many countries, and many states
in the US, are preferentially mov
ing towards larger shares of
renewables in their energy mix.
This trend will continue across
the world and in the US, irrespec
tive of the US decision to withdraw
from the Paris agreement.
The favorable longterm trends
in the costs of renewables and
energy efficiency are clear.
Chances are, the world, US includ
ed, would transition to low and
zero carbon technologies over
time. Ever since India submitted its
Road has been named, has the dis
tinction of being the longestserv
ing mule with the Indian Army,
serving for 37 years, while average
mules serve for 1820 years.
Pedongi had joined the Indian
Army in 1962, and served till his
death on March 25, 1998. He also
found a place in the Guinness Book
of World Records as the longest
serving military mule.
While the Indian Army is consid
ering other options for transport
in the difficult mountainous ter
rain, and considering drones as an
option among other things, in the
modern world battles the mules
have not lost their place.
The mules have remained rele
vant since the World Wars.
American forces that landed in
Afghanistan in 2001 to fight the
Taliban had to employ mules to
transfer loads in the treacherous
mountain terrain.
The US Army's last Cavalry units
had given up their horses in the
1940s and the last pack animals
were phased out in the 1950s.
However, the animals gained sig
nificance again in Afghanistan and
a new Army field manual was
pledge, it has carried out a raft of
actions and policy changes to
achieve its goals. Large scale pro
curement of solar energy has both
increased the share of nonfossil
fuel sources in our grid and has
also been successful in bringing
down the price of solar energy to a
point where it is competitive with
coal. Our program to promote LED
lighting is immensely successful,
with over 300 million LED bulbs
sold and prices reduced to a fifth,
making large scale adoption possi
ble.
What these changes indicate is
that our renewable energy capaci
ty would increase eightfold, and
our demand for coal would be lim
ited to doubling to about 800900
million tonnes in 2030, instead of
about 1,200 million tonnes if
accelerated action on renewable
and energy efficiency did not
occur. It is estimated that even if
the US had kept to its Paris pledge,
its coal use in 2030 would proba
bly be similar to that of India in
that year, even though India's pop
ulation is three times larger.
Despite these challenges, India is
pushing ahead with a low carbon
growth strategy in the medium
and long term.
issued June 16, 2004, with the
title, 'Special Forces Use of Pack
Animals'. A formal pack animal
training course was also started at
the Marine Corps Mountain
Warfare Training Center,
Bridgeport, California.
In the Indian Army, the mules
are categorized on the basis of the
kind of load they carry, being
broadly divided into Mule Arti
which carry guns and weapons,
and Mules GS that carry general
supply ranging from food to medi
cine and even water.
An Army official, recounting the
services rendered by the mules in
the difficult areas along the bor
der, said a mule had once strayed
and was taken in by the Pakistani
troops who then started using it
for loadbearing along with their
own mules. "One fine day, the mule
remembered its way back home.
That day he was leading the other
mules that were transporting sup
plies for the Pakistani troops. The
mule, along with other mules that
belonged to the Pakistan Army and
their supplies, walked straight
back to our post," the officer
recounted with a laugh.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Bollywood weddings show on Smithsonian
The three episodes will be telecast on the channel starting June 10.
New York: Forget My Big Fat Greek
Wedding. Here comes My Big
Bollywood Wedding. It is a new
TV show showcasing big Bollywood
style marriages of three couples as
they attempt to balance millennia
old traditions and modern
American sensibilities. The three
episodes of the show will air on the
Smithsonian Channel June 10, 11
and 13.
More than Greek or Hollywood
weddings, Indian weddings are the
most lavish, elaborate and vibrant.
And juicy too, as Mira Nairs
Monsoon Wedding proved. For
IndianAmericans, many of whom
are very wealthy, the unions are
perhaps more extravagant here in
the States, with an average cost of
LIFESTYLE June 10-16, 2017 15
show are Binny and Sumona, who and Italian descent. Looking for Aneesa. Together, they embrace
are second generation Indian ward to a future with his new both their Indian and Christian
Americans living in New York with Indian bride, Richard completely backgrounds, creating a ceremony
huge pride in their Indian culture. embraces the customs and style of that blends their cultures for a
When Binny proposes in front of a true Indian wedding, wearing an unique and modern wedding.
their friends and family, the couple authentic sherwani and joining in My Big Bollywood Wedding is
decides to celebrate their upcoming the numerous symbolic Hindu ritu produced by Tell2C Productions
nuptials in a true Bollywood als with Divyas family. And there is LLC for Smithsonian Networks, a
movie style, in the wedding of Aneesa and Melinda, two teachers joint venture between Showtime
Sumonas dreams. The second cou living outside Boston. Aneesa is a Networks Inc. and the Smithsonian
ple is Richard and Divya, also of roud Indian immigrant who has Institution.
New York, have come together always known that she is gay;
from two different cultures she is Melinda, on the other hand, only
half a million dollars. The the product of a proud Indian her discovered her true sexuality after
Smithsonian series confines itself itage whereas he is of Puerto Rican meeting and falling in love with
to the big Bollywood style mar
riages of three couples as they
attempt to balance millenniaold
traditions and modern American
sensibilities.
My Big Bollywood Wedding fol
lows three different couples as they
create the Indian wedding ceremo
ny of their dreams in America. The
show claims that the viewers will
see traditional rituals and also get a
unique 21st century look into the
merging of different cultures, reli
gions and practices blending tra
ditional Indian wedding ceremonies
with modern, western wedding
customs.
The three couples starring on the Promotional stills from the 3part series titled My Big Bollywood Wedding.
 16 June 10-16, 2017 BOLLYwOOD

Review
Will Salman bhaijaans smart-
phones be most Wanted? A Death in the Gunj
see. We are starting the smartphones in
small numbers and we hope to have mini-
mum losses and maximum gain.
According to earlier media reports, the Bol-
lywood superstar is targeting at the entry- to
middle-level smartphone segment (which is
anywhere between Rs 8,000-Rs 20,000).
Bhaijaans range of mobiles will surely be
the most Wanted! He is capitalizing on his
personal popularity to start this new busi-
ness. How he will be able to build it into a
sustainable enterprise remains to be seen,
Jaideep Mehta, Managing Director, IDC
South Asia, said. Khan commands a huge fan
base in India that can be leveraged. A still from the movie.
For the smartphone to be successful, it
will have to be different from the current
offerings in the market. The differentiating
can be on any of the software or hardware
Layered and skilfully crafted
going into the phone. A price point of below
Rs 10,000 will make the phone accessible to
a number of users looking for an upgrade B ased on a short story which was in-
spired by true events written by Mu-
kul Sharma, the film sounds more autobio-
bleeds for actor Vikrant Massey who plays
the lonely and depressed Shutu who is taken
for granted by the motley group, because he
from a cheaper device, Shobhit Srivastava,
The actor commands a huge fan base
Research Analyst, Mobile Devices and Eco- graphical than fiction. is 23 years old, the youngest of the adults
in India that can be leveraged.
systems, Counterpoint Research, said. Set in the late 1970s, in the small hilly and malleable. He is charming and sincere.

W ith Bollywood superstar Salman Khan
confirming that he is venturing into
the smartphones business, industry ex-
perts welcomed his new venture -- though
with a bit of caution.
Khan, who owns the Being Human cloth-
ing brand, said in an e-mail interview from
Mumbai: We have just started our entry
into the category, we need to be careful. If
people buy our products and like it, we will
The Bollywood star is not alone. Report-
edly a strategic investor in the home-grown
technology and Internet of Things (IoT)
company Smartron, Sachin Tendulkar has
just launched srt.phone (srt is interpreted
as Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar here).
This is the third device in less than a year
from Smartron, earlier ones being the t.phone
and t.book. The company, however, is yet
to prove its mettle in the domestic market.
town of McCluskieganj in the erstwhile
state of Bihar, as the title suggests, is about
a death that occurs at this place. The narra-
tive begins with a corpse being transported
from the hospital and it keeps you glued to
the screen till the very end as to who is dead?
Apart from the homecoming, it is the
reunion of friends that the tale focusses
on. The bulk of the narrative, however, is
about the mundane life of each character
described in microscopic detail during the
fun-filled holiday activities, which include
indulging in seance, playing kabaddi and
spending time together frolicking around.
While all the actors are ace performers
and they shine in their roles, your heart
Ranvir Shorey as the recently wedded Vi-
kram Choudhary is the big bully who at his
age still behaves like he is a 23-year-old, is
aggressive and a chauvinist. Ranvir displays
the repulsive side of the character with natu-
ral ease. Tillotama Shome displays a variety
of shades to her character Bonnie. She is
aptly supported by the understated Gulshan
Devaiah as her husband Nandu who acts like
a dominant older brother to Vikrant while
teaching him how to drive a car.
On the technical front, with moderate pro-
duction values, for her maiden directorial
venture, Konkona Sen Sharma has astutely
mounted the film. She has tackled every de-
partment with the sharp-eye of an expert.

Amitabh, Jaya complete

44 years of marital bliss
A mitabh Bachchan and his actress-politi-

Mom trailer finds Sridevi

cian wife Jaya Bachchan completed over
four decades of togetherness. The megastar
has thanked all his fans and followers, whom

again in peak form

he fondly calls his extended family or Ef
for all the love and good wishes.
June 3, 1973, 44 years of marriage...
Thank you all for the wishes you send. Grate-
Sridevi (C) with her daughters at the trailer launch of Mom. ful and filled with love, Amitabh tweeted.
The 74-year-old thespian went down

W hen it comes to Sridevi, adjectives and

superlatives begin to pale and fail. In
the trailer of her eagerly awaited new film
Mom, she is seen at the peak of her per-
forming power, furnishing an intensity and
a heft far beyond what one expects in a film
about the mother-daughter relationship.
The trailer is swathed in mystery. We
know nothing about the plot except that
it is a mother-daughter story and for a
change there are pretty strong male char-
acters in this chick flick.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui (he plays a sleaze-
ball named DK), Akshaye Khanna and Ad-
nan Siddiqui leave a strong impact in the
little that they are given to do in the trailer.
Nawazuddin, the chameleon of an actor,
is seen in prosthetics for the first time. His
balding pate and buck teeth stand out, as
does his confrontation scene with Sridevi
where she cynically tells Nawaz, God cant
be everywhere.
Thats why he created the Mother, re-
torts Nawaz.
It remains to be see how far this mother is
willing to break the rules for her daughters
sake. As expected, there are many moments
of warm kinship between the one-and-only
Sridevi and her screen daughter played by Sa-
jal Ali. They reminded me of Waheeda Rehm-
an and Sridevi in Yash Chopras Lamhe.
But the trailer gives nothing away as to the
cause of the friction and drama between the
mother and daughter. Who are the bad guys
and who are the good guys in Mom? The
trailer withholds this information.
memory lane and shared some details
about his marriage.
And as I set out from Mangal a rented
house of mine in JVPD scheme, 7th Road...
in my newly acquired second hand Pontiac
Sports, two door, with ma and babuji with
me...My driver Nagesh, now passed away,
insisting on driving me to an apartment of
Jayas family friend at Malabar Hill, Big B
wrote on his blog.
He added: On June 3, 1973, a few drops
of rain began to fall...Our neighbor ran out
of their house and excitedly screamed to
us...hurry to the wedding, its raining, a
good omen. Its been 44 years since.
On the acting front, Amitabh currently
has two films in his kitty -- Thugs Of Hind- The couple co-starred in films like Za-
ostan and 102 Not Out. njeer, Abhimaan & Chupke Chupke.

Wont be
able to play a
dancing hero:
Nawazuddin
Nawazuddin during the trailer launch of his film Munna Michael.
C ritically acclaimed actor Nawazuddin
Siddiqui says he cannot dance as well
as other young heroes of Bollywood, but he
can try to match up with them.
Nawazuddin will be seen in Munna Mi-
chael with Tiger Shroff, who is known for his
dancing skills. Present at the trailer launch
of Munna Michael, Nawazuddin said: I
wont be able to play a dancing hero. But yes,
I would love to play a hero in any film.
I think Tiger and our whole team helped
me to dance a little bit in the film. I think some-
how I manage just 5 per cent of Tigers level.
JLo forces beau to
fire female staffers
bollywood
Asked about his experience of working
with Nawazuddin, Tiger said: I think with
every character, Nawaz bhais body language
changes, and that is a sign of a good actor.
I learnt a lot from him as an actor dur-
ing the shooting of the film.
The action dance movies female lead Ni-
dhhi Agerwal is making her debut.
She said: I am very lucky to be a part of
this film where I got a chance to work with
Nawaz sir. He is a very down-to-earth person
and patient on set. Produced by Viki Rajani,
Munna Michael is releasing on July 21.
S inger-actress Jennifer
Lopez reportedly forced
her beau Alex Rodriguez to
fire attractive female staff-
ers because she didnt want
beautiful women around him.
Jen basically made him
fire anyone in his entou-
rage or his staff who were
too good-looking. He didnt
think she was serious and
they had a big of an argu-
ment over it, but hes relent-
ed and is replacing a few
key members of his team,
a source told OK! magazine.
Her controlling behav-
ior is said to have made
Rodriguezs close friends
upset, reports aceshowbiz.
com. Its not gone down
well with his inner circle,
who think shes a control-
ling bully with Alex. Theres
no doubt Alex needed to
be taken down a peg or
two, but not like this! the
source shared.
This wasnt the first time
Lopez was reported to be
a controlling bully. Last
month, it was reported that
the Aint your mama singer
hired a private investigator
to spy on the former profes-
sional baseball athlete.
Rodriguezs close friends are
upset with JLos behavior.
June 10-16, 2017 17
Abhay turns co-producer
for Tamil debut film
Dev D and Ranjhanaa fame Abhay Deol,
who is making his Tamil acting debut in
upcoming fantasy thriller Idhu Vedalam
Sollum Kathai, will also be doubling up as
the films co-producer.
He was so impressed with the script
that he decided to come on board as the co-
producer. The kind of encouragement we
have been getting from him is amazing. We
have already started shooting with him in
Hyderabad, the films director Rathindran
Prasad said. Prasad clarified that Abhay
doesnt play a cameo in the film.
He plays a full-length character. He plays
The actor
a king called Vikramadityan, and he will be will also
dubbing his own lines in Tamil. He will be star in the
seen in the flashback portion which has a fantasy
period set-up. Its a road action thriller laced thriller.
with fantasy elements, he said.
Dont strangle celebrities
with expectations
M a n i s h a
A ctress Manisha Koirala says ce-
lebrities shouldnt be strangled
with expectations. Manisha, a cancer
survivor, campaigns for the cause and
has lent her support to preventing
violence against women and human
trafficking. Does her celebrity status
help in making a difference?
Any celebrity or a public figure
would have an impact on the society,
but having said that... dont strangle
them with expectations as at the end
of the day they are also human beings,
Manisha responded to a question.
The 46-year-old added: People who
are not celebrities should also be re-
sponsible in spreading social messages.
Manisha was last seen in the film
Dear Maya, which released recently.
The film tells the story about Maya,
Manisha was last seen in the a middle-aged woman, who leaves ev-
film Dear Maya. erything in search of love.
Roger Smith dead at 84
A ctor Roger Smith, who starred in the se-
ries 77 Sunset Strip and was married
to actress Ann-Margret, is dead. He was 84.
Smith passed away at Sherman Oaks Hos-
pital, reports variety.com. Smith retired from
acting after being diagnosed with myasthe-
nia gravis in 1980. After that, he managed
his wifes career and produced several of her
TV specials. The couple had celebrated their
50th wedding anniversary on May 8.
On 77 Sunset Strip, Smith played detec-
tive Jeff Spencer, who partnered with Efrem
Zimbalist Jr. as his partner. The show ran
from 1958 to 1964, though he left in 1963.
After 77 Sunset Strip ended its run,
Smith had the lead role in the comedy series
Mr. Roberts, adapted from the movie about
a World War II Navy lieutenant. He also ap-
peared in movies including Man of a Thou-
sand Faces, No Time to Be Young and Aun-
tie Mame. Smith is survived by his wife and a The actor launched his career
daughter and two sons from his first marriage. in the 1950s.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info June 10-16, 2017
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
"This man has won my heart in
spiritual matters, and no one else
has made on me the same
impression."
Mahatma Gandhi
in 'Modern Review'
man as great as Mahatma
A Gandhi, the Father of the
Nation, was captivated in
spiritual matters by Shrimadji, as
by none other. "I have said else
where that besides Kavi (Shrimad
Rajchandraji), Ruskin and Tolstoy
have contributed in forming my
intrinsic character; but Kavi has
had a more profound effect
because I had come in personal
and intimate contact with Him."
Gandhiji's public acknowledg
ment of Shrimad Rajchandraji as
his foremost spiritual guide in
the 'Modern Review', June 1930.
A CLOSE
ASSOCIATION
The first meeting with
Shrimadji left a deeprooted
impression on Gandhiji. It hap
pened in Vikrami Sanvat 1947 in
Mumbai on Gandhiji's return
from England. He was two years
younger than Shrimadji, and in
the first meeting, instantly took
to His liking. Subsequent meet
ings ensued in the two years that
Gandhiji spent in Mumbai, where
Gandhiji would visit Shrimadji's
office on a regular basis, posing
doubts which Shrimadji would
resolve with utmost ingenuity. In
those visits Gandhiji intently
observed Shrimadji's way of life.
As the association grew, his
respect for Shrimadji grew in
leaps and bounds. The ease with
which he performed his duties as
a pearl and diamond jeweller
with a perfectly detached atti
tude amazed Gandhiji.
In tribute, Gandhiji writes,
Raichandbhai's commercial
transactions covered hundreds of
thousands. He was a connoisseur
of pearls and diamonds. No knot
ty business problem was too dif
ficult for him. But these things
were not the centre around
which his life revolved. That cen
tre was the passion to see God
face to face. Amongst the things
on his business table, there were
invariably to be found some reli
gious book and his diary. The
moment he finished his business
he opened the religious book or
the diary. Much of his published
writing is a reproduction from
this diary.
And I saw him thus absorbed
in Godly pursuits in the midst of
business, not once or twice, but
very often. I never saw him lose
his state of equipoise. [The Story
of My Experiments with Truth,
Part II, Chapter 26,
Raichandbhai.
Gandhiji says, The man who,
immediately on finishing his talk
about weighty business transac
tions, began to write about the
hidden things of the spirit could
Shrimad Rajchandras role in
Gandhi becoming Mahatma
Shrimad Rajchandras emphasis on truth, compassion
and non-violence in every walk of life, later crystallized
as the fundamental tenets of Gandhism, which played a
significant role in the Indian struggle for independence.
evidently not be a businessman
at all, but a real seeker after
Truth.
Even after Gandhiji moved to
South Africa, the meetings con
tinued, though not in person, but
through correspondence. This
close association with Shrimadji,
in person in Mumbai and then
through correspondence from
South Africa, contributed a great
deal in moulding Gandhiji's char
acter. In fact, he attributes his
strong foundation of truth, non
violence and selfimprovement,
to Shrimadji. This beautiful asso
ciation continued intermittently
for several years till the end of
Shrimadji's life.
REFUGE IN
SPIRITUAL CRISIS
In South Africa, Gandhiji was
faced with constant pressure
from his Christian and Muslim
friends to adopt their faith. In
this moment of spiritual crisis, he
resorted to Shrimadji for help,
conveying his doubts through 27
questions by post. Shrimadji's
judicious, direct, and pertinent
answers resolved his doubts and
restored his faith in Hinduism.
There remained no question of
converting to another faith.
This letter along with two oth
ers is included in the volume
titled 'Shrimad Rajchandra'.
However, it is certain that the
correspondence was far more
than this, because Gandhiji men
tions in his autobiography that
he remained in touch with
Shrimadji through letters till the
very end.
INFLUENCE OF
SHRIMADJI'S
TEACHINGS
Shrimadji's teachings left an
indelible mark on Gandhiji.
Shrimadji's priceless letters and
compositions were his constant
companions physically and
mentally. He contemplated upon
them and he also often recited
Shrimadji's poem 'Nirkhine Nav
Yauvana' to strengthen his belief
in celibacy. He had also rendered
Shri Atmasiddhi Shastra into
English prose. In fact, he had car
ried this text of Shri Atmasiddhi
SPIRITUALITY
Shastra and some of the letters
from Shrimadji with him to
London but the entire bundle
was lost on a bus journey.
Shrimadji's unique composition,
'Apurva Avsar Evo Kyare
Aavshe?' was one of Gandhiji's
favorite compositions which was
included in his 'Ashram
Bhajanavali' a collection of
devotional songs sung at his
daily public prayer meetings.
Gandhiji writes about
Shrimadji's works, The lines of
his poem, 'When Will That
Unique Moment Come?' (Apurva
Avasar Evo Kyare Aavshe) are
soaked in the spirit of detach
ment which I have seen epito
mized in every moment of
Shrimad's life during my last two
years of deep and abiding friend
ship with him. His writings are
unique in that, they unfold his
real experience and do not con
tain even a single grain of artifi
ciality. I have never seen him
writing a single line with the
ulterior motive of pleasing oth
ers." [Raichandbhaina Ketlak
Smarano Shri Rajchandra
Jeevanyatra tatha vicharratno,
page 94
Gandhiji says, "It is my firm
belief that those who want to
free themselves from the torture
of their souls, and are eager to
know what is their main duty in
this life, will gather a lot from
Shrimad's writings, then may he
be a Hindu and for that matter,
follower of any other religion.
[Raichandbhaina Ketlak Smarano
Shri Rajchandra Jeevanyatra
tatha vicharratno, page 89]
HEARTFELT TRIBUTES
TO SHRIMADJI
With great reverence Gandhiji
mentions Shrimadji in his writ
ings. His words are windows to a
heart overflowing with devotion
for Shrimadji, particularly in the
chapters 'Raichandbhai',
'Religious Ferment', 'Comparative
Study of Religions' and
'Brahmacharya', in his autobiog
raphy.
Shri Revashankar Jagjivanbhai
even requested Gandhiji to
author the preface to the second
edition of 'Shrimad Rajchandra',
to be published by Paramshrut
Prabhavak Mandal in V.S. 1982.
Gandhiji agreed and wrote an
article titled, 'Raichandbhaina
Ketlak Smarano'. In it, he incor
porated the reminiscences of
Shrimadji he had written earlier
in Yervada Jail after completing
and making several additions to
them. He paid glorious tributes
to Shrimadji on several occa
sions, such as, being present at
the celebrations of Shrimadji's
birth anniversary in Rajkot and
Wadhwan; celebrating
Shrimadji's birth anniversary on
kartik purnima, at Kochrab
June 10-16, 2017 19
Ashram, near Ahmedabad, and
later at Sabarmati Ashram.
Gandhiji took these opportunities
to publicly acknowledge his
indebtedness and express his
heartfelt gratitude to Shrimadji.
About such a saintly personali
ty Gandhiji adds, We are all
worldly people whereas Shrimad
was not of this world. We will
have to take many births where
as for Shrimad perhaps one birth
is sufficient. We will perhaps be
running away from liberation
whereas Shrimad was advancing
towards liberation at a very fast
pace. [Raichandbhaina Ketlak
Smarano Shri Rajchandra
Jeevanyatra tatha vicharratno,
page 8889]
CONTRIBUTION
TO THE NATION
Gandhiji's memorable accounts
on Shrimadji testify the profound
influence that Shrimadji's per
sonality exerted on the
Mahatma's life. Shrimadji's
emphasis on truth, compassion
and nonviolence in every walk
of life, later crystallized as the
fundamental tenets of Gandhism,
which played a significant role in
the Indian struggle for independ
ence. In the history of India, the
success of Gandhiji's nonviolent
struggle as a means of achieving
freedom will be engraved in gold
en letters. Even in the history of
the world his unique contribu
tions will be immortaliZed.
Gandhiji, who has been praised
by the whole world as a messen
ger of nonviolence, will ever
remain indebted to the teachings
of Shrimadji. Thus, the role of
Shrimadji's spiritual teachings in
the regeneration of a new India
can hardly be exaggerated.
The inner bond between
Shrimadji and Mahatma Gandhi
initiated a brilliant new chapter,
not only in their own lives, or in
the history of Gujarat, but in the
cultural, political and spiritual
history of the entire nation.
The article is courtesy Shrimad
Rajchandra Mission Dharampur's
official website. The Mission is a
global movement that endeavors
to enhance the spiritual growth
of seekers and benefit society.
 20 June 10-16, 2017 DIASPORA TheSouthAsianTimes.info

No emergency situation Indianorigin Leo Varadkar set

here, say Keralites in Qatar
Thiruvananthapuram: Keralites in Qatar on
Tuesday said there is no emergency situa
tion in the country after seven Gulf coun
tries snapped diplomatic ties with it on
Monday. "There is no situation of emergency
as such here. The social media is twisting
things, and maybe that led to a rush in the
supermarkets here," C.V.M. Vanimel, a social
activist from Kerala, said, speaking to the
media here from Doha.
"The cabinet meeting held Monday made
it very clear that there be no reason for any
panic as food items will be made available,"
said Vanimel. "Given our understanding of
things, hectic diplomatic efforts are current
ly on to ease the situation." Saudi Arabia,
Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, the UAE and
the Maldives on Monday severed diplomatic
ties with Qatar, accusing it of supporting ter
ror g roups, including the Muslim
Brotherhood. Qatar, however, denied the
allegations. "The media should not go over
board as it creates panic," Vanimel said.
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the
United Arab Emirates (UAE) have also closed
their borders preventing any movement by
road, to and from Qatar. Also, their airlines
have decided to stop flight operations to
Qatar. Passengers who arrived from Doha at
Kochi and Kozhikode airports on Tuesday
morning said "as things stand, there are no
issues there (in Qatar)". They, however,
expressed concern over the operation of
flights. Kerala Local Bodies Minister K.T.
Jaleel told the media here on Tuesday that
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has already
written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
asking for his immediate intervention to see
that Indians are taken care of.
"When schools are closed there and if for
eign airlines are not operating, there would
be problems. Air India should ensure opera
tion of more flights. The already high price
of air tickets during summer rush could
shoot up even higher," said Jaleel.
With other Middle East airlines stopping
their services, Qatar Airways and Air India
are operating services to and from three
Kerala airports, and if additional flights are
not run and present embargo against Qatar
is not lifted, things could go haywire, wor
ried of ficials said. The banks and foreign
exchange outlets have been directed not to
exchange money for Qatari Riyal, said an air
line source. According to a study report,
there are around 1.5 lakh Keralites in Qatar.
Around 4.82 million Indians live in the
(IANS)
Gulf, including 630,000 in Qatar.
to be Ireland's Prime Minister
Dublin: Ireland's ruling party chose Leo
Varadkar as its new leader, putting him
on track to become the nation's prime
minister. Social Protection Minister
Varadkar, 38, defeated Housing Minister
Simon Coveney, 44, to replace Enda
Kenny, who is stepping aside after six
years. Varadkar is poised to be elected
prime minister when parliament next
meets in the middle of this month.
The election of Varadkar marks a gen
erational and social shift. Ireland, which
voted to recognize samesex marriage in
2015, was among the last European
Union members to decriminalize homo
sexual activity.
With Kenny and Finance Minister
Michael Noonan set to depart, a new
cadre of younger gures is set to move
center stage in one of Europe's fastest
growing economies.
"The country needs change," said
Michael O'Leary, chief executive ofcer
of Ryanair Holdings, Europe's biggest Leo Varadkar
discount carrier, which is based in
Dublin. "Leo represents a slightly more eyes set on high ofce. He told his moth
risky candidate, more of a change." er he wanted to be health minister when
A physician and the son of an Indian he was 7, Varadkar said in an interview
immigrant, Varadkar has long had his with broadcaster RTE in 2015.

Indian film gets screened at Festival de Cannes

Aneek Chaudhuri represents his film The
Wifes Letter in Marche du film of Festival
de Cannes (Image : mediaindia.eu)
Nice: The Wifes Letter (Streer Potro), a
Bengali film by Aneek Chaudhuri has come
out in flying colors after gaining a handful of
international recognitions such as Hamilton
Film Fest, British Council, a presentation at
EFMBerlinale and this time its Cannes. On
May 17, the film was screened at Gray 5 of
Marche du film, Festival de Cannes. The film
is available for licensing, distribution, sales
at Riviera, K5 at Marche du film booth of
Adler and Associates.
Being the opening day of Festival de
Cannes, where the focus was on glitz and
glamor, a young filmmaker was excited for
the screening of his film at one of the most
prestigious corners of the world of Cinema.
T he director has also been featured in
English magazine, India and you, and a
French magazine, Indes which are widely
available at Cannes.
The Wifes Letter speaks of a hallucinated
person who is trying (constantly) to match
emotions with mathematics, or in other
words, in this film, been named X, he is try
ing to find the constant to his value. Starring
Kaushik Roy, the film is an attempt to amal
gamate the artform of Salvador Dali and the
simplicity of Rabindranath Tagore. Aneek
says, The film is targeted to the critics or
anyone who actively belong to this field; the
basic reason for choosing this target group is
I truly consider the fact that the film is not
identifiable to many of the common peoples
uses and gratifications.
Music plays an important part in The
Wifes Letter; orchestrated by Saikat
Chattopadhyay, the music actually takes the
film forward with a slight variation of
Rabindra Sangeet.

Indian origin charity gives healthcare to 3 million Nigerians

Accra (Ghana): An Indian origin
charitable organization, Tulsi
Chanrai Foundation (TCF), has pro
vided public healthcare to over
three million disadvantaged chil
dren and adults in Nigeria.
TCF achieved the feat in the past
two decades through its three key
programs: Mission for Vision,
Mission for Primary Health and
Mission for Water.
TCF, which started operations in
1994, is the charity wing of the
Chanrai family which set up the
first Indian company in Nigeria in
1923. T he company has since
become one of the most successful
and respected business houses in
the country.
The TCF report for 201516 said
the Chanrai family has businesses
in the areas of trade, manufactur
ing, agriculture and finance and
currently employs about 30,000
people in Nigeria. It is one of the
largest employers of local staf f
among the private sector in
Nigeria. The Nigerian government
has accorded TCF the status of an
International NGO.
Since its incept ion, the TCF
report said, more than 100,000
eye surgeries had been performed
in Nigeria, restoring vision to the
poor. Also, over 1.5 million moth
ers and children have been provid
ed access to basic healthcare serv
ices. In the same period, 4,384
hand pumps and 85 solar and elec
tric bore holes have been rehabili
tated to provide potable water to
1.95 million people.
"When Nigeria is battling inter
nally with acute insurgency and
economic recession for a protract
ed period, TCF remain committed
in extending its services unabated
and assist the needy across the
country," the report said. In 2015
16, the TCF said, it undertook sev
eral other projects including set
ting up the G.K. Chanrai Memorial
Hospital in Zaria Kaduna.
The report said its Mission for
Vision program aimed to reduce
avoidable blindness, predominant
ly cataract, among the rural poor
of Nigeria by providing high quali
ty ophthalmic surgeries for free.
"As a result, a large number of
underprivileged people in and
around Katsina, Kebbi and Cross
River states have been able to avail
of high quality eye treatment for
cataract and glaucoma at no cost."
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Deuba returns as Nepal
PM after 12 years
Kathmandu: Nepali Cong ress
President Sher Bahadur Deuba was
elected the new Prime Minister of
Nepal returning to the post 12
years after he was removed from
the post by then King Gyanendra.
Immediately after his election, he
said his priorities would be holding
the local elections and the constitu
tion's implementation. On foreign
policy, he said he will maintain
good relations with both India and
China.
He had, while presenting his can
didacy, said he will honestly work
for implementation of the new con
stitution, and will brace his political
acumen to address the grievances
of the Madhesis and other out
standing political issues.
Seventyyearold Deuba, who was
e lected for his fourth st int as
Premier exactly a week short of his
71st birthday, received wide politi
cal support during the voting in
parliament. Of the total 593 voters,
388 voted in his favor as opposed
to 170 votes against the main
opposition Communist Party of
Nepal (Unified MarxistsLeninists),
as expected, cast their votes against
him. Two Madhesbased political
Pakborn London
attacker's family
hotel searched
London: Police identified the
third of London Bridge attack
ers who killed seven people as
an Italian. Pakistani authorities
meanwhile searched the family
hotel of a Pakistanborn Briton
who was one of the three ter
rorists.
Security agencies searched
the hotel in Mujahidabad area
in Karachi owned by an uncle
of Khuram Shazad Butt, 27,
who was among the three ter
rorists shot dead by police.
The hotel is located on Grand
Trunk Road, Dawn reported.
Residents in the area confirmed
the search.
The search was a precaution
after Butt's link to Pakistan was
uncovered by British investiga
tors. British media said Butt
was previously known to police
and the spy agency MI5. But he
is said to have been not radical
ized in Pakistan.
Butt even appeared in a
Channel 4 documentary, "The
Jihadis Next Door", last year.
Butt's fellow attackers were
SUBCONTINENT
Deuba will be the 40th
Prime Minister of Nepal.
parties also extended their support
after reaching an agreement with
him and outgoing PM Pushpa
Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda', but ruled
out joining the government.
Deuba's victory was a foregone
conclusion as none of the political
parties fielded a candidate against
him.
On May 24, then Prime Minister
Prachanda had announced his res
ignation, in keeping with his agree
ment with the Nepali Congress,
which had propped up his coalition
Butt's link to Pakistan
was uncovered by
British investigators.
Rachid Redouane, 30, a
MoroccanLibyan pastry chef
who had an Irish w ife, and
Youssef Zaghba, a 22yearold
Italian national of Moroccan
descent who was on Italy's list
of persons at risk after being
held in 2016 while on way to
Syria.
government since last August. The
two parties had agreed that their
respective leaders would lead the
government on a rotational basis
where Prachanda would take the
first nine months and the remain
ing nine would be of Deuba.
Deuba, who will be the 40th
Prime Minister of Nepal, faces a
huge domestic political challenge
but foreign policy is more settled as
his predecessor had almost brought
relations with India and China
almost back on track.
He will occupy the post for anoth
er nine months in a period consid
ered a much challenging phase.
Apart from holding the second and
final phase of local elections on
June 28, Deuba's other immediate
priorities are to take confidence of
the Madhesi parties in the constitu
tion implementation process, bring
ing them on board in the local elec
tions and holding other two elec
tions provincial and parliamen
tary later this year.
Born in a simple family, Deuba,
who hails from the country's far
west, is a wellrespected leader for
his participation in the struggle for
restoring democracy in Nepal.
IOM plans more help for
floodhit Sri Lanka
Geneva: The UN migra
tion agency IOM said it
plans to provide 3,700
she lter repair kits,
5,000 nonfood relief
item kits and 250 tem
porary shelters to assist
the worst floodaffected
areas in Sri Lanka.
T he Internat ional
Org anisat ion for
Migration (IOM) said it
would see k funding
from the UN Central
Emergency Response
Fund, and the interven
tion would help an esti
mated 74,750 people,
Xinhua news agency
reported. Heavy flood
ing, landslides and flash floods
have affected some 684,000 peo
ple in south and central Sri
Lanka.
The flooding, which is believed
to be the worst in over a decade,
has left at least 212 people dead
and 79 missing.
The IOM's initial rapid assess
ments conducted last week in
some district of Sri Lanka showed
that homes and villages were
swept away by the flood waters
and mud slides.
June 10-16, 2017 21
Pak waging 'undeclared war'
against Afghanistan: Ghani
Kabul: Afghan
President Ashraf
Ghani accused
Pakistan of waging
an "undeclared war
of aggression"
against his country.
Addressing a
peace conference
attended by 23
countries, the
European Union,
the UN and Nato,
Ghani asked: "What
will it take to con
vince Pakistan that
a stable Ghani was addressing a peace conference.
Afghanistan helps
them and helps our region?" Cooperation Tasneem Aslam.
Pakistan and Afghanistan Ghani also warned the
have long accused each other Taliban to embrace peace or
of turning a blind eye to mili "face consequences".
tants operating along their "We are offering a chance for
porous border, and both forces peace but this is not an open
exchanged fire over a border ended offer.
dispute last month, Dawn Time is running out... This is
reported. the last chance, take it or face
Despite strained bilateral consequences.
relations, Pakistan is attending "If Taliban wants to join
the multinational conference. peace talks, the Afghan govern
The twomember Pakistani del ment will allow them to open
egation is headed by Additional an office, but this is their last
Secretary UN and Economic chance," Ghani said.
A flooded street in Kaduwela, Sri Lanka.
T he IOM cited Sri Lanka's schools, temples and churches.
Disaster Management Centre fig People currently staying in
ure of over 2,500 houses which evacuation centers or with rela
were destroyed and nearly tives and friends were unlikely to
15,900 houses damaged. be able to return to their homes
"These numbers could rise as in the short term, the IOM said.
data from damage assessments is "People will need shelter and
compiled in the coming weeks," other nonfood relief items (when
the IOM said in a statement they leave the sites) and we will
issued Tuesday. need to ensure that aid is distrib
According to the UN agency, uted at the location most useful
nearly 22,000 people were still and appropriate for each affected
sheltering in some 200 over family," said IOM Sri Lanka Chief
crowded "safe sites" including of Mission Giuseppe Crocetti.
 22 June 10-16, 2017
7 killed in London terror, IS claims responsibility
London: Islamists rammed a van into a
group of unsuspecting pedestrians and
tourists on the London Bridge and later
launched knife attacks at nearby pubs,
killing seven people and injuring 48.
Police shot dead all three terrorists.
According to a report in the BBC, IS'
news outlet Amaq, on the messaging app
Telegram, said "a security unit of Islamic
State fighters carried out the London
attacks".
At least 21 of the wounded, including
two police officers, were reportedly in crit
ical condition. Police said 12 people have
been arrested in connection with the ter
ror attack.
The weekend mayhem in the heart of
London came less than a fortnight after a
young British suicide bomber detonated a
powerful bomb in the Manchester Arena
just when an American concert had ended,
killing 22 people and injuring more than
100.
It all began when a white transitstyle
van speeding toward the London Bridge
Tube station drove into people including
foreigners enjoying a pleasant weather
around 10 pm, sending one man flying
some 20 feet in the air.
In no time, four or five people were on
the ground, dead or dying, witnesses told
the media.
The vehicle continued to drive towards
Borough Market, just south of the bridge,
UK leaders make last
campaign pitch before
June 8 elections
London: With less than 24 hours to go before
voting begins in Britain's general election, lead
ers of the two main parties hit the streets
across the nation for a final day of campaign
ing. Conservative Party leader Theresa May,
who seeks to retain her job as Prime Minister in
Thursday's vote, began her day with a visit to a
Smithfield meat market in London before head
ing to central and eastern England.
Her rival, Jeremy Corbyn of the Labour party
travelled north to Glasgow before making his
way back south to London, passing through
several towns and cities in England and Wales
on the way, Efe news reported.
Corbyn said that public services, particularly
the National Health Service, would be safer in
his hands. Home security and police numbers
have been at the crux of the campaign in the
light of last week's terror incident in which
seven people were killed when three militants
mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge
and launched a stabbing rampage at a nearby
market. The current head of government and
former Home Secretary on Tuesday said she
would alter current human rights laws if it was
deemed necessary in order to crack down on
terrorism in London.
Meanwhile, Corbyn criticised cuts to police
numbers that were made when May was the
government minister responsible for Britain's
Home Office. Around 50 million Britons are eli
gible to vote in the general election on
Thursday. At the onset of campaigning a month
ago, May led Corbyn in the public opinion polls
with an average of around 20 points. But
according to a new polling data, the rivals were
neck and neck now.
INTERNATIONAL
People mourn for victims of London Bridge attack.
where three assailants got out and began
stabbing civilians at a restaurant as well as
police officers who tried to stop them, the
BBC reported.
Four police officers who tried to stop the
attack were among those injured, two of
them seriously. These were an of fduty
of ficer and amateur rugby player who
tackled one of the terrorists but was
stabbed and a British Transport Police
of ficer who took on the attackers armed
8 killed as IS targets Iran Parliament
Tehran: At least eight people
were killed in the first terror
attack claimed by the Islamic
State in Iran, with killers acting
in coordination targeting the
Parliament House and
Ayatollah Khomeini's mau
soleum in Tehran's heart.
Details of the twin attacks
remained sketchy even several
hours later. Lawmaker Tayebeh
Siavoshi told Efe news that the
situation was "very confusing
and sensitive" and denied
media reports that the situation
was under control. The Islamic
State, a Sunni jihadist group,
claimed responsibility for both
attacks in the Shia majority
nation, Efe news reported.
In the first incident, four gun
men armed with assault rifles
Seven nations isolate Qatar for supporting terror
Dubai: Saudi Arabia, Egypt,
Yemen, Bahrain, Libya, the
UAE and the Maldives severed
diplomatic ties with Qatar,
accusing it supporting terror
groups, including the Muslim
Brotherhood. The Gulf country
denied the allegations.
The dramatic development
followed lingering tensions
within the once unified Gulf
Cooperation Council. Riyadh
closed its land border and
snapped sea and air links, trig
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Trump slams
London mayor
Washington: US President Donald Trump
criticized London Mayor Sadiq Khan for
asking the British public to remain calm
after the weekend terrorist attack. Trump
once more resorted to Twitter to send a
message that "We must stop being politi
cally correct and get down to the business
of security for our people. If we don't get
smart it will only get worse."
Trump was referring to the Saturday
night terrorist attack in London that left
seven victims and three terrorists dead,
along with dozens of civilians wounded, Efe
reported. The US president once again let
diplomatic niceties fall by the wayside as
he criticized Khan, a Muslim with whom he
had already developed a tense relationship,
for seeking to reassure Londoners, and
other Britons, after the attack, although he
with only his baton.
took the mayor's remarks out of context.
One attacker was seen with "a big knife"
"At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror
attacking people in the Borough Market
attack & Mayor of London says there is 'no
whose pubs and restaurants were packed.
reason to be alarmed!'" Trump tweeted,
British Prime Minister Theresa May said:
apparently misunderstanding Khan's earli
"It's time to say enough is enough." She
er statement. Meanwhile, one of the
said the counterterrorism strategy would
mayor's spokesmen said in response to
be reviewed, the election campaign would
Trump's tweets that Khan had "more
resume on Monday and the parliamentary
important things to do" in terms of over
elections would be held as planned on
seeing the city's response and recovery.
June 8.
assailants was arrested while
the other three remained holed
up inside. Minutes after the
Parliament attack began, two
people blew themselves up at
the mausoleum of Khomeini,
the founder of the Islamic state,
killing an employee and wound
ing four visitors, Efe reported.
Two other terrorists at the
mausoleum, one of them a
Shiite Iran has been singled out as a target by Sunni jihadists.
woman, were arrested.
forced their way into self up, the stateowned televi Within hours, the Islamic
Parliament when it was in ses sion reported. As the attack State terror group claimed
sion and opened fire at security unfolded, security forces hur responsibility for both the
guards and visitors, leaving at riedly closed the doors of attacks through its af filiated
least seven dead, Efe said. Parliament and neither the law news agency Amaq. The BBC
But the BBC reported that makers nor journalists were said this was the most serious
only one security guard was allowed to leave. terrorist incident in Tehran
killed in Parliament. Efe quoted the Iranian since the early years of the
Two hours later, one of the Students News Agency (ISNA) Islamic revolution of 1979 led
Parliament attackers blew him as saying that one of the by Khomeini.
gering a run on supermarkets "protect its national security
in Qatar. The Arab and Gulf from the dangers of terrorism
nations accused Qatar of and extremism".
destabilizing the region and Bahrain, the only Shiamajor
claimed Doha had links with ity Gulf nation ruled by Sunnis,
the Islamic State and Al Qaeda. said it was cutting ties because
Qatar called the decision Qatar was "shaking the securi
"unjustified and based on slan ty and stability of Bahrain and
der". "T he measures were meddling in its affairs".
Qatar PM Sheikh Abdullah bin
taken despite there being no The UAE accused Qatar of
Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani.
evidence to support the accu "supporting, funding and
sations lodged against the Agency said Riyadh had closed embracing terrorism, extrem
nation," Qatar's Foreign its borders, severing land, sea ism and sectarian organiza
Ministry said. The Saudi Press and air contacts with Qatar to tions".
TheSouthAsianTimes.info BUSINESS June 10-16, 2017 23

Equity markets rise after RBI More than 1 crore

cuts SLR to induce liquidity
Mumbai: Cheered by the deci
sion of the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) to boost liquidity lev
els in the commercial banking
system, the Indian equity mar
kets recovered from a flat trad
ing session to close in the green.
T he RBI in its second bi
monthly monetary policy review
of 201718 decided to reduce
the Statutory Liquidity Ratio
(SLR) by 50 basis points to 20
per cent. However, it kept its key
lending rate unchanged at 6.25
per cent. Besides, a betterthan
expected monsoon forecast by
the India Meteorolog ical
Department (IMD), coupled with
firm global cues and healthy
buying in banking, automobile
and healthcare sectors, kept
market sentiments buoyant.
The Nifty of the National Stock
Exchange (NSE) closed at
9,663.90 points up 26.75
points or 0.28 per cent
The 30scrip Sensitive Index
(Sensex) of the BSE, which
opened at 31,252.71 points,
closed at 31,271.28 points
gaining 80.72 points or 0.26 per
cent from its previous close at
31,190.56 points.
It touched a high of 31,346.99
points and a low of 31,172.98
points during intraday trade.
The BSE market breadth was
bullish with 1,460 advances
and 1,200 declines.
The broader market indices
outperformed the Sensex, with
the S&P BSE midcap index ris
ing by 0.46 per cent and the
smallcap index by 0.75 per cent.
"Markets ended with modest
gains after witnessing intraday
volatility after the RBI decided to
keep the reporate unchanged
after a policy review meet today.
Good prospects of rains and firm
global stocks supported gains on
the bourses," Deepak Jasani,
Head Retail Research, HDFC
Securities, told IANS. "Interest
ratesensitive stocks like banks,
auto and realty rose after the
RBI kept rates steady. Major
Asian markets have ended on a
mixed note, while European
indices like FTSE 100, CAC 40
and DAX traded hig her."
According to Dhruv Desai,
Director and Chief Operating
Of ficer of Tradebulls, the Bank
Nifty hit a record high after RBI
cut the SLR.
"The RBI used a less hawkish
tone while leaving interest rates
unchanged at its policy meeting,
as inflat ion is running we ll
below forecasts and the econo
my has slowed more than
expected. T his prompted the
rupee to strengthen against the
US dollar," Desai said. On the
currency front, the rupee
strengthened by 10 paise to
64.33 per US dollar from its pre
vious close of 64.43. In invest
ments, provisional data with the
exchanges showed that foreign
institutional investors (FIIs) pur
chased stocks worth Rs 73.79
crore, while domestic institution
al investors (DIIs) bought scrips
worth Rs 166.22 crore.
trained under Skill
India: Minister
New Delhi: The Skill
Development Ministry has
trained more than 1.17 crore
aspirants in various skills since
the inception of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's flagship Skill
India Mission, Minister of State
for Skill Development Rajiv
Pratap Rudy said.
Addressing media on the com
pletion of three years of BJP
government at the Centre, Rudy
said the figure did not include
numbers contributed through
skill development schemes and
initiatives under other
Ministries.
He added that the Ministry
was also striving to improve the
quality of industrial training
institutes which cater to around
23 lakh students across the
country. "Human Resource
Development Ministry has
allowed us to conduct exams for
students enrolled in ITIs for
matriculation, secondary and
higher secondary equivalence
and give certificates to them,"
the Minister said.
"Skill India is a silent revolu
tion that is underway and it is a
joint investment that the govern
ment along with the private
partners is making for the
growth of the country," he said.
Rudy said that Pradhan Mantri
Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY),
which was launched in July
2015, has witnessed more than
26.5 lakh people acquiring new
skills, of which 50 per cent are
women.
Last year, women participation
under PMKVY was 40 per cent
and "I am elated to see that we
have an equal malefemale ratio
this year cumulatively", the
Minister said.
Rudy added that over 480
Pradhan Mantri Kaushal
Kendras (skilldevelopment cen
tres) would be set up covering
all the districts of the country.
Some 162 are already function
al. He said that the industry will
only partner with the govern
ment if they see quality work
force coming out from Skill
India.

World's first 'aeroboat' made by IndoRussian JV unveiled

New Delhi/Moscow: T he world's first
hybrid "aeroboat" capable of traveling on
land, water, snow and sand that has been
built by an IndoRussian joint venture was
unveiled in Moscow at a startups event
organised by Russia's staterun Skolkovo
Foundation.
The aeroboat is designed to access diffi
cult terrain, such as flooded or marshy
areas where the use of regular boats is
made impossible because of shallow water,
patches of dry land or by marine vegeta
tion.
It has been designed by IIAAT Holding, a
joint venture between the International
Inst itute for Advanced Aerospace
Technologies and Indian firm Millennium
Aerodynamics.
The aeroboat is on demonstration in and
around a pond in the twoday Startup
Village annual event in Moscow for technol
ogy entrepreneurs and investors organized
by Russia's biggest innovation fund the
Skolkovo Foundation. IIAAT Holding board
member Sukrit Sharan, who is in Moscow,
The aeroboat is designed to access difficult terrain, such as flooded or marshy areas.
told IANS in an email interview that they
have orders for more than 25 aeroboat
units from private and government buyers
in India of which they have already
despatched five for use in disaster manage
ment. These are much faster and more
robust than the comparable hovercrafts, he
said. "We have already exported around
five units to India, both for transportation
and disaster management applications.
These delivered products are poised to help
save hundreds of lives in India during the
monsoon season when the regions experi
ence floods," Sharan said.
"After our success with Indian disaster
management authorities, Russia's Ministry
of Emergency Situations has shown very
strong interest in these vehicles."
While hovercrafts on average move at
around 4550 km per hour on water, aer
oboats are capable of going at around 150
km or more, he said.
"The Aeroboat is also more robust than
hovercrafts, and with estimated mainte
nance costs of $400$600 per year, is
cheaper to maintain and fuel," Sharan said.
He pointed out that it runs on a "hybrid"
engine, meaning it can run on either petrol
or electricity, enabling users to reduce car
bon emissions and increase energy ef fi
ciency.
 24 June 10-16, 2017 SPORTS TheSouthAsianTimes.info

CT 2017: Lankan batting trumps India

London: Sri Lanka rode on a solid
batt ing display to reg ister a
sevenwicket victory over India in
their Group B Champions Trophy
match at The Oval here.
Set a challenging target of 322
runs, the Lankans rode on half
centuries from Kusal Mendis and
Danushka Gunathilaka to cross
the line in 48.3 overs and register
their first win the tournament.
The duo dominated the Indian
bolwers to add 159 runs between
them and lay the foundation of a
successful run chase.
Mendis was the highest scorer
among the Sri Lankans, produc
ing a steady 89 runs off 93 balls
before being run out thanks to an
excellent piece of fielding by
Indian pacer Buvneshwar Kumar
off his own bowling.
Gunathilaka smashed 76 off 72
deliveries with seven boundaries
and two sixes.
Thursday's result throws the
group wide open as all the teams
in the group India, Sri Lanka,
India thrash Pakistan
in onesided clash
Birmingham: Defending champi
on India put up an allround
show to drub archrivals Pakistan
by 124 runs via Duckworth
Lewis (DL) method in a rain
marred Group B encounter of the
Champions Trophy.
Asked to bat, the Indians rode
on a powerpacked performance
by the top order to post a chal
lenging total of 319/3 in an
innings affected by rain twice
Kusal Mendis was the highest scorer among the Sri Lankans,
and consequently shortened to
producing a steady 89 runs off 93 balls.
48 overs.
Pakistan and South Africa have Earlier opening batsman Further rain interruptions
identical records of a win and a Shikhar Dhawan's 125 powered forced the match officials to
draw. India will now have to beat defending champions India to revise the target to 289 runs off
South Africa in their last group 321/6 in 50 overs. Dhawan, who 41 overs according to the DL
match on June 11 and Sri lanka registered his 10th century in
face a must win contest against OneDay Internat ional (ODI) Sharma (78; 79b; 4x6, 6x3). Then,
Pakistan a day later in quest to cricket, shared a partnership of India lost Virat Kohli (0) and
qualify from the semifinals. 138 with fellow opener Rohit Yuvraj Singh (7) cheaply within
method.
The Pakistanis were off to a
steady start thanks to openers
Azhar Ali and Ahmed Shehzad,
who put together an opening
stand of 47 runs in nine overs
before pacer Bhuvneshwar
Kumar struck the first blow for
India by trapping the latter leg
before.
Ali continued to battle on, top
scoring for Pakistan with a
steady 50 runs off 65 balls
before being dismissed.
But the rest of the Pakistan
batsmen seemed to buckle under
pressure and failed to rise to the
challenge.
the next few overs but Dhawan
kept finding fours to keep Sri
Lanka at bay.

BopannaDabrowski Durants last heave clinches a

clinch French Open
mixed doubles title
BopannaDabrowski clinch French Open mixed doubles title
Paris: Indian star Rohan Bopanna
and his Canadian partner
Gabriela Dabrowski won a tough
threeset battle to clinch the
mixed doubles title at the French
Open tennis tournament here.
The seventh seeded Indo
Canadian combination overcame
the unseeded pair of AnnaLena
Groenefeld of Germany and
Robert Farah of Colombia 26, 6
2, 1210 in 56 minutes.
Bopanna is the fourth Indian to
win a Grand Slam title after
Leander Paes, Mahesh Bhupathi
and Sania Mirza.
Bopanna is also the fourth
Indian to become mixed doubles
champion at the French Open.
Bhupathi was the first he won
the title with Rika Hiraki of
commanding 30 lead in NBA finals
l By Shiv Chopra
New York: 1:24 left on the clock in
the fourth quarter, Golden State
Down by 4, Iguodala inbounds to
Kevin Durant who runs the ball up
the paint and drills a floater. 111
113 Cavs. LeBron gets the ball and
dribbles for almost the entire 24
and passes to Korver who misses a
3, Durant gets the rebound. This is
the change to get the lead, this is
the moment Durant has been wait
ing for to prove why he deserves to
win. He dribbles the ball down the
court to the 3point line. LeBron in
his face, Durant jumps up for the 3
with no hesitation and shoots the
ball. With laserprecision the ball
sees nothing but net and Golden
State takes an improbable 114113
lead with 45.3 seconds left.
Japan in 1997.
Kyrie dribbles the clock away and
Bhupathi achieved the feat for
takes a step back 3pointer, well
a second time in 2012 with
defended by Clay, and barely grazes
Sania Mirza before Paes part
the rim, Curry gets the rebound.
nered Swiss star Martina Hingis This series is unparalleled as no 2 teams
With a 2 second difference between have met in the finals 3 years in a row.
to win the title last year.
shot and game clock, Cavs had to
Indians have now won a total
foul. Durant drills 2 clutch free from doing something unprecedent when Cavs did it themselves. The
of 20 mixed doubles titles at
throws and makes the game 116 ed. No team has ever went through task this year is not the same
Grand Slam tournaments.
113. After a timeout, LeBron gets the playof fs undefeated or even though, Golden State has Durant.
Dabrowski also created history
inbounded to and rises to take a 3 been this close to doing so. Durant is the only superstar on the
on Thursday as she became the
pointer to tie the game, but Golden State also now has the two teams without a ring and was
first Canadian to win a Grand
Iguodala strips it and the ball is longest winning streak in playoffs blasted with hate after his decision
Slam title.
called out on the Cavs. Curry gets history, not just in the NBA, but that to leave OKC and join the warriors
Bopanna featured in the final
fouled, takes 2 free throws and the of any of the other three major for the sole purpose of winning the
of a Grand Slam tournament
game is then basically over, final American sports, NFL, NHL, or MLB. playoffs. He has something to prove
after a gap of seven years.
score 118113, and that is how Going into game 4, the Cavs are will not allow anyone, not even
He qualified for the Grand
Golden State won game 3. down 3 games to 0, no team in the LeBron to get in his way. We will
Slam final of his career in 2010
This series is unparalleled as no 2 playoffs has ever come back from a find out on Friday night if the
when he and Pakistan's Aisam
teams have met in the finals 3 years 30 deficit but do not count them Warriors can leave their mark on
ulhaq Qureshi entered the title
in a row. Golden State is now 150 out. No team had come back from the history books or spiral out like
clash of the US open.
in these playoffs and 1 game away down 31 in the finals until last year last year.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
The Secret of Jahanara Begum
O
ne of the most anticipated
novels of 2017, "The
Ministry of Utmost
Happiness" will hit the book
stands across India on Tuesday,
June 6. The novel comes 20 years
after the author's "The God of
Small Things," which won the
Booker Prize in 1997 and was a
bestseller in more than 30 lan
guages worldwide. The book, as
with its author, comes with its
share of controversies for the
characterizations and back
grounds which take in burning
issues facing the country today
from Maoism, Kashmir unrest,
caste and minority politics,
among others. A vocal opponent
of the current ruling party in
India, Roy is known for her
tirades against the Bharatiya
Janta Party and has drawn flak
for airing her views on Hindu reli
gion and Kashmir issue. For those
waiting for 20 years for another
masterpiece from Roy to those
who prefer knitting to reading it
heres an exclusive extract from
'The Ministry of Utmost
Happiness.'
he first time she made her way
T past the crowd the sellers of
ittars and amulets, the custodians
of pilgrims' shoes, the cripples,
the beggars, the homeless, the
goats being fattened for slaughter
on Eid and the knot of quiet, eld
erly eunuchs who had taken up
residence under a tarpaulin out
side the shrine and entered the
tiny red chamber, Jahanara
Begum became calm. The street
sounds grew faint and seemed to
come from far away. She sat in a
corner with her baby asleep on
her lap, watching people, Muslim
as well as Hindu, come in ones
and twos, and tie red threads, red
bangles and chits of paper to the
grille around the tomb, beseech
ing Sarmad to bless them. It was
only after she noticed a translu
cent old man with dry, papery
skin and a wispy beard of spun
light sitting in a corner, rocking
back and forth, weeping silently
as though his heart was broken,
that Jahanara Begum allowed her
own tears to fall. This is my son,
Aftab, she whispered to Hazrat
An extract from Arundhati Roy's new discursive novel in 20 years
Sarmad. I've brought him here to
you. Look after him. And teach me
how to love him.
Hazrat Sarmad did.
For the first few years of Aftab's
life, Jahanara Begum's secret
remained safe. While she waited
for his girlpart to heal, she kept
him close and was fiercely protec
tive of him. Even after her
younger son, Saqib, was born she
would not allow Aftab to stray
very far from her on his own. It
was not seen as unusual behavior
for a woman who had waited so
long and so anxiously for a son.
When Aftab was five he began
to attend the UrduHindi madras
sa for boys in Chooriwali Gali (the
bangleseller's lane). Within a
year he could recite a good part
of the Quran in Arabic, although
it wasn't clear how much of it he
understood that was true of all
the other children too. Aftab was
a better than average student, but
even from the time he was very
young it became clear that his
real gift was music. He had a
sweet, true singing voice and
could pick up a tune after hearing
BOOKS
it just once. His parents decided
to send him to Ustad Hameed
Khan, an outstanding young
musician who taught Hindustani
classical music to groups of chil
dren in his cramped quarters in
Chandni Mahal. Little Aftab never
missed a single class. By the time
he was nine he could sing a good
twenty minutes of bada khayal in
Raag Yaman, Durga and Bhairav
and make his voice skim shyly off
the flat rekhab in Raag Pooriya
Dhanashree like a stone skipping
over the surface of a lake. He
could sing Chaiti and Thumri with
the accomplishment and poise of
a Lucknow courtesan. At first peo
ple were amused and even
encouraging, but soon the snick
ering and teasing from other chil
dren began: He's a She. He's not a
He or a She. He's a He and a She.
She He, He She Hee! Hee! Hee!
When the teasing became
unbearable Aftab stopped going
to his music classes. But Ustad
Hameed, who doted on him,
offered to teach him separately,
on his own.
So the music classes continued,
but Aftab refused to go to school
any more. By then Jahanara
Begum's hopes had more or less
faded. There was no sign of heal
ing anywhere on the horizon. She
had managed to put off his cir
cumcision for some years with a
series of inventive excuses. But
young Saqib was waiting in line
for his, and she knew she had run
out of time. Eventually she did
what she had to. She mustered
her courage and told her hus
band, breaking down and weep
ing with grief as well as relief that
she finally had someone else to
share her nightmare with.
Her husband, Mulaqat Ali, was a
hakim, a doctor of herbal medi
cine, and a lover of Urdu and
Persian poetry.
All his life he had worked for
the family of another hakim
Hakim Abdul Majid, who founded
a popular brand of sherbet called
Rooh Afza (Persian for 'Elixir of
the Soul'). Rooh Afza, made of
khurfa seeds (purslane), grapes,
oranges, watermelon, mint, car
rots, a touch of spinach, khus
khus, lotus, two kinds of lilies and
June 10-16, 2017 25
a distillate of damask roses, was
meant to be a tonic. But people
found that two tablespoons of the
sparkling rubycoloured syrup in
a glass of cold milk or even just
plain water not only tasted deli
cious, but was also an effective
defence against Delhi's scorching
summers and the strange fevers
that blew in on desert winds.
Soon what had started out as
medicine became the most popu
lar summer drink in the region.
Rooh Afza became a prosperous
enterprise and a household name.
For forty years it ruled the mar
ket, sending its produce from its
headquarters in the old city as far
south as Hyderabad and as far
west as Afghanistan.
Then came Partition. God's
carotid burst open on the new bor
der between India and Pakistan
and a million people died of
hatred. Neighbours turned on
each other as though they'd never
known each other, never been to
each other's weddings, never
sung each other's songs. The
walled city broke open. Old fami
lies fled (Muslim). New ones
arrived (Hindu) and settled
around the city walls. Rooh Afza
had a serious setback, but soon re
covered and opened a branch in
Pakistan. A quarter of a century
later, after the holocaust in East
Pakistan, it opened another
branch in the brandnew country
of Bangladesh. But eventually, the
Elixir of the Soul that had sur
vived wars and the bloody birth
of three new countries, was, like
most things in the world, trumped
by CocaCola.
Although Mulaqat Ali was a
trusted and valued employee of
Hakim Abdul Majid, the salary he
earned was not enough to make
ends meet. So outside his working
hours he saw patients at his
home. Jahanara Begum supple
mented the family income with
what she earned from the white
cotton Gandhi caps she made and
supplied in bulk to Hindu shop
keepers in Chandni Chowk.
(Extracted from "The Ministry
of Utmost Happiness" by
Arundhati Roy, with permission
from Penguin India.)
IANS
26 June10-16, 2017 SACRED ART TheSouthAsianTimes.info
TheSouthAsianTimes.info June 10-16, 2017
 28 June 10-16, 2017 HUMOR TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Funny Side by Nury Vittachi

News items prove that annoying

people are often useful
I
have an ethics issue. What do you do when
you're having an argument on Facebook
and an incredibly stupid, annoying person
joins in, but they're on your side? It's shock
ing that society has no answers for the huge
moral dilemmas of today.
It's an odd truth that annoying people often
turns out to be useful. A case in point was
sent to me by reader Ann Chin recently. A
daring robber raided a bank in the US state of
Vermont and got away.
Elsewhere in the same town, a woman who
was the sort of annoying person who gets
called an "ecoNazi" (my family is full of them)
was throwing away a piece of garbage in her
bin.
She noticed someone had thrown away a
paper coffee cup in the LITTERBIN instead of
THE PAPER RECYCLING bin. Outraged, she
retrieved it and found it contained a crumpled
piece of a paper with writing on it: "This is a
robbery give me the money and no one will
get hurt." Police guessed it was the robber's
practice note and immediately set off in pur
suit of the woman's housecleaner's
boyfriend. The moral of this story? Always
put draft copies of criminal threats you write
in the correct bin.
You can even make money being annoying.
I remember the Inland Revenue Service in
Karachi hiring hijras, persons of nonstandard
(Image courtesy: lifehacker.com)
gender, to stand outside the homes of non
taxpayers and be as annoying as possible
until people paid up. A Spanish debt collec
tion agency employed a dog with an annoying
yap and a bagpiper for similar purposes.
More recently, the Minnesota police depart
ment in the US announced that arrested peo
ple may be subjected to a really annoying
Justin Bieber video "all the way to the jail."
There was no followup report on whether
the crime rate fell, but I worry that there may
have been an unexpected boom in crimes
committed by teenage girls.
Now the last time I mentioned this sort of
thing, someone pointed out that there's a
United Nations convention which specifically
bans the repeated playing of unwanted music
as torture. But apparently it only applies in
war situations. My local police are running a
"war on bad parking" but I don't think that
counts. The one group of Annoying People
who I find Not Useful are folk who are
Excessively Politically Correct. The British
Medical Association recently issued a guid
ance document telling doctors and nurses
they could refer to mamastobe as "pregnant
people" to include "transmen who might
become pregnant". This is a bit much. Of
course it is possible that I may be swamped
with angry letters from pregnant "transmen"
but I will take that risk.
It would be annoying to lose the word
"mama", a term you find in almost every lan
guage around the world. (The exception is
Buckingham Palace in London, where the
Queen's babies have to address her as
"ma'am" or find themselves on the "to be
beheaded" list.)
One day the lyrics of Bohemian Rhapsody
will go: "ParentPerson, just killed a Person."
Just not the same.

Laughter is the Best Medicine

BEST
RATE
FOR
INDIA
AND
PAKISTAN

New York Head Quarter

422S Broadway
HICKSVILLE
NY 11801
By Mahendra Shah
5168271010 Mahendra Shah is an architect by education, entrepreneur by profession, artist
and humorist, cartoonist and writer by hobby. He has been recording the plight
of the immigrant Indians for the past many years in his cartoons.
Hailing from Gujarat, he lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma
JUNE 1016, 2017
ARIES: Success is certain provided you
work as a team. Guests visit would make
it a pleasant & wonderful wee k.
Monetary gains from unplanned sources will
brighten your week. You need courageous
efforts to turn loveatfirstsight into a strong
romantic bond. Cataract patients should avoid
visiting a polluted environment as smoke could
cause further problems to their eyes. Many peo
ple want to fly international and you are one of
them. You might apply for bank loan as to get
back the possession of your mortgaged proper
ty. You will be successful in others thinking that
you are too old to learn new things.
TAURUS: Innovative ideas & technical
expertise would enable to win the confi
dence of seniors at professional front.
Family members will be very positive & sup
portive to your plans. Property dealings would
materialize helping in bringing fabulous gains.
The presence of love would make you feel life
meaningful. A sparkling laughter filled week
when most things proceed, as you desire. Your
whole family needs a holiday, look further and
take a break. Dont deal in a property which is
crime ridden. Interacting with strangers might
unnecessarily waste your valuable time.
GEMINI: To achieve a desirable outcome
at work you must get the support of
team members. Make sure you avoid
overreacting to tense situations at family front.
Avoid overspending and investments in dubious
financial schemes. You will be in a loving mood,
therefore make special plans for romantic part
ner. Engaging yourself in creative work would
keep you relaxed. By traveling you will learn
about new places, ultimately its a great deal for
yourself. You will have to go out of the way to
buy your dream house. You need to be very
cautious with whatever you do or say this week.
CANCER: Excess workload could trou
ble at workplace. A careless attitude
will make parents worried. Spending
money carelessly would backfire. Love life
brings some memorable moments that you
could cherish rest of your life. An impulsive
behaviour might cause health problems during
this week. Planning a trip is not what you want,
try to implant them. Your plan to own a house
is ought to be in the right way. You will not
compromise your principles & values at the
face of distress.
LEO: Service people, artists and those in
creative field will get several new oppor
tunities. Relatives will be willing to lend
a helping hand at the time of need. You are like
ly to earn monetary gains through various
sources. Your flashing smile would work as the
best antidote for romantic partners unhappi
ness. Your enormous confidence would help in
enjoying a healthy life. Pack your bags and
some eatables and go out for a picnic. Plan to
invest in cafeteria or a bakery shop; it might
create new opportunities for you. You are likely
to be a realistic on living life on a physical
plane.
VIRGO: At work you are likely to win
appreciat ion and awards for past
efforts. Parental guidance in your deci
sion would immensely help. Monetary gains are
likely to be from more than one source. Love
partner touches soul that would take imagina
tion to unlimited heights. Blessings of a saintly
person give peace of mind. You and your loved
ones been busy for quite sometimes and have
finally decided to go on a vacat ion.
Preparations are must before you plan for a
new house. Chances of the people who havent
been on goo d terms w ith you w ill see k
company.
ASTROLOGY
LIBRA: Your greatest gains will come
through your creative ideas at profes
sional front. New relationship at family
front will be long lasting & highly beneficial.
Increase in income from past investment is
foreseen. Those engaged will find their fiance courageous decisions, but you need to check
a source of great happiness. Unnecessary worry
about health would only invite further prob
lems. Going to a business trip, beware might
have some problem. First resolve the legal
issues then mortgage your property. If possible,
help whosoever comes to you this week.
SCORPIO: You will be on the seventh
heaven when you receive recognition
for your achievements at work. You will
be in the mood to celebrate with family and
friends in this week. New moneymaking oppor
tunities will be lucrative. Sharing candyfloss
and tof fees with lover/beloved would bring
unlimited joy. A very healthy week filled with
happiness & vitality. By traveling youll learn
about new places and cultures, which is ulti
mately a great deal about yourself. There are
chances of getting good amount from an older
property of yours. You succeed in using your
sharp & active mind to help the needy people.
SAGITTARIUS: Your creativity will
amaze people around you besides
enhancing career prospects. Good
advice from family members brings gains. All
financial commitments & transactions need to
be handled carefully. Difference of opinion with
love companion would create some problems.
Pleasure trip would help in maintaining sound
health. Traveling at time is what you dont
expect from yourself. Property disputes can be
there. Make sure you dont give unnecessary
importance to minor issues otherwise they
would disappoint you.
CAPRICORN: You will have to take
some calculated risks to conquer chal
lenging situations at workplace. You
need to take the approval of everyone before
making changes at home. You should look twice
at investment schemes that are presented to
you. You need to make a proper planning
before embarking on love journey. High time
for you to realize your true potentials. Plan and
enjoy a holiday, little hussle bussle might be
possible. The plot you were looking for can be
profitable from investment point of view. You
are likely to handle tough situations to solve
friends problem during this week.
AQUARIUS : New job opportunities for
some will be better than expected. The
company of family friends will keep
you in a happy & relaxed mood. You get some
financial rewards as dedication & hard work
gets noticed. Company of love partner would
inspire to take initiatives this week. You need to
develop selftrust to encourage yourself to fight
illness. Thinking of a holiday trip with differ
ence could bring difference to your budget. It is
better to try for your office accommodation as
soon as possible. You will be successful in
releasing yourself from the trap of hidden
enemies.
PISCES: You are likely to fail to achieve
targets at professional front. You need
to control your tongue otherwise it
could hurt the sentiments of your parents.
Desire to earn quick money invites financial
losses. Love works like a panacea as you find
sanity. Yoga and meditation would help in keep
ing in shape and mentally agile. You should
leave fire arms at home when traveling. Time to
think about your investment plans, as investing
residentially might be profitable. Timely help of
a close friend would enable to fail/defeat your
overt enemies in their nefarious designs.
Chandigarh, India: +91-172- 256 2832, 257 2874
Delhi, India: +91-11- 2644 9898, 2648 9899
psharma@premastrologer.com; www.premastrologer.com
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK
10th June, 2017
Governed by number 1 and the planet Sun, you
are original, attractive, warm hearted and philo
sophical in nature. You are admired by those
around you for your ability to take quick and
would be decided in your favour. For those unat
your tendency to behave quarrelsome, impatient
and shorttempered at times.
This year you will gain from your ability to do
smart business and you would also build up
excellent rapport with eminent people in public
and private sector. Favours from banks and
financial institutions would enable you to
streamline your present projects. New job oppor
tunities for those in service are quite imminent.
Romance and new alliances look likely for the
unattached. Elders and children in the family will
demand a lot of your attention. Health of your
spouse may cause concern and anxiety. Spiritual
gains for some later in the year. August,
November, January and May will be result ori
ented.
11th June, 2017
Influenced by number 2 and the Moon, you are
active, imaginative, simple, trustworthy and
impressive. You are fond of travelling to distant
places and learn more about different cultures
and people, but you need to check you tendency
to behave moody and highly unpredictable at
times. This year promises good and unyielding
returns. Take extra precautions before making
any major investments. Those involved in art,
writing and other creative professions should
expect recognition and monetary benefits.
Sudden help from an influential person will
bring a major boost to your career and prosperi
ty. Later in the year you are likely to get involved
in construction or designing activities for your
self or for others. Financially you would be in a
much better state and you would find your confi
dence and morale very high. Matrimonial
alliances for some around the yearend. Judicial
matters might not bring in the desired results,
therefore avoid getting involved in legal compli
cations. Children will be supportive and bring in
some happy and good news later in the year.
September, December, April and July will espe
cially prove to be significant.
12th June, 2017
Influenced by number 3 and the planet Jupiter.
You are ambitious, dignified, philosophical, and
religious. You are selfreliant and possess enor
mous leadership qualities and you like to take
your own decisions, but you need to check your
tendency to be jealous, over ambitious and self
centered at times.
This year improvement in your work atmos
phere would be there, giving you lot of job satis
faction. Sudden major monetary gains, either
from foreign transactions or a major govt. con
tract, cannot be ruled out. The later half of the
year could bring opportunities to travel overseas
for business as well as pleasure. Selective specu
lation will bring you gains. Some thumping news
expected from your children towards the last
quarter of the year. Some renovation, construc
tion and pilgrimage should also be carried out
this year. Meditation and yoga should be prac
ticed for spiritual as well as physical gains. The
months of November, January and June would be
highly eventful.
13th June, 2017
Ruled by number 4 and the planet Uranus.
You are bright, energetic, active, methodical and
systematic. You are fond of good, respectable
lifestyle and you specially enjoy building new
contacts and relationships, but you need to check
you tendency to behave stubborn, destructive
and vindictive at times.
This year new assignment and plans come
your way. Work pressure would increase and
June 10-16, 2017 29
specific time schedule would make you work
overtime. Financial gains and other rewards
would be plenty but working under extreme
stress levels would show on your health. Legal
matters that have been bothering your mind
tached romance would add a zing to their life.
Children would be interesting and a major
source of your happiness. For those who have
been unsuccessful in finding a life partner till
now should rejoice, as a matrimonial wedlock
seems later in the year. The months of October,
February and April will prove to be eventful.
14th June, 2017
Influenced by number 5 and the planet
Mercury. You are active, smart, confident, origi
nal, and highly independent individual. You are
loved by your friends and your parents take
enormous pride in you, but you need to check
your tendency to behave moody, introvert and
restless at times.
This year new alliances and partnerships
would bring in prosperity. Your confidence and
determination will be at its peak. Financial gains
as delayed payments and bad debts are recov
ered. Speculation in real estate and stocks will
prove to be profitable. Those at service might
face hectic period at work, because of the unpre
dictable behaviour of their boss. Your spouse
would be supportive to your concerns and pro
vide you with love and af fection. A budding
romance is on the horizon for some of you. A dis
tant trip cannot be ruled out for pilgrimage or
auspicious ceremonies. The month of July,
September, November and March seem to be
highly significant.
15th June, 2017
Influenced by number 6 and the planet Venus.
You are active, energetic, warmhearted, and are
fond of worldly pleasures. You are good at con
versation and you easily make friends because of
your helpful nature, but you need to check your
tendency to behave spendthrift and stubborn at
times.
This coming year good financial gains are fore
seen along with appreciation and plenty of
reward. Your stars seem favourable for building
new alliances and partnerships. Promotion and
transfers likely for some. Selective speculation
would be beneficial therefore be extra careful
not to squander hardearned money. Romantic
alliances likely for those unattached, others
would get tied into a matrimonial wedlock.
Distant journey, pilgrimage or foreign travel
later in the year. You are likely to be more
inclined towards religious and spiritual activities.
September, November, January and May will be
highly significant months.
16th June, 2017
Governed by number 7 and the planet
Neptune. You are simple, dignified, original,
dashing and confident. You possess remarkable
leadership qualities and blessed with strong
imagination and intuition, but you need to check
your tendency to behave extravagant, hypocrite
and stubborn at times.
This year friends and family members would
provide good support. Professionally things look
much better and you would move around with
new confidence and energy. A change for the
better in your business or career seems likely
later in year. Those involved in art, writing and
other creative profession should expect recogni
tion and monetary gains. Health would definitely
need more attention. Meditation and yoga should
be practiced for physical and spiritual gains.
Children will be supportive and bring in some
happy and good news. Pilgrimage or journey
would be high on your agenda. The months of
October, December, February and March will
especially bring in happiness and prosperity.
30 June 10-16, 2017
By Sant Rajinder
Singh Ji Maharaj
ome people drink alcohol
S and take drugs. In many
places of work, Friday is a
time in which people meet for
Happy Hour. There, they
engage in drinking to feel good.
There are numerous television
commercials for beer and wine,
depicting the happiness people
experience by drinking. In private
circles, people speak of how good
they feel when they get high on
drugs. There is a tremendous
drug culture in modern societies.
People seem to feel they cannot
be happy without alcohol or
drugs. But we all know that that
happiness is temporary and
comes at a high price.
They
p le s e e that d alcohol, th
may feel p e o
good for a When it h o u t drug so good. W
few min blissfu
lw
w e
utes, but ask us
how
ex p la in
later they
then
feel sick to
atu r al state
n
w th
their stom ho
ach. They explain ithin provid which outer
may get Wine w intoxication n give us.
addicted and h a n a ny
and alc
t taste with others, peo
require more
and more to
make them
maintain their
high. Drugs and alcohol lead to
impaired judgment and poor
motor skills, which in turn can
lead to deadly car accidents.
People turn to crime to get
money to buy drugs and alcohol.
This leads to people getting hurt
and those perpetrating the
crimes going to prison. In some
cases drugs and alcohol lead to
disease and death.
When people see that we are
happy and blissful without drugs
and alcohol, they ask us how we
can feel so good. We can then
explain that meditation gives us a lenges of life in a much more
natural state of intoxication. We
can explain how the sweet nectar
of the divine Wine within pro
vides more intoxication than any
intoxication which outer drugs
and alcohol can give us. We can
talk about how we get this divine
bliss within that lasts twentyfour ple. This makes people wonder
hours. There is no hangover.
There are no side effects. We do
not pass out or get sick. We do
not have to steal from anyone to
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Concluding part of the discourse 'Sharing the divine honey'
Meditation makes us
calmer, more balanced
ar e h appy a
we
s a n e ca n
c an feel tion gives u
th at medita ion. We can
to x ic at
of in f th e
e e t n ectar o xication
e sw o r e i nto
es m
o h o l ca
get ple will see the joy we experience
this bliss. We do
not have to cause car accidents
or commit crimes. Rather than
lowering our consciousness
through drugs and alcohol, we
are raising our consciousness to
spiritual heights and even attain
ing Godconsciousness. The joy
people see we have in our lives
will inspire them to also want to
partake of that sweet honey with get the sorrows of life and the
in. When people who see us med
itating notice a change in us, they
are also inspired to experience
the same change. They see that
meditation makes us calmer and
more balanced. They see that we
are able to deal with the chal
even manner. They see that even
though everyone goes through
the challenges of financial prob
lems, health problems, relation
ship difficulties, and other chal
lenges, we sail through them
much more easily than most peo
what secret we hold that helps us
face lifes struggles with more
fortitude.
Finally, when they see how
TheSouthAsianTimes.info
Message H. H. Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj
JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS
We often fall into the habit of misjudging others. We can be quick
to criticize or pass judgment without knowing the background of a
persons life or situation. It is remarkable how wrong we can be.
When we do not know why people act as they do, we jump to con
clusions. Someone might even be trying to help us or make things
better, yet instead of taking the time to ask why something is being
done, we berate them.
As we go about our work, we need to think twice before we criticize
or pass judgment on someone. When we dont know the whole
storythe motives or reasons a person has for doing somethingit
is better to take a few minutes to stop and ask about it. Many times,
we will find that the person is trying to do something helpful. We can
be so wrapped up in our own lives that we do not take the time to
find out more.
When a person criticizes someone, others tend to jump on the band
wagon to join in. Yet they do not know the situation either, and soon
many are spreading false information.
nd blissful and intoxicated we
It is better to resolve a problem right away, learn the situation, and
ey fix it before it escalates into something bigger and worse than what it
are without the use of
started out to be. We need to refrain from judging others. If we get
unnatural means such as
a drugs and alcohol, they too
caught up in doing this, then we have filled our minds with thoughts
s
want such happiness. Just
that are not true and that take us away from our own inner peace.
like the princess who saw
Whatever we do comes back to us, so we risk reaping the fruits of our
d iv i ne the joy that people had thoughts, words, and deeds, whether positive or negative. When we
when they tasted the
criticize others, we are bound to get the fruit of our actions, for we
g s have hurt them by our words.
dru sweetness of honey and
how they wanted to
To keep peace of mind in our daily life and to meditate with a calm
share that delicious
mind, it is beneficial to develop the habit of not jumping to conclu
sions lest we misjudge others. Instead, let us be loving and caring and
find out what the persons real story is. This will contribute to our
own inner peace and spread out to our environment and the world.
from meditation and they will
want to enjoy that as well.
I am reminded of a verse by THE ART OF MEDITATION
Sant Darshan Singh Ji Maharaj
The art of meditation is based on the fact that we are not the body,
which says:
but the soul that inhabits the body. Medical research on neardeath
Who has said that you must
experiences shows that people who have been declared clinically
drink in secret?
dead, but were revived, shared common experiences. After the
This is divine Wine that you
moment of their clinical death they found themselves traveling
must share with others.
through an inner tunnel to a region of light and love. They were met
While drinking this Nectar, for
at the end of the tunnel by a benevolent, radiant being. They
described the bliss they felt in the presence of that light, and they all
pains of the world.
talked about their reluctance to leave that joy, that bliss, to return to
And hum songs of beauty and
their physical body. This experience has been common to those who
love.
passed through the gates of death, whether they were adults or chil
We can appreciate what a
dren, whether they belonged to one religion or another.
blessing it is to have a Master
Some of the adults identified the light with the religious figure
and to receive the spiritual teach
prominent in their faith. The latest book on this subject describes the
ings from him. This is a valuable
neardeath experiences of children. The young people interviewed in
gift that actually is sent to us by
the book did not associate the light with any particular person.
God through the Masters. God
Because the children had not yet associated spiritual experiences
wants each of us to have the gift.
with any particular religious beliefs, they did not associate the loving
If we are lucky enough to receive
light with a particular personality. This mounting evidence, uncov
such a gift from a Master, we
ered by doctors and scientists, that there is another dimension of
should treasure it and put it to
existence, has become more and more accepted by our society.
use. We should make the best use
We do not have to wait for a physical calamity to have a neardeath
of the gift by spending time in
experience. Through the process of meditation we can learn an easy,
meditation. Let us enjoy the
simple, and safe method of separating our soul from the body and
divine honey of the Light and
traveling to other dimensions. By using a method to concentrate our
Sound within. Let us then travel
attention at a particular point, our soul can transcend our body and
on the divine nectar back to the
enter regions of bliss.(For more visit www.sos.org)
Lord.
TheSouthAsianTimes.info June 10-16, 2017
TheSouthAsianTimes.info June 10-16, 2017