The South Asian Times

e x c e l l e n c e

Vol.8 No. 44 March 12-18, 2016 80 Cents

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j o u r n a l i s m

New York Edition

Srinivasan vetted for

Supreme Court justice
Washington: In his search for a
replacement for the late conser
vative Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia, President Barack
Obama is focusing on a small
group of appellate court judges
with largely traditional creden
tials and a history of bipartisan
backing. Sri Srinivasan of the U.S.
Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia Circuit figures
prominently in that elite shortlist,
reports The Washington Post.
The choices suggest the White
House plans to challenge the
Republican Senate to block a
nominee who otherwise might
face a relatively easy confirma
tion if the fight weren't playing
out in an election year.
Many expect Obama to

Sri Srinivasan is among a few

candidates being vetted by
the White House.
announce his pick next week. The
court is currently split 44
between liberal and conservative
justices. He said he's looking for a
candidate with "humility," who

doesn't make policy from the

bench, and someone who recog
nizes the role judges play in pro
tecting minorities. Obama's top
tier of candidates include Judge
Sri Srinivasan, Merrick Garland,
chief judge on the same court as
Srinivasan, and Judge Paul
Watford of the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals, according to
news reports. Ketanji Brown
Jackson, a D.C. district court
judge, is also under consideration.
The judges' inclusion on the
short list was first reported by
National Public Radio, which also
named Judge Jane Kelly of the
8th Circuit Court of Appeals as a
finalist being interviewed by the
president.
If
confirmed,

Continued on page 4

Islamic State fighters

Islam hates us: Trump data authentic: Germany

Washington: Donald Trump says

he believes Islam hates us
and he isnt sure if that hatred is
held by Muslim extremists or the
religion itself.
The Republican frontrunner
presidential candidate told CNNs
Anderson Cooper on Wednesday
in an interview : T heres a
tremendous hatred there. We
have to get to the bottom of it.
Trump, who has called for a
temporary ban on Muslims enter
ing the US, was asked if the
hatred was in Islam itself?
Youre going to have to figure
that out, OK? Trump replied.
But there is a tremendous
hatred. And we have to be very
vigilant. We have to be very care
ful. And we cant allow people
coming into this country who
have this hatred of the United
States.
Cooper asked if there was a

CULTURE 15

Berlin: Thousands of files have sur

faced with personal data on mem
bers of the Islamic State group
documents that might help authori
ties track down and prosecute for
eign fighters who returned home
after joining the extremists, or iden
tify those who recruited them in the
first place.
Germany's federal criminal police
said Thursday they are in posses
sion of the files and believe they are

Donald Trump has been

endorsed by Ben Carson

Continued on page 4

war between the West and radi

cal Islam or Islam itself.
Its radical, but its very hard
to define, Trump said. Its very
hard to separate, because you
dont know whos who.
The brash billionaire, who just
got endorsed by Ben Carson who
has dropped out of the White
House race, pointed to the San

TRAVEL 18

Continued on page 4

BOOKS 25

German officials said they have

files containing personal data on
over 20,000 members of ISIS. (AP)

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30

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Despite aps,
ties with India
strong: US
Ahead of PM Modi's visit to the
US this month end for Nuclear
Security Summit, the two
countries have been working
together to achieve concrete
results in defense, trade
& investment and
nuclear energy.
By Arun Kumar
Washington: Despite a flap over
sale of F16 aircraft to Pakistan
and India's denial of visas to a US
commission on religious freedom,
the US says it has a strong rela
tionship with India, specifically
with the Narendra Modi govern
ment.
"No, I would actually disagree
w ith that," State Department
spokesperson John Kirby told
reporters Wednesday when asked
if the US was not having a smooth
ride with India in view of such
issues. "I think we have had and
we look forward to continuing to
have a good, strong relationship

with India writ large and with the

Modi government specifically," he
said.
"And there are a lot of common
issues, common challenges, com
mon threats, quite frankly, that we
and the Indian people face," Kirby
said.
"So no, I would absolutely not
characterize that at all," he said. "I
think we've got a good, honest,
candid, productive relationship
with the Modi government, and we
look forward to that continuing. In
fact, we look forward to it deepen
ing."
Asked whether issues surround
ing the landmark IndiaUS civil

Continued on page 4

India to launch 12 satellites for USA

New Delhi: India is set to launch 25 foreign satellites in 201617 using
the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV). While 12 of these belong to
the US, the remaining 13 belong to six countries Germany, Canada,
Algeria, Japan, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Replying to a question in Rajya Sabha, minister of state Jitendra
Singh on Thursday said, "The PSLV with its string of successful flights
has emerged as one of the most reliable launch vehicles in the world.
Till date, 57 foreign satellites from 21 countries have been successful
ly launched onboard PSLV, under the commercial arrangement
between Antrix Corporation and foreign clients."
Under the agreement signed between foreign clients and Antrix, the
commercial arm of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), India
Continued on page 4
will launch three satellites each of Algeria

excellence in journalism

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March 12-18, 2016

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TRISTATE COMMUNITY

March 12-18, 2016

South Asians form groups to support Trump

Washington: Republican presiden
tial frontrunner Donald Trump's
barbs against Muslims and immi
grants may have of fended many,
but there are a few people within
the same communities now root
ing for the billionaire.
Right after his victory in Nevada
caucuses, Mr Trump was quick to
aunt the support he got from
some Hispanic voters. Now he can
add Hindus for Trump, American
Sikhs for Trump and even
American Muslims for Trump to
his list.
While these groups in no way
reect the thinking of the wider
Hindu, Sikh or Muslim community
in the US, they are nevertheless
making headlines in the diaspora
media. T he Hindus for Trump
Facebook page, which has 500
"likes", has gone so far as to place

the business tycoon on the same

pedestal as some of the most
revered Hindu gods.
T hey have come out w ith a
poster where Mr Trump is seen
sitting in a yoga posture on a
lotus with the "Om" symbolan
uncanny resemblance to the
Hindu Gods Brahma and Vishnu.

A post on the group's Facebook

page appeals to Trump Haters:
"Donald Trump promises to Make
America Great Again. It means
more jobs, less warmongering,
protected borders, treasury sur
plus and a better life for LEGAL
Americans. He's going to win and
you are on the wrong side of

HAB BANK announces loans for

healthcare professionals

Garden City, NY: HAB BANK,

nations oldest and largest South
Asian American bank, hosted a din
ner for healthcare professionals at
Akbar Restaurant here. The event
was organized under the auspices of
K.K. Mehta, President & Senior
Partner of K.K. Mehta Associates.
Saleem Iqbal, President & CEO of
HAB BANK, we lcomed invited
guests and thanked K.K. Mehta for
cohosting the event with HAB. In
his presentation, Mr Iqbal highlight
ed the rich history and strengths of
HAB and announced HABs new
product solely targeted to health
care professionals especially doc
tors. HABs new Healthcare
Professional loan goes up to
$500,000 and can be used for vari
ous purposes including working
capital, equipment acquisition, and
Insurance premium nancing. Mr
Iqbal pointed out that the loan deci
sions are made within 72 hours
once the documentation require
ments are complete. He told the
guests that the Bank believes in
building longterm relationships
and has a wide range of products
and services such as online banking,
Remote Deposit Capture, Merchant
Services for businesses. He also
brought up the Banks Commercial
Real Estate loans designed to help

(from left) Rizwan Qureshi, SEVP HAB Bank, Saleem Iqbal, President HAB
Bank, K.K. Mehta, Senior President & Partner KK Mehta CPA PLLC, and
Zilay Wahidy, EVP HAB Bank.
investors acquire properties with
loans up to $5,000,000.
Mr. K.K. Mehta, in his remarks,
urged the guests to consider mov
ing to HAB Bank and establishing
their relationship. However, he clar
ied that in order to maintain
integrity and independence, neither
he, nor his rm, KK Mehta CPA
PLLC, enters into any alliance with
third party organizations. The atten
dees should evaluate their banking
needs on their own. KK Mehta CPA
PLLC is a full service accounting,
tax and consulting rm serving the
New York Metropolitan region since
1978.
HABs management team in atten
dance included Rizwan Qureshi,
SEVP, Zilay Wahidy, EVP, Nasir
Khan, SVP, Kamal Puri, Branch

Manager
Jackson
Heights,
Mehmood Syed, Senior Business
Development Ofcer, Danial Tariq,
Manager Hicksville Branch, Ismail
Ahmed, Manager Richmond Hill
Branch, Girish Vazirani, Manager
Iselin Branch, and Moazam Ali,
Hicksville Branch.
HAB BANK was founded in 1983
and no has branches in New York,
New Jersey and California. T he
Banks core products are
Commercial Real Estate Mortgages,
International Trade Services, US
Small Business Loans and a well
designed commercial banking prod
ucts and services for small to medi
um sized businesses. The Bank also
has a wide range of consumer prod
ucts and services including personal
checking, savings, and CDs.

History." The Hindu American

Foundation, a nonprot, says
they have received several com
plaints about the depiction of Mr
Trump as a Hindu deity.
"We have tweeted our concerns
to this group but haven't heard
back from them," says Jay
Kansara, director of government
relations at the foundation, who
notes that they do not endorse
any candidate.
It's estimated that there are
almost 2.5 million Hindus living in
the United States.
A few New Jerseybased Indian
Americans have launched a politi
cal act ion committee named
IndianAmericans For Trump
2016. Many of those who have
migrated to the US from the India
have tradit ionally supported
Democrats but often it's the candi

date and not the party ideology

that attracts them.
George W Bush had one of the
highest approval ratings amongst
Indians because of his strong sup
port for the USIndia nuclear deal.
Mr Trump has advocated "a
total and complete shutdown of
Muslims entering the United
States until our country's repre
sentatives can gure out what is
going on".
The comment drew worldwide
criticism, but the group American
Muslims for Trump says it was
"highly exaggerated and used out
of context".
T he g roup's founder, Sajid
Tarar, a Pakistani American, says
he fully supports Trump's sugges
tions on nding a strong vetting
mechanism for refugees coming

Continued on page 4

Indian American boy

in fray for $100,000
'Child Genius' prize
Washington:
An
Indian
American boy, with his terric
memory skills and mathematical
abilities, is all set to lock horns
with two other nalists in the
second season of Lifet ime
Television's competition "Child
Genius: Battle of the Brightest", a
media report said.
Nineyearold Arnav Krishna
from New York stands a chance
to win a whopping $100,000
college fund and the title of
Child Genius 2016, the
American Bazaar reported on
Wednesday.
The winner of the competition
was to be declared Thursday
night.
Arnav's mother Seema Krishna
is a marketing executive, and
father Vijay Krishna works as a
nancial services executive. The
Lifetime Television cited Arnav
as someone "w ith an eye to
becoming an architect and a
mathematician when he is older"
and as one who is always inquis
itive and bears a researcher's
instinct.
"Arnav is off to a good start

Arnav Krishna is
from New York.
(Image courtesy: mylifetime.com)
w ith successive rankings in
national math competitions,"
Lifetime Television was quoted
as saying.
The competition now in its
second year, created in coopera
tion with the American Mensa
a standardized intelligence test,
takes place over ten weeks and
tests the nat ion's brig htest
young minds on their knowledge
in categories such as math,
spelling, geography, and current
events.

March 12-18, 2016

Despite flaps, ties with ...

Continued from page 1
nuclear deal would be resolved during Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Washington
for the nuclear security summit later this
month, Kirby said he didn't have "anything spe
cific" on the issue.
"Obviously, we're very much looking forward
to that and to our ability to participate in it. But
I don't have anything specific with the Indian
civil nuclear programme to discuss today," he
said.
The Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar's
who Wednesday concluded a four day visit to
Washington to review IndiaUS bilateral rela
tions ahead of Modi's visit "talked about a wide
range of bilateral and regional issues" with US
officials.
Jaishankar met with Deputy Secretary of
State Antony Blinken and many other officials,
and discussed "the full range of issues in the
USIndia relationship were discussed econom
ic, political, security," Kirby said.
Asked whether counterterrorism and the
sale of F16 aircraft to Pakistan in the face of
India's strong objections was discussed, the
of ficial repeated that "they discussed a wide
range to include security issues" but declined to
give a detailed readout.
"I can scarcely think of a time when we
haven't sat down with our Indian friends that
we didn't talk about counterterrorism," Kirby
added. He again declined "to get into great
detail" whether India's denial of visas to the US
Commission On Internat ional Re lig ious
Freedom was discussed.
"We had good, productive talks about a wide
range of issues facing both our countries as we
continue to try to deepen this relationship and
deal with very common challenges," Kirby said.
"As for the commission and the visas, we've
made our concerns known at various levels," he
said. "So we've not been bashful or shy about
(IANS)
stating our disappointment.

Srinivasan vetted for...

Continued from page 1
Srinivasan, 49, would be the first Indian
American and first Hindu on the Supreme
Court.
He is not only considered a favourite of
Obama, who called him a trailblazer, but also
his nomination was confirmed by a record 970
votes, which is a no mean achievement given
the bitter political divide in the American

TURN PAGE
Senate. Srinivasan was swornin as judge of the
secondmost powerful court of the US on
September 26, 2013, making him the first
IndianAmerican to be on the bench of the US
Courts of Appeal for the District of Columbia
Circuit.
Retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day
O'Connor has called Srinivasan "fair, faultless
and fabulous."
Srinivasan's mother is from Chennai and
father was from Tirunelveli. His parents came
to the US in the 1960s, returned to India, and
(AP)
then returned to Kansas in 1971.

Islam hates us: Trump

Continued from page 1
Bernardino, Calif., terrorists as proof of the dif
ficulty. These two young people that got mar
ried, she supposedly radicalized him, Trump
said. The bottom line is they killed 14 people
that gave them baby showers. I mean they were
friends of theirs, so they walked in then they
killed them. Theres an unbelievable hatred.
You look at Paris, 138 people killed, many,
many people going to die in the hospital, mor
tally wounded, horribly wounded, um, horribly
wounded. And they walk into a room and boom,
boom, boom. Theres, theres a sickness going
on thats unbelievable.
T he spokesman for the Council on
AmericanIslamic Relations (CAIR), the coun
trys largest Muslim advocacy group, con
demned Trumps comments.
These remarks are completely outrageous,
Ibrahim Hooper, CAIRs national communica
tions director, told Yahoo News. They endan
ger the lives of ordinary American Muslims.
Every day, were receiving reports of assaults
and threats against Muslim American citizens
due to the unprecedented rise of antiMuslim
rhetoric. Trump, who had also called for U.S.
military to go after the families of terrorists
and bring back waterboarding, said last week
that he understands the United States is bound
by laws and "would not order our military or
other officials to violate those laws.
But Trump denied he had changed his posi
tion. "I didnt reverse anything, he told Cooper.
We have to play the game at a much tougher
level than were playing it now. We have to
(Yahoo News)
expand those laws.

Islamic State fighters data...

Continued from page 1
authentic. T he announcement came after

Chairman and Co-Founder

Kamlesh C. Mehta

Associate Editors:
Hiral Dholakia-Dave

Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Ashok Ojha

President: Arjit Mehta

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Britain's Sky News reported it had obtained

22,000 Islamic State files that detail the real
names of fighters for the group, where they
were from, their telephone numbers, and even
names of those who sponsored and recruited
them.
In a joint report, Germany's Sueddeutsche
Zeitung newspaper in Munich and broadcasters
WDR and NDR reported independently Monday
they had obtained "many dozens" of pages of
such documents itself.
"This is a huge database there are moare
than something like 22,000 names, so this is
very, very important," said Dalia Ghanem
Yazbeck, a research analyst at the Carnegie
Middle East Center.
She said the files would "definitely" help
international security services, including those
in Arab countries, to confirm the identities of
those who have already left to fight for the
Islamic State, to discover the identities of new
fighters, and to help them in identifying those
who return home from Syria and Iraq.
Sky said the files, obtained at the border
between Turkey and Syria, were passed to them
on a memory stick stolen from the head of the
Islamic State's internal security police by a for
mer fighter who had grown disillusioned with
the group.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung and the German broad
casters reported they also had obtained the
files on the TurkeySyria border, where they
said Islamic State files and videos were widely
available from antiIS Kurdish fighters and
members of IS itself.
The documents highlight the bureaucratic
work of the highly secretive extremist group
that has spread fear through its brutal killings
and deadly attacks in its selfdeclared caliphate
of Syria and Iraq, as well as in places like
France, Turkey, Lebanon, Yemen and Libya.
The information could help the U.S.led coali
tion that is fighting the Islamic State group by
aiding in a crackdown on the extremists' for
eign fighter networks, said U.S. Army Col. Steve
Warren, a spokesman for the coalition.
(Source: AP)

India to launch 12 satellites ...

Continued from page 1
and Canada, four of Germany, one each of
Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan and 12 of the
United States in 201617. In the last three
years, ISRO launched 28 foreign satellites
belonging to nine countries. (The Times of India)

Mallya didn't flee from

India, has faith in judiciary

he Member of Parliament
Vijay Mallya on Friday said
that he did not abscond
from India and has full faith in
the country's judicial system.
Mallya in a series of tweets said:
"I am an international business
man. I travel to and from India
frequently. I did not ee from
India and neither am I an
absconder. Rubbish."
Rubbishing the media reports
that the United Breweries group
chairman had ed from the
country and was stay ing in
London, Mallya said that he has
full faith in Indian judicial sys
tem and and as a parliament
member he "respects and will
comply with the law of the land."

Continued from page 3

South Asians form groups..

from countries like Syria. "I am an
American myself and I believe it
should be about (putting) America
rst," he says. "I am not in favor of
anybody coming here and doing
things against America."
Similar sentiments are echoed by
Jesse Singh, who has founded the
group American Sikhs for Trump.
Mr Sing h is the chair of the
Maryland Governor's Association
on South Asian Affairs. He and Mr
Tarar hosted a meeting with a
Trump campaign representative
recently in Maryland. He says
Trump has never opposed legal
migration and has businesses all
over the world, including India.
"I think he understands different
cultures and dif ferent countries
better than any other candidate in
the race," says Mr Singh.Both Mr
Singh and Mr Tarar realize the
larger Sikh and Muslim communi
ties don't agree with their views.
But they hope that if Mr Trump is
the Republican nominee, they may
Courtesy BBC
warm up to him.

Jaipur (India) Bureau

Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info

IANS Washington Bureau

Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in

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March 12-18, 2016

TRISTATE COMMUNITY

USIBC invests over $15 bn in Modis India

$27 bn more expected in next two years
New Delhi: USIndia Business
Council chairman John Chambers,
Executive Chairman Cisco, and
USIBCs immediate past Chairman
Ajay Banga, President & CEO of
MasterCard has concluded USIBC
Chairmans Mission to India that
had kicked of f at the inaugural
Make in India Week in Mumbai.
The discussions focused on grow
ing the U.S.India trade relationship
exponentially. The delegation held
meet ings w ith Indias Prime
Minister Narendra Modi, Defense
Minister Manohar Parrikar, Power
Minister Piyush Goyal, Commerce
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, IT
Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad,
Minister of State for Finance Jayant
Sinha, And hra Pradesh Chie f
Minister Chandra Babu Naidu,
Foreign Secretary Dr. Jaishankar,
and U.S. Ambassador Richard
Verma.
USIBC Chairman and Ciscos

High powered business delegation led by USIBC Chairman John

Chambers including Councils immediate past Chairman Ajay Banga,
Vice Chair Ed Monser and President Dr. Mukesh Aghi meets PM Modi to
explore new opportunities for U.S.India relationship
Execut ive
Chairman
John
Chambers said, Both countries
have a huge opportunity to scale
bilateral trade exponentially in the
coming years. Over the last 40
years USIBC has built a strong
foundation in engaging US busi
ness in India and we are excited to
take the USIndia business relation

India les complaint

to WTO over US Visa
fee hike for tech
workers
Geneva: India has filed a complaint to the World
Trade Organization against the United States
over its measures raising fees on some applicants
for temporary work visas, mostly involving the
tech sector, the Associated Press reported.
The Genevabased body said Mar. 4 that India
has notified it has started dispute proceedings
alleging the U.S. measures are not consistent with
Washington's commitments to accept services
from other countries.
In its request for consultation, India alleges the
U.S. had increased fees for temporary visas in
December, officials said. It argues that as a result,
some Indians receive unfair treatment compared
with Americans in the United States in providing
similar services in sectors like computer services.
India in effect is seeking consultations with the
U.S. The WTO will make further information
available in the coming days.
Andrew Bates, spokesperson for the U.S. trade
representative, confirmed the U.S. had received
the request for consultations.
We are confident that the United States' visa
program, which was recently updated on a bipar
tisan basis by Congress, is fully consistent with
our WTO obligations,'' he said.

ship to the next level. I also want to

recognize the great work done by
Ajay Banga as the outgoing chair
man of USIBC.
USIBCs
immediate
past
Chairman and President and CEO
of MasterCard, Ajay Banga said,
U.S.India relations and Indias
business climate are both getting

stronger and better. The opportu

nity for USIBC to act as a catalyst
for greater investment in Indias
future has therefore never been
greater. We have a lot to look for
ward to as our new Chairman, John
Chambers, instills deeper commit
ment from both sides to growing
the bilateral commercial relation
ship, which is such a critical part of
the relationship between these two
great nations.
USIBC President Dr. Mukesh Aghi
added, The reforms undertaken by
India in the last two years under
Prime Minister Modis leadership
are resonating very well with the
U.S. companies. In a recent USIBC
survey, about 20% of our member
companies confirmed that have
already invested over $15 billion in
India ever since Prime Minister
Modi assumed of fice. Within this
and the next year, we expect more
than $27 billion to be invested

additionally by at least 52 U.S.

companies in India.
Dr. Aghi further added, We com
mend Indias rise in the ease of
doing business index. USIBC mem
bers are buoyed by the direction of
reforms undertaken by PM Modis
government in the last two years
that
include
fasttracking
approvals, the transparent auction
of key natural resources, and creat
ing a leve l play ing fie ld for
investors, which has led to growth
in investments.
USIBC has reorganized its policy
groups to address the priorities
outlined by PM Modi, with a strong
focus on growing manufacturing
ties.
During our discussions, we
emphasized on next steps to boost
investor confidence through a
robust IP policy, providing greater
clarity on certain FDI regulations,
as well as implementing the GST.

Deli manager sues NYPD for false arrest

New York: An Indian American deli manag
er in New York, Jayendra Baldevbhai, has
sued the New York Police Department
(NYPD) for wrongful arrest, after he was
arrested for allegedly selling fake Burberry
umbrellas, which was eventually thrown
out in court for not being the case.
Baldevbhai, a Nolita deli manager, was
arrested for selling the fake Burberry
umbrellas even though the Tartan plaid
pattern and packaging were dramatically
dif ferent from the tony British brand, a
new Manhattan federal lawsuit alleges,
reported the New York Daily News.
Baldevbhai was working at Spring Mart,
located at Mott and Spring Sts. on May 20,
2015 when several plainclothes of ficers
walked into the shop and meandered
around for some 30 minutes, scrutinizing
the stores many items.
Among the items was an umbrella with a
black, red, and gray Tartan plaid print, sold
under the prominentlyaf fixed label
Conch Umbrellas America Corp,' court
papers say. The classic Burberry umbrella,
on the hand, features a light tan, dark tan,
light brown and dark brown pattern, the
suit says. Burberry umbrellas also do not
feature a label reading CONCH UMBREL
LAS AMERICA CORP, Baldevbhais lawyer
noted. They see the umbrellas near the
door, Baldevbhai told The News. They

Jayendra
Baldevbhai holds
an umbrella which
cops alleged was a
Burberry fake
(Photo courtesy:
nydailynews.com)

were checking the umbrellas onebyone.

One of the cops put the umbrella on the
counter and asked Baldevbhai the cost.
I said $7.99,' Baldevbhai explained. He
said, Youre under arrest.'
When he learned why he was being
arrested, Baldevbhai protested, Im not
selling the Burberry. Im selling the Conch
umbrellas. The of ficer just basically
ignored all my answers, he added, report
ed the Daily News. The cops did not have a
warrant, but did carry an affidavit from a
Burberry rep stating the company did hold
a trademark for a specific Tartan plaid pat
tern. It did not single out the pattern on the
umbrella sold at Spring Mart, the suit con
tends. While Burberry had held a trade
mark on a Tartan pattern with black, red

and gray, it lapsed in October 2014, the

lawsuit claims. T he cops nonetheless
cuffed the Queens fatherofthree in front
of shoppers and coworkers.
Baldevbhai was charged with third
degree trademark counterfeiting a mis
demeanor but after three court appear
ances, the Manhattan District Attorney
dropped the charge.
Baldevbhais lawyer, Samuel Cohen, said
they hope the lawsuit prevents others from
experiencing similar arrests. In a state
ment, the city Law Department said, The
allegations will be reviewed, and we will
not comment before all the facts are in.
The Indian American manager has now
sued the NYPD over what he says was a
false arrest.

March 12-18, 2016

TRISTATE COMMUNITY

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

IN BRIEF

Indian Consulate in NY to host

Mumbai sculptors art exhibition

he Consulate General of India, New

York has announced "Coming Alive
2016" an exhibition of sculptures
by award winning ceramic sculptor artist
Ms Neelkanti Patekar.
Mrs. Patekar, is a self taught ceramic
sculptor from Mumbai.
Mrs. Patekar uses the art of sculpting to
express emotions like love, wa
r and relationships, things we all feel
and experience in our everyday life.
Mrs. Pataker's sculptures will be exhib
ited in the ballroom of Consulate General
of India. The exhibition will be inaugurat
ed on March 17th and will continue to be
displayed till March 28.

Consul General, P Harish and Mrs. Nandita Parvathaneni attended as chief guests at the
Telugu Bhavanam Banquet Dinner supported by Telugu Cultural Association (TCA) and
Telugu Association of Greater Houston (TAGH) at India House Houston on March 5. In
photo, Consul General (center) receiving a plaque by Houston Telugu organizations for
his outstanding community support as Mrs. Nandita Parvathaneni (right) and other
Telugu Bhavanam members look on.

India in list of most vulnerable

nations to cyber attacks

One of Neelkanti Patekars artworks

SFO's rath yatra enters 50th year

he 50th Annual San Francisco

Ratha Yatra Parade will be organ
ized on August 14.
The Festival of Chariots (Ratha Ya
tra festival) involves an interactive pa
rade with people pulling three large
chariots by ropes throughout Golden
Gate Park. It also includes free vegetar
ian feast, live music, ancient Indian
dances, etc.
This parade is organized by Interna
tional Society for Krishna Conscious

ness (ISKCON) Berkeley (New Jagan

natha Puri).
Rath Yatra is said to be the oldest
known parade in the world and it is be
lieved that pullers of this Lord Jagan
nathas chariot receive immense spiri
tual benefit. Popularized outside India
by ISKCON founder A.C. Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada, this annual parade
festival has reportedly been held annu
ally in over 100 cities around the world
since 1967.

Seven Indian Americans crack

Forbes worlds richest people list

t least seven Indian Americans were

named among the 1,810 individuals
on Forbes Worlds Billionaires

List.
The 30th annual list released March 1
had a familiar name at the top, with Bill
Gates and his $75 billion net worth claim
ing the top spot for the 17th time in 22
years. The aggregate worth of the billion
aires on the list is $6.48 trillion, down
from $7.05 trillion last year.
Symphony Technology Group founder
and chairman Romesh T. Wadhwani had
the highest net worth among Indian
Americans on the list. Ranking at No. 612
overall, Wadhwani boasts a total net
worth of $2.8 billion.
Bharat Desai and his wife Neerja Sethi
Desai founded IT consulting and out
sourcing company Syntel in their apart
ment in Troy, Mich., in 1980. They turned
it into a multimillion dollar operation and
now have a net worth of $2.6 billion and
are No. 688 on the list.
At No. 906 on the Forbes list is John
Kapoor with his $2.1 billion net worth.
Kapoor, 72, made his wealth in healthcare.
He is the chairman and majority owner at
drug companies Akorn and Insys Thera
peutics.

India airline IndiGo cofounder Rakesh

Gangwal made his first appearance on the
list. The 63yearold Miami, Fla., resident
has a net worth of $1.9 billion and slides
in at No. 959 on the list.
Kavitark Ram Shriram made his $1.85
billion with Google and as a venture capi
talist. The 59yearold has been investing
in earlystage tech firms and has remained
on Googles board since 1998 when it was
founded. He is No. 1011 on the list.
Vinod Khosla, 61, partner at Khosla
Ventures comes in at No. 1198 on the
worlds richest list. The Indian American
has raked in his $1.51 billion as a venture
capitalist for two decades, first at VC firm
Kleiner Perkins before starting his own
firm in 2004.
Brian Sheth, 40, of Austin, Texas, co
founded Vista Equity Partners in 2000
and is the firms president. Since then,
Sheth has racked up a net worth of $1.1
billion and slides in at No. 1577 on the
list. Additionally, he helped boost in net
worth by buying and fixing up a lessthan
glamorous collection of enterprise soft
ware companies.
The U.S. had the most billionaires on the
list, with 540, more than double the next
country, China, which had 251.

Washington: When it comes to vulnerabil

ity to cyber attacks, India along with Chi
na, Russia, Saudi Arabia and South Korea is
most vulnerable, says research led by an
IndianAmerican scientist.
While the US is ranked 11th safest of 44
nations studied, several Scandinavian
countries like Denmark, Norway and Fin
land were ranked the safest in the book au
thored by V.S. Subrahmanian, professor of
computer science at the University of
Maryland.
Our goal was to characterise how vul
nerable different countries were, identify
their current cyber security policies and
determine how those policies might need
to change in response to this new informa
tion, said Subrahmanian, with the Univer
sity of Maryland Institute for Advanced
Computer Studies (UMIACS).

Damaging cyber attacks on a global scale

continue to surface every day. Some na
tions are better prepared than others to
deal with online threats from criminals,
terrorists and rogue nations.
Subrahmanian discussed the findings at
a panel discussion hosted by the Founda
tion for Defense of Democracies in Wash
ington on Wednesday.
The authors conducted a twoyear study
that analysed more than 20 billion auto
matically generated reports, collected from
four million machines per year worldwide.
The researchers based their rankings, in
part, on the number of machines attacked
in a given country and the number of times
each machine was attacked.
Trojans, followed by viruses and worms,
posed the principal threats to machines in
the US.

Three Indian Americans Among 26

of the Top Women Engineers

hree Indian Americans were among

the top women engineers recognized
in a Business Insider piece.
The Business Insider Feb. 24 piece on the
Most Powerful Women Engineers of 2016
was released in the midst of National Engi
neer's Week, Feb. 21 through Feb. 27. The
list was generated to give a "shoutout to the
female engineers with powerful careers who
are leading important technologies at their
companies or being pioneers in other ways."
Oracle's Vinita Paunikar, Affirm's Trisha
Kothari and Intel's Sumita Basu were recog
nized in the Business Insider list.
Paunikar was the highest ranked of the In
dian Americans, coming in at No. 14. She is
a vice president at Oracle and is responsible
for release management of products and
services. She created a releasemanagement
team that has launched 200 products across
more than 20 lines, according to the piece.
A graduate of Visvesvaraya National Insti
tute of Technology in Maharashtra, Paunikar
has also worked on several of Oracle's main
stay products, including its flagship systems
management solution, Enterprise Manager

Cloud Control, now also the coremanage

ment platform for Oracle's cloud services.
Kothari is making a name for herself at the
young age of 23. She is currently a software
engineer at San Franciscobased Affirm and
lands at No. 20 on the list. She is the first fe
male engineer at the financialtechnology
startup which was cofounded and led by
former PayPal cofounder Max Levchin.
"Trisha was instrumental in building the
core aspects of a financial platform that
powers everything we do," Affirm's COO,
Huey Lin, said in the Business Insider piece.
Before joining Affirm, Kothari did several
internships at Google and LinkedIn. She also
earned a Google Anita Borg scholarship and
one from Microsoft, and is a member of the
highIQ organization Mensa. She is a gradu
ate of Dhirubhai Ambani International
School and the University of Pennsylvania.
Basu, a strategist and technical assistant to
the Intel vice president and general manag
er, came in at No. 26 on the list.
Her position at Intel, where she has been
since 2002 in various roles, has her running
the technical group for client computing.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

March 12-18, 2016

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

$50,000 Harold W. McGraw Jr.

UC Berkeley law dean
Sujit Choudhry on leave Prize for edX CEO Anant Agarwal
after harassment suit
California: Ofcials at
supervisors, they rst
the University of
failed
to
stop
California at Berkeley
Choudhry, and then
said Wednesday night
tried to retaliate.
the dean of their presti
University Executive
gious law school is tak
Vice Chancellor and
ing an indenite leave
Provost Claude Steele
of absence from his
said in a statement
position after he was
Wednesday night that
sued for sexual harass
Choud hry w ill be
ment by his former
stepping down to his
execut ive assistant,
faculty position and
who claims he made
salary.
inappropriate
A thorough investi
Sujit Choudhry
advances toward her, (Photo courtesy: rollingorange.com) g at ion of this case
Washington
Post
found that Dean
reported. T he complaint was led Choudhrys behavior in this situation
Tuesday against Berkeley Law Dean violated policy, Steele said, and that he
Sujit Choudhry and the University of demonstrated a failure to understand
California Board of Regents, claiming the power dynamic and the effect of his
sexual harassment and retaliation, actions on the plaintiff personally and in
among other actions.
her employment.
Tyann Sorrell, the former executive
Based on the ndings of the investiga
assistant, claims in the lawsuit that from tion I believed that a combination of dis
September 2014 to March 2015, ciplinary actions, monitoring of his
Choudhry sexually harassed her rub behavior and formal training would be
bing her shoulders and arms, kissing her an appropriate and ef fective response,
cheeks and giving her bear hugs that and would pro duce the necessary
pressed her body against him, according changes in his behavior.
to court documents.
Choudhry has not yet spoken publicly
Sorrell claims that when she told about the allegations against him.

Washington, DC: Anant Agarwal, Indian

American chief executive ofcer of edX, is
among the three winners of the 2016 Harold
W. McGraw Jr. Prize in Education.
The winners, which also included Miami
Dade School District superintendent Alberto
M. Carvalho and Afg han Inst itute of
Learning chief executive Sakena Yacoobi,
were announced March 3.
A panel of 19 jurors chose the three nal
ists in the K through 12 category, the higher
education section and in the international
education category.
"These three winners are extraordinary
educational leaders who will inspire the next
generation of learners around the world,"
said former chairman and CEO of T he
McGrawHill Companies Harold ( Terry)
McGraw III in a statement. "We are proud to
have them join the other illustrious recipi
ents of the McGraw Prize in Education."
The prize, founded in 1988, honors inno
vation and recognizes outstanding individu
als who have dedicated themse lves to
improving education through new approach
es and whose accomplishments are making a
difference today. The winners will receive a
$50,000 award and a bronze sculpture.
"Anant, Alberto, and Sakena have changed
the lives of millions of students," president
and CEO of McGrawHill Education David
Levin said. "Their accomplishments and
innovation should be lauded and shared with
others who are working to make a dif fer
ence around the world." In addition to edX,

IndianAmerican leads research

team against Clinton, Sanders
Washington, DC: As US presiden
tial election gathers steam, a young
IndianAmericanled research team
is set to bring two separate
dossiers on Hillary Clinton and
Bernie
Sanders,
the
two
Democratic Party frontrunners,
that would raise serious questions
on their candidature.
The voluminous dossier against
Clinton is based on publicly avail
able resources and hundreds of
petitions led under the freedom of
information act (FOIA) similar to
India's Right to Information Act
which have been compiled by the
Republican Party research team
headed by 31yearold Raj Shah.
"What we are seeing, a candidate
(Clinton) after decades of living in a
bubble, whether secret service pro
tection, living in highend man
sions and nice fundraiser with elite
crowd seems to be out of touch and
out of step with the struggles of
middleincome voters," Shah told
PTI in an interview.
A graduate of the prestigious
Corne ll University, Shah, was
appointed as research director of
Republican National Committee
(RNC) by its chair Reince Priebus
last February. Shah exuded con

Raj Shah
(Photo: Twitter/rajshah84)
dence that the Clinton dossier now
almost ready would raise serious
questions about her candidature.
Questions about her "character"
and "honesty" would keep on lin
gering, he said, referring to the
documents that is now in his pos
session and would be nally hand
ed over to the Republican presiden
tial nominee, whenever it is decid
ed.
"Somebody who has lived the

way she has for so many years,

cannot possibly understand the
strugg les of middle class
Americans," Shah said, adding, "her
failures dramatically outweigh the
accomplishments."
"Her record as Secretary of State,
when you scratch the surface, there
is a whole lot of vulnerability there,
whether it is foreign policy,
whether you look at actions of
Russia, look at chaos in the Middle
East, Libya and other places."
"Then, there is how she handled
managing State Department in par
ticular secret email server that has
got her into hot water," Shah
alleged.
Refusing to divulge details of the
dossier, Shah indicated that
Clinton's term in the State
Department would be one of the
main focus areas to attack the for
mer First Lady.
Shah said a similar dossier is
ready for Sanders, the Senator
from
Vermont,
the
other
Democratic presidential candidate.
"Our primary mission in the cam
paign is to make the case that
Clinton and Sanders can take the
country further down the wrong
direction," he said. (PTI)

Anant Agarwal
(Photo: edx.org)
Agarwal is an MIT professor. He was the
recipient of the U.S. Higher Education prize
as an outstanding leader in the development
of the Massive Open Online Course move
ment, which has helped make possible the
education of millions of students around the
world.
A graduate of IIT Madras and Stanford
University where he received a bachelor's in
electrical and electronics engineering and a
doctorate in electrical engineering and com
puter science, respectively, Agarwal has
founded a number of companies, including
Virtual Machine Works Inc., InCert Software,
Determina Inc. and Tilera Corporation. He
also served as the director of MIT's comput
er science and articial intelligence lab.
The award winners will be recognized at
the ASU GSV Education Innovation Summit
in San Diego, Calif., April 19.

Sikhs raise $400,000

to campaign about
their religion in US
Washington, DC: Sikhs in the US state of California have
raised a record $ 400,000 for a national media campaign
to generate awareness among Americans about their reli
gion in the backdrop of increasing hate crimes against the
community. This is the rst time, Sikhs have raised this
amount of money to spread the awareness about their faith
in America. Previous record is of $ 90,000 in NSC's Los
Angeles Gala last year.
At a fund raising gala in San Francisco Bay Area, televi
sion advertisements created by AKPD, former President
Obama's campaign media team, were unveiled, a statement
said. Last year, National Sikh Campaign had hired the serv
ices of AKPD and Hart Research Associates which is headed
by Geoff Garin, Hillary Clinton's former chief strategic advi
sor, to develop the messaging and framework of these
advertisements.
"This is a historic moment in the history of the Sikh com
munity in America. Never before have we had the opportu
nity to tell our story to our fellow Americans around the
country and that time has come now," said Kaval Kaur,
national charter member of NSC and host of the event.
Among the attendees were prominent Sikh entrepre
neurs, leading Silicon Valley IT professionals, Medical doc
tors, owners of trucking companies and ofcials of all gurd
waras in the area. "We, Sikhs, need to change the narrative
and present the correct image of who we are, showcasing
how we are totally integrated in the American society and
not only as victims," said Rajwant Singh, cofounder of
National Sikh Campaign, who presented the overview of the
campaign and appealed to the audience to donate for the
(PTI)
cause.

March 12-18, 2016

Teen gets 2
years probation
for attacking
Sikh man
New York: A US teenager, charged with hate
crime after he brutally assaulted a Sikh man
last year and called him a "terrorist" and "bin
Laden", has been sentenced to two years'
probation and ordered to perform communi
ty service for the Sikh community.
The 17yearold, whose name was not
released, had pleaded guilty in December
last year to hitting Inderjit Singh Mukker,
53, of Darien, Illinois in a traffic altercation
on September 8, just days before the 9/11
anniversary.
DuPage County State's Attorney Robert
Berlin announced that the Willowbrook teen
has been sentenced to two years of proba
tion by the juvenile court.
Besides probation, he was also ordered to
perform 200 hours of community service,
part of which must be serving the Sikh com
munity, pay over $4,800 in restitution and
undergo counseling as deemed necessary by
the Probation Department.
"My of fice has zero tolerance for crimes
based on hatred or prejudices. Not only have
the defendant's outrageous actions on
September 8, taken an emotional, physical
and even financial toll on Mukker that con
tinues to this very day, his actions also have
shaken the entire community," Berlin said.

NATIONAL COMMUNITY

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Indianorigin scientist discovers

'better graphene'
New York: An Indianorigin scientist has
developed a new one atomthick flat mate
rial that could upstage the wonder materi
al graphene for having properties allow
ing it to be used in advance digital technol
ogy.
Discovered by Madhu Menon, physicist
at the University of Kentucky , the new
material is made up of silicon, boron and
nitrogen all light, inexpensive and abun
dant elements. The material is stable, a
property many other graphene alterna
tives lack.
"We used simulations to see if the bonds
would break or disintegrate it didn't hap
pen. We heated the material up to 1,000
degree celsius and it still didn't break,"
said Menon, physicist in the center for
computational sciences. The discovery is
reported in a paper in Physical Review B.
Using stateoftheart theoretical compu
tations, Menon and his collaborators
demonstrated that by combining the three
elements, it is possible to obtain a one
atomthick, truly 2D material with proper
ties that can be finetuned to suit various
applications beyond what is possible with

Physicist Madhu Menons discovery

opens new chapter in material science
(Photo: University of Kentucky website)
graphene. Menon's colleagues were Ernst
Richter from Daimler in Germany and
Antonis Andriotis from Institute for
Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) in
Greece. While graphene is touted as being
the world's strongest material with many
unique properties, it has one downside: it
isn't a semiconductor and therefore disap

points in the digital technology industry.

The three elements forming the new
material all have different sizes; the bonds
connecting the atoms are also different.
As a result, the sides of the hexagons
formed by these atoms are unequal, unlike
in graphene.
The new material is metallic but can be
made semiconducting easily by attaching
other elements on top of the silicon atoms.
We know that siliconbased technology
is reaching its limit because we are putting
more and more components together and
making electronic processors more and
more compact," Menon said adding "but
we know that this cannot go on indefinite
ly; we need smarter materials."
He said they were anxious for this to be
made in the lab. "The ultimate test of any
theory is experimental verification, so the
sooner the better!" Menon added in a
paper.
This discovery opens a new chapter in
material science by offering new opportu
nities for researchers to explore functional
flexibility and new properties for new
(IANS)
applications.

Comment

Email copyright holder, Ayyadurai is legitimate

father of messaging system
By Arvind Gupta & Prasanto K Roy
he world has been talking about
email this week, after the death of
American
prog rammer,
Ray
Tomlinson, on March 5. Tomlinson has
been variously called email's godfather,
father and inventor, for having created a
message transfer system between two
computers in the same room in the 1970s.
He did this as an employee of a defence
contractor. Most memorably, he is credited
with having chosen the "@" sign.
But remember Marconi, famous for
inventing radio? The world later realized
that Jagadish Chandra Bose was the real
inventor. Email has an Indianorigin cre
ator too: Mumbaiborn V.A. Shiva
Ayyadurai. Once again, top academics,
including the venerable Noam Chomsky at
MIT, have come forward to validate this.
But there are two key differences. Bose
didn't live on to stake his claim to history,
while Ayyadurai has been fighting a losing
battle to set the record straight. But most
importantly, he has a US government doc
ument to support his claim.
As a hig h school student in 1979,
Ayyadurai, then age 14, developed an elec
tronic version of an interof fice mail sys
tem, which he called "EMAIL". He copy
righted it in 1982.
Ayyadurai's EMAIL started as a system
of electronic message management that
digitized the oldfashioned process of writ
ing a memo, routing a memo with "To",

Dr V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai

(Photo: vashiva.com)
"Cc" (carbon copies) and "BCC", and stor
ing memos in folders. He developed this
software at the College of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey in 1978.
The US government certified the official
copyright on EMAIL on August 30, 1982,
for Dr. V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai's 1978 inven
tion. At that time, computer software and
code could not be patented in the USA.
Ayyadurai went on to earn four degrees
from the Massachusetts Inst itute of
Technology (MIT), including a PhD.
Email transformed our business commu
nication and collaboration like no other
technology. It's probably the longestsur
viving of Internet tools, in its various

forms and designs. It also evolved over the

next decade, but the fundamentals stayed
as they were in 1978, with one notable
addition: The nowubiquitous "@" between
the name and the host server, courtesy of
the late Tomlinson.
W hy does academic credit matter?
Because the journey matters, the motiva
tion matters and history matters to gener
ations of inventors, dreamers and entre
preneurs deserve to know the truth. Big
change happens in small places when
opportunity meets people who are driven
to find answers. That's how email, as we
know it, came to be.
Tomlinson's work and selection of the
"@" identifier advanced email among out
side computers, and used TCP/IP as the
basic building block of this communication
system. Electronic messaging existed prior
to that, within networks (which we now
call 'intranets') and nonTCP/IP systems.
The story of email exemplifies the jour
ney of a team that included a precocious
Indianborn teenager, eager to be useful in
America grateful for the later opportuni
ty to earn four degrees at MIT, after
inventing and copyrighting the EMAIL sys
tem and human desire to solve prob
lems. For far too long we have all been led
to be believe that communication's great
est innovations came out of defence
research, inspired by the needs of war.
Great innovations can be inspired to
advance life, not just retrofitted from
defence technologies.

Email was created in a place of light and

cooperation and it is important for people
across the world to understand and appre
ciate this. Telling the truth about the
invention of email in Newark, New Jersey,
therefore, is a historical imperative toward
breaking this blind belief in the supremacy
of defence research to reveal a fundamen
tal truth. Innovation can occur, anytime,
anyplace by anybody, and war and profit
are not its necessary and required impe
tus.
Despite much coverage in the US and
global media as the inventor of email,
including in Time in "T he Man W ho
Invented Email", Ayyadurai has been
attacked in the US as an imposter, some
one who merely registered a program
called EMAIL, rather than invent email.
To them, MIT's Noam Chomsky has this
to say: "Email, upper case, lower case, any
case, is the e lectronic version of the
interof fice, interorganizational mail sys
tem, the email we all experience today
and email was invented in 1978 by a 14
yearold working in Newark, New Jersey.
The facts are indisputable."

(Arvind Gupta is a technology entrepre

neur and an Eisenhower Fellow for
Innovation. Prasanto K. Roy is a senior
technology journalist and former chief edi
tor of CyberMedia. The views expressed
are those of the authors. Gupta can be
reached at argupta@illinoisalumni.org and
Roy at pkr@ststephens.edu)

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

March 12-18, 2016

US AFFAIRS

Trump wins 3 of 4 states, Sanders shocks Hillary in Michigan

Washington: With three convincing wins,
Republican Donald Trump regained his
momentum, while an upset win by Democrat
Bernie Sanders in Michigan delivered a
sharp blow to Hillary Clinton's hopes of
quickly clinching her party's nomination.
After a trio of victories on Tuesday night
in Mississippi, Michigan and Hawaii in the
face of party establishment's intensified
efforts to derail him, the real estate mogul
urged Republicans to unite behind his candi
dacy in the US presidential race.
"If we could embrace this moment as a
party, we're going to win so easily," the bil
lionaire businessman told CNN Wednesday
morning.
Trump, who has collected 461 delegates,
more than a third of 1237 needed to win the
party nomination, said the recordbreaking

turnout his march to the Republican presi

dent ial nominat ion had pro duced is
"absolutely unique and special".
"Something is happening that's amazing,"
he said. "We're getting millions and millions
of people that have never voted before, mil
lions of people from the Democrats, millions
of people from the independents."
His closest rival Texas Senator Ted Cruz
picked up Idaho Tuesday to take his wins to
seven as against Trump's 15 in 24 nominat
ing contests. He is more than 100 delegates
behind with 360.
But establishment favourite Florida sena
tor Marco Rubio, who has won just two
states, had another bad night.
He finished fourth in both Michigan and
Mississippi. Worse, he didn't get close to
cracking the 15 percent needed in either

state to add any delegates to his total of

154.
On the Democratic side, Sanders' stunning
victory in the Michigan Democratic primary
slowed Clinton's cruise towards nomination
even as it did not drastically alter her dele
gate lead, as she won overwhelmingly in
Mississippi. Sanders told reporters in Florida
that the results in Michigan were a repudia
tion of the opinion polls and pundits who
had written off his chances in the state. Polls
had shown Clinton with a doubledigit lead
going into the primary.
The win showed his political revolution
was "strong in every part of the country.
Frankly, we believe our strongest areas are
yet to come," he said.
"We lost last night," acknowledged Clinton
in an email to supporters asking them to

Bloomberg rules out entering

US presidential race
New York: Former New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on
Monday he will not enter the 2016
presidential campaign as an independ
ent, citing fear that his candidacy
might help Republican candidates
Donald Trump or Ted Cruz.
T he 73yearold, who served as
mayor of New York from 2002 to
2013, announced his decision in a
statement titled "The Risk I will not
Take" posted on his website, Xinhua
news agency reported.
"I love our country too much to play
a role in electing a candidate who
would weaken our unity and darken
our future and so I will not enter the
race for president of the US,"
Bloomberg said.

Former New York City Mayor

Michael Bloomberg
The US billionaire predicted that in a
threeway race, it's unlikely any candi
date would win a majority of electoral
votes. Then the election would become
a decision by the Republicancon

trolled Congress, he said.

"As the race stands now, with
Republicans in charge of both Houses,
there is a good chance that my candi
dacy could lead to the election of
Donald Trump or Senator Ted Cruz," he
said. "That is not a risk I can take in
good conscience."
Bloomberg criticised real estate
mogul Trump for running "the most
divisive and demagogic presidential
campaign" and "preying on people's
prejudices and fears".
"We cannot 'make America great
again' by turning our backs on the val
ues that made us the world's greatest
nation in the first place," said
Bloomberg, the founder and incumbent
CEO of Bloomberg LP.

America to extend stay for foreign tech grads

Washington: The US government will
publish a new rule on Friday allowing
international students earning STEM
degrees in science, technology, engi
neering and mathematics fields in the
US to become eligible to stay for three
years of onthejob training. This is
seven months longer than under the
2008 rule it replaces for the STEM
Optional Practical Training programme,
known as OPT.
The new rule will take effect on May
10, reported The New York Times
Beyond of fering graduates more
experience in their fields, the extension
serves another purpose. "If my work
visa gets denied this year, I still have
two more opportunities to apply, and I
can keep working within the country,"
said Shruthi Aramandla. She will apply
in April for a visa, known as an H1B,
for skilled foreign workers.
But Congress caps H1Bs yearly at
65,000, with an additional 20,000 slots

for graduates with advanced degrees

like Aramandla. T he government
received nearly four times as many
applications for those visas as were
accepted in last year's lottery.
This rule is yet another flash point in
the controversy over immigration
reform. Industry leaders who say they
are desperate for skilled talent and
those defending the rights of American
workers are at loggerheads. The gov
ernment posted a similar version of the
rule in the federal register in October,
drawing more than 50,500 comments.
A large number of commenters who

said they were foreign students sup

ported the rule. The new rule states
directly that "a STEM OPT student
would not replace a full or parttime,
temporary or permanent U.S. worker,"
and that the salary offered would "be
commensurate" to American workers.
Of ficials with the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agency said they
tried to tighten training programs,
mandate oversight of employers and
make sure that the students come from
accredited universities in an ef fort to
prevent fraud.
"It's an ongoing assault on American
workers," said John Miano, a lawyer for
a technology workers' union in
Washington state, whose lawsuit last
summer was what forced the govern
ment to vacate the previous rule and
create a new one, this time for public
comment. "They are just trying to dou
ble down on what they're doing before,"
he said of the government.

"chip in $1 to the March Victory Fund".

"The next six days are absolutely critical
for our campaign," she wrote. "Ohio, Florida,
Illinois, Missouri, and North Carolina head
to the polls on Tuesday, and we've got to
make a strong showing to take back the
momentum in this race."
Meanwhile, a new poll showed Trump
leading two of his Republican presidential
rivals in their home states, topping Rubio in
Florida and Governor John Kasich in Ohio,
while Clinton is far ahead of Sanders in both
states. Clinton leads Sanders 63 to 33 per
cent in Ohio and 61 percent to 34 percent in
Florida.
The primaries in 99delegate Florida and
66delegate Ohio are particularly critical for
Republicans, since both are winnertakeall.
IANS

Clinton, Sanders
decline to call
Trump racist

Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton

and Bernie Sanders at the Univision debate
in Miami. (Pic courtesy: Univision)
Miami, FL: Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton
and Bernie Sanders Wednesday shied away from a question
whether their Republican rival Donald Trump was a "racist",
but they hammered away at his xenophobic rhetoric.
Participating in the last Democratic presidential debate in
Miami, Florida, Clinton avoided giving a direct answer to the
question, while Sanders responded by saying that the
American people will never elect a president who insults
Mexicans, Muslims, women and blacks.
Clinton said she would engage Trump without resorting to
the kind of language that the Republican frontrunner often
employs. "If I'm so fortunate enough to be the Democratic
nominee, there will be a lot of time to talk about him. I was
the first one to call him out. I called him out when he was call
ing Mexicans rapists," she said.
"You don't make America great by getting rid of everything
that made America great," Clinton said.
Clinton also said that the proposal of building a massive
wall across USMexico border and having Mexico
Government pay for it is a "fantasy" of Trump.
Trump says that the Mexico Government would pay for
building this wall, which according to him is estimated to cost
USD 10 billion.

10

March 12-18, 2016

US AFFAIRS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

CONGRESSMAN DONOVAN: FIGHTING TO RESTORE

NEW YORKS FEDERAL ANTI TERROR FUNDING
In his fight with the Obama administration, Donovan is supported by Senator Chuck Schumer,
NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio as well as NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton.
By Robert Golomb

hen the planes hit the

Towers on September 11,
we on Staten Island and
Bay Ridge, living our lives just
miles from Ground Zero, saw it,
smelled it and felt it. Those were,
after our cursory introductions,
the first words Cong ressman
Republican Dan Donovan, spoke to
me in a recent interview held in his
Staten Island Cong ressional
District Office.
It should not have seemed diffi
cult to ant icipate that the
Congressman, whose 11th District
covers all of Staten Island and
Southwest Brooklyns Bay Ridge
area, would want to begin the
interview that way. Donovan, 58,
who after the resignation of his
predecessor Republican Michael
Grimm, won a special election in
May 2015 to represent the 11th
CD, is currently engaged in the
beginning stages of a fierce battle
with the Obama Administration.
That battle is being waged over a
provision in the Administrations
2017 budget proposal calling for
slashing $180 million from the
$580 million out of last years
budget for the Urban Areas
Security Initiative (UASI). UASI is a
program first begun in 2006 that
provides training and equipment
for police and fire departments
and other first responder units of
the 28 American cities considered
by intelligence agencies to be
among the prime targets of terror
ists.
Of those 28 cities which include
New York, Boston, Newark,
Washington DC, Chicago, Houston,
San Francisco and Los Angeles
New York is threatened with the
deepest cuts, losing $90 million
from the $180 million it received
in 2015.
Donovan, who serves as a mem
ber
of
the
House
of
Representat ives
Home land
Security Committee and was
recently named to chair the sub
committee
on
Emergency
Preparedness Response and
Communications {EPRC} told me
that he was stunned by these pro

Dan Donovan represents the 11th Congressional District that covers Staten Island and southwest Brooklyn,
all a stones throw away from Ground Zero.
posed funding reductions. I find it
inconceivable, said Donovan, that
the President is taking away funds
from New York and the other des
ignated atrisk cities for a program
created to help prevent terrorist
attacks.
Even just months after the mur
derous attacks in Paris and San
Bernardino, added Donovan, and
even as his own CIA Director
James Clapper recently said it is
inevitable that terrorist organiza
t ions w ill attempt to attack
America this year, President
Obama has taken a sledgehammer
to a program that has served to
help protect us from a second
9/11.
Donovan, the three time elected
District Attorney of Staten Island
who left that position upon his
election to Congress, explained
that he plans to use his role as
chair of his subcommittee to lead
the fight against the Presidents
proposed cuts. That fight is expect
ed to formally begin when EPRC
begins its hearings on this matter
on March 15th. Donovan told me
he is presently putting together a
witness list which will be prima
rily composed of local of ficials
from the cities impacted by the
Presidents cuts.I intend, he stat

ed, to listen to their concerns and

will attempt to focus on why the
Obama Administration thinks its
prudent to slash security funding
in such dangerous times.
Noting that according to federal
statute the Presidents budget pro
posal is simply a request that the
President is legally obligated to
submit to Congress every year,
while simultaneously acknowledg
ing the powerful influence any
Presidential budgetary request
imposes on Congress, especially to
members of the chief executives
own party, Donovan stated, I
know how much my Democratic
colleagues can be influenced by
the President under normal cir
cumstances. But these are not nor
mal circumstances. This is literally
a life and death issue. I am hopeful
that all members of Congress,
regardless of party, regardless of
region, will carefully listen to our
hearing, and ultimately will vote to
restore full funding {to UASI}.
There is little doubt that among
those carefully following these
hearing will be two important New
York Democrats United States
Senator Chuck Schumer and NYC
Mayor Bill De Blasio, as well as the
latters
appointed
NYPD
Commissioner Bill Bratton; all

three have been early and fierce

critics of the Presidents cuts.
T heir condemnat ion of the
Presidents proposal made it clear
from the start that this battle is not
about politics, but rather about
protecting the lives of millions of
Americans, Donovan asserted.
This will not be the first time
that Donovan, seen by some
Washington political insiders as a
pragmatic New York conserva
tive, has teamed with Democrats
to restore funds for the City. Last
year, during his first six months in
the House, he worked with United
States Senators from New York
Schumer and Gillibrand to restore
$100 million in yearly federal
funding for New York City mass
transit.
Within that same period of time
in what some in Washington cur
rently view as a precursor to his
current battle Donovan collabo
rated with northeastern Democrat
and Republican Congress members

to extend funding for the 2010

Zadrog a 9/11 Health and
Compensation Act (the Zadroga
Act) from five to 75 years and to
increase its annual budget by bil
lions of dollars.
Named after NYPD officer James
Zadroga, who died in 2006 at the
age of 35 from a respiratory dis
ease his doctors attributed to his
assignment at Ground Zero follow
ing 9/11 attacks, the Act provides
medical treatment and care to
first responders still battling ill
nesses suffered from their service
on 9/11; it also of fers financial
assistance to the families of first
responders who were killed that
tragic day or who, like Of ficer
Zadroga, subsequently died of ill
nesses doctors linked to the attack.
Reflecting on the importance and
meaning of passing the Zadroga
Act, Donovan asserted, Time does
not erase our oblig at ion to
Americas heroes who were killed
or injured that day. The reautho
rization of the Zadroga Act was
our way of offering our permanent
thanks and respect to these heroes
and to their families. And please do
not forget that it {the passing of
the act} was accomplished through
a strong bipartisan effort.
Donovan told me that he believes
the connect ion between the
Zadroga Act and UASI is selfevi
dent: The Zadroga Act assists the
victims and the families of victims
of September 11th 2001, and the
Urban Area Security has been
designed to help prevent another
9/11. Why would the President
want to reduce funding for this
program?
Look for that question to be
repeated on March 15th.
Robert Golomb is a nationally
and internationally published
columnist.
Mail
him
MrBob347@aol.com and follow on
Twitter@RobertGolomb

Congressman Donovans office has just announced that

Mayor De Blasio will testify at EPRCs hearings.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

March 12-18, 2016

INDIA

11

ART OF LIVING SLAPPED

RS.5 CRORE 'GREEN' FINE, EVENT ON
New Delhi: Faulting every con
cerned government agency over a
cultural event on the frag ile
banks of Yamuna this weekend, a
green court has slapped a Rs.5
crore fine on its organizers, Sri Sri
Ravi Shankarled Art of Living
(AoL). But it did not stay the
event.
Acting on petitions over alleged
violation of environment laws, the
National Green Tribunal (NGT)
also fined the central govern
mentled De lhi Deve lopment
Authority (DDA) Rs.5 lakh and
another Rs.1 lakh on the Delhi
Pollution Control Committee.
"What is your primary duty? Do
you believe Art of Living has not
done any damage to the environ
ment," the livid bench said, even
describing the city pollution com
mittee "incompetent" and failing
to discharge its duties.
"All (government) authorities
have failed to fulfill their duties,"
said the principal bench of Justice
Swatanter Kumar, Justice M.S.
Nambiar, Justice D.K. Agrawal
and Justice B.S. Sajwan.
"For the damage caused to envi
ronment, ecology, biodiversity
and aquatic life of the river, the
foundation (AoL) should be held
liable for its restoration in all
respects," said the bench.
T he De lhi Hig h Court on
Wednesday also took note of
news reports on the AoL's cultur
al megaevent from March 11 to
13 and said that holding the
World Culture Festival on the
Yamuna flood plain appears to be
a disaster from the ecological
point of view.
"It's (event) a disaster," a divi
sion bench of Justice B.D. Ahmed
and Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva

Don't mind going to jail

if court wants: Sri Sri

Sri Sri Ravi Shankarled Art of Living admitted in court that they had
spent Rs.25.63 crore for the event at Yamuna bank. (Photos: IANS)
observed while hearing a public
interest litigation on the unautho
rised constructions on the river's
floo d plain in Jaitpur and
Mithapur areas of Delhi.
The AoL event figured in parlia
ment with the some opposition
parties questioning how the gov
ernment deployed the Indian
Army to construct pontoon
bridges for the event.
Delhi Police have also flagged
their concerns about managing
security in view of large gather
ing on the Yamuna floodplains
and also about the "structural sta
bility" of the venue.
De lhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal however said that con
troversies over the event should
now end in view of Nat ional
Green Tribunal order.
There were four related peti
tions before the NGT by Manoj
Misra and by Anand Arya against
the DDA, by Pramod Kumar Tyagi
against AoL and by Ojasvi Party
against the environment and

forests ministry.
The bench said it was unable to
issue prohibitory orders due to
delay on the applicant's part and
for the fact that removal of con
struction and restoration of the
area was not possible at this
stage. "This tribunal is primarily
dealing with the ecological, envi
ronmental and biodiversity dam
age done to the river and the
flood plains by the activity of the
Foundation and the environmen
tal consequences of holding such
an event," it said.
"We are not strictly concerned
with the cultural event that is pro
posed to be he ld from 1113
March, 2016," it said.
The order said it was consistent
view of experts and was suf fi
ciently evident from documents
that "flood plains have been dras
t ically tampered w ith while
destroying the natural flow of the
river, reeds, grasses, natural vege
tation on the river bed".
It said it had "no hesitation in

New Delhi: Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar said he does
not mind going to jail if the court wants him to. Asked during an
interview by a TV channe l if he
would go to jail having refused to
pay the fine for the threeday
International Culture Festival pro
posed to be he ld in the Yamuna
floodplains here, Ravi Shankar said:
"Yes, I will".
He also said that he would not pay
the fine of Rs.5 crore slapped by the
National Green Tribunal.
The green court gave a goahead to
the World Culture Festival, organised
by Art of Living Foundation, on the
condition that it pay an advance fine
of Rs.5 crore. The spiritual guru also said that the structure being
made for the event was temporary and will be dismantaled after the
event. "The structure created for the event is temporary and will be
dismantled after the event. We wanted to create awareness about
Yamuna through this event," said Shankar.
holding that DPCC has failed to
discharge its statutory obligation"
or to "exercise due diligence" and
has "in fact it has exercised its
authority improperly".
Fault ing the DDA for "its
defaults and nonperformance of
its statutory functions", the NFT
said: This cannot be termed as a
recreational activity. It is a com
plete project in itself and the DDA
ought to have applied its mind.
Strangely, it has neither conduct
ed inspection of the site prior to
the grant of permission nor dur
ing operat ion or subsequent
thereto..."
The tribunal pulled up the envi
ronment ministry, saying: "What
is your primary duty? Do you
believe Art of Living has not done

any damage to the environment?"

while telling the water resources
ministry that "managing, conserv
ing and deve loping the river
plains primarily falls under your
domain".
Imposing initial environmental
compensation of Rs.5 crore, the
order said this would be adjusted
towards the final compensation to
be paid by the Foundation for
restoration work.
The tribunal directed its com
mittee to submit a report within
four weeks for steps required "for
restoration, restitution and reju
venation of the flood plains to its
original status".
Art of Living admitted in court
that they had spent Rs.25.63
crore for the event.

Delhi court summons Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi: A court here issued summons to Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal and five others in a criminal
defamation case filed by union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley in the wake of the DDCA controversy.
The court said the "allegations levelled by the Aam Aadmi
Party leaders are derogatory in nature and amount to slan
der and libel".
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Sumit Dass issued sum
mons to Kejriwal and other Aam Aadmi Party leaders
Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh, Raghav Chadha
and Deepak Bajpayee, asking them to appear before it on
April 7.
In its 30page order, the court said the "reputation of a
man is his greatest asset and it takes years to builds one's
reputation".
"No one knows or realises this fact better than the people
who hold public office or aspire for the same," the court
said.
"Summing up the statement to call a person as cor
rupt/dishonest, one who indulges in financial bungling and
having embezzled/siphoned off money to the tune of Rs.57

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. (Photo: IANS)

crore, calling him/equating him/drawing parallels with
person who is involved in criminal cases, casting asper
sions about his integrity, are not legitimate acts of criti
cism, but downright and per se defamatory in nature." "The
allegations are not only insulting but jeeringly taunting
and provocative," the court said. The court also said that

the freedom of speech and expressions is not an absolute

right, but one that is hedged with reasonable restrictions,
with the law of defamation being the primary one. "The
language of public disclosure ought to be within the con
fines of decency; if it transgresses those limits and becomes
insulting, of fensive, and laced with innuendos, the same
may amount to defamation and become actionable at the
end of the person aggrieved," the court said. "The state
ments have exposed the complainant (Jaitley) to ridicule,
hatred and contempt amongst the right thinking members
of society and lowered his reputation."
Jaitley, who filed the complaint against Kejriwal and
other AAP leaders, told the court on January 5 that they
had given "false and defamatory" statements against him in
the Delhi and District Cricket Association case, thereby
harming his reputation.
Jaitley has urged the court to initiate proceedings against
Kejriwal and others on charge of defaming him.
The AAP leaders had accused Jaitley, who headed the
DDCA for 13 years till 2013, of corruption but he has
denied the allegations.

12

March 12-18, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

INDIA

AHEAD OF MODI VISIT,

India, US focus on 'concrete results'

Washington: Ahead of Prime Minister

Narendra Modi's visit, India and the US have
agreed to work together to achieve concrete
results in key areas including defence, trade
and investment and civil nuclear energy.
They have also agreed to deepen their col
laboration against Pakistanbased terror
groups LashkareTaiba (LeT) and Jaishe
Mohammed (JeM), responsible for several
terrorist attacks in India and other terrorist
threats.
The agreements were reached during
Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar's just
ended fourday visit to Washington to
review IndiaUS bilateral relations and to
prepare for India's participation at the
March 31April 1 Nuclear Security Summit
(NSS).
Modi is expected to have a bilateral meet
ing with President Barack Obama on the
sidelines of the 50nation summit. There is
also widespread speculation that he may
also meet his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz
Sharif, who too has been invited to the NSS.
Jaishankar's meetings in Washington
"focussed on further consolidating bilateral
relations in the year ahead and enhancing
convergence on regional and global issues",
according to an Indian embassy press

Narendra Modi is expected to have a bilateral meeting with President Barack Obama on the
sidelines of the 50nation summit. (File photo: IANS)
release. "In this context, both sides agreed to
work for achieving concrete results in key
areas of bilateral cooperation including
defence, trade and investment and civil
nuclear energy," it said.
During a meet ing w ith US Nat ional
Security Advisor Susan Rice at the White
House here on Tuesday, the two agreed to

Probe launched into missing

Ishrat documents: Rajnath
New Delhi: Home Minister Rajnath Singh
said key documents related to the Ishrat
Jahan case have gone missing and accused
the previous Congressled government of a
flipflop over the controversial 2004
shootout that killed the alleged Lashkare
Taiba woman operative.
"Two letters from the then home secretary
to the attorney general in 2009 have gone
missing. The then attorney general had vet
ted two affidavits regarding the case. Those
are also not available," Rajnath Singh told
the Lok Sabha on Thursday, replying to a
brief debate on the controversial June 15,
2004, shootout.
He said that the government has launched
an "internal inquiry" to find the missing doc
uments "which will bring all the facts out" in
the open. Without naming Congress's P.
Chidambaram, Rajnath Singh alleged that
affidavits regarding the case were corrected
on the intervention of the then home minis
ter and reaffirmed that an investigation has
found that the Thane girl was a terrorist a
claim also seconded by AmericanPakistani
terrorist David Coleman Headley in his dep
osition. "I am pained to say that there was a
flipflop on Ishrat Jahan case during the pre
vious UPA (United Progressive Alliance) gov
ernment," Rajnath Singh said, amid a pande
monium by some opposition members.
"She was described as an LeT terrorist in
the first af fidavit filed in the Gujarat High
Court but unfortunately the facts were given
another dimension in an additional affidavit
which was filed a month later. It seems an
attempt was made to weaken the case."
The minister also accused the previous

Home Minister Rajnath Singh. (Photo: IANS)

government of hatching a conspiracy to
malign the then Gujarat chief minister
Narendra Modi and his government.
"The affidavit was changed to malign the
Gujarat government, the then chief minister.
A conspiracy was hatched to drag him into
the case."
Rajnath Singh said that government was
not relying solely on the testimony of
Headley a Lashkar operative who scouted
terror targets before the 2008 Mumbai ter
ror attack. Headley is currently in a US jail
from where he was questioned by an Indian
magistrate last month through videoconfer
encing. The PakistaniAmerican terrorist
said he had heard his LeT handlers talk
about a girl in India named Ishrat. The con
troversy over the case flared up again after
Headley made the startling claim on
February 11 this year about the 2004
Gujarat encounter the already murky
Ishrat Jahan case has become even murkier.

deepen their already close collaboration

against LashkareTaeba, JaisheMohammed
and other terrorist threats.
While LeT is held responsible for the
November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, JeM
is blamed for the January 2 attack on the
Indian Air Force station at Pathankot.
Rice and Jaishankar also "af firmed their

commitment to deepening bilateral coopera

tion on climate change, trade and defence,"
according to a statement by Nat ional
Security Council (NSC) spokesperson Ned
Price. "They also discussed USIndia collabo
ration against LashkareTaeba, Jaishe
Mohammed and other terrorist threats," it
said.
"Building on their leaders' commitment to
make the USIndia partnership a defining
relationship for the 21st century, they
agreed to deepen their already close collabo
ration on these issues."
Apart from Rice, Jaishankar also had meet
ings w ith Commerce Secretary Penny
Pritzker, US Trade Representative Mike
Froman, Deputy Secretary of State Antony
Blinken, Under Secretary of State Thomas
Shannon, Under Secretary of State Rose
Gotteemoeller as well as other senior of fi
cials.
In the US Congress, he had meetings with
Chairman of Senate Foreign Re lations
Committee Senator Bob Corker, Chairman of
Senate Armed Services Committee Senator
John McCain and Chairman of Senate
Intelligence Committee Senator Richard
Burr to exchange views on bilateral, regional
and international issues.

BLACKBUCK KILLINGS:
Salman pleads not guilty
Jodhpur (Rajasthan): Bollywood actor
Salman Khan insisted that he had been
wrongly accused of having illegal weapons
and killing two blackbucks here in 1998.
"Main nirdosh hoon. Mujhe jhootha
fasaya gaya hai. (I am not guilty. I have
been falsely implicated)," the actor told
Chief Judicial Magistrate Dalpat Singh
Rajpurohit.
Asked about the allegations by the pros
ecution, Salman pleaded that he was "not
guilty". Salman has been accused of using
illegal arms to kill the protected animals
and carry ing weapons w ith expired
licence. He has been charged with violat
ing the Arms Act. It was the third time
Salman came to the Jodhpur court in con
nection with the case.
Khan's counsel Hastimal Sarswat told
IANS: "The court has fixed April 4 as the
next date of hearing." He said witnesses
will be produced in Salman's defence.
During the hearing, Salman replied ques
tions regarding his name, father's name,
his age and residential address.
Asked about his caste, the actor was
silent for a while before replying that he
was an Indian.
Salman's sister Alvira was present in the
court, where the actor spent less than half
an hour.
Salman and a few Bollywood actors have
been accused of poaching the blackbucks
on the night of October 12, 1998 when
he was here to shoot the Hindi movie
"Hum Saath Saath Hain".
Two blackbucks, a protected animal

Actor Salman Khan arrives at Jodhpur

court in connection with the recording of
his statement. (Photo: IANS)
under the Wildlife Protection Act, were
killed on the outskirts of Kankani village
near Jodhpur. The killings triggered out
rage. The court asked several questions
regarding the allegations made by the
prosecution's witnesses. Salman denied all
the charges.
Khan said he was neither w ith
Shivcharan Bohra, the then forest officer,
nor did he sign any document.
Asked about the statement of Uday
Raghavan, who allegedly brought weapons
for Salman from the actor's Mumbai resi
dence, Khan said although the letter
authorizing Raghavan to collect the
weapons bears his signature, he was
forced to sign it.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Rajpurohit had
on March 3 asked Salman to appear
before the court to record his statement
on Thursday. The magistrate had dis
missed an application from Salman's coun
sel to reexamine then collector Rajat
Mishra.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

March 12-18, 2016

OP-ED

13

Kanhaiya may prove to be dangerous opponent of BJP

The confrontation between
the former chaiwallah and the
student from a poor family in
Bihar will be widely watched
inside and outside the country.
By Amulya Ganguli
pattern appears to have evolved in
parliament with Rahul Gandhi stick
ing to his postsabbatical practice of
breathing fire and Narendra Modi making
a sober, if occasionally sarcastic, response
befitting his age and stature.
Modi's derision was more acidic than
ever when he hinted that Rahul had grown
in years but not in wisdom.
It was a jibe which recalled Winston
Churchill's somewhat more sophisticated
dig about Clement Attlee being a modest
man with much to be modest about.
However, if the Congress has quietly
gulped the virtual insult, the reason is that
the heir apparent's diatribes have begun to
sound rehearsed, an impression which was
confirmed by the fact that Rahul has begun
to look rather too frequently at a written
script.
He doesn't quite read from it as his moth
er does, but in a country used to its leaders
making extempore speeches, a prepared
discourse does not have the same effect as
an impromptu delivery.
The Congress vicepresident also has to
realise that more than anger, it is humour

JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar with tribal

activist Soni Sori at JNU campus in New
Delhi. (Photo: IANS)
and mockery which draw cheers. No one
demonstrated this oratorical aptitude more
than Kanhaiya Kumar, the Jawaharlal
Nehru University (JNU) student leader,
whose speech at the campus following his
release from jail has overshadowed what
was said in parliament.
Kanhaiya is likely to prove to be a more
dangerous opponent of the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) in the near future than
almost all the other presentday opposition

polit icians since he re flects Arvind

Kejriwal's chutzpah without the latter's
baggage of a querulous nature and a less
than shining record in governance.
Modi may have also played into his
hands by avoiding all the controversies
which have put his government on the back
foot. Among them is the use of the charge
of sedition as a political tool, as the JNU
student union president has alleged.
The prime minister's reference to the
"inferiority complex" of the motherandson
duo of the Congress, which makes them
keep the bright youngsters in the party in
the shade, and the party's disruptive tac
tics, may be the essence of routine politics.
But these issues have been in the air for
quite some time. It is the unrest in the uni
versit ies like JNU, Hyderabad and
Jadavpur, which have hit the headlines in
recent weeks along with the renewed "hate
speeches" of saffron hardliners which have
been seen as the BJP's preparatory exercise
for the coming round of elections.
It may have been expected, therefore,
that along with seeking the opposition's
cooperation in the passage of proreform
bills such as the one on goods and services,
the prime minister will also air his views on
campus "politics", especially when the RSS
af filiate, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi
Parishad (ABVP) is as much involved in
such activity as the Leftist outfits.
His intervention was also needed in dous
ing the tension aroused by the speeches of
Union Minister of State Ram Shankar

Katheria, which showed how Hindu com

munalism continues to simmer within the
BJP. In this context, what is strange is the
promptness w ith which Union Home
Minister Rajnath Singh gave a clean chit to
Katheria although he had left no stones
unturned to snare Kanhaiya in the sedition
charge although his efforts have now been
nullified by the high court.
It is worth recalling that such charges
have also been filed against Rahul, Sitaram
Yechury, Kejriwal and others.
It is Modi's inability to deal with blatant
biases of this nature in favour of the culpa
ble saffronites which have led to criticism
from the US government and the Western
media and academics, as at the time when
the "intolerance" of the present dispensa
tion was being talked about.
Now that parliament is at last function
ing, presumably because the Congress,
especially Sonia and Rahul, have realised
that they were only harming themselves
and their party by stalling the House, Modi
should take the opportunity to admonish
the saffron hotheads.
If he is unwilling or unable to do so,
Kanhaiya's charge that every tactical and
strategic move of the Hindutva camp is
manipulated
by
the
Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) will begin to
ring true.
The confrontation between the former
chaiwallah and the student from a poor
family in Bihar will be widely watched
inside and outside the country.

SAUDI ARABIA WANTS TO ELEVATE TIES

WITH INDIA DURING MODI'S VISIT
By Aroonim Bhuyan

audi Arabia seeks to elevate its ties

with India from the current strategic
partnership during Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's visit to Riyadh early next
month, the Gulf kingdom's Foreign
Minister Adel Al Jubeir has said.
We look forward to Prime Minister
Modi's visit which will be another mile
stone in the relations between our two
great nations, Jubeir told IANS after hold
ing meetings with Modi and External
Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in the run
up to the prime ministerial visit.
We hope to elevate our relationship
from that of the current 'strategic partner
ship', he said.
Modi's twoday visit from April 2 on his
way back from the US will be the first by
an Indian prime minister to Saudi Arabia
after then prime minister Manmohan
Singh's visit in 2010.
Modi's visit assumes significance in the
context of the current regional situation
and strained relations between Saudi
Arabia and Iran, another strategically
important country for India.
Apart from being India's largest crude oil
supplier accounting for onefifth of the

imports, Saudi Arabia is also India's fourth

largest trading partner with bilateral trade
reaching $40 billion.
IndoSaudi Arabian ties got a fresh boost
during then King Abdullah's visit to New
Delhi in 2006 which resulted in the signing
of the "Delhi Declaration".
The reciprocal visit by Manmohan Singh
in 2010 raised the leve l of bilateral
engagement to "strategic partnership" and
the "Riyadh Declaration" signed during the
visit captured the spirit of enhanced coop
eration in political, economic, security and
defence realms.
Jubeir, who arrived in New Delhi Monday
night on a day's trip as part of the prepara
tions for Modi's visit, said overall his visit
was extremely successful.
He said during his meeting with Modi on
Tuesday, he expressed our desire to
broaden our relations in all areas.
Our relations have a strong foundation.
India is a very important partner for us,
the minister said.
We expressed our commitment to fur
ther deepen our relations in all areas
including energy cooperation.
He also referred to the role played by the
nearly three millionstrong expatriate
Indian population in the development of

Saudi Arabia.
We have a large Indian population,
including doctors, teachers, engineers and
managers who have made tremendous con
tributions to our great nation, Jubeir said.
He said during his meeting with Sushma
Swaraj, he discussed Modi's upcoming visit
and the issues that were likely to come up
for deliberations.
We discussed a wide range of issues
including the fight against terror and the
political dialogue between our two coun
tries.
It is reliably learnt that during the meet
ing Sushma Swaraj said that India too was
keen to take the relationship with Saudi
Arabia to the next level.
She said thoug h the trade volume
between the two countries, investment
from Saudi Arabia of less than $60 million
was very low and invited Saudi investment
in Indias infrastructure sector.
She also said that India wanted a strong
security and counter terrorism partnership
with Saudi Arabia and she sought Riyadh's
support for Indias draft Comprehensive
Convention on International Terrosim
(CCIT).
Sushma Swaraj also took took up some of
the issues facing Indian workers in Saudi

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

Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia, Adel bin

Ahmed AlJubeir calls on Prime Minister
Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
(Photo: IANS/PIB).
Arabia and said that the existing labour
agreement with the Gulf nation should be
expanded to include sectors other than
domestic workers.
The two ministers also discussed the
regional situation and the threat from the
Islamic State terror outfit.
According to a statement issued by the
Prime Minister's Office, Modi conveyed to
Jubeir that India attached high importance
to its close and friendly relations with
Saudi Arabia.
The foreign minister of Saudi Arabia
conveyed that relations with India were
accorded a high priority in their foreign
policy, the statement said.

14

March 12-18, 2016

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

FIVE KEY LESSONS ABOUT WOMEN AND WORK IN INDIA

hile marginally more

women work in India
than in Pakistan (27 per
cent and 25 percent, respectively),
Pakistan's female laborforce par
ticipation rate is growing and
India's is declining. The percentage
of women working in Bangladesh
is three times higher than in India,
which ranks last among BRICS
countries in terms of women's
laborforce participation among
G20 countries, it is second to last,
behind only Saudi Arabia.
Why might this be? In the South
Asian context, on International
Women's Day, our analysis of the
state of women and work in India
does not of fer clear explanation.
Countries often experience a dip in
women's laborforce participation
as incomes rises and women drop
out of lowpaying menial work,
usually in agriculture. But typically
as the economy develops further
and education levels rise, more and
more women enter the labor force.
India's economy is well beyond
the point when large numbers of
women would be expected to enter
the labor force, based on evidence
from other developing nations.
And this is no academic concern
recent estimates project that clos
ing India's gender gap in labor
force participation would generate
a 27 percent net increase in GDP.
But despite the increasing num
ber of women pursuing secondary
and postsecondary education,
India's women keep dropping out.
Since 2005, more than 25 million
Indian women have left the labor
force.
Working outside the home is
associated with a number of posi
tive empowerment outcomes for

women. At the household level,

women who participate in the
labor force marry and have chil
dren later, and their children stay
in school longer. Even the sisters of
women who work marry later.
Critically, women who work have
greater decisionmaking power
within the household, and make
more decisions jointly with their
partners. In work we have conduct
ed in northern Madhya Pradesh,
we document a corre lation
between participation in Mahatma
Gandhi
National
Rural
Employment Guarantee Scheme
(MGNREGS) and higher selfreport
ed levels of empowerment: Women
who participate in MGNREGS
report higher levels of decision
making power within their house
holds and higher levels of mobility
than women who do not partici
pate.
On a macrolevel, evidence that
gender equality (and more specifi
cally, women's increased labor
force participation) contributes to
economic growth is strong. Yet

women face discrimination and

disadvantage across all aspects of
work. They earn less, they partici
pate less, their employment status
is more tentative, and the quality
of the jobs they perform is lower
than men. The International Labor
Organization estimates that at the
global level, 48% of women's pro
ductive potential is unutilized.
T he evidence on why so few
women in India work and why
even more women are dropping
out of workforce is limited. At
Evidence for Policy Design,
research has taught us five key les
sons about women and work in
India:
w
Women want to work.
National Sample Survey (NSS) data
shows that 31 percent of women
who spend the majority of their
time performing domestic duties
would like some kind of job. The
proportion of educated rural
women who want to work is even
higher: Upwards of 50 percent
would like a job apart from their
domestic work. If all women who

expressed a desire to work did so,

Female Labour Force Participation
Rate (FLFPR) in India would rise
21 percentage points (78 percent).
w
Jobs near home attract
women. We conducted a pilot sur
vey of rural, belowpovertyline
youth in areas around Bhopal. In
our study, 93 percent of unem
ployed female youth said they
would take a job if they could work
from home or in the village. In con
trast to the national labor market,
the MGNREGS has seen increased
participation from women over the
last five years, and now employs
slightly more women (52 percent)
than men (48 percent).
w
Social norms are mutable,
and broader economic trends and
government policies matter. The
Operation Blackboard initiative
was launched in the 1980s, along
side a 50 percent quota for women
teachers. Since then, the education
sector has grown to employ the
most women outside of agricul
ture.
w
Current initiatives such as
Skill India, Make in India, and new
genderbased quotas from corpo
rate boards to the police force
can spur positive change. But we
need to invest in skill training and
job support. More than half of
women who would like a job, par
ticularly those in rural areas, say
they do not have the skills required
for the work they want to dofor
example, leatherwork or textile
manufacturing.
Further, the opportunities that
exist need to be equitable. From
2010 to 2012, women's share in
the manufacturing laborforce rose
from 1525 percent, but the gen
der wage gap across sectors in

manufacturing was highmuch

higher than in services. To
increase women's laborforce
participation and we ll being,
current policies must take women
into consideration.
w
Migration for employment
remains an underexplored, less
supported means to employ
women. In one EPoD survey, 62
percent of unemployed female
youthsimilar to 68 percent of
unemployed young mensaid they
would consider migrating for a job.
Migration is difficult, however, and
women have particular concerns
that must be addressed. Despite
reporting they would be willing to
consider migrating for work, 69
percent of female youth report it is
unsafe to live away from home
(this time, in the context of skills
training), compared to only 32 per
cent of male youth. And female
respondents were more likely to
report they would migrate within
their district than males.
Ef fective strategies to increase
women's laborforce participation
are poorly understood. Further
research is needed to explore these
questions. An event called
Shrinking Shakti, cohosted by
EPoD's Rohini Pande and journalist
Barkha Dutt on March 7 in Delhi,
convened scholars, politicians,
executives, journalists, and more to
discuss the question. We will be
exploring the five points outlined
here in greater detail through
future columns. With India poised
to become the largest economy in
the world by 2030, it cannot
af ford to leave half of its work
force behind.
(Source: IANS in arrangement
with IndiaSpend.org)

Skinny or fat, both have health consequences for women

By Dr Rajat Arora
omments on women's physical
shape appear to be proliferat
ing on social media as body
shaming is becoming common,
especially among bullies who derive
sadistic pleasure out of calling
names whether one is heavy or
skinny. Damned if you do, damned
if you don't this seems to be the
predicament of women in today's
world.
There have been many celebrities
who have been victims of body
shaming in cyber space, including
actor Sonakshi Sinha for being
bulky and Sridevi's daughter Jhanvi
Kapoor for being thin. Parineeti
Chopra has braced both attacks.
While we may brush aside such
comments, it's worth pondering on
International Women's Day that
being heavy or skinny is not a cos
metic problem.
Your body weight speaks
volumes.

As the body mass index (BMI)

rises, so does your risk for coronary
heart disease (CHD). That's a condi
tion in which a waxy substance
called plaque builds up inside the
coronary arteries. These arteries
supply oxygenrich blood to your
heart. Plaque can narrow or block
the coronary arteries and reduce
blood flow to the heart muscle. This
can cause angina or a heart attack.
Furthermore, women who are
obese have a higher risk of low
back pain and knee osteoarthritis.
Obesity negatively affects both con
traception and fertility as well.
Maternal obesity is linked with
higher rates of cesarean section as
well as higher rates of highrisk
obstetrical conditions such as dia
betes and hypertension.
Of course, being overweight or
skinny is bad for men too. World
over, the prevalence of obesity is
rising. WHO estimates that more
than one billion people are over
weight, with 300 million meeting

the criteria for obesity.

On the other side, being thin need
not necessarily mean you are fit. If
you think you are that lucky person
who eats burgers and fries without
ever seeming to gain a kilo, you
may be wrong.
Just because you are skinny, it
doesn't mean that you're clear of
disease. In fact, you could be up
against many health risks without
knowing it.
While the common misconception
is that being thin is healthier than
being overweight, the modern
health risk goes like this: It's not the
number on the scale that deter
mines your health but the steps you
take and the nutrients you pack
matter the most.
It's time to give up that silly idea
that skinny means you're invincible.
Just as you keep tabs on your
weight, do the same with your body
fat. Have it measured periodically at
your doctor's clinic or the health
club. Or just observe the notches

where your belt buckles.

The fat/skinnybutfit question
will be answered in the years to
come. In the meantime, is there
something that you need to do? Yes,
however much your body weighs,
you'll be fit and fine if you move it

around a bit through regular

exercise.
(Dr Rajat Arora is an
Interventional Cardiologist and
Medical Director at Yashoda
Hospitals in Delhi.)
Source: IANS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

March 12-18, 2016

CULTURE

15

The French Guianese tap dancer Tamango at World Sacred Spirit Festival in Jodhpur (right) Tamango with Khamaicha, Rajasthan tabla artistes

By Kishori Sud
he nuances of tap dance
bear resemblance to Indian
dance form Kathak, except
for the fact that it is more "open"
as no religious figure is wor
shipped while tap dancing, says
French Guianese tap dancer
Tamango.
Saying that his understanding
of Indian classical dance form
Kathak is "shuffle step",
Tamango, who was in Jodhpur

on his debut India visit to per

form at the World Sacred Spirit
Festival last month, explained
that tap dance is jazz dance form
but it also has similarities with
Kathak.
"I understand Kathak as 'shuf
fle step', it's not a phrasing that
has an image of a spirit. Like
Odissi has the gods and goddess
es, animals (in its steps)... Tap
dance is jazz, which means we
are totally inclined to absorb any
rhythm that comes to our ear,"

Tamango, whose great grandfa

ther was from India, told IANS.
In Jodhpur, Tamango collabo
rated with Khamaicha, Indian
tabla artistes, to regale the audi
ence and it is his USP that
wherever he goes, he fuses his
art with the place's local culture.
Stressing that timing is an
important element in tap danc
ing, Tamango said: "What is most
important is the timing of the
dancer. You will be judged by
your timing because in the mass

es, not all of them have ears and

not all of them have eyes, which
means you have to be able to
make sounds which are on time
for the blind, and visually as well
have to be on time for the ones
who don't have ears," he said.
"The dancer has to keep all that
in mind just like an Indian dance
such as Kathak. So, it's a little
similar except that tap dancing is
more open because it doesn't
have a figure that needs to be
respected. We learn to shuffle

By Preetha Nair

So much
divine
energy in
Khajuraho

or Mohiniyattam exponent
Methil Devika, performing at
Khajuraho "which has so much
divine energy" was like a dream
come true and she was over
whelmed by the experience.
Devika, who performed at the
42nd edition of the Khajuraho
Dance Festival, says that it was a
divine experience.
"While performing, I experienced
potent divine energy here," says the
danseuse, who is a recipient of
Devadasi National Award, Ustad
Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar and Kerala
Sangeeta Nataka Akademi award.
Organised by Madhya Pradesh's culture
department, the Khajuraho festival, held
February 2026, brought together some of
the renowned artistes from different classi
cal dance forms like Kuchipudi,
Bharatanatyam, Kathak and Odissi. The
artiste, who enticed the audience by her
unconventional take on Mohiniyattam,
feels that one is blessed to perform in front
of the Chitragupta Temple dedicated to
Surya, the Hindu sun god, and the
Vishwanatha Temple dedicated to Lord
Shiva.
"If earlier, Khajuraho was all about splen
dour, dance, and publicity, now I see it in a
different light. One has to be blessed to
perform here. The energy is tremendous,"
said Devika, who is also trained in
Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi.
She feels that Khajuraho has a prominent
place in promoting classical dances.
"Khajuraho is on the top of the list of

every
artiste. There
are very few stages in India which are as
significant as this. The festival not only
promotes the venue, but also inculcates a
desire amongst dancers to vie for excel
lence," she said. Watching Devika's 40min
utes rendition was a different experience as
she uses the stage for inducing new styles.
She said that she thrives to bring a new
connotation to Mohiniyattam, which means
"dance of the enchantress" and has the
"lasya" as its predominant move. She also
believes that whether it's contemporary or
folk dance, it has to elevate the masses.
"Contemporary dance means taking a
dance back to the roots. If I learn martial
art tomorrow, I can do contemporary
Mohiniyattam. It's all about tapping the
potential of an art form to heal or inducing
a style," said Devika, who is also a dance
research scholar.
IANS

Mohiniyattam exponent Methil

Devika performing at the 42nd
Khajuraho Dance Festival

step. We have to balance on both

left and right," added the dancer,
who performed here at the festi
val wearing a wooden mask.
Talking of his India visit, he
said: "India is a mythological
experience in my head. I never
wanted to come to India as a
tourist. I am not a commercial
person. I didn't come to look for
my lost soul. When I came, I
came to meet people, simple peo
ple, where I am from we are the
same.

16

March 12-18, 2016

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Karishma, estranged husband Rajinikanth

summoned by court
in 'Lingaa' case
nearing divorce settlement
S
T

he Supreme Court was informed that

both Bollywood actress Karishma
Kapoor and her estranged husband
Sanjay Kapur have agreed on all terms of
settlement for parting ways and only they
have to work out a few modalities before
this could be signed.
"Parties have, by and large, agreed on all
the terms on which settlement can be
recorded. However, before the settlement
can be signed, few modalities have to be
worked out" before formal parting of ways,
a bench of Justice A.K.Sikri and Justice
R.K.Agrawal said in their order after the
hearing. Speaking to IANS, senior counsel
Mahesh Jethmalani who has appeared for
the actress said that the terms of settlement
leading to divorce would include mainte
nance of their two children.
Holding the hearing in their chamber with
both parties present with their lawyers, the
court noted in its order that "It is stated by
the petitioner (Sanjay Kapur) that those
(terms of settlement) would be completed
by the end of March 31, 2016."
The court then directed posting of the
matter at 12.45 p.m. on April 8.
It permitted Sanjay Kapur to meet his two
children, whose birthday falls on March 11
and 12, at the residence of Karishma or at
the venue where birthday celebrations
would take place.
"We are also informed that the birthdays
of the children of the parties are falling on
11th and 12th March, 2016 respectively.

Karishma Kapoor with her estranged husband Sanjay Kapur. (File photo)
T he petitioner (Sanjay Kapoor) has
expressed his desire to meet the children on
their respective birthdays. He can visit and
meet the children at the residence of the
respondent (Karishma) or at the venue of
the birthday celebrations," the court said in
its order. Jethmalani told the court that
after the last hearing, "they have informed
the police about the talks between the par
ties under the aegis of this court and
instructions are given not to take any pre

cipitating step or arrest of the petitioner or

his mother on their visit to Mumbai or oth
erwise". Recording the submission, the
bench said: "We expect the police to act
accordingly."
It further said that on the first hearing of
the matter on February 12, it had issued
notice to Delhi Police. However, the court
said that in view of the developments which
have taken place, hereafter, the presence of
Delhi Police is not required.

For Michelle Yeoh, tomorrow never dies

he's a global face as a Hollywood actor,
action heroine and a humanitarian. For
Malaysiaborn Michelle Yeoh, famous
for her role in Ang Lee's Oscar winning mar
tial arts love story "Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon" every day is a gift and she looks
forward to another good tomorrow.
She also acted in James Bond film
"Tomorrow Never Dies" in 1997.
Yeoh was in Nepal's capital Kathmandu,
accompanying fiance Jean Todt for the
Federation Internationale De L'Automobile
(FIA) AsiaPacific Sport Regional Congress
when the earthquake hit on April 25 last
year.
The temblor killed over 8,000 people,
injuring thousands and causing widespread
destruction.
The actor has made helping rebuild lives
in Nepal a priority.
"Raising awareness for Nepal was and still
is an important role for me. What's happen
ing is very real and there is so much work to
be done to help rebuild the lives of the
Nepalese," the 53yearold Malaysian actor,
who believes her best performance is yet to
come, told IANS in an email interview.
Yeoh and Todt have raised money for
postearthquake reconstruction in Nepal.
"Yes of course, I would always encourage
Hollywood celebrities to join and support
such a wonderful cause (Nepal disaster). It's
very important for us all to understand that
we are interconnected and we need to hold
hands together, especially when the going

uperstar Rajinikanth has been

summoned by a Madurai court in
connection with the charges that
the story of his film "Lingaa" was
allegedly
stolen from
another
writer.
K.R. Ravi
Rathinam,
the plain
t i f f ,
"Lingaa"
director K.S
Ravi Kumar,
writer B.
Ponkumar
Superstar Rajinikanth. and produc
er Rockline
(Photo: IANS)
Ve n k a t e sh
have also been summoned by the
court.
According to the additional munsif
court judge, the Madras High Court
directed the plaintiff to complete the
trial in this case within April 30.
T he case was transferred to the
Madurai Court following the request
of the plaintif f, whose script was
allegedly stolen by the makers of
"Lingaa".
In December 2014, pro ducer
Rockline Venkatesh was ordered to
deposit Rs.5 crore by demand draft
and an additional Rs.5 crore as guar
antee before the release of the film.

'Sarbjit' to now
release on May
20 worldwide
ational Award winning filmmak
er Omung Kumar's upcoming
biopic "Sarbjit", starring
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, has been
fixed for a May 20 release worldwide.
"Sarbjit" is a biopic on Sarabjit Singh,
an Indian farmer who was convicted of
terrorism and spying in Pakistan and
was sentenced to death. The filmmak
ers have made a conscious decision to
shift the date from May 19 to May 20,
read a statement.
T he film features actors like
Randeep Hooda, Richa Chadha and
Darshan Kumar, who has been lauded
for being a powerhouse of talent.
Randeep essays the character of
Sarabjit and sneak peeks into his look
for the role were hugely appreciated.
Richa will be essaying his wife in the
film and she has donned a 'desi' look
for the role, while Aishwarya will be
seen playing Sarabjit's sister Dalbir
Kaur.
Aishwarya features in the poster of
the film, and her intense look has got a
thumbs up from critics and the audi
ence alike.
The film's team recently finished an
important schedule in Punjab and
Delhi, and have begun its third and
last schedule in Mumbai.

Hollywood actor Michelle Yeoh (right). (Photo: IANS)

gets tough." A month after the natural disas
ter, the actor was in the Himalayan nation
again, not as a tourist but as the brand
ambassador of the 'Live to Love' foundation
of globe trotting Buddhist leader Gyalwang
Drukpa, the spiritual head of the 1,000
yearold Drukpa Order based in India.
Quoting the spiritual leader, she said:
"Without appreciation, our life is like plastic.
Not only we have to remove the non
biodegradable rubbish from our external

environment, we have to clear that from our

mind too."
Her latest film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden
Dragon: Sword of Destiny", the sequel to the
early successful film, has just hit the the
aters. Asked about her role in Aung San Suu
Kyi's biopic, she said: "Out of deep respect to
Daw Suu (Suu Kyi) and the people of Burma,
we did our utmost to stay true to her story,"
although for better storytelling, "some lib
erties had be to taken."

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD

Kangana wanted to make

lm on sister Rangoli
K

angana Ranaut considers

her sister Rangoli, an acid
attack survivor, a "real
hero". The "Queen" star says she
had once wanted to make a film
on Rangoli's inspiring life, but the
latter felt it would be a flop.
Kangana was in Mumbai at the
new cover page launch of Femina
magazine featuring her with
Rangoli.
Talking about the struggle of
her sister, who is also her manag
er, Kangana said: "Rangoli is a
real hero and she should get her
due, but we are not the kind of
people who go out there and
seek acknowledgement for our
strugg le. Rangoli's story is
extremely sensitive.
"I want the society to applaud
and acknowledge people who are
real heroes. Rangoli is one such
real hero, and I am very proud to
be her sister. She has been my
inspiration," she added.
Further, the 28yearold actress
revealed how she wanted to
make a film on Rangoli and play
her onscreen.
"We were shoot ing in

March 12-18, 2016

17

Zubaan': An inspiring
tale of selfdiscovery

Kangana Ranaut with sister Rangoli Ranaut in Mumbai. (Photo: IANS)

Arunachal Pradesh and when this
cover (of Femina) came out, I told
Rangoli that I want to make a
story on you and I want the
rights of your life. I want to play
you. She (Rangoli) said, 'Yes, it
will be a very big flop film',"
Kangana quipped.
On a serious note, Kangana

thinks that her life is not as excit

ing as Rangoli's.
"Rangoli's life is far more inter
esting than my life, thanks to her
husband who has been madly in
love with her since day one. I
don't have a lover like that, so I
think my life is not as exciting as
Rangoli's."

Keep your voice alive while

entertaining: Mira Nair
Z

Actors SarahJane Dias and Vicky Kaushal during the promotion

of their upcoming film Zubaan in Jalandhar. (Photo: IANS)

ou have to keep your voice

alive despite all the pulls
and pressures while telling
a story that should also be enter
taining, feels noted filmmaker
Mira Nair, who is currently busy
with the postproduction of her
new film Queen of Katwe.
There are commercial pulls, of
course, when you are helming a
film. And bigger the project, the
greater the number of people
you are answerable to. But in the
midst of all this, I always try to
keep my voice alive. As the direc
tor of a film, as the story teller,
you have to keep your voice
alive, Nair told IANS here.
Pro duced by Walt Disney
Pictures, Queen of Katwe, slated
to be re leased worldw ide in
October this year, is a biographi
cal drama based on the life of
Phiona Mutesi, an 11yearold
Ugandan girl who coincidentally
walks into a chess school in her
city, develops a passion for the
game, and goes on to become a
world class player at a very
young age. It stars Oscar winning
actress Lupita Nyong'o.
When I heard the story from a
Disney representative, I was like
'That's my stuff', and I instantly
agreed to direct the film, saithe

Filmmaker Mira Nair. (Photo: IANS)

maker of several crit ically
acclaimed as well as commercial
ly successful movies such as
Salaam Bombay (1988), Kama
Sutra: A Tale of Love" (1996),
Monsoon Wedding" (2001) and
Mississippi Masala (1991).
Her themes, and treatment,
have always been bold. Is the
Hindi filmdom, with a lot more
show of skin, getting bolder?
I don't think boldness should
be associated with showing of f
skin. It's not the basis of bold
ness. I think there is a lot more
bolder thinking that is now in
cinema here, said the National
Award winning director.
Also, the craft and quality have
seen miles of improvement. In

earlier days we had to be apolo

get ic about the standard of
things, but now we are as good
as anyone else. That is just really
exciting, she added.
If she were to make one of her
films, say Kama Sutra which
caused an uproar in the 1990s
now, would she make it any dif
ferent?
Yes, definitely I would make it
very dif ferently because the
world has changed and I have
grown. But, yes, censorship is
still there. That has not changed
here, and that is incredible. Not
just in cinema but in society as
well. In that sense, it's not the
most open place we have been
in, she said.

ubaan", a musical drama,

is the journey of Dilsher
Singh (Vicky Kaushal) to
self realisation.
How he grows from an inse
cure lad to a confident, manip
ulative young man, travelling
from his hometown Gurdaspur
to Delhi, ready to write his own
destiny, is interesting.
In the first act, Dilsher is
pleased with the response he
gets when business tycoon
Gurucharan Sikand says that
he recognises him. Awestruck
and dumbfounded, Dilsher
reiterates, "mainu pechanaji?"
(do you recognise me?). This
insignificant moment lays the
ground for the crux of the
story to unfold.
The screenplay with a lay
ered narration, welletched
characters and gripping per
formances, make "Zubaan" real
and stand out. The adept man
ner in which the back stories
are inextricably woven into the
main narrative is praisewor
thy. Director Mozez Singh suc
ceeds in making the tale inter
esting, interspersing it with the
right amount of drama and
emotions.
The pace meanders at times
and the subplot embellished
with trance music captured
with moody atmospheric light

ing is a bit exaggerated, super

fluous and unwarranted espe
cially
the
"Dhruvtara"
sequence.
Vicky Kaushal as Dilsher,
who has lost his confidence
and developed a fear of his
inherent talent, music, is a
treat to watch. He is natural
and essays the graph of his
character effortlessly and
adroitly. At every stage, in his
journey of selfdiscovery, he
brings several nuances to his
portrayal. Whether it is the
flawless Punjabi accent with a
stammer or singing with gusto,
he gets into the skin of his
character with ease.
The actor playing the young
Dilsher is equally good and in
sync with Vicky in manner
isms, body language and is
aptly cast.
Sarah JaneDias as Amira, a
singer who inspires Dilsher
and plays his love interest, is
competent but leaves no
impact as an actor.
Manish
Chaudhari
as
Dilsher's idol, the ambitious
and scheming business tycoon
Gurcharan Sikand, who he
fondly calls, "Tayaji" delivers a
powerpacked performance.
"Zubaan" is a well made
motivational film worth a
watch.

18

March 12-18, 2016

TRAVEL

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

Wonderland in Alice
Alice Springs, in the heart of the continent, is real Australia away from the
coastal belt, as varied as moving from Earth into a Moonscape.
By Vijay Badhwar

lice Springs at the heart of

Australia is unmatched for
its rugged beauty, hues that
blow the mind away and for the
serenity of the desert landscape
that initiates a conversation with
the subconscious. The Alice jour
ney also provides a rare insight
into the vastness of real Australia
and a firsthand encounter with
its original people.
The distances are vast some
2,800 km from Sydney, and once
there, there is still much more
travel left from one landmark to
another. The local car rental com
panies are aware of this and incite
with a reasonable day rate. But
limited to 100 km per day the
final invoice gives a shock when it
more than doubles up at the time
of settling.
There is a serene feel about the
town the river gums at the
banks of a dried Todd River, mild
ly undulating hills in the back
drop and elsewhere, red earth. Its
even sadly quiet, although there
are a lot of tourists around the
township.
There are scattered groups of
indigenous people walking along
the grave lly river bed, in the
parks, but mostly around the
ATMs inside the shopping malls.
They are hitting some keys at the
machines and often ask for help
from the tourists, but in vain.
Police presence outside every
liquor shop is daunting as a Kiwi
policemen we spoke to laments at
their plight and their aggression
among each other. The Maoris in
NZ are much more integrated in
the mainstream population, he
says.
The indigenous lifestyle away
from their communities asks for
urgent national thinking and redi
rection as it is not a happy sight,
seeing mums and their young
children buying litres of Coke and
Chiko rolls early in the morning
at a petrol station. Their poor
health and life span in compari
son to the national average is a
matter of extreme concern.
Out of the town its wonderland,
especially towards the 100odd
kilometres stretch along the west
Macdonnell Ranges. The sight of
sunburnt red vertical gorges is a
sheer beauty as they reflect in
water holes at their bases. The
cliffs at the picturesque Simpsons
Gap and Standley Chasm weave a
magic spell, continuously chang

ing their hues at the direction of

rays from the distant Sun. For the
more intrepid tourists (and we
have one among us who walks
120 kms for six days), the 223
kilometres of Larapinta Trail
along the spine of the Macdonnell
Ranges is rated among the top 20
treks on this planet.
The wellbeaten but magnificent
tourist trail is towards the south,
Uluru/Ayers Rock, Kata Tjuta and
Kings Canyon but it is not exactly
next door to Alice Springs as it is
often assumed. T he Alice to
Yulara distance is 460 km, but the
Stuart Highway allowing 130
Km/hour speed limit, the road is
easily covered as it is nice and
straight. Kings Canyon, although
forming a triangle with Alice and
Yulara, is only accessed by a
sealed road going 170 kilometres
from the turnoff from the high
way. T he detour can only be
saved with a fourwheel drive,
that too, with a permit. Kings
Canyons 6km Rim Walk is
absolutely amazing, the sandstone
rock formations a rare sight. It
could easily be a walk on another
planet, or in an abandoned lost
city, a surreal scene among rock
formations from millions of years.
The wavy water marks preserved
on the rock surface is a unique
geological experience.
The Kings Canyon Resort pro
vides a variety of accommodation
from a reasonable ($120) to
expensive ($380) unless it is dur
ing low season when everyone is
working or at school. And do not
forget to carry your own drinks
unless you can afford to pay 23
times the price of a normal bottle.
From Kings Canyon, it is 170 kilo
metres to join back on to Lasseter
Hig hway which takes you to

Ayres Rock glowing in the morning sun

Yulara, another 143 kilometres, a
tourist township of apartments
and hotels. The accommodation is
expensive even compared to the
metropolitan cities and food at
restaurants is at a premium but
then you are visiting a remote
landmark. Tourists travelling on a
budget can easily give a miss to
the Sounds of Silence dinner
under the stars as it costs a cou
ple of hundred dollars per head
but does give an opportunity to
gaze at the richness of a sky when
the only lights around you are
that of the stars.
Ayers Rock is 18 km from the
township. It is an amazing sight at
any time of the day or night, sun
rise or sunset, as it weaves a
magic just being close to it. The
hues are continually changing
and provide an amazing experi
ence, be it in the shade or in light,

The author with a fellow traveler.

in the cool of the night or under

the scorching Sun. A walk around
the rock of 9.4 km should be one
of those must do things as you
just cannot get enough of its spell.
Many tourists to Central
Australia fly in and out to see the
Rock on a quick 23 day trip.
They miss out on a closeby won
der of Kata Tjuta only 50 km by
road west of Uluru. The ochre
coloured oxidised sandstone for
mations are a sight to behold as
they stand out punctuating the
desert landscape. The two famous
walks, 2.6 km Walpa Gorge walk,
and the longer 7km Valley of the
Winds walk snake through domes
and creek beds to viewing areas
that throw open the vastness of
the Red Centre.
T he way back to Sydney
through Coober Pedy is certainly
uncongested, only an occasional

vehicle or a road train breaking

the solo ride. The domeshaped
360 degree horizon bisected by a
straight road is a rare driving
experience. A slig ht detour
through the Flinders Ranges is a
bonus for travellers opting to take
a break from long stretches of
driving. Other stops on the way
entering NSW is the mining town
of Broken Hill and the wheat
heartland of Dubbo, both worth a
visit. Thats real Australia away
from the coastal belt, as varied as
moving from Earth into a
Moonscape. In a Sydney Swamis
description of transcendence, its
an experience that is not describ
able, but only experienceable.

Vijay Badhwar is founder editor

of The Indian Down Under, the
oldest community paper in
Sydney.

Cotraveler Tejasvi Sharma looking at the aboriginal rock paintings in

the West Macdonnell Ranges

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

ANALYSIS

March 12-18, 2016

19

Banning Muslims from the United

States is the worlds dumbest idea
Donald Trumps proposal is politically, morally, and strategically wrong. It also doesnt make any sense.
By Christian Caryl

onald Trump is a big hit w ith

Republican voters. And his mastery of
reality TV tactics isnt the only reason.
Hes also made quite a splash with his policy
proposals.
Hes stirred up particular enthusiasm with
his vow to ban all Muslims all of them,
including tourists and casual visitors
from entering the United States. Poll after
poll shows that his supporters love the idea.
Its easy to imagine why. Many Americans,
and Republicans in particular, are obsessed
with terrorism. T he main threat, they
assume, comes from Muslims so just shut
of f the flow of Muslims into the country.
Problem solved.
Trump first ment ioned this idea in
December. Commentators dismissed it in
passing, apparently not deeming it worthy
of serious discussion. But the intervening
weeks and the latest primaries have
shown that its still a hit with Republican
voters. And given that Trump increasingly
looks like the frontrunner for his partys
nomination, this is a good time to take a
fresh look at the policy. Im probably being
overly optimistic here, but Id like to think
that proper analysis might help people to
understand why its a really, really terrible
idea.
First, it would cause incalculable damage
to the global standing of USA. A country that
has long prided itself on its openness, toler
ance, and diversity would suddenly shut
itself to an entire class of people about
1.6 billion of them, in fact on the basis of
their faith.
I understand perfectly well that a lot of
Trump fans probably dont care at all how
people in other countries view us. Even so,
his policy would totally screw up our count
erterrorism efforts. The war on jihadi ter
rorists, like the Cold War, isnt just about
guns and bombs. Its also a war of hearts
and minds. What few Americans appreciate
is that the jihadists arent only trying to kill
us theyre waging war on other Muslims,
those who re ject their views. And
Washingtons biggest partners in this strug
gle arent the Europeans, its the people and
governments of Muslim states who are fight
ing for their own lives against the extrem
ists. This civil war within Islam of fers us
natural allies in our fight against the terror
ists.
Small wonder that the U.S. military is
training and assisting government forces in
such Islamic countries as West Africa and
Afghanistan. Probably the most ef fective
fighters against the Islamic State on the
ground are the Kurds, who are also mostly
Muslims. We need them on our side espe
cially if we dont want to send the U.S. Army
in to do the job for them.
So just imagine what a gift well be making
to the Islamic States propaganda arm the
day President Trump announces his ban.
They ask you to fight and die against us for
their sake, the terrorists will say. But

youre not good enough to enter their coun

try. They claim theyre not fighting a war
against Islam. But they reject anyone whos
a Muslim. Do you really want to help these
people?
I can imagine that most Trump fans wont
care. We need to show the bad guys whos
boss, theyll say. We need to project
strength.
OK, fine. But policies only project strength
when they work. And this one wont.
T he most important thing about T he
Donalds idea is that it will be impossible to
implement. The reason is simple: Wed have
to screen people who want to come to the
United States by their religion. Theres virtu

track the religious affiliations of their citi

zens. How would American of ficials be
expected to determine whos who?
T he simplest expedient, presumably,
would be to ban everyone from the country
in question. So what about, say, India? There
are 180 million Muslims there. Yet Indian
identity documents dont record the religion
of the bearer, meaning that the only effec
tive option would be denying visas to every
Indian in order to ensure that no Muslims
get to our shores.
Whats more, the Indian government
answering to its own indignant citizens
would have every reason to reciprocate,
forcing any Americans who want to go there

The simplest expedient, presumably, would be to

ban everyone from countries with Muslims. So
what about, say, India? There are 180 million
Muslims there. Yet Indian identity documents
dont record the religion of the bearer, meaning
that the only effective option would be denying
visas to every Indian in order to ensure that
no Muslims get to our shores.
ally no way to do it effectively.
Trumps supporters apparently think its
just a matter of blocking travelers from a
few select Islamic countries. Weve already
tried that, more or less. After 9/11, we
imposed especially stringent checks on visi
tors from a bunch of countries that seemed
likely sources for terrorists. Even now, youll
have an extremely hard time getting a visa
to the United States if youre from Iran, Iraq,
or Syria.
Its pretty hard to find a country that is
purely Muslim. Even the biggest majority
Muslim countries contain large nonMuslim
minorities. Egypt, for example, is 10 %
Christian, while 13 % of Indonesians are
nonMuslims thats about 33 million peo
ple. And foreign governments often dont

to apply for visas in their turn. An intricate

web of family ties and personal relation
ships, billions of dollars in trade, complicat
ed diplomatic and political links all of
that would be caught up in a huge bureau
cratic train wreck. The cumulative costs
would be astronomical.
And what about the 38 countries whose
citizens are allowed to travel to the United
States without visas at all? Among them are
23 members of the European Union, includ
ing Great Britain, Germany, and the
Netherlands. All of these countries have
large Muslim populations. None of them
tracks its citizens by religious faith. To
exclude all of the Muslims wed have to
examine every single traveler at the border.
And we wouldnt be screening them for

some objective external trait, like hair color.

Wed be trying to figure out their innermost
beliefs.
And how would we do that? Faithsniffing
dogs? Cleverly phrased trick questions?
Laserinterferometer Islam detection kits?
(And no, sorry, the presence of aturban or a
headscarf does not a Muslim make.)
One option would be to get rid of our visa
waiver programs altogether to demand,
in short, that all foreign travelers have to
apply in their home countries for permis
sion to come to the United States. To process
all the applications, wed need a massive
increase in personnel in the Department of
Home land Security and the State
Department, costing billions. And the coun
tries affected by our change in policy would
have no choice but to retaliate by canceling
their own programs allowing Americans to
visit them without visas. Wed lose one of
the great advantages we have as American
citizens the ability to travel to most
places in the world with just a passport.
Americans would find themselves increas
ingly isolated not to mention pissed of f.
Can you imagine having to apply for a visa
for your spring break trip to Cancun? Or a
twoday work trip to London? Our economy,
which vitally depends on overseas trade,
would take a gigantic hit. And the terrorists
would trade highfives. How does any of this
help us? Whats really in our interest is to
demonstrate to the rest of the world that
what they hear about us is indeed wrong,
notes Meissner and we do that most
effectively by maintaining our openness to
the world. Thats how we won the Cold
War.
Lets make one thing clear. The president
of the United States has extremely wide lati
tude to deny entry to any foreign national.
Foreigners who want to come to the United
States dont have due process rights. (Trump
hasnt said whether his ban would apply to
U.S. citizens of Islamic faith returning home
from overseas something that would
almost certainly be unconstitutional.) A
president can theoretically close the coun
trys borders to anyone he or she wants.
Youd hope, though, that the president
would start by balancing the gains from
such a policy against its disadvantages. And
a Trumpstyle ban that aimed to prevent all
and any Muslims from entering would cause
far more problems than it solves. To be sure,
a few terrorists might find it harder to get
into the United States. But thats a goal that
can be achieved using the right application
of tools we already have. (Is it worth men
tioning that weve already spent hundreds of
billions on preventing terrorist attacks
inside the country since 9/11, and that
weve by and large been pretty successful?)
The costs of Trumps policy political
and economic would be huge. (Or should
I say yuuuge?) The terrorists aim is to
make us weak and isolated. Why should we
doing their work for them?

Courtesy Foreign Policy magazine

20

March 12-18, 2016

1.8 per cent Indian

diaspora contributes 6 %
to Britain's GDP: Sarna
London: Indian origin
t ion
of fered
by
people in Britain are
Oxbridge.
"important" because
What was prevent
though only being 1.8
ing more students
percent of its popula
from India to come to
tion, they contribute 6
such centers of excel
percent to GDP, India's
lence, said Sarna, was
new
Hig h
"visa dif ficulties are
Commissioner Navtej
making the other des
Indias new High
Sarna said on Tuesday.
tinations more attrac
Commissioner to
Addressing members
t ive." Among these
UK Navtej Sarna
of the House of
other destinations, he
(Photo: Twitter)
Commons and House
specifically mentioned
of Lords at a welcome extended Australia and New Zealand.
to him, he also went on to high
The event at the Westminster
light it was more expensive to Palace, which houses the British
study at Britain's Oxford and parliament, was jointly hosted by
Cambridge universities than the
IndoBrit ish
&
institutions in other countries, Commonwealth All Party
but Indians were willing to pay Parliamentary Groups.
extra for the quality of educa
(IANS/RAY)

DIASPORA

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

UK visa fees hike to affect

thousands of Indians
London: The British government
is set to increase visa fees across
most categories of applications
from March 18, in a move that
will af fect thousands of Indians
who were the largest group of
skilled workers to be granted
visas to live and work in Britain
last year. The changes, proposed
in January this year, mean a 2
per cent rise for most fees
including the shortterm visitor
visas and most work or study
applications and a 25 per cent
increase in fees for nationality
and settlement visa applications.
The UK Home Of fice said the
increases will reduce UK taxpay
er contributions towards the bor
der, immigration and citizenship
system and ensure that by 2019
2020 the system is selffunded
by those who use it.

"These changes ensure that the

Home Of fice can achieve a self
funding system, whilst continu
ing to provide a competitive level
of service, and a fees structure
that remains attractive to busi
nesses, migrants and visitors," a
Home Office statement said.
According to recentlyreleased
figures from the Of fice of
National Statistics (ONS), Indians
formed the largest g roup of
skilled workers to be granted
visas to live and work in the UK
last year.
Indians bagged the majority of
the 92,062 visas issued to skilled
migrants in 2015.
"Indian nationals accounted for
57 per cent of total skilled work
visas g ranted (52,360 of
92,062), with USA nationals the
next largest nationality group

(10,130 or 11 per cent)," the

ONS report said.
Most of these migrants go on
to apply for settlement in the UK
and will now pay around 25 per
cent more for such applications
as the fee for a settlement appli
cation or socalled "Indefinite
Leave to Remain" (ILR) applica
tion within the UK will increase
from 1,500 pounds to 1,875
pounds.
T he main changes ef fective
from March 18 are: visas linked
most closely to economic growth,
such as those offered to workers
and students, will be increased
by 2 per cent.
A 2 per cent increase will apply
to all visit visas to help maintain
the UK's position as one of the
world's top tourist destinations.
(PTI)

Australian teen mocked, assaulted

on bus for wearing turban
Melbourne: In a hatefuelled attack,
a 13yearold Sikh school boy in
Australia, travelling in a bus here,
was assaulted, mocked and threat
ened with being stabbed for wear
ing a turban.
Harjeet Singh, was riding the bus
home, when two males and a female
ringleader all believed to be in
their late teens assaulted and
mocked him. Harjeet was also
allegedly threatened with being
stabbed and had his turban pulled
in the hatefuelled attack aboard a
suburban bus, the Herald Sun
reported. The female demanded to
know why Harjeet was wearing a
"towel" on his head and twice tried
to remove his turban despite the
terrified boy trying to get away. It is

alleged that one of the males was

also involved and the boy was
sworn at. Harjeet's mother Rajinder
Kaur Gill told the daily, "My son was
so scared and he was crying. It's a
horrible thing. I'm just scared if it's
safe for him on the bus."
"We are worried it's not just my
son we are worried it will be other
people as well. It should not happen
to anyone," she said of the incident
that took place on February 23.
The two males and the female are
being sought by police.
Harjeet, who attends Doncaster
Secondary College here, was sitting
in the middle row of the bus when
the offenders approached from the
back seat. The ordeal lasted until
Eltham when Mr Harjeet got off the

bus early with school friends, also

in tears. One of their mothers drove
Harjeet home.
"I was so scared. I just froze and
when my friends got off the bus I
got of f with them," Harjeet said.
"The girl said I had a 'worthless
towel' on my head," he said.
"The girl pushed my son's turban
with her elbow," Gill said.
"My son moved from his seat to
get further away from them and
they followed him and sat behind
him again. This time the girl pushed
him hard and tried to remove his
turban again. My son was scared
and he asked them to stop but they
laughed at him and they said there
aren't that many stabbings in
Eltham," she said.

Qatar NRIs to set up Rs.1,300 crore healthcare project in Kochi

Kochi: Cochi Medi City and Tourism
Pvt Ltd, promoted by a group of
Qatarbased NRIs hailing from
Kerala including medical profes
sionals and businessmen, on
Tuesday announced the setting up
of a state of the art Rs.1,300 crore
health care project here. "It will be
operational in three years time and
provide 7,500 direct and 25,000

indirect employment opportuni

ties," the firm's chairman Mohan
T homas Pakalomattom told
reporters here. This project has a
vision of establishing a modern
superspecialty hospital and health
care system offering international
standards of care at an affordable
cost. The project will be set up in
52 acres of land out of 140 acres

that they possess and has been

designed as an ecofriendly project
according to vice chairman Mathew
Francis Kattukaran. Among the
other facilities will be a 50bed
ayurvedic spa and a research center
to research on the ayurvedic med
ications and to develop appropriate
drugs with the help of internation
ally benchmarked labs.

Minister Harjit Sajjan sampling his namesake burger

(Photo courtesy: ctvnews.ca)

Burger named after

Canada's Sikh
defence minister
Toronto: Canada's first Sikh
Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan
now has a chicken burger named
after him and it is called 'T he
Minister
of
Nat ional
Deliciousness.'
45yearold Sajjan, who was in
November named Canada's
Minister of National Defence in
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's
30member Liberal cabinet,
stopped by a downtown

Vancouver eatery to sample the

burger named in his honour.
"National Deliciousness indeed!
Tried my namesake burger at
#Vancouver's @TheCannibalCafe
and was not disappointed," Mr
Sajjan tweeted after eating the
burger.
National Deliciousness indeed!
Tried my namesake burger at
#Vancouver's @TheCannibalCafe
and was not disappointed. (IANS)

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SUBCONTINENT

Jaya urges Modi to

intervene for
shermen's release
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chie f
Minister J. Jayalalithaa urged
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to
intervene personally and secure
the release of Indian shermen
from Lankan custody.
In a letter to Modi, the text of
which was released to the media
here, Jayalalithaa requested the
former's personal intervention to
issue instructions to the Ministry
of External Affairs to take up the
matter with Sri Lanka and secure
the release of 64 Indian shermen
and 77 shing boats.
"There is an urgent and impera
tive need to ensure that our sher
men are not arrested and abducted
on the high seas. Proactive action
needs to be initiated at the highest
level to ensure a permanent solu
tion to this sensitive issue that
plagues the livelihoods of thou
sands of Tamil Nadu shermen,"
she said.
Jayalalithaa drew Modi's atten
tion to the apprehension of 29
Indian shermen and their four

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister

J. Jayalalithaa. (Photo: IANS)
shing craft from near Tamil Nadu
by the Sri Lankan Navy on Sunday.
A narrow strip of sea divides
India and Sri Lanka. Indian sher
men are arrested by the Lankan
Navy on the charge that they sh
in Lankan waters.
Sri Lanka continues to keep the
apprehended Indian shing boats
even though it releases the sher
men.

New Delhi: The national security

advisors of India and Pakistan con
tinue to remain in touch with each
other following the crossborder
terror attack on the Pathankot air
base in January this year, the gov
ernment said.
T he two NSAs have been in
touch with each other following
the Pathankot attack in January
2016 regarding the followup by
Pakistan on actionable information
provided by India concerning the
attack, Minister of State for
External Affairs V.K. Singh said in
reply to a question in the Lok
Sabha.
Seven Indian security personnel
lost their lives when terrorists
from across the border attacked
the Indian Air Force base in
Pathankot, Punjab, early on
January 2. The Pakistanbased
JaisheMohammed (JeM) claimed
responsibility for the attack in
which all the six terrorists also
were reportedly killed.
The attack derailed the proposed
foreign secretarylevel talks that
were scheduled for the middle of
January after the two countries

Nepali Congress senior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba. (Photo: IANS)

ing president of the party, by 526
votes. He garnered 1,822 votes,
while Paudel got 1,296 votes.
Deuba bagged 58 percent of
votes to emerge victorious at the
convention. Deuba hails from
Dadeldhura district of Nepal, and

21

India, Pak NSAs in touch since

Pathankot attack: Minister

Deuba elected Nepali

Congress president

Kathmandu: Threetime Prime

Minister and Nepali Congress sen
ior leader Sher Bahadur Deuba
has been elected the new presi
dent of the Himalayan country's
largest democratic party.
He was e lected at the 13th
National General Convention of
the Nepali Cong res throug h
runof f he ld on Monday, the
Himalayan Times reported.
Deuba said that his election to
the post has added to his respon
sibility.
"I got a responsibility to make
the party strong and take initia
tives to resolve problems of the
country," he said.
He also said he was "condent
that those who did not win would
also support me. I will move ahead
taking all, including Ram Chandra
Paude l and Krishna Prasad
Sitaula, together."
Deuba defeated Paudel, the act

March 12-18, 2016

is e lected to parliament from

there.
The 12th General Convention
had elected Sushil Koirala as the
party's top leader. Koirala passed
away on February 9, necessitating
party president's election.

agreed in December last year to

start a comprehensive bilateral
dialogue.
India has since sent actionable
evidence to the Pakistani authori
ties to bring the perpetrators of
the attack to book.
Pakistan led an FIR in
Gujranwala last month against
"unknown" terrorists in connection
with the attack. It also said that it
would send a Joint Investigation
Team (JIT) to India to probe the
attack.
In his reply to the Lok Sabha,
V.K. Singh said that several terror
ist attacks in India, including in
Jammu and Kashmir, were perpe
trated by inltrators from Pakistan
or Pakistanadministered Kashmir,
benetting from the terrorist
infrastructure existing there.
Recently, there has been a rise
in such attacks which include the
attack in Gurdaspur ( July 27,
2015), Ud hampur (August 5,
2015), Pathankot (January 24,
2016) and Pampore (February 20
21, 2016), he stated.
The minister also said that listing
of several Pakistanbased individu

als, including Haz Saeed and Zaki

ur Rahman Lakhvi, and entities
including LashkareTaiba/Jamaat
udDawaa under the relevant pro
visions of the UN Security
Councils Resolution 1267 was
successfully pursued.
The government continues to
pursue imposition and strict moni
toring of 1267 regime on various
Pakistanbased individuals and ter
rorist organisations directing their
activities against India, he said.
Our concerns regarding anti
India terrorism emanating from
Pakistan have been taken up with
international community and also
bilaterally with Pakistan on a num
ber of occasions.
This concern was also discussed
by India's Nat ional Security
Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval with his
Pakistani counterpart Nasir Khan
Janjua when they met in Bangkok
on December 6 last year, Singh
said.
Government remains committed
to taking all necessary steps to
safeguard safety and security of
the country and its citizens, he
added.

No compromise on
Pak's Nprogram: Aziz

Pakistan's adviser on national security and

foreign affairs Sartaj Aziz. (Photo: IANS)
Islamabad: Pakistan's Adviser on
Foreign Af fairs Sartaj Aziz said
the national security was top pri
ority of Islamabad and there
would be no compromise on the
country's nuclear program.
He made the remarks during a
debate on the statement of US
Secretary of State John Kerry
that Saudi Arabia could purchase
a nuclear bomb from Pakistan.
Aziz said the statement of the
US Secretary of State was mis
quoted by the media, Radio
Pakistan reported.
Aziz said that Pakistan's
nuclear program was for deter
rence and the ent ire world
appreciated its command and

control system.
He said that during Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif's visit to
the US and his own visit to
Washington, the US authorities
were categorically told that
Pakistan would not accept any
restriction on its nuclear pro
gram.
They were told that the con
cept of deterrence is dynamic
and Pakistan would have to take
care of capacity and advances
being made by its rival.
Aziz said Pakistan with the
cooperation of China had suc
cessfully blocked India's bid to
seek membership of the Nuclear
Supplier Group.

22 March 12-18, 2016

INTERNATIONAL

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

India, US to deepen collaboration against LeT, JeM

Washington: India and the US
have ag reed to deepen their
already close collaborat ion
against Pakistanbased terror
groups LashkareTaeba (LeT)
and JaisheMohammed (JeM),
blamed for terrorist attacks in
India, and other terrorist threats.
Visit ing Indian Foreign
Secretary
Subrahmanyam
Jaishankar and US Nat ional
Security Advisor Susan E. Rice
agreed to do so at a meeting at
the White House here.
While LeT is held responsible
for the November 2008 Mumbai
terror attacks, JeM is blamed for
the Jan 2 attack on the Indian Air
Force station at Pathankot.
Rice and Jaishankar also
"af firmed their commitment to
deepening bilateral cooperation
on climate change, trade, and
defence," according to a state

Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. (Photo: IANS)

ment by Nat ional Security
Council (NSC) Spokesperson Ned
Price.

NETANYAHU PLAYS
DOWN TENSIONS
WITH US

"They also discussed USIndia

collaboration against Lashkare
Taeba, JaisheMohammed, and

other terrorist threats," it said.

"Building on their leaders' com
mitment to make the USIndia
partnership a defining relation
ship for the 21st Century, they
agreed to deepen their already
close collaborat ion on these
issues."
Rice and Jaishankar also noted
preparations for the upcoming
March 31April 1 Nuclear
Security Summit that is expected
to be attended by about 50 world
leaders, including Prime Minister
Narendra Modi and his Pakistani
counterpart Nawaz Sharif.
There is widespread specula
tion that Modi and Sharif would
meet on the sidelines of the sum
mit.
The last time the two premiers
met was on Dec 25, 2015, when
Modi made a surprise visit to
Lahore, a first by an Indian prime

minister in over a decade.

Modi briefly attended Sharif 's
granddaughter's wedding cere
mony and then held a brief meet
ing with his Pakistani counter
part.
The attack on the Pathankot
airbase came a week later leading
to the cancellation of foreign sec
retary level talks between India
and Pakistan.
During his visit to Washington
last week, Pakistan's Foreign
Af fairs Adviser Sartaj Aziz
expressed Islamabad's "gratitude"
to Secretary of State John Kerry
and President Barack Obama for
their "consistent support to the
revival of PakistanIndia dia
logue."
He also affirmed Pakistan gov
ernment's commitment to acting
against all terrorist groups with
out any distinction.

Iran missile tests did not

violate nuclear deal: US
Washington: The United States said
that Iran's recent ballistic missile
tests did not violate an international
nuclear agreement, adding it will
address the issue appropriately
with "unilateral and multilateral
tools".
"This is not a violation of the
nuclear agreement," Xinhua quoted
W hite House spokesman Josh
Earnest as saying on Tuesday, refer
ring to "Joint Comprehensive Plan
of Action" the nuclear deal imple
mentation mechanism.
The P5+1 group, namely the US,

Britain, France, China, Russia and

Germany, reached the comprehen
sive nuclear deal with Iran on July
14, 2015. The accord would pro
vide sanctions relief for Iran in
exchange for limits on its controver
sial nuclear programme.
Earnest, however, said an investi
gation was underway to review the
incident and determine whether it
should be raised at the UN Security
Council.
Earlier on Tuesday, Iran testfired
several ballistic missiles in the
ongoing military drills attended by

the senior commanders of the

Islamic Revolution Guards Corps
(IRGC).
The missile drill was aimed "to
show Iran's deterrent power and
also its ability to confront any
threat against the (Islamic)
Revolution, the state and the sover
eignty of the country", the IRGC's
official website said.
Earnest stressed that if it was
determined that Iran ballistic mis
siles tests were in violation of UN
Security Council resolutions, Tehran
could face "some consequences".

Aden attack: Indian Mother Superior

of aid home to be evacuated
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (Photo: IANS)
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said US Vice
President Joe Biden's impending
visit demonstrated the strong ties
between the "close allies".
"This visit expresses the strong
relations between Israel and our
ally the US," Netanyahu told his
cabinet here.
"There are those who have pre
dicted the collapse of these rela
tions it is not so," he said, in an
apparent reference to his rocky
relations with President Barack
Obama over Netanyahu's opposi
tion to the nuclear agreement
with Iran, Xinhua news agency
reported.
Biden, who will arrive in Israel
on Tuesday, will also visit the

Palestinian National Authority,

Jordan, and the UAE. His visit
comes amidst fears of escalation
in the wake of a sixmonthlong
wave of bloody violence between
Israelis and Palestinians.
Whereas both Israel and the US
officials stress the strong securi
tyrelated cooperation, diplomatic
relations have been strained in
recent years.
Most of the tensions have sur
rounded the different approaches
towards the nuclear deal signed
by world powers and Iran, with
Netanyahu vocally objecting to
the agreement signed between
world countries and Iran, calling
it a "historic mistake", whereas
the US stood by the agreement.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Indian

government will shift, out of
Yemen, the Indian mother superi
or of an aid home in Aden where
four nuns including were killed
and an Indian priest kidnapped in
an attack by gunmen, said Kerala
Chief Minister Oomen Chandy.
Chandy said that after he spoke
to External Af fairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj, Indian embassy
of ficials from Djibout i have
established contacts with Sister
Sally, the mother superior of the
old age home run by the Mother
Teresa's Missionaries of Charity,
who hails from Kerala.
"I managed to speak to Sally a
while ago and she said that she
has been contacted by Indian
embassy of ficials from Djibouti
who are expected to come to take
her with them on Monday. In her

place (Yemen), there is no Indian

embassy or any officials.
"She said that things are not
that smooth where she is and
there is no information about the
priest Tom Kuzhuvennal, who
hails from Kottayam district and
was taken away by these uniden
tified gunmen," he said.
Chandy added that Sally was
lucky to escape the attackers as
she, along with a few locals,
saved herself by hiding when
these gunmen created mayhem.
He said that according to
reports that he got, these gun
men tied the arms and hands of
the priest and took him with
them.
"She also said that there is no
information about the priest,"
said Chandy.
In the gunfire, four nuns of the

Missionaries of Charity, including

one from India, were killed. The
Indian nun has been identified as
Sister M. Anseleme, 57, from
Jharkhand. Of the other three
nuns, two were from Rwanda and
another from Kenya.
The home, set up by Mother
Teresa in 1992, houses 61 elder
ly destitutes and the Kerala priest
had come to the home from an
insecure place in Yemen.
An official attached to Chandy's
of fice, who is in constant touch
w ith the convent and w ith
Keralites in and around the place,
told IANS that he has been told
that things are fluid there.
It has now been established
that that these unidentified gun
men be longed to the Yemen
based af filiate of the Islamic
State (IS) group.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

March 12-18, 2016

BUSINESS

23

Double blow for flamboyant Vijay Mallya

Mumbai/New Delhi: In a double blow to
beleaguered business tycoon Vijay Mallya,
the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in
Mumbai lodged a money laundering case
and the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) in
Bengaluru barred British liquor giant
Diageo from paying him anything till a case
against him was disposed off.
The tribunal barred Diageo plc from pay
ing Rs.5.04 billion ($75 million) as a sever
ance package to Mallya who quit the chair
manship of its Indian company, United
Spirits Ltd. last month, till the pending case
against the liquor baron before it is decid
ed. "T he presiding ofcer of DRT (R.
Benkanahalli) ordered temporary attach
ment of the severance package amount and
directed Diageo not to pay it till our case is
nally heard and disposed of," counsel for
State Bank of India (SBI) told media persons
in Bengaluru. Reading out the onepage
order, Benkanahalli said Mallya shall not
temporarily draw the $75 million men
tioned in the interlocutory application till
the case's disposal. "Diageo plc and United
Spirits Ltd shall not disburse the amount
($75 million) to Mallya or his nominees or
agents till the disposal of the bank's origi
nal application (OA). Amount as sought by
the applicant banks stands attached," the
order said.
The tribunal also directed all defendants
to furnish details of the agreement on or
before the next date of hearing (March 28),
when it will hear the bank's three other
interlocutory applications, seeking his
arrest, impounding of his passport and

Mallya has left the country, SC told

New Delhi: The Supreme Court issued notice to beleaguered liquor baron Vijay Mallya
on a plea by a consortium of 17 banks led by the SBI seeking his personal appearance
before it along with his passport as it was told that Mallya has already left the coun
try. The apex court bench of Justice Kurian Joseph and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman
issued notice as Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi told the court that Mallya left the
country soon after they moved applications on March 2 before Bengalurubased Debt
Recovery Tribunal to restrain Diageo from paying him $75 million.
The consortium of 17 banks led by the State Bank of India had sought order
restraining Mallya from leaving the country, his arrest and impounding of his pass
port. Banks have challenged March 4 order of the Karnataka High Court not accepting
their plea.
The notice will be issued to him personally, through his company, through his
lawyers who appeared for him in the Karnataka High Court and in DRT and through
the Indian High Commission in London. The notice will also be served on him on his
ofcial Rajya Sabha email ID.

In another major blow for Vijay Mallya,

the ED registered a moneylaundering
case against him. (Photo: IANS)
seizure of his assets.
It also ordered issuing notice on the
bank's application to Diageo ofce in
London through registered post.
A consortium of 17 staterun and private
banks led by SBI led the application on
February 26, a day after Diageo signed the
deal with Mallya for resigning as chairman
and not competing with it in the spirits
business worldwide for the next ve years
for $40 million this year and the balance
($35 million) over the next four years.
According to the SBI counsel, Mallya's
now defunct Kingsher Airline owes the

consortium a whopping Rs.10,000 crore,

including compound interest over the
remaining combined loans of Rs.7,800
crore borrowed between 200412 before it
was grounded and shut down subsequently.
In another major blow for Mallya, the ED
registered a moneylaundering case against
him.
"We have led a case against Mallya on
Monday. The case is specically based on
the case registered by the CBI against him
and others in (October) 2015," Assistant
Director (Enforcement Directorate) A.K.
Rawal told IANS in New Delhi.
Mallya and the top executives of the erst
while KFA have been booked under
Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of
Money Laundering Act (PMLA), Rawal said.

The measure follows an audit of the

Rs.7,200 crore loan that the bank consor
tium had extended to the airline but was
not repaid.
The KFA is alleged to have diverted as
much as Rs.4,000 crore of that money to
international tax havens like Mauritius and
Cayman Islands, which is being probed by
the ED and the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI).
Other businesses of Mallya were also
being scrutinized by the ED under the
PMLA, an ofcial, requesting anonymity,
told IANS in Mumbai.
It is feared that Mallya might become a
fugitive from law by shifting base to a coun
try where it might be difcult to make him
face the Indian laws, ofcials said.

Proposed tax on provident fund withdrawals rolled back

New Delhi: After widespread
resentment, Finance Minister
Arun Jaitley withdrew his
budget proposal to tax 60
percent of provident fund
withdrawals made after April
1 this year if they are not re
invested in annuity funds that
fetch steady streams of
income.
In a statement in the Lok
Sabha, he also withdrew his
budget plan to limit monetary
contribut ions made by an
employer in a recognized
provident or a superannuat
ing fund to Rs.150,000 per
annum to avail tax sops.
However, the 40 percent tax
exemption limit on the nation
al pension scheme stays,
Jaitley said.
The move is likely to bene

t, among others, nearly 45

lakh members of the employ
ees' provident fund (EPF)
scheme
earning
over
Rs.15,000 per month. T he
3.26 crore remaining mem
bers of the scheme earning
less than Rs.15,000 per
month had not been targeted
by Jaitley's original proposal.
The decision was purported
ly taken at the behest of
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi.
"T he purpose of the pro
posed reform in tax regime
was to encourage more num
ber of private employees to go
for pension security after
their retirement instead of
w ithdraw ing their ent ire
money from their provident
fund account," he said.

90 % of FDI inflows in
9 months through
automatic route

ver 90 percent of the total for

eign direct investment (FDI)
received during the first nine
months (AprilDecember) of this fiscal
came through the automatic route,
parliament was informed on
Wednesday. "FDI equity inow
received through automatic route and
approval route during the current
nancial year (up to December 2015)
is 90.24 percent and 9.76 percent
respectively," Commerce Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written
reply to the Rajya Sabha. She said the
government had put in place a liberal
and transparent policy under which
most sectors have been opened to FDI
under the automatic route. In reply to
a separate question, Sitharaman said:
"The demand for electronics in the
Indian market is expected to reach
$400 billion by 2020."

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. (Photo: IANS)

24 March 12-18, 2016

SPORTS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

IndiaPak World T20 match shifted to Kolkata

New Delhi: T he International
Cricket Council (ICC) relocated the
India vs Pakistan group stage
World T20 match, to be played on
March 19, from Dharamsala to
Kolkata citing security reasons.
ICC CEO Dave Richardson
announced the decision at a press
conference here. The match will
be played at the historic Eden
Gardens ground where the final of
the tournament will also be held.
Eden was supposed to host four
matches prior to the announce
ment. The match will go ahead as
per the original starting time of
7.30 p.m. local time.
"The decision has been taken
following consultation with the
BCCI, the relevant state associa
tions, the ICC and BCCI security
consultant and other relevant
authorities," Richardson said.
"The decision to relocate the
match has been made for security
reasons. The concerns initially
arose following alleged public
comments recently reported by
the Chief Minister of Himachal
Pradesh, warning of demonstra
tions and attempts to disrupt the
peaceful conduct of the match."
He said the security and safety
of the cricketers are paramount,
which led to the decision.
"Our concerns relate both to
uncertainty as to the level of those
threats as well as the level of com
mitment to implement any securi
ty plan developed to mitigate such
threats," the former South Africa

BCCI must make alternate

arrangements for Pak fans: Daily

ICC CEO Dave Richardson and ICC WT20 tournament director M V

Sridhar address the media regarding the relocation of IndiaPak
match in New Delhi. (Photo: IANS)
wicketkeeper said.
"The decision was not taken
lightly. T he ICC and the BCCI
understand the disappointment
that is likely to be felt by many
over the decision to move the
match. But the safety and security
of the event is of paramount
importance to the ICC and we
have taken into consideration the
concerns shared with us by our
security advisors as well as the
Pakistan Cricket Board."
Pakistan re fused to play in
Dharamsala and on Tuesday
night, the Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB) held back their team from
travelling to India following secu
rity concerns over the game.
"It is not the first time venues
have been changed due to security
issues. T he state government

should've raised their concerns

earlier," Richardson added.
While answering a question, he
said the ICC has not yet consid
ered any penalty or punishment
for the Himachal Pradesh Cricket
Association (HPCA). He also ruled
any action against the BCCI.
"Allocating important matches
in Tier II cities like Dharamsala is
the BCCI way of ensuring that
cricket develops in that particular
region. Considering the amount of
effort that has gone into develop
ing the game in that region, it will
not be reasonable to penalise the
HPCA," the former South Africa
star said.
"As far as those who have pur
chased t ickets online for the
match, they will be of fered the
choice of a full refund or the

Islamabad: The responsibility of making alternate arrangements

for Pakistani fans who have already made ticket purchases and
hotel reservations at Dharamsala fall on BCCI, said a Pakistani
daily after the India, Pakistan match was shifted to Kolkata.
An editorial "Dharamshala fiasco" in The Nation said that cricket
fans around the world waited with bated breath for the conclusion
of the Pakistan security teams report on the Dharamshala cricket
venue. "While India has been unable to guarantee safety in the
northern state, it is willing to move the PakistanIndia clash to
Eden Gardens in Kolkata and the ICCs announcement has finally
put rest to fears of Pakistan choosing to sit out of the tournament."
The daily said that commentators have rightly touched upon the
issues in India that this crisis revealed; "rising intolerance, militant
responses to problems and a political culture built around hating
Pakistan".
"Yet not enough have touched upon the culpability of the Indian
state in this matter and the consequences they must face by all
norms of propriety," it added.
The editorial said that after Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister
Virbhadra Singh started creating problems at the 11th hour, "no
one from the Congress the supposedly secular party he belongs
to made any real effort to convince him otherwise".
"Similarly if the provincial authorities were unwilling to provide
security, why didnt the federal authorities step in. No effort was
made by the federation or any political party to diffuse what was
essentially a political problem created solely to score points in
their own constituency," it noted.
opportunity to exchange their
tickets for ones for the Kolkata
match," he added.
BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur
meanwhile,
crit icized
the
Himachal Pradesh government,
asserting that the controversy has
tarnished the image of the coun

try.
"I think it gives a wrong impres
sion about the country, about the
state which is not in the interest
of a country like India. Due to one
state not delivering why should
India get a bad name," Thakur told
reporters here.

Sharapova admits failing dope test, loses plum sponsors

New York: Maria Sharapova sent
the tennis fraternity into a spin by
announcing that she failed a dope
test at the Australian Open and
was provisionally suspended she
thereafter lost two of her plum
sponsors while a third suspended
promotions with her.
T he 28yearold revealed on
Tuesday that she failed a drug test
at the Open. T he Russian star
explained that the drug,
Meldonium, which had been pre
scribed for a preexisting condi
tion for up to a decade, was added
to a banned substance list only on
this January 1, and she had "not
known".
The World AntiDoping Agency
(WADA) banned the drug effective
January 1. Sharapova, the World
No.7, said she didn't notice that
the drug was banned by the
WADA.
"For 10 years this medicine was
not on the banned list, and I had
been legally taking it," Sharapova
said in Los Angeles.
T he Internat ional Tennis
Federation (ITF) said on Tuesday

Maria Sharapova. (Photo: Xinhua/IANS)

she would be provisionally banned
from March 12. The usual ban for
firsttime offenders is two years.
The failed drug test came on
January 26 after Sharapova lost
to Serena Williams in the quarter
finals and she was charged with
an antidoping violation on March
2, the governing body added.
Sportswear giants Nike termi

nated its longrunning sponsor

ship of Sharapova, and said it was
"saddened and surprised" by the
news. It had an eightyear $70
million with Sharapova. The asso
ciation began when Sharapova
was 11 years old.
"We are saddened and surprised
by the news about Maria
Sharapova," Kejuan Wilkins, a

spokesman for Nike, said.

"We have decided to suspend
our relationship with Maria while
the investigation continues. We
will continue to monitor the situa
tion."
Swiss watchmaker Tag Heuer
joined Nike in cutting its 12year
ties with Sharapova, while car
manufacturers Porsche also sus
pended promotions with her on
Tuesday. She is the world's high
estpaid female athlete for the
11th year running.
Tennis Australia on Tuesday
expressed "surprise" that 2008
Australian Open champion and
fivet ime Grand Slam w inner
Maria Sharapova failed a drug test
during the 2016 Australian Open.
Australia's highest tennis body
acknowledged the drug test was
failed at its tournament, and said
Sharapova was "ready" to face any
consequences for her actions.
"We are surprised by today's
news that Maria Sharapova tested
positive to a banned substance
during the Australian Open," a
statement read.

"Throughout her career Maria

has always impressed with her
professionalism as a leader and
role model in our sport. In her
press conference Maria said she is
prepared to face the consequences
of what she describes as a 'huge
mistake'."
Tennis commentator Renae
Stubbs tweeted that she was
"shocked" by the news, while cur
rent Australian men's player
Matthew Ebden was sceptical of
Sharapova's reasoning.
"Doesn't look that innocent for
Sharapova or whoever else took it,
this Meldonium stuf f but who
knows?" he told social media web
site Twitter.
Former Grand Slam champion
Jennifer Capriati took a similar
stance. In a series of tweets that
didn't ment ion Sharapova by
name, Capriati said she was "dis
appointed."
The failed drug test could cause
the fivetime Grand Slam winner a
spot at the Rio 2016 Olympics and
the $298,000 she won in January
at the Australian Open.

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

BOOKS

March 12-18, 2016

25

Looking to catch the essence of Hillary in books

By Vikas Datta

s she a consummate, capable

stateswoman ready for the most power
ful job in the world, or a polarizing,
manipulative politician who should be kept
away from it?
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton may have
legions of devoted admirers as well as
fierce detractors but there can't be many
who can ignore her. Her fate will soon be
decided by Democratic voters and, if suc
cessful, then the US electorate, but till then
the debate has spilled over into the literary
world with a spate of works dissecting her
antecedents, ability and performance.
Clinton has been in the public gaze for
nearly four decades now, right from when
her husband, Bill Clinton, became Arkansas
governor in 1978, and held the post (apart
from a twoyear gap) till elected US presi
dent in 1992. After an over twodecadelong
stint as First Lady at the state and national
level, she carved out her own political career
as a senator from New York and then presi
dential contender in 2008.
She then began a role as a stateswoman,
accepting her successful rival Barack
Obama's offer to join his administration as
its top diplomat the third woman to hold
the post in a little over a decade. After one
eventful term, she bided her time before
again entering the fray for the White House
in 2016.
Her own take on her life can be found in
her autobiographies "Living History" (2003)
and "Hard Choices" (2014) about her stint
as Obama's secretary of state, but it has also

inspired nearly 100 books, ranging from

sympathetic portrayals to polemical attacks,
from 'tellall' accounts of former associates
to scholarly analyses, satirical fiction and
even a children's coloring book.
The leanings of most of the works can be
made out from their titles Joe Conason and
Gene Lyons' "The Hunting of the President:
The TenYear Campaign to Destroy Bill and
Hillary Clinton" (2000), Susan Estrich's "The
Case for Hillary Clinton" (2005), David
Brock's "Killing the Messenger: The Right
Wing Plot to Derail Hillary and Hijack Your
Government" (2015) are as obvious as
Peggy Noonan's "The Case Against Hillary
Clinton" (2000), Carl Limbacher's "Hillary's
Scheme: Inside the Next Clinton's Ruthless
Agenda to Take the White House" (2003),
and Dinesh D'Souza's "Stealing America:
What My Experience with Criminal Gangs
Taught Me about Obama, Hillary, and the
Democratic Party" (2015).
What are we to make of these and many

more like them? Should we believe that

Clinton has a good record of public life, is
wellsuited to be the next president of the
US but is being demonized, or is she just
another overly ambitious and unscrupulous
politician who must be exposed? Is Bill
Clinton a shrewd operator with a feel for the
public pulse or a moneyminded philander
er, or an asset or liability to his wife? There
are no easy answers and they will, in any
case, depend on what you want to believe.
But there are some books that are neither
enthusiastic hagiographies nor unrestrained
diatribes, but present a picture in all its posi
tive and negative aspects so as to allow you
to arrive at your own judgment.
Among the latest is Karen Blumenthal's
"Hillary" (2016). The author, whose previ
ous works include a biography of Steve Jobs
and of Walmart founder Sam Walton, focus
es on aspects that molded Clinton's thoughts
and how these influenced her personal and
public life. Blumenthal doesn't ignore the

many contradictions between words and

deeds or the many scandals that followed
the Clintons but treats them quite objective
ly. Kim Ghattas' "The Secretary: A Journey
with Hilllary Clinton Hillary Clinton from
Beirut to the Heart of American Power"
(2013) combines the Lebaneseborn BBC
correspondent's own story with accounts of
several important foreign trips she accom
panied Clinton on and a keen insight into
the reality and limitations of American
power.
On the other hand, Jonathan Allen and
Amie Parnes' "HRC: State Secrets and the
Rebirth of Hillary Clinton" (2014) dwells on
her domestic political career as secretary of
state. It also claims the Clintons had pre
pared a "hit" list comprising party leaders
who had either been unhelpful in 2008 and
how these were "fixed".
To get a feel of how of those not favorably
disposed look, Daniel Halper's "Clinton, Inc.:
The Audacious Rebuilding of a Political
Machine" (2014) is illustrative, with its
recital of a long list of innuendos and claims,
made by a host of unnamed sources, who
had sought they be kept anonymous to
avoid the ire of the Clintons. Though a little
dated, "A Woman in Charge: The Life of
Hillary Rodham Clinton" (2007), by Carl
Bernstein, one half of the duo that broke the
Watergate scandal and helped bring down a
president, cannot be bettered, or its estima
tion that she is "neither the demon of the
right's perception, nor a feminist saint, nor
is she particularly emblematic of her time"
but a person with several positives and
some flaws like most of us are.

IS PAKISTAN THE ORIGINAL ISLAMIC STATE?

By Vikas Datta
onventional' wisdom has it Pakistan,
though planned and achieved as an
Islamic nationstate, began its worry
ing tryst with radical Islamism in the
1970s when a civilian leader sought to use
it to try to shore up his position, and the
general who overthrew him, went in more
deeper out of his own inclination and geo
political circumstances. But is this valid or
should we look for the phenomenon's man
ifestation earlier?
The latter, contends Husain Haqqani, in
this comprehensive and detailed work on
the evolution of Pakistani politics and
strategic course which "questions the nar
rative that solely blamed the antiSoviet
war in Afghanistan for Pakistan's embrace
of the Jihadi ideology" and makes a persua
sive case that "Islamization, though pur
sued in earnest under General Zia ulHaq's
military regime (197788) has been a cor
nerstone of e f forts to consolidate
Pakistan's national identity for much
longer".
In fact, the former Pakistani envoy to the
US and now an academician says we must
go right back from the time that the
demand for Pakistan was enunciated
without any thought to "issues, such as the
new nation's constitutional scheme, the sta
tus of various ethnolinguistic groups with
in Pakistan, and the role of religion and
theologians in matters of state."

Pakistan Between
Mosque and Military;
Author: Husain Haqqani;
Publisher: Penguin;
Price: Rs.599
But this is not the point or the concern.
Pakistan is scarcely the first country to
have come about in confused circum
stances, or to face "an environment of inse

curity and hostility" at its evolution. The

real concern is that since the country's
emergence, its leaders political or military
"have played on religious sentiment as an
instrument" to bolster its identity and even
"ostensibly prowestern leaders" have
"attempted to 'manage' militant Islamism,
trying to calibrate it so that it serves its
nationbuilding function without destabliz
ing internal politics or relations with west
ern countries".
And events show, their attempts have
hardly been successful.
But Haqqani's account gives some added
nuance to the dysfunctional state Pakistan
finds itself in as well as the reasons for the
Kashmir dispute and its persistence, the
alienation of then East Pakistan, the India
Pakistan wars, and a radical new assess
ment of the Ayub Khan and Yahya Khan
eras (and in the latter, the 1970 elections,
usually touted as the fairest held in the
country).
In view of the ramifications for the coun
try as reflected in dismal social and eco
nomic indicators, as well as the region and
the wider world, the importance of under
standing this guiding flaw of the Pakistani
state the "tripod of religious nationalism
or use of Islam as an ideology to bind the
nation, antiIndia rhetoric and need for
external allies, especially the US" is all the
more significant.
Since this seminal book's first appear
ance in 2006, several significant events

Benazir Bhutto's assassination, Gen. Pervez

Musharraf's downfall, the firstever com
pletion of the national assembly's term and
handing over of power among civilian gov
ernments, the Peshawar school attack
have occurred and are incorporated to
bring the narrative up to late 2015. But as
Haqqani contends, despite some tinkering
and superficial change, the tripod persists.
The danger is that "the historic alliance
between Islamists and Pakistan's military
has the potential to frustrate antiterrorist
operations, radicalize key segments of the
Islamic world, and bring India and Pakistan
to the brink of war yet again".
Is there a way out? Yes, but a long, hard
one involving conversion from an ideologi
cal state to a functional state through
change in perceptions of both those who
oversee Pakistan's destiny and allies,
chiefly the US and China, says Haqqani,
who has also written "Magnificent
Delusions: Pakistan, the United States, and
an Epic History of Misunderstanding" on
the unintended consequences of the bilat
eral relations.
But the real significance of this book is
that its lessons have wider application than
the subject particularly on the toxic
effects of religious nationalism and creat
ing a state trying to win ideological battles
than focusing on its people's development.
We in particularly must learn this.

IANS

26

March 12-18, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

SELF HELP

Prom price tag: Rising costs of the big dance

P

rom is a timehonored tradition and a rite of passage

for teens. Originally inspired by graduation celebra
tions and debutante balls, prom today is an extrava
gant, defining moment in a teenagers life, and bears little
resemblance to the promenades of the past especially
when it comes to cost.
Going to the prom can put a fairly large dent in ones
wallet. In fact, the average family with a teenager spends
nearly a thousand dollars on the dance, according to a
recent prom spending survey by Visa. Take a look at the
budget breakdown below.

dates, and $100 on other accessories, according to

research from USA Today.

Cut Costs, Save for College

The Promposal
Just as significant as the dance itself, the new prompos
al trend is an elaborate and often public way that
teens ask someone to prom. Teens are spending about one
third of their overall prom costs on it, totaling around
$324, according to the Visa survey.
What are some popular promposal tactics? Spelling
prom with pepperonis on pizza, airplane banner fly
overs, giant duct tape posters and the jumbotron at a
sporting event are just a few ways teens are popping the
question.

Fashion First

When proms first became common, teens were encour

aged to wear their Sunday best implying that they wear
a nice dress or suit that they already owned. Not so any
more. For girls, going to prom is all about the dress, and

finding the perfect one at the right price is no easy task. In

2012, girls surveyed by Seventeen magazine said they
planned to spend $231 on average for a dress, $45 on
shoes, $23 on a handbag, $32 on jewelry and $118 on
hair, nails and makeup combined. While guys typically
spend less on prom clothing and accessories, theyre still
shelling out heavy cash to arrive in style. Guys spent on
average $127 for a tuxedo, $20 on a corsage for their

Tips to save money

on paying debt
verextending onese lf on
highinterest rate revolving
debt purchases is not uncom
mon. Indeed, U.S. households who
use credit cards have an average of
$15,799 in credit card debt,
according to the nonprofit
Consolidated Credit Counseling. If
youre not strategic about the way
you make repayments, you could
end up spending more paying down
your debt, and at rates that may
increase over time, says Stephanie
Cutler, vice president of Wells
Fargo`s Personal Lines and Loans.
If your highinterest rate revolv
ing debt seems overwhelming or
stressful, Cutler says to consider
the following:
Consolidate Debt : Juggling multi
ple highinterest rate debts can be
costly and confusing. With a per
sonal loan, which often comes with
a lower interest rate than what
credit cards of fer, consumers can
take funds from the loan and pay
of f highinterest rate revolving
debt, maintaining one monthly pay
ment at a potentially lower interest
rate. Additionally, some personal
loans are offered with no origina
tion or prepayment fees, which can
help save money in the near and
longterm.
Personal loans from Wells Fargo,
for example, require no collateral to
qualify and credit decisions can be
made quickly. The bank can even
pay of f creditors directly, giving
customers an opportunity to begin
paying down debt on better terms

right away. With loan amounts

from $3,000 to $100,000, cus
tomers can customize the loan
based on the amount needed, and
loan terms up to five years.
Rolling your debt into a single
loan wont immediately reduce your
debt, but it does offer a single pre
dictable monthly payment, says
Cutler. Plus, having just one bill
can make tracking and payments
easier. With what you may poten
tially save on monthly interest pay
ments over time, you can increase
your cash flow, savings, or pay
down more of the loans principal
balance to see your debt shrink
even faster. (Incidentally, personal
loans are also a way to finance a
major purchase, unexpected
expenses like home or automotive
repairs, or even medical expenses.)
To calculate how a personal loan
may save you money, visit wellsfar
go.com to use their free Rate and
Payment Calculator. More informa
tion about Personal Loans can be
found at wellsfargo.com/personal
credit/personalloan.
Track Spending : While consolidat
ing debt, dont forget to adopt and
maintain savvy spending habits. Be
sure to keep track of where your
money is and how youre spending
it. Use budgeting tools online to dis
play deposits and spending by cate
gory. This information can help you
spend smarter and increase whats
left at the end of each month to
direct toward payments on your
loan principal.

The steep cost of prom night is leading teens to look at

alternatives to traditional prom practices. One way high
schoolers are saving is by ditching typical outfits and
making their own. One creative example is Duck Tape
prom wear. The Duck brand Stuck at Prom Scholarship
Contest annually offers more than $50,000 in scholarship
dollars to creative promgoers who craft DIY prom fash
ions.
Over the last 15 years, the contest has attracted more
than 7,000 entrants seeking the top prize of $10,000
each in college scholarships.
So, in addition to recouping your prom investment
the scholarship can help offset the skyrocketing cost of
college, which has increased by 40 percent in the last
decade! For more information about the contest, visit
www.stuckatprom.com.
Carpooling with a big group, asking a family member to
take pictures with a nice camera and creating DIY flowers
(i.e. Duck Tape roses) are all ways to add a personal touch
to prom, and they cost significantly less than the usual
limos, professional photographers and flowers.
Setting a budget and looking for opportunities to save
money can ensure prom is an amazing night that doesnt
break the bank.

How to cook like a

professional chef at home
very home baker or chef
has asked the same ques
tion at some point: why
dont my cakes or dishes look
and taste like the ones from my
favorite restaurant? T he
answer: culinary professionals
know secrets and tricks that
most home chefs dont.
Some of these are simple and
easy to adopt in your kitchen.

Position Wisely
Pans should be as close to the
center of your oven as possible
for even cooking. And dont
allow pans to touch oven walls
or each other. Its all about air
flow and circulation. Place pans
on dif ferent racks if you are
cooking in them concurrently
and align them so they are
slightly of fset (but close to the
center of each rack), to allow
heated air to circulate nicely.
Avoid Cold Ingredients: Avoid
using cold eggs because mix
tures with them wont emulsify
properly. Dont use hard, cold
butter. Softened butter is better
for leavening baked goods and
creating an airy, tender texture.
And when cooking with it, cold
butter wont melt consistently to
flavor vegetables and you often
wind up scalding it in the pan.
Leaving butter on the counter
for an hour to soften up is time
consuming, and it still wont dis
tribute evenly and can leave a
mess of leftover butter. A better

alternative is the new Biem but

ter sprayer, a firstofitskind
kitchen tool that lets users con
vert a stick of real butter from
solid to liquid spray in seconds.
It controls portioning so you use
less butter, uses no chemical
prope llants and leaves the
unused portion unmelted and
in stick form, ready to return to
the fridge.
Avoid Substitutions: Use exact
ly what a recipe lists. For exam
ple, if a recipe specifies sugar,
use white granulated sugar.
Brown sugar or raw sugar does
nt have the same consistency as
granulated sugar. And substitu
tions like agave or maple syrup
dont have the same chemistry
and w ill impact the science
behind the recipe.
If a recipe calls for butter,
using something else, particu
larly something artificial, will
color the flavor. Imitation butter
sprays are chock full of addi

tives and artificiallyflavored

oils that just dont taste like the
real thing. Always use real, natu
ral ingredients.
Ive been around long enough
to live through the evolution of
butter to margarine and the
eventual discoveries of trans
fats and their impact to our
health that has brought people
back to butter, says Doug
Foreman, creator of the new
Biem butter sprayer and
founder of Beanitos and
Guiltless Gourmet. Seems like
eventually science always dis
covers natural is better.
Get Precise: Weigh your ingredi
ents using a proper kitchen
scale. And learn how to measure
teaspoons and tablespoons cor
rectly. Cooking and baking are
sciences and art, so small
changes and little tricks can
make a big difference in the fin
ished products.
(Stories and pix: StatePoint)

LIFESTYLE

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

'Facebook to become world's

biggest virtual graveyard by 2098'
London: If you are bogged down by
notifications sent by the known but
deceased people in your timeline on
Facebook, do not get surprised by
this news. According to researchers,
the social networking giant will
become the world's biggest virtual
graveyard by the end of this centu
ry as there will be more profiles of
dead people than of living users.
"Social media website Facebook,
which currently has 1.5 billion
users worldwide, will turn into the
world's biggest virtual graveyard by
2098," Dailymail.co.uk quoted stat
istician Hachem Sadikki from
University of Massachusetts as say
ing. This will happen because the
website refuses to delete dead users
and instead turns the account into a
"memorialized" version.
"Facebook's refusal to automati
cally delete dead users and the
plateauing membership of the site
means that the living will be out
numbered sooner than you might
think," the report said.
Sadikki, PhD candidate in statis
tics at University of Massachusetts,
said he worked out the figure by
assuming that Facebook's growth
will begin to slow soon.

Photo courtesy: newsweek.com

A blogging company Digital
Beyond has claimed that nearly
970,000 Facebook users will die
this year alone across the world
which is far more as compared to
385,968 in 2010 and 580,000 in
2012.
Sadikki also assumed that the
social media website will retain its
existing policy on how to handle
dead users.
The website's policy has attracted
criticism from users in the past as it
showed the photos of dead ones in
its "year in review" videos (till

One in three Indian parents

fear cyber bullying risk for kids
New Delhi: One in three Indian
parents believe their child will
be a victim of online bullying,
considerably higher than the
global average, a report has
said, adding that nearly all
parents surveyed (92 percent)
worry about their children's
safety online, particularly how
their actions will have reper
cussions on the family.
Highlighting that online
predators, privacy and family
vulnerability are some of the
biggest issues parents are
grappling with as the impact
of cybercrime takes over per
sonal lives, T he "Norton
Cybersecurity Insights Report"
by Norton by Symantec said
that close to one in two par
ents believe their children are
safer from bullies on a play
ground than online.
As a result, Indian parents
are 20 percent more likely to
limit their child's online activi
ties. With increasing depend
ence on the internet, 57 per
cent of Indian parents also
worry about children making
the whole family vulnerable
through their online activities.
"Additionally, more than half
of Indian parents worry that
their children will be lured
into illegal activities such as
hacking, while 54 percent

worry they will give too much

personal informat ion to
strangers or be lured into
meeting a stranger in the out
side world (57 percent)," the
report said. The Indian par
ents also fear what their chil
dren will post today will come
back to haunt them in the
future (51 percent).
"In the last year, Norton has
seen the online safety aware
ness levels of Indian parents
increase rapidly as technology
firmly cements itself in the
family home," Ritesh Chopra,
country manager (India),
Norton by Symantec, said in a
statement.
"It is interesting to note that
compared to the global aver
age, Indian parents are more
worried about their children's
online safety and are more
likely to limit their online
activities to ensure safety," he
added.
The "Norton Cybersecurity
Insights Report" is an online
survey of 17,125 device users
ages 18plus across 17 coun
tries, commissioned by Norton
by Symantec and produced by
research firm Ede lman
Berland.
The India sample reflects
input from 1,000 device users
ages 18 plus who are parents.

2015). Facebookers have also com

plained about receiving the birth
day alerts of dead users.
Facebook has tried to solve this
problem by asking users to appoint
a "Legacy Contact" before they die.
The "Legacy Contact" is able to
administer the page after a user
passes away by writing one last
post and even approving new friend
requests. T he contact can even
update cover and profile photo.
According to the report, Facebook
declined to comment.
(IANS)

March 12-18, 2016

27

Why increasing protein intake

may help you lose weight

New York: Having highprotein

foo ds makes you fee l fuller
between meals, an important fac
tor that can ultimately help you
reduce overall calorie consump
tion and reduce weight, suggests
new research.
Higher protein loads have a
greater ef fect on fullness than
lower protein loads, showed the
findings of the study, thereby con
firming a longheld belief that pro
tein intake impacts satiety.
"T houg h this study did not
specifically evaluate dieters, feel
ing fuller could help to reduce
food intake, an important factor
when dieting," said lead investiga
tor Richard Mattes, professor at
Purdue University in Indiana, US.
"If these ef fects are sustained
over the longterm and our study
only looked at shortterm effects
increased protein intake may aid
in the loss or maintenance of body
weight," Mattes noted.
High protein foods include eggs,
meat, fish, tofu, beans, lentils,
yogurt, and nuts, among several
other food items.
In this study, researchers con
ducted a systematic review of the
evidence on the ef fect of protein
intake on perceived fullness and

Women define success as

independence: Survey
Beijing: Women's pri
orities have changed
with independence,
positiveness and
respect replacing the
urge to find a life
partner, according to
a survey in China.
Female respon
dents gave the high
est rating, 4.53 out
of 5, to an independ
(Photo courtesy: ititimes.com)
ent life. This was fol
lowed by happiness, according to security and stability.
"The best scenario would be get
the survey conducted by
ting
recognition for my work and
zhaopin.com, a jobseeking portal,
being
offered promotions and pay
ahead of Tuesday's International
hike,
which
does not come at the
Women's Day.
expense
of
my
family," said Wang
The results of the survey indicate
who
is
expecting
a baby soon.
that modern women are unwilling
Majority of women said they had
to pander to the expectations of
zero tolerance for unspoken career
others.
The ability to take care of them rules like gender discrimination,
selves and their family, and to be nepotism and rentseeking.
In addition, 65.6 percent of
respected received the same rating,
and tied in third, while marrying a respondents said their companies
good man scored the least of 3.69, failed to offer benefits for female
according to the answers of 15,876 employees, while 18.4 percent said
they had not paid attention.
respondents.
Wang suggested that all the com
"Having a career of my own and
panies
should consider flexible
financial independence is crucial,"
work
hours
for female employees,
said Wang Tian, 28, who works for
the
setting
up
of motherandbaby
a stateowned enterprise in Beijing.
According to the survey, career rooms, and menstruation leaves.
"At the end of the day, gender
choices were primarily influenced
by the working environment and discrimination needs to end. Give
the salary, while it was made clear female employees the promotion
that there had to be a worklife and career deve lopment they
(IANS)
balance, above all the feeling of deserve," Wang said.

(Photo courtesy: helpguide.org)

confirmed that protein does, in
fact, make us feel fuller.
"A good deal of evidence sug
gests that protein activates satiety
hormone release and so should be
most strongly tied with fullness
ratings," Mattes noted.
"But individual studies are often
conducted in small populations or
with different approaches that can
make interpretation of results
challenging. Our study combined
multiple experiments to confirm
the presence of an effect," Mattes
pointed out.
With the confirmation that pro
tein intake is related to satiety,
defined as fullness between meals,
modestly higher protein intake
may allow individuals to feel fuller
between meals.

Social media use

disturbs young
Swedes' sleep: Poll
Stockholm: A clear majority of young
Swedes used digital devices in bed
before going to sleep, with one in
three having trouble getting properly
rested, a media report said.
A third of respondents aged 15 to
29 said they had trouble sleeping, a
poll cited by public broadcaster
Swedish Television found, while 82
percent of that group said they use
digital devices in bed before going to
sleep. "The very use of social media
makes one active. In order to sleep,
the brain needs to calm down,"
Torbjorn Akerstedt, a professor at
Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm,
told the channel.
The blue light emitted by screens
tricks the body into thinking it is day
time, while at the same time sup
pressing the production of melatonin,
a hormone that helps people sleep,
the channel reported.
One quarter of the young people
polled said they would like to be able
to switch of f their access to social
media during part icular hours,
Xinhua reported.
Nearly half the young respondents
said they are sleeping worse today
than five years ago, while 31 percent
said they believed social media is dis
turbing their sleep.
Nearly two thirds said they had
trouble concentrating on daily tasks
(IANS)
due to a lack of sleep.

28

March 12-18, 2016

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

HUMOR

Funny Side by Nury Vittachi

HOW A GLITCH MADE MY FAKE NAME RICH

once told people my name was Wazzupp

Nindood. The default greeting of that
era was Whats happenin dude? so my
name was on everyones lips and I was
famous at my new school for a while.
***
People who find it hard to think of fake
names just copy signs. Years ago, I had an
army cadet friend who adopted the pseudo
nym Private Keepout.
***
The topic of fake names arose when a
reader told me about a scandal in the US
state of Massachusetts. A pharmacy boss
told staff to write fake prescriptions which
must resemble real names.
But staff typed in the names Coco Puff,
Filet OFish and Bud Weiser. They got
caught.
This seems unfair. Theres almost defi
nitely a Bud Weiser on this planet, and I
know for sure theres at least one guy
whose real name is Bud Light.
***
On my early journalistic visits to China,
arriving passengers had to fill in endless
forms for of ficials who clearly read no
English.
My colleagues and I signed in as Disney
characters, the Beatles, various US presi

dents and Pope John Paul II.

Once I just wrote Fake Name as my fake
name.
(These days some read English and have
guns, so do NOT try this now.)
***
In 2006, when Gmail was invitation only,
an Indian civil servant named Manesh
asked me to set up an account for him
using his middle name (Vinod) and moth
ers maiden name (Sarkar).
A year later, he set up an account using
his real name, but I forgot to delete his fake

one.
After 12 months, the nonexistent Vinod
Sarker began to evolve in the primordial
slime which is the internet.
With no help from me or Manesh, it sub
scribed to newsletters and junk mail, then it
joined LinkedIn, opened a Face book
account and started getting lots of friends.
After three years, it got a mobile phone.
Recently it opened an account at ING
Bank. Its bank statement (which is copied
to me) says theres three million rupees in
it, which is about $48,000.
I am of fended. Its a web glitch and its
putting aside more cash than I am!
***

Anyway, its existence is clear proof of

evolution.
Would my children PLEASE NOTE that it
grew from a single fake name to a success
ful, active socialite with zero financial
investment. It can be done.
***
The people I feel sorry for are real folk
with names which sound fake, especially if
they match their jobs.
I just hope Anna Sasin never becomes a
contract killer, Warren Peace never
becomes an author, and Cara Sterio never
goes into automobile music system sales in
places where they speak Italian English.
***
A colleague forwarded me a news clip
ping in which retired British military man
Stan Still complains that his commander
used to shout Stan Still, get a move on,
and then start laughing. Poor him. I bet that
joke got old quickly.
***
When I retire, I am going to buy three
budgerigars and call them Itza Bird, Itza
Plane and Itzu Perman.
And to ensure a happy retirement, Ill set
up another fake gmail account and pray
that it evolves into an account holder at
some fancy Swiss bank.
From now on, please address me as
Wazzupp Nindood, former celebrity.
***

Laughter is the Best Medicine

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

5168271010

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

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

ASTROLOGY

March 12-18, 2016

29

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

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

By Dr Prem Kumar Sharma

MARCH 1218, 2016

ARIES: Timely and swift action would
give an edge over others at professional
front. You will be the star of attraction of
familys gettogether this week. Indications of
earning financial profits through commissions,
dividends or royalties. A romantic encounter is
likely to add spice to life. Inexhaustible energy
enables to participate in outdoor activities.
Time to relax and enjoy your visit to a relatives
place. Banks love to finance those, who invest
in properties which are underdevelopment.
this week even unusual & challenging situa
tions would not deter you from path.
TAURUS : Colleagues and subordinates
will lend a helping hand enabling to
complete the work on time. Help from
family members would take care of your
needs. Important people will be ready to
finance anything that has a special class to it.
Romantic partner would try innovative meth
ods to catch your attention. You attain a bloom
in health on sharing happiness with others.
Journey to some famous historical place
sounds exciting to your kids. A good deal on
commercial property might occur. You suc
ceed in accomplishing much with ease.
GEMINI: Success in completing difficult
assignments brings a lot of laurels at
work. You will enjoy the time spent
with family members and friends. Property
dealings would materialize helping in bringing
fabulous gains. Initiatives in love bring posi
tive results as you catch the desired attention.
A cheerful state of mind would allow enjoying
the perfect health. Romance is in full bloom, a
journey full of pleasure is your crave. Their
might be a chance of acquiring a plot from
your closed relative. Personal interaction with
others immensely helps in bringing things
back on track.

CANCER: Selfconfident would enable

to convey your point of view with ease
a workplace. Your generous behaviour
would enable to enjoy some lovely moments
with family. You are likely to earn monetary
gains through various sources. Your generous
attitude would contribute much in your love
life this week. Divine knowledge from a saintly
person provides solace & comfort. Its time to
travel with innovative imagination. You might
deal in some ancestral property or any other
parental property. Teenagers can expect joyful
encounters.
LEO: Mental clarity gives a decisive
edge over all competitors at profession
al front. Friends and family members
would lend a helping hand. Increase in income
from past investment is foreseen. Extremely
supportive & loving partner would help in
withering away your troubles. Meditation and
yoga prove beneficial for spiritual as well as
physical gains. Are you longing to go on a
vacation then be ready for it? A deal regarding
residential property can start moving on its
right path. Thinking pleasant things would
make you feel better.
VIRGO: Calculated risks would enables
to complete the project on time. An
unexpected message from a distant rel
ative brings happy news for the entire family.
Monetary gains from unplanned sources will
brighten your week. Romantic vibrations from
someone unknown would lift your spirits tak
ing imaginations to scaling heights. A very
healthy week when your cheerfulness gives
the desired tonic and confidence. Be ready to
hang out with your friends. Discussing proper
ty matters with parents can help for better
innovations. Spending some tine in brooding
over wrong actions would highly benefit you.

LIBRA: A firm commitment will not

only enable to achieve professional
targets but also to realise your
dreams. Relatives are likely to give some valu
able advice regarding personal life. New mon
eymaking opportunities will be lucrative. Love
life brings immense romantic pleasure. You
are likely to maintain good health that would
also give you success. By traveling you will
learn about new places, ultimately its a great
deal for yourself. Planning a property might
explore new horizons for you and your family.
Continuous efforts would enable to overcome
your drawbacks.
SCORPIO: Cooperative nature brings
desired results at professional front.
You receive care and af fection from
family members. You get some financial
rewards as dedication & hard work gets
noticed.
Traveling proves a blessing in disguise by
bringing a love in your life. A continuous posi
tive thinking gets rewarded as you succeed in
whatever you do this week. Pack your bags
and some eatables and go out for a picnic.
Your friends and family will be of great sup
port if you are trying for an of fice. Shared
activities are likely to offer more pleasure
SAGITTARIUS : For some change of
job would bring mental satisfaction.
Matrimonial alliance for eligible bach
elor in family brings joy to all. Monetary gains
are likely to be from more than one source.
You are likely to get a new friendship opportu
nity in the evening. Creative hobbies are likely
to keep you relaxed. Many people want to fly
international and you are one of them. Its time
to make some property investments for your
kids. You will have a great fun in interacting
with youngsters.

CAPRICORN: Your inner values coupled

with a positive attitude will bring suc
cess at work. A new outlook will be the
source of laughter at family front this week. A
new financial deal gets finalized paving the way
for fresh money. New romance that some of you
are going to experience would take the worries
off mind. With a positive outlook & confidence,
you succeed in impressing people around you.
By traveling youll learn about new places and
cultures, which is ultimately a great deal about
yourself. Purchasing of ficial accessories can
lead to improve growth of your office. Problems
are likely to end as quickly as they arise.
AQUARIUS : Responding positively &
quickly to new ideas in business will go
in your favour. Enjoying a picnic with
family will not only bring joy but also help in
clearing misunderstandings. Financial position
will improve later in the week. You enjoy a mem
orable time with partner to cement the lovely
bond. Mental alertness would enable to solve a
tricky problem. You and your loved ones been
busy for quite sometimes and have finally decid
ed to go on a vacation. Inheriting property from
your relatives seems to be ahead. Personal con
tacts would immensely help to enjoy social life.
PISCES: Calculated risks at professional
front will be rewarded with success.
Charming nature and pleasant personal
ity would make you the attraction of family
function this week. Real estate investment
would be lucrative. You will be attracted to
someone special. A cheerful state of mind brings
mental peace. Your next journey is to a place
which is full of natural beauty and ravishing.
Your income can be doubled by renting your
house or a part of your house. A smile on your
face would allow even strangers to share per
sonal problem with you.

ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

12th March, 2016
Ruled planet: Jupiter Ruled by no: 3
Traits in you: As you are influenced by planet Jupiter,
you are dignified, religious, mentally strong, enthusias
tic, lovable, respectable, determined, devoted, and courte
ous. You are self dependent and have a great leadership
quality. You are able to take quick decisions. However,
you need to take care of you nature of being arrogant
and stubborn.
Health this year: Your health will remain good throughout
the year. However, you need to go for regular fitness pro
grams or practice yoga and meditation for better results.
Do not avoid your regular medication. Look out the health
of your family members as they may fall ill frequently.
Finance this year: Sudden gain in money may surprise
you. Your pending legal issues will get resolved this year
and provide you with ample of money. You may go for
new investments this year as this year seems to be prof
itable for you. Do not trust strangers in business. Do not
lend any money this year as you face a straight loss.
Career this year: You will be over ambitious as far as
your career goals are concerned. Take time to plan your
career. Do not be in a hurry for a job change. You will
improve your skills and expertise. You will find your
work pretty interesting and it will give you the job satis
faction you wanted.
Romance this year: Your romantic life would be at its
peak this year around. Try to sort things out if you have
any problem with your spouse or partner. Do not initiate
an argument with your beloved as it may result in weak
ening your relationship.
Lucky month: April , August and February
13th March, 2016
Ruled planet: Uranus Ruled by no: 4
Traits in you: As you are ruled by planet Uranus, you are
highly energetic, generous, focused, friendly, humble,
honest, hard working and optimistic. You are endowed
with the ability to deal with various kinds of people. You
should control your mood swings and stubbornness to
be a better individual.
Health this year: You may suf fer from stress related
sickness throughout the year. Do not work overtime and
take unnecessary stress. You should see a doctor regular
ly to get relieved from your health issues. Try meditation
to avoid your problems. You should also take care of the
health of you parents.
Finance this year: Financial gains will be plenty for you
this year as your past investments would pay off. You
may start few new business ventures. You may expand
your business in foreign as well. Do not trust new people
as they may prove untrustworthy. Do not lend a big
amount of money.
Career this year: Being a hardworking professional, you

may create wonders for your organization. You need to

learn more and look for better options. You may not get
your expected promotion or salary hike in spite of your
hard work and efficiency.
Romance this year: You may get married to your long
time partner this year. If you are already married, this
year will bring you the joy of being in a marital relation
ship. Do not create any unpleasant situation at home as
it may weaken your relationship with your spouse.
Lucky month: May , July and August
14th March, 2016
Ruled planet: Mercury Ruled by no: 5
Traits in you: The influence of your ruling planet
Mercury makes you dynamic, unique, smart, confident,
workaholic, knowledgeable, and highly independent. You
being very social loved by your friends and you are capa
ble of making friends very soon. You should not become
introvert and work on your frequent mood swings.
Health this year: You need to stop your bad habits such
as smoking and consuming alcohol to remain healthy.
You should take expert advice from a doctor to avoid
health related issues. You should take your medicines at
time to avoid further complicacy in your health. Take
care of the health of your spouse and parents as well.
Finance this year: Your new business alliances and part
nerships will help you earn financial stability this year.
You will receive all the pending payments and money
you gave away as loans in the past. You should go for
investing in real estates and share market.
Career this year: You will find your profession hectic
enough as you have to do overtime due to the project
requirements. Your confidence and determination will be
at peak so you will perform better than ever this year.
You may not like the behavior of your seniors. You need
to deal diplomatically with the unpleasant situations
arising at your workspace.
Romance this year: Your spouse will be supportive
enough throughout the year in crucial times. You can
rely on your partner for any kind of support may be
financial or emotional. You should get married this year
as this is the best time for you.
Lucky month: June , July and August
15th March, 2016
Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no: 6
Traits in you: As you are influenced by your ruling plan
et Venus, you are very energetic, joyful, optimistic, prac
tical, realistic, punctual, determined and kindhearted.
Your helpful nature toward all help you earn friends and
popularity wherever you go. Your friends are quite fond
of your company.
Health this year: You will remain fit and fine throughout
this year. However, the health issues of your family

members may put you in immense pressure. You need to

secure the health of your family member by investing
some money every year.
Finance this year: You will be in ample financial gains
this year. Your new business ventures will be successful
this year. You should go for new partnerships and busi
nesses as your star favors your luck this year. You may
go for investments in any sector. Do not spend unneces
sarily in luxury and comfort.
Career this year: Your communications skills will be
proved instrumental in the overall improvement of your
professional career. You will be able to make enough
contacts and you will get regular projects and assign
ments. You may get promotions and salary hike towards
the end of the year.
Romance this year: If you are yet to be in a romantic rela
tionship, this is the ideal time to go for one. You will enjoy
a pleasurable relationship with your spouse or partner.
Lucky month: July , November and December
16th March, 2016
Ruled planet: Neptune Ruled by no: 7
Traits in you: As your governing planet is Neptune, you
are simple, dignified, unique, charismatic, reliable, trust
worthy and confident. You have a great leadership skill
and you are very creative. You should not be pessimistic
and show your stubbornness.
Health this year: As far as your health is considered you
may go through minor health issues this year. However,
regular medical checkups and proper medication will
solve this problem. You may go for Yoga and meditation
classes to remain healthy.
Finance this year: Your financial conditions will be very
stagnant this year. As you will not earn much or spend
much, you will lead a peaceful life in money matters. You
may invest for future. Do not lend or borrow money from
your friends or colleagues.
Career this year: With an enhanced confidence and
brushed up skills, you will become very successful pro
fessionally. You will do justice to the role assigned to
you. You may get promotion or a hike in your current
salary. If you are in creativity field, this year will bring
you much more success and recognition.
Romance this year: Your marital life would be a peaceful
one this year. Your partner will be supportive enough in
every tough situation. You should get married this year if
you have not married yet.
Lucky month: May , June and November
17th March, 2016
Ruled planet: Saturn Ruled by no: 8
Traits in you: Your ruling planet the Saturn makes you
highly dynamic, hardworking, courageous, trustworthy,
reliable, courteous and friendly. You are very much

inclined to music and literature. You should work on

your impatience. You need to enhance your constructive
ideas as well.
Health this year: You will enjoy a pretty good health this
year. You need to take care of the health of your family
members. You need to take extra care of your health if
you are having some chronic diseases. You may go for
domestic healthcare instead of allopathic medicines as it
will give better results for your ailments and save your
money as well.
Finance this year: You may try your entrepreneurship
skills this year and you will be successful unexpectedly.
You will be able to get many projects, which you help
you establish as a good businessperson. You should go
for investments in real estate and stock market.
Career this year: Your professional ability and skills will
take you to new heights. You will be admired by your
peers and seniors for your high productivity. You should
help others at office as it will be considered as a positive
pointer during your appraisal.
Romance this year: Your relationship with your partner
or beloved will be strengthened as day passes. You may
decide to get married this year if you are in a long term
relationship.
Lucky month: June, August and September
18th March, 2016
Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no: 9
Traits in you: Being governed by the planet Mars, you
are adventurous, sensitive, courageous, emotional, hard
working, charismatic and punctual. You are full of enthu
siasm and ambitions. You should try and avoid your shy
ness and stubbornness.
Health this year: Your health may remain disturbed
throughout the year because of some minor ailments. If
you do not take proper care of your health you may end
up spending a lot of money for your treatment. You
should take preventive actions to avoid health issues.
Finance this year: As far as finance is concerned, you
will be earning a lot of money. You will be assigned to
new projects and those will be highly yielding for you.
You will gain enough profits from your past investments.
Your improved financial status may bring you lot of hap
piness and joy later this year.
Career this year: If you are a working professional, you
may face various profession related problems this year.
You need to handle all the issues diplomatically else you
may lose your job. You may create wonder in the creativ
ity field if you are a writer, singer or actor.
Romance this year: This is a quite good year for women
when romance is concerned. You will enjoy a very strong
relationship with your spouse. You may decide to get
married towards the end of the year.
Lucky month: May , June and October

30

March 12-18, 2016

SPIRITUAL AWARENESS

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

CHOOSE BETWEEN THE DARK

OR THE GOLDEN AGE

By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj

n ancient India, one of the

rulers was Yudhishthira. He
lived in a time when spiritual
values prevailed and people were
filled with virtues. It was a period
when spirituality was considered
to be more important than materi
al wealth.
In the last ten years of
Yudhishthiras rule he started
noticing a change in the people.
People began answering the call
of their lower se lf and they
stopped listening to their con
science. He knew that the Kali
Yuga, or the Dark Age, was on the
horizon.
As Yudhishthira was sitting in
his kingdom, two men came to
have an audience with him. They
had a grievance they wanted to
settle, so they came to him for
advice.
One man said, I have bought a
plot of land from this man, and
after he sold it to me, I discovered
there was a treasure buried there.
Since I had only purchased the

By Sant Rajinder Singh Ji

Maharaj

land from him, I want to return

the treasure to him because I did
not buy it from him and he is the
rightful owner.
Yudhishthira was pleased at the
honesty of the man who bought
the land since he told the other
man about the found treasure and
even wanted to return it.
The man who sold the land said,
It is true that the treasure was
mine, but when I sold him the
land, he became the owner of the
land and whatever is in it.
Therefore, I would like him to
keep the treasure.
The man who bought the land
said, Please take your treasure
back. I do not want to carry the
sin on my head of taking what is
not rightfully mine.
The seller said, Look, I have
sold you the land along with what
ever is in it. I cannot accept the
treasure that now belongs to you.
Please do not tempt me and lead
me into greed.
Yudhishthira was highly pleased
with the noble behavior of both
these men.
The men said, We cannot agree
on what to do since we both want
to give the treasure to the other.
We have been arguing over this
for days and we would like you to
settle the case.
Yudhishthira thought over the
situation and said to himself,

him the land, but not the treas

ure. The buyer said, That is not
right. Since I bought the land,
everything in the land belongs to
me.
Yudhishthira saw that greed had
now taken over their ethical
sense. Yudhishthira realized that
this was a sign that the Kali Yuga,
or Dark Age, had come.

Living a spiritual life means putting in time

for meditation so that we can reunite our
soul with God. It means behaving in an
ethical manner. It means choosing good
over bad, nonviolence over violence, love
over hatred, selfless service over greed,
and truth over falsehood.
These two people are behaving
nobly and ethically. I can see that
the Kali Yuga, or the Dark Age, has
not yet come. Let me wait and see
what happens.
Yudhishthira said to them, I
want you both to come back to me
in a week with this case. So the
men left.

BEING WITH LIKEMINDED PEOPLE

he company we keep is impor

tant for our spiritual growth. It
is said, A person is known by
the company he or she keeps. If we
spend time with rich people, we will
think about money all the time. If we
spend time with drunkards, we will
be enticed to drink. If we hang
around with gamblers, we will be
easily influenced to gamble. If we
stay around people who fight, we
will tend to be argumentative our
selves. The following account from
the life of the great Chinese scholar,
Mencius, illustrates this point.
Menciuss mother was a wise
woman, as mothers generally are.
During her lifetime, she moved her
residence on three occasions for the
sake of her son, Mencius. At first
they lived near a graveyard. One day,
she discovered that her son was pre
tending to be a mourner. The lad
would watch the mourners at the
cemetery as they attended funerals.
Since children are impressionable, he
would frequently imitate the behav
ior of the mourners. The mother was
alarmed, so she decided to move.
Next, she moved to an area with
markets and bazaars. After a while,

A wee k later, they both

returned. Something had drasti
cally changed. This time the case
they presented to the king was
dif ferent. Now they were both
arguing to keep the treasure
themselves.
The seller said, I decided the
treasure belonged to me. I sold

Yudhishthira ultimately set

tled the case by arranging the
marriage of the son of one of
them to the daughter of the other
to keep the treasure in the family.
But he knew that the age of spiri
tuality and ethical living had come
to an end.
Whether we are living in one
age or the other, each human
being has the choice to select how
he or she wishes to live. It is a
choice each can make in everyday
life. Every day we have a choice
whether to succumb to the greed
or temptations of the Dark Age, or
choose to live according to the
spiritual values of the Golden Age.
Living a spiritual life means put
ting in time for meditation so that
we can reunite our soul with God.
It means behaving in an ethical
manner. It means choosing good
over bad, nonviolence over vio
lence, love over hatred, selfless
service over greed, and truth over
falsehood.

We should take a decision as to what we

want in life. Once having taken that
decision, we should work toward that goal.
Spending time with like-minded people
who have the same goals can help hasten
our footsteps toward fulfilling the
purpose of our life.

she noticed her son, Mencius, had

started to play the role of shopkeep
er. He would spread out their posses
sions, pretending he owned a shop.
He started arguing with other people
just as he had seen shopkeepers
arguing with customers and other
shopkeepers. The mother was upset
about the influence this company
had on her son, so she decided to
move again.
This time, the mother selected a
house near a school. Soon, she found
Mencius imitating the scholars,
researching subjects and learning
about them. She was happy that this
was the right influence on her son.
He grew up to be one of the noted
Chinese scholars.
This story illustrates the wisdom
and sacrifice of a mother for her
child to give him or her the best. It
also illustrates the power of the com
pany we keep.
If we wish to be an artist, we
should spend time with artists. If we
wish to be a doctor, we should spend
time with people involved in the
medical profession. If we wish to
develop positive virtues, we should
stay around people who exhibit

goodness. If we wish to be spiritual,

we should spend time in the compa
ny of spiritually minded people.
Our lives are precious. We come
here with a fixed number of breaths.
Within that time, we need to fulfill
the purpose of our life. We can devel
op spiritually and be of service to
others. Spending time with people
who drag us down and pull our
attention away from these goals is a
waste of our lifes breaths.
We should take a decision as to
what we want in life. Once having
taken that decision, we should work
toward that goal. Spending time with
likeminded people who have the
same goals can help hasten our foot
steps toward fulfilling the purpose of
our life.

Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj

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

TheSouthAsianTimes.info

March 12-18, 2016