Vol. 9 - No. 13 July 23 - July 29, 2016

The South Asian Times
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Vol.9 No. 13 July 23-29, 2016 80 Cents
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Pakistan behind Kashmir In acceptance

unrest: Rajnath Singh speech, Trump
New Delhi: Indian Home Minister
Rajnath Sing h on T hursday
blamed Pakistan for the ongoing
unrest in Jammu and Kashmir,
adding that the neig hboring
country was "sponsoring" terror
ism in India.
"There can be no denying the
fact that our neighbor (Pakistan)
is singularly responsible for the
present deterioration of the situa
tion in the state," Singh said while
replying to a shortduration dis
cussion in the Lok Sabha on
Wednesday.
The terrorism that India is wit
nessing today is "Pakistanspon
sored, the Home Minister said,
adding that though the country
was "created in the name of reli
gion Pakistan "has failed to keep
talks America First,

slams illegals
Security forces keeping strict vigil in Srinagar as curfew continued in
Kashmir valley on July 20. (Photo: IANS)
itself united."
Rajnath Singh said Kashmir is
the integral part of India and
Pakistan was keeping an evil eye
on it. "Kashmir is India's crown. It
Jain guru Rakeshbhai touches

seekers hearts in NYNJ
New York: Seekers in the fast
paced world of New Jersey and
New York experienced an inner
transformation last week as
Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshbhai
unfolded the art of living a joy
ous life.
Propounding the path of
Bhagwan Mahavir, the torch
bearer of Shrimad Rajchandra
Mission Dharampur, Rakeshbhai
is a spiritual visionary and a
modernday mystic. He gave a
discourse on July 17 at the
Queensborough Performing Arts
Center in New York, urg ing
seekers to cultivate the art of
turning within and leading a
centered life. He inspired them
to use the rewind and fast for
ward buttons to strengthen
their purpose in life. Rewind
the past in order to learn a wor
is heaven and the neighboring

country is keeping an evil eye on
Continued on page 4
See detailed story on page 13.
'Kabali' fever
grips India
Chennai:
With
superstar
Rajinikanth fans spread across
nooks and corners of India, the
Kabali film fever has taken the
nation by storm. Fans are waiting
w ith bated breath to catch a
glimpse of the superstar in the
movie, a gangster drama releasing
on Friday in nearly 5,000 screens
Continued on page 4
thy lesson from it, making the
present more beaut iful and
worthwhile. Fast forward life to
realize that death is not only an
inevitable certainty but is also a
proximate event. This serves as
a wake up call allowing one to
reorganize his priorities and
choose his responses to the situ
ations he faces.
As it was Rakeshbhais Golden
Continued on page 4
Superstar Rajinikanth in Kabali
Donald Trump making his acceptance speech as Republican nominee

for President at the conclusion of the Republican National Convention
in Cleveland, Ohio, July 21. (Photo: IANS)
Cleveland, Ohio: Donald Trump on
Thursday formally accepted his
party's nomination, reasserting his
campaign themes: dangers of ille
gal immigration, ending unfair
trade deals, safeguarding America
from the threats of Islamic terror
ism in short, putting America
first.
He was speaking to a pumped
up crowd at the Republican
Nat ional Convent ion he ld in
Cleveland, Ohio, and the speech
was watched by millions of TV
viewers across America.
Nearly 180,000 people with
criminal records ordered deported
from our country are tonig ht
roaming free to threaten peaceful
citizens, the Manhattan real estate
mogul said.
Trump's remarks were met with
chants of Build a Wall, which has
become one of the slogans of his
campaign. Trump reminded the
crowd that on Monday night they

heard from three people whose
loved ones were murdered by
immigrants not legally in the coun
try. The billionaire businessman
said nothing has af fected him
more than the time he spent with
mothers and fathers who have lost
their children to violence spilling
over the border.
Trump also pointed to immigra
tion as the ill that has perpetuated
economic malaise in this country.
Decades of record immigration
have produced lower wages and
higher unemployment for our citi
zens, especially for African
Americans and Latino workers,
Trump said.
He also sold himse lf as the
Continued on page 4
See more stories on the Trump
Nomination Convention on
pages 9 and10.
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FOOD 15
RELIGION 18
CULTURE 26
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
excellence in journalism
July 23-29, 2016
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
July 23-29, 2016
16 Indian Americans join RNC delegates to nominate Trump

Cleveland, Ohio: At least 16
Indian Americans joined over
1700 other delegates to vote in
favor of Donald Trumps nomi
nation as the Republican candi
date for President at the partys
national convention here that
started on July 18 even as some
longterm Republicans from the
community are still sitting on
the fence. Real estate broker
Subba Kolla, a delegate from
Virginia, announced the votes
from his state during the dele
gate count. Republican National
Convention (RNC) Committee
womanelect from California
Harmeet Dhillon delivered an
invocation July 19 ahead of the
state roll call vote. She recited
the Sikh Ardas in Punjabi, then
delivered remarks in English.
It is an honor as an American
and the vice chair of the
Harmeet Dhillon, vice chair of the California Republican party, delivered a

Sikh prayer as invocation at the GOP convention.
California Republican party to
represent the fthlargest reli
gion in the world. We look to the
one God above for guidance, and
a reminder to have humility,
truth, courage, service, justice
for all and gratitude for all our

creator has given to us, she
said.
Please bless these delegates
from all over this great nation
you have created w ith the
integrity to reform faithfully our

sworn duty to nominate leaders
to take America in the right
direction. Please protect us from
evil and create prosperity for all
Americans.
This was the rst time the Sikh
prayer was recited at either
partys national convention.
Dhillon, an attorney, told
IndiaWest that she was happy
to support Trump, primarily
because of his plans for econom
ic recovery, adding, Donald
Trumps message is about unity,
coming together as a country,
and talking to each other.
Prominent Republican Party
fundraiser Shalabh Shalli
Kumar held a press conference
w ith former House Speaker
Newt Gingrich, chairman of the
Republican Hindu Coalit ion
which Kumar has cofounded
with Sampat Shivangi.

Kumar said he supports
Trumps initiative of greater
scrutiny of Muslims, including
those already in the country and
Muslims attempting to enter the
US.
Florida cardiologist Zachariah
P. Zachariah, who has attended
every Republican convention
since 1992, gave it a skip this
time. Its going to take a while
for Trump to unify the party and
all the people hes alienated:
Hispanics, Muslims and women,
he told India West.
Former Louisiana Governor
Bobby Jindal also absented him
se lf. He was one of 17
Republican presidential candi
dates during the primaries.
South Carolina Governor Nikki
Haley declined an invitation to
speak at the convention.
Where charitable giving mingled

Ravishankar
with meditative practices
Bhooplapur honored
by Palestine minister
Meera Gandhi, founderCEO of The Giving Back Foundation, hosted a unique retreat in upstate New York
Ravi Bhooplapur, President of Xavier medical school since 2008, was

honored for his contributions in the field of medical education.
New York: The President of Xavier
University School of Medicine,
Aruba (XUSOM), Ravishankar
Bhooplapur, received an award on
July 14 for his outstanding contri
butions to the eld of medical edu
cation. Dr. Sabri Saidam, the
Minister of Education and Higher
Education of Palestine, and Ali
Zedan Abu Zuhri, President of The
Arab American University in Jenin,
Palestine, honored Mr. Bhooplapur
on his visit to the Arab American

University campus for their com
mencement ceremony. XUSOM
and the Arab American University
have reached an agreement to
start a premedical satellite campus
on the main campus of Arab
American University. Students
enrolled in the program will gain
admittance into the Doctor of
Medicine (MD) program on the
island of Aruba.
New York: Meera Gandhi, founder

and CEO of T he Giving Back
Foundation, organized a daylong
retreat on July 17 at her upstate
estate in Hyde Park, that boasted
charitable giving, while instilling
selfcare and spiritual enlighten
ment through meditation and mind
fulness. Overlooking the Hudson
River, attendees were inspired and
enlightened on how to practice
mindfulness, happiness, movement,
and meditationall while giving
back to charity!
In creating the unique event,
Meeras thought has been that giv
ing back to charity usually means
self sacrice, but she herself is a liv
ing proof that giving back yields
only the best in your own life!
Studies have shown that giving back
begets happiness, evokes gratitude,
and promotes better health, cooper
ation, and social connection. The
event aimed to nurture the soul and

help individuals to be more proac
tive within their community, whilst
helping and connecting with others.
City dwellers and upstate New
Yorkers alike took a break from
their routines to take in some light
yoga, meditation, vibrational music,
body movement, chakra healing, and
a light vegetarian lunch. Inga
Benson led a pranayam meditation
and warmup yoga session, Miriam
Be lov (founder of Manhattans
Wellness Agenda) spoke about the
importance of selflove and chakra
healing in our daily lives, Brooklyn
based choreographer Jules Bakshi
led a bodylove movement session,
and LAbased musician and feminist
activist Kiran Gandhi of the Madame
Gandhi electronicmusic project
(who has toured internationally with
musicians like M.I. A. and Thievery
Corporation) showcased the power
of meditation and mindfulness

through music with her shaman
drumming. Meera Gandhi has
helped scores of charities around
the world. Since 2010, her Giving
Back Foundations beneciaries are
carefully selected from charities
around the world, with special
emphasis on women and children.
Some of their afliations include:
Asha Daan an orphanage run by
nuns from the Missionaries of
Charity of Mother Teresa; CRY
(Child Rights and You); Eleanor
Roosevelt Center at ValKill for
human rights and social justice; and
Cherie Blair Foundation for the
advancement of female entrepre
neurs. Meera was recently honored
with the Global Humanitarian award
at the Marc Anthony Maestro Cares
Foundation Gala.
Contact: http://thegivingbackfoun
dation.net
July 23-29, 2016
Fox News chief resigns over

sexual harassment case
New York: The president of Fox News, Roger Ailes, resigned as the
network's chief after a number of female employees accused him of
sexual harassment. The network's par
ent company, 21st Century Fox,
announced his resignation on Thursday.
"Roger Ailes has made a remarkable
contribution to our company and our
country. Roger shared my vision of a
great and independent television organ
isation and executed it brilliantly over
20 great years," Rupert Murdoch, who
will take over immediately as chairman
and acting CEO of Fox News Channel Roger Ailes had nurtured
Fox New network to be a
and Fox Business Network, said in a
force in cable TV and in
communique. Ailes' resignation comes
conservative politics.
within weeks after he was accused by
former Fox 5 reporter Gretchen Carlson of having taken reprisals
against her, including reducing her salary, after she refused to have
sexual relations with him, EFE news reported.
In addition to the complaint presented by Carlson, Fox News chan
nel star anchor Megyn Kelly also said she had been the victim of
"unwanted sexual advances" by Ailes some 10 years ago.
21st Century Fox launched an internal investigation and Ailes
received an ultimatum from the corporate lawyers to resign before
August 1 or be fired for justifiable cause.
7 India firms in Fortune 500;

Rajesh Exports replaces ONGC
New York: Seven Indian companies figure in the latest Fortune 500
list, released on Thursday, of the world's biggest companies in terms
of revenue. Among Indian companies, staterun Indian Oil Corp (IOC)
is ranked highest at 161st with revenues of $54.7 billion, although
the other public sector firm Oil and Natural Gas Corp has moved out
of the rankings for 2016.
ONGC has been been replaced by gems and jewelry firm Rajesh
Exports, which makes its Fortune 500 debut this year at 423rd posi
tion. Of the staterun firms, IOC is followed by State Bank of India,
Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum. Mukesh Ambaniled
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is the highest ranked, though it has
slipped down to 215th position, from 158 last year. Tata Motors fol
lows at number 226, up from 254th last year. Bharat Petroleum fell
from 280th to 358th this year, while Hindustan Petroleum is at
367th, compared to its 327th place last year. SBI has improved its
position to 232, from being at 260 last year. The overall list was
topped by retail giant Walmart with revenue of $482,130 million.
The world's 500 largest companies generated $27.6 trillion in rev
enues and $1.5 trillion in profits in 2015, Fortune said.
In acceptance speech, Trump

talks America First, slams
illegals
Continued from page 1
champion of a downtrodden working
class, promising to restore law and
order and cast ing himse lf as a
change agent against presumptive
Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
I am your voice...Hillary Clinton's
message is that things will never
change. Never ever, Trump said. My
message is that things have to
change and they have to change
right now, he added.
He also spoke of spiking crime,
thirdworld airports, growing trade
deficits, chaos in our communities,
and terrorism on the home front.
Abroad, he said the situation was
worse than it has ever been before.
T his is the leg acy of Hillary
Clinton: death, destruction, terrorism
and weakness...My plan is the exact
opposite of the radical and danger
ous immigration policy of Hillary
Clinton, he said.
Lock her up! the crowd burst out
repeatedly during Trump's speech
and throughout the week.
His speech lasted for 75 minutes,
beating out former President Bill
Clinton's acceptance speech at his
party's convention in 1996.
At the end, Trump and his Vice
President nominee Mike Pence were
joined by their families on state.
Trump was introduced on the
stage by his daughter Ivanka Trump
who said that her father is the
"People's nominee".
Ivanka said her father has always
fought for country and recognizes
talent.
"My father is color blind and gen
der neutral. One of the reasons why
he is a successful entrepreneur is
because he listens to everyone. My
father turns vision into reality," she
added.
Ivanka said Donald Trump would
improve labor laws and childcare.
"He would fight for equal pay and I
would fight with him," she said.
IANS
Chairman and Co-Founder

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

Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Ashok Ojha
President: Arjit Mehta
TURN PAGE
Pakistan behind Kashmir
unrest: Rajnath Singh

it. I am hopeful that the pride of
Kashmir will be restored," he said.
Taking strong exception to the
'Black Day' Pakistan observed after
the killing of Hizbul operative
Burhan Wani, Rajnath Singh trained
guns at the neighboring country,
saying: "The terrorist was involved
in various heinous crimes and activ
ities, and Pakistan need not worry.
'Kabali' fever grips India

worldwide. The Pa. Ranjith directo
rial, which also stars Radhika Apte,
will be opening first in Malaysia and
Singapore.
"In the last decade, never have I
witnessed such craze over a release.
Kabali has sent even nonThalaivar
fans into frenzy because it is said to
be the first Rajinikanthstarrer sans
any cliches usually associated with
his films," trade analyst Trinath told
IANS.
Apart from Tamil, Kabali will also
release in Telugu and Hindi. It has
also been dubbed in Malay.
The Hindi dubbed version alone is
slated to release in 1,000 screens
across the north Indian belt.
"Kabali" has reportedly raked in
over Rs 200 crore from its pre
release business.
From Air Asia's special Kabali air
line to lucky superstar silver coins
from Muthoot Fincorp and exclu
sive partnership w ith Airte l
brands have unabashedly cashed in
on the Rajinikanth phenomenon.
With unprecedented excitement
around the film's release, there are
companies that are said to have
declared a holiday on Friday and
have given free tickets to their
employees to watch the film.
To watch the first day, first show
of Kabali fans are travelling from
abroad too.
The craze for the film even out
side Tamil Nadu is unbelievable.
Mumbai's Aurora theatre has
planned to screen six shows on

release day.
Meanwhile, Chennaibased SPI
Cinemas has scheduled nearly 100
shows for Kabali across its proper
ties in the opening weekend.
While hardcore Rajinikanth fans
feel Kabali can overpower Salman
Khan's Sultan at the ticket window,
a trade pundit is confident it will
emerge as a very successful venture.
Jain guru Rakeshbhai touches

seekers hearts in NYNJ
Jubilee Year Celebrations, a lively
welcome dance by the youth set the
tempo for the magnificent program.
A riveting film, Unmoved Mover a
Mystic and His Mission, on Pujya
Gurudevshris hallowed life was
screened.
A day earlier, aspirants thronged
the Jain Center of New Jersey in
Franklin Township to elevate them
selves in Pujya Gurudevshris pres
ence. The audience was immersed
in mesmerizing bhakti which seam
lessly paved way for an inspiring
drama on the devot ional bond
between Jain saint and scholar,
Acharyashri saint cholar, rvajna
Acharyashrit in beginningion and
societal development. Hemchandra
and his disciple Raja Kumarpal. The
performance had onlookers spell
bound as it reflected the pivotal role
of the Sadguru in the life of a seek
er.
Rakeshbhais guru, Shrimad
Rajchandraji had a profound influ
ence on Mahatma Gandhis life. His
emphasis on truth, compassion and
nonviolence in every walk of life,
later crystallized as the fundamen
tal tenets of Gand hism, which
played a key role in the Indian
struggle for independence.
It is this legacy of wisdom that
Rakehsbhai is carrying forward in
todays day and age. He is illuminat
ing thousands of lives in various
countries through enlightening dis
courses and an array of meditation
retreats.
Jaipur (India) Bureau

Prakash Bhandari
Prakash@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
IANS Washington Bureau

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

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

Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah
Chief Operating Officer:

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

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

Bhagwati Creations,
Dhiraj Kumar
Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

P : 516.710.0508
Editor@TheSouthAsianTimes.info
New Delhi Bureau

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

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July 23-29, 2016
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
Indian envoy meets Republican

Aziz Ansari becomes first
leaders, Trumps campaign ofcials Indian-American to bag Emmy nod
Washington,
DC:
Indias
Ambassador to the US Arun K
Singh on Wednesday, met top
Republican party leadership and
Trump Campaign officials during
the ongoing Republican National
Convent ion where the party
described India as a geopolitical
ally and strategic trading partner
of the US.
Reflective of the positive senti
ment about India and the commit
ment of the GOP leadership and
Trump Campaign to strengthen
IndiaUS strategic relationship,
Singh has been given the highest
level of access given to a foreign
diplomat during a political con
vention.
Among others, Singh met the
House of Representative Speaker
Paul Ryan, Senator John Cornyn,
Senate Majority Whip and Co
Chair India Caucus and Senator
Bob Corker Chair of Senate
Foreign Relations Committee.
He also met Senators Tom
Cotton, and Bob Portman.
The Ambassador also addressed
American Jewish Committee (AJC)
Ambassador Arun K. Singh

meeting with Speaker Paul Ryan
(RWI) at Republican National
Convention, Cleveland, July 19.
at a reception.
The IndianAmerican leadership
attending the Republican National
Convention along with the com
munity leaders in Cleveland host
ed a reception for the Indian
Ambassador.
Ekal Vidyalaya holds

Digital Event in LI
Uniondale, NY: The Long Island
Chapter of the Ekal Vidyalaya
Foundation of USA held a reception
and presentation on Digital Ekal at
The Omni Building in Uniondale on
July 14. Ekal Vidyalaya is the
largest village development move
ment with a tangible presence in
over 54,000 remote tribal villages
across India and Nepal. Through
its single teacher schools that run
on a dollar a day, Ekal has provided
education to 10 million young
minds, and the numbers continue
to g row. T he evenings topic
focused on Ekals efforts in devel
oping an exciting new approach to
education in partnership with
Lokavidya.
Prof. Ganesh
Ramakrishnan from IIT Bombay
was introduced by Yacov Shamash,
PhD, VP of Economic Development
at SUNY Stony Brook who took a
few moments to elaborate on why
education is important to a grow
ing economy and how this exciting
educational system can be applied
to educating children in rural areas
of India. Discussed was the need

for scalable yet customizable voca
tional education to enhance the
lives of villagers throughout India
and Prof. Ramakrishnan teams
work in that effort, including help
ing create basic household items to
enhance daytoday living. Prof.
Ramakrishnan has devised and
implemented a plan with his team
to provide buses equipped with
laptops, tablets and internet access
to facilitate these educational
endeavors, which in turn, provide
the villagers with the knowledge
required to build and produce nec
essary household items i.e. stoves,
rope, and biogas plants.
The Long Island Chapter of Ekal
Vidyalaya has been active since
2004, and is growing. Every year
the Chapter sets goals at raising
funds for approximate ly 300
schools in India.
With the support of the wonder
ful community in Long Island, this
year the Chapter has raised funds
for 400 schools.
Sing h he ld meet ings w ith

Cong ressman Pete Sessions,
Chairman
House
Rules
Committee; and Devin Nunes,
Chairman of House Intelligence
Committee.
He also met lawmakers Rodney
Davis, Ted Yoho, Renee Ellmers,
Kevin Yoder, Tom Price and Mike
Turner.
T he Republican platform
approved by the party on the first
day of the convention described
India as a geopolitical ally and
strategic trading partner of the
US.
India is our geopolitical ally
and a strategic trading partner.
The dynamism of its people and
the endurance of their democratic
institutions are earning their
country a position of leadership
not only in Asia but throughout
the world, it said.
We encourage the Indian gov
ernment to permit expanded for
eign investment and trade, the key
to rising living standards for those
left out of their countrys ener
getic economy, it said.
Los Angeles: Aziz Ansari has

made history as he has become
the first IndianAmerican actor
to land a lead comedyacting
Emmy nomination for his series
"Master of None."
Ansari is also just the fifth per
son of South Asian descent to be
nominated in an acting category.
"I am very happy but it is a
very specific accomplishment,"
Ansari told USA Today after the
nominations were announced on
Thursday. Ansari, who is also
nominated for writing and direct
ing "Master of None", cocreated
the Netflix comedy with Alan
Yang. T he 33yearold actor
plays Dev, an actor trying to
make it in New York. "Master of
None", which is up for best come
dy, crystallized diversity chal
lenges in Hollywoo d in the
show's fourth episode, titled
"Indians" on TV.
"I think every minority actor
runs into that. You hear people
say things like, 'Oh, they already
got the black guy.' Or, 'Oh, they
already got their Asian lady.' It
Comedian Aziz Ansari

(Image : businessinsider.com)
kind of feels like, to minority
actors that I've spoken with, once
they have one (minority actor
cast) they're like, OK, we've pla
cated the 'diversity issue.' That
was coming from a real place,"
Ansari said.
Casual racism has also been
also addressed in the show. "If
you're a minority, you're experi
encing all sorts of casual racism
all the time. And at a certain
point, you just get numb to a lot
of it, and you're like, whatever."
Ansari said he and Yang are cur
rently busy writing season 2 of
"Master of None", which will
debut on Netflix next April. (PTI)
Over 900 attend VHPAs first annual Hindu Heritage Day

New Jersey: Vishwa Hindu
Parishad of America New Jersey,
an independent nonprofit, held its
first annual Hindu Heritage Day
(HHD) July 9 at North Brunswick
High School, from 1:00 to 9:00
pm. The event saw participation
from over 900 children and
adults of all ages, races, and reli
gions enjoying the festive cele
bration of Hindu culture. Several
activities and events took place
simultaneously over the eight
hours. Throughout the event, 11
nonprofits were represented,
along with several local vendors
who sold foo d, jewe lry, and
clothes.
The main attraction at the event
was the cultural prog ram, in
which over 250 students present
ed 30 items. Both adults and chil
dren enjoyed the program. While
some students performed classical
music and dance, others recited
poems and sang tradit ional
hymns. One g roup even per
formed a play in Sanskrit. For
adults, theater groups performed
two hourlong plays, which were
Cultural program was the main attraction

with 250 students participating
wellreceived. Highlyrespected
sadhu, Swami Adhyatamanandaji,
delivered an immensely popular
seminar on stress relief. Local ven
dors sold their goods in the com
mons, a recreational area where
attendees could chat, relax, and
meet other people.
Another significant part of the
event was the exposition, which
featured advice from famous
Hindus, in the form of quotes, on
several universal topics. Many
attendees also thoroughly enjoyed
the thoughtprovoking articles
(two of which were written by
PhDs) in VHPAs complimentary
souvenir booklet. Each article

explained some aspect of Hindu
history whether it was the origin
of the word India or a guide to
meditation.
VHPA wants to engage second
generation youth and their fami
lies to connect with their heritage,
and also give them a platform to
exhibit their talent and skills, says
Brahm Sharma, President of the
NJ Chapter. Arun Joshi, another
main organizer of the event, adds,
By making HHD an annual event,
we want to help the public under
stand Hindu values and different
aspects of Indian tradition.
July 23-29, 2016
TRISTATE COMMUNITY
International Maheshwari
Rajasthani Convention 2016:
A youthful gathering
Kalpita raises $7000 through

dance show to help the blind
alpita Chakote, a rising sen

ior at George W. Hewlett
High School, New York help
raise over $7,000 to prevent blind
ness and restore eyesight by giving
a charity dance performance in
Port Washington last week.
Kalpita is the daughter of Dr. Va
jinath Chakote, president of AAPI
QLI and a leading IndianAmerican
physician of Long Island and Jyoti
Chakote.
The
combined
Bharatanatyam and Bollywood
dance performance at Jeanne Rim
sky Theater drew loud apprecia
tion from discerning audience that
included Tom Suozzi, former Nas
sau County Executive and Demo
cratic Party Congressional candi
date. Kalpita, a student of Guru
Satya Pradeep, Artistic Director of
Nritya Saagaram Dance Academy,
commenced her program with
Pushpanjali.
She followed it up with an item
on Ardhanareeswara. She danced
to the Hindustani number Deva De
vam Bhaje, a famous Anna
macharya keertan on Lord Ram
and ended the segment with a
Thillana a joyful conclusion of
the recital. All the four were chore
ographed by Satya Pradeep.
The second half saw her on an
upbeat mood by dancing on some
famous Bollywood songs. These
dances were choreographed by
Guru Archana Phillip. She ended

the performance with Drakes One
Dance, Dhoom3s Dhoom machale
and Calvin Harriss this is what you
came for choreographed by Guru
Nikhil Sadhnani.
A student of Bharatanatyam
since she was six, she did her debut
performance (Arangetram) a solo
two and half hour performance at
the age 12.
I have a severe astigmatism, ir
regularities in the curvature of my
eyes. It has made me extremely
nearsighted. It used to affect me
when I danced. Before I had con
tact lenses and I danced without
my glasses. I couldnt see anything
on stage. I was looking at complete
darkness. I am lucky because those
situations were isolated events.
However, not being able to see and
hoping nothing goes wrong are as
pects of some peoples daily lives.
They dont have eye care. I stum
bled upon Seva Foundation whose
mission to restore eyesight and
prevent blindness, I wanted to help
because I knew what they faced.
Seva Foundation is a global non
profit eye care organization that
helps and strengthens communi
ties by restoring eye sight and pre
venting blindness. The organiza
tion has helped four million blind
regain eye sight in more than 20
countries, she said.
he Maheshwari Mahasabha of
North Americas 8th biennial
convention, hosted by the New
England Chapter, was held at Stam
ford Hilton, July 1.
The chief guest, Mrs. Mridula Sin
ha, Governor of Goa, was unable to
attend in person. She sent a video
message complimenting the work of
MMNA in bringing the community
together to keep Rajasthani sanskar
(heritage) rooted in the younger gen
eration.
Special Guest of Honor, Consul
General of India in New York, Mrs.
Riva Ganguly Das, delivered a mes
sage of goodwill towards the com
munity and looked forward to work
ing with the community leaders.
Guests of honor, Vinod K. Agrawal,
Special Chief Secretary, Govt. of
Telangana, Govind Chandak, promi
nent businessman, and Dr.Kamal
Taori, retired IAS officer, all spoke at
length about the issues close to their
hearts. A lifetime achievement
award was conferred on Hanuman
Das Lahoti hailing from Detroit,
Michigan. MMNA President, Parag
Bajaj, was given a special excellence
in leadership award for his many ini
tiatives including matrimonial web
site and for his inclusive leadership
style. The most notable highlight of
the convention was the record atten
Grand kickoff of TANAs 40th

anniversary celebration hosted in NY
elugu Association of North
America (TANA), the oldest and
largest nationwide ethnic Indi
an organization, celebrated the inau
gural ceremony of its 40th anniver
sary in grand style at the very place it
began the Hindu Temple in Flush
ing, New York on July 16.
About a thousand Telugus, a good
number of them that were present
during the First North American Tel
ugu Conference conducted on May
28 and 29, 1977, attended this event.
Telugu Literary and Cultural Asso
ciation (TLCA) of New York which
hosted the original event 40 years
ago played host for the 40th anniver
sary also.
The current President of TANA, Dr.
V. Chowdary Jampala, remarked that
his heart was overflowing with joy
and pride as he witnessed the gather
ing of many people that played a ma
jor role in the origin of TANA and its
subsequent development into the
most respected Telugu organization
in the world. Dr. Jampala thanked
profusely the founding members for
their vision and the past leaders, vol
unteers and members for their dedi
cation and commitment that helps
TANA achieve its mission of identify
ing and addressing the social, cultur
The highlight of the evening was the felicitation of the Founder of

TANA, Dr. Ravindranath Guthikonda of New Jersey
al and educational needs of the Tel
ugu community in North America and
worldwide. He invited everyone to at
tend the final celebration of the 40th
anniversary of TANA on May 28,
2017 at the 21st TANA Conference to
be held in St. Louis.
The highlight of the evening was
the felicitation of the Founder of
TANA, Dr. Ravindranath Guthikonda
of New Jersey,whose idea of gather
ing all Telugu speaking people living
in North America and having a com
mon association to help preserve and
propagate Telugu language and cul
ture in this new country and be a cul
tural and charitable bridge with the
native Teluguland, resulted in the
First North American Telugu Confer
ence in 1977. The founding members
of TANA including the members of

the First Telugu Conference Sri Kr
ishnamurthy Vempati, Tirumalarao
Tipirneni, Nehru E. Cherukupalli and
Janaki Rao were felicitated by the
past Presidents of TANA, Dr.
Raghavendra Prasad Sudanagunta,
Dr. Dasaradharami Reddy Gaddam,
Gangadhar
Nadella,
Padmasri
Mutyala, Jayaram Komati and Mohan
Nannapaneni. The members of TANA
Leadership over the past 40 years in
cluding past Presidents, Chairpersons
of the Board of Directors and TANA
Foundation were felicitated by the
current leadership of TANA including
the Chairman of TANA Board of Di
rectors Dr. Venkata Subbarao Uppu
luri and Chairman of TANA Founda
tion, Srinivasa Gogineni.
(L to R): Parag Bajaj, President, MMNA, Vinod K. Agrawal, Chief

Secretary, Govt. of Telangana, Govind Chandak, prominent business
man, Pushplata Heda, President, New England Chapter, Dr. Mona
Khaitan, Convener, IMRC , Sushma Pallod, Chair, BOT Dr. Kamal Taori,
retired IAS officer , Prabhulal Rathi, Advisor, IMRC 2016
dance by the Maheshwari youth as
120 of the 650 attendees were
youth aged 21 to 35, known as RAYS
(The Rajasthanis Abroad Youth
Samaj).
We were pleasantly surprised
with the number of youth who not
only attended the convention this
year, but also actively engaged in
our RAYS events. After months of
hard work and planning, this week
end definitely exceeded our expecta
tions, said Priya Malani Manchanda,
President of RAYS.
Heartened by the enthusiastic re
sponse from the younger genera
tion, one of the founding members of
MMNA, Vimal Sodhani of Sodhani
Foundation, declared a major initia

tive to assist MMNA in providing
seed money to develop young entre
preneurs. The foundation plans to
donate $100,000 each year to
MMNA. Said Vimal Sodhani, I felt
that there is great potential of devel
oping a few of our youths as entre
preneurs by helping them financial
ly. MMNA has an existing Educa
tional Fund that has helped scores of
needy students. Over $40,000 was
raised during the convention to aug
ment this fund. Little known are the
many Maheshwaris that still reside
in Pakistan. A record contingent of
60 people of Pakistani origin attend
ed the convention.
Dr Deepak Chopra to headline Akshaya Patra inaugural NJ benefit
he Akshaya Patra Foundation will be holding its 2016 Inaugural New

Jersey benefit event on August 20 at the TV Asia headquarters in Edi
son, New Jersey. Dr. Deepak Chopra will be the events keynote speak
er. Comedian Omi Vaidya will act as the events Master of Ceremonies. The
event will be held at the headquarters of media partner TV Asia and will be
gin with a welcome reception. Over 350 businesses, nonprofit, government,
and philanthropic leaders from around the region are expected to attend and
support the organizations dual mission of addressing childhood hunger and
malnutrition and to promote education for underserved children in India.
Established in 2000, Akshaya Patra began by serving 1,500 in 5 schools in
Bangalore. Today Akshaya Patra is the largest NGOrun school meal pro
grams in the world and serves over 1.5 million children daily in over 11,501
schools through 24 kitchens in ten states in India.
S w a m i
Chidanand
Saraswati,
President
of
P a r m a r t h
N i k e t a n
(Rishikesh) & Co
founder
of
Global Interfaith
WASH Alliance
and Sadhvi Bhagawati, President, Divine Shakti Foundation,
SecretaryGeneral, Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, & Director, Int'l
Yoga Festival had valuable discussions and successful meeting
with Rachel Burcin, the Global Manager at the Robotics Institute of
Carnegie Mellon University and the head of business development
for Platypus LLC for cleaning river Ganga. Platypus LLC has created
a boat that monitors and maps the river. It gives a real time map of
the river and different types of pollutants and their concentrations
in the river. Following people were also present: Mrs. Savita Saxena,
trustee of Global Interfaith WASH Alliance, Suryansh Saxena doing
research at Carnegie Melllon and for GIWA on this project, Riad
Mahmood, husband of Rachel Burcin.
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
July 23-29, 2016
IndianAmerican to donate nearly

Obama, Biden
$ 900, 000 to Trump campaign
endorse Kamala
Harris for US Senate
California Attorney General Kamala Harris shares a

good working rapport with President Obama
(Image courtesy: latimes.com)
Los Angles: President Barack
Obama and Vice President
Joe Biden have backed
California's IndianAmerican
Attorney General Kamala
Harris to be the state's next
Senator.
Obama praised 51yearold
Kamala Harris as a "lifelong
courtroom prosecutor" who
has foug ht internat ional
gangs, oil companies and the
big banks responsible for
the mortgage crisis.
"Kamala Harris ghts for
us. That's why I'm so proud
to endorse her for United
States Senator," the presi
dent said in a statement
released by the Harris cam
paign and the Democratic
National Committee.
Harris
faces
fe llow
Democrat Loretta Sanchez, a
10term congresswoman in
the November polls.
"And if you send her to the
Senate, she'll be a fearless
g hter for the people of
California all the people of
California every sing le
day," Barack Obama said.
Vice President Joe Biden
said the Senate "needs peo
ple like her leaders who

will always ght to make a
dif ference and who never
forget where they come
from."
For Sanchez, the Orange
County congresswoman, the
endorsements are a stinging
rebuke and another political
obstacle to the many she
must overcome by the
November election, the Los
Angles Times reported.
The president's nod caps a
string of major endorse
ments for Harris, the candi
date of choice among the
Democratic Party's power
barons and some of the left's
most inuent ial interest
groups. It also sends a clear
signal to Democratic donors,
many of whom have stayed
on the sidelines this election,
the paper said.
Kamala already has won
the support of California
Governor Jerry Brown and
the California Democratic
Party, along with Senator
Elizabeth
Warren
(Demo cract
from
Massachusetts), a favorite of
(PTI)
the left.
Cleveland: An IndianAmerican
donor from Chicago will donate a
whopping $898,000 to Donald
Trump's presidential campaign,
making him one of the biggest
nancial backers to the Republican
nominee.
Chicagobased Shalabh "Shalli"
Kumar w ired $449,400 to the
Trump Victory Fund on Saturday
afternoon, The Hill reported. This
is the maximum one can donate to
the Trump campaign.
His wife will send another equal
amount to the Trump Victory fund
thus becoming "double max" total
ing $898,800. Early this year,
Kumar founded the Republican
Hindu Coalition.
He hosted a breakfast reception
for Newt Ging rich, the former
Speaker of the US House of
Representatives and a close aide of
Trump. Kumar also met Trump on
Saturday.
"That's just a start. That's the
seed money," Kumar said. Kumar
praised Trump for his policies on
Shalabh Kumar seen here with Republican Presidential nominee Donald

Trump (Image courtesy: scoopwhoop.com)
Pakistan and his views on Muslim
proling.
"He has to do whatever [it takes]
and he is the strongest that has
come about in the last 45 years. On
nat ional de fence, he w ill be

stronger than Reagan (former pres
ident Ronald Wilson Reagan),"
Kumar said.
(PTI)
California schools to have richer content on ancient India

Washington, DC: Education board in
California in the US has approved a
new school curriculum framework
which will include richer content on
ancient India and Hinduism for the
rst time and remove text inaccurately
depicting Islam.
The framework, which will update
and upgrade history and social science
instruction in California, was devel
oped over a period of last two years
went through several rounds of public
hearings and saw many controversies
including the push by a group of top
academics to rename ancient India
with South Asia.
Much to the disappointment of a sec
tion of academicians, the board decid
ed in favor of India.
"While much needs to be done to
bring content on Hinduism and Indian
civilization on par with other religions
and civilizations, we believe that great
progress has been made in the last two
years," said Sandeep Dedage, director,
Hindu Education Foundation USA,
expressing satisfaction over the com
pletion of the process.
The framework now has mention of
Vedic sages, Hindu teachings and phi
losophy, bhakti saints, music, dance, art
and scientic contributions of India.

Ahead of the nal hearing,
Congressman Tulsi Gabbard and
California Lieutenant Governor Gavin
Newsom batted for their causes.
The State Superintendent of Public
Instruction Tom Torlakson in a sepa
rate statement said the new framework
will improve the teaching and learning
of history and social science.
"It will give our students access to
the latest historical research and help
them learn about the diversity of our
state and the contributions of people
and groups who may not have received
the appropriate recognition in the
past," he said.
In addition, information was added
about nancial literacy; voter educa
tion; genocide; and the contributions of
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) Americans and people with dis
abilities to the history of California and
the United States, the California
Department of Education said.
Many topics in the Framework
sparked spirited debates, including
"comfort women" in World War II, the
Bataan Death March and the Battle of
Manila, the roles of LGBT Americans in
US and California history, the
Armenian Genocide and discrimination

faced by Sikh Americans, it said.
The move by a group academician to
replace India with South Asia generat
ed heated discussion among various
sections and was vehemently opposed
by Hindu Americans.
"We have a long way to go. But we
are on our way to a bright future for a
more equitable representation of
Hinduism in California textbooks,"
Barbara McGraw, convener of the
Social Sciences and Religion Faculty
Group.
While HinduAmericans can rightly
claim victory on many fronts, Hindu
American Foundation senior director
Samir Kalra voiced disappointment
that the board was not swayed to make
even a few more changes requested by
Hindus.
"The board showed much sensitivity
to activists representing Islam and
Muslims, by adjusting the frameworks
slightly to show the religion in a more
positive light."
Kalra went on to note, however, "we
only wish they had shown the same
empathy when discussing further
changes on the presentation of
Hinduism." (PTI)
July 23-29, 2016
NATIONAL COMMUNITY
Sushma monitoring case Dinesh DSouza is now Hillarybaiter

of Indians killed in New
York accident
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said last week that
she was personally monitoring the case of an Indian IT professional
who was killed along with his parents in a road accident in the Suffolk
county, NY, earlier this month.
The last rites of parents is possible. But US laws do not permit crema
tion of Chandan as his wife is in coma and unable to give consent, she
said.
Chandan Gavai, 38, and his parents were killed when a pickup truck
crashed into their car while they were returning after watching Fourth
of July fireworks.
The family hails from Kalyan in Maharashtra.
Sushma Swaraj said that Indian Consul General in New York Riva
Ganguly Das was in touch with her and she was providing all assistance
to the family.
New York: Just in time for another

presidential election, Dinesh DSouza
the Michael Moore of the right
is back with his latest incendiary
documentary.
Hillarys America: The Secret His
tory of the Democratic Party tries to
tarnish the lefts legacy as a support
er of civil rights while taking down
the partys standard bearer. The film
doesnt just play like a greatest hits
of Hillary Clintons scandals from
emailgate to Benghazi it makes
the argument that the Democratic
Party has a history of supporting
slavery and racism.
Hillarys America is resonating
with conservative audiences. It
opened to a robust $77,500 in just
three theaters, and will expand to
1,200 theaters.
Dinesh DSouza
The movies success is vindication
for Indian American DSouza. After
scoring a big hit with 2016: Oba
mas America, his career was de
railed in 2014 when he pled guilty to
making illegal campaign contribu
tions to a US Senate candidate and

was sentenced to eight months in a
halfway house.
When asked by Variety magazine,
whether Donald Trump is a racist,
the Indian American said, Hes
looselipped and hes a bit of a wild
man. He says things that are some
times illconsidered and insensitive,
but insensitive is not racist.
Then he reasons why he is sup
porting Trump: I like that hes
unashamed about being successful
in business. I like the fact that hes an
undisputed patriot. I like the fact
that he calls it like he sees it. I like
that when someone throws a punch
against him, he doesnt go into the
fetal position. He punches back.
His next project? May be feature
films.
2016 Washington Leadership

Program scholars start internships
Washington, DC: The Washington
Leadership Program (WLP) wel
comed 10 students as summer
scholars to its intensive leader
ship/internship program. The Class
of 2016 includes 8 women and 2
men interning with leading figures
in government ranging from
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy to
Congressman Ami Bera and
Senator Kristen Gillibrand.
Juli Adhikari, interning at the
Department of Labor, is a rising
junior at the University of
California, Berkeley. She intends to
graduate with a double major in
Political Science and Gender &
Womens Studies. She hopes to
combine her passion in advocacy
and interest in policy work to find
pragmatic solutions to radical ide
ologies.
Safiyah Bharwani, interning at
the Department of Commerce, is a
rising thirdyear Robert W.
Woodruf f Scholar at Emory
University double majoring in
Economics and Mathematics &
Political Science. She is alight with
passion for public policy, econom
ics, and unravelling social inequali
ty through human rights advocacy
and social entrepreneurship.
Shruti Gupta, interning at the
Department of Health and Human
Services, is a rising senior at
The 2016 Washington Leadership Program scholars with

US Surgeon General Dr Vivek Murthy
Emory University, where she is a
Goodrich C. White Scholar double
majoring in chemistry and econom
ics. She is currently involved in
HIV/AIDS drug development for
her thesis in organic chemistry.
Faryal Jafri, interning at the
Department of Defense, is a rising
junior at Tufts University studying
International Relations with a con
centration in security studies and a
minor in economics. She is a Tisch
Scholar through the Jonathan M.
Tisch College of Citizenship and
Public Service working with the
Immigrant Services Health
Providers Group/Health (ISPGH) on
creating culturally competent
health care access for Muslims in
the Boston area.
Mishi Jain, interning at the White
House Initiative for Asian

American and Pacific Islanders, is a
student at Rice University double
majoring in Political Science and
Policy Studies and minoring in
Politics, Law, and Social Thought.
Her policy interests are concentrat
ed in foreign policy and interna
tional relations, as well as immigra
tion policy.
Rahima Jamal, interning at
USAID, is a rising junior at the
University of Pennsylvania study
ing Philosophy, Politics, and
Economics and minoring in
Marketing
and
Consumer
Psychology. Shivam Shah, interning
at the Department of Health and
Human Services, is a Darwin
Turner Scholar and an Honors
graduate of the University of
Cincinnati where he studied neu

ropsychology and philosophy. In
2014, he became the first Indian
American male student body vice
president in UCs history. Shivam
gave a TED Talk on the psychology
of classical piano at TEDActive, a
global TED Conference in 2015
and founded TEDxUCincinnati.
Neha Ramani, interning with
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, is a jun
ior at New York University study
ing Politics and Economics. Her
professional interests include polit
ical communications, media, and
marketing. She has interned at the
Clinton Foundation, DISH Network,
Sakhi for South Asian Women, and
most recently a new tech startup
called ZeroUI.
Vishal Narayanaswamy, interning
with Congressman Ami Bera, is a
rising sophomore at the University
of California Berkeley, double
majoring in Political Science and
Economics with a minor in Public
Policy. Rina Patel, interning at the
Department of Education, is a ris
ing junior at Bryn Mawr college
studying the Growth and Structure
of Cities, with Minors in Political
science and Environmental studies.
Shes very interested in how the
growth of urban spaces affects pol
icy both internationally and domes
tically.
Sankeerth (left) was stabbed to

death by Sai Sandeep Gaud
(Image : thehansindia.com)
Hyderabad
youth allegedly
murdered by
roommate
Hyderabad: A young man from Hy
derabad was stabbed to death al
legedly by his roommate in Texas.
Sankeerth, 25, was found mur
dered in his room in Austin late on
Monday. The police have detained
one of his roommates, Sai Sandeep
Goud, and are questioning him.
The two had fought, another room
mate of Sankeerth told the police.
Sankeerth, who came to the US a
little over two years ago, had started
working in Austin three months ago
after completing his Master of Sci
ence program.
Sai Sandeep Goud reportedly
checked into his room early this
month through a consultancy. Two
others shared the room.
Sankeerth's father G Vijaykumar, is
a government employee.
Relatives say efforts are on to
bring the body home by the week
end.
July 23-29, 2016
US AFFAIRS
TRUMPS NOMINATION CONVENTION

Trump officially declared Republican presidential nominee
Cleveland: Manhattan real estate
mogul Donald Trump of ficially
became the Republican Party's
presidential nominee on Tuesday
after a roll call vote overshadowed
by dissent and apathy, media
reports said.
Trump sailed to the 1,237dele
gate threshold, with his home
state of New York putting him
over the top, Politico reported.
The results were declared on the
second day of the Republican
National Convention (RNC) here
after Trump's son, Donald Trump
Jr., announced the 89 New York
delegates that formally clinched
the nomination.
"It is my honor to be able to
throw Donald Trump over the top
in the delegate count tonight with
89 delegates," Donald Jr. said, sur
rounded by three of Trump's other
children Ivanka, Eric and
Tiffany.
"Congratulations Dad, we love
you."
Donald Trump himself tweeted
that it was a "great honor" and
Hofstra to
host first
presidential
debate
Uniondale,
NY:
Hofstra
University will host the first of
three presidential debates after
Wrig ht State University in
Ohio, citing cost and safety
concerns, bowed out of holding
the Sept. 26 event, the
Commission on Presidential
Debates announced Tuesday.
The commission said Hofstra
where presidential candi
dates in the 2008 and 2012
campaigns also faced of f
earlier agreed to be an alter
nate location.
Hofstra president Stuart
Rabinowitz said the university
is honored to host the first
debate.
The announcement came as
Republican delegates prepared
to nominate Donald Trump for
president at their convention in
Cleve land and be fore the
Democrats gathering next week
in Philadelphia, where former
Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton is expected to be select
ed as that partys nominee.
From left, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Eric Trump and Tiffany
Trump celebrate their father Donald Trump officially getting
nominated Republican nominee for President.
vowed not to let the country down.
"Such a great honor to be the
Republican Nominee for President
of the US," he said. "I will work
hard and never let you down."
The business magnate's of ficial
nomination is a new apex in the
political outsider's campaign to
shake up Washington.
His White House bid began last
June with a widely panned, ram
bling speech in which he blasted

Mexicans as "rapists" and pledged
to build a wall on the southern
border that Mexico will pay for,
Politico noted.
Trump's campaign has seeming
ly endured strife almost daily
since its inception.
Republican leaders were slow to
back his campaign and have con
tinued to condemn his controver
sial rhetoric and actions. But his

message has resonated with an
overwhelming number of voters
who have propelled him atop the
Party.
Indiana Governor Mike Pence
was also formally nominated on
Tuesday night as the Republican
Party's choice for Vice President.
Particularly outraged with the
result was the Washington, D.C.,
delegation, which held its conven
tion in March and attempted to
award 10 votes to former hopefuls
Marco Rubio and nine to John
Kasich. But convention of ficials
announced the rules merit Trump
be awarded all 19 delegates from
the nation's capital, NBC News
reported.
"This is an outrage, and this is a
reason the Republican Party is
turning of f a lot of voters," a
Kasich delegate from Washington
D.C. told MSNBC.
After Trump had clinched the
nomination, the Alaskan delega
tion contested how its vote total
was recorded. T hey originally
requested 12 votes go to Ted Cruz,

11 to Trump and five to Rubio, but
the RNC recorded all 28 votes to
Trump.
However, the appeal was unsuc
cessful because, RNC Chair Reince
Priebus said, all the votes went to
Trump because Rubio and Cruz
suspended their campaigns.
The former reality TV star was
declared the "presumptive nomi
nee" by RNC Chair Priebus on May
3 following his decisive victory in
Indiana, which ultimately van
quished Cruz and Kasich from the
primary and he entered the con
vention with 1,543 delegates.
The official nomination followed
a rocky first day start of the RNC,
the biggest backlash being Donald
Trump's w ife Me lania speech
being compared to the one
Michelle Obama gave during the
2008 Democratic Convention.
Donald Trump was expected to
formally accept the nomination
during his primetime speech on
Thursday.
IANS
Trump gets bipartisan condemnation

for NATO comments
Washington/London: Republican presiden
tial nominee Donald Trump drew swift
rebukes from both ends of the political spec
trum, as well as from NATOs top official, for
his declaration that, if he is president, the
United States will defend fellow NATO coun
tries only if the countries in question were
contributing their fair share to NATOs
budget.
Were talking about countries that are
doing very we ll. T hen yes, I would be
absolutely prepared to tell those countries,
Congratulations, you will be defending your
self, Trump said during an interview with
The New York Times, adding that he would
defend only countries that had fulfilled their
obligations to us financially.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
called Trump's comments a rookie mistake.
I dont think there is anybody he would
choose to be secretary of defense or secre
tary of state who would have a dif ferent
view from my own.
Two additional Senate Republicans, neither
of whom is attending this weeks Republican
National Convention, condemned his com
ments, suggesting Congress would not fol
low his lead on the issue if he is commander
inchief.
As [Russian President Vladimir] Putin
revives Sovietstyle aggression and the
threat of violent Islam looms over European
and American cities, the United States stands
with our NATO allies, Sen. Ben Sasse, RNeb.,
one of the most vocal elected officials in the
neverTrump movement, said in a statement.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., one of

Trumps former Republican primary oppo
nents, accused him of appeasing the Russian
president with his assertions.
I can only imagine how our allies in NATO,
particularly the Balkan states, must feel after
reading these comments from Mr. Trump.
Im 100 percent certain how Russian
President Putin feels hes a very happy
man, Graham said.
If Mr. Trump is serious about wanting to
be commanderinchief, he needs to better
understand the job, which is to provide lead
ership for the United States and the free
world, Graham continued, also calling for
Trump to correct his statements during his
primetime address Thursday evening.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, RIllinois, a former
Air Force pilot, told ABC News he was deeply
disturbed by Trump's comments about
NATO.
"To protect American first you have to
have strong alliances," he said. "This alliance
has prevented 60 years of war."
Members of the Democratic Party also
slammed Trumps remarks, accusing him of
friendliness with the same unsavory leaders
w ith whom Republicans have accused
President Obama of being too conciliatory.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest
noted that Republicans have long accused
Obama of going on a global apology tour.
I guess that means that there is some
irony associated with the case thats being
made by the Republican nominee at this
point, Earnest said.
Hillary Clintons campaign condemned

Trumps remarks, also accusing him of cozy
ing up to Putin.
Over the course of this campaign, Trump
has displayed a bizarre and occasionally
obsequious fascination with Russias strong
man, Vladimir Putin. And he has policy posi
tions and advisers to match, Clinton
senior policy adviser Jake Sullivan said, cit
ing a Washington Post report that Trump
staf fers persuaded convention delegates to
strip language from the GOP platform that
would have called for providing lethal
defensive weapons to the Ukrainian mili
tary.
Although NATO does not frequently com
ment on issues related to member nations
domestic politics, Jens Stoltenberg, NATOs
secretarygeneral, weighed in on Trumps
comments, defending European allies contri
butions to NATO while avoiding commenting
on the election directly.
European allies are also stepping up, he
said. For the first time in many years,
defense spending among European allies
and Canada rose last year.
Secretary of State John Kerry also felt
forced to comments: "This administration,
like every administration Republican and
Democrat alike since 1949, remains fully
committed to the NATO alliance and to our
security commitments under Article 5, which
is absolutely bedrock to our membership
and to our partnership with NATO."
Source: ABC News
10
July 23-29, 2016
US AFFAIRS
TRUMPS NOMINATION CONVENTION

Pence officially accepts Republican Trump, Kasich feud over
vice president nomination
'most powerful' VP offer
Cleveland, Ohio: Indiana Governor
Mike Pence formally accepted the
Republican Vice Presidential nomi
nation at the 2016 Republican
Nat ional
Convent ion
on
Wednesday night.
Pence took the stage at Quicken
Loans Arena her as the final speak
er of the day in an effort to build
excitement for the TrumpPence
ticket, Xinhua news agency report
ed. "I accept your nomination to
run and serve as vice president of
the US," Pence said.
His speech was reg arded by
many as an introduction to the
voter base still largely unknown
outside his home state.
In contrast to the outspoken
Republican presidential nominee
Donald Trump, Pence is calm and
has extensive experience working
in Capitol Hill.
Trump reportedly picked him as
running mate to appease the
Republican establishment and
social conservatives in the increas
Trump picked Indiana Governor Mike Pence, a conservative, to bridge

his campaigns gap with the party. (Photo courtesy: AP)
ingly divided party.
He made the choice under pres
sure from political consultants,
advisors and family, in an effort to
bridge the gap between his cam
paign and many party figures who
were unwilling to support him.
Pence's well scripted traditional
speech covered major policy points

including the economy, foreign
policy, immigration, race and ter
rorism while making several
humorous remarks, calling
Democrats presidential nominee
Hillary Clinton the "secretary of
the status quo".
Ted Cruz does not endorse

Trump in speech, booed
Cleveland, Ohio: Donald Trump's former rival
Senator Ted Cruz was roundly booed after fail
ing to endorse Trump during an address to the
Republican National Convention a jab from
the Texas lawmaker at the real estate mogul,
who tormented him as "Lyin' Ted" during the
primary.
Cruz told delegates and voters to "vote your
conscience" in November and never specifically
said that people should cast their ballots for the
Republican nominee. During the course of his
speech, Cruz only mentioned Trump once, to
congratulate him on getting the nomination.
"To those listening, please, dont stay home in
November. If you love our country, and love
your children as much as I know you do, stand,
and speak, and vote your conscience, vote for
candidates up and down the ticket who you
trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to
the Constitution," Cruz said.
As he continued speaking, and the crowd
began to realize that an endorsement seemed
less likely, the cheers that marked the early part
of the speech became boos.
"I appreciate the enthusiasm of the New York
delegation," Cruz said to the vocal Trump home
state supporters who were placed right in front
of the stage. They were yelling "We want
Trump! We want Trump!"
Cruz's wife, Heidi, was seen leaving the arena
when the booing started getting very loud.
Former Virginia Attorney General Ken
Cuccinelli told ABC News that he escorted Heidi
Cruz out of the convention hall because it was
volatile and the Trump folks were physically
approaching and confrontationally yelling, he
said via text. The fact that Cruz spoke at all
In a clear sign of persisting divisions in the

GOP, Sen. Ted Cruz said in his RNC speech:
Vote Your Conscience.
came as a surprise to some considering how bit
ter the primary campaign became towards the
end. At one point, Trump insinuated that Cruz's
wife Heidi was less attractive than his own wife
Melania, and later he made suggestions that
Cruz's Cuban father was somehow connected to
the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
He also questioned whether Cruz was eligible to
run for the presidency because he was born in
Canada. Shortly after Cruz exited the stage to a
growing round of boos, Trump entered the
arena on the opposite side to sit with his family
and watch his son Eric address the crowd.
Later, the details emerged via journalists on
the scene that Cruz went of f of his Trump
approved teleprompter remarks to stick it to his
former rival in the primaries. Newt Gingrich,
who spoke after Cruz, tried to patch up the
obvious snub by paraphrasing Cruzs endorse
ment.
Cleveland: Donald Trump and Ohio

governor John Kasich's teams are
at war over whether the
Republican presidential nominee
ever seriously wanted the Ohio
governor to join the ticket.
Multiple sources close to Kasich
said Trump's son, Donald Jr., tried
to entice Kasich with a position as
the most powerful vice president in
history, but was turned down.
Kasich would have been in charge
of all domestic and foreign policy
in a Trump White House, Kasich
sources said.
But Trump's communications
adviser insisted Wednesday that,
while a call occurred between
Trump Jr. and top Kasich adviser
John Weaver, a VP offer was never
on the table.
Trump Jr. also denied making
such an offer. The competing nar
ratives highlight the escalating ani
mosity between the Kasich and
Trump campaigns a dynamic
that's likely to continue unhin

dered as Donald Trump delivers
his biggest speech yet Thursday.
Trump never one to take sto
ries of rejection lightly also
denied ever personally asking
Kasich to be his running mate in a
tweet.
"John Kasich was never asked by
me to be V.P. Just arrived in
Cleveland will be a great two
days!" Trump tweeted.
Another Kasich source says there
were also separate instances of
Trump allies reaching out to Kasich
allies asking whether the Ohio gov
ernor might consider the VP slot.
Trump sources have acknowl
edged, though, that long before
Trump settled on Indiana Gov.
Mike Pence for his running mate,
top Trump aides viewed Kasich as
their best bet for winning the
White House in November because
of the importance of Ohio in the
electoral map.
Melania speech writer apologizes for

cribbing from Michelle speech
Washington: An aide
the Trumps, as well
for Republican pres
as
to
Miche lle
ident ial nominee
Obama," said McIver.
Donald Trump took
T he
statement
responsibility for
came two days after
copying portions of
embarrassing simi
First Lady Michelle
larit ies
were
Obama's
2008
revealed between
address for Melania
parts of Me lania
Trump's convention
Trump's speech at
speech on Monday.
the 2016 RNC on
A statement dis
Monday night and
tributed
on
Miche lle Obama's
Wednesday by the
2008 Demo crat ic
campaign featured
convention speech.
an apolog y from
T he plag iarism
Meredith McIver
charges threatened
and an offer of res
to
overshadow
ignat ion. She sad
Trump's
of ficial
Trump had rejected
ascent to the stan
her offer to resign.
dardbearer of a
Staf f
writer Melania Trump speaking at the GOP con major US political
McIver said that
party and came just
vention. (Photo courtesy Reuters)
while working with
hours after the
Melania Trump on her speech, the two dis Trump campaign fiercely denied the over
cussed many people who inspired the lap.
woman who may become the First Lady. A
Shortly after the release of the state
person she has always liked is Michelle ment, Trump pointed out one positive side
Obama," McIver said.
of the episode in his Twitter post that his
"Over the phone, she read me some pas wife's speech "got more publicity than any
sages from Mrs. Obama's speech as exam in the history of politics especially if you
ples. I wrote them down and later included believe that all press is good press".
some of the phrasing in the draft that ulti
In another twitter post, Trump criticized
mately became the final speech," she said.
the US media for spending more time
According to McIver, she did not check "doing a forensic analysis of Melania's
Michelle Obama's 2008 speech.
speech than the FBI spent on Hillary's
"This was my mistake and I feel terrible emails".
IANS
for the chaos I have caused Melania and
July 23-29, 2016
ANALYSIS
11
The most extreme GOP convention

manifesto in memory
By The Editorial Board,
New York Times
or all the disruption and dam
age that Donald Trump has
meant for Republicans, the
partys statement of its views in its
newly written convention platform
rivals him for sho ck value.
Platforms are traditionally written
by and for the party faithful and
largely ignored by everyone else.
But this year, the Republicans are
putt ing out an agenda that
demands notice.
It is as though, rather than try
ing to reconcile Mr. Trumps
heretical views with conservative
orthodoxy, the writers of the plat
form simply opted to go with the
most extreme version of every
position. Tailored to Mr. Trumps
impulsive bluster, this document
lays bare just how much the G.O.P.
is driven by a regressive, extremist
inner core.
Mr. Trumps antiMuslim phobia
and fantasy wall across the
Mexican border are front and cen

ter, along with his protectionist
views, which deny longheld posi
tions of the party. No less alarm
ing is a raft of planks that ideo
logues pushed through to banish
any notion of moderation and
presentday reality from the
partys credo. This majority has
triumphed in securing retrograde
positions that include making no
exceptions for rape or womens

health in cases of abortion; requir
ing the Bible to be taught in public
high schools; selling coal as a
clean energy source; demanding
a return of federal lands to the
states; insisting that legislators
use religion as a guide in lawmak
ing; appointing family values
judges; barring female soldiers
from combat; and rejecting the
need for stronger gun controls

despite the mass shootings afflict
ing the nation every week.
The platform also makes homo
phobia and the denial of basic civil
rights to gays, lesbians and trans
gender people a centerpiece. It
repudiates samesex marriage,
despite strong support for this
constitutional right in the nation
at large. The party invokes natur
al marriage and states rights for
determining which bathrooms
transgender people may use, and
it defends merchants who would
deny service to gay customers.
Optimists who show up every
four years as members of the Log
Cabin Republicans, a gay rights
group, had to admit this was the
most antiL.G.B.T. platform in the
partys 162year history.
It is hard to be lieve the
Republicans platform came just
three years after party leaders,
stunned by the drubbing they took
in President Obamas reelection,
commissioned what came to be
called a G.O.P. autopsy. It candidly

admitted that polls showed the
party was harmed by a public per
ception that the G.O.P. does not
care about people. Young voters
are increasingly rolling their eyes
at what the party represents, the
report warned, while many
minorities wrongly think that
Republicans do not like them or
want them in the country.
Enter Mr. Trump, and three
years later his dangerous nativism
has turned that post2012 warn
ing into a terrible prophecy. Party
of ficials who once spoke of the
need for immigration reform have
been silenced. The planks of 2016
have been fashioned as underpin
nings for Trump jingoism.
The G.O.P. used to insist it was
the big tent open to one and all.
Now its the big wall party
braced by a destructive platform
out of touch with American lives
and devoid of the common sense
the nation needs for any form of
political progress. Courtesy, NYT
Republican Party says India 'geopolitical ally',

wants Pakistan's narms secured
By IANS Team
he Republican Party has in its mani
festo affirmed India as its "geopoliti
cal ally", urging the protection of dif
ferent religious communities against vio
lence and discriminat ion. It has also
referred to "securing Pakistan's nuclear
arsenal".
"India is our geopolitical ally and a strate
gic trading partner. The dynamism of its
people and the endurance of their demo
cratic institutions are earning their country
a position of leadership not only in Asia but
throughout the world," read the 58page
platform (manifesto) released on the open
ing day of its threeday Nat ional
Convention here on Monday evening.
The platform encouraged the Indian gov
ernment to permit expanded foreign invest
ment and trade as "the key to rising living
standards for those left out of their coun
try's energetic economy".
The Republicans hailed the contributions
made to the US by Indian Americans. The
House Speaker Paul Ryan admired Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the latter
addressed a joint session of the US Congress in June this year.
platform also referred to Pakistan, stressing
on the importance of a working relation
which was "absolutely necessary", and "we
look toward the renewal of historic ties that
have frayed under the weight of interna
tional conflict". It condemned the conflicts

in the Middle East that have created "spe
cial political and military challenges for the
people of Pakistan."
The platform said the US along with
Afghanistan and Pakistan shared a common

interest in ridding the region of the Taliban
and securing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal.
"That goal has been undermined by the
current Administrations feckless treatment
of troop commitments and blatant disre
gard of advice from commanders on the
g round, part icularly w ith reg ard to
Afghanistan," it said, slamming the Obama
Administration.
"This process cannot progress as long as
any citizen of Pakistan was punished for
helping the war on terror," it added.
T he platform went on to say a
"Republican president will work with all
regional leaders to restore mutual trust
while insisting upon progress against cor
ruption." The convention began on Monday
night in Cleveland, Ohio, with some 5,000
delegates representing the country's 50
states, the District of Colombia and five US
territories. They will decide the party's pre
sumptive presidential nominee Donald
Trump's future as the leader of the country.
Source: IANS
12
July 23-29, 2016
INDIA
Modi government imposing narrow ideology: Sonia

New Delhi: In a frontal attack on
the Modi government, Congress
president Sonia Gandhi accused it
of mistaking its parliamentary
majority for a license "to impose
narrow ideology" and said it was
"anchored in slick market ing
events, glib marketing slogans and
exaggeration".
Addressing the Cong ress
Parliamentary Party meeting here,
Gandhi said that recent events in
the Kashmir Valley were tragic and
pose a grave challenge to the coun
try.
She attacked the government
over beating of four Dalit youths in
BJPruled Gujarat, terming the inci
dent as an "example of social ter
ror this government condones".
Gandhi said the government
seems to have forgotten that par
liamentary majority can never be a
reason to abandon the principles
and practice of constitutionalism.
In reference to the Rajya Sabha
elections in Haryana, she said: "We
saw how in a neverbeforeact,
pens in a polling booth were mys
teriously replaced."
Congress president Sonia Gandhi. (Photo: IANS)

She accused the central govern
ment of trying to topple Congress
governments in Arunachal Pradesh
and Uttarakhand.
Gandhi said "deception was not a
new thing" for the Modi govern
ment and "they were skilled at
ignoring facts."
"They propagate false claims and
Mayawati abuse
case: BSP calls
off agitation
Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers
called off their agitation here against former
Uttar Pradesh BJP VicePresident Daya
Shankar Singh for his abusive remarks against
BSP chief Mayawati after police assured
Singh's arrest within the next 36 hours.
Lucknow's District Magistrate Raj Shekhar
met the agitated party workers and leaders
and told them the police was looking for Singh
after an FIR was lodged against him late on
Wednesday night at the Hazratganj police sta
tion.
After a categorical and timebound assur
ance by authorities, BSP leader Naseemuddin
Siddiqui announced the agitation was being
called off.
The police conducted searches at about a
dozen places to nab Daya Shankar Singh but
met with no success.
Sources say Singh is holed up at some place
in eastern Uttar Pradesh.
Following the outrage over the statement,
the BJP late night expelled Singh from the
party for six years.
Earlier, hundreds and thousands of BSP
workers on Thursday took to the streets here
to protest Singh's abusive comments against
Mayawati.
The protesters threw traf fic out of gear in
Hazratganj, giving anxious moments to the
district administration, police of ficers and
those controlling traffic.
State BSP president Raj Achal Rajbhar said
Singh's statement had revealed the "antiDalit
mentality" of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
orchestrate unsubstant iated

charges against the opposition,
especially the Congress," she said.
"We are presented with a gov
ernment that is anchored in the
slick marketing events in glib mar
keting slogans in repackaging in
embellishment and exaggeration,"
she added.
Re ferring to situat ion in

Kashmir, she said, "militants must
be dealt with firmly" yet an intro
spection was required as to what
had driven scores of youths to
such levels of anger and protest,
even violence."
"Can we say in all honesty that
we have responded with sincerity
to their pleas? They are our peo
ple, we cannot forsake them," she
said.
Gandhi said that the loss of life
and suffering "of our brothers and
sisters, whether they are civilian or
of the armed forces, is a source of
deep anguish."
Gandhi referred to the work
done by Congressled Manmohan
Singh government in the state and
said "sadly, this is no longer the
case."
"We must respond with restraint
and sensitivity to the harsh reali
ties of the recent month. Not doing
so is fraught with dangerous long
term consequences. While borders
cannot be redrawn, much can and
must be done within the frame
work of our Constitution," she said.
Attacking the government on

economy, she said questions had
been raised on GDP figures from
BJP's own leaders.
"The BJP blocked every impor
tant FDI initiative of the UPA gov
ernment. Yet now it has put in
place a freeforall policy even in a
sensitive area like defence," she
said.
On the issue of job creation,
Gandhi said the government in the
past two years sought to create a
'bubble' of achievement .
She said prices of essential com
modities, specially food items,
were at an alltime high.
"The Modi government's hollow
claims on inflation have been
exposed recently by no less than
the Reserve Bank Governor
(Raghuram Rajan). The widespread
distress in rural areas seems to be
of no concern to the Modi govern
ment," she alleged.
She said recommendations of the
Seventh Pay Commission have
done injustice to the government
employees and armed forces,
resulting in discontent.
Parliament witnesses
protests over Una incident
New Delhi: The issue of Dalit unrest in
Gujarat rocked Parliament this week as
opposition members accused the govern
ment of being antiDalit.
Both houses saw protests from opposi
tion parties, even as the Modi govern
ment made statements in the Lok Sabha
and the Rajya Sabha stressing that the
Gujarat government took appropriate
action to tackle the situation.
While the Rajya Sabha lost the entire
day to protests and adjournments, the
Lok Sabha witnessed an uproar but the
issue did not lead to adjournments.
In the Lok Sabha, the highlight was a
video clip that showed Congress Vice
President Rahul Gandhi dozing off when
his party members were protesting
against the Home Minister's response on
the Dalit issue.
Congress President Sonia Gandhi,
addressing the Congress parliamentary
party on Wednesday morning had
announced that the party would take up
the matter.
In the Rajya Sabha as soon as the
house met for the day, opposition mem
bers demanded a debate on the issue.
Even as Deputy Chairman P.J. Kurien was
scrutinising the notices, opposition mem
bers trooped near the Chairman's podi
um raising antigovernment slogans.
Clarifications came from Social Justice
and Empowerment Minister T hawar
Chand Gehlot who said the Gujarat gov
ernment has taken action against the cul
prits.
The minister said an FIR has been reg
istered and a probe was also underway.
He also regretted the suicide by a Dalit,
Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel visits victims of Una's village

at civil hospital in Rajkot. (Photo: IANS)
who was one of the five who consumed
poison during protests in different parts
of Gujarat.
T he minister added that the issue
should not be "politicized".
Later, Minister of State for
Parliamentary Af fairs Mukhtar Abbas
Naqvi said a discussion on the issue will
be taken up on Thursday.
The upper house was finally adjourned
for the day around 3.40 pm amid
protests.
In the lower house, members, including
Cong ress floor leader Mallikarjun
Kharge, tried to raise the issue more than
once. However, as Speaker Sumitra
Mahajan called for taking up the ques

tion hour, opposition members rushed to
the well of the house.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, making
a statement during zero hour, termed as
"unfortunate" the attack on Dalits at Una
on July 11. Condemning the attacks, he
said Gujarat Police had acted swiftly and
nine people have been arrested so far.
Lauding the role of the BJP govern
ment after the incident, he said the state
government is also trying to set up a spe
cial court for speedy trial of the case.
"But the state needs to take the permis
sion from the high court in this connec
tion," Singh added.
INDIA
July 23-29, 2016
13
Rajnath squarely blames Rahul may have to face trial

in defamation case: SC
Pak for unrest in Kashmir
New Delhi: Union Home Minister Rajnath
Singh squarely blamed Pakistan for the pres
ent unrest in Jammu and Kashmir and also
said the government will set up a panel to
find an alternative to pellet guns used by
security forces to control protesters in the
Valley.
"There can be no denying the fact that our
neighbor (Pakistan) is singularly responsible
for the present deterioration of the situation
in the state," Singh said while replying to a
short duration discussion in the Lok Sabha.
The terrorism that India is witnessing
today is "Pakistan sponsored", he said
adding, that it was "created in the name of
religion".
"However, Pakistan has failed to keep itself
united," he said.
Singh denied that security forces were
harsh while controlling protesting mobs in
the Valley and hastened to add that person
ally he would always favour that minimum
force is used to maintain control.
The minister admitted, "there could be
some aberrations" in the form of high hand
edness by security forces.
On use of lethal weapons and pellet bul
lets, which have caused large number of
injuries, including eye wounds, the minister
said the Home Ministry will soon set up an
expert committee to explore "alternative" use
of such weapons.
Over 40 people have died in clashes
between protesting mobs and security forces
in the Valley since July 8.
Referring to former Prime Minister Atal
Behari Vajpayee's famous lines "chingari ka
khel khelna khatra hota hae (To play with
fire is often dangerous), Singh sought to cau
tion Pakistan on its continued role to spon
sor terrorism.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court indicated

that Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi
will have to face trial in a defamation case
filed by an RSS activist for allegedly accus
ing the organization of the assassination of
Mahatma Gandhi.
"You can't make collective denunciation
of an organisation," an apex court bench
headed by Justice Dipak Misra said, adding
that the case may be decided on merits
whether Rahul Gandhi's charge was for
public good or not.
The Congress leader has so far main
tained that his statement blaming the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was
based on a high court judgment and certain
documents. The apex court said that the
statement was arguably made on the basis
of a high court judgment but the case must
be decided on merits.
RSS activist Rajesh Kunte had filed the
defamation suit in a Maharashtra court
Union Home Minister

Rajnath Singh.
Singh also said the NDA government at the
Centre is pursuing Vajpayee's roadmap of
"Kashmiriyat, Jamhooriyat and Insaniyat
(Kashmiri spirit, democracy and humanity)"
towards Kashmir but at the same time there
is no room for "inhumanity and violence".
The Home Minister maintained that the
central government alone cannot bring
peace in the troubletorn state and sought
support from all quarters.
He also named Hafiz Saeed and Syed
Salahuddin Pakistanbased terror heads
for fuelling tension in Jammu and Kashmir
following the July 8 killing of Hizbul militant
Burhan Wani.
ag ainst Gand hi, who then moved the

Supreme Court for quashing of the defama
tion proceedings.
Hearing Gandhi's plea, the apex court
told Kunte that the purpose of the defama
tion law was not to promote litigation.
On November 26, 2015, in response to a
suggestion by the top court, Rahul Gandhi
had refused to settle the defamation case
with the RSS functionary and to give the
whole controversy a "decent burial.
Justice Misra said on November 26 last:
"I think this can be ended in a decent way
and get the defamation case buried."
Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for
Rahul Gandhi, had said that the defamation
complaint was motivated, mala fide and
deserved to be dismissed.
Sibal told the apex court that besides the
high court judgment, there was other mate
rial to support his case and that he will
argue the matter.
Adhunik Art Gallery and

Pranira International, New York,
the organisers of the Football
Ka Mahamuqabla match in
support of Swach Bharat
Abhiyan' and Beti Bachao Beti
Padhao initiatives held a press
conference in Chelmsford Club
in the capital this week.
Bollywood stars and Members
of Parliament will play soccer at
Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on
July 24. Seen in the photo, from
left, Manoj Tiwari, Vice Captain
of MPs team (MP for North East Delhi), Priyanka Kothari Actress, Director Adhunik
Group of Companies and Goodwill Ambassador and Dr Rajendra Bhayani, Chairman
and Managing Director Pranira International, New York.
Hockey legend Mohammed Shahid passes away

New Delhi: Hockey legend Mohammed
Shahid died in a Gurgaon hospital after bat
tling kidney and liver problems. He was 56.
Shahid, one of the greatest names in
world hockey, was part of the Indian team
that clinched the gold medal in the 1980
Moscow Olympics.
He was battling for life after a bout of
jaundice and dengue made his condition
worse. He had been admitted to SSL
Hospital at Banaras Hindu University with
severe stomach pain on June 29.
As his condition did not improve, he was
airlifted from Varanasi and admitted to the
Medanta Medicity hospital in Gurgaon ear
lier this month. He is survived by his wife
Parveen Shahid and twins Mohammad Saif
and Heena Shahid.
Born on April 14, 1960 in Varanasi, Uttar
Pradesh, Shahid first grabbed attention at
the senior international level during a four
nation tournament in Malaysia.
Blessed with speed and the rare ability to
dribble the ball at a fast pace, Shahid man
aged to revive interest in the national game
during the 1980s when cricket had started
to gain massive popularity following the
1983 World Cup win and the fan following
of hockey had started to wane.
Shahid, who formed a brilliant combina
Hockey legend Mohammed Shahid.

tion on the left side of the Indian midfield
with another legend Zafar Iqbal, was one of
the stars of the team that won the gold

medal at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The
combination of Shahid and Iqbal also
helped India win medals at the 1982 and
1986 Asian Games.
Shahid, who also captained India during
the 198586 season, received the Arjuna
Award in 1981 and was honored with the
Padma Shri in 1986.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed
grief over his untimely death and said the
country has lost a talented sportsman.
Paying tributes to one of the best known
hockey stars of the country, Modi said the
government tried its best to save Shahid.
"In the untimely and unfortunate demise
of Mohammed Shahid, India has lost a tal
ented sportsman who played with immense
passion & vigor," he tweeted.
"We tried our leve l best to save
Mohammed Shahid but sadly, neither our
help nor prayers were enough to save him.
Tributes to him. RIP," the Prime Minister
added. Since retiring from hockey, the
somewhat reclusive Shahid had worked as a
sports officer with the Indian Railways and
was based in his hometown of Varanasi.
Ho ckey India also tweeted say ing,
"Hockey India grieves the untimely loss of
India Hockey Legend Mohammed Shahid,
who passed away today, 20 July 2016."

A host of former hockey stars expressed
grief and offered condolences.
"All of us from one generation are very
sad today. We have lost one of our team
mates, one of the best players to have ever
played for India, one of the most talented
and generous. But even more than that, I
will always think of him as my partner
Shahid and I played together for seven
years," Zafar Iqbal was quoted as saying by
Espn. Former Australia captain and cele
brated coach Ric Charlesworth recalled
Shahid's amazing skills and fondly remem
bered their rivalry on the hockey field.
"I'm deeply sad to hear about Shahid's
demise. He was one of the most wonderful,
skillful and mesmerizing players I've ever
played against. He certainly did give me a
tough time. In the early 1980s when Indian
hockey was at its strongest for the last time,
he was the central plank of it," the former
Australia coach said.
Indian cricket team coach Anil Kumble
and opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan also
expressed their condolences.
"My heartfelt condolences on the passing
away of #MohammedShahid, one of the
greatest hockey players of all time," the for
mer star legspinner said.
14
July 23-29, 2016
OP-ED
Must demonstrate sensitiveness

to Kashmir's grievances
By Amulya Ganguli
ndia would have faced far greater criti
cism of its handling of the outbreak in
Kashmir if the international scene was
calmer. With the US embroiled in its own
racial militancy, France reeling under repeat
ed terrorist attacks (Nice being the latest),
Turkey facing a coup and most other
European countries still grappling with the
economic and social consequences of Brexit,
not much attention has been paid to the vio
lence in Kashmir as may have been expected.
It took four days for the US and the UN to
react after Pakistan predictably told the
Security Council members that the upsurge
was not India's "internal affair".
There is little doubt, however, that if the
situation is not quickly brought under con
trol, there will be widespread disquiet about
the frenzied protests in the valley which
have underlined the continuing alienation of
ordinary Kashmiris from the governments in
New Delhi and Srinagar.
The situation has been complicated by the
fact that although the leader of the ruling
coalition in Srinagar, the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), has its roots in the Valley unlike
its junior partner, the BJP, it has been unable
to effectively reach out to the people.
The reason for this failure is the high level
of anger and disenchantment of the locals
against the "establishment", even if the latter
includes Kashmiri representatives, including
Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, who belongs
to the younger generation and has been
not long ago because he was allowed to post

pictures and videos on Facebook when such
acts of other militants were censored. Now,
the truth about his real identity will never be
known.
The fallout would have been less violent if
Wani had been arrested and not killed. It will
be a pity if the killing represents a new line
of thinking on counterinsurgency opera
tions which generally steered clear of
extreme measures in order to avoid turning
militants into martyrs in the eyes of the local
population.
What Wani's killing and the deaths of
more than 30 protesters have shown yet
again is that highhanded action is not the
solution to the unrest in Kashmir. All that it
can do is to exacerbate the situation, leading
to the kneejerk reaction of the authorities to
send more and more paramilitary personnel.
As the Supreme Court's criticism of the
immunity provided to the security forces by
the draconian Armed Forces (Special
Powers) Act even in "warlike" situations sug
gests, the government has to be far more
restrained in troubleprone areas. Otherwise,
the disenchantment of the locals cannot but
intensify.
Since a political solution, which means
drawing the stiffnecked, proPakistani sepa
ratists into the mainstream, is not feasible in
the foreseeable future, Delhi and Srinagar,
especially the former, have to demonstrate
their sensitiveness to the grievances of the
locals which is mainly directed at the securi
ty forces.
The Valley is simmering over the killing of young Hizbul militant

Burhan Muzzafar Wani. (Photo: IANS)
credited with being a good communicator by
her political rival, former Chief Minister
Omar Abdullah.
However, if Mehbooba has been relatively
silent and seemingly clueless about how to
deal with the crisis, the explanation is not
only her youth and administrative inexperi
ence but the breakdown of communications
between the politicians and the people.
It is possible that even reaching out to the
separatists of the Hurriyat conference
hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani and the mod
erate Mirwaiz Umar Farooq as has been
done by the government, will not be of much

help since the popular anger over the killing
of the young militant, Burhan Muzzafar
Wani, has acquired a momentum of its own.
It goes without saying that the death of a
popular rebel JNU student leader Umar
Khalid has compared Wani to Che Guevara
can pose problems well beyond the capabili
ty of the triggerhappy security forces to
solve. In death, the 22yearold Hizbul
Mujahideen "commander" has acquired a
largerthanlife image.
Ironically, he was called an Indian agent
NAVJOT SIDHU LIKELY TO BE AAP'S CM FACE IN PUNJAB
By Jaideep Sarin
n a day when AAP national convener

Arvind Kejriwal was seeking penance
at the holiest of Sikh shrines, the
Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar, a political
drama was unfolding in New Delhi that
could change the course of Punjab politics
ahead of the state assembly elections.
The resignation of popular cricketer
turnedpolitician Navjot Singh Sidhu from
the Rajya Sabha less than three months
after he was nominated to the Upper House
of parliament by the BJP government at the
Center has opened up the political scenario
in Punjab once again.
With a senior AAP leader confirming that
Sidhu and his wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu a
Punjab BJP legislator who is also the chief
parliamentary secretary (just below a minis
ter) in the Punjab government were all set
to join the Aam Aadmi Party before the
assembly polls, the sudden resignation of
the BJP MP has cleared a lot of things. The
AAP, which is posing a serious challenge to
the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal and the
opposition Congress in Punjab ahead of
assembly polls, due nearly next year, could
well be on course to crown Sidhu as its
chief ministerial candidate. The AAP's confi
The resignation of Navjot Singh Sidhu

from the Rajya Sabha has opened up
the political scenario in Punjab
once again. (Photo: IANS)
dence in Punjab is not misplaced. It was
Punjab's electorate which gave entry to the
AAP in the Lok Sabha in the 2014 elections.
The party won four Lok Sabha seats all
from Punjab, which has a total of 13 in the
lower house.
Sidhu, threetime Lok Sabha member
from Amritsar, had been slighted by the rul
ing dispensation in Punjab the Shiromani
Akali Dal and its alliance partner Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) in the past few years.

The Sidhu couple has been critical of the
Akali DalBJP alliance government in
Punjab headed by the country's oldest Chief
Minister, Parkash Singh Badal.
A popular JatSikh face, Sidhu paid the
price of his runins with Punjab's dominant
Badal family. He had verbal duels with the
Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister
Sukhbir Badal and his powerful brotherin
law Bikram Majithia, who is the younger
brother of Union Food Processing Minister
Harsimrat Kaur Badal.
In recent months, political grapevine had
it that Sidhu was in talks with the AAP and
even the Congress. There was no strong
denial or confirmation of this from any side.
But the BJP put the speculation to rest by
nominating the chirpy Sidhu, who is a pop
ular TV celebrity and cricket commentator,
to the Rajya Sabha.
In the AAP's scheme of things, Sidhu fits
the bill quite well. He is known as an honest
and upright political leader, is outspoken,
has a popular appeal, connects we ll
through his speeches and is a JatSikh face
all ingredients for a good chief ministerial
candidate in Punjab.
Having ridden piggyback to power with
the Shiromani Akali Dal since 2007, the
Punjab state BJP has resigned itself to play

ing second fiddle to the Akalis.
As Punjab's political scene is heating up
for the assembly polls, everyone knows that
the state is headed for a triangular show
down among the Akali Dal, Congress and
the AAP. The BJP is nowhere as a stand
alone entity.
The problem for the BJP in Punjab is that
it is led by a bunch of leaders who have lit
tle or no standing in state politics, leave
alone having any recognition at the nation
al level.
The party leadership, in the past few
years, deliberately chose to ignore and even
embarrass its best known face in the state,
the thricee lected Lok Sabha member
Navjot Singh Sidhu.
In the 2014 general elections, the BJP
chose to dump Sidhu and fielded Arun
Jaitley, now the powerful Finance Minister
in the Modi government.
Jaitley, pitted against Congress stalwart
and former Punjab Chie f Minister
Amarinder Singh, lost badly by a margin of
over one lakh votes. This was Jaitley's maid
en foray into popular electoral politics and
he started with a big loss.
Sidhu had refused to campaign for Jaitley,
whom he called his political mentor.
The views expressed in Op Eds are not necessarily those of The South Asian Times.
July 23-29, 2016
FOOD
15
The Queen turned 90, so did Veeraswamy of London

One of the best restaurants in the world and the oldest Indian restaurant,
Veeraswamy has been jazzed up by Panjabi sisters - Camellia and Namita.
By Ajay Ghosh
e are proud to join in the

grand ce lebration to
mark the milestone event
(90th birthday) in the life of
Britains longest serving monarch,
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth,
declared Camellia Panjabi, a world
renowned expert on Indian food. It
is a milestone for us too as the pres
tigious Veeraswamy restaurant in
London is celebrating its 90th
anniversary this year, said the co
owner of this oldest Indian restau
rant in England.
Situated in a prime location over
looking Londons Regent Street,
Veeraswamy has been offering the
finest classical Indian cuisine in
Rajinspired style. It has always
exuded a great deal of glamour.
Opened by Edward Palmer, great
grandson of an English military
strategist and an exotic Mughal
princess, Veeraswamy in its early
years served cuisine of the entire
Indian subcontinent. Palmer him
self was a retired British Indian
Army of ficer and in 19245 had
run the Indian section at the British
Empire Exhibition, Wembley, where
his company, E.P. Veeraswamy &
Co. sold spices, chutneys and curry
pastes and ran an Indian caf.
Starting with the 1940s and
1950s, the restaurant became wild
ly successful and continued to
attract a celebrity clientele until the
1960s when it started to decline.
The first ever curry in a can was
introduced under Veeraswamy
Food Products brand in the early
1950s. In 1996, Veeraswamy was
bought by Namita Panjabi and
Veeraswamis elegant ambience now; and (right) the British raj look in the 1920s.
Ranjit Mathrani, the couple who
owned Chutney Mary restaurant in
Chelsea. They completely updated
the restaurant dcor and adopted
an ultramodern theme. For its 80th
anniversary in 2006, it was redeco
rated in the opulent 1920s motif.
Veeraswamy is currently owned
by the Chutney Mary group whose
owners profile now includes
Chutney Mary, Amaya and Masala
Zone chain. The company bought
back the brand Veeraswamy of
pickles, curry pastes and chutneys
which is now marketed in the UK
and worldwide by BARTS U.K.
In recent decades, based on the
popularity of authentic Indian food
in the UK, Veeraswamy serves a
menu of regional Indian cuisines,
including dishes from Punjab,
Lucknow, Kashmir, Kerala and Goa.
You can taste all varieties of fresh
ly made food under one roof, ele
gantly served, says Panjabi.
dream can change ones life. But with

Camellia Panjabi, her dream was to
prove to the world that Indian cuisine
is as sophisticated and as advanced as
French, Japanese, T hai or any other.
We should be proud, she says, to be
Indian and to be inheritors of such a rich
legacy.
Camellia Panjabi is one of Indias leading
culinary personalities, known for her inno
vative contribution to popularizing Indian
regional cuisines within India and London,
through trendsetting Indian restaurants.
She is also known for having brought the
street foods of India from the pavements
into plush restaurants both in India and
abroad.
In a large, diverse country like India, it
was challenging to find a national identity
of cuisine. Camellia found that recipes
were the closely guarded secrets of families
across the country. The information she
gained from those families, private chefs
and home cooks went into her bestselling
book, The 50 Great Curries of India. Born
in Mumbai, Camellia studied Economics at
Prawn Tandoori and Raj Kachori Veeraswami is known for authentic Indian dishes.
Came llia Panjabi, who is the
author of 50 Great Curries of
India, which has sold over 1.5 mil
lion copies and reveals the secrets
to creating authentic Indian curries
at home, oversees the menu at
Veeraswamy. The menu is different
from that at other Indian restau
rants. They serve classic Indian
Cambridge and went on to become the

Marketing Director of Taj Hotels, India's
most prestigious
hotel group.
With a
lifelong
p a s
s i o n
f o r
f o o d ,
Camellia
helped create
several restaurants
for these premier hotels, featuring little
known regional dishes. Shamiana, the cof
fee shop at the Taj Palace in Bombay, was
the first to put dishes like pao bhaji on the
menu and the first 5star posh hotel in
India to offer idlis and dosas on the break
fast menu.
Camellia was also instrumental in intro
ducing the newly discovered Sichuan
Chinese cuisine into India, with The Golden
Dragon and The House of Ming, which
opened in Delhi in 1978.
In 1983 Camellia opened the Bombay
dishes that you may not even find

easily even on restaurant menus in
India; there are also some amazing
modern creations.
To celebrate its 90th anniversary,
Veeraswamy has incorporated a
few dishes from the Nizams of
Hyderabads Palace kitchen and the
Royal Palace at Patiala.
Camellia
Panjabi:
The Queen of
Indian food
Camellia (left) with her elder sister,

Namita. Their Amaya opened in London
in 2004 to a flurry of restaurant awards.
Brasserie restaurant in London, which
introduced regional Indian cooking to the
UK for the first time and changed the way
National Geographic claims that

Veeraswamy is among the 10 best
destination and special restau
rants in the world. Its highclass,
high value fine dining in Londons
West End, yet it is described as one
of the least expensive restaurant on
National Geographics top 10 list
.http://www.veeraswamy.com
Indian cuisine was perceived there.

Panjabi's real passion though is a variation
on Indian street food. "Street sellers depend
on word of mouth. So they have to make it
taste the best," she says. "My mother who
was a doctor did everything in her power to
stop us eating it for reasons of hygiene, but
with children there is always a way. That
love of the taste of street food stays with us
through to adulthood."
In 2001, Camellia Panjabi joined as direc
tor her familys restaurant company Masala
World in London, which owns Chutney
Mary, Veeraswamy and Masala Zone.
Together with her sister, Namita Panjabi
and brotherinlaw Ranjit Mathrani they
opened Amaya in 2004, that won Tio Pepe
ITV Award for Best Restaurant across all
cuisines. It was also awarded a Michelin
star in 2006.
In 2012, the company as a whole was
renamed MW Eat. Most recently, MW Eat
moved the iconic restaurant Chutney Mary
to beautiful upscale premises on St James
Street, London and opening Masala Grill on
its former site.
16
July 23-29, 2016
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
Not insecure, but sometimes I feel vulnerable: Alia

A
ctress Alia Bhatt, who feels

that actors often battle
with the pressure
to perform we ll in
each film, says she is
not an insecure
person, but there
are times when
she feels very vul
nerable.
Alia's filmogra
phy is like a
Bollywood report card of a bright

student. Since her debut project
"Student of the Year" in 2012, she
has delivered laudable per
formances in films like
"Hig hway", "2 States",
"Humpty
Sharma
Ki
Dulhania", "Kapoor and
Sons" and "Udta Punjab".
Her only setback was last
year's "Shaandaar".
T he 23yearold says
there is an underlying feel
ing of insecurity in the
world of glitz and glamour,
with many factors
making
"you
wary about your
position".
Asked about
the insecurities
that a star has,
Alia said: "I
think various
things like inse
curities of feel
ing the pressure
to perform with each film, the pres

sure for the film to perform well at
the box office, which makes you lit
tle wary of the position that you are
in, the questions that are always
thrown at you that you might not
have the answer to, but you are
expected to have."
"So all those things land (one) up
in feeling a bit vulnerable and inse
cure in any place."
T he daug hter of filmmaker
Mahesh Bhatt and yesteryear actress
Soni Razdan says she reaches out for
family support when she feels vul
nerable.
She said: "I am not a very insecure
person, but yes there are times when
you feel very vulnerable and I think
the only way to deal with it is with
the support from your family and
friends. Somewhere within yourself,
you have to find a place where you
are very happy and very peaceful."
"Then, I think you have to enjoy
your work... that is the way I look
at it."
Actress Alia Bhatt

onstructed on the
familiar tem
plate of the
"Masti" series,
"Great Grand
Masti"
is
shades better
than its pre
vious edition,
" G r a n d
Masti" which
re leased in
September
2013.
W hat
makes this adult
comedy notches bet
ter, is the fact that it is a
much more tolerable film
than its prequel.
Wrapped in horror tropes, this edi
tion once again deals with the three
sexstarved friends; Meet ( Vivek
Oberoi), Amar Saxena (Riteish
Deshmukh) and Prem (Aftab
Shivdasani). Their sexapades form the
crux of the tale.
T he narrative begins with their
predicament of what leads them to
being sexstarved. The trio then make
their way to Dhudhwari, a remote vil
lage, where they dream of a village full
of buxom women. The village also hap
pens to house Amar's ancestral haveli,
which he plans to sell.
'Great
Grand
Masti': Adult
humor
overload
Tiger will next be seen in A Flying Jatt.
I'm not a thief: Tiger

on 'Munna Michael'
controversy
ctor Tiger Shroff has reacted to the latest con
troversy about his next film "Munna Michael".
He said that he is not a thief or cheater. Is he
aware of the controversy surrounding the film
"Munna Michael"? He said: "Yes, I am aware of it but
right now we are talking about A Flying Jatt. I just
want to say I am not a thief and I don't lie and I am
not a cheater." Tiger and director Sabbir Khan
recently announced their third collaboration,
"Munna Michael". Soon, Kritik Kumar Pandey a
Mumbaibased amateur writerdirector filed a
police complaint accusing the actor of stealing his
script to make "Munna Michael", based on a diehard
Michael Jackson follower.
'Salman flays Ranveer's

dance at 'Sultan' screening
egastar Salman Khan hit out at fellow actor
Ranveer Singh, who was seen dancing with
the audience in a Paris heater where
"Sultan" was being screened, saying he was not
watching the Salman
starrer but making peo
ple watch him instead.
Asked if he had seen
Ranveer's video, Salman
said: "I saw that and I am
going to break a chair or
something on his head.
Watch a film... don't start
dancing and disturb the
film."
"I was like 'what is
Ranveer, as usual, decided
this'. I said he is not
to do something different
watching 'Sultan', he is
at the Sultan screening.
making people watch
him there. We should have charged money for that."
A video of Ranveer watching "Sultan" in an Indian
single screen theatre in the French capital along
with some audience and dancing in front of the
screen had gone viral in no time.
The star cast of Great Grand Masti.

When they land in the village, they
exclaim, "Let's milk this opportunity
guys!"
But they are warned by the village
headman, Ramse (Sudesh Lehri) that
the palatial house that they plan to
visit, is haunted. Not heeding his advice,
the three friends enter the house and
meet the legendary nymphomaniac
spirit Ragini aka Sabri (Urvashi
Rautela), who haunts it.
How the trio get out of the spirit's
clutches is what keeps you hooked.
The dialogues packed with innuen
does, double entendres and rhymes are

poetry to the ears, except that these
lines are profusely loaded with adult
humor, that's neither crass nor pro
found.
On the performance front, the trio of
Vivek, Riteish and Aftab, excel with
their impeccable comic timing.
Their wives essayed by Mishti, Pooja
Bose and Shraddha Das, are as insignifi
cant as their characters. Urvashi
Rautela with two songs and a well
etched character has her on screen
moments to shine.
July 23-29, 2016
ULTIMATE BOLLYWOOD
17
I'm still middle class: John Abraham

e may be a Bollywood star with a
huge fan following, but actor John
Abraham says he is still rooted to
his middle class values.
John has often been seen in highoctane
action sequences in films.
When asked about children trying the
stunts that actors perform in movies, John
said here: The characters we play on
screen, they shouldn't copy that."
The "Dishoom" actor was present at the
Sacred Heart School here as part of the
Habitat for Humanity NGO, to appreciate
the efforts of the institution for helping to
build homes for victims of the Tamil Nadu
flood.
He said meeting children facetoface
helps them understand that stars too are
after all, just humans.
Like how I have come to this school and
sat with the kids, they feel that, 'He is our
guy, he talks like us and he is a normal
man and we can relate to him... His values
are quite middle class', which are like their
values.
"They like it as I belong to a middle class
Parineeti, Diljit to
star in Chameli Ki
Shaadi remake?
f recent buzz is to be believed,

actors Parineeti Chopra and
Diljit Dosanjh might be seen in
the remake of the 1986 hit movie
Chameli Ki
Shaadi.
According to a
report in
SpotBoye,
Sardaar Ji 2
director Rohit
Jugraj would
direct the remake and it is said that the
makers are keen to have Parineeti for
the title role of Chameli, played by
Amrita Singh and Diljit to play the male
lead, played by Anil Kapoor.
Reportedly, Phantom Films have
bought the remake rights of Chameli
Ki Shaadi. It is said that Bollywood
superstar Shah Rukh Khan initially
wanted to buy the rights of the remake
movie, but Deepak Mukut, who is co
producing the remake had already
struck a deal with Phantoms money
handler Mantena, who had earlier pro
duced Ghajini. The first installment of
the movie, which was directed by Basu
Chatterjee, featured late actor Amjad
Khan, Pankaj Kapoor and Om Prakash
in pivotal roles.
Anushka
explains why
Aarfa chose
motherhood
over career
Actors John Abraham and Varun Dhawan during the promotion of film Dishoom.
family, and I am still middle class. My val
ues, my parents are very middle class. I
would suggest the kids not to lose their
value system." His next film "Dishoom",

which also stars Varun Dhawan, w ill
release on July 29.
Actress Anushka Sharma.
Kareena
to shoot first
ad post
pregnancy
news
ctress Kareena Kapoor
Khan will be shooting
her first advertisement
post pregnancy news.
The star will be shooting
for ce le brity hairstylist
Adhuna Akhtar for her new
range of hair color products.
"It is going to be a fun con
cept and both Adhuna and
Kareena are very excited
about it. They have been dis
cussing this for a while and
things have finally material
ized. Kareena will mostly be
shooting the ad on July 19
and 20," a source said.
Kareena, who is married to
actor Saif Ali Khan, will be
blessed with their first child
together in December.
Speculative reports about the would bemom has started

doing rounds.
The actress will also start
working on Rhea Kapoor and
Ekta Kapoor's upcoming pro
duction "Veere Di Wedding"
ollywood actress Anushka Sharma,

who plays Aarfa a promising
wrestler in the latest blockbuster
"Sultan", has shared a letter by
Belarusian professional tennis player
Victoria Azarenka to explain Aarfa's deci
sion to choose motherhood over career.
A few critics have slammed the actress
for her role in the film, which also stars
Salman Khan. One even criticized her for
participating in the "shameless sexism"
of "Sultan" as Aarfa sacrifices her
Olympic medal dream to keep her child.
"Wanted to share this. For those who
couldn't understand Aarfa's decision in
Sultan, maybe this will put things in
perspective," Anushka tweeted.
The letter read that when Azarenka
was recovering from the knee injury that
kept her out of Wimbledon, she and her
boyfriend learned they were expecting a
child at the end of the year.
"We couldn't be happier and feel very
blessed to begin this exciting journey of
building a family together," she wrote.
"I have been truly inspired by so many
strong female athletes who return to the
very top of their sport after having chil
dren," Azarenka added. "And I plan to do
exactly that." Anushka then wrote:
"Choosing motherhood over career is
empowering. Choosing your career over
motherhood is empowering. The free
dom to choose is empowering."
in August. The "Udta Punjab"

star will be seen sharing
screen space with actress
Sonam Kapoor in the film.
18
July 23-29, 2016
RELIGION
Tanias diksha was a two-day event on July 8th and 9th held in McKinney, Texas at a Jain family's home.
he greatest step a human

being can ever take is to
renounce the world and dedi
cate their life to spiritual improve
menthelping themselves, helping
othersis by becoming a monk.
Tania Mynez, a spiritual practi
tioner of five years, became Sadhvi
Anubhuti when she took Jain
Sadhvi Diksha into the Siddha
Sangh Order under H. H. Acharya
Shree Yogeesh at Siddhayatan Tirth
(Dallas, Texas).
Tania, 33, was born and raised in
Mexico to a highly cultured and
principled, hardworking family
and moved with her family to
Houston, Texas when she was 12
years old. She attended the
University of Houston and graduat
ed with Cum Laude honors and a
Bache lor
of
Business
Administration in Marketing
degree, a Minor in French, and an
Advanced Certification in the
Program for Excellence in Selling.
Following her education, she had a
very successful marketing and sales
career.
When Tania was 29 years old,
she met her guru Acharya Shree
Yogeesh for the first time at
Siddhayatan Tirth when she was
seeking a spiritual retreat. Inspired
by his guidance and teachings, she
began practicing nonviolence, med
itation, yoga, mantras (such as
Namokar mantra), pranayama, and
became vegetarian. In October
2012, she expressed her deep
desire to become a Sadhvi and lead
a meaningful life and Acharya
Shree accepted her for full training
four months later.
After three intense years of train
ingdiscipline, studies, scriptures,
and sadhanaAcharya Shree
announced Tania was ready to take
her lifelong vows, take diksha, and
enter the difficult life of a Sadhvi.
Diksha is the ceremony of initiation
into monkshood; a sadhvi is a
female monk.
Tanias diksha was a twoday
event on July 8th and 9th, 2016.
The diksha festivities began in
McKinney, Texas at a Jain family's
home for an evening of mehndi
rasma, bhajans, and bhavana. The
following day, the local Jain, Hindu,
and Siddhayatan spiritual commu
nity came together at Siddhayatan
Tirth to witness a historic
momentthe first Mexican to take
Jain Sadhvi Diksha.
The program opened with the
entrance of Tania dressed in a
beautiful and sparkling reddish
orange wedding attire and makeup,
accompanied by her mother, Chelo
Mynez and sponsor Vanita Jain.
The program opened with the entrance of Tania dressed in a beautiful

and sparkling reddish orange wedding attire and makeup,
accompanied by her mother, Chelo Mynez and sponsor Vanita Jain.
Before taking vows, the wedding s p i r i t u a l
aspect of the diksha ceremony is to monk life,
show her in the worldly life before but it is
she leaves it behind. It also repre rare for
sents a marriage to paramaatma" s o m eo n e
(God).
t
o
Once she took her seat, the Tilak
Ceremony began. T he Tilak
Ceremony is symbolic of
Indian culture, love, activa
tion of the third eye,
and the community
showing their sup
port for her to
enter the monas
tic life. Everyone,
including chil
dren, from the
culturally
diverse crowd
participated in
the
Tilak
Ceremony.
Sadhvi Chola, when her colorful clothes are changed
Upon comple and simple white robes become her new attire. This
tion of the Tilak moment symbolizes renouncing the worldly lifestyle
C e r e m o n y , to lead a simple life of the renunciant and the white
Acharya Shree color represents nonviolence, peace, and protection.
announced it
was time for Sadhvi Chola, when actually make the leap.
her colorful clothes are changed
He also stressed the importance
and simple white robes become her of gender equality and that both
new attire. This moment symbolizes women and men can achieve mok
renouncing the worldly lifestyle to shaenlightenment and liberation
lead a simple life of the renunciant if they free themselves from karma
and the white color represents non and the cycle of birth and death.
violence, peace, and protection.
According to Acharya Shree,
While Tania was getting ready, "Diksha is the first step towards lib
Acharya Shree gave pravachan eration."
(spiritual discourse) and explained
When it was time, Tania came
the meaning of diksha, the difficul from her room, adorned in her all
ties of the path, and the 5 white outfit, welcomed by loud
Mahavratas (Great Vows) that she applause of the crowd. It was dur
was going to takenonviolence, ing this time Acharya Shree asked
truthfulness, nonstealing, brah for everyones undivided attention.
macharya, and nonpossession.
Pindrop silence filled the room. It
Acharya Shree said, "The Diksha was Tania's moment.
Tania is about to take is not an easy
Acharya Shree asked Tania's fam
one. It takes a brave and coura ily to stand up and asked publicly
geous soul to leave the world and for permission for her to become a
family behind. The vow she takes monk. They said, Yes! loudly and
today is forever. Many think they proudly. He then asked the dedicat
can take this step and many desire ed Jain family, Vanita and Sanjeev
Tania received her Diksha under the guidance

of her guru Acharya Shree Yogeesh.
Sadhvi Anubhuti delivered a powerful, inspiring and enlightening

Pratham Sambodhan, her first speech.
Jain, who sponsored the diksha, for
permission from the community for
Tania to enter the life. With big
smiles, they said, Absolutely!
With full approval from the fami
ly and community, Acharya Shree
asked Tania to stand up to take her
vows. She folded her hands in
prayer position, faced Acharya
Shree, and repeated her vows in the
Prakrit language one word at a
time. It was a beautiful, significant,
and powerful moment. Acharya
Shree gave her the name Sadhvi
Anubhuti. Anubhuti means real
ization. Afterwards, Sadhvi
Siddhali Shree spoke about Sadhvi
Anubhuti's wonderful luck to be
able to receive diksha from an ari
hanta, a living enlightened master.
She expressed the rarity of Sadhvi
Anubhutis diksha, because she is a
special and spiritual soul. Sadhvi
Siddhali Shree said, According to
Acharya Shree, only 1 out of 1000
souls that take diksha are truly
spiritual. The other 999 souls are
religious. Spirituality liberates you,
not religion. Sadhvi Anubhuti is
that 1 out of 1000. Acharya Shree
only accepts the spiritual truth
seeker under his wing.
As a newly initiated Sadhvi,
Sadhvi Anubhuti delivered a power
ful, inspiring and enlightening
Pratham Sambodhan, her first

speech. She first began by sharing a
poem she wrote titled, Let It Be.
A few lines from her poem:
.If Im going to have courage,
Let it be courage to face the chal
lenges of the path.
If Im going to feel pain,
Let it be the pain of burning karma.
If Im going to judge,
Let it be to judge my intentions.
If Im going to work,
Let it be to work on myself.
And if Im going to move,
Let it be to move towards eternal
freedom.
After her poem, she gave a 20
minute speech filled with heartfelt
gratitude to her guru, teachers, and
family, a talk on how she got to this
special day, her four main wishes
and goals, and a comprehensive
talk on success, love, and death. In
addition to her speech, she also
spoke briefly in Hindi and Spanish.
The community witnessed a very
special event and many said they
felt privileged and honored to
be there.
Some traveled from as far as
Canada, Mexico, and nearby states
to attend the event. At one point in
the ceremony, some members
claimed to feel an angelic energy
and presence.
Alok Sharma appointed junior

minister in Theresa May's cabinet
London: Indianorigin MP Alok
Sharma has been appointed
Parliamentary Under Secretary of
State at the Foreign and
Commonwealth Of fice w ith
responsibility for Asia and the
Pacific in Prime Minister Theresa
May's cabinet.
Following his appointment, the
MP for Reading West said: "I am
honored to have been appointed
by the Prime Minister as Minister
for Asia & the Pacific, hugely
important parts of the world that
are crucial for the UK's prosperi
ty and security.
"Britain is a truly great country
and I w ill work t ire lessly to
ensure we continue to thrive and
prosper on the world stage.
"I look forward to working
closely with my new colleagues
and my counterparts across Asia
MP Alok Sharma (Image courtesy: siasat.com)

& the Pacific, with a particular
focus on strengthening commer
cial ties, increasing investment
opportunities in both directions
and promoting human rights in
the region," he said, according to
a British High Commission state
Permanent residency visa

gets rejected, man ends
life in Australia
Melbourne: Worried over his permanent residen

cy status in Australia, an Indianorigin man com
mitted suicide in Melbourne last weekend, a
media report said on Tuesday.
In his mid30s, Deepak Singh was found dead
in his car on July 17, sbs.com.au reported.
"He told me he was worried because he couldn't
get a permanent residency in Australia due to
change in rules," Jasvinder Sidhu, a prominent
member of the Punjabi community in Melbourne
and Singh's friend, was quoted as saying. Singh,
who arrived in Australia as an international stu
dent in 2008, got married to an Australian
woman and was living on a temporary visa. He
secured a diploma in community service and
completed his placement at the Tarneit Sikh
Temple in Victoria.
His application for a permanent visa on the
basis of his marriage was rejected by the govern
ment on the grounds that the relationship did not
seem genuine. An appeal in the Migration Review
Tribunal was also subsequently rejected, the
report said. According to Singh's friends, he did
not have enough money to hire a lawyer to fight
his case. Afraid that he would be deported, Singh
met Sidhu a couple of months ago and asked him
to begin a program to help Indian students who
get stranded in such situations. "He was under
acute stress as he thought after spending years in
Australia, he couldn't go back to India or continue
to stay in Australia. Last time I met him, I could
see the stress in his eyes. He was under a lot of
pressure," Sidhu noted.
(IANS)
July 23-29, 2016
DIASPORA
ment.
Sharma will be reporting to the
former Mayor of London, Boris
Johnson, now the Secretary of
State
for
Foreign
and
Commonwealth Affairs.
(IANS)
Minister Priti Patel vows to

create millions of jobs in UK
London: Britain's newlypromoted
Indianorigin Cabinet minister
Priti Patel has vowed to work for
deepening international partner
ships and creating millions of jobs
in the developing world.
Patel, who is the seniormost
Indianorigin minister in the UK
government took charge as inter
national development secretary in
Prime Minister Theresa May's
Cabinet earlier this week.
"We will continue to tackle the
great challenges of our time
poverty, disease and the causes of
mass migration, while helping to
create millions of jobs in countries
across the developing world our
trading partners of the future,"
she said in her first statement
from her Department for
International Development (DfID)
of fice in W hitehall, London's
IndoCanadian woman,
lover found guilty of murder
Toronto: A jury has found
Gurpreet Ronald, 37, and her
lover Bhupinderpal Gill, 41, guilty
of first degree murder of Gill's
w ife in the sensat ional Indo
Canadian love triangle murder
case.
The jury after a nineweek trial
in the Superior Court in Ottawa
found both the lovers guilty of
killing Jagtar Gill, 43, who was
found dead in the family home in
January 2014. The 12member
gave its verdict on Wednesday.
Mother of three, Jagtar Gill was
stabbed and bludgeoned to death
on her 17th wedding anniversary.
A day before her murder, she
underwent a hernia surgery.
Gurpreet
Ronald
and
Bhupinderpal Gill, fellow bus driv
ers with Ottawa's OC Transpo and
neighbors, were in a relationship.
They conspired to kill Gill's wife
so that they could be together, the
jury heard during the trial.
Since they "dreamed of being
together", they plotted the murder
of Gill's wife. Gurpreet Ronald, a
mother of two girls, is married to
Jason Ronald who is also a driver
with the same company in Ottawa.
During her testimony, Gurpreet
19
Bhupinderpal Gill, Jagtar Gill,

Gurpreet Ronald
(Image : Ottawa.ctvnews.ca)
admitted that she had an af fair
with Gill. But she told the jury that
her sexual relationship with Gill
was "not satisfactory" and that she
had an affair with another fellow
driver at the same time while she
was in a relationship with Gill.
Her lawyer told the jury that she
depended on Gill only for "emo
tional support, a shoulder to cry
upon" and she had no intention of
being with him.
During his testimony, Gill told
the jury that he ended his af fair
with Gurpreet in 2013 before his
wife was killed in January 2014.
During the trial, a psychic also
testified that Gill and Gurpreet
had consulted her about their
future together. Gurpreet's hus
band also testified, telling the jury
how his wife tried to attack him
with a knife many times.
(IANS)
political hub, on Friday.

As one of the key campaigners
for Britain to leave the European
Union (EU) in the lead up to the
June 23 referendum, Ms Patel
also highlighted how she plans to
put some of her Brexit strategy in
motion through her new ministry.
"Successfully leaving the
European Union will require a
more outward looking Britain
than ever before, deepening our
international partnerships to
secure our place in the world by
supporting economic prosperity,
stability and security overseas.
That's why my department will be
working across government, with
the Foreign and Commonwealth
Of fice, the new Department for
International Trade, the Home
Office and others," she said.
(PTI)
Photoshopped image of
Canadian Sikh surfaces
again, now as Nice attacker
Paris: The Photoshopped picture of a Canadian Sikh who
was wrongly identified as one of the terrorists behind the
November 2015 Paris
attacks has surfaced again
after the attacks in Nice,
media reports said.
Less than a year after
being accused of the
attacks in Paris, an image
circulating online claims
that Veerender Jubbal was
A friend defends the Sikh man
involved in the Nice attack.
on social media
Last November, people
(Image courtesy: tumblr.com)
tweeted that Jubbal was
one of the Paris attackers after an image of his was
Photoshopped to make it look like he was wearing a suicide
vest.
The image which was printed in some of the world's
biggest newspapers was quickly debunked by social media
users, who noticed the iPad he was holding had been
Photoshopped as a Quran, reported Buzzfeed.
A closer look showed the image had been heavily photo
shoped. Jubbal spoke out against the fake image, and said he
believed he was targeted by supporters of Gamergate
because he was an outspoken critic of the controversial
online movement. Jubbal had then described the experience
as "deeply disturbing."
"People are editing, and photoshopping my selfies as if I
am one of the people causing the issues/problems in Paris,"
(IANS)
he had tweeted then.
20
July 23-29, 2016
SUBCONTINENT
INDIA HITS OUT AT 'SUBTERRANEAN'

COVER FOR TERRORISTS AT UN
United Nations: India has hit out at the "sub

terranean" cover given to terrorists at the
UN by China which has vetoed action
against Pakistanbased masterminds of
attacks on India, and demanded reforming
the process of imposing sanctions on terror
ists and their protectors.
Deriding the Security Council committees
that deal with sanctions as a "subterranean
universe" because of their secrecy, India's
Permanent Representative Syed Akbaruddin
called for opening up their voting so
that those vetoing action against terrorists
are made to publicly acknow ledge
their role.
Speaking at a Security Council debate on
it working methods, he diplomatically
avoided naming China but it was clear his
criticism was directed at Beijing that has
used the secrecy of the sanctions commit
tee, which is one of the socalled subsidiary
bodies of the Council to veto action against
Pakistanbased JaisheMohamed ( JeM)
chief Masood Azhar and against Islamabad
India's Permanent Representative

Syed Akbaruddin.
for freeing LashkareTaiba leader Zakiur
Rehman Lakhvi.
"When a Council resolution is voted upon
all of us know who votes for what and mem
ber states explain their posit ions,"
DHAKA ATTACK:
Video of
more suspects
released
Akbaruddin said, adding "However, in the

subterranean world of subsidiary bodies
there is no explanation given. No one says
what is the rationale."
"Furthermore, a rejection does not even
surface in the public space," he added. "No
one indicates who specifically is not sup
porting a request. Indeed, proposals that
can't make it are buried without public
acknowledgment that they were ever con
sidered."
While vetoes in the sanctions committee
were ultimately leaked as in the case of
Beijing providing cover for Pakistanbased
terrorists the absence of a public record of
the decisionmaking allows countries to
avoid taking responsibility for their action.
Akbaruddin also criticized another aspect
the decisionmaking system of the sanctions
committee, where rulings have to be unani
mous unlike in the Councila, where only the
permanent members wield vetoes.
"While the trend now is to consider means
to curtail the use of the veto in the Council's
own work," he said, in the subterranean uni

verse all Council members have extended
vetoes to themse lves as members of
Sanctions Committees."
"The adoption of principles of anonymity
and unanimity has absolved individual
members of accountability," he asserted.
When India asked the sanctions commit
tee to add Azhar, the mastermind of the
January attack on Pathankot air force base
in its list of terrorists, China vetoed it even
though all the other 14 members supported
taking action. If the panel, popularly known
as the 1267 committee after the Council's
resolution number setting it up, had acted
Pakistan and other countries would have
been required to freeze his assets and ban
his travel.
Last June, China also blocked India's
demand for taking act ion under the
Council's antiterrorism resolutions against
Pakistan for freeing Lakhvi, the Lashkare
Taiba mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai
attack in which 166 people were killed.
Pak cleric to be included in Qandeel murder probe

Islamabad: Prominent Pakistan cleric
Mufti Abdul Qavi, who made headlines
in June for appearing in a video with
Qandeel Baloch, will be included in the
murder investigation of the slain social
media star, a police official said.
"We have decided to include Mufti
Abdul Qavi in the murder investiga
tion," said a police of ficial in Multan
where Baloch was killed, Geo news
reported.
Qandee ls brother Muhammad
Waseem admitted to strangling her to
death for the "honor of the family".
Waseem said he gave a "tablet" to
Qandeel to sedate her and then stran
gled her in their family home over the
weekend.
"The scope of the investigation has
been widened. The victim's brother,
Aslam, will also be investigated. We are
waiting for the forensic reports," said
Pak model Qandeel Baloch faced

frequent abuse and death threats.
the police official.

"As per our initial investigation,
'honor' is the motive of murder," the
police official said earlier.
Waseem admitted that he killed his
sister due to her activities on social

media, including a series of posts with
prominent cleric Mufti Abdul Qavi in
which one video showed Qandeel shak
ing hands with Qavi as she sat on the
arm of a sofa by his side.
Qavi, who was suspended from the
RueteHilal Committee as a result of
the controversy following the posts,
told the local media after Qandeel's
death that he had "forgiven her" and
the matter was now in God's hands,
Geo news reported.
Prior to her death, Qandeel, whose
real name was Fauzia Azeem, spoke of
worries about her safety and had
appealed to the Pakistan Interior
Ministry to provide her with security
for protection.
No he lp was provided and the
Pakistan Interior Ministry has not com
mented on her death.
Nepal PM will not resign till budget approved

The attack was one of the deadliest militant attacks
in Bangladesh.
Dhaka: Bangladesh authorities have released a video iden
tifying four persons suspected of being involved in a cafe
attack here early this month that left 22 people dead.
The video, released by Bangladesh's Rapid Action
Battalion, showed three youths and a young woman walk
ing on the streets near the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka
on the night of July 1 when at least seven terrorists
claimed to be from the Islamic State militant group
stormed the Spanish cafe, Xinhua news agency reported.
The video was posted on a social media page of the bat
talion force. People were requested to provide information
about the suspects.
Nine Italians, seven Japanese, two Bangladeshis, an
Indian girl, and a Bangladeshiorigin US citizen as well as
two police officials were among the 22 people killed in
the attack.
The IS terror group has claimed responsibility for the
attack, but Bangladeshi politicians have blamed "home
grown" Islamist terrorists.
Kathmandu: Nepal Prime Minister

K.P. Oli met Nepali Congress
President Sher Bahadur Deuba and
Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist
Centre) Pushpa Kamal Dahal and said
he will not resign until the 201617
budget got the House approval.
The Oli government is facing a no
confidence motion in Parliament after
the Maoists withdrew support.
Reduced to a minority, it is facing the
problem of garnering enough votes to
get the budget passed.
The notrust motion moved against
the Oli government by the Nepali
Congress and the Maoists will be dis
cussed in Parliament.
According to Bishnu Rimal, Chief
Political Adviser to Oli, the latter
made it clear that either the Nepali
Congress and Maoists should carry on
with the notrust motion or should
Oli has refused to step down,

despite the fact that the
coalition govt led by him is in
minority.
stick to the demand for his resigna
tion.
"The notrust motion and resigna
tion cannot go together. So I am going
to face the notrust motion," Oli told
Deuba and Dahal, adding that they
have to choose one of them.

"I will not go against the
Constitution. I am ready to face the
notrust motion, but tell me what I
should do resign or face the no
trust motion."
Rimal said that during the meeting,
the Prime Minister said there is no
clearcut provision in the Constitution
on the new government's formation.
"We need to amend the
Constitution. To amend the
Constitution, we have to agree on
some kind of a political agreement. If
you try to sack me in guerrilla style, it
is not acceptable; so there must be an
honorable pact," Rimal quoted Oli as
saying.
Though there are constitutional
complexities for the formation of the
new government, Oli made it clear
that he will not dissolve the House.
Turkey suspends 15,200

education personnel
Ankara: Turkey suspended 15,200
Education Ministry personnel from
duty amid a nationwide purge of
state of ficials suspected of having
links to the Fethullahist Terrorist
Organization (FET), which Turkey
blames for the July 15 failed coup
attempt. Licenses of 21,000 teach
ers working in private institutions
were also cancelled.
"Our ministry is carrying out
extensive ef forts aimed at public
personnel in central and rural dis
tricts who have connections to
FET. 15,200 public officials have
been suspended and investigations
were launched into them," Hurriyet
Daily News quoted the statement
released from the Ministry's Twitter
account as saying.
A total of 100 people from
National Intelligence Organization
(MIT) were also suspended. The sus
pended personnel were on passive
duty due to a supervision decision
against them and didn't have access
to intelligence, Anadolu Agency
reported. Besides, Turkey's Higher
Education Board (YK) has demand
July 23-29, 2016
INTERNATIONAL
People gather to protest the coup attempt in Istanbul.

ed the resignation of 1,557 deans
on duty at all private and state uni
versities throughout the country, of
which 1,176 are from state universi
ties and 401 are from private uni
versities. The first resignations
came from Akdeniz University, after
YK's decision, daily Hrriyet
reported. Turkey's Prime Ministry
suspended a total of 257 personnel,

including 230 judicial clerks, 19
specialists, six advisers and two
legal advisers. The IDs of the sus
pended personnel were also seized.
Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on
July 18 said that 1,500 officials in
the Finance Ministry had also been
suspended.
EU says Brexit vote

to worsen UK
Brussels: T he European
Union (EU) downgraded its
economic outlook for
Britain and the rest of the
bloc on Tuesday, saying
the Brexit vote ushered in
uncertainty and would
weigh on growth.
The gross domestic prod
uct (GDP) growth in the
19country eurozone is
expected to slow to
between 1.3 and 1.5 per
cent in 2016 from the pre
viously estimated 1.7 per
cent in May. T he same
growth figures are expect
People recently took part in a march against the
ed for next year, Xinhua
outcome of EU referendum in London.
news agency reported.
This implies a loss of GDP of 0.25 to 0.5 hamper investment decisions either by
per cent by 2017, which is less than in delaying them or by taking them off the
Britain (1.0 to 2.75 per cent), said a table, at least until the uncertainty dimin
report published by the European ishes.
While the bloc is struggling to fight the
Commission, the bloc's executive arm.
almost
doubledigit unemployment rate,
"The UK's 'leave' vote is expected to
unfortunately,
the Brexit vote is predicted
slow private consumption and investment
to slow the ongoing labor market recov
and impact on foreign trade," it noted.
The report warned that Britain's refer ery as increased risk aversion and sub
endum had created an "extraordinarily dued domestic demand would have a neg
uncertain situation," which is likely to ative impact on firms' hiring decisions.
Inflation is another major concern for
prevail for some time, and would af fect
not only Britain but also the rest of the the bloc, which is keen to hit a target of
EU economy through several transmis around 2.0 per cent. The conclusion of
sion channels, mainly uncertainty, invest the report is welcoming though as it sug
gested that the Brexit vote's impact on
ment, trade, and migration.
The increased uncertainty in Britain inflation in the single currency zone
and other member states was expected to would be "only marginal".
21
France launches more

strikes on IS after Nice attack
Paris: French forces
overnight destroyed
several targets of the
Islamic State a few
days after a follower
of the terrorist cell
killed 84 reve lers
celebrating Bastille
Day in the French
Riviera city of Nice.
"We must continue
to move forward in
the relentless battle
that we lead both
outside and at home
A woman pays respects to
against Daesh. Our
victims of Nice attack.
forces continue to
strike and did so overnight and a eradicate Daesh cancer".
In a previous interview with a
day before," Xinhua news agency
quoted Defense Minister Jean French radio, the De fense
Yves Le Drian as say ing on Minister said the international
Monday after a security meeting coalition ghting IS insurgents
in the wake of the Nice attack on targeted to take back by the end
of the year Mosul in Iraq and
July 14 night.
Without giving details of the Rekka in Syria, the group's main
operation, Le Drian said despite strongholds in the region.
Since the Paris attacks carried
the rising terror threats inside
the country, France would con out by IS in November 2015,
tinue its mission within the US France has intensied its air
led coalition combating IS in strikes against IS in both Iraq
Syria and Iraq "to denitively and Syria.
Philippines rejects China's

offer of conditional talks
Manila: Philippines rejected an offer of bilat
eral talks on the South China Sea conflict
with China after the latter demanded they be
conducted without taking into account the
recent ruling by the Permanent Court of
Arbitration (PCA) at The Hague.
"China's foreign minister had asked us to
open ourselves for bilateral negotiations, but
outside, or in disregard of, the arbitral rul
ing," Philippines' Foreign Minister Perfecto
Yasay said in an interview with staterun
broadcaster ABSCBN. "This is something I
told him was not consistent with our consti
tution and our national interest," he added.
On July 12, the PCA had ruled in favor of
Manila in its territorial dispute in South
China Sea with Beijing, and concluded China
has no historic claims over resources in
much of the area that it claims, EFE news
reported.
However, China dismissed the verdict,
terming it illegal and unjust. Yasay said he
has spoken to his Chinese counterpart Wang

Yi during the ASEM summit held over the
weekend in Mongolia, and that the Chinese
minister had insisted that Manila make no
comment on the PCA decision.
He added Wang had threatened the two
countries "might be headed for a confronta
tion" if Manila does not change its position,
and stressed China will have to reconsider its
position on the matter and learn to respect
the international community.
However, Yasay said he still believed in the
possibility of alternate bilateral negotiations
and proposed of ficial visits by President
Rodrigo Duterte to China and Xi Jinping to
the Philippines.
The dispute between the two neighbors
revolves around the Scarborough Shoal and
part of the Spratly islands which comprises
over 750 reefs, islets, atolls and keys whose
sovereignty is claimed wholly or partially by
Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.
China claims
most of the
South China
Sea, through
which more
than $5 trillion
of trade moves
annually.
22 July 23-29, 2016
SPORTS
Kohlis men start as favorites against Windies

ANALYSIS
By Shivaji Sengupta
ndia is embarking on a fourTest cricket

series with the West Indies in the
Caribbean islands. The first Test match will
be played in Antigua from July 2125.
In the past 14 years, since April 2002, India
has played the West Indies cricket team 18
times, winning eight and losing none.
Compare this with these two teams playing
each other 14 years prior to 2002. Seventeen
tests were played: the West Indies won seven;
India, two; eight were drawn.
What has created this almost 180 degree
turnaround in India's favor in the past 14
years? Both teams have lost their great play
ers. The West Indies no longer have Clive
Lloyd, Viv Richards, Gordon Greenidge,
Michael Holding, Courtney Walsh, Brian Lara
and, recently, Shivnarine Chanderpaul. India
has lost Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Rahul
Dravid, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag, and, of
course, the great Sachin Tendulkar.
However, compared to the West Indies,
India seems to have recovered from the loss of
the "Fabulous Five" batsmen. To be sure, it
would be an exaggeration to claim that Virat
Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Shikhar Dhawan,
Cheteshwar Pujara and Murali Vijay have
made up for the loss of the Five; but already,
this young group of five batsmen are regarded
world class. Then there is Rohit Sharma, the
holder of the highest individual score in ODIs.
The West Indies have not been able to replace
their world class batsmen with another set of
the same. They do have some impressive spin
bowlers: Sunil Narain and Devendra Bishop.
But in the batting department they are lack
ing. Darren Bravo is very good, but hasn't
quite announced himself as an international
great. Chris Gayle, a truly world class batsman
with two triple centuries to his name, is at
odds with the cricket authorities, and does not
get selected. The Test matches will apparently
Indian cricket team practising with new coach Anil Kumble in Antigua. (right) Captain Virat Kohli posing with WI great Viv Richards
who travelled to America to promote the match in Antigua.
Why isnt West Indies

producing fearsome
fast bowlers anymore?
Because the tall
strapping youths from
Guyana and Trinidad
all want to go to the
United States to play
basketball. That's
where the money is.
be held on slow pitches, favoring turn and
therefore, the spinners. This is very different
from those of us who are used to following the
West Indies team in their heydays when their
fast bowlers terrorized the world, not with
ugly bumpers, but with lethal swing at over
90 miles an hour! Indeed, one of them
Charlie Grif fith ended the career of the
Indian captain, Nari Contractor with a
bumper, unfortunately! Where have all the

potential fast bowlers gone?
To America, apparently. In a conversation
with me a few years ago, Shivnarine
Chanderpauls sister who lives and works in
New York City, told me that tall strapping
youths from Guyana and Trinidad all want to
go to the United States to play basketball.
That's where the money is, not in cricket, she
said ruefully.
So the Indian batsmen have to get ready for
the "military medium," but sometimes effec
tive swing bowling of a Jason Holder, and the
clever spin of their trio Sunil Narain,
Devendra Bishop and Suleiman Benn. The
Indian team, of course, have their own world
class spinner in Ravichandran Ashwin. They
also have Ravindra Jadeja who is ranked 6th
among the Test bowlers of the world (Ashwin
is second). Then there is the quality leg spin
ner, Amit Mishra. The prognosis favors the
Indians. Some cricket enthusiasts, however,
have already written off the West Indians. But
please beware! From what I see, they have
already started making their move, albeit in
the limited overs version of the game. They
have become the only team to win two 20/20
World Cups (arguably, the only form of the

game that is expected to survive into the
future). And recently, their ODI team,
although ranked ninth in the world, gave
Australia and South Africa a run for their
money in a trination series, finishing second,
ahead of South Africa. Their Test team is
young, but determined to harass India, chok
ing them with their own brand of lethal medi
ocrity. Playing them is like playing in a sleepy
and muggy summer afternoon, sans energy,
when suddenly you realize that the enemy has
lulled you into a stupor and is about to win.
Virat Kohli and his men will need all the
patience in the world to continue India's win
ning streak against them.
Good luck, India, but may the best team win!
The
writer
is
Professor of English
and Vice President for
Academic Affairs at
Boricua College in
NYC. He's been living
in the US for almost
50 years.
More than tennis, Sania had to battle the media

By Preetha Nair
ulogized, feted, doubted and criticized
Sania Mirza's life is an example of how a
girl with a dream reached her goal after
scaling all odds. The 29yearold's battle on
court and with fringe elements off it is the
stuff legends are made of. Whether an innocu
ous picture of Sania putting her leg up after a
match, a comment about premarital sex, the
length of her skirt or even her marrying a
Pakistani cricketer, she has been at the receiv
ing end. Taking on allegations over her irrev
erent behavior with the same strength of her
killer forehand, Sania is an example of how an
icon is trivialized into an object of public
scrutiny.
In "Ace Against Odds", Sania tells the read
ers of her bittersweet memories and the
struggles she overcame to achieve her dreams.
Propelled into the big league at a young age,
Sania was aware about what she lacked and
quickly learnt what she needed for sustaining
herself on the tour. From becoming India's
No.1 woman tennis player to being the World
Sania Mirza at the launch of her book Ace

against Odds which she wrote with her
father Imran Mirza and Shivani Gupta, and
is published by HarperCollins.
No.1 in the women's doubles with Swiss leg
end Martina Hingis, controversy has dogged
her career.
Sania is candid in her admissions and open
to speak her mind, a virtue that still makes her
a youth icon in a cricketcrazy country.
Ushering in a renewed interest in tennis
among aficionados and fans, Sania was instru
mental in bringing in the crowds to tennis
matches.
Thrust into fame at a very young age, Sania
dealt with the glitz, lights and starstruck fans
with ease, but when things got personal, the
media was unrelenting in invading her privacy
and pummeling her with innuendos. Her bit
tersweet relationship with media and the con
stant tours left her with just a handful of
friends, a group that backed her through thick
and thin. But what gave her emotional
strength was the rock solid backing from her
father Imran Mirza and the innumerable sacri
fices by her mother Nasima.
The entry of Shoaib Malik into her life
brought a refreshing change and, of course,
the media, which painted her an antinational
for picking a Pakistani cricketer. She and her
family were virtually under house arrest as
the media invaded every bit of privacy the
family had. What followed next changed her
life forever. This excerpt narrates this event:
"It would not be wrong to say that for
almost two weeks the media went berserk.
About two hundred newsmen armed with
cameras and microphones, files and pens,
camped outside our house and hounded every

guest and family member as they entered or
left. A dozen satellite vans were parked in the
lane, beaming inconsequential footage of the
house and the visitors. Cameras were fixed at
all angles and were recording round the clock.
Camera crews had bagged strategic positions
on buildings around the house to gain a 360
degree perspective. If a curtain at a window
moved even an inch, exposing one of my fami
ly members or me doing mundane chores in
the house, some news channel thought it
important to telecast the image to viewers
with superimaginative interpretations. It was
totally bizarre and unexpected!
Mirza found benign support from another
Indian tennis ace and mixed double's partner,
Mahesh Bhupathi. It was after consultations
with him that Sania decided to skip a WTA
tournament at Bengaluru. What followed was
a trial by the media on the reasons of her pull
out. It was during this period that WTA chief
executive Larry Scott arranged a special con
ference with Ari Fleischer to give Sania tips to
handle the media.
July 23-29, 2016
SPORTS
23
Rio-bound judoka Avtar laments

Each Russian 2014 Olympian
ready for doping retests: Minister lack of government support
Moscow: Each Russian athlete who
competed in the 2014 Winter
Olympics in Sochi is ready for his
or her doping samples collected at
the Games to be reanalyzed,
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly
Mutko said.
"We have the specific (Olympic)
team. Each athlete has a personal
profile and can be subjected to
testing and retesting. We will not
be either hiding anyone or cover
ing up for someone," Mutko said in
an interview with TASS.
"We are ready for cooperation
w ith the IOC (Internat ional
Olympic Committee) in this regard,
but the sports movement, includ
ing the World AntiDoping Agency
(WADA), should assume personal
responsibility as well," Mutko
added.
The IOC Executive Board held a
te lephone conference earlier
regarding the recent report of the
WADA Independent Commission
on the widespread doping abuse
and manipulations at the 2014
Sochi Olympics and announced a
number of provisional measures as
a result.
Among the measures was the
decision to launch a reanalysis of
all Russian athletes who participat
ed in the 2014 Winter Olympic
Games. "The IOC will initiate re
The IOC said that Vitaly Mutko will not be accredited to the Rio 2016
Olympics as a person named in the WADA report.
analysis, including forensic analy
sis, and a full inquiry into all
Russian athletes who participated
in the Olympic Winter Games
Sochi 2014 and their coaches, offi
cials and support staf f," the IOC
said in its statement.
Mutko went on to say that
Russia cannot ag ree w ith the
WADA findings until an internal
probe is over. "In this case, we will
once again revise our relations
with WADA as we believe that this
organization is to be held respon
sible for what is going on in the
system of antidoping," he said.
Indian women's
hockey team loses
US tour opener
M a n h e i m
(Pennsylvania): The
Indian women's
hockey team went
down fighting 23
to their US counter
parts in the open
ing match of their
preOlympic tour
here.
Kathleen Sharkey
(6th minute), Katie
Bam (31st) and
Kelsey Kolojejchick
(48th) scored for the hosts while
Preeti Dubey (33rd) and Deepika
(38th) reduced the margin for
India.
Both teams came into the match
looking to play cautious hockey
and avoid defeat. The games tone
was set with both looking to hold
fort and react through counter
attacks.
The US team took the lead via
Kathleen in the opening quarter. In
an otherwise timid first half, Indias
Vandana Katariyas attempt at goal
was unsuccessful as the ball hit the

post.
India came back tougher in the
second quarter and started making
inroads into the US defence. They
soon started playing strategically
compact hockey, denying the US
players the ball in scoring areas.
The two teams went into the half
time break with the hosts leading
10.
Indias next match with
Champions Trophy bronze medal
ists US was on July 21.
"We have been relying on them,

we have been guided by their stan
dards, their system of control, the
accreditations they issued to our
laboratories and organizations. It
was them who controlled the sys
tem of doping control, including at
the Sochi Olympics." "So far, we
cannot agree with the findings
until we have verified facts. Once
our law enforcers conduct a probe
and find these materials convinc
ing, everybo dy w ill be he ld
answerable personally. But we
must go on, we cannot lose
Russian sport," Mutko stressed.
New Delhi: He has not only vaulted

130 spots in the world rankings
after just six tournaments but has
also become India's first judoka in
a decade to seal an Olympic berth.
Avtar Singh is however unhappy
with the lack of proper support
from the government until his
qualification.
Avtar missed the bronze medal at
the Asian championship in
Uzbekistan last month, but the 24
yearold is confident of putting up
a brave fight in Rio de Janeiro.
"Until I booked the Rio berth,
there was absolutely no support
from the government. My parents
risked all their hardearned savings
on me, they had cashed their fixed
deposits to book my tickets to the
Samsun Grand Prix in Turkey in
April," Avtar, who clinched the gold
at the South Asian Games in
Guwahati, told IANS in an inter
view.
"But after that, I managed to get
some assistance as I was sent to
Georgia for international training.
It felt good to be recognised final
ly." Despite all the hardships, the 6'
4" judoka said his performance will
not be impacted by the lack of
exposure and he is all set to give
his 100 percent.
"When I travelled to Tashkent, I
didn't expect to qualify for
Olympics. I gave my best for that
Indian judoka Avtar Singh.

fifth spot. (Iranian) Saeed Moradi
was highly rated but I managed to
beat him," he said, while thanking
his sponsors, Tata Salt.
"My preparation was for a medal,
which unfortunate ly no one
believed in me, except my parents
and my coach (Yashpal Solanki)
but I stayed positive which really
paid off." Asked about his inspira
tion, the burly Punjab Police sub
inspector was quick with his reply,
"The national flag is my only inspi
ration." "Anyone who represents
the country is an inspiration, here
we have a host of athletes whom I
can look up to...to name a few,
wrestlers Sushil Kumar, Yogeshwar
Dutt, shooter Abhinav Bindra, shut
tler Saina Nehwal. They have made
the country proud w ith their
achievements," he said.
Avtar's coach Solanki, who is his
colleague in the Punjab Police,
exuded confidence regarding his
ward's prospects in Rio.
Tendulkar in eye of storm

over disputed property
Mumbai: Legendary batsman
Sachin Tendulkar found himself
at the center of a controversy
over problems faced by a busi
nessman friend of his regarding
a luxurious holiday resort in
Mussoorie.
The cricketer and Rajya Sabha
member had confirmed on
Tuesday that he had attended a
meeting with Defence Minister
Manohar Parrikar in which he
had asked for help in sorting out
problems faced by businessman
Sanjay Narang over a security
dispute over the land with a
neighbouring Defence Research
and Development Organisation
(DRDO) establishment.
However, reacting to reports in
the media in this reg ard,
Tendulkar's spokesperson issued
a statement in which he claimed
that the former India batsman
does not have any economic
interest in the Landour canton
ment.
The spokesperson insisted that
Tendulkar did not have any busi
ness relationship with Narang,
who owns the property in
Landour, which has allegedly vio
Legendary
batsman
Sachin
Tendulkar
lated construction norms.

"This is pursuant to an article
published in the media which
comprises of several factual inac
curacies and falsehoo ds. Mr
Tendulkar attended a meeting
following which a formal written
representation was submitted to
the Ministry of Defence on a
pending dispute regarding some
deve lopment undertaken in
Landour by Mr Narang," the
spokesperson said in a state
ment.
"Mr Sachin Tendulkar has no
present business relationship
with Mr Sanjay Narang nor does

he have any economic interest,
whatsoever, in the Landour can
tonment. "Mr Tendulkar has
always maintained that the pre
vailing laws of the land should be
upheld while giving a fair oppor
tunity to all parties concerned to
present their points of view," the
statement added.
Narang, on his part, also
released a statement, claiming
that Tendulkar has business
interest in the property and
accused the defense establish
ment of harassing him.
24
July 23-29, 2016
BUSINESS
13 banks recapitalized with Rs.22,915 crore in India

New Delhi/Chennai: The Finance
Ministry announced the much
awaited capital infusion of Rs
22,915 crore this week towards
the recapitalization of 13 public
sector banks during 201617.
However sectoral analysts are of
the view that the quantum of capi
tal infusion will provide some sta
bility to the weak financial profiles
of stateowned banks but may not
go a long way to help them achieve
growth. The largest amount of Rs
7,575 crore was earmarked for the
country's largest lender, the State
Bank of India. Among others,
Indian Overseas Bank will get Rs
3,101 crore, Punjab National Bank
Rs 2,816 crore, Bank of India Rs
1,784 crore, Central Bank of India
Rs 1,729 crore and Syndicate Bank
Rs 1,034 crore.
The amounts for others were:
Allahabad Bank Rs 44 crore,
Canara Bank Rs 997 crore,
Corporation Bank Rs 677 crore,
Dena Bank Rs 594 crore, UCO
Bank Rs 1,033 crore, Union Bank
The largest amount of Rs 7,575 crore was earmarked for

the country's largest lender, the State Bank of India.
of India Rs 721 crore and United
Bank of India Rs 810 crore.
"In line with the announcements
made under 'Indradhanush' and
the Union Budget, the government
has undertaken an exercise to
assess the capitalisation needs of
public sector banks during 2016
17," a ministry statement said.
"The capital infusion exercise for
the current year is based on an
assessment of need as calculated
from the compounded annual
growth rate of credit for the last

five years, banks' projections of
credit growth and an objective
assessment of the growth potential
of each public sector bank.
Following this assessment, 75
per cent of the amount collected
for each bank is being released
now to provide liquidity support
for lending operations as also to
enable banks to raise funds from
the market, it said.
The remaining amount, to be
IMF cuts India's GDP

growth to 7.4 percent
Washington: The International
Monetary Fund (IMF) marginally low
ered India's growth forecast to 7.4 per
cent for 2016 and 2017, from the 7.5
per cent in April, due sluggish recov
ery in private investment, even as it
blamed Brexit for provoking global
economic uncertainty.
"In India, economic activity remains
buoyant, but the growth forecast for
201617 was trimmed slightly, reflect
ing a more sluggish investment recov
ery," the IMF said in its latest update
of World Economic Outlook.
"The outcome of the UK vote, which
surprised global financial markets,
i m p l i e s t h e m a t e r i a l i z a t i o n of a n
important downside risk for the world
economy.
As a result, the global outlook for
201617 has worsened, despite the
betterthan expected performance in
early 2016," the multilateral agency
said.
T he IMF also lowered the global
growth forecast for 2016 by 0.1 per
centage point relative to April, to 3.1
per cent. "T he first half of 2016
revealed some promising signs for
e x a m p l e, s t r o n g e r t h a n e x p ec t ed
growth in the euro area and Japan, as
well as a partial recovery in commodi
ty prices that helped several emerging
and developing economies.
"As of June 22, we were therefore
prepared to upgrade our 201617
global growth projections slightly. But
Brexit has thrown a spanner in the
works," said IMF Economic Counsellor
a n d D i r ec t o r o f t h e R e s e a r ch
Department Maury Obstfeld.
"The real ef fects of Brexit will play
out gradually over time, adding ele
ments of economic and political uncer
tainty. This overlay of extra uncertain
ty, in turn, may open the door to an
amplified response of financial mar
kets to negative shocks," he added.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB)
said the Indian economy is on course
to meet its projected growth target of
7.4 per cent in 201617, on the back
of brisk consumer spending and an
upturn in the rural economy.
The Indian economy grew at 7.6 per
cent in 201516, while the govern
ment expects it to grow at over 8 per
cent in 201617.
released later, is linked to perform

ance, with particular reference to
greater efficiency, growth of both
credit and deposits and reduction
in cost of operations, it added.
Responding to the move, Saswata
Guha,
director,
Financial
Institutions at global credit rating
agency Fitch Ratings, told IANS:
"What the government is providing
banks currently is simply part of
the amount it had budgeted for. It
will provide some stability to the
weak financial profiles of state
owned banks but may not go a
long way if banks have to pursue
decent growth in a scenario where
some more amount of asset quality
stress is yet to filter through."
"In our estimate, the government
will likely have to provide at least
double of its budgeted $1112 bil
lion to stateowned banks but
there is also a risk that this could
go up if the government banks are
unable to raise their share of capi
tal (in various forms) independent
ly from the capital markets," he
added.
In a recent report, Fitch Ratings
had said it expects Indian banks to
require around $90 billion of capi
tal to meet new Basel III capital
standards that will be fully imple
mented by financial year 201819.
Resolving the asset quality and
capital issues will be important for
some banks to reg ain market
access, which is now dif ficult for
the majority of state banks, it had
said. Fitch Ratings said it expects
Indian banks' stressed asset ratio
to peak around 201617, although
the recovery will depend on reso
lution of nonperforming loans
(with state banks having average
stressed asset ratio of 14.5 per
cent compared to 4.5 per cent for
the private banks) and credit
growth. Since June 1, the banking
index of the Bombay Sto ck
Exchange has risen nearly 10 per
cent. Some stocks, like those of
Punjab National Bank, have flared
up by over 50 per cent during this
period.
India, US agree to boost

cooperation in oil, gas
US Secretary for Energy Ernest Moniz

New Delhi: Petroleum Minister Dharmendra
Pradhan and US Secretary for Energy
Ernest Moniz have agreed to increase tech
nical and institutional cooperation on
hydrocarbons and energy, an official said.
The two sides agreed to enhance coopera
tion in "assessment of both onshore and
of fshore conventional and unconventional
hydrocarbon reserves in India, new tech
nologies in development of biofuel and
development of petroleum storage", a
petroleum ministry statement said of their
meeting in Washington on Monday. "Over
the last decade, several areas of interest for

cooperation like technology for production
from marginal fields, shale structures,
developing gas pipeline network, improving
refinery ef ficiency had been identified," it
said. The two ministers also agreed on the
need for regular meetings of of ficials and
experts from both sides, the statement
added.
During his justconcluded visit to the US,
Pradhan also launched a roadshow in
Houston to promote the auction of 67 dis
covered small hydrocarbon fields in India.
BOOKS
July 23-29, 2016
25
Gandhi or Savarkar: A guide for the perplexed

In 2013 Kannada litterateur and academician U.R. Ananthamurthy, Jnanpith Award
and Padma Bhushan recipient, threatened he will leave India if Modi came to power.
Then he wrote a book weighing in on an array of issues from dangers of nationalism.
The book is posthumously published in an English translation by HarperCollins.
By Vikas Datta
very country and society may have dif

fering narratives of the past and for its
future and they can alternate. While
their committed adherents fight for ascen
dance, the issue gains most significance
during the tectonic shift when one particu
lar narrative attempts to replace another
as seen in India in 2014. How do we judge
between the competing narratives, and are
we bound to accept whichever becomes
dominant?
Kannada litterateur and academician U.R.
Ananthamurthy (19322014) tried to deal
with these and other related questions in
this, which turned out to be his last book. A
lifelong critic of Hindutva and rightwing
politics, he also sought to warn of the possi
ble effects of an ideology that he much dis
trusted when its return to national predomi
nance seemed imminent.
Ananthamurthy, whose emot ional
announcement in 2013 that he would not
like to live in a country ruled by Narendra
Modi led to criticism and even threats from
his supporters, starts with this issue only,
contending that the requirement he should
accept someone who has ascended to power
through a majority because it is a democrat
ic norm is what I dont agree with, as pro
viding room for those not in the majority is
fundamental to democracy.
Ignoring those who have denigrated me
nationwide for my skepticism about Modi,
he seeks to present his views in the form of
sutras, a set of aphorisms.
Drawing abundantly on examples from
history (both Indian and world), religion
(the Prophet Job particularly), literature
(Raskolnikov from Dostoyevskys Crime
and Punishment but also Joseph Conrad
and Rabindranath Tagore), psychology
(Jung), Ananthamurthy weighs in on an

array of issues from dangers of nationalism,
despoiling of the environment, disappear
ance of the compassionate society, and
development alternatives. No less provoca
tive, his prognostications happen to bear an
uncanny prescience, given some present
day events.
Consider, among many others, if Can
knowing that good and evil are inseparable
and exist together, make us aware of the
malevolence that might be hiding in our
love of the nation, or Every time the lead
ers of the Modi government open their
mouths, they utter the words in the nation
al interest. That is to say, in the national
interest, one can do anything. Like God, or
This punyabhoomi, this sacred land, needs
Hinduism only as an address.
T he Cong ress is not spared w ith
Ananthamurthy accusing the party of hav
ing allowed (Hindu nationalist ideologue
V.D.) Savarkar plus Modi to occupy the
space vacated by (Mahatma) Gandhi and
that none of its leaders including Jawaharlal
Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel appre
ciated or shared Gandhi and Tagores dis
trust of nationalism, even at its most broad
est.
But he is most trenchant when he attacks
the modern development and business
models, and its effects: Development caus
es one to forget the past, it belongs to

nobody, emaciates the earth, fills the
canopy of the sky with smog through which
the sun cannot peep, chokes and poisons
the flowing rivers, and also boosts a state of
excessive irresistible desire inherent in all
of us. Elaborating on some of his sutras in
subsequent chapters, Ananthamurthy then
moves on to compare two seminal, but com
peting, texts Savarkars Hindutva and
Gandhis Hind Swaraj which have influ
enced the Indian narrative. For good meas
ure, he also cites Godses statement in court,
before providing a reasoned opinion which
of the two approaches is better suited for
India. You may not agree with his conclu
sions but will appreciate his approach of
considering and contrasting opposing
views.
Mildly didactic but never dogmatic, this is
not only a incisive look into the thought of
Gandhi and Savarkar but some others too,
especially Ram Manohar Lohia, whose open
ness to listen to other views to the extent of
changing his own if convinced, is particular
ly illuminating. More than a posthumous
prophecy (and Ananthamurthy was lucky to
be spared seeing more than what he had
feared), it is an abiding testament to the
importance of free thought and dissent
without which democracy is only a mean
COMIC THEATRE OF THE ABSURD?

Woody Allen as humor writer
By Vikas Datta
ccurrence of the unexpected and the
unlikely doesn't only work for literary
genres like horror, and mystery, let
alone fantasy and science fiction, but comedy
too. Though much of comedy's effect is from
the commonplace represented in a way that
evokes humour, sometimes something star
tlingly incongruous works wonders a comic
'Theatre of the Absurd' where certainties dis
appear, and the sublime and the ridiculous
exist side by side. And Woody Allen is a lead
ing practitioner of that.
Much feted for his quirky films (where he
wrote the screenplays too), usually featuring
nerdy and neurotic characters, and exploring
love, relationships and other facets of the
human condition, Heywood 'Woody' Allen (b.
1935) began his career by writing jokes and
scripts for standup comedians and TV in the
1950s. He then became a standup comedian
himself, before graduating to plays and then
films but that is another story.
As a writer, he was hugely successful, both
in quantity and quality. Inspired by humorists
like S.J. Perelman, his short pieces for various
magazines display the same traditional
themes of mischievous parody, nuanced

irony, wry misadventures, playful inventive
ness and the frankly ridiculous. Collections of
these, published as "Getting Even" (1971),
"Without Feathers" (1975), "Side Ef fects"
(1980) and "Mere Anarchy" (2007) prove that
besides his cinematic accomplishments, he
also occupies a hallowed place in the annals
of humour, besides luminaries like Jerome K.
Jerome, P.G. Wodehouse, Douglas Adams and
Kurt Vonnegut.
It is a dazzling display of comical literary
pyrotechnics, with a wide array of topics and
techniques rarely repeated. "Getting Even"
opens with "The Metterling Lists" where Allen
seeks to explain the fictional philosopher
through the first volume of his just published
laundry lists it has to be read to be believed.
"My Philosophy" is what he develops when
bedridden for a month after "my wife, invit
ing me to sample her very first souffle, acci
dentally dropped a spoonful of it on my foot,
fracturing several small bones", and includes
aphorisms like "Eternal nothingness is O.K if
you're dressed for it" and "Not only is there
any God, but try getting a plumber on week
ends".
For chess fans, there is "The Gossage
Vardebedian Papers" or a series of letters

between the eponymous characters playing a
game over mail, but both suspecting the other
is cheating. In one, Gossage tells his friend his
move is impossible "bound as we are to rules
established by the World Chess Federation
and not the New York State Boxing
Commission". Other pieces span psychoana
lysts, revolutionaries, rabbis, gangsters and
even Count Dracula.
"Without Feathers" is more stylistically
diverse, featuring among others "Selections
from the Allen Notebooks" ("Had coffee with
Melnick today. He talked to me about his idea
of having all government officials dress like
hens"), and "Explaining Psychic Phenomena"
(where topics include a clairvoyant Greek
psychic "who could concentrate on a person's
face and force the image to come out on a roll
of ordinary Kodak film although he could
never seem to get anybody to smile").
"A Guide to Lesser Ballets" has, among oth
ers, "Dmitri", which opens at a carnival with
food and rides, while "many people in gaily
coloured costumes dance and laugh, to the
accompaniment of flutes and woodwinds,
while the trombones play in a minor key to
suggest that soon the refreshments will run
An omnibus collection of actor and film

maker Woody Allen's short comic pieces
out and everybody will be dead", and "The
Spell", the tragic story of a prince who falls in
love with a woman who is half a swan "unfor
tunately divided lengthwise".
The first three books, collected in omnibus
"Collected Prose" (Picador) freely available
here, are for you if you like such zany humor.
But don't read it in public your frequent guf
faws and gusts of laughter might leave those
around concerned at your sanity
26
July 23-29, 2016
CULTURE
Legendary singer Mubarak Begum

dies virtually unsung and in penury
By Quaid Najmi
Mumbai: In 1963, when Mubarak Begum
Shaikh's soulful voice urged listeners
"Mujhko apne gale laga lo..." few would have
been able to resist the urge to hug the singer.
The famous duet between Mubarak Begum
and the late Mohammed Rafi has enthralled
music aficionados even five decades after it
hit the Indian musical charts.
Years later, in 2008 she gave a public per
formance at the Green Court Club at Mira
Road in neighboring Thane town and when
she started the same number, the entire
2,000plus audience stood up and gave her a
thundering standing ovation for several min
utes.
Late on Monday, the mesmerizing voice of
"Kabhi tanhaiyon me yun, hamari yaad aaye
gi" fell silent forever leaving behind a trail
of sadness among generations of her fans.
Ailing since the demise of her daughter
Shafaqbanu last year, Mubarak Begum, a
widow, also remained ill, in and out of hospi
tals, till her death.
Blessed with a rich and powerful voice, she
died virtually unsung and in penury. Her
funeral was performed in a quiet ceremony
at the Oshiwara kabrastan on Tuesday.
She is survived by her son, Hussain, who
Tribute
Cover of album of Mubarak

Begum songs collection.
drives a taxi, daughterinlaw Zarina and
granddaughter Sana with whom she had
been living for many years.
Born in Sujangarh (Churu) in Rajasthan
and proficient both in Hindi and Urdu,
Mubarak Begum launched her career with
All India Radio with ghazals and light musi
cal recitals.
After a few years, she moved to Bombay
and got her first playback song break in
1949 for the film "Aaiye" for which the
music was composed by the late music direc
Nalanda among 9 new cultural

sites added to World Heritage List
Istanbul: The World
Heritage Committee
on Friday added nine
new cultural sites,
including India's
Archaeological Site
of
Nalanda
Mahavihara, to the
p r e s t i g i o u s Wo r l d
Heritage
List.
Nalanda comprises
the archaeolog ical
remains of a monas
t i c a n d s ch o l a s t i c
Nalanda was an ancient center of higher learning in Bihar.
institution dating
from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia also.
century CE. It includes stupas, shrines, N e w l y p u t o n t h e h e r i t a g e l i s t a r e
viharas (residential and educational Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural
buildings) and important art works in Landscape (China); Archaeological Site of
stucco, stone and metal. Nalanda stands Nalanda Mahavihara (India); the Persian
out as the most ancient university of the Qanat (Iran); Nan Madol: Ceremonial
of
Eastern
Micronesia
Indian Subcontinent. It engaged in the C e n t e r
organized transmission of knowledge ( M i c r o n e s i a ) ; S t ec c i M ed i e v a l
over an uninterrupted period of 800 Tombstones Graveyards (Bosnia and
H e r z ego v i n a , C r o a t i a , M o n t e n eg r o ,
years.
The committee, at its 40th session in Serbia); Archaeological Site of Philippi
Istanbul, made the decisions following a ( G r eec e ) ; A n t eq u e r a D o l m e n s S i t e
daylong review of some of the 27 nomi ( S p a i n ) ; A r ch a eo l o g i c a l S i t e o f A n i
nat ions submitted from around the (Turkey) ; and Gorham's Cave Complex
world for this year, Xinhua news agency (Britain).
The committee, which was formed in
reported.
The new inscriptions include the sites 1977 to enforce the World Heritage
from China, Iran, Micronesia, Spain, Convention and manage the heritage list
Greece, Turkey, Britain and a joint nomi created based on the convention, began
n a t i o n b y B o s n i a a n d H e r z ego v i n a , its current 11day session on July 10.
tor Nashad. That was the launch of a notable

singing career spanning over 110 films over
four decades till the early 1980s.
Besides Bollywood playback, she sang a
few hundred other songs and ghazals in
Gujarati, Urdu and Rajasthani and though
always prominent could never attain the
required heights.
Unlike many others of her era, Mubarak
Begum lapsed into early retirement by the
late 1970s only coming out of the shadows
of poverty to render an o ccasional
Bollywood song. Nevertheless, she had the
privilege of working with some of the top
notch music composers and directors of her
era and though statistically few, her songs
prominently stoo d out in the musical
cacophony.
During the latter part of her life, she used
to give regular stage performance and musi
cal concerts but more for survival and pay
ing her bills. Several times, her frustration
and rage would seep out before the media
and she accused certain singers of stifling
her voice and sabotaging her career echo
ing what another legend, Shamshad Begum,
had voiced on several occasions. The politics
in Bollywood music cost her dearly her

career, her financial progress and even cov
eted awards or honors but she took it in
her stride.
Mubarak Begum once recounted how her
detractors and certain contemporaries bla
tantly told music composers not to give her
singing assignments, or they would be
banned by them (the singers).
There were occasions in the past few years
when her family had to appeal for financial
help to take care of the medical expenses of
her daughter and then even herself.
Though largely forgotten by the current
generation of Bollywood, a few, including
Javed Akhtar, Shabana Azmi, Lata
Mangeshkar and Bollywoo d superstar
Salman Khan helped her out in times of dire
need, while recently Education Minister
Vinod Tawde sanctioned her hospitalization
expenses.
Among her most memorable numbers
were "Kabhi tanhaiyon me, hamari yaad
ayegi," ("Hamari Yaad Aayegi" 1961),
"Mujhko apne gala laga lo, ai mere hamrahi,"
("Hamrahi" 1963), "Neend udd jaye teri,
chainse sone wale" ("Juaari 1968), "Wo na
aayegi palat ke," ("Devdas" 1955) and
"Wada humse kiya, dil kisiko diya"
("Saraswatichandra" 1968).
Chandigarh's 'Capitol Complex' gets

UNESCO world heritage status
Designed by the French architect Le Corbusier, the Capitol Complex includes Legislative
Assembly, Secretariat, High Court, and Open Hand monument. Chandigarh was raised as a
symbol of independent, modern India.
Istanbul: The World Heritage Committee
on Friday added nine new cultural sites,
including India's Archaeological Site of
Nalanda Mahavihara, to the prestigious
World Heritage List.
Nalanda comprises the archaeological
remains of a monastic and scholastic
institution dating from the 3rd century
BCE to the 13th century CE. It includes
stupas, shrines, viharas (residential and
educational buildings) and important art
works in stucco, stone and metal.
Nalanda stands out as the most ancient
university of the Indian Subcontinent. It
engaged in the organized transmission
of knowledge over an uninterrupted
period of 800 years.
The committee, at its 40th session in
Istanbul, made the decisions following a
daylong review of some of the 27 nomi
nations submitted from around the
world for this year, Xinhua news agency
reported. The new inscriptions include
the sites from China, Iran, Micronesia,

Spain, Greece, Turkey, Britain and a joint
nomination by Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia also.
Newly put on the heritage list are
Zuojiang Huashan Rock Art Cultural
Landscape (China); Archaeological Site of
Nalanda Mahavihara (India); the Persian
Qanat (Iran); Nan Madol: Ceremonial
Center
of
Eastern
Micronesia
(Micronesia); Stecci Medieval
Tombstones Graveyards (Bosnia and
Herzegovina, Croat ia, Monteneg ro,
Serbia); Archaeological Site of Philippi
(Greece); Antequera Dolmens Site
(Spain); Archaeolog ical Site of Ani
(Turkey) ; and Gorham's Cave Complex
(Britain).
The committee, which was formed in
1977 to enforce the World Heritage
Convention and manage the heritage list
created based on the convention, began
its current 11day session on July 10.
July 23-29, 2016
LIFESTYLE
New Zealander quits job to

become fulltime Pokemon hunter
London: A New Zealander quit his
job last wee k in Auckland to
become a fullt ime Pokemon
hunter. Every morning he fills a
flask with cof fee, packs a rain
jacket and cut lunch in his back
pack and heads into the wilder
ness to hunt Pokemon come
hail, rain or snow.
Tom Currie, 24, quit his job at
Hibiscus Cafe in Auckland, to
embark on a two month tour of
New Zealand, with the aim of cap
turing all of the Pokemon released
on smartphone game Pokemon Go
last week. Pokemon Go a freeto
play locationbased augmented
reality mobile app developed by
Niantic and published by T he
Pokemon Company is part of the
Pokemon franchise.
Currie has booked 20 bus trips
around New Zealand and, in less
than a week, has already visited
six South Island towns and
caught Pokemon at every stop. So
far he has captured 90 of the 151
Pokemon released on the game,
the Guardian reported.
In the Kaikoura Ranges on the
east coast of the South Island,
Currie captured Dragonair,
Scyther and Jynx. And, in the
rough seas off the wild west coast
he seized waterdwelling Goldeen.
"I wanted to have an adventure,"
(Image courtesy: comicbook.com)

Currie said. "I have been working
for six years and I was desperate
for a break. And Pokemon gave
me the chance to live that dream."
A week in, and Currie's adven
ture is both exhilarat ing and
exhausting. On occasion he has
hunted till 3 a.m. and he says he
sleeps deeply now because of the
"miles and miles" he walks each
day, the Guardian reported.
"I think the most exciting experi
ence so far was in Sumner,
Christchurch, which has become a
hot spot for Pokemon hunters,"
Currie said.
"There were about 100 people
there hunting. And some of these
people would usually be shut up at
home and really reclusive. Hunting
for Pokemon is bringing them into

the real world. It was such a buzzy
atmosphere, when someone spot
ted a rare Pokemon they would
shout out to alert the crowd," he
added.
Currie's journey so far has been
done on the cheap, sleeping on
friends' couches or in crowded
backpacker dorms.
But his trip has piqued the
nation's interest and he has been
approached by various transport
companies, offering to take him to
remote parts of the country to
hunt for rare Pokemon.
Currie has also received mes
sages of support from around the
world, including Ireland, India,
Canada and the US.
WHY DO RUSSIANS RARELY SMILE?

This tourist handbook has the answers
New Delhi: Why do Russians rarely smile or
why lighting agarbattis (incense sticks) is not
welcome in hotel rooms in Moscow or St.
Petersburg? Keen on upping tourist footfalls in
Russia, a specially published do's and dont's
handbook has attempted to decode such socio
cultural mysteries for Indians traveling to
Russia. "Smiling to strangers is not a part of
Russian culture. Russians are polite and profes
sional, and they do smile wholeheartedly after
they come to know you which often takes
time," says the booklet which was released last
week by the Mumbaibased Russian
Information Center, based on the inputs of the
Consulate General of Russian Federation.
"Please do not light up your favorite agarbat
ti in the hotel room. This is an absolute nono
because of the other International tourists who
complain about the fragrances or have aller
gies to strong fragrances. Do pray but hold the
agarbatti for a few days," the handbook says.
The handbook also delves deep into the
Russian psyche, while it accounts for why
Russians overtly dig in their heels and defend
beliefs related to Russian history and culture.
"Revolution and two world wars, dramatic
political changes of the past century have a
clear bearing on every Russian's mind. Hence,
Russian people think very deep while they gen
erally look forward to a secure and prosperous
future. For the same reasons, Russians can be
protective about their culture, language and
the country sometimes to the point of fierce
ly defending their beliefs," the advisory says.
Russians get friendly only once

they get to know you well
Food habits account for a biggish chunk of
the handbook. While Russians and Indians love
their 'chai' (Russians like it without milk, it
says), the handbook advises Indian tourists to
keep their spices handy and fret less about
availability of Indian food in major Russian
cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg.
The advisory also draws parallels between
Russia and other Western European countries
visavis the culture of tipping and pricing of
water, which is often more expensive than beer.
"The do's and don'ts exercise also advises on
how best to deal with Russian immigration offi
cials, most of whom are not well versed in
English, a handicap which sometimes leads to
unsavory episodes at immigration check
points. "They may ask you to wait by using sign
language. There is no reason for panicking or
having an ego about it... Please do not raise
your voice or argue unduly or take any pictures
as they are strictly prohibited," the advisory
states.
27
Ruby Rose has over

hundred lipsticks
Los Angeles: Actress Ruby Rose
now owns over a hundred lip
sticks.
T he "Orange is the New
Black" actress used to have a
limited supply of cosmetics,
with certain colors for specific
occasions, but she now loves
experimenting with dif ferent
makeup looks according to her
mood, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
"I used to have 10 lipsticks,
one for a sporty day, one for
lunch with girlfriends, one for
DJing. I wasn't thinking outside
the box. Now I have 100. It's
like 'The Hunger Games' inside
that box, all fighting to be my

color for the day," the Glamour
magazine quoted Rose as say
ing. Rose also loves a sculpted
brow and is thankful that hers
are still intact after the experi
ments she did on them when
she was younger.
"I like a strong brow for my
androgynous side. When I was
growing up, I'd buy British
mag azines and when I was
obsessed with East 17, I shaved
slits in my brows. Thankfully,
some eyebrow God gave me my
brows back," the 30yearold
said.
(Image courtesy: pictigar.com)
Workplace climate responsible

for gender-based job stress
New York: The stress that women working
in numerically maledominated occupations
often report is due to unfavorable work
place climate, and not because of inherent
"women's nature" as commonly thought,
suggests new research.
The researchers found that when subject
ed to the negative social conditions that
many women report experiencing in male
dominated occupations, men showed the
same physiological stress response to the
conditions as did women.
"Women are not especially sensitive to
negative workplace social conditions.
Rather, both women and men exhibit similar
responses to the same types of stressful
workplace conditions," said study author
Cate Taylor, assistant professor, Indiana
University in the US.
To determine the effect of gendered social
exclusion, the researcher placed female
study participants in experimental groups
with three male confederates and male
study participants in groups with three
female confederates.
The confederates were trained to make
the study participants feel excluded by talk
ing about stereotypically masculine topics
or stereotypically feminine topics and by
subtly excluding the participants from the
conversations.
In order to measure stress response at
several points during the experiment, the
researcher measured levels of the hormone
(Image courtesy: workclimate.com)

cortisol in the participants' saliva. Cortisol
levels rose markedly in participants subject
ed to gendered exclusion but not in the
other participants.
"The cortisol response was robust, and it
was statistically significant. And it was just
as strong in men who were subjected to
gendered exclusion as in women who were
subjected to gendered social exclusion,"
Taylor added.
The study was published in the American
Journal of Sociology.
The results suggest that conditions associ
ated with maledominated professions are
what cause women to report experiencing
high levels of stress in the workplace.
Exposure to chronic physiological stress
response indicated by cortisol response has
been found to be associated with negative
health ef fects, including heart disease,
digestive problems, weight gain and depres
sion, the study revealed.
28
July 23-29, 2016
HUMOR
Humor with Melvin Durai
Poor Melania: She didn't know
oor Melania. She didn't know what

she was getting into when she mar
ried a real estate tycoon named
Donald. When he said he was going to
"make a bid for the White House," she
thought he was going to buy it.
Poor Melania. She didn't know what
Donald meant when he said, "How would
you like to be First Lady?"
"But I'm already Third Lady," she replied.
"Ivana was first and Marla was second."
Poor Melania. When she married a bil
lionaire, she didn't think she'd have to
make speeches at the Republican National
Convention. At the most, she thought
there'd be a tastefully done centerfold in
Conservative Digest.
Poor Melania. She didn't realize that the
words she spoke at the convention were
not her own. She believed Donald when he
said, "These are now your words, Melania.
We paid good money for them."
Poor Melania. She didn't mean to steal
Michelle Obama's words. If she was going
to steal words from a First Lady, she would
have chosen someone such as Mary Todd
Lincoln, whose speeches aren't on
YouTube.
Poor Melania. She wanted to make quota
tion marks in the air with her fingers, but

she was afraid that people might think she
was showing the peace symbol.
Poor Melania. English isn't her native
tongue. If she could have given the speech
in Slovenian, no one would have known
whose words she was speaking.
Poor Melania. When she told NBC that
she wrote the speech herself "with as little
help as possible," it was absolutely true,
just as it's true that she has maintained her
natural beauty at age 46 "with as little cos
metic procedures as possible."
Poor Melania. The Democrats think she
was lying, but she was just doing what she
has seen Donald do many times: fibbing.
Poor Melania. She thought plagiarism
was wrong, but only for Liberals. She over
heard one speechwriter say to another,
"Please try not to plagiarize liberally."
Poor Melania. When she married a bil
lionaire, she thought she was going to
spend her nights with Champagne, not on a
campaign.
She married Donald because he was the
first man who appreciated her for more
than just her beauty. "You're the total pack
age, Melania," he said. "Beautiful face, fan
tastic body, superb taste in men."
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.
ASTROLOGY
July 23-29, 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
JULY 2329, 2016

ARIES: Promotions and monetary benefits
for dedicated professionals. You find
relief, comfort and affection in the com
pany of family members. Longterm investment
in stocks & mutual funds will enable to earn
profits. For some work takes a backseat, as you
find comfort in the arms of love partner.
Meditation and yoga prove beneficial for spiri
tual as well as physical gains. Time for a vaca
tion, sit back and relax. Buying property can
lead to gains as property prices continue to
increase. You are likely to attract the attention
of others by decent manners and intellectual
talk.
TAURUS: Pending proposals will get
implemented with the help of seniors.
Time spent with relatives will be to your
advantage. Improvement in finances is certain.
Use new but innovative methods to catch the
attraction of opposite sex. A very healthy week
when your cheerfulness gives the desired tonic
and confidence. If you are thinking of escaping
from the hectic daily routine plan a trip. You
could buy the property that you are looking for.
A promising week to revive old contacts espe
cially with close friends.
GEMINI: Good week for implementing
new plans and ventures. Family mem
bers will be very positive & supportive to
your plans. Speculation coupled with some
unexpected gains improves financial health. If
possible enjoy quality time in the company of
lover/beloved to cement the lovely bond. You
are likely to maintain good health that would
also give you success. Your travel experience is
going to be an extent of sharing your knowledge
and communication. Investing on properties
which are under developed will be profitable.
Polite behaviour brings you into contact with
important personalities.
CANCER: Subordinates/coworkers
would be very helpful. Relatives will
be willing to lend a helping hand at
the time of need. A new source of income will
generate throug h influent ial contacts.
Maintain a distance from people trying to pry
into your romantic affair. A continuous posi
tive thinking gets rewarded as you succeed in
whatever you do this week. Its time for a vaca
tion after a long and hard year at work.
Whether young or old, now is the time to start
investing. For some shower of verbal praises
could come from the people who matter.
LEO: Traveling brings new overseas
business opportunities. New relation
ship at family front will be long lasting
& highly beneficial. Investment made this
week would enhance prosperity and financial
security. Spending t ime w ith your
beloved/lover is very necessary for you this
week. Creative hobbies are likely to keep you
relaxed. Time to relax and unwind for few
weeks. Looking for good long term invest
ments, then go for a property which is under
construction. Religious feelings could awaken
in you, propping to seek blessings from a holy
man.
VIRGO: Auspicious week to start a new
venture. Guests visit would make it a
pleasant & wonderful wee k. An
improvement in financial position would
enable to make important purchases. Time
now to prepare yourself for the magic moment
on falling in love. With a positive outlook &
confidence, you succeed in impressing people
around you. Weekend getaway to enjoy pubs
and clubs is on your way. Value the property
at right price to attract buyers for it. You are
likely to gain a lot if pay heed to the guidance
of close friends.
LIBRA: Professional attitude at work

brings success. You will be in the
mood to celebrate with family and
friends this week. You are likely to earn mone
tary profits through most unexpected sources.
Romance is just round the corner. Better to
prepare yourself to grab it. Mental alertness
would enable to solve a tricky problem. A
short trip with lavishing experiences is the
right thing for you. It always is exciting to
begin looking at homes for sale in your area.
Charming nature and pleasant personality
would enable to make new friends
SCORPIO : Seniors colleagues are likely
to lend a helping hand. Good advice
from family members brings gains. A
sudden inflow of funds will take care of your
bills and immediate expenses. Beware as
someone might flatter you with his/her wit &
charm to enjoy your company. A cheerful state
of mind brings mental peace. Pack your bags
and be ready for an amazing holiday. Buying
cheap property in the right location can pro
vide you triple gain annually. this week dont
get surprised if your unrealisable dreams start
coming true.
SAGITTARIUS: Hard work & dedication
would win the trust of seniors at work.
The company of family friends will
keep you in a happy & relaxed mood.
Monetary position is likely to improve on
recovering of delayed payments. Love life
would blossom provided you pay heed to it.
Good time to divert attention to spirituality to
enhance mental toughness. Just take a walk in
the countryside and experience new things.
Investing in property business sounds very
appealing.
Friends would accept unique but original ideas
as they carefully listen to you.
CAPRICORN: Mental clarity would

remove past business confusions.
Parental guidance in your decision
would immensely help. Investment in antiques
& jewelry brings monetary gains and improve
ment in financial position. You will have to
make extra ef forts to meet romantic partner
this week. A pleasure trip gives the muchneed
ed tonic to health. Time to go for a memorable
trip. Banks love to finance those, who invest in
properties which are underdeve lopment.
Frequent travels bring into contact with an
interesting acquaintance in the process.
AQUARIUS: Travel undertaken for
establishing new contacts and business
expansion will be very fruitful. A week
when misunderstandings at family front are
sorted out with ease. Long pending arrears and
dues will finally be recovered. Do things that
would invest in your romantic relations. Cutting
down the number of parties and pleasure jaunts
would help in keeping in good mood. Time to
spend money on not a vacation but a luxury
vacation. A good deal on commercial property
might occur. Developing a friendly relation with
an influential person would augur well for
future.
PISCES : Your artistic and creative ability
would attract a lot of appreciation.
Believe it or not someone in the family is
watching you closely and considers you a role
model. this week investment concerning resi
dence will be profitable. Instant romance could
come your way provided you care for it. A bene
ficial week to work on things that will improve
your health. If adventure is your style of holi
daying, then plan it and move around. Their
might be a chance of acquiring a plot from your
closed relative. You get a good opportunity to
get involved in some interesting conversation.
ANNUAL PREDICTIONS: FOR THOSE BORN IN THIS WEEK

23th July, 2016
Ruled planet: Mercury Ruled by no : 5
Traits in you: As you are influenced by your ruling plan
et Mercury, you are intelligent, unique, sensible, business
oriented, dignified, optimistic and charismatic. You are
also pretty warmhearted and friendly. However, you need
not be restless and impatient always to get your things
done.
Health this year: Your health will remain good through
out the year. You need to take utmost care of your health
to maintain it and remain fit. The health of your family
members might be a concern for you this year. Try and
avoid your bad habits and start practicing yoga for the
betterment of your health.
Finance this year: You will earn a lot of money from your
past investment this year. However, you should invest
your money after going through the market thoroughly.
Do not lend or money this year. You may spend a lot of
money on buying comfort and luxury for your family
members.
Career this year: You will gain a lot of professional
knowledge this year. You may think for a job change this
year. You may not get the job satisfaction in the organiza
tion you currently work for. You may not get the expect
ed appraisal, which would urge you to switch to another
company.
Romance this year: You should avoid any kind of conflict
with your beloved. Plan a long holiday with your spouse
to make your relationship stronger. If you are unmarried,
you should not get to a marital relationship this year as
the movement of your stars is not favorable for marriage.
24th July, 2016
Ruled planet: Venus Ruled by no : 6
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Venus makes optimistic,
ambitious, caring, aspiring, and determined. You are very
social and love to make new friends and get into new
relationships. You are a huge follower of intelligence and
education.
Health this year: You need to focus on your health a little
more as you may fall sick frequently this year. You
should go for regular medical checkups to maintain a
healthy life. Your parents may fall sick towards the end of
the year and it will put you in immense pressure.
Finance this year: Your innovative ideas to earn money
may not meet your expectations. However, you need to
keep trying until you succeed. You will find it tough to
make money this year. You may go for investments in
various sectors like shares, gold, land and so on.
Career this year: You will get enough opportunities in
your professional life to prove yourself. You will create a
better impression on your seniors or higher manage
ment, which may result in promotion. You should work
efficiently to maintain your respect at your workspace.

Romance this year: You will share a blissful romantic
relationship with your spouse or partner. Your marriage
is on cards if you are yet to marry. You will find your
partner supportive enough in every crucial situation.
25th July, 2016
Ruled planet: 7 Ruled by no : Neptune
Traits in you: By nature you are sober, courteous,
unique, honest and courageous as you are ruled by the
powerful planet Neptune. Your charming nature attracts
people towards you. You love to face challenges and you
fight them pretty well by executing perfection. You need
to check for your impatience, rudeness, and frequent
mood swings.
Health this year: You will enjoy a better health this year
as compared to last year. However, the health of an aged
family member may deteriorate and that will make you
bothered. You may end up spending lot of money for the
health issues of your family members.
Finance this year: This year may bring you huge finan
cial benefits. You will enjoy the returns of your invest
ments. If you want to gain financial profits, you have to
work hard. You may invest in various profitable business
es. However, you should not start new partnerships or
trust new friends.
Career this year: This year you will reach to the peak of
your professional career and it will offer you huge finan
cial benefits. This year will be pretty rewarding for
female employees. You may get a better performance
appraisal as well as salary hike as compared to your
expectations.
Romance this year: The emotional attachment with your
spouse or partner may blossom this year with lot of love,
care, and concern. If you are not married, then you may
go for a romantic relationship. You will enjoy a very bliss
ful time with your beloved.
26th July, 2016
Ruled planet: Saturn Ruled by no : 8
Traits in you: Your ruling planet Saturn makes you hum
ble, honest, focused, practical, realistic and enthusiastic.
You are blessed with enormous talent and imagination.
Along with the positive characters in you, there are some
negative aspects in your nature. You need to work on
your nature of being envious, unreliable, and indiscipline.
Health this year: Though you would not face any major
health related issues, you should take extra care of your
health. Do not take unwanted risk of putting your health
in stake. Go for regular medical checkups.
Finance this year: As far as your financial condition is
considered, you will enjoy a better status as compared to
the last year. You will get enough benefits from your pre
vious investments. You may plan for new investments.

You may go for partnerships to start new ventures.
Domestic as well as overseas ventures will be successful
this year. You need to create new contacts for the growth
in your business as it will earn you more projects and
money.
Career this year: Professionally you will enjoy a smooth
life. You may get recognition in your professional circuit
as a result of your hard work and dedication. Your pro
motion is on cards. You should take help of your seniors
to learn quickly and perform exceptionally well as it
would help you grow professionally.
Romance this year: Your relationship with your spouse or
partner will blossom this year. If you are not married,
you may have to wait for few more years though you are
eligible for marriage.
27th July, 2016
Ruled planet: Mars Ruled by no : 9
Traits in you: Being ruled by Mars, you are aggressive,
courageous, aspiring, focused, friendly, generous, and
honest. You lag behind others because you lose many
opportunities. You need to work on your frequent mood
swings and temperament.
Health this year: Health wise you will enjoy a great time
throughout the year. You may suffer few minor health
issues such as cold, headache or body aches. You need to
take proper medications to remain physically and men
tally fit.
Finance this year: As far as your financial condition is
considered, you will enjoy a better status as compared to
the last year. You will get enough benefits from your pre
vious investments. You may plan for new investments.
You may go for partnerships to start new ventures.
Domestic as well as overseas ventures will be successful
this year. You need to create new contacts for the growth
in your business as it will earn you more projects and
money.
Career this year: You will be establishing yourself as a
very efficient and important resource in your organiza
tion this year. Your performance will influence your
peers, seniors and higher management. It is the best time
to look out for a new job as it will help you grow both
professionally and financially.
Romance this year: Your plans to go for holidays with
your partner may not work because of huge work pres
sure and this may create disturbance in your marital life.
You need to take care of the emotional requirements of
your partner to lead a peaceful life this year.
28th July, 2016
Ruled planet: Sun Ruled by no : 1
Traits in you: Due to the positive effects of your ruling
planet Sun, you will have the characteristics of a good

human being. By nature, you are accountable, unique,
courageous, committed, competitive, coordinated and
intelligent. You should work on your negative personality
traits such as selfishness, dependency and pessimism.
Health this year: You need to take an appropriate care of
your health. You may fall sick in the middle months of
the year though those will not be serious. If you are a
sportsperson, you need to be very careful for your diet
and nutrition to perform better in your sporting events.
Finance this year: You may get benefits from your invest
ments later this year. This year seems to be an ideal one
to start investing in business, land or gold. Your efforts to
earn money may pay off this time. You may go for new
partnerships. However, you should verify the financial
background of your partner for your financial security.
Career this year: You may have to take few major deci
sions in your profession. You can succeed if you put
some extra effort in your work and deliver quality. You
have to drive the team to put qualitative effort.
Romance this year: If you are yet to be in a committed
relationship, you may get into one this year. If you are
already committed, then you may plan for marriage
towards the end of the year.
29th July, 2016
Ruled planet: 2 Ruled by no : Moon
Traits in you: Your ruler, the Moon makes you a very
friendly individual. You are simple, confident, realistic,
sincere, and optimistic. You are very innovative and try to
perform your work in a different and efficient way. You
need to work hard on your characteristics of being jeal
ous and insensitive at times.
Health this year: You will enjoy a normal health this
year. However, you need to be in regular contact with
your doctor to remain healthy. If you face some minor
health issues, you should take prescribed medication
without neglecting.
Finance this year: You will be able to stabilize your finan
cial condition by reaping profits from your past invest
ments. You may also plan for new investments this year.
You will find enough new opportunities to start up a new
business that would yield money for you. You should
invest in real estate or stock market for better returns.
Career this year: You will be successful professionally
this year. You will be additional responsibility and you
will well execute them to perfection. Your success may
get you various awards and rewards as well. You may
share your ideas with the higher management as it would
help you grow quickly.
Romance this year: You will spend a peaceful life with
your love interest this year. You will lead a blissful life with
your beloved with lots of love, care, concern, and support.
30
July 23-29, 2016
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS
Happiness is a State of Mind
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
ife is filled with many chal

lenges and sometimes, under
pressure, people crack. They
feel they can no longer stand all
the problems facing them.
Sometimes people feel they have
the worst job in the world. Others
feel they have the worst health
problems; they feel no one could be
plagued with as many physical
problems as they have. At some
time in our lives, we feel that no
one could have things as bad as we
have. There is a folk tale about a
wise man who lived in a forest.
People would travel far and wide to
seek him out for answers to their
problems. One day, a woman came
to him for advice.
He said, My dear, what can I do
for you?
She said, Things are terrible at
home. I live in a small hut with my
husband and two children. The hut
is barely large enough for the four
of us. I wanted a bigger house but
my husband is not doing well at
work and cannot af ford anything
larger. As times are bad, my hus
bands father lost his job, so his
parents had to move in with us. We
were already crowded before but
now with six of us living together
in that small space, it is unbearable.
I cannot take it anymore. I feel like

screaming! The wise man thought
for a moment and asked, Do you
have a cow?
The woman said, Yes, we do.
He said, I advise you to bring the
cow into the hut to live with you
for a week and then come back to
see me.
The woman was puzzled. She
thought that since he was a wise
man, there must be some magic in
bringing the cow into the house, so
she did what he said.
The next week was horrible. It
was so crowded in the house that
every time the cow turned around,
all the six family members had to
change their seats. When they tried
to sleep, the smell was intolerable
and it would moo throughout the
night, waking them all up.
After the week passed, the
woman returned to the wise man
and began shouting at him, What
have you done? I came to you to
make things better and now I am
more miserable than before. Your
advice did not work.
He thought for a moment and
asked, Do you have any chickens?
Yes, she said.
He told her, Take them into the
hut with you for a week. She did
not understand how this would
help, but since he was a wise man,
and everybody in her village found
his advice helpful, she thought she
would give this a try.
When she returned home, she
collected all the chickens from the
backyard and moved them into the
house. For the next week, the chick
ens were flying around the hut,
landing on everything and making
a mess of the place.
After a week, she returned and
cried, in tears, You must be crazy.
Your advice is terrible. It is impossi
By Sant Rajinder Singh

Ji Maharaj
ll too often people are quick to pass
judgment on others without knowing
their full story. They may be quick to
criticize someones actions, believing that
their perspective is correct and that they
understand all the circumstances. In turn,
how many of us are willing to withhold
judgment and put ourselves in the shoes of
another person? How many times have we
passed judgment on others only to later find
that they had a good reason that justified
their actions? Along the same lines, if we
want others to change their ways, telling
them will have little ef fect unless we are
examples of that behavior.
In this connection, there is a true story
from the animal kingdom about a team of
researchers who had gone to Africa to study
the behavior of elephants. They came across
an area in which a pack of elephants was
running wild. As the research team set up
telescopic cameras to observe the animals
from a distance, they saw that every day the
Next time we think things are going badly and that God is not properly
listening to us, we should sit back, take a deep breath, and relax. We should
give God a chance to let things happen and observe patiently. We will find
when all is said and done that God worked things out for the best in the end.
ble to live in the hut now. The cow
turns around and knocks into us.
The chickens fly all around the hut.
My inlaws are always choking
from the smell and complaining
about how bad it is living with us.
The children find chicken feathers
falling into their food. My husband
is constantly fighting with me over
the living conditions in our home
and says, It is all your fault!
T he wise man thought for a
moment and said, My dear, go
home and try one more thing. Take
the cow and the chickens out of
your hut. Then, come back to me in
a week.
The woman was fed up with his
advice but thought she would give
it one last chance. She returned
home and pulled the cow out of the
house. She took the chickens out
and returned them to the backyard.
A week later, the woman
returned to the wise man.
How are things now? he asked.

Thank you so much! You are
truly wise. Since I removed the cow
and chickens from the hut I feel so
much happier. Things have become
so peaceful. The wise man smiled.
The woman returned home and
lived happily with her husband, her
children, and her inlaws.
This story illustrates that we are
often unhappy with our situation
until we find that things could
always be worse. We think our job
is horrible, until we lose it and find
that life is harder without an
income. We think our health is bad
until we spend time in a hospital
and find people in worse condition
than we are. We think our family
members are bad until we find our
selves alone and realize how diffi
cult life is without them. We always
feel the grass is greener on the
other side.
The woman learned that what
she thought was bad was actually

not so bad when she saw how
much worse things could be. It is
human nature to think that every
body else has it so good and it is
only we who are suffering.
We think we know what is best
for us. How many times have we
tried to intervene with our two
cents to find that when we tried to
change our situation, we made
things worse? T hen, we regret
what we have done and wish we
could make things go back to the
way they were.
On the spiritual path, one of the
lessons we need to learn is accept
ing the will of the Lord. Life would
be so much easier if we accept that
God knows what is best for us. If
we examined the times in our lives
that we interfered with Gods will,
we may have discovered that we
messed things up terribly on our
own and prayed to God to return
things to the way they were.
Next time we think things are
going badly and that God is not
properly listening to us, we should
sit back, take a deep breath, and
relax. We should give God a chance
to let things happen and observe
patiently. We will find when all is
said and done that God worked
things out for the best in the end. If
we reflect, we would find that if
God had listened to our complaints
and let us do things our own way,
things may not have been in our
best interest at all.
Happiness is a state of mind. If
we think that God is not doing
what is best for us, we will always
be unhappy. If we would realize
that we are living according to
what God wishes for us and that
God is giving us what is best for us,
we would always be happy and
content.
TEACHING BY EXAMPLE
elephants were fighting with each other,
running over trees and destroying their
environment. They had studied other ele
phant packs before and never saw such
chaotic and wild behavior. On further inves
tigation they discovered that the group was
composed of all teenage male elephants.
There were no adult male elephants in the
group. When they checked with the local
inhabitants in the village why there were no
adult male elephants in the pack, the vil
lagers explained that poachers came into
the village and killed all the male adults for
their ivory.
The researchers saw that the teenage
male elephants had no adult male role mod
els from which to learn. Curious to see if it
truly made a dif ference, they arranged to
have some male elephants brought in from
another area. The first thing the male adults
did was to flap their ears and raise their
trunks. Next, they began to make loud trum
peting sounds. In the beginning, there was
no change and the teen elephants continued

to run wild and fight each other. However,
after a few days in which the adults flapped
their ears, raised their trunks, and made
loud noises, the teen elephants began to set
tle down. Over time, they became well
behaved and their wild actions subsided.
The researchers realized that on their
own, the teen elephants had no role models
and did not know how to behave. Once the
male adults were introduced into their pack,
the teens had role models and began to be
disciplined. In the same way, as parents, we
teach our children through loving discipline
and by setting an example. Our children do
not believe in our words alone but in what
they see us do. They copy our own good and
bad habits because that is the example we
set. Similarly, when we are in a position to
train or teach otherswhether we are
teachers, parents, employers, or citizens
imploring others to be conscientiouswe
must first set an example ourselves. That is
the only way to bring about change, teach

ing by example rather than by mere words.
If we want to see a positive change in others
and in our family, neighborhood, communi
ty, society, or country, then we need to set
an example. In the words of Mahatma
Gandhi, Be the change you want to see in
the world.
On the spiritual path, two qualities to
inculcate are patience and understanding.
These are aspects of leading a nonviolent
life. Those who are nonviolent are patient.
They do not rush to criticize or accuse
someone. With empathy they try to think of
how the world looks through other peoples
eyes. If each of us could treat others with
patience, love, and understanding, this
world would be more peaceful and loving.
When we are patient and understanding, we
never have to go to sleep at night worrying
if we did the right thing. We will know that
when we have patience and understanding,
we are acting in a noble way.
July 23-29, 2016

Vol. 9 - No. 13 July 23 - July 29, 2016

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Vol. 9 - No. 13 July 23 - July 29, 2016

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The South Asian Times

Vol.9 No. 13 July 23-29, 2016 80 Cents

New York Edition

Pakistan behind Kashmir In acceptance

talks America First,

Jain guru Rakeshbhai touches

is heaven and the neighboring

Superstar Rajinikanth in Kabali

Donald Trump making his acceptance speech as Republican nominee

crowd that on Monday night they

OWN YOUR FUTURE

x More than 60 undergraduate and graduate degrees

July 23-29, 2016

July 23-29, 2016

16 Indian Americans join RNC delegates to nominate Trump

Harmeet Dhillon, vice chair of the California Republican party, delivered a

for all and gratitude for all our

integrity to reform faithfully our

with Sampat Shivangi.

Where charitable giving mingled

Ravi Bhooplapur, President of Xavier medical school since 2008, was

on his visit to the Arab American

New York: Meera Gandhi, founder

event aimed to nurture the soul and

of meditation and mindfulness

July 23-29, 2016

Fox News chief resigns over

7 India firms in Fortune 500;

In acceptance speech, Trump

Chairman and Co-Founder

Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull

Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,

President: Arjit Mehta

Continued from page 1

'Kabali' fever grips India

planned to screen six shows on

Jain guru Rakeshbhai touches

Jaipur (India) Bureau

IANS Washington Bureau

Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

Printing: Five Star Printing, NY

Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra

Chief Operating Officer:

West Coast Correspondent

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

New Delhi Bureau

Web Editor: B.B.Chopra

July 23-29, 2016

Indian envoy meets Republican

Ambassador Arun K. Singh

Ekal Vidyalaya holds

of India. Discussed was the need

Sing h he ld meet ings w ith

Los Angeles: Aziz Ansari has

Comedian Aziz Ansari

Over 900 attend VHPAs first annual Hindu Heritage Day

Cultural program was the main attraction

souvenir booklet. Each article

July 23-29, 2016

Kalpita raises $7000 through

alpita Chakote, a rising sen

Guru Archana Phillip. She ended

Grand kickoff of TANAs 40th