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This week’s question

Is the Indo-US nuclear dealnow in limbo?

Last week’s result

YES 45% NO 55%

Top Stories

CONTENTS

INDIAN-AMERICANSFASHIONED N-DEAL

Bollywood ---------------------- 28-29

Classifieds ------------------------- 48Community Post -------------- 16-27

Date Book -------------------------- 47

Edit Page --------------------------- 54

HealthScience Post --------- 36-39

Horoscope ------------------------- 49

Immigration Post ------------- 44-46

Life Style ----------------------- 50-52

Philosophy ------------------------- 53

Publisher’s Diary ------------------ 4

Real Estate -------------------- 34-35

TechBiz Post ------------------- 30-33

Travel & Hospitality Post ---- 40-43

Details on page 12

Details on page 51

Details on page 6

Details on page 17

Details on page 5

Tulsi Gabbardcalled foractive duty

Details on page 8

Details on page 6

Details on page 36

Health meethighlightstele-medicine

WASHINGTON: It was a grassroot campaign by In-dian-Americans, who literally flooded their lawmakers withemails, letters and faxes, that saw the Indo-US civil nuclearagreement pass through the Congress, says a new bookon the unprecedented coming together of the communityfor the deal.

Leading Indian-American entrepreneur and activistSwadesh Chatterjee in his book 'Building Bridges: HowIndian-Americans Brought the United States and IndiaCloser Together', provides a first-hand account of the in-

volvement of the influential community in getting the dealthrough the US Congress.

"The Indian government hired high-powered and high-priced lobbyists to press their case, but it was really theIndian-American community that took the lead in the cam-paign for civil nuclear agreement," writes Chatterjee.

The book hit the stores in the US this week while itsIndian edition is expected to be released later this year.

Details on page 5

KICK RESUMED: Pakistani border guards perform high kicks during a flag lowering ceremony a day after the suicidebombing at the Pakistan-Indian border post, in Wagah, Pakistan, Monday, Nov. 3. (Details on page 8)

Tulsi Gabbardto visit Indianext year

Fresh polls tobe held forDelhi Assembly

Indian-originbusinessmanshot dead

Pentagonexposes Pakuse of militants

US offers Pakhelp to probeWagah attack

Details on page 8

Robbers aretargeting Indian-Americans in NJ

Actor SadashivAmrapurkarpasses away

Will keeping Shiv Sena outboomerang?

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Bollywood:Something specialThe long legged dusky beauty DeepikaPadukone is all set to romance SalmanKhan in Yash Raj banner’s next movie.

5Cover Story:Grassroot campaign

16Community:Warm welcome

44

50Life style:

Though born in Germany, Prem Joshua,a master flutist and saxophonist, hashuge love and connection with India

30Techbiz:

As probe into black money gatherssteam, banks in Switzerland are desper-ately trying to safeguard their interest

40Travel:KurukshetraKurukshetra has sacred association withLord Krishna, the benevolent god whopreached the Bhagawat Gita

Swiss banks

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar got a warm welcomefrom members of the Indian communityas well as from mainstream Americans

It was a grassroot campaign by Indian-Americans that saw Indo-US civil nuclearagreement pass through Congress

German Prem

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Immigration:

Three Republican senators have urgedObama to hold off on any steps to shieldmillions of people from deportation.

Appeal to Obama

T his week, I pay homage to two visionaries whose pioneering workgave Indian Americans their cultural identity in this country.

Those were still the days in the 1970s when Indian immigrants to the US were as yet shy to wear their culture on their sleeve, let alone flaunt it theway we do today. From among the early Indian immigrants, Dr. AlagappaAlagappan and Dr. Banad Viswanath led with the gumption that it was indeedokay to be an Indian while living in America.

Dedicated in 1977, it was Dr. Alagappan's vision that gave not just IndianAmericans but America at large, the first Hindu temple - the MahavallabhaGanapati Temple in Flushing, New York. From thereon, Dr. Alagappan'svision expanded to help build several more Hindu temples in this great country,earning himself the sobriquet of being the father of Hindu temples in America.Today we have more than 700 temples across the US, and it gives me great prideto say that I myself am associated with one such religious and cultural centerhere in California.

What made Dr. Alagappan a visionary was his inclusivity, where he saw thetemples as centers, where members of all faiths could comingle. This is evidentin the logo of the temple society that he had designed - a circular logo that bearsa Christian cross, a Star of David, an Islamic crescent and star, and the Om.

This eminent personality passed away at 88, on Oct. 24.To all of us in the Indian American community, particularly, the desi media

here, Dr. Viswanath is a stalwart who brought us our daily dose of Indian newsand entertainment, starved as we were in those days for anything Indian. Helaunched Vision of Asia, the first Indian American TV show in 1976 and a decadelater, ITV Gold, the first 24x7 cable TV channel in the US. Today, even withsatellite channels bringing every Indian television show into our homes, ITV isstill holding ground, faithfully covering the Indian American community and itsmany colors.

This doctor, media man and philanthropist passed away at 77, on Oct. 30.

India PostNovember 7, 2014 5

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Cover/Top Stories

Indian-Americans fashioned N-dealWASHINGTON: It was a

grassroot campaign by Indian-Americans, who literally floodedtheir lawmakers with emails, let-ters and faxes, that saw the Indo-US civil nuclear agreement passthrough the Congress, says a newbook on the unprecedented com-ing together of the community forthe deal.

Leading Indian-American en-trepreneur and activist SwadeshChatterjee in his book 'BuildingBridges: How Indian-Americans

Brought the United States andIndia Closer Together', providesa first-hand account of the in-volvement of the influential com-munity in getting the dealthrough the US Congress.

"The Indian government hiredhigh-powered and high-pricedlobbyists to press their case, butit was really the Indian-Americancommunity that took the lead inthe campaign for civil nuclearagreement," writes Chatterjee.

The book hit the stores in theUS this week while its Indian edi-tion is expected to be releasedlater this year.

"Swadesh, you are wastingyour time," the then powerfulCongressman, Gary Ackerman, aleading lawmaker of the HouseCaucus on India and IndianAmericans told him, when hewent and met him and sought hissupport.

"This deal is dead on arrival,"Ackerman told Chatterjee, ac-cording to the book.

"There were few takers for thebill," Chatterjee told PTI here.

"But we were determined toget the bill through the Congress.This we strongly felt was in thebest interest of both India andthe US. We believed that this wasthe golden opportunity for thetwo countries to come together,"Chatterjee said.

Chatterjee, who had receivedthe prestigious 'Padma Bhushan'award in 2001 for his role in lift-ing of American sanctions afterIndian nuclear tests, was the onewho received the first call fromthe then Indian Ambassador tothe US, Ronen Sen, after the thenUS President, George W Bush,announced the outline of the civilnuclear deal during his trip to In-dia in March 2006.

"Swadesh, I need your helpgetting this accord through Con-

gress," Sen was quoted as say-ing in the book.

"How can we get this done?Who should U reach out to?What organizations should Iwork with?" the Ambassadorasked.

And thereafter Chatterjee, aresident of North Carolina and asuccessful entrepreneur, made ita mission to get the deal throughthe Congress.

"The task was not that easy.It was like moving a mountain.

But we finally did it," he said.When a small group of some

20 top Indian Americans met Senat a club near the Indian Embassyin Washington DC, Chatterjeetold the job was not that easy.

"We need to unite IndianAmericans and work together,but as you all know, we are twomillion Indian Americans, but wehave 10 million egos. We need to

keep those egos in the deepfreezer for a few years,"Chatterjee told the group.

Chatterjee said there was avery negative response from thelawmakers.

"I am not sure that I can bethe guy to sponsor the bill.

My colleagues will never sup-

port it. I just do not think it has achance," Congressman DavidRice told him.

Response, from a majority ofother lawmakers were the same.

"I returned home terribly dis-appointed. With my usual av-enues for building supportblocked, I knew we would haveto devise an alternate plan ofattack...It was time to broadenour approach, to draw on thestrength of the entire IndianAmerican community across thecountry," writes Chatterjee, wholed US-India Friendship Council,a group of eminent Indian-Ameri-cans.

"We decided to compose a let-ter making our case, and then wewould flood the email account,jam the fax machines and fill theappointment books of everysingle US Senator and Congress-man. To this we employed bothhigh-tech and low-tech ap-proaches," Chatterjee writes.

Chatterjee sought the help ofan IT company in Kolkata for asoftware that would allow any In-dian-American to insert his orname and zip code and, with justa few clicks, send a form letter byemail arguing the merits of theaccord to that persons specific

congressman and senators."We set up a website to direct

people to, and we advertised theprogram in all the Indian-Ameri-can ethnic newspapers," he said.

"At the other end of the spec-trum, we did some good old-fash-ioned petitioning. At temples andgurdwaras across the country, at

parties -Diwali and Holi, we gathered

signatures and faxed them to law-makers," he said.

"With this multi-platform ap-proach, we managed to tap abroad swath of the nation's In-dian-Americans - everyone fromthe whiz kids of Silicone Valley tothe pious elderly ladies wearingtheir finest saris to temple.

"We focused on the states withthe highest concentrations of In-dian Americans - New York, NewJersey, California, Texas, Illinoisand Michigan - as well as on myhome state of North Carolina,"Chatterjee said.

"This was the first time in ourcommunity's history that wemounted such a concerted

grassroots effort. Traditionally, wefocused on fundraising, which is anecessary strategy, of course, butnot enough in itself.

"Ultimately, the rewards offundraising are limited - and a com-munity like ours could neverfundraise our way to winning overlawmakers. This was the first timewe mastered the grassroots game- and in America, where all politicsis really grassroots politics, theimportance of this achievementcannot be over-emphasized," hewrites.

"We had no way of countingexactly how many letters weresent, but we know it was in thethousands. Several congressionalstaffers told me their offices werebombarded, Chatterjee said. -PTI

"The Indian government hired high-poweredand high-priced lobbyists to press their case,but it was really the Indian-American com-munity that took the lead in the campaignfor civil nuclear agreement,"

Swadesh Chatterjee, left, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

during a recent visit

This was the first time we mastered thegrassroots game - and in America, where allpolitics is really grassroots politics, theimportance of this achievement cannot beover-emphasized," he writes

Tulsi Gabbard called for active dutyWASHINGTON: Congress-

woman Tulsi Gabbard, the firstever Hindu elected to the USHouse of Representatives, hasbeen called for active duty by theNational Guard for which she is areservist to help with a volcaniceruption in her native Hawaii.

"Gabbard has been called upfor activation by the Hawaii ArmyNational Guard to support theirassistance to Hawaii County's re-sponse to the ongoing Kilauealava flow," her spokespersonHeather Fluit said in a statement.

Gabbard, who is seeking re-election, is joining about 80 Na-

tional Guard soldiers and airmenalready on the ground. Gabbard,33, serves as a Military Police Cap-tain in the Hawaii Army National

Guard."During this time, she will be

unable to accept media requestsor make public statements relatedto her official congressional du-

ties," Fluit said.The term of her duty has not

been determined."Her offices in Hawaii and

Washington, DC will remain openand serving her constituents dur-ing this period. The duration ofher duty is yet to be determined,"Fluit said.

Gabbard was first elected to theUS House of Representatives in2012. A strong advocate of IndiaUS relationship, she has been en-dorsed by Hindu American Politi-cal Action Committee.

She met Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in New York andpresented him a copy of the holyGita on which she had taken herCongressional oath in January2013.

The US National Guard is de-ploying troops in the rural Hawaiitown as lava from Kilauea volcanoslowly makes its way towardshomes and roads. -PTI

"During this time, she will be unable toaccept media requests or make publicstatements related to her officialcongressional duties," Fluit said


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Fresh polls to be held for Delhi AssemblyNEW DELHI: The Union Cabi-

net has recommended dissolutionof the Delhi Assembly, paving theway for fresh polls ending eightmonths of political hibernationafter the fall of the AAP govern-ment in February.

The decision was taken at ameeting of the cabinet presidedover by Prime Minister NarendraModi after LG Najeeb Jung senthis recommendation after talkswith BJP, Congress and AAP whoall expressed their inability to formgovernment and sought freshmandate.

"The Union Cabinet recom-mended dissolution of the DelhiAssembly with immediate effect,"a senior Union Minister said afterthe brief meeting.

While the fresh elections maybe held early next year, the pro-

Delhi BJP in-charge Prabhat Jha, Delhi BJP President Satish Upadhyay, senior leader Jagdish Mukhi and other oofice bearers during a meeting regarding

preparations for Assembly elections, in New Delhi on November 4

and its ally Akali Dal have 29MLAs in a House of 67. Threeseats fell vacant after the incum-bents were elected to the Lok

Sabha.BJP had emerged as the single

largest party in the December As-

sembly polls winning 31 seats butfell four seats short of a simplemajority.

It had refused to form govern-ment then, saying it will not re-sort to any "unfair means" to takeover the reins.

AAP had formed the govern-ment in Delhi with the support ofCongress.

The government led byKejriwal had resigned on Febru-ary 14 after the party's pet project,the Janlokpal Bill, could not bepassed due to opposition fromBJP and Congress.

President's Rule was imposedon February 17.-PTI

cess for the November 25 by-elec-tions to three constituencies, forwhich last date of nominations istomorrow, will be cancelled.

The LG held consultations withpolitical parties in the wake of theSupreme Court putting the issueon the fast track and giving himtime till November 11 to explorethe possibility of forming a gov-ernment.

The court was hearing AAP'spetition seeking early dissolutionof the Assembly which has beenunder suspended animation sinceFebruary after the fall of the AAPgovernment.

In the outgoing Assembly, BJPAAP convener Arvind Kejriwal addressing a press conference in New Delhi

on November 4. Party leaders Gopal Rai and Ashutosh are also seen

The LG held consulta-tions with politicalparties in the wake ofthe Supreme Courtputting the issue onthe fast track

Indian-American store ownerindicted for fraud

NEW YORK: A 39-year-oldIndian-American conveniencestore owner has been indictedby a federal jury on charges ofcommitting fraud related to theUS government's food stampsprogram and faces a maximum

sentence of 20 years in prisonand a USD 250,000 fine if con-victed.

Bharpur Singh of Californiawas indicted for defraudingthe US Depar tment ofAgriculture's SupplementalNutrition Assistance Program

(SNAP), formerly known asfood stamps, US Attorney Ben-jamin Wagner said.

According to the indict-ment, Singh owns and operatesa convenience store that wasauthorized to accept SNAP

benefits from customers to payfor eligible food items throughthe electronic benefits transfer(EBT) card program.

Retailers are not permitted totrade cash for SNAP benefits oraccept SNAP benefits as pay-ment for ineligible items.

From October 2008 until May2014, Singh traded the benefitsfor cash rather than for eligiblefood products as required un-der the program.

Singh would swipe a SNAPbenefit recipient's EBT card fora certain amount, give the ben-efit recipient cash for approxi-mately half the amount of thetransaction and keep approxi-mately one-half for himself.

On numerous occasions,Singh accepted SNAP benefitsas payment for ineligible items,including beer, cigarettes, toi-let paper, toys and diapers.

Singh faces a maximum statu-tory penalty of 20 years inprison and a USD 250,000 finefor each wire fraud count, andfive years in prison and a USD10,000 fine for each count ofunauthorized use of USDA ben-efits. -PTI

On numerous occasions, Singh acceptedSNAP benefits as payment for ineligibleitems, including beer, cigarettes, toiletpaper, toys and diapers

'Pak using militants asproxies to counter army'WASHINGTON: In a blunt as-

sessment of terrorist safe havensin Pakistan, the Pentagon has toldthe US Congress that the countryis using militant groups as prox-ies to counter the superior Indianmilitary.

"Afghan-and Indian-focusedmilitants continue to operate fromPakistan territory to the detrimentof Afghan and regional stability.Pakistan uses these proxy forcesto hedge against the loss of influ-ence in Afghanistan and tocounter India's superior military,"the Pentagon told the Congressin its latest six-monthly report onthe current situation in Afghani-stan.

"These relationships runcounter to Pakistan's public com-mitment to support Afghan-ledreconciliation. Such groups con-tinue to act as the primary irritantin Afghan-Pakistan bilateral rela-tions," the Pentagon said in the

report running into more than 100pages.

Referring to the attack on theIndian Consulate in Herat, thePentagon said this was done justahead of the swearing-in cer-emony of Narendra Modi as thePrime Minister of India.

"In May of this reporting pe-riod, the Indian consulate in HeratProvince was attacked by a groupof four heavily armed militants.The attack came three days priorto the swearing-in of the new In-dian Prime Minister, NarendraModi. Prime Minister Modi is per-ceived as being close to Hindunationalist groups, a fact that mayhave played into the timing of theattack," it said.

"In June, the US Departmentof State announced that the ter-rorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba wasresponsible for the attack.

Cont’d on page 9


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Indiana University sets up India officeFRANK FERNANDES

India Post News Service

MUMBAI: Achieving new mile-stones in its effort to be amongthe nation's most internationallyfocused universities, Indiana Uni-versity has dramatically strength-ened its engagement in two na-tions, India and Saudi Arabia,where the university's ties areamong its deepest.

India and Saudi Arabia ranksecond and fourth, respectively,in the number of international stu-dents who study at IU campusesacross Indiana. More than 8,500

international students are enrolledat IU this fall, including nearly1,200 Indian students and nearly600 students from Saudi Arabia.

With music and other fanfare,Indiana University dedicated itsIU India Office during a ceremonyon October 30 at Jindal GlobalUniversity in Gurgaon that markedthe latest chapter in IU's lengthyhistory of engagement in India.This formal establishment of theIU India Office, ushers in a newera in IU's longstanding engage-ment with India. It also signals IU'sdesire to work even more closelywith leading Indian universities,

businesses andother institu-tions, as well asthe country'ssocial and cul-tural leaders.

Raj Kumar,vice chancellorat O.P. JindalGlobal Univer-sity, andD e e p e n d e rHooda, a mem-ber of the LokSabha, the lowerhouse of India'sparliament, andan alumnus of the IU KelleySchool of Business, joined IUPresident McRobbie at the cer-emony. Michael Pelletier,deputy chief of mission at theU.S. Embassy in New Delhi,was a special guest at the cer-emony.

"The IU India Office, firstand foremost, is symbolic ofIndiana University's desire towork in a spirit of mutuallybeneficial cooperation with In-dian universities, business andother institutions, as well asIndia's social and cultural lead-ers," McRobbie said. "IU's pres-

ence in India is indicative of ourdesire to learn about India on its

IU India Office

Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie speaks at the dedication

of the IU India Office

own terms and tobegin an exchangethat will benefitboth India and In-diana andstrengthen theconnections be-tween India andthe UnitedStates."

Acclaimed In-dian classical mu-sician and sarodvirtuoso Ayaan AliKhan concluded

the dedication ceremony with amoving musical performance.

Acclaimed Indian classical musician and sarod virtuoso

Ayaan Ali Khan concluded the dedication ceremony for

the new IU India Office with a musical performance


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US offers help to probeWagah attack

ISLAMABAD: The US hasoffered to provide any assis-tance to Pakistan to track downthe perpetrators behind the"senseless" terrorist attack atWagah Border that killed at least61 people.

Condemning the horrific sui-cide attack as a "senseless ter-rorist act", Ambassador RichardOlson said it demonstrates ter-rorists' blatant disregard for life.

"This act demonstrates ter-rorists' blatant disregard for life.The United States remainssteadfast in its commitment tothe people of Pakistan in theirefforts to counter terrorism, up-hold the rule of law, and build apeaceful future for themselvesand their children," Olson saidin a statement.

"The US supports Pakistan's

efforts to bring all those in-volved in planning and execut-ing this attack to justice andstand ready to provide any ap-propriate assistance to authori-ties investigating this tragic at-tack," he said.

Offering condolences to thevictims, he said, "On behalf ofthe American people, I extendmy heartfelt sympathies andcondolences to the families ofthe victims as well as to the Gov-ernment and people of Paki-stan."

At least 61 people were killedand nearly 200 injured when asuicide attacker detonated apowerful bomb at Wagah in Pa-kistan, minutes after the popu-lar flag-lowering ceremony atthe main Indo-Pak land bordercrossing. -PTI

Robbers targetingIndian-Americans in NJ

NEW YORK: Several Indian-American families living in theNew Jersey area have beenrobbed following the festival ofDiwali, triggering fear among thecommunity for their safety.

Rajesh Singh said in a report in

PIX 11 that after Diwali robberscame into their house, "tied" hisfamily up and took "away what-ever we had".

"It all happened after Diwali,these incidents that we're talkingabout," said Singh, a father ofthree.

The Middlesex CountyProsecutor's Office is handling theinvestigation, and has a reward forinformation that leads to an arrest.Police continues to search for

three masked men with guns whofollowed Singh's wife into theirhome as she returned from takingout the garbage late at night lastweek.

Singh said the robbers woke upthe couple's three children, ages

10, 11 and 13 at gun-point and bound eachfamily member withduct tape and pro-ceeded to rob thehouse.

The robbery atSingh's house was thefourth one that has oc-curred in less than two

weeks. In all the robberies, Indian-origin people were targeted justdays after they celebrated Diwali.

Earlier, men of a similar descrip-tion broke into three other homesin the area and tied up families androbbed them. Indians put up tra-ditional Diwali decorations as wellas strings of electric lights in theirhouses and customarily bring outjewelry, money and other valu-ables from under lock and key. -PTI

21 arrested after attackat Wagah

LAHORE: At least 21 people,including a suicide-bomber, werearrested and explosives and a sui-cide vest recovered from Wagahborder area as entire Pakistan wasput on red alert after 61 peoplewere killed in a deadly terror at-tack at the Indo-Pak land bordercrossing.

A Punjab Rangers official saidthat explosives and a suicidejacket had been found during asearch operation in the area.

"The suicide vest stuffed withexplosives and ball bearings hasbeen defused by the bomb dis-posal squad," he said.

The law enforcement agenciesarrested 20 'suspects' from theWagah border areas during thesearch operation.

Lahore police spokesmanNiyab Haider Naqvi told PTI thatthe law enforcement agencieslaunched operation in the residen-tial areas in Wagah after the at-tack and taken 20 suspects intocustody.

"A joint investigation team of

police, rangers and intelligenceagencies have started its probeinto the incident. The army andrangers along with police will pro-vide security to Muharram pro-cessions in Lahore and they havebeen put on high alert in the wakeof Sunday's attack," he said.

They also arrested a suspectedsuicide-bomber from Multan dis-trict, some 350 kilometers fromLahore.

The Lahore police issued a

sketch of 17-year-old AbdulRehman who had gone missingfrom a seminary in old city ofLahore for a month.

"The police along with an in-telligence agency have raided ahouse in Multan district and ar-rested Abdul Rehman," Naqvisaid, adding Rehman has beenshifted to unknown place for in-terrogation.

At least 61 people, including10 women, eight children andthree security personnel, havedied in the attack that took placewhen a suicide attacker detonated

a powerful bomb at Wagah. Over100 injured are being treated indifferent hospitals in Lahore.

Three militant factions, includ-ing splinter groups of the Taliban,have separately claimed respon-sibility for the suicide attack thattook place after the popular flag-lowering ceremony at Wagah.

Al-Qaeda affiliated militantgroup Jundullah (Soldiers of Al-lah), a splinter group of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), was thefirst to claim the attack.

Shortly afterwards Jamaat-ul-Ahrar said its bomber HafizHanifullah carried out the attack.Later, a lesser-known MaharMehsud group also claimed re-sponsibility for the bombing.

Hours after canceling the beat-ing retreat ceremony at Wagahfollowing a deadly suicide attack,Pakistan allowed general public toview the popular ceremony.

"We have decided in a meet-ing this afternoon to allow thegeneral public to come and watchthe flag-lowering ceremony,"Punjab Rangers spokesman Ma-jor Shahid Abbas said.

Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khanhas directed officials of the Na-tional Counter Terrorism Author-ity (NACTA) to collect intelli-gence reports and share informa-tion with provincial authorities,Express News reported.

Mobile services have beensuspended in parts of Pakistanand pillion riding banned inKarachi and Lahore, in an attemptto keep all processions peaceful.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifhas condemned the attack andvowed to eliminate terrorists fromthe country.

"We will not let the terroristssucceed in their aims to divide andscare the nation which standsunited against the twisted ideol-ogy of the extremists," he said ina statement.

He said operation Zarb-e-Azbunderway in North WaziristanAgency against the local and for-eign terrorists will be carried outuntil the last terrorist is taken out.

Meanwhile, the US today of-fered any assistance to Pakistanto track down the perpetratorsbehind the "senseless" terroristattack.

"This act demonstrates terror-ists' blatant disregard for life. TheUnited States remains steadfast inits commitment to the people ofPakistan in their efforts to counterterrorism, uphold the rule of law,and build a peaceful future forthemselves and their children,"Ambassador Richard Olson saidin a statement.-PTI

At least 61 people, including 10 women,eight children and three security personnel,have died in the attack that took placewhen a suicide attacker detonated a power-ful bomb at Wagah. Over 100 injured arebeing treated in different hospitals in Lahore

US condemns Wagahsuicide blast

WASHINGTON: The US hascondemned the suicide blast nearthe Wagah-Attari border betweenIndia and Pakistan, which killedat least 61 people on the Pakistaniside over the weekend, describ-ing it as a senseless act of terror.

"We certainly condemn thesenseless terrorist act at theWagah border post on November2nd. We offer our deepest condo-lences to the fami-lies of those killed inthe attack and wishthose injured aquick recovery,"State DepartmentSpokesperson JenPsaki told reporters.

The US, she said,supports the Paki-stani government'sefforts to bring allthose involved inplanning and ex-ecuting the attack tojustice, and standsready to provideany appropriate as-sistance to authori-ties investigating this tragic at-tack.

"We remain steadfast in ourcommitment to assisting thepeople of Pakistan in their effortsto counterterrorism, uphold the

rule of law and build a peacefulfuture for themselves and theirchildren," Psaki said in responseto a question.

Over 100 were injured in theblast that had taken place when alarge number of people were re-turning after attending the flaglowering ceremony at the mainIndo-Pak land border crossing,which is heavily guarded by the

Punjab Rangers.A young suicide-bomber blew

himself up near the main exit gateof Parade Avenue at 6.03 pm (lo-cal time), causing colossal devas-tation. -PTI

State Department Spokesperson Jen Psaki

The robbery at Singh'shouse was the fourth onethat has occurred inless than two weeks


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Following the attack, formerAfghan President Karzai de-nounced the attack and madestrong statements supporting re-lations with India," the report said.

The Pentagon in-formed the Congress thatIndia continues to sup-port Afghanistan, believ-ing a secure and stableAfghanistan will benefitthe region and facilitateeconomic corridors intoCentral Asia.

"India and Afghani-stan signed a strategicpartnership declarationin 2011, which formalizedcooperation on gover-nance, economics, com-merce, education, public adminis-tration, and security and law en-forcement," it said.

Subsequent engagements arereinforcing the positive relation-ship between Afghanistan andIndia, the report said.

"India supports a variety ofhigh-visibility projects and initia-tives in Afghanistan. These ven-

'Pak using militants asproxies to counter army'

tures are focused primarily onmajor infrastructure projects, in-cluding electricity generation andtransmission, road construction,and mining," it said.

"India has shown increasedinterest in Afghan security assis-

tance, though activities in this arearemain limited.

India currently offers Indiabased training to ANSF person-nel across a number of specialtiesand the Indian government com-mitted to expand this program. In-dia does not provide direct militarysupport or training in Afghani-stan," the Pentagon said. -PTI

Cont’d from page 6

Rani Gaidinliu's legacy to be resurrectedFRANK FERNANDES

India Post News Service

MUMBAI: Rani Ma Gaidinliu,a Naga freedom fighter, spent 14years in jail from 1933 to 1947fighting the British. Her name maynot ring a bell outside her homestate, and few would know thatJawahar Lal Nehru gave her thetitle 'Rani' in 1937.

In 2015, her centenary year,Gaidinliu's legacy will be resur-rected, not by Dynasty lovers, butby a group of like minded peoplewho seek creating awarenessabout our easily forgotten or noteasily remembered freedom fight-ers. On November 24 and 25, his-torians and the Itihas SankalanSamiti will conduct a two-dayseminar in Guwahati on her legacy,thus bringing a new icon into itsnationalist tabernacle.

A National ImplementationCommittee has asked the govern-ment to confer a Bharat Ratna onGaidinliu. Prime Minister NarendraModi is systematically seeking tore-establish oft forgotten nation-alist icons. Nanaji Deshmukh,Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, SriAurobindo, Swami Vivekananda,Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Hemu

Vikramaditya, Ayyankali, SriNarayana Guru, Rajendra Cholaand Shaheed Ashfaqullah Khan

are the new presiding deities ofholistic Indian history.

Martyrs are symbols of free-

dom, celebrated as heroes by thenations they fought for. However,it is not history but the govern-

ment that decides the pantheonof national heroes. The longer therule of a personality or party, its

their template of heroes that be-come entrenched in the publicimagination. "In Communist Rus-sia and China, the likes of JosephStalin are venerated as heroes,while in India the Nehru-Gandhifamily have turned into demo-cratic divinities," says KalidasPatel, a MumbaI based Charteredaccountant and a community ac-tivist.

Traditionally, the social insti-tutions and village ad-ministration weremanned by men only.Rani Ma - a great vision-ary and God-gifted di-vine person understoodthe significant role ofwomen in building astrong Naga society.

After assassinationof Haipou Jadonang on29th August 1931 atImphal by the thenwhite rulers, the leader-ship of Freedom Move-ment fell on the shoul-ders of Rani Ma - then a younggirl of 17. She traveled length andbreadth of Zeliangrong area, nowscattered in all the three states ofManipur, Nagaland and Assam.She strengthened the FreedomArmy; acquired rifles and lethalweapons for her jawans and im-

parted rigorous military training.The Mahila Battalion of her

Army was a force to reckon with.Her inspiring speeches pouredlife even in most passive persons.Rani Ma's fight for the freedom ofthe country from the British rulemade her a role-mode for millionsof women throughout northeastand the whole country.

In recognition to her servicesto the nation, Government of

Bharat awarded her Tamrapatra in1972 and Padma Bhushan in 1982.She was also awarded VivekanandSewa Samman by Bada BazaarKumar Sabha Kolkatta. The Indianpostal department brought out aPostal stamp to commemorate hermemory.

Her inspiring speechespoured life even in mostpassive persons. Rani Ma'sfight for the freedom of thecountry from the British rulemade her a role-mode formillions of women through-out northeast and thewhole country

Rani Ma Gaidinliu

India committed to Maldives'security: Swaraj

External Affairs Sushma Swaraj with her Maldivian counterpart Dunya Maumoon

MALE: India has reaffirmed itsstrong commitment towards secu-rity, stability and prosperity ofMaldives while favoring expan-sion of ties in areas like trade andinvestment.

External Affairs Sushma Swaraj

held talks with her Maldiviancounterpart Dunya Maumoonduring which bilateral and re-gional issues of mutual interestswere discussed.

Swaraj made a transit halt hereon her return from Mauritius,where she was on a three-dayvisit.

Both Ministers discussed mat-ters of bilateral importance, includ-ing upcoming projects in

Maldives executed with India'sassistance.

During the meeting, Swaraj ex-tended Victory Day greetings tothe people of Maldives and the

Foreign Minister and reiteratedIndia's strong commitment to-wards prosperity, stability andsecurity of Maldives, officialssaid.

She also noted that India andMaldives were entering the 50th

year of es-tablishmentof diplo-matic tiesand severale v e n t swould be or-ganized inthe comingyear to com-m e m o r a t ethis impor-tant mile-stone in thebilateral rela-tionship.

Over theyears, Indiahas ex-tended eco-nomic andtechnical as-

sistance to Maldives including inthe areas of health, education, hu-man resource development, infra-structure development and capac-ity building. -PTI


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India calls for enhanced support to LLDCsUNITED NATIONS: India has said that

the new development agenda post-2015must ensure enhanced availability of inter-national financial and technological sup-port to landlocked developing countries.

India has also expressed hope that theinternational community will put in placeholistic frameworks to help LandlockedDeveloping Countries to achieve their de-velopment objectives and sustain robusteconomic growth.

"As the global community charts a newpath for development in the post-2015 pe-riod with the overarching objective of end-ing poverty and giving a life of dignity to

all, the new development agenda for theLandlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs)would need to address their concerns in aholistic manner," General (Retd) Vijay KumarSingh, India's Minister of State for ExternalAffairs said.

Addressing the 2nd UN Conference onLandlocked Developing Countries inVienna, Singh said it was imperative thatLLDCs are able to generate and sustainrobust economic growth and structurallytransform their economies to be able toovercome the negative effects of their geo-graphic constraints.

"The new development agenda must also

ensure enhanced availability of interna-tional financial and technological supportto LLDCs in the spirit of a strengthenedglobal partnership for their development,"he said.

Singh said India was deeply sensitiveto the unique challenges faced by the land-locked developing countries on account oftheir geography but stressed that thesechallenges can be overcome.

"India enjoys close and historical tieswith its landlocked neighbors and attachesthe highest priority to further enhancingour friendly and good neighborly relations,including through the strengthening oftrade relations and cooperation on transitissues," he said.

Noting that the new Indian governmenthas put a renewed emphasis on buildingthe linkages between the countries in itsimmediate neighborhood, Singh high-lighted India's historic cultural and eco-nomic ties with the LLDCs in its region in-cluding Nepal, Bhutan and Afghanistan.

"India has a longstanding tradition ofbeing a reliable partner in south-south co-operation sharing our limited means andexpertise in a spirit of solidarity," he said.

While this is not a substitute for thedevelopment assistance such as the Offi-cial development assistance (ODA) by thedeveloped countries, we remain committed

to continue our development partnershipthrough trade measures, concessionalloans and grants, training and scholarshipsand other forms of joint ventures, he said.

Singh, however, added that the LLDCsas a group continue to face daunting de-velopmental challenges due to constraintsimposed by their geographical location.

"Despite high growth rates, the share ofLLDCs in global trade remains modest andrestricted to a few products.

Landlocked developing countries remainfragile and vulnerable to external shocks,not only because of their high transportand transit costs, but also due to their lackof economic diversification, limited produc-tive capacities and low export competitive-ness," he said.

He said that an effective solution to theproblems faced by LLDCs must also ad-dress the constraints and challenges facedby the transit developing countries thatneighbor landlocked developing countriesin a holistic and integrated manner.

"It is important therefore for the interna-tional community, development partnersand the international organizations to giveequal emphasis to supporting the effortsof the transit developing countries," hesaid.-PTI

Gen. Vijay Kumar Singh

"India has a longstandingtradition of being a reliablepartner in south-southcooperation sharing ourlimited means andexpertise in a spirit ofsolidarity," he said


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India, Mauritius to safeguard Indian OceanPORT LOUIS: The Indian Navy

is committed to ensuring the safetyand security of the strategicallyvital Indian Ocean region in coop-eration with the coast guards ofMauritius, External Affairs Minis-ter Sushma Swaraj said here.

"Maritime security is of vital sig-nificance for an island nation likeMauritius as well as for a countrywith a vast coastline like India,"Swaraj said in her speech here.

"A large part of our tradepasses through the vast expanseof the Indian Ocean. Safety andsecurity of the sea-lanes is thusindispensable for our territorial,economic and energy security,"she added.

"The Indian Navy is commit-ted to ensuring the safety andsecurity of these sea-lanes in co-

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addresses Mauritius- India Business meet on November 3

Mauritian waters to enhance anddeepen security ties.

"These ships have been de-ployed to Mauritius with a view toqualitatively enhancing our longstanding and multi-faceted coop-eration in ensuring peace, stabilityand maritime security in the IndianOcean region," Swaraj said.

"This will go a long way in fur-ther strengthening our deep-rooted cooperation and that ourfriendship, including in defensesector, will grow from strength tostrength in times to come," sheadded.

Earlier, Swaraj met MauritianPresident Rajkeswur Purryag andPrime Minister NavinchandraRamgoolam and discussed bilat-eral and regional issues of com-mon interest. -PTI

operation with the National CoastGuard of Mauritius," she said.

Swaraj was on a three-day visitto the Indian Ocean nation, to cel-

ebrate 'Apravasi Divas', marking180 years since the first Indianindentured laborers arrived inMauritius.

Three ships from the WesternFleet of the Indian Navy namely,INS Mumbai, INS Deepak and INSTalwar were also docked in

India to include Mauritiusin Visa on Arrival scheme

PORT LOUIS: India is workingon the inclusion of Mauritius inthe group of countries to be listedin its Visa on Arrival scheme, Ex-ternal Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj said here describing thebilateral ties as truly unique andextraordinary.

"Mauritius was the first andlargest recipient of indentured la-bor from India, and is home tothe Aapravasi Ghat, a spiritualand emotional shrine to thememory of these brave souls,"Swaraj said at the inaugurationof the International Conferenceon Indentured LaborRoute Project here.

"India's relationshipwith Mauritius is trulyunique and extraordi-nary, and is anchoredin the footsteps im-printed on the sixteensteps of the AapravasiGhat by the first Indi-ans that landed there180 years back," shesaid.

Swaraj said Indiahas long supportedMauritius in all its efforts to re-search, document and preservethis precious history, and the In-dentured Labor Route Project canalso be assured of the full sup-port of India.

Praising the Indian communityaround the world, Swaraj said,"India is extremely proud of itsDiaspora around the world, and

its achievements in variousfields, be it political, economic,scientific, or cultural.

"From Ebene to Silicon Valley,the Indian Diaspora has madevaluable contribution to thesocio-economic fabric of theiradopted countries. We also be-lieve that the Indian Diaspora hasmuch more to contribute to thebuilding of modern India.

To facilitate, and promote theengagement of Diaspora, the newgovernment recently announcedthe merging of Persons of IndianOrigin and Overseas Citizens of

India schemes as well as otherbenefits.

"Meanwhile, we have alreadygranted lifetime visa-free accessto India to all PIO card-holders.We are also working on the in-clusion of Mauritius in the nextgroup of countries to be includedin our Visa on Arrival scheme,"she said.-PTI

‘I would also like to take thisopportunity to invite you allto attend the PravasiBharatiya Divas being orga-nized in Gandhinagar,Gujarat from 7-9 January2015, which happens to bethe 100th anniversary ofGandhiji's return to India’

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India, Pakistan spar overKashmir at UNGA

UNITED NATIONS: Sparringover Kashmir at the UN GeneralAssembly, India and Pakistanhave again exchanged verbal vol-leys over the issue with the In-dian delegate dubbing the remarksof his Pakistani counterpart as"unsolicited comments" that were"factually incorrect".

According to a summary onthe UN website of a meeting inthe General Assembly's ThirdCommittee that deals with social,humanitarian and cultural issues,Pakistani delegate Diyar Khanraised the issue of Kashmir bysaying that he regretted that thepeople of Jammu and Kashmir hadbeen "deprived of their right toself-determination."

Participating in the session onracism, racial discrimination, xeno-phobia and right to self-determi-nation here, Khan said the rightto self-determination must be ex-ercised in an environment freefrom coercion or duress, as elec-toral processes held in situationsof foreign occupation or aliendomination did not reflect people'strue wishes.

He said self-determination didnot lapse with the passage of timeand neither could it be "set aside"by charges of terrorism.

Indian delegate Mayank Joshistressed that Pakistan's "unsolic-ited comments" pertaining toJammu and Kashmir were "factu-ally incorrect", according to themeeting's summary.

He said free, fair and open elec-tions were regularly held in thatterritory at all levels.

Joshi said India was a multi-re-

ligious, multi-ethnic and multi-lin-gual society, fully committed tothe goal of eliminating all forms ofdiscrimination.

Exercising the Right of Reply,the Pakistani representative saidthat the Indian delegation had"alleged" that Jammu and Kash-mir was part of India.

He refuted this assertion madeby India saying that the UN Se-curity Council had adopted sev-

eral resolutions declaring Jammuand Kashmir as a "disputed terri-tory". Khan claimed that the elec-tions in Jammu and Kashmir hadbeen rejected by the United Na-tions and the Kashmiri people.

Resolutions had clarified thatno electoral exercise conductedby the Indian authorities could bea substitute for a free plebisciteheld by the United Nations, hesaid.-PTI

New app tells how longyou have left to live

WASHINGTON: Developersof a new app claim it can deter-mine the date of your death byanalyzing data on your lifestyle,height, blood pressure, sleep andphysical activity.

The app, calledDeadline, usesiphone's Healthkitto "determineyour date of expi-ration."

Healthkit toolrecords statisticalinformation, likethe user's heightand diastolicblood pressure,and monitors theirsleep and theamount of steps they take in a day.

Using this data and a shortsurvey with more questions abouttheir lifestyle, the app determinesthe approximate date and time of

a person's demise, and thencounts down how much time theyhave left, 'bustle.com' reported.

The app's developers Gist LLCpointed out in the product's de-

scription, "no appcan really accu-rately determinewhen you willdie."

Instead, thecompany sug-gests using theapp as a way tomonitor your ownhealth and moti-vate yourself tomake betterlifestyle choicesor consult a phy-

sician, if necessary.Users can change their pre-

dicted date of death by followinga healthy diet and an active exer-cise routine. -PTI


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Indian-origin businessmanshot dead by robbers

Indian-origin man jailedfor 15 years for fraud

LONDON: A 35-year-old In-dian-origin businessman hasbeen killed by robbers after heconfronted them outside his shopin Manchester in the UK, policesaid.

Pragaret Singh, a father of threeyoung children, was shot deadwhen he confronted two robbers

who attacked him as he closed theshop for the night.

Singh was found with gunshotwounds to his abdomen and chestat Manchester Food Traders inthe Openshaw suburb.

Detectives said Singh, knownto family and friends as Charlie, isbelieved to have grappled with atleast one of the men before beingshot. Singh died later in a hospital.

Detective Superintendent JonChadwick said: "Although thisinvestigation remains in its in-fancy, at this stage we believeCharlie's death was the result ofsimply trying to protect his busi-ness from armed robbers, duringwhich he was shot at least twice."

The robbers are believed to

have made off with a "largeamount of money".

Armed officers swooped onthe scene in Wood Street, eastManchester, and found Singh,from Swinton, lying nearby.

Chadwick added that Singh'sfamily had been left absolutelyand utterly distraught" at his mur-der.

He said: "At this stage of our

inquiry we believe this is the tragicdeath of an innocent businessmanand father-of-three who was sim-ply trying to protect his livelihoodfrom criminals."

"As a result, Charlie's entirefamily have suffered an unimag-inable loss. Their lives have beenshattered and specially-trainedofficers will be providing as muchsupport as the family need overthe coming days and weeks,"Chadwick said.

Singh's brother Toggy told theManchester Evening News hisbrother was a hard-working fam-ily man with a wife, Sukhwinder,and children aged two, five andseven.

Assistant Chief Constable ZoeSheard said there would be a vis-ible police presence in the area forthe coming days and weeks.

"I would also urge people toensure their security measures arein place, such as making sure anyCCTV is working, looking out foranyone suspicious hangingaround the area and being awareof your surroundings when lock-ing up," he added. -PTI

NEW YORK: An Indian-originman has been sentenced to 15years in prison in the US for a USD20 million investment fraud inwhich he targeted members of theIndian- Fijian community.

Vincent Singh, 45, of Elk Grovewas sentenced by the US court to15 and a half years in prison forwire fraud and false statements inbankruptcy, the US Attorney Ben-jamin Wagner said.

According to court docu-ments, Singh carried out an invest-ment fraud through an entityknown as the Perfect FinancialGroup.

He targeted 190 members of theethnic Indian-Fijian community foran investment fraud that grossedapproximately USD 20 million.

Singh told investors that hewas using their money for hardmoney lending but actually used

USD 12 million for gambling, madeUSD two million in cash with-drawals, spent USD 880,000 on afilm project and spent more thanUSD 1 million on other businessventures.

He also used millions of dol-lars of investor money to pay earlyinvestors, which made the enter-prise look successful.

The scheme collapsed, andwhen Singh declared bankruptcy,he failed to disclose 19 of the bankaccounts that he had used in theinvestment fraud.

"Singh convinced people whoconsidered him a friend to investwith him. Rather than invest thefunds, he spent it on gambling andfrivolous projects. The sentencebrings a measure of justice, but itcannot right the wrongs Singh'sconduct visited on his nearly 200victims," Wagner said. -PTI

Charlie's entire family have suffered anunimaginable loss. Their lives have beenshattered and specially-trained officers willbe providing as much support as the familyneed over the coming days and weeks,"Chadwick said

Missing Indianwaiter's body found

ROME: The body of an Indianwaiter, who was the last missingvictim of the shipwrecked CostaConcordia, has been found whiledismantling the vessel, nearlythree years after Italy's worst post-war maritime disaster.

The remains of the 32nd andlast victim from the January 2012Costa Concordia disaster, Indianwaiter Russel Rebello, were foundin a cabin in the wreck in Genoawhere it is set to be scrapped.

Russel Rebello's brother Kevin,in a Facebook post said, "CostaConcordia after 1,025 days. Ipromised my family thatI will bring back homemy brother someday...My youngerbrother RusselRebello's body has fi-nally been found ondeck 8 in a cabin of thewrecked Concordia,who guarded him formore that 1,025 days."

"I don't have wordsto express. Just My pain my tears,my heart pounding harder and mybody trembling, when i Broke thenews to my parents a whileago...Thanks to everyone whoprayed and believed that one dayhe would be found," Kevin said.

"Now we wait for the DNA testand the procedures to give Russelhis final resting place with honor,respect and a hero's welcome. In-dia we are coming," he said.

The remains of the 31st victim,

Sicilian passenger Maria GraziaTrecarichi, were found in August.

A year after the Concordia hit aTuscan rock on January 13, 2012 inthe disaster, a Spanish diver diedwhile working on the salvage opera-tion, taking the total death toll to 33.

In addition to the 32 peoplewho lost their lives in the disas-ter, hundreds were injured.

The incident also caused mas-sive economic damage for CostaCruises and the residents of GiglioIsland, which is a popular touristdestination, Italian news agencyANSA reported.

Former captain FrancescoSchettino is on trial for multiplemanslaughter and dereliction ofduty, and could face up to 20years in prison if he is found guilty.

Dubbed "Captain Coward" bythe media for allegedly abandon-ing ship without overseeing theevacuation, Schettino claims hisimage and actions have been dis-torted by investigators and re-cently called on judges for a newprobe.-PTI

The incident also causedmassive economic damagefor Costa Cruises and theresidents of Giglio Island,which is a popular touristdestination

Bill Gates to give USD 500million for malaria

WASHINGTON: US philan-thropist Bill Gates has announcedhe will donate over USD 500 mil-lion to fight malaria and other in-fectious diseases in the develop-ing world, saying the Ebola out-break is a call to action.

The former Microsoft CEO toldthe 63rd annual meeting of theAmerican Society of TropicalMedicine and Hygiene in NewOrleans that his Gates Foundationis committing more than USD 500million in 2014 "to reduce the bur-den of malaria, pneumonia, diar-rheal diseases, and an array ofparasitic infections that are lead-ing causes of death and disabilityin developing countries," a state-ment said.

Gates also said that in additionto that pledge, his foundation hasboosted its annual funding formalaria by 30 percent.

Gates described the Ebola epi-demic that has killed more than4,900 people in West Africa sincethe beginning of the year as a"critical moment in the history ofglobal health," and said theworld's largest outbreak of thehemorrhagic fever underscoresthe need for stronger efforts tostay ahead of disease threats such

as drug-resistant malaria and den-gue fever.

"The Ebola epidemic hasshown, once again, that in today'sinterconnected world, health chal-lenges anywhere create healthchallenges everywhere -- and thebest way to overcome those chal-lenges is to dedicate ourselves to

the great cause of reducing theglobal burden of infectious dis-ease," Gates said in his preparedremarks.

The Gates Foundation an-nounced in September a USD 50-million commitment to help scaleup efforts to contain the Ebola

outbreak.The more than USD 500 million

announced by him includes overUSD 150 million to the PATH Ma-laria Vaccine Initiative to advancedevelopment of next-generationmalaria vaccines, and USD 29 mil-lion to the Clinton Health AccessInitiative to support malaria elimi-

nation effortsin Southern Af-rica and theG r e a t e rMekong Sub-region ofS o u t h e a s tAsia.

Gates saidthe rise in re-sistance to ef-fective malariadrugs inS o u t h e a s tAsia shouldserve as a warn-ing, that better

research and development isneeded to "stay ahead of the natu-ral evolution of infectious dis-eases."

Gates said that eradicating ma-laria by the middle of this centuryis "both a necessary objective andan attainable one." -AFP

Bill Gates

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No decision on compensationto 1984 riot victims

NEW DELHI: The Home Min-istry has informed the ElectionCommission that it has not takena decision on providing Rs fivelakh compensation to the next ofkin of the 1984 anti-Sikh riot vic-tims and has thus not violated theModel Code ofConduct.

Respondingto an EC letter,the ministryclarified that ithas not taken adecision and notformally an-nounced it.

As the dead-line ended thisevening for it torespond to theEC letter, theministry made itsstand clear on the issue.

The ministry told the poll bodythat it has not violated the MCC,EC sources said.

It may be recalled that the Gov-ernment had expressed its inten-tion to give Rs five lakh each tothe next of kin of 3,325 victims ofthe 1984 anti-Sikh riots triggeredafter assassination of the thenPrime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Of the 3,325 victims, 2,733 were

killed in Delhi alone while rest ofthe victims were from UttarPradesh, Haryana, MadhyaPradesh, Maharashtra and otherstates.

The Narendra Modi Govern-ment had received several peti-

tions from various Sikh organiza-tions in the last three monthsabout the grievances of the vic-tims' families.

The fresh compensation is ex-pected to cost the exchequer Rs166 crore.

The anti-Sikhs riots were trig-gered following the assassinationof the then Prime Minister IndiraGandhi by her Sikh bodyguardson October 31, 1984. -PTI

Home Minister Rajnath Singh

Sikhs seek Obama's helpon justice for 1984 riots

WASHINGTON: Sikh-Ameri-cans have sought US PresidentBarack Obama's help in gettingjustice for the victims of the 1984anti-Sikh riots that occurred afterthe assassination of the thenPrime Minister Indira Gandhi.

"Only 30 people have beenconvicted for these crimes, withpolice and prosecutorial authori-ties failing to bring gov-ernment and party offi-cials allegedly involvedto justice," a number ofSikh American organi-zations said in a letterto the US President.

"Given the importantrole that India is poisedto play, and is increas-ingly seeking, in setting interna-tional policy - potentially as a per-manent member of the United Na-tions Security Council - we urgeyou to address impunity for the1984 premeditated violence inyour engagement with India," theletter said.

Written jointly by Ensaaf, Hu-man Rights Watch and the SikhCoalition, the letter urges theObama administration tostrengthen its engagement with

India on the need to provide jus-tice to the victims and survivors.

The letter further says that "or-ganized massacres" followed theassassination of Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi by two of her Sikhbodyguards on October 31, 1984.

"However, the entire Sikh com-munity was targeted in retribution,while the Delhi police largely did

nothing to protect them," the let-ter said.

"Although the governmentpromptly convicted and executedthose responsible for conspiringGandhi's assassination, it has al-lowed most of those responsiblefor the anti-Sikh violence to eludeprosecution, owing to flawed in-vestigations, intimidation of wit-nesses and the destruction andsuppression of evidence by po-lice officials," it said. -PTI

‘The entire Sikh communitywas targeted in retribution,while the Delhi policelargely did nothing to protectthem,’ the letter said

World Trade Center reopens,13 years after attack

Charles Townsend, CEO of Conde Nast, arrives at One World Trade Center

with Patricia Röckenwagner, senior vice president of Corporate Branding

and Communications, Monday, Nov. 3, in New York

NEW YORK: The silvery sky-scraper that rose from the ashesof the September 11, 2001 terrorattacks to become a symbol ofAmerican resilience has openedfor business, as 175 employees ofthe magazine publishing giant

Conde Nast settled into their firstday of work there.

The opening of the country'stallest building, One World TradeCenter, marked a symbolic returnto a sense of normalcy for the sitewhere the twin towers fell morethan 13 years ago.

"The New York City skyline is

whole again," said Patrick Foye,executive director of the Port Au-thority of New York and New Jer-sey, which owns both the buildingand the World Trade Center site.

Steps away from the new 1,776-foot (541-metre) tower are two

memorial fountains built on thefootprints of the decimated tow-ers, a reminder of the more than2,700 people who died.

Conde Nast, publisher ofVogue, The New Yorker and Van-ity Fair, is expected to move inabout 3,000 more employees byearly next year, eventually occu-

pying 25 floors of the USD 3.9 bil-lion, 104-story tower.

Privately, some Conde Nastemployees acknowledged thatthey were nervous about workingin a skyscraper that could againbe a terrorist target.

Foye countered that it's "themost secure office building inAmerica." And its chief architect,TJ Gottesdiener, said the high-risewas built with steel-reinforcedconcrete that makes it as terrorattack-proof as possible - muchstronger than the original towersthat collapsed when the hijackedplanes hit.

The stairwells are built with ahardened concrete core, and widerto allow firefighters to move whilepeople exit. The building's me-chanical systems are also encasedin hardened concrete.

"If my son told me he had a jobin the trade center Tower 1, I wouldhave no qualms about him beingthere," Gottesdiener said.

One World Trade Center is 60per cent leased. Its eight-year con-struction came after years of politi-cal, financial and legal infighting thatthreatened to derail the project.

The area has prospered in re-cent years. About 60,000 more resi-dents now live in the area "threetimes more than before 9/11" keep-ing streets, restaurants and shopsalive even after Wall Street andother offices close for the day.

Still, it's a bittersweet victory."The city and the world were

watching us, and we had to do itright, to do it better than before,"Gottesdiener said.

"And we did it, we finally didit." -AP

World acknowledging Pak support to terrorNEW DELHI: India has de-

scribed Pentagon's report thatPakistan was using militantgroups as proxies to counter thesuperior Indian military amanifestation of growingacknowledgment globallyof the extent of the neigh-boring country's involve-ment in international terror-ism.

In a blunt assessment ofterrorist safe havens in Pa-kistan, the Pentagon hastold the US Congress that"Afghan- and Indian-fo-cused militants continue tooperate from Pakistan terri-tory to the detriment of Af-ghan and regional stability."

"Pakistan uses these proxyforces to hedge against the lossof influence in Afghanistan and

to counter India's superior mili-tary," the Pentagon told in its lat-est six- monthly report on the cur-rent situation in Afghanistan.

Reacting to the Pentagon re-port, official spokesperson in Ex-ternal Affairs Ministry Syed

Akbaruddin said,"It manifests a growing ac-

knowledgment in the internationalcommunity of the extent of

Pakistan's involvement in in-ternational terrorism."

In its report running intomore than 100 pages, thePentagon further added that"These relationships runcounter to Pakistan's publiccommitment to support Af-ghan-led reconciliation.Such groups continue to actas the primary irritant in Af-ghan-Pakistan bilateral rela-tions" and referred to the at-tack on the Indian Consu-late in Herat, which it saidwas done just ahead of the

swearing-in ceremony ofNarendra Modi as Prime Minister.-PTI

Syed Akbaruddin


www.indiapost.com

Top Stories

Penn varsity offers 'wasting time oninternet' course

India's past in biting satireby Sudhir Tailang

Chappell rubbishes but teammatesback Tendulkar's claims

NEW DELHI/MELBOURNE:Sachin Tendulkar's scathing at-tack on Greg Chappell has re-ceived the whole-hearted backingof two of his then teammates -Zaheer Khan and HarbhajanSingh - even as the Australian hitback at the batting maestro's claimthat he tried to topple RahulDravid as captain.

A day after Tendulkar's revela-tions that Chappell tried offeringhim the captaincy at the expenseof Dravid barely a few monthsbefore the 2007 World Cup, theAustralian denied discussingsuch a possibility with the now-retired legend.

In his autobiography - 'Playingit My Way' - Tendulkar hasclaimed that theAustralian visitedhis house and triedto convince him totake over the cap-taincy from Dravid.

But Chappellsaid he wasstunned by theclaims.

"Whilst I don'tpropose to get intoa war of words, Ican state quiteclearly that duringmy time as Indiancoach I never con-templated Sachinreplacing RahulDravid as captain,"Chappell said in astatement.

"I was therefore very surprisedto read the claims made in thebook. During those years, I onlyever visited Sachin's home once,and that was with our physio andassistant coach during Sachin'srehabilitation from injury, at least12 months earlier than what wasreported in the book," he said.

Chappell said he enjoyed apleasant afternoon at Tendulkar'shome and the captaincy issuenever came up for discussion.

Tendulkar, in the book, said thathe was shocked by Chappell'ssuggestion and the lack of respectshown to Dravid.

Tendulkar is scathing in hiscriticism of Chappell, who was thenational coach from 2005 to 2007,describing him as a "ringmasterwho imposed his ideas on theplayers without showing anysigns of being concerned aboutwhether they felt comfortable ornot".

However, Zaheer andHarbhajan supported Tendulkar'sversion of the events, stating thatthey too had been victims ofChappell's dictatorial style of func-tioning.

While Zaheer claimed thatChappell tried his best to prevent

his comeback into the nationalteam and called him a "controlfreak", Harbhajan said that theAustralian "temporarily de-stroyed Indian cricket" and tar-geted the senior players.

"After he was appointed thecoach of the Indian team, he oncecame up to me and told "Zaheer,you will not be playing for Indiatill I remain the coach," Zaheer toldPTI. Zaheer said that Chappell'stwo-year phase in Indian cricketwas "easily the worst and darkestphase" that he could remember.

"I understood one thing. Thisman had agendas and was gettingpersonal. He had his set ideas andif you didn't fall in line, then youhave to be prepared to fall by the

wayside.He tried to finish my career but

I believe I came back even stron-ger in South Africa during the endof 2006," said the left-arm pacer,who has 311 Test and 282 ODIwickets in his 14-year-interna-tional career.

Zaheer didn't stop short of call-ing him a "control freak".

"He had some issues with thesenior guys in the team. He triedmany ways to stop my comebackinto Indian team during the phasewhen I was out of the team fornearly a year. I came to know laterthat every time when my name wasdiscussed, he (Chappell) wouldfind means to delay my comebackby 3-4 months," added Zaheer.

Harbhajan echoed the senti-ments but added that a few play-ers in the team were complicit infeeding wrong information toChappell.

"Chappell destroyed Indiancricket to such an extent that itrequired at least three years toagain get back on track. The worstpart was some players in that team,who sucked up to the coach andwould supply selective misinfor-mation creating bigger rifts,"Harbhajan said.-PTI

Sachin Tendulkar and Greg Chappell

WASHINGTON: A prestigiousIvy League University is offeringa new course on 'wasting time onthe Internet' which requires stu-dents to stare at a screen for hours

and only interact via chat roomsand social media.

The Department of English atthe University of Pennsylvania isoffering the course titled "Wast-ing time on the Internet" for thespring 2015 semester.

According to the course de-scription on the university'swebsite, "we spend our lives infront of screens, mostly wastingtime: checking social media,

watching cat videos, chatting, andshopping. What if these activities- clicking, SMSing, status-updat-ing, and random surfing - wereused as raw material for creatingcompelling and emotional worksof literature?"

"Could we reconstruct our au-tobiography using onlyFacebook? Could we write a greatnovella by plundering our Twitterfeed? Could we reframe theinternet as the greatest poem everwritten?

"Using our laptops and a wificonnection as our only materials,this class will focus on the alchemi-cal recuperation of aimless surf-ing into substantial works of lit-erature," the description said.

Students will be required to at-tend a weekly three hour seminarwhere they stare at the screen forthree hours, only interactingthrough chat rooms, bots, socialmedia and listservs.

The students will also explore thelong history of the recuperation ofboredom and time-wasting throughcritical texts by thinkers such asJohn Cage, Betty Friedan and GuyDebord. Distraction, multi-tasking,and aimless drifting is mandatory,the course description added. -PTI

NEW DELHI: Artfully chroni-cling three decades of thecountry's tumultuous politicalpast, renowned cartoonist SudhirTailang's solo exhibition "Hereand Now (Rajiv to Modi)," offersa unique look into the events thatshaped the destiny of a nation, aglimpse unsparing in purview andbiting in satire.

"All I wanted to do when I wasyounger was to be a gate keeperat cinema theatres. But now Ihave ended up as a cartoonist,"said the renowned cartoonist dur-ing the inauguration of his exhibi-tion here recently.

"You are not a politician of anyconsequence if you are not in car-toons. It's a measurement of yourstature in politics. When a politi-cian stops appearing in cartoons,that's the beginning of the end ofhis political career," he added.

Tailang, who in the recent pastsuffered from brain tumor, hasmade a remarkable comeback fromthe surgery to the art gallery. "Youcan remove a tumor from my brain,but not the humor," he quipped.

From Rajiv Gandhi to NarendraModi, the exhibition traces thefortunes of the Prime Ministers ofthe country in the backdrop ofimportant happenings. Carica-tures of political figures like I KGujral and Manmohan Singh, startoff as sidekicks but slowly evolve

into main subjects of thesketches.

Personalities cutting across thepolitical spectrum including se-nior BJP veteran L K Advani, LokSabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan,Former Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit,Left leader Sitaram Yechury andAam Aadmi Party chief ArvindKejriwal, all of whom and who hadone time or the other been thesubject of Tailang's scathing eye

turned up at the inauguration ofhis show.

The cartoonist demonstratedthat he was as outspoken in reallife as he was in his cartoons.

"My biggest victim has beenAdvaniji. I have depicted him inover a thousand cartoons, mostof which have been critical.

Mr Yechury has also appeared

in my sketches several times. Ihave often said that his is theonly leftist who is left," he said.

"It is only politicians who canlaugh at themselves can betrusted and those who cannot dothe same cannot be trusted toprotect democratic ideals of thecountry," he said.

"It is unfortunate that in a de-mocracy we have politicians whothrow people into jail for depict-ing them as cartoons.

Then there was the time whenthe Parliament decided to bannot just a Shankar cartoon on BR Ambedkar in one text book butall cartoons, on all leaders, in alltextbooks," he said.

Tailang said he reveled inhighlighting a topic close to hisheart- the freedom of artistic ex-pression.

He has sketched an array ofpopular comic characters includ-ing Tintin, Donald Duck andBeetle Bailey holding placardsproclaiming 'laugh and let laugh',which also finds its place in theongoing exhibition.

Tailang recalled NarasimhaRao as the personality he en-joyed drawing the most.

"Narasimha Rao was my fa-vorite caricature. Initially mysketches did not resemble him,but with time he started resem-bling my sketches," he said.-PTI

Tailang, who in therecent past sufferedfrom brain tumor, hasmade a remarkablecomeback. “Youcan remove a tumorfrom my brain, butnot the humor,"

www.indiapost.com November 7, 2014

COMMUNITYACROSS AMERICA

16 India Post

Desi News

Details on page 23

Grandcelebration ofTulsi Vivah at

Grayslake temple

Details on page 19

Details on page 18

Details on page 22

Sri Sri highlights value ofmeditation and joy of giving

ZANKAR DESAI & ASIAN MEDIA USA

CHICAGO: Yatra Tatra Sarvatra- here there and everywhere -wherever Indian spiritual Guru SriSri Ravi Shankar goes he is sureto get the warmest welcome andreception not only from membersof the Indian community but alsofrom mainstream Americans andelected officials.

This was more than evidentwhen he decided to visit St Louisahead of his trip to Chicago forLaxmi Puja and meditation work-shop. St. Louis city council de-clared October 23 as Sri SriRavishankar Day in recognition ofhis immense contribution towardsunity in the society and empower-ment of women and youth.

Close to one thousand peopleincluding many officials in andaround the area flocked to the St.Charles Convention Center wherean evening meeting was organizedby the local St Louis Facility of

Art of Living. Officials fromWebster University, WashingtonUniversity, Compassionate St.

Louis, as well as civic and com-munity leaders besides the Mayorof Ferguson city, James Knowles,were in attendance.

Ferguson city has been in newsrecently in the wake of widespread

riots and looting in the wake ofkilling of African American MikeBrown by a White policeman.

Mayor Knowles came to seekblessing and advice from Sri Sriwho had visited the troubled terri-tories in Pakistan and Iraq "tobring together hostile partiescaught in the hardest conflicts."

The session was highlightedby a keynote address with Sri Sritalking about the roots of racism,stress and declining human val-ues and outlining a path to remov-ing these through culturing innerpeace, and educating children tobe part of a one world family.

He talked about the value ofmeditation in light of what's hap-pened in Ferguson, connectingthe theme of inner peace to worldpeace. He then led a meditationwith the huge crowd - many ofwhom who had never meditatedbefore - that left the room of 1000+in pin-drop silence

During the audience question& answer session that followed,

Sri Sri explained, "It's time we movefrom infant joy where we just wantto get something all the time, tomature joy, where our concern iswhat we can give."

Sri Sri Ravishankar presented with Declaration by St Louis officials

A section of the crowd in St Louis with Sri Sri

Sri Sri Ravi Shanker lighting lampin Chicago

Acharya Joshi helps conduciting Lakshmi Pooja Art of Living activists in Chicago, Nita Virani andVinesh Virani paying their tributes to Goddess Laksmhi

Cont’d on page 20

Thousands attendBAPS DiwalicelebrationSURENDRA ULLAL & ANAND SONI

CHICAGO: The BAPS ShriSwaminarayan Mandir in Bartlettcelebrated Diwali on October 23and 24 with usual pomp and gai-ety. Over 15000 devotees, inviteesand guests attended the celebra-tion.

The celebrations had in factbegun much earlier on SaturdayOctober 11 as children learnedabout cultural traditions at theKids Diwali. The program includedskits and fun-filled games to en-gage a younger audience. Arts andcrafts stations were set up to il-lustrate traditions and teachingsof Diwali.

The Diwali celebration contin-ued with grand fireworks show onOctober 18 with music, videos, andtraditional dances. As fireworkslit up the night sky over theMandir, young children dancedand saw how the Festival of Lightsis celebrated in India.

IACS hostsMega DiversityJob Fair

SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: The Indian Ameri-can Community Services (IACS),a Chicagoland based no profit or-ganization, continued its recentlydeveloped practice of aidingjobseekers throughout the countryby organizing its fifth annual MegaDiversity Job Fair on October 28 atthe Hilton Hotel in Chicago.

The event created quite a buzz,and provided opportunities toboth companies and jobseekers.It attracted more than 1000jobseekers and 50 companies frombroad range of industries.

Gujarati SamajChicagocelebrates Diwali

HARISH RAO

CHICAGO: Gujarati Samaj, aChicago based no profit organiza-tion, hosted a grand Diwali GalaDinner highlighted with a live mu-sical concert on Saturday, Octo-ber 18 at India House Banquet inSchaumburg.

The event that started at 6 pmlasted till well past midnight andwas greatly enjoyed by more than600 members and guests. The MCfor the occasion was ManishPandya, Cultural Secretary, whokept the crowd actively engagedfor the entire length of the program.

India Post 17November 7, 2014 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Tulsi Gabbard to visit India next year Asian Media & IPNS

CHICAGO: CongresswomanTulsi Gabbard said here that therewas a huge scope for close coop-eration between United States andIndia in many areas specificallyhealth, technology, space travel,education and culture, and itwould be most appropriate andimportant to cement the existingties further between the two de-mocracies, especially after the visitof Indian PM Narendra Modi amonth ago.

She indicated that she planneda visit to India in foreseeable fu-ture and alluded to the fact thatNarendra Modi had invited herpersonally during her meeting withhim in New York. CongresswomanTulsi was addressing afundraising dinner meet hosted inChicagoland by her supportersand fans led by Dr Bharat Barai,

Balwinder Singh, Nirav Patel andVinesh Virani among others.

A good number of profession-als, community leaders and elitesfrom all walks of life attended theevent on Sunday, October 26 atSchaumburg Hotel & Conferen, inSchaumburg, a northwest suburbof Chicago.

Welcoming guests and Con-gresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, DrBharat Barai pointed out thatTulsi Gabbard is among the firsttwo female war veterans and thefirst Hindu member of the US Con-gress. He observed that shewould be a winner in years to

come. In terminology of horse rac-ing, she is a horse of long race.She was a staunch supporter ofNarendra Modi even before hebecame the Indian PM. He ap-pealed to all to donate generouslytowards her fund.

Responding to the warm sup-port and welcome accorded to her,Tulsi Gabbard appreciated the

dynamic leadership of NarendraModi observing "it was a greatopportunity to meet him during hisrecent visit here."

After her short speech therewas a question answer session.Questions were put to her relat-ing to her job, aid to Pakistan,China, women issues , rights andequal opportunity and equal payetc. She replied to all of them indetail and clarified her views.

Vinesh Virani, community activ-ist, proposed a vote of thanks toTulsi and all the supporterspresent. He asked for maximumpossible donation observing thelegal limit of $5200 per person -whether it comes from a US citizenor a legal US resident.

Tulsi Gabbard with fundraising supporters

Tulsi Gabbard addressing the audience Dr Bharat Barai addressing the audienceTulsi Gabbard with Nirav Patel

Tulsi Gabbard and Viranis

A good number of professionals, communityleaders and elites from all walks of life at-tended the event on Sunday, October 26 atSchaumburg Hotel & Conferen

November 7, 2014India Post18 Community Across Americawww.indiapost.com

Thousands attend BAPS Diwali celebrationSURENDRA ULLAL & ANAND SONI

CHICAGO: The BAPS ShriSwaminarayan Mandir in Bartlett celebratedDiwali on October 23 and 24 with usualpomp and gaiety. Over 15000 devotees,invitees and guests attended the celebra-tion.

The celebrations had in fact begun muchearlier on Saturday October 11 as childrenlearned about cultural traditions at the KidsDiwali. The program included skits and fun-filled games to engage a younger audience.Arts and crafts stations were set up to illus-trate traditions and teachings of Diwali.

The Diwali celebration continued withgrand fireworks show on October 18 withmusic, videos, and traditional dances. Asfireworks lit up the night sky over theMandir, young children danced and sawhow the Festival of Lights is celebrated inIndia. Nemi Nabiraj from Elk Grove added,"We practice Jainism and celebrate for dif-ferent reasons, but it's important to comehere and celebrate with other communitymembers as well."

Mike Herz, a resident of Des Plaines, at-tending for the first time said, "I've volun-teered at a lot of events, and the spirit ofservice at this celebration that I witnessedwas phenomenal. It's so great to see theyouth so involved and enthusiastic aboutcelebrating their culture and giving back totheir community-at-large."

Kristen Ras, an educator from Wheaton,teaches religion at St. Francis High School,

Devotees and guests at the BAPS Mandir

attends the Diwali festivities at BAPS ev-ery year. She stated, "I'm extremely im-pressed by the volunteer work by the youth

and how they implement their values in theirdaily lives outside of Mandir and give backto their communities."

The celebration continued the day afterDiwali with the beginning of the Hindu NewYear with a grand offering of the Annakut('a mountain of food'). Consisting of over athousand different vegetarian food items, itis prepared by devotees, to thank God forHis providence over the past year and toseek His blessings for the year ahead.

Each year, theBAPS Mandir inBartlett also holdsa themed exhibi-tion to showcaseimportant valuesand highlight howIndian-Americanscan share theirheritage with theirlarger community.This year's exhibitencompassed en-v i r o n m e n t a l -friendly decora-tions with a his-torical perspec-tive, as the Mandirrecognized the150th anniversaryof the life of thefounder of BAPS,Shastriji Maharaj.He championed maintaining peace andharmony within the family unit and in soci-ety, and encouraging community involve-ment. He inspired many to change their livesas much as with the start of the new Hinduyear.

Dressed up in traditional, colorful clothes,families and friends wished each other sen-timents of prosperity. Adults, communitymembers, and young children eagerly vis-ited the Mandir to view the colorful décor,

various food dishes, creative fruit carvings,and imaginative artwork Community mem-bers prayed that the coming year will bringjoy and peace to their family and pass alongthese cultural traditions and values to com-ing generations.

BAPS, a worldwide socio-spiritual orga-nization, is dedicated to community service,peace and harmony. Motivated by Hinduprinciples, BAPS strives to care for theworld by caring for societies, families and

individuals.Through social and spiritual activities,

BAPS endeavors to produce better citizensof tomorrow who have a high esteem fortheir roots. Its 3,300 international centerssupport these character-building activities.Under the guidance and leadership of HisHoliness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, BAPSaspires to build a community that is mor-ally, ethically and spiritually pure, and freeof addictions.

Annakut Darshan


IACS hosts Mega Diversity Job FairSURENDRA ULLAL

W.W Grainger representatives talk to a job seeker

Job seekers talking to the L&T Infotech representatives

Job seekers visiting various booths including AT&T

CHICAGO: The Indian American Com-munity Services (IACS), a Chicagolandbased no profit organization, continued itsrecently developed practice of aidingjobseekers throughout the country by or-ganizing its fifth annual Mega DiversityJob Fair on October 28 at the Hilton Hotel inChicago.

The event created quite a buzz, and pro-vided opportunities to both companies andjobseekers. It attracted more than 1000jobseekers and 50 companies from broadrange of industries.

Job seekers came from several areassuch as: Chicago, Michigan, Wisconsin andIndiana. Prakash, a job seeker who com-pleted his undergraduation in IIT in ChennaiIndia and is currently in second year MISprogram at UIC, said, "I came to this job fairlast year and ended up interning at CMEGroup during summer. This year, I see newercompanies here. This event is a great sourceof opportunity for students"

IACS also provided free professional re-sume critiques and counseling sessions ledby industry experts at the job fair. ParagThakkar, a Senior Manager from Deloitte,was also in the team of industry experts thatIACS assembled for free resume critique

services. He mentioned, "This was a greatservice I have been part of. More than 400job seekers in varied career fields both ex-perienced and entry level candidates thatattended this event benefited from this ser-vice."

The Job fair attracted many large compa-nies such as W.W. Grainger, ITW, L&TInfotech and L&T Technologies, Exelon,Allstate who were all corporate sponsors.

In total, 50 companies participated in thejob fair. Other large companies who at-tended include: Dover, AT&T, PNC, BP, Ulta,Chicago Tribune, and Rush University

Medical Center.Gigi Alfonso, who was coordinating the

Grainger's booth, stated that, "Grainger isalways looking to hire diverse candidateswith great talent and we are already in pro-cess of setting up interviews for the selectedcandidates from this Job fair."

Griffin Goldin from Exelon said that "Itwas truly amazing to see so much diversetalent here from multiple ethnicities - this

job fair provided great platform for Exelon"Jagan Bukkaraju secretary of IACS said

"Our team has been working throughout theyear to bring in this Job Fair. It is truly satis-fying to see that we were able to help peoplefrom all different backgrounds in the Chi-cago Tri-state area."

Sreenivas Katragadda, president of theorganization, said that as part of its ongo-ing efforts, IACS will introduce diversity jobfairs in several cities over the next two years.

It will conduct Diversity Job Fairs this yearin Dallas and New York and the decision toexpand the organization's footprint is drivenby the overwhelming demand for the rangeof community services offered by IACS."

IACS is dedicated to empowering theSouth Asian community through a varietyof events including: Woman's conferences,Leadership Intern programs, professionaland leadership networking, and Businessand Entrepreneurial conferences.


Sri Sri highlights value ofmeditation & joy of givingHe stated that there is much

work to do in the community, andencouraged everyone to find howthey can contribute in a positiveway.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar (Guruji)was in Chicago from October 23

to 26 and one of the biggestdraws was conducting LakshmiPooja on Hindu New Year day atHilton Chicago. The Pooja on Fri-day October 24 was open to all andfree of charge.

Attendance at the event washuge with the Hilton Pooja roomjam packed. People from all walksof life such as political, entertain-ment, education, business, medi-cal, IT (Information Technology),community leaders and most im-portantly students from universi-ties and the US born second gen-eration youngsters - participatedin the event very enthusiastically.

Acharya Rohit Joshi of North-eastern Illinois University con-ducted religious Pooja ceremonypropitiating Goddess Lakshmi fol-lowing strict rituals. He pointedout that students, staff and com-munity of Northeastern IllinoisUniversity have been fortunate tohave Darshan of Guru Ji on cam-pus couple of times in past. NitaVirani and Vinesh Virani also metDean Murrell J. H. Duster for set-ting up Art of Living courses oncampus of NEIU.

Addressing the gatheringGuruji said, "Happy Diwali to alland Happy and Prosperous NewYear to Gujaratis. Diwali is the fes-tival of Light, Joy and Prosperity.Diyas are a symbol of real life joywhich can be attained by banish-ing darkness of ignorance from

your heart. Pooja renews our con-tact with divinity. Pooja is a pro-cess to awaken divinity."

Acharya Rohit Joshi said thatthe festival of light known popu-larly as Deepawali means "that wemust create the rows of enlight-

ened persons. Guru Sri Sri Ji rec-ommends that each one is sup-posed to light one lamp. Wheneveryone gets enlightened, theentire universe will glow light dis-pelling the darkness of ignorance,

he said.Through his initiatives and ad-

dresses, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar hasconsistently emphasized the needfor reinforcing human values andrecognizing humanity as our high-est identity. Fostering interfaithharmony and calling for multi-cul-

tural education as the remedy forfanaticism are significant parts ofhis efforts to achieve sustainablepeace on our planet.

Lakshmi Pooja was celebratedwith devotion and enthusiasm.Tiny divas were lit to drive awaythe shadows of evil spirits.Bhajans, devotional songs inpraise of Goddess Lakshmi, weresung by a group of musicians andsingers making the whole atmo-sphere spiritually uplifted."Naivedya" of traditional sweetswas offered to the Goddess,Annakut, comprising 108 foodsand everybody had divineDarshan. Aarti was performed fol-lowed by distribution of packetsof prasad.

There were people from differ-ent countries and communities ofthe world including lot of Ameri-cans, Japanese, Chinese, Mexi-cans who were not only presentbut took part in deliberations anddanced to the tunes of Bhajans inthe company of Guruji himself.This was a unique scene to wit-ness.


Musicians at Bhajan session

There were peoplefrom different coun-tries and communi-ties of the world in-cluding lot of Ameri-cans, Japanese,Chinese, Mexicanswho were not onlypresent but took partin deliberations

Ecscatic crowd during the pooja

Wedding Expo at Waterfordattracts hundreds

RAMESH SOPARAWALAIndia Post News Service

CHICAGO: With fifty plus ven-dors displaying their wares andover one thousand visitors fromacross Chicago and neighboringStates coming to Waterford Ban-quet, the fourth Wedding Expoorganized jointly by India Houseand Waterford Banquets was ahuge success.

Ravi Rawat, one of the two or-ganizing brains behind the Expo,said that the success has induced"us to have one more such Melain April next.' It creates a goodawareness among people from In-dian sub-continent residing herethat everything they need for hav-ing a successful wedding gala isavailable here and that too at com-petitive prices, he said.

Vendors ranging from Mandapdecorators to Jewelry dealers,

dress makers, photographers,video graphers and caterers alsoexuded confidence and happinessthat they have now a good plat-form to convince the potentialbuyers that they are here to servethem and meet their all require-ments pertaining to wedding."Why go to India or Pakistanthen" quipped a beaming vendor.

Indra Rami, specializing inMandap and Mandap decora-tions, said that he has been a regu-lar participant for the past foursuch expositions and this time he" came up with novel conceptsand decoration pieces to showthat we cannot be outdone in cre-ations, ideas and prices." He washappy that he did not miss thisMela that attracted hundreds ofvisitors. Poonam Creations toohad a fair share of visitors to theirshop.

Ravi Rawat, Prajnesh Gandhi, Neelam Bhardwaj and a guest

Indra Rami with his huge mandap

Cont’d on page 21


Wedding Expo at Waterford attracts hundredsBagias had a jewelry outlet on

Devon Avenue but here they haddecided to come out with variet-ies of dresses and to their immensesatisfaction they were besieged bycustomers. Jewelers aboundedand Kate Sandu, the coordinator

said that there were seven to eightof them in the Mela. The numberof photographers - Shan and Syed- are regulars and so also HappyFarm that assures Bridegrooms ofgetting them easy rides on Horsebacks.

The Fashion show was an ad-ditional attraction and it washosted by Sakhi Selections andSadhana Fashions. The eventwas eye catching and hundredsplus enjoyed presentations forabut one and half hours. Shreepad

Crowd of visitors and Bagias seen marketing dresses

Cont’d from page 20 Dave was a pianist and also stolesome attraction though his liveplay.

Prajnesh Gandhi of WaterfordBanquet in a talk to this paper saidthat he was very much grateful tovendors and public alike for theirhuge cooperation and encourage-ment. The space for the wedding

expo was provided by WaterfordBanquet courtesy Gandhi and theexcellent food - right from pannipuri to chat, Chinese cuisines,Punjabi dishes, Gujarati items cul-minating with sweets - cakes andtea - were taken care of by India

House and Ravi Rawat.Paying handsome tribute to the

tasty and mouth watering fooditems at the Expo, Madhu Patel ofNRI Press Club said that they liter-ally put in great flavor and made theevent worth visiting again and again.

Rawats at the reception area Elegance Décor

Fashion models

Maharaja Carrier for Baratis


Gujarati Samaj Chicago celebrates DiwaliHARISH RAO

CHICAGO: Gujarati Samaj, aChicago based no profit organiza-tion, hosted a grand Diwali GalaDinner highlighted with a live mu-sical concert on Saturday, Octo-ber 18 at India House Banquet inSchaumburg.

The event that started at 6 pmlasted till well past midnight andwas greatly enjoyed by more than600 members and guests.

The MC for the occasion wasManish Pandya, Cultural Secre-tary, who kept the crowd activelyengaged for the entire length ofthe program. The program beganwith two prayers sung by Alka andSunny on Lord Ganesh. PresidentSuryakant Patel welcomed all theguests and thanked members forbringing the best Diwali celebra-tion for all.

The organization has expandedwith leaps and bounds adding 15to 20 new life members every year.Besides four mains events - Bowl-ing, Summer Picnic, Navratri andDiwali party - they introduced Mix

& Mingle and achieved great suc-cess. The GSC's website is re-freshed and efforts continue to im-prove it for everyone's benefit in-cluding the vendors and spon-sors, according to General Secre-tary Jayesh Parikh.

Jayesh Parikh introduced the

songs. Kanwarlal, an excellentmimicry artist, pleased all with awide range of poetry and shayari.And finally, Kalpesh Kharwa, ayoung and talented singer, sangsongs of artists such as RahatFateh Ali Khan and MohammedRafi. Anand Chaudhari anchoredthe Entertainment Program.

Mrs Urvashi Patel was intro-duced as GSC's new President whointroduced her 2014-2015 Execu-tive Board consisting of

-Bhavesh Shah; Cultural Sec-retary-Manish Pandya; Jt. CulturalSecretary-Nirisha Shah; Treasurer-Sandip Shah; Jt.Treasurer-Dakshesh Modi; Board Members:Vibha Dave; Payal Shah; NikunjBaxi; Ashok Shah; ChandrikaShah; Devang Desai.

Kamlesh Shah gave a final voteof thanks.Lamp Lighting: Jayesh Parikh, General Secretary; Manish Pandya, Cultural Secretary; Mrs Urvashi Patel - New GSC

President; Mr Suryakant Patel - Former GSC President; Mrs Harsha C Patel; Chhotabhai A Patel - Chief Guest;

Gujarati Samaj of Chicago Executive Board and Sponsors of GSC Diwali Gala Dinner event

The orchestra team led bySunny Jadhav known asthe "Voice of KishoreKumar" lifted the spirit of allpresent through renderingbeautiful songs.

McDonald Educational Seminar a big successBABU TANGEWALA

DALLAS, TX: The 2014McDonald's Educational Seminarhosted by Southern News Groupon Saturday, October 25 at JohnPaul II High School, Plano was ahuge success. This workshop wassupported by the Indian AmericanFriendship Council (IAFC), GreaterDallas Asian American Chamber ofCommerce and US-China Chamberof Commerce of Dallas.

More than 300 students andparents attended the educationalseminar with lot of enthusiasm andexcitement to know more about thecollege admission process and theavailable scholarship opportuni-ties.

L-R Kamal Kaushal, Dr Yu Meng, David Ku, Wea H. Lee, Richardson City Mayor Laura Maczka, Jessica Yang, Dr Prasad Thotakura and Roger HungCont’d on page 25

event's Chief Chhotalal Patel whoin his inspiring speech narrated afew incidents of his life here, in-

cluding his experiencewith security personnelupon entering. Heurged to absorb thegood parts of the soci-ety here without givingup "our culture andGujarati spirit".

This was followedby the lighting of"Deepawali Diya" byoffice bearers and all

sponsors recognized then. Theorchestra team led by SunnyJadhav known as the "Voice ofKishore Kumar" lifted the spirit ofall present through renderingbeautiful songs.

Alka Thakur was a treat for earssinging Asha, Lata and Alka


Grand celebration of Tulsi Vivah at Grayslake templeHARISH RAO

Pt Joshi conducting Puja

CHICAGO: A large number ofdevotees flocked to Hindu Mandirin Grayslake on Sunday afternoonto attend the 'Vivah Samaroh' - amarriage of Tulsi and Saligram(Lord Krishna) - watching theritual with reverence.

Grand decorations and a genu-ine marriage-like atmospheremarked the celebration of TulsiVivah. Devendra Patel, Dr HarshKumar, and Vandana Jhingan fami-lies welcomed the Baarat of LordKrishna led by Sanjay Jetva fam-ily by exchanging Uttariyas andbig hugs. Pt. Anil Joshi Ji per-formed an elaborate Gotrachaar.Other devotees of the temple weretreated as the groom's and bride'srelatives.

This holy wedding ceremonystarted with Ganesh and Var Pujanfollowed by Kanya and GowDaana. With all the mantras themarriage was commemorated andrice mixed with vermilion wasshowered on the holy couple,Tulsi and Shaligram. Exchange ofJaya Mala was witnessed by thedevotees with great enthusiasm asthey were able to observe ShriKrishna, marrying Holy Tulsi

dressed up in traditional Indianwedding clothes. Rita Patel, AtulSoni, Atwal, Ajay Ghai and otherssung devotional and spirituallyuplifting wedding and farewellsongs.

Pt Joshi explainedthe story and signifi-cance of Tulsi in our lifesaying that " we re-spect all the living crea-tures and worshipplants such as Tulsi,Pipal, Banana, and Boditrees." Tulsi plant, he pointedout, has several medicinal prop-erties giving out oxygen for 20hours and ozone for 4 hours a dayalong with its nascent oxygenwhich absorbs harmful gases likecarbon monoxide, carbon dioxideand sulphur dioxide from the en-vironment.

Tulsi extracts can also be usedto cure many common ailmentslike headache, cold, stomach dis-

orders and many others. Tulsi isplanted at the entrance of theHindu house to bring good for-tune and positive energy in thehouse. A Hindu household is notcomplete without the holy plantTulsi.

Every person who performsthe wedding of Tulsi to LordVishnu earns the credit of perform-ing Kanyadaan (to marry off one'sdaughter). Pt Joshi said that one

purpose of organizing this vivahis to make people, particularly ouryounger generation, aware of In-dian rituals and culture.

Geetha Patil decorated the dei-ties and prepared a beautifulmandapam for the Tulsi Vivah cer-emony. Dr Harsh Kumar thankedall devotees for their active par-ticipation and volunteers for theirhard work in making every eventof the temple a grand success.

Commencement of Tulsi Vivah at Grayslake Hindu Temple

Geetha Patil decorated thedeities and prepared abeautiful mandapam forthe Tulsi Vivah ceremony.


South Asians celebrate Diwali with officialsIndia Post News Service

NEW YORK: The spirit ofDiwali continues with SouthAsians for Right Choice (SA4RC)celebrating the event with severalelected officials. Hosted bySA4RC (South Asian For RightChoice - Pam Kwatra, Eric Kumar& Team), Co-hosted by Congress-woman Grace Meng & Public Ad-vocate Letitia "Tish" James, sev-eral elected officials, Organization

Presidents, Community leadersand over 350 people from all overTri- State graced the occasion atRichie Rich Restaurant in Queens.The overall event was coordinatedby Eric Kumar and Flora Parekh -General Secretary for SA4RC.

Elected officials and represen-tatives namely Senator JamesSanders, Senator Toby Stavisky,Assembly Member David Weprin,Councilmen Peter Koo, AssemblyMember Felix Ortiz, Hon. John Liu,

Emily Saltzman Representativefrom Governor Cuomo's office,Meena Malik Representative fromDistrict Attorney Ken Thompson'soffice, Mohammad Hack Repre-sentative from Queens BoroughPresident Melinda Katz's office,and Dev Awasthi, Representativefrom NYC comptroller ScottStringer's office.

Inspector Brian Maguire Headof Queens Narcotics and CaptainDanielle Raiai Executive officerfrom 102nd Pct, graced the eventwith their presence. Elected Offi-

cials shared their views on Diwaliand the importance of South Asiancommunity involvement & sup-port in the political process.

"SA4RC is a goal-based unitedfront to deal with elected officials& candidates running for offices,become influential in legislationthat affects the concerns of theSouth Asian community, encour-age and support our fellow SouthAsians in running for offices and

increase the number of appointedofficials and enhance the coordi-nation & bonding with our com-munity" said Pam Kwatra, Founderand Chairwoman.

"SA4RC was created with thegoal and need of providing aunited front for the South Asiancommunity to actively participatein the American governing andelectoral process," said EricKumar, Co-Founder & Vice Chair.

Congresswoman Grace Meng& Public Advocate Letitia "Tish"James, honored SA4RC with a

Proclamation for its outstandingservices to the South Asian &American community. Three dis-tinguished community leaders -Hemant Mathur, Jarnail Singh &Flora Parekh - were honored byCongresswoman Grace Meng andPublic Advocate Letitia "Tish"James for their excellent contribu-tion to community services.

Cont’d on page 27


Wea Lea, Chairman & CEO,Southern News Group, in his wel-come address thanked McDonaldfor their community involvementand support, students and parentsfor attending in large numbers andspecial guests for taking time toattend this important seminar.

Dr Prasad Thotakura. TX StateCoordinator IAFC, stated that justperfect SAT Scores, 4.0 GPA arenot enough to get into goodschools. Students must identifythemselves as they are very inno-vative, motivated with a lot of en-thusiasm to progress and provethey not only excel in studies butalso in extra circular activities likecommunity service, leadershiproles and should exhibit theirunique talents, hobbies, specialskills etc., Education became veryexpensive and highly competitive.

Students must be ready todayto face the challenges of tomorrow.

McDonald EducationalSeminar a big success

Dr David Kusin, Alumnus ofHarvard University in his keynoteaddress mentioned that HarvardUniversity gets more than 36,000applications every year but only2,000 students will get in. Studentsmust be honest, prove themselvesthat they are something else be-yond studies, unique in nature andthey will add a lot of value to theeducational institution that theywant to get in and the society thatthey are in with their knowledge,thought process and behavior.

Angela Chen thanked JohnPaul Scholl management for pro-viding their excellent facility, allstudents, parents, volunteers andspecial guests for participating,several community organizationsfor their support and Media Part-ners eKnazar.com andCheerinus.com for their promo-tional help and the last but not theleast McDonald Company for theirunconditional support in makingthe event successful.


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Sikhs to honor founders ofPalatine Gurughar

THAKAR BASATI

CHICAGO: The Sikh commu-nity of Chicago will honor thefounders of Palatine GurdwaraSahib on Saturday November 22at Sikh Religious Society in Pa-latine from 10 amto noon.

Sehaj Pathhwill start on Fri-day November 7in the morningand Sangat is re-quested to par-ticipate in thePathh.

There weresome people inthe 70s whotook personalloans to pur-chase 3.5 acrewooded land ona lake. Today theGurughar standson more than 11acre land. Pa-latine Gurughar is the first and larg-est Gurdwara Sahib in mid west."So thhann suhava" is very wellreflected here.

Many people contributed laterto purchase land and build build-ings. Everybody says "Wow"when they see today's building. Itamazes many non-Sikh visitors

that almost everything is done hereby volunteers. "There is a historythat needs to be preserved. Every-one who was involved is re-

quested to come and share memo-ries.

Light snacks and Langar will beserved. If you would like to par-ticipate in Pathh or celebration, or

you have memories to share,kindly let Mrs Jasbir Kaur Saluja,at 847-676-4576 or S.Jaidev SinghBhattal at 847-732-7681 know.

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N E W Son your desktop

India Post26www.indiapost.com

November 7, 2014


South Asians celebrate Diwali with officials

The festivities started with "Lightningof the lamps" or diyas by the elected offi-cials, SA4RC team & distinguished commu-nity leaders, followed by American Anthem& Indian Anthem by Master of CeremoniesEric Kumar & Flora Parekh.

The celebrations continued with the sur-prise birthday celebration of Congress-woman Grace Meng followed by severalofficial / community leaders greeting anddancing to the tunes of professional singerVarsha Joshi & DJ Vic.

The venue was beautifully decoratedwith traditional diyas and rangoli by TaranBir Kaur - Joint Secretary of SA4RC. MissSouth Asia International 2014, Trisha Guduruwelcomed all guests with a traditional Ver-million tika and the guests were warmlyhosted by SA4RC Executive Committeemembers Dr Raj Bhayani, Paresh Parekh andSA4RC Treasurer Raj Wadhwa.

SA4RC Advisors Rupal Sehgal andVishal Sharma along with a team of volun-teers welcomed at over 350+ attendees atthis weekday event. Richie Rich restaurantprovided delicious food to all invitees. Beau-tiful dance number by Nikki and SimranJagda cast a spell on the audience. The eventended with a Vote of thanks from Pam Kwatraand a box of delicious Diwali sweets to allattendees.


CongressWomanGrace MengwithHonoreeFlora Parekh

www.indiapost.comIndia Post

TOP TENHINDI FILM SONGS1 Meherbaan : Bang Bang2 Manwa Laage :

Happy New Year3 Tere Ho Ke Rahenge : Raja Natwarlal4 Bang Bang: Bang Bang5 Lovely : Happy New Year6 Bismil : Haider

7Tu Meri : Bang Bang8 India Waale :Happy New Year9 Sawaan Aaya Hai : Crea-

ture 3D10 Naina:

Khoobsurat

28 November 7, 2014

Deepika Padukone is all set to romanceSalman Khan in Yash Raj banner nextmovie. Deepika always wanted to workwith Salman but things did not work out

for both of them and now it seems things are workingin their favor and very soon audience will get to seethe electrifying pair together for the first time. The

film in question will be directed by Ali Abbas Zafar of'Gunday' fame. The actors have not yet signed on thedotted lines but talk is in progress.

Most of them might not know that the first film of-fered to the long legged dusky beauty was by SalmanKhan but unfortunately Deepika failed to do it as shewas very young then. Speaking about her firstBollywood offer, the long legged actress said, "He of-fered me my first film when I was too young and I wasnot ready to be in front of the camera. I will always begrateful to him. Just the fact that he offered me a filmwas a great thing. It is taking a long time for us tocome together on screen, so I think there is some-thing special waiting for us."

According to a past report, Deepika wasalso approached for a special song forSalman Khan's 'Kick' but she turneddown the offer.

Most of them mightnot know that the first

film offered to the longlegged dusky beauty was

by Salman Khan butunfortunately

Deepika failedto do it as she

was veryyoung then

It was anangel's dream. And ShrutiHaasan had to make it come true.The actress recently took a day off from the shoot of her

ongoing film, Yaara, and her hunky co-star Vidyut Jammwal to drive down toPune and spend the day with Sheetal Pawar, a child battling the Big C who hasbeen confined to a hospital for months now.

Sheetal recently returned home and her only wish was to meet her favoriteposter girl. Not wanting to disappoint her, the family managed to get in touchwith Shruti with some apprehension. But their fears turned out to be misplacedas Shruti readily agreed to meet Sheetal, and insisted she will come over totheir home in Pune.

True to her word, Shruti landed up at Sheetal's place and the two chattedaway about all things movies and music. When it was time to leave, Shruti wasgracious enough to give her new friend a hand-written personalized letter, whichis now the teen's prized possession.

Sheetal recently returned home and her only wish was tomeet her favorite poster girl. Not wanting to disappoint her, the family

managed to get in touch with Shruti with some apprehension.

India Post 29November 7, 2014

www.indiapost.com

Bollywood

Priyanka Chopra has been mak-ing headlines ever since she wasannounced as part of SanjayLeela Bhansali's Bajirao

Mastani.While an image of the actress made

its rounds on the internet, several startedspeculating on how it was her look asKashibai in the magnum opus. However,Priyanka is amused by the rumors andtook to a popular microblogging site toclarify the same - "This image is from anashram during Navratri" tweeted the ac-tress.

Putting the rumors to rest SanjayLeela Bhansali's spokesperson says,"This is to clarify that the image ofPriyanka Chopra in the saree that hasbeen floating online is not from BajiraoMastani - Her look has been kept underwraps".

Neha Dhupia has parted ways with her Venezuelanboyfriend James Sylvester. The two were in a serious relationship since three years and James had

virtually settled down in India. But a few months ago, heflew back to the US.

According to a friend of the couple, that's when thedownslide began. "Things ceased to be the same betweenNeha and James after he went from India. They tried to keepthe long-distance relationship going, but things just didn'twork out," says the friend.

When contacted, Neha said: "Yes, Jimmy (as she fondlycalls him) has moved to Washington. Beyond this, I don'twish to comment on my personal life."

Adds the friend, "Jimmy was wooing Neha ardently. Ev-eryday he had a surprise for her, they were madly in love.Their common friends still hope that they get back."

Hollywood actor Kal Penn was all praise for Saqib Saleem in hisrecent press interactions during the promotions of his up-com-ing film based on the Bhopal gas tragedy.

Talking about some of the recent Bollywood films that he loved watch-ing, Kal mentioned 'Mere Dad ki Maruti' and 'Bombay Talkies' and saidthat he thought Saqib was 'insanely awesome' in the latter. While praisingthe newer generation of Indian film makers and actors, he expressed hisdesire to do a buddy comedy with Saqib.

"Yes, Jimmy (asshe fondly calls him)

has moved toWashington. Beyond

this, I don't wish tocomment on mypersonal life."

30 India Post November 7, 2014www.indiapost.com

TechBizTech News

Black money: Swiss banks mullanticipatory measures

BERNE/NEW DELHI: As probeinto suspected black moneystashed abroad by Indians gath-ers steam, banks in Switzerland arerunning from pillar to post to safe-guard their interest while some arealso considering financial provi-sions in their books for possiblepenal actions and legal costs.

At the same time, banks are alsolobbying with the Swiss govern-ment to insist on putting in placenecessary measures in their infor-mation-exchange and administra-tive assistance frameworks withIndia for safeguarding the inter-est of banking institutions duringthe subsequent prosecution andother legal or regulatory proceed-ings in the black money cases.

Sources, however, said that therole of some banks, as also that ofcertain bankers, has already comeunder scanner for acting in con-cert with the suspected blackmoney hoarders and also for mak-ing 'safe haven' promises for theirfunds.

The suspected lapses on thepart of at least three large Euro-pean banks, including two fromSwitzerland itself and the thirdhaving a significant presence inthe Alpine nation, are also being

probed for allegedly facilitating re-routing funds of certain Indiancorporate houses back into theirlisted companies as foreign in-vestments.

Capital market watchdog Sebi

is probing at least three large glo-bal banks and many Indian com-panies for alleged round trippingof funds by way of multi-layeredtransactions, while the regulatorynoose has further tightened inthese cases with involvement ofother regulatory and enforcementagencies.

Such transactions are sus-

pected to have taken place in caseof 15-20 Indian companies, a se-nior official said, but refused todisclose their names as also thatof the banks saying it might im-pede the investigations.

Some portfolio managers atsome banks, which have a signifi-cant presence in the Indian finan-cial markets, could have helpedclients route money back into thecountry as foreign funds usinginvestment vehicles across juris-dictions.

So far, the focus of this SupremeCourt monitored probe has mainly

remained on the persons and enti-ties from India suspected to havestashed illicit wealth in overseaslocations including Swiss banks.

However, as the probe movesfurther, including by a Special In-vestigation Team (SIT) with twoformer Supreme Court judges asChairman and Vice-Chairmanalong with members from variousinvestigative and regulatory agen-cies, the banks are turning waryabout possible action againstthem going ahead.

Senior executives at variousbanks, including three large onesheadquartered in Switzerland andthe Swiss units of some major Eu-ropean banks, said that they areconsidering making financial pro-visions as anticipatory measuresto deal with any action involvingthem in India's black money probe.

The banks are also said to belobbying with the Swiss govern-ment that it should ask the Indianauthorities to put in place a 'settle-ment' mechanism to deal with thesuspected entities, including thebanks and their customers, beforeseeking any assistance in its blackmoney probe.

Cont’d on page 32

Mauritius to help SIT's black money probePORT LOUIS: Mauritius, of-

ten accused of being a route forround-tripping of funds by Indi-ans, has conveyed to Indian gov-ernment that it was ready to sup-port its Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) to unearth blackmoney.

This was conveyed to Exter-nal Affairs Minister SushmaSwaraj by Minister of ForeignAffairs, Regional Integration andInternational Trade Arvin Boolellduring a meeting here, the Exter-nal Affairs Ministry spokesper-son said.

Boolell conveyed thatMauritius will take measures toensure it remains "jurisdiction ofrepute", he said.

Mauritius used to be the big-gest gateway for flow of funds intoIndia through FDI as well as FIIroutes, but its position has comedown amid concerns about this

island nation being used forround-tripping of funds.

It recently slipped to the sec-ond place after the US in terms ofquantum of money being brought

in by overseas investors into In-dian markets.

According to Sebi, Mauritiusaccounted for Rs 3.31 lakh croreworth 'assets under custody' of

foreign institutional investors inthe Indian equity and debt mar-kets at the end of 2013, as againstover Rs 4.37 lakh crore in case ofthe US.

Fund flows from Mauritiushave fallen amid concerns aboutsuspected money-laundering,even though this Indian Oceanisland nation has been consis-tently denying such allegations.

India has concerns thatMauritius, which is one of thetop sources of foreign direct in-vestments into the country, isbeing used for round-tripping offunds. Round-tripping is usuallyreferred to routing of domesticinvestments through Mauritiusto take advantage of the DoubleTaxation Avoidance Agreement(DTAA) between the two coun-tries.

Mauritius used to be the biggest gateway forflow of funds into India through FDI as well asFII routes, but its position has come downamid concerns about this island nation beingused for round-tripping of funds.

Cont’d on page 32

Canon Indiaelevates EVP AlokBharadwaj

NEW DELHI: Canon India haselevated Executive Vice PresidentAlok Bharadwaj to internationaloperations in Singapore where hewould join its headquarters forSouth East & South Asia business.

The change is effective Janu-ary 1, 2015, Canon said in a state-ment.

Bharadwaj would be reportingto Canon's South East & SouthAsia operations President & CEOKensaku Konishi, it added.

He will head corporate strategygroup in Singapore and will be re-sponsible for strategic businessplanning and execution as well ascorporate communications forCanon's South East & South Asianregional operations, the statementadded.

Apart from that, he would alsooversee business development inemerging Asian markets in this re-gion. Bharadwaj, an alumnus ofFMS Delhi, has been working withCanon from last 13 years and un-der his leadership the companyregistered a record-breaking ex-pansion to emerge as an imagingindustry leader in India. -PTI

India-China tradethrough Lipulekhpass at Rs 3 cr

PITHORAGARH: Border tradeworth over Rs 3 crore took placebetween India and China this yearthrough Lipulekh pass inPithoragarh district ofUttarakhand, according to finalfigures released by Dharchulasub-division of the district.

Indian traders imported goodsworth Rs 2,14,71707 from TaklakotMart in Chinese territory of Tibetwhile they sold goods worth Rs19,12,0515 to their Tibetan clients.

"The imported goods includePashmina wool, raw Tibetan wooljackets, shoes, and animal skin,besides several medicinal herbswhile exported items include to-bacco, sugar candy, jaggery (Gur)and items of daily use," saidPramod Kumar, designated tradeofficer and SDM of Dharchula.

According to the official, a to-tal of 273 persons, including 89traders and their helpers had goneto Taklakot mart in western Tibetto transact business. -PTI

Google offers Hindi voice searchNEW DELHI: Aimed at bringing 300 million people online, search

giant Google has partnered content providers like ABP News and AmarUjala, along with governmentagency, CDAC to make re-gional content available onInternet.

Google, which currently of-fers voice search in English, hasalso added Hindi language ser-vice and plans to other lan-guages like Tamil, Marathi andBengali to the list in comingmonths.-PTI

31India PostTechBiz PostNovember 7, 2014

www.indiapost.com

Govt to decide on minesweepervessels' deal

NEW DELHI: The governmentwill soon take a call on a proposeddefense deal of over Rs 2,000 crorefor acquisition of eight mine-sweeper vessels from a SouthKorean firm with Attorney GeneralMukul Rohatgi reportedly opiningthat the tender conditions havebeen violated.

The deal has been stuck forlong because of allegations of in-volvement of middlemen and thenew government had sought anopinion from the AG.

Now with the opinion in hand,the government will take its nextcourse of action soon, sourcessaid here.

Vendors have to sign a pre-con-tract Integrity Pact stating thatthere will be no middlemen in-volved.

The Korean firm, Kangnam Cor-

poration, was shoplifted duringUPA tenure as it was the cheaperof total three firms that had bid forthe proposal floated in 2008.

The Navy wants eight 800-tonne vessels with composite anti-magnetic hulls that can clear seamines during war.

As per the proposal, two ves-sels would be imported from theforeign vendor for about Rs 2,300crore, a cost that covers technol-ogy transfer to build the remain-ing six vessels at the Goa Ship-yard Ltd (GSL).

The Modi government had, inAugust this year, scrapped aseven-year-old global tenderworth thousands of crores for theacquisition of 197 helicopters forthe Army and IAF after the acqui-sition process was mired in alle-gations of corruption. -PTI

TCS NY Marathon mosttechnologically advanced

NEW YORK: India's IT giantand the title sponsor for New YorkCity Marathon, TCS has vowed tomake the world's premier long-dis-tance athletic event the most ad-vanced race using its core tech-

nology skills."We will make this the most

technologically advanced mara-thon in the years to come.

"It is a great privilege for TCSto partner with the city for themarathon," NatarajanChandrasekaran, CEO and MD ofTCS said on Sunday, adding thatpartnering for the race was a "firstof its kind" experience for TCS.

The 26.2 mile (36.16 kilometers)running event, which is now offi-

cially called "TCS New York CityMarathon", channelised throughthe city's five boroughs and wit-nessed over 50,000 runners.

Kenyans emerged winners ofthe men's and women's title.

As hundreds of thousandslined the route to cheer the par-ticipants, millions watched theevent on televisions.

Tata Consultancy Serviceswent on a massive image-buildingexercise as it flooded the metropo-lis with tens of thousands of itslogo. Chandrasekaran said thetechnology shift that the world isseeing on is one of its kind andthere is a huge opportunity to as-pire and imagine what the future

WhatsApp user-basecrosses 70 mn in IndiaMUMBAI: Mobile messenger

service WhatsApp's user base inIndia has grown to 70 million ac-tive-users, which is over a 10th ofits global users, its business headNeeraj Arora has said.

"We have 70 million active-us-ers here who use the applicationat least once a month," Arora, avice-president with WhatsApp,said at the fifth annual INK Con-ference here.

He said the total user-base forthe company,which wasbought byFacebook in ablockbuster USD19-billion deal ear-lier this year, is600 million.

With over a10th of the usersfrom the country,India is one of thebiggest marketsfor WhatsApp,he said, addingconnecting bil-lions of people inmarkets like India and Brazil is theaim of the company.

Arora, an alumnus of IIT-Delhiand ISB Hyderabad, saidWhatsApp will continue to hold adistinct identity even after the take-over by Facebook and will not getmerged with the social network-ing giant.

He said WhatsApp, which hasonly 80 employees, will benefitthrough learnings from the socialnetworking giant.

Arora, who first heard ofWhatsApp as a business devel-

opment executive for the Internetsearch giant Google and laterjoined as its business head, said ittook two years to stitch the USD19 billion deal announced thisApril.

Interestingly, Arora said hewould have paid a fraction of thesum to buy WhatsApp three yearsback.

It would have been in "low tensof million" dollars, he said stress-ing that the company has grown a

lot since then.Arora said the user-base has

doubled to 600 million from the 30million when he joined three yearsago. The company has flourishedbecause of its focus on the prod-uct, rather than the business sideof things, he said.

"The founders wanted to de-velop a cool product which will beused by millions and did not havebusiness things like valuations,"he said, stressing that this contin-ues to be a motto of the company.-PTI

80% traffic coming from phones: OLXNEW DELHI: Online classifieds

platform OLX says it expects traf-fic on its website to grow at astrong pace, driven by increasingpenetration of smartphones in thecountry.

India, which already accountsfor the highestnumber of listings,had about 1.5 bil-lion monthly pageviews generatedfrom the country.

The Naspers-Backed firm gener-ated more than 11billion monthlypage views. It ispresent in over 106countries in 40 lan-guages.

"Mobile usershave fueled a significant portionof OLX's growth, particularly inmajor emerging markets like Braziland India. In India, we have a con-

sumer-to-consumer (C2C) market-place, which has worked well forus. India has the highest numberof listings compared to other mar-kets where we are present," OLXIndia CEO Amarjit Batra told PTI.

OLX.in's traffic has

grown 150 times in the last 3.5years, when its first television Adwas released.

"With 80 per cent of our traffic

now coming from mobile, we areon the verge of becoming a mo-bile-only company. A major chunkis coming from used mobile andelectronics, household goods,cars and bikes," Batra said.

OLX is avail-able in more than40 countries andover 50 lan-guages. It con-nects local peopleto buy, sell or ex-change usedgoods and ser-vices.

It has morethan 1,200 commit-ted employeesworldwide lo-cated in Bangkok,Buenos Aires,

Cape Town, New Delhi, Jakarta,Lagos, Lisbon, Manila, Nairobi,Poznan, Rio de Janeiro and SaoPaulo. -PTI

can be because of these technolo-gies.

"From the society perspective,whether it is running or education,so many things can happen be-cause of the technology," he said.

Chandrasekaran said TCS alsoaspires to make the marathon amore technology-enriched and so-cially engaged experience for allits participants and fans acrossthe world, using its core technol-ogy skills.

Kenya's Wilson Kipsang, whopreviously won marathon titles inBerlin, London and New York,emerged the winner in the men'scategory, finishing the marathonin two hours and 10 minutes.

Mary Keitany, who returned torunning in a marathon after givingbirth to her second child, won inthe women's category.

She won in 2 hours, 25 minutes,7 seconds - three seconds aheadof her closest competitor JemimaSumgong and recorded closestfinish in the history of the women'srace. The exhibit featuredtouchscreen technology from TCSand allowed marathoners, specta-tors and running fans to journeythrough the five boroughs andhead through the finish line archesto receive a commemorative prize.

The TCS New York City Mara-thon is part of the World Mara-thon Majors, an alliance of theworld's six most important mara-thons, that each year determinesthe world's top male and femalemarathoner.-PTI

Tata Consultancy Services CEO Natarajan Chandrasekaran at the New Yorkcity Marathon on November 2

32 India Post TechBiz Post November 7, 2014

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On the other hand, some banksare said to be advising their cli-ents to use various 'layering' meth-ods, including by way of sharemarket and export-import routes,to move funds from Switzerland toother locations including India.

Other risk-wary banks are, how-ever, have turned cautious aboutdealing with their Indian clients inthe wake of a growing scrutiny ofsuch accounts, as a huge publicoutcry has made even genuineSwiss bank accounts look like sus-picious.

A number of Swiss banks, in-cluding three with significant glo-bal presence, have begun tellingtheir Indian clients to sign under-takings that are aimed at'derisking' the bankinginstitutions from poten-tial risks arising out ofregulatory actionsagainst the bank cus-tomers by foreign gov-ernments.

Some banks are alsotelling their clients toclose their accounts ifthey are not ready totake such risks, or ifthey have apprehensions aboutsuch accounts not being compli-ant to regulatory requirements intheir home countries.

Through these 'derisking' un-dertakings, the customer agrees totake responsibility for any pos-sible regulatory or administrativecompliance with internationalnorms.

At the same time, the bankersare also lobbying with the Swissgovernment to ensure that anyinformation would be shared withtheir Indian counterpart about ac-counts held in Swiss banks onlyafter necessary provisions aremade to safeguard the interest ofthe concerned banking institution.

Following a high-level delega-tion visit from India, Switzerlandlast month agreed to cooperate onmatters related to verification ofgenuineness of accounts and re-ply to requests for banking ac-count details in a time-bound man-ner, and also to initiate a processto include India among the coun-tries eligible for 'automatic ex-change of information'.

Under this new agreement, Swit-zerland has also promised to as-sist Indian authorities on a prior-ity basis.

There has been a huge politicaluproar over Indian black moneyallegedly stashed in Swiss banksand the new government has saidit is committed to tackling thismenace.

As per Swiss National Bank'slatest data, the total money heldby Indians in Swiss banks stoodat over Rs 14,000 crore as in De-cember 2013, up by nearly 42 percent from a year ago.

While banks put in place nec-essary safeguards, there are ap-prehensions that many of their cli-ents are being advised to move thefunds through gold, diamond andother routes.

A new strategy of 'layering' hasalso come to light at Swiss banksto thwart any attempt for identifi-cation of real beneficiary ownersof funds entrusted with them, asper government and bankingsources.-PTI

Black money: Swiss banksmull anticipatory measures


As per Swiss NationalBank's latest data, the totalmoney held by Indians inSwiss banks stood at overRs 14,000 crore as in De-cember 2013

The island nation received re-quests for information in 97 casesfrom India during one-year periodended August, 2014.

According to a Mauritius gov-ernment official, 85 per cent ofthose requests have been re-solved and efforts are on to ad-dress concerns of Indian authori-ties in the remaining ones.

"Between August 2013 andAugust this year, we have re-

Mauritius to help SIT'sblack money probe

ceived requests in as many as 97cases for the exchange of infor-mation with Indian authorities andwe have already provided bank-ing information and other finan-cial details to them in 85 per centof these cases," M Rawoteea,Head Analyst at Ministry of Fi-nance, Mauritius had told PTIearlier.

Over the past few years, effec-tive exchange of information be-tween the two countries has takenplace in at least 170 cases. -PTI


Asian mobile appschallenge tech giants

SINGAPORE: Asian-origin mo-bile applications LINE, YAY andWeChat are posing challenges totechnology giants Apple,Facebook, Google and othertelecoms carriers, cutting into theirmarket shares, according to aSingapore -based firm.

These social messaging ser-vices have become alternativesand offer more options for prod-uct advertisers, providers ofgoods and servicesand mobile apps,said Nakul Gupta,the Chief Technol-ogy Officer at CloneAlgo group.

New inventionsallow Tencent Hold-ings' WeChat usersto book taxis, top upphone credit, whileClone Algo's YAYApp users are ableto talk and chat freebesides being able to apply foronline for micro loans and useClone Algo trading algorithms.

Highlighting some of the latestachievements of these applica-tions, Gupta said that in Thailand,Naver Corp's LINE broke allrecords recently through a "flashsales via its app" with more thanfive million users signing up tobuy lipsticks and other products.

Companies marketing theseservices are further strengtheningtheir product lines and marketing

through acquisitions and raisingfunds for more research and de-velopment work, he said.

Rakuten Inc has acquired mes-saging company Viber for USD 900million to gain further ground inthe market place.

To support its market and R&Dwork, Singapore-based CloneAlgo is raising USD 250 Million ata valuation of USD 11 billion whileLine has similar placement plans,

according to banking sources.Recently launched YAY had

difficulties in penetrating some ofthe smaller emerging markets be-cause of the lack of scale or distri-bution infrastructure.

"But with the launch of YAYMicro loans, the service can nowpenetrate markets with our digitalbusinesses," said Gupta of theClone Algo.

All these service providers arecompeting for market share espe-cially the billions of mobile phone

users around the globe and espe-cially the ever increasing numbersof mobile-savvy consumers in In-dia and China.

Over 50 per cent of the activesmart phones are on these user-friendly apps, which has alreadyreplaced the traditional short mes-sages or SMSes.

"The market has become veryattractive," said Gupta, pointingout that some companies have

built a base of over 10 million perapp. YAY, LINE, KakaoTalk andWeChat have emerged as some ofthe most popular in Asia with theiroffers of mixes of chat,downloadable icons and loans.

Though not ignorant of thechallenges, the big players are notin a position to challenges thenewcomers who are usually domi-nant in their domestic markets -YAY in India and Middle East,LINE in Japan, KakaoTalk in SouthKorea and WeChat in China. -PTI

A view of Ganga arti in Varanasi on the occassion of 51st birthday of Nita Ambani, wife of business tycoonMukesh Ambani on November 1

33India PostTechBiz PostNovember 7, 2014

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Maruti launches new Alto K10 priced up to Rs 3.82 lNEW DELHI: The country's

largest car maker, Maruti SuzukiIndia has launched the new gen-eration of its small car Alto K10that comes equipped with auto-mated gear shift and is priced upto Rs 3.82 lakh (ex-showroomDelhi).

With an eye on reviving growthin its bread and butter mini carsegment, the company has alsoimproved the fuel efficiency of themodel by 15 per cent.

The manual petrol variants ofthe new Alto K10 are priced be-tween Rs 3.06 lakh and Rs 3.56 lakh(ex-showroom Delhi), while thenewly introduced CNG version istagged at Rs 3.82 lakh (all pricesex-showroom).

The auto gear shift variant ofthe car with petrol engine is pricedat Rs 3.80 lakh (ex-showroomDelhi).

Maruti is positioning the newcar as a mass market productequipped with 'futuristic technol-ogy' to cater to "very demanding,value for money conscious cus-tomers."

It has been developed at a costof Rs 200 crore on the existing plat-form of the model by its engineersalong with counterparts at parentSuzuki Motor Corp in Japan.

"Alto K10 is the third MarutiSuzuki car within few weeks where

our suppliers and engineers haveimproved the fuel efficiency sub-stantially," Maruti Suzuki India(MSI) Managing Director andCEO Kenichi Ayukawa told report-ers here.

The company has sold 2.6 mil-

lion Alto cars since it waslaunched 14 years ago, he added.

"We have sold over 4 lakh unitsof Alto K10 in the last four years,"Ayukawa said.

After the Celerio, the Alto K10is the second model to be

equipped with auto gear shift(AGS) feature.

It seeks to leverage on the con-venience factor of the AGS withhigh fuel efficiency levels at afford-able cost to woo entry-level cus-tomers.

While the petrol version deliv-ers a mileage of 24.07 km per liter,the CNG variant will have a fueleconomy of 32.26 km per kg.

It will have six different variantsand the AGS option will be avail-able only with the top-end model.

The previous version of theAlto K10 was priced between Rs3.15 lakh and Rs 3.31 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

The new Alto K10 is coming ata time when MSI's sales in the minisegment, comprising Alto andWagonR, witnessed 2.6 per centdecline in the April-October periodthis fiscal at 2,37,474 units asagainst 2,43,714 units in the year-ago period.

In October 2014, it stood at35,753 units as against 39,379 unitsin the same month last year, down9.2 per cent. -PTI

MD & CEO Kenichi Ayukawa and Executive Director, Marketing & Sales RS Kalsi at the launch of Maruti Suzukisnext generation Alto K10 in New Delhi on November 3

Create more jobs in non-farm sector: Prez

NEW DELHI: President PranabMukherjee has said more jobsneed to be created in non-farmsector as employment creation is

the most potent tool for bringingdown poverty.

Addressing a summit on liveli-hood security, he also asked theindustry to create a mechanism forincome opportunities and capac-ity building through corporatesocial responsibility (CSR).

While emphasizing on the needfor providing livelihood securityto the poor and realizing the

dreams of young India, he saidthat achieving these two taskspose a formidable challenge con-sidering India has only 2.4 per cent

of world's geographical area and17 per cent of the global popula-tion.

"In India, the high incidence ofpoverty of over 60 per cent thatprevailed six decades ago havecome down to over 30 per centnow. ...Even then a sizeable num-ber of about 270 million remainedbelow the poverty line as on 2011-12. Our goal now is 'poverty elimi-

nation' and not merely 'povertyalleviation'," Mukherjee said at anAssocham event.

Since the average age of an In-dian will be 29 years by2020, the country notonly has to find gainfulemployment to engagethe growing manpowerbut also to equip themwith capacity and exper-tise, he said.

Stating that job cre-ation is the most potenttool for wiping out thecurse of poverty, thePresident said there is a"freeze in fresh farm jobs"owing to over-employ-ment and therefore morejobs needed to be createdin non-farm sector.

"To lift the pressureoff the farm sector, morejobs in non-farm sectorare required to be created

through a paradigm shift from pri-mary to secondary agriculture," headded.

Highlighting that food process-ing sector provides a window forgenerating jobs in rural areas andsmall townships, Mukherjee said:"Developing this sunrise sectorcalls for greater investment in infra-structure like cold chains, handling,packaging and transportation."-PTI

President Pranab Mukherjee and ASSOCHAM president Rana Kapoor at an ASSOCHAMsummit on Livelihood Security of India in New Delhi on November 3

Old shipping laws needto be changed: GadkariCHENNAI: After proposing to

modify the Motor Vehicles Act1988, the Centre is now planningto change rules for the ShippingIndustry, Union Transport Minis-ter Nitin Gadkari has said.

"In Shipping we are very muchbackward. We need all kinds of in-frastructure. All laws are old. Theseshould be thrown out," Gadkarisaid at a meeting organized by theMadras Chamber of Commerce andIndustry here late last night.

The Ministry, after ob-serving that the Motor Ve-hicles Act 1988 was old andrequired modifications, an-nounced its decision tochange it recently.

"We have the 1988 MotorVehicles Act. We are goingto change it. We do not needan RTO (Regional TransportOffice). There was corruptionof crores of rupees (in RTOoffices) and we are going tostop it," he said.

"We need to bring in transpar-ency. We have already started theprocess. If somebody was seenviolating rules through the onlinesystem, immediately we can can-cel his license or see what are theearlier violations he has done," theminister said.

Observing that the country re-quires nine joint ventures in shipbuilding projects, he said, "PrimeMinister Narendra Modi has taken

a decision. We are also making apolicy (for bringing nine shipbuilding projects). We are search-ing for national and internationalcompanies to have joint ven-tures."

"One company has come for-ward to do one ship buildingproject. Similarly, we are also look-ing at ship breaking projects," hesaid.

Similar to Roadways, Gadkarisaid, the government has planned

to come out with a consultancy inwhich 500 projects in the defensesector would be cleared.

"In defense, now we have de-cided to have a bank for 500projects through DPR. We aremaking a DPR (detailed project re-port) and setting up a Project Man-agement Consultancy. For theconsultancy, we are giving themresponsibility and 500 projectswould be cleared without any de-lay," he said. -PTI

Nitin Gadkari

India Post November 7, 2014www.indiapost.com

Real Estate34

Realty Tidbits Housing prices rise in 18cities by up to 3.9 pc

Details on Page 35

FDI in real estate may doubleafter easing of rules

Govt to launch 'rental housing' schemeNEW DELHI: Aiming to provide

temporary shelter for migrants andhomeless people, the governmentis firming up a new initiative tolaunch a rental housing project inthe big cities to answer their ac-commodation needs.

"We are launching a major ini-tiative to promote rental housingon a large scale, for which an in-vestment of Rs 6,000 crore is pro-posed," said a senior Urban De-velopment Ministry official.

"Migrants who flock to big cit-ies in search of livelihood oftenface housing problems. Since mostof them are economically weak,they face difficulties in gettingsuitable accommodation," said theofficial.

According to the plan, therental housing project is expectedto be first taken up in the nationalcapital before being later replicatedin other cities.

The project aims at providingshelter to migrants and the home-less for short periods till they ac-quire their own houses, the offi-cial said.

The housing shortage is atnearly 18.78 million according toestimates in 2012 and 95 per centof the shortage is in the low-in-come category.

The NDA government is also

going to launch the Sardar PatelNational Urban Housing Missionto enable slum dwellers, economi-cally weaker sections and low in-come groups to own houses inurban areas.

"The Urban Housing Missionis a part of the government's goalof 'Housing for All by 2022'. Un-der the grand initiative, over 10crore new houses need to be builtin the next eight years," said theofficial.

The government hopes thatthe Housing for All initiative willspur economic growth as it offershuge investment opportunities.

However, the official said, "Itrequires massive funding ashousing in urban areas alone isestimated to cost Rs 22.50 lakhcrore. We are keen to promote theprivate sector in a big way toachieve housing construction tar-gets." -PTI

The governmenthopes that the Hous-ing for All initiativewill spur economicgrowth as it offershuge investmentopportunities.

Fitch assignsstable rating toIndiabulls

NEW DELHI: Fitch Ratings hasassigned a stable rating toMumbai-based Indiabulls RealEstate Ltd.

It has also assigned B+ ratingto the company's proposed dollardenominated notes.

"Fitch Ratings has assignedIndia-based Indiabulls Real EstateLtd (IBREL) a Long-Term ForeignCurrency Issuer Default Rating(IDR) of 'B+'. The Outlook isStable.

"The agency has also assignedIBREL's proposed US dollar de-nominated guaranteed notes anexpected rating of 'B+(EXP)' andRecovery Rating of 'RR4'," Fitchsaid in a statement.

The proposed senior notes willbe issued IBREL's Jersey- basedsubsidiary Century Ltd and will beunconditionally and irrevocablyguaranteed by IBREL and its keysubsidiaries. -PTI

Communitiesgetting $1.9 mnin housing grants

CONCORD, N.H.: Five NewHampshire communities havebeen approved to receive nearly$1.9 million in grants toward af-fordable housing projects and re-pairs.

The grants approved by the NewHampshire Community Develop-ment Finance Authority are goingto Grafton County, the towns ofConway and Allenstown, and thecities of Claremont and Concord.They await final approval from theExecutive Council.

One of the larger grants, for$500,000, goes to Allenstown toconstruct a new Suncook Boys &Girls Club. The new clubhouse willdouble the number of childrenserved in the community. In July,the authority awarded $700,000 ininvestment tax credits toward the$1.6 million initiative.

Other grants will support en-ergy efficient apartments, housingfor seniors and those with devel-opmental disabilities and watersystem replacement. In Claremont,$300,000 will go to replace the wa-ter system at the Pleasant ValleyEstates Cooperative. Its 50-year-old pipes have experienced 12leaks in the past 18 months andsediment has been getting into thedrinking water.

``All of these projects have dem-onstrated they will positively impactthe lives of children, families, andseniors throughout New Hamp-shire,'' said Kevin Flynn, a spokes-man for the authority. ``Thesefederal grants will benefit 283residents, 77 percent of whom areof low-to-moderate income.''-AP

NEW DELHI: Foreign direct in-vestment (FDI) in the real estatesector could jump over two-fold inthe next one year with easing of FDIrules in the construction sector,realtors' body NAREDCO has said.

Real estate developers and con-sultants were of the view that thismove would give a fillip to cash-starved realty sector, which is reel-ing under a slowdown since last2-3 years. It will help developersin raising funds to completeprojects.

The Cabinet has relaxed FDIrules in construction sector by re-ducing minimum built-up area aswell as capital requirement andeasing the exit norms.

"Reduction in minimum built-uparea to 20,000 sq meters from 50,000sq meters and reduction in capitalinvestment to USD 5 million fromUSD 10 million has the potentialto more than double FDI inflowsinto housing, commercial real es-tate, hotels and townships in thenext one year," NAREDCO Chair-man Navin Raheja said in a state-ment.

In 2013-14 fiscal, the FDI in con-struction development, which in-clude housing and township, wasUSD 1.22 billion.

During April-August period ofthis fiscal, the sector has attractedUSD 446 million worth FDI.

Hailing the move, India's larg-est realty major DLF Group Execu-tive Director Rajeev Talwar said:"Praise to the Finance Minister forbeing so prompt in meeting the re-quirements of this industry in hisbudget announcement, then ap-proval for Real Estate InvestmentTrusts and now relaxation in FDInorm.

There will be huge amount ofFDI inflow in this sector".

Unitech MD Sanjay Chandrasaid this would "surely provide aboost to the real estate industryand go a long way in fulfillingPrime Minister Narendra Modi'sdream of creating smart citiesthroughout the country."

Permission to sell completedprojects to foreign investors willhelp Indian developers get muchneeded liquidity into the system,Chandra added.

Cont’d on page 38

Parsvnath Developers Chair-man Pradeep Jain said: "We arethankful to government for thismove. The sector is reeling underacute funding pressure. The for-eign investment in real estate has

also gone down in last few years.Hence, this move has sent a posi-tive signal for the real estate sec-tor".

Terming the decision as a posi-tive development, realty consult-ant CBRE South Asia CMDAnshuman Magazine said: "Realestate and infrastructure industryis starved of funds. This an-

nouncement will widen the baseof investors, especially mid-sizedfinancial institutions."

It would also encourage new

development projects in prime ar-eas of large cities and in tier IItowns, Magazine added.

Property consultant Cushman &Wakefield said the move is likely togive fillip to real estate sector. Thisstep would be beneficial for the nextphase of urban development.

Audit firm KPMG India Partnerand Head, Real Estate and Con-struction Sector Neeraj Bansalsaid: "Following up with REITsnorms, the recent relaxation of FDInorms in construction develop-ment is expected to provide an im-mediate breather to the cash-strapped real estate sector."

"The reform would now allowforeign investor to invest insmaller projects spread over landparcel of about 3-4 acres," headded.

KPMG expects the policy tosupport housing and commercialprojects in metro cities such asDelhi and Mumbai, where projectsize is generally small, yet re-quires heavy investment due toexpensive land parcels and highconstruction cost.

NAREDCO Chairman Navin Raheja

NEW DELHI: Housing prices appreciated in 18 ma-jor cities by up to 3.9 per cent in April-June over thepreceding quarter while property rates fell in six citiesincluding Delhi, according to National Housing Bank(NHB).

In the national capital, housing prices dropped by 3per cent during the first quarter of this fiscal comparedwith the January-March 2014.

Housing prices rise in 18 cities by up to 3.9 pcNEW DELHI: Housing prices

appreciated in 18 major cities byup to 3.9 per cent in April-Juneover the preceding quarter whileproperty rates fell in six cities in-cluding Delhi, according to Na-tional Housing Bank (NHB).

In the national capital, housingprices dropped by 3 per cent dur-ing the first quarter of this fiscalcompared with the January-March2014.

Maximum price increase waswitnessed in Pune by 3.9 per cent,while Chandigarh saw highest fallof 4.4 per cent, according to NHB's'RESIDEX'.

NHB had launched housing in-dex 'RESIDEX' in July 2007 to trackthe movement of housing priceson a quarterly basis. It currentlycovers 26 cities.

Prices in two cities - Hyderabadand Raipur - remained stagnant.

"The movement in prices ofresidential properties for the quar-ter April-June, 2014 has shownmarginal increasing trend in 18 cit-ies ranging from 0.5 per cent inBhubaneswar to 3.9 per cent in

Pune, and fall in 6 cities rangingfrom -0.5 per cent in Lucknow to -4.4 per cent in Chandigarh in com-parison to the previous quarterJanuary-March, 2014," NHB saidin a statement.

The appreciation in propertyprices in majority of cities tracked

by NHB comes at a time when thedomestic real estate sector is reel-ing under a lingering slowdownfor last 2-3 years.

Maximum increase was ob-served in Pune (3.9 per cent) fol-lowed by Coimbatore (3.5 per cent),Indore (3.3 per cent), Guwahati (3.2per cent), Patna (2.7 per cent) andKolkata (2.4 per cent).

Housing prices appreciated inAhmedabad by 1.91 per cent,Vijayawada (1.88 per cent),Mumbai (1.75 per cent), Chennai(1.72 per cent), Ludhiana (1.4 percent), Bhopal (1.3 per cent), Kochi(1.2 per cent), Jaipur (0.99 per cent),Faridabad (0.96 per cent),Bengaluru (0.93 per cent), Nagpur(0.6 per cent) and Bhubaneswar(0.5 per cent).

"Six cities have shown decline

in prices over the previous quar-ter with maximum fall observed inChandigarh (-4.4 per cent) fol-lowed by Meerut (-3.6 per cent),Delhi (-3 per cent), Surat (-2.4 percent), Dehradun (-2.1 per cent) andLucknow (-0.5 per cent)," NHBsaid.

The Residex for the quarterApril-June, 2014 has taken intoaccount the price trends for resi-dential properties in different lo-cations and zones in each city andis based upon the transaction datareceived from Central Registry ofSecuritization Asset Reconstruc-tion and Security Interest of India(CERSAI).

The data based on actual trans-actions are put through a modelthat depicts the trend in the mar-ket, NHB said. -PTI

Property prices to remainstable for 6 months

MUMBAI: Even as the overallsentiment in the real estate sectorhas improved, buyers feel prop-erty prices across top 10 cities arelikely to remain stable for the nextsix months, according to a recentsurvey.

The Housing Sentiment Index(HSI) assessed by IIM Bangaloreand real estate portal Magicbrickshome buyers across 10 cities -Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai,Delhi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad,Kolkata, Mumbai, Noida and Pune- suggests that real estate pricesare likely to remain stable over thenext six months.

The aggregate HSI measuredacross the cities dropped margin-ally by four per cent during July-September quarter to 114 com-pared to April-June period, indi-cating property prices would re-main static.

"The Indian real estate con-sumer is still in the wait and watchmode. While there is active inter-est in the market, evinced by thetime spent by consumers onMagicbricks searching for houses,the consumer still expects pricesto hold for at least six months andis willing to wait to buy,"Magicbricks Business HeadSudhir Pai said.

As per the survey, sentiment inAhmedabad soared by 30 per centand can be attributed to the pro-gressive policies and intelligentgovernance that led to mushroom-ing of various industries, the re-port said.

"The fact that the current re-form-focused Prime Minister

Narendra Modi hails fromAhmedabad has assisted in theheightened positive atmosphere inthe city," Pai said.

Pune was the only city besideAhmedabad to register higher sen-timents this quarter, whileHyderabad posted an HSI of 104, adrop of 12 per cent as compared tothe previous quarter. Bangalore,however, registered a drop in senti-ments.

FDI in real estate maydouble after easing of rules

"Although all cities postedpositive sentiments, consumersexpect prices to remain stable orrise marginally.

With the economy expected toperform better, effective policies inthe housing sector will ensure thatpositive sentiments translate intoactual purchase," IIMB-CenturyReal Estate Research Initiative(CRERI) lead researcher UmaSitaraman said. -PTI

New Florida varsity dormwill be innovative

GAINESVILLE, Fla.: Studentsliving in the residence halls oncampus at the University ofFlorida cannot operate a businessout of their dorm rooms. Can't haveFedEx trucks coming by to pick uppackages. Can't have supplytrucks dropping off supplies. Can'tbuild prototypes in the commu-nity room.

A new residence hall being builttwo blocks east of campus will al-low all that and more. In fact, en-trepreneurs and startup busi-nesses are welcome.

Infinity Hall, a first-of-its kindpublic-private partnership be-tween the University of Floridaand Signet Development, will havedorm space for 308 students to live,eat and sleep, and another 20,000square feet of space for them topursue their projects.

It's also the first privatelyfunded project in Innovation

Square and the first privatizeddorm at UF. The five-story, 97,000-square-foot dorm's $23 million costis being footed entirely by Signet,which also put together the designand construction team. It's also aneconomic development project forthe city of Gainesville that will goback on the tax rolls.

``Signet is the first private-sec-tor partner we've had,'' UF Presi-dent Bernie Machen said.

The residence hall project hasspecial significance for Machen,who is stepping down as UF's11th president in December. ̀ `It isprobably my last project to startas I go walking out the door,'' hesaid.

But it also represents a hugeshift in the relationship betweenUF, the city and county, and pri-vate partnerships, he said, antici-pating more projects of its kind tocome. -AP

35India PostNovember 7, 2014

www.indiapost.comReal Estate Post


Echoing similar views, ShriramProperties MD M Murali said: "Iwould say this is an excellentpositive announcement the Gov-ernment has made appreciatingthe contribution of constructionsector to the economy and thenation as well.

"Easy and more money to theconstruction sector would mean- more jobs! - More houses!Needless to say the still fastergrowth of ancillary industries,"he added.

Supertech CMD RK Arorasaid: "With this positive an-nouncement and REITs comingsoon, we believe foreign playerswill not hesitate in investing toIndia."

Gaursons MD Manoj Gaursaid the Centre has taken a bigstep by relaxing the FDI policy."These new changes will help toattract money in the sector thatwill work as soothing breeze in

starving sector of real estate."SARE Homes MD Vineet Relia

said the relaxation of the twonorms will improve the overall in-vestor sentiments and increasethe inflow of investments.

Prateek group ChairmanPrashant Tiwari said the muchneeded breather for the sectorwill further entice developers tobe more aggressive in the seg-ment and take development be-yond metro cities.

"With this improved cash flow,developers will now be able toexpedite the construction of de-layed projects and closing in ofthe increasing gap between de-mand and supply," he added.

M3M Director Pankaj Bansalsaid the move would inject much-required foreign capital in realestate. It will speed up thecompletion and delivery ofprojects and motivate investorsto venture into new deals anddevelop projects like smart cit-ies." -PTI

www.indiapost.com36 India Post November 7, 2014

Health ScienceHealth Line

Details on Page 38

India to spendRs 1.7 lakh cron universalhealth plan

Health Transformations meet highlightsimportance of tele-medicine

VIDYA SETHURAMANIndia Post News Service

FREMONT, CA: Silicon ValleyHealth Transformations 3.0 meetup was held at Japra Vineyards on

Oct 30 in Fremont, California. Thepurpose of the meet-up was toassist entrepreneurs and innova-tors to identify the opportunitiesin entire healthcare industryacross the globe.

Highly accomplished physi-cians, physician entrepreneurs,an array of personnel from repu-table imaging centers, surgicalcenters and hospitals as speak-ers and mentors attended thisevent. If you already have a healthcare company start up, then thisis your one stop shop which as-sists in reaching your true market

potential.Healthcare transformations 3.0

identified three critical areas thatneed innovation. They are tech-nology transformation, processtransformation and personnel

transformation.Event host and organizer Dr

Romesh Japra is an eminent car-diologist from Silicon Valley, adynamic leader with extensivebackground in both clinical andnon clinical side of healthcare. DrJapra is an investor, advisor, men-tor and he has actively partici-pated in several startups.

Dr Javeed Siddiqui was thekeynote speaker of the eveningand emphasized on the impor-tance of tele-medicine. He is theco-founder and Chief MedicalOfficer for TeleMed2U, a 100%

telemedicine based multi-spe-cialty clinical practice. In additionto being an Infectious Diseasesphysician, Dr Siddiqui is a recog-nized medical technologist andserved as the first Medical Direc-

tor of California's Institute for Sci-ence and Innovation.

Telemedicine is the use of tele-communication and informationtechnologies in order to provideclinical health care at a distance.It helps eliminate distance barri-ers and can improve access tomedical services that would oftennot be consistently available indistant rural communities. It isalso used to save lives in criticalcare and emergency situations,says Dr Siddiqui.

The global telemedicine markethas grown from $9.8 billion in 2010to $11.6 billion in 2011 and is ex-pected to grow to $27.3 billion in2016, a compound annual growthrate (CAGR) of 18.6% over thenext five years.

Indian American surgeons meet in SFIndia Post News Service

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: In-dian American Surgical Associa-tion held its second annual meet-ing in San Francisco on Sunday,October 26.

Surgeons of Indian originpracticing in the US and India,fellows, residents, and medicalstudents attending the ACSClinical Congress gathered todiscuss their initiatives to en-hance medical practice and edu-cation in India and globally. In-dividuals shared their experi-ences in collaborating with theirIndian counterparts, the resis-tance they may have faced in

implementing their programs andprogress they are making in theirendeavors overall.

A strong gathering of close to

70 faculty deliberated major issuesof mutual interest in academic, re-search, and clinical work. A stronginterest was seen in building a

trauma education program simi-lar to the one recently run by DrVyas and IASA team in Jodh-pur.

IASA President Dr VijayMittal discussed his Fulbrightvisit to India and the lessonshe learned in his efforts to im-prove quality of surgical edu-cation in India.

IASA Vice-Presidents, DrAjai Malhotra, Virginia Com-monwealth University, and DrDinesh Vyas, Michigan StateUniversity, also spoke on thevision of IASA and its poten-tial impact.

A group of Indian Surgeons at SF meet Cont'd on Page 38

Vitamin Dcan helpasthma patients

JERUSALEM: Boosting Vita-min D levels can help manageasthma in sufferers, a new studyhas found.

Asthma, which inflames andnarrows the airways, has noknown cure but it can be managedwith medication and by avoidingallergens and other triggers.

The new study by Tel AvivUniversity researchers found thatcatching some rays outside couldbe a convenient, free way to man-age acute asthmatic episodes.

Dr Ronit Confino-Cohen ofTAU's Sackler Faculty of Medi-cine and her team analyzed themedical records of nearly four mil-lion members of Clalit Health Ser-vices, Israel's largest health careprovider.

The Vitamin D levels of 307,900people were measured between2008 and 2012. Researchers alsotook into account key predictorsof asthma, such as obesity, smok-ing, and other chronic diseases.

Of some 21,000 asthma patientsin Israel studied, those with a Vi-tamin D deficiency were 25 percent more likely than other asth-matics to have had at least oneflare-up in the recent past. -PTI

Walkingworkstationscan boost health

WASHINGTON: Walkingworkstations can improve notonly physical but also mentalhealth during office hours, a newstudy has found.

Michael Sliter from the IndianaUniversity-Purdue University In-dianapolis (IUPUI) hopes thestudy encourages employers toexamine methods to assist work-ers in healthy living.

"We found that the walkingworkstations, regardless of aperson's exercise habits or bodymass index (BMI), had significantbenefits," Sliter said.

"Even if you don't exercise orif you are overweight, you'll expe-rience both short-term physicaland psychological benefits," saidSliter.

A sample of 180 participantswas evaluated on boredom, tasksatisfaction, stress, arousal, andperformance while completingwork-related computer tasksacross four randomly assignedworkstations: seated, standing,cycling or walking.

The researchers found walkingworkstation participants had highersatisfaction and arousal, while ex-periencing less boredom and stressthan the standing and sitting work-station participants.-PTI

Cont'd on Page 39

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November 7, 2014

Ebola knocks on the doors of USA! What next?DR. MUNISH KUMAR RAIZADA

Named after the river along which thevirus is believed to have originatedin 1976, Ebola virus disease (EVD)

has resurfaced again with much more in-tensity. The numbers speak the story them-selves - In comparison to the 1,716 casesof Ebola from 1976 to 2013, the recent Ebolaoutbreak in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guineahas accounted for more than 10,000 cases,of which, close to 5,000 victims have suc-cumbed to the virus.

At the time of writing, the Ebola diseaseis present in epidemic proportions in theabove three west African countries, whilefive countries have been witness to travel-associated Ebola disease: Mali, Senegal,Nigeria, Spain and USA. In USA, as of Oc-tober 24, four cases of laboratory-provenEbola have been reported with one of themhaving died.

A flurry of statements every alternateday by the WHO highlights the gravity ofthe matter. While monetary and healthcarehelp from all corners of the world has beenpouring into these three worst hit coun-tries, the virus is slowly but surely spread-ing its reach to other parts of the world aswell.

Recent cases of Ebola in the USA havesent shivers much beyond the country'sboundaries. For those who look up to theUSA as the world leader, this news came asa shock. The first Ebola victim in the USA

was reported from Dallas in Texas. ThomasEric Duncan, a Liberian national who usedto visit his family in Texas, died on 8th Oc-tober.

The next two suspected cases to havebeen reported in the country were of the

nurses who took care of Duncan, but bothfortunately did not develop the disease.And just when it seemed like the diseasewon't pick up any further, New York reportedits first Ebola case. Craig Spencer, a physi-cian, had just come back from Guinea afterworking with the humanitarian aid NGO,'Doctors Without Borders'.

As panic struck the city, Bill de Blasio,

New York City's mayor, came out to assurethe locals that there is nothing to worryabout. One of the other major reasons thathave been worrying the city's locals is thatSpencer revealed that before being testedpositive for Ebola virus, he did go to placeswithin the city.

He traveled on different subway linesand went out with his fiancé to a number ofpublic places. As of writing of this column,Dr Spencer seems to be having more symp-toms of the disease. Four states - New York,New Jersey, Connecticut and Illinois - haveenforced mandatory quarantine (of 21days) on health workers arriving here fromW African countries afflicted with the dis-ease.

Though Ebola is not an air-borne dis-ease, because of its contagious nature, ifstricter measures are not taken, it can spreadto many more countries. In modern era ofair-travel, it is a real possibility! And it wouldbe foolish to assume that it can't possiblyreach India.

India would rather be advised to take acloser look at its facilities and prepare forthe deadly disease sooner rather than later.With a population like ours, India couldeasily turn into a happy breeding groundfor Ebola. While steps such as thoroughchecking at airports have been termed as'adequate' by the Government, cases suchas Spencer's, where his Ebola was tested a

It would be foolish to as-sume that it can't possiblyreach India. India wouldrather be advised to takea closer look at its facili-ties and prepare for thedeadly disease soonerrather than later

Dr MK Raizada

Cancer cell fingerprints in bloodmay speed up diagnosis

LONDON: Scientists have identifiedcancer cell fingerprints in the blood thatcould one day help doctors diagnose arange of children's cancers faster and moreaccurately.

Researchers, from the University of Cam-bridge and Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cam-bridge, have found unique molecular fin-gerprints for 11 types of children's tumors,which could be used to develop blood teststo diagnose the cancers.

This may eventually lead to a quicker,more accurate way to diagnose tumors, andcould also reduce the need for children toundergo surgery to get a diagnosis one day.

The researchers uncovered the finger-prints left by the tumors by analyzing bloodsamples from children when they were di-agnosed with cancer.

They were looking for molecules thatturn genes on and off, called microRNAs,to find common changes linked to differenttumors.

In particular they found a very specificfingerprint which identifies different typesof neuroblastoma, a form of childhood can-cer which develops from a type of nervecell.

Lead researchers Dr Matthew Murrayand Professor Nicholas Coleman, both from

the University of Cambridge andAddenbrooke's Hospital said the re-search suggested that differenttypes of tumor could be identifiedusing a blood test which recognizesthe unique fingerprints produced bytumors.

"We hope that this early researchcould eventually lead to the devel-opment of non-invasive tests whichare faster, more accurate and gen-tler, transforming the way we make acancer diagnosis in the future," saidMurray.

"Using a blood test instead ofsurgery to remove a tumor sample couldimprove diagnosis - such that results takea matter of hours rather than days or weeks.

"However, before such a test can be in-corporated into clinical practice, it will nowbe important for these findings to be vali-dated in other, larger independent studies,"Murray said. -PTI

week after his US return, suggest that suchmeasures could account for nothing. Pre-paring state of the art isolation centers isthe least we must do to back up our claims.

I know this is being debated. But as a

health professional, I have been espousingfor restricting international travel to the af-fected countries. This seems to be one logi-cal step to contain the disease along withproviding the affected countries all the ad-equate technological and financial support.

The case fatality rates in current out-breaks have been high; varying from 50 to70%, thus the scare it has generated is un-derstandable. There is no specific therapyavailable and no vaccine is yet available.Under such circumstances, prevention andcontrol of Ebola virus disease is important.

The author is a Chicago-based Board-certified practicing doctor (Neonatologist).

India Post Health Science Post38

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November 7, 2014

Dr Mohammed Siddiqui of theFolsom Surgery and Vein Centerin California and co-founder of theGlobal Medical Foundation dis-cussed his work to bring improvedmedical services and education toBangalore.

Dr Bikram Paul of the NationalInstitutes of Health and JohnsHopkins University explained thenumerous projects he has beeninvolved with in developingtrauma programs overseas.

Dr Vijay Maker, Chairman, UICaffiliate Hospital, stressed the im-portance of collaboration and thespirit of giving back to India.

Karl Mehta, from Edcast, pre-sented his innovative cloud tech-nology that connects students

and faculty through an online in-teractive educational forum.Edcast allows individuals to learn,share, and collaborate virtuallyand can help bridge knowledgeand technology gaps betweenIndian and American systems.

Apoorva Aekka, researchscholar from Michigan State Uni-versity gave an excellent engag-ing presentation on Vyas Pre-hos-pital care initiative, goals andplans

Constructive and achievableshort and long term strategic de-cisions were taken to build astrong surgical networking com-munity on both sides working to-wards common goals: better pa-tient care, research, education andclinical excellence, said Dr Vyas,spokesman of IASA.

Indian Americansurgeons meet in SF

Cont'd from Page 36

Indian-American jailedfor healthcare fraud

NEW YORK: An Indian-Ameri-can physical therapist assistanthas been sentenced to over fouryears in prison and ordered to payUSD 1.9 million in restitution forhis role in a USD 14.9 million healthinsurance fraud scheme.

Jigar Patel, 31, a physical thera-pist assistant of Michigan hasbeen sentenced to 50 months inprison by US District JudgeTerrence Berg for his role in bill-ing federal health insurance pro-grams for home health servicesthat were never provided.

In addition to his prison term,Patel was asked to pay USD 1.9million in restitution for thehealthcare fraud in which he pro-vided beneficiaries with prescrip-tions for unnecessary painkillersand other narcotics to inducethem to sign false medical docu-ments to support the fraudulentbillings, Assistant Attorney Gen-eral Leslie Caldwell of the JusticeDepartment's Criminal Divisionsaid in a statement.

Patel, along with co-defendantsSrinivas Reddy, 38, an unlicenseddoctor and Shahzad Mirza, 43, aphysical therapist both fromMichigan were each convicted bya federal jury in April this year ofone count of conspiracy to com-mit health care fraud.

In addition, Mirza and Patelwere found guilty of two countsof health care fraud, and Reddywas found guilty of three countsof health care fraud and they willbe sentenced at a later date.

Meanwhile, Patel was alsofound guilty of one count ofmoney laundering.

As a result of the defendants'

fraudulent conduct, Medicarepaid nearly USD 15 million.

According to evidence pre-sented at trial, between July 2008and September 2011, the defen-dants used four home health carecompanies to fraudulently billMedicare for home health careservices that were never provided.

The defendants used thesecompanies to pay kickbacks to re-cruiters for the referral of Medi-care beneficiaries. In turn, the re-cruiters paid the beneficiaries cash

and promised them access to un-necessary prescriptions for pain-killers and other narcotics.

Through a fifth company, thedefendants employed unlicensedindividuals, including Reddy, toprovide the beneficiaries with thepromised prescriptions and toobtain the necessary informationto complete the referrals for medi-

cally unnecessary home healthcare services.

Evidence presented at trialshowed that beneficiaries signedblank medical paperwork thatPatel and others then completedwith false information to show thatcare was provided, when it wasnot.

In the course of the conspiracy,Patel incorporated his own staff-ing company through which helaundered proceeds of the fraud.-PTI

India to spend Rs 1.7 lakh cron universal health plan

NEW DELHI: India will bespending around Rs 1.7 lakh crore(USD 28 billion) on its ambitiousuniversal healthcare scheme un-der which free drugs, diagnostictests and insurance cover will beprovided to all its citizens.

The scheme under the NationalHealth Assurance Mission, to berolled out in a phased manner fromApril next year, will cover the en-tire population while taking careof their healthcare needs byMarch, 2019.

According to sources, theHealth Ministry is in the processof finalizing a note for the UnionCabinet with an aim to get its ap-proval in the next two months. Theapproval of the Finance Ministryis also being sought separately.

At a meeting of top Health Min-istry officials to review progresson the proposal, it was decidedthat three to four districts will beselected in each state for rolling

out the scheme.Sources said later the scheme

will be launched in a phased man-ner in all the districts across thecountry and will be applicable toall state governments as well asprivate medical establishments.

"We are preparing the schemesince it involves a lot of prepara-tory activities. We hope to launchit from the year 2015-16 in a

phased manner," Additional Sec-retary Health C K Mishra told PTI.

He said once fully operational,all citizens will get free medicines,drugs and diagnostic tests in allgovernment as well as privatemedical establishments across thecountry.

Officials said an Expert Com-mittee set up in this regard hasestimated that a total expenditureof Rs 1.7 lakh crores (around USD28 Billion) will be made under thescheme.

They added that around Rs80,000 crore (around USD 13 bil-lion) will be spent annually underthe scheme but final details arebeing worked out to reduce theexpenditure to some extent.

Health officials said thescheme under the National HealthAssurance Mission is been givenfinal shape to help take care of thecommon man's healthcare needsin the country. -PTI

Jigar Patel, 31, a physical therapist assistantof Michigan has been sentenced to 50months in prison by US District Judge TerrenceBerg for his role in billing federal health insur-ance programs for home health services thatwere never provided.

All citizens will getfree medicines,drugs and diagnostictests in all govern-ment as well asprivate medicalestablishmentsacross the country

NYC doctor with Ebolaupgraded to stable condition

NEW YORK: A New York doc-tor who became infected withEbola while treating patients inGuinea has been upgraded fromserious but stable condition tostable condition, hospital officialssaid, marking progress in a casethat intensified the debate overhow to treat health workers re-turning from West Africa.

The New YorkCity Health and Hos-pitals Corporationissued the upgradefor Dr. Craig Spencernine days after hewas brought to thehospital after report-ing a fever.

The agency,which runs BellevueHospital Center,where Spencer hasbeen undergoingtreatment, said hewill remain in isola-tion and receive fulltreatment to recoverfrom a virus that haskilled nearly 5,000people in West Af-rica.

Spencer, the only confirmedEbola patient in New York, is a 32-year-old Doctors Without Bordersphysician who had returned fromEbola-plagued Guinea less than aweek before notifying authoritiesOct. 23 that he had a fever.

The HHC has said Spencer isreceiving antiviral and plasmatherapies that were effective intreating Ebola patients in Atlantaand Nebraska. Spencer's quaran-

tined fiancée and two friends re-main symptom free.

City health officials also an-nounced that they would nolonger restrict the daily move-ments of one of the individualswho had been quarantined be-cause of contact with Spencer.They said the person, who wasnot identified, would be assessed

twice a day by Health Departmentstaff.

The agency said in a statementthat health officials reconfirmedthat ``the individual's exposurewas not consistent with howEbola is transmitted.''

After Spencer was hospitalized,city health officials reassured thepublic that there was almost nochance strangers were infected bya virus that must be transmittedthrough bodily fluids. -AP

New York Ebola patient Dr. Craig Spencer

India PostHealth Science Post 39

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November 7, 2014

He has been actively involved intelemedicine and tele health since 2002 andhas been recognized as a national thoughtleader in these fields. TeleMed2U is a multi-specialty medical practice that is 100%telemedicine based.

In addition, TeleMed2U is breaking newground in the application of telemedicineand telehealth in the field of healthcare re-

2 sentenced in $258mn Medicare fraud

Health Transformations meet highlightsimportance of tele-medicine

form. TeleMed2U is designed to provide awin/win proposition for the entire healthcare supply chain including physicians,patients, hospitals and insurance compa-nies. Telemedicine and TeleMed2U will playa key role in healthcare reform in increas-ing access to care, changing the environ-ment of healthcare delivery and reducingthe per capita cost.

Tingbin Tang, Chief Creative Officer atiHealth Lab spoke on his products. With

over 15 years experience in the product de-velopment field, specialized in user experi-ence research, user interface design, andindustrial design, he was the Winner ofGood Design 2004 - an International indus-trial and graphics design competition.

Raju Annamraju was the Moderator. Witha 20-year career in the health care field, withstrong emphasis on Radiology and Cardi-ology fields Ramana has owned and oper-ated an Imaging center for 10 years. He

authored several work flow process for Ra-diology and Cardiology outsourcing.

Ramana was instrumental in formingseveral physician networks across UnitedStates and actively participated in formingof IPAs and HMOs. The event was wellattended by CEOs of medical device andhealthcare industry startup.

BATON ROUGE, La.: The U.S. JusticeDepartment says the operator of commu-nity health centers in Baton Rouge and apatient recruiter for a community mentalhealth center in Houston have been sen-tenced in a $258 million Medicare fraudscheme.

The sentences were handed down in fed-eral court in Baton Rouge.

The department said 53-year-old RoslynF. Dogan, of Baton Rouge was sentencedto 90 months in prison; 48-year-old JamesR. Hunter of Houston received 60 months.

In May a federal jury found Dogan guiltyof conspiracy to commit health care fraud,and two counts of health care fraud. Thejurors convicted Hunter of conspiracy tocommit health care fraud and conspiracyto pay and receive kickbacks.

The department said Dogan and Hunter

are among 17 people convicted in the case.``The companies collectively submitted

more than $258 million in claims to Medi-care for PHP services over a period of sevenyears,'' the department said.

The sentencing of Dogan and Hunterwas the latest development in the case.Dogan was a co-owner of Serenity Centerof Baton Rouge and a manager and mar-keter for both Serenity Center and ShifaCommunity Mental Health Center of BatonRouge.

The Justice Department said Dogan re-cruited Medicare beneficiaries who wereliving in nursing homes and assisted livingfacilities to attend partial hospitalizationpsychiatric service programs at Shifa andSerenity, knowing the individuals did notneed the psychotherapy programs. Herscheme also involved falsifying records toshow patients were treated when they hadnot been.

The department said Hunter recruitedMedicare beneficiaries to attend the PHPprogram at Shifa Community Mental HealthCenter of Texas in Houston in exchange for$1,500 per week in cash. ̀ `Hunter recruitedMedicare recipients from group homes whowere not appropriate for the PHP services,but who agreed to attend the program inexchange for $75 cash per week. ̀ `

A Baton Rouge psychiatrist, ZahidImran, 56, pleaded guilty in the case earlierthis year.-AP

The department said 53-year-old Roslyn F. Dogan,of Baton Rouge was sen-tenced to 90 months inprison; 48-year-old JamesR. Hunter of Houston re-ceived 60 months.

Cont'd from Page 36

India Post40 November 7, 2014www.indiapost.com

Kurukshetra means the field of righteousness, aname well suited to its legendary past and reli-gious predominance. A holy town in the stateof Haryana, Kurukshetra had acquired many

ramifications and to the teeming millions of India, this placereminds them of the sacred association it has with LordKrishna, the benevolent god in the entire Hindu Pantheon.

The legendary tales of Kurukshetra starts with Kuru,who laid the foundation of a domain that has its roots onuprightness and benevolence. Ironically this land has towitness a great battle between the successors of Kuru, inwhich the Lord himself had played a key role. Thus,Kurukshetra encompasses a rich and a colorful history ofcenturies, where one can experience the theological and

rational gibbets of Hinduism. The sacredness of the citygrew with the visit of saintly avatars like Lord Buddha andnumerous Sikh gurus. Kurukshetra stands as an unparal-leled pilgrimage site, which includes a large number of de-vout centers, holy shrines, kunds and gurudwaras linkedwith the epic ages and the earliest Indian civilization.

Though Kurukshetra holds versatile facets in the reli-gious arena, its holiness and sanctity lies in the single factthat this was the place where Lord Krishna preached thetheory of Karma to his favorite friend Arjun. This gave birthto the holiest of all Hindu textures, Bhagawat Gita or theSong Celestial, which symbolizes the paramount principlesof the Hindu religion.

Cont’d on page 42

India PostNovember 7, 2014 41Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

Branson's rocketry goal is long-distance travelLOS ANGELES: The Virgin Ga-

lactic spaceship destroyed in a fa-tal accident high over the MojaveDesert was only designed to taketourists on a fleeting thrill ride intothe lower reaches of space.

Yet even as company founderRichard Branson vowed to find outwhat happened and reiterated how``incredibly hard'' space programscan be, the billionaire remindedreporters that he has always in-tended to build a system to takepeople on actual journeys.

``This is the start of a long pro-gram,'' he said. ``I have spokenbefore of once we got this programoff the ground of offering point-to-point travel. In the early daysof aviation, there were incidents,

and then aviation became verysafe. In the early days of commer-cial space travel, there have beenincidents. We hope that one daythe test pilots will enable peopleto be able to go to space safely.''

Here are answers to questionsabout the difference between thespace-tourism plan and futurepoint-to-point travel.

WHAT IS VIRGIN GALACTICOFFERING?

The company's spacecraft,dubbed SpaceShipTwo as a follow-up to the Ansari X-Prize-winningSpaceShipOne, is designed to becarried high into the sky by a jet-powered mothership and then re-leased for rocket-powered flight toan altitude of 62 miles or higher,

providing six passengers a stun-ning view of the Earth below and a

brief period of weightlessness. Itwould then descend back into the

thickening atmosphere and fly asan unpowered glider back to the

airport where the flight began.WHAT DOES BRANSON

MEAN BY POINT-TO-POINT?Point-to-point travel would link

distant points on the Earth's sur-face with flights that leave the at-mosphere and enter space, then re-enter the atmosphere to land. Theadvantage over regular air travelwould be a significant reductionin time, making the trip from, forexample, London to Sydney, Aus-tralia, take only a few hours or atrip from New York to London takeless than an hour.

WHAT WOULD IT TAKE TOACHIEVE POINT-TO-POINTTRAVEL?

In 2004, SpaceShipOne demon-strated that a rocket pilot couldmanually fly the suborbital flightprofile for the type of quick hop upand down that is the immediate goalfor space tourism flights. However,suborbital flights between conti-nents would require sophisticatedguidance. In addition, the rocketmotor would have to be powerfulenough to give the spaceshipenough range to cross continentsor oceans, especially as upgradesor additions to equipment such aslife support increase weight. -AP

The Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo rocket explodes in mid-air during atest flight above the Mojave Desert in California

California crash is setbackfor space tourism

MOJAVE, Calif.: It's been adream of British billionaire Rich-ard Branson to launch paying cus-tomers into space.

But that effort appears to havesuffered a serious setback with thecrash of the space tourism rocketknown as ``SpaceShip Two,''owned by Branson's company Vir-gin Galactic.

SpaceShipTwo, which is typi-cally flown by two pilots, was de-signed to provide a suborbital thrillride into space before it returns toEarth as a glider.

Virgin Galactic, once it finisheddeveloping its rocket ship, was go-ing to launch space tourism flightsfrom the quarter-billion-dollar

Spaceport America in southernNew Mexico. Virgin Galactic is inline to be the main tenant at thespaceport.

The company has repeatedlypushed back the timetable for whenthe $250,000 flights were to begin,pointing to delays in developmentand testing of the rocket ship.

Taxpayers footed the bill tobuild the state-of-the-art hangarand runway in a remote stretch ofdesert in southern New Mexico aspart of a plan devised by Bransonand former New Mexico Gov. BillRichardson. Critics have long chal-lenged the state's investment,questioning whether flights wouldever get off the ground. -AP

India Post November 7, 201442 Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

KURUKSHETRAWhere Lord Krishna preached the Bhagawat Gita

As the cradle of Indian civiliza-tion, this place found its render-ing in many of the ancient texts.Most of the books of that timecontain either a description ofKurukshetra or names of person-alities from there. A good numberof Vedic transcripts were com-posed from here and Kurukshetrawas the seat of all the social, spiri-tual and political traditions of theold era.

Apart from the holy sites, abevy of other fascinating attrac-tions of historical interest are instore in Kurukshetra. Archaeologi-cal expeditions have proved thatthis city was in existence duringthe pre-Harrapan times.

Kurukshetra with its religious col-ors and historical succinctnesswould be a treasure hunt for allthose who want to get a deep in-sight into the culturalethnicity of ancient India.

ATTRACTIONS


Krishna Museum: Establishedin the year 1987, Krishna Museumtries to depict the multi faceted per-sonality of Lord Krishna through

the various artifacts from 1st Cen-tury AD to 11th Century AD. Themuseum displays various articlesfrom all over India and it portrays

the different aspects

of Krishna's persona namely anincarnation of Vishnu, an astutestatesman, an epic hero, a greatphilosopher and a supreme lover.

The museum has six gallerieswhich present Krishna as he isdescribed in the BhagavataPurana and Mahabharata. The firstthing that arrests the attention ofthe visitor would be the beautifulstatue of Lord Ganesha in a danc-ing posture. The exhibits in thegalleries encompass exquisitewoodcarvings, wooden panels,bronze casting, ivory works, palm-leaf etchings, stone sculptures,archaeological artifacts and min-iature paintings. Tableaux madefrom papier-mache and clay basedon Bhagavata and Mahabharata

need special mention.Brahma Sarovar: Brahma

Sarovar is a lovely water bodywhere history, legends and beautycoincide. As per Hindu mythol-ogy, it was from here that LordBrahma created mother earth. SoBrahma Sarovar is often called thecradle of Indian civilization. Thislake found its mention in the 11thcentury book Kitab-ul-Hind writ-ten by Alberuni.

Encircled by a number of holyshrines Brahma Sarovar presentsan enchanting environ to the pi-ous people. The sarovar is alsomentioned in the eleventh centuryAD memoirs of Al Beruni.

Sannihit Sarovar: One of the

most venerated sites inKurukshetra is the SannihitSarovar, which is believed to bethe meeting point of seven sacredSaraswaties. It is believedto be the abode of LordVishnu. The myth is thata dip in the holy watersof this Sarovar takesaway all sins. It is be-lieved that bathing on theday of Amavasi or on theday of an eclipse wouldfetch the fortune of anaswamedha yajna.

The Sarovar premisesalso holds small shrinesof Dhruv Narayan, SriHanuman, Lord Vishnu,Dhruv Bhagat, Laxmi

Narayan and God-dess Durga

B h a d r a k a l iTemple: A legend-ary temple thathas close associa-tion withP a n d a v a s ,Bhadrakali templeat northThaneswar holdsmuch religioussignificance. Leg-

end has it that the Pandavas hadperformed austerities and ritualsbefore their final battle against theKauravas.

Sthaneshwar MahadevTemple: Another legendary spotthat bears close association withthe Pandava Brothers,Sthaneshwar Mahadev Templeholds much sig-nificance. Legendhas it that LordShiva blessed thePandavas whilethey were atS t h a n e s h w e r.The popular be-lief is that thetank adjoining

the temple has some curative prop-erties. It is also believed that thesacred waters of the tank curedBanasura's long-term leprosy.

Hence a visit to Lord Shiva'stemple here tops the pilgrim's itin-erary.

Best season to visitKurukshetra is September toMarch.HOW TO REACH

By Train: Kurukshetra is a ma-jor railway junction connected toall important railway stations in thecountry.

By Air: The nearest airports areat Delhi and Chandigarh, which areconnected to Kurukshetra by roadand rail. Taxi services are alsoavailable from the airports.

By Bus: Haryana Roadwaysbuses and other neighboring StateCorporation buses connectKurukshetra to other cities likeDelhi, Chandigarh and other impor-tant places.

India PostNovember 7, 2014 43Travel & Hospitality Postwww.indiapost.com

India organizes seminar inKuwait to attract tourists

Kathmandu-Delhi bus service planned

Branded, ready-to-eat foodon trains delayed

DUBAI: In its efforts to attractmore and more tourists from theGulf and the Middle East region,India has organized a seminar inKuwait to provide a glimpse of theattractive tourism products as wellas cultural, spiritual and travel ex-periences that it offers as a touristdestination.

The 'Know India Seminar' wasorganized in Kuwait by the IndiaTourism, Dubai, in cooperationwith the Embassy of India in Ku-wait.

The seminar provided a glimpseof the attractive tourism productsas well as the countless cultural,spiritual and travel experiencesthat India offers as a tourist desti-nation.

The highlight of 'Know India'seminar was to depict the countryas a multi-faceted tourist destina-tion for luxury, wildlife, wellnessand medical tourism.

Members of the travel industryand local media got an opportu-nity to meet members of the Indiantravel industry and know moreabout tourist attractions in Indiaduring the seminar.

Gulf region have been showinga positive growth of Foreign Tour-ist Arrivals to India over the lasttwo to three years with around3,43,113 tourist arrivals registeredduring 2013, showing a growth ofnearly 17.9 per cent over the pre-vious year.

The tourist traffic from Kuwaitto India was over 10,000 during2013. Foreign tourist arrivals intoIndia have witnessed a steady in-crease over the years, touching 7million in 2013, with an annualgrowth rate of 5.9 per cent.

India is also popular forWellness Tourism with the ancientpractice of healing, yoga andAyurveda.-PTI

NEW DELHI: Rail travelers willhave to wait for a few more daysto get branded, ready-to-eat mealson their journeys as Railways andpackaged food manufacturers arebusy sorting out pricing issues.

Flooded with complaints aboutthe quality of the food served on

trains, Railways had decided toprovide ready-to-eat food as anadditional option for its passen-gers by October 30.

Even as he admitted that deter-mining the prices for the brandedfood items was a factor that hasled to the delay in the launch ofthe new menu on mail and expresstrains, Railway Member (Traffic),D P Pande, said, "It is being re-solved now."

While Railways is averse to thehigh price demand of the foodmanufacturers, the latter maintainthat the rate of pre-cooked foodlike pav bhaji, chicken biryani,rajma chawal served up in sealedpackages will be a bit more thanthe prices of the standard mealsavailable in pantry cars.

"We have made them agree toour approved rate and now thepolicy is being finalized and ex-pected to be rolled out in a monthfrom now," Pande said.

He, however, said that the op-tion will be launched on a selectfew trains in the first phase and

more trainswill be cov-ered later on.It would bemade avail-able on mailand expresstrains which have apantry car.

The service is likely to be ini-tially launched on trains such asKarnataka Express, Frontier Mail,Paschim Express where the trial ofthese pre-cooked food items arealready being carried out.

A committee comprising healthofficials and senior rail officials hasbeen formed to examine the qual-ity, hygienic condition and proteinvalue of the packaged food.

Since these items are pre-cooked,

the committee will have to certifyabout its bacteria-free shelf life, saida senior railway ministry official.

The branded food would beserved to passengers as an 'addon' option along with the standarditems as part of the catering ser-vice on trains.

However, the national trans-porter insists that price of the pre-cooked food will be kept on a parwith the standard meals currentlyavailable on trains.

Given the high volume andbranding opportunity, the compa-nies are being told to charge rea-sonable rates, the rail official said.

As to the trials, the official saidthat pre-cooked food by reputedbrands like ITC, MTR, Kohinoor

Foods, Quickmeal andDeleez were made avail-

able on a few trainsand the response

of passengerswas encourag-ing.

"Our aim isto ensure qual-

ity hygienicfood for passen-

gers. It must also beseen that the brands

of meals or food items -their quality, quantity, rate, hygiene- are properly maintained," the of-ficial added.

After the launch, senior railwayofficials will undertake a drive onthe trains for checking the availabil-ity of branded and approved ready-to-eat food for the passengers.

A media campaign will also beinitiated by all zones to publicizethe pre-cooked food being servedon trains. -PTI

KATHMANDU: India andNepal have finalized a new agree-ment to boost people to peoplecontacts and promote tourism byplanning bus services on threeroutes from Kathmandu andPokhara to New Delhi and Varanasilater this month.

The Motor Vehicle Agreementwill be signed during the forthcom-ing visit of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to Nepal duringthe 18th SAARC Summit which istaking place on November 25, ac-cording to Indian embassysources.

"The officials of Nepal and In-dia held talks in Kathmandu on Oc-tober 30 to finalize the Motor Ve-hicle Agreement and other mattersrelated with road transport and in-frastructure," Indian embassy

said.The agreement envisages regu-

lar bus services on three routes -Kathmandu to New Delhi,

Kathmandu to Varanasi andPokhara to New Delhi, it said.

The agreement also aims tosimplify the movement of privatevehicles across the border. The

proposed India-Nepal FriendshipCar Rally on the Puri-Kathmandu-Delhi route will also get assistancefrom both governments.

The new busservice is likely tobe launched onNovember 25, theday Prime Minis-ter Modi arrivesin Kathmandu, of-ficials said.

While theNepalese delega-tion was repre-sented by Physi-cal Infrastructure

and Transport secretary TulasiPrasad Situala, Indian side was ledby Vijay Chibber, secretary in RoadTransport and Highways Minis-try.-PTI

Tourism program gives outTV, lottery tickets

Virginia taps natural resourcesto drive tourism

LINCOLN, Neb.: A Nebraskatourism program that encouragespeople to visit a variety of sites inthe state recently handed out a 60-inch television and a collection of300 scratch lottery tickets.

The Nebraska Tourism Commis-sion says Linda Weichel ofDunbar won the plasma televisionworth $750.

Laura Waters of LaVista wonthe lottery tickets.

Weichel visited all 80 of thesites that were included in the Ne-braska Passport program this yearto qualify for the grand prize draw-ing.

Weichel says she and her old-est daughter made it a project tovisit all the sites this year. The re-tired teacher says the two of themplanned loops out of Lincoln andKearney and spent a week in west-ern Nebraska to see everything. -AP

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.: Vir-ginia is renewing efforts to tap itsnatural resources to help drive tour-ism. While summer remains the peakfor tourism, state officials are work-ing to shoulder the busier monthswith increased tourism other timesof the year, especially fall.

Tourism revenue rose to arecord high of $21.5 billion last yearand the industry also supported213,000 jobs.

Officials have said the tourism

industry helps to diversifyVirginia's economy and a plan re-leased last year said outdoor rec-reation and the development of thestate's natural resources remainkey growth drivers.

Virginia is home to countlessmiles of trails, parkways and sce-nic byways, and encompassesnearly 1,000 square miles of lakes,rivers and bays. It also boasts 22national parks, 35 state parks andmore than 4,000 caves. -AP

44 India Post November 7, 2014www.indiapost.com

In Brief ImmigrationDetails on page 45

Atlanta NPCnot forwardingto BALCA all

Perm requests

GOP senators urge Obama tohold off on immigration

WASHINGTON: The three Re-publican senators responsible forcomprehensive immigration legis-lation, which remains stalled inCongress, have urged PresidentBarack Obama to hold off on anysteps to shield millions of peoplefrom deportation.

``Acting by executive order onan issue of this magnitude wouldbe the most divisive action youcould take - completely undermin-ing any good-faith effort to mean-ingfully address this important is-sue, which would be a disserviceto the needs of the Americanpeople,'' Sens. John McCain ofArizona, Lindsey Graham of SouthCarolina and Marco Rubio ofFlorida wrote to Obama.

Obama has said he would actafter next week's midterm electionsas Congress has failed to pass leg-islation to overhaul the nation'simmigration system. The Presidentsaid he would take steps to in-crease border security, upgradethe processing of border crossers

and encourage legal immigration.He also said he would offer im-

migrants who have been illegally

in the United States for some timea way to become legal residents,pay taxes, pay a fine and learnEnglish.

The President had promised to

act this past summer, but delayedany decisions until after the elec-tions, drawing the wrath of immi-

gration advocacy groups andcomplaints from Republicans of``raw politics.''

The three senators said in theletter that no presidential action

should be taken until ``we haveproperly secured our southernborder and provided for effectiveenforcement of immigrationlaws.'' They complained that anyexecutive action would under-mine congressional efforts to re-form the system.

McCain, Graham and Rubio weremembers of the so-called Gang ofEight, a bipartisan group that puttogether a broad overhaul of immi-gration that boosted border secu-rity, increased visas for legal immi-grants and a provided a path to citi-zenship for the 11 million immigrantsliving in the country illegally.

The Senate passed the measureon a bipartisan vote in June 2013,but the Republican-led House hasfailed to act on any broad mea-sure despite promises from GOPleaders that they would addressthe issue. Time is running out onthe Senate-passed bill, with no in-dication that the House wouldvote during a post election, lame-duck session. -AP

The three Republican senators responsible for comprehensive immigrationlegislation, which remains stalled in Congress, urged President Obama to

hold off on executive orders regarding the system

Germany says UK reaching 'point of no return'BERLIN: German Chancellor

Angela Merkel has warned Brit-ish Prime Minister DavidCameron he is approaching a"point of no return" with theEuropean Union over his immi-gration proposals, according toa report.

News weekly Der Spiegelwrites in its latest edition thatMerkel told Cameron on thesidelines of an EU summit lastmonth that his moves to limitan influx of EU migrant workersundermined core principles ofthe bloc.

If he continues, Germanywould no longer fight to keepBritain in the EU.

"For the first time, Cameronis pushing his country towarda 'point of no return' in terms ofits EU membership, the chan-cellery and the foreign ministrybelieve," Spiegel said, citingunnamed German governmentofficials.

If Cameron imposes a quota onEU citizens moving to Britain,"then that would be it", the pub-

lication quoted a governmentsource as saying.

Spiegel said that Merkel's pri-

vate discussion with Cameronbarely touched on the more high-profile spat of the summit, a 2.1

billion euro (USD 2.6 billion) sur-charge that Britain has beenasked to pay for the EU budget

by December 1.Cameron told parliament

that the amount requested andthe short deadline were "un-acceptable", setting up ashowdown with Brussels.

His Conservative Party isaiming to curb immigration, asit faces increased electoralpressure from the anti-EU UKIndependence Party.

Under EU rules, citizens ofmost EU countries have theright to live and work in anyother member state.

Merkel had previous warnedin a newspaper interview lastmonth that any attempts to"tamper with the fundamentalprinciples of free movement inthe EU" would not be toleratedby Britain's European partners.

Cameron has agreed to holdan in-or-out referendum onBritain's EU membership in2017 if he wins the general elec-tion in May. -AFP

Angela Merkel is reported to have told David Cameron that she will notnegotiate on EU migration

Federal agentsrescue immigrantlost in desert

DEMING, N.M.: Border Patrolagents rescued a man who got lostin the southwestern New Mexicodesert after crossing the border il-legally from Mexico.

The Border Patrol says the res-cue was performed after LunaCounty authorities received a 911call from the man, who said he waslost, in distress and needed help.

Agents used his cell-phonesignal to identify a search area,and Customs and Border Protec-tion helicopters then were sent tosearch for the man.

According to the Border Patrol,the man told agents who rescuedhim that he'd crossed the borderillegally a day earlier and realizedwhile walking in the desert that hewas lost. -AP

Australians supportimmigration andmulticulturalism

MELBOURNE: A majority ofAustralians support immigrationintake and multiculturalism evenas five per cent of the country'spopulation experience discrimina-tion on a monthly basis, accord-ing to a new study.

The study titled 2014's Map-ping Social Cohesion report byScanlon Foundation which sur-veyed over 24,000 people reportedstrong public support for immigra-tion intake and the benefits ofmulticulturalism.

"Australia's public sentimenttoward immigration intake is pos-sibly the most positive in the west-ern world. In 2014, 58 per cent ofpeople agree that the immigrationintake is about right or too low.

Minnesota manwants immigrationfraud case tossed

MINNEAPOLIS: A Minnesotaman accused of entering the U.S.and obtaining a green card ille-gally by concealing his militaryservice during the Bosnian war -and omitting allegations that hekilled a neighbor - is asking thatthe case against him be dismissed.

Zdenko Jakisa, 46, has pleadednot guilty to one count of pos-sessing unlawfully obtained docu-ments. Prosecutors say he got hispermanent resident card illegallywhen he didn't disclose that hehad served in the armed forces ofthe Croatian Defense Council inBosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990sor disclose his criminal past.

Details on page 46

Details on page 46

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India Post 45November 7, 2014 Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

Atlanta NPC not forwarding to BALCA all Perm requestsCYRUS MEHTA

The Department of Labor'sOffice of Foreign LaborCertification (OFLC) re-

cently announced the followingnews:

Atlanta NPC change in processAs of October 27, 2014, the At-

lanta National Processing Centeris no longer automatically forward-ing to the Board of Alien LaborCertification Appeals (BALCA) allPERM Requests for Reconsidera-tion where the original case deci-sion was upheld. Rather, a Noticeof Decision will be issued whenthe case is upheld, and the em-

ployer must affirmatively requestreview before BALCA no laterthan 30 calendar days after thedate the Notice of Decision is is-sued.

Statistical updates for FY 2014Q4.

OFLC has issued updated pro-gram fact sheets with selected sta-tistics for the permanent labor cer-tification program, prevailing wagedetermination program, H-1B tem-porary visa program, H-2A tempo-rary agricultural visa program, andH-2B temporary nonagriculturalvisa program. Reports were de-

rived from program data as of Sep-tember 30, 2014.

H-1B legacy records no longeravailable

On July 8, 2013, the NationalArchives and Records Administra-

tion (NARA) approved OFLC'srevised retention schedule fol-lowing a 30-day period of publicnotice and review. NARA deter-mined that employer applicationsfor labor certification and sup-porting documentation, whether

retained in paper or electronicform, are temporary records andsubject to destruction. TheOFLC-approved dispositionschedule authorizes the retentionof records for five years after thedate a final determination letter is

issued or final action occurs, suchas a withdrawn application, sub-ject to an active investigation orlitigation hold.

.Labor Condition Applications(LCAs) retained in the LCAOnline System are all beyond theretention period of five years froma date of final determination or fi-nal action. Therefore, effectiveOctober 17, 2014, the LCA OnlineSystem at http://www.lca.doleta.gov has been de-commissioned.

The OFLC said it is no longerresponding to inquiries to searchfor records in response to Free-dom of Information Act requests,or providing information for re-quests for duplicate certificationsfor LCA applications processedin the LCA Online System, in keep-ing with the OFLC records sched-ule.

The OFLC said it is no longer responding toinquiries to search for records in response toFreedom of Information Act requests, orproviding information for requests for dupli-cate certifications

Italy phases out sea rescuesto save migrants

The Italian Coastguard, a boat reportedly carrying 760 migrants arrives at the Lampedusaharbor, Italy. Italy is officially ending its Mare Nostrum rescue operation and the EU's Frontex

border control will begin its Tritone mission.

ROME: Italy insists that liveswon't be sacrificed as it ended itscostly Mediterranean Sea rescueoperation and shifted over to aless ambitious joint patrol with theEuropean Union.

Italy launched the Mare Nos-

trum (Our Sea) operation last yearafter 366 would-be migrantsdrowned off Sicily. Italian shipsand aircraft involved in the 9.5 mil-lion-euro ($11.9 million) per monthmission patrolled close to theLibyan coast, rescuing over

100,000 people who had paidsmugglers to bring them to Eu-rope.

Italy had long insisted that Eu-rope must do more to shoulder theburden of rescuing migrants.Rome successfully lobbied to have

the EU's Frontex border controlagency launch a new operation,Triton.

Some 21 EU nations have saidthey would be willing to contrib-ute ships, aircraft and personnelto the Triton mission, which has a

budget of 2.9 million euros ($3.6million) a month, the EuropeanCommission said.

While Alfano hailed the end ofItaly's politically unpopular rescueprogram, Rome will still be spend-ing about 3.5 million euros ($4.4

million) a month tokeep a third of its seafleet on hand for res-cue missions along-side Frontex for thenext two months. Healso said Italy wouldstill honor its obliga-tions to respond toships in distress.

But he acknowl-edged that whileMare Nostrum ``al-most reached theNorth African coast,''Frontex will be pa-trolling Europe's bor-ders, not Libya's.

Critics of MareNostrum had arguedthat patrolling soclose to Libya en-

couraged migrants to take therisky trip out to sea.

The EU says Frontex is not re-placing Italy's obligation to rescueships in distress, terming theTriton operation as one ̀ `in sup-port of'' Italian efforts. -AP

India Post46 November 7, 2014Immigration Postwww.indiapost.com

Australians support immigration and multiculturalismMELBOURNE: A majority of

Australians support immigrationintake and multiculturalism evenas five per cent of the country'spopulation experience discrimina-tion on a monthly basis, accord-ing to a new study.

The study titled 2014's Map-ping Social Cohesion report byScanlon Foundation which sur-veyed over 24,000 people reportedstrong public support for immigra-tion intake and the benefits ofmulticulturalism.

"Australia's public sentimenttoward immigration intake is pos-sibly the most positive in the west-ern world. In 2014, 58 per cent ofpeople agreed that the immigrationintake is about right or too low.Just 35 per cent of people considerthat the immigration intake is toohigh," the Foundation said in astatement.

"This level of public support is

"Australia's public sentiment toward immi-gration intake is possibly the most positivein the western world. In 2014, 58 per centof people agreed that the immigrationintake is about right or too low.

somewhat surprising in the con-text of rising unemployment andother economic concerns, as wellas international comparisons,"said report author Andrew Markusof Monash University.

"In 2014, American and Euro-pean surveys have found disap-proval of immigration in the rangeof 60 to 75 per cent," he said.

The largest study of its kindmonitored public attitudes on is-sues including immigration,multiculturalism, discriminationand belonging.

The report also highlighted thatthe experience of discriminationremained close to the highest levelat 18 per cent since the surveysbegan in 2014.

Of those who reported experi-ence of discrimination, 30 per centindicated that it was a frequentoccurrence, at least once a month.

"This translates to five per cent

of our population experiencing dis-crimination on a monthly basis,"Markus said.

"It would seem that acceptanceof the government's measures to

stop the arrival of asylum seekersby boat has influenced this out-come," he added.

Public concern over asylumseeker arrivals by boat hasdropped. In 2013, the issue wasseen as the major problem facingAustralia by 12 per cent of people.In 2014, less than 4 per cent ofpeople hold the same view.

Support for eligibility for per-manent settlement for asylum seek-ers arriving by boat has risen, butremains a minority viewpoint. Just

one in four people (24 per cent)support asylum seekers arrivingby boat to be eligible for perma-nent settlement.

In terms of attitudes towardmulticulturalism, 85 per cent ofpeople agree that it has been goodfor Australia, almost identical withthe proportion in the 2013 survey.

As for the nation's scorecard onsocial cohesion, Professor Markussays that in 2014, overall and byinternational standards, Australiaremains highly cohesive. -PTI

Minnesota man wantsimmigration fraud case tossedMINNEAPOLIS: A Minnesota

man accused of entering the U.S.and obtaining a green card ille-gally by concealing his militaryservice during the Bosnian war -and omitting allegations that hekilled a neighbor - is asking thatthe case against him be dis-missed.

Zdenko Jakisa, 46, haspleaded not guilty to one countof possessing unlawfully ob-

tained documents. Prosecutorssay he got his permanent resi-dent card illegally when he didn'tdisclose that he had served inthe armed forces of the CroatianDefense Council in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the 1990s or dis-close his criminal past.

Jakisa was charged in Bosniaand Herzegovina in the 1993 kill-ing of a neighbor, NevenkaElezovic. Prosecutors say he'saccused of other crimes as well,and authorities in Bosnia saidearlier this year that he's sus-pected of ``war crimes againstcivilians'' and wanted for ques-tioning.

Jakisa, who lives in ForestLake and runs a taxicab companywith his wife, entered the U.S. asa refugee in 1998 and became alawful permanent resident in2002. He was indicted on the im-migration fraud charge in April.

Jakisa's attorney, AssistantFederal Defender ReynaldoAligada Jr., said in court docu-ments that prosecutors waitedtoo long to charge Jakisa and the

case should be dismissed.Aligada wrote that to prove

Jakisa lied to immigration offi-cials, prosecutors also mustprove he committed crimes inBosnia 21 years ago. Aligadasaid a key witness in Elezovic'skilling has died and the gun al-legedly used by Jakisa is notavailable - impairing Jakisa's abil-ity to defend himself.

Prosecutors argue the chargeis timely.

At a hearing earlier this year,Michael Plotnick, a special agentwith U.S. Immigration and Cus-toms Enforcement Homeland Se-curity Investigations, testified

that Jakisa killed his neighbor, aSerbian woman, in September1993 by firing an AK-47 into herwindow.

Court documents show he wascharged with causing general dan-ger. He came to the U.S. while hiscase was pending and was con-victed in absentia and sentencedto six months in prison.

Documents filed by prosecu-tors this week say two brothersalso accused Jakisa of killingtheir parents, Ahmet Basic andEmina Basic, in 1993. However,Assistant U.S. Attorney NathanPetterson wrote that prosecutorsdon't intend to bring up Jakisa'salleged involvement in the Ba-sics' deaths because he hasn'tbeen charged.

According to a June 6, 2012,article in the Forest Lake Press,Jakisa and his wife applied tocome to the U.S. in 1998 throughthe U.S. Embassy in Croatia. Thearticle mentions Jakisa was re-quired to serve in the military inCroatia's 1991-95 war for inde-pendence from the Serb-led Yu-goslavia.

``I lost tons of my friends,''Jakisa told the newspaper. ``Itwas a bad war for nothing _ justgood for government people sothey can still talk lies to their ownpeople.''

More than 100,000 peoplewere killed during the Bosnianwar, which also turned half of thecountry's population of 4.3 millioninto refugees. -AP

Documents filed by prosecutors this weeksay two brothers also accused Jakisa ofkilling their parents, Ahmet Basic andEmina Basic, in 1993. However, AssistantU.S. Attorney Nathan Petterson wrote thatprosecutors don't intend to bring up Jakisa'salleged involvement

Australia suspends immigrationfrom Ebola-hit nations

SYDNEY: Australia has said itwas suspending migration fromEbola-hit West African nations totry to prevent the virus from cross-ing its borders, as a teenager whoarrived from Guinea tested nega-tive for the disease.

Immigration Minister ScottMorrison told parliament the gov-

ernment had stopped issuing vi-sas to people from those countrieshit by the disease, which hasclaimed close to 5,000 lives in itsworst outbreak.

"These measures include tem-porarily suspending our immigra-tion program, including our hu-manitarian program, from EVD(Ebola Virus Disease) affectedcountries," he said.

"This means we are not pro-cessing any application fromthese affected countries."

People who had already beengranted visas on humanitariangrounds would be able to travelto Australia, but would be subjectto three separate health checks be-fore departure as well as screen-

ing on arrival.But officials would

cancel and refuse non-permanent or temporaryvisas for people whohad not yet departed forAustralia, Morrison said.

The restrictions cameas an 18-year-old girlwho arrived in Australiafrom Guinea 12 days agowith eight relatives re-mained in isolation in aQueensland hospital af-ter testing negative for

Ebola, authorities said.Morrison called on Australians

and other travelers to inform im-migration officials about theirtravel history when they enter thecountry "if you have been in WestAfrica up to 21 days prior to yourarrival".

"This is especially important ifyou have had a broken journey enroute to Australia," he said.-AFP

November 7, 2014 India Post

www.indiapost.comDatebook

NORTHERN CALIFORNIAUpcoming

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIAUpcoming

Nov 9, 16, 23, 30• Sat, July 12• Vivekananda Vedanta SocietyChicagoSwami Ishatmananda: Why WeShould Meditate: Yoga AphorismsTuesdays: Swami IshatmanandaFridays: Swami VaradanandaVenue: 14630 Lemont Road HomerGlen, IL 60491Time: 7:30 pmShivanama SankirtanTime: 06:30pmContact : chicagovedanta.org

Sat, Nov 15• Jhalak Dreams 2014 - FromTradition To InnovationVenue: Silver Creek High Auditorium, 3434Silver Creek Rd, San Jose, CA 95121Time: 01:00 pmContact: 408-238-4034

Sat, Nov 15• Bollywood AffairVenue: Chakra Restaurant and Lounge, 151S Doheny Dr, Beverly Hills, CA 90211Timet: 9:30 pmContact: 843-503-2133

Nov 1, 6-8, 13-15• Ohlone College Dept. ofTheatre & Dance presentsDraculaDirected by Michael NavarraVenue: Smith Center at Ohlone College43600 Mission Boulevard, FremontTimet: 8:00 pmContact: smithcenter.com.

Sun, Nov 16• Red Carpet Wedding ShowVenue: Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, LosAngeles, 7000 Hollywood Blvd, Los An-geles, CA 90028Time :04:00 pmContact: 562-366-3649

ATLANTAUpcoming

Sat, Nov 15• Chhora Ganga Kinare WalaVenue: Ashland High School, 65 EastUnion Street, Ashland, MA 01721Time: 05:30 pmContact: 978-726-4095

Sat, Nov 22• 11 th Annual BostonBhangra CompetitionVenue: Orpheum Theatre, 1 Hamilton Pl,Boston, MA 02108Time: 6:00 pmContact: 617-448-25088

Sat, Dec 6• Maadhurya - A GrandEvening of Dance and MusicVenue: Ashland High School, 65 EastUnion Street, Ashland, MA 01721Time: 3:30 amContact: 978-206-1486

• J K Yog Satsang and BalMukund Hindi Classes are heldevery 2nd and 4rth Sunday ofMonthChicago Satsang Information:J K Yog, Chicago - Swami MukundanandaVenue: Clarion Inn/Waterford Banquets,Board Room, 933 South RiversideDrive, Elmhurst, IL 60126Time: 3:30pm-5:30pmContact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok@ 630-561-4807Website: www.jkyog.org

1st and 3rd Sunday of Month• Chicago Children'sBal MukundCharacter Building Programand Hindi Literacy ClassesVenue: Vogelei Center, 650 W. HigginsRoad, Hoffmann Estates, IL 60192 (Nextto Nissan Dealership)Contact: Ajay & Arti Chandhok @630-561-4807

Mondays and Fridays• Free ESL - English as SecondLanguage ClassesMetropolitan Asian Family ServicesVenue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL,Time: 10:30am to 12:30pmContact: 773-465-3105

Mondays and Fridays• Free ESL - English as SecondLanguage ClassesWhere: Metropolitan Asian FamilyServicesVenue: 9015 N Milwaukee Ave, Niles, IL,Time: 10:30am to 12:30pmContact: 773-465-3105

ILLINOISUpcoming

NEW JERSEYUpcoming

NEW YORKUpcoming

Sat, Nov 8• 10th Annual HalloweenHangoverVenue: Pranna, 79 Madison Ave, New York,NY 10016Time: 8:00 pmContact: 908-403-7045

Sat, Nov 15• Runway Princess 2014Venue: Hotel Pennsylvania, 33rd St. & 7thAve., Madison Square Garden, NY 10007Time : 07:00 pmContact: 732-310-3456

Sat, Nov 15• Dj Rekha Presents BasementBhangraVenue: Le Poisson Rouge, 158 BleeckerStreet, New York, NY 10012Time : 7:00 pm

Sat, Nov 8• Mega Tamil MusicalExtravaganzaVenue: Harrington Middle School Theater- South Jersey, NJ, 514 Mt Laurel Rd, MtLaurel, NJ 08054Time: 4:00 pm

Fri, Nov 07• Ek Yaad Mukesh Ji Ke BaadVenue: Ritz Theater, 1148 East Jersey Street,Elizabeth, NJ 07201Time: 8:30 pmContact: 732-910-6227

Fri, Nov 14• Mehfil-e-Ghazal with RasikaShekarVenue: Shahnawaz Palace, 159 Jackson Ave,Edison, NJ 08837Time : 08:00 pmContact: 732-277-6687

47

Sat, Nov 8• Kasturi Media 5th YearCelebrationVenue: Woodside High School Audito-rium, 199 Churchill Ave, Woodside, CATime: 4:30 pm.Contact: 5104024633

Sun, Nov 9• Kalakshetras AnandaShankar JayantVenue: McAfee Theater, Saratoga HighSchool, 20300 Herriman Ave, Saratoga, CATime: 4:00 pmContact: 408-329-7040

48 November 7, 2014India Post

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Horoscope

Your Weekly Future

(March 21 to April 20)

Expenses towards a child will shoot up suddenly. Investing in property is a

good idea and will prove to beprofitable in long term. People in

business will be able to recover some old debts. Chang-ing weather may cause minor health problem. Some ofyou will start working on an upcoming trip. Avoidingextending loan to anyone.

PANDIT PARASHAR, CEO & COO Astro Scan USA isalso available for individual consultations.He can be reached at: [email protected]

510-886-4370www.parashar.com

(July 23 to August 22)

Changes will be good and family would love them.

Try to eat on regularinterval in order to avoid compli-cations. You may finally start

working on an upcoming and interesting trip overseas.Some of you may also replace an older vehicle with aneconomical model. You may also buy some new furni-ture or some high tech items this week.

(November 23 to December 22)

People prone to litigation should not let their guards down for next few

weeks especially. Every one athome will be excited about up-

coming trip. It will be better to maintain a proper recordof all clients you see this week. Little exercise will bringyou back in shape. Do not hold your ideas, discusswith people who could help you implement them.

(April 21 to May 20)

Planets will cause sudden and positive changes in career. Students may ex-

perience slight difficulty in focus-ing because of temporary distrac-tion. You may finally go aheadand sign that document related

to a property. Expenses will stay under control. Spousemay complain of some ache and pain in joints andneed medicines.

(August 23 to September 22)

Initiating a law suit to prove yourpoint may cross your mindand you may try to make an

appointment with a high rankinggovernment official. Running

around will increase but will be fruitful. Idea of goinginto food business is not bad. Bachelors will be intro-duced to a very like minded person by another friend.Try few lottery tickets.

(December 22 to January 19)

Money you almost gaveup on, will arrive in

mail giving you an-other reason to celebrate withfamily. Expect all help from boss

and people holding good position in government. Justkeep an eye on a shady character trying to flirt withyou. It will be great week for people connected withhardware or high tech industry.

(May 21 to June 20)

You will continue to gain an- edge over your oppo- nents and get ready to ap-

pear for an important exam or andinterview that provide an life

changing opportunity. People in business will add newinventory to stay well ahead of their competition. Someof you may finally gather your self and make an offeron an existing business.

(September 23 to October 22)

Working conditions willget tough and youmay assigned addi-

tional work or responsibility with-out any benefits. You may need

to answer a legal query also from a government agency.Some money will go on repairs to one of your vehicleor some gadget in the kitchen. You may also attend animportant event with family this week.

(January 20 to February 18)

Concentration of many planets in house of luck will help you hit the bulls

eye. Issues on hold and causingstrain in mind will get resolved

over night. Any venture started at this point will go along way and can turn profitable quickly. Your eyesmay be set on a nice piece of property. Take help of aperson with honey color eyes.

(June 21 to July 22)

Plans and venture launched in last few months willstart to reap rich rewards. You

may add some more very ad-vanced product to existing line.Health issues can be resolved

with home remedy. Gambling instincts may help youwin some money in lottery also. One of your child willneed your help in shape of making the right choice inlife.

(October 23 to November 22)

A female will be the root cause of stress. Con- flicting reports will cause

more confusion and it will be hardto make the choice. It will be bet-ter to consult an expert before you

make that important move. Bank balance will creep upslowly. You may visit a holy place with family. You mayreceive some nice and valuable gifts.

(February 19 to March 20)

Advise from a matured person will be helpful. You may send some valuable

gifts to a sibling. Expenses willstay in control and extra hoursspent at work will bring in much

needed extra cash. You may be little concerned aboutthe health of an elderly family member. Jupiter in fifthimproves your chance to add another family member.

November 7th - November 13th, 2014

by Pandit Parashar

www.indiapost.com November 7, 201450 India Post

SURENDRA ULLAL

CHICAGO: Though born in Germany, Prem Joshua, amaster flutist and saxophonist, has huge love and connec-tion with India, probably borrowed from his previous birth.He was asked once while in India if he loved any Indianwoman, and he responded saying, "Yes, I fell in love withIndian women, but my love affair with India herself remainedundiminished."

Joshua was the name his parents gave him, he later addedPrem to it, dropping the family name, to remind him of theessence of love - Prem means love in Hindi

Learning the flute at the age of five, he playedthe flute and the saxophone for various localbands. He traveled overland to India at the age18 studying the indigenous folk music of coun-tries along the way. Joshua was the name hisparents gave him, he later added Prem to it, drop-ping the family name, to remind him of the es-sence of love (Prem means love in Hindi).

Prem learned to play the sitar from UstadUsman Khan, but Osho inspired him and hismusic a lot. His website states that "In the pres-ence of this man with a long white beard, eyes asdeep as the ocean and a strong sense of humor,he came in touch with the art of the "inner mu-sic" - Silence. This was really coming home!"

The eighteen-year-old became deeply inspiredby the ancient spirituality of his new adoptedhome, and began to hear his music as well interms of fusing the familiar forms of western mu-sic with the exotic Eastern sounds that the cul-ture of India began to unfold for him. He has

tirelessly devoted his life's work to channeling India's richspiritual depth into a new, global language through hismusic, recording a prolific nineteen albums over the pasttwo and a half decades.

From combining elements of lilting, nuanced jazz withmantra incantations, to infusing Hindustani acoustic in-struments with trance beats, his innovations have contrib-uted greatly to the Asian Underground east-west fusionscene as well as the ever-growing ambient genre of medita-tion music, where he is among the best-known and mostbeloved pioneers. With his new album Kashi: Songs FromThe India Within, Prem Joshua and his talented ensemble

have crafted a sparkling suite of new songsaround beloved, traditional Indian mantras andshlokas (a type of couplet verse that is thebasis of such ancient Indian poetry as the TheMahabharata and Ramayana epics). But, tra-dition aside, each original track - composedby Prem Joshua and collaborator ChintanRelenberg - offers a fresh take on devotionalmusic that is transcendent but utterly and ac-cessibly contemporary - and always highly en-joyable as well as enlightening.

While some songs pay homage throughmantras to Hindu deities - Krishna, Ganesha,Durga, Shiva - Prem Joshua says "theimages…have less to do with a religious beliefsystem than a representation of basic life ener-gies; so it is with mantras. It is not about blindlyadopting religious concepts, but rather aboutexperiencing these images and sounds as guidemaps for the inner journey."

Prem Joshua & his Kashi - Dance of Shakti albums

Prem with an Indian producer Subhash

Osho inspired him and his music a lot.His website states that "In the pres-ence of this man with a long whitebeard, eyes as deep as the oceanand a strong sense of humor, hecame in touch with the art of the"inner music" - Silence

While some songs pay homagethrough mantras to Hindu deities -Krishna, Ganesha, Durga, Shiva -Prem Joshua says "the images…haveless to do with a religious belief sys-tem than a representation of basiclife energies

Cont'd on Page 52

Details on Page 52

India Post

www.indiapost.com

51November 7, 2014

Grandma's house in LahoreCOL. (RETD) AJIT KAMAL

It was 1965, the year when In-dia and Pakistan went to waragain after 1947. I was just

16, living in a small village inAmritsar district, located about25 kms from the border.

We were a Punjabi Brahminfamily which had seen muchcomfort in the past. But afterPartition, we were on a shoe-string budget. My father workedwith Punjab Roadways and wassuffering from severe bloodpressure in his early forties. Hewas the sole bread earner andwith myriad medical expensesand family responsibilities, thefinancial crunch was provingbitter.

My grandmother belonged toLahore district of pre-partitionIndia. Her village where shespent her childhood was about2-3 kilometres from the border.After the untimely demise of mygrandfather, a government of-ficer, she had raised my fatherindependently. She was a strongwoman known for her inimitablewisdom. Although frail and withpoor eyesight, my grandmotherhad her wits about her.

The Indian army had ad-vanced to the outskirts ofLahore and this became a liber-alized zone under the BorderSecurity Force (BSF). Thosedays radio was the only mediato give us updates on the Indo-Pak war which started in Septem-ber 1965.

The Indian army had closedon to Lahore and subsequentlytook position on the Indian sideof Ichhogil canal on the outskirtsof Lahore. This resulted in thearea between border and newpositions of the army to beknown as "Liberated Territory".

As she heard this news blar-ing from the radio, she was filledwith nostalgia and longing. Al-most 17 years after partition,there was a possibility for her torevisit her childhood home inLahore.

There was a glint in her eyes.She was hell bent upon visiting

the house where she grew up. Af-ter much coaxing, she somehowprevailed upon me. With one el-der brother, a younger brother andan elder sister, I was pretty muchmiddle-rung. Yet the most adven-turous of the lot, so I took up thechallenge.

During partition and delinea-tion of the boundary, people hadto leave their houses on very shortnotice, with time just enough tocatch hold of their kith and kin.My grandmother's maternal housealso had to be abandoned in thesame manner by her relatives.

One fine day, early morning weembarked on our journey to

Lahore. I took my grandmother onthe back of my cycle (the onlymode of conveyance availablethose days in rural Punjab), alongwith two family friends. There wereno roads and most of the journeywas cross-country, on mud-tracks.

After riding for about threehours, we reached a BSF checkpost. We saluted and chanted slo-gans for the BSF soldiers - "BSFki jai ho" and presented fruits tothem. Without much hassle, theypermitted us to cross-over, onlyreiterating that we should be backbefore it gets dark.

After covering some more dis-tance, we reached the village. Shecould easily spot the house. Thebuilding was intact but in awretched state. All four of us en-tered inside.

She immediately kneeled downand reached out to a small cavityin a wall and pulled out an ironcan which was stuffed with gold

jewellery. She emptied it in herdupatta. After that she went toanother room where largeramount of jewellery was sup-posed to be hidden, but the newoccupants had carried out alter-ations and the wall had beendemolished. She was quite frus-trated.

Anyway we moved aheadtowards a mud wall. My grand-mother signalled us to get ashovel or some sharp object.We started scraping the mudwall with a small knife which wewere carrying for our security.

To our bewilderment, silvercoins started falling to theground. She collected the coinsand after looking around her oldchildhood house with moisteyes that she will never be ableto see again, we trooped out.

It was evening and we werestill inside Pakistan. As the darkenveloped us, our family friendsturned greedy. They demandedwhatever we had collectedshould be divided before wereached our village.

My grandmother did notagree but when the pesteringbecame threatening and aggres-sive, she gave in. They tookaway the major portion and lefther with small items. We had nochoice. It was dark by now withno soul in sight.

After this bitter episode we si-lently drove back to our home. Iwas a boy of barely 16 and bothof them were full-grown youngmen. Being very young and inex-perienced, I was sure they wouldreturn our items upon reachingour house. Had I guessed theirintentions correctly and in time, Iwas adventurous and toughenough to outmatch them in cy-cling back home.

These ornaments saw usthrough my father's illness andmy sister's marriage. Over theyears I was offered an opportu-nity to cross border during 1971war and some other times butthis particular crossing is stillvivid in my mind.

We started scrapingthe mud wall with asmall knife which wewere carrying for oursecurity. To our be-wilderment, silvercoins started fallingto the ground

Actor SadashivAmrapurkar passes away

MUMBAI: Veteran Bollywoodactor Sadashiv Amrapurkar, whoessayed villainous and comic roleswith equal ease and gave power-ful performances in "Ardh Satya"and "Sadak", died here after bat-tling lung infection.

Amrapukar was 64."Sadashiv Amarapurkar was

suffering from Interstitial LungDisease and passed away peace-fully at 2.45 am," his daughter RimaAmrapurkar said.

Amrapukar's last rites were per-formed at his native place inAhmednagar district.

Prime Minister Narendra Modiand the Bollywood fraternitytook to Twitter to condole thedeath of Amrapukar.

"We will rememberSadashiv Amrapurkar as aversatile actor, popularacross generations. RIP.My deepest condolencesto his family," Moditweeted.

Amitabh

Bachchan, who is currently shoot-ing his upcoming film 'Piku' inKolkata, said the actor was closeto his heart.

"Waking up in Kolkata to thesad news of the passing away ofSadasiv Amrapurkar.. A colleagueand a gifted talent.. Prayers! Whena colleague suddenly passes awaythere is a sudden vacuum, of times

spent together, ofacknowledgement of their work..,"Bachchan posted on Twitter.

Amrapukar played iconic char-acter roles including as a ruthlesseunuch in 'Sadak', a villain in 'ArdhSatya' and a selfish father in 'Ishq'with an effortless ease. Ardh Satyawas Amrapukar's debut Hindi filmin 1983.

Amrapurkar had won twoFilmfare awards. In 1984, he wonthe award for the best supportingactor for "Ardh Satya" and in1991, the best villain trophy for hisportrayal in "Sadak".

His other works included" A a n k h e n " ,

"Ishq", "Coo-lie No.

1" and"Gupt: TheH i d d e nTruth".

I r o n i -cally, while

he would in-still fear withhis negative

roles on-

screen, the actor was a true gentle-man in real life and was involvedin many social activities.

He later shifted his focus onMarathi movies. Amrapurkar waslast seen on the big screen in 2012film 'Bombay Talkies'.

He had become selective andwas more into social work in thelast few years.-PTI

Sadashiv Amrapurkar

India Post

www.indiapost.com

52November 7, 2014

A German Preminterprets India

Opening with the atmospheric"Balakrishna" - a modern take onkirtan that celebrates the life-af-firming divine child Krishna andevolves into a breezy, beat-ladenexcursion - the album traversesrich and diverse terrain in bothstyle and content.

Throughout, themellifluous vocal chem-istry of singersHamsika Iyer (knownfor her work withBombay Dub Orchestraand Juno Reactor),Prem Joshua himself,and Sanou Olszewskiis framed with greatsubtlety by the multi-instrumental arrangements ofJoshua (sitar, bamboo flute, andsaxophones), Chintan (keyboards,bass, tabla, kanjira, pandeiro, udu,drum programming), guitaristWerner Schultheiss, and tablaplayer Raul Sengupta.

"Tumhaari Mara" marries sitarand Indian melody, vaguelyevocative of Bollywood, withsturdy reggae rhythms and deepbass - as its lyrics honor the re-

vered 16th century Rajasthaniroyal poet-saint Meera. The hu-morously-titled "All Roads Leadto Om," (as opposed to "Rome") -a joyfully lovely groove - drawsits prayer from the BrihadaranyakaUpanishads, which - at over 3,000years old - are considered the old-est of all Vedic texts. Yet its mes-

sage remains as urgently relevanttoday as ever. Joshua says, "In aworld where fanaticism and igno-rance seem to be taking hold evermore strongly, this prayer shineslike a beacon - guiding our jour-ney along the 'Road to Om.'"

The final track, over ten min-utes long and a stately yet raptur-ous delivery of the full traditional"Lingashtakam" mantra in honorof Lord Shiva, builds to a lusciousvocal crescendo before easinggracefully off into mellow instru-mentation, wrapping up a thor-oughly rewarding and soulfulsonic experience - and leaving thelistener wanting more.

In a short talk with this paperPrem observed that India today isreigned by Bollywood music.Forget about the subtleties ofclassical music - Bollywood hasto be loud and extreme, just likethe Indian colors, the spicy food,the over-population, the con-trasts of rich and poor.Bollywood music has becomethe national anthem of India; theidentification of "I am proud tobe Indian" is set to a loud beat.

Strangely enough, todayBollywood music is not really In-dian at all - it is basically "sto-len" Western pop music but withHindi lyrics. But who cares? Inthe West, Bollywood films, mu-sic and dance are now being soldas "Indian culture" and Western-ers feel a certain fascination inthis loudness, colorfulness andextremity.

But knowing the real back-ground and depth of Indian cul-ture, Bollywood is just an ex-tremely distorted and commer-cialized version of India's trueheritage.

He indicated that he plannedto come visiting Chicago alongwith other cities in USA next year.

Cont'd from Page 50

The humorously-titled "AllRoads Lead to Om," (asopposed to "Rome") - ajoyfully lovely groove -draws its prayer from theBrihadaranyaka Upanishads

Star couple finallygranted divorce

MUMBAI: Bollywood actorHrithik Roshan and his estrangedwife Sussanne Khan were granteddivorce by a family court, nearly ayear after the star couple an-nounced end of their marriage.

'The court has granted divorceto both of them. It was a divorce

by mutual consent,' Hrithik's law-yer Mrunalini Deshmukh said.

Hrithik and Sussanne, whohave two children, approached thecourt in April this year and filedan application for separation bymutual consent. On December 14last year, the couple had called off

their marriage.In a statement, the 40-year-old

Krrish actor had said Sussannedecided to walk out of their 13-year-old marriage.

In a separate statement,Sussanne, who also belongs to aBollywood family like Hrithik, had

called the split 'ourown individualchoices.'

'We are two indi-viduals who respectand care for eachother and have madeour own individualchoices. We are par-ents of two wonder-ful kids and our re-sponsibility remainsto protect and takecare of them,' shesaid.

Hrithik andSussanne, who werechildhood sweet-hearts, had tied theknot in 2000 after afour-year-long rela-tionship.-AgenciesHrithik Roshan and Sussanne Khan at the court in Bandra

Book explores philanthropy angle in Tata story

The values at the heartof the Tata Group aswell as the role playedin its development by

the philanthropic trusts that owntwo-thirds of the company areexplored in a new book that is abrief history of the Tatas.

How did Tata transform itselffrom a family-owned venture tothe position it is today in an ar-ray of unrelated businesses?What is the 'Tata Way', whichhas earned it much admirationand respect?

These are among several as-pects that the book "The Great-est Company in the World?: TheStory of Tata" by Peter Caseylooks into.

It charts the contribution ofevery Tata chairman - fromJamsetji Tata, who set up thecompany in 1868, to Ratan Tataand Cyrus Mistry in transform-ing the company into one of themost professionally-managedenterprises in the world.

As founder and ExecutiveChairman of Claddagh Re-sources, Casey decided to writethe book initially to help his re-cruiters and executive search

consultants have a better under-standing of Tata Consultancy Ser-vices (TCS), which over 14 years,had become his company's biggestclient.

"It was supposed to just be ashort 15-page summary, but themore I startedstudying TCS andTata, the more cap-tivated I got andthe project devel-oped a life of itsown," he says.

According tothe writer, whileother successfulcapitalists and cap-tains of industrystarted companiesto create profit and,thereby, wealth,Jamsetji Tataplanted the seedsof philanthropictrusts, which nowown 66 per cent ofthe Tata Group.

"In harmony with his religion,Tata's company would exist to fi-nance and initiate projects to im-prove the lives of the people ofIndia," he says.

"So, Jamsetji Tata became notonly a catalyst for sweepingchange in his vast homeland, but,in the process, conceptualized anentirely new way of doing busi-ness as well as philanthropy. Whathe began has changed the lives of

billions, as thecompany hefounded contin-ues to work forthe bettermentof society," hesays.

In the wordsof Jamsetji, "Wethink we startedon sound andstraightforwardbusiness prin-ciples, consider-ing the interestsof the share-holders ourown, and the

health and wel-fare of the employees,

the sure foundation of our suc-cess."

Today, the Tata Group employsnearly half a million people, andearns revenues of USD 100 billion.It reported a profit of USD 6.23 bil-

lion in 2011-12, and controls as-sets valued at USD 77.7 billion.

"The philanthropic trustscontrol a majority of the Tataholding company, Tata Sons.The Tata family is a very smallshareholder. Yet, the owners areonly one of four stakeholdersTata sets out to serve. In addi-tion to the owners (which includeshareholders) are employees,customers, and society itself,"the book, published by Penguin,says.

"The guiding principle for ev-eryone at Tata is sharing thewealth. With Tata reporting an-nual profits in 2012 of USD 6.23billion, this means that a verylarge amount of money is in-vested back into the economyevery year just from this onesource," it says.

The members of the Tata fam-ily have established a set of phil-anthropic trusts to which themajority of the family's personalwealth has been dedicated andbequeathed.

Like their father, Dorabji Tataand Ratan Tata also donated themajority of their personal wealthto trusts they established.-PTI

India Post 53November 7, 2014

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Philosophy

Realizing emptiness, fearis removed from root

Renunciation is giving up thatwhich is in way of success

While executing action, 100% of the mind mustbe focused on the action. If at this time the mindmeanders, it is not concentrating on the presentaction. Action becomes faulty, leading to failure.

SUSAN KAHN

People commonly believe thatthey have a separate self thatis fixed and unchanging, an

inside core that is a me. Despitenoticing that thoughts, feelings,perceptions and body sensationschange every instant, it is believedthat there exists a separate self thatremains the same.

So one holds on tightly to thisidentity of a me and therefore tothe mine for fear of grave loss, leap-ing from one imagined cliff to an-other. However, that very attach-ment and that very strategy, per-petuates the fear. It is a painfulfeedback loop and an unnecessaryone, as it is driven by the illusionof the separate self.

There is no separate existenceto defend. There is no independentself that is ever separate from whathappens. The whole mirage ofsubjectivity depends upon count-less conditions that are not sub-jective. For instance, a seer couldnot exist without the seen. There-fore, there is no actual seer ofthings. For a seer cannot itself see.

In other words, a subject needsan object to be a subject. Both areinseparable, mutually arisen. Thisalso applies to thought, emotion,perception and sensation.

This is why the separate self isan illusion, why there is no inde-pendent self to be found. What wecall a self depends upon every-thing that is not considered to bea self. If even air or water were re-

JAYA ROW

The concluding chapter ofthe Bhagwad Gita beginsby Arjuna asking for defini-

tions of the two most importantconcepts in Vedanta - sannyasa,(renunciation) and tyaga (resigna-tion). Krishna says sannyasa isgiving up desire-driven actionwhile tyaga is giving up fruit ofaction.

Contrary to popular perceptionneither sannyasa nor tyaga impliesgiving up action. Action contin-ues, giving up the two things thatcome in the way of excellence inaction - desire from the past andanxiety for the fruit which belongsto the future.

Desire is necessary to initiateaction. Without desire no actionwill be undertaken. Similarly thereis always a fruit in mind before act-ing. However, while executing ac-tion, 100% of the mind must befocused on the action. If at thistime the mind meanders into thedead past or unborn future it is notconcentrating on the present ac-tion. Action becomes faulty, lead-ing to failure.

The grandeur and magnificenceof renunciation lies in growth to ahigher dimension as a result ofwhich the lower fascinations drop.

It is giving up that which comes inthe way of your success and hap-piness. The Gita asks you to re-move the wrapper and relish thechocolate, remove the unpleasantaspects of life and enjoy the world.

Renunciation is opening yourmind to deeper and more fulfillingaspects of your personality whilecontinuing to enjoy the lower joys.Yet it has been horribly misunder-stood as mere giving up of thingsthat are dear to us. As a resultpeople have given up the Gita!

Tyaga is of three kinds -sattvika, rajasika and tamasika.Abandoning obligatory action outof delusion is tamasika. It is nottyaga at all. False or rajasika tyagais giving up action that is trouble-some, fearing physical discomfort.True or sattvika tyaga is perfor-

mance of obligatory action be-cause it ought to be done, givingup attachment and fruit.

Desire stands between you andyour higher dimension. In fact de-sire stands in the way of even ob-

taining objects of desire. In orderto rise above desire you need toperform acts of yajna, sacrifice,tapa, penance and dana, charity.Yajna is acting in a spirit of servicefor a higher cause. The highestideal is Self-realization.

When your thoughts are an-chored in the higher while you actin the world, the lower desires getstarved and fall away. Tapa is go-ing through the discipline requiredin order to achieve the ideal. Asportsperson has to keep fit, amusician needs to do riaz, a stu-dent must study. Only then will

Jaya Row

Susan Kahn

moved, there would be no self-es-sence, nature or being left over.Whatever exists dependently, can-not also exist independently orseparately. A mind and body aredependently arisen and thereforelack independent existence, haveno essence or being of their own.Like all phenomena, they are emptyof selfhood.

It can be helpful to consider thisreasoning by using the example ofa house. A house depends uponwood, cement, windows, nails,

etc., which further depend uponrain clouds, air, metal, minerals andso forth. There is nothing inde-pendent that is house, that existsas its own thing. One assumes thatthese parts belong to the house.However, if the parts did belongto the house, then the house musthave already existed before theparts and therefore, there must betwo houses, one with parts andone without parts. This showshow our ordinary assumptions of

the way that things are believedto inherently exist are miscon-ceived.

A good emptiness inquiry is tosee if even one aspect of what isconsidered to represent a self,such as a feeling, emotion orphysical characteristic, exists in-dependently and is not dependentupon something else or other con-ditions. Thought for instance, de-pends upon what does not think,because thought does not exist inand of itself, with its own indepen-

dent nature. Thoughts are alwaysthoughts of what is not thinking,including thought objects that donot themselves think. There is nosubject-object division, no thinkerapart from non-thinker.

There is diversity in life, but thisis not a diversity of separatethings, not a diversity groundedin ultimate distinctions. Every-thing is like an inter-reflection, justas objects in dreams lack their ownsubstance and are not self-estab-

lished. And as there are no sepa-rate phenomena existing as theirown things, there is not one uni-versal essence that is its own to-tality either. How can a compositebe of one essential nature? Beingempty, nothing can be pinneddown.

Being interrelated, who can saythat things are truly the same ordifferent? There are conventionalappearances and the functionalnaming of things, but these are notself-created, nor self-enduring en-

tities. As everything is interdepen-dent, rather than self-established,a self of persons and all phenom-ena must be empty of their ownseparate thingness.

Realizing emptiness is how fearis removed from the root.

Susan Kahn is a licensed psy-chotherapist in California whounites both traditional and non-dual emptiness teachings. Herpassion is to penetrate the surfaceof things and help others.

you achieve the goal.When your mind is focused on

investing your energies towardsthe ideal you will not indulge inanything that takes you away fromthe goal. The lower desires thus

vanish.In the final stage when you are

on the verge of realization youneed to let go of the last thought,the mantra, which is the last im-pediment. This is the final act ofrenunciation that takes you to theexalted state of realization.

Mumbai-based Jaya Row is thefounder of Vedanta Vision dedi-cated to the dissemination ofVedanta. She had a distinguishedmanagement career which she re-nounced to devote herself full timeto the interpretation and re-pre-sentation of Vedanta for the mod-ern generation.

I searched for God andfound only myself. Isearched for myself andfound only God.

- Sufi Proverb

IF words come out of theheart, they will enter theheart, but if they comefrom the tongue, they willnot pass beyond the ears.

- Al-Suhrawardi

The Thing we tell of cannever be found by seek-ing, yet only seekers findit.

- Bayazid Bistami

Happy are those who findfault with themselves in-stead of finding fault withothers.

- Muhammad

What is done for you - al-low it to be done. Whatyou must do yourself -make sure you do it.

- Khawwas

Enlightenment must comelittle by little - otherwise itwould overwhelm.

- Idries Shah

Whatever we perceive inthe world around us tendsto reflect who we are andwhat we care about mostdeeply, as in the old say-ing, "When a thief sees asaint, all he sees are hispockets."

- Robert Frager

Whatever exists dependently, cannot also ex-ist independently or separately. A mind andbody are dependently arisen and thereforelack independent existence

54 Edit Pagewww.indiapost.com

November 7, 2014India Post

India PostNational leadersIndia had a galaxy of leaders who made significant contribu-

tions to India's Independence movement working under, alongwith or even apart from Mahatma Gandhi. But after Indepen-

dence there was no move to remember them or highlight theirimportance. With the dominance of Congress at the Center, onlythe Nehru-Gandhi family members were celebrated as if they werethe only national leaders and the rest were just overlooked.

In one cathartic move on October 31Prime Minister NarendraModi brought back the honor for at least one great Indian - SardarVallabhbhai Patel - on his birth anniversary. It was dedicated asNational Unity Day and a "Run for Unity" in the heart of NewDelhi was joined by the Prime Minister. Indira Gandhi was alsoassassinated on this day 30 years ago and each year the day wascommemorated all over the country in a big way. However themassacre of Sikhs that happened in the wake of her assassinationwas never mentioned nor any steps taken to address the woundsof the near and dear ones left behind.

Modi took a conscious decision not to join in the ritual cer-emony at Shakti Sthal, the Samadhi of Indira Gandhi but point-edly remarked at the 'Run for Unity' event "It is a misfortune ofthis country that 30 years ago on the birth anniversary of such aleader an incident which shook the unity of nation took place."

The Congress leaders were livid at this reference and the PMnot joining in the homage at Shakti Sthal. But they could do noth-ing about it and in some places had to join the formality of payinghomage to Sardar Patel thus acknowledging that injustice hadbeen done to the "Iron man" of India. For the first time a step hadbeen taken to correct the lopsided importance that had been ap-propriated by the Nehru-Gandhi family at the cost of other lead-ers.

Sardar Patel belonged to the Congress. Even so late in timeSonia Gandhi and family could have made a gesture by garlandingthe statue of Sardar Patel to show that they indeed cared for otherleaders. Modi paid lip service to the martyrdom of Indira Gandhi.The Gandhi family could also have paid similar lip service to SardarPatel. But they missed the opportunity.

President Pranab Mukherjee, a lifelong Congressman, howeverflagged off 'Run for Unity' from Rashtrapati Bhawan and also at-tended the homage to Indira Gandhi at Shakti Sthal.

It was a good gesture of the PM to remember Sardar Patel whowas the architect of a unified India. But for him, India would havebeen divided into 500 parts. Unfortunately, he was not given thepride of place which he rightly deserved. Instead of a nationalcommemoration, his birthday remained just a small sideshow orone limited to his home state of Gujarat.

Ashok Malik in his column in NDTV calls Modi's bold depar-ture from practice as a "strong message that national icons needto be rescued from the obscurity the Congress has reserved forthem." He points out that "Rajiv Gandhi was commemorated as anational leader but Patel, subtly, was classified as a symbol ofGujarati regional pride…Subhas Bose is presented as a Bengalisymbol, Madan Mohan Malviya as an Uttar Pradesh Brahminfigure, Rajaji as a right-winger who lived in Tamil Nadu, Ambedkaras a Dalit who could swing a few votes in Maharashtra. If onemoves down a generation, Charan Singh is a Jat or….a "kulakleader". It is a wonder that such expressions and such semi-dis-guised pejoration are never deployed for Indira and her family."

It is not suggested that in a feeling of revenge, the contribu-tions of the Nehrus and Gandhi are not to be acknowledged. IndiraGandhi's wartime leadership and Nehru's great record in officehave to be acknowledged. But India is diverse country with hun-dreds of great leaders. All of them need to be given their due.

Current strategies againstIS counterproductive

RANJIT GUPTA

The efficacy of the USstrategy to defeat theIslamic State (IS) canonly be meaningfully

evaluated in the context of thecurrent regional and internationalgeopolitical configurations. Itshould be self-evident that thereis no possibility at all of any po-litical approach to successfullyconfront and overcome the chal-lenge posed by the IS.

If the IS is not defeated, thewhole system of nation states inWest Asia will almost surelycrumble.

At the present critical juncture,given the ground realities in Iraq,Syria and the Arab world in gen-

eral - and internal divisionsamongst Arab states and betweenArab states and non-Arab statessuch as Iran and Turkey - it shouldalso be clear that there is no pos-sibility of any regional militarycoalition being forged to take onthe IS.

Therefore, countries of the re-gion have little or no choice but tohave the US lead the fight againstthe IS even though Washington'smilitary entanglements in the Araband Muslim worlds have greatlyadversely affected its credibility,influence and standing in the re-gion; and have in fact been one ofthe primary causes of the rise ofIslamic extremism.

After all, the US has been thepreeminent regional security archi-tect for the past several decadesand remains the major weaponssupplier to regional countries bar-ring Iran and Syria.

No other Western or non-re-gional country can do it or willeven be willing to attempt to do itby themselves; even their involve-ment is predicated only on the USleading the war. Australia, Bel-gium, Canada, Denmark, France,the Netherlands and UK too havejoined in conducting air strikes inIraq.

In a break from the traditional

policy of not supplying arms tocountries in zones of conflict, Ger-many will be supplying arms to theKurdistan Regional Governmentin Iraq. Bahrain, Jordan, SaudiArabia and the United Arab Emir-ates have carried out air strikes inSyria. There are varying accountsof Qatar's involvement.

After doggedly refusing to al-low any support for any militaryaction in Iraq or Syria against theIS despite intense personal effortsby US President Barack Obamaand the secretaries of state anddefense, Turkey has reluctantlyallowed the Free Syrian Armyfighters and the Iraqi KurdishPeshmerga to transit its territory

en route to Kobani to dislodge theIS from there.

The central feature of the strat-egy is to carry out air strikes bothin Iraq and Syria initially to stopthe heretofore irresistible advanceof the IS and to degrade its capa-bilities. This has happened inmany sectors if not everywhere.The US and its partners have bynow carried out a few thousandair strikes.

However, Obama has made itclear that there will be no Ameri-can boots on the ground, mean-ing Americans in the tens of thou-sands will not be there as in thepast. Such involvement will onlyexacerbate extremism. Another ca-veat is that combat activity mustabsolutely include the active in-volvement of regional countries.

This is what the US has beenimplementing. Even though it isclear that the war cannot be wonthrough air strikes alone, the real-ity is that the world has no betteralternative to this approach for thepresent.

So far, however, a Shiite coali-tion, of Iran, Hezbollah, Iraqi Shiamilitias and the Iraqi and Syriangovernments, has been the mainforce arrayed against the IS on theground apart from particularly val-iant contributions by the Kurdish

Peshmerga. Thus we have thestrange scenario of seeing the USand Iran, Saudi Arabia and Iran,Saudi Arabia and Shia ruled Iraq,the Assad regime and thosesworn to overthrow it - SaudiArabia, Turkey and the US andassorted Islamist extremist groups,Kurds of different nationalitygroups and factions perpetually atloggerheads with each other, all inthe same camp warring against theIS, tacitly cooperating with eachother even if they more often thannot publicly deny any open ex-plicit collaboration.

This is a part of the ground re-ality even if not a formal part ofUS strategy.

However, the fight against theIS cannot be compartmentalized.It occupies 2/5ths of the total ter-ritory of Syria and 2/5ths of thetotal territory of Iraq and is actu-ally stronger in Syria; the borderbetween the two countries hasbeen erased. The IS cannot bedefeated in Iraq without being de-feated in Syria and therefore it willhave to be confronted in Syria also.

Despite recognizing this as ex-hibited by the air strikes in Syria,countries opposed to Assad aremaintaining that they will not co-operate with Assad in fighting theIS and will continue supporting socalled 'moderate' rebels by supply-ing arms. Such distinctions arecompletely arbitrary and subjec-tive and have proven to be coun-terproductive.

The US has promised $500 mil-lion worth of arms and training isgoing to be provided to the rebelsin Saudi Arabia. This will only ex-acerbate and prolong Syria's civilwar and undermine the dire needof a united response to the IS.

The coalition's policy approachin Syria maybe alright as a tempo-rary tactic, but strategically, it iscompletely counterproductive.

The writer is Former Member,National Security Advisory Board(NSAB). Courtesy IPCS

India Post 55www.indiapost.com

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