vol-8-issue-40 feb-20 - feb-26 2016
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Washington
The sudden death
of a US Supreme Court justicehas catapulted an Indian‑
American judge to the top of suc‑
cession stakes amid a major
political battle during an election
yea r. Sr ika nth Sr ini vasan , 48 ,
who became a judge of the US
Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia Circuit ̶ a tradi‑
tional launching pad for Supreme
Court nominees ̶ in May 2013
after a 97‑0 Senate vote, was on
the short‑list of many in the
media.
Speculation over whom
President Obama would nomi‑
nate to replace Antonin Scalia
started hours after the conserva‑tive judge's death Saturday morn‑
ing in Texas even as top
Republicans said the choice
should be left to the next presi‑
dent. Obama said Saturday he
would nominate a successor "in
due time," and the Senate will get
"plenty of time to give that per‑
son a fair hearing and a timelyvote" even as Senate Republican
leaders and presidential candi‑
dates were dead set against the
move. Any list of potential
The South Asian Timese x c e l l e n c e i n j o u r n a l i s m
excellence in journalism FAREWELL AMB. MULAY 15 ART 18
Vol.8 No. 41 February 20-26, 2016 80 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info
BOOKS 25
Islamabad Pakistan Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif is likely tomeet his Indian counterpart
Narendra Modi in Washington
next month on the sidelines of a
nuclear summit hosted by US
President Barack Obama, a media
report said on Friday.
Sharif and Modi have both
accepted President Obama's invita‑
tion to attend a nuclear summit he
is hosting in Washington on March
31 and April 1, diplomatic sources
told Dawn.
"The chances are strong, very
strong," said a senior official.
"But you know the history of
India‑Pakistan talks, you cannot be
certain about an event until it hashappened," the official added.
It will be the first time that both
Indian and Pakistani premiers will
be attending the nuclear security
summit, which President Obama
initiated in 2010.
SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30
Sharif, Modilikely to meetin Washington
next month
Continued on page 4
See page 9 for Indian Americans supporting Srinivasanʼs nomination
Sri Srinivasan mentionedas Obama pick for
Supreme Court justice
OBAMA VS TRUMPPOPE VS TRUMP
Nowitʼs
&Washington Republican front‑
runner Donald Trump "is not
Christian" if he calls for the
deportation of undocumented
immigrants and pledges to build a
wall between the US and Mexico,Pope Francis said on Thursday.
The Pope, who was travelling
back to Rome from Mexico, urged
the US to address the "humanitar‑
ian crisis" on its southern border,
but did not tell American
Catholics not to vote for Trump.
Trump immediately fired back,
calling Francis' comments ʻdis‑
gracefulʼ.
"No leader, especially a reli‑gious leader, should have the
right to question another man's
religion or faith," he said, adding
that the government in Mexico
has "made many disparaging
remarks about me to the Pope".
"If and when the Vatican is
attacked by IS, which as everyone
knows is IS' ultimate trophy, I can
promise you that the Pope would
have only wished and prayed thatDonald Trump would have been
president," Trump said.
Meanwhile, President Obama
hammered home his belief that
New Delhi JNU student leader
Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested for sedi‑
tion, on Thursday moved the
Supreme Court for bail as students
rallied in support across the coun‑
try and the opposition took the
row to President Pranab
Mukherjee.
A Supreme Court bench said
Kumar's plea will be heard on
Friday morning.
His lawyer Vrinda Grover told
the judges that the atmosphere in
the Patiala House Courts, where
the accused was allegedly assault‑
ed by a group of lawyers, was not
conducive for moving the bail
application.
The bail plea came as the JNU
issue ‑ triggered by a meeting on
Kashmir at the Jawaharlal Nehru
University (JNU) ‑ sparked student
protests in Delhi, West Bengal,
Bihar and Karnataka with protes‑
tors demanding Kumar's release
and dropping of sedition charges
against him.
The 28‑year‑old student leader
was arrested on February 12 for
allegedly raising anti‑national slo‑
gans at the JNU event three days
earlier against the 2013 execution
of Afzal Guru, the Kashmiri mili‑
tant blamed for the terror attack
on Indian parliament in 2001.
Kumar has denied the charges.
Kumar, the first president of the
JNU Students Union from the CPI‑
affiliated AISF, drew support from
India‑born Srikanth Srinivasan isa judge of the US Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit.(Photo courtesy National Law Journal)
The students of Jawaharlal NehruUniversity participate in a march inDelhi to show solidarity with JNUstudent leader Kanhaiya Kumar ‑who was arrested on a sedition
charge. (inset) Kanhaiya Kumarbeing produced in court.
(Photos: IANS)
Continued on page 4
INDIA SPLIT BETWEEN LEFT AND
RIGHT AS JNU ECHOES ALL OVER
JNU student leaderheld for sedition,
provoking protests
See page 11 related stories.
Continued on page 4
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TheSouthAsianTimes.info February 20-26, 2016
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New York Indian‑
American student
from Massachusetts,
Sonika Vaid has sur‑
vived two rounds of
competit ion on
American Idol: last
week the top 24 con‑
testants were tasked
to perform twice: the
first a solo number
and the second a duet
with a former
American Idol win‑
ner. The 20‑year‑old
Vaid sang Taylor
Swift and The Civil
Wars' Safe & Sound
for her solo, while for
her duet with season 13 winner
Caleb Johnson, she covered
Adeleʼs Skyfall. Vaid impressed
the celebrity panel to snatch a
place in the top 14 live shows,
which will be held in two weeks.
“Sonika, I thought that was a
really good job ̶ in fact it was
one of the more emotional per‑
formances Iʼve seen,” said judge
Harry Connick Jr of Vaidʼs solo
cover. Fellow judge Keith Urban
quipped, “I was making some
notes and then you started
singing ̶ and I was like, ʻWhat
the? Whatʼs that sound?ʼ Your
voice is so good, Sonika, it just
is.” Jennifer Lopez, noticing
Vaidʼs nerves, encouraged the
young singer to loosen up.
“Your voice is so beautiful, seri‑
ously. Choose songs that really
make you feel something ̶
instead of stuff that just suits
your voice, something that makes
your heart sing.”
Vaidʼs parents Anna and Ken
Vaid were shown on camera
watching their daughter from the
audience area.
3February 20-26, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY
New York AAPIʼs 34th annual convention
will be held at the Marriott Marquis, Time
Square in New York from June 30‑July 4,
2016, Dr. Seema Jain, President of AAPI,
announced during the curtain raiser event
held at the Indian Consulate here on
February 12.
“We are expecting to have a record atten‑
dance of more than 2,000 delegates
including Physicians, Academicians,
Researchers and Medical students at the
convention. The annual convention offersextensive academic presentations, recogni‑
tion of achievements and achievers, and
professional networking at the alumni and
evening social events,” she added.
Ambassador Arun K. Singh, Indiaʼs envoy
to the US, inaugurated the curtain raiser
for the annual meet of the American
Association of Physicians of Indian Origin
(AAPI). He also praised the many contribu‑
tions of AAPI members in the US and back
home in India. Consul General
Dnyaneshwar Mulay said that physicians
of Indian origin are well known around the
world for their compassion, passion for
patient care, medical skills, research, and
leadership. The convention this year is
being organized by AAPIʼs New Jersey
chapter. Elaborating, Dr. Rita Ahuja,
Chairwoman of the convention, said. “We
have been working hard to put together an
attractive program for our annual get
together, educational activity and family
enjoyment.”
AAPI is an umbrella organization whichhas nearly 90 local chapters, specialty soci‑
eties and alumni organizations and repre‑
sents the interests of over 60,000 physi‑
cians and 25,000 medical students and
residents of Indian heritage in the United
States. New York based Dr Ajay Lodha is
AAPIʼs President‑Elect who will take over
the office at the convention.
Washington South Carolina's
Republican Indian‑American
Governor Nikki Haley endorsedMarco Rubio for president, giving
the son of Cuban immigrants a
huge boost just days before the
state 's crucial primary on
Saturday.
Born Nimrata 'Nikki' Randhawa,
the daughter of Sikh immigrants
from India, told a crowd of sup‑
porters last week that she chose to
back a candidate who can "show
my parents that the best decision
they made for their children was
coming to America."
"I wanted somebody with fight, I
wanted somebody with passion, I
wanted somebody who had convic‑
tion to do the right thing," she tolda crowd of hundreds gathered for
Rubio's outdoor rally in Chapin,
SC.
The Florida senator, in Haleyʼs
view is best suited to restore
Republican party's principles of
limited government and cutting
debt to Washington.
"I want a president who under‑
stands they have to go back to
Washington DC and bring a con‑
science back to our Republicans,"
Haley said.
Haley, the state's most popular
Republican politician in polls and a
rising national party star often
mentioned as a likely vice presi‑
dential pick, was South Carolina'smost coveted Republican endorse‑
ment in the 2016 presidential
race.
"She embodies for me everything
that I want the Republican Party
and conservative movement to be
about," Rubio told the Chapin
crowd. He also made frequent ref‑
erences to their similar immigrant
backgrounds.
The Florida senator needs to do
well in South Carolina after finish‑
ing fifth in New Hampshire follow‑
ing a rattled debate performance.
The popular second‑term gover‑
nor's endorsement could help
Rubio, who with 14 percent trails
Republican frontrunner DonaldTrump (38 percent) and Texas
Senator Ted Cruz (22 percent).
Haley who gave the Republican
response to President Barack
Obama's State of the Union last
month wherein she urged voters
not to listen to the "angriest voic‑
es" has criticized Trump for his
combative campaigning. Trump
disparaged Haley during a
Wednesday evening rally, saying:
"She's very very weak on illegal
immigration."
Former Florida Governor Jeb
Bush told reporters on Wednesday
that he was "disappointed" he did‑
n't get Haleyʼs backing. (IANS)
AAPI convention to be held in NYC July 4 weekend
Sonika Vaid croonsher way to American
Idol top 14
Nikki Haley endorsesMarco Rubio for president
Amb. Arun Singh releasing AAPIʼs 34th annual Convention Souvenirat the consulate event in the presence of AAPI President
Dr Seema Jain and President Elect Dr Ajay Lodha.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and Republicanpresidential candidate Marco Rubio appeared together
Wednesday night in Chapin, SC. (Photo courtesy Reuters).Indian American Sonika Vaid
performed Taylor Swift and The Civil Warsʼs
Safe & Sound for her solo onAmerican Idol. (Photo courtesy Fox)
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Dallas TX: Dallas‑based Stanley Law
Group initiated a class action law‑
suit a week ago in United States
District Court for the Western
District of Arkansas against Gospel
for Asia, Inc. and several affiliates
for fraudulently soliciting hundreds
of millions of dollars in charitable
donations, and then misdirecting
the money into the personal
empire of Gospel for Asia's leader,
K.P. Yohannan. The lawsuit alleges
that Gospel for Asia, Yohannan, and
other GFA officials misrepresented to donors
how, when, and where charitable donations
would be spent, and funneled vast amounts
of the hundreds of millions of dollars GFA has
collected into for‑profit businesses and an
expensive headquarters. Plaintiffs Matthew
and Jennifer Dickson charge defendants with
violations of RICO and the Arkansas
Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as
well as fraud and unjust enrich‑
ment.
Gospel for Asia is a global mis‑
sionary organization that operates
in South Asia, primarily within
India. GFA tells potential donors
that it supplies the "poorest of the
poor" with food, provisions, and a
Christian message. Lead attorney
Marc R. Stanley said, "K.P.
Yohannan and his Gospel for Asia
inner circle have been exploiting
the goodwill and generosity of devout
Christians around the country for years.
Gospel for Asia should return all the money
it's taken from donors who thought they
were contributing to charity." Yohannan is a
Kerala‑born Indian American missionary who
is now settled in Dallas‑Fort Worth
Metroplex, Carrollton, TX.
Chairman and Co-FounderKamlesh C. Mehta
Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull
President: Arjit Mehta
Chief Operating Officer:
Ginsmon P. Zacharia
P: 516 776 7061
Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra
P : 516.710.0508
Associate Editors:Hiral Dholakia-Dave
Contributing Editors: Meenakshi Iyer,
Nilima Madan, Melvin Durai,
Dr Prem Kumar Sharma, Ashok Vyas,
Dr Akshat Jain, Ashok Ojha
West Coast Correspondent
Pooja Jain,
New Delhi Bureau
Meenakshi Iyer
Jaipur (India) Bureau
Prakash Bhandari
Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/masalajunction.com.
Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com
Photo Journalist: Sandeep Girhotra
Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah
Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski
Bhagwati Creations,
Dhiraj Kumar
Web Editor: B.B.Chopra
News Service: HT Media Ltd.
IANS Newswire Services
IANS Washington Bureau
Arun Kumar
arun.kumar@ians,in
Printing: Five Star Printing, NY
Contacts
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JNU student leader held...
Continued from page
the Congress, Left and Delhi's ruling
Aam Aadmi Party which denounced
the government for "high handed‑
ness".
The BJP said workers from the All
India Students Federation (AISF) and
All India Students Association (AISA)
attacked its office in Patna during
their solidarity march, leaving severalpeople injured. The attackers were
carrying sticks and hurled stones and
water bottles, the party said.
Another clash was reported between
RSS‑affiliate ABVP and the left‑wing
SFI at the College of Science in
Rajasthanʼs Udaipur city. Three SFI
leaders including its president
Saurabh Naroka were allegedly
attacked while they were distributing
pamphlets supporting Kanhaiya
Kumar.
The Uttarakhand BJP said it organ‑
ized rallies at its district headquarters
to “sensitise” people about the impor‑
tance of the countryʼs unity and
integrity in the wake of the JNU con‑
troversy.
In Haryanaʼs Yamunanagar, workers
from the ABVP took out a Tiranga
Yatra and raised nationalistic slogans.
Similar marches were also organized
in Ambala, Bhiwani, Hisar, Sirsa and
Mahendergarh.
Now itʼs
Continued from page
GOP presidential hopeful Donald
Trump would not be elected, knocking
his reality show past and penchant for
drawing media attention.
"I continue to believe that Mr
Trump will not be president. And the
reason is because I have a lot of faith
in the American people. And I think
they recognize that being president is
a serious job," he told reporters in
California earlier this week.
"It's not a matter of pandering and
doing whatever will get you in the
news on a given day. And sometimes
it requires you making hard decisions,
even when people don't like it ,"
Obama continued.
He also noted the need to be "able to
work with leaders around the world in
a way that reflects the importance of
the office."
Trump punched back at a campaign
rally in Beaufort, South Carolina on
Tuesday evening. Said Trump about
Obama, “He has done such a lousy job
as president. You look at our budgets,
we have a $19 trillion national debt.
We canʼt beat ISIS. Obamacare is terri‑bl e… our borders are l ike swiss
cheese. He has set us back so far [that]
for him to say that is a great compli‑
ment.”
Sri Srinivasan mentioned...
Continued from page
replacements begins with Srinivasan,
said CNN noting that Obama would
likely try to find someone that at least
some Republicans in Congress might
find acceptable given that the opposi‑
tion party controls both chambers.
Obama first nominated Srinivasan
to the post in 2012, and the Senate
confirmed him, 97‑0, in May 2013,
including votes in support fromRepublican presidential contenders
Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio.
Srinivasan was Obama's principal
deputy solicitor general, most notably
working on the successful fight
against the Defense of Marriage Act.
Srinivasan also has experience on
the other side of the aisle, serving as
an assistant to the solicitor general
during the George W. Bush adminis‑
tration and as a clerk to Justice
Sandra Day O'Connor.
Meanwhile, Republican Senate
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
insisted the next administration
should make the appointment.
But Democratic Senate MinorityLeader Harry Reid said "failing to fill
this vacancy would be a shameful
abdication of one of the Senate's most
essential Constitutional responsibili‑
ties." The succession battle comes at a
time when the Court is expected to
hear several cases with huge political
implications, including on abortion
and affirmative action.
( IANS)
Los Angeles Indian actress Priyanka Chopra is out
to put India on the global map again. She is on
board to play the vil lain in the upcoming
"Baywatch" movie, based on the hugely popular1990s TV series, Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson
announced via an online video.
"She's one of the biggest stars in the world... the
beautiful Priyanka Chopra, welcome to
'Baywatch'," Johnson said in the video posted on
Instagram. He is seen in the frame with the former
beauty queen against seaside and excitement
seems to be at its peak.
Priyanka, who has found international populari‑
ty after playing the lead role in American show
"Quantico", shared on social media: "And it's time
to tell you all officially! Baywatch it is! Being bad is
what I do best!!! You better watch out!"
Her debut film in Bollywood, "Aitraaz", in fact
featured her in a negative role. In "Baywatch", she
will be seen essaying Victoria Leeds, said a report
by people.com. In an Instagram post to welcomePriyanka, Johnson wrote: "She's one of the biggest
stars in the world. Insanely talented, relentlessly
smokin' and extremely dangerous ‑ perfect for
'Baywatch'. Welcome Priyanka Chopra to our bad
a** and incredibly dysfunctional family."
One of the most watched TV shows globally,
"Baywatch" was about the Los Angeles county life‑
guards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles,
California. It starred David Hasselhoff and PamelaAnderson among others. Priyanka will begin
shooting for the movie version of the show with its
cast and crew next week.
Quantico star Priyanka Chopra and Dwayne'The Rock' Johnson made the announcement
via online video.
Priyanka to make Hollywooddebut with 'Baywatch'
Indian American missionary sued for funneling millions for personal use
Gospel for Asia'sleader, KP Yohannan(Courtesy of official
website)
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5February 20-26, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY
Washington DC:
Google's Indian‑American
chief executive Sundar Pichai sided with
rival Apple in its battle over a court order tohelp the FBI access information on the
encrypted iPhone used by a Pakistani‑
American shooter in San Bernardino.
Pichai Wedenesday directed followers to
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook's open let‑
ter Tuesday night arguing that helping the
FBI try to get into the phone used by Syed
Rizwan Farook would sabotage the security
of "tens of millions of American citizens."
Farook and his Pakistani origin wife,
Tashfeen Malik, gunned down 14 people at a
social services agency Dec 2 in San
Bernardino, California, before being killed in
a shootout with police.
FBI Director James Comey said last week
that investigators still haven't been able to
get at the information on Farook's iPhone5c. A Riverside, California court Tuesday
directed Apple to help FBI crack the phone
by developing software to hack into one of
its own devices.In a series of tweets Wednesday evening,
Pichai argued that even that would essen‑
tially put tech companies in the position of
hacking their own customers:
1/5 Important post by @tim_cook. Forcing
companies to enable hacking could compro‑
mise users' privacy.
2/5 We know that law enforcement and
intelligence agencies face significant chal‑
lenges in protecting the public against crime
and terrorism 3/5 We build secure products
to keep your information safe and we give
law enforcement access to data based on
valid legal orders 4/5 But that's wholly dif‑
ferent than requiring companies to enable
hacking of customer devices & data. Could
be a troubling precedent5/5 Looking forward to a thoughtful and
open discussion on this important issue
The government, Cook contends, is asking
Apple to create a "backdoor" to its own secu‑rity systems.
"Up to this point, we have done everything
that is both within our power and within the
law to help them," Cook wrote in a letter
published on the company's website.
"But now the US government has asked us
for something we simply do not have, and
something we consider too dangerous to
create." Reacting to Cook's stand,
Republican presidential front‑runner Donald
Trump said he was floored that Apple had
not volunteered to aid the FBI. "Who do they
think they are?" he asked on Fox News.
Speaking to reporters in South Carolina,
Senator Marco Rubio said he hoped the tech
giant would voluntarily comply with the
government's request, but acknowledged thecourt order is far from a simple issue.
W a s h i n g t o n D C : Noting that the
biggest banks continue to pose a sig‑
nificant risk to the US economy, Indian‑
American top federal bank official Neel
Kashkari has called for breaking them
into smaller ones.
"I believe the biggest banks are still
too big to fail and continue to pose a
significant, ongoing risk to our econo‑
my," Neel Kashkari, 42, President of
the Federal Reserve Bank of
Minneapolis, said in his first major
public appearance after occupying the
top fed position recently.
Kashkari, who served in the Bush
administration as a top Treasury offi‑
cial at the time of the 2008 financial
cr is is , said that enough time has
passed to understand causes of the cri‑
sis and it is still fresh in their memo‑
ries. "Now is the right time for
Congress to consider going further
than Dodd‑Frank with bold, transfor‑
mational solutions to solve this prob‑lem once and for all," Kashkari, the for‑
mer US Treasury official who led the
2008 bailout program for the nation's
biggest banks, said in his remarks at
the Brookings Institute, a top US think‑
tank.
Kashkari, who lost the last election of
governor in California, said the policy
makers must give serious considera‑
tion to a range of options including
breaking up large banks into smaller,
less connected, less important entities
as efforts to rein in the banks through
the 2010 Dodd‑Frank law "did not go
far enough."
He suggested turning large banks
into public utilities by forcing them to
hold so much capital that they virtually
cannot fail (with regulation akin to thatof a nuclear power plant) and taxing
leverage throughout the financial sys‑
tem to reduce systemic risks wherever
they lie.
"Options such as these have been
mentioned before, but in my view, poli‑
cymakers and legislators have not yet
seriously considered the need to imple‑
ment them in the near term. They are
transformational, which can be unset‑
tling," Kashkari said.The financial sec‑
tor has lobbied hard to preserve its
current structure and thrown up end‑
less objections to fundamental change.
"The economy is stronger now and
the time has come to move past
parochial interests and solve this prob‑
lem. The risks of not doing so are just
too great," he said.
Jo hn De ar ie , ac ti ng CE O of th e
Financial Services Forum, said the
largest financial institutions are small‑
er and less complex with twice the cap‑
ital and triple the liquidity since
Kashkari left government to enter poli‑
tics. The Fed's stress tests show that
large financial institutions can with‑
stand a crisis far worse than 2008, and
the largest banks have 'living wills' to
guide an orderly wind‑down without
putting taxpayer money at risk, he
said."Of the 10 largest global financial
institutions, only a few are US‑based.
Breaking up the US‑based global finan‑
cial institutions would ensure that one
of the US' most competitive global
industries serving companies small and
large is turned over to banks based
outside the US," Dearie said. (PTI)
NEEL KASHKARI CALLS FOR
BREAKING UP BIG BANKS
Googleʼs Sundar Pichai backs Apple overcracking shooter's phone
Sundar Pichai(Photo courtesy: economictimes.com)
Neel Kashkari(Photo courtesy: ibnlive.in)
Houston: Lawmakers in the US state of Colorado have
unanimously adopted a joint resolution sponsored by an
Indian‑American legislator to honor Mahatma Gandhi for
dedicating his whole life to fighting injustice through non‑
violence and peaceful resistance.
Colorado House of Representatives and the ColoradoSenate on Friday adopted the resolution prime sponsored
by Indian American Colorado State Representative Janak
Joshi, who is the first Indian‑American legislator in the
Colorado General Assembly.
The resolution received the backing and co‑prime spon‑
sorship of State Representative Joann Ginal and most
members of the Colorado House of Representatives,
including the Speaker of the House Dickey Lee
Hullinghorst and was unanimously passed with bipartisan
support.
Harish Parvathaneni, Consul General of India in Houston
termed the development as an important initiative and
said Gandhiʼs message has far greater relevance today.
Harish said he was deeply humbled to see the numerous
ways in which the life, writings and political approaches of
Gandhi fundamentally motivated and changed people
around the world, including so many of the elected repre‑sentatives of the State of Colorado.
The Colorado Senate also separately passed a similar
resolution at the sponsorship of State Senator Kent
Lambert.
Harish joined several members of the House of
Representatives, Indo‑American members of the cabinet
and prominent leaders of the Indian American community
in reading the resolution. (PTI)
Colorado statehonors life of
Gandhi
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6 February 20-26, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY
New York An Indian‑ori‑
gin eighth‑grade student
has been honored in
Hartford for his efforts to
help underprivileged stu‑
dents in the US and
around the world with his
charity organization, a
media report said.
Ishaan Patel, founder of
Planting Pencils , was
recently honored by the
Milan Cultural
Organization during theRepublic Day celebration
in the legislative office
building in downtown
Hartford, the Bristol Press
reported on Monday. A son of
immigrants from India, Patel
attends Kingswood‑Oxford
School in West Hartford. He cre‑
ated his charity to improve
access to education for under‑
served children around the
world.
The Milan association is com‑
posed of people from India living
in US. It is engaged in promoting
the traditional art and culture of
India in the US. It organizes andparticipates in cultural events,
setting up exhibitions of Indian
handicrafts in schools, colleges,
educational and cultural institu‑
tions, and works with other asso‑
ciations promoting social and
civic activities.
"The goals of our organization
are to let the values of our cul‑
ture and heritage contribute to
the strength of America, and for
us to all be productive partici‑
pants in the civic and social
issues of the bigger community,"
said Suresh Sharma, president of
Milan Cultural Organization.
Sharma and all the directors of the organization were impressed
by this teenager's efforts to tack‑
le global education problems.
(IANS)
N e w Y o r k : In a bid to provide
undocumented immigrant survivors
of crime and human trafficking, the
New York City last week announced
a new initiative to provide them
with services in court so that they
can have “equal and just protection”
under the law without fear of
deportation. The announcement by
Mayor Bill de Blasio and
Commissioner and Chair of the New
York City Commission on Human
Rights Carmelyn P. Malalis will also
help such illegal victims of crime
and human trafficking to remain in
the U.S. during investigation and
provide them a pathway to legal
permanent residence
“Today, New York City announced
that it has expanded its capacity to
meet the needs of immigrant com‑
munities. U and T visas serve
undocumented immigrants who
have suffered abuse and encourage
them to report the crime regardless
of their immigration status. By pro‑
viding an additional avenue for
immigrants to report unlawful
activity, the Commission is creating
a more fostering environment for
immigrant communities,” said
Mayorʼs Office of Immigrant Affairs
Commissioner Nisha Agarwal.
Out of roughly 11.3 mill ion
undocumented immigrants in the
United States, 535,000 call New
York City their home. Due to their
undocumented status, many immi‑
grants do not report crimes such as
domestic violence, sexual assault
and human trafficking for fear of
deportation. The U. S. Congress cre‑
ated both the U and T visas in 2000
as part of the Victims of Trafficking
and Violence Protection Act to
encourage undocumented immi‑
grants to come forward and report
crimes, and to aid law enforcement
in investigations and prosecutions
of criminal activity. The U visa
allows undocumented immigrant
victims of crime to temporarily
remain in the U.S. for up to four
years while assis ting law enforce‑
ment in investigations and prosecu‑
tions, and provides them with a
chance to legally work, integrate
into their communities and get on a
pathway to lawful permanent resi‑
dence. The T visa, which applies
only to undocumented immigrants
who have been trafficked into the
United States, allows victims to
remain in the U.S. for up to three
years to assist in the investigations
or prosecutions of trafficking
crimes, and also provides a pathway
to lawful permanent residence.
Certification by a law enforcement
agency is the first step in the visa
process and applicants must submit
their certification to the United
States Citizenship and Immigration
Services for approval to receive a
visa. According to USCIS, crimes
that qualify for U visa certification
include rape, torture, trafficking,
incest, stalking, domestic violence,
sexual assault, abusive sexual con‑
tact, prostitution, extortion and sex‑
ual exploitation, among others.
A
scheme of Ministry of Human
Resource Development,
Government of India offersadmission to foreign nationals/per‑
sons of Indian origin (PIOs)/non‑
resident Indians (NRIs) / Indian
nationals studying abroad for under
graduate engineering programs and
post graduate programs (M.Tech./
M.Arch./M.Plan./M.Des./MURP &MBA) in NITs, IIEST, IIITs, SPAs,
Central Universities, CFTIs and
other premier technical institutes of
India. Contact Details: Coordinator
DASA 2016, DASA Office, National
Institute of Technology Srinagar,
Hazratbal, Srinagar‑190 006, Jammu & Kashmir, INDIA . Phone :
0194‑2414167, Fax : 0194‑
2414178, Email: [email protected],
Website: http://www.dasanit.org
NYC to help illegal immigrant survivors of crime
Queens NY: John F. Kennedy
Middle Schoolʼs RoboticRaccoons have advanced to the
finals in the FIRST LEGO
Robotics Competition. The teamcomprising Sean Davis, Anav
Sandhala, Trisha Sandhala, Arav
Sandhala, Udithi Kothapali ,Amani Hafeez, Aiden
Markowitz, Alyssa Morturano,Ryan Andersen and Seth Osman
has also received the judgeʼs
award for the overall combinedhigh scores at this yearʼs com‑
petition held this past
Superbowl Sunday at CentralIslip High School. It is the sec‑
ond year in a row this team hasadvanced from among 60 other
teams to qualify for the finals to
be held on February 28 atLongwood High School.
This yearʼs tournament theme was called
Trash Trek. While the students attendedseveral field trips to Brookhaven Town,
Maggio Sanitation, Covanta Energy Facility,and the Caithness energy generation plant,
they learned the ins and outs of trash to pre‑
pare for their competition presentation. Inaddition the team created an online survey
that analyzed the recycling habits of the
Comsewogue School Community, which is
being used to improve the recycling habits
of the students at the middle school.And of course, for the past several months
the team worked on the construction and
programming of the LEGO robot to performtasks relating to trash. More information
about the competition can be found at:http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/fll.
JFK and Hicksville middle schools teamsreach robotics competition final
John F. Kennedy Middle Schoolʼs Robotic Raccoonshas advanced to the FIRST LEGO Robotics Competition
Hicksville NY:
Hicksville Middle
Schoolʼs Meteorites
robotics created last
ye ar ha s ma de
tremendous progress,
reaching the finals in
the FIRST LEGO
R o b o t i c s
Competit ion. The
South Asian dominat‑
ed team comprises:
Somya Mehta, Sejal
Gupta, Rishika
Thayavally, Viveka
Ja in , Vi ct or Lo bo ,
Dylan Gaznabbi,
Rohan Manjrekar,Esha Singh, Aniket
Sonika and Jaskaran Kohli. Their coach is
Catherine Temps, and mentor is
Shiv Chopra, President of Hicksville
High Schoolʼs robotics program. Lauren
Colwell and Michael Johnson are also
mentors.
The Meteorites will meet JFK middle
school and other teams in the finals to be
held on February 28 at Longwood High
School, in Suffolk County, Long Island.
This yearʼs tournament theme being
Trash Trek, the rookie team tried to solve
the problem of microbeads, little plastic
balls that threaten the environment.
Seeking help from professors and politi‑
cians, they were able to learn more about
the issue and find solutions. And of
course, the team was regularly meeting
for the past several months to build and
program the LEGO robot to perform tasks
relating to trash as required by the
competition.
Despite being a rookie team, Hicksville Middle SchoolʼsMeteorites has reached the FIRST LEGO Robotics Competition
finals. Their mentor Shiv Chopra (right, front row)
is President of Hicksville High Schoolʼs robotics program.
Ishaan Patel, founder of Planting Pencils(Photo courtesy: Myrecordjournal.com)
EIGHTH‑GRADERʼSCHARITY HONORED
Direct admission of students abroad (DASA) 2016Announcement
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New York:
Raj Kohli , an
Indian American real estate
agent in Tucson, Ariz., plans
to embark on his secondworld bicycle tour beginning
mid‑2016. A continuation of
his first world bicycle tour
from 1981‑1983, the two‑
and‑a‑half year tour aims to
raise money for non‑profits
around the world.
The theme of Kohliʼs sec‑
ond world bicycle tour, which
will cover over 18,000 miles
and 25 countries starting in
Europe and heading to Asia
via the Middle East, is “Live and Let Live.”
Kohli will ride a recumbent tricycle for six
to 10 hours per day. In addition to inviting
local people who support non‑profits from
each country to ride with him for 20 or 30miles as part of his fundraising efforts,
Kohli plans to auction off his bike at the
end of each country ride. He is also working
with a tricycle company to donate multiple
tricycles to non‑profits dur‑
ing his tour. Some of the
causes Kohli is interested in
supporting include environ‑mental issues, breast cancer,
obesity, education, peace
efforts and clean water.
Kohli, who was born in Uttar
Pradesh, will end his tour
with an extended trip in
India lasting several months.
Son of a military officer,
Kohli received his B.S. from
St. Xavierʼs College, his law
degree from Meerut
University, his M.B.A. from
Arizona State University, and his Masterʼs in
Finance from Thunderbird School of
International Management.
Sponsors of Kohliʼs world tour will receive
t‑shirts, headbands and other gear featur‑ing his tour logo. Those who wish for more
information or are interested in sponsoring
Kohli can contact him at [email protected]
or (520) 891‑9119.
7February 20-26, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info NAT I ONAL COMMUNI TY
Washington DC:
President Barack
Obama plans to
appoint Ranvir
Trehan, an alumnus
of the Birla
Institute of
Technology and
Science in India, as
general trustee on
Board of the John F.
Kennedy Center for
the Performing Arts
in the American
capital.
"These fine public
servants bring a
depth of experience and tremendous
dedication to their important roles. I
look forward to working with them,"he said in announcing Trehan's
appointment along with five other
individuals.
Dedicated to the memory of
President John F. Kennedy, the
Kennedy Center is
the busiest perform‑
ing arts facility in
the US and annually
hosts about 2,000
music , dance and
theater performanc‑
es for audiences
totaling nearly two
million.
It also supports
art ists in the cre‑
ation of new work
and serves as a
leader in arts educa‑
t ion. Trehan, who
came to the US in
1964 after receiving a BS from BITS,
is chairman of the Trehan
Foundation, a philanthropic organiza‑tion he founded for giving primarily
for international development in
2003. It's focused on global poverty,
as well as a performing arts center
and human services.
New York: An Indian‑origin
chemist from the University of
Texas at Arlington (UTA) has
developed new high‑performing
materials for cells that harnesssunlight to split carbon dioxide
and water into useable fuels like
methanol and hydrogen gas.
These "green fuels" can be used to
power cars, home appliances or
even to store energy in batteries.
"Technologies that simultane‑
ously permit us to remove green‑
house gases like carbon dioxide
while harnessing and storing the
energy of sunlight as fuel are at
the forefront of current research,"
said Dr Krishnan Rajeshwar, dis‑
tinguished professor of chemistry
and biochemistry and co‑founder
of the university's center of
renewable energy, science and
technology. "Our new material
could improve the safety, efficien‑
cy and cost‑effectiveness of solar
fuel generation which is not yeteconomically viable," added
Rajeshwar, who earned his PhD in
chemistry from the Indian
Institute of Science in Bengaluru.
The new hybrid platform uses
ultra‑long carbon nanotube net‑
works with a homogeneous coat‑
ing of copper oxide nanocrystals.
It demonstrates both the high
electrical conductivity of carbon
nanotubes and the photocathode
qualities of copper oxide ‑ effi‑
ciently converting light into the
photocurrents needed for the pho‑
toelectrochemical reduction
process.
"Dr Rajeshwar's ongoing, global
leadership in research focused on
solar fuel generation forms partof UTA's increasing focus on
renewable and sustainable ener‑
gy," said Morteza Khaledi, dean of
the UTA college of science.
Dr Rajeshwar's work is repre‑
sentative of the university's com‑
mitment to addressing critical
issues with global environmental
impact under the Strategic Plan
2020. "Creating inexpensive ways
to generate fuel from an unwant‑
ed gas like carbon dioxide would
be an enormous step forward for
us all," Khaledi added.
The new material also demon‑
strates much greater stability dur‑
ing long‑term photoelectrolysis
than pure copper oxide which cor‑
rodes over time, forming metalliccopper.
The team is designing, building
and demonstrating a "microfluidic
electrochemical reactor" to recov‑
er oxygen from carbon dioxide
extracted from cabin air.
The prototype will be built over
the next months at the center for
renewable energy science and
technology at UTA, said the find‑
ings published in the journal
ChemElectroChem Europe and a
companion article in the Journal
of Materials Chemistry.
New York: A team led by an Indian‑origin engineer
from the University of Utah has discovered a new kind
of 2D semi‑conducting material for electronics that
opens the door for much speedier computers and
smartphones that consume a lot less power.
The semi‑conductor, made of the elements tin and
oxygen or tin monoxide (SnO) by the associate profes‑
sor Ashutosh Tiwari‑led team is a layer of 2D material
only one atom thick, allowing electrical charges to
move through it much faster than conventional 3D
materials such as silicon.
This material could be used in transistors, the
lifeblood of all electronic devices such as computer
processors and graphics processors in desktop com‑
puters and mobile devices.
Transistors and other components used in electronic
devices are currently made of 3D materials such as sili‑
con and consist of multiple layers on a glass substrate.
But the downside to 3D materials is that electronsbounce around inside the layers in all directions.
"The benefit of 2D materials is that the material is
made of one layer the thickness of just one or two
atoms. Consequently, the electrons can only move in
one layer so it's much faster," Tiwari said.
Transistors made with Tiwari's semi‑conducting
material could lead to computers and smartphones
that are over 100 times faster than regular devices.
"Because the electrons move through one layer
instead of bouncing around in a 3D material, there will
be less friction, meaning the processors will not get as
hot as normal computer chips," the authors noted.
They will also require much less power to run, a
boon for mobile electronics that have to run on battery
power. According to Tiwari, this could be especially
important for medical devices such as electronic
implants that will run longer on a single battery
charge. "The field is very hot right now and people are
very interested in it," Tiwari said, adding that in two or
three years, we should see at least some prototype
device.
Dr Krishnan Rajeshwar. The newmaterial may improve the
safety, efficiency and cost‑effec‑tiveness of solar fuel generation.
Ranvir Trehan(Photo courtesy: care.org)
UTA scientist devises novel materials for solar fuel cells
Engineer discovers ground breaking 2D semiconducting material
Science & Technology: Proud contribution of Indians in the US
Ranvir Trehan namedKennedy Center trustee
Real estate agent to embark on world bike tour
Raj Kohli aims to raisefunds for nonprofits
(Photo courtesy: Indiawest.com)
University of Utah associate professor Ashutosh Tiwariholds up a substrate layered with a newly discovered 2‑D
material which promises to speed up our computers andsmartphones. (Photo courtesy: eurkalert.org)
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Los Angeles Acclaimed sitarist
Anoushka Shankar, who recently
presented at the 58th annual
Grammy Awards, said she had
"fun" being backstage with the peo‑ple she admires.
"It was really fun being back‑
stage with people I admire and get‑
ting to be a part of what many call
the 'real' Grammys in the daytime,
where a truly global and diverse
group of artists are represented,"
said Anoushka.
Anoushka was also nominated
for an award in the Best World
Music Album category for her solo
album "Home" but she couldn't
grab the coveted trophy. This was
the fifth time that Anoushka was
nominated for the Grammy
Awards. She lost out to Beninese
singer Angelique Kidjo. "I teasedAngelique to stop beating me in
that category! She's an amazing
artist and woman and deserves
every win though," Anoushka
sportingly said about her defeat.
However, she praised Indo‑
British filmmaker Asif Kapadia for
winning Best Music Film award for
"Amy", a documentary on the life of
late singer Amy Winehouse.
"Oh, without doubt he deserved
that win. 'Amy' is an incredible doc‑
umentary into the life of a unique
artist and the trials of an addict.
Recovery is something very close
to my heart for personal reasons
and therefore, the film impacted
me greatly," she said.
The daughter of late sitar playerRavi Shankar said that she enjoyed
rapper Kendrick Lamar's perform‑
ance the most. Lamar won big with
five trophies for his album "To
Pimp a Butterfly." Anoushka, who
is ready with her new album "Land
of Gold", says she is going to tour
India later this year to promote it.
8 February 20-26, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NAT I ONAL COMMUNI TY
New Delhi In the US, she is 'the
Indian girl from Masterchef'!
Indian American chef Hetal
Vasavada, who has been treating
her foreign friends on the realityTV show with khichdi and coconut
curry soup, says food from her
native Gujarat ‑‑ also the home of
Indian Prime Minister Narendra
Modi ‑‑ is neglected in the west.
She hopes to bring the cuisine in
limelight in the most "traditional"
way. Vasavada, 28, who was one
of the top six finalists of the last
season of Star World show
"MasterChef US" said that most
people in the west think that
Gujarati food is all about dollops
of sugar. But she wants to dispel
the notion as she feels regional
cuisine is an answer to foreigners
who think Indian food is "heavy"and "creamy." "I think Gujarati
food is neglected a lot, especially
in restaurants in the US. There are
south Indian restaurants with
dosa, and then there are Punjabi
restaurants. A lot of people think
that Gujarati food is just lots of
sugar... but it's not. It is definitely
healthy and very tasty," says
Vasavada. There are other things
to Vasavada's stride ‑ be it being
the first Indian vegetarian to be a
part of the foreign show or be itpopularizing the somber Indian
khichdi. Now, she wants to do
more to widen the perception
about Indian food in the west.
Vasavada is happy about the
growing interest around Indian
food on foreign shores, as she
shares that now people are willing
to experiment beyond the butter‑
chicken and chicken tikka.
"I think a lot of people are ven‑
turing out and trying new food
and different versions. There aretwo reasons why Indian food is
becoming famous ‑‑ because of
different spices, and because peo‑
ple are ready to try different food.
"When I was younger there
were not many ethnic restaurants
in America, but now Indian
restaurants are only 30 minutes
driving distance," she said.
Vasavada left behind the busi‑
ness world to pursue her dream in
the culinary world. She was a
business developer at a tech start‑
up and, post her "Masterchef US"
stint, is now treading the path of a
"food consultant."
"You get recognized at so manyplaces and people say 'Oh, you are
the Indian girl from Masterchef'.
Post the show, things have been
wonderful because I get to pursue
my passion as my career," said
Vasavada, who is pregnant with
her first child and hopes to pen a
cookery book post delivery.
New York American Telugu Association
[ATA] the 25‑year old premier national
organization of Telugus in North America
is gearing up to unveil its Grand ATAConference to mark its silver jubilee on an
unprecedented scale to showcase the rich
enduring Telugu culture in the form of art,
music, dance, literary, religious, social,
economic, health forums from July 1‑3rd
in Chicago at Rosemont Convention
Center in Rosemont, Illinois.
With the formation of over 70 important
committees served by 70 chairs and 100
Co‑Chairs with over 200 Members
/Advisors and over 300 vendors all are
geared up to host this mammoth conven‑
tion. Several busloads of families from
many cities are expected to arrive in
Chicago this summer to join the unprece‑
dented gathering of Telugus at the con‑
vention. Joining this mammoth effort,Telangana government has announced
that it will send a 15‑member cultural
troupe to augment the ATA festivities at
the convention. The main order of the
business in Princeton, New Jersey where
the regional teams met recently entailed
the election of K.K.Reddy as Conference
Director and Chandrasekhar Reddy Palvai
as Conference Convener; while Krishna
Mushyam and Jagan Bukaraju were elect‑
ed as Conference Co‑Conveners ‑‑ all of this front line team was unanimously cho‑
sen with acclamation. ATA Board of
Trustees also appointed a new Treasurer
Vinod Koduru and five new Trustees who
were administered oath immediately.
Mahidhar Musukula was appointed as
Office Coordinator.
Kamala Chimata, Conference
Coordinator said the goal of the conven‑
tion is to promote literary, cultural, educa‑
tional, religious, social, economic, healthand community activities of the people of
Telugu origin.
Iftekhar Shareef, Reception Chair dis‑
closed the plans to rope in VIPs, digni‑
taries and elected officials both from India
and the United States to grace the conven‑
tion and added that some have already
expressed keen interest in attending.
Hanumanth Reddy, ATA Founder in his
statement said American Telugu
Association will host the ATA Conferencein Chicago in a way to show the tri‑
umphant journey of ATA which earnestly
began in Chicago 25 years ago and today
it has grown exponentially.
Washington DC: An Indian‑origin man who
was among 47 immigrants denied recruit‑
ment as police officers for being foreign‑
born has won a $3.1 million discrimination
suit filed against the Chicago Police
Department, the media reported.
Masood Khan won $3.1 million in com‑
pensation, along with Glenford Flowers, a
Belize‑born man, as victims of the discrimi‑
natory hiring policy, reported The
American Bazaar on Thursday.
Both men took part and passed the 2006
police exam. But their candidacy was
rejected because they had lived in the US
for less than 10 years. They filed charges of
discrimination, which were upheld by the
US Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission and referred to the Justice
Department. "Chicago, through CPD
(Chicago Police Department), has pursued
policies and practices that discriminate
against individuals born outside the US
because of their national origin and that
deprive or tend to deprive foreign‑born
individuals of employment opportunities
because of their national origin," the law‑
suit stated. The Department of Justice also
sought back pay, interest on lost wages and
compensatory damages on behalf of Khan
and Flowers who applied to be police offi‑
cers but were rebuffed by the rule.
According to the complaint, more than 92
percent of the candidates that were reject‑
ed because of the rule were foreign‑born,
while only eight percent of these had lived
in the country for more than 10 years.
The Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission began the investigation into
the policy but was unable to reach a resolu‑
tion and the case was referred to the
Department of Justice in 2014.
The Chicago City Council 's Finance
Committee is expected to sign off on the
$3.1 million settlement on Monday.
Hetal Vasavada(Photo: Twitter)
Masterchef fame Hetal Vasavada wantsto make Gujarati food world‑famous
Anoushka Shankar losesGrammy to Angelique Kidjo
ATA gears up for grand silver jubilee conference in Chicago
ATA Board Meeting with national, regional leaders, trustees and other officers held at Westin Hotel in Princeton, New Jersey
It was Anoushka Shankarʼs fifthGrammy nomination so far
Man wins $3.1 mn in discrimination suit
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9February 20-26, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info U S AFFA I RS
Wash ing t on Vowing to name an "indis‑
putably" qualified nominee to replace a con‑
servative Supreme Court judge who died sud‑
denly last Saturday, President Barack Obama
has asserted there was no bar on making
appointments in an election year.
"The Constitution is pretty clear about
what is supposed to happen now," he said at
a news conference in California Tuesday,
lashing out at Republicans who have threat‑
ened to block his choice for a replacement of
Justice Antonin Scalia.
The so‑called strict interpretation of the
Constitution by which Republicans, including
presidential contenders, want the choice of
the ninth judge to be left to the next presi‑
dent is nowhere to be found, he said.
"I am amused when I hear people who
claim to be strict interpreters of the
Constitution suddenly reading into it a whole
series of provisions that are not there," hesaid. "I am going to present somebody who
indisputably is qualified for the seat and any
fair‑minded person, even somebody who dis‑
agreed with my politics, would say would
serve with honour and integrity on thecourt." He added: "Your job doesn't stop until
you are voted out or until your term expires."
Asked if he was going to choose a "moder‑
ate nominee" as speculated to win his confir‑
mation, Obama replied with a flat "No" to
laughter.
"I don't know where you found that," he
said. You shouldn't assume anything about
the qualifications of the nominee other than
they're going to be well‑qualified."
Amid the escalating Supreme Court nomi‑
nation battle, the Republican chairman of the
Senate Judiciary Committee, Charles
Grassley, appeared to break ranks with the
party. "I would wait until the nominee is
made before I would make any decisions" on
hearings, he said. Still, Republicans have kept
Obama from filling all but one of the vacan‑
cies on the 12 regional federal courts of
appeal. Later in the day Grassley said he's
"concerned about balance" on the court
which with the death of Scalia is evenly split
among four liberal and four conservative
judges. Anal ysts sugg ested that pres iden t
could decide to find the candidate hebelieves has the most stellar legal qualifica‑
tions and thus increase political pressure on
Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch
McConnell for a vote.
But given that his pick is unlikely to even
have confirmation hearings, Obama could
chose to nominate a "sacrificial lamb" who
would delight the Democratic Party's liberal
base voters and motivate a high turnout in
November's election, CNN said.
Among likely Obama picks, media outlets
have mentioned two Indian‑Americans –Sri
Srinivasan and Kamala Harris.
Chandigarh‑born Srikanth was confirmed
in 2013 by a 97‑0 Senate vote as a judge on
the Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit.
Harris, daughter of an Indian mother and a
Jam aican fat her, is cur rent ly Cal ifo rnia's
attorney general and also running for the US
Senate this year.
However, Harris, 51, on Tuesday during a
campaign event in San Jose said that while
she is flattered to have her name mentioned,
she has no interest focused as she is on hercurrent job and her campaign.
If nominated, either would be the first
Indian‑American in line for the Supreme
Court. (IANS)
Indian Americans back Sri Srinivasanfor Supreme Court
Justice Antonin Scalia died last weekend,leaving the US Supreme Court evenly splitamong four liberal and four conservative
judges. Republican leaders havethreatened to block President Obamaʼschoice for a replacement, arguing the
appointment should be left to the nextPresident. (Photo courtesy AP)
Obama sets battle lines for Supreme Court nominee
Open letter to the President by Attorney Ravi BatraH.E. Barack Obama
President of the United States of America
Re: Nominee candidate as successor to beloved Justice Nino Scalia
Dear President Obama,
The untimely demise of Mr. Justice Scalia is a grave loss to our Republic, as he, singlehandedly,
made us honor the Constitution as our collective Founding
Fathers originally intended. J. Scalia, of Sicilian ancestry,
was a great American and enhanced the American Dream
for all ‑ even if I didnʼt agree with him in every holding. But,
he was a Jewel in the Crown of Justice, and he will be sore‑
ly missed.
I write to applaud your honoring the Constitution, exactly
as J. Scalia ruled we all must, by stating that you will nomi‑
nate a successor. In addition, I write in support of certain
great Americans ‑ with immigrant roots like J. Scalia: USAPreet Bharara, AG Kamala Harris and CJ Sri Srinivasan.
That Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has
announced that he will violate the Constitution this year,
while in February 1988 he voted in President Reaganʼs last
year for J. Anthony Kennedy is an insult to J. Scaliaʼs cher‑
ished Originalist doctrine. While politics is a necessary vehicle for democracy to function, a blan‑
ket promise to breach the Oath by Leader McConnell is as appalling, as it is illegal.
Still, politics being politics, and Senate being in Republican control, this solitary fact aids in
tempering your choice of nominee ‑ and among the three I proudly mention ‑ only CJ Srinivasan
has been voted up 97‑0 ‑ and the fact that he clerked for the revered Justice Sandra Day
OʼConnor and has, like myself, defended other nationsʼ sovereignty by preventing extra‑territori‑
al jurisdiction of our courts, makes him a Centrist ‑ worthy of prompt Senate confirmation. Your
nomination will delight every Indian‑American, including those serving in our military, and
indeed, 1.2 billion Indians, that America has finally seized the moment of destiny to join at the
legal hip two natural allies, under law ‑ a destiny that has been beckoning, by my thinking, since
Lord Charles Cornwallis lost these Colonies to General George Washington and upon landing in
Bombay decreed 5000 Indians ‑ men, women and children killed ‑ as he was going to rule with aniron fist and not lose the Empireʼs then‑crown jewel ‑ India. That CJ Srinivasan will continue to
honor, in his reserved and non‑activist way, our cherished Constitution is a known fact. I urge
you to nominate CJ Srinivasan and make America stronger and J. Scalia proud. You have a patri‑
otʼs and a lawyerʼs heartfelt thanks. The validation of an entire community incidentally results.
Respectfully,
Ravi Batra
Why Srinivasan?
Among likely President Obama
picks, media outlets have men‑
tioned Sri Srinivasanʼs name
prominently as Justice Antonin
Scaliaʼs replacement on the U.S.
Supreme Court. The Indian‑
American appeals court judge has
pro‑business credentials and a stel‑
lar resume.
If he was nominated his back‑
ground may make it more politically
challenging for Republicans as they
plan to block anyone put forward by Obama.
Srinivasan, 48, has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of
Columbia Circuit since he was confirmed on a 97‑0 bipartisan vote in theU.S. Senate in May 2013. Republican senators who supported him then
would likely be asked to justify why they couldn't back him for the
Supreme Court.
"I believe Judge Sri Srinivasan would
be a great addition to the Supreme Court
bench. His balanced sound decision mak‑
ing abilities and his deep sense of fair‑
ness, coupled with his high intellectual
ability make him a perfect candidate for
the job. Besides, itʼs about time that an
Asian was appointed to the Supreme
Court bench. I would not like to specu‑
late on his chances of getting nominated
but if he were nominated, he would have
a good chance of getting confirmed
given his track record of getting con‑
firmed to the D.C. Circuit by 97‑0."
Rajiv KhannaPresident, India‑America Chamber of Commerce,
and Partner, BakerHostetler
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8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-40 Feb-20 - Feb-26 2016
10/32
By Saeed Naqvi
ADonald Trump‑Bernie
Sanders clash in the US pres‑
idential elections could be
God's Gift to political cinema. Some
outlines for a script come to mind:
Clarence Darrow versus William Jenn ings Bryan, on two sides of
the famous Monkey Trial in
Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925.
Or the epic battle between Ed
Murrow of CBS News and Senator
Jo se ph Mc Ca rt hy 's an ti ‑
Communist witch hunt.
One can pack Trump's anti‑
Muslim, anti‑Hispanic invective in
the script. But where is Sanders in
all of this?
I suspect, the Darrow‑Bryan con‑
test will work better. The scene is
set in the criminal court of
Tennessee. On trial is a substitute
High School teacher, John Scopes,
for violating the Tennessee Actwhich prohibits teaching human
evolution as enunciated by Darwin.
The result was the classical
Fundamentalist‑Modernist clash
focused on whether or not any
reality exists outside the Bible.
In a country where evangelicals
constitute 40 percent of
Republican voters, a debate on
Homo sapiens evolving from apes
may yet raise a storm in pockets
even today.
William Jennings Bryan, who felt
that a study of human evolution
was anti‑ Christian, actually con‑
tested the presidential race on
three occasions. He was WoodrowWilson's Secretary of State, later
humiliated by the famous Defence
Attorney Clarence Darrow. Bryan
and Trump come from an abiding
tradition of anti‑intellectualism.
Darrow and Murrow represented
the streak in American liberal
decency which makes Sanders'
campaign for the Democratic nom‑ination so compelling.
The world changed when the
West, led by the US, interpreted
the collapse of the Soviet Union
not as a victory for freedoms but
as the triumph of the Market, of
rampaging capitalism.
Nation states, more petrified
than elated, allowed themselves to
be stitched together as two party
systems, beholden to corporate
and global finance. Within a short
span, every electoral democracy
gave out a foul stench of crony
capitalism.
Establishments across the board
had lulled themselves into compla‑cency. The global media,
Murdochized, would manage pub‑
lic opinion in their favour. This
turned out to be a delusion.
Murdoch today is a bad name in
serious media circles.
Remember how new media tech‑
nologies were being developed in
Washington to create colour revo‑
lutions ‑ orange, rose, cedar ‑
bypassing local controls. Soon,
advanced models of these tech‑
nologies were available with every
West Asian terrorist group.
Lightening spread of the Internet
has opened up a plethora of the
new parallel media, more crediblethan mainstream information
sources.
Not just electoral democracies
but all other systems of govern‑
ment are now under scrutiny by
the people. The result is that two
party systems in democracies are
being challenged. People are plac‑
ing question marks on other forms
of government too.
When the Tunisian vendor
Mohamed Bouazizi ignited the
Arab Spring by setting himself onfire in December 2010, ordinary
people began to occupy center
stage for the first time in dictator‑
ships. The late King Abdullah of
Saudi Arabia sensed this settle‑
ment at the grassroots. He rained
$135 billion on his people.
Then, step by step, the Syrian
and Yemeni theatres were opened
up to externalize internal
upheavals. Today, the Saudis are
riding two tigers from neither of
which can they dismount.
In India the electorate demon‑
strated its autonomy from the two
party strait jacket by delivering 67
out of 70 seats in the Delhi stateassembly to a barely two‑year‑old
party called AAP.
Joko Widodo in Indonesia, Pablo
Iglesias in Spain, Alexis Tsipras in
Greece, Antonio Costa in Portugal,
Justin Trudeau in Canada, all new‑
comers, represent a wholesale
rejection of new economic policies
bringing corruption and economic
disparities in their wake. Jeremy
Corbyn as the new leader of the
British Labour party, and series of
electoral verdicts in Nordic andEast European counties are also a
manifestation of disgust with
establishments.
This global trend would tend to
suggest that Bernie Sanders, self
avowed Socialist, is not a rank out‑
sider any more. But his popularity
among young voters is pitted
against the powerful establish‑
ments behind Hillary Clinton. And
establishments are at this stage
being corroded, not exactly top‑
pled. But the process of toppling
them is seriously underway.
Hillary has been First Lady for
two terms, Senator and Secretary
of State. Does her performance asSecretary of State commend her as
President? Under her watch,
Ambassador Christopher Stevens
was brutally killed in the US mis‑
sion in Benghazi.
There she was announcing to the
media "I came, I saw and he died".
She was talking of Qaddafi's death.
This alongside footage of Qaddafi
sodomised by a knife.
The next memorable image of
Hillary concerns her managementof the Syrian crisis. "Get out of the
way, Assad," she proclaims with an
imperious wave of the hand. And
Assad is nowhere close to bowing
out. If voters persist with their
quest for the novel, how is Hillary
Clinton a repository of any novel‑
ty? And yet, the celebrated intel‑
lectual, Noam Chomsky, is proba‑
bly right.
"Bernie Sanders is a decent hon‑
est New Dealer." A "New Dealer",
Chomsky explains, is "someone
who is far out to the left of the
field." Chomsky spots the conflict
between the people and establish‑
ments doggedly fighting to stayon.
Sanders is unlikely to make it to
the White House in the system of
"Bought Elections", Chomsky says.
How then has he come this far?
How does Chomsky explain
Trump's popularity? "It is a reflec‑
tion of depression, hopelessness,
concern that everything is lost."
Trump's propagandist strategy is
in line with a history of directing
anger "on straw men such as immi‑
grants, welfare cheats, trade
unions and all kinds of people who
you think are getting everything
you are not getting".
(A senior commentator on politi‑ cal and diplomatic affairs, Saeed
Naqvi can be reached on saeed‑
Source : IANS
Cal i forn ia US President Barack
Obama hammered home his belief
that Republican White House hope‑
ful Donald Trump would not be
elected, knocking his reality showpast and penchant for drawing
media attention.
Obama did not limit his criticism
to the billionaire real estate tycoon,
hitting out at "troubling" statements
from the entire GOP field of candi‑
dates seeking to replace him.
But he reserved his toughest
remarks for Trump, offering a
scathing assessment of why he
thinks the American people will not
elect him.
"I continue to believe that Mr
Trump will not be president. And
the reason is because I have a lot of
faith in the American people. And I
think they recognize that being
president is a serious job," he told
reporters in California yesterday.
"It's not hosting a talk show or a
reality show. It's not promotion. It's
not marketing. It's hard," he said onthe sidelines of a summit with lead‑
ers and representatives of 10
Southeast Asian nations.
"It's not a matter of pandering
and doing whatever will get you in
the news on a given day. And some‑
times it requires you making hard
decisions, even when people don't
like it," Obama continued.
He also noted the need to be "able
to work with leaders around the
world in a way that reflects the
importance of the office."
"During primaries, people vent
and they express themselves,"
Obama said, alluding to Trump's
brash, take‑no‑prisoners style.
"Oftentimes it's reported just like
entertainment, but as you get clos‑
er, the reality has a way of intrud‑
ing."
"The American people are prettysensible. And I think they'll make a
sensible choice in the end," he con‑
cluded.
Obama, whose successor will be
chosen on November 8, insisted
that Trump was not alone in
expressing unsettling proposals on
the Republican campaign trail.
"He may up the ante in anti‑
Muslim sentiment, but if you look at
what the other Republican candi‑
dates have said, that's pretty trou‑
bling, too," he said.
"They're all denying climate
change. I think that's troubling to
the international community," he
added.
Washington Support
for Donald Trump
among Republicanshas declined in the
past month, leaving
him slightly behind
Sen. Ted Cruz in the
race for GOP presiden‑
tial nominee, according
to a new Wall Street
Journal/NBC News poll
conducted after a com‑
bative debate performance that
soured some voters on the New
York businessman.
Trump had enjoyed a double‑
digit lead over his rivals, but the
new poll found support for him
falling by seven percentage points
since mid‑January.
Among registered vot‑
ers who said theywould participate in a
GOP primary, he drew
26% in the new survey,
narrowly trailing Cruz,
who had 28%. The
decline in support for
Trump comes after
four other GOP candi‑
dates have dropped
out of the race, a winnowing of the
field that has benefited his remain‑
ing rivals. The poll also shows that
if the primary came down to a
head‑to‑head choice, both Cruz
and Sen. Marco Rubio could beat
Trump by double‑digit margins.
Americans too 'sensible' toelect Donald Trump: Obama
Ted Cruz overtakesTrump nationally forfirst time in new poll
A SANDERSTRUMP CLASH:
A DREAM FOR FILM SCRIPT WRITERS
10 February 20-26, 2016 TheSouthAsianTimes.info U S AFFA I RS
The Texas Senatormay be more
acceptable to GOPestablishment than
Trump
COMMENT
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8/20/2019 Vol-8-Issue-40 Feb-20 - Feb-26 2016
11/32
11February 20-26, 2016TheSouthAsianTimes.info I ND IA
New Delhi Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
blamed the central government for the violence thattook place in the Patiala House Courts complex here
on two days.
Kejriwal told the media after meeting President
Pranab Mukherjee that Delhi Police would not have
remained mute spectators during the violence in the
court if they were not directed to do so.
This means the central government ‑‑ to which
Delhi Police report as their administrative authority ‑
‑ was to blame for what happened in the court on
Monday and Wednesday, he said.
The Aam Aadmi Party leader added that the
attacks on Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) stu‑
dents and journalists by a section of lawyers within
the court premises on Monday and Wednesday were
a "challenge" to the Supreme Court's authority.
"The Delhi police is a uniformed force... If its mas‑
ter says don't do anything, they won't do anything. If the master tells them to shoot, they will shoot,"
Kejriwal said, adding: "Their master is central gov‑
ernment... this is the dictatorship of the prime minis‑
ter (Narendra Modi)."
"We raised these issues with the President. Who
will decide who is anti‑national?" he asked.
Kejriwal also asked why the police have beenunable to arrest those who raised the "anti‑national
slogans".
"They cannot catch the boys who shouted slogans,
shame on such a police force," he said.
olkata A day after pro‑Afzal Guru
slogans were heard in the presti‑
gious Jadavpur University, its cam‑pus was on the boil as posters "seek‑
ing independence" for Kashmir and
demanding 'freedom' for Manipur
and Nagaland were put up by some
students, and subsequently torn by a
rival group shouting "Bharat Mata ki
jai".Vice chancellor Suranjan Das dis‑
missed slogans eulogising parlia‑
ment attack mastermind Afzal Guru
Aas the handiwork of "fringe ele‑
ments" and ruled out any action
including calling in the police.
However, police said the matter was
being "thoroughly investigated". The
posters appearing on Wednesday
morning were purportedly put up by
a group which called itself "Radical"."Hum kya chahe, Azadi/Kashmir ki
Azadi/Manipur ki Azadi/Nagaland ki
Azadi" (We demand independence/
Kashmir's independence/Manipur's
independence/Nagaland's independ‑
ence), said one poster. Another
empathised with Afzal Guru and1993 Mumbai serial blasts convict
Yakub Memon, both of whom have
been hanged.
"If the Gujarat mass murderers,
those who hanged Afzal Guru and
Yakub Memon are patriots, and if the
students of Kashmir seeking inde‑
pendence are anti‑nationals, then we
are all anti‑nationals."
A third poster referred to a quota‑
tion of Mao Tse Tung and declared:
"We are in favour of freedom fo all
oppressed people." Some of the stu‑
dents took out a rally denouncing the
"fascist" Narendra Modi government
and decrying the arrest of Jawaharlal
Nehru University Students' Unionpresident Kanhaiya Kumar and the
atrocities "brought down" on JNU
students by the BJP and other arms
of the "Sangh parivar".
Arvind Kejriwal blames Modigovernment for court violence
Posters in Jadavpur demandfreedom for Kashmir
Lawyers rough up journalists
during the hearing on sedition
charges against JNUSU
president Kanhaiya Kumar for
shouting “anti-India slogans”
at a meeting at the JNU; Kumar
sent to 14-day judicial custody
New Delhi The JNU student leader
Kanhaiya Kumar, arrested for sedi‑
tion, was sent to judicial custody
till March 2 while the Supreme
Court made Delhi Police
Commissioner B.S. Bassi personal‑
ly responsible for his safety after
being told that he was "badly beat‑
en up" while being brought to
court premises.
Several journalists were again
beaten up by a section of lawyers
at the Patiala House Court ‑ much
like what happened earlier this
week ‑ before Kanhaiya Kumar
was brought there.
With another day of scuffles at
the Patiala House court, Delhi
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
said the law and order situation in
the national capital was "fast dete‑
riorating" and the Communist
Party of India‑Marxist demanded
Bassi's removal following the
"assault" on Kanhaiya Kumar.
Bassi, however, maintained that
the JNU student was not beaten
up.
As the controversy over JNU
protests escalated,
Communications and Information
Technology Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad said the country was eager
to hear "eloquent, powerful and
constructive alternative voice"
from the university.
Metropolitan Magistrate Lovleen
sent Kanhaiya Kumar to judicial
custody after Delhi Police said it
did not need the Jawaharlal Nehru
University Students Union
(JNUSU) president any more for
interrogation.
The court directed Delhi Police,
who will escort him to the jail
from the court, and the superin‑
tendent of the Tihar jail to ensure
his safety. Kanhaiya Kumar told
the court that he was attacked by
a group of people wearing black
robes while he was being escorted
by police to the court room. The
leftist All India Students
Federation (AISF) leader was
arrested on February 12 on after
anti‑India slogans were raised at
an event held at the JNU campuson February 9 to commemorate
the execution of parliament attack
convict Afzal Guru.
Kanhaiya Kumar, in a statement
leaked to the media, appealed to
students to maintain calm and said
he does not support anti‑national
activity. He condemned the
February 9 event at the JNU and
said those who shouted the
allegedly anti‑national slogans
included "some people from JNU
and a section of outsiders".
Ten student organisations owing
allegiance to different political
parties on Wednesday pledged
support to him while Amnesty
International sought his immedi‑
ate release.
Meanwhile, with the scuffle at
the court and the assault on him
reached the apex court where a
bench of Justice J.Chelameswar
and Justice Abhay Manohar Sapre
said it will be the Delhi Police
chief's personal responsibility to
ensure his safety as well as thoseattending the court proceedings.
The court adjourned the hearing
till 2 p.m. so that a team of
lawyers, comprising Kapil Sibal,
Rajeev Dhawan, Dushyant Dave,
Ajit Sinha, A.G.N. Rao and Harin
Rawal, and could and assess the
situation in the Patiala House
court complex.
The team said they witnessed an
"unprecedented" situation with an
atmosphere of "fear and terroris‑
ing people" and Dhawan told the
court that the "collective view of
the team is that police did not do
their job".
He told the court they were not
only abused in the filthiest lan‑
guage but were described as
Pakistani agents.
The court gave Delhi Police till
Friday morning to submit its
report and directed the next hear‑
ing of the matter on Monday.
Earlier, several journalists were
beaten up by a section of lawyers
at the Patiala House Court. Amongthe journalists who were assaulted
were a Firstpost photographer and
reporter each as well as a journal‑
ist from Network 18.
Two groups of lawyers ‑‑ one
opposed to Kanhaiya Kumar and
another supporting his legal rights
‑‑ earlier got into a scuffle in the
court in the heart of the capital.
The lawyers who attacked the
journalists were noisily protesting
against JNU students who alleged‑
l