vol.8 issue 18 - september 12-18, 2015

8/20/2019 Vol.8 Issue 18 - September 12-18, 2015

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Washington President Barack

Obama has ordered at least

10,000 Syrian refugees to be

admitted in the country next year,

the White House said Thursday,

amid criticism that the US has not

done enough.

Spokesman Josh Earnest said

Obama had asked staff to "scale

up" the number of refugee admis‑

sions from around 1,500 in thisfiscal year, to 10,000 in the next,

beginning October 1. With global

public opinion shocked by images

of drowning refugees, the United

States is under political pressure

to act quickly. The United States

currently accepts around 70,000

refugees from conflicts and perse‑

cution each year, but has been

slow to accept Syrians.

An estimated four million

Syrians have fled during four years

of war.

Meanwhile in Europe, thousands

of weary refugees have continued

to desperately make their way

across the EU borders, as EU lead‑

ers ramp up the debate about howmany people each member state

should accept.

Germany seems to be the most

welcoming and most sought after.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has

called for quotas to be set for each

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 SPIRITUAL AWARENESS 30

Vol.8 No. 19 September 12-18, 2015 60 Cents New York Edition Follow us on TheSouthAsianTimes.info

FASHION 15 FEATURES 18 SELF HELP 27

By SATimes Team

New York A galaxy of business

honchos, techpreneurs, investors

with global giants like Google,

Microsoft, and Adobe have lined

up to meet Prime Minister

Narendra Modi when he visits

Silicon Valley Sept 26‑27.

More, some 35 CEOs of manufac‑

turing companies and financial

institutions have a date with him

during a ʻMake in Indiaʼ event inNew York after he touches down

here Sept 23. Diplomatic sources

have confirmed that Satya Nadella,

CEO of $93‑billion Microsoft, John

T Chambers, executive chairman of

Hicksville NY:

Prominent Long Island

based Indian American restaurateur

Harendra Singh, indicted on charges

mainly of bribing a Town of Oyster Bayofficial, under‑reporting his income and

underpaying taxes, and inflating insur‑

ance claim for his damaged restaurant,

has pleaded not guilty.

Arraigned on Wednesday in federal

court in Central Islip, NY, he was

released on a conditional bail the same

evening.

Despite the hype created by a leading

local daily newspaper for over a month – featuring

Singh on the front page many times – over Singhʼs

dealings with local politicians, no elected official of

Town of Oyster Bay (TOBay) or Nassau County has

been implicated. Harendra Singh is accused of brib‑

ing a deputy attorney at the TOBay, in exchange of

favors received, besides charges on understating rev‑

enue, labor‑wages dispute, and recipient of excessivereimbursements in a claim from FEMA for the losses

at Water's Edge restaurant in Long Island City dur‑

ing Hurricane Sandy. “Will Singh sing?” asked the

daily in an editorial Thursday.

Joseph Conway, the attorney for Harendra Singh,

said Wednesday in the court room, "The government

thinks he is a linchpin to political cor‑

ruption in Nassau County. But I have

told them numerous times that he does‑

n't have the information that theywant." The former TOBay deputy attor‑

ney Frederick Mei, to whom Singh

allegedly paid kickbacks for securing

loan and the town guarantees, has

resigned. "A bad apple", Town

Supervisor John Venditto called him. It

was also stated that H. Singhʼs company,

Singh Hospitality, is current with their

financial obligations to the Town and

Mortgage Bankers.

Incidentally, despite the alleged financial misrepre‑

sentations, doubts and suspicions created by the

media reports about Singh, neither the Town nor the

mortgage banker has incurred any loss to date.

There is no risk to the citizens of TOBay, said the

attorney of Harendra Singh.

The case against Singh has been brought out bythe U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York

and investigated by the FBI and IRSʼ criminal unit.

Singh Hospitality restaurants include H.R.

Singleton's in Bethpage, the Woodlands in Woodbury

on the Town of Oyster Bay golf course, concessions

on Town beaches, besides Water's Edge.Continued on page 4

Continued on page 4

US to admit 10,000Syrian refugees

as exodus to

Europe worsens

Biz and tech czars lining upto meet PM Modi in USA

EU to take a few hundred thousandasylum seekers, but millions arefleeing war‑torn Syria & Iraq.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting business chiefsduring his visit to America last year.

Harendra Singh pleads not guiltyto federal charges

Prominent RestaurateurHarendra Singh

A Syrian refugee runs after entering Hungary from Serbia through abarbed wire fence, on the border near Roszke. (AP Photo)


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TheSouthAsianTimes.info September 12-18, 2015


3/32

Washington President Barack

Obama honoured Indian‑American

Pulitzer Prize winner Jhumpa

Lahiri with the prestigious 2014

National Medal of Arts and the

Humanities in recognition of her

enlarging the human story.

First Lady Michelle Obama was

also present at the awards ceremo‑ny at White House Thursday after‑

noon even as other recipients of

the arts and humanities medals

included ʻmaster of horrorʼ author

Stephen King, and actress Sally

Field.

“In her works of fiction, Dr Lahiri

has illuminated the Indian‑

American experience in beautifully

wrought narratives of estrange‑

ment and belonging,” the White

House said.

Lahiriʼs debut short story collec‑

tion ʻInterpreter of Maladiesʼ

(1999) won the 2000 Pulitzer

Prize for Fiction, and her first

novel, The Namesake (2003), wasadapted into the popular film of

the same name. She was born

Nilanjana Sudeshna but goes by

her nickname (or in Bengali, her

"Daak naam") Jhumpa. Her book

The Lowland, published in 2013,

was a nominee for the Man Booker

Prize and the National Book Award

for Fiction. She is currently a pro‑

fessor of creative writing at

Princeton University.The National Medal of Arts is

considered the US governmentʼs

highest award given to artists and

arts patrons. The National

Humanities Medal honors individ‑

uals or groups whose work have

deepened the nationʼs understand‑

ing of the humanities.

3September 12-18, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY

New York “Democracy and secu‑

larism are bedrocks for a stable

India and it will always prevail,”

said Prof. P.J. Kurien, Deputy

Chairman of Rajya Sabha, in a

meeting Sept 3 organized by

Indian National Overseas Congress,

USA at Worldʼs Fair Marina in New

York. He was on a visit to attend

the World Conference of Speakers

of Parliament at the UN.

“Federalism, democracy and sec‑

ularism complement each other

and one cannot exist without the

other. If one is destroyed, India as

we know it will cease to exist. We

find strength in diversity and if

anyone feels that we can do better

without recognizing that funda‑

mental reality, it is like swimming

in an unknown ocean. I do not

want to blame anybody for the cur‑

rent stalemate in Parliament, but I

am certain things will be sorted

out in the near future. I am hopeful

that GST (goods and services tax)

bill will be passed soon. It was the

Congress Party which brought the

bill first to the Parliament and now

that the Government has with‑

drawn the amendments to the

Land Acquisition Act, I am expect‑

ing more productive sessions in

the future,” Kurien, a Congress

leader, continued. “India has

always been a beacon for spiritual

and philosophical thought and it is

the duty of every Indian to pre‑

serve and protect that great legacy.

Since Independence, we have made

enormous progress. Congress

party has given a strong institu‑

tional foundation for India and

made it easier for anyone else to

build upon it. When Dr. Manmohan

Singh was the Prime Minister,

India was in the 10th place eco‑

nomically and today we are at the

3rd place and undoubtedly the

pol icies enunciated by the

Congress Party have apparently a

lot to do with it,” he continued.

Prof. Kurien was praised by INOC

leaders for his unanimous election

as Deputy Chairman of Rajya

Sabha. George Abraham, INOC

Chairman, reminded the audience

how Dr. Manmohan Singh said

Prof. Kurien will conduct the pro‑

ceedings of the Upper House with

ʻaplombʼ.

“He is known for his no‑nonsense

approach and uprightness in con‑

ducting the legislative affairs of

the nation,” Abraham added. Juned

Qazi, INOC President, implored

Kurien for a more vibrant dialogue

between Congress party and the

diaspora. He also paid a tribute to

George Abraham for his decade

long service under the banner of

INOC.

Fairf ield NJ : The Electronic

Retailing Association (ERA) has

announced that A.J. Khubani,

Indian American founder and

CEO of TeleBrands Corporation,

will be honored with the 2015

ERA Lifetime Achievement Award

during a special presentation atthe Moxie Awards Gala next

month in Las Vegas.

The signature event of the

association's annual ERA D2C

convention is set for Oct. 6‑8 and

is the industry's largest annual

gathering for the global direct‑to‑

consumer category.

The Moxie Awards honors the

year's best direct response televi‑

sion campaigns covering cate‑

gories spanning every aspect of

the industry including television,

radio, online and multichannel.

The ERA Lifetime Achievement

Award goes to a member whose

career achievements have had aprofound impact on the industry.

Khubani founded TeleBrands

Corporation in 1983. The compa‑

ny features well‑known products,

such as the PedEgg, Hurricane

Spin Mop and the Pocket Hose,

and has a 32‑year history of such

hits as Ambervision sunglasses,

Smart Mop, Safety Can, StaticDuster, Audubon Bird Clock,

Abflex and Windshield Wonder,

to name a few.

TeleBrands has successfully

launched over 200 hit products

over the years, the most in the

history of the DRTV industry,

according to J.W. Greensheets, a

leading industry monitoring serv‑

ice.

Khubani is credited with

designing the well‑known, red

"As Seen on TV" logo that was

used for the first time on his

Ambervision retail package, the

product that started it all forTeleBrands.

Khubani appears regularly on

major national media and his

extensive on camera experience

led to his being cast as a featured

guest star on the Discovery

Channel hit show “Pitchmen.”

Khubani travels across the coun‑

try for TeleBrands Inventors

Days, meeting at‑home inventors

via consumer product pitch‑a‑

thons.

Khubani is also a member of

the Foundation for Free

Enterprise's Hall of Fame, and the

New Jersey Advertising Hall of

Fame.In his spare time, he raises

money for Children's Hope India;

serves on the boards of ARC, the

UIA, and the Business Advisory

Board at Montclair State

University; and has chaired the

Entrepreneurial Engineering pro‑

gram at Princeton University.

ʻDemocracy and secularism will always prevail in IndiaʼProf. P.J. Kurien, Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, addressed an INOC event in NYC.

Jhumpa Lahiri receivesNational Humanities Medal

from President Obama

Prof. P.J. Kurien was felicitated by INOC leaders.

Founder of TeleBrands to be

honored with Lifetime

Achievement Award

Celebrated authorJhumpa Lahiri A.J. Khubani, founder and CEO

of New Jersey based TeleBrands Corp.


4/32

Chairman and Co-Founder

Kamlesh C. Mehta

Co-Founder: Saroosh Gull

([email protected])

President: Arjit Mehta

Chief Operating Officer:

Ginsmon P. Zacharia

P: 516 776 7061

[email protected]

Board Advisors (Honorary)

Ajay Lodha, MD,

Lakhpat B. Mehta, Esq.

Rajasthan High Court & Supreme Court

Managing Editor: Parveen Chopra

P : 516.710.0508

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Associate Editors Jinal Shah,

Hiral Dholakia-Dave, Meenakshi Iyer

Contributing Editors: Ni lima Madan,

Melvin Durai, Dr Prem Kumar Sharma,

Harry Aurora, Ashok Vyas,

Dr Akshat Jain, Nupur Joshi

Contributing Editors (Youth):

Rhea Gupta, Shweta Lodha, Sidharth Goyal

West Coast Correspondent

Pooja Jain,

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New Delhi Bureau

Meenakshi Iyer

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Strategy and Marketing

Jinal Shah

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Marketing & PR (Washington DC)

Chander Gambhir, P: 703.717.1667

Jaipur (India) Bureau

Prakash Bhandari

[email protected]

Photographs: Gunjesh Desai/

masalajunction.com.

Xitij Joshi/xitijphoto.com

Photo Journalist: Sandeep Ganatra

Cartoonist: Mahendra Shah

Art and Design: Vladimir Tomovski

Bhagwati Creations,

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Website: TheSouthAsianTimes.info Updated Daily

US to admit 10 000 Syrian...

Continued from page 1

EU country to take a share of displaced peo‑

ple, including from Syria. Germany expects

the overall asylum requests to soar above

the current U.N. count of 98,700 from

Syrians alone. There could be 800,000 appli‑

cations for asylum in Germany this year, and

the country could take 500,000 refugees

annually for several years, Vice Chancellor

Sigmar Gabriel has said. But on Hungary'sborder with Serbia, fear and fatigue have

overcome many of the refugees, as Budapest

prepared to deploy its military to bolster its

border and stop people from crossing. The

landlocked central European state is also

building a fence to keep the refugees out,

but it did not stop hundreds of refugees from

scaling the fences and making their way into

the country on Wednesday. Turkey already

has almost 2 million refugees and Lebanon

over one million

Biz and tech czars lining up to...

Continued from page 1

$47‑billion CISCO Technology, Paul Jacobs

of $27‑billion Qualcomm, $66‑billion

Googleʼs top honchos Eric Schmidt andSundar Pichai, ex‑Google billionaire Ram

Shriram, and Shantanu Narayen, CEO of $5‑

billion Adobe Systems, will meet Modi on the

West Coast. The PMʼs delegation will be led

by Naren Gupta, co‑founder of Nexus

Venture Partners.

Only the second Indian Prime Minister to

visit Bay Area after Jawaharlal Nehru, Modi

will be greeted at a rapturous reception Sept

27. Over 45,000 people have registered for

an MSG‑like reception at the 18,000 people

capacity SAP center in San Jose ‑ an indoor

arena in the heart of Silicon Valley ‑ forcing

the organizers to resort to lottery system to

give free tickets.

Modi is also said to visit the campuses of

electric car manufacturer Tesla and searchengine giant Google. At Tesla, he will meet

Deepak Ahuja, the companyʼs CFO. Jai

Vijayan, Teslaʼs CIO, is also scheduled to be

in attendance, but not Elon Musk, Tesla CEO,

who will be away.

In San Jose, Modi will attend two key

events Sept 26 at the Fairmont hotel. In the

afternoon he will address a group of commu‑

nity leaders at a luncheon hosted by the

Consulate. That evening, he will attend a

“Digital India, Digital Economy” presentation,

also hosted by the Consulate. Indian

American business leaders, as well as the

non‑Indian business community, are expect‑

ed to attend the evening event.

The Prime Ministerʼs visit is considered

significant, especially with regard to his

ʻDigital Indiaʼ initiative that aims to use tech‑

nology in connecting people and transform‑ing governance in India.

While Modiʼs impending visit has the val‑

ley buzzing with excitement, it has also

erupted an ideological spat among American

academics, mostly of India/South Asian ori‑

gin.

His visit elicited a cautionary statement

with more than 100 signatures from faculty

who teach and research on South Asian

affairs. Their letter expressed concern with

Modiʼs Digital India strategy. One element of

Digital India plans for the collection of bio‑

metric data from all citizens, overseen by the

Unique Identification Authority of India. The

academics who signed the post stated that

Digital India “... seems to ignore key ques‑

tions raised in India by critics concernedabout the collection of personal information

and the near certainty that such digital sys‑

tems will be used to enhance surveillance

and repress the constitutionally‑protected

rights of citizens.”

They urged Silicon Valley leaders to be

mindful of their corporate responsibility and

ensure that Mr. Modi's Digital India project

promotes transparency, protection of human

rights and civil liberties and intellectual free‑

dom.

The petition received some harsh com‑

ments. In a debate that has since taken social

media by storm, some activists noted that

the academicians opposing the Digital India

campaign are hurting Indiaʼs cause by their

ceaseless campaign against Modi despite thebroad acceptance he had in the U.S and

across the world.

In New York on Sept 23, Modi will spend

two days attending the UN General Assembly

and the launch of Sustainable Millennium

Goals. He will also meet President Barack

Obama ‑ their third meeting in a year – in

New York before leaving for home.

Washington DC: Democrats have started

worrying. Their front runner Hillary

Clintonʼs lead for party nomination in the

2016 presidential race has fallen to just

10 points, and, worse, her advantage

against the top Republican contenders

has vanished, according to a new poll.

The new CNN/ORC poll found Clinton

with 37 % support among Democratic and

Democratic‑leaning voters, down 10

points since August, followed by self‑pro‑claimed socialist Senator Bernie Sanders

at 27 percent. Vice President Joe Biden,

who is still mulling a presidential bid,

stood at 20 percent, up 6 points in the

last month. In the general election

matchups, Clinton runs about evenly with

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump

with 48 percent backing each while for‑

mer neurosurgeon Ben Carson leads

Clinton 51 percent to 46 percent, and Jeb

Bush narrowly leads her 49 to 47 percent.

Biden also leads Clinton in hypothetical

matchups, topping Bush and Trump while

falling just slightly behind Carson.

Now about the Dems worry. If Hillary

Clintonʼs apology over to quell email serv‑

er controversy fails to reassure jitterysupporters, it could amplify the chatter

among some Democrats who have been

casting about for a potential white knight

to rescue the party from a beleaguered

Clinton candidacy. Vice President Joseph

R. Biden Jr., Secretary of State John Kerry,

Senator Elizabeth Warren, former Vice

President Al Gore: Each has been dis‑

cussed among party officials in recent

weeks as an alternative to Clinton if she

does not regain her once‑dominant stand‑

ing in the 2016 presidential field, New

York Times has reported and instead

remains mired in the long‑running email

controversy, with its attendant investiga‑

tions.

It is not just Mrs. Clintonʼs weakness in

the polls that has generated talk of otheralternatives, but also the strength of Sen.

Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Democratic

officials believe that Sanders, a socialist,

is so liberal that his presence at the top of

the partyʼs ticket in 2016 would be disas‑

trous. But Biden is still biding his time,

and is non‑committal about running.

Some Democrats were intrigued by word

that Kerry, the 2004 Democratic nominee,

had met recently with David M.

Rubenstein, a billionaire co‑founder of the

Carlyle Group ̶ and the sort of

Washington wise man Kerry might con‑

sult if he were mulling another run.

(Friends say he isnʼt.) “If party leaders see

a scenario next winter where Bernie

Sanders has a real chance at theDemocratic nomination, I think thereʼs no

question that leaders will reach out to

Vice President Biden or Secretary of State

Kerry or even Gore about entering the pr i‑

maries,” said Garnet F. Coleman, a Texas

state lawmaker and Democratic national

committeeman.

Socialist Sanders is not a good option, so Democrats maylook to Biden, Kerry, or Al Gore.

Hillaryʼs swoon, Bernieʼssurge: Dems seek options


5/32


Washington DC: Arts for India, a charity

established to support artists to get edu‑

cated in the field of art and design, is

holding 'INDIXIA' from Sep 17 to 23 inNew York City.

Celebrating art, fashion and cinema,

INDIXIA will feature a cinema forum on

Sep 21 at the Core Club and an art and

fashion exhibition on Sep 23 at

Bonhams, a media release said.

Calling it an exciting initiative to sup‑

port a vital cultural and social impact

program, the release said, "Unique in its

focus, INDIXIA rests on an alliance

between international supporters from

the fields of fine art, design, fashion, cin‑

ema, and philanthropy."

Educational partnerships and support

include: the Princes Drawing School in

London, HRH Prince of Wales, London

School of Arts, and the Zurich Universityof the Arts.

The art and fashion exhibition will

feature special works donated by inter‑

national artists, including Oriano

Galloni, Ron Ferri, George Lewis, Todd

James, Angelo Bellobono, Hector Bitar,

Alessia Reggiani, George Spencer, and

Cherry Fischer. It will also have interna‑

tional designer and IIFA student collab‑

orations, to create one of a kind pieces

for auction.

Brands include Uniqlo, EdmundoCastillo, Stubbs and Wootton, Azada,

Je f frey Rud es, Miali ka , Fio ren tini &

Baker, and Royal Stag for auction host‑

ed by Bonhams on Sep 23.

The cinema forum will feature an

international film panel including Ashok

Amritraj, CEO of Hyde Park

Entertainment hosted by the Core Club.

Expanding on the success of London‑

Indian Art Week, now in its second year,

the New York launch furthers the sup‑

port of the Arts For India scholarship

program. It enables student artist to

attend a 4‑year degree program at the

International Institute of Fine Arts (IIFA)

in Delhi.

"This program is vital, because it pro‑vides underprivileged students with

access to education, and an opportunity

to break the cycle of poverty," the

release said.

"For many young women this offers

an escape from issues of gender

inequality and arranged marriage," it

said.

Arts for India NY event tosupport Indian artists

New Jersey

Officers/Fire Fighters

from the Edison Fire Department

joined enthus iastic volunteers of

Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS)Edison, NJ chapter who came out

in good numbers to celebrate the

Hindu festival of Raksha Bandhan

(Universal Brotherhood Day) and

took a vow to protect each other

and serve the society on Sept 6 at

Nrithya Madhavi Dance Studio,

South Plainfield.

The program started with a cer‑

emonial flag hoisting of the sacred

Hindu flag (Bhagwa Dhwaj).

Volunteers did some yoga, medi‑

tation and played few games that

were enjoyed by everyone. The

fire‑fighters from Edison Fire

Department were represented by

Tim Eosso (Acting Captain) andDoug McMahon, who were the

chief guests for the program.

There was a presentat ion on

Raksha Bandhan festival that

explained everyone importance of

this Hindu festival which is being

celebrated since thousands of

years and the relevance of it in thecurrent society.

Children from HSS tied Rakhi

(sacred thread or band‑of‑brother‑

hood/protection) to the fire fight‑

ers and to each other by taking a

vow; that they will protect each

other in time of need and also pro‑

tect the society and dharma (thegood). Speaking on the occasion

Gaurav Singhal (Joint Secretary,

HSS, NJ) elaborated the historical

relevance of the festival and how

this tradition has been passed on

since time immemorial .

Traditionally this festival was

about a sister tying a Rakhi to

brother and seek his protection,

but as time passed this got extend‑

ed to everyone in the society. Heasked everyone present there,

especially children to become

strong both physically and intel‑

lectually to be in a position to help

each other and the society. “With

9/11 (Patriot Day) just a week

away, we all should remember

how hundreds of fire fighters,

policemen who have died trying to

protect their fellow human beings.

They went ahead on their mission

to save others in spite of being

aware of the danger as they have

taken an oath to protect fellow

human beings. The festival of

Rakhi tries to inculcate the same

spirit of service to society amongchildren and adults and thus

reminding everyone of the societal

obligation that Hindu religion

always emphasized,” he said.

Speaking on this occasion fire

fighters Tim Eosso and Doug

McMahon mentioned that the vow

everyone took during this occa‑

sion is similar to the vow fire

fighters take to protect their fel‑

low fighters when they join theduty.

They said that it is very good to

know that Hindu religion teaches

this societal obligation of protect‑

ing and standing up for each other

through its festivals. They went

over some fire safety tips with the

kids and adults and everyone

enjoyed the session with even

asked several questions related to

fire safety. Closing their speech,

both Tim and Doug thanked HSS

for inviting them for the Raksha

Bandhan program and stressed

the need for such interaction in

the community as it provides a

platform for good things to pene‑trate the community especially

among young kids. They said the

message of Raksha Bandhan that

Hindu religion teaches is very rel‑

evant today as it reminds every

one of their duty towards the com‑

munity they live in.

Edison Firefighters join HSS to celebrate Raksha Bandhan

The officers said that the vow everyone took during this occasion issimilar to the vow fire fighters take to protect their fellow fighters

when they join the duty.

New York:

An Indian‑origin entrepreneur has

been named among the most promising busi‑

nesswomen of 2015 by Fortune magazine in its

annual recognition of 10 women innovators,

groundbreakers and game changers.

Payal Kadakia is the CEO and co‑founder of

ClassPass, a two‑year‑old start‑up that gives

customers access to thousands of boutique fit‑

ness classes in their area.

"ClassPass is only two‑year‑old, but it has

already booked more than 7 million fitness

class reservations at gyms and studios across

the US, plus Canada and the UK," Fortune said

in a statement.

Kadakia says she started the company after

trying and failing to find a ballet class in New

York City that she could attend.

"In that moment, I realized the pain point that

most people must experience in staying con‑

nected to their hobbies and passions," the mag‑

azine quoted her as saying.

Fortune said Kadakia's idea tapped into a fit‑

ness craze. Each year, Fortune crowns 10 inno‑

vators, groundbreakers and game changers as

'Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs'.

This year's 10 Most Promising Women

Entrepreneurs will be honored at a Fortune

summit in Washington. "From drones to metal

alloys to snack foods‑‑that covers the range of

innovation coming from Fortune's newly

anointed Most Promising Women

Entrepreneurs," Fortune said.

The other honorees this year are Brit Morin,

founder and CEO, Brit + Co, Jody Miller, co‑

founder and CEO of Business Talent Group and

Christina Lomasney, president and CEO of

Modumetal.

Created in 2009, the program honors

extraordinary female founders.

ClassPass co‑founder Payal inFortune's list of powerful women

Payal Kadakia


6/32

6 September 12-18, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info TR I S TATE COMMUNI TY

California: An Indian American woman has

become the first female to be appointed as

the postmaster in Sacramento city in

California in last 166 years, a media report

said.

Ja gd ee p Gr ew al wi ll ov er se e 1, 00 4

employees who process and deliver mail

on 537 city routes and 94 rural routes ‑

and fill nearly 20,000 post office boxes,

American Bazaar news portal reported on

Wednesday.

Grewal who earned her bachelor's and

master's degree from Punjab University,

started her career in postal services in

1988 as a window clerk.

She was promoted to the post of manag‑er after five years of service.

Referring to the steep decline in the

usage of postal services due to internet

and courier services, Grewal said that she

looked forward to working with

Sacramento's Postal Service employees

during a challenging time. "It is only

through joint effort and collaboration that

we can truly meet our mission of providing

extraordinary service while keeping costs

down," Grewal was quoted as saying.

She has also worked as a postmaster in

Pacifica‑Daly City, California.

The US Postal Service is facing cash

crunch and recently reported a net loss of

$586 million earlier this year.

New York New york is still feeling the

effects of the bliss of Janmashtmi that was

showered on the second Janmashtmi block

party hosted by Radha Govind Dham NY. At

least three thousand people from all over

the United States came in large numbers to

witness this event which marks the Hindu

festival of appearance of Lord Krishna.

Everyone was amazed by how grand and

how organized this program was.

Radha Govind Dham NY volunteers had

been preparing for this event for months in

advance, which began at 3.00pm on Sep

5th with an electrifying performance by

Suresh on the guitar singing beautiful

Krishna bhajans. This was followed by alecture by Swami Nikhilanand ji, who is a

Sanyasi preacher from Radha Madhav

Dham in Austin TX, on the significance of

Janmashtmi with some more kirtans. Then

came the electrifying dance and Leela per‑

formances by the students of Shiksha, a cul‑

tural educational program by Radha

Govind Dham. They had the whole crowd

swooning with joy. To encourage the little

children to know more about Lord Krishna,

Radha Govind Dham hosted the Best

Dressed Krishna Contest, which had about

seventy kids from as young as newborns to

sixteen years of age take part dressed

adorably as Lord Krishna. The outdoor pro‑

gram ended with an outdoor Garba dance

in which all the participants took part. So

overwhelming was the response that the

organizers ran out of Garba sticks.

About 1600 people enjoyed the delicious

free dinner especially prepared for the

event. This was followed by Maha Arti and

then the program continued inside the tem‑

ple until midnight and culminated with

Abhisheikh of Baby Krishna and Maha Arti.

Another highlight of the program was the

Highest Community Service award present‑

ed to Radha Govind Dham NY for its exem‑

plary services rendered to the society. It

was presented by Dilip Chauhan who is a

Director of SouthEast/AsianAffairs for

Nassau County Comptroller George

Maragos. The award was accepted by

Swami Nikhilanandji and Rohit Sharma of

Radha Govind Dham New York.

Washington DC: Online giant

Amazon and the University of

Pennsylvania have been suedin the US over the death of an

Indian‑origin nursing student

who killed herself two years

ago by consuming cyanide,

media reports said.

Arya Singh, 20, died in

February 2013 after ingest‑

ing cyanide crystals she

ordered on Amazon.

The suit said the Indian

was struggling to cope with

downward spiral in her aca‑

demic career after the school

ignored her claims of a sexu‑

al assault, the New York Daily News

reported on Friday.

Singh reported an alleged sexual assaultby a male student in 2011. But no charges

were brought against the student and he

remained on campus, according to the

Philadelphia Inquirer daily.

It is believed that Singh started to show

troubling behavior after the incident,

which included missing classes and getting

arrested for alcohol intoxication. She was

subject to multiple academic and miscon‑

duct investigations at her nursing school.

"Despite Arya's problems, university

employees' conduct toward

her was unsympathetic, hos‑

tile, and at times vindictive,"said the suit filed by the stu‑

dent's family in July in

Common Pleas Court, US.

One school official allegedly

wrote in an e‑mail that she

had "no sympathy" for Singh,

saying the student "deserves

anything you dish out to her."

According to the suit, the

Indian‑origin student pur‑

chased the cyanide crystals

from Amazon, which listed

the product under category

"kitchen." The supplier was a

vendor from Thailand and the online shop‑

ping giant processed and kept a portion of

the payment Singh made using a debitcard.

The cyanide was delivered in December

2012 to the package room of the Rodin

College House, where Singh lived.

Singh took her life on February 8, 2013,

the day she was to face an academic mis‑

conduct investigation by the school

authorities.

Representatives of Amazon and

University of Pennsylvania said they do

not comment on pending litigation.

Jagdeep Grewal

Swami Nikhilanandji and Rohit Sharma of Radhe Govind Dham of New York

accepting a citation from Dilip Chauhan,who is a Director of SouthEast/AsianAffairs

for Nassau County ComptrollerGeorge Maragos.

Arya Singh boughtcyanide through

online retailer

First Indian Americanwoman postmaster in

California in 166 years

Penn State studentʼs momsues Amazon, varsity

Radha Govind Dham Janmashtmi

block party rocks New York


7/32

Washington DC: Indian‑ori‑

gin professional Mahesh

Ramanujam has been namedthe new CEO of the presti‑

gious US Green Building

Council (USGBC), a non‑prof‑

it organization that pro‑

motes sustainability in how

buildings are designed, built,

and operated.

Ramanujam, who hails

from Chennai, would replace

Rick Fedrizzi, the co‑founder

of USGBC and current CEO

after he steps down at the

end of 2016.

"Mahesh has a highly

impressive track record of

success in both his role as

USGBC's COO and as President of GreenBusiness Certification Inc," said USGBC board

chair Marge Anderson.

"He is a proven leader who has exhaustive

knowledge of the organization, respect from its

volunteer leadership and strong support from

its team. He has extensive global experience

and broad business acumen. He is the perfect

choice to lead the organiza‑

tion into the future," he added.

"As a founder, I could not behappier, and as a CEO, I could

not be more satisfied that I'll

be able to leave USGBC in the

best hands possible," said

Fedrizzi.

Ramanujam said he was

deeply honored that the

Board have placed their trust

in him.

Ramanujam joined USGBC in

2009 as Senior Vice

President, Technology, before

being named COO in

September, 2011.

In December, 2012, he was

also named President of the

Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI)where he broadened offerings to better serve a

wider client base, leading the organization to

change its name to Green Business Certification

Inc earlier this year.

Prior to joining USGBC, Ramanujam was COO

for Emergys, a business transformation consult‑

ing firm in North Carolina.

Washington DC: An Alabama police

officer accused of using excessiveforce against a "no‑English" speak‑

ing Indian grandfather walking in

his son's neighborhood had no rea‑

son to think he may have commit‑

ted a crime, a US court was told.

"The question should have been:

Is there a language barrier?" said

Assistant US Attorney Robert Posey

on the third day of the trial of for‑

mer police officer Eric Parker, 26, in

a Huntsville, Alabama federal court.

"They had no reason to try to

think of a crime he may have com‑

mitted," said Posey as reported by

local news site Al.com.

He was responding Judge

Madeline Hughes Haikala regardinghow Parker tackled Sureshbhai

Patel, 58, who had arrived from

India six days earlier, on Feb 6

when he came on the scene in

response a suspicious person

report.

The judge asked if it was not a

requirement for citizenship that an

individual learn English. Patel is a

permanent resident.She said the call about a suspi‑

cious person and Patel's behavior

could be interpreted as indicative of

a burglar. The judge said the prose‑

cution argument uses the language

barrier to disregard that he walked

away. "You can't disregard that," she

said. Plus, she said it's not necessar‑

ily true he committed no crime.

"Can an officer not stop an indi‑

vidual who said 'no English,' who

was fleeing from them, because it is

a crime to be in the country illegal‑

ly?" she asked.

Posey said Patel was never "flee‑

ing" and that police had no right "to

shake him down for immigrationpapers." But the judge argued police

were required to investigate due to

the neighbour's call.

Posey suggested a jury might find

Patel was neither resisting nor

pulling away, which would make the

takedown unreasonable.

Posey called it a manoeuvre

"guaranteed to cause some injury.

Some injury. I 'm not saying hemeant to break his back." The jury

Friday also heard from Johnny Lee

Smith, a blackbelt who helped cre‑

ate the martial arts training pro‑

gram now used by police academies

in Alabama, as well as in several

other Southern states. Quizzed by

federal prosecutors Smith said

when officers arrived they believed

"crime may be afoot" and that Patel

can be seen on the recording to

take two, then four, then nine steps

away.

But the video shows small shuf‑

fling steps. "You wouldn't describe it

as escape attempt," asked prosecu‑

tor Saaed Mody. "No, sir," saidSmith. Mody argued that Parker

knew four things by the moment of

the takedown: Patel was an older

looking man; on a public sidewalk;

the man did not speak English; and

Patel had no weapons, as the

trainee had completed the pat down

a moment before the takedown.

W a s h i n g t o n D C : An Indian‑

American associate professor hasbeen named for the 2015 C. Holmes

MacDonald Outstanding Teacher

Award for demonstrating special

dedication and creativity in her

teaching.

Preethika Kumar, who teaches

electrical engineering at Wichita

State University will receive the

national honor on November 19 in

New Brunswick, New Jersey, the

official news and media relations

website of the Kansas‑based univer‑

sity said on Thursday.

"The award means a lot to me

because, to begin with, it was com‑

pletely initiated by the students,"

Kumar was quoted as saying.The award is presented by the

honor society of New York‑based

Institute of Electrical and Electronic

Engineers.

She has been teaching at Wichita

State since 2007. "Over the years, I

have learned that to be a good

teacher, in addition to being able to

communicate the subject matter

effectively, one needs to be able to

build and sustain a relationship

with one's students based on trust,

mutual respect and care," Kumarsaid. She also makes sure to apply

her lessons to the real world the

students will soon be entering when

they look for a job.

"This has helped me be a better

teacher and helped me fashion my

students to be better engineers,"

Kumar said.

Washington DC: Just days before the

US commemorates the September 11

terrorist attacks, an elderly Sikh‑

American has been hospitalized afteran assailant attacked him in Chicago,

dubbing him a "terrorist."

The racially‑motivated attack

occurred when Inderjit Singh Mukker

was on his way to a grocery store on

Tuesday night, The Washington Post

quoted Sikh Coalition as saying on

Thursday.

A man in a car passing by his vehicle

allegedly started abusing Mukker by

calling him "Terrorist!" and "Bin

Laden!" and yelled "Go back to your

country!".

After continuous tailgating, Mukker

decided to pull over the car. The

assailant also stopped his vehicle,

charged towards Mukker and threwseveral punches at him.

Fifty‑three‑year‑old Mukker was left

unconscious and was later taken to a

hospital. He was treated for a fractured

cheekbone, bruising and blood loss. He

got six stitches for the lacerations on

his face. Police said the alleged

assailant has been arrested.

"No American should be afraid to

practice their faith in our country,"

Mukker said in a statement on

Wednesday.

"I am thankful for the swift responseof authorities to apprehend the individ‑

ual, but without this being fully investi‑

gated as a hate crime, we risk ignoring

the horrific pattern of intolerance,

abuse and violence that Sikhs and

other minority communities in this

country continue to face," he added.


Mahesh Ramanujam namedCEO of US Green Building

'Cop slamming Indian grandfatheracted without reason'

Elderly Sikh assaultedin Chicago

Inderjit Singh Mukker was calledʻterroristʼ and ʻBin Ladenʼ in a

racially‑motivated attack

Mahesh Ramanujam

Preethika Kumar

Preethika Kumar winsoutstanding teacher award


8/32

8 September 12-18, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info NAT I ONAL COMMUNI TY

Washington Sameer Hinduja, a prominent

Indian American and cyberbullying expert

from Florida Atlantic University, has

received a $188,776 grant from social net‑

working site Facebook to study cyberbully‑

ing and dating violence among teenagers.

The overarching goal of the study is to

illuminate the nationwide prevalence, fre‑

quency and scope of cyberbullying and

electronic dating violence among a popula‑

tion of youth in the US.

“Cyberbullying is a unique form of digital

abuse that involves a range of tormenting,

humiliating, threatening, embarrassing and

harassing behaviors and has gained a lot of

attention in recent years," explained

Hinduja in a university statement on

Thursday.

“Many teenagers across the United States

also experience dating violence that typical‑

ly consists of various forms of mistreatment

from insults and rumor spreads to threats

and physical assaults, added Hinduja, co‑

director of the Cyberbullying Research

Centre and professor of criminology and

criminal justice. Hinduja and his collabora‑

tor Justin Patchin, co‑director of the

Cyberbullying Research Centre, will rigor‑

ously construct a nationally‑representative

panel of teens ‑ ages 12 to 17 years old ‑

who will be surveyed with parental consent.

Apart from descriptive findings by age,

gender, grade, and other important demo‑

graphics, they also will collect data on con‑

tributing factors to perpetration and victim‑

ization, as well as the negative outcomes

that stem from cyberbullying participation

as an aggressor or a target.

There are a number of similarities

between cyberbullying and electronic dat‑

ing violence.

Both naturally employ technology and

lead to specific emotional, psychological,

physical, and behavioral consequences.

Cyberbullying tends to occur between

individuals who do not like and do not want

to be around each other.

Electronic dating violence transpires

between two people who are attracted to

each other, at least on some level.

Results of this study will be disseminated

through blogs and fact sheets posted on the

Cyberbullying Research Centre's website.

Hinduja received the “Global Anti‑Bullying

Hero Award” for 2015 from Auburn

University for his efforts and contributions

on the subject.

W a s h i n g t o n D C : An Indian‑

American woman has made it to the

list of the top 30 female business

leaders in Austin Business Journal's

"2015 Profiles in Power & Women

of Influence," a media report said.

Rina Patel, area president for

Wells Fargo in Austin, was recog‑

nized as a "female powerhouse on

the Austin business scene" duringthe 21st annual Profiles in Power

awards last month, according to the

business magazine.

"Rina Patel has shown tremen‑

dous flexibility in her career, as

illustrated by her career path. She

has been willing to take on new

roles and to relocate to new com‑

munities to develop her leadership

skills and knowledge ‑‑ and it's paid

off," the Austin Business Journalreported on Friday.

On her career progression, it said

that Patel has grown over the past

11 years by jumping from teller, to

banker, to service manager, to store

manager in various stores, to dis‑

trict manager overseeing 15 stores,

to her current role as an area presi‑

dent. At Wells Fargo, she manages

more than 375 team members.

Patel also serves on the boards of the Girl Scouts of Central Texas.

Washington DC: A charity organi‑zation run by an Indian‑origin

couple will start a fundraising

campaign on Saturday to benefitsickle cell disease research in the

US, a media report said on

Thursday. "There are 250 million

people in the world that carry thesickle cell gene," the BakersfieldCalifornian quoted Sanjay Patel as

saying on the radio and live video

streaming program "First Lookwith Scott Cox" on Thursday. His

wife Bhavana Patel also featured

on the show. Patels are the boardmembers of Hina Patel

Foundation, a charity that helpsindividuals suffering with sickle

cell disease and their families by

raising awareness, providing sup‑port group, and raising funds for

research.

"It is a very cruel disease, you

just never know what is going tohappen," Sanjay Patel said.The fundraising event has been

planned at Bakersfield's Riverwalk

Park and the proceeds will go tobenefit Sickle Cell research at

organizations like University of

California, Los Angeles (UCLA)Medical Centre. Bhavana and

Sanjay founded their charity in2010 after watching sickle cell

anaemia ravaging their daughter

Hina's fragile body. Sickle cellanaemia is a lifelong genetic dis‑

order that originated as a preven‑

tion mechanism from Malaria,

according to Sanjay Patel. As areaction, the gene becomes defec‑tive and causes the normal blood

cells to die too quickly. As the

damaged sickle cells travelthrough the body they then

become stuck, cutting off the oxy‑

gen from other parts of the bodyand causing them to die, he said.

New York The Childrenʼs Museum

of Indianapolis (CMI), said to be

world's largest children's museum,

in partnership with National

Geographic, is displaying a statue

of Hindu Lord Ganesh in its cur‑rent Sacred Journeys exhibition.

This large Lord Ganesh statue

was custom made for the Museum

and shipped from India recently.

Other areas of the “National

Geographic Sacred Journeys” exhi‑

bition that focus on Hinduism,

include Ganges River where they

talk about Kumbh Mela, which

includes a Ganga Jumna Lota pot

and shows some contemporary

items that people who go to the

Kumbh Mela might purchase;

Ganesh Chaturthi Festival; andDiwali Festival, which contains

many Diwali hanging lanterns and

diyas.

This 7,000‑square‑foot exhibi‑

tion will continue till February 21

and is funded through a $1.25 mil‑

lion grant from Lilly Endowment

Inc.

US business magazine honorsIndianAmerican woman

Patelsʼ charity to raise fundsfor sickle cell research

Cyberbullying expert gets

$188,776 Facebook grant

Worldʼs largest childrenʼs

museum displays

Lord Ganesh idol

The display at The Children̓s Museum of Indianapolis

Sameer Hinduja


9/32

9September 12-18, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info U S AFFA I RS

Washington Just a day after

declining to apologize for using

a private email server as secre‑tary of state, Hillary Clinton

abruptly shifted her tone to say

sorry as her poll numbers sank

to a new low.

"That was a mistake," the

Democratic presidential fron‑

trunner said in an interview

with ABC News Tuesday hoping

to put an end to the controver‑

sy that has dogged her cam‑

paign and pulled down her

favorability among Democrats

by ten points in a month.

"I'm sorry about that. I take

responsibility," Clinton said

acknowledging that she should

have used separate accountsfor work and personal busi‑

ness. "I take responsibility and I

am trying to be as transparent

as I possibly can."

Clinton later issued a slightly

different apology saying she was "sorry that

it has raised all these questions."

The abrupt shift in Clinton's tone came

just a day after she told AP on Monday in

Iowa that she doesn't need to apologize for

her nagging email controversy because

"what I did was allowed."

Clinton defended her prac‑

tices again on ABC, sayingthat everyone she emailed in

the White House and Obama

administration knew she used

a private account.

She also disputed that she

ever traded information over

email that was marked classi‑

fied at the time.

David Axelrod, a former top

campaign adviser to President

Obama, told Tuesday that

Clinton's evolving answers on

the subject have been costly.

"Her answers have evolved

over time and have prolonged

this story," said Axelrod

The change in Clinton's toneon the email controversy

came as she hit a new low in

the polls ‑ not due to her self‑

proclaimed socialist rival

senator Bernie Sanders,

but Biden.

While, Sanders is giving Clinton a run for

her money in Iowa and New Hampshire, the

first two nominating states, a new national

Monmouth University Poll shows Biden's

support rising among Democrats.

Washington: Business mogul Donald Trump

and Sen. Ted Cruz (R‑Texas) warned of cata‑

strophic consequences should the Iranian

nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama admin‑

istration pass Congress, including death and

the possibility of nuclear conflict.

Appearing during an hours‑long rally on the

Capitol lawn where speaker after speaker

railed against the deal, Republican leadership

and President Obama, Cruz warned that the

Obama administration would become "the

leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism"

if he deal goes through.

“Itʼs worth remembering that if this deal

goes through we know to an absolute certainty

that people will die,” Cruz said.

Trump, who took the stage to REM's "It's the

End of the World as We Know It," said that he

has "been doing deals for a long time" but has

never seen one like the Iran accord “so incom‑

petently negotiated”.

Trump and Cruz, who despite being rivals

for the Republican presidential nomination

enjoy a relatively cozy relationship, were

joined by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin

(R), conservative radio hosts Glenn Beck and

Mark Levin, members of Congress and others

on the West Lawn of the Capitol. Cruz helped

organize the event, along with the Tea Party

Patriots and the Zionist Organization of

America. Cruz said he hoped that Senate

Democrats would change their mind on the

deal‑ that they would "fall to their knees and

pray" and decide to change their vote ‑ but if

they support the deal they will bear responsi‑

bility if people die because of it.

National Harbor Md: Just days after

GOP presidential candidate Donald

Trump criticized rival Jeb Bush for

frequently speaking Spanish, former

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin picked up on

the real estate mogulʼs theme by

saying that people should “speak

American” if they live in the United

States.

In a CNN interview on Sunday,

Palin said she agreed with Trumpʼs

criticism of Bushʼs frequent Spanish‑

speaking on the campaign trail, and the bil‑lionaireʼs declaration that Bush should set an

example for immigrants in the United States

by speaking English.

“I think that it's a benefit of Jeb Bush to be

able to be so fluent in Spanish, because we

have a large and wonderful Hispanic popula‑

tion that, you know, is helping to build

America. And that's good,” Palin said on CNN's

State of the Union. “And that's a

great relationship that he ‑‑ and

connection that he has with them

through his wife and through his

family connections.”

“On the other hand, you know, I

think we can send a message and

say, ʻYou want to be in America?

A, you'd better be here legally or

you're out of here. B, when you're

here, let's speak American,” Palin

said. “I mean that's what's ‑‑ let's

speak English and that's a kind of a unifyingaspect of the nation is the language that is

understood by all.”

Last week, Trump told Breitbart News that

Bush should "set the example" by speaking

English on the campaign trail.

Bush dismissed Trumpʼs criticism, telling

ABC's "Good Morning America": "I laughed. I

mean this is a joke."

Columbia SC: Just three tax brackets.

No more taxes on death or marriage.

Tax cuts for major corporations andsmall businesses and about 42 million

families.

Republican presidential candidate

Jeb Bus h on Wednesday unv eil ed a

long‑awaited tax reform plan that

would add trillions of dollars to the

deficit, filling in details that he says

would help fulfill his promise to restore

4 percent annual economic growth.

With a North Carolina factory as his backdrop,

Bush married traditional conservative thinking

on taxes with some politically viable proposals

that already enjoy support on Capitol Hill.

The plan would add $1.2 trillion to the

deficit, even when using a system favored by

Republicans that takes into account any poten‑

tial growth the tax changes could encourage,according to Republican economists who

reviewed the plan on Bush's behalf. The plan

would lose closer to $3.4 trillion using tradi‑

tional methods.

Given the high price tag and some

of the details, Bush's tax plan is

fraught with political peril. His broth‑er, former president George W. Bush,

focused much of his 2000 presiden‑

tial campaign on plans to slash taxes

and jump‑start economic growth.

Those tax cuts contributed to the

record deficit spending that even Jeb

Bush criticized Tuesday night on

Stephen Colbert's new late‑night talk

show. In 2012, Mitt Romney had sim‑

ilar ideas on tax reform that were widely dis‑

missed by voters, who believed he was pushing

policies that would mostly help wealthy peo‑

ple. So Bush is also embracing an idea also

backed by GOP frontrunner Trump and

Democrats, including President Obama and

Hillary Clinton.

He would end a lucrative tax loophole forhedge fund and private equity managers that

lets them avoid billions of dollars in taxes by

treating their income as capital gains instead

of salaries.

Corporate Office: 385 Seneca Avenue, Ridgewood NY 11385

718.821.3182, www.AtlanticDialysis.com

PALIN SAYS JEB BUSH, IMMIGRANTS,

SHOULD 'SPEAK AMERICAN'

Sarah Palin, formervice presidential

candidate

RepublicanpresidentialcandidateJeb Bush

Hillary Clinton:Democrat frontrunner

for 2016

Hillary Clinton says'I'm sorry' at last

Trump, Ted Cruz headlineCapitol rally against

Iran nuclear deal

Jeb Bushʼs new tax plan couldcost $3.4 trillion over a decade


10/32

MARIA WON'T QUIT

New Delhi Patna: The ElectionCommission on Wednesday

announced five‑phased polling to

the 243‑member Bihar assembly

between October 12 and

November 5 with political parties

welcoming the announcement and

asserting that they are geared up

for the high‑stake electoral battle.

Announcing the dates for the

crucial election, Chief Election

Commissioner Nasim Zaidi said

the model code of conduct has

come into force with immediate

effect.

"The Election Commission has

made arrangements for free and

fair polls. We have received more

than adequate forces. Each polling

booth will be manned by central

police forces," Zaidi told reporters

in New Delhi.

The election, which is expected

to witness a keen contest between

the BJP‑led National Democratic

Alliance and the combine of Janata

Dal‑United, Rashtriya Janata Dal

and Congress is seen to have

national ramifications.

The voting will take place across

62,779 polling stations in the

state with the election process

spread over three months appar‑

ently due to festivals that include

Eid‑ul‑Zuha, Navratras and

Dussehra. Over 6.68 crore voters

are eligible to take part in the

election.

The counting will take place onNovember 8, only a few days

before Diwali and Chhath ‑‑ the lat‑

ter a major festival in Bihar. The

term of the present Bihar assem‑

bly ends on November 29.

The first phase of polling for 49

seats will be held on October 12,

the second phase for 32 seats on

October 16, the third phase for 50

seats on October 28, the fourth

phase for 55 seats on November 1

and the fifth and final phase for

57 seats on November 5.

Zaidi also announced that

Electronic Voting Machines

(EVMs) will have photographs of

the candidates. Bihar polls are the

first assembly election after the

Bharatiya Janata Party's defeat in

Delhi and comes ahead of a string

of elections next year including in

Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West

Bengal and Puducherry.

The BJP, which had declared achief ministerial candidate in

Delhi, has not named a CM nomi‑

nee in Bihar and is seen to be rely‑

ing largely on Prime Minister

Narendra Modi for success of its

election effort.

The election is crucial for the

BJP to regain momentum of its

electoral success. The party then

gained power in Haryana on its

own and in Jharkhand,

Maharashtra and Jammu and

Kashmir in an alliance since its tri‑

umph in the Lok Sabha elections

last year.

The polls are also crucial for the

Congress in its efforts at electoral

revival.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish

Kumar was an ally of the BJP in

the previous election and a lot is

at stake for him as also for RJD

chief Lalu Prasad.

Mumbai: Former Mumbai policecommissioner Rakesh Maria,

who was abruptly promoted as

director general of police (Home

Guards), on Wednesday categor‑

ically assured that he will not

quit, as uncertainty hit the

investigation into the high‑pro‑

file Sheena Bora murder case.

Late on Tuesday evening, the

Maharashtra government decid‑

ed that Maria, who handled the

case since the beginning, would

continue to supervise and moni‑

tor the probe.

However, till Wednesday

evening, no written order to this

effect was received by Maria'soffice ‑‑ and the probe suddenly

seemed pushed to the backburn‑

er.

According to official sources,

the investigations have reached

a critical stage with the forensic match‑

ing of the DNA samples of the victim

with her mother and prime accused

Indrani Mukerjea, brother Mikhail Bora

and biological father Siddhartha Das.

Besides, the probe has widened to

investigating the money and property

transactions with the possibility of some

big names tumbling out when the police

force was jolted by the shake‑up on

Tuesday.

An officer explained that new policecommissioner Ahmad Javed has already

taken office and as per norms, all offi‑

cers and men must report to him.

With Maria supervising the investiga‑

tion in the Sheena murder case, it was

still unclear in what capacity he would

be doing it, especially since the two

departments ‑‑ DGP Home Guards and

DGP Mumbai Police Commissionerate ‑‑

were vested with different powers and

jurisdiction, he added.

Indrani, her ex‑husband Sanjeev

Khanna and her former driver Shyamvar

Rai have been arrested in connection

with the murder of her daughter Sheena

on April 24, 2012, and for dumping herbody near a forested area in Gagode vil‑

lage in Raigad district.

The trio has been sent to judicial cus‑

tody till September 21.

Bihar to hold 5‑phasedassembly poll from Oct 12

Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi, flanked by ElectionCommissioners A.K. Jyoti (left) and O.P. Rawat in new Delhi.

Rakesh Maria has been removed from his postas the Commissioner of Mumbai Police.

10 September 12-18, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info I ND IA

Gurgaon New Delhi:

As Gurgaon police said

that allegations of rape against a Saudi diplo‑

mat were not yet proven, the Saudi Arabianembassy strongly denied the allegations and

protested the "unwarranted media briefing

before investigations are complete".

The diplomat is covered under the Vienna

Convention that provides diplomatic immunity,

and police said they will probe the case as per

the Convention.

On Wednesday evening, Saudi Ambassador

Saud Mohammed Alsati met senior officials of

the external affairs ministry and protested

against the police action at the residence of

one of its diplomats charged with the rape of

two Nepalese women.

According to a police complaint filed on

Tuesday in Gurgaon, two Nepalese women

alleged that they were raped and gang‑raped

and subjected to unnatural sex by a Saudidiplomat over four months, and also by his

friends and guests. They also alleged that his

wife and daughter also harassed them and beat

them. Gurgaon police chief Navdeep Singh

Virk, however, told the media on Wednesday:

"An FIR doesn't mean that the allegation has

been proven, but (it means the) start of investi‑gation."

Virk said Haryana Police was sharing details

with the external affairs ministry on the

alleged rape. On Tuesday, police registered

cases against the diplomat, said to be a First

Secretary, and "unknown people" said to be the

diplomat's friends, at the DLF‑2 police station

under sections of gang rape, rape, unnatural

sex and other sections of the Indian Penal

Code, including wrongful confinement, volun‑

tarily causing hurt, and criminal conspiracy.

The Saudi embassy, in a statement said it has

brought to the notice of the MEA "the unwar‑

ranted media briefing before investigations are

complete" and also "the police intrusion into a

diplomat's house against all diplomatic conven‑

tions". The embassy said it would, however,wait for clarification from the MEA about the

matter and for the outcome of the investiga‑

tions into the allegations. No one has been

arrested so far.

Allegations of rape yetunproven: Saudi embassy

Sheena murder probe

Caitriona Towers in Gurgaon, where the women were allegedly held hostage.


11/32

11September 12-18, 2015TheSouthAsianTimes.info I ND IA

New Delhi Amid a growing war of

words and firing from across the

border, the high‑level talks

between India's Border SecurityForce (BSF) and the Pakistani

Rangers began in New Delhi on

Thursday and will go on until

Saturday. The 15‑member

Pakistani delegation, led by Major

General Umar Farooq Burki ,

crossed over to India via Attari,

where it was welcomed by the BSF

on Wednesday.

From the Indian side, a 23‑mem‑

ber delegation led by BSF Director

General D.K. Pathak will take part

in the talks. The Indian delegation

includes officials from the Home

Ministry, the Narcotics Control

Bureau and the Survey of India.

The talks, one of the measuresagreed upon during a meeting

between Prime Minister Narendra

Modi and his Pakistani counter‑

part Nawaz Sharif, gain special sig‑

nificance after the National

Security Adviser‑level talks could

not take place due to Pakistan's

insistence on discussing Kashmir.

Even as ceasefire violation was

likely to be the focus of the talks,

at least two BSF personnel were

wounded in firing on Wednesday

in Nowgam sector of Jammu and

Kashmir. The Pakistan Army also

fired at Indian positions on

Wednesday along the Line of

Control (LoC) in Poonch district."During the conference, discus‑

sions will be held on important

issues like cross‑border firing, infil‑

tration and smuggling etc. The

talks will also endeavour to focus

on positive issues like different

levels of communication, more

simultaneous coordinated

patrolling and other confidence

building measures," a BSF official

said.

BSF's former additional director

general PK Mishra, however, said

Pakistan may try to divert the

agenda from the talks, as reports

suggest the country may seek

international monitoring of theceasefire violations.

With some 100 ceasefire viola‑

tions along the India‑Pakistan bor‑

der since the Ufa talks, the issue is

likely to dominate the agenda from

the Indian side, sources said. Till

Jun e thi s yea r, there have been

199 ceasefire violations by

Pakistan.

Off icial f igures reveal that

around 430 ceasefire violations

occurred on the international bor‑

der while 153 violations were

reported on the LoC in 2014. In

2013, it was 347.

Ahmedabad

Patidar

Ananmat Andolan Samiti con‑

vener Hardik Patel, who has

been demanding quota for

the Patel community, on

Tuesday said that he does not

want to disturb the peace of

Gujarat but wants his

demand to be fulfilled.

We do not want to disturb

the people of Gujarat and we

do not want to disturb thepeace of Gujarat, but we just

want our demands to be ful‑

filled, Patel said.

I have come to discuss with

the leaders of the Patel com‑

munity in Rajkot and had dis‑

cussed with them about the

future program and also

regarding the Dandi march in

Gujarat, he added.

A day ago, Patel unveiled

his national plans by

announcing the launch of a

new outfit which will bring

Patels as well as other affili‑

ated communities under one

umbrella to press for their

inclusion in OBC list.

'Patel Navnirman Sena

(PNS) ' wi l l work towards

bringing Patels (Patidars) and

affiliated communities such

as Kurmis and Gujjars under

one platform to press for

their demand for reservation

in Government jobs and edu‑

cation under OBC category,

said the agitation leader

Hardik Patel.

Announcing plans to hold a

series of rallies in coming

months to take forward their

campaign, Hardik said PNS'

units have been formed in 16

States and he was today

unanimously elected as its

National President.

New Delhi Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on Thursday hitout at the Congress for not allow‑

ing parliament to function during

the monsoon session, terming it

'hawalabaaz' (corrupt) and accus‑

ing it of creating roadblocks for

the government.

"Decisions were taken one after

another in parliament. The

'hawalabaaz' were worried at the

tough decisions by the govern‑

ment against black money. They

could sense trouble ahead. That's

why they are putting roadblocks

on all major decisions," Modi said

while addressing BJP workers in

Bhopal before inaugurating the

10th Vishwa Hindi Sammelan.Modi's attack on the Congress

came after its president, Sonia

Gandhi, on Tuesday launched a

frontal attack on Modi, terming

his electoral promises as

nothing more than

"hawabaazi"(hot air).

"We had hoped that the

Congress will work with us, help

parliament in enforcing (fiscal)

reforms but 'ek hai jo manta

nahi' (there is one who does not

agree). The Congress has not

been able to digest defeat (in Lok

Sabha elections)," Modi said.

Modi hits out atCongress, terms it

'hawalabaaz'

Islamabad

Pakistan has assessed that

India has enough fissile material for more

than 2,000 warheads, a media report said

on Thursday.

The National Command Authority (NCA)

on Wednesday concluded that Indiaʼs

growing nuclear program and absence of

a conflict resolution mechanism were

upsetting strategic stability in the region

and the situation was forcing Pakistan to

maintain ʻfull‑spectrum deterrence capa‑

bilityʼ, reported Dawn.

Inter‑Services Public Relations (ISPR)

said that the apex policy‑making body for

the countryʼs strategic program reviewed

in its meeting the regional security envi‑

ronment and was briefed on fast‑paced

strategic and conventional capability

developments taking place in the neigh‑

bourhood.

The media report said that contrary to

international estimates, Pakistani assess‑

ment is that India has enough fissile mate‑

rial, both reactor‑ and weapon‑grade plu‑

tonium, for more than 2,000 warheads.

International Institute of Strategic

Studies noted in a paper: “New Delhiʼs plu‑

tonium stocks also continue to pile up;according to one Pakistani assessment, by

the end of 2013 India had produced

enough weapons‑ and reactor‑grade plu‑

tonium (0.8‑1tn and 15tn respectively) for

2,000 warheads.”

The meeting was presided over by

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and attended

by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif ,

Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, Interior

Minister Chaudhry Nisar, Adviser on

National Security and Foreign Affairs

Sartaj Aziz , Joint Chiefs of Staf f

Committee Chairman General Rashad

Mehmood, the three services chiefs and

the director general of the strategic plans

division.

Dawn cited US think tanks Carnegie

Endowment for International Peace and

the Stimson Centre as saying that

Pakistan had the fastest growing nuclear

program and could have the third largest

nuclear stockpile within five to 10 years.

The NCA meeting comes amid shelling

at the border with India and a day ahead

of talks between Pakistani Rangers and

India's Border Security Force (BSF) chiefs

in New Delhi.

Saying that there are no estimates avail‑

able on Indian missile inventories, the

media report said that concerns expressed

by the NCA pertained to Indiaʼs growing

strategic capabilities in the form of newweapon systems, including submarine‑

launchable intercontinental and medium‑

range ballistic missiles and improvements

in its ballistic missile defense.

India has fissile material for 2,000

warheads, assesses Pakistan

India, Pakistan hold borderforce talks after NSA standoff

We do not want to disturbGujarat's peace: Hardik Patel

The last round of talks between the IndoPak border forceswere held in Dec 2013 in Lahore.

PM Modi said Congress has not been able to digest defeatin the Lok Sabha elections

Hardik Patel has been demanding OBC status andreservation benefits for Patidars or Patels.


12/32

12 September 12-18, 2015 TheSouthAsianTimes.info OP-ED

By Amitava Mukherjee

R

oughly 32,000 new voters

enrolled in each constituen‑

cy for this year's assemblyelection in Bihar may play a deci‑

sive role in determining the ulti‑

mate poll result. The presence of

these new voters becomes impor‑

tant in the light of the fact that

during the last two assembly

elections in the state, the victory

margins of many of the winning

candidates ranged between

12,000 and 13,000 votes.

But there are plenty of ifs and

buts before the state goes to the

polls. The electoral behavior of

the Hindi‑speaking states in the

Indo‑Gangetic plain is always

influenced by caste factors and

here, Chief Minister Nitish Kumarand Lalu Prasad Yadav, a former

chief minister and one of the

principal players of caste‑based

politics in India, have stolen a

march by stitching up an alliance

and announcing their respective

share of seats. There is reason for

the Bharatiya Janatta Party (BJP)

to feel a bit rattled as it cannot

field an equally powerful count‑

er‑combination of castes and,

therefore, has fallen back on its

slogan of "development" as can

be understood from PrimeMinister Narendra Modi 's

announcement of a grant of

Rs.1.25 lakh crore for Bihar.

But this slogan of "develop‑

ment", together with a sense of

"national perspective", as

described by the BJP, had enabled

the constituents of the National

Democratic Alliance (NDA) it

leads to capture 31 seats out of

40 in Bihar during the 2014 par‑

liamentary elections. The NDA's

combined vote‑share was 38.8

percent while the BJP's individualshare in this stood at 29.86 per‑

cent. However, the vote share of

the opposition parties consisting

of the Janata Dal‑United (JD‑U),

the Congress and the Rashtriya

Janata Dal (RJD) combined was

much more than that of the NDA.

This is the source of worry for

the BJP.

The BJP's traditional vote‑base

consists of the Brahmins and the

Baniyas of Indian society. Party

veteran L.K. Advani first tried to

broadbase it by his concept of a

broader Hindutva. The BJP could

successfully romp home in the

last Lok Sabha elections in spiteof its divorce from Nitish Kumar,

who represented the other back‑

ward class (OBC) interests. This

was because a significant number

of OBC votes and even a slight

amount of Muslim votes had

swung towards the BJP. But this

is unlikely to happen now.

This time, the BJP can safely

count on 14 percent upper‑caste

votes, six percent Vaishya votes,

around six percent votes that are

likely to go to the Lok Janshakti

Party of Ram Vilas Paswan and

four percent votes of the

Rashtriya Lok Samta Party of

Upendra Kushwaha.Former chief minister Jitan

Ram Manjhi, hailing from the

Musahar caste and representing

the interests of the 'mahadalits',

can bring in another five to six

percent votes. But this may not

be enough for the BJP to secure a

convincing victory.

This will certainly give the JD‑

U‑RJD‑Congress combine extra

advantage. In the 2014 parlia‑

mentary polls these parties

together had received 45.6 per‑

cent votes. But for tilting the

scales in their favour, both the

combines are expected to rely

heavily on the extremely back‑ward castes (EBCs) who consti‑

tute nearly 24 percent of the

Bihar populace. In 2014, 53 per‑

cent of this group had voted for

the BJP. How they would cast

their votes this time has become

an important question.

In all probability, the JD‑U will

be able to retain its 16.4 percent

vote base. The Congress is also

expected to maintain its 8.56 per‑

cent share. About the RJD, howev‑

er, there are some reasonable

doubts. In 2014 it had received

20.46 percent votes. But this

time there are two spoilsports ‑

the Garib Janata Dal (Secular) of Sadhu Yadav and the Jana

Adhikar Mancha of Pappu Yadav.

Both are likely to cut into the RJD

vote‑share in some pockets. At

the same time they have, till now,

declared their support for Jitan

Ram Manjhi ‑ which may harm

the JD‑U a bit.

On the whole, the Bihar election

result is likely to be a cliff‑hanger

‑ and the real test for Narendra

Modi.

Bihar elections the real test for Modi

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

On the whole, the Bihar election result is likely to be a cliff‑hanger ‑and the real test for Narendra Modi.

By Rajdeep Sardesai

That Dawood Ibrahim has

lived a luxurious life in

Pakistan for over two

decades has always been that

countryʼs worst‑kept secret.

For years now, North Block has

prepared several dossiers on

Dawood but made little headway

in capturing him. The central

question is this: Is it the perfidy of

a hostile neighbor or quite simply

a lack of will on our part that has

prevented us from getting

Dawood? The truth is, itʼs a bit of

both. The Pakistani State has no

intention of giving up its ʻprized

assetʼ despite all the evidence that

India might provide of his involve‑

ment in the 1993 Mumbai blasts.

Over the years, Dawood has built

a strong network across various

businesses: From real estate to

hawala and fake currency rackets

to betting. That one of the great‑

est Pakistani cricketers, Javed

Miandad, chose to allow his son to

marry Dawoodʼs daughter only

confirms how even Pakistani civil

society has readily accepted

Dawood as one of its own.

What is less well‑proven is how

a powerful section of the Indian

establishment has also perhaps

developed a vested interest in

keeping Dawood out of the coun‑

try. Senior lawyer Ram Jethmalani

has claimed that Dawood was

ready to strike a ʻdealʼ to surren‑

der in the mid‑90s but the

Maharashtra government, then

led by Sharad Pawar, chose not to

bite the bait. More recently, for‑

mer Union home secretary RK

Singh has claimed that a covert

operation to ʻtake outʼ Dawood by

using rival gangster Chota Rajanʼs

gang was deliberately ʻbotched

upʼ by the Mumbai Police.

That Dawood has had links with

the police and political leadership

in this country has been often

whispered in power corridors. The

only time it truly resonated in

public discourse was during the

1995 Maharashtra election cam‑

paign when the BJP‑Shiv Sena

alliance used it to corner the state

Congress leadership. But once in

power, the alliance government

did little to investigate and expose

the patron‑client links.

Now, the Narendra Modi gov‑

ernment has sent out a firm signal

that it wants Pakistan to hand

over Da

vol.8 issue 18 - september 12-18, 2015

Documents