USA
Vol-22
Issue-6
Page-28
DR, VAID AND WIFE ( People Profile )
Sunny Leone fumes over ...
About a week ago, Sunny Leone made headlines for an incomparable reason. Her Jism 2 director, Pooja Bhatt, had announced that she would auction all the costumes of the cast — including their underwear — for a charitable cause...
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Nancy Palosi welcomes Khalifa at Capitol Hill
July
www.fijisun-usa.com
510-677-4488
Award-winning sales agent Roger slandered Page-40
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Faraaz Khan openair marriage in 110 * heat in Sacramento
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A tribute to late Master Masala Mani
(Master Masla Mani, photo by daughter)
At FIJISUN USA we have not forgotten Late Master Masla Mani who will be remembered in a very special way at a tribute night coming after Eid as a Fiji Girmit US Council event) A night in the memory of Girmitiyas and Fiji stalwarts . Please send in your tributes and pictures of your family for inclusion at the grand memorial night and a special Fiji Sun edition. See Local News pages inside. Open air festival follow by dinner event . Call Editor at 510-677-4488 or email at fijisun@gmail.com).
Davendra Kumar threatens Fiji Sun editor
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Sir Zafrullah Khan, first foreign minister of Pakistan
Pakistan Post
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New Pakistani PM: love for all hatred for none
FIJI LAW JOURNAL IS THE OFFICIAL ORGAN
"SUPERSTARS" TO PERFORM AT FIJI GIRMIT FESTIVAL
HAYWARD- After what people described as a bad show, we contacted Davendra Kumar (the former FANA leader-turned entertainer) to make a press statement of the success of his blockbuster show that pulled in 400 people and made over $16,000 one night.Instead of taking advantage of the chance, Davendra got on the offensive and issued the editor a warning “ If you wrote any false report, I will report you to FBI.”
How about $700 check?
Perhaps Davendra would like to explain what happened to a $700 check a Fiji doctor wrote FANA a year ago. It was cashed but no receipt was given. Who chased the check? What happened to the money? Why receipt was not issued? This is a good one for FBI Davendra.
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Research Office staff cherishes India ...
FASTING & EID TARAVEEH STARTS ON Friday July 20th
FASTING STARTS Saturday July 21st
INSHAALLAH EID-UL-FITR IS on Sunday August 19th.
Amin Khan, Secretary Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, Oakland, CA
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Freeland photographer and singer Sainesh Kumar (center with microphone) to lead Superstar singers at the upcoming Fiji Girmit Festival including Ashok Kumar, Razak Khan Sanjay Sen.
FIJI SUN IS NOW ON FACEBOOK FOR ALL
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July 2012 H. Koya (PhD)
Editor-Publisher
Sanjna Chand (MA) Associate Editor
Karso Conway
PO BOX 56491, Hayward, CA 94544 PHONE : 1-800-757-6619 Email: fijisun@gmail.com www.fijisun.org
July 2012
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July 2012
Bobby Darling show fake, furious ladies hit with Pakaoras
LOCAL NEWS
Davendra Kumar warns Fiji Sun editor Organizers made over $16,000 from a crowd of 400
Fiji Sun received many phone calls and several personal account of what a disaster the so called Bobby Darling Show was. I contacted Davendra Kumar who wants to be show promoter now and asked him to do a press release. In an email response Davendra said that everything went OK except for some glitch in the sound system. Many complained that the last minute inclusion of Bobby Darling in a show initially announced as dinner and dance event - was gimmick to pull crowd. And it did work for the organizers.
Rubbish : Rubbishing Davendra Kumar’s defense, Famous Fiji American singer Sanjay Sen “It’s all rubbish. I was there. And I was the one who requested ladies not to throw bhajiya and pakaoras at the performer.” The performer was a fill in for an actual Bobby Darling person who was traced and contacted the very night in Nadi. Sanjay Sen said the perform had put on a garb that not fit with the character. Davendra was pathetic lacking in expressions and body language suited for stage shows Had it not been for Sanjay Sen, who rescued the organizers, the show would have been a total disaster.
10, 000 free copies of the largest paper out of Fiji should have pulled crowds of 4,000 a day Fiji Festival 2012 We did not receive any encouraging news about this year’s Fiji Festival which sought and active and exclusive support from “the largest newspaper out of Fiji.”
Fiji community’s superstars gave a rocking performance at Bombay Masala Café
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July 2012
First Fiji Girmit Show in Bay Area to pay tribute to Fiji stalwarts and Girmitiyas after Ramadan
7Sponsored by Fiji Muslim Unity Council, the Fiji Sun and Fiji interfaith community, supported by Fiji Business Council a long due Fiji Girmit Festival will be held in Hayward right after this year’s Ramadan. As a cost-cutting measure, FIJI SUN will help host the FIJI GIRMIT FESTIVAL from 10nbAM to 2 PM with Picnic type setup. You are welcome to set up your booth on first come first serve basis. There will be dinner and entertainment at the AIM AWRDS CEREMONY same evening. About ten judges and judicial officers will grace the Dinner and Awards Night.
ESSAY AND ORATORY COMPETITION FOR STUDENTS (1) (2) (3)
We encourage students to write decent essays on: Fiji Girmit Memories of Late Master Masla Mani In Honor of Late Hon S M Koya Students can enter for both competitions essay and oratory contests, or choose only one category.
Skits and depictions Any group is welcome write a Girmit-related skits and depictions via exhibitions, dances of stage shows. This is where you can show actual talents of writing, acting and musical performances to give meaning to the Girmit Festival and expression of talents and abilities.
FIJI GIRMIT FESTIVAL FORM
NAME & EMAIL
SKIT
ESSAY
ORATORY
Mail to Fiji Girmit Festival Council C//- P O Box 56491, Hayward, CA 94544 This is a volunteer events, any volunteer is welcome to join. There is no fee to join.
FANA advisers must quit out of shame!
The newly opened Bombay Masala Café offers an ideal atmosphere for small parties to fit in at least 60 people. Sainesh Kumar winner of Fiji Idol show organized a “Mini Fiji Night” and gave a heartening with Ahsok Kumar, Razak Khan and Sanjay Sen.
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here should be a term limit for all FANA advisers and elected officials. The advisers in particular are handpicked by the chairperson. So they are his babies and therefore do not have the independence and discretion to work on their own. In such a situation they are at the mercy of the chairperson. I haven’t noticed any process through which they are selected or appointed as advisors and what precisely they supposed to do. It is a very secretive and selective method as there are no published criteria for them.
Once they are in they occupy the throne forever. Except may be one, the rest are certified trainers or coaches to be able to give advice in what can be very complex organizational or performance issues. As advisers they must remain detached and have no ties or connections to any major events regarding which they may be needed to make some critical judgment. Some probably buy their way in exchange for favors or sponsorship for personal ego and popularity. FANA is not a
destitute organization as it has considerable sponsorship and money generating programs. Some offer their services for a five minute speech on stage. And who cares about them? What do people really take home from them? Nothing at all. Everything is over as soon as the get off the stage.
The hand bands
The hand bands alone over a two period sold at $5 a piece at least must generate $30,000
from a crowd of 3000 each day. But more importantly, they have failed to influence any major changes or set a direction for significant achievement. Let’s take a look from a close range. The FANA advisers: (1) Did nothing to rectify a badly written FANA CONSITUTION. (2) After all the hue and cry failed to limit the term or unseat the FANA chairperson. (3) Allowed the current president to take office without
completing the initial two year period as a member. (4) Failed to have FANA rectify its defective constitution to incorporate a 50% or more attendance of paid members to form a quorum at the Annual General Meeting. As it is, there is no quorum needed which is unethical and is compatible with Roberts Rule of Oder (the parliamentary procedure) that is the norm followed ( May be Davendra Kumar will make a case out for FBI too).
Award-winning sales agent Praveen (Roger) of Hayward Honda slandered by fake report 6
BUSINESS NEWS
July 2012
HAYWARD – Buying used car is at the risk of the buyer because it is typically an AS IS WHERE IS sale which clearly means that there may be some mechanical problem or defects not otherwise known and there is no warranty. Some dealers may offer you a limited warranty for an added cost. All authorized dealers are required to post the AS IS WHERE IS notice conspicuously on each unit offered as USED CAR sale. In this downturn economy many would like to settle for used cars despite the risks involved. Brand name car dealers like Honda, Nissan, Kia , Toyota and others are very conscious of the laws and typically display the required notice. And most trained salespersons would discourage their buyers to go for used cars and try their best to get you into a new vehicle for the best interest of the customer and the company. However, if a customer is bent on a USED CAR, they have responsibility to fit one that may suit his or her need. They go through same process regardless whether it is a sued car or a brand new car. They will have to show the features and benefits and let you do a test drive. It is after this process when you are satisfied your credit application is processed and all the paperwork is done before you drive home with your car. Copies of all documents along with transfer or registration are nicely packed and handed to you for safe keeping and future reference. Like in all cases, Praveen Roger and his sales mangers went over all paper work and the AS IS WHERE IS conditions with Fiji Sweets owner Getesh Prasad. Prasad took possession of the car and drove it for two months and then experienced some engine problem. When Prasad went to Honda with his complaint, he was explained the terms and conditions of the sale. He was referred to a repair shop which would attend to the problem at a reasonable cost. After Honda management and Praveen showed the negative bad mouthing and the one sided “fake story”, we contacted Getesh Prasad who returned us the call and briefly explained the situation. When asked, he said he knew that used cars are sold subject to AS IS WHERE IS provision. Prasad said he was a good friend of Praveen and a related to him. Getesh, however, said he should have been told of the AS IS WHERE IS policy at the time of sale. Well sir, you signed all the paperwork which means you understood everything. Hayward Honda spokesman said Getesh chose to buy the unit he liked from our used car stock and on AS IS WHERE IS basis. After using it for 2 months than he returned to complained of some defects that are not covered in such sales. It is common knowledge. He said Honda of Hayward told referred him to a repair place but he has to pay for the cost. His expectation was that he will be compensated. That is a wishful thinking.
(Above Praveen Roger is seen receiving a top salesman’s warded handed by his sales manager. David Praveen is joined Finance Manage and some of the sales staff.)
Unfounded and fake reporting as fraud
Honda dealers have dismissed Rocky Buksh’s reporting in his newspaper as fake and it is considered as libelous as the story is taken out of context. For accusing a company that conducts its business in compliance with state and local laws and established practices in the automotive industry, Honda has many options for legal actions.
Competition or vengeance
Often when the competition fails to capture our market and clients, they take the route of vengeance, badmouthing and slandering regardless of the consequences. It is an ugly and negative campaign that has no place in the world of positivity and professionalism .Such fake styles fail and fall flat their noses and return to their graveyard, sore, hurt and bitter with failure.
Strong support at Honda T
here is an amazing team work and support among the sales and management staff here at Hayward Honda. Speaking for Roger, his manager said; “For 20years I have been helping people get car loans regardless of their credit. In all my years I have never seen a worse case of slandering like the one against my wonderful friend Praveen In my opinion there’s no
greater man in the car business than Roger. I urge everyone to come to Honda Hayward and meet the man himself. He is wonderful to everyone he knows. You will see why everyone loves and trusts him. And I support him 100% in every way at Honda of Hayward. We stand behind Roger and if you meet him you will too.” (Michael M. Francis Sr. Special Finance Manager)
FIJI NEWS
Cures from the ocean - the search for novel medical drugs from the Pacific
The oceans may hold the answer to some of the world’s most devastating diseases, in the form of new drugs that come from marine organisms. This is the aim of an ongoing collaborative project by scientists from the Institute of Applied Science at the University of the South Pacific and USA’s Georgia Institute of Technology (GIT) during their recent visit to the Solomon Islands in search of new and better medical drugs to help fight diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and cancer. A team of four scientists made a bio-prospecting expedition to Tetepare, Rendova and Gizo islands, in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands in March earlier this year. The primary interest USP and GIT scientists on a bio-prospecting expedition on Tetepare Island in was to collect marine samples, in Solomon Islands. (Left to right): Mr Klaus Feussner, Ms Claire Dell, Professor particular, marine invertebrates, Mark Hay and Dr Katy Soapi.
Australia Doubles Fiji Aid
SUVA – AUSAID will double its aid to Fiji from $33.7 million (A$18.6 million) to $65.6 million (A$36 million) from next month. AUSAID director general Peter Baxter announced this during a visit to the Lami Health Centre. He said this funding would help Fiji’s most vulnerable communities. Australia will support Fiji’s Ministry of Health to strengthen primary health services and increase childhood immunisation to ensure rates stay above 90 per cent, Baxter said. Work is underway to see that more beds and facilities are available to pregnant women and mothers for better pre and post natal care. Baxter met with the Permanent Secretary for Health this week and spoke about providing more health care to women and children. He said their goal is to increase clinic attendance of pregnant women and increase immunization on children.
AusAID pledges more financial aid
MORE than 70,000 students in 45 of the most disadvantaged schools in Fiji will have their education needs met by increased funding provided by AusAID. AusAID has announced it will double its aid to Fiji to $65.6million ($A36m) from $33.7m ($A18.6m). AusAID director general Peter Baxter made the revelation this week, saying this meant AusAID would help these schools buy books, uniforms and other essential material over the next five years. "We will improve hygiene standards in those schools and we will upgrade school buildings and make them accessible for children with disabilities who are often the most disadvantaged in our communities," Mr Baxter said. He said AusAID would provide more scholarships to Fiji students to study in Australia. "Those scholarships will target the areas where Fiji can use help like economic growth, rural development and agriculture, climate change, health, education, international trade and public sector management and reform. "Over the last two years we've doubled our scholarships from 20 to 40 and we're going to double them aging in the next two years from 40 to 80."
June 2012
alga and marine sediment to be brought back to Fiji to be assessed for their commercial potential as medicines especially to fight diseases in the Pacific. A total of 117 individual samples of marine organisms were collected as well as 78 sediment samples. Both USP scientists on the expedition, Mr Klaus Feussner and Dr Katy Soapi believe that medicines from marine organism are especially attractive as the marine environment contains extraordinary biodiversity and is among the richest, understudied and most complex ecosystems. It provides a new and rich resource for chemicals with great potential forpharmaceutical development, they added. The work, supported by an International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG), is part of an ongoing project at IAS
Training begins for Fijian voter registration system Suva. The first series of workshops for the Electronic Voter Registration (EVR) was conducted today at the Elections Office in Suva. The training was conducted by experts from CODE Inc Corporation of Canada. The company was selected from 11 proposals received by the Fijian Government to conduct the registration exercise. While addressing the Team Leaders, the Acting Prime Minister and Attorney General and Justice Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum reminded them that their responsibility is vital towards the efficiency of the voter registration process. "You have been selected purely on merit as trainers, you will be responsible for the proper registration of 660,000 Fiji voters within the duration of 8 weeks throughout Fiji", Minister Sayed-Khaiyum said. He reminded trainers that Government would not want to see a repeat of flaws of the past elections. "Any
flaws will undermine the credibility of whichever Government is elected. It is critical that when you are trained today you pass on such ethics," he said.\ Experts from CODE Corporation of Canada were able to train the team leaders on how to operate the electronic voting kit which includes the filling out of appropriate forms, picture taken through web camera, identification of thumb print and the printing out of identification cards. Trainers will be trained for approximately 3 weeks before they are deployed to Voter Registration Centers (VRC) to conduct training on the selected personnel. During registration, 3 personnel are required to operate the voting kits in registration centers. People are encouraged to report to the VRC close to them for registration. Registration of one person will not take more than three minutes. This identification card will be presented to the polling station during election in 2014. The Prime
Voter
voter could be eligible to vote. "The cards are made in such a way that it will be very hard or almost impossible to replicate, duplicate or photocopy," Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said. He said the new cards had been put in place by government following the European Union's report that identi-
designed to foster biodiversity through the search for new natural substances of marine origin. Previous work from samples collected in Fiji by the team has resulted in one chemical that has been patented and another that is currently undergoing pre-clinical trial in the United States for antimalarial drug development.Under the agreement with the Fiji Government, any commercial benefits are shared with the Government and used for marine management activities. A similar agreement is being developed with the Solomon Islands Government. IAS acknowledges the support of the Solomon Islands Government, the Tetepare Descendants Association and the Western Provincial Government for permission to collect marine samples from their coastal waters.
Research Office staff cherishes India experience
registration process begins in Fiji The Fijian Prime Minister has kick started the voter registration process. In a ceremony marking the launch of the electronic voter registration machine, Frank Bainimarama completed the new and simplified process. Attorney General and Minister for Electoral Reforms Mr Sayed-Khaiyum says registration will be opened to the public on July 3. He says 1,000 registration clerks will have the task of registering 600,000 people in eight weeks. Mr SayedKhaiyum says adopting the system will add integrity and credibility to the elected Government in the 2014 elections.
Bainimarama the first registered voter
FIJI for the first time has an advanced identification process for people over the age of 18 who are eligible to vote in the 2014 elections. This was revealed by AttorneyGeneral Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum as Prime Minister Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama became the first person officially registered and issued with an ID card under the new voting system at the Civic Centre in Suva yesterday. He said under the new electronic voter registration (EVR) system that was due to start next week, those eligible to vote in the country would be required to produce ID cards that established one's identity in order to be registered. "Following the registration process, a card will be issued, which voters will have to take to the polling stations," Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said. At the polling stations, he said the card would be verified before a
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fied fraudulent activities in the past elections. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said the more than 1000 people who had been chosen to register voters were young and had been chosen from all over Fiji. "They will provide the best system of registration that Fiji is yet to have," he said. Mr SayedKhaiyum said from July 3, they hoped to register 600,000 Fijians within eight weeks until the third week of August. "It is a very massive exercise and we would like to acknowledge the help and support of the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Finance that has provided the funding for the hiring of technology," he said. Fijians living abroad will be registered next year after government finalises necessary measures. Mr Sayed-Khaiyum also thanked Australian and New Zealand experts who worked with the elections office.
USP staff, Ms Shaiza Janif meets the Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Shri Vayalar Ravi during hertrip to India. Ms Shaiza Janif, a staff of the University of the South Pacific recently returned to Fiji after spending almost a month in India. She was selected by the Indian Cultural Centre to represent Fiji as part of the Know India Programme (KIP). The KIP is an orientation programme for Diaspora youths conducted with a view to promote awareness on different facets of life in India and the progress made by the country in various fields. Ms Janif, who works as the Research Student Coordinator at the USP Research Office, was in India from 22 April to 16 May, 2012. She said that her visit to India was “a dream come true.” “The notion of being in India had been a dream which I had inherited from my mother. I cannot thank the Indian Cultural Centre, Ministry of Overseas India Affairs and especially the USP Research Office enough for making this dream a reality,” she added. A total of 32 participants from 12 nations were part of the programme this year. During their time abroad, the participants visited important dignitaries, government departments, media stations and historical monuments. “Everyday brought about a new learning experience, adventure and twist to the trip. At the end of each day there was always something that had left me feeling amazed with India and her people,” she said.
How it all started Clues to solve crime 8
FIJI NEWS
July 2012
CRIME Stoppers began in Fiji in 1997, with the engagement between former police commissioner Isikia Savua and James Datta, the managing director of Courts Homecentres who had brought the project to the attention of the police on how it was operated around the world in Crime Stoppers International. The concept behind Crime Stoppers was the commitment of authorities to the endeavour of honouring people's right to live peacefully. This commitment has never wavered. The idea of its set up was to breach the gap between the police and the community as the detection rate was low and crime rate was high thus necessitating a system that would involve the community in detection, information dissemination that led to arrests. In June 1997, 19 business men from around Fiji were selected to be directors and help sponsors to get Crime Stoppers going. A meeting was held at the old training centre at the Police Academy in Nasese where it was established the 19 (faceless) men would become foundation members and act as directors to Crime Stoppers. The 19 men included Barry Ferber (FBC), William Parkinson (Fiji Television), Anirudh Diwakar (CFL), Winston Thompson (TFL), Peni Mau (Post Fiji), Robert Gordon (Daily Post), Ken Clarke (Fiji TV) Graeme Brown (Fiji Tattslotto), Russel Hunter (Fiji Times), James Datta (Courts Fiji), Punja (Punja & Sons, Lautoka), Isikia Savua (Police Commissioner), Moses Driver (Deputy Police Commissioner) and coordinator Sergeant Maritino. James Datta was the main source behind Crime Stoppers being
The late James Datta, was one of the founders and helped establish the Crime Stoppers unit. FILE PHOTO
linked to Crime Stoppers International. On June 20, 1997 Crime Stoppers Southern was officially launched by the former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka. On the April 2, 1998 Crime Stoppers Western was officially launched in Lautoka by the late Minister for Justice Etuate Tavaiqia. And on the July 20, 2001 Crime Stoppers Northern was officially launched at Subrail Park, Labasa. Crime Stoppers continued, with various fundraising meetings held and the infamous 919 number was bought into operation. Crime Stoppers, to this date has been a great success in tackling crime. The involvement of people filling in the puzzles has helped police greatly in respective investigations.
Fiji TV Announces Commitment to Ethics
Our Vision
A well trained motivated and highly responsive division that continually improves on its capacity in Community Partnership and Crime Intelligence and Information sharing to ensure a safer Fiji for all.
Our Mission
"Provide quality and conducive crime intelligence and information sharing service environment in partnership with the community to make Fiji the best place to live, work and visit. Our Vision is to help stop, solve and prevent crime.
THE Scholastic Crime Stoppers is a confidential reporting program against crime in high schools, and rewards successful tipsters that prevent and solve faculty crimes. The implementation of Scholastic Crime Stoppers program in Fiji in 2005 has assisted in proactive approach that uses students to prevent and solve crimes and constitute one of the best and least expensive crime prevention strategies. Scholastic Crime Stoppers evolved from the Crime Stoppers program. The program allows students to provide tips about crimes they witness that is committed in their school compound or in any school sponsored event. To lessen fears of retaliation, students can remain anonymous. Similar to the Crime Stoppers program, the student board of directors of a Scholastic Crime Stoppers program is the core of the organisation. The role of the student board of directors facilitates the advertising and marketing of the program, as well as raising funds through donations. The board also discusses crime information and determines reward, but it never investigates a crime.
Furthermore, the identity of informants, victims, and the suspects remains confidential. Informants are referred to only by their assigned code numbers, and board members must respect the anonymity of the persons. Participating students must be of good academic status and remain out of trouble both on and off faculty. Therefore, with the implementation of Scholastic Crime Stoppers, students are confident of giving information on law breaking events that they witness or that are being yet to be executed by their peers and in solving crimes. By having their identity concealed with the reward promises in place, students who fear revenge, would be able to report cases with a trust that their identity is anonymous. Scholastic Crime Stoppers is a means one can use to bring to light such bad behaviors. Through the awareness, visits and presentations by other units of the force on the types of crime and illegal activities; students who are not aware that such acts are forbidden can easily report such matters and are protected by the Scholastic Crime Stoppers Program.
Whippy family pays tribute to ancestor
Fiji TV announced a commitment to media ethics and to make its work more ethical, according to a Pacific Media Watch press release. Fiji TV's statement reads: "Fiji TV acknowledges government’s position on the need for balanced and fair reporting of news by all media organisation, including Fiji TV. Fiji TV will ensure that it will improve its news." Fiji TV is "one of the country's three free-to-air TV stations," according to Paciic Media Watch. The statement came after questions about the government asking Fiji TV to "stop running stories which go against the regime," and saying that Fiji TV's broadcast "license is under threat," according to Radio New Zealand International. According to the International Federation of Journalists, Fiji TV was told its material would be "monitored" and Fiji TV is currently trying to
renew its license with the government. According to Pacific Media Watch's June report, Fiji TV got in trouble specifically for a May report interviewing former politicians: "On May 23, Fiji TV ran a news story with interviews with deposed prime minister Laisenia Qarase and the Fiji Labour Party leader Mahendra Chaudhry (who was the deposed PM in the 2000 George Speight coup). The interviews were in response to comments by the Constitution Commissioner, Taufa Vakatale, who blamed previous politicians for what she said was Fiji’s current situation." In response to the government's criticism, the International Federation of Journalists and the Pacific Freedom Forum came out in support of the network. The IFJ issued a June 12 statement "condemning the recent threat made by Fiji's government" against Fiji TV.
A MONUMENT has been erected to commemorate one of the oldest part-European families in Fiji. Descendants of David Whippy, a sailor, trader, commercially-minded adventurer and founder of Levuka Town, will gather in Levuka next Tuesday to unveil a plaque in remembrance of their illustrious ancestor. His plaque will be officially unveiled by the President Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, who also unveiled a plaque at a dedication of Mr Whippy's grave site at Nakabuta in Wainunu, Bua, two years ago. During the dedication ceremony in 2010, Ratu Epeli challenged the Whippy clan to build a similar memorial or monument in Levuka. He said historians in general agreed that Whippy had made an indelible mark in establishing the town as a trading and
A recent research by a former media academic from the University of the South Pacific evaluating the general state of investigative journalism in seven Pacific Island countries proposes collaboration between media, civil society organisations and other social institutes to help strengthen capacity in this area. The author, Mr Shailendra Singh, is former divisional head of Journalism at USP and former editor ofThe Review news magazine. He points out that lack of resources in newsrooms, lack of train-
ing for journalists and repressive environments pose major constraints for investigative journalism in the Pacific. Mr Singh, who has widely researched and written on corruption and governance issues in Fiji and the Pacific, is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Queensland. His paper, Investigative Journalism: Challenges, perils, rewards in seven Pacific island countries, was published in the latest Pacific Journalism Review, a media journal based at the Auckland University of Technology. The paper
looked at the environment for investigative journalism in Fiji, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu. Mr Singh writes that the Pacific media can overcome resource constraints and repressive environments by “working with the competition” - meaning rival media companies - on major stories and collaborating with other institutions central to Pacific island life, such as communitybased civil organisations, academia and religious bodies. Mr Singh states
commercial centre for the whole of the Fiji group in the 19th century, and started industries, some of which still play a major role in Fiji's economy today. Caroline Whippy, the wife of Michael Whippy, a sixth generation descendant of David Whippy, said the Whippy family in Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, England and North America took up the President's challenge and two years later, after many fundraising drives, have had the monument made and shipped from China. "The monument has been erected on a site of significant and sentimental value to many of David Whippy's descendants who either grew up in Levuka or came to live there with relatives while getting an education at Levuka Public School," Mrs Whippy said. She said prominent Levuka residents and members of the town's business
that despite the challenges, Pacific media has some comparative advantages. While newspapers may find it difficult to engage in investigative journalism due to daily deadlines and resource constraints, monthly-circulated magazines in the Pacific may have an advantage in this specialist area due to lower overhead costs and more time to work on stories. Mr Singh said Fiji’s Review magazine rose from obscurity and boosted its circulation with some major exposés, such as the National Bank of Fiji
community had been invited to celebrate the occasion with the Whippy family from Fiji and abroad. "Interestingly enough, this event in remembrance of David Whippy could end up being a double celebration as Levuka gears up in preparation for a visit by the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) in 2013 to determine if Levuka Town qualifies as a World Heritage site," she said. She said should the town indeed satisfy World Heritage conditions of compliance, it will see an influx of tourists and visitors from all over the world. Levuka Council CEO Suliana Sandys said the placement of Mr Whippy's monument was most conducive to efforts to raise cultural awareness of the town and add substance to Levuka's rich history and heritage in preparation for the ICOMOS visit.
Study looks into the general state of investigative journalism in Pacific Island Countries
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God particle: We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature
WORLD NEWS
GENEVA: After a quest spanning nearly half a century, physicists on Wednesday said they had found a new sub-atomic particle consistent with the elusive Higgs boson which is believed to confer mass. Rousing cheers and a standing ovation erupted at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) after scientists presented astonishing new data in their search for the mysterious particle. Many hailed it as a moment in history, and white-haired veterans of the quest shed tears of joy. The new find is "consistent with (the) long-sought Higgs boson," CERN declared in a statement. "We have reached a milestone in our understanding of nature," said CERN Director General Rolf Heuer. He and others cautioned, though, that further work was needed to identify what exactly had been found. "As a layman I would say we have it, but as a scientist I have to say, 'what do we have?'" Heuer told a press conference. "We have discovered a boson, and now we have to determine what kind of boson it is." Peter Higgs, a
Two Palestinians shot dead by Israeli lorry driver: Police
HEBRON (Palestinian Territories): Two Palestinians were shot dead by an Israeli truck driver after they tried to steal his vehicle in the south Hebron Hills today morning, Israeli police said. Palestinian officials confirmed the two deaths but had no information about the circumstances of the shooting which took place at the Shani junction near AlSamua, in the southernmost part of the West Bank. Israel police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the incident occurred after the two men tried to attack the truck driver.
shy, soft-spoken British physicist who in 1964 published the conceptual groundwork for the particle and whose name became associated with it, expressed delight. "I never expected this to happen in my lifetime and shall be asking my family to put some champagne in the fridge," the 83year-old said in a statement. Higgs sat next to Belgian physicist Francois Englert, 79, who separately contributed to the theory. "I just want to say that my thoughts go to Robert Brout," said Englert, his eyes moist with
ated by the Big Bang some 13.7 billion years ago. When some particles encounter the Higgs, they slow down and acquire mass, according to the theory. Others, such as particles of light, encounter no obstacle. CERN uses a giant underground laboratory where protons are smashed together at nearly the speed of light, yielding sub-atomic debris that is then scrutinised for signs of the fleeting Higgs. The task is arduous because there are trillions of signals, occurring among particles at different ranges of mass. The Higgs has been dubbed the " God particle" because it is powerful and ubiquitous yet so hard to find. Over the years, tens of thousands of physicists and billions of dollars have been thrown into the search, gradually narrowing down the mass range where it might exist. Two CERN laboratories, working independently of each other to avoid bias, found the new particle in the mass region of around 125-126 Gigaelectronvolts (GeV), according to data they presented on Wednesday. Both said that the results were "five sigma," meaning there was just a
0.00006 percent chance that what the two laboratories found is a mathematical quirk. "The results are preliminary but the five sigma signal at around 125 GeV we're seeing is dramatic," said Joe Incandela, spokesman for one of the two experiments. "This is indeed a new particle. We know it must be a boson and it's the heaviest boson ever found. The implications are very significant and it is precisely for this reason that we must be extremely diligent in all of our studies and crosschecks." At a particle-physics conference in Melbourne, Australia, a participant said there was a "jaw-dropping" moment when the scientists reacted to the announcement. History was then feted with beer and champagne. Scientists began to pore over what the find could mean. "(The Higgs) has been anticipated for more than four decades and were it not there theorists all over the world would have been back to their drawing boards in desperation," said Anthony Thomas at the University of Adelaide in Australia.
20 pilgrims killed in Baghdad bombings
BAGHDAD: At least 20 people were killed and 44 injured in two separate bomb blasts which targetted Shia pilgrims Saturday, Xinhua reported. According to an interior ministry source, the first attack occurred around mid-day when a booby-trapped car struck a procession of Shiae pilgrims at an intersection in Shula district in northwestern Baghdad. It killed up to 14 pilgrims and wounded 32 others. About two hours later, a second car bomb hit Shia pilgrims near Sanaa Square outside the holy Shiite shrine district of Kadhmiyah
Giant leap: China’s woman astronaut put into orbit
BEIJING: China's launched its manned space mission with Shenzhou-9 spacecraft whose crew includes its first woman astronaut, Liu Yang. After a successful blastoff at 6.37 pm on Saturday, Shenzhou-9 spacecraft entered its orbit accurately. It carried three astronauts, including a woman, and was powered by Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi Desert in western China. "I believe we can achieve this goal because we already have the basic technological capability," Zhou Jianping, chief designer of China's manned space engineering project, said. The crew will spend at least 20 days in space. The mission involves automatic and manual docking with a miniature space station, Tiangong 1, which has been in orbit since last September. This is the first time China has sent a woman astronaut. Yang (33) is a cargo pilot in the People's Liberation Army air force. After the manual docking, the crew will transfer to Tiangong 1 and spend some time conducting exper-
tears, as he lauded a fellow pioneer who died in 2011 before the once-outlandish theory could be proved. Finding the Higgs would validate the Standard Model, a theory which identifies the building blocks for matter and the particles that convey fundamental forces. It is a hugely successful theory but has several gaps, the biggest of which is why some particles have mass but others do not. Mooted by Higgs and several others, the boson is believed to exist in a treacly, invisible, ubiquitous field cre-
July 2012
iments. Though the space progamme is implemented by the People's Liberation Army, Beijing has assured the international community that it will never be involved in space warfare, but is spending billions of dollars to compete with the US and Russia. Last December, China announced a five-year space programme , which include a space lab and sample collection from the moon by 2016. Earlier, the government had vowed to reach the moon and establish a manned space station by 2020.
in northern Baghdad, killing at least six pilgrims and wounding 12, the source added. The pilgrims were marching on foot to return to their homes after having participated in the observation of one of the major Shia rituals in the holy Shia district of Kadhmiyah. About six million pilgrims from various parts of Baghdad and other provinces have gathered near the Imam Mussa al-Kadhim shrine in Kadhmiyah district for the annual commemoration of the death of the 7th most sacred 12 Shia Imams.
Hamid Karzai picks up threads of reconciliation with Taliban
NEW DELHI: Afghan president Hamid Karzai has restarted the reconciliation process with the Taliban, by announcing that Salahuddin Rabbani, head of Afghanistan's High Peace Council would visit Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to seek assistance. This announcement, made at the end of this week's Kabul conference is a sign that Karzai is picking up the threads of a political process that was shattered when the Taliban, with help from Pakistan's ISI, had assassinated the former council chief. Salahuddin is the son of the former chief, Burhanuddin Rabbani. The first ministerial conference to focus on Afghanistan's development and future included, among others, foreign ministers of Russia, Pakistan, U.K., Germany, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Denmark. The US was represented by deputy secretary of State William Burns. Salman Khurshid, law minister, represented India, standing in for Pranab Mukherjee, who has been named the presidential candidate of the UPA government. The conference adopted a declaration to start political consultations between Afghanistan and its neighbours, as well as implement CBMs identified during the previous meeting in Istanbul.
Suu Kyi accepts Nobel Peace Prize 21 years late
OSLO: Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi finally accepted her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on Saturday after spending a total of 15 years under house arrest and said full political freedom in her country was still a long way off. "Absolute peace in our world is an unattainable goal," Suu Kyi said in her acceptance speech during her first trip to Europe in nearly 25 years. "Hostilities have not ceased in the far north; to the west, communal violence resulting in arson and murder were taking place just several days before I started out the journey that has brought me here today." Suu Kyi, the Oxford University-educated daughter of General Aung San, Myanmar's assassinated independence hero, advocated caution about transformation in Myanmar, whose quasi-civilian government continues to hold political prisoners. "There still remain such prisoners in Burma. It is to be feared that because the best known detainees have been released, the remainder, the unknown ones, will be forgotten," Suu Kyi, 66, told a packed Oslo City Hall. A day earlier, she arrived from Switzerland to a jubilant reception as dancing and chanting crowds filled Oslo's streets and showered her with flowers. Suu Kyi, who spent a total of 15 years under house
arrest between 1989 and her release in late 2010, never left Myanmar even during brief periods of freedom after 1989, afraid the military would not let back in. Her sons, Kim and Alexander had accepted the Nobel prize on her behalf in 1991, with her husband Michael Aris also attending the ceremony. A year later Suu Kyi announced she would use the $1.3 million prize money to establish a health and education trust for Burmese people. She was unable to be with Aris, an Oxford academic, when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and died in Britain in 1999.
Tightrope walker becomes first man to cross Niagara Falls 10
WORLD NEWS
July 2012
NEW YORK - Step by drenched step, through swirling mist and gusting wind, Mr Nik Wallenda has become the first man in history to walk across Niagara Falls at their most ferocious. The scion of a famous acrobatic family edged his way for 1,800 feet along a twoinch diameter steel rope nearly 200 feet above the churning maelstrom. The last tightrope walker to cross part of the gorge completed the feat in 1896, before the authorities imposed a ban on the growing band of adventurers drawn to the falls. But Mr Wallenda is the first stuntman to cross the full stretch directly over the churning torrent, reports The Daily Telegraph. More than 100,000 people gathered on the American and Canadian sides of Niagara as he walked from the US to Canada, while millions more watched on television as the ABC network broadcast the spectacle live. To Mr Wallenda's frustration, the insurance requirements of ABC meant that he had to be tethered to a safety harness, the first time he had worn such a device in his wire-walking career. But as he pointed out happily afterwards, it was an unnecessary safety backup. Even as the television lights lit the night sky, it often seemed like he would disappear into the spray thrown up as 7,000 gallons of water thundered each second down the equivalent of a 20-storey building. Mr Wallenda curled his feet around the wire wearing shoes specially-made by his mother - suede moccasins with an elk-
skin sole to prevent him slipping in the wet. The 33-year-old father of three is a seventhgeneration member of the famed Flying Wallendas family of circus performers. He dedicated his achievement to his greatgrandfather, Karl, who fell to his death during a stunt in Puerto Rico in 1978. "That mist was thick and it was hard to see at times," he said when he was asked about the greatest challenge. "Wind going one way, mist another. It was very uncomfortable for a while." Afterward, he said he accomplished the feat through "a lot of praying, that's for sure. But, you know, it's all about the concentration, the focus, and the training". And for his encore, Mr Wallenda has another of the world's wonders in his sights. He revealed that he has the first permit to cross the Grand Canyon in his pocket - roughly three times longer than the walk over Niagara Falls. AGENCIES
Muslim Brotherhood's Mursi declared Egypt's president
CAIRO: Muslim Brotherhood's Mohammed Mursi today won the historic post-Mubarak presidential polls in Egypt, beating his rival and former Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq to become the country's first freely elected President. Supreme Presidential Elections Commission head Farouq Sultan announced that Mursi had won the presidential run-off. Mursi, 60, won 51.73 per cent of the vote, beating his rival Shafiq, the Higher Presidential Election Commission said. Sultan said the election commission had upheld some of the 466 complaints by the candidates, but that the election result still stood. The announcement prompted scenes of jubilation in Cairo's Tahrir Square, where Mursi's supporters gathered. Thousands of Muslim Brotherhood supporters had packed Cairo's iconic Tahrir
Square in anticipation of a win for their candidate, waving flags and chanting pro-Mursi slogans. Some schools and shops closing early and people rushed home amid fears of unrest after the result. Extra troops and police were deployed across Cairo as military helicopters hovered above the city. The road leading to parliament was shut to traffic, and security measures were in place to protect vital establishments.
Pak's change of guard worries China
Tightrope walker Nik Wallenda crossing the Niagara Falls.
36 Indians arrested for illegal work in Britain
LONDON: In one of the largest raids by UK immigration officials in recent months, 36 Indian nationals have been arrested following an operation to crack down on illegal working in Southall here. Acting on intelligence, and with assistance from the Metropolitan Police, the UK Border Agency targeted individuals who gather daily in the King Street area looking for casual labour, official sources said. Immigration officials moved into the area at around 0730 on Tuesday carrying out immigration checks on individuals to see if they were entitled to live and work in the UK. Thirty-six Indian males aged between 23 and 56 were arrested for a variety of immigration offences, 16 of whom had overstayed their visas, including several students, the sources added. Thirty-four of the 36 arrested are currently in immigration detention awaiting removal from the country. Two have been released on immigration bail. One of those arrested for immigration offences is wanted by police on suspicion of money laundering and is now in police custody.
BEIJING: The Pakistan Peoples Party's (PPP) choice of Raja Pervez Ashraf as the candidate to replace the disqualified PM Yusaf Raza Gilani is that of a stranger to China, the country Pakistan refers to as its all-weather friend. Raja Ashraf in his maiden speech to parliament on Friday used the standard hyperbole that Pakistani politicians reserve for China. "Pakistan's friendship with China is higher than mountains and China has helped us in every hour of need and we would further enhance it," he said. However, the Chinese leaders though have strong reasons to worry about the changed circumstances in Islamabad. Ashraf is almost an unknown commodity to Beijing and he would be the first Pakistani PM since the Nawaz Sharif regime in the 1990s to be in that unchartered area with respect to China. Ashraf has not visited Beijing in the past several years. This is signifi-
China says plane hijacking foiled BEIJING: Chinese airline passengers helped foil an attempt to hijack a plane in the western region of Xinjiang on Friday, state media said, the latest incident of instability in a part of China where the government says it is facing violent separatists. Passengers and air crew subdued six people who attempted to hijack a flight 10 minutes after it took off from the remote desert city of Hotan, a heavily ethnic Uighur area that has been hit by recent bouts of violence, Xinhua news agency said. The Tianjin Airlines plane was flying to the regional capital, Urumqi, when the attackers were overpowered, Xinhua said, citing police. The aircraft returned to Hotan where six people were taken into custody, it said.
The news agency did not identify the hijackers or give any information about their background. Xinjiang is home to the mainly Muslim Uighur people who speak a Turkic language. Many of them chafe at Chinese government controls on their culture and religion. Two guards on board the plane were seriously injured in the struggle with the hijackers, while the senior flight attendant and seven passengers were slightly injured, Xinhua added. Pictures posted on China's Twitter-like microblogging site Sina Weibo showed grimacing passengers holding down at least one of the suspects and what looked like blood on one of the seats. In another picture, police could be seen on the tarmac, apparently
bundling off one of the hijackers. Reuters was not able to independently verify the authenticity of the pictures. Calls to Xinjiang's regional government and police offices went unanswered. ATTACKS In March 2008, Chinese officials said they had foiled a plan by an ethnic Uighur woman to bring down a flight from Xinjiang, where airport security screening is supposed to be very strict. The government, wary of instability and the threat to the Communist Party's grip on power, often blames what it calls violent separatist groups and religious extremists in Xinjiang for attacks on police and other government targets. In September, courts in Xinjiang
sentenced four people to death for violence in two cities last year in which 32 people were killed. The government blamed the incidents in Kashgar and Hotan - both in the majority Uighur southern part of Xinjiang on Muslim hardliners who want to establish an independent state called East Turkestan. In January, authorities said that seven people killed by police in Xinjiang had been trying to leave the country to wage "holy war". China is concerned about Uighur activists linking up with Islamist militants over the border in Pakistan. Activists in exile and human rights groups say China overstates the threat posed by militants in energy-rich Xinjiang, which sits astride south and central Asia.
cant because Pakistani politicians including President Asif Ali Zardari and former PM Yusaf Raza Gilani have been visiting China several times a year and developing their relationship with the Chinese government and the Communist Party's different agencies. Gilani's departure is a huge loss for China because it has invested heavily in developing a close relationship with him and with Zardari. Beijing is said to be seriously-worried because Zardari's future remains in doubt. The changing situation will be closely-watched in New Delhi because China banks on its relationship with Pakistani leaders to work out strategies concerning its relationship with India. Pakistani is known to get encouragement from China to continuously to harp on the Kashmir issue to keep India under pressure. The Zardari-Gilani tenure has seen Pakistan coming closer to China and drifting away from the US.
Experts warn against restarting nuclear reactors in Japan
NEW DELHI: Japan is in ferment as the date for restarting two of its nuclear reactors draws close after over an year's shutdown. Hundreds have participated in protests at several places. Local councils are confused and divided. Two seismic experts publicly warned that the government is under-estimating the threat to these reactors which are located very near a seismic fault. And a group of lawmakers cutting across political parties released a danger ranking of 50 nuclear reactors in Japan calling for their phased decommissioning.
PRESIDENTIAL POLL : Pranab renews appeal for support to his candidature
INDIA NEWS
Possibly renewing his appeal to the Trinamool Congress, UPA Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said that those political parties which had not taken any decision to support his candidature should do so. "I am the UPA Presidential candidate. I seek support of all parties," Mukherjee told reporters at his Dhakuria residence before leaving for Belur Math. Stating that those political parties which had decided to support him would vote for him, he said, "But those who have not taken a decision, I appeal to them to decide and support the UPA candidate. "Asked to comment on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remark that the UPA still hoped of support
from the Trinamool Congress, Mukherjee replied, "I have no comment to make on what the Prime Minister has said." "Last night when asked whether he would meet and talk to Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on support to his candidature, he had said, "Definitely I will talk to her. But right now there is no such possibility."
Will talk to Mamata if necessary, says Pranab
UPA Presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee said here tonight that if necessary he would definitely talk to Trinamool Congress chief
Pranab Mukherjee files nomination accompanied by a crowd of leaders
NEW DELHI: UPA's presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee filed his nomination papers on Thursday for the July 19 elections in the presence of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a battery of top leaders. Mukherjee submitted four sets of nomination papers signed by 486 members, including MPs, MLAs, Union ministers and chief ministers, of the 4,896-member electoral college. Sonia and the PM delivered the first set of nomination papers to Rajya Sabha secretary general V K Agnihotri, who is the returning officer for the presidential polls. The second set was delivered by senior Congress leader Motilal Vora and the two remaining sets were submitted by Mukherjee.
Mamata Banerjee seeking her support to his candidature. "If necessary, definitely I will talk to her," Mukherjee said when asked whether he would talk to Banerjee seeking her support to his presidential candidature during his stay in the city. Mukherjee said "right now, there was no such possibility." Banerjee has opposed Mukherjee's candidature and had instead proposed APJ Abdul Kalam's name for the top post but he opted out of the race. At the same time despite sharp differences over the choice of candidate for president, Prime Minister
July 2012
Manmohan Singh on Saturday said that the Trinamool Congress "still" remained an ally. Speaking to reporters on his way back from the G20 and Rio+20 summits in Mexico and Brazil, the Prime Minister said had spoken to all political parties to support finance minister Pranab Mukherjee as next president. "As far as the Trinamol Congress is concerned, Trinamol Congress is still part of the UPA (United Progressive Alliance)," the Prime Minister said about the ally, which had proposed its own candidate. "I have still not given up hope that Trinamol Congress will also find its way to support the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee," the Prime Minister added.
Sangma files papers, says it's a victory for tribals
NEW DELHI: Opposition candidate P A Sangma on Thursday filed his nomination for the presidential polls against Pranab Mukherjee, playing up the tribal card to appeal to voters across the political spectrum. He was flanked by BJP seniors L K Advani, Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar and party chief Nitin Gadkari, Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik, Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and Goa CM Manohar Parrikar among others as he signed the nomination papers at the Rajya Sabha secretariat. Spelling out the campaign line, which is designed to hit out at the policies of the UPA government and not target Mukherjee directly, Sangma said, "Today is a victory of tribal unity... that a tribal is filing his nomination for the post of president."
11 Centre diluting Indian position on Kashmir: Modi
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi today alleged that "Congress government" at the Centre was trying to dilute the Indian position on Jammu and Kashmir. "The official attempt of the congress government to dilute Indian position on Kashmir is an issue of grave concern," Modi said. He was speaking here at a function to mark the death anniversary of Dr Syama Prasad Mukerjee, founder of erstwhile Jan Sangh. "Let us not forget his words 'Ek desh me do Vidhan, do Pradhan aur Do Nishan nahi chalenge" (no two constitutions, two prime ministers and two national emblems in one country)." "It was Mukerjee who had given this call and started an agitation on the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. He died under mysterious circumstances in a jail of Jammu and Kashmir and he was the first martyr of independent India," Modi said. "However, now after 57 years, the present Congress government, as a part of its vote-bank politics, has once again decided to put Kashmir under the clouds of uncertainty," Modi said. "Thousands of our soldiers and others have laid down their lives for the integration of Jammu and Kashmir," he said. "It is time for all the citizens who are committed to unity and integrity of the country to raise voice against such attempt by the Congress government to dilute the Indian position on Kashmir, Modi said."
12
July 2012
Army colonel arrested in NDA recruitment ‘scam’
MUMBAI: The CBI on Saturday arrested Col Kulwinder Singh, staff officer (SO) to Lt Gen Jatinder Singh, National Defence Academy commandant, in connection with complaints of graft over the appointment of 40 lower-division clerks in the NDA. Singh, who belongs to the Guards regiment, was arrested from a friend's residence in the Colaba military station. The SO is like a personal secretary responsible for smooth functioning of the commandant's office. The NDA's spokesperson confirmed the arrest but said they were still awaiting details from the CBI. Rishiraj Singh, CBI joint director, refused to comment saying investigations were on in the recruitment scam. "We will cooperate with the CBI," a seniorofficer in the Army headquarters said. The NDA had in February invited applications to appoint 40 clerks. According to information, the anticorruption bureau of the CBI received a complaint of a scam in which people were allegedly being promised the job of a clerk in the NDA on the payment of over Rs 50,000, though they did not fulfil the eligibility criteria. Singh's name was mentioned as one of the alleged beneficiaries of the bribe being paid through a middleman.
A tearful family reunion for Surjeet Singh
ATTARI: It was an emotional homecoming for Surjeet Singh, arrested and jailed in Pakistan for 30 years on charges of spying, as he crossed the Wagah-Attari border for a tearful reunion with his family on Thursday. Sporting a black turban and a white kurta-pyjama, Surjeet, 69, claimed he was sent to Pakistan for spying by the intelligence agency, Research & Analysis Wing, and that he'd never cross the border again. Although a free man the moment he left jail, Surjeet was in handcuffs, with an iron chain attached to the belt of a Pakistani officer as he got down from the prison van. As he alighted with a deliberate slowness, the accompanying Pakistani policemen who got down with him did not open the handcuffs. "I have stepped on my soil after 30 years. I am so happy," said Surjeet after he crossed over, his white beard flowing freely in the wind. Surjeet was arrested in 1982 on charges of spying and sentenced to death by the commanding officer of the 106 Brigade Headquarter, Lahore. Surjeet had then submitted a mercy petition before Pakistan's chief of army staff but it was rejected. In December 1988, then Pakistan president Ghulam Ishaq Khan
Black money a problem, but no magic solutions: PM
commuted his death sentence to life imprisonment following announcement of a general amnesty. Surjeet's daughter Parminder Kaur and son Kulwinder Singh introduced themselves to their father with their nicknames saying, "Papa, I am Pinder and he is Titu." Tears rolled their cheeks and Surjeet hugged them showering them with blessings. Parminder was
Air India pilots' strike the longest pilot stir in 40 years
NEW DELHI: As G-20 countries worked on steps to tackle black money, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said it is a problem but no "magic solutions" were available to deal with menace. "The problem is there but there are no magic solutions available. I think it is going to be a slow process," Singh told reporters accompanying him on his return home after his eight-day foreign tour. The Prime Minister's remark came when he was asked whether the black money issue has become irrelevant for the Group of Developed and Developing countries (G20) or any improvement was there in dealing with the problem. "It is too early to say one way or the other," he said. The just concluded G-20 Summit at Los Cabos in Mexico welcomed the efforts to enhance interagency cooperation to tackle illicit financial flows. In its communique, the G20 said it supported the renewal of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) mandate, thereby sustaining global efforts to combat money laundering. In the tax
area, the G-20 leaders including Prime Minister Singh reiterated their commitment to strengthen transparency and comprehensive exchange of information. The 14-page document also called on relevant stakeholders to play an active role in fighting corruption, saying graft impeded economic growth, threatened the integrity of markets, undermined fair competition and undermined the rule of law. Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a US NGO, praised G-20 leaders today for prominently focusing on the issue of illicit financial flows and committing to move toward the automatic exchange of tax information. G20 leaders have committed "to lead by example in implementing" the practice of automatic tax information exchange, and called upon other "countries to join this growing practice as appropriate," a move lauded by GFI as a major step in the right direction. Corruption, crime, and tax evasion in the form of illicit financial outflows cost the developing world US$1 trillion per year, according to GFI research.
MUMBAI: The hunger protest by the pilots of Air India (AI) entered its sixth day on Friday. The pilots have been on strike for more than 50 days now, making it the longest running pilots' strike in the last 40 years. They went on strike on May 8 to protest against the airline's decision to train the erstwhile Indian Airlines (IC) pilots for the soon-to-be inducted Dreamliner aircraft. The union of the AI pilots, Indian Pilots' Guild (IPG) was derecognised by the airline when they went on strike. On Wednesday, the members of the derecognised unions released a press note saying that the strike is the longest strike in the last 40 years. In 1993, pilots of IC had gone on strike and the airline had adopted the same indifferent approach. To replace the pilots, the airline recruited more pilots from Uzbekistan airways. ""On January 1993, the leased Tupolev Tu154 aircraft crashed at Delhi airport while landing in foggy conditions. That aircraft and a few others were wetleased from Uzbekistan airlines, in order to break the strike. However, the plane crashed while landing in Delhi.
NEW DELHI: Terming Abu Jundal as a "key operative" who will help in joining missing pieces in the 26/11 conspiracy, the government today said his interrogation had clearly established now that a control room had been set which had "some kind of state support". Answering a series of questions on the arrest of 30-year- old Jundal, Union home minister P Chidambaram said, "We think such a control room could not have been established without some kind of state support." About the presence of others in the control room and whether founder chief of Lashker-e-Taiba Hafiz Saeed was also there, Chidambaram said "Yes, others were present and we think one of them was Hafiz Saeed." He termed Jundal's arrest as an important development as far as the investigations in the 26/11 Mumbai terror case were concerned. "In fact many missing pieces of the 26/11 conspiracy are now
known to us through interrogation of Abu Jundal. He was a key operative, he was assigned the key responsibility to putting the 10 terrorists in intensive training and the customs followed by Mumbaikars. "He was the key person who briefed the 10 persons including (Ajmal) Kasab and he had an important role in the control room," he said. Jundal "had found a very safe haven in Pakistan," Chidambaram said. Asked to share some information from his interrogation, he said the security agencies have come to know where the training took place at one place training took place at another place a control room was established infrastructure was provided. "All this indicated that these activities could not have been carried out without some kind of state support. That is a logical inference we have to make. It is only when his investigation is complete, his interroga-
tion is completed we will come to know who gave what support. At the moment he is being interrogated," Chidambaram said. In a compliment to central security agencies, he said, "Once we came to know that he had left Pakistan, we succeeded in tracking him, took time in establishing identity and apprehended him. "Final conclusion is that we tracked him, we identified him and we apprehended him," he said. The home minister sought to downplay any rift within security agencies and police forces of various states and said Syed Zabiuddin alias Abu Jundal was a suspect or an accused in several cases -- the Ahmedabad railway station blast case of February 19, 2006, the Aurangabad arms haul case of May 2006 and co-accused in German bakery blast case. "In which cases he was actually involved that would be known in due course." He said
12 years' old and Kulwinder only two when their father vanished from their lives. Apart from Surjeet's family members, a large number of his friends and residents of village Fiddae in Ferozepur had arrived to receive him. Advisor to Pakistan Prime Minister on Interior Affairs, Rehman Malik, had a basket of sweets sent along with him in goodwill. Parminder said she hardly remembered her father's face. "Life's been very difficult without him. Now at least there's a solace that he is with us," she said. Surjeet's wife Harbans Kaur said one of her sons, Jaswinder Singh, had died, but the family never told Surjeet about it. She said she did small, odd jobs and took the help of her relatives to bring up their children."May be there is some good time ahead. I will cook Surjeet's favourite moong ki dal," she said. She said she had come to know that her husband had gone to Pakistan for five days after he went missing. "Then we received a letter from Pakistan saying he had been sentenced to death. It was most shocking. We were all shattered," she said. Surjeet and his family left for the Golden Temple from Attari to pay their obeisance to the Gurus for his freedom.
INDIA NEWS Indian prisoners treated well in Pakistan: Surjeet Singh
AMRITSAR: Indian prisoners in Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore are treated fairly well, said Surjeet Singh after spending more than 30 years there. "They are given good treatment and I never saw anyone being tortured or mistreated in the prison," Surjeet told reporters. "We were given food, clothes, medicines etc. All the basic necessities were available," Surjeet added. He said a few Indian inmates of Kot Lakhpat Jail, where he was lodged, had gone insane, but the jail authorities provide them medical treatment. "Those who didn't recover were sent to Jinnah hospital in Lahore," he said. About Sarabjit Singh, the other Indian on death row in Pakistan, Surjeet said, "Sarabjit is fine but he is not allowed to mingle with other inmates and spends time in his cell." He said he has not sent any message to his family, adding, Sarabjit and another Indian prisoner Kirpal Singh embraced Islam in the hope of getting some concession from jail authorities.
Army to court martial five officers in Pathribal fake encounter case
SRINAGAR: Court of chief judicial magistrate (CJM) in Srinagar has allowed the Indian army authorities to try its five officers for the Pathribal fake encounter case in year 2000. In March 2000, following the Chittisinghpura massacre of 36 Sikhs, according to a CBI probe, the Indian Army killed five innocent Kashmiri civilians in a fake encounter at Pathribal in Anantnag district.Rajeev Gupta, CJM in his order on Wednesday, allowed the army to have the option of trying the accused army men in an army court. The order said, "In view of the options having been exercised by competent military authority for trial by army court, criminal court lacks jurisdiction to try the case initiated on the basis of FIR registered on February 14, 2003." The army had this week applied for the permission to try the accused officers in the army court in the wake of the
supreme court direction on May 1, 2012 that gave the army eight weeks to decide whether it wanted to court-martial the accused or let them get tried in a regular criminal court. The ruling had disappointed Kashmiri human rights groups fighting to have the soldiers tried in a criminal court. The five army officers accused in the case are: Brigadier Ajay Saxena, Lt Col Brajendra Pratap Singh, Major Sourabh Sharma, Major Amit Saxena and Subedar Idrees Khan. The CBI chargesheeted the officers in the designated court of CBI, CJM court in Srinagar a few years ago. The Indian army has blamed the then senior superintendant of police (SSP) Anantnag, Farooq Khan for misguiding and misinforming them about five civilians. Farooq Khan is presently deputy inspector general of police (DIG) Jammu.
there were some reports that the different agencies are "fighting" with each other. "No one is fighting anyone. At the moment the custody of Jundal has been given to Delhi Police and investigation agencies and intelligence agencies have joined Delhi Police in interrogation. "I have told the chief minister of Maharashtra in due course with the permission of court he will be made available to the ATS Mumbai and to the Maharashtra Police in the Mumbai and Aurangabad cases." Chidambaram said Jundal would be in due course made available to Gujarat Police in the Ahmedabad railway station blast case. "There is no fight between anyone and I request do not report imaginary fights." Asked about reports that Jundal was planning a strike at Mohali during a cricket match between India and Pakistan, he said the match was fully secure and I was fully aware about the security arrangement there.
"There was no threat, I repeat there was no threat either to the Prime Minister of India or to the visiting Pakistani dignitaries."Taking a dig at Interior Minister of Pakistan Rehman Malik's recent statement Jundal was an Indian, he said, "I agree with Rehman Malik that Abu Jundal is an Indian perhaps he was radicalised in India. I admit that. "Equally, Pakistan should admit that Abu Jundal did go to Pakistan, that Abu Jundal was part of the group which trained and prepared Kasab and nine others that Abu Jundal was in the control room and one of the masterminds and handlers of the attack. "Just as we admit the facts Pakistan too should admit the facts." Home secretary RK Singh added that Pakistan should also admit that they have given a passport to Abu Jundal, that they gave two identity cards to Abu Jundal and that they should also admit the fact that they claimed that he was a Pakistani.
Abu Jundal carried out 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks with Pakistan help: Chidambaram
Raja Pervez Ashraf elected new PM of Pakistan
PAKISTAN NEWS
13
July 2012
Who is Raja Pervez Ashraf?
ISLAMABAD: MPs elected Raja Pervez Ashraf as Pakistan's new prime minister Friday, in a bid to end a crisis sparked by judges ousting the premier and demanding the arrest of his would-be successor. The national assembly rubber stamped Ashraf's appointment by 211 votes in the 342-member lower house of parliament, dominated by the main ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and its fractious coalition members. "Raja Pervez Ashraf is declared to be elected as prime minister of the Islamic republic of Pakistan," speaker Fehmida Mirza announced. President Asif Ali Zardari will now hope that Ashraf can form a cabinet able to see through the government's fiveyear term in office, due to expire in February 2013, without the need for early elections. But Ashraf is a controversial choice. Currently fighting a corruption case from his tenure as water and power minister, he has also been blamed for much of the government's inability to resolve a disastrous energy crisis. The change in premier is likely to ease little of Pakistan's myriad problems, not least appalling power cuts that enrage millions or a
stalemate in US relations that have led to a seven-month blockade on NATO supplies into Afghanistan. Ashraf will also come under immediate pressure from the Supreme Court to write to Swiss authorities, asking them to reopen investigations into Zardari. The Pakistan People's Party government, dogged by corruption allegations, has been locked in a stand-off with the judiciary for years, accused of working behind the scenes with the military and the political opposition. Its culmination came on Tuesday when the Supreme Court unceremoniously evicted Yousuf Raza Gilani from the prime minister's office after convicting him of contempt for refusing to reopen Swiss corruption cases against Zardari. Two days later an antinarcotics court ordered the arrest of Makhdoom Shahabuddin, Zardari's nomination to replace Gilani, over a drugs scandal. The PPP dropped Shahabuddin. Analysts suggested the arrest warrant had been engineered by the military, the chief arbiter of power. Ashraf has promised to make the power crisis his priority despite being widely criticised for incompetency when power minister from
Pashto singer Ghazala Javed and her father shot dead in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD:Well-known Pashto singer Ghazala Javed and her father were shot and killed by unidentified men in Peshawar city of northwest Pakistan, police said today. The men fired indiscriminately at Javed and her father Mohammad Javed while she was leaving a beauty parlour at the busy Mohallah Nau in Dabgari Bazar last night, the singer's relatives told police. The singer's younger sister, Farhat Bibi, escaped unhurt. The attackers, who were riding motorcycles, escaped after the shooting. Police officials told the media that they were ascertaining details of the attack to establish who was behind the crime. They said the singer's relatives had not asked police to file charges against anyone as yet. In recent years, several singers and musicians in KhyberPakhtunkhwa province have been gunned down by the local Taliban, who have declared music "un-Islamic". Several musicians have fled the northwest after receiving threats from the militants. Police are also looking at the possibility that Javed's death was linked to differences with her husband. Javed married Jehangir Khan, a native of Peshawar, some two years ago.
March 2008 to February 2011. \ "I hope soon we will find a solution," he told reporters Friday. But the question now remains when the next general election will be held. "If we have committed some mistakes or did not fulfill our manifesto, then the decision should be left to the people of Pakistan," senior PPP official Syed Khurshid Shah conceded. Some analysts had expected the party to favour information minister Qamar Zaman Kaira as the next prime minister, as he is considered to have more political clout and a clean record. Shahabuddin said the arrest warrant against him was "a conspiracy" to embarrass Zardari. A court in the northwestern city of Peshawar granted him interimbail that would protect him from being detained for seven days, his lawyer Shahnawaz Khan told AFP. The arrest warrant was issued on Thursday by an anti-narcotics court over his alleged involvement in the illegal import of a controlled drug in 2010 when he was health minister. Analysts said it signalled that the powerful military were unprepared to back Shahabuddin. A warrant was also issued for Ali Musa Gilani, son of the outgoing premier.
Ghazal singer Mehdi Hassan passes away
ISLAMABAD: Struggling with life for almost a decade, the India-born Pakistani ghazal singing legend Ustad Mehdi Hassan has passed away at a local hospital in Karachi on Wednesday. He was 84. Hassan had been under treatment in several Pakistani hospitals for lung, chest and urinary tract ailments for the past many years. He was admitted to Karachi's Agha Khan hospital a few days ago after developing severe chest infection and breathing problem. "My father has been ill for the last 12 years but this year, his condition deteriorated significantly."He was discharged from hospital for just one day before being admitted again," said Arif Mehdi, Hassan's son. Hundreds of his fans gathered at the hospital after learning of his death. Living a humble life in the port city of Karachi, Hassan's heirs demanded from the government that their father should be buried in Jinnah's mausoleum. He'll be laid to rest on Friday in Karachi, his family members said. Artistes from both India and Pakistan mourned and praised the greatest ghazal singer of all times. Talking to TV stations in Pakistan, the Indian legend Lata Mangeshkar, said that she was deeply saddened by the news of Mehdi Hassan's demise. She said that it was unfortunate that such a wonderful person had to suffer so much. "A voice like his may never be heard again. It was because of him that many people had started singing," she said. Another ghazal maestro Ghulam Ali said: "I'm completely shocked to hear about his demise." Commending the legacy of Hassan, the Indian poet and lyricist Javed Akhtar, said that his voice gave solace and peace. Pakistani Sufi singer Abida Parveen said: "Extremely sad news, feeling like I've lost my elder brother. Mehdi always remained dedicated to ghazal singing." Born in 1927 in a village called Luna in Rajasthan (India), Mehdi Hassan never had a formal education. He was educated solely in the field
The PPP won elections in 2008 ending nearly a decade of military rule and stands to become the first elected administration in Pakistan's history to complete its term in office and hand over to another elected government. Gilani's disqualification was the culmination of a showdown between the judiciary, led by a popular chief justice and a weak ineffective government, that critics say has been politicised at best, or vendetta-driven at worst. The cases against Zardari date to the 1990s, when he and Bhutto are suspected of using Swiss banks to launder $12 million allegedly paid in bribes by companies seeking customs contracts. The Swiss shelved the cases in 2008 when Zardari became president.
ISLAMABAD: An agriculturist before entering politics and propped by the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) as a cover candidate, the country's new prime minister, Raja Pervez Ashraf, came to the fore only after the main contender was mired in an illegal drugs quota scandal. Born Dec 26, 1950, in Sanghar town in Sindh province, Ashraf was the federal minister for water and power, and information and technology in the government of ousted prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani. He hails from a family of agriculturists and that remained his occupation too until he joined the PPP, Dawn News reported. Ashraf received a graduate's degree from the University of Sindh in 1970. He and his wife have two sons and two daughters, and they live in Gujar Khan. He was elected to the National Assembly in 2002 from the Rawalpindi-II constituency. Ashraf is a member of many committees in the National Assembly, including the Standing Committee on Kashmir and the Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights, according to the elections.com.pk
website. Currently the PPP secretary general, Ashraf has travelled to Saudi Arabia, Britain, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Ireland, the UAE, China, Belgium and North Korea on official tours. According to the Washington Post, the choice of Ashraf "seemed to guarantee continued political turmoil". It said he is "associated with a persistent energy crisis that has crippled the country with blackouts, water shortages and steep increases in the price of fuel". Ashraf, as energy minister 20082011, was also mired in a corruption scandal involving private leases of power plants, the Post said. Dawn News said he was accused of receiving kickbacks in a power project and is currently defending himself in the Supreme Court. The apex court declared Ashraf involved in the power project scam and revoked his power as the minister for water and power. However, when the federal cabinet was expanded, Ashraf was given the ministry of information and technology. He has also been accused of buying property abroad with illegal money.
Divas Gather for Balboa Theater 14
SOUTH PACIFIC
July 2012
Three dozen members and friends of the Divas, a guild supporting the restoration of the historic Balboa Theater, turned out for a “South Pacific”-themed event in Newport Harbor. Dressed in costumes ranging from pirates to hula dancers, teams of members decorated electric boats with tiki masks and tropical flowers before setting off on a competitive scavenger hunt. Following the hunt, the group enjoyed hors d’oeuvres, awards, and a showing of the film “South Pacific” at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum ExplorOcean. Most, however, agreed the highlight of the day was former Newport Beach Mayor Evelyn Hart performing a hula dance on the dock. The event, sponsored by AT&T and Balboa Boat Rentals, aimed to raise funds and awareness for the Divas, a group of dedicated enthu-
S Korea, Japan delay signing of military pact
SEOUL - South Korea and Japan have decided to delay the signing of their first military pact since Japan's colonial occupation of the Korean peninsula, local media reported Friday. The foreign ministry here had previously said the two countries plan to sign the accord, called the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), in Tokyo later in the day. The pact, if signed, would allow the two sides to exchange military intelligence on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and its nuclear and missile programs.
siasts for the performing arts working to renovate the theater and revitalize Balboa Village. The Divas have already contributed substantial funds to the project and the principle actor’s dressing room is named for the Divas of the Balboa Theater. Reconstruction of the landmark theater is a project of the Balboa Performing Arts Theater Foundation, which aims to recreate the structure as a home for music, dance, theater, film and education classes. At the awards party, Foundation CFO Craig Smith told the group $1 million has been raised so far towards a construction cost of $5 million. The Divas also plan to assist in the presentation of the Balboa Theater’s “Beach Fest,” a concert on the beach by the Balboa Pier, which is expected to draw 4,500 music lovers on Oct. 13.
Lee warns against future aggression by DPRK SEOUL South Korean President Lee Myung- bak vowed Friday to "immediately and completely punish" the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) if it attempts any more provocations. Calling past provocations by the northern neighbor "premeditated attacks" and not a mistake, Lee, a hard-liner on Pyongyang, said Seoul is confident in its combat readiness and is making military reform efforts. "As the commander in chief, I will maintain the iron-tight defense of the Republic of Korea," Lee said in a speech marking the 10th anniver-
Winners of the best decorated boat, from left to right: Marsha Willis, Debbie Schweickert, Penny Fox, Eric Putnam, Nancy Olson, Debbie Newmeyer, Ellen Hanson Walker, and Jeff Sanford. (Left) Foundation CFO Craig Smith discusses the theater’s plans with hunt participants.
sary of the naval clash near a disputed western maritime border, which killed six South Korean sailors. "I will resolutely respond to any provocations and firmly stand up against any attacks," added the conservative leader, who in 2008 effectively ended the policy of interKorean appeasement advocated by his liberal predecessors. The two Koreas, which remain technically at war with each other since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, have had a few deadly clashes near the western sea border called the Northern Limit
Line. In March 2010, a South Korean warship sunk near the western sea border in what the authorities here said was a torpedo attack by Pyongyang. Forty-six South Korean sailors were killed. In November that year, the DPRK shelled a South Korean border island and killed four, further deteriorating inter-Korean relations already strained by Lee's hard-line policy towards Pyongyang. Pyongyang, which refuses to acknowledge the sea border, has repeatedly denied its responsibility for the 2010 sinking and said the shelling was for self-defense.
FedEx aids search for missing aviatrix Amelia Earhart
Ford's second-quarter profit will fall from a year earlier because it is losing more money than expected outside North America, the automaker disclosed Friday. "Our operations outside of North America are under increasing pressure," Ford said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. "In fact, our combined results for the second quarter for Ford South America, Ford Europe and Ford Asia Pacific Africa could be a loss of about three times as much as the $190-million pretax loss incurred by these operations in the first quarter." The Dearborn automaker will be profitable globally because of the strength of its North American business. On a day when
the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 277 points, Ford shares tumbled 5% Friday to $9.59, its lowest closing price since last Oct. 3. Trading volume of 137.1 million shares was more than three times the daily average. "The profit warning is a double dose of reality and politics," analysts at Morgan Stanley Research said in a report. The bank cut its estimate of Ford's secondquarter earnings-per-share to $0.23 from $0.33, and to $1.30 from $1.52 for the full year. "European fundamentals in the mass market are rapidly deteriorating. Ford enters the club of automakers with immediate needs to address excess capacity through near-term action," the Morgan
Stanley report said. "We now expect Ford Europe losses to exceed those of GM's Opel." Morgan Stanley estimates Ford is running its five European plants at 63% capacity compared with 66% at GM and 57% for Fiat. S&P Capital IQ is recommending its clients buy Ford stock despite the negative tone of Friday's guidance. Ford filed the disclosure after Chief Financial Officer Bob Shanks shared insights in an interview with the New York Times. The company cautioned investors in April that higher costs of launching a number of new models and adding shifts at five U.S. factories will affect profits. It also is building factories in Asia Pacific, especially China, which will
take time to pay off. But the biggest problem is Europe. All automakers in Europe are operating more plants, assembling more cars than European consumers can afford to buy. Automakers, unions and European governments have been unwilling to close plants. South America is also facing pricing pressures with weakening currencies and changes in public policy that are affecting trade in the region. Ford exports the Fiesta and Fusion from Mexico to other Latin American nations because of favorable trade policies between the regions. The deteriorating performance outside the U.S. "bodes poorly for automakers and suppliers," said S&P Capital IQ analyst Efraim Levy.
The hunt for Amelia Earhart and her plane is on again, 75 years after she vanished in the South Pacific, and FedEx is right in the middle of it. FedEx provided transportation and logistics for sophisticated robotic search equipment for The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), which on Monday's anniversary plans to launch Niku VII, a 26day expedition to look for signs of Earhart. On the nonprofit aviation archeological foundation's 10th Earhart expedition, executive director Richard Gillespie and an 18member team will search off the coast of Nikumaroro, a coral atoll formerly known as Gardner Island, for remains of the Lockheed Electra that was last heard from July 2, 1937. FedEx designed a door-todoor delivery solution to help Gillespie assemble his equipment in Honolulu. The TIGHAR shipments covered more than 22,000 miles round-trip and traveled by land, air and sea. FedEx Truckload Brokerage, an offering of FedEx Custom Critical, picked up containers holding the expedition's underwater remote operated vehicle, winch and control unit at Patterson, La., on June 15. The containers, tipping the scales at 25,890 pounds, traveled cross country by truck, arriving June 18 in Los Angeles. There, FedEx Trade Networks, a freight forwarding unit, put the containers on ocean freighter, which arrived in Honolulu last Sunday. Additionally, FedEx Express flew in nearly three tons of equipment from Massachusetts, including an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle that will use sonar to search deep waters for signs of the aircraft.
One of New Zealand's top eye surgeons has been awarded honorary Cook Island residency for his work in the South Pacific nation during the past 20 years. Dr Paul Rosser, a sub-specialist oculoplastic surgeon and founding member of Auckland Eye, is being honoured for his longstanding volunteer work in the Cook Islands, which he has visited almost every year for the past two decades. Dr Rosser says he was offered the
honorary residency because of his long history with the Cook Islands. "I've been going there since 1992, having made 16 trips and performed around 850 cataract operations. Basically, we perform most of their eye care now in terms of eye surgery and other procedures and consultations, such as diabetic work," he says. "I think the offer of residency is relatively rare and I understand that it needed to go through Parliament.
The idea was first broached to me a few years ago by their Ministry of Health. They asked if I might like to have it, and I said it would be lovely," says Dr Rosser. During the ceremony on July 10, the Queen's representative will award the residency to Dr Rosser along with some fellow New Zealanders from volunteer medical teams. Dr Rosser says he fell in love with the Cook Islands when he visited as a young boy travelling by
ship to England. "Soon after I got back from London, where I trained in ocular plastic surgery, one of the doctors who had been volunteering at the Cook Islands was thinking of retiring, and he asked if I'd be interested in taking his place. I haven't looked back since. We now have a team of 2-3 optometrists, 2 medical retinal ophthalmologists and an ophthalmic nurse who make the annual trip". Dr Rosser has taken
his wife and two children on a number of the visits to the Cook Islands and says his family is very excited to have him recognised as an official citizen. "I really enjoy working with the Cook Islanders. The people are friendly, and the team are a lovely bunch to work with. The Cook Islands is a protectorate of New Zealand, and many of the people who live there know and expect a good standard of healthcare - which we aim to provide."
Ford says it expects 2Q profits to decline
Kiwi awarded Cook Island residency for charity work
INTERFAITH
July 2012
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Evidence of God Particle Found ! 16
SPECIAL
July 2012
The answer is yes, now what is the question? Does God really exist? Physicists had to break stuff to find answer to this stuff.
T
hey used the scientific principles of a 2 year old toddler and smashed things together to see what comes off. Scientists working at the world's biggest atom smasher announced today that they have gathered enough evidence to prove that "The God particle" certainly does exist answering the fundamental questions about the universe. The footprint of the key particle known as the Higgs Boson will help them understand suspected phenomena such as dark matter, anti-matter and ultimately the creation of the universe billions of years ago, which many theorize occurred as a massive explosion known as the Big Bang. The discovery won't change people's lives, but will help explain the underpinnings of the universe they say. The phrase "The God particle", was coined by Nobel Prize-winning physicist Leon Lederman as an explanation for how the wonders of the subatomic universe work than how it all started.The concept aims at explaining the riddle of “How were the subatomic particles, such as electrons, protons and neutrons, themselves formed? What gives them their mass, which leads to creation of atoms and eventually how matter gets formed?” Scientists tried to say a story that explains one of the mysteries of the universe and make it sound like a scientific truth. They claim to have found the missing link, The God Particle, that explains it all. When matter meets anti-matter, the two annihilate, leaving behind pure energy, I read in one of the science briefs given out by the scientists on this project. I ask, isn’t that the concept of duality? Shiv-Shakti? When the two annihilate, pure energy comes into existence. Universe is filled with a force that we haven't been able to detect yet that gives other particles mass," Lykken told NPR. The discovery of The God Particle represents a step forward in appreciation of God’s awe-inspiring universe however claiming to find the elusive piece of the cosmic puzzle is too naïve an attempt. Having said that, scientists may discover it, but we can’t deny HE (the eternal force God) invented it! To deny is to accept it too. So using these big expensive machines and spending over 7 billion euros, top physicists broke stuff in the hopes that what falls out can be identified to help explain the questions of the universe. How innocent an effort to unveil the mysteries of HIS universe! The answer is actually in the question. They were searching for The God Particle; if they would have searched for God they would have had their answers. The answers lie within. To ask the right question is more important than the futile effort of finding an answer. It is a wonder what the great scientists do not know or try to know through costly experiments, a poor man who knows God or has experienced HIS existence, knows, through so called cost-less faith and belief. So scientists, turn to the side of GOD, you will certainly know the particle of God. CERN Director for Research and Computing Sergio Bertolucci is quoted as saying these are "very exciting times". Sure they are, as human has gotten so inquisitive that he has forgotten to believe his intuition and relies only on logic and reason.
world we can disprove or prove the existence of God? In school, many years ago I learned that scientists had many conclusions. Some thought the Earth was the middle of the universe. Some thought the Sun was the middle of the universe. Some thought Earth was flat and some said Earth was round. Most were wrong. You are at the centre of your universe and in fact there are times when you will experience that you and universe are interchangeable identities. I am you and you are me. We are all the same. We are one. I'd love to see how HIS "miracles" stand up to
A document provided on December 13, 2011 by the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva shows a graphic presenting traces of protonproton collision measured in the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experience.
modern testing. Everything felt or thought is internal, a product of one's sensory apparatus, and impossible, by definition, to establish objectively. We observe the universe. The universe does not observe us. Pain is a subjective personal feeling, that although cannot be objectively scientifically measured but most people believe exists! I love scientific discoveries. I love each and every time they find an answer for something. But all science does is discover what already exists! What scientist have you ever met that has said science knows all? Why cannot science manufacture the human cell then? Faith is the opposite of proof. I have faith in HIM and need no proof. God exists outside and inside of it all. He's not something which can be explained away by science, nor proven by religious fervor or argument. The God Particle is, in you and in me and in every particle around us. We only need to seek earnestly.
Mujhko tu kya dhoonde bande, main toh tere paas re…
In the Biblical account of the creation of man God formed man and breathed life into him and thus created him as an adult with all of the appearance of age. God likewise made all of the animals and such. If this was so then why wouldn't God make the world with the appearance of age as well? What good does it do for us to set around and think that by measuring the apparent age of the
A graphic showing traces of collision of particles at the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experience is pictured with a slow speed experience at Universe of Particles exhibition of the the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) on December 13, 2011 in Geneva
World forgot Satyendra Nath Bose on whom Boson particle named
CHENNAI: As Cern scientists pop the champagne in celebration of finding the Higgs boson, an Indian scientist after whom the God particle is named remains in virtual oblivion. Media reports are replete with references to Peter Higgs, the British physicist who predicted the existence of such a particle in the early 1960s. But, that a boson - one of the two fundamental classes of subatomic particles - is named after
Satyendra Nath Bose who preceded Higgs seems to have got buried deeper than the 27km tunnel under the Franco-Swiss border that hosts science's biggest hunt ever. Bose, who worked with Albert Einstein to bring out the BoseEinstein statistics and the theory of Bose-Einstein condensate in the 1920s, was a natural candidate for a Nobel Prize which he never got. But his work on quantum mechan-
ics was so substantial that they named one of the subatomic particles after him. However, when science's biggest find came, Bose was missing from the limelight, even in India. "I believe it is a deliberate omission," says P M Bhargava, founder director of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology. "This is not the only such case." Top Indian scientists like Bhargava feel that it reflects a general lack of
recognition for Indian scientists. C N R Rao, who heads the scientific advisory council to the PM, says Bose had been historically ignored, both in India and abroad. "Maybe because he was so outspoken. I remember a function addressed by Jawaharlal Nehru, where Bose disagreed with a point Nehru made," says Rao. Bose would have been more popular had he lived in the US, he says.
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Sunny Leone fumes over
lingerie auction! A
“
She was a bit upset because it wasn’t discussed with her,” says a source on the sets of Jism 2. “She doesn’t have any issues with the auction, but if she had been informed, she would have been better prepared for all the queries
bout a week ago, Sunny Leone made headlines for an incomparable reason. Her Jism 2 director, Pooja Bhatt, had announced that she would auction all the costumes of the cast — including their underwear — for a charitable cause. While the news created a media furore, there was a slight problem. Apparently Pooja had declared the charity auction without informing Sunny and when the news went viral, the actor was caught unawares. “She was a bit upset because it wasn’t discussed with her,” says a source on the sets of Jism 2. “She doesn’t have any issues with the auction, but if she had been informed, she would have been better prepared for all the queries.” According to our source, the lack of communication occurred because Sunny had returned to India from the Jism 2 shoot in Sri Lanka the day Pooja made the announcement. “And what’s there to be upset about? All the clothes belong to the producers and they can do whatever they want with them?” says the source. The proceeds from the charity event will go to PETA. Later however, the actor discussed the issue with Pooja and other cast members of Jism 2, and clarified the matter via her Twitter account. “I don’t own the wardrobe,” she posted on the microblogging website. “It sucks I didn’t know (about the auction). I don’t really know anything about it. I’m not personally selling any worn clothes from Jism 2. If the Jism 2 company is selling them for charity then it’s an amazing thing. Hopefully all the money is going to (a) good charity (sic).”
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Saif, Kareena to Wed on October 16
S
harmila Tagore has confirmed to Mid Day that her son Saif Ali Khan, 41, will tie the knot with Kareena Kapoor, 31, on October 16 this year. The veteran actress added that there will be a reception soon after, though not a lavish one. "Yes, that's the date we have decided upon. There will be a reception, too, but not a very big one," Sharmila Tagore told the tabloid. Sharmila had earlier told Hindustan Times: "Saif's wedding will happen as soon as the weather improves (after the summer and monsoon)." Sources
BOLLYWOOD
suggest that Kareena would not take a break for honeymoon and would shoot for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's next. The wedding, a lowkey affair, would be held at the Pataudis' ancestral home. It will only be attended by immediate family members of the couple. Kareena Kapoor will continue to work after marriage.
K
atrina Kaif has been working way too hard. The actress hasn’t taken a proper vacation in almost two years now. In fact spending quality time with her co-stars in Spain during the shoot of Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara was the closest she got to a holiday in recent times. But Kat is not complaining. Her recent shooting stint with SRK in London proved to be a godsend. Not only was the 27-year-old actress pretty excited about working with King Khan for the first time, she also got to stay with her sister and spend time with her family. Something she doesn’t get to do often otherwise. She reportedly enjoyed her short stay in the UK’s capital city. After all, she has spent three years there before moving to Mumbai. A source close to Kat says, “While she was in London, she was able to take some time out and try out activities she usually doesn’t get to be part of nowadays. Things like visiting church, attending mass, eating local street food and so
Sunny Leone
DEBUTS WITH JISM 2 “It was a spur of the moment decision. As soon as she came back to Sri Lanka, we informed her. So she has been in the loop about everything leaving no room for her to be upset,” says Jism 2’s co-producer Dino Morea. At the time of going to press, neither Sunny, who was on a flight to Los Angeles, nor Pooja, who is still in Sri Lanka, could be contacted. Jism 2 will release on August 3.
Jacqueline is in top form
The source adds that Jacqueline has been asked to do some heavy duty stunts for which she has to be in top physical condition.
A
s Jacqueline Fernandes has been asked to be in top physical condition due to the stunt sequences for AbbasMustan’s film, her trainer has been flown in from Mumbai. The actress is presently shooting in Turkey. Her co-stars Deepika Padukone and John Abraham have also been training with Dheepesh on location. A source from the sets confirm state that as Deepika and John are fitness freaks, they are joing
Katrina in
BUSY MODE
on.” But the respite has been short-lived. After London, Katrina flew back to Mumbai only to leave for Bangkok in a couple of days. Along with a forthcoming film, she also had some brand shootings to take care of in Thailand. Now that she’s done with all of that, she’s back in the city. But if the source is to be believed, she’ll be leaving for Chicago very soon for an action film. But hey, who’s complaining? The source adds, “This sonic pace of life is exactly the way she likes it. If suddenly she has two whole days with nothing to do, she gets very restless. She believes in live-towork more than work-to-live for now.”
While she don, was in Lonble to she was a time take somey out out and tr e activities shesn’t usually do part get to be ays. of nowad visitThings like , ing church attending g mass, eatint local stree food and so on.
Jacqueline in her workouts. The source adds that Jacqueline has been asked to do some heavy duty stunts for which she has to be in top physical condition. She has been hitting the gym with a vengeance to be in shipshape for the film. Jacqueline’s workout regime includes power yoga, pilates, Vietnamese martial arts, cross fit and gymnastics. As she didn’t want to miss out on her workout sessions, having a trainer around was the best bet.
BOLLYWOOD
Kim Kardashain flaunts derriere in skimpy skirt
IIFA 2012 winners
RANBIR SAID: I AM GRATEFUL TO HAVE GOT THE OPPORTUNITY TO WORK WITH MASTERMINDS LIKE IMTIAZ ALI, AR RAHMAN AND MY GRAND UNCLE SHAMMI KAPOOR IN THIS FILM.
Ranbir for Rockstar and Vidya for The Dirty Picture
V
idya Balan continued her winning streak by picking up the award for Best Actress in a leading role for ‘The Dirty Picture’, while Ranbir Kapoor came out victorious for best male performance for his role in ‘Rockstar’ at the 13th International Indian Film Academy Awards ceremony (IIFA) in Singapore. Ranbir said: "I am grateful to have got the opportunity to work with masterminds like Imtiaz Ali, AR Rahman and my grand uncle Shammi Kapoor in this film." Winner for best actor in a leading role Ranbir Kapoor ‘Rockstar’ also won the best music direction award for AR Rahman, best lyrics for the song and best playback singer male for Mohit Chauhan for ‘Nadaan Parindey’. 'Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara' bagged the top awards of the night, including Best Picture, Best Story, Best Director for Zoya Akhtar and Best Actor in Supporting Role for Farhan Akhtar. Along wih the statuettes for great performances in 2011, Lifetime Achievement Awards were given to Rekha and Ramesh Sippy as well as Dia Mirza being honoured with the Green Award. Ramesh Sippy took to the stage for his Outstanding Contribution to Indian Cinema, lauded by a trio of greats including, Dr Kamal Hassan, Javed Akhtar and Rishi Kapoor, all three of whom have worked closely with the director. Best Actress nominee Priyanka Chopra also paid a heartwarming tribute to yesteryear actor Rekha
on Saturday by dancing to some of her popular Bollywood songs. Priyanka’s performance came ahead of the special honour conferred to Rekha for outstanding achievement in Indian cinema at the ceremony. She started off with a remixed version of ‘In aakhon ki masti ke’ from ‘Umrao Jaan’ and went on to groove on songs like ‘Salaam-e-Ishq meri jaan’, ‘Pyar do pyaar lo’ and ‘Pardesiya’. However, her performance rose to a different level when she was joined by Rekha herself. After receiving the special award, Rekha, known for her films like ‘Khoobsurat’ and ‘Silsila’, said: “I would like to dedicate this award to my producers who have inspired me and the
Best Actor – Ranbir Kapoor (Rockstar) Best Actress - Vidya Balan (The Dirty Picture) Best Movie - Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara Best Director - Zoya Akhtar (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) Best Story - Zoya Akhtar and Reema Katgi (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) Hottest Bollywood Pair - Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri (Rockstar) Best Supporting Actor - Farhan Akhtar (Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara) Best Supporting Actress - Parineeti Chopra (Ladies vs Ricky Bahl) Best Performance in a Comic Role - Ritesh Deshmukh (Double Dhamaal) Best Performance in a Negative Role - Prakash Raj (Singham) Best Debut (Male) - Vidyut Jamwal (Force) Best Debut (Female) - Parineeti Chopra for Ladies vs Ricky Bahl Best Music - A R Rahman ( Rockstar) Best Singer Male – Mohit Chauhan (Nadaan Parinde – Rockstar) Best Singer Female - Shreya Ghosal (Teri Meri – Bodyguard) Best Lyrics - Irshad Kamil (Nadaan Parindey – Rockstar) IIFA Awards 2012 for Outstanding Achievement in Indian Cinema - Ramesh Sippy IIFA Awards 2012 for Outstanding Achievement in Indian Cinema - Rekha IIFA 2012 Green Award: Dia Mirza
young actors of our industry like Ranbir Kapoor, Sonakshi Sinha, Priyanka Chopra… who are super talented. I am proud that I continue to be a part of the film fraternity.” Celebrating the magic of Indian Cinema, the IIFA Awards was held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium where actors Shahid Kapoor and Farhan Akhtar played host to the three-day Videocon DDB IIFA Weekend. The duo kept the audience entertained throughout with their jokes and
Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh and his co-star Sonal Chauhan Shooting in Fiji
A
ctor Neil Nitin Mukesh and his co-star Sonal Chauhan, who are shooting in Fiji for their upcoming movie 3G, performed a daring stunt for an underwater sequence,in which they were surrounded by venomous snakes. 3G is a psychological thriller being directed by Sheershak Anand and Shantanu Ray Chibber. While shooting at the exotic location of Fiji, Neil and Sonal had a close encounter with snakes. In this particular underwater scene, Neil and Sonal were surrounded by sea snakes. However, little did they know that the snakes were extremely poisonous, as the crew-members had wrongly informed them that they were harmless. "We were okay with the scene because we were told that the snakes weren't going to harm us. When we stepped into the ocean and went in slightly deep, there they were and coiled around the legs. We did not want to create a commotion there and stood quietly till they passed by. "Later, when we got out of the water we were told that they happen to be to most poisonous water snakes," Neil said in a statement here. The film will be shot in an almost two-month long schedule in Fiji and involves a few spine chilling sequences and stunts.
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July 2012
Kim Kardashian flashed her bums in a short tennis dress, as she took on the rest of the family in a match. The 31-year-old grabbed the attention on court by bending over in the skimpy brown and pink dress. The reality show star was larking about while filming Keeping Up With The Kardashians. And the whole Kardashian clan upset mother Kris Jenner by teasing her for grunting and making "sex noises” as she played, the Sun reported. The upset matriarch threw her racket at husband Bruce and stormed back into the house after the mocking. Later on the programme, Kim teased fans on a social networking site, offering to pull up her top and flash her breasts. Kourtney’s partner Scott Disick looked on in horror as she pulled up her white jumper. But the online recipient was set in for disappointment when she uncovered nothing more revealing than a white vest top.
camaraderie. The show also saw star-studded performances by Sonakshi Sinha, Bipasha Basu, Prabhu Deva, Shahid, Rishi and Ranbir Kapoor. The festivities, which started on Thursday, attracted some of India's biggest elebrities. The actors who did not attend this year included Hrithik Roshan, Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, John Abraham, Saif Ali Khan, Anil Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, and Sonam Kapoor.
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July 2012
THAT’S PART OF THE MANY FOOD SUPERSTI TIONS THAT FOLKS BELIEVE IN. WHILE IT’S CONSIDERED LUCKY TO BREAK THE SHELLS OF AN EGG, ONE SHOULD ALSO THROW SOME SALT TO AVOID BAD LUCK. READ ON TO KNOW MORE...
Top 10 superstitions related to food
FOOD
» Drinking tea
The ritual of sipping on tea has its own ramifications. It is said to be bad luck if two people pour tea from the same pot. The other story says that if one lifts the lid from the teapot while making tea, it means that a stranger will pay a visit to the home soon.
» Egg shells
The story goes that as per superstition if you do not crush the egg shells after having the egg they will be gathered by a witch who will then use the shells to make a boat for herself. Thus if you crushed the shells, they would be of no use to her.
» Salt
Spilling salt is considered unlucky. The only way out to turn back the bad luck is to throw some salt with your right hand over your left shoulder. It is also considered to be bad luck if you pass salt to another person. Folks believe that if you throw some salt on the windows and threshold of a new house, you can protect it from the evil eye.
» Christmas luck
» Make a wish
One of the most common notions when it comes to the world of superstitions is about pulling a wishbone of the turkey. As per tradition, one must use only their 'pinky' finger to break the wishbone and the one who wins the longest piece gets good luck. That's a nice tug of war you can indulge in at any time, isn't it?
If you stopped short of making kebabs only because the recipe demanded meat, then these ones are for you. We present some easy-to-make kebabs that vegetarians are sure to enjoy.
Easy veggie kebabs Khumb Nawabi
Ingredients : 200 gm mushroom, 2 gm cumin seeds, 2 green chillies, 10 gm onion (finely chopped), 5 gm garlic, 5 gm green chilli paste, 25 gm cheese (grated), 25 gm hung curd, 10 gm cream, 5 gm salt, 10 ml sesame oil, 10 ml mustard oil, 5 gm mint, 2 gm garam masala , 5 gm chickpea flour. Method : Scoop out mushroom stem using a scooper. Finely chop stem and temper with freshly chopped mint, onion, garlic, green chilli and cumin seed. Mix in cheese and stuff into the mushroom cap. In a bowl, mix green chilli paste, hung curd, cream, salt, sesame oil, mustard oil, mint, dry mint leaves, garam masala and chick pea flour slowly to avoid lumps. Coat the mushroom with this marinade and cook in oven for 8 to 10 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Serve with sauce of choice.
Noorani Seekh Ingredients : 40 gm French beans, 50 gm carrot, 15 gm paneer (grated), 5 gm green chilli (finely chopped), 3 gm cauliflower, 25 potatoes, 3 gm salt, 2 gm garam masala , 3 gm coriander leaves, 3 gm turmeric powder, 2 gm fried garlic.
Method : Blanche the French beans, carrots, cauliflower and potatoes, squeeze the excess water, and blend till smooth. Mix with grated paneer, green chillies, fried garlic, salt, garam masala , cumin powder, turmeric and coriander. Now shape this like a seekh and heat in an oven for eight minutes at 180 degrees Celsius. Now, serve with a wedge of lemon and sliced onions.
» Hanging up garlic
Garlic used in food and medicine since ancient times also has a strong superstition attached to it. The legend has it that the way to repel an evil eye is by carrying a piece of garlic with you. Garlic was supposed to be a powerful deterrent against werewolves and vampires.
W
hen the ingredients are according to the right proportion and if the dosa batter is fermented correct, one can get the crispiness of the dosa as desired. When your dosa batter is fermented for the right number of hours, you can get it as thin as you want. Making a thin dosa is not rocket science at all. All you need to make sure is that the batter has the apt constituency to be spread equally in all directions on the tawa.
There are numerous superstitions asssociated with a Christmas cake. One of them is that all members of a family should stir the Christmas cake mixture so as to prevent bad luck on them. For young spinsters, doing so was supposed to be good - or else they would remain unmarried for a whole year.
» Breaking coffee bubbles
When you see bubbles in your cup of coffee, try to get them into your spoon and eat them before they burst. If you succeed, you might receive money from an unexpected source.
» Not roses, but oranges
If you love someone and you really want that person to reciprocate your feeling, you should give them an orange, which is supposed to bring about love.
» Watch the cake
You also have to watch how you serve guests, for tipping over a slice of cake while serving them is said to bring about bad luck.
» Hollow and crossed bread
According to the legend, if you came across a hole in a loaf of bread that you cut, it stands for a coffin and means that someone will die soon. Now, that's a strange one considering most loaves of baked bread have holes in them. The other superstition says that all loaves of bread must be marked with a sign of the cross before baking. The intention was to thwart the devil from sitting on the loaf and spoiling the bread.
The secret of making
CRISPY DOSA
INGREDIENTS
» Urad dal: ½ cup » Parboiled rice or ordinary pol ished rice: ½ cup
» Salt to taste
METHOD
» Soak urad dal and rice for couple
of hours and make a fine paste of the mixture adding water. » Prepare the batter by adding a pinch of salt to taste and mix all the ingredients well. Do not make the batter too thin. » Allow the mixture to ferment for about 6 to 7 hours. Once the batter rises and there is obvious fermentation which becomes imminent from the smell of the batter prepare the dosas according to your desire.
HOW TO GET THE DOSA RIGHT? » Heat a non stick flat tawa for 10 minutes on a low flame. Pour one tsp of oil on the tawa. Spread the oil evenly with a sliced onion. Onion is used as a non stick medium. But even on a non stick tawa, it will only enhance the non-stickiness to the tawa. » Sprinkle little water so that
excess heat is absorbed.
» Now, use a flat bottomed katora
and spread the batter on the tawa. Begin from the centre and go on spreading till you think it is even and has spread itself properly. » Add oil through the dosa circumference so that it seeps in from all the directions. Be patient especially if you want to make it on a low flame. And if you want to get it quick, increase the flame but not too high and be
watchful of how much has been cooked. » As soon as you can spot golden colour through the sides and the middle of the dosa, take a flat ladle (or a wooden thin spatula) and instead of flipping it just roll it over from one end to the other. It needs practice, but once you master the art, you will only enjoy it.
So, go ahead and grab your favourite dosa.
FASHION Match it to your face
M
atch your jewellery to the shape of your face, including your neckline. For instance, if you have a round face, select jewellery in elongated shapes such as diamonds. If your face is narrow, try hoop earrings. Also wear jewellery proportionate to the size of your face. So, if you have a small face, wear diminutive baubles such as solitaires or something with a simple design. If your face is larger, you can wear bigger pieces, which won't overpower your face. If you have a long neck, wear chokers or pendants to accentuate your neckline. If you are not sure of what baubles best suit your outfit, it's never too late to learn.
June 2012
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Keep your jewellery
Less is more. It's a style commandment to remember when you are teaming Indian jewellery designs with modern chic.
Subtle & Stylish
J
ewellery can make a basic outfit look complete or a fashionable outfit look outdated. Take a cue from Hollywood actresses Megan Fox, Jennifer Lopez, Kristen Bell, Beyonce, Penelope Cruz and Rachel McAdams. They are setting trends with exotic bangles, cuffs and diamond earrings from Indian jewellery designers like Amrapali and Farah Khan, on the international red carpet. Bollywood stars like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Sonam Kapoor, Bipasha Basu and Kangna Ranaut are doing an impeccable job of pairing desi designs with their gowns at public appearances overseas.
The rule of one
When picking jewellery before stepping out, it is a good rule of thumb to limit yourself to only one large piece, keeping the other items (if any) much smaller. You don't have to wear all the jewellery you own! Consider the cut of the dress to decide what trinkets to wear. For instance, if you are going sleeveless, a more embellished bracelet may be the right choice.
On a sheath dress
The statement necklace - a colourful, elaborate necklace made with beads, crystals and other materials - is enjoying a streak of success right now. It's a perfect accessory for a sheath dress. For a retro glam look, hit the flea market for vintage brooches with sparkling imitation gemstones. If your sheath dress has a V-neck, try placing a large brooch at the base of the V. However, if the neckline is rounded or boat-shaped, place the brooch to one side.
Ring
Wear a slim diamond ring on your ring finger. Never wear two or more rings on the same finger. Rings with a gemstone of over 10carat are usually worn on the fore finger. If you are baring slim arms and fingers in a sexy dress, wear a small exquisite 2-carat piece.
Earrings
Changing the way you wear earrings can change your entire look. If you have above-average height and a fine swan neck, don't hesitate to wear long dangling earrings. However, if you are petite, make small earrings your friends; they won't weigh you down. Chunky button earrings, especially with a studded gem, look fabulous. Large hoops look great with flowing skirts and tank tops; the open shoulder highlights the earring.
Jewellery set
Bracelet, bangles and cuffs
If your bracelet has segments without a gem in the centre, wear it loose on your arm. Conversely, if your bracelet is adorned with gems in the centre, don't let it dangle on your arm. You might also try several small-layered bracelets or bangles. If you are dressing in a pantsuit, it is best to stick with small discreet tennis bracelets or none at all.
The Perfect
HANDBAG
If you have a set consisting of a bracelet, ring, necklace and earrings, follow this principle: earrings+bracelet or necklace+ring. Avoid wearing more than two rings at a time, if you don't want to look excessive. As for the choice of stone, diamonds are best suited for the evening.
BAG WAYS TO GO IN FOR THE PERFECT
1.
Bags are such that women cannot do without. There are some that accentuates your physique while some are utilatarian. See what suits your personality and what looks good with your physique. Tanya Datta finds out
T
he way we accessorise our outfit is as important as the clothes we wear. It would not be wrong to say that women especially tend to notice such things. When we want to draw someone's attention to ourself, we want it drawn to the best feature in
us. The size and style of our purse can be a critical decision in this process. It is interesting to note that where our bag meets our body determines where the eyes will be drawn. One should try not to take a bag which is glaringly different from the rest of the outfit, but
something that blends in beautifully. And of course it has to be spacious since it is said that a woman carries her household in her handbag! Optimally, the color and design of your handbags should be versatile enough to go with more than one outfit.
2.
If you are overly abundant from the waist down, then the best strategy for you is to select a small purse with a short strap. This type tucks in nicely under the arm, draws the observer's eye upward, and doesn't add any to the lower half.
For women who are well endowed everywhere, a smaller bag with a hint of color or a subtle pattern may do the trick. You may want to use a purse that has a short to medium length strap. This way, you can focus the attention to the upper half of your body rather than the full view.
3. 4. 5.
If you are a little heavy on the top, then a larger bag with a longer strap that takes the attention away from your bosom will do nicely. For the thin and sleek body, a large bag will add a to the thin body type.
For that perfect hourglass body, you have numerous choices. Anything goes for this woman, as long as it goes with the outfit!
d a big Keep in mind that you have already place selection investment in time and money into the g care of your outfit. Maximize its effect by takin r that embe Rem add. you that with the accessories ssories a perfect outfit coupled with perfect acce ait of you. equals a perfectly eye appealing portr
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July 2012
Dr. Pramod Vaid a man of vast talents and life experience
“He is Arabic speaking Rajasthani, a poet, a businessman and a professor”
Our first contact was by phone a “gayebana” meeting in which we decided to meet personally for formal introduction. We had a blast at our first meeting sipping tea as our conversation went from subject to subject underpinning our common interests including politics, religion, spirituality, Arabic, our teaching experiences, Urdu poetry and mostly the Islamic culture that Dr. Vaid saw firsthand living Saudi Arabia. A hearty and warm couple, Mrs. Dr. Vaid is also school teacher and like her husband has a great passion for Urdu poetry. From culturally rich state of Rajasthan, Dr. Parmod Vaid was born into a Brahmin family but to this day resents the caste system. He is impressed with the Islamic culture and strong bonds with his Muslim neighbors back home. His mother and the neighbor’s wives treated themselves like real sisters. “I have always lived with Muslim culture,” Dr. Vid explained as he unfolded his experiences selling encyclopedia for a British company in Saudi Arabia.
Former US Air Force ranking officer Anil R, Singh awarded AIM Fellowship
Mr. Anil R. Singh founded SE Laboratories in 1978. Prior to establishing the firm, he held positions in the electronic industry as a metrology manager and supervisor. He served in the US. Air Force and attained the rank of E4 before an honorable discharge. As President of SE Laboratories, he has received awards from SBA for Outstanding Contributions to the Defense Industry, the Minority Business of the Year, and the Administrator’s Award of Excellence. He belongs to the National Conference of Standards Laboratories (NCSL). He received his Bachelors of Science in Business Administration from Saint Mary’s College of California and his Masters of Business Admiration from Sana Clara University. Anil Singh also attended Stanford University” AEA Mini MBA and holds a diploma in electronics from Air Force.
( A delighted Anil Singh above expresses his gratitude while Hayward Hall of Justice guest of honor Judge Lott looks on) PICS-SAINESH
Former Citizen of Fiji Returns Home from the United States After 40 Years
PEOPLE’S PROFILE
SAN FRANCISCO, California (June 22, 2012) native Indo-Fijian, Sesha Reddy, announces his homecoming to the Fiji Islands after living and working in the United States for 40 years. "With the Fijian government offering dual citizenship to former Fijian citizens and tax incentives for foreign investments, it makes the Fiji Islands an attractive destination for retirement." Reddy said. But, after discussing his plans and the benefits of returning to Fiji with others, Reddy came to understand that many former citizens do have the desire to come home, but for those who no longer have relatives or a place to stay in Fiji find it discouraging. With much enthusiasm, Reddy will return to the Fiji Islands with more in mind than retirement and relaxation alone. Reddy has a major goal to create an opportunity for other former Fijian citizens to come home through developing the community Tokalau Pointe (www.tokalaupointe.com). This new and exciting community will provide all the comforts of modern living while preserving the natural serenity that former Fijian citizens have been missing for years. Reddy stated, "As for many of us, we left Fiji for growth opportunities – educational and professional. Now that we have accomplished many life goals, our children are grown and retirement is upon us, this is the time to fulfill one final
goal, and that goal is to return home.” Tokalau Pointe, located less than two kilometers from Sigatoka Town along the country's second largest river, the Sigatoka River, is a major land development project that consists of 117 acres of freehold land. The master plan for Tokalau Pointe includes 200 single family homes, 35-40 condominium units, 3 bed and breakfast facilities, several neighborhood parks and a shopping center. Sesha Reddy is an American investor based in the San Francisco Bay Area in California, USA. For those who have the desire to come home to Fiji and would like to learn more or simply have any suggestions for this community development, he welcomes feedback and may be contacted at seshareddy5@aol.com.
ASSEMBLIES OF GOD GRADUATION CEREMONY Dr, Isikeli held a mid year graduation ceremony of his pastors in Palo Alto, Tuesday 24, 2012. More than 40 members attended the event.
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KOYA MEMORIAL NIGHT
This night dedicated to the memory of the late Hon. S M KOYA is slated for early next year. Everyone is welcome share their thoughts, comments and memories. If you stories and pictures etc., you want to share you are most wel come do so. The man who fulfilled the journey crafted by one of the most learned and seasoned politicians of Fiji the late Hon. Mr. A D Patel. THE KOYA MEMORIAL NIGHT will be dedicated to celebrate the memories of tails of former leader of opposition the Late Hon. S M KOYA
FIJI AMERICAN IDOL SHOW A unique, exciting and professional FIJI AMERICAN IDOL SHOW is in the planning process and due to be launched early next year.
MISSION AUDITION JUDGING NO PUBLIC JUDGING AT ALL.
TO LOCATE AND PROMOTE NEW AND BUDDING TALENTS FROM THE FIJI AMERICAN COMMUNITY.
THERE WILL BE AN EARLY AUDI TION WITH $10 DINNER CHARGES. WILL BY A PANEL OF SUPERSTARS !
Call: 1-800-757-6619
FIJI AMERICAN IDOL SHOW
Spain makes history, rout Italy to retain European title
SPORTS
July 2012
29
S
pain confirmed their status as one of the greatest national teams in football history by overwhelming Italy 4-0 in Sunday's Euro 2012 final in Kiev to retain their European crown. Vicente del Bosque's team became the first side to successfully defend a European Championship title, as well as the first to win three consecutive major tournaments after their triumphs at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. Accused in some quarters of having lost their ability to excite, Spain produced a thrilling demonstration of attacking football to confirm beyond doubt that this remains a golden age for Spanish football. Andres Iniesta and Xavi were the architects of victory, playing key roles in goals by David Silva, Jordi Alba and Fernando Torres, who teed up fellow substitute Juan Mata for Spain's fourth. The match-winner in the Euro 2008 decider against Germany, Torres became the first player to score in two European Championship finals, while it was the most handsome winning margin in a final in the tournament's history. Italy played the last half an hour with 10 men after third substitute Thiago Motta was forced off by injury moments after coming on, as the momentum that had taken the Azzurri past Germany and England in the knockout rounds disappeared. The star of the semi-final win over the Germans, Mario Balotelli endured a fruitless evening, while Andrea Pirlo was upstaged by the pass masters in the Spanish midfield. Dropped for the semi-final against Portugal, Cesc Fabregas returned to Spain's starting line-up to occupy the 'false nine' role he had taken up against Italy in the 1-1 draw between the sides in Group C on June 10. Italy coach Cesare Prandelli also made one change to his starting XI, with Ignazio Abate replacing Federico Balzaretti at right-back after missing the semi-final win over Germany due to muscle fatigue. It was quickly apparent that Spain had a point to prove and in the 10th minute there was a glimpse of the pin-sharp attacking football that had eluded them in recent match-
Spain's national soccer players celebrate with the trophy after defeating Italy to win the Euro 2012 final.
es, as Xavi exchanged passes with Fabregas before rifling a shot narrowly over. Four minutes later the deadlock was broken, Iniesta threading a superb pass down the inside-right channel to Fabregas, who slipped around Giorgio Chiellini before cutting the ball back for Silva to head home. Chiellini's evening lasted barely more than 20 minutes, as the Juventus defender was forced off after landing awkwardly and had to be replaced by Balzaretti. Having being eclipsed by Iniesta in recent matches, Xavi proved that reports of his demise are grossly premature by creating Spain's second goal four minutes before halftime. The 32-year-old maestro collected a pass from Alba and then delayed his pass supremely before freeing his future Barcelona team-mate to run in and place the ball past Gianluigi Buffon for his first international goal. Prandelli replaced Cassano with Antonio Di Natale at the interval and the Udinese man made an immediate impact, heading just over
Defeat no tragedy, it's just a match: Rafael Nadal
LONDON: French Open champion Rafael Nadal was philosophical about his shock second-round defeat to 100th-ranked Czech Lukas Rosol at the Wimbledon. The Spanish second seed looked to have fought his way back into the match, cruising to the fourth set after taking the first and surprisingly dropping the next two. But Rosol rallied and won a dramatic decider to record a 6-7 (11), 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 victory. Nadal, a two-time Wimbledon champion, had nothing but praise for the exceptional performance of his opponent in the fifth set, but added his poor
play was a factor in the final result. "Nothing to do in the fifth set. He played more than unbelievably. But before, in the first three sets, I didn't play well," Nadal said. But Nadal appeared anything but devastated by the result. "That's not a tragedy; it's just a tennis match. Last four months were great for me, probably the best months in my career playing unbelievable in the clay court season. The only thing I can do is go back home and rest, I need and deserve it." Nadal said. In the next round, Lukas Rosol will face 27th seed Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.
from Abate's centre and then obliging Casillas to save after ghosting in behind Spain's defence. At the other end, Buffon thwarted Fabregas after the Barcelona man weaved his way past Balzaretti and Leonardo Bonucci, who was lucky not to concede a penalty when he appeared to block Sergio Ramos' header with his arm. Italy's hopes of a comeback evaporated in the 62nd minute, as Motta was carried off on a stretcher with an apparent hamstring injury just five minutes after replacing Riccardo Montolivo, leaving Prandelli's side with 10 men. The game dipped in intensity until the arrival of Torres, who rolled home Spain's third from Xavi's pass in the 84th minute before teeing up Chelsea team-mate Mata for an 88th-minute tap-in.
Indian hockey team needs to work on penalty corners: Ex-players
RANCHI: Penalty corner conversion would be the key to Indian hockey team's success in next month's London Olympics, feel former players. "Unless the Indian team converts two out of three penalty corners into goals in every game, it is very difficult for the team to match the likes of Holland, Germany and Australia," said Michael Kindo, part of the bronze-medal winning 1972 Munich Olympics team. A fullback in the 1975 World Cup-winning team, Kindo put his faith on drag-flick specialist Sandeep Singh. "On his day, hardly anyone can match Sandeep Singh in hitting targets in the penalty corners. I hope he excels in all the matches," Kindo, who had also excelled in India's silver and bronze medal feats in the 1971 and 1973 World Cup, said. India, clubbed in Group 'B' along with Holland, Belgium, Germany, South Korea and New Zealand in the Games beginning July 27, had a good outing in the recent Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia finishing third. "If the boys continue to play the way they played in Malaysia, there is every chance of India getting an Olympic medal," says another fullback Sylvanus Dungdung, one of the stalwarts that fetched gold medal for India in the 1980 Moscow Olympics."I hope the exposure trip to France and Spain will also help the team, which should focus on building up speed to match the Europeans...I also hope the team emulates our cricket team which won the World Cup after 28 years," he said.
Olympic Trials: Bolt, Blake ease through to 100m semis
KINGSTON: Usain Bolt and Yohan Blake easily won their heats Thursday night to qualify for the 100 metre semifinals at the Jamaican Olympic Athletic Trials. Reigning world champion Blake was the fastest of the quarterfinalists with a time of 10.00 seconds. Bolt, the Olympic champion and world record holder in the 100m, also won his quarterfinal by easing to a 10.06. Nesta Carter and Asafa Powell were the fastest finishers in the third quarterfinal as both were credited with a time of 10.19. The last quarterfinal was won by Michael Frater who finished in 10.09. The semifinals and finals are scheduled for Friday at the sold-out National Stadium. The top three finishers in the final will punch their tickets to the London Games. Powell said after his race that he expects fireworks in the final. Bolt and Blake declined to comment to reporters. Powell, who held off Blake to win the title last year, plans to "go all out" in the semifinals and finals. He said he didn't push the pace Thursday because "it is the heats and so we are taking it easy." On the women's side, the Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, the former world
champion Veronica CampbellBrown and Olympic silver medalist Kerron Stewart will battle in the 100m. Nearly 400 athletes are competing for about 60 berths in London in what could be the largest Jamaican athletics delegation ever sent to an Olympics.
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July 2012
Soldier dead, two others injured in Fort Bragg shooting
(CNN) -- One U.S. Army soldier was killed Thursday and two others wounded when one soldier shot another, then turned the gun on himself at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, authorities said. All three soldiers were from the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, the installation said in a statement. The shooting occurred during a unit safety brief, said Fort Bragg spokesman Col. Kevin Arata. The suspected gunman was injured and was taken into custody, Arata said. A third soldier nearby suffered slight injuries from the shooting, which occurred in a unit area, he said. "We don't yet know the reasons for the shooting, but are working with the unit and the affected families to help them through this difficult period," he said. Notification of next of kin was under way, he said. Special agents from the Army Criminal Investigation Command were on the scene and investigating.
SC ruling on healthcare is victory of American people: Obama
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Thursday said that the ruling of the Supreme Court in favour of the Affordable Healthcare Act is a victory of American people, hours after the apex court handed him with a big political gain before the November presidential elections. "Whatever the politics, today's decision was a victory for people all over this country whose lives will be more secure because of this law and the Supreme Court's decision to uphold it," Obama said in his remarks from the East Room of the White House. His remarks came after the momentous decision of the apex court which said the Congress did not overstep its power by requiring nearly all Americans to buy health insurance. "The highest court in the land has now spoken. We will continue to implement this law. We will work
together to improve on it where we can. But what we won't do -- what the country can't afford to do -- is refight the political battles of two years ago, or go back to the way things were," he said, adding that this law has a direct impact on so many Americans.However, Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney vowed to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act if is he voted to power in the November presidential elections. "What the court did not do on its last day in session, I will do on my first day if elected President of the United States. And that is I will act to repeal Obamacare," he said. "Obamacare was bad policy yesterday. It's bad policy today. Obamacare was bad law yesterday. It's bad law today. Let me tell you why I say that. Obamacare raises taxes on the American people by approximately USD 500 billion," he alleged.
US NEWS
This official White House photo shows US President Barack Obama talking on the phone with solicitor general Donald Verrilli in the Oval Office of the White Housein Washington, DC, after learning of the Supreme Court's ruling on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
House could arrest Holder with inherent contempt power Despite voting to hold Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. in contempt of Congress, there’s little House Republicans can do in the short term to compel him to turn over documents — unless it wanted to revisit a long-dormant power and arrest him. The thought is shocking, and conjures up a Hollywood-ready standoff scene between House police and the FBI agents who protect the attorney general. It’s a dramatic and unlikely possibility not least because Congress doesn’t even have a jail any longer. But in theory it could happen. Republicans say it’s not even under consideration, with House Speaker John A. Boehner’s spokesman flatly ruling it out. But the process, known as inherent contempt, is wellestablished by precedent, has been confirmed by multiple Supreme Court rulings, and is available to any Congress willing to force such a confrontation. “The House is scared to death to use the inherent contempt power,” said Mort Rosenberg, a fellow at the Constitution Project and author of “When Congress Comes Calling.” “They’re scared to death because the courts have said … the way the contempt power is used is unseemly. It’s not that it’s unconstitutional, because it’s been upheld by four Supreme Court decisions, but unseemly to have somebody go arrest the attorney general.” That’s why it’s been more than 75 years
Scribe fired after secret career as stripper exposed
LOS ANGELES: Sarah Tressler, a 30year-old stripper who worked the gentlemen's clubs of Houston, had a guilty secret : she earned a second income in the sordid world of newspaper journalism. Or at least she did. After her double life was exposed by a rival news organization in March, Tressler was called into the editor's office at The Houston Chronicle and unceremoniously sacked. So began a snowballing dispute which in May saw Tressler sue the newspaper, claiming unfair dismissal, and in a fortnight's time will see the launch of her memoir, 'Diary of an Angry Stripper' , which according to its publisher will detail the "inner workings" of her dual careers. On Wednesday, Tressler announced that she will further leverage her notoriety by embarking on a "coast to coast" stripping tour. In an interview with the Las Vegas Review Journal, in which she claimed to have a masters degree from New York University , Tressler said she hopes the road trip will bring national attention to her discrimination claim and help her get her old job back as a feature writer and society reporter.
since either chamber has used the option though it used to be somewhat common.The House on Thursday voted 25567 to hold Mr. Holder in criminal contempt, and 258-95 to pursue a case against him in the courts. But those votes do little to break the impasse over his refusal to turn over documents the House is seeking in an investigation into Fast and Furious, a botched gun-walking operation. The House issued subpoenas for the documents last year but President Obama last week asserted executive privilege in withholding them. A court case will take time, meaning
there’s little immediate effect of the two contempt votes. Indeed, the lack of any penalty for Mr. Holder’s failure to cooperate was cited by one Democrat as his reason for voting against Thursday’s contempt motion. “While I strongly believe that the Department of Justice should fully cooperate with Congress to ensure transparency in the Fast and Furious operation, this motion lacks an enforcement mechanism to make it anything more than politically motivated,” said Rep. Heath Shuler, North Carolina Democrat. That’s why Mr. Rosenberg, a former analyst for the Congressional Research Service, said Congress should consider using its own police powers and should try to impose a fine rather than physically arrest someone. Short of that, there are few options left to Republicans, said Louis Fisher, another former CRS analyst who specialized in separation of powers issues. “They had hoped that by acting today they would get Holder to make some concessions. That didn’t happen. Now I think it’s pretty awkward,” he said. He said the best chances for an end to the stalemate now rely on the political process which is one reason why Republicans said they were seeking answers for the family of Border Patrol Agent Brian A. Terry, who was killed in a shootout where two of the guns from Fast and Furious were found.
US Air Force faces growing sex scandal
WASHINGTON: The US Air Force has said at least 31 female cadets were victims of alleged sexual assault by military instructors in a widening scandal at the service's training command. General Edward Rice, commander of Air Education and Training Command, said yesterday that authorities are investigating 12 male training instructors for suspected sexual misconduct at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas. He said nine of the 12 instructors were from the 331st Training Squadron, and that the problem appeared to be confined mostly to that unit. The commander of the squadron was relieved of his duty earlier this month over the allegations, Rice told a news conference at the Pentagon. It was unclear how long sexual misconduct had been going on at Lackland but the Air Force believed the abuses dated back to 2009, he said. Rice said "We have identified some 31 victims and are actively seeking any others that may have been affected by this."
Obama hails ruling as win for ‘middle class’; justices hand tax issue to GOP
The Supreme Court handed President Obama a major political victory on his signature health care issue Thursday, but the justices also provided Republicans with a sharper campaign issue by defining the law’s individual mandate as a tax. The ruling allows Mr. Obama to engage in a fourmonth-long victory lap as he campaigns for re-election. It also validates the president’s decision to devote so much time and energy to getting the legislation passed in 2009 while the economy was in free fall — a divisive vote that contributed to the Democrats’ loss of House control in 2010. Democrats didn’t try to hide their “I-told-you-so” reaction to the decision, although Mr. Obama and some others tried to downplay the political benefits. “I know there will be a lot of discussion today about the politics of all this — about who won and who lost,” Mr. Obama said, adding that such talk “completely misses the point” of the law’s benefits. Rep. Steve Israel, New York Democrat and chairman of the House Democrats’ campaign committee, said the ruling “isn’t a political victory for Democrats; it’s a victory for America’s middle class and seniors, and now House Republicans need to drop their partisan obstruction and move on.” Republicans also saw political opportunity in the ruling. “It will be a short-lived celebration in the White House,” said Republican pollster Whit Ayres. “Obama now goes into the fall campaign defending a law that most Americans think will increase their health care costs, their premiums, their taxes and the deficit. He also has to defend
raising taxes on all Americans, which he pledged not to do.” Sen. Mike Lee, Utah Republican and a member of the tea party caucus, said Mr. Obama’s victory will be “fleeting” and argued that most Americans didn’t like the law’s individual mandate in the first place. “They’ll like it even less when they understand it’s a tax,” Mr. Lee said on Fox News. The high court’s ruling leaves in place 21 tax increases
in the health care law costing more than $675 billion over the next 10 years, according to the House Ways and Means Committee. Of those, 12 tax hikes would affect families earning less than $250,000 per year, the panel said, including a “Cadillac tax” on high-cost insurance plans, a tax on insurance providers and an excise tax on medical-device manufacturers. “This is a clear violation of the president’s pledge to avoid tax hikes on low- and middle-income taxpayers,” said a statement from the panel, which is chaired by Rep. Dave Camp, Michigan Republican. On the campaign trail four years ago and since taking office, Mr. Obama has been fond of saying that middle-class families will not see their taxes rise “a single dime” under his leadership. Mr. Obama and his rival, presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney, engaged in dueling news conferences within two hours of the high court’s decision. The Republican trumped the president by giving his televised statement nearly a half-hour before the president spoke at the White House. “Obamacare was bad policy yesterday, and it’s bad policy today,” said Mr. Romney, who pledged to repeal it if he is elected. Still, the court’s decision was a big win for Mr. Obama, who spoke Thursday of the “courage” behind the legislation and had been citing the law at campaign rallies as the major achievement of his presidency. If the justices had overturned the law or key portions of it, Mr. Obama would have been portrayed as having wasted his term on a demonstrably failed policy.
Colorado city looks to Obama for aid as fire turns deadly
US NEWS
(CNN) -- Friday brought sad news to Colorado Springs: A monster wildfire that raged nearby and came roaring down a mountain has turned deadly. Authorities discovered a charred body in a house consumed by flames. One other person was missing. In all, 346 homes were ravaged and the threat still looms large. Another 20,000 homes and 160 businesses stand dangerously close to the blaze. The Waldo Canyon Fire has scorched more than 16,700 acres and brought fear, anxiety and grief to Colorado Springs, the state's second-largest city that was, until a few days ago, happily situated in the valley below picturesque Pike's Peak. Colorado declared major disaster area Family sees home burning on front page High winds fueling Colorado wildfire Evacuee: Wildfire 20 feet from home But Friday also brought some relief. The fire, raging since last weekend, had been growing steadily, fueled by hot, arid conditions and winds that gusted at 65 miles per hour. Thursday was the first day that firefighters felt they were winning the battle. The winds had calmed to 10 miles per hour; the temperatures dropped to the 90s. Incident commander Rich Harvey said fire crews made "really good progress." He was happy to report that no additional structures were lost Thursday. There was no growth in the perimeter of the fire and it was now 15% contained. The effort to tame the flames got a boost Friday from the military, which is deploying eight of the U.S. Forest Service's Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems, or MAFFS, aboard C-130 aircraft. The systems will drop retardant on the Waldo Canyon Fire as well as other wildfires still burning in Colorado. There was relief, too, in knowing that President Barack Obama was on his way to Colorado to visit fire-affected areas. He was scheduled to arrive around noon, local time. Colorado
Indian-American Sunita Williams headed to space in July
WASHINGTON, Indian-American Sunita Williams, a record-setting astronaut who lived and worked aboard the International Space Station for six months in 2006, is headed to the space once again in July. Williams is scheduled to take off on July 14 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with Flight Engineers Yuri Malenchenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, NASA said. 46-year-old Williams will be a flight engineer on the station's Expedition 32 crew and will become commander of Expedition 33 on reaching the space station.
A partially burned home smolders Thursday in Colorado Springs.
Springs Mayor Steve Bach, who has been present at media briefings, skipped talking to reporters Friday morning. He attended an emotional meeting the evening before with residents wanting to know what had happened to their homes. And in the morning, he was gearing up for his meeting with the president, sorting out in his head what kind of federal aid he would ask for. "I really appreciate the president coming here ... if nothing more than just to reassure us that this has a focus at a national level, that there are people all over this country who are concerned for our citizens and those who have lost their homes," Bach said. "And I do plan to ask for cash," he added. He had promised that his communi-
ty would surround fire victims with love and encouragement; that they would move forward as a city. Obama declared Colorado a disaster area to allow for the flow of federal dollars to help fight the Waldo Canyon Fire as well the High Park Fire, which has burned more than 87,000 acres in northern Colorado since it began on June 9. In Colorado Springs, he planned to survey all that was lost. Among the people whose lives are forever changed are Rebekah and Byron Largent. They should have been celebrating their daughter Emma's first birthday Tuesday. Instead, they fled their home. They took only what they could carry: a few toys, clothes. "We thought we were coming back in a couple of days," Rebekah Largent said.
They clung to one another at Thursday's meeting as they got the dread confirmation on a piece of paper that listed the 346 houses on 34 different streets. Their rented house was burned to a pile of smoldering ash and rubble. Gone are the wedding dress, the family photos and grandmother's china. Also gone is the rocking chair where the Largents took turns over the past year rocking Emma to sleep. "We're not sure what we are going to do next," Rebekah Largent told CNN affiliate KKTV. Brandon Hanson and his wife, Maria, were also at the meeting. They scanned the list of addresses -- theirs was not on it. "It was a big, big relief," Hanson said. But it was relief tempered by the sadness of peo-
Indian-origin duo may get 30 yrs' jail for fraud in US WASHINGTON: An Indian-American father-daughter duo has been arrested and charged with operating a fraudulent debt elimination scheme. In a 13-count indictment Deowraj 'Deo' Buddhu, 69, and his daughter Sunita Buddhu, also known as Sunita Thakur, 42, both resident of Connecticut, have been charged with running a fraudulent debt elimination scheme. Both have been under custody since their arrests on June 11 and June 13 respectively. If convicted, they face a maximum term of 30 years in prison on each count of mail fraud, and a maximum term of 25 years in prison on each count of passing fraudulent financial instruments. "It is alleged that this father and daughter preyed on struggling homeowners and
defrauded them of thousands of dollars through a fictitious debt elimination scheme," US attorney for Connecticut David Fein said. The indictment alleges that between February 2009 and June 2012, the Buddhus, operating through various businesses, including Paradise Consulting Service, Hema Inc and Secured Redemption, sold a debt elimination 'programme' to individuals whereby, in exchange for substantial fees paid to the Buddhus, victims were told about a little-known government fund that could be used to pay off their mortgages and other debts. In fact, no such fund exists, justice department said. "Deowraj Buddhu advised victims to stop making payments on their mortgages. He also provided his victims with
fictitious promissory notes which he told victims they co8uld use to pay their debts." Sunita Buddhu, a licensed notary public, notarized documents provided to the victims as part of the program. Victims were directed to present the fraudulent promissory notes and other documentation to banks and other creditors," it said. As alleged, by ceasing their mortgage payments and other obligations, victims of the Buddhus ended up in foreclosure proceedings and are at risk of losing their homes and other assets. The indictment further alleges that the Buddhus prepared and directed victims to file frivolous lawsuits, documents, motions, and other purported legal documents with the state courts in Connecticut and elsewhere.
and construction work, and surveillance of staff and contractors. The official report, made available Thursday, comes after a February factfinding tour of the US diplomatic missions in Islamabad, Karachi, Peshawar and Lahore. It urged US officials to ensure that the issue of harassment is raised in bilateral talks with the Pakistani government. Although it was marked "sensitive but unclassified," sections giving greater detail about the conditions faced by US embassy staff were blacked out along with several recommendations made by the watchdog. The US commando raid on bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad in May 2011 had been a "double embarrassment" highlighting both the government's "incompetence" and "its inability to detect or defend against
a military intervention." Confidence between the United States and Pakistan was further shaken by the attack on the US embassy in Kabul in September, as well as a Nato attack that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November. "The impact of these events has been felt across the full spectrum of the bilateral relationship," the report said. "The expectation is that the future relationship will be less ambitious, more pragmatic," it said, adding that the embassy also "struggles with the challenge of programming more than $2 billion in annual funding for development and security assistance programs." The report makes 32 formal recommendations for improving the security and working conditions of the embassy staff, including updating its policy on the
use of armoured vehicles. Washingtonbased officials, however, were also criticized for being too intrusive at times amid the intense interest and US commitment in what is happening on the ground in both Pakistan and neighbouring Afghanistan. "One of the embassy's greatest challenges is managing Washington's intense and at times intrusive involvement and voracious appetite for information," the report said. From the time of the November border incident to the February review, embassy officials had taken part in 40 video conferences with senior people in Washington, some of them chaired by President Barack Obama. The report recommended that the number of video conferences between Washington and Islamabad be rationalized.
US diplomats in Pakistan facing harassment: Report
WASHINGTON: US diplomats working in Pakistan face increasing harassment amid a sharp deterioration in ties in the wake of last year's killing of Osama bin Laden, a State department report said Thursday. Such harassment and obstruction is described by US embassy staff as "deliberate, wilful and systematic," according to the 76-report by the department's watchdog, the office of inspector general. "Official Pakistani obstructionism and harassment, an endemic problem in Pakistan, has increased to the point where it is significantly impairing mission operations and program implementations," the report said. Harassment included such things as delaying visas for staff, blocking shipments of materials for aid programs
July 2012
31
ple who were now homeless. "The entire neighborhood is gone. It's like a war zone," he said. "We are so lucky." More than 36,000 people have fled their homes in Colorado Springs neighborhoods like Mountain Shadows and Peregrine. Open Story: iReporters share their harrowing views of the wildfires It was in Mountain Shadows where authorities late Thursday discovered a charred body inside one of the homes during a search for two people who were reported missing in the area. Authorities made the discovery after a family had "inquired about the status of their loved ones," police spokeswoman Barbara Miller said. Miller said it's possible that another body is at the destroyed home. Authorities were forced to suspend the search because it was too dark to continue, she said. Carey declined to release further details or identify the missing, saying the case was under investigation. Help for wildfire evacuees and first responders Carey said fewer than 10 people had been reported missing and authorities were checking with evacuation centers and relatives to try to find them. They also planned a secondary search of the burned homes to make sure that no one else remained inside. Authorities also announced the arrest of two people accused of burglarizing a home left vacant by the evacuation order. Belinda Yates, 38, and Shane Garrett, 36, were being held on suspicion of second-degree burglary, theft, possession of a controlled substance and other related charges, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation said. Meanwhile, the cause of the Waldo Canyon Fire remains unknown. The Denver office of the FBI joined agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with local authorities, in investigating reports that an arsonist may be responsible.
US detains Pak ex-minister over terror ties
HOUSTON: Former Pakistani minister Shaikh Rashid, known for his pro-LeT leanings , was detained at Houston airport on arrival for his possible links with the terror group's founder Hafiz Saeed, the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks. Rashid, 61, leader of the Awami Muslim League of Pakistan, was detained soon after he arrived by an Emirates flight on Wednesday evening and was freed after five hours of interrogation. Sources said Rashid was detained for his possible links with Saeed. It is understood that he was scheduled to attend a fundraiser and meetings with his supporters in the US. The US department of homeland security was not immediately available for any comments. According to Pakistan's Geo News channel, the former minister was released after Pakistan's ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman, asked the Pakistani consulate here to help him out. Following her directives, Pakistan's consul general in Houston, Aqil Nadeem, reached the airport to talk to the immigration authorities following which the former minister was allowed to leave the airport after five hours of interrogation , it said. Rashid had in recent past actively attended the rallies and meetings organised by Defa-e Pakistan Council, an alliance of extremist and hardline groups formed by JuD chief Saeed. He had accompanied Saeed to the rallies and press conferences where they both made statements against India and the US. Rashid had served as the federal minister for railways in Pakistan from 2006 to 2008.
PAKISTAN POST Sir Zafrullah Khan first foreign minister of Pakistan 32
July 2012
Islam - its meaning for the modern man “The Quran has proclaimed that falsehood will never overtake it. All research into the past and every discovery and invention in the future will affirm its truth (41:43). The Quran speaks at every level; it seeks to
reach every type of understanding, through parables, similitudes, arguments, reasoning, the observation and study of the phenomena of nature, and the natural, moral, and spiritual laws (18:55; 39:28; 59:22). It reasons from the physical and tangible to
the spiritual and intangible. For instance: “Among His Signs is this; that thou seest the earth lying withered, but when We send down water on it, it stirs and swells with verdure. Surely He Who quickens the earth can quicken the dead. Verily, He has power
over all things” (41:40). Here, by quickening of the dead is meant the revival and rebirth of a people. As the dead earth is quickened by life-giving rain from heaven, a people that appears to be dead in all respects is revived and regenerated through spiritual
water from the heavens, that is to say, through Divine revelation. This idea is expressed in the Quran in several places. Both resurrection and renaissance are explained with reference to the phenomenon of the dead earth being revived through life-giving rain (22:6 8). The Quran repeatedly urges observation and reflection, the exercise of reason, and understanding (2:270). For instance: “In the creation of the heavens and the earth and in the alternation of the night and the day there are indeed Signs for men of understanding, who remember Allah while standing, sitting, and lying down, and ponder the creation of the heavens and the earth. This leads them to exclaim: ‘Our Lord, Thou hast not created all this without purpose; Holy art Thou’” (3:191—192).” Sir Zafrulla Khan Source: Islam – Its Meaning for Modern Man
ABOUT THE AUTHOR SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA:
“Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan was a Pakistani politician, diplomat, and international jurist, known particularly for his representation of Pakistan at the United Nations (UN). The son of the leading attorney of his native city, Zafrulla Khan studied at Government College in Lahore and received his LL.B. from King’s College, London University, in 1914. He practiced law in Sialkot and Lahore, became a member of the Punjab Legislative Council in 1926, and was a delegate in 1930, 1931, and 1932 to the Round Table Conferences on Indian reforms in London. In 1931–32 he was president of the All-India Muslim League (later the Muslim League), and he sat on the British viceroy’s executive council as its Muslim member from 1935 to 1941. He led the Indian delegation to the League of Nations in 1939, and from 1941 to 1947 he served as a judge of the Federal Court of India.Prior to the partition of India in 1947, Zafrulla Khan presented the Muslim League’s view of the future boundaries of Pakistan to Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the man designated to decide the boundaries between India and Pakistan. Upon the independence of Pakistan, Zafrulla Khan became the new country’s minister of foreign affairs and served concurrently as leader of Pakistan’s delegation to the UN (1947–54). From 1954 to 1961 he served as a member of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. He again represented Pakistan at the UN in 1961–64 and served as president of the UN General Assembly in 1962–63. Returning to the International Court of Justice in 1964, he served as the court’s president from 1970 to 1973. He was knighted in 1935. He is the author of Islam: Its Meaning for Modern Man (1962) and wrote a translation of the Qur’an (1970).” [Encylopaedia Britannica] Sir Zafrulla Khan, a Polymath: Introducing Islam to the West Best Regards! Zia H Shah Chief Editor: The Muslim Times
CROSSWORD PUZZLE
PUZZLE
DO THE COLORING
Coloring pages are fun, but they also help children develop many important skills. These skills, eye-hand coordina tion, color concepts, picture comprehen sion, form the foun
CROSSWORD
Catch-Words -07
ACROSS
1 A representative (8) 5 A country in Africa (6) 9 Brazilian monetary unit (8) 10 Container (6) 12 Source of illumination (2 words) (5,4) 13 Short choral composition (5) 14 Plate (4)
DOWN
1 Tame (6) 2 A public waiting room (6) 3 Fantastic (5) 4 From end to end (7) 6 Olympic winner's prize (2 words) (4,5) 7 Bedtime alcoholic drink (8) 8 Footnote (8) 11 Ski lift (1-3) 15 Hockey players wear these (2 words) (3-6) 17 A close-fitting pullover shirt (3-5) 18 Activist (8) 20 Panache (4) 21 Electronics brand name (7) 22 Candy (6) 23 Secondary school (6) 26 Female organ (5)
The alien boy wants to meet the alien princess . Draw the path to the alien princess starting at 1 and counting 16 Glowing (7) 19 An expert in the analysis of Scriptures (7) 21 50% (4) 24 Ownership shares (5) 25 Collection of stories (9) 27 Prisoner (6) 28 Word game played with tiles (8) 29 Beat hard (6) 30 A quorum for a Jewish religious service (8)
Answer of Crossword-06
http://www.crosswordpalace.com/
July 2012
JOKES
Open mind... Mack: My mind is so so open.. Peter: Yeah, it is so open that ideas simply pass through it. _______
Looking sad.. A man was crying and saying: What did i do with you? why did you go? Was i your enemy? I will never forgive you.. His colleague asked: Yo are looking so sad and to whom you are saying all this? Man replied: My spouse's Ex-Hubby, He is no more in this world.. _______ Successful man.. Cristine: You know, behind every successful man, there is a woman! Michal: But behind every unsuccessful man, there are two.. _______
Why do you gift apple... Once a Doctor and engineer fall in love with same lady. Engineer started gifting an apple to the girl. Girl asked: There are lots of other things to gift but why do you give me this apple? Engineer replied: Because an apple a day keeps the doctor away! _____ You are aged if.. Man: When i should think that i am getting aged? Friend: When your beloved says, 'can we go upstairs and make some romantic talks?' and you reply, 'Sorry dear but i can't afford to do both things at a time.'
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FIJI LAW JOURNAL
Fiji law journal is the official segment of the Fiji American bar association 34
July 2012
In our efforts to launching the first ever FIJI AMERICAN BAR ASSOCITAION, it has been felt to commence a Fiji Law Journal as its official voice. Initially it will appear as single page as part of the Fiji Sun USA but eventually it will become an independent publication beginning with a 20 page issue for the benefit of our readers. Let’s put things in perspective. It is understood that there about 50 qualified attorneys in US of Fiji origin most work for corporates or some governmental agencies. Only a handful is in private practice.
Need for more attorneys
There is clearly need for more attorneys of Fiji origin especially in civil and criminal law. In Bay Area alone four to five attorneys can easily be accommodated.
Judicial Officers
There is a stark lack of judges and commissioners in our judicial system. We do not have any judge or commissioner on the bench. So there is room for opportunity in this area. Ms. Sadhana Narayan was a few years back tipped for judgeship but looks like change in the political leader-
A conspiracy investigation mixed in political turmoil
ship probably did not go in her favor.
FABA Membership
Any person of good standing in the community can join FABA – Fiji American Bar Association. There are two categories of membership: attorneys and professional affiliates who could be law clerks, legal assistants, paralegals, legal analysts or law students currently studying law. General members can also join and attend general and social meetings and mixers. An interim committee is being set up for the grant launching when 10 superior court judges are expected to participate along with dozens of non-Fiji attorneys for moral support.
Continuing legal education
Given the nature of the legal profession FABA will provide continuing education programs in addition to its meetings and seminars. As its sponsor, AIM is in the process of getting a national accreditation for recognition and acceptance of its academic programs which will also embrace parts of legal studies and Islamic criminology.
(Continued from last issue) The training specialist took a keen interest providing much of the information to the previous investigator and to a great shaping his thinking on the case. As soon as I took over the case, I eliminated him and completed the investigation less than two weeks. As I shifted through the evidence and wrote my case summary, it became crystal clear the main motivation behind this investigation. One hand was the internal politics at this organization which awaited appointment for a new Director for which there appeared to be several contenders and one the other Prime Minister’s wish to see his deputy getting ousted from the office. It was rumored that things were very friendly between them and a criminal charge would have pre-empt the position. For serious lack of evidence support a notion of conspiracy, I submitted a no case in law. My reasoning outlined in my minutes to the Director CID was quoted verbatim by a counsel in the DDP’s office for final decision by the DPP. Ironically, the deputy prime minister became the first president after the 1987 Military Coup a position he held onto till his death perhaps to the dismay of many of his envoys.
AIA - Islamic criminology – the Sharia Law
It is deeply concerning that undue negative views are being expressed in the media about the Islamic Sharia and fear is being spread that America will soon have the Sharia Law which is so fake and false. There are two significant facts that must be kept in mind: (1) The US Constitution and Federal laws to a large extent already have in place some of the rules of law propounded by Islam. (2) In Order to have the entire Islamic Law adopted and made prevalent over all other laws, will require a Constitutional change which is unlikely to happen even in next 100 years as there is not sufficient number of representatives that will vote for such an amendment. And American Muslims have not even spoken about such sweeping political changes. To be exact such a vigorous constitutional change will call for a a national referendum. There is neither a need for the action nor it is possible to undertake such a risky step. Any discussions must be held within these perimeters
ics and Musftis have their own takes on the Sharia Law which in my view is a misleading term. The correct term should be Islamic law or the Law of the Holy Quran that everyone can have access to by consulting a copy of the Quran. All you have to browse through the Chapters and the subject matter covered in the index to read a section and make a sense out of it yourself.For further clarification, you can read commentaries of the verses at the appropriate section. Here again you will find variations as each translator has his/her own commentaries on certain issues some founded on actual previous cases or decisions or legal opinions of past Imams who some of whom enjoy a reasonable degree of acceptance or recognition. As far as the present day Muslim Muftis and clerics are concerned there is no unanimous agreement and they mostly self-appointed or appointed by some governmental agency like in Egypt and Saudi Arabia. In India, it is pretty much a self-proclamation ad long as they have has some standing in the Madrasas from where they obtained their Islamic knowledge.
and accurate than what the present day so called authorities seem to profess much to the confusion of people who are not Muslims are not fully aware of the essence of Islamic Law.
Outline of Islamic criminology
In my outline of Islamic criminology I have presented a bullet point presentation of Islamic Laws: * Divorce * Property Law *Sworn Evidence * Corroborative evidence * Writing down business transaction * Creating disorder * Fraud * Lies and misleading statements * Alliance to the country or law of the country where you live. * Equal rights * Peace and war treaties and their applications * Natural resources and men as guardian This is just a shortlist and it clearly shows that Quran has laws not simply for spiritual guidance but laws how to govern a society or people. You can easily pick out the familiar ones and you will find how they resemble the US laws that are found in Federal or Local publications. (For a more comprehensive information, please read my paper: AN INTERDICTION TO ISLAMIC CRIMINOLOGY )
FIJI BAR (FABA) Misconception about Sharia Law
The Sharia law might mean different things to different Muslim groups compounded frequently by opinions and edicts of Muftis and clerics who seem to have a certain degree of influence. Especially the present day Muslim cler-
Early institutions
The best standards of the practice of Islamic law are borne by examples from the life of the Prophet of Islam and the first four caliphs. They were divinely appointed and as such far more reliable
TO BE LAUNCHED SOON
Fiji American Bar Association is under planning at present under AIM banner and will be launched soon.
It will have two categories of membership: Attorneys, who are licensed to practice in US
Professional Associates
Paralegals, law clerks, legal assistants and legal analysts with more than 4 years of experience and law students. (Criminals not allowed). All inquiries to be addressed at:
aim.edu@gmx.com
STAR AGE ARIES
March-21 to April-20
CANCER
June-22 to July-23
LIBRA
September-24 to October-22
CAPRICON
December-23 to Januar-20
You could be a little bit touchy, tending to regard whatever anyone else says as a challenge. The influences around can be useful. But it also moves your tongue into top gear, which can prove a distraction. You’ll want to put energy into health, diet and almost everything that makes you happy and comfortable. You will defend your corner with vigour and energy at the moment. No one will interfere or cross swords with you and emerge unscathed. But if you can indulge into a little creative discussion where no one takes offence but everyone speaks their mind firmly, then you’ll emerge with better ideas. You may be at risk of turning a mole hill into a mountain. Don’t say the first thing that comes to mind. Think about the likely consequences of what you say. Not in a competitive mood you may today fail to take the decisive step which would win you the argument. Exercise some restraint at the moment, else you may stir up hornets’ nests. Be robust but don’t say the first thing that comes to your head. You will head straight to the heart of the matter and could be candid to the point of bluntness. Your direct, at times brutal, honesty can be unnerving to some.
TAURUS
April-21 to May-20
LEO
July-24 to August-23
SCORPIO
October-23 to November-22
AQUARIES
January-21 to February-19
You will defend your corner with vigour and energy at the moment. No one will interfere or cross swords with you and emerge unscathed. But if you can indulge into a little creative discussion where no one takes offence but everyone speaks their mind firmly, then you’ll emerge with better ideas. You need to flush tensions out into the open. There are things that really need to be said. So if you can get it over and done with, you can clear the air once and for all. The trick is not to keep grinding on to the bitter end. Say just enough to make your feelings known. You may be spoiling for a disagreement. If you can find someone to argue with in a positive, constructive way, it’ll be helpful. Eyeball to eyeball squabbles will not get you anywhere very sensible. Mars in your chart area of friendships ensures that everyone is being pulled in the same direction. Be cool, calm and sensible. You could go rushing in where angels fear to tread, since you are not in a mood to concentrate on practical details. Your mind is pretty sharp. So use it without flaring up about trivial irritations. Also deeply secretive, you will be plotting and planning how to get your own way.
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July 2012
Don’t let your irritability show else the feeling could be infectious and get everyone over heated. What you have to say is important. Be clear, concise and detached. Mars in your chart area of emotional matters makes you throw all your energies into family life.
GEMINI
May-21 to June-21
VIRGO
August-24 to September-23
SAGITTARIUS
November-23 to December-22
PISCES
February-20 to March-20
This is the time to make long-term plans and see where you are going over the next few weeks and months. Setting your goals is crucial since you do not want to drift around aimlessly in the days ahead. Your open, honest, friendly and very enthusiastic manner is attracting a really positive response from everyone around. At times you may sound just a touch all knowing, and could be narrow minded. You are brimming with confidence. You might be delighted at your ability to assert yourself. Also, watch that you do not go slightly over the score. With Mars in your chart area of career, your dynamic energy is not surprisingly being channelled into work and achieving your ambitions out in the world.a You’ll be in a rather competitive mood today. You’re mind is sharp and clear. But you may talk in a way that just ruffles other people’s feathers. Try to be little funny. You’ll attract yourself to competitive companions. Near and dear ones will be outspoken, so you need to keep the peace.
The Planets
A Brief Introduction to Astrology
Jupiter
The search for individual meaning and purpose, optimism, hope and a sense of justice are represented by Jupiter. So also faith, a basic philosophy of life, the striving for spiritual growth and expansion. Sign equivalent: Sagittarius Orbit from Sun: 778'330'000 km Period: 11,9 Years
Saturn
Saturn shows how we experience "reality", where we meet with resistance and discover our limitations. It represents the conscience and moral conviction, the laws and rules which we choose to obey. It also tells us about our powers of endurance and the ability to concentrate, it lends qualities like earnestness, caution and reserve. Sign equivalent: Capricorn Orbit from Sun: 1'429'400'000 km Period: 29,5 Years
FinMin will resolve uncertainty over Gaar very quickly : Montek 36
INDIAN ECONOMY
July 2012
The finance ministry under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will very quickly "resolve" uncertainty among investors caused by anti-tax avoidance rules which were unveiled in the Budget, Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said on Sunday. "As soon as Budget was presented, it was clear that General Anti Avoidance Rules (Gaar) is going to create problem," he said in an interview to Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN's Devil's
Advocate programme. However, he said, the finance ministry, now under the Prime Minister, "will resolve uncertainty among investors". When asked if former finance minister Pranab Mukherjee was a problem, he said, "No, I think this is something we don't want to be carried away ... newspapers are always trying to put one minister against another. "The Art of taxation is difficult ... you have to give credit to the previ-
Top nine sensex companies add Rs 46,869 cr in market capitalisation
MUMBAI: A strong stock market, which saw the BSE sensex surge 2.69 per cent, has pushed up the combined market capitalisation (mcap) of top nine blue-chips by Rs 46,869 crore, with energy major RIL alone adding Rs 8,645 crore to its value. TCS, ONGC, Coal India, ITC, SBI, Infosys, HDFC Bank and NTPC also logged gains in value. Bharti Airtel, however, was the only one in top-10 that saw slump in mcap for the trading week ended on Friday. \ The market value of Reliance Industries Ltd surged Rs 8,645 crore to Rs 2,41,481 crore, followed by IT major TCS which added Rs 8,582 crore taking its mcap to Rs 2,50,044 crore on Friday. ITC's value climbed Rs 6,568 crore to Rs 2,02,458 crore, while NTPC added Rs 6,267 crore to reach Rs 1,31,721 crore. Similarly, the mcap of CIL jumped Rs 6,190 crore to Rs 2,19,430 crore; ONGC saw a gain of Rs 4,534 crore at Rs 2,43,574 crore and HDFC Bank
Rockland to invest Rs 600cr to open 2 hospitals,add 1,100 beds
added Rs 4,346 crore at Rs 1,32,371 crore. Infosys' value soared Rs 1,576 crore to Rs 1,43,703 crore and m-cap of SBI rose by Rs 161 crore to Rs 1,44,888 crore. In contrast, the market worth of Bharti Airtel slipped Rs 2,184 crore to Rs 1,15,824 crore. TCS retained the first slot in the top 10 list for the week, followed by ONGC, RIL, CIL, ITC, SBI, Infosys, HDFC Bank, NTPC and Bharti.
Gold bounces back on wedding season demand; up by Rs. 65
Gold on Saturday recovered by Rs. 65 to Rs. 30,125 per 10 grams on retailers buying for the wedding season amid a sharp rally in global markets. However, silver lacked necessary buying support and fell for the fourth day shedding Rs. 50 to Rs. 52,900 per kg. The trading sentiment in gold improved as it recorded the highest jump in four weeks in global markets, climbing above $1,600 an ounce, after Europe's leaders took steps to resolve the debt crisis, boosting the outlook for global economic growth. In New York, gold climbed 3.5% to $1,604.20 an ounce, the biggest gain since June 1. In addition, some buying for the ongoing marriage season further fuelled the uptrend in gold. On the domestic front, gold of 99.9 and 99.5% purity recovered by Rs. 65 each to Rs. 30,125 and Rs. 29,925 per 10 grams, respectively. The metal had lost Rs. 360 yesterday. However, sovereigns held steady at Rs. 24,400 per piece of eight grams. On the other hand, silver ready remained weak for the fourth straight day and declined by Rs. 50 to Rs. 52,900 per kg and weekly-based delivery by Rs. 75 to Rs. 52,050 per kg. The white metal had lost Rs. 1,450 in last three sessions.
ous finance minister, after all he postponed the application of Gaar". He said that Gaar is a larger issue and it "caused lots of uncertainties among investors ... The government actually recognised that by postponing implementation of Gaar". Referring to the finance ministry's draft guidelines on Gaar provisions, he said they have taken care of some of the problems. "I think the government should look carefully at informed opinion and
informed comments on whether these rules take care of all the problems that are creating difficulty and then address them," he added. On retrospective tax amendments, the deputy chairman said he does not think it was introduced because of Vodafone tax issue. "It is possible that high profile attention Vodafone got complicated everything else. I am talking about all the other things," he said adding the issue of Vodafone tax will have to be handled by the finance ministry.
Rupee strengthened on Friday after the government confirmed it won't impose retroactive taxes on foreign investors and as global risk asset rallied, but still headed for its worst quarterly performance in at least 17 years. Euro zone leaders agreed on Friday to take emergency action to bring down Italy's and Spain's spiralling borrowing costs and to create a single supervisory body for euro zone banks by the end of this year, a first step towards a European banking union. The improved global risk environment comes as investors are growing more hopeful of meaningful policy reforms at home after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a former central bank governor, took charge of the finance ministry. The government released draft rules on Thursday and said the general anti-avoidance rules, or GAAR, would not apply retroactively, a big concern for portfolio investors. "The INR may outperform as well as India seems to be backtracking on its plans to retroactively apply new tax rules that would penalize a major foreign direct
investor," said Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist & strategist for Asia ex-Japan at Credit Agricole. At 12.05pm, the rupee was at 56.29/31, and headed for its biggest weekly gain in five months. That marked a turnaround after the rupee tumbled to a record low of 57.32 against the dollar a week ago. The currency is on course to log it worst quarter in at least 17 years, as per available Reuters data, having first started to tumble to set record lows in May. The country has been buffeted by various macroeconomic concerns, primarily the twin fiscal and current account deficits, leaving it vulnerable to capital outflows at a time of global risk aversion. However, with Singh, widely credit with ushering in economic reforms in the 1990s, taking charge of the finance portfolio, investors are hoping he will push some much awaited reforms and address concerns on tax issues. Global risk aversion has also improved. The euro surged following relief after the statement from European leaders, raising hopes it could help ease a big recent overhang in global markets.
Rupee gains in worst quarter for at least 17 yrs
India’s financial system robust but risks up, says RBI report
NEW DELHI: Rockland Hospitals will invest nearly Rs 600 crore to open two multi-speciality hospitals and add 1,100 beds in next three years. "We will open two new hospitals, one at Manesar and the other at Greater Noida. The total investment will be around Rs 600 crore," Rockland Group CMD Rajesh Srivastava told PTI. While work on Rockland Manesar is already underway and is scheduled to be launched by the end of this year, the project at Greater Noida, for which land has been acquired, is scheduled to be completed by 2015.He further said the company is adding another 100 beds to the company's Qutab facility as part of the overall expansion programme.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Thursday in Financial Stability Report, said that though the Indian financial system remains robust, risks to financial stability have increased in the recent past due to the dismal global macroeconomic situation and the muted economic growth on the domestic front. “Risks to financial stability have worsened since December 2011, primarily due to the global risks and domestic macroeconomic conditions,” said the bank. Global sovereign debt problems and risk aversion, domestic fiscal position, widening current account deficit and structural aspect of food infla-
tion pose threat to stability, the report said. “The downside risks to the global macroeconomic environment are expected to intensify further in the coming months, owing to political uncertainty in the euro area, the persistence of global imbalances, fiscal stress and sluggish growth prospects,” it said, adding the contagion of euro zone is spreading to other The report said slowdown in the domestic economy, upside risks to inflation, high fiscal deficit among others remained areas of concern. Promote electronic transactions for safety Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released Payments
System Vision Document 2012-15 on Thursday that proposed to promote electronic transactions towards a “less-cash” economy, with an intention to make payment and settlement in the country safer. In the document the RBI said, “the document envisages by ways and means of ensuring payment and settlement systems in the
country are safe, efficient, interoperable, authorised, accessible, inclusive and compliant with international standards.” The regulation would aim at channelising innovation and competition to meet the demands consistent with international standards and best practices, as the payment systems will be driven by customer demands of convenience and ease of use to access, the RBI document said. Earlier, the RBI had published a vision document regarding the course of action that would be undertaken in the field of payment and settlement systems within next three years.
Major FMCG firms such as Dabur, Emami and Godrej are more concerned about the overall negative economic sentiment hurting demand than the late arrival of monsoon that can have an impact on rural sales. "We have not seen any contraction in demand as yet and the rural market continues to grow," Dabur India chief financial officer S Raghunathan said when asked about the impact of late arrival of monsoon.While the high-end
super-premium segment does not get impacted by inflation or monsoon, demand in the mass-premium segment could get contracted in case the overall economic sentiment does not improve, he added. "We are watching the situation and are cautiously optimistic," Raghunathan said. Expressing similar sentiments, Kolkata-based Emami said a marginal shortfall in the monsoon may not significantly impact the
consumption levels. "..it is the macro-economic indices, like inflation, level of rural financing, high interest rates, low infrastructure investments, along-with shortfall of rainfall if so, that would impact the consumptions," Emami CEO Sales Krishna Mohan said. Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL) managing director A Mahendran said, "Across FMCG sector monsoon delay or below average rains is never a con-
cern. The delay won't affect consumption." The south-west monsoon, the key to the agriculture driven trillion-dollar Indian economy, hit Kerala on June 5 but its progress so far in the rest of the country has been less than satisfactory. Market analysts also pointed out that the impact on FMCG firms due to late rains would be nominal due to their enhanced penetration in the rural areas in the last few years."..FMCG companies derive 35 to 50% of their
revenues form rural economies but with the depth of distribution this time the impact will be marginal in the worst scenario," Anand Rathi Securities executive director and Co-head research - Institutional Equities Shirish Pardeshi said India's economic growth rate slipped to nine-year low of 6.5% in 2011-12 and current account deficit (CAD) has touched a high of 4%. Inflation, meanwhile, was high at 7.55% in May.
Negative economic sentiment major cause of worry: FMCG cos
July 2012
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July 2012
PHOTO GALLERY
July 2012
FARAAZ KHAN OPEN- AIR MARRIAGE IN 110 * HEAT IN SACRAMENTO
Eyeing for Bollywood break?
BOMBAY NITE
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Video of Keynote Address at Capitol Hill in USA by Khalifa of Islam U 40
INTERFAITH
July 2012
nited States Congress introduced Resolution welcoming Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad to United States and praised his commitment to promote peace, all over the world. On 27 June 2012, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad was welcomed to Capitol Hill, in Washington D.C. where he delivered a keynote address entitled ‘The Path to Peace – Just Relations between Nations’ to an audience filled with more than 30 members of the United States Congress, including Honourable Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Leader in the House of Representatives. Also in attendance were members of the Diplomatic Corps, White House and State Department staff, Professors, NGO leaders, religious leaders, media representatives, State representatives and various other sectors of society. Following the event, His Holiness was given a tour of the Capitol Hill building, before being escorted to the House of Representatives where a Resolution was introduced in honour of his visit to the United States. The introductory paragraph of the Resolution stated: “Welcoming His Holiness, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the worldwide spiritual and administrative head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, to Washington, DC, and recognizing his commitment to world peace, justice, nonviolence, human rights, religious freedom and democracy.” The event began at 9.55am with recitation of the Holy Qur’an by Maulana Azhar
Hanif, before a welcome address was given by Amjad Mahmood Khan, the National Director of Public Affairs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the United States. Senator Robert Casey (US-PA) welcomed His Holiness to the United States and said that he was greatly appreciative at having the opportunity to meet with him. He said: “Your Holiness, I want to thank you for your great leadership and your commitment to peace, tolerance and justice.” The first Muslim Congressman, Keith Ellison (US MN-5) said that the United States was ‘honoured by the presence of His Holiness’ and he said that under the leadership of its Khalifa, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat was proving to be a ‘true blessing for the people of the United States’. Congressman Brad Sherman (US CA-27) said that he would be introducing the
Congressional Resolution welcoming His Holiness to the United States in the House of Representatives immediately after the event. He also said that His Holiness was ‘a model of tolerance for the entire world.’Katrina Lantos Swett, Chairwoman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said that she felt the entire room was filled with a ‘special blessing and undoubtedly it is a reflection of the blessing His Holiness brings to the Capitol’. She went on to speak about and condemn the continued persecution of Ahmadi Muslims in various countries. Read further in the Muslim Times. Best Regards! Zia H Shah MD Chief Editor The Muslim Times
Nancy Pelosi welcomes Khalifa at Capitol Hill The Pakistani Muslim leader of the millions of Ahmadiyya Muslims around the world at Capitol Hill
On 27 June 2012, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad was welcomed to Capitol Hill, in Washington D.C. where he delivered a keynote address entitled ‘The Path to Peace – Just Relations between Nations’ to an audience filled with more than 30 members of the United States Congress, including Honorable Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic Leader in the House of Representatives. Also in attendance were members of the Diplomatic Corps, White House and State Department staff, Professors, NGO leaders, religious leaders, media representatives, State representatives and various other sectors of society. Following the event, His Holiness was given a tour of the Capitol Hill building, before being escorted to the House of Representatives where a Resolution was introduced in honor of his visit to the United States. The introductory paragraph of the Resolution stated: “Welcoming His Holiness, Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad, the worldwide spiritual and administrative head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, to Washington, DC, and recognizing his commitment to world peace, justice, nonviolence, human rights, religious freedom and democracy.” The event began at 9.55am with recitation of the Holy Qur’an by Maulana Azhar Hanif, before a welcome address was given by Amjad Mahmood Khan, the National Director of Public Affairs of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the United States. Senator Robert Casey (US-PA) welcomed His Holiness to the United States and said that he was greatly appreciative at having the opportunity to meet with him. He said: “Your Holiness, I want to thank you for your great leadership and your commitment to peace, tolerance and justice.” The first Muslim Congressman, Keith
KHALIFA OF ISLAM MAKES HISTORIC ADDRESS AT CAPITOL HILL.
United States Congress introduce Resolution welcoming Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad to United States and praising his commitment to promoting peace
Ellison (US MN-5) said that the United States was ‘honoured by the presence of His Holiness’ and he said that under the leadership of its Khalifa, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat was proving to be a ‘true blessing for the people of the United States’. Congressman Brad Sherman (US CA-27) said that he would be introducing the Congressional Resolution welcoming His Holiness to the United States in the House of Representatives immediately after the event. He also said that His Holiness was ‘a model of tolerance for the entire world.’ Katrina Lantos Swett, Chairwoman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said that she felt the entire room was filled with a ‘special blessing and undoubtedly it is a reflection of the blessing His Holiness brings to the Capitol’. She went on to speak about and condemn the continued persecution of
Ahmadi Muslims in various countries. Congressman Frank Wolf (VA-10) welcomed Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad to the United States and said that the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat was ever ready to support all human rights efforts. Congressman Mike Honda (CA-15) spoke about his pleasure at meeting His Holiness privately the evening before at the Baitur Rahman Mosque. He said that he hoped that Ahmadis remained forever safe in the United States so that they could continue to propagate their message of peace. Thereafter a copy of the Special Congressional Resolution was presented to His Holiness by Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA). Democratic Leader, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi said she was proud that such a bipartisan welcome had been given to Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad. She said the leadership of Hadhrat Mirza
Masroor Ahmad was characterised by ‘wisdom and compassion’. She further said that despite facing grave persecution, ‘His Holiness has refused to turn to bitterness or vengeance’. The National President of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat in the United States, Dr Ahsanullah Zafar, spoke about how under the leadership of its Khalifa, the Ahmadiyya Muslim Jamaat never responded to the persecution it faced with cruelty but instead with prayers. The keynote address of Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad commenced at 10.40am. His Holiness enlightened the assembled audience about the teachings of the Holy Qur’an in terms of international relations. His Holiness said that the key principle in maintaining peace was true justice. His Holiness said: “The truth is that peace and justice are inseparable – you cannot have one
without the other... Yet, in general, there is little doubt that restlessness and anxiety is increasing in the world and so disorder is spreading. This clearly proves that somewhere along the line, the requirements of justice are not being fulfilled.” His Holiness said that Islam taught that all people were born equal and were deserving of equal human rights. Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad said: “In the Holy Qur’an, God Almighty has made it clear that whilst our nationalities or ethnic backgrounds act as a means of identity, they do not entitle or validate any form of superiority of any kind.” His Holiness continued: “Thus, it is a clear teaching of Islam that the people of all nationalities and all races are equal. And it is also made clear that all people should be granted equal rights without any discrimination or prejudice. This is the key and golden principle that lays the foundation for harmony between different groups and nations and for the establishment of peace.” His Holiness said that wealthy nations should make great efforts to assist the developing countries; however they should not do so in an effort to fulfil vested or national interests. Rather they should act with a desire to serve humanity and with the ambition to end the restlessness and anxieties of those in need. Hadhrat Mirza Masroor Ahmad concluded with a message calling for peace. His Holiness said: “The United States, as the world’s largest power, should play its role in acting with true justice and with such good intentions as I have described. If it does so then the world will always remember with great admiration your great efforts. It is my prayer that this hope becomes a reality.”