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VOL. 25 • NO. 21 • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 • P.O. BOX 623, SUGAR LAND, TX 77487 • PERIODICAL PERMIT USPS 017699 • 25 cents
Modi mows down opponents, figuratively
Save A Mother gala
The BJP tweeted out a telling cartoon, picturing Modi mowing down his political opponents, with an onlooker observing that the situation is the result of seven phases of polling. All exit polls released at the conclusion of the seven-phase 17th general election predicted a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. See Page 3.
Therese Cole-Hubbs, left, Shiban Ganju, founder of Save A Mother, board members Girija Patel, Poonam Tulsiani, Shalini Bhargava, Veena Kaul, Nat Murthy, Hema Prasad, Preity Bhagia, Sakina Ali and Puneet Freibott. (Not pictured) Veena Mathur and Tyna Pariani. —Photo by BIJAY DIXIT. By SESHADRI KUMAR rates during child birth, but communication in India. The Save A Mother (SAM) is an it has expanded its mission successful method used to curb organization that does exactly to developing healthcare maternal mortality has been what it says. solutions for the poor and applied to other healthcare The organization’s mission spreading literacy through problems such as tuberculosis is primarily to reduce mortality social behavior change See MOTHER, Page 11
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Seva Clinic, the first charity medical clinic celebrated its twoyear anniversary on Saturday, May 18, 2019 at the clinic which is located in the Pearland Neighborhood center, 2335 N Texas Ave, Pearland. Amber Murray from the office of US Congressman Pete Olson presented a Congressional Certificate of Recognition on the second anniversary of the clinic, commending that in Sanskrit SEVA means “ selfless service” and Seva Clinic exemplifies that mission. Dr. Subhadra, left, Amber Murray, Dr. P. Vaduganathan and Joanne Barrett. See Page 6.
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PAGE 2 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 • PAGE 3
NEWS
Exit polls predict second term for PM Narendra Modi
‘BJP will retain its strongholds in the north and west and make considerable gains in West Bengal’ All exit polls released at the conclusion of the seven-phase 17th general election predicted a second term for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. Most polls indicated minor to considerable setback for Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh where it won 71 of 80 seats in 2014, but they were in agreement that the party would firmly hold on to its strongholds in the north and west and make considerable gains in West Bengal. Trailing in south In southern States barring Karnataka, the BJP is projected to trail far behind opponents. The Congress and its allies are projected to make significant gains compared to the historic low they hit in 2014, but will
end up some distance away from the halfway mark of 272 seats in the 543-strong Lok Sabha, according to these polls. The polls predicted between 242 to 365 for the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and between 77 and 164 for the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA). Parties that are unattached to either side, which include the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) whose coalition in Uttar Pradesh is resisting the BJP, could get between 69 and 125 seats, according to various polls. Congress vs BJP: A bitter battle of two narratives Exit polls have a long history of going wrong in India. According to Praveen Chakravarty, chairperson of the Congress Data Analytics Department, who compared exit polls with actual outcomes posted
on Twitter: “~80% of exit poll seat predictions for all parties in large state elections since 2014 are wrong.” Exit polls are generally considered more accurate than opinion polls conducted before actual voting. Around the world also, the credibility of opinion polls and exit polls has taken a beating in recent years.
Almost all polls in the Australian election last week got the outcome wrong, and similar was the fate of polls during the 2016 U.S. presidential election and Brexit. But what is common between these polls that went wrong was that all of them under-reported the support for conservative and ultra-nationalist positions. Indian exit polls
on Sunday uniformly predicted a massive surge in favour of the Hindu nationalist BJP. The exit poll projections indicate that Mr. Modi’s campaign to turn the election into a referendum on his persona rather than the performance of his five-year term has been successful.
“Exit polls do not mean exact polls. We have to understand that. Since 1999, most of the exit polls have gone wrong,” the Vice-President pointed out. Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu has mocked at the exit polls, saying they were not exact polls. “Exit polls do not mean exact polls. We have to understand that. Since 1999, most of the exit polls have gone wrong,” the Vice-President pointed out. Mr. Naidu addressed an informal meeting of well-wishers on May 19, who felicitated him in Guntur. Referring to the ongoing general elections, he said every party exuded confidence (over victory). “Everyone exhibits his own confidence till the 23rd (day of counting). There will be no base for it. So we have
to wait for 23rd,” he remarked. “Country and the State need an able leader and stable government, whoever it be. That’s what is required. That’s all,” Mr. Naidu observed. The Vice-President also said change in society should start with political parties. “If democracy has to strengthen and something good has to happen to people elections, selections, candidates, parties all should discharge their duties responsibly and properly,” he noted. The Vice-President lamented that civility has become a casualty in the present political discourse. “There is a lot of degeneration in the speeches of political leaders. They are resorting to personal abuses. One is not an enemy to the other in politics, they are only rivals...
They are forgetting this basic fact,” he said. Expressing anguish over the behaviour of elected representatives in Parliament and state legislatures, he said, “See how MPs are behaving in Parliament and MLAs in Assembly, irrespective of the parties. Panchayat and civic bodies’ members follow them.” The Vice-President also found fault with political parties announcing freebies to win over the electorate. “The way parties are behaving.. you have been given a mandate for five years. You have to work. Without doing that, you announce freebies at the last minute. I am always opposed to it. Free power means, no power,” Mr. Naidu observed.
Astrologers divided Exit polls are not exact polls, over next government most have gone wrong since 1999: Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu
The 2019 Lok Sabha elections have not only baffled political pundits and pollsters due to the ‘silence’ maintained by voters all through the campaigning, even astrologers are divided on who would form the next government — the Bharatiya Janata Partyled National Democratic Alliance under the leadership of Narendra Modi or Congress-led United Progressive Alliance or a third front. A prominent astrologer of Kanpur, KD Tripathi, said that there was 99.9 per cent possibility of NDA returning to power with Narendra Modi as the next prime minister. “Till October 2018, the planetary positions were not good for Modi and therefore he was facing internal crisis. But after midNovember, the situation changed and winds started blowing in his favour. I had predicted in July last year that Modi will return as prime minister and I believe I will prove true,” he said. Tripathi said that he was not sure whether the BJP would form government on its own but he was sure that NDA would form the government and Modi would get a second term as prime minister. On the other hand, Dr SN Jha, lecturer at Astrology department of Lucknow University, predicted that Modi would not return to power this time. “My prediction is that the Congress-led UPA will return to power. I cannot say whether Rahul Gandhi will be the next prime minister or not but I can surely predict that Modi will not be the prime minister anymore,” Dr Jha said. He said the downslide of Modi started after 2016. “He (Modi) made many promises but failed to fulfil them. He even ignored the warning signals and neglected the holy Ganga. Now, the planetary positions are against Modi and so my prediction is that Congress will form the next government. Another astrologer, Manindra Maharaj, predicted that the BJP will not get as many seats as it got in 2014 elections but the NDA will form the government and Narendra Modi will be the prime minister once again. “The BJP is suffering losses because the ministers have not worked as per the expectations of the masses. But Modi worked hard. His hard work and planetary positions will make him prime minister once again,” he predicted.
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PAGE 4 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
NEWS
India House /SOS Continues Life After Seminar Series: Sustainable Income in Retirement Share Our Secrets (SOS) is an educational organization, which conducts a gamut of programs for educated young people to teach them skills that are not taught in college curriculums and enabling them to succeed in their careers. SOS also conducts various community outreach events, on topics of interest to Houstonians, and specifically for seniors that could benefit them in their retired lives. India House is a community center which provides a myriad of services & activities, either
free or at a highly discounted price, including Charity Clinic, Sareen Clinic, Yoga, Meditation, After School, Technology Classes for Seniors, Vedanta Study, Hindi Language, Sanskrit Language, Legal Consultations, Dance Classes, Cricket and informative/ educational seminars. India House, in partnership with Food Bank of Houston, has recently started a program to distribute food to disadvantaged members of the neighboring community. All are welcome to volunteer at these events
Sharma Tilal Senanayake, CPA Certified Public Accountant HOUSTON: Most Retiree and soon-to-be Retiree’s desire to live a healthy and comfortable retired life, travel to exotic places on their bucket list, and spend quality time with family and friends. However, retirees’ may feel anxious of whether their life savings will outlast theirs and their spouse’s lives and whether they are able to leave some legacy. This anxiety is exacerbated by the increasing turbulence in the geopolitical environment and the information overload from the internet economy. Share Our Secrets (SOS), in partnership with India House, is organizing a free educational program, which will provide
suggestions on how retirees and soon-to-be retirees may achieve some of their retirement goals (comfortable lifestyle, leaving a legacy, etc) through careful planning and implementation. The program is titled Sustainable Income Stream for Retirement, and will be on June 9th, 2019 from 4 to 6:30 PM at India House. The program will cover common threats to income during retirement years, strategies to mitigate these threats, and share some personal anecdotes and experiences. The program is for audiences who are approaching retirement as well as those currently in retirement, and both spouses
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INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 • PAGE 5
NEWS
Chords for a Cause
L to R: Tanya Mahesh, Mr Bob Wylie, Mrs BL Wylie and Sandhya Mahesh
L to R: Cheyenne Hayes, Kevin Hayes, Mahesh Subramanian, Mrs. BL Wylie, Mr. Bob Wylie, Tanya Mahesh and Anu Mahesh. Various people donated pizza, cupcakes, and drinks. Gavin Crawford of The Food Network fame donated his cupcakes for the cause. Mrs. Bey Ann Mickle, mother of Kim Mickle, who is legally blind also donated her paintings which raised over $300. Rinpoche (an Indian jewelry business run by Mrs. Ujjwala Sandhya Mahesh, 8th Grader at Nolan Ryan Junior High School, Pearland. By ESHAAN MANI Sisters Sandhya Mahesh and Tanya Mahesh, 8th-grade and 6th-grade students at Nolan Ryan Junior High in Pearland and volunteers with Skate Therapy, teamed up with some amazing elementary and middle school performers from local schools to put together their 4th Annual Rhythm on Ice musical evening on Saturday, May 11th, 2019. The event was a phenomenal success despite some confusion with the rain and raised almost $2,500 for Skate Therapy, a non-profit organization that provides children with special needs the opportunity to experience the sport of figure skating. The Mahesh girls, Tanya and Sandhya, are very passionate about this cause. They have committed to coordinating and leading this event for the past four years. Following the customary Star Spangled Banner rendered by the Nolan Ryan Junior High Choir, Mrs. Angela Forsythe and her daughter Franchesca shared their experience and the magic of Skate Therapy. Their story is inspiring. Franchesca, a student at Skate Therapy, was born with anophthalmia (without eyes), allergic to her own sweat, physically and mentally impaired. The program gave her confidence, joy, laughs, many friends, and most importantly,
she felt loved. Franchesca’s thoughts of “I’m different they are normal, but I am not. I don’t belong” were all erased by her experience and enjoyment through Skate Therapy. This emotional talk was followed by various musicians, whose surreal melodies transported the audience to a different plane. To close the musical leg of the event, Mrs. BL Wylie, founder of the organization spoke. Coach Wylie came from a family of skaters and learned to skate at a young age, but was forced to quit because of financial constraints. When her son, Paul Wylie, a retired Olympic silver medalist, exhibited interest in the sport at age 3, she supported him. She had always seen special needs children sing on the sidelines, and wanted to involve them in the sport. She said that the kids who participate in Skate Therapy are not handicapped. They are just the same as all of us but have more challenges in their lives. We should be empathetic, and Skate Therapy helps those children overcome their challenges. She spoke about how Sandhya grew along with the children with special needs whom she mentored. That journey is equally important and commendable. And with that meaningful speech, the ‘shopping for a cause’ was on!
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Makker) sold exquisite but reasonably priced jewelry (10% of the profits of which went to Skate Therapy). Mrs. Shipra Jhunjhunwala, an artistic Houston mother, was selling various items, including her paintings, homemade gift tags, and some cards (perfectly in time for Mother’s Day) handmade by her neigh-
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PAGE 6 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
COMMUNITY Seva Clinic receives Certificate of Congressional Recognition
Seva Clinic, the first charity medical clinic in Pearland, celebrated its two-year anniversary on Saturday, May 18, at the clinic located in the Pearland Neighborhood center, 2335 N Texas Ave, Pearland, TX 77581. Seva clinic provides free medical care every Thursday from 5.30 to 7.30 p.m and treats patients with basic medical conditions like diabetes, hypertension etc. The clinic does some basic medical tests and treats children on every second Thursday. The clinic has provided free care for thousands of patients since its inception. Dr. P. Vaduganathan, chairman of the clinic wel-
comed the guests of honor - Mayor Tom Reid, Kyle Price, C.E.O., Dr. Glenn Garner, C.M.O., Rebecca Lilly, Effrain Siller from Memorial Hermann Hospital South east and Pearland, Lizz Sitz from the office of state representative Ed Thompson and Amber Murray from the office of Congressman Pete Olson. He paid his respects to Dr. Sathish Cayenne, one of the physicians who used to volunteer regularly and who recently lost his life in an accident. He also thanked all the physicians, nurses, NPs, scribes and volunteers for their dedicated service and reported that the number of patients seen in the clinic
is steadily increasing. He also added that the clinic can do EKGs and provide wound care for patients. Mayor Reid praised the vision and service of Seva clinic. Congressman Pete Olson sent a Certificate of Recognition commending that in Sanskrit SEVA means “selfless service” and Seva Clinic exemplifies that mission. Directors Dr. Subhadra and Joanne Barrett along with Dr. Vaduganathan gave certificates of recognition to the physicians, nurses and all the volunteers.
—By Dr. P. Vaduganathan
“49 “44Years Years Visit www. India-herald.com.
and Counting, Providing Services Email: 1970-2019 1970 - 2014 To Generations editor@india-herald.com of Businesses and Professionals Around The World”
INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 • PAGE 7
NEWS
Women in India’s poorest communities can earn 7 times the informal wage
By ALEXIE SELLER Empowering women as agents of change can change the future for millions of Indian families living in poverty. Before Rukhashana Parveen joined Pollinate Group just over one year ago, she had never held a formal job. As a mother of two children who attend primary school, Rukhashana became interested in working with Pollinate Group to become more independent, while supporting her family. Rukhashana sells products, such as solar lights and water filters, to improve the lives of her peers living in the poorest communities in Kanpur. Even though she did not complete schooling, Rukhashana was our first agent to sell a solar fan in Kanpur and has become a consistent top sales performer in the city. Pollinate Group was formed from a merger in 2018 between the award-winning organisations Pollinate Energy in India and Empower Generation in Nepal. In India, Pollinate Group serves transient, forgotten and hard to reach communities (also known as slums) in Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Lucknow, Kanpur and Tumkur. We empower women, like Rukhashana, as agents of change. The women earn respect and income while becoming inspiring role models who raise awareness about better alternatives in their communities for cleaner energy, safe water and hygiene. To make the products Rukhashana sells affordable for customers living in extreme poverty we offer cash-based payment plans, which have a default rate of less than 2 per cent. Our customers report saving time and money as the main benefits, as well as improved health and more comfortable living conditions. We have reached more than 555,000 customers across India and Nepal and, by replacing toxic kerosene with solar light products, customers have saved $16.7 million in energy costs and more than 65,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions. The pathway for women to earn more Unlike other last-mile
distributors in India and around the world, Pollinate Group has a pathway for women in poverty to earn up to 7x the informal wage. Our customer service focus, including after sales support, is also a key differentiator and advantage to help break the cycle of poverty in the communities we serve. The pathway for women to earn higher incomes evolved from our merger: integrating the success of the Indian operations and employed agents, technologies and processes with the womenfocused, entrepreneurial approach from Nepal. For years, the India team struggled to bring women into sales roles, as the job has high barriers to entry; fulltime hours, travel and evening community visits. But now, this has changed. To start on the pathway, we recruit and train women in slums to sell low-cost products, like mosquito repellent and sanitary pads. These women are essentially entrepreneurs who can graduate to run their own business distributing products or move into employment with us. In addition to selling low-cost products, the entrepreneurs can earn commission by referring highcost products, such as mixer grinders, to employed agents like Rukhashana. As women develop business skills, they also proactively sharing ideas on the products they need. This has created new insights into our markets and influenced our product range. Research has also shown that men typically look towards products with higher entertainment value, whereas women prefer investing in products that increase economic empowerment, save money, and ensure a healthier home environment. These are investments that truly change the future for millions of Indian families living in poverty. Our initial recruitment of women from India’s slums saw 11 women participate, with seven now actively selling in their communities. One woman already wants to become a fulltime agent like Rukhashana. This approach for women in India has been the most
successful strategy we have employed to address the women empowerment, community engagement, product market knowledge and logistics challenges we faced in the past. In December 2018 one of our Bangalore agents, Jaggan, earned a record of $5000 (Rs 3.68 lakh) in one month. This result is an inspiration for women like Lakshmi, a new entrepreneur in Bangalore. Lakshmi was recruited by Jaggan in September last year and has already been involved in peer to peer mentorship and in-field support from our team. When Lakshmi first bought a solar light for her family five years ago, she dreamed of a better future for her children. Now, she dreams of a better future for herself – including moving her family into an apartment and starting her own successful business. We will help her get there. Recruiting and training more women for increased impact Many women in the communities we serve are members of the informal economy, where jobs are not taxed or monitored by the government. Pollinate Group provides meaningful work and new opportunities for India’s ragpickers and domestic, construction and garment workers. In 2019 we aim to recruit and train 100 women and expand our training program, taking more women along the pathway to benefit from opportunities like financial security, college education for their children and progression to management roles. Key to this work is a partnership project involving Pollinate Group, Kalpavriksha Greater Goods (Nepal distributor), Greenlight Planet and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). This partnership supports not only recruitment and training efforts for additional women, but will bring their participation to close to 50 per cent of our agents across India. Every Indian can make an impact In addition to the impact on communities and women as change agents, Pollinate Group builds the next generation of social leaders through fellowship programs. More than 600 professionals and students from India and around the globe have experienced social business in India, testing and evaluating programs to improve the welfare of people in slums. In response to demand, Pollinate Group recently launched an Executive Leadership Program for leaders in India and from around the world. The exclusive
program in Bangalore provides time with executive peers in a collaborative exchange. Rather than a typical seminar, the program will immerse executives in self reflection with a discussion of topics such as equality and inclusion in a safe environment. Participants will also have an immediate impact on slum communities and Pollinate’s operations. Another project we are embarking on in India involves urban and rural customers to better meet their needs. Through our research, we’ve identified a key trend, where customers not only buy products for their own use in urban communities, but many take products back to their native places—the rural villages from which many of our customers emigrate from. Slum populations currently make up 17-24 per cent of India’s urban residents. By 2050 the United Nations predicts India’s urban population to be 814 million, or 50 per cent of the population. We look at these forecasts as an opportunity to continue to serve urban poor
and their rural connections, with the intent to provide ongoing opportunities for women and their communities. In the near term, the combination of our merger, involvement from key partners and impact model are progressing us toward our 2020 goals to recruit, train and support more than 1,000 women, positively impact more than one million people, and reach more than 4,000 families every month. But perhaps the impact of our work today and in the future is best summarized by Rukhashana’s children: “Mum is happier since she started working for Pollinate, she is now able to buy us clothes, shoes and even a bicycle.” says her daughter Misbah. Her son Hasnain shares, “It makes us happy that she can now take care of all of us and that she can be independent.” (Alexie is the CEO and CoFounder at Pollinate Group and an internationally recognised social entrepreneur.) —India Inc.
Medicinal properties of drumstick tree unravelled All the five tissues — stem, root, leaf, flower and seed — of
drumstick studied were found to be rich either in certain vitamins or essential minerals. Researchers have finally unravelled how each part of drumstick (Moringa oleifera), the “magic tree”, is nutritionally rich compared with other plants such as rice, papaya, spinach and cocoa. All the five tissues — stem, root, leaf, flower and seed — of drumstick studied were found to be rich either in certain vitamins or essential minerals. A team led by Prof. Ramanathan Sowdhamini from the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru analysed the genes on complimentary DNA (cDNA) of all the five tissues. The team found drumstick leaves, which are the most nutritious part of the tree, are rich in vitamins, while the roots are mineral-rich. The stem is rich in vitamin C and the flowers and seeds are rich in potassium. The pod and flower also have enzymes that help bring down cholesterol level. Compared with spinach, drumstick leaves have 30 and 100 times more iron and calcium, respectively. Secondary metabolites (kaempferol and quercetin) that contribute to anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and other medicinal properties are in abundance in the flower, seed and leaf. The roots showed higher amounts of certain acids (ursolic acid, oleanolic acid and dibenzyl amine) which make it an anti-fertility agent and a cardio protector. However, it should be consumed in lower amounts due to its higher alkaloid content. “Moringine, a compound discovered from the plant, is antidiabetic in nature and thus initiate insulin secretion. It also helps in lipid metabolism,” says Prof. Sowdhamini, who is the corresponding author of a paper published in the journal Genomics.
PAGE 8 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
NEWS Partnership 2020: Expanding U.S.-India Higher Education Cooperation Rick Rossow, CSIS | Patrick McNamara, University of Nebraska, Omaha | Sher Jan Ahmadzai, University of Nebraska, Omaha As we reach the end of the five-year term of the Modi government, there is no dearth of retrospectives reviewing our relationship through the twin prisms of our security relations and our economic relations. However, while our economic and security ties have ups and downs, our people-to-people connectivity remains a strength. This is particularly true when it comes to cooperation in higher education. But so far, higher education ties have mostly been a collection of decisions by individual institutions. This may change due to a new project funded by the U.S. Department of State, called Partnership 2020. There are several government-led programs to stimulate higher education cooperation. Examples include great joint research projects funded by the National Science Foundation over the years. Or newer projects supported by the India-U.S. Science & Technology Forum. And the Fulbright-Nehru awards for students, academics or professionals administered by the U.S.-India Education Foundation. However, notable gaps remain, such as the relative dearth of American students studying in India. We at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Wadhwani Chair are pleased to have been selected to partner with the State Department to look at ways to expand higher education cooperation. Through Partnership 2020, UNO and CSIS will conduct multiple activities: Assess the current level of cooperation between American and Indian institutions of higher education through a survey and share the information on our website. Distribute at least $600,000 in grants for expanding partnerships between American and Indian institutions, with a focus on helping build partnerships between institutions outside the largest cities in each nation. Prepare a list of policy recommendations for the governments that can unlock more cross-border partnerships. Prepare a “best practice” guide for institutions looking to create cross-border partnerships. The first and second phases of the project are already underway. In fact, we urge members of the academic community with a U.S.India higher education partnership to log in to the survey site to add their partnership. Being part of this list can open the door for funding notices and other opportunities. And American universities can already apply for grants under Partnership 2020; simply go to the grant opportunity website to see details and the application procedure. At the end of this project, the various components of Partnership 2020 will help policymakers in both nations determine ways they can augment this vital component of our relationship. (Mr. Richard M. Rossow holds the Wadhwani Chair in U.S.-India Policy Studies at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Dr. Patrick McNamara is Director of International Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha; Mr. Sher Jan Ahmadzai is Director of the Center for Afghanistan Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.)
Jagruti Panwala: Chairwoman of AAHOA, World’s largest Hotel Owners Association
Jagruti Panwala Pennsylvania hotelier Jagruti Panwala is the new chairwoman of AAHOA, the world’s largest hotel owners association. Panwala became chair during the association’s 2019 Convention and Trade Show which was held at the San Diego Convention Center. Panwala is the first woman to lead the association in its thirty-year history. “I am humbled and honored to serve the more than 18,500 hoteliers of AAHOA as Chairwoman. As an association, our success is a collective effort, and we will continue to build on AAHOA’s thirty years of industry leadership. We are at the strongest point in our association’s history. I am confident that we will continue to grow by inviting more hoteliers into the fold, expanding our vast educational offerings, and bringing industry partners and hoteliers together.”
Terror funding: NIA raids 10 locations in Tamil Nadu
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday conducted searches at 10 locations of the accused persons at Muthupet, Keelakarai, Devipattinam, Lalpet and Salem in connection with investigation of the Keelakarai case, related to conspiracy to procure arms for their terrorist gang, raise funds to wage armed struggle, facilitate escape of terrorists from jail and wage war against the country. During the searches, the NIA seized a number of digital devices including three laptops, three hard discs, 16 mobile phones, eight SIM cards, two pen drives, five memory cards and one card reader besides two knives and a large number of incriminating documents. “The case relates to a group of ten persons from different parts of Tamil Nadu who had formed a WhatsApp group named “SHAHADAT IS OUR GOAL”. In 2018, they conspired together to procure arms for their terrorist gang, to raise funds to wage armed struggle, to facilitate the escape of terrorists from jail and to propagate their ideology, to act against the State, the NIA said in a statement. The case was initially registered on April 2, 2018 at Keelakarai police station of Ramanathapuram district of Tamilnadu, under Crime No. 46/2018 under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Arms Act 1959 against ten accused, out of which nine accused were arrested earlier. One accused is still absconding. Later, all the 9 arrested accused were released on bail by the Court. IPC sections relating to criminal conspiracy, religious or sectarian incitement apart from the UA (P)A sections relating to waging war against the country for violation of the Arms Act. During the last few years, South India has emerged as a major hub for transnational radicalisation groups that are working at the behest of international terrorist groups like the Al Qaeda and ISIS. Various new forms of recruitment methods are adopted by such groups including through virtual technologies like social media and also through an organization like Street Dawah that seeks to attract the gullible youths to its fold by imparting radicalized sermons on Islam.
Over the next year, Panwala said she will focus on bolstering AAHOA’s advocacy efforts at the state and local level, building out the association’s political action committee, and encouraging more hoteliers to seek leadership roles within AAHOA and the hospitality industry. “We must speak with a collective voice against those who seek to harm the foundations upon which our industry is built. America’s hoteliers face significant challenges. Shortterm rentals are seeking special laws, such as secret tax agreements, that fly in the face of free enterprise. Unscrupulous lawyers intent on exploiting small business owners continue to abuse the ADA by filing frivolous lawsuits against hoteliers. We will fight for a level playing field with shortterm rentals and work with a
diverse coalition of hoteliers and disability rights advocates to address drive-by lawsuits. AAHOA will continue to advocate for smarter laws and regulations that benefit hoteliers, guests, and our communities.” In her inaugural address to AAHOA members, Panwala thanked AAHOA’s founders, past chairs, and members for their decades of dedicated work. “You are responsible for all that AAHOA is today and will become in the future.” Chairwoman Panwala joined AAHOA in 2001 and served on the AAHOA Board of Directors as Female Director Eastern Division. AAHOA members elected her as Secretary in 2016. She is the President & CEO of Wealth Protection Strategies. Panwala is an AAHOA Certified Hotel Owner (CHO). She is a graduate of East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania and holds a degree in economics and finance. “We are fortunate to have our new Chairwoman, Jagruti Panwala, leading the way as AAHOA enters its fourth decade as the voice of America’s hotel owners,” said AAHOA Interim President and CEO Rachel Humphrey. “Her success in the hospitality and financial services industries is a testament to the determination and relentless pursuit of excellence with which she approaches her work. From testifying before Congress to collaborating with brand executives and industry partners, Jagruti’s knowledge of the hospitality industry and understanding of hoteliers’ needs will serve our association well.
Opposition leaders meet EC officials, demand verification of VVPAT slips before vote counting
Opposition leaders during their meeting at the Constitution Club of India, in New Delhi, on Tuesday. (Prem Singh) Leaders of as many as 22 Opposition parties met the Election Commission on Tuesday and demanded verification of VVPAT slips of randomly-selected polling stations before the counting of the votes polled in the Lok Sabha election begins on May 23. They demanded that if any discrepancy is found during VVPAT verification, 100 per cent counting of the paper slips of VVPATs of all polling stations of that particular Assembly segment should be done and compared with the EVM results. “We told the EC that the VVPAT machines should be counted first and if there is any discrepancy, then all of them in that segment should be counted,” Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said after meeting EC officials. Azad’s party colleague Abhishek Singhvi said despite requests to the EC since months, the poll body has now said it will meet on Wednesday to discuss the issue. “We are asking the EC to respect the mandate of people. It cannot be manipulated,” Telugu Desam Party’s (TDP) N. Chandrababu Naidu said. Bahujan Samaj Party leader Satish Chandra Mishra alleged that “there is large-scale bungling relating to EVMs in Uttar Pradesh. We demand deployment of central forces”. The Opposition parties raised concerns over the transportation of EVMs ahead of counting of votes and urged the EC to probe the issue. The Opposition parties are seeking transparency and fairness in the counting of votes and respecting the mandate of the people of the country.
Students and parents of Abhinaya School of Performing Arts look forward to their annual dance event “Rasaanubhava” with great fervor and anticipation. This year’s performance took place at Westchester Academy for International Studies on 28 April 2019. Beginners, junior, intermediate, senior and advanced students performed dances choreographed in Bharathanatyam to traditional and contemporary themes. While the beginners demonstrated the adavus or basic steps learned during their academic year, the junior and intermediate students performed the Pushpanjali, Jathiswaram ,Thillana and Bhajan. The senior students performed the Varnam while the advanced learners performed Keerthanams, Ashtakams, and Thillanas. Neeraja Setlur, emcee for the day, provided eloquent explanations to the dances. The logistics were very effectively handled by the organizing committee headed by Anandi Subramanian, Deepthi Setlur, Priya Chandru and Ajaya Sonde. Parent and student volunteers assisted the teachers in effectively execution of the performance. The director Indrani Parthasarathy well versed in the Pandanallur style of Bharathanatyam and also trained in Kuchipudi style of dancing, is the daughter of the Karnataka Kalathilaka Guru Smt. Radha Sridhar of Bangalore. She has to her credit more than 100 solo performances and has been a performer in India, UAE and USA. Indrani established the “Abhinaya School of Performing Arts” in 2001 which is originally based in Katy has now has grown and has branches in Cypress. Two other staff members Krithika Ganesh and Anupama Nagasimha assist in teaching and in the institutes other activities.
Rasaanubhava 2019
INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 • PAGE 9
PAGE 10 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
COMMUNITY
Sanskriti School Graduation Day at Arya Samaj Houston
The Sunday School of Arya Samaj Houston, DAV Sanskriti School has been functioning since the latter’s inception. Its advancement has been a continuous process and it currently educates 147 children of ages 4 -13, as well as its youth wing AYM (Arya Yuva Mandal) which draws another 40 high schoolers. The Sanskriti School teaches two compulsory subjects – Naitik Shiksha (Moral Instruction) and Hindi Conversation, besides electives such as Tabla, music, dance, instrumental, Hindi Read & Write, Vedic Math, Yoga, Multimedia Art, etc. Its academic year 2018-’19 ended last Sunday 12th May in a glittering function. A traditional Havan heralded the event with the graduating 8 AYM youth as Yajmaans. The cultural program started with the presentation of the youth orchestra. Graduates shared their experience at Arya Samaj Houston as to how they benefited from connecting with their cultural roots. The audience noted with a sense of pride that all the graduates were joining prestigious universities to pursue their chosen career. A total of 17 AYM in the age group of 14 to 18 received the President’s Voluntary Service Awards and were presented books and souvenirs. The School’s Annual Day showcased the talents of its students in electives such as Tabla, music, dance, instrumental and Yoga. As always, their performances garnered a huge applause, particularly because they meet only 40 minutes a week. Another noteworthy feature was the discipline of the little children. Multimedia art children displayed their talents in the form of an exhibition.
Yajnaroop Bhajan group with Kavita ji and Vinita ji.
Vocal music group with Smriti ji. Some of them were bought by enthusiasts with proceeds going to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for those affected by the recent Cyclone Fani. This year, the presentation of their Hindi related skills was organized in January at the school and at the Indian Consulate. Sunday 5th May was devoted to the Celebration of Learning where every child participated in displaying what they learned in Naitik Shiksha. The blood donation camp & bone marrow registry on the site attracted several noble people. Three volunteers shared their experience: Indra Singhal, Ritu Chanchalani and Shikhar Singh who have been volunteering at the Sanskriti School for 39, 15 and 2 years, respectively. Indraji’s memories of the yesteryears, particularly her association with the founder of Arya Samaj Houston Late Ram Chandra Mahajan (fondly remembered as Pitaji), offered a unique glimpse. Her call to the parents to get more involved with the Sanskriti School and Arya Samaj was well received. In her report, Director Dr. Kavita Vachaknavee highlighted new feathers in the School’s cap such as eight volumes of new text books produced for Naitik Shiksha, the special elective of Public Speaking and related contests,
a new course on Leadership Skills for ages 12-13, Counselling Service, etc. Registration of new students along with re-enrollments were in full swing, on site. The Sanskriti School reopens on
18th August. The flagship chorus song by all the Sanskriti School children, volunteers and teachers provided a grand finale to the celebration. The event ended with a feast served by
the Food committee. For more information about Sanskriti School and AYM, please call (832) 874-3376 or visit www. aryasamajhouston.org. — By Ved Ratna Acharya Harish Chandra
Girls perform folk dance.
2019 graduating Arya Youth Mandal seniors with their mentors.
DAV children play tabla with Chitanandi ji.
INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 • PAGE 11
NEWS
Save A Mother founder Dr. Shiban Ganju
Mother From Page 1
detection and population stabilization. Save A Mother Houston Chapter held its annual fundraising gala with the theme “Planting seeds of hope,” at the Sugar Land Marriot Town Square on May 5 with veteran Indian actress Sharmila Tagore as the celebrity chief guest. About $113,000 was raised at the event to fund SAM’s programs in India. In her keynote address, Tagore noted that every 10 minutes a woman dies in India from complications of pregnancy or childbirth. Save a Mother has reduced maternal mortality by 90 percent in the villages it has served and appealed to the gathering to “together put maternal health on India’s top agenda.” “If we want to make the next generation healthy and productive, it is vital to save a mother,” she said while urging the audience to give maternal health a priority. The society needs to help women overcome barriers and we must try to make a difference, however small it may be, she further added and also observed the involvement of the youth in the project which showed their dedication. Veena Kaul, President of Save A Mother, Houston Chapter, said in 2008 the maternal mortality rate in India was 212 out of 100,000 live births.
WHO research showed that women in villages were not benefiting from the facilities available. Educating and increasing awareness of the women was the critical, but implementation was challenging, Kaul said. Volunteers had to go door to door to convince women and their family members to send them to the training sessions. Now, SAM’s efforts have yielded results. Besides reducing MMR by 90% and neo-natal mortality by 57%, SAM has helped increase deliveries in the hospitals by 99%. Immunization against tetanus increased to 90% and Contraceptive acceptance has increased from 10% to 61%. In 2019, SAM started a new program to reduce mortality among children under 5 years in the urban slums of the city of Varanasi. Dr. Shiban Ganju, founder of SAM in 2008, moved to India after 45 years of medical practice in Chicago. He said SAM has accomplished its mission and kept its promise. He also highlighted the impact of the ‘Effective Social Persuasion” (ESP) Program for social behavior change that was developed by SAM. The program includes social health behavior change through intensive community mobilization, capacity building, training of village volunteers, community meetings, house calls and training of community leaders
At the SAM Houston chapter gala President Veena Kaul, Chief Guest Sharmila Tagore, Usha and Tej Ganju, enjoying the stand up comedy by Anish Shah at the Sugar Land Marriott Town Square on May 5. Right, Ritika Saligram. —Photos by BIJAY DIXT. to become self-sufficient. “In Gadag in Northern Karnataka, six years ago, the maternal mortality rate was 400, in the past 3 years, in under 67 villages of a half a million population, there has not been a single maternal death,” Dr. Ganju said. Operating in 1500 villages, SAM has replicated its earlier success of Amethi in other districts: Gadag in Karnataka, Nizamabad in Telangana and Jaunpur district in UP. For a cost of 25 cents per capita per year, SAM has decreased maternal mortality rates by 90% in the villages it serves, exceeding the U.N.’s Millennium Development Goals, he said. SAM ensures the sustainability of its solutions by partnering with local health organizations and governmental authorities and implements its programs at a low cost – approximately 15,000 Rupees (about $220) per village per year As of March 2019, SAM is operating in 1500 villages and has covered 3 million people in 1100 villages. The event included stand-up comedy by Indian American comedian Anish and western hits by singer Ritika Saligram, a senior at the Village School. She has been studying music since the age of eight and training in classical Italian opera. Visit https://saveamother.org for more information.
PAGE 12 • INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
NEWS
HARDIK VYAS Youngest Astrologer in North America Vaastu & Gem Stone Consultant; Hindu Priest for all Pujas & Marriages
Sikhs say Nordstrom apologized for turban, waiting for Gucci
Languages spoken: English, Hindi, Gujarati & Marathi Astrologer Hardik Vyas, a famous young face in Vedic Astrology from India is in Houston. Call for guidance on Health, Wealth, Education, Career, Business, Property, Love & Passion, Marriage & Compatibility, Horoscope-Making, Child Problem, Luck & Fortune, Peace & Prosperity, Karma & Economic success. Vaastu Shastra is an ancient science. Fix an appointment for personal visit to your home, plot, business/office, shop, factory, or hotel. Gain peace of mind and prosperity by doing little changes as per Vaastu Shastra. Simple, Easy, Scientific & Affordable solutions/remedies to overcome problems in your Horoscope and Vaastu.
Astrology & Vaastu Shastra are Science of Nature, and are not related with any religion, caste, or community. It is an Occult Science and gift of nature for the welfare of the people.
Listen to Hardik Vyas live on 1320 AM Shoba Joshi’s Geetanajali Radio
E-mail: askfuture@hotmail.com Ph: 832-298-9950 www.toaskfuture.com
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In this Feb. 21, 2018 file photo, models display items from Gucciâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fall/Winter 2018-2019 collection, presented during the Milan Fashion Week, in Milan, Italy. The top civil rights organization for Sikhs in the United States says Nordstrom has apologised to the community for selling an $800 turban they found oďŹ&#x20AC;ensive, but they are still waiting to hear from the Gucci brand that designed it, Saturday, May 18, 2019. Gucciâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s turban was ďŹ rst talked about last winter, when a white model walked the runway wearing it during a fashion show. Nordstrom has apologised to Sikhs for selling a turban they found oďŹ&#x20AC;ensive, but a representative with the U.S. communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s top civil rights organization said Saturday they are still waiting to hear from the Gucci brand that designed it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We feel that companies are commodifying and capitalizing on something that is dear and sacred to people around the world,â&#x20AC;? said Simran Jeet Singh, a senior fellow with the New York-based Sikh Coalition, who said the turban has a deep religious signiďŹ cance for the men of his faith. â&#x20AC;&#x153;And there is tension over the fact that the very article of our faith has been the focus of so much hate and violence and bullying,â&#x20AC;? he said, recalling that Sikhs wearing turbans have been attacked in hate crimes, including a man killed near Phoenix a few days after 9/11. The current complaint springs from a Gucci head wrap that until Wednesday was advertised on Nordstromâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s website for $790 as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Indy Full Turban.â&#x20AC;? The description said the â&#x20AC;&#x153;gorgeously crafted turban is ready to turn heads while keeping you in comfort as well as trademark style.â&#x20AC;? The Nordstrom website on Saturday still had a reference to a Gucci â&#x20AC;&#x153;head wrap,â&#x20AC;? but it was listed as sold out and it was no longer pictured. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have decided to stop carrying this product and have removed it from the site. It was never our intent to disrespect this religious and cultural symbol. We sincerely apologise to anyone who may have been oďŹ&#x20AC;ended by this,â&#x20AC;? the department store said in a tweet. Gucciâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s turban was ďŹ rst talked about last winter, when a white model walked the runway wearing it during a fashion show. Gucci had not responded to the criticism over the product by Saturday. Emails seeking comment were sent to Gucci through its public relations representatives and a corporate fashion services website. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When companies appropriate articles of faith, they do not take into consideration the discrimination Sikhs face while adhering to the tenets of their faith. We appreciate @Nordstromâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recognition of this problem & apology; we hope @Gucci will follow suit,â&#x20AC;? the Sikh coalition said in a Thursday tweet. The coalition was formed after Balbir Singh Sodhi, a bearded Sikh American wearing a turban, was shot and killed on Sept. 15, 2001, in the Phoenix suburb of Mesa when he was mistaken for an Arab Muslim.
INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 • PAGE 13
NEWS
The issues that mattered in an issue-less election
Bread-and-butter concerns seem to have counted for less than they did a few months ago, with priorities shifting from specifics such as unemployment to ‘Vikas’ With reports of joblessness being at a four-decade high, a deepening agrarian crisis and a recent spike in food prices, it was widely expected that economic issues would end up mattering the most to Indians when they vote in the Lok Sabha election. This expectation was not misplaced given that there is a fairly large body of work in Western democracies that is centred on the effect that the state of the economy has on election outcomes. However, a nationwide post-poll survey, conducted by Lokniti during the past one month after each phase of election, has thrown up data that seem to be somewhat at odds with this presumption. Only 12% of the voters interviewed across the country (see methodology) in the post-poll exercise spontaneously said in response to an unprompted question that when they finally went to vote, the issue of unemployment is what decided their vote the most. It is only on being asked a specific closeended question on joblessness did most say that it was a serious issue for them. Did NYAY help the Congress make a leap?
Similarly, price rise or inflation was reported as being the most important voting issue by merely 4% of the voters. Both these figures pale in comparison to those that were recorded in the pre-poll done by Lokniti just before the start of the election in late March. Back then, 21% of the voters interviewed in 19 States said that lack of jobs was going to be the most important voting issue for them. Price rise was a top-of-mind issue for 7% of the voters. Clubbing all economy-related answers such as unemployment, price rise, poverty, wages and salaries, GST and demonetisation together, then, overall, economic issues seem to have mattered most to 25% of the voters, a sharp decline of 13 percentage points from the 38% who reported in the prepoll survey that economic issues was the first priority. It must be pointed out here that the post-poll data being reported here are of only up to the sixth phase of elections and do not include the last phase of voting. However, it is very unlikely that these figures will change drastically once the seventh phase data get added to our national data set. Ayes for infrastructure Displacing unemployment as the number-one voting issue for voters was the issue of development, or vikas. In the
survey, 17% of the respondents reported “development” and 9% matters related to development (roads, water, electricity, schools, hospitals and so on) as being the single-most important issue that determined their voting choice. Hence, clubbed together, development issues mattered to 26% of the respondents. This number is slightly higher than the one recorded in the pre-poll survey. Jobs were less of a concern during elections
Interestingly, 17% or one in every six voters did not answer the open-ended question, which is a two-fold increase in non-response to the question since the pre-poll survey. This sudden shift of voter priorities from the specifics of the economy to either the general idea called “development” or to a refusal to answer the question is significant because not only does it highlight voter volatility but also may indicate voters identifying issues in tune with their vote choice. In other words, the crucial question we confront is: do perceptions of issues drive vote choice or vice versa. For those who identified “development” as the most important issue, the BJP or the NDA were more likely to be the vote choices. On the other hand, the NDA’s lead over the UPA among those for whom economic issues mattered a lot was relatively much smaller. Similarly, supporters of Prime Minister Narendra Modi were far more likely to report development as their main voting issue, whereas supporters of Congress president Rahul Gandhi were more likely to report economy-related issues. While we cannot be sure about the direction of causality, we suspect that many voters may have ended up looking at the matter of issues through the lens of their own political preferences than the other way round. A State-wise look at what mattered to voters reveals that the issue of development trumped economic matters as the single most important voting issue by a large margin in West Bengal, Odisha, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Economy-related concerns appear to have been far more important in the States of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu. The issue of unemployment, in fact, was found to be a much greater concern in the Hindi heartland States than in the rest of the country. The survey also indicates that problems related to farming seem to have mattered far more to voters in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and
Jharkhand than in other States. As far as the issues of national security, the Pulwama terrorist attack and India’s air strikes in Pakistan are concerned, merely 2% of the voters interviewed spontaneously reported the three issues as having been most important to them while voting. This is the same percentage as the one recorded in the pre-poll. Among this tiny minority however, the NDA, not surprisingly, seems to have scored hugely over the UPA. In a bitterly polarised election that may see narrow victory margins in many seats, a big lead even among a small section of voters may end up being decisive.
National security Moreover, this small section of voters that put national security over everything else while voting may actually have been much larger in number. We say this because for the second straight survey we find the Balakot strikes issue to have had an impact on voter attitudes at
the subliminal or subconscious level (though the effect did wane a little). Nearly four of every five voters were aware of the Balakot strikes, almost the same proportion as the pre-poll done in 19 States, and among them the opinion that the Modi government should get another chance was far greater than those unaware of the Balakot strikes. Awareness of the strikes was also, once again, found to be subduing the negative impact that issues such as price rise and joblessness may have had on the BJP’s chances. Over two-fifths of the voters who said that price rise or unemployment were the most important voting issues for them but had heard of the Balakot strikes were in favour of giving the Modi government another chance as opposed to over onefourth of those voters for whom the two issues were most important but had not heard of the Balakot strikes. Bottom-line, bread-and-butter issues seem to have mattered less to voters
in the election than they did a few months ago, and even if they did, many voters do not seem to have spelled them out as such, perhaps because they may have viewed the whole question of issues through the prism of their political choice. Many of the issues that voters finally voted on do not seem to have been the same as the issues they had been emphasising to surveyors/pollsters for a long time, most probably because of the sudden surge around the nation’s security post-Balakot, a factor that seems to have had a covert effect on voting behaviour. The other factor that overshadowed the perception of issues as relevant to vote choices was probably the leadership of Narendra Modi. We shall report on this tomorrow. In a sense, an election that had promised to be issue-laden at the start of the year may just have ended up bypassing the real issues under the garb of “vikas” and nationalism — both identified with Mr. Modi’s leadership.
Advantage DMK front in Tamil Nadu, Projections for AIADMK front bleak Tamil Nadu may end up contributing more seats to the UPA kitty, if results of the exit polls are any indication. Multiple exit polls on Sunday predicted that the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance, comprising the Congress, the CPI, the CPI (M), the MDMK, the VCK and smaller parties, would either sweep the Lok Sabha election or win a majority of the seats. The AIADMKheaded NDA, comprising the BJP, the PMK, the DMDK, the PT and other parties, has been projected to bag a maximum of 16 seats at best, but many polls predicted that it might end up with a single digit tally. The poll by India Today-Axis My India predicted a rout for the AIADMK-led alliance. It said the DMK front could win between 34 and 38 seats, while the AIADMK might get between zero and four. It projected that the lone seat in Puduch-
erry would go to the Congress. DMK president M.K. Stalin has backed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate. Polling was not held in the Vellore constituency. The Times Now-VMR exit poll said the DMK alliance would get 29 seats and the AIADMK-led alliance, nine seats. The News18-IPSOS exit poll gave the DMK alliance between 22 and 24 seats. The AIADMK alliance, it said, would bag 14 to 16 seats of the total 38 parliamentary constituencies in Tamil Nadu that went for polls on April 18. The News 24-Today’s Chanakya exit polls projected that the DMK alliance would get about 31 seats, of which four may go either way. It gave the AIADMK six seats with the same rider. While the Republic-C Voter exit poll predicted victory for
the DMK alliance parties in 27 constituencies and for the AIDAMK front in 11 seats, the Republic–Jan ki Baat exit poll projected wins in between 15 and 29 seats for the DMK front and between nine and 13 constituencies for the AIADMK alliance. The ABP–Nielsen exit polls claimed that DMK on its own would win in 13 seats and the AIADMK in six seats. It said the PMK would bag two seats. The agency did not come out with a separate prediction for the Congress, BJP and the Left in Tamil Nadu and instead added it to the tally of these parties nationally. The Thanthi TV exit poll predicted that the DMK front candidates had bright prospects of winning in 19 seats and the AIADMK alliance in six seats. In the remaining 14 seats, it said it was a tough battle between the two fronts.
Most surveys hint at change of guard in AP
A majority of exit poll surveys hint at change of guard in Andhra Pradesh (AP). Yet, there is a lone survey from the erstwhile MP and ‘man of surveys’ Lagadapati Rajagopal which predicts the opposite. However, responding to the exit polls, the Telugu Desam Party president N. Chandrababu Naidu tweeted, “Time and again exit polls have failed to catch the people’s pulse. Exit polls have proved to be incorrect and far from ground reality in many instances. While undoubtedly TDP government will be formed in AP, we are confident that non-BJP parties will form a non-BJP government at the Centre.” Of the 25 Lok Sabha seats, the YS Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) is expected to win up to 18 to 20 and N. Chandrababu Naidu’s ruling Telugu Desam Party will be limited to 6 to 7 seats, according to a survey. The survey also predicted that the influence of actor-turnedpolitician Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena Party has cut into the the vote bank of both the TDP and the YSRCP. However, the influence of the national parties — Congress and BJP —is minimal in the State. The number of Assembly seats the YSRCP will pick up is pegged at 120-130 and the TDP about 50-60 seats in a House of 175. A bunch of other online and offline surveys go with the numbers, though with a slight deviation. In contrast, Mr. Rajagopal’s survey predicts that a majority of the people have preferred TDP and the party will win over 14 Lok Sabha seats. The prediction of the former MP that the Congress-led alliance will emerge victorious in the Assembly election in Telangana went wrong with the TRS romping home comfortably. In 2014, the TDP won 102 seats, its ally the BJP 4, and the YSRCP 67 seats. The TDP and JSP chief Pawan Kalyan had then teamed up with the BJP. The TDP gradually distanced from NDA due to multiple political and financial issues with the party at the Centre.
PAGE 14 â&#x20AC;˘ INDIA HERALD â&#x20AC;˘ WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
NEWS Supreme Court gave me belief we arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wrong: Dutee on same-sex relation
Unapologetic about her same-sex relationship with a younger relative, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fastest woman Dutee Chand is facing a tough battle of acceptance in her family. Dutee, who won two silver medals at the 2018 Asian Games, became one of the few athletes in the world to openly admit to same-sex relationship. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am having a relationship with a 19-year-old woman from my village for the past ďŹ ve years. She is studying B.A. second year in a Bhubaneswar college. She is a relative of mine and whenever I come home, I spend time with her. She is a kind of soul-mate for me and I want to settle down with her in future,â&#x20AC;? Chand, 23, told PTI from Hyderabad, where she is training. Chand revealed that she has been in a relationship with the girl for the past three years. While the couple had not thought of it as a long-term affair, the historic Supreme Court verdict in September 2018 that decriminalised same-sex relationships between consenting adults provided the impetus for them to arrive at a decision of spending their lives with each other. â&#x20AC;&#x153;When the Supreme Court ruling came on Section 377, then we decided that there is no harm in spending our lives with each other. We decided that we will get married and have a small family for ourselves,â&#x20AC;? she said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;She is from my town and a sports fan herself. She read about the struggles that I have gone through to make a career in sports and told me that she was inspired by my story. That is how we came in touch with each other,â&#x20AC;? revealed Chand. While she does not want to reveal the name of her partner, Chand said that her decision to make the information public was based on her belief that she has the right to live her life the way she wants it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;What we are doing is no crime. It is our life and we have the right to live it the way we deem right. I am in the public eye now because I am playing for the country but I will still have a lot of life left to live once I leave sports,â&#x20AC;? she said. Chand said that her partner has been a valuable support for her over the past two years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She has not been able to come with me for the big events but she always prays for me when I am playing. We both never really get to spend too much time with each other but she is very supportive of me in my endeavours,â&#x20AC;? she said. The ace sprinter said that she is yet to tell her parents about the relationship. She is conďŹ dent that they will accept it. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I have been playing for the country for a long time now and they have been happy with whatever I have done so far. Hopefully, they will understand this too,â&#x20AC;? she said. Born in Chaka Gopalpur in
Odisha to two cotton weavers, Chand has been championing the cause of eligibility of female athletes in track and ďŹ eld events. She successfully moved the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) against the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rules on hyperandrogenism, which put a limit on testosterone levels of women competing in track and ďŹ eld events. The rules were withdrawn in 2018 and that same year Chand won two silver medals at the Asian Games. Her 100m silver was Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ rst at the Asiad in 32 years, while her 200m silver was the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ďŹ rst in 16.
She is currently training in Hyderabad to qualify for the World Championships and the Tokyo Olympics that will be held in 2020. She said another reason for her to come out in the open was that she did not want to have the fate of sprinter Pinki Pramanik, who was accused of rape by her live-in partner. Pinki was part of the 2006 Asian Games 4x400m relay gold winning team. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We did not want this kind of situation happening in future,â&#x20AC;? Dutee said. Dutee, who was banned for one year by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 2014 for having higher testosterone
(male sex hormone) level than permissible, hails from Chaka Gopalpur village in Jajpur district of Odisha. She was born to Chakradhar Chand and Akhuji Chand. Dutee won a landmark â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;genderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; case against the IAAF in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration in 2015, and she was allowed to compete after having been banned for one year. The Court of Arbitration suspended the IAAFâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s policy on hyperandrogenism for two years. Later, the world body changed the policy, which applicable only on female athletes competing in the range of 400m to 1500m, leaving out Dutee, who competes in 100m and 200m, from its ambit.
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INDIA HERALD â&#x20AC;˘ WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 â&#x20AC;˘ PAGE 15
NEWS
Prime Minister Narednra Modi oďŹ&#x20AC;ers prayers at Kedarnath, Badrinath
Prime Minister Narendra Modi after paying obeisance at Kedarnath temple, in Rudraprayag district on May 18, 2019. This is Mr. Modiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fourth Prime Minister NarenThe Prime Minister reached dra Modi on Sunday thanked visit to the temple dedicated Badrinath on an IAF helicopthe Election Commission for to Lord Shiva in the last two ter, which landed at an army Prime Minister Narendra Modi meditating in a holy cave near granting him permission to years. helipad near the shrine, and Kedarnath Temple, during his two-day pilgrimage to HimalaThe portals of Kedarnath and reached the temple by road. visit the Kedarnath shrine at a yan shrines, in Rudraprayag district, Saturday, May 18, 2019. time when the model code of Badrinath shrines reopened for devotees earlier this month afconduct is in force. Mr. Modi, who spent around ter the winter break. The Election Commission 17 hours at a holy cave near the shrine, oďŹ&#x20AC;ered prayers and per- gave its nod to the visit while â&#x20AC;&#x153;remindingâ&#x20AC;? the Prime Minisformed puja at the temple. He told reporters he did not terâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s OďŹ&#x192;ce that the model code ask for anything while praying of conduct is still in force. Badrinath temple as it is not his nature. â&#x20AC;&#x153;God has Modi reached Badrinath afgiven us capacity to give and ter spending around 20 hours not demand,â&#x20AC;? he said. He said may the almighty in the Himalayan shrine of Kebless not only India but the darnath. Prime Minister Narendra whole humankind with happiModi oďŹ&#x20AC;ered prayers at the ness, prosperity and welfare. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am fortunate to visit the Badrinath temple on Sunday, temple on multiple occasions,â&#x20AC;? the last day of his two-day visit he said while thanking the me- to Uttarakhand. He reached dia for taking out time to visit Badrinath after spending Kedarnath at a time when the around 20 hours at the Himalayan shrine of Kedarnath. poll process is underway. Mr. Modi oďŹ&#x20AC;ered prayers The mediaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence, he said, will send a message that at the innermost sanctum in the town has been developed Badrinath, another temple in well. Referring to the ongoing Uttarakhandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;char dhamâ&#x20AC;? development works at the tem- religious circuit, dedicated to ple town, Mr. Modi said devel- Lord Vishnu. Badrinath-Kedarnath Temopment should be a mission in which nature, environment and ple Committee chief Mohan tourism should not be aďŹ&#x20AC;ected. Prasad Thapliyal said the He said he has been review- Prime Minister oďŹ&#x20AC;ered prayers ,Q 6DQNDUD 1HWKUDOD\D ing the work through video- at the temple for around 20 y 3HUIRUPHG IUHH VXUJHULHV IRU YLVXDOO\ LPSDLUHG LQGLJHQW SDWLHQWV DFURVV ,QGLD minutes and was given a greetconferencing. Mr. Modi reached the tem- ing card made on a â&#x20AC;&#x153;bhojpatraâ&#x20AC;? y 7UHDWHG RXWSDWLHQWV DW QR FRVW ple town Saturday. Dressed in (birch leaves) by the templeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s y +HOG IUHH H\H VFUHHQLQJ FDPSV LQ UXUDO DUHDV DQG VFKRROV a grey traditional pahari attire, priests. He was also given a shawl he oďŹ&#x20AC;ered prayers for about 30 y 'LVSHQVHG IUHH H\HJODVVHV WR LQGLJHQW SDWLHQWV minutes and undertook a cir- by the residents of Mana vilcumambulation of the Kedar- lage, he said. +RZ <RXU *LIW &DQ 6KLQH WKH /LJKW The Prime Minister took a nath shrine situated at a height IRU FDWDUDFW VXUJHU\ IRU PDMRU VXUJHU\ of 11,755 feet near the Manda- walk inside the temple complex and later, shook hands kini river. IRU 5XUDO 7HOH RSKWKDOPRORJ\ &DPS GD\ IRU SHUSHWXDO FDWDUDFW \HDUV The Prime Minister then with the devotees and locals, WR 6XSSRUW FRVW IUHH H\H VFUHHQLQJ DQG GLVSHQVLQJ RI H\HJODVVHV WR QHHG\ FKLOGUHQ LQ UXUDO VFKRROV went inside a cave near the Thapliyal said, adding that Mr. 9LVLW RXU ZHEVLWH IRU PRUH GRQDWLRQ SODQV shrine to meditate. Draped in Modi also met pilgrims waita saďŹ&#x20AC;ron shawl, Mr. Modi was ing near the shrine. 3OHDVH GRQDWH JHQHURXVO\ WR seen meditating at the holy Members of the committee 6DQNDUD 1HWKUDOD\D 20 7UXVW ,QF cave. The prime minister also met Mr. Modi at the shrineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ,56 7D[ H[HPSW F RUJDQL]DWLRQ
took stock of development guest house and submitted a 7UDYLOOH *DWHZD\ 'ULYH 1R 5RFNYLOOH 0' memorandum stressing upon work in the temple town. ZZZ VDQNDUDQHWKUDOD\DXVD RUJ 1(7+5$
Later in the day, he is ex- the need to expand the tempected to be in Badrinath, an- pleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s premises and improving other temple in Uttarakhandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s telecommunication services at â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;char dhamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; religious circuit. Badrinath.
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PAGE 16 â&#x20AC;˘ INDIA HERALD â&#x20AC;˘ WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019
NEWS
Alcohol intake in India up 38% this decade
Alcohol consumption in India increased from 4.3 litres a year per adult to 5.9 litres in 2017, a growth of 38 per cent, says a study of 189 countriesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; alcohol intake. Driven by the rise in alcohol intake in India, China and Vietnam, global alcohol consumption increased from 5.9 litres a year per adult in 1990, to 6.5 litres in 2017, and is predicted to increase further to 7.6 litres by 2030, showed the results published in The Lancet. As a result of increased alcohol consumption and population growth, the total volume of alcohol consumed globally per year has increased by 70 per cent â&#x20AC;&#x201D; from 20,999 million litres in 1990 to 35,676 million litres in 2017. While intake is growing in low and middle-income countries, the total volume of alcohol consumed in high-income countries has remained stable, the study said. The estimates suggest that by 2030 half of all adults will drink alcohol, and almost a quarter (23 per cent) will binge drink at least once a month. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our study provides a comprehensive overview of the changing landscape in global alcohol exposure. Before 1990, most alcohol was consumed in high-income countries, with the highest use levels recorded in Europe,â&#x20AC;? said study author Jakob Manthey from Technische Universitat Dresden in Germany. â&#x20AC;&#x153;However, this pattern has changed substantially, with large reductions across Eastern Europe and vast increases in several middle-income countries such as China, India and Vietnam,â&#x20AC;? Manthey added. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This trend is forecast to continue up to 2030 when Europe is no longer predicted to have the highest level of alcohol use,â&#x20AC;? he added. Increasing rates of alcohol use suggest that the world is not on track to achieve targets against harmful alcohol use. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Based on our data, the WHOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s aim of reducing the harmful use of alcohol by 10 per cent by 2025 will not be reached globally,â&#x20AC;? Manthey said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Instead, alcohol use will remain one of the leading risk factors for the burden of disease for the foreseeable future, and its impact will probably increase relative to other risk factors,â&#x20AC;? he warned, adding that implementation of eďŹ&#x20AC;ective alcohol policies is warranted, especially in rapidly developing countries with growing rates of alcohol use. The study measured per capita alcohol consumption using data for 189 countries between 1990-2017 from the WHO and the Global Burden of Disease study.
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By SWAPAN DASGUPTA In the summer of 2014, the inďŹ&#x201A;uential British weekly The Economist â&#x20AC;&#x201D; also read by a section of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decisionmakers â&#x20AC;&#x201D; created a minor ďŹ&#x201A;utter by endorsing the Congress. Actually, more than being enthusiastic about the UPA-II that had completed an uninspiring ďŹ ve years, the magazine was outrightly disapproving of the challenger, Narendra Modi. Its argument was less focused on the future of Indian capitalism under Modi but principally centred on the BJPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s alleged programme of social divisiveness. In any case, The Economistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advice to Indian voters was greeted with indulgent smirks and attributed to the ignorance of distance. At the same time, there was some unease in India at the sheer presumption of a British publication advising Indians on voting preferences. Last week, The Economist did it again. Once again it called for a vote for Rahul Gandhi and the Congress. It approved the idea of India undergoing a spell of coalition uncertainty because it was preferable to the supposed antidemocratic tendencies of the Modi Government. Of course, this time the charge of trying to inďŹ&#x201A;uence voting behaviour was less marked because more than half of India had already voted. More to the point, the publicationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main target audience in Bengaluru and Mumbai had already voted â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or, given the abysmal turnout, not voted. This week, however, the outrage over The Economist editorial has been more marked. Part of this is because the publication is a repeat oďŹ&#x20AC;ender. The convention in India is that the media, while entirely free to parade their political and ideological bias, stop short of actually telling people how to vote. Maybe this is hypocritical and it would be more honest if, like publications in the United States and, increasingly, the UK, openly endorse parties or leaders. However, for good or bad this is the convention. It would also be helpful if global publications â&#x20AC;&#x201D; The Economist no longer thinks of
itself as merely a British publication but a magazine that is published from London â&#x20AC;&#x201D;stop extending the spirit of globalisation to other countries. In some quarters, national sovereignty is an outdated concept â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which is why Brexit is so utterly despised by them â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but here in India, cutting across the political divide, it is cherished. The Congress may have been ďŹ&#x201A;attered that its leader has secured an inďŹ&#x201A;uential international endorsement. At the same time, the more sober in that party must have recognised the ominous implications of the gratuitous advice from editorial writers in London. In the days to come, The Economist editorial will become what we in India call â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;timepassâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. It is unlikely to inďŹ&#x201A;uence the verdict in even a single constituency. At best it will encourage a few political upstarts in the Congress to claim credit for this searing indictment of Modi. However, there is a larger issue at stake here. A few weeks ago, the head of the Overseas Congress questioned the veracity of the air strikes in Balakot. When quizzed, Sam Pitroda said that his doubts arose from reading about the issue in the New York Times, a publication he had faithfully read for the past 50 years. In Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee raised similar doubts and even questioned the wisdom the anti-satellite systems India has developed. She too said she had based her opinion on foreign publications. Neither Pitroda nor Mamata were being disingenuous. Those accustomed to reading the mainstream publications in the English-speaking countries of the West will have noticed the strong disapproval of the Modi Government. This does not stop at their outrage over beef lynchings and the supposed marginalisation of Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Muslims. The hatred of Modi has gone so far that it stretches to a denial of the economic progress made in the past ďŹ ve years. The Western pundits have traditionally carped against corruption but when the Government has act-
ed to curb cronyism and corruption, it has chosen to focus on the collateral tremors. There is a single message: Modi can do nothing right. This unending negativity may, on the surface, have not had the desired results. Over the past ďŹ ve years, Foreign Direct Investment has increased substantially and the progressing of the Ease of Doing Business has been recognised. Likewise, Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sovereign ratings have not witnessed any slide. Corporations interested in ďŹ nding non-Western locations for capital investment donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to have been inďŹ&#x201A;uenced by this negativity, not least because they have alternative sources of information. These assessments are based on realism, not liberal ideology. Yet, for every $10 invested in India there is probably another $2 that failed to ďŹ nd its way because smaller companies may have felt that India lacks a wholesome social environment. Most of the assessments by Western publications are based on their pre-existing familiarity with Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s liberal ecosystem. The same people who sign the petitions against Modi and wail over the supposed erosion of Indian democracy are the ones who inďŹ&#x201A;uence the foreign journalists and their editorial masters. Compared to their overriding inďŹ&#x201A;uence in Western intellectual circles, the Modi Government hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been able as yet to create a nationalist counter-establishment that has inďŹ&#x201A;uence in such circles. The Government has been tremendously successful in inďŹ&#x201A;uencing Governments and even the strategic establishments all over the globe, but it has met with unbudging hostility in media and academia. This is a lacunae that has to be attended by Modi if he secures a renewed mandate on May 23. What is needed by the next Government is a focused outreach aimed at sensitising civil society â&#x20AC;&#x201D; beyond the diaspora â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to the excitement of crafting a New India. The strategic worth of such a project should not be underestimated. â&#x20AC;&#x201D;The Pioneer
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Row erupts in UK over deďŹ nition of Islamophobia Police chiefs and Muslim groups in the UK have clashed over a proposed oďŹ&#x192;cial deďŹ nition of Islamophobia as part of eďŹ&#x20AC;orts to tackle anti-Muslim crimes in Britain. The deďŹ nition, proposed by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims based on wide consultation over the issue, reads: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.â&#x20AC;? But the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) warned in a statement on Wednesday that the deďŹ nition may be too broad and cause confusion. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We take all reports of hate crime very seriously and will investigate them thoroughly. However, we have some concerns about the proposed deďŹ nition of Islamophobia made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims,â&#x20AC;? said NPCC Chair Martin Hewitt.
INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 • PAGE 17
NEWS
For Lok Sabha election campaign, ₹1000 software tool helps overcome WhatsApp controls The activities highlight the challenges WhatsApp faces in preventing abuse in India, its biggest market with more than 200 million users. WhatsApp clones and software tools that cost as little as ₹1000 are helping Indian digital marketers and political activists bypass anti-spam restrictions set up by the world’s most popular messaging app, Reuters has found. The activities highlight the challenges WhatsApp, which is owned by Facebook Inc, faces in preventing abuse in India, its biggest market with more than 200 million users. With fervent campaigning in general election, which concludes on May 19, the demand for such tools has surged, according to digital companies and sources in the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress party. After false messages on WhatsApp last year sparked mob lynchings in India, the company restricted forwarding of a message to only five users. The software tools appear to overcome those restrictions, allowing users to reach thousands of people at once. Divya Spandana, the social media chief of the Congress, and the BJP’s IT head, Amit Malviya, did not respond to requests for comment. Rohitash Repswal, who owns a digital marketing business in a cramped, residential neighbourhood of New Delhi, said he ran a ₹1,000 rupee piece of software round-theclock in recent months to send up to 1,00,000 WhatsApp messages a day for two BJP members. “Whatever WhatsApp does, there’s a workaround,” Repswal said during an interview at his small, two-bedroom house. Reuters found WhatsApp was misused in at least three ways in India for political campaigning: free clone apps available online were used by some BJP and Congress workers to manually forward messages on a mass basis; software tools which allow users to automate delivery of WhatsApp messages; and some firms offering political workers the chance to go onto a website and send bulk WhatsApp messages from anonymous numbers. At least three software tools were available on Amazon. com’s India website. When purchased by a Reuters reporter, they arrived as compact discs tucked inside thin cardboard casings, with no company branding. WhatsApp declined a Reuters request to allow testing such tools for reporting this story.
“We are continuing to step up our enforcement against imposter WhatsApp services and take legal action by sending cease and desist letters to hundreds of bulk messaging service providers to help curb abuse,” a spokesperson said. “We do not want them to operate on our platform and we work to ban them”. WhatsApp clones Modified versions of popular apps have become common as technically-savvy hobbyists have long reverse-engineered them. Tools purporting to bypass WhatsApp restrictions are advertised in videos and online forums aimed at users in Indonesia and Nigeria, both of which held major elections this year. For Indian politicians, WhatsApp, Facebook and Twitter are key campaigning tools to target the country’s near 900 million voters. Two Congress sources and one BJP source told Reuters their workers used clone apps such as “GBWhatsApp” and “JTWhatsApp”, which allowed them to cut through WhatsApp’s restrictions. Both apps have a green-colour interface that closely resembles WhatsApp and can be downloaded for free from dozens of technology blogs. They are not available on Google’s official app store but work on Android phones. WhatsApp describes such apps as “unofficial” and says its users can face bans, which means the company can block the account associated with a particular mobile number if it detects unusual activity. Some Congress workers said they did not care. “WhatsApp occasionally bans some of these numbers, but the volunteers would use new (mobile) sim cards to sign up,” said a Congress member with direct knowledge of the activities. In Mumbai, a person in the social media team of a senior BJP candidate said no restrictions on JTWhatsApp meant his team could easily send forwards to up to 6,000 people a day, as well as video files containing political content which would be far bigger in size than allowed on the official WhatsApp service. Reuters was not able to ascertain the overall scale of such activities and found no evidence that BJP and Congress leaders officially ordered workers to campaign this way. “Business sender” In New Delhi, digital marketer Repswal said he would typically charge ₹1,50,000 rupees for a month’s service
for creating digital content, providing a database of mobile numbers and then sending 3,00,000 WhatsApp messages. He uses a piece of software named “Business Sender” which he said he also sells for ₹1,000 rupees. A person can add many mobile numbers in a field and compose messages with pictures. Using a so-called “Group Contacts Grabber” feature, the user can also extract a list of mobile numbers from a particular WhatsApp group with a click of a button. Repswal didn’t name the two BJP members he worked for, but in a demonstration for Reuters, added dozens of mobile numbers in the software, typed a test message saying “your vote is your right” and hit “send”. Then, his WhatsApp web version started delivering the messages almost robotically, one after the other. Business Sender was “not supported or endorsed” by WhatsApp and was developed by “Tiger Vikram Mysore INDIA”, its system properties said. A member of the software support team at Business Sender, Rajesh K., declined to identify the developer by his real name, but said the tool was designed in Lebanon about four months ago and takes advantage of what he called a “loophole” in WhatsApp’s system. “This is not rocket science or fabricated software,” said Rajesh. “There are hundreds of such software available.” In April, when a Reuters reporter responded to a text message with an “Election Special” offer of sending 1,00,000 ”bulk WhatsApp” messages for ₹7,999 rupees, he was invited to an office in a dusty industrial area of Noida in northern Uttar Pradesh state. “How many messages you want to send, tell us: 10,000, 1 million, 2 million,” a representative asked, while showing a black-coloured, passwordprotected website they use for sending bulk WhatsApp messages.
BJP tops political ad spend on Facebook, Google in Feb-May
Political parties have spent over ₹53 crore on digital platforms like Google and Facebook between February and May, with the BJP accounting for a lion’s share of the spending. Earlier this year, digital platforms like Google and Facebook had said that they will offer details of political advertisements on their platform. Political parties have spent over ₹53 crore on digital platforms like Google and Facebook between February and May, with the BJP accounting for a lion’s share of the spending. According to Facebook’s Ad Library Report, there were 1.21 lakh political ads with a total spending of more than ₹26.5 crore between February and May 15 this year. Similarly, advertisements spend on Google, YouTube, and partner properties since February 19 stood at ₹27.36 crore with 14,837 ads. Ruling party BJP spent ₹4.23 crore on over 2,500 ads on Facebook. Supporting pages like ‘My First Vote for Modi’, ‘Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat’ and ‘Nation with NaMo’ too, infused over ₹4 crore on ads on the social networking platform that has well over 200 million users in India. On Google’s platforms, it has spent more than ₹17 crore. The Indian National Congress spent ₹1.46 crore on Facebook for 3,686 ads. It shelled out another ₹2.71 crore on Google’s platforms with 425 ads. As per Facebook’s data, All India Trinamool Congress has spent ₹29.28 lakhs. Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) shelled out ₹13.62 lakh for 176 ads on the Facebook page. Interestingly, Google’s political ad dashboard showed that Auburn Digital Solutions was running AAP campaigns and had spent ₹2.18 crore from February 19 onwards. Earlier this year, digital platforms like Google and Facebook had said that they will offer details of political advertisements on their platform to bring transparency ahead of elections in the country. They have also announced a slew of measures over the past few months to strengthen efforts around election integrity. The general elections in the country have entered the final lap for 59 seats in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chandigarh. Counting of votes for the world’s largest democracy will be on May 23.
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR Sri Meenakshi Temple 29-May Wed 7:00 PM Hanuman Jayanthi 1-Jun Sat 10:30 AM Hanuman Jayanthi Celebrations Art Museum Kannappan Art Museum will be open for public Tuesday 5.30 PM to 7.30 PM, Saturday 10AM to 2 PM, Sunday 12 noon to 4 PM. Address: 2341 N. Galveston Ave, Pearland, TX 77581. Ashirwad Classes for Kids in Katy Enrollments are open for Indian Heritage classes for Kids and Teens from 4 to 16 yrs. Class curriculum includes Yoga, Meditation, Sloka, Ramayan, Mahabharat, Bhagwad Githa, Sports Day, VEDIC Fair Presentations, Dance, Drama, Hindi & more. Contact : 281-995-0930 or AshirwadABlessing@gmail.com. Durga Bari Temple Durga Bari temple is open from 9 to 11 a.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. Mon. thru Sat. Sandhya aarti at 6:30 p.m. Temple closes at 7 p.m. Sunday special from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Temple is located at 13944 Schiller Rd (oďŹ&#x20AC; Hwy 6 bet. Bellaire & Westpark). Call Ganesh Mandal at 713-797-9057 / 832-4238541. Arya Samaj Satsang Weekly Havan Satsang every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon. DAV Sanskriti School Sundays 10 a.m. to 12 noon. - Havan, Hindi and Naitik Shiksha classes. DAV Montessori School for ages 2 to 7 years. Call Arti Khanna 281-759-3286. Free Yoga classes on Sat. Sanskrit & Upanishad classes Tue. 6-8 p.m. At 14375 Schiller Rd. (bet Westpark & Bellaire oďŹ&#x20AC; Hwy 6). 281-752-0100. Brahma Kumaris The Brahma Kumaris Raja Yoga BUY
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Meditation Center is open 7 days a week. The center oďŹ&#x20AC;ers free Raja Yoga Meditation classes: MonFri @ 6:00-6:45am and 7-8 pm, Sat-Sun @ 7:00-8:30am, 10 am-2 pm. Visiting hours are Sat-Sun @ 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Contact us at (832) 379-8888, houston@bktexas. com, or bktexas.com to sign-up for classes. All Raja Yoga Meditation teachers at the Houston center are samarpit and have 15+ years of teaching experience. Chinmaya Mission Summer schedule Both BalaVihar and adult classes will remain closed from May 19th to September 7th. Classes will resume on Sunday, September 8th. New member registration for Bala Vihar will be conducted in Chinmaya Smrti Hall on SUNDAY, August 4 and 11 from 9 AM to noon. Detailed information will be provided at the time of registration. No registrations will be done for Bala Vihar during September 2019. For more information: Visit www. chinmayahouston.org or call Bharati Sutaria 281.933.0233 Jeeyar Educational Trust Translate knowledge into action classes every Sunday at 10:15 a.m to 12 p.m. at Sri Ashtalakshmi Temple, 10098 Synott Road, Sugar Land, Tx 77498. Call 785 550 3621 or 832-334-9163. Visit www. ashtalakshmi.org for registration. Vedanta Society Vedanta Society of Greater Houston, VSGH (oďŹ&#x192;cial Branch Center of Ramakrishna Math, Belur), 14809 Lindita Dr. (77083), has OLD
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lectures & talks on every Sunday 11 am - 12 pm, followed by Arati & Prasad; Bhagwad Gita Class on Tuesdays, 7:30 pm - 8:30 pm; and Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna on Thursdays, 11 am - 12 pm. Rev. Sw. Atmarupanandaji, the Resident Monk, gives all classes, lectures & talks. Ramnaam Sankirtan is on 1st Saturdays 6 pm - 7 pm. Please visit www.houstonvedanta. org or call 281- 988-7211. Jain Society Jain Society of Houston, JSH, is located at 3905 Arc Street Houston Texas 77063. Key tenets of Jainism are: Non-violence - Ahimsa, Philanthropy with multicity in views â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Anekantvad, No possessiveness - Aparigrah, Right Knowledge -- Samyak Gyan, Right Path â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Samyak Darshan, and Right Conduct â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Samyak Charitrya. JSH has Jain Pathshala Classed for students of all ages each Sunday starting at 10:15 AM. The center is open M-F from 7:30 AM to 12 Noon and 4 to 7 PM, and Sat, and Sun from 8 AM to 6 PM. Call Jain Center at 713 789 2338 or visit www.jainsocietyhouston.org for calendar of events and other detailed information. Shiv Shakti Mandir Sanatan Shiv Shakti Mandir, 6640 Harwin. Open daily 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. All major festivals, as well as birthdays, naam karan, engagement and other ceremonies. Call Pandit Virat Mehta 713-278-9099 or Hardik Raval 361-243-6539 for puja or other ceremonies. Heartfulness Meditation Heartfulness Meditation is a practical technique of tuning inwards to experience our higher selves. Meditation with someone who has the capacity of yogic transmission can help you explore the Heartfulness practice more deeply. There are no charges for this, and we invite you to experience the unique beneďŹ ts of this transmission. Workshops on Heartfulness relaxation and meditation are held weekly throughout Houston. Web: www.heartfulness.org; Email: houston.heartfulness@gmail.com. Cell: 713-929-0040. Hare Krishna Dham Houstonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s original Vedic temple, ISKCON of Houston. At 1320 W 34th St. (77018). Daily Darshan & Arati Times: 4.30 a.m, 7 a.m, 8.30 a.m, 12 noon, 4.30 p.m, 7 p.m, 9 p.m. Sunday Festival: 5.30 pm to 7.30 p.m. Weekly Gita classes for adults; call 281-433-1635 or harekrishnadham @gmail.com Houston Namadwaar A prayer house where the Hare Rama Hare Krishna Maha-mantra is continuously chanted. Weekends: 8-11 AM & 4-7 PM, Weekdays: 7-8 AM & 6-7 PM. Weekly â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gopa Kuteeramâ&#x20AC;? childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heritage classes and Srimad Bhagavatam classes. Call 281-402-6585; visit www.godivinity.org (Global Organization for Divinity). Saumyakasi Sivalaya Sri Saumyakasi Sivalaya is located at Chinmaya Prabha, 10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX 77478. Temple timings: Monday to Friday: 9:00 AM - 12:00 Noon and 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM. Saturday and Sunday: 9:00 AM - 2:00 PM and 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM. For more information Contact 281-568-1690 or Jay Deshmukh at 832-541-0059 or visit www.saumyakasi.org
Gauri Siddhivinayak Temple Darshan from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily. All major festivals as well as birthdays, naam karan, engagement and other ceremonies. Call Pandit Pradip Pandya 832-4669868 for puja and other ceremonies. At 5645 Hillcroft Ste 701, Houston, TX 77036. Veerashaiva Samaja VSNA Houston is a group of families who believe in Veerashaiva dharma (Basava dharma). Monthly Mahamane program for prayer and discussion on Vachana Sahitya followed by Prasada. Contact: vsnahous ton@gmail.com or Jagadeesh Halyal 832-744-4166. Mar Thoma Church Trinity Mar Thoma Church every Sunday at 5810 Almeda Genoa Rd. Sunday School at 9:15 a.m. Malayalam service at 9:30 a.m. on 1st & 3rd Sunday. Adult Bible class at 9:30 a.m. English service at 10:30 a.m. on 2nd & 4th Sunday. Call 713-991-1557 or 281261-4603. Telugu Christian Fellowship Telugu Christian Fellowship meets every third Saturday of the month at Triumph Church, 10555 W. Airport Blvd., StaďŹ&#x20AC;ord TX 77477 at 6:30 p.m. Join us for a time of praise, worship and fellowship. Worship is in English. For information call Chris Gantela 281-344-0707, or Rev. Vijay Gurrala 281-997-0757. Sri Guruvayurappan Temple Hours: Mon to Fri 6 a.m. -8 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Weekends & Holidays: 6 a.m. to noon and 5:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Bhajans Saturdays 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Sundays 9 a.m. to 1 a.m. Special poojas (weekends and holidays) Choroon (Annaprasam) for kids, Thulabharam, Vahana Pooja, Nirapara. Temple is located at 11620 Ormandy St. (77035) Tel: 713-7298994 email: temple@ guruvayur.us Preksha Meditation JVB Preksha Meditation Center conducts weekly Meditation, Yoga and Swadhyay sessions inside its unique Pyramid hall under the auspicious guidance of Samani Kanchan Pragyaji and Samani Pranav Pragyaji who are stationed at Houston Center this year. It also runs special events and programs like IChoose, Meditation Camps and Gyanshala program for children ages 4-14 yrs. JVB is located at 14102 Schiller Rd. Houston 77082. Every Tuesday, 9:30am-11:30am, Samaniji has pravachan for all adults interested in learning about Jainism. Every Wednesday there is Swadhyay class from 7-8pm and meditation from 8-9pm. Every Thursday from 9:30-11am there is special Yoga class for Ladies only. Every Saturday, there is Yoga Class from 9-10am and Meditation from 10-10.30am. Ist & 3rd Sundays, there is Gyanshala Classes for Kids ages 4-14yrs. from 10-12:15pm followed by Lunch. Visit www.jvbhouston.org or send email at info@ jvbhouston.org for more details. Patanjali Yogpeeth Free Yoga Classes every Sat/Sun at Arya Samaj from 8 am to 9:30 a.m. Call Anil 281-579-9433. For other free classes, call Indra 281537-0018. For Yoga/Herbal products, call Shekhar 281-242-5000. www.pyptusa.org; www.DivyaProducts.com.
Hindu Temple of The Woodlands 7601 S. Forest Gate Dr, The Woodlands, TX 77382 Temple Hours, Weekdays: 7:30 AM - 9:30 AM 5:30 PM - 8.30 PM Aarti @ 7:30 PM Saturday and Sunday 8:30 AM - 1:30 PM Aarti at 12:00 PM 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM Aarti @ 7:30 PM; Contact 832-585--0001 or temple@myhtw.net Sathya Sai centers Sunday program held at two locations (North Houston: 12127 Malcomson Road, Houston; South Houston: 246 Fluor Daniel Drive, Sugar Land) from 3:00 to 5:30 pm) - Sai Spiritual Education (SSE) classes for children; Study Circle for adults & Devotional singing for all. Service programs - food distribution, canned food drives, nursing home visits, tutoring at schools, etc. Contact Venkat Rao (North) - 602-503-2249 or Ranji Raghavan (South) 281-451-8238. Visit www.sairegion10.org Sadhu Vaswani Center Sadhu Vaswani Center of Houston holds regular Satsang on 3rd Thursday of the month and daily Arti at 7.30 p.m. Call 281-4630379 or e.mail ramolaj@aol.com Gaudiya Math Shri Govindji Gaudiya Matha is a Hindu Vaishnava temple of Sanatan Dharam and worshipping place of Shri Shri Radha Krishna, Shri Gaur Nitai & Shri Ram Darbar. Mandir is open daily from 5.30 AM until 8.30 PM. The services are held from 5.30PM to 7.30PM followed by prashad. Daily Aarti times : Mangala Aarti- 5:30 am. Bhog Aarti - 12:30 pm. Evening Aarti - 7:00 pm. Enroll your child in Sri Govindaji Vedic School. We oďŹ&#x20AC;er Hindi classes for all ages. Sri Govindaji Gaudiya Matha is located in Northwest Houston at 16628 Kieth Harrow Blvd Houston TX 77084. For more information, call at 832-464-4686 or visit our website: http://sggm.org. Swaminarayan Temple Hindu Satsang at Shree Swaminarayan Hindu Temple, under Shree NarNarayan Dev Gadi kalupur. Opens daily from 7 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Daily aarti at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday sabha from 5 p.m to 7 p.m. followed by aarti at 7 p.m. and Maha-Prasad (free dinner). www.issotx.org. (281) 530-2565. Sanatan Dharm Maha Sabha West Indian Religious Organization called Sanatan Dharm Maha Sabha Branch # 377 is located at 26100 Tina Lane, Katy, TX 77494. Durga Mata Pooja is held every Friday from 7 pm to 9.30 pm. Contact Ram Sharma @ 713-412-9985. Gandhi Library Mahatma Gandhi Library Book Club: Meets 2nd Sunday of each month; 12:30 PM at Arya Samaj Greater Houston, 13475 Schiller Rd. Join the discussion of the great manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s autobiography â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Call Manish Wani 713-829-6979. Sant Nirankari Mission Sant Nirankari Mission holds its weekly spiritual congregation on every Sunday at India House 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. followed by community meals. All are welcome. For further information, call Raj Bhala at (281) 980-2825.
INDIA HERALD • WEDNESDAY, MAY 22, 2019 • PAGE 19
Hari Venkatachalam Hindu Students Association, Board of Directors
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rid TX of–your staffi ng problems and spend more April 6, 2017Get – AUSTIN, The Hindu Students Association (HSA) would like to regretfully announce that it will be Good Numbers = Good Decisions cancelling its annual Gateway Retreat for the 2017 year. HSA prides itself in building a strong network of young Hindu Americans, and it looks forward to organizing other events in the future that will link students from its various branches. HSA has been reorienting itself in recent months to doing more grassroots work. “We have been focusing more on accomplishing work on the local and branch level,” said Mrinalini Vijalapuram, National President of the Hindu Students Association. “We have been doing this through many different activities including interfaith events with other religious organizations, building community partnerships, and expanding into other campuses that don’t already have HSA branches.” While the cancellation of Gateway may come as a disappointment for many prospective attendees, HSA hopes to get feedback from students on other projects and events that interest its branch members. Currently, several projects, including developing HSA’s podcast series and releasing monthly articles that highlight the accomplishments of members from the various campuses have been the focus of the organization’s efforts. HSA welcomes student and community members to get involved in these activities to help further the goals of the organization. “It is important that we meet the needs of the campuses and communities we serve,” reiterated Ms. Vijalapuram. “We want to make sure that we are putting our attention on projects that will truly benefit them.” U.S. 90 A -***-
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