Friday, June 13 2014 | Vol. 33, No. 24
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Indo American erican News
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www.indoamerican-news.com Published weekly from Houston, TX
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Thirst for Knowledge
Yoga for Mind & Body P3
Dr. H.R. Nagendra
Puzzles/Recipe P10 Faculty and staff with Houston Community College Board of Trustees Chair Neeta Sane (fourth from right) and Dr. Sena Gomez, President, HCC Southwest College (fourth from left). From left, Rima Adil, Bharat Sutaria, Ajanta Barua, Dr. Anna Koshy, Reni Abraham and Dr. Ritu Raju.
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SAVE THE DATE 15TH ANNUAL GALA KEYNOTE SPEAKER
US Senator John Cornyn WHEN WHERE
For sponsorship information please contact:
INDO-AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OF GREATER HOUSTON
YEAR YEARIN INREVIEW REVIEW
Saturday, September 27 at 6:00 pm Hilton Americas Hotel, 1600 Lamar St., Houston, TX 77010
SANJAY RAMABHADRAN
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COMING UP WOMEN’S EMPOWERMENT “Mapping Your Future”
JANUARY JANUARY 8— 8— AtAt the the 2014 2014 IACCGH IACCGH Networking Networking Reception, Reception, Judge Judge EdEd Emmett Emmett presented presented IACCGH IACCGH founding founding President President Dr.Dr. Durga Durga Agrawal Agrawal with with a plaque a plaque onon behalf behalf of of the the Chamber Chamber in in honor honor ofof hishis joining joining the the Board Board ofof Regents, Regents, University University ofof Houston; Houston; Left Left toto right: right: Sanjay Sanjay Ramabhadran; Ramabhadran; Judge Judge EdEd Emmett; Emmett; Dr.Dr. Durga Durga Agrawal, Agrawal, Advisor Advisor — IACCGH; — IACCGH; and and Pankaj Pankaj Dhume, Dhume, Past Past President President — IACCGH — IACCGH
SPEAKER
Dr. Latha Ramchand Dean, CT Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston
WHEN WHERE
Wednesday, June 18, 2014, from 6:00 – 8:00 pm The HESS Club, 5430 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77056
Register at iaccgh.com by Monday, June 16, 2014. FEBRUARY FEBRUARY 3—Meeting 3—Meeting with with HisHis Excellency Excellency Dr.Dr. S. S. Jaishankar, Jaishankar, Ambassador Ambassador ofof India India toto the the US; US; Left Left toto right: right: Top—His Top—His Excellency Excellency Dr.Dr. S. S. Jaishankar, Jaishankar, Ambassador Ambassador of of India India toto the the US; US; Consul Consul Gen. Gen. P. P. Harish; Harish; Felipe Felipe Bayon Bayon Sr.,Sr., Vice Vice President President — BP — BP Americas; Americas; John John Minge, Minge, President President — BP — BP Americas; Americas; Bottom: Bottom: Jagdip Jagdip Ahluwalia, Ahluwalia, Executive Executive Director— Director— IACCGH; IACCGH; Sanjay Sanjay Ramabhadran, Ramabhadran, President President — IACCGH; — IACCGH; Fred Fred Whipple, Whipple, Vice Vice President President — Shell; — Shell; HisHis Excellency Excellency Dr.Dr. S. S. Jaishankar, Jaishankar, Ambassador Ambassador of of India India toto the the US; US;Consul Consul General General P. P. Harish; Harish; Ken Ken Coon, Coon, Vice Vice President President — Shell, — Shell, Joya Joya Shukla, Shukla, Director Director — IACCGH — IACCGH FEBRUARY FEBRUARY 22—Seminar 22—Seminar onon American American Tax Tax Laws Laws asas applicable applicable toto taxtax payers payers who who own/ own/ control control overseas overseas assets assets was was presented presented byby a panel a panel ofof CPAs CPAs and and taxtax consultants. consultants. Moderated Moderated byby IACCGH IACCGH Past Past President President Ajit Ajit Thakur. Thakur. IACCGH IACCGH Treasurer Treasurer Swapan Swapan Dhairyawan Dhairyawan chaired chaired the the event. event.
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COMING UP POWER BREAKFAST KEYNOTE SPEAKER
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MARCH MARCH 5—5— IACCGH IACCGH Distinguished Distinguished Lecture Lecture — Keynote — Keynote Speaker: Speaker: Dr.Dr. Renu Renu Khator; Khator; From From left left toto right: right: Dr.Dr. Khator, Khator, Jagdip Jagdip Ahluwalia, Ahluwalia, Dr.Dr. Stephen Stephen Klineberg, Klineberg, Sanjay Sanjay Ramabhadran Ramabhadran
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Tuesday, July 8, 2014 at 7:00 am The HESS Club, 5430 Westheimer, Houston, TX 77056
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WHEN WHERE JUNE JUNE 3—Power 3—Power Breakfast Breakfast with with Congressman Congressman Ted Ted Poe; Poe; From From left left toto right: right: Ashok Ashok Garg, Garg, President President Elect Elect — IACCGH; — IACCGH; Sanjay Sanjay Ramabhadran, Ramabhadran, President President — IACCGH; — IACCGH; Congressman Congressman Ted Ted Poe, Poe, Dr.Dr. D.D. Bhatia, Bhatia, Walter Walter Van Van dede Vijver Vijver — Reliance — Reliance USA USA
Wed., July 9, 2014; Register: 4 – 5pm; Program: 5 – 6:30pm Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital 17500 W Grand Pkwy S, Sugar Land, TX 77479
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COMMUNITY
June 13, 2014
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India House Hosts Yoga Lecture by Dr. H.R. Nagendra, A world Renowned Yoga Authority
tion. The goal of this event was to educate people to live healthy, happy and peaceful life by integrating elements of Yoga in their daily life. After welcoming note by Jugal Malani, President India House and introducing the guest, Dr. H.R Nagendra proceeded with the lecture explaining every aspect of his lecture ably supported by a power point projection. Dr. H.R. Nagendra, a former space scientist of NASA, is the vice Chancellor of Swami Vivekananda Yoga Research foundation (SVYASA) University, Bengaluru, India. He is also on the Board of Advisors of Yoga Bharti. Dr. Nagendra has Dr. Krishna Madappa, President and founder of Institute for science and spirituality from New Mexico.
Attendees enjoying the authentic Bangalorian food catered by Udipi restaurant.
published many research papers on Yoga and its applications. He is a well-known yoga researcher, practitioner and philosopher. During his lecture he defined yoga is not just physical postures but is mastery over the mind andbody which can lead to optimal health of people. He explained the physiology of stress which is the sympathetic activation at body level and the contribution of stress filled life style towards it. He suggests the practice called cyclic meditation based on the concepts from the yogic scriptures which provides deep rest to the human
system developed by SVYASA. Further he presented 30 years of SVYASA scientific research in the field of yoga on different aliments. SVYASA has yoga research collaboration with MD Anderson on yoga cancer. At the end of the lecture Dr. Krishna Madappa, President and founder of Institute for science and spirituality from New Mexico, presented on GDV (Gas Discharge Visualization) Bio- well machine which tracks our Prana (Energy) in our body. The lecture was concluded with a never ending session of Q & A which had to be interrupted as it was past the
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
Photos: Bijay Dixit
dinner time. All attendees were informed that free Yoga classes are run at India House by local Director of Houston VYASA’s Vishwarupa on Tue and Thu from 11 am to 12 pm and on Saturdays from 10 to 11 am. Word of thanks was given by Dr. Durga Agrawal, one of the Trustees of India House. The attendees were treated with authentic Bangalorian food catered by Udipi restaurant keeping in mind that Dr. Nagendra was visiting from Bangalore. India house was also home to the workshop on Stress Management conducted by Guruji on the following day, Saturday June 7, from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. For further information contact Vipin Kumar at 713-772-1900 or info@indiahouseinc.org
CALL: 713-789-6397
HOUSTON: Keeping with the traition of bringing internationally well-known figures to Houston, India House Houston was proud to host a free yoga and jyotish lecture titled “Yoga for Positive Mind & Body” given by Dr. H.R. Nagendra on June 6, at their O.P. Jindal Center, located at 8888 West Bellfort, Houston, TX 77031. The lecture was presented in collaboration with the Museum of fine Arts, Houston and Asia Society Texas Center. The event was open to the public and attracted a packed house of over 200 people in attendance who listened to the Guru Ji, as he is popularly known with apt atten-
A packed house of over 200 people in attendance who listened to the Guru Ji.
FOR ADVERTISEMENT
Dr. H.R. Nagendra with India House Trustee, Dr. Durga Agrawal.
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Punjab Times Vol 15, Issue 23, June 7, 2014
June 13, 2014
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Organizers: Gurminder Singh Padda, Hitpaul Singh Sandhar, Gurbir Singh Boparai, Satbir Singh Rana Raghbir Singh PANCAL (RB), Manohar Singh Mann, Bhupinder Singh, Aman Singh Sidhu, Harbhajan Singh
Contact Info.: Manohar Mann 281-220-9353, Bhupinder Singh 832-607-1168 Aman Sidhu 832-863-4756, Gurbir Singh Boparai 832-797-8515 GRAND SPONSORS: PAUL MOORE, SUKHWINDER SINGH (SHAH Ji ), SUMER SINGH PINGLIA, TARA ENERGY PLATINUM SPONSORS: CHARANJEEV S Roy, DR HARDAM SINGH AZAD, SHAVINDER MADAN, HIRA SINGH CHAMDAL, AROON SINGH PATEL DIAMOND SPONSORS: BOB SIDHU, HARJIT SINGH GALHOTRA, NARINDER SINGH NAGRA, SUNNY GREWAL, PRITAM SINGH TOOR, PATRICK MANN, DR.GURNAIB SIDHU, DR. H S NARANG, MANJEET SINGH GHUMAN, GURCHARAN SINGH DHALIWAL, CHEEMA BROTHERS, SHAMSHER SINGH, DALJIT SINGH (Fuffar ) GOLD SPONSORS: BAWA JEWELERS, B&G WHOLESALE, POTENTIA ENERGY, SALEEM LAKHANI, GAGAN MANN, ANKUL DASS, BACHCHA TIWARI, ANOOP SINGH, SAMPURAN SINGH, TIRATH SINGH KHERA, HARGOPAL SINGH SIDHU, GURDEEP SINGH JAMMU, MOHAN SINGH GREWAL, JASVINDER SINGH, MANJEET SINGH DHINDSA, JASVINDER SINGH KHANGURA, HARDEEP SINGH GREWAL, PARWINDER SINGH GILL, BHUPINDER SINGH BRARA, NAJJAR SINGH, BHAI AMAR SINGH, BHUPINDER SINGH DAYAL, GURMIT PADDA, DJ GEORGE, GAJJAN SINGH, KAMALJEET S RAI, DEEPAK S RAI, SATNAM PADDA, BALDEV PADDA, SUKHWINDER SINGH LALLY, JOGA S SANDHU, SIMERPAL S GREWAL, HARDIP S MANN, MANBIR S MANN, Taranjit S Pinglia, Sohan S Kalkat, Dawinder S Khera, Dawinder S Chatha, Kewal S Sohal, Harwinder S Chatha, Sardool S Mann, Jagmit S Mann, Dr. Satbir S Chhina, Balkar S Heyre, Tarlochan S Sandhu, Baldev S Mann, Jarnail S Shah, Parminder & Mohinder S (Baytown), Raghbir Singh, Sukhwinder Singh ( Kala ), Gurminder S Aujla, Malak Singh (Sethi), Gurdev Singh, Nanak Singh, Harnek Singh, Yadwinder Singh, Malkit Singh, Gurmej Singh, Pritpal S Ghuman, Avtar S Mann, Happy Watta, Hardit S Sekhon, Satwant S Bassi, Pal S Shemar, Kewal S Shemar, Jasbir S Soodan SILVER SPONSORS: MOON JEWELERS, GURDEV SINGH SIDHU, HARMANDEEP SINGH DHILLON, PREET INDER SINGH (JUDGE), KARAMJEET SINGH VIRDI, PARWINDER SINGH GHOTRA, HARDEV SINGH MAND, MOHINDER SINGH SANDHU, DAULAT SINGH, GURMEET SINGH SAINI, GURKANWAL SINGH DHINDSA, SARABJEET SINGH MAND, HARJINDER SINGH MANN, BALWINDER SINGH, JASPAL SINGH, PRITPAL SINGH (PP), INDERPAL SINGH JOHAR, BALWINDER SINGH SIDHU, RAJ SINGH GILL, KAMAL OTAL, NAVDEEP SINGH SAINI, JAGTAR SINGH KANDOLA, UJJAGAR SINGH JASSAR, SATWINDER SINGH OTAL, AMRIK SINGH , TERLOCHAN SINGH, JOSE CARRILO, GURWINDER SINGH (G MONEY), HARWINDER SINGH HARRY, IKRAM SINGH, BHUPINDER S GILL, HARDEV SINGH DHILLON, HARDEV SINGH HAYER, RAMANDEEP DHILLON (RAMI), JAGTAR SINGH KANDOLA, LUCKY SINGH BAJWA, MANDEEP SINGH CHEEMA, CHARAN JEET SINGH SANDHU, BALBIR S PADDA, PYARA S DHALIWAL.
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June 13, 2014
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ICC Conference: Leadership Requires Constant Practice
The Board members and Trustees of the India Culture Center with the speakers and panelists (at table, from left) Dr. Reagan Flowers, Leela Krishnamurthy, Rathna Kumar and Bobby Singh at the Leadership Conference held at India House on Saturday, June 7. Photos: Jawahar Malhotra
BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: As each panelist spoke their piece, it stirred emotions in the minds of the people in the audience that surely, some of these qualities existed inside them, that somehow they just failed to see themselves use these each day in their designated positions at work and especially as they strived in the alter egos as volunteers in the service of the community. This is the ninth year that the India Culture Center has held its annual Leadership Conference to help community activists to be more effective in their non-profit organizations, many of which – of the 67 listed in the program hand-
out - were represented in a portion of the main hall at India House this past Saturday morning, June 7. About 100 people attended the four hour program which ended with lunch catered by Vaishala restaurant. As the chief guest, Indian Consul General Parthvatheneni Harish could not attend; each of the organization leaders stood up and spoke briefly about their group’s work. It made the audience, all of whom have engendered themselves in some way as purveyors of the public good for the welfare of the community they inhabit, ponder whether they could take back some ideas and instill them in their daily
Indo American News (ISSN 887-5936) is published weekly every Friday (for a subscription of $40 per year) by IndoAmerican News Inc., 7457 Harwin Dr., Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036., tel: 713-789-6397, fax:713-789-6399, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com.
From left: Manisha Gandhi, Parul Fernandes, Sangeeta Pasrija and Lachmann Das presented the award to Leela Krishnamurthy.
lives to be better leaders and trim some of their shortcomings. They all belonged to one non-profit organization or the other and had exhibited their zeal over the past few years in bringing together people for a cause. Manisha Gandhi, an ICC Board member opened the conference as the event Chair and
introduced the speakers. Gandhi is also a reporter for TV South Asia and is seen around town with her videographer, Gautam Jani recording many events. “Where do you find your inspiration when you start your day when dealing with a tough situation?” asked the keynote speaker Dr.
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
Reagan Flowers, the founder of the C-STEM Teacher and Student Support Services, which provides an integrated Science Technology Engineering and Math enrichment program for Pre-K through 12th grade. She started the program in 2002 and has steered it to $3 million in revenue and impact over 100,000 students. Flowers motivated the audience with examples from her own endeavors and listed the qualities that others expected from the people who led, peppering her speech with many motivational quotes and phrases. “Success comes to those who try one more time when others give up. Leaders create opportunities – quitting is not an answer,” she said, adding that she was a pioneer and a social entrepreneur. She summed up her thoughts on CONTINUED ON PAGE
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June 13, 2014
COMMUNITY
Community Walk Hosted by BAPS Charities at Sugar Land Town Center
Commissioner Grady Prestage inspires the walkers
Over 900 walkers of all ages at the BAPS Charities walk
SUGAR LAND: At the age of 92, Kanu Patel or lovingly known as Kanudada completed the BAPS Charities 15th annual walkathon on Sunday, June 8, at the Sugarland Town Center. After the walk Kanudada smiles and says, “my inspiration were the young ones that are here on a Sunday and it’s such a great feeling to see them raise awareness for great beneficiaries, ADA (American Diabetes Association) and Stafford MSD (Stafford Municipal School District Education Foundation).” By 9:00 am a crowd of 900 participants ranging from young children at the age of 2 to seniors at the age of 92 were ready to kick off the walkathon. The walk was launched with a prayer for world peace followed by inspiring words from the Commissioner of Precinct 2 of Fort Bend County, Grady Prestage. Commissioner Prestage said with excitement that, “15 years of this BAPS walk is amazing and I look forward to another 15 years.” As part of the walk this year a special run was set for those who chose to run the route. Although Kanudada did not participate in the special 5k run, he smiled as the runners sprinted passed him. With amazement a wheel chaired bound individual, Justin Scott won first place in this year’s 5k run. Second place winner Hinal Patel was amazed, “I can’t believe how fast he was with the wheel chair, if that is not an inspiration that I don’t know what can be.” Along with Kanudada, volunteers of BAPS Charities brought sponsors like Piping Technology & Products, SDB group, Forge USA, 4th Dimension, Akshar/Shriji Properties, Pref Tech, Genetec, Minute Maid, Sam’s Club, Bharat Patel and many others to contribute to this year’s walkathon. Narayan Bhargava of SDB group commented, “We are proud to be a sponsor for all the good things that BAPS continues to do.” BAPS Charities undertakes many such charitable events throughout the year to support local communities. BAPS Charities’ projects are inspired by Pramukh Swami Maharaj’s motto, “In the joy of others, lies our own”. Through this motto, Pramukh Swami Maharaj selflessly serves society through a variety of social projects and inspires thousands of others to do the same. In addition to the 40 such annual walkathons hosted across North America this year, BAPS Charities hosts a variety of programs to support healthy living, environmental awareness and education initiatives around the world. BAPS Charities sincerely serves the community, by improving the quality of life of individuals and families. For further information on BAPS Charities and its international and local philanthropic activities, visit www.bapscharities. org
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June 13, 2014
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COMMUNITY
June 13, 2014
3rd Odissi Convention Celebrated at Houston Durga Bari
Photos Nirmalya Roy
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BY APARUPA CHATTERJEE AND SANCHALI BASU HOUSTON: The 3rd North American Odissi convention- Kelucharan Guna Keertanam, 2014 was an intimate whole day festival, hosted at Sur Audtitorium of Houston Durga Bari society at Houston, on June 1, organized by Aparupa Chatterjee, the Odissi exponent of Srjan, Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra Nrityabasa, Bhubaneshwar, India, disciple of Guru Ratikant and Sujata Mohapatra, and the current Odissi instructor at Anjali Center for Performing Arts. With a full house, the 3rd anniversary of this festival commemorated the 10th year of Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra’s demise and the 10th year of Chatterjee’s association with Srjan. A decade after Guruji left this world Chatterjee felt a need to bring together disciples from all over USA and his family, to relive the magic of those halcyon days of brilliant pieces by Guruji. The program started at sharp 2:00pm with an invocation to Lord Jagannath, by our beloved Consul General P. Harish, his wife Nandita Harish with Amrit Narayan Achari, followed by an inaugural Hindustani classical vocal by Shreya Maiti, a disciple of Pandit Ajoy Chakroborty. The dance recital initiated with a warm message from Guru Ratikant Mohapatra, who could not make it this time, and moved on to ‘Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu’ by Chatterjee’s students, and ‘Bakra tunda Mahakaya’ by Houston-based Smt. Aloka Kanungo’s disciple and Odissi exponent, Supradipta Datta’s student, Soma Mitra-Behura. The curtain raiser and attraction of the program was Smt. Sujata Mohapatra, daughterin-law of Guruji, from Bhubaneshwar, with an excellent execution of Durga, Kede Chhanda (an oriya abhinaya) and Ramayana. Her well-maintained figure, stage presence, expertise, finesse and incredible grace were incomparable and stood as ideal for all artists of the day. This was followed by a production of Chatterjee’s dance company girls- ‘Vande mataram’, a choreography by Guruji, trained by Guru Ratikant Mohapatra, rendered with beauty and patriotic love
for mother India by the talented young and upcoming Odissi dancers, trained for a long time. ‘Ardhanariswara’, ‘Jaya mahesha’, ‘Aravi pallavi’ and ‘Patdeep pallavi’ were also executed her students of Houston, Austin, Dallas and College Station. Senior featured and sponsored Bharatnatyam artist, Dr. Janaki Rangarajan from Virginia performed an Alaripu, Thillana in Raag Purvi, and Abhinaya ‘Yahi madhava yahi keshava’, which were touching, rhythmic and convincing. Senior featured and sponsored Kathak artist from Montreal, Canada, Smt. Sudeshna Maulik, disciple of Smt. Kumudini Lakhia, Pandit Birju Maharaj and Pandit Chitresh Das, performed Kathak. Her brilliant control on rhythm, broad stance and amplitude in movements, technique, though less effusive jumps were noteworthy. Lisa Santhanam and Nazanin Baygani, current Odissi artists, having performed internationally in acclaimed festivals acquitted themselves creditably through ‘Hamsadhwani pallavi’ and ‘Mahli mala’, respectively. Other beautiful dances in Odissi style by upcoming and young talents were ‘Kalyan pallavi’, performed by Prianka Ghoshal from Austin (student of Supradipta Datta), ‘Navadurga’, performed by Nivedina Sharma from Dallas (student of Aparajita Misra), ‘Ahe neela shaila’ performed by Divya Saha from California (student of Niharika Mohanty), ‘Chandana charchita’ performed by Shipra Meherotra’s Avantika Dance company students from Houston and ‘Nachonti ronge’ performed by Supradipta Datta’s Kalaangan students. Noteworthy to mention- sponsoring team led by OCC, Sitaram foundation, SKAI, PTPI; organizing and public relations team led by Smt. Gouri Achari; managing/ travel expenses for artists team led by Smt. Madhumita Sengupta; venue team led by Smt. Mila Sengupta; announcement team of Sanchali Basu, Swati Chakroborty, Sruti Nuthalapati and Anusha Sengupta and decoration team led by Smt. Mridula Karna.
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COMMUNITY
June 13, 2014
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Masala Radio Gets Ruggles Green-Sugar Land to Spice up its Menu with Some Bollywood Flavor
BY PREANKA DESAI SUGAR LAND: Utter the magic words, “Buy-One-Get-One-Free,” people may notice. But hear Masala Radio’s lead RJ, Sunil T, say that on-air about a popular restaurant, like Ruggles Green, Sugar Land, it results in a long line, snaking down to the sidewalk! That’s what happened on May 31, when co-founders, Robert Guillerman and Federico Marques, debuted the Bollywood-Indian menu exclusively at the SugarLand location. Ruggles Green with several locations in Greater Houston, opened in SugarLand’s trendy Town Center in 2012. Their website says, “Green isn’t just our name, it’s our mission.” Indeed! Ruggles Green has surpassed requirements to be certified by Green Restaurant Certification Association. Using local, organic produce, installing watersaving devices, state-of-the-art energy systems regulating 100% wind-powered electricity, and recycling: plastic, glass, paper, etc., are just some ways Ruggles Green helps the environment while being innovative. Introducing the Indian menu was one way of keeping with their image of innovation. Bollywood/Indian culture has grown in popularity in America, especially
in SugarLand (often considered one-third IndoAmerican)! The menu boasted mouth-watering, unique items, vegetarian and non-vegetarian. Scrumptious Mulligatawny Lentil Soup, Fried Kale and Spinach Chaat, Gobi Manchurian w/Angel Hair Pasta, Spicy Lamb Samosas, Tandoori Chicken Tacos, and the must-have, Pizza – Paneer Tikka and Chicken Tikka – accompanied by gourmet Kashmiri Chai-Tea. Chef consultant, Fariha Dhanani, explained how the Kashmiri Chai-Tea was prepared. “What makes it distinctive aren’t just special ingredients; it must be gently brewed over several hours. The brewing must start early, ending with a delicate pink hue,” she gushed, “and that’s key to its authentic taste!” Paul, one of the first few customers at 6:30pm, was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by hostesses dressed in Indian outfits, offering samples of the Chicken Tikka Pizza and Paneer Tikka Pizza. Guests streamed in as the queue grew, while staff adorned in traditional Indian Bandhani (tie-die) scarves and diamond-esque bindis, kept the line moving steadily ensuring customers were served briskly. Dr. Nadia Mahmood brought her daughters who were fascinated by
the free henna tattoos and bindi giveaways. They chose Spicy Lamb Burgers, topping dinner off sharing Ruggles Green’s signature dessert, the chocolate crème brulee cheesecake. Under the efficient direction of Masala Radio’s CFO, Sandhya Thakkar, event managers, Munira and Ruchir, created a beautiful ambience – sequined peacocks, mirrored decorative ribbons, and attention-grabbing Bollywood movie posters. The patio was transformed into a mini-dance floor. Professional dance trainer, Mahesh Mahbubani, and his dance instructors conducted a fun dance class to Bollywood songs. Mahbubani, who runs Naach Houston, a premier Bollywood-Fusion Dance School in SugarLand, soon had children and adults forming rows, copying easy-to-follow steps. DJ Zee spun upbeat Bollywood tracks like, “Tuney Maari Entriyaan...” While Naach dancers got ready for their next performance, Sunil T entertained by leading his own one-person, impromptu, hilarious Lungi dance
class. Everyone was soon rolling in laughter. Masala RJs, Preanka, Rajoo, and Pankti encouraged the audience to join in. Frequent visitor, Dr. Masand, beamed seeing miniature Indian dolls placed on counter tops and Indian movie posters lining the walls. “I’m a foodie, but also particular about my choices. It’s tough finding healthy choices especially in Indian restaurants. Ruggles Green always impresses me. Add Party King, Sunil T and his Crazy Masala Crew, now that’s an awesome experience” said Masand.
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
Based on feedback and a threemonth trial, plans are to introduce popular items at other locations, including their most popular – City Center – and their newest one in The Woodlands opening this summer. “I sampled everything vegetarian, but Gobi Macharian w/Angel Hair Pasta was my favorite,” said SugarLand Council Member, Harish Jajoo, summing it up best, “Dear friends, excellent food and a warm summer night. What else would you want?”
10 June 13, 2014
COMMUNITY
Thirst for Knowledge Beckons South Asians to HCC Campuses
BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: With over 22 locations strewn across the metropolitan area divided along five college boundaries, the Houston Community College system resembles a hydra with many heads that reaches out to the furthest corners of the Greater Houston Area in a quest to teach the multitude of people – young and old – who want to prepare to tackle the fast changing world that we live in. That quest does not end there as HCC reaches even more who thirst for knowledge but are unable to physically attend through a vigorous online tutorial program for undergraduates and continuing education. In mapping out its mission to teach the masses, the HCC has become the fourth largest community college system in the US with 55,000 students. The Lone Star College System has a higher enrollment over 70,000, but it serves mostly the northern areas of the Greater Houston area. To administer this sprawling and far flung system, the HCC is broken down into nine administrative districts, four of which – V, Vi, VII and IX – encompass the areas where there is a heavy concentration of South Asian populations and businesses, each district represented by a Trustee elected for a six-year term. And it is from these districts that the HCC has seen the influx of most of its South Asian population of students and faculty alike, both reflecting the microcosm of diverse demographics that form the Bayou City and its environs. For the past six years, Neeta Sane has been the elected Trustee of District VII as the face of the Asian demographic;
she handily won reelection earlier this year. District VII includes parts of Alief, Stafford, Missouri City and Sugar Land, extending all the way to Sienna Plantation, the same areas where the bulk of the South Asian population comes from, as well as other minority ethnic groups. This year Sane is the Chair of the Board of Trustees and she relishes her role in bringing greater educational opportunities to the masses. Sane is a native of Mumbai, India and has Masters degrees in Chemistry and Finance and has a passion for making a difference in the lives of others. It is perhaps no coincidence that a great many of the faculty and staff of the HCC system wide also come from the South Asian diaspora, forming nearly 11 per cent of the 6,500 system wide employees. Many have advanced degrees, like Dr. Ritu Raju who is the Assistant Chair for Technical and Mass Communication and Professor in the English Department, Dr. Anna Koshy who has been the Faculty Advisor for the HCC Tri-Beta Honors Biology club since 2002 and Bharat Sutaria who is a professor of Physics and Engineering. Others teach courses in hot demand in today’s technology world, like Reni Abraham who teaches digital gaming and simulation. Still others help in administration like Ajanta Barua who works in the Southwest College Operations Office, while Rima Adil handles multiple assignments in writing grants, advising and enrollment services. But they are all drawn to HCC by the very essence of the upbringing they had in their
countries – all are from India, except for Adil who is from Pakistan – which placed a huge emphasis on education and these values they have imparted into their next generation. And appreciation for their approach to educating shows as HCC strives to increase its diversity in students, faculty and staff, according to Dr. Sena Gomez, President, HCC Southwest College. It was the ability to launch the first engineering program at a community college that attracted Sutaria when he started teaching at the Southwest College in 2012. It is offered in conjunction with UT-Tyler where the four year course would cost $20,000. “We teach the first two years of the mechanical, civil and electrical engineering coursework,” said Sutaria who hails from Mumbai and came to the US in 1966 and Houston in 1975. “The remaining two years are finished off at UT-Tyler, but students get an Associate degree from us.” That sort of creative educating appealed to Rima Adil who wears multiple hats and was asked by the President of the Northwest College to take care of publicity for that campus. Born in Pakistan, she came to the US when she was 12 and was an HCC student before finishing her undergraduate degree at University of Houston as well as an MBA and is currently a PhD student at Texas Tech University. Last year she was the first Asian to receive the HCC Chancellor’s Eagle Award. Ajanta Barua who hails from Jorhat, Assam and came to Houston in 1980 enjoys the challenge of working in administration at HCC for the past three years. She had worked in accounting before and wanted to help students in the educational field and this was a natural fit for her. She enjoys the diversity of students that comes through her office. Dr. Anna Koshy came to the US from Kottayam, Kerela in 1984, then went back to Agra for a PhD before returning to the US and joining the HCC in 1990. She teaches Biology, Anatomy and Psychology and since 2011 has served on the HCC Instructor Review Board which gives approval for grants on research on human subjects. Reni Abraham is somewhat of a pioneer since the Trivandrum, Kerela native who came to the US in 1980 joined the HCC in 1992. She began by teach computer pro-
Neeta Sane, HCC Chair, Board of Trustees
gramming and slowly evolved her program to include digital gaming and simulation, a program she developed. HCC now offers a degree in this subject as the Texas Higher Education Board has approved the two year program. Dr. Ritu Raju is originally from Mumbai and came to the Houston in 1998. She received her PhD in Technical Communication and Rhetoric from Texas Tech University and has taught at HCC since 2005 teaching English and Technical Writing at the Northwest Campus in Spring Branch. She enjoys the challenge of teaching people from different backgrounds and the ability to give students the opportunity to interact with people of different ages too. “They are all here to get an education and pursue their dreams over a 16 week period,” she said with a smile, “and it makes my day to see them succeed.”
Welcome
TO YOUR FUTURE PROMOTION.
REGISTER TODAY FOR SUMMER/FALL CLASSES. HCCS.EDU INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM Welcome_IndoAmericanNews Summer 2014.indd 1
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COMMUNITY
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ICC Conference: Leadership Requires Constant Practice
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point of a corporate executive and gave examples of the contradictions between the free enterprise systems of the US and India as well as the need to temper rampant growth with empathy and respect of others. “You should have mindfulness and not rush to be judgmental,â€? he concluded, adding “We have to challenge ourselves as to what kind of leader I am.â€? The next speaker was Rathna Kumar, a world-acclaimed dancer of the Bharat Natyam and Kuchipudi styles who has won accolades and honors in India, the US and Europe. Kumar has called Houston her home since 1975 when she came with her husband Anil. She spoke about her personal experience that led her to give up the pursuit of a PhD in English at Rice University and instead turn to teaching young kids Indian classical dance and in the process imparting the knowledge of Indian history, language and culture. “I brought from India my whole baggage of mythology, history and culture and realized that if I didn’t teach my charges the meanings of the songs,â€? she said with a smile, “then they would not be able to capture the right gestures.â€? She added that she “was a teacher but an accidental leader ‌ and had to show that I could be trusted by the parents.â€? The final speaker was Leela
leaders as being passionate about their work, with a thirst for knowledge, of strong character, believing in sustainability and mentorship, having a sense of purpose and vision, good self-presence, being charismatic, action oriented and being all things to all people. “Their key strategy is to remain engaged in the game of Life, staying the journey, responsible as architects of other’s destiny and maintain a pragmatic positive thinking,� Flowers concluded, adding that leaders should be willing to be misunderstood for a long time but build coalitions through effective communications. The other three panelists came from the Indo American community itself and required no introduction as they are well known for their community-mindedness and activism. Bobby Singh, the former president of the Indo American Charity Foundation, spoke about the making of an authentic leader, saying that the ability to lead meant there were followers. He is the founder and President of Project Assurance Consultants, an engineering firm that specializes in project, turnaround and contract management for the petrochemical industry. He is a widely acclaimed turnaround management specialist and has written a book on the subject. Singh spoke from the vantage
Krishnamurthy, a beloved figure among many charitable circles in Houston whose interests lie in uplifting the children, the needy, and families in distress. She is on the boards on four non-profits while her husband Nat is on boards of several others and the two do everything together. “I didn’t know whether I fit the bill as a leader,� she said, “but when I realized it also involved the humanities, I thought ‘I’m in’!� Krishnamurthy said her mother was her inspiration and recalled how she would feed the hungry all day long on her daughter Leela’s birthdays. She has worked on building a house for Habitat for Humanity and recalled how, a few months ago, a shoeshine woman at Bush Intercontinental Airport called out to her and clasped her hands, thanking her for the house she built for her family! Parul Fernandes moderated the handful of questions that were submitted on cards for the panelists and Swapan Dhairyawan, a past ICC President, current Chief Trustee and tireless activist who attends most community functions, concluded with thanks to the speakers and awards for them. He lauded the 41 years that the ICC has served the community said that the conference was an inspiration to everyone to be servers, not to quit and be communicative.
Belmont Village Job Fair
Now Hiring! Wednesday, June 18th Thursday, June 19th from 10am to 4pm
Location: Conference Room - ďŹ rst floor lobby
8584 Katy Freeway Houston, TX 77024
We have openings for the following positions at our newest location: Houston, Texas
• LVN • Caregiver • Activity Assistant • Concierge • Driver
• Sous Chef • Line Cook • Dining Room Coordinator • Waitstaff • Dishwasher
Belmont Village Hunters Creek Please attend our Job Fair or apply online at www.BelmontVillageJobs.com
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COMMUNITY
YLDP’s Best Service Essay: Making a Difference at Ripley House
Team C - Haritha Jupudy , Perry Alagappan , Karthik Satish , Arjun Ramsunder, Avnii Patel with team lead Tejesh Guddanti, at the YLDP 2014 graduation ceremony held at India House on Saturday, May 31.
BY SRIHARSHA KETHIREDDIPALLI HOUSTON: On a Saturday morning, bright and early, I stepped into the car without clearly understanding what I was about to do. When I reached the Ripley House in
Houston, there was no doubt in my mind that the experience I was about to have would be unforgettable. Children from all socioeconomic backgrounds, races, and sizes celebrated the joy of the holiday season
together. As a member of YLDP, having a chance to make a difference in the community is a privilege. At the Ripley House, the task I was assigned was simple yet elegant: to hand out gifts to children aged 4-18. To see the faces light up and the families happy made the whole experience worth my time. One of the most profound messages that I have taken from YLDP this year is that simplicity can often yield the best results. As Mr. Vijay Goradia started his company with an apartment and telephone book and Judge Emmett’s straightforward yet effective style of leadership, the Ripley House took a simple approach to brighten the lives of hundreds of people. I was given the chance to apply this principle and better the community and myself. For nearly 6 hours, I performed the tasks I was assigned, such as bringing out the presents, ushering people to their seats, and smiling while I put in my best effort to make others happy. Rather than overcomplicating these activities, I worked efficiently and finished one thing after another. Another important message that will remain with me forever is that no matter what, we can always give back. Mr. Brian Green, the CEO of the Houston Food Bank, made it clear to us that no matter what is go-
ing on in the hectic world that surrounds us, the community could always use our help. By volunteering with new friends in YLDP, the same spirit that pervaded the Food Bank was apparent in the Ripley House: one of selflessness and unconditional love for out fellow human beings. Although the duties that my peers and I were doing were not “leadership” roles, in having followers and making life changing decisions, it was still, in my opinion, a perfect outlet to practice leadership. Working with others, being active, and helping shape the lives of young children has put the term leadership in a whole new perspective for me. We are not required to lead a multibillion dollar organization or be the president of the country to be an effective leader. Rather, applying the skills we already have and setting an example for those around us can change the world in ways that we may not be aware of. Volunteering my time at the Ripley House and understanding what leadership is engraved the message of YLDP in my conscience. There is no doubt that this was an influential experience and it has inspired me to give back more than I have received. This won the best service essay award, and Sriharsha was awarded with $50 Shell Gas Card as a recognition.
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14 June 13, 2014
COMMUNITY
Greater Houston Tamil School Annual Day Celebration
PEARLAND: Greater Houston Tamil School celebrated its Annual Day on Saturday, May 24, at the C. A. Nelson Auditorium, Pearland Junior High West in Pearland. Greater Houston Tamil School is the largest Tamil school in the greater Houston area with an enrollment of 235 students. It serves the Tamil community by conducting classes at four locations - Katy, Pearland, Woodlands and Westheimer. The Annual Day function was a confluence of student talents from all the four school branches. Students presented various cultural programs in Tamil and showcased their talents. The show was en-
joyed by more than 400 parents and visitors. The event started with a rousing recital of the Thamizh Thaai Vazhthu by the students and the audience. Then Dr. Gopal Krishnan, the President, gave the welcome speech and kick started the proceedings. He announced that the school has been recommended for Accreditation by the world-renowned AdvancEd audit team and that this was the first time a Tamil school in North America was receiving such a recommendation. He also announced that the school has received IRS approval for taxexempt / 501 (c)(3) status. This was followed by a dazzling
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
array of programs by students from all levels. They displayed their talents by touching on various dimensions such as Speech, Singing, Cultural Dance, Drama and Humor bringing in excerpts from Tamil culture and literature as a feast to eyes and ears of the Tamil audience. The chief guest for the event, Geetha Arunachalam, the Dallas Metroplex Tamil Sangam President, delivered the keynote address and honored the administrators, teachers and volunteers. This was followed by the award ceremony for the students. The students received awards from their respective class teachers based on the results of their performance in class and results from competitions held in the school. The vote of thanks was given by Karu Manickavasagam, the event coordinator. He lauded the efforts of all the volunteers who made the event a success. The event ended on a happy note with a fine dinner catered by Annam Cuisine. The comment from the departing parents, “Even though we are in foreign shores, the Tamil skills of our kids are improving significantly year after year”, reflected the success of the school and the Annual Day celebration!
COMMUNITY
June 13, 2014
Graduation at DAV Montessori
HOUSTON: On May 25, DAV Montessori parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, and staff celebrated their graduates. In special attendance was Elliot Gershenson, the CEO of Interfaith Ministry. The morning began with a beautiful satsang in which the 1st grade parents were blessed by Acharya Surya Nanda Ji, who then spoke of the two births we experience, the birth we have from our mother and then the birth we have when we learn from our teacher. After the religious ceremony, the guest speaker Acharya Gaurang Bhai Nanavaty, Director for Chinmaya Mission, delighted the audience and especially reached the students when he told them a story stressing the children to “make the world noble” as the school’s motto states. The children’s story, tells the tale of a rat who asks to become an increas-
IOWA test scores. The children out-ranked their peers once again. All tested at least 1 or 2 grade levels above their grade levels in all subjects and the average scores were 90 percentile. This was the first year that DAV had a 2nd grade classroom with the addition of Sandhya, who brought traditional classroom methods to the school. With this success, next year the 2nd grade class will have 12 students and the 5 2nd graders will move on to the new 3rd grade class. The continued successes of these classes are the reason that Devji committed to the parents that he will continue to pursue 4th and 5th grades for this school. The best part of the day was the children’s performances. The itty bitty 2.5 year olds were simply adorable on stage doing what they do best—following the songs in their
ingly more ferocious animal so that it does not have to fear its predator but in the end forgets that fear and instead becomes a predator. Acharyaji left the children and adults alike enthralled by the story. Arti Khanna, the lady behind the scenes, also known as the school director, graciously thanked all the teachers and volunteers who helped her throughout the year and showed a brief school slideshow. She also brought forward Acharya Praveenji who has still been teaching the children while his health has been recovering. Of course a DAV event can never be complete without the force behind the school Dev Mahajan, Devji as he is lovingly called. The emcee Renu Jain gave congratulations to the teachers for the once again impressive
hearts. The pre-school and elementary classes were all so wonderful in their varied performances varying in themes from keeping India clean, to celebrating Gujarat who brought us our new Prime Minister Modi, to Indian diversity, to East meets West, to the students’ will to conquer the world. It touches the heart to watch the young generation participate in performances with songs, dances, and costumes that are from our Indian culture. With a curriculum that includes Hindi and yoga and extracurricular activities that include MonArt, Classical Indian Music, and Bollywood dance, it is no surprise these kids perform so wonderfully. DAV Montessori is giving the community a rare gift of an exemplary education with that beautiful dash of Indian magic.
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16 June 13, 2014
COMMUNITY
FIS Interviews Hindu Worship Society President, Prabhat C Sharma
Krishna Vavilala interviewed P.C.Sharma (right) , President of Hindu Worship Society in HCC studio on May 9, 2014.
HOUSTON: Prabhat Chander Sharma requested that his interview begin with the invocation of Gayathri Mantra. It is understandable since, he is the President and co-founder of the Hindu Worship Society (HWS) which is located at 2223 Wirtcrest Ln, Houston, TX 77055. Established in 1970, HWS has the distinction of being the very first temple for all Hindus in Houston at the time when Jay store was the only grocery store for all Indians. The Southern Indians broke up from HWS and built their own temple in Pearland which is called Meenakshi Temple Society (MTS). Sharma was born on 23, January, 1938 in Lahore, Pakistan in
undivided India to a physician father, Dr. Banarsi Dass Sharma and mother Promila Sharma. Dr. Sharma was a close associate of Bhagat Singh, a well-known revolutionary and freedom fighter in India’s freedom struggle. Bhagat Singh was tried and executed by the British. Bhagat Singh and his father, Dr. Banarsi Dass Sharma had co-founded an organization called Nav Jawan Sabha for young people to fight for India’s freedom. Dr. Banarsi Dass was a product of National College in Lahore which was home for many freedom fighters and revolutionaries in those days. The college was not recognized by the British. Dr. Sharma left for heaven in 1941.
Prabhat Sharma has inherited some of the revolutionary qualities of his father. In the aftermath of partition in 1947, Sharma’s family migrated to Delhi, India just two months before Independence, and lived in refugee camps. He got free education because of his poverty status, but always excelled in education. He graduated from India’s premium institute, IIT Khargapur in Mechanical Engineering as one of the top 5 ranked students. After working in Calcutta, he joined Bharat Heavy Electricals (BHEL), Hardwar in 1963 and was sent to Leningrad in Soviet Union for specialized training in Hydro Turbines, as a Graduate trainee. He became the Executive Engineer in 1966 and went on to become the Superintending Engineer. Being an activist, he contested and became the Secretary of BHEL Officer’s Club which had a number of Russians also as members. In a club event, when only the Russian anthem was sung and India’s national anthem was not sung, Sharma protested severely to higher authorities, which caught attention of the media and the issue was also raised in India’s parliament. His superiors in BHEL did not like his activism and made his life miserable by setting un-achievable
production targets. That was the time when he thought of leaving BHEL and moving to America. Being the only son, his mother did not like him leaving India. Asked why he only considered America, but not Russia, where he got his professional training, his response was that he came to America for better life and opportunities. Being her only son, his mother did not want him to migrate. But she made the sacrifice and agreed to her son’s desire. Sharma says that his son thanks him for bringing him to America. After arriving in Houston In 1974, he joined CE Lummus Engineering Company as a draftsman-designer, a job well below his qualifications, but soon rose up the ladder and retired as Manager of Mechanical Engineering in the company after 30 years of service. Their children, son, Puneet Sharma and daughter, Puja Sharma were born in India and raised in America. Puneet is presently Vice-President in Modek Engg. Co., but unfortunately their unmarried daughter, Dr. Puja Sharma, who was a qualified anesthesiologist passed away prematurely. Sharma candidly confesses that despite all the efforts of the first generation Indians to pass on their culture to their children sooner or later, everybody will be absorbed
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
into the American melting pot, citing the example of his own son who married an American girl. Sharma was married in 1964 to Jaya Sharma a B.A. degree graduate from Maharani College in Jaipur. She was born in Simla and raised in Delhi. She is a singer in her own right and sings Bhajans in the temple. Besides serving the Hindu Worship Society, Sharma is also a cofounder of Hindus of Greater Houston Association. Sharmas enjoy the company of granddaughter, Kiran Sharma, 16 and grandson, Garik Sharma now 11, both attending private schools here in Houston. Indo-American Oral History project is an undertaking of the Foundation for India Studies (FIS), a 501(c3) non-profit organization registered in Houston, Texas. Video interviews of the first generation Indian immigrants will be digitized and archived in the Indo-American Oral History collection of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center which is administered by the Houston Public Library. For further information or participation in the project, contact Krishna Vavilala @ 713-795-5169 or email: KVAVILALA1@GMAIL. COM.
COMMUNITY
June 13, 2014
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The Pied Pipers of Desi Quick Snack Foods Out of a Truck
BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: It’s a phenomenon that has been five years in the making but you have to experience it first hand to believe it. And who would have thought years ago that desi snack food tricks would make their presence felt in the humid, hot spot that is Houston? And felt they did as the rush of people lined up would tell, in the parking lot one Saturday evening, just as the sun had set. The line never let up till the trucks hours were done by 9:30pm, by the dim illumination of the parking lot light and the bulb inside the truck. They were eager for the Mumbai style brand of snacks – Dahi Bhalla Chat, Vada Pav, Pav Bhaji, Dabeli, Pani Puri, Kulfi and the rest at the Bansuri Indian Food Corner located, according to their website, “behind the Conoco station at Highway 6 and Bissonnet”. Owner Jay Kapadia and his helper work five days a week to satisfy the throng of desis on the westside who have found them out after they relocated from the Savoy Shopping Center parking lot. Further up Highway 6 at Bellaire is the Tandoori Nite Punjabi food dhabba, open six days a week and offering a charpai or cot to sit on and enjoy eating under the stars. It has been around for 3 years and the crowds of desis and mainstream Americans is just as thick at times. And in the Savoy Shopping Center parking lot, Yashoda Chat Express Food has set up their truck to handle the lovers of snack foods, for the crowds in that part of town. So, if you missed eating off the side of the road on your last trip to India, then you can dive in here … and you won’t have to worry if it’s okay to eat, ‘cause, as you will see, they are hugely popular with the local crowds!
It took 30 minutes to get to the front of the line of people waiting to place their orders.
Photos: Jawahar Malhotra
Presents:
Cancer of the Cervix:
A Common Disease in South Asian Women.
Sunday, June, 15th, 2014 3:00 PM at India House,
8888 West Belfort Ave., Houston TX 77031 FREE EVENT – ALL ARE WELCOME
Join us as our panel of experts walks you through from screening, early detection, diagnosis and treatment options for cervical cancer. We welcome your questions!
Our Medical Panel: Introductions: Dr. Sewa S. Legha Jay Kapadia served the crowd with a smile and knew many of the regulars.
Medical Oncologist, Vice President of IACAN
Cancer Cervix: Epidemiology: Dr. Sanjay Sethi
Medical Oncologist, Texas Oncology Screening & Preventive vaccines: Dr. Rachna Bhala
Gynecologist, Private Practice, sugar Land
Diagnosis & Treatment: Dr. Terry Pustilnik
Gynecologic-Oncologist, Texas Oncology WW A regular customer, Jyoti Evans dropped in for a snack after work.
Indian American Cancer Network E- Mail: iacannetwork@gmail.com Web: WWW.iacannetwork.org , Ph: 713-370-3489
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
18 June 13, 2014 Matching China in Growth It’s welcome that PM Narendra Modi has raised the bar by setting an agenda whereby India can seek to match China, instead of tinkering at the margins and focusing merely on incremental growth. For far too long the political class has sold us a false bill of goods — namely that India cannot achieve high growth because it is a democracy. It’s past time we got beyond such compartmentalised thinking, which in the end turns out a shoddy alibi for low achievement. Elucidating the new government’s view of governance, President Pranab Mukherjee listed its areas of priority in his address to the joint session of Parliament. This is a cogent and doable plan. If the government can act on it, India will be transformed. For example, if the country is to realise its demographic dividend, it must quickly achieve scale and quality in the education sector. This would entail, among other things, focussing on job related skills, abolishing the licence raj which insists on micro-managing educational institutions, encouraging investment from the private sector and allowing foreign universities to set up campuses. For more suggestions in this regard, see the accompanying opinion article. To generate jobs, tourism and labour-intensive manufacturing are welcome areas of focus. India has huge potential in both these sectors, much of which goes untapped. Moreover, as there can be many jobs in these sectors which don’t require a high level of skill, they get around India’s skill shortage in a smart way. The government’s plan to create 50 tourism circuits around specific themes is a good idea with high income-generating prospects. Similarly, the focus on urbanisation and the plan to create 100 new cities are much needed. With 50% of the population soon to reside in urban areas, existing urban infrastructure simply cannot cope. Looking at cities as opportunities rather than problems can be a game changer, leading to the rise of domain-specific urban clusters to complement manufacturing and industries. The government’s commitment to digitization and e-governance should help bring in transparency, streamlining the process for clearances and approvals. The aim ought to be to cut red tape and usher in a stable policy environment that enhances ease of doing business. Much needs to be done to put the India story back on track. Promisingly, the Modi government has several big ideas. If executed, they will unfetter the engines of growth. Times of India
EDITORIAL
Minimum Government, Maximum Risks BY JAITIRTH RAO Conventional wisdom is that the new government should focus on reducing the fiscal deficit. This writer would like to take a contrarian view. Ronald Reagan ignored the deficit hawks. He went for bold tax cuts and increased fiscal deficits. Reagan’s gamble paid off. The American economy acquired vigor. Growth became the new story, albeit with a time lag. At the end of four years, Reagan was re-elected. The Modi government should perhaps imitate the Reagan administration. The thing to remember is that voters are swayed by inflation and growth in the period just before an election. The new government should focus not on inflationary risks now, but on the likely inflation and growth rates five years from now. Taking risks in the first couple of years may turn out to be worthwhile as a solid growth engine for the economy is set in motion. On tax revenues, the government can take bold steps: First, there is no need for miserliness with the states in terms of giving them socalled compensation to persuade them to sign up for the GST. A few tens of thousands of crores in payment to states to cover estimates of losses through the GST, as well as generously settling earlier VAT and sales tax claims, would be a masterstroke. The previous government nickel-and-dimed the states to the detriment of the speedy implementation of the GST. States are likely to use these funds to cover up their battered balance sheets; the combined fiscal deficit of the Central and state governments is unlikely to explode. Second, the government can announce that it will fundamentally change the present incentive systems in the tax departments by not prescribing any targets to officers or teams for tax collection. Government officials must be seen as duty-bound to implement the law fairly via-a-vis all tax-paying citizens. It should not be the job of government officials to hound citizens for taxes. This measure will
Tough decisions made by Modi in Year 1 will pay off handsomely in Year 5.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with Prime Minister Modi.
be criticised on the grounds that this will lower tax collections. Au contraire, as the venerable Todar Mal (the revenue minister of Sher Shah and Akbar) would have told us, a fair, non-rapacious tax system will in the long run lead to revenue maximization. Shortterm losses, if any, will seem insignificant. Third, the government should make a one sentence announcement that the notorious “Vodafone” amendment will be made a prospective one. This will again be criticised for the implied loss of tax revenue. Gore Vidal observed that in Mauryan India, the state knew how to extract revenues from citizens gently, painlessly and seemingly effortlessly. Kautilya knew that the goose that lays the golden eggs must not be killed. It should be kept healthy and fat! Fourth, the government should set up a settlements commission to resolve speedily and decisively a host of legal wrangles that have accumulated under previous dispensations. On expenditure, one of the byproducts of our national obsession with “containing” the fiscal deficit in order to keep the Big Brother rating agencies happy, has been the pernicious habit of postpon-
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ing government payments. State governments, municipalities, oil companies and fertilizer companies that are asked to wait for payments in turn delay making payments to their supply chain; literally thousands of suppliers and vendors to the government face endless delays in getting legitimate payments. This has several perverse effects on the economy. Many firms, especially smaller ones, go under; banks that have financed the so-called “risk-free” government receivables get stuck with bad loans. The overall effect of such capricious delays is to paralyse an economy that is anyway in a gridlock mode. In the corporate world, it is an established practice for a new CEO to book all the accounting “bad news” in her very first quarter so that the blame rests with the predecessor CEO and future upsides, if any, accrue to the new one. Our government could do well to imitate such CEOs. In recent years, concern for fiscal rectitude has forced the government to go in for public-private partnerships in the area of infrastructure. Many PPP projects are stuck in legal quagmires; it will take time for a new and hopefully fair and transparent system to emerge. In the meantime, infrastructure should not wait. The government should go ahead with state-funded infrastructure delivered by a competent and autonomous set of state institutions. This is based on the hope, perhaps optimistic, that the new government can pull off such an effort competently. This may be bad for the fiscal deficit. But if it eases physical bottlenecks, it may end up being anti-inflationary from the supply side. Net-net: Let us take some risks a la Reagan with a larger fiscal deficit on paper. Even if these risks create troubles , let us remember that it is not Year 1, but Year 5 that counts for a re-election. Hopefully, by that time, the risks would have paid off and India will be in double-digit growth mode. IE The writer is a Mumbai-based entrepreneur
June 13, 2014
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
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20 June 13, 2014
COMMUNITY
Mata Amritanandamayi, Renowned Humanitarian and Spiritual Leader
“Everyone in the world should be able to sleep without fear, at least for one night. Everyone should be able to eat to his fill, at least for one day. There should be at least one day when
hospitals see no one admitted due to violence. By doing selfless service for at least one day, everyone should help the poor and needy. It is Amma’s prayer that at least this small dream be
realised.” –Mata Amritanandamayi Devi ‘Embracing the world’ a project started by Amma to help the world’s poor recently donated $2 million relief package to the victims of the Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. To help victims suffering due to the 2013 floods in the state of Uttarakhand, Amma pledged to rebuild 500 homes. Meet Mata Amritanandamayi, renowned humanitarian and spiritual leader. Venue: HYATT Regency, DFW International Airport Address: 2334 International Pkwy, Dallas, TX 75261 For further details visit www. ammadallas.org
Houston to Celebrate Rath Yatra
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piece of Hindu tradition to the city of Houston. Their website explains the significance of the Rath Yatra . The festival is also known as Gundicha Jatra, Ghosa Jatra, Navadina Jatra, Dasavatara Jatra and by a variety of other names. Rathe tu vamanam drishtwa punarjanmam na vidyate: A glimpse of the Vamana, the dwarf form, an incarnation of Lord Jagannatha, is sure to ensure emancipation, release from the cycle of birth and death. Jatra is an essential part of the ritual of the Hindu system of worship. Jatra literally means travel or journey. Normally, it is the representative deities of temples more popularly known BY MALAY VYAS. HOUSTON: On June 28, Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Subhadra will be in their chariots drawn through the streets of Downtown Houston. The Rath Yatra is traditionally held in the city of Puri (Jagganathpuri) in the state of Orissa on the second day of the ‘Shukla paksh’ or the bright fortnight of the Hindu month of Ashad translating loosely to early July for 2014. The statues of the three deities are taken out of the Puri temple and led in a procession to the Gundicha mata’s temple where the deities stay for about nine days. Houston, however will celebrate this
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yatra in the downtown area for more than six hours amidst the gathering of hundreds of devotees.
The SKAI (Surya Kabita Amlan Ishan) Foundation established in 2007 has been instrumental in bringing this
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
as Utsava Murti in south and Chalanti Pratima or Bije Pratima in Odisha, partake in these journeys. This is a free event open to public managed by Masala Radio. ZEE TV along with Tara Energy, Mercedez Benz of Sugar land are the major sponsors. The event starts at 6.00 PM on June 28 and includes the chariot procession and other activities such as Mahapooja and Prasad, Cultural Show hosted by Sunil T, Dhol and Bollywood music by DJ Nish, Open Air Dandia Raas with Dandia sticks provided free by Zee TV and ofcourse, Indian Bazaar and Food Booths. For further information, visit www. GreaterHoustonRathYatra.org. See ad on Page 32
COMMUNITY
June 13, 2014
21
Rajamathangi Homam Celebrated at Sri Meenakshi Temple
Pooja at the main temple
Devotees recite Lalitha Sahasranamam at Raja Mathangi Homam at Sri Meenakshi temple
BY PARVATHI SUDHA CHANDRASEKAR PEARLAND: Sri Meenakshi Temple, Pearland celebrated the Rajamathangi homam on Sunday June 8. About 100 devotees, including 70 ladies participated in the Pooja at the main temple in front of the presiding deity Sri Meenakshi with Priest Sri Mannicka Sundara Bhatter, along with Kalyanasundaram and Parameswaran, later joined by Pawan Kumar, conducting the Homam in front of the Utsava Murthy of Rajamathangi (Sri Meenakshi). Shakthi takes a number of forms to guide, strengthen and show light to all her devotees. One of her many forms include Bala thripurasundari rajamathangi, suvasini and so on. When she assumes the form of Rajamathangi, she is the true form of Knowledge, Music, and everything related to fine arts. She is worshipped by doing this Homam and chanting Lalitha Sahasranamam, by which she grants all her devotees the best in music and arts and knowledge. Following the Homam for Rajamathangi, the Abhishegam was conducted with the Vedic chanting by the Priests. All the devotees joined in the chanting of the Lalitha Sahasranamam, bringing a serene atmosphere to the main temple. The ladies participating in the pooja were each blessed with flowers sandal paste and Kumkum. Keeping in mind that
Raja Mathangi Homam for Sri Meenakshi at MTS was led by Priest Sri Mannicka Sundara Bhatter.
Goddess in the Rajamathangi form is the supreme mother, all sumangalis (married ladies) are worshipped on the same day and treated as Shakthi. After the pooja the Devi was taken on a procession around the temple with the event concluding with Prasadam to all. All felt a deep sense of ful-
fillment in the knowledge of having received the Supreme mother’s blessings. We owe our thanks to the RAC for organizing the event, especially to the event coordinator Parvathi (Sudha) Chandrasekar. These events lift the devotee’s spirit and reinvigorate the faith in the almighty.
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22 June 13, 2014 LEARN TO DRIVE TODAY!
COMMUNITY
Friends Trying to Help Family of Shooting Victim Satish Patel
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Satish Patel
BY HAIDER KAZIM HOUSTON: Satish Patel, who came to the U.S. in 2001 in search of American dream, was shot dead on June 1 during a robbery attempt at Philip 66 gas station in Humble where he worked hard to bring his wife, daughter and son to Houston. “Satish was a very friendly person and was liked by all clients,” said Ashesh Shah who co-owns the gas station with Anand Patel. “Since his death, clients have been coming to the store and leaving money to help Satish’s family,” he said. He is related to Satish through his wife. A memorial fund has also been set up and a bank account opened to help the family. Donors can deposit money directly in Wallis State Bank account number 3106128 in favor of Satish Kumar Patel Memorial Fund. (For further information, contact Ashesh Shah at 713385-9330). Officer Muzaffar Siddiqi of Houston Police Department, who coordinates with the community, has been trying to help the community. Officer Siddiqi is known in the community for his social service. Satish was liked by truckers who visited the gas station along the Eastex Expressway. “I just regret that he got killed,” said trucker Zen Beasley. “He was such a good guy. He was a friend to me every time we come to the place.”
“He was a happy, easy going guy,” said Anand Patel. “He went out of his way to help people. He worked 7 days a week 12 hours a day.” Ashesh andAnand have been trying to bring Satish’s family to Houston to take part in funeral rites tentatively scheduled for June 15, the Father’s Day. According to Hindu religion, the son has to perform a rite before the body can be cremated or buried. The family friends are trying to get them a temporary U.S. visa but have not succeeded so far. The funeral has been scheduled at 10.30 a.m. at Winford Funerals, 8514 Tybor Dr, Houston TX 77074. Satish, 58, was shot dead when four suspected robbers entered the store just before midnight and opened fire. The suspects wearing black masks were caught on the store’s security video. One of the suspects accidentally shot himself in the hand during the incident. The store was equipped with mag locks to allow restricted entry at night. But it seems that the mag lock was not activated at that time. Ashesh said the mag lock was installed after an attempted robbery and shootout at the store on March
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 13, 2014 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
15. The robber tried to start a fire at the store by throwing motor oil and antifreeze and was shot during the melee. He has been sentenced to 15 years in prison. The store clerks were not injured in the shooting. One of the suspects, Anthony Jamerson, 17, has been arrested and has been charged in the shooting of Satish and another victim, Tommu Thurman in an alleged robbery on May 11. Jamerson was taken in for questioning after his accomplice was found dead. News reports quoted prosecutors as saying that witness statements and surveillance video helped lead them to Jamerson. It’s believed he carried out the Philipp 66 gas station robbery with Jaylen Townsel. On June 4, Townsel, 18, was shot to death in a car in the Fifth Ward. Investigators said that Jamerson told officers he was driving Townsel to the hospital when he died. But after Jamerson gave police conflicting stories, they brought him in for questioning. Two other suspects in the case are still at large. Jamerson’s criminal history includes felony Burglary of a Building in December 2013.
COMMUNITY/ IMMIGRATION
June 13, 2014
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Nobel Laureate Tagore’s Life Story a Multimedia Experience
HOUSTON: Houstonian’s are in for a treat on Friday, June 20 at Stafford Civic Center at 7.30pm. A 90 minute multimedia experience on reflections of of Tagore’s life Jurney, is being presented by SAMSKRITI and is produced by Kushalbose productions. Special local flavor has been added to the show with special appearance by Rathna Kumar and Chitra Divakaruni Banerjee. Exciting details are listed on the website www.tagoreplay.com. However here are a few excepts from the producer director Kushal Bose himself: In this play I have tried to follow Tagore’s life’s “journey” from his birth to death - trying to chronicle and explain How/What/Who influenced
and inspired Tagore and how those people/places/persons affected his creativity So this play is about Tagore’s life told from the perspective of his intellectual journey - one that has never been attempted before. I am proud of the fact that all showings of this play received rave reviews and everywhere the audience reaction was the same - we knew very little about the man - Tagore - before watching the play. It is hard to get people to write something AFTER the show. Another important thing I would like you to know is - I wrote the play in English because I wanted to take Tagore out of the clasps of the Bengali people and deliver him to Non-Bengalis and Americans. Most
importantly I wanted to reach the second generation Indian Americans who know very little about Tagore and his message. This play will give them (hopefully) a quest to learn more about Tagore because Tagore’s vision and messages are timeless and
universal. I tried to make this point very very clear in my play because I not only want people to read Tagore, bit too live Tagore! It truly is a rare opportunity for Houstonians to experience this life journey of Tagore, with exciting visu-
als, lilting dances and commentary in English. For tickets visit www.tagoreplay. com or Sulekha.com. Local contact from Samskriti is Anil or Rathna Kumar 832 275 9656/9658 . See ad on page 31
H-4 Dependent Spouses to Have Work Authorization BY MELISSA N. SALVADOR HOUSTON: Employment authorization is permitted by the spouses of the principal beneficiaries in L-1 and E-1/E-2 nonimmigrant visa status. However, such a benefit has not been accorded to those who are the spouses of H-1B principal beneficiaries. Now the Obama administration is seeking to change that rule albeit solely to a very narrow group of spouses in H-4 status. On May 6, 2014, the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) announced a proposed rule “to extend employment authorization to spouses of certain H-1B workers. Eligible individuals would include H-4 dependent spouses of principal H-1B workers who: Are the beneficiaries of an approved Form I-140, Immigrant Petition for Alien Worker; or Have been granted an extension of their authorized period of stay in the United States under the American Competitiveness in the Twenty-First Century Act of
Job Posting:
2000 (AC21) as amended by the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act. AC21 permits H-1B workers seeking lawful permanent residence to work and remain in the United Status beyond a six-year limit.” Thus, this proposed rule applies only to those spouses whose H-1B principal beneficiary’s employer is in the process of filing for lawful permanent resident status on behalf of the principal beneficiary and his or her family. While this is welcomed relief for H-4 dependent spouses, and especially those who will have to endure waiting several years before an immigrant visa becomes available, H-4 spouses to whom this narrowly proposed rule does not apply are still left with sacrificing their own careers by not working upon arriving in the United States or obtaining their own H-1B visa in order to continue their careers and work to provide for their families.
The proposed rule is not final and is currently in the notice and comment period, which ends on July 11, 2014. This article is solely for informational purposes, is not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.
“IT HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA”
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Mama’s Punjabi Recipes Mooli da Parantha (White Radish Parantha) You can make Punjabi paranthas with just about any kind of stuffing, as long as they are vegetables, although I have heard that there are some keema pranthas too, but that is an exception. Each type of vegetable requires a different type of masala (spice mixture) and also preparation of the vegetables as well as the way in which the rolled out flour pancake is cooked on the tava. The taste of each parantha depends on all these things and finally how it is cooked. So there are paranthas made of aloo (potato), phul gobi (cauliflower), gajjar (carrot), piyaaz (onions), methi (fenugreek), karela (bitter gourd), channa daal, paneer (Indian farmer’s cheese), sliced cheddar cheese, chini (sugar) and gur (jaggery), all of which require better preparation and careful cooking. In general, if a vegetable sheds too much water, or the daal is too watery, then it is very difficult to make them into a decent parantha. Moolis (daikon or white radishes) are widely eaten all over India as a salad ingredient, peeled and cut into long slices, like cucumbers, and eaten with salt and red pepper. They have a distinct biting taste and strong smell and the salt is used to cut the sharpness and smell out. Just as with the small, round red radishes, moolis can give gas to some people and the salt again helps to reduce this. The green leaves are used to make a dish, much like sarson ka saag. Mooli paranthas are a favorite type for Punjabis, especially since moolis are a comparatively cheaper vegetable, and the cooked paranthas have a wonderfully sharp, taste, yet are soft to eat with achaar or yogurt alone. Ingredients: • 500gm kanak (gehon) ka atta (wheat flour) • 1 medium mooli (daikon or white radishes) – makes four paranthas • 1 1/2 cups pani (water) • Some tael (sunflower oil or vegetable oil) for coating the paranthas while cooking • 1 tsp namak (salt) • Spices to taste: namak (salt), mirch (red pepper), dhania (coriander powder), garam masala, ajawain (carom seeds)
velna (rolling pin) to roll the ball into a nice round, flat 8 to 10 inch pancake, about 1/8 inch thick.
Directions: 1. Carefully cut off the leaves and then wash the mooli. Peel the mooli, cut it into half then wash again and let it drip. 2. Shred each half of the mooli, then mix in the salt and let it sit for 30 minutes. 3. Take small amounts of the shredded mooli in the palm of the hand and squeeze out all the water. This will also remove most of the smell of the mooli. 4. Keep the squeezed out shredded mooli aside; there is no need to add any more salt. Mix in all the spices into the shredded mooli. 5. Pour the atta into a bowl, then slowly pour only enough of the water in while kneading the dough till it becomes a nice, round, tender firm ball. Dab the surface of the dough ball with a little water to keep it moist, cover the bowl and set aside for 10 minutes. 6. Pinch off a portion of the dough and make into a 2 inch round ball. Pour a little dry flour on the counter and roll the ball in it to coat it. Make the dough into small paade (balls). Now use a
8. Put a small dab of oil on a hot tava (hotplate or skillet) and place the flattened dough on. When it turns color a little, turn the pancake over. Put another dab of oil on the tava and then turn it over again till it is fully cooked. When the paranthas have some dark brown spots on them, it means they are cooked. 9. Try these with a dollop of butter on the top of the warm parantha or with plain yogurt or achaar for best taste. Shakuntla Malhotra is a skilled cook of Punjabi dishes made in the old-fashioned style that she learnt as a young woman in her ancestral home in Lyallpur, India before it became part of Pakistan after the Partition in 1947. People have often admired her cooking for its simplicity and taste that comes with each mouthful. Even in her mid-eighties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share some of her delectable Punjabi recipes.
MAMA’S TIP OF THE
HOW TO MAKE PARANTHAS CRISPY, NOT LIMP When making paranthas, you can use all the fine ingredients and the right method to roll the pancake out, but the final step is how it is cooked on the tava. This requires a certain technique if you want the cooked, tender but crispy parantha that is associated with Punjabi food. First, heat the tava on high for 3 to 4 minutes, then dab it with a little sunflower oil so that the bottom part of the parantha gets coated. Now, turn the parantha once the pancake shows some bubbles but dab the tava with oil before you flip the pancake over. Repeat a couple of times, but be careful not to use too much oil. If you do this correctly, you can even make the parantha puff up, just like a roti. Once the parantha is ready, take it off and crumple it down the middle to let the oil seep through.
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7. Now place a tablespoon of the shredded mooli mixture in the center and grab the edges to pinch off the dough into a ball. Carefully roll the ball into a flat pancake so that the mooli does not pierce the flour.
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ENTERTAINMENT Movie Review: Holiday
BY SHUBHRA GUPTA NEW DELHI: ‘Holiday’, the official remake of the monster Tamil hit ‘Thuppaki’, gives Akshay Kumar a chance to return to full combat mode. He plays a patriotic soldier willing to stretch a few rules in the line of duty, whether it is wielding sharp shears on a suspect’s finger, or shooting bad guys point blank. Till he’s going bang bang, he’s all right; the moment he gets romancing and joshing, he slides. So does the film. It is a near frame-by-frame copy, and the original had the kind of fullon action interspersed with broad comedy that South actioners are full of, which never travel too far in Hindi remakes. The soldier’s sidekick is a policeman (Sumeet Raghavan). The cop fulfils the role of faithful jester and companion, there to make the hero look good. That is also the only job of the leading lady (Sonakshi Sinha), who wears
boxing gloves-and-tight-shorts in one scene and a flowing dress in another, and is the Hindi film equivalent of the brainless bimbette, pulled out only when the plot remembers that it needs a song-and-dance. But unfortunately for her, they are so generic, they swish by without impact. On a break from active duty, Captain Virat Bakshi (Akshay Kumar) finds himself up against the mastermind (Daruwala) of a terrorist outfit, who is busily planting ‘sleeper cells’through the country to be activated when the time is ripe. So, we have Virat careering around Mumbai, leading his men into hair-brained ambushes in which people are dispatched speedily. It’s all very wild West and vigilante. Other bad guys are tortured and dumped with impunity, and no one suspects our man as he sets about cleaning up the rot. But hey, those looking for logic in this haystack of a plot are just spoil-sports. When there
June 13, 2014
is ‘masala’, why bother with mind and matter, especially in a film that revels in its comic-book silliness? ‘Holiday’doesn’t take itself seriously, and that is its only saving grace. Akshay can still deliver a perfect roundhouse kick but he has been looking his age for a while now. He’s slim and fit and agile, and sports a sharp Army-style buzz cut, but he makes everything familiar. In Murugadoss’s earlier Hindi remake ‘Ghajini’, Aamir Khan’s eight packs did the talking, both on and off screen, and all that banded muscle was new for the Khan, and for us. Akshay doesn’t get to roll out enough fresh tricks here. As the brainy-and-brawny villain, Daruwala has not even an iota of menace: the original had Vidyut Jamwal, and he made at least the action bits fun. The cat-and-mouse chase, with the bad guy making the running, only picks up momentum towards the end : for a change, the second half has more things going on, with a couple of interesting sequences. And the bone-crusher of a climax made me sit up a bit, but it came after too much same old-same old. Almost as an after-thought, Govinda shows up in a large-ish cameo, looking most ill-at-ease and out of place. What is he doing in a film like this? When will the South ‘masala’ remake find a decent burial? It is long past its sell-by date. -Indian Express
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PM Modi Accepts President Obama’s Invitation to Visit US
BY SHISHIR GUPTA NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has accepted an invitation from US President Barack Obama to have bilateral discussions in Washington in September, potentially opening a new chapter in a sometimes edgy relationship between the world’s two biggest democracies. Government sources in Delhi said that the United States has offered September 30 as the date for the meeting, and the Indian side has asked for it to be advanced to September 26, around the time of Modi’s maiden address at the United Nations General Assembly. S Jaishankar, the Indian ambassador to the United States, is flying to New Delhi on June 8 for consultations with South Block and the prime minister’s office (PMO), and will brief Modi on the relationship and how to
take it forward. The meeting between Modi and Obama will mean that the US view on the Indian PM has come full circle from the time it imposed a
visa ban on him in 2005 in connection with the Gujarat riots three years earlier. The process of rapprochement started in February, when its recently retired ambassador to India, Nancy Powell, went to Ahmedabad to meet Modi, then a PM candidate. It also comes after an especially difficult period in the relationship, sparked by the arrest and humiliation of Indian diplomat Devyani Khobragade in New York over allegations of visa fraud, and a particularly sharp retaliation by the Indian side. But there could be a meeting of minds on economic ties: Modi has spoken often of the need to make India’s diplomacy trade-focused, and wants big ticket investments from mega corporations like GE, IBM and Microsoft. The US companies, while broadly enthusiastic about India, have turned skittish of late due to stalled economic reforms, slow growth, and issues over
tax, intellectual property and preferential market access. With Modi’s entry into the PMO, the Indian embassy in Washington has started serious diplomatic efforts to lure investment. For their part, some US defence contractors are keen to sell military hardware to the world’s biggest arms importer. “All pending bilateral issues will be discussed in the one-day meeting as Modi is keen to push the relationship forward for its economic returns for India,” said a senior South Block official. Substantive sticking points are the Indian nuclear liability law that makes it difficult for US firms to build nuclear reactors in India, and the waning US support for India’s entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group, Missile Technology Control Regimes and other export regimes. Apart from that, Modi is understood to be concerned about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and its impact on Jammu and Kashmir. -Hindustan Times
Venture with Tata Group Competitive Collaboration: Singapore Airlines MUMBAI: Singapore Airlines (SIA), which is in the process of launching a full service carrier in a 49:51 joint venture with Tata Group, has said its partnership with the latter is a competitive collaboration. “I think there is some compatibility obviously in the relationship… There is competitive collaboration and adversarial competition,” SIA senior vice president for product services Tan Pee Teck said during a recent interaction. He was responding to a question as to what kind of synergy does the SIA look at its JV partner Tatas which has also invested in no-frill carrier AirAsia India. Noting that Tatas have seen an opportunity in new areas of business by collaborating with SIA, Teck said, “I think you probably know who our adversaries are in the aviation world. Every one is looking for growth in their businesses.” It may be noted here that domestic airlines body Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA) has bitterly opposed the entry of the new carrier and has moved the Delhi High Court, seeking quashing of approvals being granted to commence its air transport operation. Teck said Tatas have their own business plans as far as the domestic operations of the proposed airline is concerned and at this stage the SIA on its part was “extending its expertise” to the venture. The Tata-SIA Airline has submitted its application for the grant of Air Operator’s Permit (AOP or flying licence) in April to aviation regulator DGCA. The AOP would enable it to provide scheduled air transport services in the country. After receiving the application, the DGCA had last month issued a public notice seeking objections, if any, to the grant of flying permit to
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Tata-SIA. The airline, which would use A 320-200 aircraft and A320 -200 (Neo), proposes to start operations by September and plans to operate from Delhi as its hub to Mumbai, Goa, Patna, Chandigarh, Srinagar, Hyderabad and Bangalore in its first year of operations. Initially, the carrier plans to operate two flights a day to Mumbai, with one of them going further to Goa. The initial phase would also see two flights a day each to Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. Besides the major metros, the proposed airline would also connect Srinagar, Patna, Chandigarh and Jammu. Under its aggressive expansion plans, the Tata-SIA Airlines proposes to add destinations like Chennai, Pune, Lucknow, Varanasi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Amritsar, Bagdogra, Indore and Cochin within the first four years of operations. Tata-SIA has also disclosed its fouryear operational plan to the government. In the first year of operations, it will mount 87 flights a week to 11 destinations. This will be gradually scaled up to 301 flights and 21 destinations in the fourth year of operations. In its filing before the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the airline said it would initially engage in domestic and eventually launch international air services, apart from doing cargo handling, renting and leasing (except financial leasing) of aircraft and other services incidental to air transport services. -IndianExpress
28 June 13, 2014 Suresh Raina to Captain Young Indian Side vs. Bangladesh consecutive innings, possibly a world record. Saha, known for his keeping skills more than his batting, has frequently warmed the bench in Test cricket, but his 206 IPL runs at a strike rate of 130 seem to have put him ahead of Dinesh Karthik, who kept wicket in Dhoni’s absence in the Asia Cup.
Squad for Bangladesh ODIs Suresh Raina (capt.), Robin Uthappa, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ambati Rayudu, Manoj Tiwary, Kedar Jadhav, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Parvez Rasool, Akshar Patel, R Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Stuart Binny, Mohit Sharma, Amit Mishra
Mushfiqur: ‘Weak Side is Extra Motivation’
Suresh Raina, who was dropped for the Asia Cup, will captain a young Indian side in Bangladesh.
NEW DELHI (ESPN Cricinfo): Suresh Raina, who was dropped for India’s last ODI assignment the Asia Cup - will lead India in the three-ODI series in Bangladesh in the absence of MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli among others. Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami were also rested. Robin Uthappa earned an expected national comeback, Wriddhiman Saha was called up to replace Dhoni as the wicketkeeper, and quite a few performers in the IPL and domestic cricket got selected. Stuart Binny, Amit Mishra, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Ambati Rayudu were the only players retained from the Asia Cup squad.* With so many players resting, this was an ideal space for performers in the domestic season and in the IPL to fill. Maharashtra’s Kedar Jadhav, who led the season’s Ranji tally with 1223 runs, got in, as did leftarm spinner Akshar Patel, who impressed for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL. Vinay Kumar reaped the rewards for leading Karnataka and
South Zone to three domestic titles. Manoj Tiwary, who has spent a lot of time on the India bench, came back too, almost two years after last playing for India. Parvez Rasool, who travelled to Zimbabwe last year without getting a cap, got another shot at it. Mohit Sharma’s IPL success worked for him whereas absence of possible captains might have worked for Raina. Raina’s previous experience of international captaincy came in a tri-series in Zimbabwe, and a five-ODI series in the Caribbean. India failed to make the final of that tri-nation tournament in Zimbabwe, losing out to Sri Lanka and the hosts. India won the bilateral series comfortably in the West Indies, but Raina’s batting and shot selection came in for criticism. The most noteworthy comebacks, though, were of Uthappa and Saha. Uthappa last played for India in March 2012, but he had long ceased being a regular member of the side. This year, though, he followed up a decent first-class season with a stupendous run in the IPL, scoring 40 or more in 10
MIRPUR: Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh captain, has said he didn’t expect such a weakened Indian side for the upcoming threematch ODI series. The visitors announced a 15-man squad without eight of their regulars - captain MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli are among those not making this trip. Mushfiqur said he was not upset at the quality of his opposition but felt that, by playing better cricket, his side can deliver a message to the powers that be. Despite the make-up of the squad, they will not be playing for “India A” but for India, he said. The team will be led by Suresh Raina, who was not part of India’s last ODI assignment, and only four members of this squad -- Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny and Wriddhiman Saha -- will be flying to England to join the Test team. “I didn’t expect them to take this series so lightly,” Mushfiqur told reporters in Mirpur. “We have a chance to give a reply on the field. There is extra motivation. They haven’t invited us yet so if we do well in this series, it sends a message. “We have defeated their best team in the past. They have a young team, and despite the standard of the IPL, international cricket is a more difficult stage. And one should not forget that if they lose, India will lose, not India A. The pressure will be on them. I know most of them, and have seen them play. Even though I haven’t played against them, I have some idea. Shakib [Al Hasan] has played against all of them, so we will pick his brain. In this day and age, it is hard not to have knowledge on a player.”
Mushfiqur however warned that his team will be under a little more pressure because of the heightened expectations now that India are not sending their big guns. He wants the Bangladesh players to improve on what they had done in the last few months when they had a string of losses since the Sri Lanka series in January, right up to the World T20. “After seeing their team, I realised that there will more expectations on us. But usually there is more pressure when we play against India, even when they had Dhoni. “Everyone wants us to beat them, so pressure was always there. We have to focus on what we are doing, since we have struggled in the last few months. If we can play to our potential, it is not impossible to beat their team,” he said. The three-match series was part of the 2012-2020 FTP, but still the BCB had to sign a Members’ Participation Agreement (MPA) with BCCI last February to secure four series against India, including the one next month.
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SPORTS
NZ Thrash WI: 508/7d KINGSTON: West Indies 19 for 0 trail New Zealand 508 for 7 (Williamson 113, Taylor 55, Neesham 107, Watling 89) by 489 runs West Indies were one wicket away from having a crack at New Zealand’s tail during the morning session of the second day at Sabina Park. They did not take it for 60.3 overs. The visitors’ last line of recognised batsmen, allrounder Jimmy Neesham and wicketkeeper BJ Watling, took advantage of tiring bowlers and a placid pitch to put on 201 runs for the sixth wicket, and all but erase West Indies’ hopes of winning Chris Gayle’s 100th Test. Neesham was the first to attempt an aggressive approach on a sluggish surface and his methods made him the ninth batsman to score hundreds in his first two Tests. His partnership with Watling - complied at 3.32 an over - was the fastest of the match, discounting the flurry from Tim Southee as New Zealand declared on 508 for 7 late in the day. The turnaround in tempo was remarkable, for New Zealand had scored only 59 in the first session. There were shots played after lunch, which was a drastic change from New Zealand’s morning. Watling was strong square of the wicket, cutting and pulling, while Neesham’s preferred region was between long-off and wide longon. Neesham’s attempt at slogging after his century was short-lived; he was caught behind off Benn for 107. West Indies finally had their breakthrough but got hit around by Southee until Watling holed out to deep midwicket and the declaration came.
Jimmy Neesham and BJ Watling put on 201 runs for the sixth wicket.
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As Mercury Soars, Delhi Gets the Blackout Blues
NEWDELHI: Temperatures in the high 40s, hot ‘loo’ winds and, now, daily power cuts lasting up to five hours at a stretch — it’s a cruel summer in Delhi this June. More than a week after a violent
thunderstorm snapped power lines, the city continues to reel under daily and frequent outages. It was a sleepless Friday night for most in south Delhi where the power went off for three hours at a stretch and stayed on
the blink most of Saturday. A group of angry residents even reached the power distribution company’s office late Friday to protest. “There was a fault in the Okhla grid and a number of areas supplied from there were impacted. Discoms had to carry out loadshedding,” a senior power department official said. In West Delhi, the blackouts stretch to five hours, while north and east Delhi are no better off. Lieutenant governor Najeb Jung, who has held several meetings to review the power and water situation, held out little hope. He said repair of power lines would take more time. The city’s power demand is currently 5,300 MW (mega watts) and the power department expects it to touch an all-time high of 6,100 MW sometime this month. Discoms say they are ready to meet this demand, and that the current crisis is not due to a supply deficit but because of local faults. All these explanations, however, are no comfort to Delhiites. “There was no power for more than
two hours yesterday and for three hours today. I had to get new batteries for my inverter. The subsidy was removed and the tariff is so high, yet we still face problems. If this is the situation in posh colonies, I wonder what’s happening in the rest of the city,” said Rajiv Kakria of the Greater Kailash-I RWA. The weather also refuses to cooperate. Saturday’s maximum temperature was five notches above normal at 44.9ºC. Palam, the city’s hottest spot, recorded it at 47ºC — close to Friday’s 47.2ºC, a 19-year record. The weatherman said the blazing heat would continue for at least three more days. “The heat has taken the fun out of the weekend. My wife and I spent all day at a mall with our little son for the air-conditioning. He couldn’t take the heat even inside the house,” said Kamal Dogra of IP Extension. Attacking the Centre, Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, “Major power cuts across Delhi. BJP needs to explain and take immediate action.”
It’s the same story in the NCR. Gurgaon residents have been sweating through rolling blackouts of up to eight hours daily for the past month. They complain that the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam helpline numbers don’t work and officials ignore their calls. In Noida and Greater Noida, people complain that power cuts at night are the worst. Like their Delhi counterparts, discoms supplying the NCR towns claimed the crisis was due to transformers overloading and other faults, not because supply was short. With the heat wave rolling through all of north India, so are the blackouts. Several localities in Uttar Pradesh have seen power employees held captive and power stations attacked by angry residents. In the capital city, two junior engineers with Lucknow Electricity Supply Administration were beaten and held hostage for hours. They were freed only after the police intervened. (With inputs from HTC Lucknow, Gurgaon, Noida) -Hindustan Times
6 Injured as Sikh Groups Clash Inside Golden Temple
Sikh groups clashed inside Golden Temple on Friday. (Source: Express photo by Rana Simranjit Singh) BY NAVJEEVAN GOPAL AMRITSAR: Clashes broke out between Sikh groups at the highest temporal seat of the community in-
side the Golden Temple complex on Friday, even as Amritsar observed a bandh to mark the 30th anniversary of Operation Bluestar. Video footage
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showed people brandishing swords, spears and sticks and clashing and chasing each other outside the Akal Takht building. At least six people, including a police head constable, were injured, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Special) Harjit Singh Brar said. The violence broke out after a function organised by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to honour families of those killed in Operation Bluestar had ended, and Akal Takht chief Giani Gurbachan Singh had delivered his address. to help us personalise your reading experience. Trouble began when Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) chief Simranjit Singh Mann sought to address the gathering from the rostrum of Akal
Takht, but was denied by SGPC officials. However, Mann managed to deliver his speech near the Akal Takht before leaving. After this, a group of radicals was seen brandishing swords and shouting pro-Khalistani slogans. They also raised anti-SGPC slogans and demanded that the Akal Takht Jathedar step down. An argument followed, and the radicals caught hold of an SGPC man and thrashed him. The radicals then barged into the Akal Takht building. A violent clash between them and the SGPC task force ensued, with both groups attacking each other with swords and sticks. The radicals were chased out of the building, but members of both groups continued chasing and attacking each other outside the Akal Takht, spreading panic in the
Golden Temple complex. The Akal Takht chief later called the violence a handiwork of “agencies”. -Indian Express
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