Friday, June 21 2013 | Vol. 32, No. 25
$1
Indo American erican News Engineering www.indoamerican-news.com Published weekly from Houston, TX
7457 Harwin Dr, Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036 713.789.NEWS (6397) • Fax: 713.789.6399 • indoamericannews@yahoo.com
Partnered & Syndicated with Times of India, Sulekha.com, Google, Yahoo & Bing
Elders Honored
Movie Review P5
P25
Pure Texas Bred Quawwals
The honorees for this year’s awards. Front row from left: Hasmukh Doshi, Ben Bansal, Jasbir Singh Sethi, Ravi Arora and Ramesh Garg. Back row from left: ASIE Board member Raj Basavaraju, Dinesh Shah, Krishna Vavilala, ASIE President Vishal Merchant, Rao Ratnala, Mahesh Wadhwa and Narendra Gosain.
P6 The Riyaaz Qawwali group at their performance in the Brown Performing Arts Theater where they sang four qawwalis, three of which are on their debut CD Kashti.
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
2
June 21, 2013
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
COMMUNITY
June 21, 2013
3
Just What Makes a Good Leader? Local Leaders Find Out from Experts BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: “We need to have better communication,” said P.V. Patel intently as he looked out at the roomful of about 60 people at the India House last Sunday, June 16. “Let us try to improve it.” As the current President of the India Culture Center, the oldest organization of Indo Americans in the Greater Houston area, Patel was in a good position to lament that. Two weeks earlier, the ICC, in conjunction with the leadership of India House had arranged for the majority of Indo American organizations, most of which are religious or non-profits, to join hands and come together for a prayer meeting for the four fallen HFD fire fighters after the Southwest Inn blaze on the Southwest Freeway. About 200 people attended that program (see IAN dated June 7, 2013) and the organizations then collectively pledged about $50,000 to donate to the families of the fire fighters. That effort brought to Patel’s attention how important it was to act quickly, efficiently and decisively. No novice at working in public service, Patel has been involved in some form or the other in many other organizations, but he reasoned that the main problem for ineffective dialogue was that the Presidents of many of these groups change every year and the programs change accordingly, with no continuity or follow through. Patel threw out the gauntlet to the four people who were the panelists for this year’s ICC sponsored Leaders Conference, the seventh year that it has been held. Dr. Falguni Gandhi opened the event with a short, simple Hindu prayer and then Ramesh Akarapu introduced the topics: the role of power and politics in grooming leadership and future leaders: are you a good leader or manager?
The leaders of many Indo American organizations participated in the afternoon program at the India House last Sunday, June 16 and later posed with the panelists. Photos: Jawahar Malhotra
He also introduced the panelists: Surendra Nath Sharma, Consul from the Indian Consulate; Jose Villarreal, Executive Director of AVANCE in Houston; Pradeep Anand, a business consultant and President of Seeta Resources and Saum Mathur, Global Chief Information Officer at Hewlett Packard’s Software Division, each of whom spoke separately and then in a panel discussion later when questions were presented. Sugar Land Councilman, Harish Jajoo who was recently re-elected for his second term spoke briefly about the role of politics. “Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world,” he said, quoting futurist, author and filmmaker Joel Barker. Consul Sharma stood in for Consul General Harish who could not attend. He appreciated the shared bonds that the ICC and the CGI have had in enhancing the relationship between India and the US, especially in culture. “Power and politics often have negative connotations,” he said, “but power can
enable you to lead your team.” Jose Villareal spoke about the work that AVANCE does in parent and early childhood education because “parents are the most important teachers and the home is the most important classroom.” His belief is that we must prepare for a multiracial democracy – sharing demographic data that showed how the population would shift by 2040 to a predominantly Hispanic majority. He then noted that leaders needed to be held accountable, be innovative, honest and “have the vision but put it into action.” Pradeep Anand explained the four ‘C’s” that affect leaders: company, competition, customs and the climate that these forge. He went on to enumerate the sixteen characteristics of leaders: integrity, authenticity, action, humility, self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skills, anticipate changes, adaptive capacity, vision with purpose that inspires themselves, focus, delegation, intolerant of mediocrity and excel at creating trusting relationships. Saum Mathur said that he threw
The panelists for the afternoon program with ICC President P.V. Patel (far left) were, from left, Surendra Nath Sharma, Consul from the Indian Consulate; Jose Villarreal, Executive Director of AVANCE in Houston; Pradeep Anand, a business consultant and Saum Mathur, Global Chief Information Officer at Hewlett Packard’s Software Division.
out all his prepared que cards and started anew by asking the two future leaders in his house – his 20 and 16 year-old daughters – how they perceived the working world they were to enter. “The Gen Y’ers – 8 to 30 year-olds – are the future,” he stated. He spoke from the experience he has gained in his role at Hewlett Packard where he is “provocative” in the demands he puts on his teams. “Each company goes through phases,” he said, “and change is constant and can be
disruptive.” In his opinion, a leader has to be comfortable with, and be a catalyst for, change, inspire others, be technologically savvy, leverage the power of information, communicate and be open, learn through reverse mentoring, and lead from behind. The conference ended after a brief question and answer period handled by each one of the panelists and was followed by a buffet lunch catered by Mayuri restaurant.
The emcees for the program were Dr. Falguni Gandhi and Ramesh Akarapu, both Board members of the ICC.
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
4
June 21, 2013
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
COMMUNITY
June 21, 2013
5
A Brotherhood of Indian Engineers Honors its Achievers with Casual Informality
BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA SUGAR LAND: One of the nice things about engineers is that they seldom put up pretenses. Most solve the problems of their designs, carry forward and think nothing of their solutions even as their projects have been built, chalking it up to team, and not individual, effort. It is a brotherhood that transcends most other barriers and they seldom place one engineer’s skills above the other’s since the knowledge base is so universally available. But when they do recognize each other, it is usually with some reluctance and without the pomp that marks other professions which promote one individual above the other. True to this creed, the American Society of Indian Engineers held their Annual Dinner and Awards Ceremony this past Friday, June 14 at Sankalp restaurant’s banquet hall on Kensington Drive, packed with 140 people who had to squeeze by the tables to get to the buffet dinner. The event was further proof of the growth of the ASIE as it has expanded its vision to reach out to more people and showcase the impact of the thousands of engineers who work and practice in the Greater Houston area. ASIE President Vishal Merchant, a young energetic civil engineer and his equally young event team pulled together the program with the help of some of the senior and founding members of the 19 year-old organization to honor eleven experienced engineers for their contributions to the local construction industry. According to Merchant, since its inception in 1994, the ASIE has held 200 seminars, given out many scholarships - $10,000 worth alone in 2013 – and helped
ASIE President Vishal Merchant addressing the guests at the Annual Awards dinner last Friday, June 14 at Sankalp restaurant’s banquet hall in Sugar Land.
ASIE Board member Raj Basavaraju coordinated the event with other Board members and also emceed part of the presentation portion of the event. Photos: Jawahar Malhotra
with disaster relief efforts, like during Hurricane Katrina and the recent fire fighter’s deaths. “We hope to energize and inspire the next generation,” said Merchant, with a toss of a full head of long hair. Raj Basavaraju helped in the presentation of the other honorees. The awards were handed out by this year’s key sponsors of the ASIE, whose company logos were displayed on a large poster and on the short brochure. The first award went to Jasbir Singh Sethi a civil engineer who has the kindly demeanor and soft footsteps of someone’s favorite uncle and had the wisdom to share his personal philosophy about engineering as it related to spirituality. Sethi set the tone for the evening, with many other honorees latching onto his idea of God as the creator and engineers as His workers getting things done. “Engineers have a common language – the drawing,” explained Sethi, “They have humility, their thinking is global and they are in pur-
attributed his love for community service, which he is well known for all across town, to his young days at the Arya Samaj in Chandigarh. Ramesh Garg, a mechanical engineer who has worked on projects all over the world was gratified to “be recognized by people like me” and accepted it with humility and pride. Rao Ratnala, another civil engineer in private practice, spoke of the first such gala during the period of former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier’s, “which highlighted the success of Indian engineers.” Narendra Gosain, a structural engineer and VP at Walter p. Moore Associates attributed the trait of Americans to take risks, one that eventually has rubbed off to Indian engineers settled in the US, to the success of engineering projects. “When the risks are higher,” he went on, “the number of people taking it are smaller.” His hero was the late Space Shuttle astronaut, Kalpana Chawla, who was also an engineer from Punjab College of
suit of excellence.” He was followed up by his other honorees. Mahesh Wadhwa, who is the sole architect to be recognized, and is perennially smiling, noted that he wanted to expand the ASIE to include other construction professionals too. Wadhwa has built many hotels and motels in the US and overseas. Virendra “Ben” Bansal, a civil engineer who, over the years, was the face of the ASIE at many community events, was honored for his tireless work at the City of Houston and dedicated enthusiasm for the role of engineers in society. Krishna Vavilala, a retired electrical engineer, who despite his full-time job, dedicated his life to public service and is better known for installing the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Hermann Park, the Indian Studies Program at the University of Houston and the Oral History Project. “We left India,” he said, “but India has not left our hearts.” Ravi Arora, also a stalwart of the ASIE and another civil engineer
Engineering in Chandigarh. Dinesh Shah, a civil and structural engineer has built a successful career for himself as a real estate developer and is also known for his community activism. He his been working hard to promote the ASIE and pledged to “take it to the higher level.” Hasmukh Doshi, a civil engineer who founded Doshi Engineering and Surveying, opened by invoking a Hindu mantra, then gave a brief history of the ASIE of which he was the first president. He asked for more engineers to join the still 127 member organization, and ended by giving away free 50 copies of the book “Understanding Joy and Sorrow”. The final recipient, Chad Patel, a civil engineer who is also the Vice President of the Houston Chapter of GOPIO, was not able to attend. The event was generously catered by Sankalp restaurant, which also is the venue for the next free ASIE event on July 18, sponsored by ADS Pipes.
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. Periodical postage paid at Houston, Texas. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Indo American News,7457 Harwin Dr., Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036 INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
6
COMMUNITY
June 21, 2013
Mystic Music for the Soul Sways from the Lips of a Young Texas Group
The Riyaaz Qawwali group at the unveiling and release of their debut CD Kashti after their performance at the Asia Society last Saturday, June 15. Second from left is Sonny Mehta, the founder and lead singer of the group. Photos: Jawahar Malhotra
BY JAWAHAR MALHOTRA HOUSTON: “When words lose their meaning, Sufi devotional music takes over,” explained Navjot Birring as she tried to explain to the uninitiated what type of music they were about to hear. She could have added that qawwali music is putting poetry in motion using traditional instruments, including accompanying clapping and an abundance of passing the lyric from one singer to the other. It is a 700 year-old art form that has found its modern day equivalent in the hip-hop of inner cities, except those aren’t devotional. For the eight-man group dressed similarly in rust colored pajama-kurtas who strode on to the stage at the Asia Society’s Brown Foundation Performing Arts Theater last Saturday evening, June15, this music was all they had thought about and practiced when not at their day jobs for the past seven years. They had started as amateurs at undergraduate school at University of Texas in Austin where some in fact are still finishing off their degrees. But inspired by a central singer, Sonny Mehta, they hung together and learnt a musical form that was foreign, not just in rhythm but also in tongue to them, as some do not even speak Hindi or Urdu, having been born and brought up in the US. But Sonny came over as a child and somehow was imbibed with the specialized traditional music that is not mainstream even in India. He went to many Hindustani music teachers as he grew up, many of them were in the hall that night listening to him per-
Six of the members of the eight-man group signed the debut CD at the end of the program after which the CDs went on sale in the lobby.
A family friend and loyal supporter Navjot and Sonny’s sister Ankita just before unveiling the CD cover onstage.
form with the group. “I went to sleep some nights,” he said during an interlude between songs, “with the CD still playing a song by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and wanting it not to end” referring to the late artist who brought the music international fame, especially with tracks that were featured in the Hollywood movie Dead Man Walking. And with Sonny as the lead, the group practiced for countless hours, hence their name Riyaaz (which means practicing hard) Qawwali and over 120 performances have solidified the group’s skills as qawwals and many a listener has left marveling at their artistry and versatility. In the two years ago since I last heard the group, their voices have taken on the slight throaty growl that is associated with the hard singing qaww-
als of yesteryear, even as their image is well scrubbed, less boisterous and not at all like the more rotund and unkempt singers of Indian yore. Apart from the traditional qawwalis written and even performed by well-respected older artistes and written by legends like Hazrat Amir Khusro and Baba Bula Shah, Riyaaz Qawwali took on the challenge of bringing a devotional Hindu bhajan into the mold of qawwali: Ragupati Raghav Raja Ram, a favorite of Mahatma Gandhi, as interpreted through another musical lens. The results were immediately intriguing, lilting and entrancing and fit in neatly with the name and theme of their debut CD Kashti. “For Riyaaz Qawwali, Kashti or a boat encompasses the different faiths and devotional music they want to explore,” went on Navjot. The CD itself was funded through the novel crowd funding website kickstarter.com through which the group was able to raise the necessary money – several thousand dollars – to record in a studio, get the graphics and packaging and release the CD. It was available after the concert in the lobby where the group members also signed each copy. Most of the people in the hall had some connection to the group and all were equally mesmerized by the four songs they sang, some (all men) even moved to rush to the stage and shower the performers with dollar bills, in the time honored tradition of blessing them with money for the much appreciated performance. The singers and musicians had to brush the hundreds of dollars that were scattered at their feet and on their instruments in order to continue. At the end of the performance, a huge graphic of their debut CD was brought onstage to be unveiled by one of their chief benefactors, Dr. Prashant Kaul who had flown in from Chapel Hill, North Carolina especially for this concert. He was accompanied onstage by three other huge fans of the group, Dr. Raj Bhalla, Music of India radio show hostess Meena Datt and Navjot. “Music that touches your soul is divinely inspired,” read Kaul. “One gets inspired by their passion, rigor and very fine attention to detail. Theirs is not the end of the journey; it is the end of the beginning.” Meena Datt added that in years to come, people will say, “have you heard that qawwali group from Texas?” and that Kashti is one for everyone’s music collection. Dr. Bhalla, always a humorous one, lamented that the previous speakers had stolen all his ideas. As the hall emptied, everyone seemed to realize that they had witnessed the rise of a new star in performers. The sounds of the masterful and famous Damadam Mast Kaladar that the group had sung, with a nice dholuk and spoon solo interlude were still very much in their heads.
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
June 21, 2013
All A lll World W ld dG Gayatrii P Pariwar, i H Houston Representatives from Shantikunj, Haridwar, India will perform Gayatri-Yagya Program 24 Kundi Gayatri MahaYagya Followed by MahaPrasadam
Saturday, 6th July, 2013, 4:00PM Venue: Gauranga Hall, Hare Krishna Dham 1320 West 34th Street, Houston, TX-77018
CONTACT US: CENTER FOR GAYATRI CONSCIOUSNESS 5645 Hillcroft, Suite 307, Houston , TX 77036
awgp.houston@gmail.com gayatripariwarhouston.org texas.awgp.org
Mahesh Patel (281-954-4275); Sangita Tailor (281-304-0727) Garima Doshi (313-550-9121); Sunita Dilwali (781-698-9750)
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
7
8
June 21, 2013
LAW OFFICES OF ZAINAB K. RIZVI DEDICATED DEPENDABLE & PERSONAL ATTENTION IMMIGRATION LAW Non Immigration and Immigrant Visa, Family & Employment Immigration. Citizenship/Naturalization, Asylum,VAWA
WILLS/TRUSTS
Power of Attorney, Estate Planning
BUSINESS FORMATION Partnerships, LLC, LLP
WE ALSO SPEAK URDU & HINDI CALL TODAY FOR FREE CONSULTATION
713-297-9131 www.zkrlaw.com
2425 WEST LOOP SOUTH SUITE 200, HOUSTON, TEXAS 77027 Principal office located in Houston, Texas
MITRA / CAMDEN TRAVEL Consolidators for Turkish Airlines and Asiana Airlines
We have completed 20 successful years 12375 Bissonnet, Ste. B Houston, TX 77099
WHOLESALER FOR S MAJOR AIR CARRIER • Emirates • Gulf Airways • Kingfisher • Singapore Airlines • Jet Airways • Sahara Airlines • Indian Airlines • Eva Airlines We have • Asiana Airlines special low • Qatar Airways • PIA fares on • Air India Jet Airways • Royal Jordanian • China Airlines
Announcement
281-530-3000 1-888-811-LESS Please call us to get these special fares WHOLESALE CONSOLIDATOR OF QATAR & EMIRATES AIRLINES Call us for competitive and confirmed seats on all major cities in Texas to any city in India.Call us for Summer and December seats now
Last minute fares to Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi, Bangalore, Calcutta and many more...
For December fares please call us now.
Special Student and Teacher discounts www.faregurus.com/ camdentravel@aol.com
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
Indo-American News © 2013
COMMUNITY
June 21, 2013
9
Tandoory Taco Takes On Tex-Mex with Food that Tickles Your Tastebuds
BY PARTH DWIVEDI THE WOODLANDS: Texas has no shortage of restaurants, and while a large part of its identity lies in its vast culinary experience, a growing part of that experience lies in Indian food. Anyone who has been to Houston can attest to the good eats. Needless to say I was nothing short of happy when I heard about Tandoory Taco. Wait. Tandoory Taco? Nevermind what I said; I was nothing short of ecstatic! And they did not disappoint. Located immediately off of I-45 in The Woodlands, making the trip can be seen as a worthwhile hike for some, a convenient stop heading up toward Conroe, Dallas or College Station for others, or nearby for a few. Walking in, the bright colors catch your eye, accentuated by plenty of natural light from the Texas Sun, let in through large windows, while wooden tables and chairs contrast the trendy coloring with a more rustic feel. Friendly staff greet you and a variety of music plays in the background while you figure out what you want from the menu in a fast-casual set-up uncommon to most Indian restaurants. The menu itself is split into two groups. One side caters to the more traditional Indian food-lovers with a large assortment of dishes from Hyderbadi food, to Hakka-Indian fusion, to South Indian food. The biryani was served in fair-sized portions and was full of flavors. Using minimal oil, it was also healthy, and while it came out without the flavor of mirch, spicelovers can always order theirs hot. I know what you’re thinking, now, “But what about the tacos?”
The interior of the restaurant. It gets all of the light from the hot Houston Sun without any of the heat.
The staff of Tandoory Taco poses next to their menu, the head cook, Kathir Athi (left), Yash Nagalingam (second from right).
This is finally my favorite part of the menu! The menu itself had a wide variety of tacos, some with more Indian ingredients like The Patriot, with tandoori chicken and curry sauce, and others with more conventional ingredients, like The Convict, with shrimp and baja sauce. I had The Brit, which had a very Indian taste, being made using a strongly flavored curry sauce and chicken tikka. I also had The Hippie, Tandoory Taco’s vegetarian option, with cooked mushroom, sautéed vegetables and Baja Chipotle sauce. A mutton-lover from birth, I had to try The Emperor as well, a taco with ground lamb, a first for me, peas, and a variety of herbs. Unwilling to sacrifice quality, each hired kitchen-hand is expe-
rienced and many are specialized (that explains all the flavors in the biryani!). The head cook, Kathir Athi, is stylistically open-minded and has a knack for creating unique dishes; he even makes all the sauces in-house. The tacos can also be seen as kati rolls, a popular Indian streetfood originating in Kolkata that
made its way to the U.S. since they can be made using paratha-bread. Yash Nagalingam, who owns Tandoory Taco explains that he wants to give his customers the option to use different kinds of breads, with different amounts of spice, and even more ingredients to enjoy casual grab ‘n’ go meals. The more traditional sit-down part of
the menu reflects this philosophy as well, incorporating dishes from all over India. Madiha Haque, a lunch-time customer, especially liked the “affordability” and “selection.” The best part about the restaurant, though, is the malleability of the staff. Every employee is centrally concerned with the customer’s experience, and as such, is very open to criticism. Nagalingam jokes, “I’m not that smart, so I need to rely on customer-opinion.” In short, Tandoory Taco is a deliciously Indian alternative to the usual Tex-Mex for the adventurous (or even the hurried), and a more traditional Indian meal for lovers of consistency.
After the success of Ram leela 2012, directed by Kusum Sharma, Shri Natraj School is now open for enrollment Bharatnatyam Northwest Kathak Galleria Bollywood Sugarland
832-423-2039 www.shrinatraj.com
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
10
June 21, 2013
Chinmaya Mission Houston Invites everyone for a Jnana Yajna on
SVETASVATARA UPANISAD Mainly reveals the true nature of God and establishes essential oneness with Him.
His Holiness Pujya Swami Tejomayananda (Spiritual leader of Chinmaya Mission worldwide)
“Alphabet Connection” Play by Bal Vihar Students
Sat, July 6 - 7:30pm
Stafford Centre 10505 Cash Road, Stafford, TX-77477 Tickets: $25, $50 & above.
For more information visit: www.chinmayahouston.org Or Contact: Bharati Sutaria 281-933-0233 Jay Deshmukh 832-541-0059
Discourse Schedule
July 7 to July 12
July 13
9:00am – 10:00am 9:00am – 10:00am 11:00am – 12:00 Noon 11:00am – 12:00 Noon 7:30pm – 8:30pm Open To All (Adults Only). Admission Free. Chinmaya Mission Houston Chinmaya Prabha, 10353 Synott Road, Sugar Land, TX 77478 Tel: 281-568-9520
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
COMMUNITY
June 21, 2013
11
Swami Girishanandaji, Trustee and Treasurer of Belur Math Visits VSGH
HELP WANTED Property Management Company is looking for a supervising help (Males only) in the North Houston Area(45 & FM 1960). Knowledge of Gujarati or Hindi Preferred. Please send resume to: powerinvest123@gmail.com
LIVE-IN NANNY WANTED BY SANCHALI BASU HOUSTON: Vedanta Society of Greater Houston devotees had a great opportunity to meet Swami Girishananda, a trustee and the office manager of Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission in West Bengal, on his very short whirlwind tour through Houston on June 16 and 17. On Sunday, June 16 after his late afternoon arrival, Swamiji gave a lecture on the guru (teacher)shishya (disciple) relationship between Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda. As the 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Swami Vivekananda continue this year, it was good to hear about how important a role a guru plays in spiritual life. He described a guru as one who has got the realization of the interpretation of the scriptures, has no bad intentions, lust or evil in mind. When one approaches the Guru to know the truth, he has the power (Guru Shakti) to choose the path to follow. The shishya has to depend on the Guru to be exempt from the repeated birth and death cycles of human life. The Guru holds the hand of the shishya and helps cross Samsara (worldliness) by making ignorance/darkness go away with faith. The Guru must be respected and
there needs to be immense earnestness to learn and give absolute surrender. The guru must be served with utter devotion and questions must be asked with humility and humbleness to extract truth. The Guru will then bless and advise and direct the shishya in the right path. Sri Ramakrishna had various Gurus beginning with Kenaram Chattopadhyay, then Bhairavi Brahmani and then Totapuri and each played a great part in him attaining Sat-chit-ananda (truthconsciousness-bliss). Swami Vivekananda who initially had several doubts in his mind about Sri Ramakrishna tested him in various ways before accepting him as his Guru when he realized that Sri Ramakrishna was indeed an incarnation of the Divine Power. As the chief disciple he then took on the colossal work of spreading his Master’s message, once the dormant power (Brahmakundalini) within him was awakened. Sri Sarada Devi, Sri Ramakrishna’s consort in whom Sri Ramakrishna saw the Holy Mother, provided support to Swami Vivekananda on the Master’s passing. So much so that in the short 18 years of his life after Sri Ramakrishna’s death, Swami Vivekananda was the first
Real Estate “MEDI” Easy !! MEDI REALITY GROUP Residential & Commercial Specialize in:
HUD & BANK FORECLOSURES, New Homes, Resale Harinath Medi (832) 244-3100
Email: Medihari@yahoo.com
key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world and was credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion in the late 19th century. He was ahead of his time in preaching the motto that all the different religions lead to the same goal – realization is one. On Monday, June 17 there was a Satsang at the center where Sw. Girishananda answered questions asked by the devotees. “What is the relationship between God-guru and the shishya?” was the question posed. He replied that one does not have to be an intellectual to have spirituality and God realization. These come to the most common man through unimaginable absolute renunciation. Mother Kali made Sri Ramakrishna follow all the religions including Christianity, Islam and non-dualism to find out the ultimate truth for himself. Incomparable renunciation of lust and attachment to gold made his mind crystal pure leading him to go into Samadhi (pure ecstatic state) often. Discrimination is the other asset and seeing God in everything and looking at all work as God’s work is the other tool for the highest spiritual transformation. The events of both the nights were well attended and ended with Arati and Prasad dinner. The efforts of the VSGH to attain a resident swami were well accepted by Sw. Girishananda. He mentioned that patience and perseverance needs to be practiced and to then leave it in God’s hands and left the dedicated volunteers of the VSGH very hopeful of achieving their goal. For information on upcoming events and Swami visit www.houstonvedanta.org
Indian family living in the Houston, TX area is looking for a Nanny to take care of a newborn baby and for light cooking/cleaning. If interested, please contact (936) 355-0284 or email at lysistrata722@gmail.com
Help Wanted Full Time Sales Girl
for Jewelry Store. Must speak Hindi & be good in Math. Please Call: 713-789-7575
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
12
COMMUNITY
June 21, 2013
Dr. Subramanium Swamy on ISI/Dawood, Corruption, Narendra Modi
Explore the world in comfort with... Explore the world in comfort with...
)
)
)
)
Explore the world in comfort with...
) d in comfort) with... ) )
)
)
) ) ) ) )) #$-.'/#(&)0#()'$$)1'2#() )
)
) )
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
!
!
*)+
*)+
564-9500 '-($-,%& ) the world(281) Explore in comfort with... '-($-,%& ) Explore the world in comfort with...
Explore the with... the world worldinincomfort comfort with... )Explore ! "#$%&'$%(&) *)+ #,&#$-.'/#(&)0#()'$$)1'2#() ! "#$%&'$%(&) ! "#$%&'$%(&) *)+ #,&#$-.'/#(&)0#()'$$)1'2#() *)+ #,&#$-.'/#(&)0#()'$$)1'2#()
)
) )
)
On Kashmir policy Swamy stated that not a single inch of Kashmir will be ever given to Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is an integral part of India. On Bangladeshi Muslim immigration he stated that since 1/3 of Bangladeshis are in India, 1/3 of Bangladesh land should also be integrated with India for equal adjustment or illegal Bangladeshi Muslims should be deported. But he also saw two favorable trend, one is India’s growing young population which is talented, innovative and with good online education models. Associated employment projects which can educate and employ millions of young Indians wil immensely help the country. On agriculture he said that India is currently optimizing 33% of yield. If India can optimize 100% yield it could grow One of the organizers Dharminder Dargan of the speech by Dr. crops year round and be a global Subramanian Swamy (right) at the Arya Samaj of Greater Houston leader in agriculture produce. He last Saturday, June 15. Photo: Jawahar Malhotra said China is running on steroids and the prospective financial are smart enough to understand the ual should be kept in balance with breakdown of Chinese economy problem and the culprits will fight social welfare. This trend of hav- is near in future. He is optimistic back with strong ballot support ing the whole focus for material that India can have a growth rate for NDA. On the Sanjay Dutt case well off needs to be arrested and of 12% and can be a developed nahe said that the court verdict should diluted. tion by 2020 under good nationalhave been stiffer as supporting Another serious challenge is ist leadership. the Islamic underworld which re- countering rapid conversions He requested Hindus to have a sulted in the Mumbai bomb blasts which happened in many eastern positive outlook for the future and is a heinous crime against the and southern states, work is un- not lose hope but make correct nation. Swamy believes in zero derway by by pro Hindu forces moves. He suggested the ideology sympathy, zero tolerance politi- to contain such conversions. He of keeping national interest above cal policy for the triple problems stated that the Taliban considers local and regional interest for the of Islamic Terrorism, Maoism and India as an unfinished chapter and upcoming elections. India should Naxalism. is constantly conspiring to create check Chinese investment in the Another negative trend he men- havoc among Hindus and showed Indian Ocean and foster good retioned is that of Indian society’s the strength of Hinduism which lations with Israel. For overseas sole focus on becoming more ma- was able to sustain 200 years Indians he suggested supporting terialistic whereas under Hindu of Christian rule and 800 years pro-Hindu organizations and work Vedic and Sanatan Dharma the of Islamic rule, still 80% India is on projects that weakens political materialist progress of an individ- Hindu in population. leaders who are corrupt and antinational. On the question of Bollywood ALEXANDER P. MATHEWS, CPA movie themes that are against Hinduism and Hindu organizations, he said it is an area of concern and For Services In: should be carefully countered. On INDIVIDUAL & BUSINESS TAXES • BUSINESS TAX CONSULTATION Narendra Modi he stressed that INCORPORATION, FORMATION OF LLC with an pro-agenda towards deCERTIFIED QUICK BOOK ADVISOR AVAILABLE velopment, good governance and ExploreExplore the25 world the in world comfort in comfort with... with... Years in Public Accounting a Hindutva-Narendra Modi led "#$%&'$%(&) 11104 #,&#$-.'/#(&)0#()'$$)1'2#() West Airport, Ste 114, Stafford, TX 77477 NDA victory is certain in the next "#$%&'$%(&) #,&#$-.'/#(&)0#()'$$)1'2#() general elections.
routed via Dubai through hawala brokers to international financial safe havens. Since ISI and DCompany have access to Dubai financial systems including hawala brokers, the private financial data (account, amount and final destination) of corrupt ministers is accessible to them. As a result these politicians are fearful of speaking openly and to take stiff action against D–Company or ISI sponsored terrorism and other projects in India, as they fear ISI will expose their black money data. In addition, many 2G telcom licenses which were given at relatively heavy discounted rates to Indian firms, were later sold to foreign firms, some of which have ISI and Pakistani-Muslims connections, such as how Swan Telecom was later sold off to UAE-based company Etisalat, the majority of whose board members are Pakistani Muslims. Swamy emphasized the fight against corruption has to be started from top executives and the top leadership at Central/State Government offices. If the top leadership is corrupt free, downstream systems and process will fall in line. Swamy said that people of India
HOUSTON: Dr. Subramanium Swamy spoke at the “India at the Crossroads” discussion presented by the Hindu Mahasabha of America, Arsha Vidya Satsanga and hosted by Arya Samaj of Greater Houston. The event was drew in over 200 people including eminent leaders of the local Hindu community. During his public address, Dr. Swamy spoke about contemporary trends impacting social, religious and political dynamics in India. He mentioned three negative trends and two positive trends that are under focus. One is rampant corruption which is in full swing under the current UPA regime; scams like Coalgate, 2G telcom licenses and Railways which have impeded economic growth and the suspicion of corruption in each and every Central government deal. Regarding foreign investments, he said that more focus is on the production of luxury goods while less investment goes for goods catering to the middle class and the poor. Moreover corruption fosters black money which is a serious threat to India’s national security. Billions in black money are being
)
)
'-($-,%& ) '-($-,%& ) '-($-,%& ) !"#$%&'$%(&) " # $ % & ' $ % ( & ) * *)+ ) + # #,&#$-.'/#(&)0#()'$$ , & # $ - . ' / # ( & ) 0 # ( ) ' $ $ ) 1 ' )1'2#() 2#() ! ! "#$%&'$%(&) *)+ #,&#$-.'/#(&)0#()'$$)1'2#() '-($-,%&) ! "#$%&'$%(&) *)+ #,&#$-.'/#(&)0#()'$$)1'2#() '-($-,%& ) '-($-,%& ) '-($-,%& )
Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pakistan / Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pakistan / Bangladesh / SriBangalore, Lanka / Africa Cochin, Delhi, Cochin, Hyderabad, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Chennai,Bombay Pakistan Kolkata,/ /Pakistan / Bangladesh / Sri Lanka / Africa
Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Pakistan / Bangladesh / Sri Lanka / Sri / Chennai, Africa Lanka Kolkata, / Africa Bangalore, Cochin, Chennai, Kolkata, Pakistan / Ahmedabad, Colombo / Bangladesh Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pakistan / - Instant Reservation/Ticketing - Vacation Packages/Leisure/Escorted/Cruise/Car/Hotel Bookings Bangladesh / Sri Lanka / Africa - Instant - Vacation Packages/Leisure/Escorted/Cruise/Car/Hotel BookingsBookings ri Lanka / Africa - Reservation/Ticketing Instant Reservation/Ticketing - Instant Reservation/Ticketing - Vacation Packages/Leisure/Escorted/Cruise/Car/Hotel - Vacation Packages/Leisure/Escorted/Cruise/Car/Hotel Bookings Bangladesh / Sri Lanka / Africa InstantDelhi, Reservation/Ticketing - Vacation Packages/Leisure/Escorted/Cruise/Car/Hotel Bookings Cochin, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pakistan / ackages/Leisure/Escorted/Cruise/Car/Hotel Cochin, Delhi, Bookings Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, Pakistan / 713-271-1000 /// 713-493-8981 TOLL FREE: 1-888-468-8786 Bangladesh / Sri Lanka / Africa Cochin, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, 713-271-1000 713-493-8981 TOLL FREE: 1-888-468-8786 713-271-1000 713-271-1000 713-493-8981 /-Ahmedabad, 713-493-8981 TOLL FREE: TOLL 1-888-468-8786 FREE:Pakistan 1-888-468-8786 - Instant Reservation/Ticketing Vacation Packages/Leisure/Escorted/Cruise/Car/Hotel Bookings / 713-271-1000 / 713-493-8981 TOLL FREE: 1-888-468-8786 Bangladesh Sri Lanka / Africa INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 •/ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM / Sri Lanka / Africa TOLL FREE: 1-888-468-8786 - Instant Reservation/Ticketing Bangladesh - Vacation Packages/Leisure/Escorted/Cruise/Car/Hotel Bookings - Instant Reservation/Ticketing Bookings 713-271-1000 / 713-493-8981- Vacation Packages/Leisure/Escorted/Cruise/Car/Hotel TOLL FREE: 1-888-468-8786
June 21, 2013
13
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM 1321_2_WF2013_Q2_Con2_Demo_FP_AI_FP_Hou_IAN_Rev052413.indd 1
5/24/13 8:59 PM
14
June 21, 2013
COMMUNITY
IACCGH Small Business Outreach at HCC NW Campus
From left: Dr Ritu Raju (HCC), Pankaj Dhume, Dr. Zachary Hodges (HCC NW President), Sandra A Louvier (HCC) and Jagdip Ahluwalia (IACCGH). Photo: Bijay Dixit
HOUSTON: One June 12, IACCGH President Pankaj Dhume welcomed over 40 attendees at the third in the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Houston small business outreach series sponsored by Houston Community College. Resource partners at the event included representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration and SCORE Houston. Dhume emphasized the Chamber’s focus on helping empower small business owners and professionals grow their business by helping them connect through IACCGH resource partners at these outreach events. HCC Professor Dr. Ritu Raju introduced Houston Community College Northwest President, Dr. Zachary Hodges who delivered the keynote address. A strong supporter of small business development and entrepreneurial growth in Houston, Dr Hodges has been President of the college for approximately 20 years, and as a com-
mitted partner with diverse stakeholders has leveraged the college as a catalyst for economic and community development in West Houston. In addition to his passion for economic and community growth in Houston, Dr. Hodges also admires the wealth of diversity, business knowledge and capital that the Indo-American community has brought to the Bayou City. In his talk on how HCC is preparing students for the 21st Century workforce at the Spring Branch campus, he charged the chamber to get involved in with the college’s efforts of entrepreneurship and engineering. “At HCC, we are creating a learning environment for students to pursue their dreams, not just their majors. This helps our students develop independent and entrepreneurial thinking,” said Dr. Hodges. IACCGH Executive Director introduced Sandra A Louvier, Director, Center for Entrepreneurship(c4E), HCC who talked about the Center and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses are two vibrant programs that HCC has for individuals seeking to stake their claim in Houston’s economic growth. Each program has dedicated professionals that provide education and training for entrepreneurs and small business owners to develop the skills they need to grow their companies. Additional programs that HCC has developed to lead students into the 21st Century workforce are the college’s engineering partnership with University of Texas at Tyler. Students can obtain a four-year Civil, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering degree for less than $20,000 at the HCC Alief campus in West Houston. While beneficial for the student, the program is also designed to support Houston’s demand for engineers. For further information on C4E, visit hccbizconnect.org and to learn more about HCC’s partnership with UT Tyler visit hccs. edu/engineering. To learn more about the Chamber visit www.iaccgh.com The 14th annual IACCGH Gala and awards banquet is on Saturday, August 17, 2013 at the Hilton Americas. For sponsorship opportunities and to buy your Gala tickets contact jagdip@iaccgh.com
Visa Processing Changing from Travisa to BLS HOUSTON: Expect delays with Indian visa processing in US, make sure to submit your applications well in advance. According to sources, Indian authorities are changing their third-party visa service provider from Travisa to BLS International on June 20, 2013. A new Indian regulation now holds that only Indian-based agencies will be allowed to process visa applications throughout the world. BLS International is part of the New Delhibased company BLS Group, and has been awarded the new contract to process all Indian visa applications for Consular Posts located throughout the U.S. This change may cause significant delays in processing times, changes to document requirements, visa application fees, and application procedures. We will continue to monitor the development closely and will provide further updates as they are made available. The new office will be at: Indian Passport Application center 9800 Northwest Fwy, Suite 602, Houston, TX 77092. Email: houston@blsindia-usa.com Phone: 832-831-2499 / 832-815-3319 INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
June 21, 2013
15
! # $" $"# "" $" # $" "
! # % % # ! & #
$ !* %$ &(
( %& $(& & %&#!$ &(' (&
&! + )"+ ( (
' ( %&
% # !# $$ &$ ! !&$%! &$ !#
# ( # $ " # ( # ' !
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
16
June 21, 2013
SUGAR LAND: Many of us are touched when we lend our hands to help others. The feeling of giving makes us even more emotional when it comes to a child. On Sunday, June 9, 11 year old Riya Desai from Sugar Land woke up early. She was thrilled knowing that her efforts were going to make a profound impact in the community. For the last 3-4 months, Riya made sure that every person she came in contact knew that she was raising funds for this year’s BAPS Charities walkathon. At the end of her efforts, she had collected $2500 to support this year’s walkathon benefiting American Diabetes Association and the Stafford MSD Education Foundation. By 9:00 am there were over a 1000 people lined up in front of Sugar Land’s City Hall to get the walk started. Before the walk a moment of silence was observed for the four fallen heroic firefighters from a tragic fire at a motel off US59. BAPS Charities representative Nilkanth Patel stated, “Our community service providers play an integral role in keeping us all safe and this year we (BAPS Charities) have decided to give $5000 to the 100 Club’s Survivor Fund for the firefighters.” Associate director of ADA walk, Katie McCoy said that “Working with BAPS Charities has been wonderful as this event raises awareness of diabetes and assists ADA to continue research in ways to prevent and cure diabetes.”
COMMUNITY
1000 Walkers Join in BAPS Charities to Support Firefighters, ADA and Stafford MSD
As part of raising awareness of this 5k walk, Riya Desai and volunteers of BAPS Charities brought sponsors like Piping Technology & Products, SDB group, Forge USA, Ansh Laboratories, Wedge Energy Services, 4th Dimension, Akshar/ Shriji Properties, Bharat Patel and many others to contribute to this year’s walkathon. Dr. Atul Dhingra, COO of Sphier Emergency Rooms, was amazed of the turnout
of the walkathon and commented, “It’s good to see that we have so many people out to give back to the community.” Riya Desai was excited to watch the special addition to this year’s walk, the 5k run. As Rohan Jethva finished first place in the 5k run, he shouted, “WOW, this was so much fun and it was all for a great cause.” Numerous volunteers were also there early to help make the day possible as well as participated in the event. Bharat Patel said, “We were able to help prepare the sandwiches for all the participants and it was great to see so many people here to create a positive impact one step at a time.” At the end of the walk, Riya was exhausted but ecstatic that her efforts will go a long way. Similar walks took place in over 40 cities throughout North America wherein over 13,000 participants walked over 45,000 miles. In addition to annual walkathons, BAPS Charities hosts health fairs, Children’s health and safety day programs, education and career development seminars, disaster relief operations, blood drives and much more. BAPS Charities sincerely serves the community, by improving the quality of life of individuals and families. For further information contact Viral Desai at 832-498-4725 or email media@houstonmandir. org
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
COMMUNITY
June 21, 2013
17
Eminent Scientist to Speak on Inner Transformation by Leading a Divine Life
HOUSTON: The Sathya Sai centers of Houston (www.sathyasai.org) are hosting a talk by Dr. G. Venkataraman, an eminent scientist and current head of Radio Sai Global Harmony, on Sunday, June 23 at the Sur Auditorium of Durga Bari Temple, located at 13944 Schiller Rd, in Houston, TX 77082 from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm. His talk will address many of the spiritual imperatives for today’s society, as established by the teachings of Sathya Sai Baba. During the talk, Professor Venkataraman will also be sharing many of his direct experiences with Sathya Sai Baba, resulting from decades of personal interaction with Him. The event is free and open to the public. Sathya Sai Baba, who left his physical form on April 24 2011, was a highly revered spiritual teacher whose life and universal message have inspired millions of people around the world to lead constructive and virtuous lives through inner transformation. His core teachings are; to love and serve all, the underlying unity of all faiths, and unwavering practice of the five fundamental Human Values inherent in us all: Love, Truth, Right Conduct, Peace, and Non-Violence. The understanding and practice of these principles ultimately helps man realize his innate divine nature. Dr. G Venkataraman is a former ViceChancellor of the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. He served at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai and the Indira Gandhi Atomic Research Centre. He was the Founder Director of ANURAG, a unit of the Indian Defense Research and Development Organization. He is the recipient of the Sri C. V. Raman Centenary Award, the Indira Gandhi Award, and the prestigious Padma Shri Award from the Government of India. For further information about the event, please call 832-215-8675 or 832-687-6766 and RSVP at http://Profgv.sairegion10.org.
For advertising Call: Vanshika Vipin at 713.789.6397
Presents…
How is Cancer Diagnosed & Treated? The Process Explained Sunday, June 30 2013 3:00 – 5:00 p.m. India House
8888 West Belfort Ave., Houston TX 77031 FREE EVENT – ALL WELCOME Join us as our panel of experts walk through the timeline of events from diagnosis through treatment options. We welcome your questions!
Our Medical Panel:
Dr. Savithri Krishnamurthy Professor, Department of Pathology --- MD Anderson Cancer Center Dr. Sagar Naik Radiologist, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital Dr. Ali Mahmood Colorectal Surgeon; Methodist Hospital Dr. Shalin Shah Radiation Oncologist; Medical Director of MD Anderson Sugar Land Dr. Sewa Legha Medical Oncologist Indian American Cancer Network Ph: 713.370.3489 or E---mail: iacannetwork @gmail.com www.iacannetwork.org THANK YOU TO OUR EVENT SPONSORS
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
18
EDITORIAL
June 21, 2013
Much Food for Thought One of the major issues being debated in Parliament at this time is the food security Bill that aims to end hunger and malnutrition in the country. The discussion focuses chiefly on the issue of funding and the application modalities of the proposed law. More important and fundamental questions pertaining to the rationale behind the proposed legislation are being neglected. For a scheme that plans to spend R1,30,000 crore of public money annually, it is imperative that the public and the Parliament alike see beyond the obvious and raise questions as to the efficacy and necessity of the same. There are people who may be unable to provide for their own nutrition, like the infirm, the aged, orphans and people with severe physical or mental disabilities. It is legitimate to expect the State to make provisions for their basic material wellbeing, and we do have laws and schemes in place to help address the issue. But for people who are able to earn their own livelihood it is the State’s duty to create conditions that will enable them to do so. To provide food to them without engaging them in safe and fair labour would be wasteful for the State and pernicious to the beneficiaries. The task of creating a just labour market accessible to all classes and sections of the people may be difficult. But to skirt around the difficulty by taking the short cut of doling out food cannot be good, in the long run, either for society or the economy. Moreover, if the State undertakes to ensure that all the extant laws and schemes meant for the welfare of the weak and the marginal run effectively and without the canker of corruption, the need for a blanket food security scheme would be eradicated. The prime minister has termed mass malnutrition a national shame. Indeed it is, but the proposed Bill may not be an adequate means to eradicate that ‘shame’. For one, it focuses chiefly on food grains and, as we know, grains are not enough to provide the various ‘trace elements’ a human body needs in order to first grow and then maintain itself in optimal health. Besides, apart from the issue of diet there are other ground-level factors that affect nutrition and even survival. To begin with, a country where 70% of rural households do not have toilets cannot dream of achieving general good health, the objective of ‘nutrition’. In the circumstances, regular administering of anti-ringworm drugs to rural children would enhance their health significantly. Similarly, greater access to safe drinking water and improved drainage systems in villages and small towns would contribute toward improving public health. Ensuring quality primary healthcare within reasonable distance of each village would minimise preventable deaths due to common illnesses or snake bites. The recent National Sample Survey has thrown up staggering statistics about impoverished girl children dying in early childhood due to inadequate nutrition stemming from parental biases against girls. A large number of our young women suffer from poor heath or even die as a result of early and multiple pregnancies. Hindustan Times
Chasing an Illusion BY FARRUKH DHONDY Six young men were jailed on June 6 by a British court and awarded up to 19and-a-half year jail terms. Their names tell an incomplete and unfortunate story: Mohammed Hasseen, Anzal Hussain, Mohammed Saud, Omar Khan, Jewel Uddin and Zohaib Ahmed. Theirphotographs, all of them bearded in the mullah fashion, tell a further tragi-comic one: In June last year the English Defence League, an organisation dedicated to opposing what they call the creeping influence of Islam in Britain, held its ‘Armed Forces Day Rally’ in Dewsbury in Yorkshire, a town with a large Mirpuri Muslim population. The EDL’s tactic was intentionally provocative. Both the jihadis and the EDL are tiny organisations and can muster fewer numbers behind their banners than can the Hare Krishna dance group in Oxford Street. They regularly oppose each other at functions such as the funeral of British soldiers killed in Afghanistan, shouting slogans and swearing at each other from behind the police lines deployed to separate them. Such is the drama of freespeaking Britain. Our convicted jihadi gang decided on this occasion last June to go a few steps further. They plotted to assault the English Defence League’s rally in Dewsbury with shotguns, swords, knives and home-made nail and pipe bombs. Though these six men from Birmingham assembled their weapons and set out for Dewsbury on the correct date, they arrived two hours too late — after the march was over and the crowds had dispersed. They turned back and were, the police insist by pure chance, stopped on the highway and asked for the insurance documents for the Renault Laguna they were driving. They couldn’t produce them. They had neglected to insure the car and this prompted the police to search it and discover the amateur arsenal. This led to the search of their houses and comput-
ers which yielded terrorist ideological material including al-Qaeda publications, instructions on how to construct bombs and a video on ‘Tactics to kill the kaffir’. Mohammed Hasseen, the mastermind behind the plot, pleaded guilty to the offences of terrorism. He hadn’t travelled to Dewsbury. He’d courageously sent the others on, saying he would stay at home to facilitate the escape of any of them who survived the bombings. The highway police haven’t disclosed why they stopped the Renault and demanded to see its insurance papers. Was it because they, with racist selectivity pick on and victimise drivers whose appearance declares them to be Muslims? Or do the police have instant access to the insurance status of every vehicle on the road through computer surveillance? I ask this because I have been stopped on the road by a patrol car and, on winding down my window to speak to the officers who approached me, was surprised to be greeted by name. The six had no feasible defence and admitted their murderous intentions. The court was shown documents they carried, which contained lectures from Islamist preachers that addressed Queen Elizabeth II as the “kafir female devil”. Leaders of the EDL were in the public gallery of the court and shouted ‘God Save the Queen’ when the sentences were handed out. These same EDL leaders now insist that their organisation has no involvement in the recent attacks on mosques and on an Islamic boarding school that followed the murder of Drummer Rigby on the streets of Woolwich this May. They profess to publicly condemn such actions even though the mosque was
Indo American News FOUNDER: DR. K.L. SINDWANI PUBLISHER: JAWAHAR MALHOTRA EDITOR: PRAMOD KULKARNI ADVERTISING & ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER: VANSHIKA VIPIN MARKETING INTERN: PARTH DWIVEDI CORRESPONDENTS
HOUSTON: HAIDER KAZIM, MANU SHAH CHICAGO: NAND KAPUR, INDIA: RAJ KANWAR ®All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the written consent of the publisher. The deadline for advertising and articles is 5 pm on Monday of each week. Please include self-addressed, stamped envelope for return of all unsolicited material. Published at 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 262, Houston, Texas 77036. Tel: 713-789-NEWS or 6397 Fax: 713-789-6399, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com, website: indoamerican-news.com
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
daubed with EDL graffiti at the time of the arson attack. Since the hacking to death of soldier Rigby by two Islamist fanatics, attacks on Muslims and Muslim institutions have, the police say, increased eightfold. Some of the increase is simply reported verbal abuse, graffiti on Muslims shops and then the two serious acts of arson. Police forces all over the country have consequently put protective cordons around Islamic centres and mosques. The failed action of the six jihadists a year ago and the murder of Lee Rigby last month were both avowedly acts of terror aimed at, in the words of one of Rigby’s killers, “starting a war in Britain”. These jihadis are perhaps stupid enough to believe that their actions will lead to some ‘British spring’ and a mass conversion of Muslims to their ill-defined jihadist ideology. So far there is no sign of it. Global cooling seems more of a threat. If our six jihadists had indeed succeeded last year in shooting, knifing and bombing EDL members and, inevitably killing members of the public in the process, there may have been a series of rejoinders and attacks. After the Pakistani terror attacks in Mumbai I witnessed a large and dedicated demonstration of Muslims who paraded in condemnation of terror to mass applause from the Mumbai public. The Muslims of Britain haven’t responded in like manner to the murderous actions of men who claim to represent them. Their official spokespersons have feebly shuffled from one TV studio to another to insist that these jihadis don’t represent Muslims, but somehow, with the evidence of growing radicalisation of misguided youth in the name of Islam, it doesn’t seem enough. Farrukh Dhondy is an author, screenplay writer and columnist based in London.
COMMUNITY
June 21, 2013
19
Dam 999 Screens in Houston
H O U S T O N : ‘DAM999’ is an international movie produced by UAE based BizTV Networks with the support of NRIPA(NRI Film Producers Association). Recently there were two screenings held in Houston. The first was a Tamil screening on 14 June at the AMC First Colony, Sugar land. It was the first ever screening of the tamil version of the movie, anywhere in the world, due to the ban issued by the Tamil Nadu government on the movie. The second screening was held in English on 16 June at the Studio Movie Grill City Center. The direction and script is credited to the upcoming director Sohan Roy, who is primarily an established mariner with a Guinness Book record to his credit. ‘DAM999’ is a movie with a social cause which describes the hazards dams can cause and creates awareness among the masses about the impending dangers of a dam collapse, if not attended on time. ‘DAM999’ screenplay which has found its way into the Permanent Core Collection of The Academy’s Margaret Herrick Library is the first movie to enter the Library even before its theatrical release anywhere around the globe. DAM 999 was also shortlisted for 5 awards for the 2012 Academy awards in 3 categories. 3 songs for the best original score category and also for the best film and for the best back ground score. The director and script writer of this first 3D International movie from India was also acknowledged for the fabulous recognition ‘DAM999’ received before its theatrical release. Sohan Roy added, “It was my deep rooted passion to make a movie on the Hollywood canvas, with a ‘Made in India’ stamp on it while bidding for the Oscars. The movie maintains a very positive note throughout, in the portrayal
of Indian culture and values. In my voyage towards this destination, I was joined in by a group of talented people, including 16 National and International award winners, who sailed across this sea, overcoming all the hurdles and making it to the shore of our dream – DAM999.” Shot in a single start-to-end schedule “DAM 999” has sixteen National and International award winning cast and crew working behind and in the scenes of the movie. It is based on real life incidents bringing to life the memories of 1975 Banqiao Dam disaster in China which claimed the lives of an estimated 250,000 people. ‘DAM999’ is all about a corrupt mayor who builds a new dam for political gains and personal glory
endangering millions of innocent lives; a mariner desperate to save his sister from evil; two not-soyoung lovers challenging destiny in a bid to unite; a woman on a mission to win her family back; a little boy battling a deadly disease; a devoted wife wants to be with her husband even in death; and the astrologer who has foreseen their ominous fate - Nine lives entwined by the impending disaster. Take the journey of a lifetime - Nine characters, Nine moods and a crumbling dam of emotions. This multi starrer international venture has an ensemble cast starring Rajit Kapur, Joshua Fredric Smith, Linda Arsenio, Jaala Pickering, Ashish Vidyarthi, Vinay Rai, Vimala Raman, Megha Burman, Jineet Rath and Gary Richardson. The movie will be released in four regional languages – Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam along with English. The other credits of the movie include international experts Eric Sherman as Project Consultant; Rob Tobin as the Script Doctor and Uzma Xina Kang as the Casting Director of ‘DAM 999’. The crew that has worked behind the making of this movie includes eminent professionals like Ajayan Vincent, Suresh Pai, Padmashri Dr. Thota Tharrani, V. Srinivas Mohan, Ousephachan, Amala Popuri, Shajith Koyeri, Pattanam Rasheed and S. B. Satheesh.
13100 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land, TX 77478
www.testmasters.com
281-564-7700
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
20
COMMUNITY
June 21, 2013
LEARN TO DRIVE TODAY!
Chicagoans Give Fond Farewell to CG Mukta Tomar
Ganesh Anand Catering Services Pure Vegetarian South & North Indian Dishes. Chaat & Snacks Contact Babulbhai: 832-891-1421 13180 West Park Dr. @ Synott Houston, TX 77082
BY SURESH SHAH CHICAGO: Chicagoans vied with each other to bid farewell to popular Indian Consul General Mukta Tomar who is leaving her office after a three year successful run as Indian CG at the Downtown Consulate office. She had succeeded Ambassador Ashok Attri and struck instant rapport with Indian Diaspora in Midwest region. A farewell function was held at the Consulate in Chicago Down-
town on Friday, May 31 where the elite of Indian community flocked to express their appreciation for the departing CG as also to offer their best wishes to her for her new assignment in the Foreign Ministry in New Delhi. Notable presence was that of Pakistani Consul General Zaheer Pervaiz Khan who presented her with a beautiful book Journey In Pakistan. His gesture of goodwill was vastly appreciated. Heads of Indian corporations
and associations, Prof Pandey and Naren Patel of AIA, Hina Trivedi, Iftekhar Shareef of FIA, Gurbachan Kaur of Hindi Lovers Club, Niranjan Shah of Globetrotter Eng Corp, Dr Birendra Sinha of Anila Sinha Foundation, Balwinder Singh of Gurudwara Sahib of Chicago, Vinesh Virani of Art of Living, Dr Aniruddh, Rohot Joshi of Northeasern Illinois Univerity, Usha Kamaria of Niles Township Indian Community, Dr Mehboob Kapaida, Gur Mahendra Kumar, Rishikant Singh Midwest Manager of Air India and Media representatives were present. A group of Indian Americans headed by Balwinder and Vinesh Virani held a private reception for Mukta Tomar on Sunday June 2 at Jaipur Palace in Chicago Downtown. The function was attended by 30 plus guests and invitees. Hindi Lovers Club President Gurbachan Kaur presented a Plaque recognizing the services rendered by Tomar to the Indian community in the past three years as CG.
Launch of Newer Version of Hindi Patrika
Launch of Hindi Patrika by Raghunath Sharma (right) and J Rawat.
Want to Buy Your Dream Home? Want to Save Money on Your Existing Home? TIME IS NOW!! RATES ARE LOW!!
Call Sutherland Mortgage 713-579-7222
Contact: Krishnan @ 713-579-7222
krishnan@sutherlandmortgage.com
www.sutherlandmortgage.com
PROUND WINNER OF DISTINCTION - AWARD FOR EXCELENCE from the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU - 2012
NMLS # 9891
Sutherland Mortgage Services Inc. Krishnan Swaminathan
NMLS #20770
5959 Corporate Drive, Suite 3000 Houston, TX 77036
BY NAND KAPUR CHICAGO: Hindi Lovers Club, a budding non profit body in Chicagoland, has added one more feather in its cap of achievements – adding 14 pages of English to its monthly Magazine Hindi Patrika. Gurbachan Kaur Neelam, the Club President, said that it is done with a view to reach out to second generation Indians here who have had not much opportunity to learn the premiere Indian language Hindi. “They are a burgeoning component of our community and we can ignore them at our own peril. Our attempt will be to induce them to read the Patrika and thru it our national language Hindi,” she said in a talk. A formal launch of newly designed Patrika June issue was held at Uru Swati Resturant on Mahatma Gandhi Marg on Devon area Chicago last week and it was attended by a good number of Chicago elites and media representatives. The Club Secretary Vinita Gulbani welcomed the invitees in her chaste Hindi and read out a Hindi couplet at the end of her speech that underlined the basic objective of the Club
promoting – Hindi and Indian culture in this part of the world. The formal launch was done at the hands of a noted octogenarian Hindi author Raghunandan Prakash Sharma. Sharma is credited with authoring number of Hindi books and is an acclaimed writer in India. He has 169 published books under his belt and numerous awards for his writings. He has agreed to be a regu-
lar columnist for Hindi Patrika. He congratulated the Club members in taking this unique step of adding English pages to make the Hindi Patrika more popular. He welcomed overall efforts of the Club executive team in seeking to promote the cause of Hindi language in foreign land. He is the scheduled speaker at the Club upcoming monthly meet at Skilkie Public Library on Monday June 24. Among the prominent community leaders attending the meet was Sohan Johshi, president of National Federation of Indian Association and an ardent fan of Hindi, Jodh Singh Rawat, a free lance writer, Praful Rami, a community activist, Man Mohan Sharma, a writer , Nand Kapur, former president of AIA and Vandana Jhingan often dubbed Jhansi Ki Ranee of Chicago. For further information call 847-962-8595 or visit www.hindiloversclub.com
A group of supporters and activists. From left: Secretary Vinita Gulbani, Praful Rami, Raghunath Sharma, J Rawat and President Gurbachan Kaur
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
June 21, 2013
11000 Richmond Ave, Ste 300 Houston, TX 77042
15950 N Dallas Pkwy, Ste 400 Dallas, TX 75248
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
21
22
RECIPES/PUZZLES
June 21, 2013
SUDOKU
Place a Number in the empty boxes in such a way that each row across, each column down and each 9-box square contains all of the numbers from one to nine. Send us the correct answer before June 26, 2013. Email us at indoamericannews@yahoo.com or mail to 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036. Send us your picture and we will publish it if you are a winner (for first three entrees only).
Solution Next Week
Mama’s Punjabi Recipes Gajar ka Achar (Carrot Pickles) Punjabis love to eat their food with some sort of condiments whether it be pickles, chutneys, white radishes or just plain raw onions – to get the last bit of maaza (enjoyment) out of each mouthful. Since the time of my ancestral home in Lyallpur, when our families had large lands that were cultivated and our lives were more rural, the womenfolk in the home used to make their own pickles, usually amb da achar (mango pickle) in sarson da tael (mustard seed oil) or mitha achar (sweet and sour vegetable pickle). There were even ways to get the sting out of raw onions and radishes. My husband’s grandmother (whom we called bhabhi) would peel the white radishes, coat it with salt, pierce it with a sharp knife stick it on the side of a wooden post to let the onion drip out its water. She would also peel the onions and leave them in the rain to become sweeter. In Punjabi villages, men will squash the
or olive oil) • 1 tablespoon sirka (white vinegar)
onion with their hand and squeeze the water out before eating it. Here is a really simple way to make gajar ka achar (carrot pickle) to eat as a condiment. It’s not oily like mango pickle and for a healthier pickle, you can reduce the salt as you want. Ingredients: • 1 kg lal gajar(red carrots) • 1 tablespoon rai powder (mustard seed powder) • 1 tablespoon namak (salt) • 1 tablespoon lal mirch powder (red pepper powder) • 1 tablespoon tael (vegetable
Directions: 1. Peel the carrots, then wash and towel dry them. 2. Cut the carrots lengthwise in thin 2 inch long sticks. 3. Throw the carrot sticks in a glass jar and then add the spices to taste and the oil. 4. Close the jar and shake well. Now add the vinegar, close the lid and shake well again. 5. Place the jar in the sun and shake the contents two or three times a day for a week. The pickles will be ready to eat and as they will become tastier the longer they stay in the marinade. Be sure to shake the contents from time to time so that the marinade does not settle in one place. 6. Since this pickle is not cooked, to avoid it going bad, keep in the refrigerator and consume within a month.
Nimboo aur Adrak ka Achar (Lemon and Ginger Pickles)
L��� W���’� SUDOKU S�������
L��� W���’� SUDOKU W�����
Open 7 days a week
Kamal Arora
Vijay Shenoy
Ginger is one of the main ingredients in Punjabi cooking, but it can also eaten by itself in pickle form or in the powdered form in spiced tea. Apart from its unique taste, ginger helps with the digestive process and reduces gas in the stomach. When used with black salt, ginger is used to help with nausea or to help cure the common cold. In the old days, and even now in villages, ginger would be peeled and then dried in the sun so that it could be used later when it was not easily available. Ginger is also peeled and made into a paste to use in the preparation of various meat dishes or to make some vegetarian dishes. But generally, it is cut into small pieces and used when preparing the base masala of dishes. This is another really simple way to make an achar (pickle) but in this, due to the spicy taste of the ginger you do not use any haldi (turmeric) or lal mirch (red pepper). When made with nimboos (lemons), it has a really summery feel. If you prefer, you can add long, hari mirchain (green chilies)
too: just wash, towel dry, score them with a slit and place them in the jar. In Texas, you can improvise by using jalapenos, either sliced or whole with slits. You can reduce the salt as you want in this achar. This achar does not need to be refrigerated and kept for a long time. Ingredients: • 1 kg nimboo (lemons) • 500 gm adrak (ginger root) • 2 tablespoon namak (salt) • 1 tablespoon of chini (white sugar) • 1 cup sirka (white vinegar)
Directions: 1. Wash the lemons, then wash and towel dry them. Cut then lemons into four quarters. If the lemons are small, then cut into halves. 2. Peel the ginger root, then wash and also towel dry them. Cut the roots lengthwise in thin 2 inch long sticks. 3. Throw the ginger sticks and lemon halves into a glass
BOMBAY SWEETS & Pure Vegetarian Restaurant Mouth watering Indian dishes & Chats Catering available for all occasions 100+ varities of sweets
jar and then add the salt. 4. Close the jar and shake well. Now add the vinegar and sugar, close the lid and shake well again. 5. Place the jar in the sun and shake the contents two or three times a day for a week. The pickles will be ready to eat and they will become tastier the longer they stay in the marinade. Shake the contents from time to time. 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.
Need Kitchen & Cashier Help The Only Branch in Houston
er Buffet n in D & h Lunc cold itemst & t o H 1 2 you can ea ll A le b a il a av eek 7 days a w
$6.99
Dosas & Snacks PH:713-780-4453 Samosas & Chats 5827 Hillcroft, Houston Texas 77036
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
Friday, June 10, 3 2011 .com 1, 201 June 2 -news y a id r F erican m a o d in www.
June 21, 2013
www.indoamerican-news.com
23
IndoAmerican News
Business IndoAmerican News
STOCKS • FINANCE • SOUTH ASIAN MARKETS • TECHNOLOGY
RBI Pauses Rate-Cut Cycle on Rupee Inflation Worries MUMBAI (Live Mint): The battering that sent the rupee to a record low last week was an important reason why the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to hit the pause button on Monday, when it left its key lending rate unchanged. The decision by governor D. Subbarao came after three consecutive rate cuts since January to support a weak economy. In a cautious monetary policy statement, the Indian central bank also indicated that the long battle against inflation has not yet drawn to a close, despite the sharp decline in wholesale price inflation in recent months. “It is only a durable receding of inflation that will open up the space for monetary policy to continue to address risks to growth,” it said. RBI also said its outlook on inflation “will be determined by suppressed inflation being released through revisions in administered prices, including the minimum support prices, as well as the recent depreciation of the rupee”. Though RBI bank did not give any clear commitment on its future policy course, private sector economists indicated in various research notes released after the announcement of the monetary policy that they expected modest rate cuts in the coming months, perhaps as early as July, as long as the currency remains stable and a good monsoon helps ease food prices. Even as the central bank said that “the most significant development in the external sector has been the movement in the exchange rate”, new data released by the government on Monday served as a useful reminder of the fragile balance of payments situation, the underlying cause for the weak rupee. India’s
RBI retained the repo rate at 7.25% and cash reserve ratio at 4%. Photo: Pradeep Gaur/Mint.
trade deficit in May widened to its highest level in seven months (see page 6). The repo rate at which RBI lends short-term funds to banks has been retained at 7.25%. RBI left the cash reserve ratio (CRR), the portion of deposits banks need to park with the central bank, unchanged at 4%, saying that liquidity conditions have eased in the banking system. The rupee had touched a lifetime low of 58.99 against the US dollar on 11 June, though it has recovered some lost ground since then. Since January, the Indian currency has lost 4.73% against the dollar and is the third worst performing currency among Asian currencies this year. A record trade deficit combined with fears that the US Federal Reserve could begin to withdraw some of its monetary stimulus has rattled the rupee and other emerging market currencies. The US central bank is to have a key policy meeting later this week.
Poor transmission of previous rate cuts in the banking system has made earlier rate cuts ineffective. Not many banks have cut their minimum lending rates in the last one year despite RBI slashing its effective policy rate in phases. Reacting to the policy, finance minister P. Chidambaram said he recognized that RBI was independent while C. Rangarajan, chairman of the Prime Minister’s economic advisory council, said “external factors” will be predominant in RBI’s future decisions. The financial markets, which had already factored in a decision to leave policy rates unchanged, reacted positively in the latter half of the day on optimism that RBI will cut rates later. Government bonds rallied, with dealers attributing this to expectations that RBI will continue to buy bonds in the secondary market to bolster liquidity, through so-called open market operations (OMOs). The yield on India’s 10-year bond fell eight basis points to 7.238% intra-day from 7.31%
prior to the policy announcement. It ended the day at 7.255%. Bond prices and yields move in opposite directions. “Since there was no CRR cut, markets feel that there will be more OMOs, which is positive for the bond market,” said Moses Harding, head of the asset liability committee and economic and market research at IndusInd Bank. The stock market, which initially didn’t react to the policy announcement, later picked up positive cues. India’s benchmark equity index, the S&P BSE Sensex, which was trading flat after the announcement, ended 0.77% higher at 19,325.87 points. The broader Nifty index closed the day 0.72% up at 5,850 points. The rupee, which had fallen to 57.87 against the dollar after the RBI announcement, later pared most of its losses to rise to 57.55 intra-day; it closed at 57.87, down 0.58% from its previous close. Industry associations were disappointed by the policy. “The decision of the RBI to hold policy rates is disappointing,” said Chandrajit Banerjee, director general of the Confederation of Indian Industry. “At a time when both growth and inflation dynamics call for an accommodative monetary policy, the RBI has taken a cautious approach of attending to the prospect of a possible resurgence in inflation over reviving growth in the economy,” he said. If the lending rates are not brought down with immediate effect it would have a serious to moderate impact on investment plans. RBI will need to focus on the outcome of lower lending rates by banks,” said Naina Lal Kidwai, of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.
127
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
Ford Designates India Hub for SUV Exports
CHENNAI: Ford Motor Co. will make India an export hub for its compact sports utility vehicles, chief executive Alan Mulally said. “India is a great market and is the lead edge indicator as to what people want in the world,” Mulally said on Monday. “We are going to pay more attention to this segment. You will see more products in that segment.” Mulally was in Chennai to start production of the company’s compact SUV EcoSport at its Chennai factory, where it has invested $142 million to create a new production line that can produce as many as 10 variants of the model. The Chennai facility is one of the five plants that will produce this model, Mulally said. Global small utility vehicle sales grew 154% between 2005 and 2012, according to IHS Automotive, a sector-specific consultancy. Ford’s small utility vehicle sales are estimated to outpace the overall industry growth, according to IHS Automotive. Ford aims to generate 60-70% of its global sales from the Asia-Pacific region by 2020, Mulally said without giving details. “For the first time, we are making money. In the next 4-5 years, 40% of the revenues will come from Asia Pacific,” he said. Ford has invested a total of $2 billion to set up manufacturing facilities in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat besides an engine facility in Gujarat. Ford needs to introduce models more frequently in India, according to an industry consultant.
24
June 21, 2013
Champions Trophy: England vs. S. Africa, India vs. Sri Lanka BY NAGRAJ GOLLAPUDI CARDIFF (ESPN Cricinfo): Relaxed. That is what the Indian team are feeling at the moment. In fact, that seems to have been their state of mind throughout the tournament. Their progress might have caught the cynics off guard, especially back home, but MS Dhoni and his team could not care less. Although Dhoni did point out on the eve of the first warm-up match that it was surprising not to see numerous Indian TV channels, who had boycotted the event, unhappy with the terms and conditions set by the ICC over accreditation for non-rights holders. Away from the glare of relentless media attention, India have trained quietly and purposefully. And it was the same in Cardiff on a warm and sunny Tuesday afternoon, where India did nothing out of the ordinary, two days ahead of their semi-final against Sri Lanka. Being such a big match, it is normal to expect teams to bring extra intensity to training. But India decided to keep things simple; greasing the nuts and bolts so that they are ready to roll out smoothly come Thursday. Suresh Raina, obsessive when it comes to training, turned up first at Sophia Gardens, an hour before the rest of the squad arrived (at the scheduled time) in the afternoon. Taking throw downs from the fielding coach Trevor Penney, Raina focused on every aspect of his batting, especially against the moving and short ball. The success of the top order has not allowed Raina much time in the middle, so it was key that he remained in the right frame of mind. Elsewhere, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik asked Penney to feed them length balls, as they wanted to make certain they were sensing, eyeing and timing well. Kohli focused on leaving the ball as he felt he was not letting them go as much as he should have during match situations. Karthik went so far as to berate himself after pulling a ball too far away from his body. He communicated that to Penny, even pointing the exact distance he had connected with the ball, when all of the time he
should have been lunging forward to play the pull. Earlier, Karthik was involved in an animated chat with Indian coach Duncan Fletcher, with both men discussing the finer points about the upper cut and pull shot. It would have been fascinating to hear what was being said, but Fletcher seemed to galvanise Karthik, who was hell bent on getting things precise later. Although the success of the Indian batting has been the central point of focus, the fast bowlers have also toiled hard, despite not having much experience with the white Kookaburra bar Ishant Sharma. Today, Joe Dawes, the Indian bowling coach, put the trio of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar through various drills, pointing out exactly what each needed to do in order to be more sharp. Lengths, body movement and getting certain variations accurate seemed to be Dawes’ focus during the hourlong session. Dawes, a former Queensland fast bowler, as well as being a policeman, is a methodical guy, and at times irritates the batsmen by refusing to give them easy balls, even during throw downs. This fact was not lost on Kohli, who teased Dawes for never giving batsmen any allowance. “Always at the batsman’s wrists. You can throw 300 balls, but only five will be easy to drive,” Kohli joked with Dawes, who was giving a slightly hard time to Bhuvneshwar at the time. Such light-hearted banter only happens when a team is function-
BY ALAN GARDNER
THE OVAL (ESPN Cricinfo): South Africa at The Oval, with Hashim Amla in the line up: it’s a thought to make even Alastair Cook sweat. Go back further and the ground played host to a onesided thrashing during the 1999 World Cup, the defeat so damaging in terms of net run rate that it went a long way to seeing England knocked out of the competition they were hosting. But England have won their last two encounters in global 50-over tournaments - in Centurion and Chennai - and will take comfort from South Africa’s return to The Oval for an ODI last summer. Amla made 268 runs fewer than the 311 he amassed in the first Test, and was removed by no less a bowler than Jade Dernbach, before Jonathan Trott’s patient halfcentury was followed a brisker one from Eoin Morgan in a four-wicket win. Sounds like a good formula, doesn’t it? That the series finished 2-2 suggests these teams are reasonably well matched. Both have experienced a few malfunctions in progressing to the knockout stage. England, one-time hot favourites, have cooled like a custard left in the kitchen, their much-documented penchant for platform-building lampooned in various quarters. Wear and tear to Graeme Swann - though James Tredwell has proven an able deputy - and the bowlers’ inability to defend 293 against Sri Lanka mean they have long been usurped by India as frontrunners. AB de Villiers, meanwhile, has had to contend with injuries to his
two strike bowlers, Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel - the latter tournament-ending - plus familiar jiggery pokery with DuckworthLewis (though this time it came to South Africa’s aid). A sole group win over a hapless Pakistan is not the sort of form to fill opponents with dread, nor is a record in 50over knockout competition that boasts just one appearance in a final, 15 years ago. At least they can take comfort in the knowledge that this match is unlikely to go the way of their 1992 World Cup semi-final against England. At last year’s World Twenty20, de Villiers was able to utter the word “choke” and not be immediately carted off. On this occasion, however, it is perhaps England who are more likely to be dragged down by an albatross around their necks. They have never won an ICC 50-over event and this may still be their best chance. Cook’s men can’t afford any more mistakes. England’s lower middle-order has generally failed to live up to its billing in this tournament, a couple of Ravi Bopara cameos aside. While Cook, Ian Bell and Trott have been assiduously accumulating - and are accordingly England’s three leading scorers - Morgan and Jos Buttler have 51 runs, from 50 balls, between them. Cook has hit twice as many sixes (2) as both put together. The bang-to-buck ratio has been kept respectable by Bopara’s death hitting but another failure to launch could be costly. Much may rest on Steyn individually but it is South Africa’s bowlers as a group that will be under the microscope. The injured Morkel aside, they went missing against India, before a much-improved display gave them an all-important win over Pakistan. Steyn was the difference against West Indies but, on another night, Ryan McLaren’s three overs for 34 might have sent South Africa out of the competition. Bowling to England’s more orthodox batsmen could mitigate against similar trauma. Cook said that Swann’s calf problem means he won’t be risked unless 100%.
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
SPORTS
India Needs Hockey Miracle to Secure a World Cup Entry ROTTERDAM: An error-prone India need nothing short of a miracle to secure a direct berth in next year’s hockey World Cup as they take on formidable Australia in the quarterfinals of the men’s competition of the FIH World Round 3 on Wednesday.
Six top teams—three each— will qualify directly for the 2014 World Cup to be held in Hague, The Netherlands from the two editions of FIH World League Round 3 -- the ongoing event in Rotterdam and then the next one to be held in Malaysia from June 29 to July 7. But for India it is now looking extremely difficult to be among one of those six teams as in the last eight round world ranked second Australia await them, a side against whom the Indians hold a poor record in the recent past. India, however, could take heart from the fact that they put up a much-improved performance to eke out a fighting 3-3 draw against higher-ranked New Zealand in their last match to finish third in Pool B with two points. After two pretty ordinary outings against lower-ranked Ireland (4-4) and hosts Netherlands (0-2), the Indians displayed an attacking brand of hockey against the Black Sticks from the starting hooter on Monday. The Sardar Singh-led India, who dominated the match throughout, however paid the price for poor defending and conceded a goal four minutes from time against New Zealand to return winless from the group stage. India’s chief coach Michael Nobb too knows it very well that a slight lapse in concentration from his wards can spoil their chances as the Kookaburras can run away with the game in no time.
INDIA
June 21, 2013
Incessant Rain Causes Floods, Landslides
Incessant rain have left a trail of destruction across north India, killing at least 60 people, injuring scores and leaving thousands stranded. NEW DELHI (IE): Cloudbursts, At least 30 people have died and floods and landslides brought on floods have washed away four by incessant rain over the past 48 hundred roads, scores of telehours have left a trail of destruc- phone towers, vehicles and houstion across north India, killing at es as well as a helicopter and left least 60 people, injuring scores some 57,000 pilgrims to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Yamunotri and and leaving thousands stranded. Uttarakhand has borne the brunt. Gangotri stranded. The Army has
been called in to rescue them as well as local villagers. In the worst-affected Rudraprayag, rescue workers have found bodies of five of the 11 people believed to have been killed in a cloudburst near Rambada near Kedarnath. Two persons are feared dead in a landslide in the area and several are missing. The famous Kedarnath temple is inaccessible as the bridge to it has been washed away. “Rambada mein zyada nuksan hua hai,” Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna told a press conference Monday. “But I am not in position to give you details. Uttarakhand is in grip of unprecedented rain and floods. I am trying my best to collect information from various districts to assess the situation. About 400 roads have been damaged. Bridges have been swept away. Helicopters are ready but the weather is not favouring us.” Rambada is a base camp for pilgrims to Kedarnath. Reports said at least 40 hotels near Gaurikunda, from where pilgrims start their journey to the temple on foot, and a market at Sonprayag have been washed away by a raging Mandakini river. Some 3,000 pilgrims
Fukrey: A Genial Romp to Make You Smile BY ANUPAMA CHOPRA Direction: Mrighdeep Singh Lamba Actors: Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Ali Fazal, Manjot Singh, Richa Chadda, Pankaj Tripathi Rating: *** Fukrey is a genial romp about four lower middleclass boys in Delhi who embark upon a harebrained scheme to raise money Hunny and Choocha, played by Pulkit Samrat and debutant Varun Sharma are buddies whose only aspiration is to get into the coolest college in town. Zafar, played by Ali Fazal, is a struggling musician and Lali, played by Manjot Singh, is the hapless son of a halwai who watches his girl, who already attends the cool college, get enamored by big cars and slick guys. Lali, Hunny and Choocha desperately want to get into the college (Hunny and Choocha fantasize about riding in on horses) but none have the grades. The leaked exam papers cost Rs. 50,000 each. And so begins a journey that
25
takes them to the wily college watchman Punditji, played by the terrific Pankaj Tripathi and Bholi Punjaban played by Richa Chadda, the local mistress of vices. Director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba gives us a theatre of the absurd set in East Delhi. The characters and actors are a perfect match.
Job Opportunity
Capricorn Travel Requires Full Time Experienced Travel Agent. For Appointment: Please Call: 713-339-2222
Pulkit embodies the overconfident charmer and Manjot looks comically sweet and bewildered all the time. But my favourite was Varun as the foolish and always-in-heat Choocha whose dreams kickstart the entire mess — he manages to be both, idiotic and endearing. Ram Sampath’s boisterous score add to the rough and tumble feel of the film. But the problem with Fukrey is that the characters and milieu are more engaging than the plot, which gets more far-fetched as it thickens. By the time we get to a rave party and drugs, the outrageousness of the story becomes exhausting. By the climax, the writing becomes slack. Anything is possible, including a financial windfall from a character who seems tacked on to save the day. But there is enough pep in Fukrey to make it pleasantly diverting. I’m not suggesting that you drop everything and get to the theatre. But if you happen to stroll in, you are likely to come out smiling. HT
have reportedly taken shelter with villagers in Gori. In Chamoli, a group of seven foreign trekkers are believed to be trapped at Ghattauli near Badrinath. And the authorities evacuated Pandukeshwar village after Alaknanda changed course. National Disaster Response Force personnel has sent 50 personnel to Haridwar “but they are unable to move ahead because of the damage to roads.” Meanwhile, unrelenting skies poured 375 mm more rain on Dehradun. “This is a new record,” Anand Sharma, director of Dehradun Meterolgical Centre, said. He predicted more rain over the next 72 hours. In Himachal Pradesh, heavy rain and floods have killed 11 people, damaged much of the road and communication network in the worst-affected Kinnaur district and left some 1,700 tourists stranded, including Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh. Singh was in Kinnaur to campaign for the Mandi Lok Sabha byelection scheduled for June 23. He is stuck at Sangla, a popular tourist destination. The rain and floods have also led
to collapse of at least 50 houses, washed away several roads and caused widespread damage to apple orchards and fields. Those killed include five of a family, three of them children, who were crushed in a landslide. The government has sought help from the Army and the Air Force to rescue the stranded people, including 25 foreigners and a team from Doordarshan, but bad weather has frustrated their efforts so far. The state helicopter made two attempts to airlift the chief minister and his staff but was thwarted by bad weather each time. The government, meanwhile, sanctioned Rs 10 crore to provide immediate relief to the affected people. In Haryana, the Army and the Air Force rescued more than 200 people, including 52 from an island in Yamuna. An overflowing Yamuna — eight lakh cusecs of water flowed through Hathnikund Barrage Monday compared to 4.7 lakh cusecs a day before — has flooded Shergarh Tapu and Chandrao villages in Karnal and alarmed the state enough to sound a high alert in Karnal, Panipat and Sonepat.
Trailer: Two Million You Tube Views The trailer of superstar Shahrukh Khan starrer Chennai Express has crossed the 2 million mark on Youtube just four days after its launch. The action-comedy directed by Rohit Shetty also stars Deepika Padukone, who plays a South Indian in the film, has dubbed in the typical southern accent. Chennai Express is about a man’s journey from Mumbai to Rameshwaram and what happens along the way after he falls in love with the daughter of a don, played by Padukone.
First Ever
24 Hour
Telugu Radio in Houston
Online at www.radiohungama.net & Every Sunday 12 PM to 3 PM CST On
KCHN AM 1050 Contact: Sridhar Dadi at
281-217-9736
houstonradio@yahoo.com
Award Winning Customer Service & Best Rates in Town Proudly Serving For Best Rates to: India, Europe, Cruises & Vacation Packages South Asian Community Toll Free: 1-866-956-0758 - Tel:713-339-2222 for Past 3939 Hillcroft Ave, Suite# 110, Houston, TX 77057 30 Years
CAPRICORN TRAVEL
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
26
June 21, 2013
Become a fan!
Follow us on facebook!
Keywords: Indo-American News “IT HAPPENS ONLY IN INDIA”
Stay tuned every Sunday,
HIREN JOSHI
to from 3.30pm to 4.30pm
832-646-2116
hjoshi7@hotmail.com
www.shobajoshi.com
SHOBA JOSHI
ON AM 1320 Geetanjali Radio Sat & Sun 2-6 PM For your business ads
Tel:281-909-0825 - 713-545-4749 713-984-0424 - Cell:832-878-4338 shobajoshi999@gmail.com
Job Posting:
Multi Media Jounalist - Temporary
KTRK-TV, the ABC Owned station located in Houston, TX, has an opening for a full time temporary Multi Media Journalist. Do you like to do-it-all when it comes to great story telling for TV? Do you enjoy being behind the camera and in front of it too? KTRK ABC13 in Houston is looking to fill a temporary position for a hard-working multi-media journalist able to shoot, edit and report stories and live breaking news for broadcast, web and mobile platforms. Applicant must be proficient in working alone or with a crew and meeting multiple deadlines. All interested applicants must apply on-line at www.disneycareers.com by uploading a resume file, cover letter and list of references. Interested applicants should also send video tape samples of your news related work to: Human Resources, KTRK-TV, 3310 Bissonnet, Houston, TX 77005. Please Reference Job ID: 113105BR on all materials submitted. No phone calls please, and no third parties. KTRK-TV is an Equal Opportunity Employer M/F/D/V.
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
June 21, 2013 MADRAS N PAVILIO T & DAAWA CATERING
Indo-American News
Rao’s Satish CA FE UDIPI
r 28 2011 Octobe Friday,
IONS CONGRATULAT TEAM
RAJENDER SINGH OTION INC.
.com -news erican www.indoam
Diwigahlits
INDIA INDIWAORLD P OF THE JUGAL & NI RAJ MALA
No. 43
ndo can IIn Ameri News
CPA DEV PATHAK NCE BEMA INSURA
EL AJIT PAT COOL AIR AN U
| Vol. 30,
Del
ON TO
RA. Onse Break Barriers
STAR PROM
SWAPAN YAWAN DHAIR ingCIATES
GUJARATI SAMAJ
on page
Infodat
CUP
WAJ BHARAD ! Great ANDY ulations Team India s aretoplayed:
ACC BZCC CMCC
Teams Participating I MCC II LCC ECC HACC HOCC
LCC II MCC I
PCC STYXCC
www.htbc.net
on We Jewelry setting done d and Gold e Diamon Jewelry repairs and TX 77036 Exclusiv Houston,
ALI HAPPY DIW elers aja Jew MaharJewe lry Store
ESS PRINC CUISINE
matche All Congrat grounds and the boys! job, Dhoni and full rd ball - On fulla pitches - With semi-ha on Saturdays - Exclusively
34
Story with Fri nds3,9 & 14 ate Diwali ily and Frie into Cash Fam Story on pages ians Celebr / Platinum metal above Houston Feasts, Fireworks, Gold / Silver for all the le prices Turn your at affordab pay top $ site Festivities,
USTON
OF HO 2011
Spr MD ASSO Tap ed Ball rnament Cricket Tou
27 3
INDIAN
r at a one custome Diamond relationships
ft, 5821 Hillcro
73 713-784-56 s North Deliciou • Serving Indian DishesSizes: & South of All g Events • Caterin ate | Weddings saries Corpor | Anniver Birthdays
time
Building
sh Sati
Subscribe to
s Rao’
ARIAN INDIAN PURE VEGET
d • Adjudge Restaurant ian Indian Best Vegetar 2002, 2003, 2001, 2010 2008, 2009,Press – Houston
CUISINE
14-2716
m cafeusa.co www.udipi
ing: 281-9 • Cater
Indo-American News Today
We cover your world!
Name: ____________________________________ Phone: ____________________________________ Address:___________________________________ __________________________________________ Number of Years: (Circle One)
1 $40
3 $100
Credit Card: Master Card / Visa (Circle One)
T:10”
_________________________________________
Your Signature:
Exp Date: ___/___ 3 digit code:______
_______________
Do cut and mail to: 7457 Harwin Dr, Ste 262, Houston, TX 77036 (OR) Scan and E-mail to: Indoamericannews@yahoo.com • Call us at 713-789-6397 • Call us to sign up for E-mail Blast Indo-American News is community oriented. We thank you for your subscription & support.
T:6.5”
PLAY RESPONSIBLY. For detailed game odds and information, visit txlottery.org or call 1-800-37LOTTO. Must be 18 or older to purchase a ticket. The Texas Lottery supports Texas education. © 2013 Texas Lottery Commission. All rights reserved.
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
28 June 21, 2013
INDO AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, JUNE 21, 2013 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM