Friday, March 24, 2017 | Vol. 36, No. 12
$1
Indo American erican News
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
A
CURRY ON AN AMERICAN PLATE P6
Happy P3 Gudi Padwa & Ugadi
BJP Victory Celebrations
MITRA / CAMDEN TRAVEL Consolidators for Turkish Airlines and Asiana Airlines
We have completed 25 successful years 12375 Bissonnet, Ste. B Houston, TX 77099
We have special low fares on Emirates
WHOLESALER FOR S MAJOR AIR CARRIER • Emirates • Gulf Airways • Kingfisher • Singapore Airlines • Jet Airways • Sahara Airlines • Indian Airlines • Eva Airlines • Asiana Airlines • Qatar Airways • PIA • Air India • Royal Jordanian • China Airlines
281-530-3000, 1-888-811-LESS Emergency Contact 281-236-9475 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 Summer and December fares please call us now. www.faregurus.com/ camdentravel@aol.com
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
2
March 24, 2017
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
COMMUNITY
March 24, 2017
3
IACCGH Honors Asif Dakri’s Appointment to FDIC’s Advisory Committee
BY MANU SHAH
production in November 2014, the markets took a dive. This led to a loss of thousands of jobs and a real estate decline in multifamily and office markets among other casualties. The exceptions were retail, healthcare and education that were making money. Today, oil prices have stabilized but a likely Fed interest rate hike could crimp growth and make it harder to “keep the American dream alive.” As for the
HOUSTON: On February 27,
IACCGH Executive Director Jagdip Ahluwalia welcomed “the roomful of friends and supporters” who had gathered to honor Wallis State Bank’s Vice Chairman and CEO Asif Dakri’s appointment to the prestigious FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporations) Advisory Committee on Community Banking. Consul General Dr. Anupam Ray, Chancellor and Chief Guest for the evening Dr. Renu Khator, Dr. Suresh Khator, Jay Guerrero and Minesh Patel from Tampa’s Chamber of Commerce were also present. In his introductory remarks, Past President Ashok Garg underscored the strong relationship shared by the Chamber and Wallis State Bank and their longstanding support as Gala Underwriters and sponsors of the IACCGH Business Outreach programs. He also highlighted the well-deserved honor bestowed upon Asif Dakri and stated that he “had ticked all the boxes in terms of leadership, business acumen, cordiality and helpfulness.” Appreciating the Chamber’s gesture of honoring Asif Dakri’s appointment, Consul General Dr. Anupam Ray remarked that Wallis State Bank is a story of “entrepreneurial drive and spirit” and added that he was struck by Asif Dakri’s focus in giving back to the community. Describing Asif Dakri as a “great
future, he remarked that his guess about where it was headed was “as good as anyone else’s” but was optimistic that despite the bumps on the road, Houston’s future is still favorable. Asif Dakri concluded by appealing to the gathering to become more “involved and proactive” not only in their Indo American or South Asian communities but the American community at large.
Houston Celebrates BJP Victories in India’s State Elections Wallis State Bank CEO Asif Dakri presented with a plaque by UH Chancellor Dr. Renu Khator. Photo: Bijay Dixit
role model,” Dr. Renu Khator also drew attention to the honoree’s generosity and support of UH programs and lauded his accomplishments in making Wallis State Bank the number one SBA lender in the Houston region. Asif Dakri’s new role, she continued, will offer him the opportunity in doing “something bigger” in terms of advising the Government on regulatory and monetary policies. She also lauded Asif Dakri’s efforts in helping UH’s SURE program which has been championed by Professor Dr. Saleha Khumawala and promotes entrepreneurship among underprivileged children. Asif Dakri’s appointment to the FDIC Advisory committee is a matter of pride for the South Asian community and he with a panel of
13 members will provide advice on policy issues that impact small community banks throughout the country. He represents FDIC’s Dallas region which oversees 8 states. In his Keynote, Asif Dakri offered a brief overview of Wallis State Bank and its successful streak as the number one SBA lending Bank in Houston for the past three years specializing in small business lending. He also presented an interesting insight about Houston’s economy which highlighted where we were, where we stand and where we are going. Pre 2014, Houston, he elaborated, had a tremendous run up in employment rates, real estate prices and construction but when OPEC refused to limit oil
Achalesh Amar welcomes BJP supporters.
HOUSTON: OFBJP Houston or-
ganized Vijay Diwas celebrations on March 19, at Bhojan restaurant. The event was attended by close to a 100 jubilant BJP supporters who danced and sang patriotic songs as they registered their happiness over BJP forming government in
ALL REQUIRED SERVICES FOR INDIVIDUALS & BUSINESSES ARE PROVIDED: SERVING HOUSTON AREA FOR 40 YEARS Taxation:
Accounting Services:
• Individual Taxes: Federal & All States 1040 & 1041 Fbar. • Business-1120, 1102s, 1065 Etc • Gift & Estate Taxes • 990: Exempt/Non Profit Entities. • IRS Audits.
• Financial Statements, Compilation, Bookkeeping Services • Complete Payroll Sevices • Local Taxes: Sales & Franchize
4 states - Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa. Welcoming all the guests, Houston OFBJP Coordinator Achalesh Amar also drew their attention to BJP’s stupendous performance CONTINUED ON PAGE
JITENDRA R SHAH, CPA
7322 Southwest Fwy, Ste 715, Houston, TX 77074 Email: jshahcpa@sbcglobal.net Voice: 713-840-1222 Fax: 713-988-7778 Call for a 30 minutes free consultation. No set up charges.
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
5
4
March 24, 2017
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
COMMUNITY
March 24, 2017
5
Golden Moon Festival at ISKCON of Houston
HOUSTON: On March 12, the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) of Houston celebrated Gaura Purnima, translated as “golden full moon” signifying the appearance of Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu during the full moon, 531 years ago. Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu also known as Gauranga, due to his golden complexion, appeared in Mayapur, India and propagated “Sankirtana” - congregational chanting of the holy names, specifically the Hare Krishna Mahamantra, as the most effective means to attain the highest spiritual perfection - Love of Godhead. Typically devotees fast on this day until moonrise which signifies the appearance of the Lord. Gaura Purnima is one of the major festivals of Vaisnava tradition and planning and preparation for this festival started weeks in advance. The festival also marks the ushering of the Gaudiya New Year, and devotees from far and wide attended the early morning services at 4:30 AM to offer their respectful prayers to the Lordships and make an auspicious start to the new year. In the early afternoon, a group of CONTINUED FROM PAGE
3
in municipal elections in several states recently (most noticeably in Maharashtra and Orissa) and urged the karyakartas to broaden the base even further. He requested them to support the nation building exercises by contributing to India Development Foundation of Overseas Indians (IDF-OI), a nonfor-profit trust established by Govt of India. Swatch Bharat Mission, National Mission for Clean Ganga and other state specific projects can be funded through this. Noted philanthropist and senior most community leader Ramesh Bhutada spoke about the significance of these victories. He expressed satisfaction over the performance of central govt since 2014 and said the current victories are “a stamp of approval for the
devotees went on a public parade at Discovery Green park chanting the names of the Lord and giving out the nectar of the Holy name to one and all. The public celebrations started at 5 in the evening. The temple wore a festive look with bouquets of flowers donning its pristine marble walls and exquisitely carved teakwood altar. The festivities started off with a rousing arati / kirtan (chanting of the Hare Krishna mahamantra) and devotees joyfully dancing while chanting the names of the Lord. This was followed by abhishek - bathing ceremony, where both Lord
Photos: Thejas Rajaram
Gaurachandra and His dear associate Lord Nityananda were bathed in colorful sweet fruit juices, milk, ghee, honey, yogurt, and other auspicious substances. HG Advaitachandra Dasa gave an inspiring talk on the appearance of Lord Chaitanya where he spoke about
the reasons for the appearance of the Lord, His form and His teachings, specifically, the key verse of “Siksastakam”- The Eight Instructions of Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu describing the importance for a devotee of the Lord to cultivate the qualities of humility, tolerance and
mutual respect. The Sunday school students, continuing on the theme of Sankirtana presented a well enacted skit glorifying the importance of congregational chanting in this age of Kali, the age of quarrel and hypocrisy. Over 700 enthusiastic devotees attended the event. ISKCON of Houston temple (located at 1320 West 34th Street) invites you to attend our weekly Sunday program, starting at 5 PM.
Houstonians Celebrates BJP Victory in India’s State Elections policies brought by Modi govt and an indication of maturing of Indian democracy”. Winner of 2012 Pravasi Bhartiya Samman, Dr. Kalpalata Guntapalli touched upon the role played by women in supporting BJP in large numbers, thanks to the central governments pro women initiatives like Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojna. She attributed the success of current Modi govt and recent victories to three important factors: Trustworthiness, Incorruptibility and Infrastructure development. Dr. Subroto Gangopadhyay, well renowned cardiologist and intellectual, mesmerized the audience
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
R. SRINIVASAN AND COMPANY
15 Years of Solid and Trusted Experience Book Keeping & Tax Services Income Statements & Balance Sheets Filing of all individual Business Returns 1040, 1120, 1120S, 1065 Free Consultation
Dr. Kalpalata Guntapali
with his take on “Changing face of Bharat”. Pointing to the appointment of Yogi Adityanath as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, he said that monumental changes are sweeping Bharat. “The current election showed who we are, what is our Dharma and there is no need to import Western Philosophy” he
emphasized. A beautiful rendition by Hasita Kartick in Sanskrit and Hindi exhorting the audience to join the growing BJP movement has already gone viral on social media clocking in over 25 thousand views in less than 2 days. It can be seen at https://www.facebook. com/ PMOIndiaReportCard/videos/ 1388015521258133/ Achalesh Amar introduced the entire OFBJP team to the audience and encouraged them to reach out
to any of the members with any development agenda related issue. Pankaj Patel and Sreedhar Kanchankuntla as the two cocordinators, Annant Srivastav as the membership coordinator and Sangeeta Dua as the “Women and Youth Coordinator, with additional charge of Media” comprise the OFBJP Houston team. The event was attended by many prominent community leaders of greater Houston area.
BOOK KEEPING | PAYROLL | INCOME TAX Incorporations: C and S Corporations, LLC’s Sales Tax and Franchise Tax Returns Income Tax and Sales Tax Representation Payroll and Payroll Tax Returns
Cell: 832-877-9625 | Fax: 713-977-2221 | Email: acct77036@yahoo.com | web: www.asu2020.com 6666 Harwin Dr, Suite 335, Houston, TX 77036 INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
6
COMMUNITY Houstonians Relish A Curry on an American Plate March 24, 2017
BY VANSHIKA VIPIN VARMA
HOUSTON:
Movie screening can be a mix of fun and learning experience, especially when it is about a bitter-sweet tale, directed by an award winning filmmaker, and stars talented and passionate actors. The University of Houston Theatre was abuzz on March 5, with a special screening of A Curry on an American Plate. A Lake Camp Productions and Next Actor Studio film, this movie will be screened at different film festivals before an official release. A Curry on an American Plate, is a story of a dying Indian restaurant, whose owner and his staff get an ultimatum to buy the property in 30 days or shut down the premises. This heart-wrenching tale, directed by the award winning film maker San Banarje, stars Rick Fox, Charlie O’Connell, Disney Spain’s Andrea Guasch and Houston-based actors of Indian descent Bud Patel, Meera Nandlal, Christian Bhalla and Prateek Karkal in lead roles. While the film was originally conceived by San in 2007, it could not see the light of the day until 2015 till he met Houston theatre actor and emcee Bud Patel. Bud, a passionate actor, expressed his desire to begin this film’s journey and that led to the project being kicked off with Bud playing the key role
At the screening
of the protagonist and the executive producer of this movie, along with San and Trisha Ray. The subject of this movie features around the Indian community in USA, something that is unconventional
to mainstream Hollywood cinema. The movie is offbeat to Bollywood cinema as well. So what is the tale about? K.G Patel (Bud), the owner of this Indian restaurant is in a crisis
at personal and financial level. His restaurant has not been profitable and with his inability to pay child support on time and several collection agencies chasing him, it only adds up to his burdensome and grueling life. His financial distress is even worsened when he gets the news that his landlord wants him out because of his inability to pay the rent. A reorientation plan to add live performance fails miserably, backfiring just like a couple of other similar plans planned prior. A Curry on an American Plate is a bitter-sweet saga which everyone can relate to. The zest and energy of Patel and his staff are notable and they keep you glued to your seats as you watch them save their failing restaurant. Rick Fox who plays the role of a writer, is in the city for his cancer treatment. He visits their restaurant everyday to write his book and soon gathers that they are in a financial distress. When his book becomes a hit he
contributes money to Patel and the team and this helps them save their restaurant. A Curry on an American Plate has all the masala of a Bollywood movie. It has comedy, drama and emotions, and is easy to relate to. The delightful performances grip you and keep you entertained throughout. San Banarje, a multitalented personality with several accolades to his career, wears with conviction the hats of a director, producer, cinematographer and actor. When we spoke to San, he had an interesting piece to reveal, “I had a lot of fun while making A Curry on an American Plate and there were many plots that I couldn’t film due to time constraint. So I am now writing a sequel which I will be casting soon”. He has written the screenplay of this movie along with Trisha Ray, and is also the director of cinematography. San began his career as an actor, playing along with Lou Diamond Phillips in Sony Pictures’ Striking Range, and later went on to direct his own short feature films. His executive producer partners are Trisha Ray and Bud Patel. Trisha also couples as his co-writer, casting director, co-executive producer and producer of this movie. Trisha said, “San had the original idea for A Curry on an American Plate in
Stills from the movie: A Curry on an American Plate
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
CONTINUED ON PAGE
10
March 24, 2017
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
7
8
WORD SEARCH
March 24, 2017
Send us your solved Word Search for your name to be published (for first three entrees only & 1 submission per month).
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
Find 15 Words related to SAN ANTONIO: • • • • •
Alamo Bexar County Boats Caverns History
• • • • •
Kelly air Force Base • Military • Riverwalk • Romance • Saint Anthony •
Sea World Six Flags Fiesta Texas Texas Tourism World Heritage Sites
R���� �� W��: • Like us on Facebook, Indo-American News • Solve the Word Search puzzle • Email us the screenshot of our liked Facebook Page, and the solved puzzle at indoamericannews@yahoo.com • Email by Tuesday, March 28, 2017
For advertising contact:
Vanshika Vipin
at 713.789.6397 INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
COMMUNITY
March 24, 2017
9
TCC Taped Ball Winter 2016 Tournament: ECC Winners, Gladiators Runners Up Vibhish removed Ninad to peg Gladiators to 99/7 at the end of 17. Gladiators were all out for 108 in the 19th over for ECC to lift their 2nd consecutive and 4th overall championship. For ECC, Avinash and Vibish took 3 wickets each. The game was followed by a well-organized prize distribution ceremony arranged by TCC. Mr. Krishna Kasturi, ex HCL President and secretary of Triggers EC graced the occasion as chief guest.
He was lauded for his contribution and support to cricket in Houston. He talked about his passion for youth cricket and encouraged everyone present to support youth cricket. Jagadish Biradar, the organizer of the tournament coordinated the presentation ceremony. TCC extended thanks and appreciation to Dinesh Kasliwal from Gladiators for his wonderful vol-
Winners ECC with Chief Guest Krishna Kasturi
HOUSTON: ECC won the TCC
taped Ball Winter 2016 tournament by defeating Gladiators by 13 runs in a keenly contested final between 6-time finalist and 3 time winners ECC and 6 time finalists and 2-time winner Gladiators. With this win ECC claimed its 4th and 2nd consecutive title. On a slightly overcast Saturday morning with a forecast of rain looming to play spoilsport, Gladiators won the toss and put ECC in to bat. Subodh the Gladiators captain and Matthew started off with a good couple of overs. After the fall of the first wicket, Gautam joined Bhaskar in the middle and they went about attacking the Gladiators bowlers scoring more than 8 runs per over in the next 4. Gau-
tam was runout for a quick 26 and at the end of 10 overs ECC were well placed at 68/2. After the break the Gladiator bowlers came back strongly by bowling with discipline and as the runs dried down, ECC batsman started to take some risks which resulted in ECC losing a couple of quick wickets. Bhaskar was run out for a match winning 44. Avinash from ECC made a brisk 16 down the lower order to take ECC to a respectable but under par 121/6 in 20 overs. For Gladiators, Subodh, Matthew and Sandeep took two wickets a piece. Gladiators started with Amit Patel and Sanman and were 22 at the end of 3 overs having lost Sanman. Emad joined Amit and were
30 /1 after 6 overs. At the end of 10 overs the score was 58/3 with Amit getting out for an aggressive 22. At the drinks break the game was evenly poised with Gladiators needing 64 more runs and they had Ninad and Subhodh their main run scorers in this tournament still to come. ECC started strongly after the break due to which Gladiators were 69/5 at the end of 13 with Emad getting out for a well compiled 27. Subhodh and Amit Shah played sensibly and ran hard to take the score to 86/5 at the end of 15 overs. With 36 runs required in the last 5 overs it was anybody’s game but ECC struck a double blow when Kiran removed Subhodh and then the very next over
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
CONTINUED ON PAGE
13
10 March 24, 2017
HPL and FIS to Join Hands to Celebrate Indo-American Heritage iDay in 2018
From left: Krishna Vavilala, FIS Founder- Chairman; Roosevelt Weeks, HPL Deputy Director of Administration; Judith Hiott, HPL Chief of the Houston Area Library Automated Network; Jennifer Schwartz, HPL Manager of System wide Programming; Kulwant Bhatia, FIS Director; and Helen Chou, Manager International Services, City of Houston / HPL.
HOUSTON: Houston Public Li-
brary (HPL) and Foundation for India Studies (FIS) have met in Julia Ideson Library on March 9, to plan for Indo-American Heritage Celebrations in 2018 highlighting India’s heritage. HPL and the Foundation for India Studies will co-lead the effort to plan the event in 2018. Encouraged by the success of last year’s “ Indo-American Heritage Day” event, held on March 26 in HPL’s historic Julia Ideson Library, Krishna Vavilala , Chair of FIS suggested to Roosevelt
Weeks, Deputy Director of HPL that the “Indo-American Heritage Day” could be made into a City wide Annual event in the same way as HPL observes the African American and Hispanic American heritages. Indians being a highly visible minority, the Indo-American Heritage Celebration would provide a great opportunity for the main stream Americans to learn and understand more about the heterogeneous composition and diversity of the Indian- American community living in the greater
Houston area. “It would also help minimize the hate crimes arising out of ignorance” said Krishna Vavilala. HPL , a working partner in the FIS’s Oral History Project will plan and coordinate the Asian American Heritage Celebrations. Jennifer Schwartz, Manager of HPL System wide Programming is appointed the Chair of the Joint Planning Committee. For further details email at info@foundationforindiastudies. org
COMMUNITY
Houstonian Moviegoers Relish A Curry on an American Plate CONTINUED FROM PAGE
6
2007 and we had a great laugh when he had told me the storyline but that year we were busy with his film Money that was shot in France and my film Federal Case that was shot in Mexico, and we didn’t know any Indian actors, so we didn’t pursue it. I’m glad we waited, because making it at this present time allowed us to rewrite the screenplay as a satire instead of another humorous comedy”. Trisha and San together had founded the very first actor’s studio in Houston called Next Actor Studio. The concept of this studio is brilliant; it is a hub where actors, directors, screenwriters and editors gather to brainstorm and create. Their production company Lake Camp Productions/Next Actor Films is a SAG signatory company that creates independent films, music videos, commercials, and corporate videos. Kavish Kruti Production is also a production company involved alongside. Most of you will be surprised to note that the protagonist of this movie, Bud (Bhadresh) Patel, is actually a Microbiologist by profession. That never deterred him from his passion for acting, and one can notice his obsession for acting in his work and his talks. “I am really passionate about acting
and about life, I observe people a lot and pick peculiarity from each person and use those nuances in my acting”, Bud stated. Growing up in Mumbai, India, during his school and college days he was exposed to several stage dramas in English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Bengali. He has been fortunate to have worked with many renowned directors in Houston and Canada. He is also currently casted as a Pharmacist in Houston’s Crime TV Series Dream$ville. Apart from strengths in business, international trade, entertainment, culture, media, fashion, science, sports, technology, education, medicine, research, the large metropolis of Houston is a hub for talented artists. Houston is favored and fortunate to have such amazing talents who have created a niche for themselves in this space. A Curry on an American Plate is a must watch film that keeps you engaged in the ground realities of the Indian- American life. It is so different than the conventional comedy, tearjerker, musical or a classic, and lets you adore, relish and totally appreciate it. Visit the film’s IMDb or www. lakecampproductions.com for more information.
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
COMMUNITY
Bollywood Shake to Host Its 5th Annual Bollywood Pageant USA
HOUSTON: Bollywood Shake
will be hosting its 5th Annual Bollywood Pageant USA 2017 on March 26, at 6PM at Stafford Civic Center (1415 Constitution Ave, Stafford TX). This year’s show will feature contestants from all over the United States. Bollywood Shake conducted its auditions and extensive search for the last 6 months all over the US to find the best ladies to compete for this year’s crown! The contestants will be arriving in Houston this weekend and are ready to set the stage on fire in the Teen, Miss & Mrs. Bollywood categories! This year’s competition will feature contestants from New York, California, North Carolina, Colorado, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, Dallas, Austin, Houston and a surprise contestant all the way from Germany!! Special celebrity guest, actress and ex-Miss India Pooja Batra will be a judge at the event along with an esteemed panel of judges including Founder & CEO of HumFM Rehan Siddiqi, Actor Mahesh Sriram, Vice President of Pratham USA Asha Dhume, Miss NAM Teen Colorado 2016 Serene Singh, Celebrity Chef Roshni Gurnani, Miss Mexico Houston Samara Perez, Miss Bollywood USA 2015 Hinna Akhtar, Amir Dodhiya and Realtor Shaneel Mitha. This year’s performances will include singer Salman Mithani, Bollywood Pageant Theme Song by rap artist and motivational speaker Rocko Stedy Narvios and a spectacular fashion show by Dress G a l a x y. Emcees will be Mrs.
Bollywood 2015 Shruthi Bekal and Mr. Bollywood 2014 Waqas Syed. Bollywood Shake is also hosting a Kids Bollywood Pageant earlier in the day on March 26th from 11am-1pm and Jalwa Talent Show featuring a Singing and Dancing Competition on March 26th from 1-4PM. Entry for
11
March 24, 2017
Pradeep Sulhan, P.C.
Certified Public Accountant 14340 Torrey Chase Blvd. | Suite 110 | Houston, Texas 77014 (281) 583-2993 | (281) 580-8700 | Fax(281) 580-7550 www.sulhancpa.com | pradeep@sulhancpa.com
Over 25 years experience
GAURI SIDDHIVINAYAK TEMPLE
For Any Ceremony Contact Pradip Pandya 832 466 9868 Email: pradippandya2000@yahoo.com
Shri Lakshmi Puja Hindu Wedding Markand Puja Engagement Shri Ganpati Puja Simant Laghu Rudra Vastu Shanti Mundan Sanskar Navchandi Puja Shanti Havan Shri Gayatri Havan Shri Satyanarayan Puja 5645 Hillcroft Ave. Suite 701 Houston, TX 77036 | TIMINGS 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM
Sugar Land Ballroom the Kids Bollywood Pageant and Jalwa Talent Show is FREE! There will be food by Universal Bakery & Snacks and vendor booths for shopping! In addition to running a very successful Bollywood dance school and hosting their own radio show, Bollywood Shake has always promoted local talent through its events. The Bollywood Pageant has featured renowned Bollywood celebrity guests in the past including Preity Zinta, Raveena Tandon, Neha Dhupia and Meenakshi Seshadri. Bollywood Shake has also hosted events like Mandira Bedi’s designer fashion show, Reality Dance Competition with Naved Jaffri, Vatsal Sheth and Omi Vaidya and New Year’s Eve Galas. Ruchi-
k a Dias, Founder & CEO of Bollywood Shake, has successfully organized the Bollywood Pageants for the past 5 years. This year’s team includes Pageant Coach Niharika Nag, Contestant Manager Bindhya Babu, Judges Coordinator Pavana Gadde, Fitness Coach
Anu Krish, Backstage Manager Lisa Savage, Varun Gupta, Saritha Ethirajan, Mousumi Banerjee and a big group of volunteers who are working hard to put on an incredible show! Ruchika’s vision has always been to bring Bollywood to mainstream America. The Bollywood Pageant has been featured on ABC 13, Fox 26, TV-Asia and B4U TV. This event promises to be one of the most fashionable, glamorous and entertaining pageants in America! Tickets are available on Sulekha. com. Special thanks to our sponsors – B4U TV, Official Media Partner 106.1 HumFM, Official Beauty Partner D’Elegance Salon & Day Spa, Official Formal Gown Designer Dress Galaxy by Ruby Ashraf, Official Decorator Deco Art, Official Realtor Shaneel Mitha, Amir Dodhiya of New York Life, Official DJ Impact, Official Photographer Jasleen Kaur, Official Makeover Team Fashion Face Houston and Food Sponsors Universal Bakery and Café India.
F Dance arking P e l Amp ❁
❁
o Highway 59 & 90 ❁ S loor ❁ Close t eating
Ask for special package price ! 869 Dulles Ave. Stafford, TX 77477
Capac it
y: 3 5 0
Peop le
Contact: Gopal Aggarwal
281-827-8199
Have you planned for your future? People don’t plan to Fail, They Fail to Plan
To plan your future, contact:
Jesal Patel ARPC, CLTC, LUTCF Financial Adviser*: Eagle Strategies LLC Life Member MDRT Ph: 281-221-5061/713-499-7670 Fax: 832-201-5394 Website: www.jesalzpatel.com *Financial Adviser offering investment advisory services though Eagle Strategies LLC, A Registered Investment Adviser. Registered Representative offering securities through NYLIFE Securities LLC-Member FINRA/SIPC, A Licensed insurance Agency. Agent with New York Life Insurance Company. 3200 Southwest Freeway, Suite 1900, Houston, TX 77027 (713) 9614545 California Insurance License # 0F53803
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
smru#1711530
12 March 24, 2017
COMMUNITY
Pratham Houston Holds Annual Volunteers Meet
BY NIRALI SHAH
HOUSTON: This year’s Pratham
Gala volunteer’s meeting hosted at the Madras Pavilion in Sugar Land was, per usual, a wonderful success. Volunteers from across the Houston area ranging in age, background, profession, and experience came together to be incorporated into the final details and logistics of the event. Darel D’Souza, the president of Pratham Houston Young Professionals, had a masterful presentation prepared to ensure that each volunteer understood not just their own, but also everyone else’s roles and responsibilities to ensure that the event runs flawlessly. The meeting began with a short video about the effects of Pratham as an organization, to remind everyone why they were there and how their time and efforts directly and indirectly affect the lives of thousands of men, women, and children through Pratham. The development of this organization over the years has been nothing short of remarkable, having taken the motto of “Every child in school and learning well” and expanding its reach to focus on girl’s education, vocational training, research,
advocacy, technology education, and so much more. It humbled us all to become equals in that room and remember that we are all volunteers for the same cause and making a difference in the same way. With the wonderful changes and new programs Pratham is always striving to develop, it only makes sense that we also found new ways to efficiently do our programming in the states! With exciting developments that the Pratham team has been working on, the volunteers were walked through the event structure and individual roles and responsibilities, and also introduced to an updated method of the check in and ticketing process for this year’s gala. With the training in motion, we are all working diligently to implement it smoothly this upcoming April 1st to ensure that the guests have a wonderful experience! Gearing up for an event like the Pratham gala each year is always rooted in excitement! Having been able to see how much the event has grown over the past 12 years has been a pleasure, and having been a volunteer for the organization for many years, I can truly say that being a young professional and in the mix of an extraordinary non-profit organization such as Pratham has
been a wonderful growing experience personally as well. This year, as with many years before, the Pratham Young Professionals, Houston (PYP) has taken the majority role in the planning process of the gala. They have done an exemplary job in planning new and creative methods of guest involvement, and efficiency in the standard processes. With passionate individuals in the organization, always looking to find a way to make things better, Pratham is sure to grow further in the years to come, and the youth plans to continue it’s unwavering support. As an organization, there is always room for new and enthusiastic volunteers; so if you or anyone you know would be interested in getting involved, please contact the Pratham Houston Office. This year’s gala features our special guest former Miss Universe and actor Sushmita Sen, our Honorable Dr. Anupam Ray, Consulate General of India as well as our Master of Ceremonies Casey Curry, Meteorologist KTRK TV. So if you haven’t gotten your ticket to this year’s Pratham Gala yet, be sure to go online to www. prathamusa.org/chapter/houston and book your tickets, it’s going to be a night you don’t want to miss!
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
COMMUNITY
March 24, 2017
13
TCC Taped Ball Winter 2016 Tournament: ECC Winners, Gladiators Runners up
CONTINUED FROM PAGE
9
Less Stress? Greater Clarity? Peace of Mind? Brain Wave Optimization
Island BrainWorks Call for our $99 Intro Special Today! 713-299-2277 | 409-599-7268
www.islandbrainworks.com | info@islandbrainworks.com Galveston, TX Runners up Gladiators with Chief Guest Krishna Kasturi
untary service in the scheduling of the tournament. Mahesh Thandra Ashwinkumar, the captain of Eldridge Cricket Club (ECC) was presented with the championship trophy and Subodh Dongare, the captain of Gladiators was presented with the runners up trophy. Man of the match for the finals was Bhaskar Saripella from ECC for his excellent match-winning
performance with the bat. Rajiv Madhavan from Big 12 and Shiva Prasad from HCCC won the Best batsman with 248 and 247 runs respectively. Sureshkumar Sriram from Houston Panthers won the best bowler with 19 wickets and also the best AllRounder for making 223 runs along with his 19 wickets. Sai Kiran from Houston Panthers and Pavan Soodireddy from Gen X
won the Best Wicket Keeper with 19 catches each for the tournament. Hemanth Kumthekar from HCCC was the tournament’s recipient for the special award for taking a HatTrick. It was ironical that none of the individual awards were won by anyone from the finalist teams, once again proving that in all its glorious uncertainties, Cricket is still a TEAM GAME.
FOR SALE Contact Owner Now : BY OWNER 281-352-9723
House in SugarLand
• 4 Bedroom •3.5 Bath •2 Story Large Home •Swimming Pool •Study •Formal Dining •Game Room •New Upgrades •3296 sq ft •Extra-large Lot •Walking distance to Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Priced below market at $389,900 Hurry ! Won’t last too long !
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
14 March 24, 2017
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
March 24, 2017
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
15
16 March 24, 2017
It’s almost the end of the financial
year and the list of Bollywood’s advance tax payers is out. India Today got hands on the data of advance tax paid by top ten actors till March 15, 2017, and according to it, Salman Khan has paid the highest advance tax thereby beating Akshay Kumar and Hrithik Roshan in the financial year 201617. However, the Income Tax (IT) department is quite surprised with Kapil Sharma, whose income has shot up by almost 206 per cent in just one year. Also, the department was surprised to find Aamir Khan clock in a growth of just 54% and pay an advance tax of a mere Rs 14 crore despite earning huge profit from his last film, Dangal. Another shocker was Akshay Kumar’s report which showed a negative growth in income. The actor had three hits in the year 2016, namely Airlift, Rustom and Housefull 3. However, the year 2017 -2018 might change these figures since he has some of the most interesting films in his kitty. The report also has three actresses on the list – Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt and Kareena Kapoor. As far as the numbers go, the Hollywood debut doesn’t seem to have made a vast difference in Deepika’s earning’s while Alia Bhatt has shown a steady growth of almost 46% in her annual income. This also goes on to highlight that the young star is becoming way bigger than her contemporaries and might also become a threat to her seniors in Bollywood. Another ac-
BOLLYWOOD
Salman Khan Leads in Advance Tax 2016 -17 Payment
tress, Kareena Kapoor, who didn’t have any release last year due to pregnancy saw a negative growth in her income. But now with Veere Di Wedding coming up this year and with her keenness to get back to work in a big way, these numbers might see a drastic change in the future. Before we tell you how much advance tax each celebrity has paid this year, let us first know what exactly is advance tax. Advance tax, also called as ‘pay-asyou-earn’ scheme is paying a part of your taxes before the end of the financial year. It is the income tax payable if your tax liability is more than Rs 10,000 in a financial year. The total advance tax paid by an individual is 33 per cent of the total income generated in that financial year. Here’s taking a look at how much advance tax has been paid by the actors this year:
Salman Khan 2016-17: Rs 44.5 crore 2015 – 2016: Rs 32.2 crore Growth: 39 % in annual income
Akshay Kumar 2016-17: Rs 29.5 crore 2015-2016: Rs 30 crore
Hrithik Roshan 2016-2017: Rs 25.5 crore 2015-2016: Rs 14 crore Growth: 74% in annual income
Kapil Sharma 2016-2017: Rs 23.9 crore 2015-2016: Rs 7 crore Growth:206% in annual income
Ranbir Kapoor 2016-2017: Rs 16.5 crore 2015-2016: Rs 22.3 crore Growth: 27% in annual income
Aamir Khan 2016-2017: Rs 14.8 crore 2015-2016: Rs 9.6 crore Growth: 54% in annual income
Karan Johar 2016-2017: Rs 11.7 crore 2015-2016: Rs 2 crore Growth: 473% in annual income
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
Deepika Padukone 2016-2017: Rs 10.25 crore 2015-2016: Rs 9 crore
Alia Bhatt 2016-2017: Rs 4.33 crore 2015-2016: Rs 2.9 crore Growth: 46% in annual income
Kareena Kapoor Khan 2016-2017: Rs 3.9 crore 2015-2016: Rs 7 crore -india.com
SOCIAL MEDIA
March 24, 2017
17
8 Unspoken Social Media Rules We Could All Use a Refresher On
W
elcome to the speeding world of connectivity. Where social media literally bridges you to friends, family, and strangers across the world. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat have taken our world by storm to the point that a single status update or photo upload gets instant blast across the world wide web. But like Peter Parker’s uncle says, with great power comes great responsibility. Your actions on social media don’t go without repercussions. Every time you post anything—thoughts, images, memes, calls to action—you send ripples out across the Internet that touch down on friends and even utter strangers for good or for bad. Because we could all us a refresher, here are a few unspoken rules for social media that when followed, will have us all holding virtual hands and singing Kumbaya. 1. The Bambi Principle There’s no simpler way to put it. If you can’t say something nice, just don’t say anything at all. This goes for comments on someone’s update, your own status updates, and just comments in general on the Internet. It’s okay to voice your constructive opinion, but to be callous, insulting, or just downright mean is not cool. Let’s show the Internet a little class, along with building others up instead of tearing them down. 2. More Isn’t Better We know you love your kids, but
it really isn’t necessary to post 20 pictures of them in a slightly different pose. We see that your vacation is epic, but we really don’t need the play-by-play. We get that you are excited about your business, but please don’t blow up my feed with a barrage of PSAs peddling your product. Post it once (or every so often) and I’ll know where to find you. In most cases, less is better. 3. Vaguebooking…It’s Rude “If my day continues like this, I’m going to shoot myself.” “Wondering how I got into this mess…” Vaguebooking is the act of intentionally posting vague Facebook status updates in order to get attention. It drives the average Joe crazy. Open-ended doom and gloom comments are usually just a way to dredge up sympathy and are a downer in
the old news feed. Plus, they’re like an itch you can’t scratch. No matter how much I hate vaguebooking, my day cannot move forward in a contented fashion until I know what the special surprise is that is going to rock your world or why there’s just a single frowny emoji on your update!!! Vaguebooking is just begging someone to ask, “What’s wrong?” Do us all a solid and just come out and say it. 4. Take 2 Seconds To Say Happy Birthday If you said you didn’t inwardly LOVE all of those Facebook birthday wishes, you’d be lying. There’s something thrilling about opening up Facebook on your birthday and seeing all of those birthday wishes. It’s like petting a fuzzy kitten while eating a big bowl of comfort mac and cheese.
Take two seconds to click on those “It’s so-and-so’s birthday today” alerts and wish them a quick happy b-day. It will make their day that much better and will return to you on your special day. Karma baby. 5. Spell Check Yo! There’s nothing more obnoxious than spelling and grammar errors in social media; it seems progression has made heathens out of us in that department. Relying on auto-correct just won’t do. You’ve probably learned that one the hard way. Take a second before you push “post” or “send” to read over what you just wrote. Consult a dictionary if necessary. 6. Ask Before You Tag You may not realize this, but when you tag another person in your photo, it makes that photo visible to all of their friends as well. That means the photo that you took with Lucy partying hard this weekend will now pop up on her boss’s newsfeed. It will be seen by her mother, next door neighbor, and everyone she went to high school with. It also creates a link that people can click on to follow for more scandal. Always ask before you tag. And if you don’t like being the victim of an unsuspecting tag. 7. You Can Unfollow, But You Don’t Need To Announce It People change, friends evolve, we totally get the need to thin out your
friend list. But you don’t need to announce it to the world. “Hey y’all, I’m deleting friends today…hope you make the cut!” That just sends us back to middle school gym days when we were the last picked for dodge ball. If you’re weeding out your friends, unfollow gracefully and silently and no one will be worse for the wear. 8. Do I Really Need To Share This Thought with the World? Lastly and largely, one of the most important social media rules to live by is to question, do I really need to share this with the world? It’s just a quick self-check that will do us all a favor. If the answer is yes, then by all means post away. But if the answer is no, or if you have to think about it for more than six seconds, it’s probably best written down in a private journal. One that you alone read. When posting photos, ask yourself the same question, does the world really need to see this? It’s a good idea to create a separate Facebook or Instagram account for personal uses. If you use Chatbook or regularly print out your Instagram photos, maybe it’s best you use a private, personal account for all of those large photo dumps. Just sayin’. Until the rule book for social media is written, I guess we all have to rely on the things our mamas taught us and some good old fashioned common sense. Happy updating y’all! -howdoesshe.com
Ranked #95 among top 100 active SBA lenders nationwide for FYE 2016. Source www.sba.gov
KATY SUGARLAND KINGWOOD
www.THEMINT.bank
Prompt, Courteous Service & Competitive Rates
THE WOODLANDS
SPECIALIZING IN BUSINESS LOANS We Understand the Financing Needs of Small Business Owners • Small Business Administration Loans (SBA Lending) • Owner Occupied Commercial / Real Estate Loans • Convenience Stores, Retail / Franchise, Working Capital Loans • Doctors, Dentists, Lawyers • Daycare Centers • Software / IT Companies
Call NISHA SMITH (281) 359 - 6468, Ext. 1141 or (281) 250 - 5311
• Distribution / Manufacturing, Equipment Financing
Nisha.Smith@themintbank.com INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
18 March 24, 2017 What’s Happiness for Indians?
EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY Showcasing ‘New’ India in 2022
BY C. RAJA MOHAN
Never one to rest on his laurels,
T
his will make many unhappy, but so be it. India ranked 122nd out of 155 countries, even behind Pakistan and Nepal, in the global list of the happiest countries, according the World Happiness Report 2017. Among the eight Saarc nations, Pakistan was at 80th position, Nepal stood at 99, Bhutan at 97, Bangladesh at 110 while Sri Lanka was at 120. No prizes for guessing which nations figure at the top end of the list: Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland. If this is of any solace to Indians wallowing in China, another “economic giant”, is nowhere in the first 10. The report concluded that its people are not happier than they were 25 years ago. And even Britain is not in the top 10 though former Prime Minister David Cameron in 2010 started a national debate on developing a “wellbeing index”. Since India unfailingly quibbles about all standards used by these global lists, there will be some reserved for this one too: The parameters are too “western” is the usual refrain. This happiness index is based on GDP per person, healthy life expectancy, social support during times of difficulty, freedom to make their life’s choices, and sense of how corrupt their society is. We agree these might alien concepts to us. Take for example, healthy life expectancy. In a country where getting access to basic medical support is itself a dream for many, how can we be judged on “healthy” life expectancy? On social support, we have the big Indian family, so social support is hardly of any importance to us. Then there is that wishy-washy parameter called freedom to make their life’s choices. At a time, when we don’t even know where we have the right to eat the meat of our choice, this is so superfluous. Now that we have finished trashing the index, (we reiterate) a “western conspiracy” to make us feel inferior, think how we would have fared if it was based on things that are close to our hearts since the last 70 years: Roti, kapda, and makkan. Or a few new ones: Access to clean water, primary education, and the latest fad, internet connectivity. So don’t waste time devising a new one. We’ll be at the bottom of the barrel, anyway. As someone said once upon a time: Don’t worry, Be happy. - Hindustan Times
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set himself a new target — showcasing a “New India” by 2022, the 75th anniversary of the nation’s independence. In a significant address to the workers of the BJP on the Sunday following the party’s massive victory in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, Modi said a New India is “on the horizon”. While the details of what he means by “New India” will have to wait, the PM has identified a near-term aspiration for the political mobilization of the nation. What is important though is the fact that the PM is raising hopes for a more rapid economic development, whose benefits will accrue to the poor and middle classes. Strong leaders do tend to lay out uplifting goals as a way of consolidating political support and establishing hegemony over national discourse. Two Chinese names come readily to mind — Deng Xiaoping and Xi Jinping. In 1980, just after he rescued China from the ravages of the Cultural Revolution, Deng Xiaoping proclaimed that the People’s Republic’s gross domestic product will be quadrupled by the end of the century. That goal was achieved a few years earlier than 2000. For Deng, it was not just about numbers, but also politics. He was constructing an overarching framework that would drive the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the government to pursue an uninhibited and comprehensive modernisation of the nation. More recently, Deng’s successor, President Xi Jinping, outlined two great goals — to make China a “moderately well-off country” by 2021, when the CCP will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its founding. And by 2049, when the PRC will complete a century, the CCP wants China to become a “strong, democratic, civilised, harmonious and modern socialist country”. Whether Xi might be as successful as Deng is not the question. For Xi, the slogan
of “Two Centenaries” is a way of focusing national energies to achieve specific outcomes under his watch. Those who pick nits might say Modi will find it much harder in India. That’s beside the point. If the development agenda has worked well for him in transcending some of the traditional divides in the heartland, the political vision of an India that makes solid economic progress and lifts all boats at home could well be his song for the elections in 2019 and beyond. Goal-setting is not entirely new to India. Its bureaucracies had routinely set developmental targets over the decades. But it’s been a long time since political leaders have articulated ambitious objectives for the nation. Modi’s recent predecessors, who were running minority or coalition governments, had little energy or inclination to construct a political device to promote the case for change. The focus was on generating incremental change by stealth rather than making an explicit case for reform. In talking of a New India and change, Modi is under no obligation to tick off on the laundry list of reforms that are usually bandied about. It is the broader political goals that he has set for himself that might define the PM’s reform priorities and direction. The two themes Modi identified on that particular Sunday — empowering the poor with opportunities rather than handouts and lifting the burden on the middle class — could allow him to transcend the traditional discourse on reforms being pro-poor or anti-poor. Although the PM did not mention foreign policy in his Sunday address to his party workers, diplomacy will be a crucial element in his quest for constructing a new India. With more than 40% of In-
dia’s GDP linked to imports and exports, India’s interdependence with the world has never been as deep as it is today. How we deal with the world is inextricably intertwined with our internal prosperity. All the political strength at home will not be enough for Modi to cope with the unfolding backlash against economic globalization in the West, the technological revolution that promises to change the very basis of modern economies, the growing opposition in the United States and Europe towards immigration, shifting great power relations, and the changing regional order in different parts of Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific amidst the assertion of Russian and Chinese power. Adapting to external change in the pursuit of a New India is not about finding fresh foreign policy ideas. Modi has already shed much of India’s past self-doubt and ideological ambivalence that hobbled its postCold War foreign policy, injected greater energy into the conduct of international relations, and addressed long-pending problems. His big problem has been the unresponsiveness of India’s domestic governance to the opportunities and challenges that the world presents India. Just as it found it difficult to implement various initiatives of the PM — from Swachh Bharat to Startup India — Delhi’s lumbering bureaucracy has found it hard to follow through on the developmental opportunities that Modi’s vigorous diplomacy created. If the economic and security ministries have been unable to capitalise on the opportunities that came India’s way in the last few years, they might find it rather hard to cope with the more complex international and regional environment that is emerging. What India needs most is to change the way the government does its routine business and how different parts of it relate to each other and the world. Urgent administrative reforms to generate greater efficiency and synergy hold the key to the construction of a New India that can fully tap into the nation’s internal and external potential. - Indian Express
Indo American News FOUNDER: DR. K.L. SINDWANI PUBLISHER: JAWAHAR MALHOTRA EDITOR: PRAMOD KULKARNI BUSINESS & PRODUCTION MANAGER: VANSHIKA VIPIN VARMA GRAPHIC DESIGN: BHUMI PARMAR OFFICE ASSISTANT: MANSI THAKKAR CORRESPONDENTS
CHICAGO: NAND KAPOOR INDIA: ASEEM KULKARNI ®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 4 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: 713-789-6397 email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com, website: www.indoamerican-news.com
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
TRAVEL
March 24, 2017
19
SIGHTSEEING IN INDIA OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Historic Kolhapur & Konkan Coast BY PRAMOD KULKARNI
O
N THE ROAD: This is the fourth episode describing my wife Jyoti and I’s visit to India during Dec.-Jan. 2016. After returning from Hyderabad to Mumbai, we still had about 10 days before our return to the US. So, we decided to take another excursion, this time to Goa. At the time, however, the tourist season was still on in Goa, so we decided to an off-the-beaten path a little bit north -- Ganapatipule. We would have normally taken the Mumbai-Goa highway, but our local friends told us that there would be delays due to construction as the road was being widened. Therefore, we decided to take an internal route via Kolhapur. Kolhapur was one of India’s princely states. It was founded by Tarabai, the wife of Shivaji’s second son, Rajaram. During the reign of the Peshwas, they paid allegiance to the rival Maratha kingdom based in Satara, first ruled by Shivaji’s grandson, Shahu. After the British defeated the Peshwas, they selected the Kolhapur raja as the titular head of the region and gave him a 19-gun salute. Kolhapur is famous for its Ambabai temple. After pilgrimage to the crowded temple, we saw the New Palace. Built during 1877–1884, the palace is constructed of black, polished stone, and has a garden, fountain and a wrestling ground. Special features of the palace include a darbar with lobed arches filled with stained glass windows illustrating scenes from the life of Shivaji; carved columns with temple-like brackets that support a cast iron balcony above. The museum includes one of Aurangzeb’s swords and stuffed tigers, bears, and wild boar. The highway from Kolhapur to the Konkan coast passes through steep Western Ghats. There are numerous scenic posts along the way for the travelers to admire the mountain ranges and the greenery. Troupes of monkeys are always on hand to devour scraps tossed out by the tourists. The pristine Konkan coast stretches for 300 miles between Mumbai and Goa. The geology is similar to that of the California coast with the sea, white sand beach, followed by a mountain ridge. Just like Highway 101, there is the Konkan highway as well as a railway that hugs the coast. Unfortunately, both regions are afflicted by rock and mud slides. The town of Ganapatipule is well known for its oceanside Ganesh temple. The area has numerous resorts with access to the beach. Early morning or evening, you can enjoy a solitary walk along the beach and pick up screw-like shells. The local nature’s bounty includes seafood, coconuts, jack fruit and cashews.
One of the sights of Kolhapur is the New Palace (left). The royal family stays in the upper floors and the public museum is on the ground floor. The road from Kolhapur to the Konkan coast goes through the mountainous ghats. Scenic spots along the highway are frequented by monkeys.
SHIBU PHILIP, MTax, CPA TAX & ACCOUNTING
Individual, LLC, S corp & C corp returns Trusts, Estates & Gifts tax returns Bookkeeping and Financial Statements Business entity selection and formation FBAR Report & Medicare Cost Reports The 300-mile Konkan coast is luscious with palm and coconut trees, jack fruit, and cashews (right). The local Malvani cruisine includes dishes made of pomfret fish and crustaceans such as shrimp, crab and lobster. Pictures on Left: While Goa is the major tourist destination, the beaches near Ganapatipule are exquisite as well. The oceanside Ganesh temple at Ganapatipule was a favorite place of worship for Madhavrao Peshwa’s wife, Ramabai.
(832) 937-3054
810 Murphy Rd Ste G, Stafford, TX 77477 Shoba & Hiren Joshi’s Geetanjali Radio
Annual Fundraiser Gala Friday, April 7 2017, 7 pm
Sterling Banquet Hall, 5475 W Sam Houston Pkwy N, Houston TX 77041
“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed” Let’s celebrate together!!!! Party with us, with Delicious Food, Wine, Music … & more Musical Evening with Live Songs by Versatile Singers Bansi Chabria & Sarada Akunuri Grand Sponsors: Mr & Mrs Raj and Jugal Malani Mr & Mrs Neelofer and Altaf (Kohinoor diamonds) Delicious food catered by MADRAS PAVILION Special Thanks: Event photographers: Mr. Asit Patel and Mr. Sachin Patel Sound: Mr. Darshak Thacker Event Planners: Mr. & Mrs. Hema Sajj (DB Events)
Resorts at Ganapati Pule may not be as luxurious as the ones in Goa, but offer creature comforts at a lower cost and less congestion.
The next episode of this travelogue will cover some of the out-of-the-ordinary sightseeing attractions in Mumbai.
To Reserve the Tickets: 832-878-4338 shobajoshi999@gmail.com Thank You, Shoba, Rakesh & Hiren Joshi
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
20 March 24, 2017
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
TRUMPONOMICS
March 24, 2017
Trump Bans Laptops, Tablets on Direct Flights to US from Eight Middle East Countries
WASHINGTON:
The United States warned that extremists plan to target passenger jets with bombs hidden in electronic devices, and banned carrying them onto flights from 10 Middle East airports. Senior US officials told reporters that nine airlines from eight countries had been given 96 hours, beginning at 3:00 am (0700 GMT), to ban devices bigger than a cellphone or smartphone from the cabin. Laptops, tablets and portable game consoles are affected by the ban -- which applies to direct flights to the United States -- but they may still be stowed in the hold in checked baggage. Passengers on approximately 50 flights per day from some of the busiest hubs in the Middle East, Turkey and North Africa will be obliged to follow the new emergency ruling. “The restrictions are in place due to evaluated intelligence and we think it’s the right thing to do and the right places to do it to secure the safety of the traveling public,” one US official said. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, refused to discuss the “intelligence information” that led the Transportation Security Administration to issue the order. But one said that concerns had been
killed and the plane landed safely. CNN quoted a US official as saying the ban was believed to be related to a threat posed by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, known as AQAP. “Evaluated intelligence indicates that terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation and are aggressively pursuing innovative methods to undertake their attacks, to include smuggling explosive devices in various consumer items,” an official said.
MADRAS N PAVILIO T & DAAWA CATERING
Indo-American News
Rao’s Satish CA FE UDIPI
r 28 2011 Octobe Friday,
RAJENDER SINGH OTION INC.
Diwigahlits Del
ON TO
GUJARATI SAMAJ
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
Call: 713-897-9902
E-Mail: lonestartextiles@gmail.com, assefmaruf@aol.com
Cook / Helper Needed
For An Indian Restaurant in San Jose, California • Male Cook / Helper preferred. • Moving Expenses will be provided. • Experience is a must.
For More Details Contact: 510-378-3614
RA. Onse Break Barriers
page 34
done set setting d and Gold e Diamon Jewelry repairs and TX 77036 Exclusiv Houston,
ALI HAPPY DIW elers Jew Maharaja 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
Towels / Linens / Sheets Cluster Fiber Pillow (Std / King Size) Duvet Insert Comforter (Full/ Queen/ King) Mattress Pad , Quilted (Full/ Queen/ King) Janitorial Supplies
Story on with Fri nds3,9 & 14 ate Diwali ily and Frie into Cash Fam Story on pages ians Celebr / Platinum metal Houston Feasts, Fireworks, Gold / Silver the above le prices $ for all Turn your at affordab on site We pay top Jewelry Festivities,
USTON
OF HO 2011
SprASSO rnament Cricket Tou MD Tap ed Ball
Buy Direct And Reduce Your Linen Budget- 100% Guaranteed
No. 43
STAR PROM
SWAPAN YAWAN DHAIR ingCIATES
ONE STOP SHOP FOR ALL YOUR HOTEL & MOTEL NEEDS
.com -news erican www.indoam
INDIA INDIWAORLD P OF THE JUGAL & NI RAJ MALA
| Vol. 30,
LONE STAR TEXTILES & HOSPITALITY PRODUCTS
ndo can IIn Ameri News
CPA DEV PATHAK EL AJIT PAT A INSURANCE COOL BEM AIR AN U
IONS CONGRATULAT TEAM
The airports touched by the ban are Queen Alia International in Amman, Jordan; Cairo International in Egypt; Ataturk in Istanbul, Turkey; King Abdulaziz International in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; King Khalid International in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Kuwait International; Mohammed V International in Casablanca, Morocco; Hamad International in Doha, Qatar; and the Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports in the United Arab Emirates. No US carriers make direct flights from these airports, so they are unaffected by the ban, which will hit Royal Jordanian, EgyptAir, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways. The airlines and their host governments have already been informed of the order by US officials, and some of them have begun informing passengers about the restriction. Airlines will be responsible for policing the cabin ban, and if they fail to do so could lose their rights to operate US routes. No end date has been put on the order, and officials would not say whether the restriction might spread to other airports. -ndtv.com
“heightened by several successful events and attacks on passenger lanes and airports over the last years.” No end date The official would not go into detail about which attacks had raised fears, but did cite an incident from February of last year in which suspected Somali Islamists blew a hole in the side of Daallo Airlines passenger jet with a small device. Only the bomber was
INDIAN
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
Jeweonelrycustomer at a time Diamond relationships Building
sh Sati
Subscribe to
o’s Ra
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) _________________________________________
Your Signature:
Exp Date: ___/___ 3 digit code:______
_______________
21
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. INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
22 March 24, 2017
PUZZLES / RECIPES
SUDOKU
Recipe of the
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 March 29, 2017. Email us at indoamericannews@yahoo.com or mail to 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 262, Houston, TX 77036. Send us your solved Sudoku for your name to be published (for first three entrees only & 1 submission per month).
Week
Mama’s Punjabi Recipes
Roasted Banana and Raisin Ice cream
This column will not appear this week as Mama is visiting family in the Old Country. It will start again upon her return in early April.
Directions:
Solution Next Week
Fusion cuisine is one that combines
elements of different culinary traditions. Cuisines of this type are not categorized according to any one particular cuisine style and have played a part in a number of innovations. Fusion food is a general term for the combination of various forms of cookery and comes in several forms.
Ingredients: • • • • • • • • •
Ripe bananas 5 Oranges 2 Honey 5-6 tablespoons Cinnamon powder 2 teaspoons Milk 300 millilitres Yogurt 250 grams Sea salt a pinch Raisins ½ cup Cocoa powder for dusting
1. Preheat oven to 180ºC. 2. Peel the bananas and place them in a baking dish. Grate the orange zest over them. 3. Halve and squeeze the juice of 1½ oranges into the dish. Drizzle honey and sprinkle 1 teaspoon cinnamon powder on top. 4. Place the dish in the preheated oven and roast for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. 5. Blend the roasted bananas with the liquid remaining in the dish along with milk and yogurt till smooth. 6. Add juice of the remaining ½ orange, sea salt, remaining cinnamon powder and raisins and mix well. Transfer the mixture into an airtight container, put the lid on and freeze for 6-8 hours. 7. Dust cocoa powder and serve in scoops. -sanjeevkapoor.com
Kid Friendly Recipe
L��� W���’� SUDOKU S�������
Red Velvet OREO Cookie Balls Ingredients: Recipe makes 20 Servings • • • •
3 Oz cream cheese 18 Red Velvet Oreos 6 Oz white baking chocolate, melted 2 Oz semi sweet baking chocolate, melted
Directions:
L��� W���’� SUDOKU W������ 1) Kirit Suthar 2) Subha Mamandur 3) Ketaki Kaore
Job Opportunity
Capricorn Travel Requires Full Time Experienced Travel Agent. For Appointment: Please Call: 713-339-2222
1. Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs until blended; shape into 20 (1-inch) balls. Place in single layer in shallow waxed paper-lined pan. Freeze 10 minutes. 2. Dip balls, one at a time, in white chocolate, turning to evenly coat each ball. Return to baking sheet. Place semi-sweet chocolate in plastic bag.
Cut tip off corner of bag. Drizzle over cookie balls. 3. Refrigerate for 1 hour or until firm. Keep refrigerated. -heb.com
For Advertising Contact:
713-789-6397
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, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
March 24, 2017
ENTERTAINMENT:REVIEWS/NEWS ENTERTAINMENT:REVIEWS/NEWS
Machine: Worst Film of Abbas-Mustan’s Career, Zero Star
27 years, 17 films, launch of po-
BELIEVE IT OR NOT
tential stars, Abbas-Mustan have done it all. From Shah Rukh Khan’s career-defining Baazigar to Akshay Kumar’s first commercial success Khiladi, the duo have always left their mark. Sleek editing, countless twists and glossy texture comprise the trademark Abbas-Mustan style that ruled the suspense-thriller genre in Bollywood for so many years. Yet they failed miserably when it came to the launch of Mustafa, Abbas’ son. Not only this, Machine might be the worst film of their filmography. In what can be called the skeleton of a story, college boy Ransh (Mustafa) meets rich father Balraj Thapar’s (Ronit Roy) emotionally
weak daughter Sarah (Kiara Advani). They fall in love and get married, but don’t live happily ever after. Meanwhile, half a dozen people get killed for reasons best known to the directors. Somehow they thought they would be able to connect the dots and make Machine a coherent story. Alas, that doesn’t happen and Machine becomes as discreet as its opening credit, which shows a camera entering a human ear and reaching heart through abstractly imagined ear canal. This is just the beginning of a film, which delves into Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Steve Jobs’ philosophies for no apparent reasons. There is a lot to ponder about in
between. For example, Kiara Advani’s bonding with her tormentor, inexplicable twin brother and absolutely unfathomable murder theories etc. Sometimes they get so weird that you prepare yourself to hear that this all is a big joke. That would have at least gave you the solace that you haven’t got it wrong. Had they released it on April Fool’s Day, Machine would have been considered a perfect practical prank. It’s really tough to ignore amateurish CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) and mind-numbing, innuendoes -laden banters in a 148- minute film. That isn’t a perfect killing, so they reprise Tu cheez badi hai mast mast
Arch RIVAL Krushna Abhishek to REPLACE Sunil Grover on ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’? What transpired between Kapil
Sharma and Sunil Grover on a flight on their way back from Australia has now become the talk of the town. Now, reportedly,Krushna Abhishek, who’s considered to be the arch rival of Kapil Sharma, has also come out in support of Kapil and said, “He never mixes up personal and professional issues. I don’t know why people are talking ill about him.” As per reports, when asked about the possibility of Sunil Grover quitting the show, he dropped a major hint that he may soon collaborate with
(Originally a part of Mohra, 1994). But the remix serves a purpose: It diverts your anger from poor actors to music composers. Kiara Advani, who looked confident in MS Dhoni biopic, is as clueless as anybody else in the film, but Mustafa takes the cake. It’s going to hit him hard. Abbas-Mustan disappoints like never before. Even machines will find it hard to enjoy Machine. -hindustantimes.com
Kapil in place of Sunil, He reportedly, said, “Koi baat nahi! It maybe that Kapil and I work together soon!” For those who are unversed, after Kapil hurled verbal and physical abuses at Sunil on the flight back to India from Australia, Sunil had decided to quit the show. Both of them had then taken their fallout to social media. Reportedly when Kapil met Sunil to woo him back, Sunil demanded a pay hike to be back on TKKS and now the reports of Krushna Abhishek replacing him ave hit the social media. -dnaindia.com
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
Emraan Hashmi March 24, 1979
Akshaye Khanna March 28, 1975
23
24 March 24, 2017 3rd Test: Handscomb, Marsh Pull Off Great Escape BY DANIEL BRETTIG
R
ANCHI: (ESPN Cricinfo): Australia 451 (Smith 178*, Maxwell 104, Jadeja 5-124) and 204 for 6 (Handscomb 72*, Marsh 53, Jadeja 4-54) drew with India 603 for 9 declared (Pujara 202, Saha 117, Vijay 82, Cummins 4-106) Thirty minutes before lunch, Peter Handscomb joined Shaun Marsh amid a Ranchi tumult. Their captain Steven Smith had just shouldered arms to let Ravindra Jadeja bowl him, symptomatic of a tired mind, the over after Matt Renshaw had also fallen. Australia were still 89 runs short of making India bat again; the hosts were circling hungrily. Five hours later, Handscomb was still there and Marsh not long departed. The Test match was drawn, and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy bout remained locked at 1-1. Through batting of commendable calm and sure-footed technique, the Australian duo had thwarted India in a manner that will be a source of enormous satisfaction to the tourists. By getting out of a predicament few expected them to survive, they took the series to its final match. Equally, India will be left to ponder why they were unable to close out this match in the manner of others during this elongated home season after the sublime innings by Cheteshwar Pujara. Certainly the Ranchi pitch stayed playable, but R Ashwin was unable to find a way through the Australian batsmen to provide the counterpoint to Jadeja’s danger. Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav both bowled useful spells, but could not follow up Renshaw’s wicket. Ultimately, Australia’s selection of a sixth batsman in place of the injured Mitchell Marsh gave them the batting depth they needed, not only to make a decent first-innings total but also to wriggle out of trouble on the final day. Before this match the visitors had gone 38 Test innings without a fifth-wicket stand worth 100 or more. In Ranchi, they managed to do it twice. Marsh and Handscomb’s stand was worth 124, soaking up 62 priceless overs. Smith and Renshaw had begun simply trying to bat for as long as possible, taking occasional scoring
Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb run between the wickets, India v Australia, 3rd Test, Ranchi, 5th day, March 20, 2017.
opportunities but stripping their games of risk. India’s captain Virat Kohli began with Jadeja at one end and Yadav at the other, not calling on the offbreak’s of the world’s No. 1 ranked bowler Ashwin until the ball had lost much of its earlier hardness. The plan to Smith appeared to be bowling wide of the stumps while trying to test the Australian captain’s patience. He was comfortable in leaving plenty of balls alone while scoring from the occasional ball that strayed onto the stumps. Renshaw had a few awkward moments against Jadeja but overall held his shape well in dealing with the leftarmer’s variation between sharp turn and skidding straight balls. Kohli replaced Yadav with Ishant, and he found a hint of movement from around the wicket. Renshaw’s decision to pull away from the first ball of the 29th over of the innings seemed to raise Ishant’s ire, and he hurled down a pair of bouncers in the same over to push the opener
back, before thudding one into his front shin for the lbw verdict. Smith had been safe in padding away anything Jadeja served up from over the wicket, but next over he failed to get his front leg far enough down the pitch or in line and heard the sickening noise of the off stump tumbling over. That error put Cheteshwar Pujara’s enormous concentration in perspective, and left Marsh and Handscomb with much to do. There were plenty of reasons for Marsh and Handscomb to feel overwhelmed when the afternoon session began, but neither was in the mood to give anything away. Their methods offered a contrast of left and right, plus Handscomb’s penchant for getting down the pitch versus Marsh’s long stride down the wicket and outside off stump. A key over arrived midway through the session when Handscomb took 13 from an Ashwin over, compelling Kohli to take him out of the attack and switch Jadeja away from the end from which he had found spiteful turn
to defeat David Warner and Nathan Lyon on the penultimate evening. Handscomb and Marsh continued to accumulate either side of the interval, neither batsman doing anything outlandish but simply showing strong concentration and tight technique to frustrate the hosts, who had seemed so confident of victory little more than two hours before. A pair of lbw appeals were referred by India but the day was going with Australia: Handscomb was struck on the back foot but the ball was not striking enough of the bails to avoid being deemed too high, and Marsh’s miss of a flatter Ashwin delivery was not fatal because the ball had not quite straightened enough to strike leg stump squarely. Both batsmen went on to half centuries and negotiated the early passages with the second new ball - India’s last real hope of securing the rush of wickets they needed. Finally, Jadeja added a fourth victim when Marsh bunted a catch to short leg, and Glenn Maxwell soon squeezed Ashwin to silly point. But by then the match had all but petered out. Kohli kept his men going beyond a point that others might not have, perhaps still believing in a miracle. Handscomb, though, was unperturbed, leaving Kohli to finally seek his hand in a gesture of concession and so send these sides to Dharamsala for the decider. Steven Smith believes “momentum” is with Australia and India would be “hurting” after a day-five resistance mission in Ranchi kept the series level at 1-1. “I’m very proud. They had magnificent plans,” Smith said. “They backed their defence for a long period of time and to see the game out for as long as they did, it was an outstanding performance. “That’s one of the things we’ve been talking about - being resilient and sticking out the tough times. The way Petey and Shaun did that was absolutely magnificent.” As a left-hand batsman, Marsh was particularly tested by the foot marks outside his off stump, which Ravindra Jadeja relentlessly tried to exploit. Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo.
SPORTS
C
Mushfiqur, Shakib Beat SL in Big Test
OLOMBO: Long before Tamim Iqbal’s fourth-innings classic, before Mustafiqur Rahim magicked Bangladesh into the match, two senior batsmen had forged an important resistance. At one end, Mushfiqur Rahim: he of the chequered 2016, premature World T20 celebrator, gloating tweeter, captain, and emotion machine. At the other end, Shakib Al Hasan, occasionally preening Bangladeshi superstar, recent purveyor of overambitious shots. They had come together after a Sri Lanka surge. Three wickets had fallen for six runs, and Bangladesh were still 169 runs short of Sri Lanka’s target. The hosts had begun to wrap their tentacles around the match, and Bangladesh needed this pair to lean on their combined 103-Test experience, and put up a fight. After a few early jitters, they did. It was calculation and sensibility that defined their 92-run stand. Shakib may have been reckless in the first eight balls of his innings, but he had sobered up overnight, venturing boundaries only off the truly bad balls; choosing to mine the gaps off most of the others. “What made me happy was how we understood the value of the match even when we were ahead or behind in the game,” Mushfiqur said after the match. “We tried to recognize small things can add up to something big in the end. The batsmen and bowlers played with responsibility.” While Mushfiqur managed only a half-century, Shakib would go on to 116. Mushfiqur was here at the end. This time, the arms were raised in celebration only after Bangladesh had won.
Unlike the World T20 game against India in Bengaluru, Mushfiqur Rahim’s celebrations began only when the match was won
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
March 24, 2017
Outsourcers Adjust Strategy Ahead of Trump’s H-1B Visa Changes B -- India’s technology numbers of visa applications as a ENGALURU
outsourcing giants, unnerved by the administration of President Donald Trump, are changing their strategy on US work visas even before new policies are implemented. While the White House has drafted an executive order that envisages changes to the way the H-1B programme is administered, none have come into effect so far. With the application process kicking off next month, companies are preparing to face tougher new rules as they seek some of the 85,000 work permits allocated. “The key thing is that we will stop applying for H-1B visas for employees with lower levels of experience,” Krishnakumar Natarajan, executive chairman of IT services company Mindtree Ltd., told Bloomberg News. “Additionally, we will reduce the
whole and I expect overall industry numbers to fall.” The US is the most important market for India’s $110-billion IT services export industry, with companies changing their strategy even as they aggressively ramp up operations and set up development centers. “We are going local and building recruitment to reduce dependencies on H-1B visas,” said Bengalurubased Natarajan, a former chairman of industry body Nasscom. Singh said Indian IT outsourcers operate in more than 80 countries and have provided services in the US for decades. “We are fine with any moves to adjudicate and investigate H-1B visas as long as there is no undue harassment of Indian companies over others doing the same thing,” he said. - Live Mint
Listing Success Makes D-Mart’s MD Noronha Rs 900 Crore Richer M -- The highly successful Noronha was in his late 20s when UMBAI
listing of Avenue Supermarts, the operators of D-Mart retail chain, not only made its promoters one of the richest in India, but also catapulted some of its top executives into the millionaires’ club. After the company’s stocks more than doubled on listing and closed at Rs 641 on BSE, it made Ignatius Navil Noronha, MD of the company, worth nearly Rs 900 croreAvenue Supermarts IPO prospectus showed that 42-year-old Noronha held 1.37 crore shares of the company. At the current price, he is worth Rs 878 crore. As was reported recently, Noronha is now worth more than the combined value of the shares that Sanjiv Mehta, MD, HUL, Y C Deveshwar, chairman, ITC, and Vivek Gambhir, MD, Godrej Consumer Products, hold in their companies.
Radhakishan Damani, the main promoter of Avenue Supermarts, picked him from HUL. He is a science graduate from SIES College of Arts, Science and Commerce in the city, and holds a post-graduation in management degree from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies. During his eight-year stint in HUL, Noronha had worked in the field of market research, sales and modern trade. In his position in HUL, Noronha used to closely interact with Damani and that’s when he was spotted to run an expanding retail chain. After more than a decade with the company, Noronha is being rewarded for the risk he took when he quit a multinational giant to work for a home-grown retail chain. - Times of India
Longest Bi-directional Tunnel to Inaugurate on J-K Highway
S
IT companies typically applied for multiples of the visas they expect to need because the system operates as a lottery. Photo: HT
25
RINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate to the nation Asia’s longest bi-directional road tunnel on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on 2 April, which will cut down travel time between the two cities by two hours. The Rs2,519-crore all-weather tunnel is equipped with world-class safety features and has been built in a record four years on the hilly terrain of Jammu and Kashmir, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari said at a press meet in New Delhi. “This state-of-the-art 10.89-km tunnel between Udhampur and Ramban in Jammu and Kashmir, an engineering marvel on the most difficult terrain of the Himalayas, was built in a record four years,” the minister said. Gadkari was accompanied by minister of state in PMO Jitendra Singh, a parliamentarian from Jammu. “The project will result in a saving of Rs 27 lakh per day based on traffic estimates and would cut the travel distance between Jammu and Sringar by 41 km,” Gadkari said. He said the tunnel will be equipped with advanced scanners to ward off any security threat. The project forms part of the proposed widening of NH-44 (old NH-1A) from Jammu to Srinagar. The longest highway tunnel in India also happens to be Asia’s longest bi-directional highway tunnel with fully transverse ventilation system, he said. The minister added that very few tunnels in the world have fully integrated tunnel control and the Jammu one is fitted with world-class safety features for detection of accidents and fire with a parallel 9-km long escape tunnel. - Live Mint
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
26 March 24, 2017 Yogi Adityanath Sworn in as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, Says will Work without Bias NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Ja-
nata Party (BJP) formed its first government in Uttar Pradesh in nearly 15 years on Sunday as Yogi Adityanath took oath as chief minister along with Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma as deputy chief ministers. A 47-member council of ministers that was sworn in includes former Congress leader Rita Bahuguna Joshi, former Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) member Swami Prasad Maurya and senior BJP leader Siddharth Nath Singh. Adityanath, a five-time Member of Parliament from Gorakhpur, took oath as the 21st chief minister of the
state after being elected the legislative party leader on Saturday. “Our government will work for the benefit of the people. Corruption and bad law and order situation have ruined the state and have adversely affected the people. Our government will work for the development of Uttar Pradesh without any bias,” Yogi Adityanath told a press conference on Sunday. “We will work for all sections of society without any partiality—for this, our administration will be made accountable and answerable. We will fulfil the promises that we have made to the people,” he added. From left: PM Narendra Modi, Uttar Pradesh governor Ram Naik and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath during the swearing-in ceremony in Lucknow on Sunday.
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
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah, central ministers Rajnath Singh, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Nitin Gadkari, Uma Bharti and veteran leader L.K. Advani. Also present at the ceremony were outgoing chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. Chief ministers of states ruled by the BJP including Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra were also present. Modi tweeted later, “Congratulations to Yogi Adityanath, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Dinesh Sharma and all those who took oath today. Best wishes for serving UP. I have immense confidence that this new team will leave no stone unturned in making UP Uttam Pradesh. There will be record development. Our sole mission and motive is development. When UP develops, India develops.
We want to serve UP’s youth & create opportunities for them.” In the recent assembly elections, the BJP also formed the government in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. “With the blessings of people & hardwork of our Karyakartas, the BJP has formed governments in 4 out of the 5 states that went to the polls. Our unwavering efforts to create a ‘Bhavya’ & ‘Divya’ Bharat continue. India’s Jan Shakti is powering the rise of a new & transformed India,” Modi said in another tweet. The BJP won 312 seats of the 403seat assembly in Uttar Pradesh. In the run-up to the elections, its manifesto focussed on farmers, youth, anticorruption, law and employment. Replying to a question on loan waiver of small and marginal farmers as promised in the party’s manifesto, deputy CM Dinesh Sharma told reporters, “The promises that we have
made will be fulfilled.” Analysts say Yogi Adityanath has a challenging job, especially keeping the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in mind. “He (Adityanath) has started with a setback to the people. They did not expect him as the CM option. His policies so far have been non-inclusive and non-developmental. He also comes with no prior administrative and governance experience,” said A.K. Verma, Kanpur-based political analyst and political science professor at Christ Church College. “With less than two years to go for general elections, it is a tall order for him. In this short time, he will have to fulfil the promises that were made by the PM in his election rallies and also by the party as the stakes are very high for the party in the state,” he added. -livemint.com
Pakistan’s Sikh Community Disappointed at Being ‘Left Out’ of National Census
PESHAWAR: Members and lead-
ers of the Sikh community in Peshawar on Saturday expressed their disappointment at being ‘left out’ of the national census, saying they feared their community would not be adequately represented in Pakistan’s first national headcount in 19 years. “The concerned department has not included the Sikh minority in the ongoing count. It is not only unfortunate for us, it is also a point of great concern for the community to have been missed out in the counting exercise,” Radesh Sing Tony, chairman of a Sikh committee, told DawnNews. He complained that a sizeable number of Sikhs was living in Pakistan, but the community was not counted among the religions included in the census form.
He noted that Sikhs would be counted under the ‘other’ religion category in the form, which would not provide an accurate picture of the Sikh population. “This is an injustice, we are being deprived of our rights,” he said. The 500-year-old religion was founded in what is now part of Pakistan. Most Sikhs left Pakistan for India after both countries gained independence from Britain in 1947. Around 20,000 Sikhs remain in Pakistan today, most in the restive northwest regions, which have been rocked by an Islamist insurgency for more than a decade, forcing many to leave their homes in the tribal areas on the Afghan border for the city of Peshawar. Tony said he had written to the chief
justice of Pakistan and the chief justices of the Peshawar and Sindh High Courts requesting that the community be counted as an official religion. When contacted, a spokesperson for the census exercise, Habibullah Khan, admitted that it was a mistake on the part of the census authorities. “Yes, a sizable population of Sikhs are living in Pakistan, but have we missed them in the census,” he told DawnNews. He said the census forms had been printed in 2007 and only five religions had been included on the recommendation of a 120-member technical committee. He conceded that the Sikh population may have been marginal in 2007, but their population had increased with the passage of time. -dawn.com
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
March 24, 2017
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM
27
28
March 24, 2017
INDO-AMERICAN NEWS • FRIDAY, MARCH 24, 2017 • ONLINE EDITION: WWW.INDOAMERICAN-NEWS.COM