Indo-American News: February 21, 2020

Friday, February 21, 2020 • Vol. 39, No. 08February 21, 2020

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Indo-American News • Friday, February 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

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February 21, 2020

Indo-American News • Friday, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

Friday, February 21, 2020 | Vol. 39, No. 08

Indo American News

February 21, 2020

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Published weekly from Houston, TX

www.indoamerican-news.com

Special Reports Community Briefs Local Politics South Asians in the News

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Voters line up at at Tompkins High School in Katy. Photo: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune

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COMMUNITY

February 21, 2020

Srinivasan to Lead Influential Appeals Court

Washington DC: Merrick Garland formally stepped down from his role as chief judge of the influential appeals court in Washington, passing the gavel Thursday to Sri Srinivasan, the first person of South Asian descent to lead a federal circuit court.

Garland, whose 2016 nomination to the Supreme Court by President Barack Obama was blocked

by Senate Republicans, became a symbol of partisan dysfunction in Washington and dashed Democratic hopes. He will continue to serve on the court he joined three decades ago.

Srinivasan, who was also on Obama’s short­list for the high court, shares Garland’s moderate style in his rulings and in his demeanor in questioning lawyers who argue before the court. He is similarly well-liked by colleagues and is viewed as slow to talk but quick to listen on a court known for its collegiality.

The completion of Garland’s seven-year term and the introduction of his successor were marked Thursday with slide shows, speeches and the outgoing chief’s favorite peanut M&Ms at the court, which handles high-profile separation-of-powers cases.

The court could rule at any time on lawsuits filed by House Democrats seeking testimony from President Trump’s former White House counsel Donald McGahn and access to secret grand jury material from former special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s Russia in-

Judge Merrick Garland with Judge Sri Srinivasan at the DC Circuit US Court of Appeals.

vestigation.

Srinivasan, an Obama nominee, was confirmed to the D.C. Circuit with bipartisan support in 2013, having worked in the solicitor general’s office for Republican and Democratic presidents, and as a law clerk for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.

Srinivasan was born in Chandigarh, India, and migrated to the United States with his parents and two sisters at age 4. His father was a professor of mathematics at the University of Kansas, and his mother taught at the Kansas City Art Institute.

He was a star basketball player at his Kansas high school. Srinivasan holds three degrees from Stanford University. He continues to play in the annual basketball game at the Supreme Court between law

clerks from both benches and is still highly competitive, dislocating a finger during last year’s contest.

Srinivasan, 52, spoke recently about his path to the bench at an event celebrating women in the law, a field where men still dominate leadership positions. He took the oath of citizenship from a federal judge when he was 23. Twenty-three years later, he took the oath to become a federal judge.

“Everybody doubts their belonging and worthiness in some measure. I definitely did — and still do. This is just going to be a part of the thing when you’re looking out in the world in which everyone isn’t like you. It’s natural to doubt whether you belong and whether you’re worthy,” he said, “but you do belong and you are worthy.”

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February 21, 2020

Indo-American Candidates Gird for Primary Voting

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Memorial Service for Kedaar Kumar, 38

By Pramod Kulkarni Houston: Early voting for the 2020 Texas primary began on Tuesday, Feburary 18 and will continue until Feb. 28 with the final voting on Super Tuesday, March 3. Besides the innumerable local races, Texans will have an opportunity to cast their votes in the tightly contested US Presidential Democratic Party race.

The fate of several candidates of South Asian origin hangs in balance.

In Texas District 22, which comprises Sugar Land, Pearland and Katy areas, Sri Kulkarni continues his campaign on the Democratic party side after having coming within 5% of beating Congressman Pete Olson.

The Houston Chronicle has once again given its editorial sanction to Kulkarni. In the Democratic primary, Kulkarni faces Pearland City Council member Derrick Reed and lawyer Nyanza Moore.

With Olson’s retirement, the Republican nomination in Texas-22 is highly contested with Bangar Reddy running in his first-ever campaign.

Other Indo-American candidates include Rish Oberoi, also in his first campaign for the Texas State House District 26.

In the Judicial races, Dinesh Singhal is the Democratic candiate for the 1st Court of Appeals in Place 3 on the ballot. Surendran K. Pattel is the Democratic Party candidate for the Fort Bend County District Court 505. Meanwhile, Muzaffar Siddiqi is seeking the Republican nomination for Fort Bend County Sheriff.

Texas-22 Democratic Party candidate Sri Kulkarni speaking to voters in Brazoria county.

On the Republican party side, Bangar Reddy is running in his maiden campaign in Texas-22.

Sugar Land: The Indo-American community turned out in large numers to mourn the loss of Kadaar Kumar, 38, at a memorial service held on Sunday, Feb. 16 at the Sugar Land Mortuary.

Kedaar was the the beloved son of Dr. Rathna Kumar, the Director of the Anjali School of Performing Arts and the late Anil Kumar. He is survived by his brother Chetan Kumar. In lieu of floral offerings, the family has recommended donations to IEducateUSA.org in honor of Kedaar.

Known for his original and creative music compositions, Kedaar served as the Equipment Room Specialist at the Berklee College of Music in Brooklin, MA when he suffered a massive heart attack.

Indo-American News • Friday, February 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

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February 21, 2020

COMMUNITY Large Crowds Expected to Greet Trump

New Delhi: President Donald Trump says that India Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expecting to turn out massive crowds for the president when he visits next week.

Trump will be in the city of Ahmedabad in Gujarat to attend an event called “Namaste Trump,” which translates to “Greetings, Trump,” at a cricket stadium.

Trump pivoted on a question about trade with India to say how much he likes Modi, adding that the prime minister expects some 7 million people to turn out for him between the airport and the cricket stadium.

“The stadium I understand is sort of semi under construction, but it’s going to be the largest stadium in the world, so it’s going to be very exciting,” Trump told reporters.

In preparation for Trump’s visit, a halfkilometer (1,640-foot) brick wall has been hastily erected, with critics saying it was built to block the view of a slum area inhabited by more than 2,000 people.

Senior government official Bijal Patel said the wall was built “for security rea-

sons” and not to conceal the slum.

As for trade, Trump played down expectations for any major breakthroughs next week, saying, “I’m really saving the big deal for later on. I don’t know if it will be done before the election, but we’ll have a very big deal with India.”

Trade tensions between the two countries have escalated since the Trump administration levied tariffs on steel and aluminum from India.

India responded with higher tariffs on agricultural goods and restrictions on U.S. medical devices, prompting the U.S. to retaliate by removing India from a decadesold preferential trade program.

The U.S. runs a trade deficit with India of about $25 billion, according to the U.S. Trade Representative. India has relatively high tariff rates, especially in agriculture, and the Trump administration has been critical of that deficit, accusing India of unfair trading practices.

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Indo-American News • Friday, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

7 Grand “Thai Poosam” Celebration at Sri Meenakshi Temple

COMMUNITY

By R. Muthu Kumar with M.K. Sriram Pearland:º Thaipoosam, the Hindu festival in honor of Lord Karthikeya (Muruga) was celebrated on the Morning of February 8, 2020 at Sri Meenakshi Temple in Pearland, Texas. This festival is celebrated to commemorate the occasion of Lord Karthikeya’s mother, Goddess Parvathi, giving her son the “Sakthi Vel” or the Divine Spear to vanquish the demon army of Asura Tarakaasura and combat their evil deeds. Thus, it is a celebration of victory over evil.

Thaipoosam is celebrated in the Tamil month of Thai (January/ February), on the day of the star “Poosam “and around the day of the full moon or Pournami. This day is honored as a special festival not only at all Murugan temples in India but also worldwide e.g.

Malaysia, Singapore, Ceylon and Mauritius. Sri Meenakshi Temple is a unique temple in the United States where this is celebrated

with great authenticity, replicating the traditions of Murugan temples in India. This attracts a lot of devotees from the greater Houston area as well as from other cities and states.

The festivities began at the Ganesh Temple with a Sankalpam and Pooja for all the Paal Kudams (a pot of milk which will be offered to Lord Muruga as Abisekham, with a coconut on top and covered with a yellow ornate cloth) and Kaavadis (a semi-circular decorated canopy with a wooden rod that holds together 2 small pots of milk on either ends, also used for the Abishekam). This year there were sponsors for about 150 Paal Kudams and 135 Kaavadis.

The Sankalpam and Pooja was followed by a very festive procession of the Paal Kudams and Kaavadis from the Ganesh Temple to the newly renovated Kalyana Mandapam through the main Temple. Devotees attired in their finest colorful attire, chanted “ Muruganukku Arohara” and re-

February 21, 2020

cited devotional songs in praise of Lord Muruga, the entire way.

Once at the Kalyana Mandapam, a grand Abishekham was performed by priests Sri Kalyana Sundaram and Sri Balaji Sethuraman to the chanting of the divine Sri Rudram. The exquisite Alankaram and Aarti that followed rendered the gathering of about 1500 devotees spellbound. Devotees recited the Kanda Shasti Kavacham and sang other devotional songs as well. The whole ambiance was supremely divine.

The resplendent Lord Muruga with his consorts Valli and Deivanai were then taken out on a procession on the silver Ratham or chariot to the main temple, to the beat of the traditional drums and the songs and chants in praise of Lord Murugan. The prasadams were distributed to the devotees after the final arathi at the main temple. This was followed by a sumptuous lunch that was provided by the temple for all those attended the event. What makes

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this a very special event is that it brings together so many people with a common purpose in the service of the Lord. Many volunteers took time off from their work on the previous day to cut vegetables, make flower garlands and prepare the kavadis and paal kudams for this big event.

Kudos to Chairman Mr. Dhani Kannan, Partha Krishnaswamy, Bhargavi Golla and the Board members for planning and executing this function flawlessly. The priests conducted the event with great passion and dedication. The temple silpis (artisans) worked

tirelessly in setting up and decorating the Kalyana Mandapam as well as other facilities, as well as supporting all other activities. The event was coordinated by Dr. Dorairajan, Mrs. Malar Narayanan and Mr. Muthuraman under the leadership of the Religious Activities Committee Coordinator Mr. Vinod Kaila. Lunch preparation was coordinated by Suseela Denduluri and served by many volunteers. This huge effort along with the devotees’ enthusiastic participation made this year’s Thaipoosam celebration a grand success.

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Indo-American News • Friday, February 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

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February 21, 2020

COMMUNITY

IIT Alumni Meet and Greet Texas-22 Candidate Sri Kulkarni

By Bhamy V. Shenoy

Under the leadership of Mallik Putcha, an IITM alumnus, a meet and greet event with Sri Preston Kulkarni was organized on February 9 at Indian Summer (Madras Pavilion) in Sugar Land. Objective of the event was to discuss how alumni like us from IITs can support the campaign of democratic candidate Sri Kulkarni for Congressional district 22.

It may be useful to recall what Houston Chronicle wrote while endorsing Sri “Overall, Olson has come to represent all the worst instincts of U.S. politics while Kulkarni represents our politics at its best”.

Some of us felt that there is some sinister design behind the con-test of an Indian origin candidate in Republican primary to pull potential votes from Sri Kulkarni. This was all the more shocking when that candidate had wholeheartedly supported Sri in his 2018 election.

In 2019, Sri had visited India and IITM was one of the academic institutions where he spent a day interacting with students and research group. He returned with fond memories of stunning natural beauty of IITM campus.

Inspired by the great sacrifice of Sri resigning from much coveted US foreign service to serve his mother land, many are volunteering in his campaign. Discussion with Sri covered several topics where his in-depth knowledge with statistics completely bowled us.

Sri did not hesitate to respond to an inconvenient question about his view on CAA, NPR, NRC or human rights issue in Kashmir. He was forthright in telling us that he does not know much about these things, and he needs to spend time on things which affect his voters.

When he had experience and expertise from his work and stud-ied the issues, he discussed his views on complex situations af-fecting US foreign policy in countries like Yemen, Israel, Ukraine, Russia, Iraq etc.

He narrated his experience of getting criticism while attending some community events. For example, he was criticized by some for attending “Howdy Modi” event. His response was that he also attended an event where Imran Khan was speaking via satellite and had attended several such events. Attending an event does not amount to supporting or endorsing any view. It was easy to appreciate the delicate balance some one like Sri has to make all the time.

When there seems to be a groundswell of support for Trump es-pecially after the failed attempt to impeach him, how can a Democrat like him attract votes not only from Republicans but also from Independents?

When the tribalism seems to be the driving force to choose a candidate, how will even burning issues like health care (difficulty in

securing insurance for those with pre existing health problems, reduction in medicaid and medicare funding), climate change, gun control, education, etc influence them? But we were con-vinced that Sri has sound policies to influence his voters.

During our discussion it became clear that Sri has thought deeply about these issues and has a winning game plan. After all during the last election he lost just by 4.9% against six terms incumbent Pete Olson who had won his previous election by a whopping 19% margin.

His “relational organization” of volunteers who can speak 16 languages succeeded in energizing different communities who never participated in large numbers to vote in earlier elections.

With that experience and having identified local issues of flood control, improving traffic flow, education, etc he is in a far better position to attract even more voters this time.

We saw the decadence in the long held US values when all Re-publican senators with one exception voted to drop charges against Trump purely driven by “tribalism”. They ignored the wise words of Robert K e n n e d y, ““Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted, when we tolerate what we know to be wrong, when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt, because we are too busy or frightened, when we fail to speak up and speak out, we strike a blow against freedom, decency and

Sri Kulkarni (center) with IIT alumni and his campaign staff.

Indo-American News • Friday, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

justice”.

During the event it was refreshing to hear Sri emphasizing the US values by telling us how he is inspired by the above quote of Robert Kennedy. He feels strongly to balance different view points since neither extremes of left and right can offer the optimum solution. They result in “absolutism” as has been experi-enced during Trump era. The Texas-22 congressional district is fortunate that they have an outstanding candidate to choose in Sri. and IIT alumni made the timely decision to organize the event.

SOUTH ASIA

February 21, 2020

India Urged to Extend Renewal Date of OCI Cards Until December 31

Washington DC: In view of the inconvenience faced by the diaspora having OCI card in the US, an eminent Indian-American social activist has urged the government of India to extend the date of its renewal till December 31.

The Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card, among other benefits, allows multiple entry, multi-purpose life long visa to an Indian-origin foreign national to visit India.

In December, the ministry of home affairs’ foreigners division issued an office memorandum directing the relevant government agencies and airlines that Overseas Citizen Of India (OCI) card holders not between 20 and 50 years of age and who have renewed their passport can travel to India as long as they also have in their possession their old cancelled passport.

They were given time till June 30 to renew their OCI card.

But now, based on the feedback that he has been receiving from Indian-Americans and the diaspora community, IndianAmerican Prem Bhandari said that June 30 is not enough as it needs a massive awareness campaign on part of the Indian government.

“My humble request to you is to extend the date of renewal of OCI cards till December 31, 2020 such that the Non-Resident Indian/Person of Indian Origin community had enough time to understand the new requirement

and renew their OCI cards,” New York-based Bhandari, who last year took up the matter, said in a latest communique to the Indian government this week.

Bhandari, who heads Jaipur Foot USA, has sent his communique to the external affairs ministry and other relevant ministries including the civil aviation and home affairs.

“This will give ample time to the Indian diaspora to renew their OCI cards and facilitate a pleasurable visit to India,” he told PTI. This week, the Indian consulate in New York and other Indian diplomatic missions issued a clarification on the OCI renewal.

“As you are aware with the advisory issued by the ministry of home affairs and the ministry of civil aviation to airlines, overseas

Indians and PIOs have been facing great difficulties in travelling to India during the busy holiday season in December 2019 and January 2020,” the letter said.

“As many did not have updated OCI cards or were not carrying their old passports, they were stopped by airlines from boarding.

We are grateful to the ministry of external affairs and the ministry of home affairs for granting assistance and for helping people to travel to India without their old passports and extending the date of renewal of OCI to June 30, 2020.

This has considerably ameliorated the situation,” Bhandari said in the letter.

However, many Indian-origin travellers faced difficulties at airports in boarding as airlines fre-

quently misinterpret the rules or are inflexible although Indian Immigration has been allowing people to enter the country without new OCI cards or even without old passports, he said.

“You are aware that a large number of OCI cards have been issued and it is not possible for everyone to be aware of the rules. Many a times I have intervened to get people to board aircraft by using personal influence. Several times, I have sought the help of consulate in New York to help the people to board,” Bhandari continued.

Although the government of India and consulates are trying the best to diffuse and disseminate this information regarding renewal of OCI, many people still remain

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unaware and “we are hearing daily horror stories,” he said.

Indian-Americans have complained that they were not aware that every time an OCI card holder below the age of 20 and above the age of 50 years renew their passport they have to apply for the renewal of OCI card too.

“For all practical purposes, OCI card is not a multipurpose lifelong visa, as it has been billed by the government. To clear the confusion, it is important that the government, immediately, say that it is not a multipurpose life-long visa and then take steps to fix the loopholes in this regard,” Bhandari had said last year.

He had raised the issue last year also with then India’s ambassador to the US, Harsh Vardhan Shringla and secretary of ministry of civil aviation, Pradeep Singh Kharola.

Both of them, Bhandari said, were instrumental in coming to the rescue of the Indian diaspora. -- PTI

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Indo-American News • Friday, February 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

10 February 21, 2020 ENTERTAINMENT Bhoot: Part 1 Sees Vicky Kaushal Trapped in a Terrifying Ship Vicky Kaushal’s horror film, Bhoot: The Haunted Ship has been released. The film is directed by debutant Bhanu Pratap Singh, who previously assisted Shashank Khaitan on Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014). Also starring Bhumi Pednekar, Ashutosh Rana, the trailer hardly shared any glimpses of the actors.

The trailer, in dark and monotone hues, introduces Kaushal’s character as a surveying officer Prithvi.

He is assigned to look into the case of an abandoned ship which mysteriously landed at the shores of Mumbai. Curious to understand what went wrong with the ship, Prithvi begins his investigation which is now being dubbed as the ‘haunted ship’. Unbeknownst to him, there are a bunch of horrors, including the ghost of a young girl, that haunts the ship, who have now begun to surface.

Midway through the trailer, we also see Prithvi lying in a hospital bed, where doctors tell him that he

is hallucinating. Throughout the clip, we witness the general tropes of horrors such as ghosts crawling backwards on walls, people opening doors to have the spirit

lunge at them, squeaky dolls and also kids running across the halls.

Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship, is produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Johar, Shashank Khaitan

Ayushmann: “Giant Leap for Indian Cinema” Actor Ayushmann Khurrana social drama’s Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, which deals with samesex love, is set to release on February 21. Directed by Hitesh Kewalya, the film also stars Gajraj Rao, Neena Gupta, Jitendra Kumar and Manu Rishi.

In this interview with indianexpress.com, Ayushmann Khurrana talks about Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, and the need to create a brand new thought process for the regressive Indian audience.

Here are excerpts from the conversation: The trailer of Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan has been received well, and there is curiosity. What do you have to say about the love you are receiving for your film?

Our film is one of its kind. It is a giant leap for Indian cinema where we are portraying two men as homosexuals, and we are very front-footed about it. It is also the reaction of the family when they find out that their son is gay. The comments that we have got on YouTube for our trailer are unanimously positive. It is a very healthy sign for Indian cinema and our so-

ciety in general. This film could be like an induction for the Indian audience. It is not something that is very serious. It is mainstream and commercial. It is a popcorn entertainer.

While you have spoken about sensitivity, you have not really shied away from homosexual stereotypes. Your character does wear a nose-ring, has tattoos, etc.

The thing is that we are catering to the boomer generation. We are catering to people who have these stereotypes in their minds. So, though we have not overplayed

these stereotypes, we have really toned them down. Of course, there is a nose-ring, but I am not that feminine in the film. There is a hint of it somewhere but not always. Jeetu is the one who is very subtle. I am the one who is overthe-top. We are two different sides of the coin.

At the same time, it was important to cater to every single person out there. It is not just for people who are sensitised towards homosexuals. It is for people who are against the LGBTQ community.

That’s our target audience. That’s why we cannot be overly sensitive.

As I said, it is the induction or the first introduction of homosexuality for the regressive Indian audience.

So, we had to give that commercial tonality to the film. We had to make it funny. We have songs, dance, family drama, humour – we have everything. It cannot be a serious film. In the end, a message will be seeped in without them even realising it because they will consume entertainment, and it will be like subtle messaging with entertainment.

and Apoorva Mehta. Khaitan had claimed that their main intention with the upcoming film is to develop it into a series (which might also include horror comedies).

The production house also approached Ram Gopal Varma to buy the rights of the title Bhoot, since he made the 2003 horror film starring Urmila Matondkar. Karan extended his thanks to Varma in a statement, mentioning that with Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship, the makers at Dharma would “aspire to make sure the title is in the right hands of horror.”

A new song from Vicky Kaushal’s horror film Bhoot – Part One: The Haunted Ship has been re-

leased. Titled as ‘Channa Ve’, the romantic track is sung by Akhil Sachdeva & Mansheel Gujral. Sachdeva has also written the lyrics and composed the music for the same.

‘Channa Ve’ is a welcome change from the horrors and chills that the trailer had offered. The song traces the romance between the film’s leads Kaushal and Bhumi Pednekar and shows them reveling a happy domesticated life before a tragedy befalls. Backed by a bittersweet tone to it, ‘Channa Ve’ features montages of Kaushal remembering his family, and the moments he spent with his wife, who’s now dead.

The film is directed by debutant Bhanu Pratap Singh, who previously assisted Shashank Khaitan on Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014). The trailer, in dark and monotone hues, introduces Kaushal’s character as a surveying officer Prithvi. He is assigned to look into the case of an abandoned ship which mysteriously landed at the shores of Mumbai. Unbeknownst to him, there are a bunch of horrors revolving, including the ghost of a young girl, that haunts the ship, which have begun to surface.

Throughout the clip, we witness the general tropes of horror films such as ghosts crawling backwards on walls, people opening doors to have the spirit lunge at them, squeaky dolls and also kids running across the halls.

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Indo-American News • Friday, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

February 21, 2020

Indo-American News • Friday, February 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

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PUZZLESBUSINESS / RECIPES

February 21, 2020

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.

Mama’s Punjabi Recipes Badam Wala Dudh (Hot Almond Milk Tonic) Directions:

Send us the correct answer before before February 26, 2020.

Email us at indoamericannews@yahoo.com or mail to 7457 Harwin Drive, Suite 212, Houston, TX 77036. Please send us your solved Sudoku for your name to be published

1. Cover the almonds with a muslin cloth and smash them with a pallet.

You can also crush them in a blender, but make sure not to powder them.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the ghee over medium setting, then throw in the crushed almonds and roast them till slightly brown but no more than a minute.

Solution Next Week W

Last Week’s SUDOKU Solution

Last Week’s SUDOKU Winners

Kumud Athavale RK Babber

ith the advent of cold weather, it is the season for sweets, nuts, hot drinks to warm you up and wonderful aromas. Below is a reprint of Mama’s Badam Wala Dudh recipe, which is a filling night time drink that helps you stay warm and sleep soundly during the winter months. It is reprinted with some additional information and directions.

This recipe can’t really be called a dish as it is more of a remedy that can cure flu and cold symptoms.

But, it was a drink that my children, nieces and nephews liked so much that they would ask for it during the cold months like a hot sweetened milkshake. It is considered a tonic to help those who have to study hard or do work requiring mental concentration.

But the truth is that this was the tumbler of hot, sweetened milk that we would drink during the frigidly cold months of winter in the western Punjab plains while sitting around the warmth of the chulla (clay hearth) and exchanging gossip about the day’s happenings with the extended family. We grew up by the banks of the River Chenab in the small town of Jhang, Sargodha Division, close to our lands which were farmed by leaseholders. In the winters, our storage rooms would be full of the produce of grains and nuts from the harvests.

This Badam Wala Dudh (hot almond milk) drink has its origins in the farms of West Punjab but was influenced by the far Northwest Frontier provinces where the winters are even harsher and longer. The whole area was – and still is - known for its trade in dried fruits. Our nani (maternal grandmother) would make this hot milk drink with cracked whole almonds roasted in gheyo (clarified butter).

Nani would tell us the hot almond milk would melt the frozen portions of our sinus passages, unclog our heads and free up our lungs by giving us a boost of energy. She would quote a Punjabi folk saying: Dudh peetheyan budh vadde (Drinking milk increases the brain), Teh ghee khaade khopadri (and eating ghee the head); Maas khaade maas vadde (Eating meat expands the fleshy body), Teh gyuon khadde ohjadri (and eating flour increases the stomach).

These days, people may say it is high in calories due to the gheyo, so you should drink it sparingly in the winters. But it is a great warmerupper for those really cold winter nights!

Ingredients: • 2 tbsp ghee (clarified butter) • 15 badam (almonds), unpeeled • 1 cup doodh (milk, preferably whole fat) • 1 tsp chinni (sugar) to taste

3. Pour in the milk and as the mixture comes to a boil, throw in the sugar and mix.

4. Turn off the heat, pour into a tall cup and sip. You may need a spoon to get the almonds, and also later to scoop them out and eat them.

Shakuntla Malhotra is a skilled cook of Punjabi dishes made in the oldfashioned style that she learnt as a young woman in her ancestral home in Lyallpur, India (since renamed Faisalabad) 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 late-eighties, she continues to cook daily and agreed to share her delectable Punjabi vegetarian recipes for future generations.

MAMA’S TIP O F THE

W

EEK FOR NATURALL Y SWEETENED D ESSERT, TRY A FEW KHAJOORS (DAT ES)

After a meal – and temptation to finish especially if it is a satisfying one – ther it of are very high in suga f with something sweet. Most desserts e is the or r or other sweetener and pack a lot of ca s like high fructose cookies corn syrup lories. Pastries and ch you, especially if yo u are middle-aged. ocolates are equally bad for A better option is ea in carbohydrates, ha ting two or three dates which are na turally rich ve a natural sweeten er you and the sugar is quickly metabolized that is not as detrimental for . One of the most po are the Medjool va riety pular dates and many other vitam which contains 66 calories (or 16 gm s of sugar) ins. Dates also relie ve low metabolism, po or vision and osteo poor digestion, constipation, porosis.

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713-789-6397 Indo-American News • Friday, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

SPORTS

February 21, 2020

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“I Play the Game to Get Guys Like Virat Kohli Out “ - Trent Boult Hamilton: (ESPN Cricinfo): Fitagain Trent Boult is “very excited” at the prospect of bowling to Virat Kohli in the two-Test series starting Friday, and has already set the India captain’s wicket as his prime target as New Zealand look to bounce back after a 3-0 series defeat in Australia late last year.

Boult is back after suffering a broken hand during the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, and is set to be reunited with Tim Southee and Neil Wagner to spearhead the pace attack in the Tests in Wellington and Christchurch.

“I’m very excited to bowl to Virat again,” Boult said. “He’s an exceptional player. Everyone knows how great he is. That is personally why I play the game, to get guys like that out and test myself against them, so I can’t wait to get stuck in.”

Boult had missed the first Test of the Australia series in Perth because of a side injury but had recovered in time to play in Melbourne. But he fractured his hand while batting at the MCG and was ruled out of the rest of the tour as well as the limited-overs leg of India’s tour.

“I suppose breaking a hand, you don’t really know how much you use it until it’s broken,” he said.

“Everything has gone well but catching would be the biggest issue for me at the moment. I’m 100% fit and hungry.

“It’s been nice just to be able to

has tended to dry out quickly and tilt in favour of the batsmen. And considering they are facing the No. 1 Test side, Boult is expecting an even contest despite New Zealand’s home advantage.

“I’m preparing for a solid wicket.

It generally is very good here and goes the full distance (five days),” Boult said. “I do enjoy playing here, the history that’s involved, and it’s going to be an exciting week building up. I can’t wait.”

“They [India] are a great side and they are leading the ICC Test Championship. They are very clear on how they wanted to play the game. It was a tough learning curve in Australia but it’s going to be good place to see where we are in terms of bouncing back from the defeat in Australia.”

Trent Boult in action. Getty Images.

bowl. I had some time away from the game and having my second son a couple of weeks ago, it actually came at quite a good time, but I’m hungry to be here and can’t

wait to get back in the whites and get the red ball moving around.”

While fast bowlers, especially with the new ball, will be key at Basin Reserve, of late the surface

Asian Wrestling Gold for Sunil Kumar New Delhi: Sunil Kumar on Tuesday overpowered Azat Salidinov of Kyrgyzstan 5-0 in the 87kg summit bout to end India’s 27 years of gold medal drought in the Greco-Roman category in the Asian Wrestling Championships on Tuesday.

Before Sunil, Pappu Yadav had

won the 48kg Greco-Roman title in 1993. Sunil with his comprehensive defence, was able to keep Salidinov at bay for most part of the bout.

Salidinov did not have any answer to the Indian’s strategy and finally went down pretty easily.

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February 21, 2020

Editorial Kambala vs. 100-m Dash Unverified claims of the Srinivas Gowda, the buffalo jockey from southern Karnataka, running 100 m out of a total of 145 m in 9.55 seconds in Kambala, set into motion an absurd chain of events. Personalities like Anand Mahindra and Shashi Tharoor offered fulsome praise on social media. Sports minister Kiren Rijiju even tweeted: “I’ll call Karnataka’s Srinivasa Gowda for trials by top SAI Coaches… I’ll ensure that no talent in India is left out untested.”

However, denying the man individual autonomy on something as important as his career, is very problematic. Was he asked, before dispatching train tickets to him and summoning him to SAI Bengaluru, if he wanted to dip his toes (or heels) into a sporting event which has yielded no financial dividends for 100-metre national champions all these years? He may have wanted to simply continue in kambala races (buffalo races) for which he has trained at an academy since 2011 — and where he makes about Rs 5-7 lakh every season.

Did the minister consider inviting him to the many tracks in Mangalore or the excellent Alva’s Sports College, Moodbidri, before pouncing on comparisons with Bolt and setting him up for a gimmicky spectacle?

That he is 28 — old by sporting standards — when he is being drafted into the sport, shows this as being nothing more than a headline-grabbing move. The narrative has a nice ring of “doing something for sport” to it. But the comparisons between Gowda and Bolt are unfair to both.

In fact, picking his 100m time randomly from a 145m run — where the rolling start to Gowda’s 100m ignores Bolt’s (or any sprinter’s) significant challenge of speeding up from the 0 kph start — is disingenuous.

No one runs in slush in formal track events — nor do they run barefoot, which changes the dynamic.

The suggestion that this is a novel way of scouting talent is deceitful and insulting to the hundreds of nameless coaches spread across SAI’s centres, who haven’t exactly been sitting and twiddling their thumbs for all these years. The assumption that India is teeming with athletic talent numbering millions, and that it only needs a keen eye to spot such talent, is humbug. That thousands of medals haven’t happened because of official apathy and bureaucracy is a comforting lie.

Blazing ignorance about sports leads to assumptions like kids in dance shows can lead to the next gymnastics talent, or that the country needs to embark on a mammoth rural exploration to discover the toiling farmer’s children whose bodies lend themselves to hardy sport. The truth is: India’s top athletes in physically demanding sports have always come from rural regions. No kid from an affluent background grows up dreaming about cracking the 100m sport for a railways or a services job.

Jamaica does two things that helps it produce an assembly line of sprinters: Its famous Champs meet where 30,000 spectators turn up to watch inter-school races. And, a health initiative going back to the 1920s which insists on hygiene, clean water and faecal/mosquito control as well as nutrition for kids to raise the quality of bodies on the island.

Generations of training and conditioning later, Jamaica had Bolt: It’s not as visually appealing as two gloriously dressed up buffaloes pulling a chiselled man sliding his heels on slush. It’s rather boring, in fact. But India needs to start respecting the fundamentals in sport. That starts with asking a man if he’s interested before anointing him as the one to go chasing after Bolt’s shadow.

The notion that India is only 100m away from an Olympic sprint gold medal is insulting the dash and the challenges it represents for the athletes.-- Shivani Naik in Indian Express

EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY

Balance between Capitalism & Socialism

By Pratap Bhanu Mehta Democracy and capitalism have, for good or for ill, often been closely aligned. But this moment in global politics is characterized by the intensification of the tension between the two. This tension provides the new ideological faultline in many contexts. Democracy, as Karl Polanyi argued, had as one its functions, the “self-protection” of society against what he called the “satanic mills” of capitalism.

This protection had to take place on a number of dimensions.

First, there had to be a modicum of social justice, as evidenced in the share between labor and capital, for the system to have any legitimacy. In practice, this social justice was achieved through the welfare state, which by ensuring basic goods at least maintained the fig leaf of equality of opportunity.

The second was to ensure that the political process was not entirely beholden to monied interests to the point that it could not claim independent legitimacy. Politics could serve as an independent source of legitimacy, only if it was not entirely subservient to the logic of market interests. Governments may rise or fall with economic performance. But the resilience of democratic authority requires that its fate not be entirely tied to economic outcomes.

Third, the self-protection had to ensure that the commodification of social life did not acquire the dimensions where it would lead to a loss of meaning. It also required ensuring that nature of capitalist accumulation was not self undermining. In the case of the environment for instance, it did not lead to outcomes, where capitalism’s own promises of a better life were undermined by a degradation of the environment. Fourth, the state ensured personal liberty as a sign of respect for and trust in the autonomy of persons, as expressed in rule of law.

And finally, while economic efficiency promised the satisfaction of private wants and needs, it needed to be supplemented by some account of a common project, a community of fate that tied citizens together in more than just a

relationship of convenience.

Democracy would allow capitalism to flourish, only if it could be seen to be performing these functions of protecting society to some degree.

It could be argued that at this point in many countries across the world, the “Left-Right” dimension does not quite capture what is at stake in contemporary politics.

What is at stake is not just equality of distribution, but the relationship between democracy and capitalism. If you look at the emerging ideological landscape, the issue is not so much between socialists and capitalists. The issue is between those who think that capitalism is the problem, and those who think democracy is the problem.

In some ways, a potential contest between Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump will turn out to be a more interesting contest because it is the one contest that makes these stakes totally clear. Personality and competence issues apart, the Bloomberg-Trump contest, would be ideologically not a contest at all. Whether the heirs to “ClintonObama” centrism are more electorally attractive can be debated.

But they are seen to fudge the democracy question. It is true that there is a good deal of the condescension of posterity in how we assess Clinton-Obama-Blair centrism. The condescension underestimates the complexity of electoral politics and the contextual virtue of institutional moderation. But analytically, the critique of that centrism is that it saved capitalism (and some of its plutocracies and associated imperialism) more than it saved democratic enfranchisement; and by not pushing harder on the social protection functions of democracy, it paved the way for disenchantment with it. What may attract the young to Sanders is not equality per se, but restoring the romance of agency; the idea that democracy does not give itself over to a fatality where its protec-

tive functions are undermined.

That this is a contest on the balance between democracy and capitalism is obscured by two things.

First, all parties still work within the frame of electoral contestation and within this frame, contingency matters a lot. Particular leaders may matter, for example. That frame for all its corruptions, seems to have enough legitimacy to appear to be the final arbiter. Second, the Right substitutes, the language of democracy with its close cousin, the language of the people.

This is why the question of the internal diversity within parties like the Republican Party has become relatively irrelevant. Moderation made sense when the contest was largely on one dimension — a little more or a little less distribution.

But once you have grasped the thought that the pushback against a self-undermining capitalism will come from democracy itself, then there is relatively little resistance to standing behind any form of executive power that will contain that democracy. Right-wing parties hang together not just because they have that ultimate form of identity politics — nationalism — to bind them together. They hang together because their raison d’etre is now to ensure that society does not pushback against capital. They can have success in this endeavour, but only at the risk of making society off balance in ways Polanyi had suggested. With an environmental crisis looming the costs of capital democracy relations being off balance are even higher.

So the contest in the US, but elsewhere as well, is less over socialism versus capitalism. It is whether there is too much democracy or too much capitalism, and where the balance between the two lies. -- Indian Express

Indo American News Founder: Dr. K.L. Sindwani Publisher: Jawahar Malhotra Editor: Pramod Kulkarni Correspondent: Sanchali Basu ®All rights reserved. No material herein or portions thereof may be published without the written consent of the publisher. 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 212, Houston, Texas 77036.Tel:713-789-6397, email: indoamericannews@yahoo.com, website: www. indoamerican-news.com

Indo-American News • Friday, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com

February 21, 2020

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February 21, 2020

Indo-American News • Friday, FEBRUARY 21, 2020 • Online Edition: www.indoamerican-news.com