Oct 2016

Celebrating WOMAN OF SUBSTANCE

ARATHI KRISHNA

Letters Matter

lPph dke;kch ds ek;us

eSa ,d ckj lsehukj esa x;kA ogka ij gj O;fDr ls loky iwNs x,A esjs ls iwNk x;k fd lPph dke;kch D;k gksrh gS] rks eSaus dgk fd tc vkids gLrk{kj] vkWVksxzkQ esa cny tk,] rc lef>;s fd vkidks lPph dke;kch fey xbZ gSA ;g lqudj iwjk gkWy lsehukj esa 'kkfey lHkh yksxksa dh rkfy;ksa dh xM+xM+kgV ls xwat mBkA ;g okD;k blfy, crk jgk gwa fd eSa mRrj ds vuq:i gh vkidh if=dk ,u-vkj-vkbZ ,pholZ Hkh vc vkWVksxzkQ ds yk;d gks xbZ gSA vkt ’kk;n gh dksbZ ns’k cpk gksxk tks vkidh if=dk dk nhokuk u gksA vkius tks fiNys pkj lkyksa esa esgur dh gS] oks dkQh ljkguh; gSA gekjs izoklh Hkkjrh; ftl lQy eqdke rd igqaps gSa mldks tkuus ds fy, ;g if=dk vfr mRre lk/ku gSA eSa fiNys nks lkyksa ls bls fujarj i<+rk vk jgk gwa vkSj eq>s bldk gj ,d ist ubZ LQwrhZ o Kku nsrk gS rFkk bl if=dk ls irk pyrk gS fd fons'kksa esa ,u-vkj-vkbZ-] ih-vkbZ-vks- vkSj vks-lh-vkbZ- fdruh rjDdh dj jgs gSa vkSj fgUnqLrku dk uke dSls&dSls jks'ku dj jgs gSaA oSls rks bl if=dk esa cgqr dqN gS] fQj Hkh eSa vkils izkFkZuk djrk gwa fd gekjs ;gka ds cPps fons’kksa esa i<+us tkrs gSa blfy, bl if=dk esa LVMh ,cjkWM dk Hkh ist ’kq: djsaA rks d`ik gksxhA l eqds’k] jksgrd] gfj;k.kk

IMPORTANT DAYS

DATE COUNTRY DAY

OCTOBER1 CHINA NATIONAL DAY

OCTOBER1 CYPRUS INDEPENDENCE DAY

OCTOBER1 NIGERIA NATIONAL DAY

OCTOBER2 GUINEA NATIONAL DAY

OCTOBER3 GERMANY DAY OF GERMAN UNITY

OCTOBER3 KOREA NATIONAL DAY

OCTOBER4 LESOTHO NATIONAL DAY

OCTOBER8 CROATIA STATEHOOD DAY

OCTOBER9 UGANDA INDEPENDENCE DAY

OCTOBER10 FIJI NATIONAL DAY

OCTOBER12 SPAIN NATIONAL DAY

OCTOBER21 SAN MARINO NATIONAL DAY

OCTOBER23 HUNGARY REPUBLIC DAY

OCTOBER24 UNITED NATIONS UN DAY

OCTOBER24 ZAMBIA NATIONAL DAY

OCTOBER26 AUSTRIA NATIONAL DAY

OCTOBER27 TURKMENISTAN INDEPENDENCE DAY

OCTOBER28 CZECH REPUBLIC NATIONAL DAY

OCTOBER29 TURKEY NATIONAL DAY

INDo-CHINA

RELATIoNS

WILL IMPRoVE IF TRADE INCREASES

Although your magazine presents a bouquet of interesting news, information & features, I wish you would give enough importance to our neighbour & fast becoming world power China. I want to highlight something on ‘China’ initiative about one belt one road. So, India must join the One belt and One road Initiative mooted by China. It will help if India strengthens ties with the United States and Asian countries. But more importantly India should join the BRI because it will help boost India’s economy. Moreover, the present hostility and differences between India and China will reduce once economic ties improve. India should not be the part of the US plan to isolate China at the world stage and we should have our own policies that are independent and aimed at furthering our interests. We should not forget: Better is a neighbour that is near than the brother is distant.

—AJAY SINGH

(Former High Commissioner, Fiji)

RAJEEV GUPTA B.K. AGGARWAL

DR. KAMAL KUMAR

SUSHIL TAYAL

DARVESH BANSAL

VARSHA GOEL CHAKRAVARTHI SUCHINDRAN

VINOD BEHL

RAJ UPPAL (NORTH AMERICA)

SANJAY KUMAR (EUROPE)

AJAY AGGARWAL (U K)

PREMCHAND RAMLOCHUN (MAURITIUS)

RAJIV KUMAR (FRANCE)

RAVI KUMAR (FRANCE)

BALESH DHANKHAR (AUSTRALASIA)

SUMAN KAPOOR (NEW ZEALAND)

LOSHNI NAIDOO (SOUTH AFRICA)

S URAJ DA COSTA (UAE)

VIJAY MALIK ( BELGIUM )

JYOTHI VENKATESH (MUMBAI)

SANDIP THAKUR

BARKHA ARORA

AJEET VERMA

H ARISH SINGH KIROLA

RAJEEV TYAGI

SUMIT SINGH

MUSTAFA A. KHAN

VINOD SHARMA

CHANDER MOHAN

O RANGO SOLUTIONS

AARTI BAGARKA

ISMAIL KHAN (NORTH AMERICA)

DR. HARRY DHANJU (CANADA) M.S. SHALI (UK)

MANJIT NIJJAR (UK)

MOHAN GUNTI (ASEAN) RAJKUMAR YADAV SUNNY VYAS JOGINDER MALIK SHIKHA CHOPRA MUKESH SAINI SANSKRITIKA COMMUNICATIONS MUKESH KASHIWALA AR. VIVEK KHURANA M ONIKA G ULYANI CENTRAL NEWS AGENCY PVT. LTD. S.P. PANDEY SUCHI DINESH SHARMA R AHUL R AKESH

MoST SINCERELy yoURS …

This month, we are celebrating. It marks our fourth anniversary and evokes memories of the many trials, tribulations and travails that have marked the first few years of our being in print. It seems like just yesterday when I embarked on this journey all by myself in 2012, with the express intention of starting a print publication – it was at a time when several small, medium and even some big publications were calling it a day, either shutting down or on the verge of doing so every second day, due to fall in readerships, declining ad-revenues and a marked lack of resources. Most of my tribe and even my friends thought me either not quite right in the head, if not outright insane. No one was inclined even to give me some moral support, leave alone any resources to keep the show going. Frankly, I myself did not know what the future beheld for me. People in the profession were switching from print to e-media in droves, for returns there were almost instantaneous – unlike the delayed gratification of print.

There is this saying in Hindi… ‘Jahan koshishon aur prayatno ki unchai jyada hoti hai, vahan naseeb bhi jhook jaya karte hain’ … . Yehi meri life ki bhi philosphy rahi hai. So brimming with confidence and belief in my own capabilities, I bit the bullet and dared to kick-start the ‘NRI Achievers’ magazine, and dekhte hi dekhte, this month we are celebrating our fourth anniversary of this eventful journey.

With passion and a strong desire to become a bridge connecting our world-girdling ‘in-dia-spora’ – be they NRIs, PIOs & OCIs – with their homeland and vice-versa, we experienced a broad spectrum of emotions – ranging from the bitter to bitter-sweet to the sweet – at times extraordinary and sometimes even embarrassing, during all these years in our efforts to bring home the success stories of many unsung heroes who are doing wonders sitting thousands of miles away from their homeland. I write to you today with the after taste of all those emotions, and it is but befitting to pay plaudits to those few who did stand at my side, helping bring this publication to where it has reached today.

I do know that no journeys are beds of roses – and there be many thorns among them. It was and still is a difficult journey indeed. Fraught with uncertainty and overfull with doubts, sailing against the wind and above all with the most meagre of resources – financial or otherwise. I, for one, have never been one for putting aside money for a rainy day, so there was no savings buffer to start with. Foolhardy, but it was a dare and challenge to me – posed by me to myself. I had a two options –one: find a way, and two: if one doesn’t exist, then ‘make’ the way.

My personal car, a Hyundai i10, became my ‘car-o-bar.’ The family wasn’t very happy – they suffered me and my idiosyncrasies. Outside support

was minimal at best – but those few who did extend their support, did so without any remuneration or honorarium –whether it be for their articles and content, or expertise and help in making the magazine a class apart. Today, and of course on the morrow as well, I am and will be beholden to my family which I put through the wringer, and all those contributors and team mates who stood by me during all those difficult minutes, hours, days, months and years.

It would indeed be most befitting to name B K Aggarwal, the CEO of our magazine first. He was also the first to come forward and render financial support which saw me through the most difficult period of struggle to find a niche for the magazine. A retired government officer, he has always treated me like a son.

Initially for the first few issues I had outsourced the editorial content responsibility to a team led by an experienced journalist Nimesh Shukla and I got busy in seeking out sources and resources to garner enough money to survive. I thank him and his team for giving me the initial respite. The Consulting Editor of our magazine, Chakravarthi Suchindran, journalist, film-maker and technocrat, sailed into our magazine’s horizon like an armada in January 2013, and took sole responsibility for the editorial content. Since then, on the content front at least, it has indeed been smooth sailing. Not once have I been let down whatever the circumstances had been. Even when faced with health issues, he has edited the magazine from his hospital room. While we do off and on tend to exchange a few hot words, especially when deadlines loom large – he keeps cool, with full focus on content. Kudos and hats off to his professionalism.

My family – wife, children, mother – while they do show full faith and shower me with affection, are also anxious, I realise that. My wife, who has full confidence in my competencies and abilities, never hesitates to point it out to me that name and fame apart, it is money the world respects – and the magazine better earn or it will sink, maybe taking all of us along. I am thankful to her for being my pole star in this, and appreciate it. My mother, old, infirm and weak with her years, still makes the effort to hold my hand, shower blessings and wish me well. Well, mothers are special. My kids too, young as they are, have been understanding, never demanding anything even when they badly wanted something, but adjusted and made do with the limited and curtailed facilities I provided them all these years.

I have this feeling that I am going to keep dropping names regularly in forthcoming issues, giving due credit to all contributions, efforts and support that has been forthcoming from several quarters to keep the venture afloat and healthy. Today, even as I bring this little epistle of mine to a close, I have this tendril of happiness curling its way through my psyche – I now realise and know we have reached a stage where the journey has become ongoing –and more good people will now join this caravan.

@Rajeev Gupta

LIFE’S LI kE THAT

ctober is a special month indeed. NRI Achievers completes four full years of being in print, and October heralds the onset of the festive season for entire India – the festivals and festivities of ‘Navaratri’ (or ‘Dussehra’ as it is known in some parts) begin even before the month ends its first day, and culminates in India’s most glorious festival of lights ‘Diwali’ – or ‘Deepavali’ as the south calls it – on the penultimate day of the month. So we wish to begin with a bouquet of greetings, warm wishes and a hope that all our readers and the NRI Achievers fraternity will find it a turning point for the better in their lives. T he world and its doings are gloomy enough, so beginning this editorial on a positive note with well wishes for our readers was appropriate before we get down to the tensions and tribulations of the real world. Pakistan has always been a thorn in India’s skin right from the time of partition, and the “K” word always finds its way into any sticky situation that occurs between the two neighbours. As true to the pattern, just as the wildfire like unrest across the valley began to subside a bit, we have an incursion and attack on a Uri army camp by socalled non-state actors, which see 19 dead. India reacts, there is understandable outrage across the nation, in part stoked and fuelled by both conventional and social media platforms. PM Modi, who has so far in his tenure shown ample times he can think ‘out-of-the-box,’ sends in special forces across the LoC – to take out insurgent terrorist staging camps in a lightning ‘surgical strike’ that destroy five camps and damage two badly – all in three plus hours. On the economic front the government has undertaken a rethink and review of the Indus Water Treaty, and on the diplomatic front, India’s attempt to isolate Pakistan regionally has paid dividends – the SAARC summit scheduled for November this year stands postponed, with almost all other members backing India. Much more is there to write about, from the Cauvery dispute between Karnataka and Tamilnadu – and the upper riparian Karnataka going against the Supreme Court’s orders ... to Nitish Kumar’s Bihar going against a HC ruling to dismantle prohibition by coming up with an even more stringent law ... yada yada yada ... one could go on. But lets not do that this time, we will keep our rants to a minimum and the mood not gloomy but upbeat, its a festival month, so lets celebrate as if there is no tomorrow!

Getting down to the content in this issue, our Cover Feature extends from last month to bring you more about our 'Indiaspora' – the doings of interesting compatriots both from home and abroad. Realpolitik takes a look at 25 years of economic and financial reforms, and how it has helped India become one among the fastest growing economies in the world. Heritage features an Indian whose stature though physically not too impressive, walked tall on all fronts – Sam Bahadur Manekshaw. Travel & Destinations is on vacation this issue, hard at work to bring you features for forthcoming issues. Yet another chapter of Chanakya Neeti follows, while Real Estate brings you three different aspects to the story of the realty sector looking upbeat in India in tghe wake of reforms. And as usual, news on milestone happenings are all clustered into our various 'newsy' heads – News Scan, Diaspora News, Business Buzz, Global Events, PSU Buzz. In Metaphysical Musings, we have Sadhguru’s column which we started bringing to you from August, and Silver Screen features a respected woman film-maker of Bollywood, Kalpana Lajmi, while Cineppets brings you the latest goings-on from Bollywood. NRI Achievers wishes you all a great time ahead, and hopes you find our current issue both interesting and informative on the themes and topics of your interest. Your feedback is valuable – we invite your responses from all corners of the world. Be unstinting in praise, and criticism is also okay – our editorial team will have ears open to catch your feedback, suggestions and advice for a better content-mix. Write to us, like us on social media and share your experiences, thoughts, stories with us. Have a great Festive Season ahead !

ZI k A HITS INDIANS IN SINgAPoRE

It has been reported that 15 Indians have so far contacted the Zika virus in Singapore, implying that the Zika menace has reached too close to India for comfort. The city-state of Singapore is grappling with rising numbers of people afflicted with the mosquito-borne disease, with the total number of cases crossing 215 by mid September according to the Singapore health ministry.

AJMAN FREE ZoNE RoAD SHoWS IN INDIA

The Ajman Free Zone (AFZ), is holding road shows in the Indian cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai to attract Indian companies and investors to open their offices and invest there. These road shows are being organised in association with the Indian National Bar Association. Strategically located at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, the Ajman Free Zone is well placed to serve both eastern and western markets. It’s proximity to Sharjah and Dubai provides easy accessibility to two international airports and four ports, with Ajman port itself serving over a 1000 vessels per

year. AFZ is offering 100 percent foreign ownership, repatriation of capital and profits, zero corporate tax and personal income tax, not to mention no import duties on goods exported.

U k EDUCATIoN NoW CHEAPER FoR INDIANS bUgTI REACHES oUT To INDIAN EMbASSy

The number of Indian students coming to British universities has dwindled in recent years, but there is some cheer for those enrolling for the new academic year later this month: the fall in the Pound’s value after the June 23 Brexit vote has brought down the cost of study in UK. From a high of around INR 100 to a pound before the Brexit vote, the value is today hovering around INR 88, making the amount needed in rupees to meet the cost of an-

ARMED MEN

nual fees cheaper by nearly INR 1.5 lakh – based on a notional annual course fee of 10,000 GBP. “There is always a silver lining in everything and for Indian students, Brexit has brought about just this silver lining. The recent weakening of sterling is a welcome change for many current and new students joining British universities this year,” says Sanam Arora of the National Indian Students and Alumni Union (UK).

SToRM

Fifty-five people were arrested after an eight-hour-long armed protest in the West Midlands region of England, where a gang of 20-30 sword wielding men stormed a Gurdwara, apparently opposing a inter-religious marriage between a Sikh and a non-Sikh. Specially trained officers from Warwickshire Police were deployed to enter the Gurdwara Sahib in the town of Leamington Spa and negotiate with the armed protesters. “A report was received that a group of between 20 and 30 armed men had entered the place of worship. This was treated as ‘aggravated trespass’ and an escalation of an ongoing local dispute.

gURDWARA IN U k

Exiled Baloch leader Brahamdagh Bugti, who is fighting for independence of Balochistan from Pakistan, has recently approached the Indian embassy and sought asylum in India, and exudes confidence of a positive response from New Delhi. Bugti, leader of the Baloch Republican Party, said he held talks with top Indian diplomats about his asylum request as well as that of a number of other Baloch leaders in Balochistan, Afghanistan and in some other countries. Asked whether he filed required papers, Bugti, the grandson of Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti who was killed by Pakistani forces 10 years ago, said he will file the asylum application with the Indian government soon. He said India's encouragement to the Baloch movement meant a lot to his people and that in the meeting, various aspects of the issue were discussed. “I am thankful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for raising the issue of Balochistan in his Independence Day speech. It is a very good move. We are hopeful of continued support,“ he said.

kRISHNA AND CoMMUNISM: CHINA MARkS JANMASHTAMI

Of all places, the cult of Krishna seems to be prospering and growing in officially atheist China. Numbers are difficult to compile and often anecdotal, but the philosophy of love and devotion as symbolised by Krishna, one of Hinduism’s popular deities, is evidently attracting many Chinese in urban areas. This years' Janmashtami, a large number of people gathered to celebrate ‘Krishna Janmashtami,’ the day that marks Krishna’s birth, across China in big and small groups, at yoga centres and among family members. Celebrations were mostly marked by chanting of “Hare

oSWAL MANSIoN IN PERTH

To bE DEMoLISHED

Krishna”, singing devotional songs, readings from the Bhagavad Gita and distribution of sweets including laddoos. One of the larger celebrations was held at the International Buddhist Items & Crafts Fair in Dongguan city in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong.

‘INDIA kEEN oN FREE TRADE WITH U k’

India is among several countries keen to forge free-trade deals with the United

Billionaire businessman Pankaj Oswal’s unfinished mansion in Perth, Australia, is set to be demolished due to its dilapidated condition in contravention of the building code. Construction had stopped after Oswal’s fertiliser empire collapsed.

çâ¹ â×éÎæØ ·Ô¤ x Åþ·¤ Çþæ§ßÚUô´ ·¤ô ·¤æ× ·Ô¤ ÎõÚUæÙ ãðÜ×ðÅU

ÂãÙÙð ·¤æ ¥æÎðàæ ÎðÌð ãé° ·¤ÙæÇæ ·¤è ¥ÎæÜÌ Ùð ·¤ãæ ç·¤ §â â´Õ´Ï ×ð´ ÀêÅU Ùãè´ Îè Áæ â·¤ÌèÐ §â ¥ÎæÜÌè Èñ¤âÜð ·Ô¤ âæÍ ãè ÌèÙô´ çâ¹ Ïæç×ü·¤ ÖðÎÖæß â´Õ´Ïè v® âæÜ ÂéÚUæÙæ ×é·¤Î×æ ãæÚU »° ãñ´Ð ×æ´çÅþØÜ Õ´Î»æã ÂÚU ·¤´ÅUðÙÚU

Kingdom after it leaves the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May said recently May, who was briefing parliament on Britain’s vote to exit the EU, consistently refused to be drawn on MPs’ key question whether her government will aim to remain in the European Single Market. The issue of Britain remaining in the European Single Market is central to Brexit negotiations. Banks and financial institutions are keen on continued access to the market, but EU officials have insisted this will not be possible unless Britain continues to offer freedom of movement to EU citizens.

U k CoNSTITUENCy CHANgES

MAy HIT INDIAN oRIgIN MPs

Senior Indian-origin Labour MP Virendra Sharma, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former chancellor George Osborne are among parliamentarians who are likely to be hit by plans to create new constituencies through the redrawing of boundaries so that Britain elects 600 MPs instead of the current 650 in the 2020 elections. The changes seeking to redraw the political map announced on 13th September sent ripples across the political establishment, since they will force many sitting MPs to seek election in other constituencies, or vie with others to be nominated. Several constituencies are to be abolished to create equal-sized seats and cut costs. The changes are estimated to most adversely hit the Labour party, which called them “undemocratic” and an alleged attempt to rig the 2020 elections. Conservative Priti Patel will also have to look elsewhere after her constituency of Witham in Essex was proposed to be axed.

ÕæÚU ·Ô¤ ×æçÜ·¤ ãñ´Ð ©‹ãð´ w} ßáèüØ ¥ã×Î ¹æÙ ÚUæãæ×è ÕæÚU ·Ô¤ ÎÚUßæÁð ÂÚU âô×ßæÚU ·¤ô âôÌæ ãé¥æ çιæÐ Õñ´â ·¤ô ÂãÜð Ü»æ ç·¤ ·¤ô§ü àæÚUæÕè ÎÚUßæÁð ÂÚU ¥æÚUæ× ·¤ÚU ÚUãæ ãñ Üðç·¤Ù ÕæÎ ×ð´ ©‹ãô´Ùð ¥ã×Î ·¤ô Âã¿æÙ çÜØæ ¥õÚU ÂéçÜâ ·¤ô ÕéÜæ çÜØæÐ ¥çÏ·¤æÚUè ÁÕ ¥ã×Î ·¤ô ·¤Ç¸Ùð ¥æ° Ìô ©âÙð Õ´Îê·¤ çÙ·¤æÜ Üè ¥õÚU »ôçÜØæ´ ¿ÜæÙè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU Îè´Ð §â·Ô¤ ÕæÎ ÂéçÜâ Ùð ©â·¤æ ÂèÀæ ç·¤ØæÐ ¥ã×Î ·Ô¤ ç¹ÜæȤ °·¤ ·¤æÙêÙ ÂýßÌüÙ ¥çÏ·¤æÚUè ·¤è ãˆØæ ·¤æ ÂýØæâ

An Indian mechanic-turned-businessman today owns an incredible 22 apartments in Dubai's Burj Khalifa. George V Nereaparambil says he is not stopping at 22 and will continue to buy more if he gets a ‘good deal’. He says: “If I get a good deal, I'll buy more. I am a dreamer and I never stop dreaming ...” Kerala-born George is believed to be one of the largest private owners within the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest structure. His stake in the property came about when a relative teased him about the 828-metre building. “A relative of mine once jokingly told me – see this Burj Khalifa, you cannot enter it, he said.” After seeing an advertisement in a newspaper about an apartment for rent in the building in 2010,

Ü´Õè SÂðâ

·Ô¤ çÜ° ÚUæò·Ô¤ÅU §ü´ÏÙ Üð ÁæÙæ ÕðãÎ

ãñ ÂÚU ØçÎ ã× °ðâæ ·¤ÚU â·Ô¤, Ìô §ââð SÂðâ ÅþñßÜ ·¤è Üæ»Ì ƒæÅUð»èÐ ¥ÂÙð ç×àæÙ ·¤è Üæ»Ì ·Ô¤ ÕæÚUð ×ð´ ÁñÙ ·¤æ ·¤ãÙæ ãñ ç·¤ ¿´Îý×æ ÂÚU ÁæÙð ·¤è Üæ»Ì ¥×ê×Ù v® ç×çÜØÙ ÇæòÜÚU ãñ ÂÚU ã× ¥æÚU°´ÇÇè ÂÚU ¥Ü» âð y® ç×çÜØÙ ÇæòÜÚU ¹¿ü ·¤ÚU ÚUãð ãñ´Ð §ââð àæéM¤ âð ¥æç¹ÚU Ì·¤ ã×æÚUð ç×àæÙ ÂÚU ·¤éÜ z® ç×çÜØÙ ·¤æ ¹¿ü ¥æ â·¤Ìæ ãñÐ ÁñÙ ·¤ãÌð ãñ´ ç·¤ ãæÜ Ì·¤ ¿´Îý×æ ·¤è ç·¤âè Öè ¿èÁ ÂÚU ÎéçÙØæ ·¤æ ·¤ô§ü Öè ×éË·¤ v~{| ·Ô¤ °·¤ ¥´ÌÚUÚUæCýèØ ·¤ÚUæÚU ×ð´ Õ´Ïð ãôÙð ·Ô¤ ·¤æÚU‡æ ¥ÂÙæ Îæßæ Âðàæ Ùãè´ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìæ Íæ, Üðç·¤Ù §ÏÚU ¥×ðçÚU·¤è âÚU·¤æÚU Ùð ·¤æÙêÙ ×ð´ °·¤ â´àæôÏÙ ç·¤Øæ ãñÐ §ââð Âýæ§ßðÅU ·¤´ÂçÙØô´ ·¤ô Öè ¿æ´Î ÂÚU ¹ôÁè »§ü ¿èÁ ·Ô¤ Sßæç×ˆß ·¤æ ã·¤ ç×Ü »Øæ ãñÐ

Nereaparambil rented it the same day and started living there from the next day. Now, six years down the line, with 22 of the 900 apartments at perhaps the Gulf's poshest address under his belt, he has rented out five, and as for the rest, he's ‘waiting for the right tenant.’ In an incredible sounding ragsto-riches story, Nereaparambil realised there was huge scope for an air conditioning business in the hot climate of the desert after he first touched down in Sharjah back in 1976. Nereaparambil, who helped his father trade cash crops and made money from waste since the age of 11, then went about setting up the beginnings of his now mini-empire, the GEO Group of Companies.

Britain's newest Indian-origin peer marked his entry into the House of Lords by swearing his oath of allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II on the Rig Veda. The copy of the Rig Veda used by Jitesh Gadhia was edited and published in Devanagari script in 1849, by German academic Max Muller. The 49-year-old investment banker of Gujarati-origin had been nominated for his peerage as part of former PM David Camer-

on's resignation honours list and he coincidentally took his oath on the same day Cameron announced his resignation as an MP. “History will judge him (Cameron) to have been a great reforming PM, who brought the country back from the brink of financial ruin. I will be joining parliament at a defining moment in British history as we grapple with the new realities post-Brexit,” said Gadhia.

US HoNoURS PIo DoCToR WITH ToP AWARD

Abraham Varghese, an Indian-American doctor, has been awarded the ‘National Humanities Medal,’ America's highest humanities award, by President Obama for his contributions to the field of medicine. Dr. Varghese is a physician and author, currently a professor of medicine at the Stanford School of Medicine.

SI kH RACIALLy AbUSED oN PoPULAR

bbC bAkINg SHoW

A Sikh man, who has caught the imagination of many as he vies to win the widely watched BBC programme “The Great British Bake Off”, has been subjected to racist abuse. Many rooted for Nadiya Hussain, a Muslim of Bangladeshi-origin, who won the popular cookery show last year, but Rav Bansal, 28, revealed on Twitter that he suffered abuse after appearing in the first two episodes of the ongoing series. Bansal, who lives in Kent and works in City University, is one of the 10 remaining contestants on the show. He tweeted that he was asked whether he was a “p*ki” by a stranger, who referred to the “not so British Bake Off”.

TWo INDIAN AMERICANS WIN PRESTIgIoUS McARTHUR FELLoWSHIPS

It is called the ‘Genius Grant’ and each award comes with US$ 625,000, with no strings attached. But no, you can’t apply for it – or have a well-connected uncle enter you for it. Those being considered have no inkling of when the call comes, and when it does, they are always surprised. Manu Prakash, who was among the 23 winners announced on 22 September, almost didn’t answer the phone. The Indian-born Stanford biologist was handling his four-month old twins then. “I was very sleep-deprived when the phone rang,” he told Stanford, the university’s in-house magazine. But he did, eventually. He was one of two Indian born men among the 23 McArthur Fellowship awardees for 2016.

Subhash Khot, a computer scientist from New York University was the second. They are both from IITs – Prakash from Kanpur and Khot from Mumbai. There is a third India-linked winner this year as well – Bill Thies, an American working at a Microsoft Labs in Bengaluru. The John D and Katherine T McArthur Foundation, which has offices in India as well, awards an unrestricted number of fellowships every year to people who have shown ‘exceptional creativity, promise for important future advances’. Past winners with an India connection include writers Ved Mehta and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, poet and scholar A K Ramanujam, classical musician Ali Akbar Khan and jazz pianist Vijay Iyer.

philanthropist Ramlutchman honoured

ZULULAND philanthropist, Prince Ishwar Ramlutchman Mabheka Zulu, received a gold medal award during the ‘Zulu Kingdom Orders Municipal Awards’ held at the Enyokeni Royal Palace recently. The Order of King Zwelithini is awarded to individuals who contribute to the preservation and promotion of culture, customs and traditional ceremonies of the Zulu nation. Ramlutchman said he was humbled by the award and also to be embraced by the royal family as a son.

US MAIL FRAUD: ACTIoN AgAINST

INDIAN PRINTER

The US government will initiate actions against a host of global companies and individuals, including some in India, who were involved in mass mailing fraud schemes that have collectively defrauded millions of victims of hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to the US justice department, fraudulent “direct mailers” create letters falsely claiming that the recipient has won, or will soon win, cash or valuable prizes. In order to collect these benefits, the letters say that the recipients need only send in a small amount of money for a processing fee. Among others, the complaint names Mail Order Solutions India Pvt Ltd, an India based printer and distributor, and its principals, Dharti Desai, 49, of New York County and Mumbai, and Mehul Desai, also of Mumbai.

INDIAN-oRIgIN CEo ACCUSED oF AbUSINg MAID

An Indian American head of an IT consulting firm who once figured among top women business leaders has been accused by the US government of grossly underpaying her live-in domestic help from India and mistreating her by making her sleep in the garage with the family’s dogs when unwell. Himanshu Bhatia, the founder of Rose International, which earned US$ 357 million in 2011, has been charged by the US labour department of violating the Fair Labour Standards Act.

NRI Achievers News Network

NEW ToP LEVEL APPoINTMENTS

SENIoR MANAgEMENT CHANg-

The Appointments Committee of the Indian Cabinet has approved the elevation of Atul Bhatt as the Chairman & Managing Director of MECON Limited. Bhatt currently serves as an Executive Director with the National Mineral Development Corporation (NMDC). The appointments committee had also approved the appointment of Sreenivasulu as CMD of Scooters India Limited. He is currently with RINL as a DGM. A G West Kharkongar has taken over as the Chairman and Managing Director of Shillong-

based North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO). O P Singh assumes charge as Director Technical at the Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd, at Sambalpur. At Power Grid Corporationj of India (POWERGRID), K. Sreekant has assumed charge as Director Finance as of 1st September 2016. Prior to taking up this assignment, he was GM Finance with NTPC. Sreekant has three decades of experience in the power sector, involving all facets of finance & accounting functions and in particular, long term financial planning, investment appraisals, formulation of capital budgets, resource mobilization from domestic and international markets and corporate accounts.

bHEL CREATES NEW bENCHMARkS IN PRoJECT EXECUTIoN

ES AT CoNCoR

Sanjay Swarup has taken over as the Director International Marketing & Operations of CONCOR with effect from 1st September 2016. A BE Honours in Electronics & Communication from IIT Roorkee and an MBA in Public Policy & Management from IIM Bangalore, he belongs to IRTS 1990 Batch and has worked in BHEL before joining Indian Railways. He has held various challenging assignments in his career with Indian Railways and CONCOR. He has served as Chief Manager in Tughlakabad and Dadri, largest and second largest terminals of CONCOR.

CoNTRACT AgREEMENT

BHEL (Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited) and NHPC (National Hydel Power Corporation Limited) have signed a ‘Contract Agreement’ for the ‘Renovation and Modernization (R&M)’ of the 180 MW Baira Siul HEP in Himachal Pradesh. The agreement was executed in the presence of Atul Sobti, CMD BHEL and KM Singh, CMD NHPC. Akhil

Despite fiscal 2015-16 being an extremely challenging year, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has managed to notch up the highest-ever commissioning of projects in its history and the highest order booking in the last five years, ending the year with significant traction in growth drivers. This was shared Atul Sobti, CMD BHEL, at the 52nd Annual General Meeting of the company recently. Addressing shareholders,

CWC CoRNERS FIRST PRIZE

Sobti said that enhanced focus on project execution has resulted in BHEL creating history by way of commissioning/synchronizing an all-time high 15,059 MW of power generating equipment during the year. Despite intense competitive pressure in the power and capital goods markets during the year, BHEL achieved the highest order booking in the last five years as well, at INR 43,727 Crore, a 42% leap over 2014-15.

The Central Warehousing Corporation was awarded the First Prize for excellent performance in Official Language for the year 2015-16 under the All India Shield Yojna of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. Harpreet Singh, MD and J S Kaushal, Director Personnel of CWC received the prize from Ram Vilas Paswan, Minister of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.

Joshi, Director Power BHEL, D Bandyopadhyaya, Director HR BHEL, and other senior officers from both public sector behemoths were present on the occasion.

goA SHIPyARD AWARDED

Goa Shipyard Limited has won laurels, being awarded the prestigious "PSU Organizations with Innovative HR Practices" award presented by Asia Pacific HRM Congress 2016 recently held at Bangalore city. The award was received by GSL, CGM (HR&A) Dr. Pramod Mohan Johri, who has recently been conferred with the HR Leadership Award in the individual category by Greentech Foundation. GSL thus has been receiving several awards for its innovative HR practices. This award commemorates Public Sector Undertakings who despite multifarious challenges have managed to drive the organization forward with innovative HR practices and have set HR excellence benchmarks.

NRI Achievers Corporate Network

VoDAFoNE INVESTS

US$ 7.1 bn

British telecommunications giant Vodafone Plc., has injected INR 47,700 crore, or US$ 7.1 billion, into its Indian unit Vodafone India just a week ahead of the largest spectrum sale by the government, to fund its expansion plans and ward off competition from the latest entrant, Reliance Jio, in this second largest mobile market of the world. The equity infusion comes after Mukesh Ambani rolled out his Reliance Jio services on September 1, and Anil Ambani merged the wireless business of Reliance Communications with Aircel to make the third largest telco. This funding via FDI (foreign direct investment) is the largest ever infusion in the country and ‘further manifests Vodafone’s increasing focus and commitment to India,’ according to a statement from Vodafone. “This equity infusion of INR 47,700 crore, which we believe is the largest ever in India, will enable Vodafone India to continue its investments in spectrum and expansion of networks across various technology layers delivering the best of experience to our hundreds of millions of customers,” says Sunil Sood, MD & CEO, Vodafone India.

L&T bAgS US$ 100 MILLIoN VIETNAM SHIP oRDER

Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has landed a US$ 99.7 million contract from Vietnam Border Guards to design, construct and supply high-speed patrol vessels. The contract also provides for L&T to transfer design and technology along with supply of equipment and material kits for

construction of follow-on vessels at a Vietnam shipyard. The high-speed patrol vessels are purpose-built for controlling and protecting sea security and sovereignty, detecting illegal activities such as smuggling, and undertaking search and rescue missions. According to B. Kannan, Managing Director and CEO of L&T Ship-building Ltd., the contract provides for supply of 12 vessels. These would be delivered over 30 months, he added. “They have given us their requirements,” he said. He was hopeful that the two sides would freeze the design within the next six months.

DAIMLER To START EXPoRTINg bENZ bUSES FRoM CHENNAI

Daimler India Commercial Vehicles (DICV) will start exporting fullyequipped Mercedes Benz school buses to Middle East and 50 GCC countries from November this year. Addressing a round table with Indian journalists, Markus Villinger, Head of Daimler Buses India, said these 9-tonne buses are made at the Oragadam plant near Chennai and have an indiginisation level of over 90 percent. The company had developed two prototypes, which were displayed at the IAA Commercial Vehicles Exhibition in Hannover. “Middle East is the second-biggest market for school buses. We got this twoyear contract from the state government

through a tendering process,” he said. For the last 18 months, DICV has been exporting chassis material to Africa, South East Asia and Latin America markets. This is the first time it would be exporting fully-built buses to Dubai, Middle East,

Jordan and Oman. Next year, DICV plans to introduce buses on the 16-tonne platform. Earlier, parent Commercial vehicle maker Daimler AG unveiled a semi- autonomous city bus, an urban eTruck and Vision Van to global media.

WIPRo CoNSUMER CARE bUyS

CHINESE FMCg FIRM

Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting said it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100 percent shareholding of Zhongshan Ma Er Daily Products Limited, a Chinese FMCG major. The acquisition will be done through its Singapore business, Wipro Singapore Pte Limited. Through the buyout the FMCG arm of Wipro Enterprises is looking at strengthening its presence in the fast growing personal care market of South China. Zhongshan Ma Er has a strong footprint in China and Hong Kong, and its brand portfolio includes personal care brands Enear, Zici, and Vcnic, comprising bath and shower products and fabric care brands Pahnli and Sunew.

NRI Achievers Business Network

WoRLD FLUTE FESTIVAL

Every year the ‘Raasrang World Flute Festival’ spreads the message of “Love Peace Water” through the timeless melody of wind instruments. This year’s Raasrang was organised and hosted in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre For India And Bhutan (UNIC) and the Indian Council For Cultural Relations

(ICCR). This 7th Edition of the festival, which opened in Delhi on the 21st of September, coincided with the UN International Day of Peace, and was dedicated to promoting global peace. Arun Budhiraja, founder of Krishna Prerna Charitable Trust & Convener of the Raasrang World Flute Festival, spoke on how in these vio-

lent and fragmented times it is important to celebrate peace and highlight the work of peacemakers like flautists and musicians. The festival’s opening night featured German Ambassador HE Dr. Martin Ney and his spouse Dr. Gabriele Ney, who regaled the audience with a western classical repertoire for two flutes, culled from compositions by Hoffmeister, Beethoven, Romberg and Mozart. Performers from Latvia followed – the Riga Saxophone Quartet played lilting Latin American tunes of tango, salsa, and jazz, concluding with a devotional rendering of ‘Amazing Grace.’ Diplomats, government dignitaries and music lovers were present in strength on the opening night. The second part of the Flute Fest began on 23rd September where flautists from Latvia, Slovakia, Italy and India participated.

NRI Achievers Bureau

Beyond Media, supported by Urvashi Mishra of Electric Karma International and Ayesha Hakki of Bibi Magazine. “The amount of support we have received from activists and philanthropists in the tristate area is truly heart-warming and humbling,” said Ahuja. “This is an issue that affects all of us, and the monies raised from this gala will go toward educating people about the disease and creating an accessible support system for South Asian families.”

Victims and survivors of cancer were honoured at a grand annual gala organised by the SKN Foundation, a sold-out event with more than 400 guests that took place on September 17, 2016 at the Marigold in Somerset, New Jersey. The nite included powerful messages and poems from the founder, Dr Naveen Mehrotra and his mother, both of whom have lost loved ones to cancer. Fox News radio and television personality Vipp

Jaswal was the MC for the day. Keynote speaker was Lisa Ray, whose battle with Multiple Myeloma has inspired many to take hope. The colourful event culminated with a fashion show by international designer Joy Mitra, and a performance by Indian singer/ song writer Falu Shah. NRI Achievers, incidentally, was the Media Partner for the event. The evening's efforts were coordinated by lead event organizer, Sonalika Ahuja from

Our U.S Bureau Head Raj Uppal with Lisa Ray

NORTH AMERICA BUREAU

MI boX MINI

LENoVo Z2 PLUS

The Mi Box Mini is perhaps the most interesting product that Xiaomi has launched so far. At its heart it is a set top box, but it just about as small as a phone charger, at least that's what the company claims.

Powered by a quad-core Cortex A7 processor clocked at 1.3 GHz, working with 1GB RAM and 4GB of flash storage, it is a mere one-fourth the size of the Mi Box. Amazingly, it can push 1080p video with ease and supports Dolby NR and DTS audio technologies, and has dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11n. Just costing RMB 199, it ought to retail in India at around INR 2,000.

On the 22nd of September, technology company Lenovo India unveiled two variants of its latest smartphone ‘Lenovo Z2 Plus’ priced at INR 17,999 and INR 19,999 respectively, to be sold on Amazon from September 25. While the version with 3GB RAM and 32GB storage is priced at INR 17,999, the other with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage is priced at INR 19,999. The Z2 Plus is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 processor, uses DDR4 RAM and Sandisk SmartSLC for storage. The 5-inch smartphone has a 13MP rear and an 8MP front camera. “We are No.3 by volume and number two by value according to IDC's report. Our sales are driven by young users who have better knowledge of technology and features. We will keep innovating to drive growth," averred Sudhin Mathur, Executive Director of Lenovo India’s Mobile Business Group, speaking to presspersons. Some of the features of the Z2 Plus include a dedicated application to track all of one's fitness needs. It has a Pedometer, Gyroscope, Accelerometer and sensor processing unit of Snapdragon 820, which are mostly accurate and consume very little power, it is claimed. The smartphone will come with a premium Chrono Case Accessory, with five different Chrono faces. A Matte Black Stealth Case worth INR 699 will be bundled with the phone as well.

bI k ANo LAUNCHES ‘DIET’ PRoDUCTS

Founded in 1950 as a small shop in Bikaner (Rajasthan) retailing traditional Indian retail sweets and salted snacks under the name and style of ‘Bikanervala,’ the company has grown over the past six and a half decades to proliferate across northern India, with its current base at Delhi. Bikanervala products are exported to several countries worldwide. The company has also set up a manufacturing unit in Dubai recently. Thecompany has retail outlets today in places like Dubai, London, Australia and New Zealand. ‘Bikano’ is part of the brand portfolio of Bikanervala, all of whose packaged products are sold under the ‘Bikano’ banner. Most recently, the company has launched a whole range of ‘healthy’ snacks under it’s ‘diet’ range – traditional Indian salted products

NANoTECH VEHICLE CoATINg

Motorcoats India has come up with a revolutionary nanotechnology-based solution to maintain the gloss of vehicles. This European technology creates an impermeable layer of coating, and is resistant to most environmental hazards. At present, mostly wax-based technology is used for vehicle coatings which is not longlasting. According to Ritu Tyagi, director sales & marketing, Motorcoats India, nanotechnology with lasting coating, resistant to environmental hazards, has a big demand in India where we have harsh hot weather and quite a bit of industrial pollution.

like diet mixture, diet murmura & diet chiwda packs. Only the best of ingredients rich in nutrients like quality corn, soya bean, rice flour, gram flour, pulses et al are used to make these products. Soon to hit the Indian market, the packs are priced at a reasonable INR 20 each.

WATER AND DRoP RESISTANT “UE RoLL 2”

bLUETooTH SPEAkER LAUNCHED

Ultimate Ears, the personal audio specialist owned by Swiss electronics accessories maker Logitech, has launched its latest product in India – the “UE Roll 2” – priced at INR 8,495. The Roll 2 is the successor to the UE Roll, which was launched earlier this year at the same price as the UE Roll 2, but is now widely available online for much less. The UE Roll 2 features 15 percent louder sound and an increased wireless range of 100 feet, while retaining the disc shape and fabric covering of the original product.

NRI Achievers Business Network

ARATHI kRISHNA WoMAN oF SU bSTANCE

A well read scholar and accomplished diplomat, an artiste and a good singer, a dedicated social worker and a philanthropist, Arathi Krishna is a multifaceted personality who came into this world in interesting times –born at the right time in the right place to the right family, which incidentally has a strong political background. Now in the prime of her life, She has gone through an eventful girlhood, youth, married with children, and served as a key personality interfacing with the Indian-American community and its life in the US. Apart from a higher education from one of the premier US universities, a natural tendency for diplomacy and tact inbred through political exposure right from an young age has made her successful in whatever she endeavours to do. Chakravarthi Suchindran brings you her story in the form of brief vignettes, followed by excerpts from an interview with her, where she tells you her mind in her own words. Read on ...

Arathi Krishna was born on May 2, 1968 at Udupi, to Begane Ramiah – a congressman who harked from a village called Begane near Sringeri in the Chikmagalore district of Karnataka; and Seetha, so aptly named to be a companion to Rama – who hailed from village Kadthur in the Shimoga district of the same state. As is the case still today in Southern India, both bride and groom though distantly related, had never met prior to their wedding in 1967, when Ramiah was still in the final year of Law College. Seetha in time turned out to be the proverbial woman behind a man destined for success – advising him on all matters from the domestic to the intricacy of politics. Staying in the background, she backed her husband to the hilt from the time he started his law practice to the time he chose to enter politics, and was his unwavering aide in his efforts to lettering up the political pyramid to rise steadily and become a cabinet minister. In this process, Ramiah made a name for himself as a highly respected vokkaliga leader.

Arathi, apropos, also has a younger sibling, Anjan, a brother who came to this world six years after her. Though both

children grew up in a politically charged setting, in retrospect it is but Arathi who has taken an interest for the rough and tumble of the politics of democracy –maybe because she has always had a yen for it. With a reason. Her tryst with destiny – that pushed her into close quarters with one of India’s great stateswomen – Indira Gandhi. Post emergency and the drubbing the congress received after her induction by the Allahabad High Court in 1975 saw a multi-party patchwork coalition taking

up the reins at the centre, but collapsing soon in 1979. Indira, who was keen to capture power once again, chose to fight the elections both from her traditional constituency and also from Chikmagalur in Karnataka – a ‘safe-seat’ that has traditionally been a congress party bastion, always sending congressmen to Parliament. Arathi’s father Ramiah, known for his oratorical and organisational skills, was Smt. Gandhi’s most logical choice for a constant companion during that gruelling

With Maryland Governor Omaley and Indian Community members

campaign – and Arathi, 11 at that time, got the first taste of electioneering politics, as she accompanied her father on the campaign trail. Getting entranced with Mrs. Gandhi’s personality and growing very close to her was but a natural outcome. Mrs Gandhi too liked Arathi and told her: ‘you will have both beauty and brains when you grow up’ ... even going so far as to suggest Arathi take up politics one day.

When NRI Achievers asked Arathi about similarities that came to mind between the Nehru-Indira equation and that of her father and herself seen through the same lens, she said: “Indiraji was a great inspiration to all of us, larger than life figure especially for us youngsters. When my father used to travel with Indiraji when she came to Karnataka for campaigning, doing simultaneous translation from English to Kannada for the multitudes who used to come to listen to her, I too travelled with him as a young girl and also met Indiraji. However, I do not think it appropriate to make such comparisons between my family and hers. Every individual treads his or her own path to success. Indiraji is a role model for us.”

“But yes, she fascinated me and at that time, this mystery woman’s many qualities

impressed me so much that I had begun to admire her for her immense acumen, intelligence, charm and especially her tact, not to mention her magnetism, charisma and ability to draw huge crowds. Also, since I had grown up in a political family in Karnataka, I have had the good fortune to observe my father and other political leaders very closely as I grew up and began to understand many things better. Maybe I had imbibed some of the good qualities of

my father and others, and those qualities influenced my thinking at a young age. I have always been determined to do well in my life. Even after marriage, with the support of my husband, I initially lived alone in the US with my children, while at the same time completing my Masters from the George Mason University. I think all these myriad influences have had a great impact on my way of thinking and have brought me to this level.”

Now coming back to Arathi’s story, as a schoolkid she was nerdy, studious and law-abiding; while her younger sibling Anjan was very different in his attitude to life – boisterous, playful and easy-going – sometimes giving some anxious moments to his parents thanks to his somewhat wayward ways. Arathi, in contrast, performed well in her studies and was a model student. In 1980, when her father, then an MLA, had to move to Bengaluru to take up his assignment as a minister in the Gundu Rao cabinet - apropos the same year that Indira Gandhi returned to power – it was but inevitable that Arathi moved too. Though this presented a big obstacle for her – coming from a kannada-medium village school exclusively for girls – to move into the rhythm of a cosmopolitan co-ed school, took some adjustment. But she surmounted these obstacles with ease over time, and by the time she reached class X, she had become the best student, fluent in English, good in academics, and

Karnataka C.M. Siddaramaiah honouring Arathi Krishna

With Renowned NRI P Hinduja & other Business man at New York, USA

socially polite and friendly though not

Also, it was in Bengaluru that Arathi anhood. Her outlook towards the opposite sex changed – she began looking at boys in a different light. Some restrictions entered

And it was also a time her parents

riage and earned a creditable degree from the University. My next step took me to Mysore University, for a Masters in Political Science ... after which I wanted to sit for the IAS exams. But all that was not meant to be – at least partly. Though I did complete my masters, my husband had developed a bad back and suffered from a slipped disc problem ... the time too had its problems – doing business in the 1980s early 90s was not so conducive as it is now, and we decided to move back to America.

I got into an MBA programme at California with the intention of helping him in business. With my affinity for languages, I learnt Spanish and French too.”

sessive of her. Adolescence had begun ... and the path to an adult life stood open. High school and the boards passed by like a whirlwind, and though her school record opened up doors to all best colleges including the professional ones, she chose to go the Arts way and her parents went along. Joining the Mount Carmel College, she did her pre-university and in 1986, took up a bachelor with history, economics and political science. She wanted to become either a civil servant or a politician. Being quite a looker, other enticements too came her way – filmdom, modelling. In the end the intellect won over glamour – so a BA it was.

Her looks, demeanour and beauty meant she had no dearth of suitors who were keen to woo her. Admirers were many, but Arathi, coming as she does from an orthodox family, was firm in resisting any advances, so except for the most lovelorn, most took her hints and left her alone. Studies proceeded apace until her final year, when as chance and circumstance would have it, an alliance fructified, she got engaged – then married within two months – with barely two more months to go till her BA finals.

Talking about this, Arathi says: “I was 19 when I got married. My groom was Gopala Krishna, who had reverse-migrated back to India from the USA to start business in Bangalore, even though his entire family of close to 300 had all settled in US since 1954. I was in my final year at that time, and unlike many who drop out after marriage, I finished my exams after mar-

Krishna, not finding American advances in medicine to be of much help to his back problem, returned to India to find solace in yoga and spirituality, turning

sponsible for its international programmes, I helped in bridging linkages between the University with India. It was a hectic time, taking care of the children, sending them to school, handling both studies and my work at the University. During my final semester, I sought some form of postqualification employment with the Indian Embassy at Washington, and quite by chance got recruited as the social secretary at the mission by the DCM. It was a great opportunity – to be in touch with Indian affairs while being with the Embassy. Successive Ambassadors used to give me challenging jobs and I succeeded with almost all tasks entrusted to me by sheer dint of hard work, and yes, my close interaction with the Indian community did help a lot. Later on, I was appointed by our Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs to be the Community Development Officer at Washington, that opened vistas for me – to travel around the length and breadth of America publicizing the schemes of our NRI ministry. It also brought me into contact with Indian community members from all over the US.”

vegetarian and a teetotaller in the process. Krishna and Arathi have two children, a son and a daughter, both of them born in the US. Speaking of family, Arathi shares: “My husband, G M Krishna is a financial Advisor in Washington these days, and I have two children. My son Aniruddha runs his own business in the US and my daughter Aninditha is a doctor.”

While the children were at school and Krishna had turned to Yoga in India, Arathi chose to keep herself occupied and enrolled for a Masters in Public Policy at the George Mason University, while at the same time working there as a director of international programmes. Arathi talked to us abot those times: “During the course of my studies at Mason U, as a director re-

“I do not claim to have done a lot for NRIs. I have, simply put, done the best I can to reach out to our Diaspora and make them come closer to our motherland. I have worked with NRIs and PIOs both in the US when I was part of India’s Washington Embassy, and later in India with the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs for a brief while. In the US, I was very close to Indian-American and NRI communities and networked with them all over the US. I strived to bring India closer to them and

Wtih Family

Congressman Frank Palone honoring Arathi Krishna at function organised by AAPI American physian of Indian Origin

With Presedent Pranab Mukharjee

actively participated in the various outreach initiatives of the Indian government within the US. And my hard work did not go unsung, my contributions were recognised, and I was appointed the Community Development Officer in the Embassy by the MOIA. I also got ample recognition from the many Indian-American community organisations there.”

“On my return to India, I was with the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in Delhi for a short while, before I finally chose to give it all up and take up a social service role in my home-state of Karnataka. While with MOIA, I did get the opportunity to interact with countless NRI and PIO communities from across the globe. And having been a part of the organising team for PBDs since 2007, I had no dearth of opportunities to interact with NRIs and PIOs in large numbers - from all over.”

When we asked her what influenced her choice to give up a career in external relations and turn inwards, she replied: “I have always wanted to do this – returning to my motherland and being useful to the poor and downtrodden in some way or the other. I was keen to take up an active role in social and political causes and wanted to contribute to the development of Karnataka, and India in general. When that

desire got intense enough, I made up my mind and left. For achieving what I want, I made a small beginning in 2009. I started the Krishna Foundation to provide education opportunities for economically disadvantaged children and improve infrastructure facilities in rural schools. I have since taken up several such initiatives under this banner, particularly in and around my father's constituency. I have also been meeting a large number of people from all walks of life in our rural belt and feel there is so much more that needs to be done to make their lives better and meaningful. Consequently, I am now getting to know the needs, requirements and desires, aspirations of my people – and am trying to figure out if this would warrant taking up a political role in order to contribute in their upliftment and progress.”

At this point we got a bit off-topic, regressing to tap into her American experience. We asked her to give us her analysis evolving India-USA relations and what the future may behold – in the context of the looming presidential elections in the US. She was quite emphatic about her readings when she said: “It is extremely important for India to keep working closely with the US. Our interactions have increased phenomenally over the years in a whole

gamut of areas – and I am confident that this will continue under the NDA as well. Since the US denied Modiji a visa for several years, there were some apprehensions about the growth of India-US relations under his watch. But having identified development, security and Diaspora as his priorities, Modiji has in fact done more to strengthen India-US relationship. He has visited the US four times in two years, met President Obama seven times, and relations reached an all time high in 2016 when India was acknowledged a major US defence partner. This entitles India today to receive high technology like other close allies of the US. Though the nuclear liability issue is not yet fully resolved, progress is surely being made on that front as well. Preparatory work has begun on setting up new Westinghouse nuclear reactors in India. India-US relationship has never been this close and in a manner of saying, India is today akin to a non-NATO ally of the United States.”

On who would be the better person in the White House for relations with India to improve, she was unequivocal: “I am confident that whoever becomes the President of the US this November, he or she will continue to further the close strategic partnership that has evolved between In-

Community Social Resposibility

dia and the US. Especially so since there is strong bipartisan support in both the Congress and the Senate for this, and indeed among the people as well. So there is unlikely to be much difference whether Hillary becomes the president or Trump. That said, I would say Hillary is more predictable and is likely to follow the Obama line. She is also well known and is considered a friend. Trump has spoken about the need to cultivate India to counter Pakistan and seems keen on ending terrorism including the Islamic State. As a businessman, he is interested in India. For these reasons, I feel India need not be uncomfortable with Trump either.”

Asked how we as a Diaspora-focussed magazine could be of help in furthering India-Diaspora linkages, she opined: “A responsible journal with a commitment to the cause of overseas Indians can do much to energize the Indian community. It can enable them to dedicate themselves to India. One of the problems we experienced in Washington was the absence of a unified leadership in the Indian community. Several efforts were made to strengthen umbrella organizations with political interests like in the case of the Jewish community, but nothing much has come out of it so far. Indian Americans do come together and act unitedly on critical oc-

casions like nuclear tests and the conclusion of the nuclear deal. But a journal can surely be a tool to strengthen the unity among them on a continuing basis. The journal could work with the Embassies to identify issues and to provide background material. Community members can be encouraged to exchange views in the journal. A consensus on India specific issues will go a long way in dealing with urgent matters effectively.”

Lastly, returning to where we digressed out of, we asked her whether being the daughter of a politician was an advantage when it comes to getting something extra in life – even if one were to have no great personal profile or intelligence. She responded with: “I do agree that being born into a political family helps initially. But we need not view this in a negative way, since there are several positive things one can learn from being born into one. And we should not forget that ultimately whatever be the family support, one has to prove oneself if one is to really succeed. One’s innate qualities, intelligence, the passion to serve people etc., make the difference between abject failure and grand success. The people have to accept you and one has to contribute to society to make yourself acceptable. That’s really up to the individual and not the family. Without re-

sults, no one can achieve success.”

On her plans now, whether she contemplates getting into the political arena, she had this to say: “After returning, I haven't made any political moves as yet. But I did face positive pressure from both the Indian-American Communities and the Ministry as well to come back to Washington. I have taken these pressures as a compliment to me and my work there –another reason the Ministry is after me is continuity ... the extent of connections and contacts, the spread of my networks are being considered a real asset. That is probably one reason why I was there for 12 years in a post where transfers every three years were the norm. Sometimes continuity is very important. Now, as far as entering politics is concerned, I do not reject that outright. But I haven’t decided. I will chose a time and place of my own when I want to do that. Yet, there is still lot to achieve. Here, I would like to quote Robert Frost: "... the woods are lovely, dark and deep ... but I have promises to keep ... and miles to go before I sleep ...”

While with MOIA, I did get the opportunity to interact with countless NRI and PIO communities from across the globe. And having been a part of the organising team for PBDs since 2007, I had no dearth of opportunities to interact with NRIs and PIOs in large numbers - from all over.

The writer is an technocrat who dabbles in journalism print & broadcast photography & creative visual arts.

gREATEST SI kH ICoN oF oLyMPIC HoCkEy

time. He had, by then, represented his adopted country Kenya 167 times between the years 1957 and 1972. Noted hockey commentator amd sports writer Jasdev Singh says, “It is a phenomenal record that a player led his country three times as the captain in the Olympic games and played altogether 4 times in Olympic hockey. Avtar was an out-of-the-world player and his record most unlikely will remain unbroken,” he avers.

Even at the age of 77, he is absolutely hale and hearty, fit and agile. Sitting alongside master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, he was cheering the Indians when they trooped onto the turf at Rio ... they were to face the Irish in this first match of theirs at the games. The handsome Sikh, Avtar Singh Sohal ‘Tari’, is most arguably the greatest ever Sikh Olympian who has

never played for India. He is popularly known as ‘Tari’ in the world hockey circuit.

A sports veteran and ace who has been involved in hockey for all his life, Avtar can boast of 4 Olympic Games appearances as a player. His stand-out performance saw him get a mention in the 1984 Guinness World Book of Records – as having the most International appearances at that

During his recent visit to India, Avtar was reminiscing about the 1971 Barcelona World Cup Hockey semi-finals between India and Kenya. It was a tense match, India was down 0-1 at half-time especially thanks to a goal from him. “We were in the threshold of knocking India out to clinch the bronze in the first World Cup hockey championship, but fate deemed otherwise. As it happened, India’s fortunes turned with them scoring two goals in the final moments”, he recalls.

Avtar was first appointed the captain of the National hockey team of Kenya in the year 1962, for a Test series against Pakistan – a role he sustained for 10 long years when Kenya was ranked among the best teams in the world. He was selected for the 1960 Olympics for the first time, as fullback. He captained Kenya at the 1964

One of the greatest Sikh hockey players ever, Avtar Singh Sohal ‘Tari’ has not even once played for India. But he was at Rio with Sachin Tendulkar at his side, lustily cheering the Indian Hockey team at the games when they got on to the field to play their first match against Ireland. Who is this Sikh gentleman and what do we know about him? NRI Achievers presents all about this hockey icon, and his achievements. Read on ...

Tokyo Olympics, Mexico (1968) and Munich (1972), and was also the captain at the First World Cup in Barcelona in 1971.

This time at Rio, even though the Kenyan team was not present for the Olympic games, Avtar was there as an observer of FIH. “I used to cheer the Indian side as and when they played against any others apart from Kenya. I am as much emotionally attached to India as any of you ... my parents apropos came from Jalandhar – and India – India is also ‘Guru Ghar’,” says Avtar, his voice choking with emotion while talking to the author.

How did Avtar take to hockey ? To this question, he answers: “I still remember when the Indian hockey team came to our Kenya in 1948 under the captainship of Dhayan Chand. Those were exciting times. It had several other stalwarts. After watching the magic Dhayan Chand wreaked in a match, I developed a very keen interest in hockey. His dribbling and dodging were really out-of-this-world. My father too encouraged me to play hockey. Prior to that, I used to play Cricket in school,” shares Avtar.

Talking about the contribution of Sikhs in Kenyan sports, Avtar says. “It was the people from India, especially Sikhs, who in fact introduced the game of hockey in Kenya. Mahan Singh was elected the president of the Kenya Hockey Union in 1957.

He was the life and soul of our hockey. The backbone of the Kenya National Team for long has been the Sikh Union Club Nairobi. The Club, which originally started as Khalsa Union in 1920, became the Sikh Union in 1926. It has fielded a large majority of our players in the National team and has won most of domestic trophies in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.”

Avtar adds that Sikhs have represented Kenya at the Olympics, World Cups, East African Championships and the Africa Cup of Nations: “I cannot think of life without hockey. After I retired from playing, I made a new beginning with my coaching career and was Kenyan National Coach from 1978 to 1988, coaching them at the

1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. I also took up umpiring and was awarded an FIH International Umpires’ badge in 1980. I was a judge at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and was appointed to the FIH Development and Coaching Committee in 1988.”

Former Indian hockey captain Harbinder Singh, talking about Avtar Singh Sohal Tari, says: “I have yet to find someone who has excelled both as a player, and a coach. Avtar’s commitment to the game is simply matchless.”

And this truly ‘Olympic Icon’ still starts trembling when he recalls the gory incident that happened so close to him in the Munich Olympic games in 1972. Tears come to his eyes as he recalls those tense

moments when athletes killed in the attack were taken to hospital.

A deeply religious man, Avtar was recently in India with his wife Ripudaman Kaur and some friends from Kenya for offering Sewa at the Reetha Sahib Gurdwara in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand. Says Avtar, “It was such an honour to be there at the Gurudwara Sahib. We even have Kenya block there in it, with 33 rooms. It is my life-long desire to serve there as often and as frequently as possible.”

Vivek Shukla

The author is a veteran journalist with a flare for writing both in English & Hindi equally

Pakistan has always remained a thorn in India’s flesh, right from the time the British carved up the subcontinent as a parting gift, a partitioning that saw much bloodletting and massacres, with estimates of the dead varying from the low 200,000s to the high 2,000,000s. Time healed wounds to the extent that India returned to a semblence of a settling democracy. But right then and there, apart from the bloodshed, there remained some bones of contention between the two – the very first manifesting itself in the erstwhile princely state of Jammu Kashmir, that sat on a fence dithering over accession to one or the other. It was Carpe Diem for Pakistan, which forthright precipitated an invasion within weeks of partition, launching tribal lashkar fromWaziristan to capture the Kashmir Valley. While this act spurred the Maharaja to accede to India, the conflagration blew-up to escalate into a full-fledged war between the two newborn nations. It however remained inconclusive – with the only net result the creation of an artificial line called the LoC – the Actual Control, which has since then been a conflict zone. NRI Achievers brings this inciseful analysis of this festering wound for our readers. Read on...

INDo-PAk RELATIoNS TURNINg UP THE HEAT

It is a sign of the times we live in that the Prime Minister’s speech at the BJP national council meeting in Kozhikode has been all but forgotten. Public memory is so short that the substance and full significance of what Narendra Modi said on September 24 this year

is only a vague recollection even for political pundits and social scientists. Kozhikode is remembered only by the headlines – ‘PM sends strong warning to Pakistan’. Without doubt, it is true that Modi did send a strong message to Islamabad and Rawalpindi –that enough was enough and India was on

the verge of giving up the doctrine of passive restraint in the face of cross-border terrorism. And with the Indian Army executing ‘surgical strikes’ on militant camps inside Pak-held Kashmir subsequently proved, the Prime Minister was not making empty threats.

‘PM sends strong warning to Pakistan’. Without doubt, it is true that Modi did send a strong message to Islamabad and Rawalpindi – that enough was enough and India was on the verge of giving up the doctrine of passive restraint in the face of cross-border terrorism. And with the Indian Army executing ‘surgical strikes’ on militant camps inside Pak-held Kashmir subsequently proved, the Prime Minister was not making empty threats.

However, there was much more in Modi’s Kozhikode address worthy of closer attention and deeper analysis. The initial euphoria over the surgical strikes was good for national morale but already realization is dawning that a single arrow cannot end a war. Far from acting as an effective deterrent to Pakistan’s sponsorship of cross-border terrorism, the indications are that the inflow of more armed intruders has by no means stopped. The deadly grenade attack on a Rashtriya Rifles camp in Baramulla ten days after the surgical strikes tells its own story – Pakistan has not given up its mission of death and destruction.

On the diplomatic front, too, India’s initial success in whipping up global opinion against Islamabad boosted hopes that Pakistan would be isolated internationally and would forced to bow to big power pressure. Unfortunately, the attention of the global community is currently focussed elsewhere – on Syria especially – and South Asia is low down on the priority list. India’s fiery rhetoric at the United Nations General As-

sembly too is fast receding to become a faint memory.

To tell the truth, the BJP-led government is gradually beginning to realize that perhaps the biggest benefit of the surgical strike exercise has been internal rather than external. It has shored up, to an extent, the image of the Modi that it is willing to strike and not afraid to wound. The earlier doctrine of ‘strategic restraint’ has been replaced by a new posture of ‘offensive defence’. Whether this pays off in the short run or even the medium term remains to be seen. More likely, even the hawks in government will eventually come around to realizing that there is no quick-fix remedy for the festering India-Pakistan problem. As earlier Prime Ministers like Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh knew full well, enduring solutions call for long haul exercises based on visionary statesmanship.

It is in this context that it would worthwhile to take a second look at Narendra Modi’s Kozhikode address. In terms of content, range, depth and innovative ideas, some

may even be tempted to regard it as one of Modi’s most thought-provoking speeches since becoming the Prime Minister. Chances are high that future historians will give it a higher rating than what his contemporaries have accorded it. Modi was obviously hampered by the venue and the format. He was forced to pause frequently after every few sentences, in order to allow his words to be translated into the local Malayalam. This prevented him from ascending effortlessly to higher levels of oratory and rhetoric. But this ought to have enhanced the impact of his words, because his script-writer had packed his speech with punchy one-liners and many quotable quotes.

It needs to noted that the Kozhikode address was not about Pakistan per se. It was not about any one subject or any one theme. Narendra Modi had many things on his mind that day – he had many signals to send to many different target audiences. It was, after all, a political party forum. Yet, because the burning issue of the day was the terror-strike at the Uri battalion headquarters, the Prime Minister dwelt on IndoPak issues in some detail. What stood out was that Modi’s recipe for ending tensions and promoting good neighbourly relations was strikingly original in many ways.

Arguably the least noticed part of his speech was what seemed to be cajoling, if not actually inciting, the common citizens

Pakistan has not given up its mission of death and destruction. On the diplomatic front, too, India’s initial success in whipping up global opinion against Islamabad boosted hopes that Pakistan would be isolated internationally and would forced to bow to big power pressure.

of Pakistan to launch a kind of “Arab Spring” against their political and military leaders. In what sounded almost like a prophesy, Narendra Modi said: “A day will come when the people of Pakistan will go against their own Government to fight terrorism”.

India’s Pak Policy

The Prime Minister said: “Today I am speaking to the people of Pakistan directly. India is ready to fight you. If you have the strength, come forward to fight against poverty and illiteracy. Let us see who wins, who is able to defeat poverty and illiteracy first, Pakistan or India ...”

He came out with a rhetorical flourish challenging the young people of Pakistan. He said: “Let us compete to end poverty in our two countries. Let us see who gets there first. Youth of Pakistan, come let us fight. Let’s see who ends unemployment first – India or Pakistan .... Let’s fight against illiteracy. Newborns and pregnant mothers die in both India and Pakistan. Let us see who can save them first ...”.

Going further by elaborating on the Arab Spring theme – “People of Pakistan, ask your leaders why although India and Pakistan got freedom in same year, India today exports software and your leaders export terrorism”. Turning his attention to the Pakistan Establishment, the Indian Prime Minister said: “Pakistan, you have PoK, you have Gilgit. You were not able to look after East Pakistan, which is now Bangladesh. You are not able to look after Balochistan, Pakhtoonistan. You are unable to take care of what you have, then why are you after Kashmir, which does not belong to you?”

Inexplicably, very few of these somewhat unconventional remarks have remained part of the national discourse on the Indo-Pak situation. The gist of his remarks was widely reported at that time and quickly forgotten. The bulk of the discussions going on at the present time consists of hype and bravado about the selfproclaimed brilliance of Indian speeches at the UN, the heroism of the soldiers killed in militant attacks and the number of foreign governments who have purportedly labelled Pakistan as a terrorist-friendly State.

In contrast, nobody seems to have taken up Modi’s call for a competitive War against Poverty. Nor has there been any discussion on his rather daring endorsement of the idea of a people’s uprising in Pakistan. An Arab Spring could well be the ideal solution – it would overthrow the present failed system and usher in a new era of genuine democracy, which in turn would hopefully lead to peace with India and prosperity for the 1.7 billion people living in South Asia.

Raman Swami

The author is a veteran journalist, political commentator & satirist par-excellence

India is today the fastest growing economy in the world. Achievement of this status would not have been possible if India had not embarked on a reformation process in the 1990s. The past 25 years saw the launch of major structural reforms in the Indian financial landscape, with its transformative effects continuing today and reaching out into the

INDIA’S gRoWTH SToRy THE TURNINg PoINTS

future. Be it in the domains of capital markets, banking or insurance, the continuing economic and financial reforms have kept the India growth story an upbeat one despite several global crises impacting on us, like the Asian crisis of 1997-98, the global financial crisis of 2008,the Euro sovereign debt crisis and many many others. The writer, maven of finance, banking and sectoral growth, charts out this reform journey of the Indian economy over the decades, prognosticating into the near future.

1991 was indeed a watershed year, when the first tendrils of economic liberalisation began doing away with the ‘Licence Raj,’ reducing tariffs, deregulating interest rates, dismantling directed credit, improving the banking system and ending many public monopolies. Allowing automatic approval of FDI (foreign direct investment) in many sectors paved the way for India progressing towards a free-market economy and deep financial sector reforms. The fundamental objective of the financial sector reforms of the 1990s was to create an effective, competitive and steady system that could fuel development. During 1990 to 1999, India saw the setting up of SEBI (the Securities Exchange Board of India), RBI allowing Private sector n participation in Banking, and the passage of the IRDA Act 1999, which facilitated establishment of an insurance sector regulator. This was also the period when the taxation on services was introduced to 5%.

In the first decade of this century, banking sector reforms enabled India’s bankers to

raise funds from the equity market, saw the strengthening of prudential norms and the setting up of a “Board for Financial Supervision” within the RBI, to attend exclusively to supervisory functions. Then came the restructuring and reform of security interest laws in the country, particularly the passing of the “Securitisation & Reconstruction of Financial Assets” and the “Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (SARFESI),” not to mention the strengthening of the IT platform.

Capital and securities markets have been subject to transformation, with amendment of “The Securities Contracts Regulation Act, 1956,” to include securitisation instruments under the definition of "securities" and disclosure based regulation for issue of the securitised instruments and the procedure thereof. This reform facilitated the development of a securitised debt market, critical for meeting the humongous requirements of a burgeoning infrastructure sector. Stock Derivatives introduced in 2000 smoothed the way for the entry of FIIs and Domestic Institutional players in the Indian Market.

SEBI made it compulsory for companies coming out with IPOs to get their offerings graded by at least one credit rating agency registered with SEBI, so as to provide the investor with an informed and objective opinion expressed by a professional rating agency. In an effort to streamline the disclosures while also taking into account changes in market design, the erstwhile SEBI (Disclosure and Investor Protection) guidelines governing public offerings were replaced by the SEBI (Issue of Capital and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2009.

IRDA was incorporated as a statutory body in April 2000 and brought about several crucial policy changes. This Authority has notified many Regulations on various issues like Registration of Insurers, Registration of Insurance agents, Re-insurance, solvency margin, obligation of insurers to rural and social sector etc. India allowed private players into its insurance sector in 2000, setting a limit on FDI to 26%. The major landmark in state level tax reform was rationalizing and simplifying the sales tax system with the introduction of Value Added Tax (VAT) in 21 states in 2005. Further, use of Information Technology simplified & improved aspect of tax deposit, filing and compliance.

The last decade and a half saw policy makers focusing on ‘Financial Inclusion’ of Indian rural and semi-rural populations primarily to meet three very pressing needs – the creation of a platform to inculcate the habit to save money, the provision of formal credit avenues, and to effectively plug gaps/leaks in public subsidies and welfare programmes. In order to expedite financial inclusion, differentiated banks serving niche interests, local area banks, payment banks et al., have been given ‘in-principle licenses’ to meet credit and remittance needs of small businesses, the unorganised sector, low income households, farmers and India’s large migrant work force.

P On 19 August 2015,

the RBI gave "in-principle" licences to eleven entities to launch payments banks which include major groups like Aditya Birla Nuvo, Airtel, Reliance Industries, Department of Posts, etc.

P On 16th September, RBI short-listed 10 micro-lenders to set up small banks for advancing loans primarily to the unbanked, small businesses and farmers, micro and small industries and unorganised sector entities which do not have access to finance from larger banks. Of the 10 entities granted inprinciple approval to transform into banks, eight are microfinance providers, one a local area bank and one a non-banking finance company.

In order to strengthen and clean-up the balance-sheets of banks, RBI has introduced a host of initiatives like “Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR)”, “S4A” and “5:25” schemes that allow banks to convert debt into equity and take over management, bifurcate outstanding debt into sustainable debt and equity/quasi-equity, and extend long-term loans of 20-25 years to match the cash flow of projects, while refinancing them every five or seven years respectively.

The securities market also witnessed a transformation on account of:

P The SEBI (Listing Obligations & Disclosure Requirements) Regulations,

2015, issued on 2nd September 2015 replacing the earlier Listing agreements with an objective of combining and rationalizing earlier listing agreements for different segments of the capital market into one single document across various types of securities listed on stock exchanges. This has eased IPO procedures considerably.

P The SEBI (Real Estate Investment Trusts) Regulations, 2014, towards regulating investments in REITS. Many real estate bigwigs are working towards a potential listing of their REITs on Indian bourses after the union budget provided dividend distribution tax relief to the trusts.

P The Forwards Markets Commission merged with SEBI with effect from 28 September 2015, creating a unified regulator for commodities and capital markets. This will help streamline monitoring of commodity futures trading and curb wild speculations in the market.

P SEBI allowing ‘Options Contracts’ in Commodity Trading.

P SEBI allowing Foreign Portfolio Investors to invest in units of REITs, infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs), category III Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs), and also permitting them to acquire corporate bonds under default.

Coming to the here and the now, the Cabinet, headed by PM Narendra Modi, has lately approved advancing the presenta -

tion of the annual Budget by a month, scrapped the over nine-decade-old tradition of having a separate Railway Budget, and removed classifications for expenditure to make the exercise simpler. This major overhaul has been done with a view to get all the legislative approvals for annual spending and tax proposals before the beginning of the new financial year on April 1. To facilitate this, the Budget Session of Parliament will now be called sometime before January 25, a month ahead of current practice. Advancing of the budget presentation will provide states with a better timeframe to implement schemes. The merger of the railway budget will save precious time in Parliament by not having to hold separate consideration and passing of two Appropriation bills. Furthermore, when the Rail budget had to be introduced separately in the past, the railways needed to pay an annual dividend to render its budgetary support to the government. It will now be free of this and the same fund could now be used in better ways for improving conditions of the Indian railway behemoth.

The GST, apropos, is one of the greatest reforms that have been ushered in so far over the decades, and has now seen ratification by more than 50 percent of the state legislatures. This is expected to substitute all indirect taxes levied on goods and services by the Centre and States, and is to be implemented by April 2017. GST implementation would be a real game changing reform for the Indian financial system and economy, as it would create a common market and decrease the incidence of tax at various points. Along with improved tax structure, compliance and reporting, it would also improve efficiency in logistics and distribution operations. The Cabinet,

in order to ensure effectiveness of GST, has also approved a INR 2,256 crore makeover of the IT backbone for indirect taxes, in anticipation of the Goods and Services Tax regime.

Apart from all these, the government’s further opening up of the insurance sector to permit up to 49% FDI is a welcome step. The first IPO under this dispensation is that of ‘ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company Limited,’ which made a début on the stock exchange recently.

worth US$ 2 billion or more in India to avail various facilities, such as special package on upscale housing, residency permits allowing long stay in the country, and cheap rates for utilities. The RBI is looking at measures to ease doing business and contribute to the growth of startups by simplifying processes and creating an enabling framework to receive foreign venture capital, in line with the Government of India's 'Start-up India' initiative.

Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016,’ seeking to consolidate

the existing

framework by creating a single law had received the President’s assent in May this year itself, and certain provisions of the Act have already come into force from 5th August and 19th August 2016. Another step in the right direction.

To make India a more attractive foreign investment destination, the Ministry of Finance has proposed a new residency permit policy to allow key executives of foreign companies making investments

ms represent a major structural overhaul of its financial system. It is important to note that the direction of change has been steady, and in retrospect a great deal has been accomplished in the past twenty five years. Various indicators such as India’s growth rate averaging at 6.8% over the period of 1991-92 to 2015-16, BSE market capitalization at over INR 1,12,04,018 crores, total Private Equity (PE) investments during January-July 2016 valued at US$ 9.8 billion, FII investments at US$ 2.68 billion in March 2016 and India notching up a 16-place jump to the 39th position on the World Economic Forum’s ‘Global Competitive Index’ of 138 nations are all testimonials to the reformations taking place in the Indian economy. If this India success story is to continue on the global arena, it will be essential to take these reforms along the logical directions already indicated, and accelerate the pace of change as much as possible. However, it is also important to recognise that the impact of financial sector reforms in accelerating growth will be maximised if and only if combined with progress in economic reforms in other realms.

‘The

S Ravi

The author is a practising CA with over 26 years of experience. He has served on the boards of more than 36 companies across sectors, including Public Sector Banks and PSUs

STREAMLININg

CoNSTRUCTIoN APPRoVALS

Apart from the general economic slowdown and fund crunch hitting the real estate sector adversely, especially in terms of project execution, it is the delayed permissions/sanctions that have contributed more to large-scale delivery defaults, leading to stressed realty. Here, it is significant to mention that on an average, there are 37 procedures involved in getting construction permits and an average 162 days are spent towards obtaining permission for undertaking construction. The current procedure for seeking clearances is so cumbersome and time consuming, that in some cases it stretches to more than an year.

Recognizing the concern for streamlining the procedures for clearances to be obtained from various departments within the least possible number of days, a model is given in the above-mentioned report, which suggests that the entire process of pre- and post-construction approvals should be completed within one month.

Pre-construction approvals include 'Intimation of Disapproval, Site & Building Layout Approval, NOC for Coastal Areas, and Building Permit Issue' from the concerned Development Authority/Municipality. 'Road Access Approval' from NHAI/ PWD, 'Ancient Monument Approval' from the Archaeological Survey of India, 'Environment Clearance' from the Ministry of Environment & Forests, 'Borewell Registration Certificate' from the Central Ground Water Authority, 'Fire Fighting Scheme Approval' from the Fire Department, 'AAI Height NOC' from the Civil Aviation Department and 'Defence Clearance' from the Ministry of Defence are some of the most important ones.

Post-construction approvals include a 'Building Completion Certificate & Occupancy Certificate' from the Development Authority/Municipality and a 'Service Plan Clearance & Service Connections' from various Service Departments. In addition to all these, there are approvals that need to be sought during the construction stage,

In the backdrop of a large number of stalled real estate projects, the report, “Streamlining Approval Procedure for Real Estate Projects (SAPREP),” brought out by the Ministry of Urban Development, Housing & Poverty Alleviation, has been made an integral part of the model building by-laws in the yet to be released “National Building Code 2016,” which is to be adopted by all Urban Local Bodies & Development Authorities in Indian cities. We bring you a brief analysis.

which include 'Damp Proofing Certificate' (on site) from the Development Authority, 'Electric Substation NOC' from the relevant Electricity Distribution Authority, and a 'Pollution Clearance' from the State Pollution Control Board. All these preconstruction, in-construction and postconstruction approvals are for clear land title and possession of land, and exclude clearances related to 'Change of Land Use (CLU)' and 'Land Title.' Also, the model timeline of one month for pre-construction approvals is subject to online approvals. A case is made out to integrate approvals like Environment Clearance, Borewell Registration Certificate, AAI Height NOC, Defence Clearance, NOC for Coastal Areas , Road Access and Railways Area Clearance into the Master Plan.

This model is meant to serve as a guide to Urban Local Bodies and Development Authorities for adoption. Since the number of procedures and duration varies from state to state as per the local conditions, the model would require modifications to suit specific cities. And in this context, a number of options have been suggested to reduce the time taken for various procedures. One such option is to provide online sanctions. Some of the ULBs/Development Authorities like the Pune Municipal Corporation and the West Bengal Housing & Industrial Development Corporation have successfully implemented online processes for issuance of building plans and completion certificates.

There is also an option to empower competent professionals for building plan design, in order to facilitate streamlining the procedure for obtaining approvals. Empowered professionals may also, on behalf of developers/builders, submit the documents required at the time of various clearances. In this context there is an option for outsourcing procedures on the lines of passports to make the whole process of projects clearance more stream-

lined, transparent and hassle-free. The model is aimed at promoting a single window system where all agencies involved in the process need to be integrated into a single electronic facility, with proper coordination and monitoring of timelines. This is possible to achieve by Development Authorities, if they constituting teams comprising experts from various agencies, to be formed under the overall supervision of a Town Planner designated to assist devel-

opers/builders with complex projects, and to constantly improve the sanction process by cutting down delays with provisions like risk based classification of buildings.

And last but not the least, a case is made out for integrating various agencies outside the Urban Local Bodies like Fire Services, Departments of Industries, Ministry of Defence Aviation, Metro Rail etc., for granting NOC to building plans in certain specific cases. In addition to this, emphasis has been laid upon the creation of a specialized cell in the Development Authorities, headed by a Town Planner and manned by qualified personnel like architects, engineers, environment specialists and legal experts et al., who are conversant with procedures, devlopement regulations and online approvals.

The author is a senior media professional & the consulting editor of NRI Achievers magazine. He may be reached at: vb@nriachievers.in

Vinod Behl

Real Estate

REDEFININg ‘CoMFoRT’ IN URbAN INDIA

Today, urban India is largely driven by up-and-coming single professionals and young, dual-income nuclear families. As per a recent study, over 10% of Indian families still had nine members or more in 2001 while only slightly above 6% of families had that many members by 2011. More and more Indian families have splintered off from their erstwhile joint families and are today being defined by five or less members – the quintessential nuclear family is rapidly becoming the norm. The buffer that the joint family system afforded in previous times has been more or less phased out. Within the joint family system, a number of functions such as care for children and elders were a given. Family finances were also less challenging as a number of income streams merged with elders’ retirement funds and long-standing family wealth. We bring you an analysis of this trend that is turning into a torrent, and how it is impinging on realty purchases.

What are the factors driving this trend ? Seen in retrospect, quite a few. In the first place, our youth today want to make lifestyle choices in line with contemporary options, and this requires financial autonomy. Second, they prefer to choose their life partners without these choices being polled and voted upon from a traditionalist perspective. Third, they would like to raise their offspring in consonance with their own values, and facilitate their integration into the global village that India is rapidly becoming. While caring for the needs of elders is still very much a part of their value system, the immediate ties to previous generations are nevertheless loosened. Naturally, a nuclear family must maintain a sharp focus in order to succeed. Operative concepts are earning, career growth, raising and investing in the family. This last imperative means sending their kids to good schools and colleges, upkeep of elders, and their own eventual retirement. This is a complex program, but works very well for those who can maintain focus.

One aspect – the quest for comfort – has not changed. What has changed is how this comfort is defined. In today's technology-driven environment, comfortable homes are no longer defined by their size, but by how much they contribute to the family's ability to enjoy a modern, secure and even trendy lifestyle. At the same time, keeping in mind that a small family unit depends on financial discipline to re-

main viable and enable growth in diversified investments, such a home should not cost an arm and a leg. In the past, this is where most developers of 'smart' homes erred, miscalculating demand for technologically enabled properties. People who consider such homes are not looking for buying into a social stratum of luxury defined by massively expensive homes –they are buying into a lifestyle. If their lifestyle is compromised by the purchase of a home which leaves little or nothing for other investments or lifestyle choices, that offering will definitely fall flat.

It is for this very reason that the previous yen for 'central' locations has given way to 'well-connected' locations, while the focus on 'size' has yielded to a focus on 'lifestyle quotient'. The cost of a residential property is defined by the rupee-value the market assigns to its location, and the magnitude of space it occupies within that location. For today's nuclear family, access to workplaces, schools, shopping and healthcare is as important as ever, but they expect good connectivity rather than a central location to deliver on these. Likewise, they do not look for massive living spaces but instead for homes that will support their aspiration for comfort and convenience – within the living space and within the project. They want in-house services that will reduce the demands and stress that day-to-day maintenance puts on their time and energy, and lifestyle-enhancing facilities available on-site. A distant or expensive dream ? Not any longer.

In previous years, the onus of meeting

home buyer expectations fell solely on real estate developers. Developers, apropos, are merely building specialists – delivering on lifestyle factors was beyond the scope of the built environment not part of their core competences. Recognition of this deficit within themselves saw them bringing-in modern facilities management into the picture – but such services involve higher costs that they invariably on-passed to their customers. Today the challenge lies in providing a well-rounded residential property package, along with all the required lifestyle features within a reasonable budget range.

Specialist agencies are now partnering developers to achieve just that. Unlike most facilities management firms, these agencies have a full grasp of real estate fundamentals that affect pricing. Because standardization is essential to reduce costs without compromising on quality, they give developers a model that provides high lifestyle performance in smaller spaces at well-connected locations. The result is an entirely new breed of homes that can provide residents with lifestyle possibilities that were previously not possible within range-bound ticket sizes.

Yogesh Mehra

The author is co-founder and CEO of YOLO Homes, with over two decades of real estate exposure.

WELLb EINg TogETHER

Today, our society is in transition, moving from one level of economic development to another. This transformation is likely to happen dramatically in the next few years’ time. We hope it is going to percolate into rural India, and it will. The point is just that if we facilitate it, it will happen very well. If we do not facilitate it, it will happen forcefully and painfully, but it will anyway happen. The Author shares his thoughts and convictions on this trajectory of India's development in this issue, for you to ponder upon.

We are seeing how capital markets are scaling new heights. These are not just numbers, this is indicative of where we are going. The monetary systems and investment processes in the world in the past always used to bypass India – because they were afraid of us – our corruption, our inefficiency, our way of goofing things up and not completing anything we start. That image is changing dramatically and international money market players are moving towards India now, and you will see things changing very, very rapidly. This is bound to happen.

When the financial situation changes, we must also be ready for very dramatic cultural changes in society. Along with financial freedom, the fundamentals of a particular culture always change. When every individual gets the choice to do whatever he wants to do, it is extremely important that we empower that individual with the necessary awareness to take the right choices. For most societies, a scourge of problems came along with economic affluence, because the necessary awareness was missing in individual people to make the right choices.

Instead of economic progress bring-

ing wellbeing to humanity, generally one generation of that nation or society suffers from uncertainty, unable to make the right choices. The United States for example is the most affluent country on the planet right now. During the 1930s, they went through a very bad depression where even food became a problem for citizens. Then World War II came, and that was a great upheaval which took millions of people away.

The generation after the war worked really hard and got the country back on the rails. In the 1960s, economic upsurge was happening but that generation of people made all the wrong choices – and for about 15-20 years, the volume of indulgence in drugs, alcohol and other things threw the society off-track and almost derailed the whole nation. Then again from the 1970s to 1980s, they recovered.

MAkINg THE RIgHT CHoICES

The spiritual process is one way of ensuring that people have the necessary awareness to make the right choices. When affluence comes, they won’t lose their head. This is very important. Poverty is a horrible problem. But the moment they get out of it, a lot of people tend to lose their head and get into a different kind of problem.

We would like to see that the economic upsurge that is happening in the nation is enjoyed by people because this is a starved population, starved for everything.

So, spreading this awareness and empowering people to be able to make the right kind of choices is extremely important. We need to really hasten this process as the economic upsurge is happening. We are talking about 9 to 10% growth in coming years, which is phenomenal indeed. Sustaining a 9 to 10% growth continuously over a period of time is not a simple thing. But at the same time we need to ask this fundamental question: 10% of how much? For 1.25 billion people, the volume of our economy is unfortunately very small. It is growing now but still it is extremely small.

Western economic analysts cannot understand how people are even eating with this kind of economics. They cannot understand how a man can earn one dollar a day and eat … . We are letting our farmers commit suicide, that is the only reason we are eating. For everything else prices are fixed, but somehow we always believe food should come free. That was okay when almost 95% of us were farmers.

Now, 60% are farming and to feed the remaining 40%, the 60% are starving. That is not at all good. What this means eco-

nomically is, to feed 100 people, 60 people are cooking. That is not a good distribution of manpower either. If, for 100 people, 6 or 8 people are cooking, okay. If 10 people are cooking – alright – bad cooks or an elaborate meal, whichever way. But if 60 people are cooking, that is not a good way to run the economy. But this is the process of shifting from subsistence farming to cash crops.

What we are going through right now is a painful process and the brunt of pain

when everyone wanted to come to India. Vasco da Gama, Columbus – though the mistake he made took him elsewhere – but all of them wanted to come to India. Thousands of ships set off, taking an enormous risk.

Indian Mystics & Seers

They wanted to come to India somehow – because the 'India' of that time was the richest economy on the planet. In the

cause of the stock market touching certain levels. How we conduct ourselves is what will decide whether someone wants to come to this country or run away from it. We don’t want more people in this country but we must create a situation where people want to come. If everyone wants to leave your house and go somewhere else, that means your house is in a terrible condition.

It is still so that most people would like to leave the country. We need to spread a culture where right from simple things like how you keep your footwear to how you walk and drive on the street, how you speak to people, if these things alter, then people will want to come. We need to make that happen. Otherwise, we are holding people in the country because we are afraid they will all go away. That’s a prison. If everyone wants to come in, that’s a home, that’s a nation.

We need to do that and that is not going to happen just because we have desires for it. Concrete, proper work needs to be done on all levels. Economic work is happening in a big way, it is moving in the right direction. But what has to happen in the country on the cultural, social and individual level, and consciousness-wise, has to happen at an equal pace, if not at a faster pace. If it doesn’t happen, good economics will bring more pain, more agony, than wellbeing and ecstasy.

will be taken by the poorest and the weakest, as always. It needs to be cushioned in many ways, which we as a nation are yet to do, but one fundamental thing that needs to happen is that people begin to think a little more clearly, with a little more focus. It is most essential that their thinking is not influenced by their caste, creed or religion. They must think straight. The spiritual process becomes a powerful tool in making this happen.

MAkINg INDIA A HoME, NoT A PRISoN

There was a time, about 500 years ago,

past 250 years, we went down, really down. I was just flipping the morning newspapers and I found that in the football world rankings, India is rated at something like the 150th country. Wow! The football team doesn’t decide everything, but things like these are barometers which show how people are. This is an indication of how healthy, focused and organized our people are. 500 years ago, everybody wanted to come here. Now, everybody wants to leave. It is once again time to make it in such a way that everyone wants to come here again. It is beginning to happen, but not enough at all. This will not just happen be-

We have to make it so that everyone who walks on the street, walks with a little more awareness and concern for the person who is next to him. Are you up to it? Just quietly, everyone must constantly be aware that this needs to happen. Wherever you are, you must be constantly conscious. Every activity that you do, you must see that this should spread. Then the world would indeed be a different place.

The author is a prominent Indian spiritual leader, a self-realised yogi, mystic, seer and visionary. Prolific author, poet, and an internationallyacclaimed speaker. You can learn more @ isha.sadhguru.org.

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

Ìæ×çâ·¤-©âè Âý·¤æÚU ·Ô¤ çß¿æÚU ©ˆÂóæ ·¤ÚUÌð ãñ´.

The lamp eats up the darkness and therefore it produces blackened lamp; in the same way according to the nature of our diet (sattva, rajas, or tamas) we produce offspring in similar quality.

ãð çßmæÙ÷ ÂéL¤á! ¥ÂÙè â´Âçžæ ·Ô¤ßÜ Âæ˜æ ·¤ô ãè Îð ¥õÚU ÎêâÚUæð´ ·¤ô ·¤Öè Ùæ Îð. Áô ÁÜ ÕæÎÜ ·¤ô â×éÎý ÎðÌæ ãñ ßã ÕǸæ ×èÆæ ãôÌæ ãñ. ÕæÎÜ ßáæü ·¤ÚU·Ô¤ ßã ÁÜ Âë‰ßè ·Ô¤ âÖè ¿Ü

¥æ¿æØü ¿æ‡æ€UØ °·¤ °ðâè ×ãæÙ çßÖêçÌ Íð, çÁ‹ãô´Ùð ¥ÂÙè çßmžææ ¥õÚU ÿæ×Ìæ¥ô´ ·Ô¤ ÕÜ ÂÚU ÖæÚUÌèØ §çÌãæâ ·¤è ÏæÚUæ ·¤ô ÕÎÜ çÎØæÐ ×õØü âæ×ýæ’Ø ·Ô¤ â´SÍæ·¤ ¿æ‡æ€UØ ·¤éàæÜ ÚUæÁÙèçÌ™æ, ¿ÌéÚU ·¤êÅUÙèçÌ™æ, Âý·¤æ´Ç ¥ÍüàææS˜æè ·Ô¤ M¤Â ×ð´ Öè çßEç߁ØæÌ ãé°Ð §ÌÙè âçÎØæ¡ »éÁÚUÙð ·Ô¤ ÕæÎ ¥æÁ Öè ØçÎ ¿æ‡æ€UØ mæÚUæ ÕÌæ° »° çâhæ´Ì ¥õÚU ÙèçÌØæ¡ Âýæâ´ç»·¤ ãñ´ Ìô ×æ˜æ §âçÜ°, ç·¤ ©‹ãô´Ùð ¥ÂÙð »ãÙ ¥ŠØØÙ, ç¿´ÌÙ ¥õÚU ÁèßæÙæÙéÖßô´ âð ¥çÁüÌ ¥×êËØ ™ææÙ ·¤ô, ÂêÚUè ÌÚUã çÙ:SßæÍü ãô·¤ÚU ×æÙßèØ ·¤ËØæ‡æ ·Ô¤ ©gðàØ âð ¥çÖÃØQ¤ ç·¤ØæÐ Âðàæ ãñ v| ¥ŠØæØô´ ßæÜè Ò¿æ‡æ€UØ ÙèçÌÓ ·¤æ ¥æÆßæ´ ¥ŠØæØÐ ãÚU ¥´·¤ ×ð´ ã× °·¤ ¥ŠØæØ ÂÚU ÙÁÚU ÇæÜÌð ãñ´Ð

¥¿Ü Áèßæð´ ·¤ô ÎðÌæ ãñ ¥õÚU çȤÚU ©âð â×éÎý ·¤ô ÜõÅUæ ÎðÌæ ãñ.

O wise man! Give your wealth only to the worthy and never to others. The water of the sea received by the clouds is always sweet. The rainwater enlivens all living beings of the earth both movable (insects, animals, humans, etc.) and immovable (plants, trees, etc.), and then returns to the ocean where its value is multiplied a million fold.

çßmæÙ÷ Üô» Áô Ìˆß ·¤ô ÁæÙÙð ßæÜð ãñ´ ©‹ãô´Ùð ·¤ãæ ãñ ç·¤ ×æ´â ¹æÙð ßæÜð ¿æ´ÇæÜæð´ âð ãÁæÚU »éÙæ Ùè¿ ãñ. §âçÜ° °ðâð ¥æÎ×è âð Ùè¿ ·¤ô§ü Ùãè´.

The wise who discern the essence of things have declared that the yavana (meat eater) is equal in baseness to a thousand candalas (the lowest class), and hence a yavana is the basest of men; indeed there is no one more base.

àæÚUèÚU ÂÚU ×æçÜàæ ·¤ÚUÙð ·Ô¤ ÕæÎ, à×àææÙ ×ð´ ç¿Ìæ ·¤æ Ïé¥æ´ àæÚUèÚU ÂÚU ¥æÙð ·Ô¤ ÕæÎ, âÖô» ·¤ÚUÙð ·Ô¤ ÕæÎ, Îæɸè ÕÙæÙð ·Ô¤ ÕæÎ ÁÕ Ì·¤ ¥æÎ×è Ùãæ Ùæ Üð ßã ¿æ´ÇæÜ ÚUãÌæ ãñ.

After having rubbed oil on the body, after encountering the smoke from a funeral pyre, after sexual intercourse, and after being shaved, one remains a chandala until he bathes.

ÁÜ ¥Â¿ ·¤è Îßæ ãñ. ÁÜ ¿ñÌ‹Ø çÙ×æü‡æ ·¤ÚUÌæ ãñ, ØçÎ ©âð ÖôÁ٠¿ ÁæÙð ·Ô¤ ÕæÎ ÂèÌð ãñ´. ÂæÙè ·¤ô ÖôÁÙ ·Ô¤ ÕæÎ ÌéÚU´Ì ÂèÙæ çßá ÂèÙð ·Ô¤ â×æÙ ãñ.

Water is the medicine for indigestion; it is invigorating when the food that is eaten is well digested; it is like nectar when drunk in the middle of a dinner; and it is like poison when taken at the end of a meal.

ØçÎ ™ææÙ ·¤ô ©ÂØô» ×ð´ Ùæ ÜæØæ Áæ° Ìô ßã ¹ô ÁæÌæ ãñ. ¥æÎ×è ØçÎ ¥™ææÙè ãñ Ìô ¹ô ÁæÌæ ãñ. âðÙæÂçÌ ·Ô¤ çÕÙæ âðÙæ ¹ô ÁæÌè ãñ. ÂçÌ ·Ô¤ çÕÙæ ˆÙè ¹ô ÁæÌè ãñ.

Knowledge is lost without putting it into practice; a man is lost due to ignorance; an army is los t without a commander; and a woman is lost without a husband.

ßã ¥æÎ×è ¥Öæ»æ ãñ Áô ¥ÂÙð ÕéɸæÂð ×ð´ ˆÙè ·¤è ×ëˆØé Îð¹Ìæ ãñ. ßã Öè ¥Öæ»æ ãñ Áô ¥ÂÙè âÂÎæ â´Õ´çÏØô´ ·¤ô âæñ´Â ÎðÌæ ãñ. ßã Öè ¥Öæ»æ ãñ Áô ¹æÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÎêâÚUæð´ ÂÚU çÙÖüÚU ãñ.

A man who encounters the following three is unfortunate; the death of his wife in his old age, the entrusting of money into the hands of relatives, and depending upon others for food.

Øã ÕæÌð´ Õð·¤æÚU ãñ´- ßðÎ ×´˜ææð´ ·¤æ ©‘¿æÚU‡æ ·¤ÚUÙæ Üðç·¤Ù çÙçãÌ Ø™æ ·¤×ôZ ·¤ô Ùæ ·¤ÚUÙæ. Ø™æ ·¤ÚUÙæ Üðç·¤Ù ÕæÎ ×ð´ Üô»æð´ ·¤ô ÎæÙ Îð·¤ÚU ÌëŒÌ Ùæ ·¤ÚUÙæ. Âê‡æüÌæ Ìô ÖçQ¤ âð ãè ¥æÌè ãñ. ÖçQ¤

ãè âÖè âȤÜÌæ¥æð´ ·¤æ ×êÜ ãñ.

Chanting of the Vedas without making ritualistic sacrifices to the Supreme Lord through the medium of Agni, and sacrifices not followed by bountiful gifts are futile. Perfection can be achieved only through devotion (to the Supreme Lord) for devotion is the basis of all success.

°·¤ â´Øç×Ì ×Ù ·Ô¤ â×æÙ ·¤ô§ü Ì Ùãè´. â´Ìôá ·Ô¤ â×æÙ ·¤ô§ü âé¹ Ùãè´. ÜôÖ ·Ô¤ â×æÙ ·¤ô§ü ÚUô» Ùãè´. ÎØæ ·Ô¤ â×æÙ ·¤ô§ü »é‡æ Ùãè´.

There is no austerity equal to a balanced mind, and there is no happiness equal to contentment; there is no disease like covetousness, and no virtue like mercy.

·ý¤ôÏ âæÿææÌ÷ Ø× ãñ. Ìëc‡ææ ÙÚU·¤ ·¤è ¥æðÚU Üð ÁæÙð ßæÜè ßñÌÚU‡æè ãñ. ™ææÙ ·¤æ×ÏðÙé ãñ. â´Ìôá ãè Ìô Ù´ÎÙßÙ ãñ.

Anger is a personification of Yama (the demigod of death); thirst is like the hellish river Vaitarani; knowledge is like a kamadhenu (the cow of plenty); and contentment is like Nandanavana (the garden of Indra).

ÙèçÌ ·¤è ©žæ×Ìæ ãè ÃØçQ¤ ·Ô¤ âõ´ÎØü ·¤æ »ãÙæ ãñ. ©žæ× ¥æ¿ÚU‡æ âð ÃØçQ¤ ©žæÚUôžæÚU ª¤¡¿ð

Üô·¤ ×ð´ ÁæÌæ ãñ. âȤÜÌæ ãè çßlæ ·¤æ ¥æÖêá‡æ ãñ. ©ç¿Ì çßçÙØô» ãè â´Âçžæ ·¤æ »ãÙæ ãñ.

Moral excellence is an ornament for personal beauty; righteous conduct, for high birth; success for learning; and proper spending for wealth.

ÙèçÌ ÖýC ãôÙð âð âé‹ÎÚUÌæ ·¤æ Ùæàæ ãôÌæ ãñ. ãèÙ ¥æ¿ÚU‡æ â𠥑Àð ·¤éÜ ·¤æ Ùæàæ ãôÌæ ãñ. Âê‡æüÌæ Ù ¥æÙð âð çßlæ ·¤æ Ùæàæ ãôÌæ ãñ. ©ç¿Ì çßçÙØô» ·Ô¤ çÕÙæ ÏÙ ·¤æ Ùæàæ ãôÌæ ãñ.

Beauty is spoiled by an immoral nature; noble birth by bad conduct; learning, without being perfected; and wealth by not being properly utilised.

Áô ÁÜ ÏÚUÌè ×ð´ â×æ´ »Øæ ßô àæéh ãñ. ÂçÚUßæÚU ·¤ô â×çÂüÌ ÂˆÙè àæéh ãñ. Üô»æð´ ·¤æ ·¤ËØæ‡æ ·¤ÚUÙð ßæÜæ ÚUæÁæ àæéh ãñ. ßã Õýæræ‡æ àæéh ãñ Áô â´ÌéC ãñ.

Water seeping into the earth is pure; and a devoted wife is pure; the king who is the benefactor of his people is pure; and pure is the brahmana who is contented.

¥â´ÌéC Õýæræ‡æ, â´ÌéC ÚUæÁæ, Ü’Áæ ÚU¹Ùð ßæÜè ßðàØæ, ·¤ÆôÚU ¥æ¿ÚU‡æ ·¤ÚUÙð ßæÜè »ëçã‡æè, Øð âÖè Üô» çßÙæàæ ·¤ô ÂýæŒÌ ãôÌð ãñ´.

Discontented brahmanas, contented kings, shy prostitutes, and immodest housewives are ruined.

€UØæ ·¤ÚUÙæ ª´¤¿ð ·¤éÜ ·¤æ ØçÎ Õéçhמææ Ùæ ãô. °·¤ Ùè¿ ·¤éÜ ×ð´ ©ˆÂóæ ãôÙð ßæÜð çßmæÙ÷ ÃØçQ¤ ·¤æ â×æÙ ÎðßÌæ Öè ·¤ÚUÌð ãñ´.

Of what avail is a high birth if a person is destitute of scholarship? A man who is of low extraction is honoured even by the demigods if he is learned.

çßmæÙ÷ ÃØçQ¤ Üô»æð´ âð â×æÙ ÂæÌæ ãñ. çßmæÙ÷ ©â·¤è çßmžææ ·Ô¤ çÜ° ãÚU Á»ã â×æÙ ÂæÌæ ãñ. Øã çÕÜ·¤éÜ â¿ ãñ ·¤è çßlæ ãÚU Á»ã â×æçÙÌ ãñ.

A learned man is honoured by the people. A learned man comma1nds respect everywhere for his learning. Indeed, learning is honoured everywhere.

Áô Üô» çιÙð ×ð´ âé‹ÎÚU ãñ´, ÁßæÙ ãñ´, ª¤¡¿ð ·¤éÜ ×ð´ ÂñÎæ ãé° ãñ´, ßô Õð·¤æÚU ãñ´ ØçÎ ©Ù·Ô¤ Âæâ çßlæ Ùãè´ ãñ. ßô Ìô ÂÜæàæ ·Ô¤ ȤêÜ ·Ô¤ â×æÙ ãñ´ Áô çιÌð Ìô ¥‘Àð ãñ´ ÂÚU ×ã·¤Ìð Ùãè´.

Those who are endowed with beauty and youth and who are born of noble families are worthless if they have no learning. They are just like the kimshuka blossoms ( flowers of the palasa tree) which, though beautiful, have no fragrance.

Øã ÏÚUÌè ©Ù Üô»æð´ ·Ô¤ ÖæÚU âð ÎÕè Áæ ÚUãè ãñ, Áô ×æ´â ¹æÌð ãñ´, ÎæM¤ ÂèÌð ãñ´, Õðß·¤êȤ ãñ´, ßð âÕ Ìô ¥æÎ×è ãôÌð ãé° Âàæé ãè ãñ´ñ.

The earth is encumbered with the weight of the flesh-eaters, winebibblers, dolts (dull and stupid) and blockheads, who are beasts in the form of men.

©â Ø™æ ·Ô¤ â×æÙ ·¤ô§ü àæ˜æé Ùãè´ çÁâ·Ô¤ ©ÂÚUæ´Ì Üô»æð´ ·¤ô ÕǸð Âñ×æÙð ÂÚU ÖôÁÙ Ùæ ·¤ÚUæØæ Áæ°. °ðâæ Ø™æ ÚUæ’Øô´ ·¤ô ¹ˆ× ·¤ÚU ÎðÌæ ãñ. ØçÎ ÂéÚUôçãÌ Ø™æ ×ð´ Æè·¤ âð ©‘¿æÚU‡æ Ùæ ·¤ÚUð Ìô Ø™æ ©âð ¹ˆ× ·¤ÚU ÎðÌæ ãñ. ¥õÚU ØçÎ ØÁ×æÙ Üô»æð´ ·¤ô ÎæÙ °ß´ Öð´Å UßSÌé Ùæ Îð Ìô ßã Öè Ø™æ mæÚUæ ¹ˆ× ãô ÁæÌæ ãñ.

There is no enemy like a yajna (sacrifice) which consumes the kingdom when not attended by feeding on a large scale; consumes the priest when the chanting is not done properly; and consumes the yajaman (the responsible person) when the gifts are not made.

Source: www.hindisathityadarpan.com

PooNAM PANDEy IS bACk !

THE WEEKEND, an erotic horror thriller starring the hot and sexy Poonam Pandey, produced under the banner of ‘The World Networks,’ was leaked online and is now going viral everywhere – side by side with its release end September. Poonam looks voluptuous and dazzling, with her appealing body and curves in the film. She has really killed it with her sassy and saucy body appeal in the trailer, which is a must watch. Once again Poonam is back with her true sensuous-and-hotness overloaded avatar, which is really set to make audiences and her fans crazy. She is the only model who has so far killed it with her heat and warmth around and this time even more with her film THE WEEKEND, which will be India's first adult movie for mobile lovers. It is a short film which is neither rated nor certified by the CBFC which makes it quite extraordinary and fascinating. Also, it is a first white labelled wap-portal with telecom operator billing with its exceptional worth. The movie is available only on mobile so it will be a total cellphone exciting first performance.

boLLyWooD FESTIVAL NoRWAy 2016

The 14th edition of the Bollywood Festival was organised from 9th to 16th September. The Bollywood fraternity was largely represented by Zeenat Aman and Huma Qureshi. Mehraveh Sharifina and actor Director Mohammad Sharifina were present on behalf of the Iranian film industry to showcase their film ‘MY FATHER’S LOVE STORY’. Zeenat was awarded for her lifetime contribution to Indian cinema and Huma Qureshi was awarded as the most promising actress. This year the festival initiated the Vikas Mohan award in remembrance of late Vikas Mohan to felicitate and encourage upcoming talent in the industry. The award was presented by Amol Vikas Mohan to Azaan Khan for his directorial début film BANKSTER, which was also the opening film at the festival where the audiences were lucky to be amongst the first audience in the world to have an exclusive worldwide première screening of the film. A tribute was given to women’s empowerment in the form of movies like NEERJA and AKIRA. Apart from that, a whole host of other movies from Pakistan and Iran were screened to cater to the taste of a wider audience. An exclusive and free screening of SULTAN was held for refugee kids, as a social initiative by the festival.

AbbAS MUSTAN To gIVE A DANCE NUMbER To kIARA

The songs ‘zara zara touch me’ and ‘lat lag gayi’, changed a lot of things for Katrina Kaif and Jacqueline Fernandez in Bollywood. Not only did the songs become popular but the actresses became household names overnight. All thanks to director duo Abbas Mustan. Well now, the directors are all set to give a similar dance number to Kiara Advani in their next film MACHINE. The actress told the filmmakers that she would like a dance number in the film, and the filmmakers agreed for the same and added it to her contract. The song will a promotional one and the shoot will soon commence.

NRI Achievers Mumbai Bureau

FACE CHANgINg gAMES STARS PLAy

Acting is by no means an easy job. To get into the mold of the character that an actor is portraying, he has to do a lot of homework and footwork in order to get his teeth into the skin of the character. Quite often this obsession of actors to act is stretched to abysmal depths but like actors say it just cannot be helped. Each actor approaches his or her role with a different viewpoint. The Author, our Bollywood maven, writes on the idiosyncrasies of the personalities he has come to know well in Mumbai.

In recent times, John Abraham had decided to learn a special form of Martial Art for his role in Nishikant Kamat’s film ROCKY HANDSOME, in which the actor is seen as a lean-mean power machine, and is seen doing some hand-to-hand action sequences. Kecha Khamphakdee from Thailand was roped in to choreograph the action sequences for ROCKY HANDSOME. The Thai has worked for several films and HBO Series like STRIKE BACK, as also some Indian films. The action forms that have been used for ROCKY HANDSOME are Aikido and Hapkido.

Amitabh Bachchan had to play a child suffering from Progeria – a rare disease, in K. Balki’s PAA. For this the actor had to spend five hours daily to don the prosthetics designed by Hollywood artist Christien Tinsley and Dominie Till. R Balki explains: “First they created a mold of Amitji by pouring rubber solution on him, then made the skin with latex and painted veins on that. While making the mold was a onetime process, the skin had to be painted every day, and that took four-five hours. It sure was a nightmare but Amitabh did it without complaints.”

Akshay Kumar, who will be seen playing the role of a villain in Rajinikanth starrer ENTHIRAN 2.0 is almost unrecognizable in the crow-look pictures that have been doing the rounds on Twitter. He

sports long eye bushes, gray hair and wears a feathered leather jacket. His character is that of Dr Richard – a scientist who turns into a crow. Makers are trying hard to keep Akshay’s crow-look under wraps for a while but in vain.

Rishi Kapoor's new look in KAPOOR & SONS surprised his fans. Rishi’s makeup in the film was done by American Greg Cannom, who has worked on TITANIC (1997), and the man behind Brad Pitt’s flawless facial transformation in the 2008 film THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. The film's director Shakun Batra went to meet Rishi to discuss the script and his look, and saw a picture of THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON on his mobile phone.

Co-incidentally, Shakun also found out that Cannom was in Mumbai for another film, so roped him in to do Rishi’s make up in KAPOOR & SONS, where the thespian has played a 90 year old.

For GHAJINI, Aamir didn’t hesitate to shave off his head, like Salman Khan did for TERE NAAM. Not only that, he had to undergo a rigorous physical training and

develop six-pack abs for his role. For his next film DANGAL too Aamir decided to gain weight as he is essaying the role of a wrestler in it, like R. Madhavan did in SAALA KHADOOS and Salman Khan is doing now in SULTAN.

To prepare himself for the role of Chandu Nagre in Ramgopal Varma’s COMPANY, with which Vivek Oberoi had also made his debut, he went to the slums in Vikhroli and a basti in Ruia Park and watched how people there behave. Says Vivek, “I wore

my chappals and dressed myself up in old pant and ganji and went alone with my hair messed up and made friends with people living there. I stayed there, lived there, slept there and even recorded their voices to study how they talked. I realized I looked too fair to be a slum boy and worked on my make up from head to toe with shades eight times darker for an hour and a half every day.”

In 2012 Vikram sported four significantly different looks in the film I: a body builder, a beast, a model and a hunchback. He put on weight to portray the bodybuilder, and subsequently lost weight to

a result of the prosthetic make-up he had to wear.

Actresses are no less when it comes to opting for authenticity. Kangana played two characters in the movie TANU WEDS MANU RETURNS, the sequel to TANU WEDS MANU – these being Tanu Sharma and Kusum Sangwan. For her Haryanvi character the actor actually went the nomakeup road and also put on a different set of teeth. A local Haryanvi accent and some bindass swag later, Kangana Ranaut did rock as fearless Kusum in the movie.

Ajay Devgan confesses that when Rajkumar Santoshi offered him the

pletely transform himself miraculously to win accolades as an actor. When doing HINDUSTANI, whenever he was required to face the camera as the old man, a foreign make up guy was at his disposal. Kamal used to get up at four in the morning and start applying make up till he give his first shot at 11 am. After packing up at around 10 pm, he used to wash off his makeup and sleep and get up the next day by 4 am again and go through the same rigmarole all over again.

Shah Rukh Khan is playing an obsessed fan named Gaurav in YRF’s FAN. YRF hired three-time Oscar-winning makeup artist Greg Cannom to transform SRK into Gaurav. The artist was responsible for Priyanka Chopra's makeup in 2011 Bollywood film SAAT KHOON MAAF as well as Rishi Kapoor in KAPOOR & SONS.

Randeep Hooda is playing the titular role in the biopic SARBJIT, along with Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. Randeep had to lose 18 kgs in 28 days to fit into the character. The actor was

portray a model, before shaving his head and reducing his weight to 56 kilograms to portray the crippled hunchback. The cast and crew of the film reportedly struggled to recognize the actor at times, and he also stayed away from the media for close to a year when sporting the look. Taking almost three years for production, Vikram described the film ‘as the toughest he has ever done’ and regularly suffered heavily as

Bhagat Singh role, he took it up as a big challenge to the actor in him. “Though I knew who Bhagat Singh was, I learned little nuances about him only when I started laying my hands on a lot of books on him, provided by Rajji. I also read several history books to know more about Bhagat Singh’s relationships with other national leaders of his time to get an insight into his character. I had to work more mentally as an actor to be able to do justice to the role.”

Kamal Haasan never misses an opportunity to take up roles that need him to work for hours on his makeup and com-

kept on a near-starvation diet to look like the real-life Sarbjit who was kept in a 4 x 4 rat-infested room. Director Omung Kumar says that nobody could recognize Randeep when he entered the sets and it was only when he called out his name that he was aware of his presence.

Like they say, no pain no gain. All these actors have proved that their obsession for their looks does pay them dividends ...

Jyothi Venkatesh

The writer is a well-known & established film critic.

INDIA’S UNCLE SAM

The United States of America’s ‘Uncle Sam’ with his top hat adorned with stars and stripes is rather famous across the globe. But little is known of India’s own Uncle Sam, who came from a Parsi family and was once the most powerful man in our country. Popularly known as Sam Bahadur, he had made India proud on many fronts.

This article is about Padma Vibhushan Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji

Jamshedji

Manekshaw, once the Commander-In-Chief of the storied Indian Army. Read on ...

Born on the 3rd of April 1914, to Captain Dr. Hormusji Manekshaw and Hilla in Amritsar, Sam was 5th of 6 siblings. He was educated at Amritsar and Nainital, after which he joined the Sherwood College. Sam was keen on becoming a gynaecologist and wanted his father to send him to London, but his father will hear nothing of it. Unhappy with this refusal, he was in a bit of a rebellious mood – when coincidentally, Field Marshal Sir Philip Chetwode was at work, setting up the Indian Military Academy at Doon. More as an act of rebellion than to spite his father who had other plans for him, Sam chose to become a part of the IMA’s first intake of cadets, nuch to his father’s chagrin.

During his IMA days, he proved to be the most witty and notorious cadet. He had many firsts credited to his name like the first Gentleman Cadet (GC) to be awarded an extra drill and the first GC to ask for ‘weekend leave.’ And so it happened that he was one of the first 22 cadets to graduate from the IMA and was commissioned into the Army as a Second Lieutenant on the 1st of February 1935. Two notables also graduated along with him – Muhammed Musa and Smith Dun – they later went on to become the Army Chiefs of Pakistan and Burma respectively, while Sam Bahadur took over as 8th Army Chief of India. General Manekshaw also became the first Indian Field Marshal.

Sam Manekshaw has always been the most outspoken and witty officer. Here is a sampling of some of his statements that have entered the annals of history:

On June 8, 1969, at the centenary of celebrations of Sherwood College, speaking of his days at college, Sam said: “College had prepared me for war in World War II as I learnt here to live alone and independently, to fight without relent, tolerate hunger for long periods and to hate my enemy.”

Speaking of the Indian Army’s Gurkha Regiment (which he joined after passing out from the IMA), Sam said: “If anyone tells you he is never afraid, he is a liar or he is a Gurkha”.

When Prime Minister Indira Gandhi asked

about readiness of the Indian Army for the 1971 war, he said “I am always ready sweetie”

One of his most apt comments was on politicians, when he said “I wonder whether those of our political masters who have been put in charge of the defence of the country can distinguish a mortar from a motor; a gun from a howitzer; a guerrilla from a gorilla, although a great many resemble the latter.”

During the 1962 Indo-China war, Indian soldiers were retreating and Sam Bahadur was sent to command this army. He reached there and said: “Gen-

tlemen, I have arrived and there will be no withdrawal without written orders and these orders shall never be issued.”

During Indira Gandhi’s tenure, there was a rumour that the Army has grown so big that they will soon takeover. The Prime Minister called Manekshaw and asked him about these rumours. Sam looked her straight into her eyes and said: “You mind your own business and I mind mine. Your kiss your own sweetheart and I’ll kiss mine. I don’t interfere politically, as long as nobody interferes with me in the army.”

Manekshaw was hit by 7 bullets during a battle, and when he was taken to hospital the doctor tried to engage him in a conversation. He asked Sam what happened, to which he replied in his own witty style: “I was kicked by a donkey.”

When a reporter asked him what if he had joined Pakistan along with the regiment he was serving in 1947, he said: “Pakistan would have won the 1971 war.”

In Mizoram, there was an armed conflict and the commanding officer was

avoiding it. General Manekshaw sent him a pack of bangles with a note that read: “If you are avoiding contact with the hostile, give these to your men to wear.” The commanding officer then decided to get into battle with his unit and returned victorious. He was then presented with another note from the General that read “Send the bangles back.”

Indira Gandhi once wanted to go on war with Pakistan immediately, but Manekshaw asked for a few months of preparation. When the ministers sitting in meeting pressurised him to get into action immediately, he protested verbally. Mrs. Gandhi then requested everyone to step out of room and had a dialogue with Sam Manekshaw in private. As everyone left, Sam said: “Prime Minster, before you open your mouth, would you like me to send in my resignation on grounds of health, mental or physical?”

Prior to partition, Yahya Khan used to be in the same unit as Manekshaw. He had purchased Sam’s motorcycle for Rs. 1000, which was never paid. During 1971 war,

Yahya Khan was the president of Pakistan. After India stood victorious and Bangladesh was born, Manekshaw said: “Yahya never paid me the Rs. 1000 for my motorbike, but now he has paid with half his country.”

General Sam wanted to ensure that the Indian Army never indulges in the brutal trends of victorious armies to spoil and dishonour the women of the defeated land. So he instructed his men during the 1971 war that: “When you see a begum, keep your hands in your pockets and think of Sam.” As a result, there was not even a single case of robbing/dishonouring by Indian Army.

When some ministers in a meeting objected that Sam always addressed Indira Gandhi as Prime Minister and not as ‘madam’, he reminded them that the title ‘madam’ is reserved for the head lady of a brothel.

Although Sam Manekshaw was one of the most powerful, brave and jolly generals we ever had, his style of speaking to politicians made some of our leaders squirm uncomfortably. As a result, he was denied all post-retirement privileges and was not even given his due salary. It was only after President APJ Abdul Kalam met him and ensured that his arrears of 30 years were cleared was he presented a cheque of Rs. 1.3 crore. On June 27, 2008, at the age of 94, Field Marshall Sam Manekshaw passed away in the Military Hospital in Wellington (Tamil Nadu) due to complications from Pneumonia. He was put to rest in the Parsi cemetery in Ooty, but his funeral was not attended by any politician or even our military top brass

Vikramjit Singh Rooprai

The writer is a heritage lover and activist who found it fit to leave a lucrative career in IT to take up the promotion of the heritage and cultures of India.

Postal regd. No. G-3/DN/297/2016-2018

Date of Publication: 5th of every Month

Date of Posting: 8th & 9th of every Month